Beyond - Legends The Bounty Hunter's Story *New Updates coming soon*

That's what u get for being evil.

 

Good. I'm glad I didn't miss as much as I thought I did.

?Kill some more.? shrugging as if it was the obvious answer. Well that is always the best plan isn't it?

This guy doesn't look like Jeff Goldblum does he? That does sound somehow Goldblum-esque...

 

...it also demonstrates just how much of a slimey backstabber Nom Anor is.

By the way, that line is from both Jurassic Park and Independence Day.

 

Goldblum said the line in both movies so its all good.

 

The drone of mini cannons drowned out the battle cries of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors as Dark Tracker and his female accomplice plowed through the cavern. Living projectiles exploded messily as the HRD?s superior tracking shot down each one while still firing from the other cannon. He glanced at the young, blonde female next to him. The woman, in his opinion, was perfect. He watched for a fraction of a second as she fought just like him with an expressionless look on her face. Her arms, though slender looking, were strong enough to carry the same mini cannons he himself was using.

Tracker felt a strong attraction towards her ever since the two began working together. Their similarities forged a strong bond between them, a bond that had proven itself sturdy over the past few weeks. Their simple meeting in a Rodian cantina later turned into adventure as together they investigated and solved the Peace Brigade?s deadly secret with the help of the Jedi, Chell Noruth and Devin Moonstar. There was also the lone Yuuzhan Vong they encountered, a pesky alien warrior demanding an honor duel between him and ?the one that killed my father?. Had the Jedi didn?t intervene, Tracker realized he surely would have won. Instead, the warrior fled, only to continue following him wherever he and his companion went.

Now here they were, side-by-side, mowing down the aliens with ease. Tracker realigned one of his cannons and fired. Crimson bolts lanced out and struck Yuuzhan Vong warriors in their unprotected necks. Each warrior fell gasping and gurgling since they could no longer breath. He checked the power levels on his weapons and saw the blinking red icon flash LOW. He checked over at his friend?s weapons and saw the same thing.

He concentrated once more on his firing, this time using a sophisticated technique that required ultimate accuracy in order to conserve his shots. Tracker slowed down his rate of fire, letting loose a single bolt for each warrior he encountered. He lined up his shots using his advanced neurosensors, bringing down handfuls of warriors in mere seconds. Yuuzhan Vong warriors fell dead with burning eye sockets or smoking craters in what used to be their face.

His cannons began beeping as he heard the empty CLICK CLICK of the depleted weapons. The human replica droid flung his arms forward, launching the useless weapons off his arms and into the nearest two warriors for one last attack. Reaching inside his pant pocket, Tracker pulled out a small, metallic ball. Sliding his thumb along the black switch, the HRD threw it with superhuman strength into a cluster of Yuuzhan Vong, striking one of them in the chest like a bullet. Lodged inside the warrior, the thermal detonator went off. The cavern shook as a multicolored orb of energy expanded, atomizing all material within its spherical area centered on the charge itself. The explosion died down long enough to reveal the 20-meter radius hole left behind before a second bomb went off, thrown from the woman.

More and more Yuuzhan Vong kept falling but it seemed there was always another to take its place. Now out of weapons, the two beings had to rely on hand-to-hand combat. A warrior charged Tracker with its amphistaff raised over its head. On its way down, the HRD simply caught it, ignoring the feeling of sliced synthiflesh in his hand. With a sudden twist and jerk, Tracker pulled the weapon and the arm holding it free from the warrior, who was finished off as the HRD swung the bladed end around and cleaved its head off. Another warrior charged Tracker on his unarmed side and he swung a fist in its direction. A loud crack sounded as his fist struck the side of the warrior?s head. It swayed back and forth for a moment before crashing to the ground.

He began fighting his way towards the energy blades that appeared just over the sea of Yuuzhan Vong heads. Tracker hunched over, exposing a bare shoulder and charged, plowing through the frenzied mob of confused warriors. Behind him in his wake, the female charged, lashing out

 

update...that was one of my favorite chapters. hope u liked it. i'm looking forward to hear what you have to say.

 

?Well, old friend?? Fenix taunted. ??you seem to be in a tight situation.?

