TIS - Chapter Seven The Battle for the Galaxy Continues

Homer sat in a small prison cell aboard the Heron, meditating on the Force. It was a small room, with only a bed mounted against the wall, and a toilet.

His tunic off, Homer's bones ached from the electroshock he had received, and his back was covered with welts, from the burns he received on the torture rack. He accepted the pain, thanking the Force for alerting him that his body was damaged. Slowly, the pain went down.

It late at night, Homer had no way of telling the exact hour, but it was certainly late at night, since the guards had switched shifts hours ago. Homer thought of CiCi, instantly his concentration was broken from the Force, and his ailments raged again with pain.

"Did she make it back to the Heron?" Homer asked himself.

"If she didnt, these people will people will pay dearly." Homer vowed.

He would never forgive himself if anything happened to CiCi. Although he was a Jedi, and fear very rarely came to him, the thought scared him more than anything.

Homer was falling in love with this girl, and if she was in trouble, He was helpless to to do anything about it. And as far as Illusion Squadron went, no amount of torture would ever make him talk.

Apparently Illusion Squadron was enough of a plight to Darth Mulder, ratting them out could seriously affect the New Republic.

Homer could hear someone coming towards his cell. Homer wondered who would be coming at this time of night. To Homer's suprise, it was Darth Ash. Two lightsabers now hung from Ash?s belt, one of them was Homer?s.

"Greetings Jedi." Ash hissed.

"What time is it?" Homer asked.

"It's 3am Core time." Darth Ash replied.

"This is an odd hour to come here." Homer said

"I was just coming to warn you." Ash said with an evil smirk.

"Warn me of what?" Homer asked.

"Your girlfriend CiCi." Ash replied.

Homer jumped up, and walked closer to Ash.

"What about her?" Homer growled.

"We have her in custody. If you dont start spouting some answers, we might have to hurt her." Ash lied.

"You'd best not lay a hand on her." Homer warned bitterly.

"Its a little late for that, I had my hands all over her." Ash lied again.

Homer stepped forward.
"You lie." Homer said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, do I?" Ash said, pulling CiCi's crystal necklace from under his shirt.

Homer's eyes grew wide.
"Where did you get that?" Homer growled.

"I took it from her after I had my way with her." Ash replied.

"The Force help me, if that is true, I will kill you so brutally, that I will lose my Jedi Knighthood." Homer hissed.

"Her skin was so soft, and her hair smelled delicious." Ash grinned wickedly.

Homer began to tremble with fury. He could feel the Dark Side overtaking him.

"She just kept screaming: "Homer! Help me!", but all in all, she enjoyed it." Ash continued with his lies.

This was too much for Homer. He screamed and punched the wall as hard as he could, causing chunks of dura-crete to fly in all directions.

"You'd best start telling us where Illusion Squadron is located. CiCi is set to be executed tomorrow." Ash said.

"I'm ready to start talking." Homer said without hesitation.

CiCi took Trika's hand and shook it compasionatley, "Thank you Trika...thanks to all of you guys."

CiCi knew that they were taking a big risk going against New Republic orders. Her eyes meet the Generals, "How about it Kevin? I will not go back to Corruscant without him."

Kevin nodded, "I will not leave any Talon in the hands of the Empire, not when there is a chance to save him. The Republic will have to wait."

