Beyond - Legends The Crimson Force (Cast of FOTJ, OCs)

Force Smuggler, Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, earlybird-obi-wan, Thuro

Chapter 12

Piggy rushed the stormtroopers and ran into them, his huge body smashing the front ranks. Three stormtroopers went flying, knocking down several others. In the midst of the troopers, Piggy whipped out his blaster and started firing, point-blank range. Jag and Tuman leapt in, pistols flashing. The stormtroopers dropped. Belatedly, Piggy wondered if he'd set his weapon to stun or not. He checked and blew out a sigh of relief when he saw that he had.

He grabbed one stormtrooper by the throat and hurled him into a wall, and then punched another in the face. His meaty fist actually cracked one of the lenses. The trooper dropped. Then he glanced around. The squad was all disposed of. Piggy frowned.

"There will be more," he said. "Soon."

Jag nodded. "Right. Let's–"

A stun bolt exploded on the wall above their heads. Piggy ducked and whirled, opening fire. He caught the nearest guard in the chest. The troopers that came around the hall were not stormtroopers, but black-uniformed navy troopers. Station security, most likely. Piggy snapped off another shot, knocking the next trooper from his feet. Jag and Turman ducked around the corner and opened fire. The security troopers fired. Piggy pulled back and the bolt hit the wall next to him.

"Too many," he said. "We need to fall back."

"No," Jag replied. "Comm Boy hasn't had enough time. Muscle Boy, Tree Girl, you're on."

Trey and Huhunna charged around the corner and attacked the troopers. Huhunna began hurling them around with her Wookiee strength, and Trey efficiently knocked them out with hand-to-hand combat techniques. He wasn't as good at martial arts techniques as Wran, but he took them out quickly, nonetheless. Soon, they all lay on the ground in crumpled heaps.

"Great work," Jag said. "Let's stay here and make sure no one can report the false alarm. Comm Boy shouldn't need too much longer...I hope."

* * *

Thaymes typed quickly, and the transfer began. Nervously, he began bouncing his left leg as the data flowed from the main computer to his portable model. He wondered how long it would be before the technicians realized that no one else was evacuating and returned with armed guards in tow. Probably not long. He loosened the strap on his holster, ready for action. He was far from the best shot among the Wraiths. If any guards came in here, he was likely dead.

"How long, Comm Boy?" Sharr asked over the comlink.

"Not much longer," Thaymes replied. "Two minutes, maybe."

He heard someone try to access the door. He quickly hit a command that would randomize the entry code. It would only delay them for about thirty seconds until they realized they could enter a new code, but it would have to be enough. He pulled his blaster out and ducked behind his chair, gripping the weapon with both hands. Thaymes glanced at his computer. It was at seventy percent.

"Hurry," he growled.

The door slid open. A technician walked in, followed by two stormtroopers. Thaymes snapped off a stun shot. His hands were shaking so hard that the bolt hit the wall beside the stormtrooper. The trooper raised his rifle. Thaymes guessed that it probably wasn't set on stun. And the trooper wouldn't miss. But suddenly, there was the whine of a stun shot and the trooper dropped. Tahiri leapt into the room and fired another shot, catching the technician in the chest. She rolled across the floor and kicked, her bare feet catching the stormtrooper in the throat as he staggered back.

"Uh, thanks," Thaymes stammered.

"No problem," Tahiri replied tersely. "Hurry up; there'll be more coming soon."

Thaymes checked the computer. It was done. He sighed with relief and pulled the cord connecting the two computers. Folding his, he shoved it in his pack and ran out the door, Tahiri right behind him.

"This is Comm Boy," he said, "we're done here. Everyone break!"

 

Whew! Fantab!

 

Great tension with a few close calls.

So they have the data. Now we find out if the information they are looking for is there.

 

Piggy!

 

Yes and now escape

 

Force Smuggler, Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, earlybird-obi-wan, Thuro

Chapter 13

Wran and Jesmin slid into the pilot and copilot seats of the Nubian yacht and Wran quickly started powering up the engines. Most of the squadron was already aboard–now they were only waiting on Piggy, Turman, Trey, Huhunna, and Thaymes. Wran calmly transmitted a request to leave the station. There was no reason for station control to realize the inhabitants of the Nubian yacht were involved with what was going on in the station.