Cam Heatley stood fuming with his back to the secret hangar door. His breathing was loud and heavy as he breathed through his nose. His hands balled up into fists then released over and over. His means of escape had long since taken off, leaving him behind to face a friend he had lied to and betrayed. Fenix decided to press his advantage.

?Your own master left you behind. Do you know what that means?? He waited, hoping to provoke Cam into making the first move. When all he got was silence, he continued. ?You are merely a k?lor?slug, an expendable pawn. Your master left you behind to die when he no longer needed you. He used you??

Fenix watched as Cam grew even angrier. His jaw muscles protruded from the sides of his face as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. His eyes contained an even more intense glare at the bounty hunter.

??and you meant nothing to him. How does that make you feel?? He left the question hanging in the air.

?I?ll tell you how that makes me feel.? Cam started. ?It makes me want to KILL YOU EVEN MORE!? His voice built up in rage as he said while charging Fenix. Expecting the attack, the bounty hunter readied himself for it. He ran towards his former friend and backflipped at the last moment, bringing a boot up under Cam?s chin as he cycled around. The blow halted his advance and stunned him long enough for Fenix to land his flip. Cam brought his hands up to his chin to soften the pain, leaving an avenue open in the legs for an attack. Fenix leapt at Cam, wrapping his arms around the other man?s legs by the knees. The momentum of the bounty hunter?s body continued forward as the rest of his body hit Cam?s. With his legs tied up to stop him from bracing himself, Cam fell backward as he landed hard on his rear. Fenix released his legs only to get a kick in the face from an angry Cam. Fenix backpedaled away and Cam got up. He recoiled his right fist and launched it forward, only to have Fenix duck under the attack. The bounty reached up with his hands and grabbed the extended arm. Standing back up, Fenix spun around, twisting the arm. He felt the cold leather glove underneath his grip and remembered what was inside it. The bounty hunter realized his mistake only after Cam retaliated.

Before the bounty hunter could hit the arm with his elbow, Cam smiled and straightened his arm like a machine, sending Fenix spinning in the air into the corridor wall. Cam gently petted his gloved mechanical hand before lunging forward to grab the bounty hunter by the back of his suit as he moaned on the ground. The Peace Brigade boss picked up Fenix and tossed him sideways into the parallel wall. The bounty hunter crashed and fell to the ground as his armor clattered. Cam repeated the process again, this time holding onto Fenix as he swung him side-to-side between the two walls. Fenix brought his hands up to Cam?s wrists, trying to weaken the vise grip he had on him.

Cam picked Fenix up and held him against the wall several centimeters off the ground. His mechanical hand wrapped easily around the bounty hunter?s neck as Cam applied pressure on the center of his throat with his thumb while keeping his hand held firmly under Fenix?s chin to keep him from biting. Fenix?s hands remained close to Cam?s as he tried to release the hold on him. His efforts were in vain, for Cam?s mechanical hand proved to be too strong even for the bounty hunter.

Fenix?s vision began to darken as he desperately needed a breath of air. The fighting had already begun wearing him out, especially after coming out of four battles with the Peace Brigade Hunters. Choking coughs and gagging escaped the bounty hunter?s throat, signs of weakness he had no intent in showing. Even his kicking wasn?t accomplishing anything as his boots repeatedly struck his attacker?s strong thighs. The bounty hunter?s futile attempts only fueled Cam more as he pressed harder and harder, grinning with bared teeth.

On the brink of blacki

 

Guri is back hmmm? I always kind of wondered what happened to her.

As the six ships shot around the planet in orbit, the first traces of a small Peace Brigade fleet began to appear.

Wouldn't you know it.

lordmaul13

 

it only gets better

 

I can agree with that.

Ryan, remember to pause at the end of Part One until you have enough chapters to get ahead with for Part Two.

 

i know...thanks for the reminder. we'll continue with the story when i'm about 25 chapters into part 2. it wont be a long part...

 

You're getting enough updates done recently to make it a short gap between the two, and then I'll start again with the updates.

 

Double update.

---

?Several ships are blocking our outbound vector.? Tracker reported. ?Light cruisers and small private vessels. It appears the backbone of this fleet is a [i]Kaloth[/i]-class Battleruiser.?