"Then we haven't much time. I have an idea on how we can get him out." CiCi walked across the corridor into a small conference room. Mara, Obi-Wan, Kendrick, Cobra, Trika and a few others followed her. The rest of the Talons would stay with the General and rid the ship of the rest of the Stormtroopers that now infested its halls.

~~~

Not much later, they were standing in the hanger bay of the Heron. They would split up...some would fly to the Unnatural inside the Imperial Cruiser that the Stormtroopers had used to shuttle over from Mulders ship. The others would man a few X-Wings and fly out ahead of them to launch a small attack against the Unnatural as a distraction. Sounds like a sucide mission, she thought silently.

CiCi sat inside the Imperial Cruiser and watched the X-Wings fly out towards the Unnatural. This was going to be a dangerous mission. She could only hope against the odds that Homer was still alive...it had been almost 12 hours since he had been taken on Corellia. She did not know what she would do if he was dead. She closed her eyes and prayed silently.

They would have to do this quickly and quietly. The group sat silently in the shuttle as Mara piloted the shuttle out of the hanger. They were headed right into the Lions den.
Hang on Homer, we're comming.




[This message has been edited by LeiaB (edited 05-02-2000).]

Darth Agent Mulder's blue-black eyebrows raised in suspicion as he felt several minds shift. Mulder was stronger in that aspect of the Force, and he picked it up in a matter of seconds.
"The rebels are mobilizing," Mulder said absently, continuing to stare out into the stars. "They've come to get Starkiller."
"Can you be certain, my Lord?" Jeremiah Smith asked cautiously, not wanting to upset Mulder.
Too late. "Yes, Smith. I am quite certain of every action I take. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I-I wasn't questioning, my Lord. I was merely-"
Mulder flipped around, red eyed flashing. "What you were doing, Smith, is exactly what the Empire doesn't need." With little effort, Mulder initiated a Force-strangle on the man.
Jeremiah Smith clawed at the invisible grip, only to find that the fingers wouldn't relent, wouldn't let go, wouldn't allow him escape. The darkness pulled him under. Smith collapsed to the floor.
"Tooms?"
A new officer stepped up. "Yes, my Lord?"
"I hereby promote you to Admiral, Eugene Tooms. Dispose of the body. The bridge is yours, Captain."
"Thank you, sir. Yes, sir."
Mulder's aura changed slightly, and Tooms picked up on it. "Anything wrong, sir?"
The Dark Lord of the Sith shrugged, continuing to display his unreadable expression. "Nothing, Captain. I believe Starkiller just took a walk on the Dark Side. Darth Ash must be tantalizing the Jedi."
The Captain seemed to dwell on the thought for a moment, eventually bowing and returning to the bridge.
"Stormtroopers on every hall, Captain. They're not getting away."
*****
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, I mean, Coruscant...
*****
"This is preposterous!" Mon Mothma flushed at the thought. "I've known all of the members of Talon Intelligence Squadron well enough to know that these allegations are completely false!"
A few of the other Council members roared in disapproval, some in favor of her idea. One, Frohike, held up a hand.
"All New Republic military are not infallable. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes."
"Other than a one-hundred percent reliable background check before they are assigned on duty," Leia Organa Solo snapped back at the representative.
"I can guarentee the information I have received from these systems is valid," Frohike retorted, sensing things tightening. If they ever found out Darth Agent Mulder was behind this...
"I guess we will find out when they arrive today," Admiral Ackbar broke in with a cease-fire, at least for now. "When are they due in?"
One of the attendants stepped forward. "Uh, sir, they were due to land at least two hours ago."

[This message has been edited by Darth Agent Mulder (edited 05-02-2000).]

"Where are they?" Darth Ash asked.

"They are on Malastare." Homer replied solemly.

"Malastare? You better not be lying." Ash said.

"I'm not. Now will CiCi be released?" Homer asked.

"No." Ash replied.

"What?!?!" Homer bellowed.

"I am going to personally execute her myself." Ash replied.

In a last resort, Homer called on the Dark Side. He thought of the hatred he felt for Darth Ash, for what he had done to CiCi, and what he was about to do to her. Darth Ash felt his throat being squeezed tightly through the force.

The Jedi used their skills for knolwedge and defense, never attack. Homer didnt care, he would destroy Ash by any means neccasarry. Ash called on his own hatred to loosen the grip. Suprisingly, Ash could do little to counter Homer's strength in the Dark Side. Ash began to feel faint, his throat was being squeezed so hard, blood began to foam at his mouth.

Ash pulled a blaster pistol from his holster, and aimed it at Homer. Homer crumpled the blaster effortlessly, still keeping his hold on Ash. Ash called on the Dark Side once more, and Force pushed Homer back against the wall, knocking him unconcious.

Ash took a huge gasp of air, and spat blood onto the floor. He walked over to the cell, where Homer lay unconcious. Ash opened the cell door, and ignighted his saber. He would destroy Starkiller once and for all. Just as he raised his saber, to decapitate Homer, Ash's commlink went off.

"Darth Ash, your needed immediatly." Mulder hissed through the comm.

Ash deactivated his saber, and locked the cell door back, and went to see what the problem was.

Trika was placed in the group with CiCi, primarily because she was a hacker, she supposed. Isn't that how it always went?
She supposed...
They transport was now inside the hanger bay of the Unnatural, and no doubt they would want some sort of codes. Frantically searching amongst her array of disks and manuals, Trika sliced an easier Imperial code and sent the transmission.