Moments later, Piggy led the rest of the squadron, sans Thaymes, aboard the ship. Piggy dropped into the navigator's seat and Trey took the gunner's seat. The others moved into the passenger hold and strapped down. Wran glanced back.

"Where's Comm Boy?"

"Had a bit of a delay," Piggy replied. "Sand Girl is bringing him here now."

Wran nodded. "Right."

Station control returned Wran's transmission, letting him know they had permission to leave. Wran thanked control but told them that they were waiting on one more passenger, and then turned off the comm and sat back in his seat. If Thaymes didn't arrive soon, control might get suspicious, but Wran would help no one by being nervous. Best to just sit and wait calmly.

Soon enough, the hangar door slid open and Thaymes walked in at a casual pace, carrying his computer case in his right hand. He was now dressed in a business suit, his hair neatly combed. Wran wondered when he'd found time to fix it. He shrugged to himself. Didn't matter to him. When Thaymes was aboard, Wran pressed the button to shut the ramp. Thaymes entered the cockpit and sat down at the comm station.

"This is Nubian yacht Stargazer," he said. "Now departing."

"Understood," control replied. "Have a safe flight. Control out."

Wran lifted the ship from the hangar and took it out into space, flying it casually. He knew if he took off at a breakneck pace, they'd immediately become suspicious and likely launch TIE fighters. He had to remind himself that these were not his enemies–he didn't want to do anything that would end in a fight, because he didn't want to kill any allies.

"Take us to the outermost shipyard rings," Piggy said. "We'll wait there for Claw Boy."

Wran nodded. "Got it, Math Boy."

He reached the rings farthest from the planet and set the ship in a lazy orbit. Now they just had to await the arrival of Jag's Miy'tari ship and they could get out of here. Thaymes, apparently eager to sift through the information he downloaded, pulled out his computer, opened it, and began typing. Wran turned his seat to face the cockpit.

"Anyone else find it odd that we didn't see any sign of Daala or Lecersen's forces?" he asked.

Piggy frowned. "Now that you mention it...yeah. If that stormtrooper on Muunilinst was telling the truth, then they'd already transmitted the data to Daala. So why hasn't she acted on it?"

"Unless..." Jesmin said, her face pinched in concentration.

"Unless she got here before we did," Thaymes said grimly. "Looks like the information we needed was already accessed twelve hours ago. Somehow, she or Lecersen got access to the station's main computer and accessed it without alerting anybody. Either that, or they had a mole."

"So they're one step ahead of us," Trey said.

Wran sat back and closed his eyes. He knew. He knew it had been too easy. By all means, they and Daala should've been tripping over each other's feet trying to get to the information. The fact that it had gone down so smoothly hadn't sat right with him, but he hadn't known why. Well, this made sense. Piggy slammed his fist down angrily into the arm of his chair.

"Blast it," he growled.

"Claw Boy's coming," Jesmin said.

Wran turned. The Miy'til fighter was approaching them slowly. Wran powered up the Nubian's engines and turned them for deep space. Thaymes contacted Jag and updated him on the situation.

"So Daala's a step ahead of us," Jag said.

"That's right," Thaymes replied. "On the bright side, I have our next step."

"Give it to me."

"Looks like we're going a short distance outside the Remnant," Thaymes said. "To a planet called Mygeeto."

"All right. We'll see you there, then." Jag paused. "Let's just hope that Daala's having trouble finding what she's looking for."

Wran entered Mygeeto's coordinates in the hyperdrive, pulled the lever, and the ship lurched forward and entered hyperspace. Standing, Wran stormed back to the passenger hold. He needed to burn off some steam before they arrived.

 

Oh dear. That's not good.

 

So very not good. I was hoping Daala and/or Lecersen was one step behind

 

Oh well. Should be interesting seeing the Wraiths and company succeed coming from behind then.

 

Daala and lecersen are quite a match for the Wraiths

 

Looks like the Wraiths have a little catch-up to play.