?Any suggestions?? Dash asked over the comm.

For several seconds there was silence while everyone contemplated his or her means of escape. Even the Jedi onboard the [i]Redeemer[/i] were quiet. Guri broke the silence first.

?I?ve got an idea. It?s risky, but it just might work.?

?Enlighten me.? Chell said.

?We go right through it.? She simply replied.

?Are you crazy?? Fenix shouted.

?Just shut up and listen to me, Mr. Reiner. We haven?t got much time. I?ve already analyzed their formation. I?m sure Tracker has already done the same. If the rest of you can manage it before we encounter them, you?ll see there are several holes in their formation. The smaller ships are sticking together to combine firepower, leaving the bigger vessels to fend for themselves. If we can punch through the weakest link??

??we have a clear jump for lightspeed.? Tracker continued. ?The Peace Brigade will be forced to turn their ships around to fire upon us. By then we?ll already be gone.?

?So then, I must ask?? said Arica Dull. ??what is our avenue of escape??

?If I may voice a suggestion.? Offered Chell. ?Since crazy seems to be the trend today, I say we hit the battlecruiser.?

?This keeps getting better.? Muttered Fenix.

Chell continued. ?For one, it?ll be the least likely target they?ll expect us to engage, so we?ll have the element of surprise. Another reason would be to quell potential threats. If we take it out now, we hurt the Peace Brigade, disabling one of their strong ships. Perhaps if we had a forerunner go and draw their fire away from the rest of us, we can then assault it with a barrage of torpedoes and missiles.?

?I will go first.? Volunteered Guri. ?The [i]Stinger[/i] is the fastest ship here. They won?t touch me.?

?Very well then. When we have cleared the blockade, you all will have the rendezvous coordinates. We?ll meet up then. For now, we have a battlecruiser to take down.?

Sublight engines flared to life as the six ships charged towards the blockade maximum burn. The Kaloth Battlecruiser grew bigger in Fenix?s forward viewport. He could make out the laser cannons and turbolaser batteries bristling all along the 307-meter ship. He swallowed hard and gripped the piloting controls firmly. An idea snapped in his mind and he looked over the operating console. He spotted the tiny red switch and flipped it, activating the special surprise he had planned for the Peace Brigade.

The [i]Stinger[/i] entered the battlecruiser?s firing range and it immediately opened fire. The smaller ship wove back and forth through the streams of golden laser fire. As it got closer, the fire intensified. Turbolaser blasts meters thick lanced out as the tiny ship dodged them all and retaliated with light laser and ion cannon fire as she moved towards the rear of the ship. It was then that the other five had entered the battlecruiser?s firing range.

With a fair amount of its guns trained on the forerunner, the Kaloth Battlecruiser had no chance against the others. Targeting coordinates had been linked between the others so they would all strike at the same vital spot. A stream of red turbolaser fire advanced towards Fenix. He veered out of formation and rejoined just as he heard Chell scold him, ?Stay in formation.?.

When they had reached a certain distance, the ships fired a volley of proton torpedoes and concussions missiles. The blue exhaust streaks raced ahead of the ships and slammed into the starboard shields of the battlecruiser. A dull blue shell of energy became visible along the starboard side of the vessel. More torpedo and missile hits illuminated the shields. The dull blue turned into a dull pink as shield strength began to diminish and contract. The final projectile detonated against the shields, overloading its generators and bringing

 

The bridge of the Phoenix was a wild frenzy when General Davir Alandro stepped out onto it with Danni Quee in tow. He strode down the aisle way between the work pits towards the bow of the ship where his first officer was directing the battle with several aides and holoprojectors displaying the battle.

?Status.? Ordered Alandro sharply as he stepped behind Commander Pyke. The Commander turned around and Alandro saw his face wrought with stress. A look of relief washed over his face upon seeing the general.

?We?ve held back from major engagement so far. The Yuuzhan Vong are still advancing. We estimate two minutes before they come down on us. They plowed through the minefield with minor losses, only two light cruisers and an assault cruiser. They?re keeping an assault cruiser out of the fight. The vessel has activated its dovin basals to act as a gravity well that is keeping us from leaving early.?