All must've been clear, because the transmission came back approved. Or they were walking into one of the most highly sophisticated traps she'd ever encountered.
"Everyone know their role?" CiCi asked impatiently.
Trika gave a pessimistic shake of her head. "I don't know about this, CiCi."
"It's our best chance," Mara agreed.
Trika looked into the eyes of her three fellow hackers. "You guys know what we've got to do. Let's get to it."
The Talons on board broke and scattered, some in a group to clear the stormies, some on the mission to rescue Homer.
And some on a major death wish suicide mission... Trika thought wryly as she positioned herself against a computer terminal in the deeper cooridors of the Unnatural.
The original plan, if all went smoothly on the other Talons' end, was to hack into the computers, stirring things up a bit, moving on, distracting the Imps and leaving Homer ripe for rescuing. The problem being, Trika didn't exactly want to get caught.
She shook her head and punched in a few commands. She could tell where her squadmembers were through sensors and the information being placed in other terminals. Trika did her job, packed up and took off.
The hacker dropped into a crevice and plugged in again, this time messing up some of the main functions on the ship.
Well, if the Imps were as sharp as ever, you could tell it. They'd fallen into the scheme perfectly, with the hacker team on the raw end of the stick. The sound of stormtrooper metal clanking shut Trika up.
Her heart was thudding in her chest. Sweat was beading on her forehead. Oh Force, please make them go away... she gently nudged their minds, persuading them that she had moved somewhere else. Anywhere but here.
They took the idea. The sound disappeared.
Trika breathed out hard and long. Now if only the other Talons were having as good of a time as she was...

[This message has been edited by Trika_Kenobi (edited 05-02-2000).]

Confusion. Pure and utter confusion. Those were the only words that Telia could use to describe the current situation. The Talons were currently going to go rescue Homer. And if the rumors that she was hearing were right, they were going against High Command orders.

She really had to laugh to herself. Telia sure seemed to have a lot of practice in keeping things secret. What is one more thing to complete the list.

Jaren turned to her with a concerned look on his face. "How are you and the baby holding up, Hon?"

"Jaren, we are both fine." He gave her a not quite convincing look. "Really." She didn't want to tell him that she was a little tired though.

"Well, Tel, as soon as you get tired or begin to push yourself too far, tell me." She gave him that familar look of defiance. "I know you don't want the baby to get in the way with your performance in battle, but keeping you two safe is my main concern right now. Period."

She simply gave him a special smile as he placed his hands on her stomach and gave her a quick embrace. She held on to him a bit longer than he expected, soaking in his warmth and extra energy.

"Jaren, maybe when we get back from this mission, we can decide on a name. And you can get started on building the babys' room." She smiled, but sighed to herself. Things would slow down after the rescue, and maybe she could get some much needed rest.

[This message has been edited by Jedi-Jade (edited 05-03-2000).]

Jaren wasn't all that thrilled with having Telia along on this mission. He was never happy to have her risking her life. If she were to be killed on some forsaken planet, he didn't know what he would do. He would never mention that to her face though. He respected her too much to try to tell her what to do. He had to let her make her own dicisions, no matter how much he might be worried about the outcome.

But now with the baby on the way, things were different. She wasn't risking her own life, she was risking the life of their child, and that really frightened Jaren. She could be injured and live, but at the cost of that small life.

Jaren pushed that thought from his mind. He had to concentrate on the mission at hand. One of the squad was in trouble and it would take the effort of everyone to help him.

Jaren slid up to the corner and used a small hand mirror to look around the edge. Seeing nothing, he signaled for the others to advance. Telia and Tuugrn moved quickly around the corner, short-barreled blaster rifles held ready. Jaren pocked the mirror and rounded the corner to take up a back-stop position behind Telia and Tuugrn.

"Where are we, Trika?" he asked quietly into his commlink. Jaren had no idea where Trika had gone; all he knew was that the hacker had access to the internal sensors in this sector of the ship and she was monitoring their progress.

From the other end of the commlink connection, Jaren could hear Trika accessing her computer. "You are in aft corridor 21," she said. "Go left for 15 meters. I'm shutting the blast doors on the adjacent corridors so you aren't ambushed."

"Thanks," Jaren said as the group crept along.

According to their best information, Homer was being held in detention block 482, about 100 meters from their current position. They had to get to him quickly and get out again before the Imperials realized what was going on. Trika and the other Talon hackers were doing a good job of keeping them busy with system failures, closed blast doors, and atmosphere problems, but they couldn't keep it up forever.

The team came to one of the blast doors and paused. They had to get past this door, but Trika had obviously closed it for a reason.

"Trika, whats the scan on this door?" Jaren asked.

"There is a squad of stormtroopers on the other side. It looks like they are trying to cut through the door."

"I copy that, Trika." Jaren said. "On my mark open the door. We're going in."

Jaren gave a few hand signals and the team took up positions on either side of the massive door. From the pockets on their vests, each person took a thermal detonator and hit the arming switch.

"Ready? Move!" With a groan and hum of servos, the door irised open.

At the same instant three thermal detonators went sailing into the room to vent their explosive energy into whatever was beyond.