 

Force Smuggler, Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, earlybird-obi-wan, Thuro

Chapter 14

Natasi Daala, standing on the bridge of the Chimaera, looked down at the surface of Mygeeto. Her white uniform was neatly pressed as always, her red-and-gray hair pulled back in a severe tail. Her left eye, cloned to replace the one she'd lost long ago, felt a little odd. For years after the loss of her original eye, she'd refused to have it replaced, but had instead worn a black patch over her eye, until she could enact revenge on those who had taken her eye–and her precious Legius. Only recently had she had the tissue cloned, and her eye replaced.

Legius...her thoughts drifted toward her dead lover, and thus, to her son. It was a pity that she'd been forced to rob his vault, but she had been unable to contact him through normal means after her outlawing. She missed him dearly. Him, and his daughter–Daala's granddaughter. Oh, how she longed to see them again.

But not yet. Her gaze hardened. First...first, she had to take back what the Jedi and Jagged Fel had taken from her. She had no quarrel with Vitor Reige, but he was in the way, so she would topple him. To do that, she needed an army. And the Chimaera and a handful of other ships, plus her hidden Maw Irregular fleet, did not constitute an army by any means.

"Admiral," a voice called, "the surface team is about to launch."

Daala's jaw tightened at the man's voice. Lecersen. Oh, how she hated working with him. He had, several years earlier, formed a conspiracy group meant to remove her, and Jagged Fel, from power. Now, Lecersen was her subordinate, and Daala was certain that he detested the role as much as she detested having him around. She needed him, though. Once the Empire was hers...well, then, Lecersen could be suitably dealt with.

"Good," Daala replied. "Tell Captain Vari to contact me as soon as he finds the Crimson Force."

"As you command," Lecersen said tersely.

As he walked away, Daala hissed quietly. The Crimson Force. It was supposed to be myth, but then, the Katana fleet and Outbound Flight had been myths, as well. And they'd both turned out to be real–frighteningly real. The Crimson Force was not something on the level of the Katana fleet, but it was something that would allow Daala to conquer Bastion and take command over the Remnant. If the rumors about it were true, it was an inglorious army, but an army nonetheless.

Turning, Daala stormed off the bridge for her office. Her crew would contact her as soon as something developed. She had more on her mind than this search, right now.

For starters, who was this mysterious group on her tail? They'd defeated her crew at the bank, though they had not prevented the information from getting sent out, and she was willing to bet that they were still hot on her heels. The efficient, commando-style execution of their counterattack on Daala's forces, their interception of her men at the spaceport...well, she'd been Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance for three years, and she didn't know of any group they had that could be that skillful. Clearly, the GA had some new tricks.

Daala's mouth twisted in a wry smile. She had nothing against the GA's current Chief of State, Wynn Dorvan, either. Matter of fact, she rather liked the man; he'd been her chief of staff during her tenure as Chief of State. He was a good man, and she was glad that he was in command of the government. But the Alliance was against her just as much as the Empire was...as the Jedi were. Exhaling through her nose, Daala entered her office and sat down in her chair behind her desk.

Well, whoever they were, they wouldn't be able to stop her once she had the Crimson Force. Then she wouldn't have to worry anymore. About anything.

 

Superb. Shows Daala's fuming and scheming perfectly.

 

The Katana Fleet! Yay!

 

Great insight in Daala's scheming

 

Please tag me! This is an amazing story you have crafted here.

 

Great look into the mind of an evil woman.

 

Force Smuggler, Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, earlybird-obi-wan, Thuro, NightWatcher91

Chapter 15

Jag dropped the Miy'tari out of hyperspace over Mygeeto and checked his scanners. His stomach felt instantly hollow. Orbiting the world was a Star Destroyer that anyone familiar with the history of the last forty years of the galaxy would've recognized–the Chimaera. Originally the command ship of Grand Admiral Thrawn, it had been passed on to Pellaeon and eventually, fallen into the hands of Admiral Daala.

"She beat us here," Jaina hissed.

Jag nodded. "Well, we need to hurry. Contact the Wraiths."

"They haven't exited hyperspace yet," Jaina replied. She swiveled to face Jag. "Why don't you tell me what this Crimson Force thing is, Jag? I need to know what we'll be facing down there."