?I don?t foresee that as being a problem. We?ll be able to take it on time.? Alandro nodded. ?Very well, Commander. You?ve done well. I?ll take over from here.? Pyke stepped aside allowing Alandro to take charge. Immediately we was swarmed with holographic representations of the fleets and screaming aides and officers awaiting orders. The general closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, relaxing himself. When he opened his eyes, he turned around to face the young scientist behind him, ignoring the loud chatter.

?What would you like us to do, Ms. Quee?? The general asked in a hushed tone.

She threw her head in the direction of the forward viewport towards the Yuuzhan Vong fleet. ?We need to get in close for my tests to prove accurate. I can get the best readings that way.?

?Consider it done.? Alandro spoke with a slight smile. He turned to face his officers who suddenly stopped talking to hear what he has to say. Alandro gulped to clear his throat before speaking.

?Alert the fleet. Engage the enemy. Tell all ships to stay with the main battle group. I don?t want to leave any ships behind when I sound the retreat.?
________________________________________________________________________

?What the?!? Fenix exclaimed as his ship lurched forward violently. Luckily the restraints held him back. The starlines of hyperspace began to diminish as the Thyferran Sun prematurely exited hyperspace. Ahead of him, he gasped as he saw a Yuuzhan Vong fleet advancing towards a mixed New Republic/Imperial Remnant fleet around Agamar. Just ahead of him, pulled out just before him, were the five other ships of the group, all arming weapons and prepping up.

Fenix sighed heavily. He could tell where this was going. He opened the comm. ?Do I even need to ask??

Tracker, Dash, Arica, and Chell all replied at the same time. ?No.?
________________________________________________________________________

A tactical officer from one of the pits suddenly sprang to life. ?Sir! Incoming ships from a second vector!?

Alandro frowned. ?Yuuzhan Vong??

?No, sir. Private vessels. It appears they were pulled out of lightspeed on their way in.?

?Inform them, Mr. Yar, that it would be in their best interests for them to sit tight away from the battle while??

The general was cut short as the tactical officer protested. ?But, sir! They?ve already stated through communications they?re here to fight!?

?Is that so?? Alandro asked as he tilted his head in amazement with a slight smile of disbelief. The tactical officer nodded in compliance.

?Well then. Inform them they have permission to engage at will.?

 

UP.

And just a notice that the Dramatis Personae for The Way of the Truth is posted here

 

And up again.

 

?Let?s stick together.? Chell started. ?Alone we may each bring to the enemy what we are capable of but together we can show the Vong the sum of our parts as a single weapon.?

?Leave that for a Jedi to say.? Fenix said with a nervous laugh. ?Lead the way.?

The Redeemer set up the formation, acting as the focal point for the remaining ships to circle around. Fenix took a position on port side, above the Fallen Angel and below the Stalker.

?Keep the formation close. Enemy fighters approaching.? Chell warned.

The wave of Yuuzhan Vong coralskippers surged toward them. Without warning, hundreds of objects zoomed from behind the six ships. Darts of red and green energy were fired from New Republic X-Wings and A-Wings and Imperial Remnant TIE Fighters and Interceptors.

The waves crashed into each other and immediately melded together into a mad dogfight. Sharing targeting data from the other ships in the group resulted in the concentration of firepower on a single target. As the formation flew through the frenzy bursts of lasers vaporized coralskippers. The unity of the ships had indeed proven to be a valuable weapon. While several of their shots had been absorbed by coralskipper dovin basals, exhausting the creatures in the process, the remaining blasts penetrated the defenses and shattered the fighters.

Two streams of golden plasma fire shot through the formation as a second barrage landed squarely on the shields of the Redeemer and the Outrider.

?Enemy fighters behind us.? Tracker warned. ?Chell and Dash, stay on course. The rest of us will take care of them.?

The Stalker, Thyferran Sun, Fallen Angel, and Stinger whipped away from the formation as the enemy continued to pummel the remaining two vessels with plasma fire. Fenix watched as the two ships began jinking and juking to avoid any more hits.