As soon as the blast dissappated Jaren was into the room, blaster sweeping to find a target. He slid along the right side of the wall to make room for the other Talons who were right behind him.

He spotted one trooper standing, trying to regain his balance and find his weapon to bring to bear on this new threat. Jaren fired and three scorch marks appeared on the trooper's white helmet, sending him crashing to the floor.

Before the man had even finished his fall, Jaren had brought his blaster to face another stormtrooper who had taken cover during the blast and was now preparing to fire. Scarlet bolts lanced out at Jaren but the trooper hadn't had time to take proper aim and he soon fell victim to a short, controled burst from Jaren's rifle.

Telia and Tuugrn both shot one stormie who was fumbling with his comlink, attempting to call for reinforcements from the cover of a computer alcove.

"Clear."

"All clear."

[This message has been edited by Idiots Array (edited 05-03-2000).]

Mulder sighed. What was he going to do with untrained men running around with stormtrooper armor?
So far, the prognosis wasn't good. Some bloody hacker had gotten into the system; no, scratch that, four bloody hackers were messing up the computers. It was obviously a diversion.
"Captain?"
"Yes, my Lord?"
Mulder was about to say something when a cry came from one of his teams. The hackers had hit again.
"Can we see where those hackers are?"
Tooms searched his data pad, flipping it facing Mulder. "We can see where they plug into the outlets, but nothing more, my Lord."
"Is there any particular pattern that they are hacking in?"
"Uh, no, sir, they seem to be irregular and complex at what they do."
Mulder mused on the thought for a moment. "What of Starkiller?"
"Security is on alert. We've stormtroopers on both hallways."
Mulder smiled. "Good."

Homer woke up on the floor. He had a nasty gash on the back of his head, from where Darth Ash had Force pushed him against the wall. Homer felt remorse for what he had done, he had given into his hate, and used the Dark Side. It hadnt even helped CiCi. If anything, he had failed her even worse, for now he had gone against everything he had beleived. Homer stood up and prayed to the Force.

"I am sorry for giving into my hate. Please let CiCi be okay, I care about her so much, I couldnt live with myself if anything happened to her." Homer prayed.

Suddenly the door across the way opened. Homer couldnt believe his eyes. CiCi and the other Talons ran in.

"Are you okay?!?" CiCi asked Homer.

"Yes! Are you?" Homer replied.

"Of course!" CiCi said, while Teila slid a fake ID card through the cell access computer.

The cell door slid open, and Homer and CiCi ran to embrace eachother. After holding eachother for a moment, Homer pulled back.

"Did he hurt you?" Homer asked CiCi.

"Who?" CiCi asked in a confused tone.

"The Sith, that captured me.....he told me he hurt you." Homer replied.

"No, I havent seen him since I left Correllia." CiCi said.

"Thank the Force, your alright." Homer smiled. Than kissed CiCi lightly.

"Alright, this is all sweet and everything, but we need to get out of here." Jaren pointed out with a grin.

"I have something to take care of first. Me and CiCi will meet you down in the hangar." Homer said.

"Alright, but we cant stay long, we're going against orders to come and get you as it is." Jaren said.

Homer looked puzzeled, and then nodded.
"Thank you, all of you. I owe you my life." Homer replied.

Jaren nodded back.
"see you in the hangar." Jaren said.

Homer and CiCi walked into the corridor.

"Where are we going?" CiCi asked.

"I have some unfinished busniess with a Sith." Homer said.

Kevin had launched in the abandoned X-wing with a few others in hope that he could keep on CiCi's plan and keep the Unnatural at bay. He had only four fighters with him, but it was a good force. They were armed with a few mag pulse warheads; a few cases of this expensive ammo was found near the ships.

He keyed his comm unit. Callisto, Ric, and Stone manned the other fighters. "Talon flight, there's our target. Key it as 'Primary 1' and break off. Link your targeting systems to mine and stand by. Fire when I say so."

He got four acknowledgements, and continued on. "S-foils in attack position. Break by pairs. 30 seconds to target launch." The X-wing screamed on, flying past large groups of turbolaser bursts and anti-fighter missiles. He rotated once, twice, three times, and flew past an outcropping of turbolaser batteries. He got several warnings from Stumpy, large waves of fighter craft were launching from the ship. At any moment he could be turned into free plasma and hydrogen ions.

The Unnatural started to rotate on its central axis; a move that pointed out its captain was getting quite fed up with the fact that he was surviving. The ship was huge, a large space slug could not have swallowed it whole. Kevin's fighter seemed to be crawling along the hull of the behemoth.

He continued to dodge onslaught after onslaught of laser fire. He looped, and caught a fighter in his sites. The fighter moved to evade, and sideslipped out of his view. He snap-rolled and kicked up a hard etheric rudder turn. Kevin's fighter turned and followed the enemy TIE. He triggered a quad burst, and one bolt blasted a hole through the TIE's port solar panel. The damage didn't look like much, but the bolt had severed the wing, and ripped free from the cockpit. The fighter was destroyed in a matter of minutes.

He led his fighter towards the aft ship section, a part filled with energy and static stabilizers and huge engines. He found his target: a small vent port meant to give away unneeded exhaust and waste. He keyed his missile launch system and launched two magnetice pulse warheads at the tiny port. He keyed his comm unit once again and said, "Talon Lead, target acquired. Launch two and bug out."