Jag sat back in the pilot's seat and rubbed his brow. As Head of State of the Empire, he'd been privileged to information that only a very few people knew. He didn't want to go spreading that information around the galaxy for everyone to hear, even if he wasn't Head of State anymore. But they were going after the Crimson Force, so Jaina was right–she had a right to know what it was.

"The Crimson Force," Jag told her, "was one of Palpatine's secret weapons. A backup plan he never got to use. At the end of the Clone Wars, all the battle droids owned by the Separatists were shut down, right? Well, there was a secret battalion of elite battle droids that never got activated. The Crimson Force. Palpatine kept it a secret, but didn't have it destroyed because he knew if his stormtroopers were ever to turn against him, he'd need an army to take them down. That never happened, so he had no reason to activate the droids."

Jaina nodded. "Okay, I'm following you so far. So there's an army of battle droids down there just waiting for a command code to be activated, and they're at the beck and call of anyone who has the code."

"Right. Unfortunately, it seems that the command code was amongst the data that Daala's men transmitted to her. On the bright side, however, you'd have to be in the same room as the Crimson Force to activate them, because it would require inputting the code into a special terminal. But these aren't just plain old scrawny battle droids like you see in the holovids. These are elite droids–three hundred cortosis-lined assassin droids, one hundred super battle droids, and seventy-five droidekas."

Tahiri looked up from her chair. "So basically, if Daala gets a hold of this army, Bastion is in deep dwang."

"Basically."

There was a beep from Jaina's terminal. "The Wraiths are here," she said.

"Tell them to get ready to hit the ground," Jag said. "We'll have to sneak past the Chimaera."

Jaina nodded, turned on the comm, and filled them in on the situation.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the Nubian and the Miy'tari set down on an ice shelf on Mygeeto's surface. Dressed in light combat armor and cold weather gear, the twelve Wraiths gathered at the foot of the ramp. Javon winced at the cold–he had never liked it. Beaches, hot sand, the ocean...that was Javon's prime real estate. He'd have to take a long vacation after this mission was over.

Jag, Jaina, and Tahiri approached the Wraiths–Jag dressed like the Wraiths, the other two wearing parkas and thick pants and gloves in brown, with a Jedi emblem on the left sleeve. Piggy stepped forward to speak with Jag.

"Let's get this over with," Javon said. "I'm already getting frostbite."

"Stop whining," Jesmin replied. "Mygeeto's actually fairly nice compared to Hoth, or Rhen Var, or Ilum."

"Remind me never to visit those places," he said dryly.

Javon reached over his shoulder, pulled his rifle, and checked the charge. This was his first real combat mission–he'd been in GA Security, not the military, and the closest he'd come to a real battle was when Amelia Solo had been attacked by a squad of Sith assassins–and then, Leia Organa Solo had done all the fighting. Javon would never admit it, but he was nervous.

"All right, people," Piggy said, "we're on a deadline. We have to make sure Daala's forces don't find the objective before we do. So, Thaymes has programmed the coordinates we have into your hand scanners. It appears to be in a system of underground tunnels–with several entrances. We'll split up, and meet in the middle. Soldier Boy, Muscle Boy, Gambler Girl, Drug Boy, you're with me. Gun Boy, Tree Girl, Ranger Girl, Lab Boy, you're with Mind Boy. Comm Boy, Stage Boy, you're with Claw Boy and the Jedi. Check in at regular intervals and stay alert. Move out!"

Javon checked his rifle once more and then followed Piggy, along with Trey, Myri, and Drikall. Their trek took them across nearly a kilometer of ice, and Javon became more and more miserable as they walked. He kept his hand tight on his rifle–it kept him from shivering. Finally, they reached the entrance to the underground tunnel. Piggy dropped in the hole and led them down the tunnel. All too soon, they lost the sunlight, and were in pitch dark.

"Lights," Piggy said.

Javon flicked on the spot-lamp on his rifle and raised it, shining light on the interior of the tunnel. Trey, Myri, and Drikall pulled out glowrods and lit them, holding their blaster pistols in their free hands, and they continued on into the oppressive darkness of the tunnel.