The four ships U-turned and shot back to save their companions. Gaining on the coralskippers harassing their friends, the four ships opened concentrated fire on a single enemy fighter. Their perfected process worked again as the rock fighter caught flame and veered off into the battle, only to collide with another coralskipper. The second enemy fighter fired a burst of magma that was absorbed by the Outrider?s shields. Before it could fire another blast, concentrated fire vaporized the fighter in a cloud of gas and fire.

?Thanks for the assistance.? Sounded Dash over the comm. ?Got to watch those shields.?

Returning back to formation, an A-Wing with its starboard fuselage aflame suddenly jetted towards the formation with a trio of coralskippers trailing it to finish it off. The five other ships peeled off to avoid collision, leaving the Redeemer alone. The port side tri-turbolaser turret of the Redeemer suddenly opened fire upon the coralskippers before they could finish the A-Wing off, blasting two of them into millions of glistening shards of coral. The third one however, had just enough time to fire a magma missile that destroyed the A-Wing before falling victim to Devin Moonstar?s firing. As one, the five ships returned in formation and continued on.
________________________________________________________________________

?What is the status of the fleet?? asked a curious General Alandro.

Commander Pyke, who had joined the officers and battle coordinators in the work pits, spoke up. ?We?re getting the first reports of minor skirmishes along the front line. The Yuuzhan Vong forces continue to press forward in spite of the fact we outgun them.?

?They?re weakening us until their reinforcements arrive. This is just a paving task force.?

?My thoughts exactly, General.?

?What of our uninvited guests? Do we have names??

?That?s the interesting part, sir. They must be carrying illegal equipment of some sort because I?m not getting any names.?

?Interesting.? Alandro exclaimed. ?Only smugglers and bounty hunters carry such equipment.?

The general turned to look out

 

Golden streaks of plasma fired from over fifty projectors from each ship splattered against the shields as they remained standing. Onboard the bridge of the Phoenix, the crew braced themselves as they endured several seconds of violent shudders. When the barrage had ceased, Alandro patted himself and straightened his uniform.

?Return fire!? He exclaimed.

Weapons controllers speaking through headsets relayed his order. Bright green turbolaser fire lanced outward from the Star Destroyer?s fifty batteries and fifty cannons, splitting the attack to both Yuuzhan Vong cruisers. A complement of missiles and torpedoes were added as their blue exhaust trails streaked through space ahead of the Phoenix. Dovin basal crews reacted at once as the miniature voids swallowed the energy and projectiles. Less than half of the salvo got through, blasting coral chunks out of the hulls. A barrage of turbolaser fire struck the base of a growth of coral spines, severing the pinkish coral from the ship. It drifted away from the ship, scraping the hull and leaving deep gouges in its wake.

A second plasma barrage rocked the wedge-shaped vessel even harder as a shield controller shouted, ?Bow shields down to thirty-two percent!?

?Fire at will. Redirect aft shields to reinforce the bow.?

At that moment, clouds of extra starfighters that had already dealt with the coralskippers descended upon the vessesls like Chandrilan locusts. The minuscule fighters compared to the 1,620-meter coral ships proved their worth by pulling some of the fire away from the Phoenix, which fired back creating more damage. He noticed some of the dovin basals from before failed to pick up the new attacks, revealing the fatigue and strength of the strange creatures.

Alandro turned around and strode over to the empty operations pit where the single figure of Danni Quee sat hunched in her seat hovering close to a computer monitor.

?I?m waiting to be impressed, Ms. Quee.? Alandro said. The young scientist held up her index finger without turning her head. Alandro rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly. Either she chose to ignore him or just wasn?t paying attention as her eyes danced back and forth at the text on her screen. Alandro craned his neck to see what she was looking at but at that moment, she unplugged her datapad from the terminal and deactivated the monitor. She stood up and stretched, unaffected by another rocking of the ship as it came under fire again. She climbed up the small staircase and breezed past the general without a word or a glance as she continued towards the weapons terminal with Alandro jogging behind briskly.

?Are you going to tell me what you plan for my ship and its crew to do?? Alandro questioned.