His three fighters launched their missiles almost instantly, and six purple streaks flew towards the port. A normal mag pulse warhead would desimate a ships capacity to fire it's weapons for an amount of time. But when used correctly, these little weapons could cripple a ships ability to fire, maneuver, and enter hyperspace. Hopefully, these missiles would do just that. Hopefully. All of the missiles struck home, and each ended with shower of purple and yellow sparks. The ship's guns went dead, but Kevin could evaluate the ship's engines. He keyed his comm unit again. "Callisto, damage estimate."

Callisto, in the number four fighter, chimed in, his voice quite joyful. "Target 'Primary 1' is dead. She's not going anywhere."

Kevin smiled. "Good. Now let's clean up some of these fighters."

"You got it, boss."

[This message has been edited by Talon Squad Leader (edited 05-03-2000).]

It was like a puzzle, hacking was...tricking the Imps into one place, going another. Quite fun once you got into it and forgot you were risking your life...
Trika opened another blast door and locked the next one, sensing stormies on the other side. She didn't want company that bad.
According to the sensors she had access to, there were "intruders" in the detention block. Locking all commmunications in that sector, she sent the codes to enter in addition to the fake ID card they had.
Now, all she had to do was get back on board the Heron. Trika packed her computers and crept along the cooridoors, hiding half the time and waiting the other. She nearly let out a scream when she ran into two friends.
"Homer, CiCi! Let's get out of here!"
"I've got to take care of some unfinished business," Homer said with a twinge of hatred in his voice.
Trika abruptly grasped his arm. "Do I sense the Dark Side pulling up and asking you to hop in?"
Homer looked like he'd been slapped for a second with Trika's sarcastic, but so true question.
"I'm serious, Homer," Trika kept her serious expression. "I don't know what I felt a little while ago, but I'm not entirely ready to let it slide as my imagination. Please reconsider," Trika quietly pleaded. "And besides, there's no time. I sense stormtroopers behind us. I leave that decision up to you." With that, she let go of her grasp and ran off in the direction of the hanger bay, looking to catch up with the rest of the Talons.

Kendrick stood in the hallway directly outside the hangar with several other Talons, keeping the area relatively clear of Imperials. The task was becoming more difficult with every passing minute. It seemed whenever he looked up, another squad of troopers had joined the already sizeable mass down the hall. The Imperials and Talons exchanged bursts of blaster fire. The latter had been lucky so far. They had suffered no casualties.

In a momentary lull in the fighting, Ken activated his comlink.

?Jaren, you got Homer??

?Affirmative that, but Homer and CiCi are coming down separately. He had to take care of something.?

Kendrick swore under his breath. Popping out from cover, he sprayed the corridor with blaster-fire, driving back the stormtroopers creeping around the corner. Ducking as the Imps? scarlet lasers hissed all around him, he hit his comlink again. ?Tell them to hurry. We can?t keep this guys at bay much longer.?

?Will do. Just keep ?em down for a few minutes more.?

Jaren signed off. ?A few minutes is all we can afford,? Kendrick muttered, squeezing off another shot. One of the stormtroopers dropped to the deck. Almost simultaneously, he heard one of the other troopers yell something. Ken caught a glimpse of something glimmering in the light and a moment later several metal canisters flew toward them. They rolled to a stop less than two meters away.

A hissing sound immediately began to fill the air. Lowering his blaster, Kendrick wrinkled his nose, then his eyes widened.

?Gas!?

<<Sorry if my posts arent corresponding with you all's. I'm leaving tomarrow, and wont be home til sunday, and so is LeiaB, I wanted to wrap this up before we leave. >>

Darth Ash stood before Darth Mulder.

"These Talons have destroyed both units of stormtroopers guarding Starkiller. He has escaped, and is somewhere aboard this ship. I want him found, and I want him found now." Mulder hissed.

"Yes my Lord, I will find them, and I will crush them." Ash replied.

"Yes, you will, or I will make sure you never become a Sith Lord." Mulder shot back.

Ash bowed and backed away. Walking out the door, Ash thought to himself.

"Mulder doesn?t know that Starkiller told me the whereabouts of Illusion Squadron. After I kill Starkiller and his companions, I will personally destroy Illusion Squadron, and Mulder will make me a Sith Lord for my duties. And I will certainly not fail against Starkiller, destroying him means too much." Ash thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Homer, with CiCi behind him, crept down the long corridor. They turned a corner, and entered a large room with an enormous viewport, and Darth Ash was ahead of them, and he seemed to be looking for something. Homer motioned for CiCi to stay back. Homer silently crept up behind Ash. Ash looked out the viewport.

"Soon, all of this will be mine." Ash thought to himself, while momentarily looking at the vastness of space.

Then a movement in the reflection of the transparisteel caught Ash's attention. Ash spun around to see Homer's fist headed straight at his face. Ash fell backward, but before he could even hit the floor, Homer had slugged him in the gut, causing him to slump forward. Homer followed up with a Force powered punch to Ash's face, knocking him nearly out cold.

Homer bent over Ash's motionless figure, and yanked CiCi's crystal necklace off his neck. Then Homer unclipped his lightsaber off of Ash's belt, and ignited it. He was going to destroy this monster before he hurt anyone else. Just as Homer was about to sever Ash's head, CiCi screamed.

"Homer! Watch out!" She screamed.

Homer spun around and blocked a saber slash from Darth Mulder. Homer countered it, and kicked Mulder in the chest, knocking him back. Homer spun around, slashing low at Mulder's legs. Mulder jumped over the blade, and brought his saber down to strike Homer's head. Homer, now crouched low, blocked the strike, and sweeped his leg under Mulder's feet, knocking him on his back. Homer brought his saber down on Mulder, but Mulder rolled out of the way, and slashed at Homer's head. Homer ducked it, and brought his saber in an upward swing, severing Mulder's right arm at the elbow.