 

Yeesh, that is one scary number of battle droids From their description, they need to find the weak spot, literally.

 

Awesome update! I agree with Nyota that is a lot of battle droids.

 

A lot of ugly metal coming their way. I hope they find the master off-switch

 

I'm actually hoping that Jag can use the activation code to take control of those droids himself and turn them on Daala.

 

Oh joy more droids.
Action coming up!
Yeah Hoth is colder!

 

Force Smuggler, Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, earlybird-obi-wan, Thuro, NightWatcher91

Chapter 16

Underneath his cold weather gear, Jag wore the Mandalorian armor given to him by Han Solo, including the crushgaunts. In each hand he held a blaster pistol, modified to fit in the oversized grips of the gauntlets. Jag checked the charge on each blaster, flipped the spot-lamps on, and led his team down into the tunnel. Tahiri and Jaina activated their lightsabers–they weren't undercover anymore, so they could abandon all pretense–while Turman and Thaymes followed, the former armed with a blaster rifle and the latter with a pistol.

"Stay close to me," Jag said. "Sand Girl, Sticks, let us know if you sense any of Daala's people."

Jag watched a smirk play its way over Jaina's face at the nickname. She'd been called "Sticks" first by the members of Rogue Squadron during the Yuuzhan Vong War–a reference to her lightsaber and pilot's yoke, two "sticks." No doubt she was reliving that nostalgia, though very little of it was good. Jag applauded her for even being able to smile.

They continued down the tunnel, the darkness closing in around them. Jag's spot lamps and the Jedi's lightsabers lit the way as they pressed on. A few meters later, Jaina help up a hand and made a hissing sound. Ahead was a four-way cross-section, with tunnels branching off straight ahead, to the left, and to the right. Jag tensed. A moment later, a squad of black-armored stormtroopers came out of the right tunnel.

"Nothing that way," the leader was saying. "We'll have to–hey!"

Jag opened fire, his twin blaster bolts catching the leader in the chest and dropping him. Jaina and Tahiri leapt forward, their lightsabers spinning, while Turman and Thaymes opened fire. Turman's shots took out a pair of troopers, and Thaymes caught one in the knee. Jaina and Tahiri made quick work of the rest. There was a long pause.

"Well, we know not to go that way," Turman observed.

Jag jerked his head at the left passage. "Let's try this way."

They headed down, ready for another encounter with the troopers, and hoping to find the deactivated droid army before Daala's men did.

* * *

Sharr knelt at a fork in the tunnel. He frowned. There were definitely footprints in the snow...deep ones. So either the walkers had been improbably heavy, or they'd been wearing combat-grade boots. Sharr was betting on the latter. He raised his carbine and stood.

"Definite signs of Daala's forces having been here," he said.

Wran nodded. "Don't worry. We'll be ready."

Jesmin kept one hand on her lightsaber and stepped aside, letting Huhunna and Scut go first, and taking the rear. Sharr led them down the right fork. His mind whirled as they went, trying to decipher the puzzle they were in. As the psychological warfare expert of the team, he should easily be able to figure out a nearly fifty-year-old secret base.

He was thirty meters down the tunnel when he realized his mistake.

"This tunnel has been, up until a few hours ago, been sealed off for half a century," he said aloud. "Meaning that those boot prints were likely not caused by Daala's troops. They were caused by Separatist or Republic troopers, back during the Clone Wars–no snowfall could've gotten down here with the entrance sealed."

Huhunna growled in agreement.

"So we need to go back," Jesmin said. "Follow the footprints."

"Exactly," Sharr replied. "More, if these tunnels were hollowed out by diggers, then that means this tunnel doesn't serve any other purpose than to throw off invaders. Which we are. Which means–"

Behind and in front of them, blast doors slid down. Breakaway hatches in the walls exploded and security droids swiveled out, blasters raised. Jesmin's lightsaber snapped to life, and Wran assumed a combat stance.

"–this tunnel is booby trapped," Sharr finished grimly.

 

Always did like the nickname sticks.
Awesome deduction skills. How will they get out of it?