Danni looked up at the general and raised an eyebrow before turning to the chief weapons controller. She thrusted her datapad under the controller?s nose and began speaking. ?Target all of your weapons onto the following coordinates. Fire at my command.?

Any attempt to protest came out in stutters as Alandro stood flabbergasted. The general ripped the datapad from the controller?s hands and examined it for himself.

Waving the datapad in one hand, he spoke loudly, now red in the face, ?The coordinates you have indicated do not appear to be a vital system!?

?Trust me, General.? The woman said coolly. For a brief second, Alandro glared at her. As her words sunk in, his narrowed eyes relaxed as he inhaled deeply and turned to the weapons controller to issue a curt nod. He followed Danni to the forward viewport as she watched the battle with most interest.

?The gunners? responded. They?re standing by.? reported his first officer. Alandro looked over at Danni Quee as her eyes narrowed in concentration. For a brief moment, there was nothing. The battle continued to boil as the Phoenix took the damage given to them.

?Fire.?

In a brilliant display of pyrotechnics, every available weapons system poured fire into the right assault cruiser. Dovin basals failed miserably

 

Right, gonna get this story over with until the next installment.

---

?Look at the size of that thing!? Exclaimed a squadron leader. The lone cruiser that served as the interdictor had suddenly pulled a Yuuzhan Vong reinforcement fleet out of hyperspace with one of the ships being bigger than a Super Star Destroyer. General Davir Alandro looked out the viewport and saw the massive vessel. His eyes drifted back and forth along its coral hull and noticed the bulkiness of the ship, as if it was constructed from grafted pieces of older ships onto a central component. It bristled with long spines of coral that serves as plasma projectors and coralskipper houses. Along with the gigantic ship, sensors had picked up three more assault cruisers and eight more light cruisers.

Responses and orders began filtering through the comm and each one was heard on the bridge of the [i]Phoenix[/i]. The battle, which had been in its dying stages, had suddenly picked up again.

?Enemy fleet advancing! ETA: Five minutes!?

?Sensors reading enemy coralskippers on approach! Fighter squadrons are forming to intercept.?

?The [i]Gyrados[/i] is reporting they are abandoning ship.?

?The fleet is awaiting orders, General.?

Upon hearing this, Alandro whirled around to address his crew. ?I want screenshots taken and all available data and telemetry to be packaged and sent to Admiral Kre?fey at Ithor. Tell him we?ve held back the Vong long enough and what they?re going to be expecting.? He turned to the nearest ensign. ?Can we get out of here??

The young ensign, fresh from the academy, replied after a nervous swallow as he manned his station. ?Negative, sir. Enemy cruiser?s dovin basals are still focused on the outbound vector. We will be unable to jump to lightspeed. The vessel has remained behind the enemy formation.?

?Is there any way we can counter the effects? Could we use the [i]Corusca Rainbow[/i]?s gravity well generators to stop them??

?They?re still operating, General, and I don?t see any change. The only way we?d be able to retreat would be some crazy stunt to take out that cruiser.?

?Did someone just say ?crazy??? A voice suddenly asked over the comm. Alandro straightened himself and looked over at the comm station where the controller stared back at him with a look of bewilderment, shrugging like he had no idea what was going on.

?This is a private military channel. How did you come across it?? Alandro demanded in a stern tone. ?The penalty for such an infraction can cost you dearly.?

?I have my ways.? came a cool reply.

?Who is this? State your name.?

?My name is of no importance at this moment. We are on the same side afterall.?

?What is it you want then??

?We know of the situation, General. There will be no way for you to take out that vessel. The fleet would be decimated by those coralskippers and then that grand cruiser before you make it there.?

?What are you suggesting??

?Assign command of all available starfighter squadrons to us. We will lead an assault on the cruiser itself and take it out.?

?That?s just as crazy as leading the fleet in!? Alandro protested. ?You?d be picked off before you made it, you said so yourself.?

?But fighters are smaller and will have a much easier time to weave through enemy fire. Once we make it through their line, we?d have no trouble dealing with the single cruiser. Besides, your ensign was the one that suggested something crazy.? There was a pause as Alandro turned to look at the young ensign who suddenly began blushing. The voice continued. ?Of course those Imperial TIE fighters won?t be of any use to us. They don?t have hyperdrives. Once we get that trap down, we?ll have the remaining fighters jump to a rendezvous point of your choice. It will be there that we will reveal ourselves. Do we have a plan??