Mulder let out a scream, as Ash now jumped into the battle. Homer blocked Ash's shots, then severed Ash's right hand. Ash screamed and crumpled to the floor. Just then, stormtroopers began to fill the room. Homer called on the Force, and in lightning speed, picked up CiCi and was out the door.

After a short run, they were to the hangar bay. Homer and CiCi ran up the ramp to their shuttle, and saw Obi-Wan and Mara waiting inside, ready to take off.

"Take a seat guys, were going for it." Obi-Wan said to them.

Homer and CiCi sat in the back, and finally had a chance to talk. Homer slipped her necklace over her head.

"I'm so glad to have you back." Homer told CiCi.

"I'm so glad to have you back." CiCi replied with a smile.

"So you guys went against orders to rescue me?" Homer asked.

"Yeah, direct orders from Mon Mothma herself." CiCi replied.

"Whoa, we're going to be in some serious trouble." Homer said.

"It doesn?t matter, I love you too much to let you just get killed by Imperials." CiCi said.

"I love you too." Homer replied.
"Well, if we lose our positions in Talon Squadron, I guess I'll have plenty of time to take you out on a proper date." Homer said with a grin.

"Shut up and kiss me." CiCi replied, returning the grin.

The ships took off out of the hangar, and set course for Corruscant.


[This message has been edited by Darth Homer 327 (edited 05-03-2000).]

Mara watched the byplay between CiCi and Homer with some amusement. Well, they are certainly direct about it... She smiled briefly and turned her attentions back to piloting the shuttle.

Her current situation quickly sobered the happiness she felt for CiCi and Homer. She was still very badly shaken by the death of her brother; she was surprised that she was in any condition to be on this mission. But after what had happened, all that she had felt through the Force as her brother died...

She shuddered, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach. No way was she going to let anyone remain in Imperial custody after that experience.

Which brought her to her other problem. By going along to help rescue Homer, she had been in direct violation of Mon Mothma's orders. This was the first time Mara had ever disobeyed any command of the New Republic, and she had a feeling that she was about to set another "first" for herself: the first time she'd ever been in very serious trouble within the NR. The thought made her even more queasy.

Compounded with her grief and shock, it was almost too much to bear.

Do not center on your problems so... you will only make yourself feel worse.

Shaking back her wavy brown hair, Mara took her hands off the controls long enough to stretch her arms. Enough of this. All of that lies in the future. All that matters right now... is right now.

Almost furtively, she glanced at Obi-wan Jinn, then away. She still had not told him how she felt; there was no sense in delaying it any further.

Taking a deep breath and pushing a stray wisp of blond-streaked hair out of her eyes, she looked back at Obi-wan. Nervously, she cleared her throat.

He started slightly, then looked up, meeting her gaze. "Yes?" He waited, and Mara silently cursed her sudden inability to speak.

"Um..." She bit her lips, not sure of exactly how to say what she wanted to say. "Obi-wan... over the course of our last few missions, I've realized..." Her face suddenly grew hot. "I mean... what I'm trying to say is..."

She reached out and took his hands in her own. Her voice lowered to a near whisper. "What I'm trying to say, Obi-wan, is that I love you."

~*~*~*~*~

Whatever could be taking her so long?

Taos D'Lars was not known for being a patient man; waits of more than a few minutes bothered him. This wait had been going on since... He checked his timepiece. Almost half a standard hour. If it had been anyone besides Sondara Carre, he would have left long ago.

But for the Lady Carre, he would wait for however long was required of him.

The door to the conference room opened, and Taos looked up to see the familiar slender, feminine form of his employer.

She had not changed much since last he had seen her in person, almost a year ago; then, she had been young and quite beautiful. Now, she was still young, and if anything, she had grown more beautiful. Her silky obsidian black hair was worn up and secured, as was her usual custom, with expensive-looking lacquered zenji needles, and she was dressed in her usual black: long black tunic cinched tightly over a snug-fitting black jumpsuit, black leather combat boots, and sleek black leather gloves on her delicate hands. The darkness of her hair and attire brought out the ivory smoothness of her skin and the sparkling silver of her eyes, and the tightness of her clothing emphasized her slenderness. All in all, she was a vision of power and beauty, a studied contrast to Taos in his well-worn dark gray trousers, faded gray top, shabby brown nerfhide jacket, and battered dark brown boots.

"Please forgive my tardiness," she murmured in that musical soprano as she entered, flanked by a tall blond man with the air of a bodyguard. "I had some... personal business to attend to."

One of her zenji needles caught the light; Taos saw a fresh streak of blood along the side. Don't even ask... The tall, gaunt mercenary smoothed back his dull, dark brown widow's peak and raised his eyebrows. "So, my Lady, I believe you wished to see me?"

"Yes, Taos. I wished to speak with you regarding the bounty on Lieutenant

If Mulder was a betting man, he might've placed the higher wage on his troops. The same for his team. The same about himself.
Force! How can one measly Jedi overtake two Siths?! Mulder had always prided himself on being the best at what he did. Now, as he looked at his arm, the bleeding stopped because of the extremity of the heat from the lightsaber, he didn't know what had gone wrong.
Now the rebels were fleeing.
Darth Agent Mulder sighed. Such is the life of a Sith.
Perhaps he had been distracted, he thought, passing by the crumpled form of Ash. No, he'd been in situations like that before and passed with flying colors. He had killed stronger Jedi.
And now, as he joined Captain Tooms on the bridge, watching the Talons leave the hanger bay and fly off, it all seemed to be irrelevant.
"Tooms?"
The Captain snapped to attention. "Yes, my Lord?"
"Make preparations to fix this," he gestured to his missing arm. "And, in case anyone contacts you, tell them that the bounty for Jedi is still up."

[This message has been edited by Darth Agent Mulder (edited 05-04-2000).]

Obi-wan was dumbfounded, but incredibly glad to hear Mara say those words.
\\Now's the time!\\
Obi-wan dropped to one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked, "Mara, would you marry me?"
The same smile that Obi-wan had just had now crossed Mara's face- a smile of both happiness and disbelief.
"Yes," she said through a teary voice. "Yes, I will."
Suddenly an alarm began to blare, alerting the pilots to their ships for the covert mission.
When they arrived, they found that they would be aboard seperate ships, Obi-wan's matching Ty-gon's.
They wouldn't be flying together.
Well, not on this mission, at least. But as for every other...

<<I plan to post more tonight, and I figured this would be the best way to set this up since it would give an opportunity for everyone to be dealt punishment, if they want to.>>

Trika Kenobi let out a long breath. So this was it; everything came down to this.
They had landed a few minutes ago. From the tone of the landing officer's voice, the New Republic didn't seem too happy with their direct disobeying of orders. Exactly what she had feared.
She and the rest of the Talons were sitting outside of the main audience chambers of the Council. Things were quiet, though Trika could sense the happiness radiating through Obi-Wan and Mara. Something was up with those two...
Okay, things were really quiet. No one had really spoken a word since their arrival. In fact, there seemed to be a looming dread amongst the group.
Surely the Council would understand what they had to do was just as much a part of their job as obeying orders...
Trika fingered the collar of her tunic, wishing she still had a necklace to play with. At least she could bite her bottom lip...
The huge double doors open and a new air filled the waiting room. The attendant took a look at the dirty group of military officers and made a face.
"The Council will see you one at a time," he said, eyeing the group.
Trika stood up, clearly protesting. "Shouldn't this be a Squadron punishment, not an individual one?"
The attendant shook his head. "No, we've got more to say than that," he raised an eyebrow, "and, you can be first."
Trika swallowed hard as she looked at each of her friends before walking into the Council room, the huge doors shutting and leaving her to face them alone.

[This message has been edited by Trika_Kenobi (edited 05-04-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Trika_Kenobi (edited 05-04-2000).]

"Please, have a seat, Miss Kenobi."
Uh oh...formal name...I thought they got rid of that after I got out of school...
Trika nodded, taking a deep breath and sitting down across from the majority of the Council.
"Miss Kenobi," Mon Mothma started out, making Trika feel like a little girl, "we've know you since you started in the New Republic military and we consider you a person of good standing."
Am I supposed to say anything?
"You do realize that going against direct orders is grounds for a court-martial, correct?" she continued.
"Uh, on behalf of my squadmates," Trika began, "we were rescuing one of our members who was in Imperial hands. We believe that the welfare of our members overrides the other less-serious matters."
"Even if it risks the lives of thousands of others?" the one named Frohike asked suspiciously.
Trika eyed him. "What do you mean?"
Frohike snorted. "The whole reason for your coming back was so that you could be included on the mission to Ostron. Thousands, probably tens of thousands died for the sake of one person!"
Holy Sith monkey crap...
"Uh," Trika was honestly caught at a loss for words. "I-"
"Furthermore," Frohike kept on with his tirade, "we've received evidence that you've been involved in several hacking incidences which were illegal and totally against New Republic code."
Trika stood up. "That's a lie! I've only been in access to specific consoles in which the New Republic gave permission beforehand." The hacker caught herself and sat down again, a little embarrassed.
"What about these?"
The Council member to her right passed down a file folder. Trika opened it, skimming it fast, but thoroughly, and letting out a breath. They were all logs of her access to and from certain computers within the past two years. "Not all of this is correct," Trika could only think to say the obvious. "I've never been to Llantris nor have I had access to their system."
Another Council member rolled his eyes. "So we're to believe that someone has somehow gotten a hold of your passwords to some encrypt code, gotten a hold of your alias and name, gotten past security that not only you, but New Republic slicers set up, and logged on as you?"
Trika nodded sheepishly. "Frankly, yes."
A select few of the Council didn't laugh. A very select few.
Leia Organa Solo stood. "Enough," she silenced the rest of the Council. "We've hired Inspector Gavin Haaja to check the validity of these arguements and to prosecute you if necessary." The words look liked they physically pained her. "And," she said, looking at Trika with compassion, "we're going to have to ask you to resign your position from the New Republic until we find out the truth." She held out her hand.
Trika stared at the hand for a moment. So this was it.
The hacker unpinned her insigna off her uniform and handed it over along with her data card and ID. She left the chamber, walking back into the waiting room.