Alandro looked around the bridge and saw all attention was turned to him. He saw his first officer who gave a slight nod. Danni Quee gave a nod as well.

?You have the fighters of the [i]Corusca

 

?Overall, the fleet looks in good shape. The pilots have already been debriefed and have been given plenty of down time. We had only minimal losses. Our task force saw the loss of the Gyrados. The portion of Kre?fey?s fleet lost the Celestial Prism and Imperial forces reported losing the Cockatrice. The fighter losses were significant yet the numbers had been greatly reduced from previous engagements the New Republic has reported. Ms. Quee?s work did a great deal for us.?

Alandro sat in his ready room listening to his first officer?s report of the battle hours later. The rendezvous point appeared to be an open area of space away from the major hyperspace lanes. A cloud of green, blue, and purple gas off in space acted as a womb for a new star being born. Alandro had come across the area in his first years of being in command. He had often come back to check the star?s progress, waiting for the day when it would shine brightly. He took a sip from his mug of caf and replaced it back on the glass desk before allowing Pyke to continue.

?Imperial forces have already returned to Bastion. They didn?t have much to say. There was some tension I could sense between the two groups. They declined our invitations for them to come onboard the Phoenix to chat with you. The Imperial commander in charge decided reporting to the Moff Council was more important. Kre?fey?s ships stated they?ll be heading for Coruscant to check in with the Advisory Council. They will be leaving within the hour.?

Alandro nodded as he stared off into space.

?The Phoenix sustained minimal damage during the battle. Concentrated enemy fire had managed to melt through our armor and puncture the hull. We?ve had to seal off sections on several decks because they?ve been exposed to vacuum. We?ll need to head for the nearest repair docks for that kind of damage to be fixed. We don?t have the resources for that kind of work. The nearest shipyards that can accept us are days away. Bilbringi has stated they have their open slots for the fleet that will be coming back from Ithor. Coruscant is always too busy and Fondor and Mon Calamari are too far away.?

?Krystofer?? Alandro interrupted. ??I see what you?re aiming for. We could all use some good R and R after today.? The general smiled. ?I already have a course plotted for Kuat as soon as we?re ready to go.? He wheeled his chair backwards and stood up. ?However, not just yet. There is still some unfinished business to tend to.?

Alandro stepped out of his ready room and onto the bridge with his first officer behind him. The general turned and addressed Pyke. ?You have the bridge. I?ll be in the conference room.?
________________________________________________________________________

Nom Anor stepped down from the A-Wing and breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the rough coral hull beneath his feet. The Yuuzhan Vong commander that had picked up the small craft scowled at him, angry at the idea of an abomination resting in his vessel?s hold. He shied away from the Yuuzhan Vong Executor, afraid he would become shamed if he came into contact with one that dealt with abominations.

?Take me to your villip choir.? Anor demanded.

The commander barked an order and a lowly worker stepped forward to lead the executor out of the holding bay. The hunchbacked worker lead the way without a word, passing through several organic doorways that peeled away before them.

The room the worker led Nom Anor too consisted of several communication villips resting in their dormant states.

?Leave me.? Nom Anor spat out. ?Your presence sickens me already.?

The worker bowed low and quietly left the choir room, leaving the executor alone. Nom Anor walked over to the nearest villip and examined it, looking for the one he was interested in. It took several examinations of the many villips before he found the one he was looking for. He stroked the brown leathery ball and waited for its twin partner to awaken. Nom Anor waited for several min

 

OK, thats the end of the story for now. Look for the next installment to come in a few months.

 

Ryan is making some limited progress, so in a couple of weeks time I may start posting the rest of the story.

 

OK, so I kinda lied there, but there will be a new update soon. Promise...

 

Bumping this up. This story is still incomplete and Ryan has expressed interest in continuing the story to its conclusion one day, plus I kinda want it saved for the board move, and Herman said something about unlocking topics and bumping them up, so blame him.