The first thing the other Talons noticed was her missing insigna.
"What-" one of her friends trailed off in silence.
Trika walked up to General Ski, forcing herself to look up. Tears filled her emerald eyes. "I've been dismissed, sir." She wiped a tear away and walked off, just wanting to be alone.

<<Setup? No? Yes? Next?>>

<<<Me! Me!>>>

Kendrick was called in next. Puzzled by Trika?s behavior, he was nevertheless worried but did his best to hide his anxiety as he stepped through the double-doors into the Council room.

?Captain Kendrick Quinn.?

He saluted stiffly. After a long moment, Mon Mothma waved her hand and allowed him to be at ease. She didn?t waste any time.

?Captain Quinn, are you aware of the charges against you??

Ken frowned. ?Charges, ma?am? All we did was make a slight course correction to save one of our own.?

?Duty before sentiment, Quinn,? a man standing to Mon Mothma?s left said. His lapel pin identified him as Frohike. ?Thousands of people may have lost their lives on your selfishness.?

?? What?!?

Biting back a feral smile, Frohike proceeded to tell him of exactly what Talon Squad?s rescue of Homer may have cost the people of Ostron.

Thousands? It couldn?t possibly be true? Kendrick swallowed the lump in his throat. ?We were not aware of this, sir,? he stuttered.

?Not only are you selfish, you are blind and irresponsible.? Frohike?s eyebrows came together. ?Are you also aware of the fact that you killed several civilians on Ord Mantell??

?That was ten years ago!? Kendrick shouted.

?So you admit it!? the other sneered.

Ken shook his head. ?They weren?t civillians ? they were members of a local mercenary group. They attacked my Intelligence team while we were scouting the area! We defended ourselves accordingly.?

Frohike cut him off, addressing the rest of the Council. ?Not only incompetent in his duties, but also a cold-blooded killer of the innocent! These are not qualities the Republic wants in its military officers.?

?These charges are ridiculous!? Kendrick shouted. ?Where did you get this information? The recyclobin outside??

Frohike?s face flushed, and Mon Mothma took that time to jump in. ?We will hear no more of this,? she said loudly. ?As of this moment, Captain Quinn, until further notice, you are hereby relieved of all titles and duties of the New Republic military.?

Kendrick?s mouth was open. He slowly closed it, and his expression grew cold. With one quick motion, he tore the Talon Squad insignia from his uniform and threw it onto the table in front of a smiling Frohike. Trika?s insignia was already lying there. His captain?s lapel pin followed suit, leaving him standing there, nearby trembling with rage.

Mon Mothma nodded to him. ?You are dismissed.?

Kendrick spun on his heel and as slowly as his leaden feet would allow him, strode out the door. He didn?t stop to speak to the other Talons outside. He just kept walking, eyes cast down, stalking down the hall and out of sight.

He no longer cared where he went.

This is strange; the page is cut off halfway down! Refresh doesn't work... maybe this will...

The tears fell silently as Trika hid her face in her lap. She sat crouched in a hidden corner, just crying.
Had she done any of those things? No. Simply "no". None of them. So why was she worried?
Because she had no proof.
Honestly Trika, do you think they'd believe you when you said you'd been framed?
Trika rocked herself back and forth, a futile effort to comfort herself. There was nothing that could make her happy now. Everything she had loved and wanted had been taken away, just like that. What was there to do now?
She supposed she had to stay here until the charges were pressed. Wryly smiling in hysteria, she wondered just how many of these systems claimed hacking crimes against her.
Trika continued to cry.

Things were running smoothly. Things were running as smoothly as they could after a rebel escape, that is.
Darth Agent Mulder smiled. Sure, they had gotten free. He clenched his right, now artificial hand into a tight fist. Sure, but what was happening on Coruscant was sure to do some damage.
"Captain?"
Tooms saluted. "Yes, my Lord?"
"What of the news on Coruscant?"
Tooms handed the Dark Lord of the Sith a data pad. "So far, the Talons have landed. They're being dealt punishment now, my Lord."
Mulder scanned the pad, nodding in quiet acknowledgment. "Frohike isn't having any problems getting the Council to agree with him, then?"
"No, my Lord," Tooms answered. "It appears he is quite successful."
"Excellent," Mulder smiled. "Make sure those charges are pressed to their fullest."

<<No, I am not dead. Just very, very sick. Bad stomach flu or something. Well, enough said. Here I go.>>

Kevin stood at attention. Several of his squad members had been dismissed. He would most like be following their trails if he did not do something soon.

"Mon Mothma," he said in a calm voice.

"Yes? Make it quick, General. I have business to attend to."

"I think these accusations are quite outrageous. I think that you should at least put all of these people up for trial."

"Frohike has sound evidence that these accusations are justified. The New Republic has no time for trials; we are at the brink of war with these, uh, Sith Lords, no thanks to you. If I am correct, I believe you affirmed their actions during the battle. I believe that means you could also be brought up on charges. Isn't that so, Frohike?"

He nodded, a deep and grave nod, but confirmed Mon Mothma's sayings.

Kevin stood in shock. He could not stand for this. "I believe I am right. I stand in defiance of these actions for dismissal."

"You cannot stop these proceedings, unless you are brought up on charges yourself, General. Do you wish to put your own career at risk?"

Kevin stood for a moment, and thought through his dilemma. He regained his posture, and cleanly ripped his squadron patch, battle flags, and rank from his suit. He threw them into a little pile at the feet of Mon Mothma. He looked up at her, his eyes glowing, his breathing as calm as ever, and hand on his lightsaber. "Yes, I do."