Beyond - Legends Toong'l Expedition (OCs)

Title: Toong'l Expedition
Timeframe: The Unifying Force
Characters: Armand Dantes (OC), Cait Lethi (OC), Kaliv Grelem (OC), Davi Smee(OC), Kenos Ossinian(OC)
Summary: After an Intellligence mission went terribly wrong, Special Agent Armand Dantes has exiled himself from the Yuuzhan Vong war. But the conflict makes its way to his hiding place, and the Galactic Alliance calls him back to return to the planet that killed his only friends. With a new team made up of Intelligence rookies, Armand must overcome his fears of leading to ensure that the yammosk on Toong'l is destroyed without repeating the death toll of the past.
Notes: This will the last story I'll be posting here for a long while. It'll be my "retirement." Hope you enjoy it.

~~~~~
Prologue

Armand Dantes held Wik?s body as the man?s life slipped away. Buron, one of their fellow agents, had betrayed them all, and within seconds an amphistaff had sheared through Wik?s counterfeit vonduum armor and torn into his heart. His dead Yuuzhan Vong brand rolled away as atmospheric turbulence pounded the ship. Blood was smeared everywhere in the small ship, and as they rocketed away from Toong?l, it flowed into a crimson pool at the rear of the cabin.

Armand squeezed his friend?s body with blood stained hands, hoping that his physical strength would keep Wik?s life in place. But hope began to fade when Wik?s breathing did the same. Wik?s mangled chest stopped moving just as the tiny craft broke into deep space, leaving Armand as the only living being for thousands of kilometers. Leaning against the opposite bulkhead, Deela?s dead body stared blankly at him, and somewhere back on the surface of Toong?l rested Turk, also pierced by a living blade.

Eyes squeezed shut, Armand tried to block out the events of the past half-hour, the feel of blood soaking his chocolate skin, and the growing stiffness of the body in his arms. He was still attempting to forget it all when, hours later, his ship completed its pre-programmed journey to New Republic space.


~~~~~
New Assignment


SIX MONTHS LATER



The office door slid aside about five centimeters before it came to a rusty halt. Grimacing, Armand kicked it open all the way and entered his dank office. It was a small, cramped, and faintly malodorous room, but it was out in the darkest corner of the most unimportant building of Mon Calamari?s most out of the way city, so Armand actually found himself liking the place. The work?filing requests for agricultural machinery?was menial to the extreme, but that meant that most of Armand?s day was spent playing games on his data terminal with a bottle of something strongly alcoholic at his side.

Reclining in his padded chair, he ignored the pile of datapads in his ?In? box and pulled open a desk drawer. A half-empty bottle of Whyren?s Reserve and a shot glass greeted him warmly. He poured himself a tall shot and threw his feet onto the desktop to enjoy it.

His terminal beeped, signifying that he had a message waiting for him. He brought it up, and in one-eighth holo, a young woman gave him a reproachful look. ?Mister Dantes, this is Doctor Lethi again. It seems you have decided once more to skip our scheduled appointment. I must stress that these therapy sessions are for your benefit.? She ran a hand over her attractive face in vexation. ?I?ve scheduled another session, one you can?t miss. I?ll be in your office twenty minutes.?

Armand choked on another shot. This message was sent fifteen minutes ago, while he was at lunch. And Doctor Lethi was the type to arrive early to everything.

The tarnished door piercingly slid aside again, but not before Armand hid his whiskey back in his desk. The young Doctor Lethi strode into Armand?s office without knocking or asking permission, a datapad in her hand. Her cocky strut drew Armand?s eye, but the unhappy expression she was turning on him was what made him grin.

?Afternoon, Doctor,? he said cheerfully. ?It?s been a while.?

She planted herself into a seat a

 

I got the first post! Smoothing non-existent wrinkles from her skirt, as she always did when preparing to leave

I dunno why I found that funny, but I do! Courtney_Solo

 

Cool story. Another wraith-like team.

I'm very interested to see what kind of personalities his new team has and how well Dantes gets along with them. I hope Lethi is one of them.

And you're talking Vong so that will make it interesting.

I'll check back for more.

 

Wow, readers so quickly? Thanks guys, hope you stick around as things go on.

 

The Jedi



The large transport rocked slightly as it came in contact with the Yuuzhan Vong prisoner ship. Armand felt rather than heard the impact; with his sound dampening combat helmet on, all noises over a certain decibel level were cut down to something his ears could handle. With the docking collar secure, he released himself from his restraints and moved towards the Yuuzhan Vong vessel.

An acrid stench smacked through his closed helmet as soon as he stepped onto the coral ship. Two Alliance strike troops glanced at Armand, saw his expression through his clear visor, and laughed to each other. More strike troops moved all along the hold, leading captured Peace Brigaders into the Alliance transport. Deeper inside the ship were more of them, fighting to reach the Alliance prisoners housed somewhere in the bowels of the vessel. With them was a Jedi named Kenos Ossinian, who was the first new team member Armand was supposed to pick up. He wasn?t happy with the decision the Directors had made?one thing Armand didn?t need on his team was a tree-hugging Jedi advocating peaceful alternatives to killing the yammosk on Toong?l?but if he was stuck with the Jedi, then there was nothing he could do. It was unusual, though, that he was being sent to such a war zone to find this man. Armand had always thought Jedi were adverse to directly offensive military actions.

Walking over to an unoccupied soldier, Armand flashed his Intelligence identichip. ?Special Agent Armand Dantes, Intelligence,? he said over a broadband comlink. ?I?m looking for someone here. A Jedi named Kenos Ossinian. Do you know where I can find him??

The soldier looked over at him. If the matte black armor, helmet, and visor weren?t enough to send a shiver through Armand, the vibroblades, blasters, and grenades lining the soldier?s body did. ?Yes, sir,? the soldier said. ?He?s at the front with First Platoon.?

That explained why the Jedi was here. He was probably helping with the medical treatment of injured troops. ?What about the officer in charge here?? Armand asked. ?I need to talk to him too.?

This gave the soldier some pause. ?Just a moment,? he said, then turned away to speak on a private frequency.

A moment later, another soldier came running over. This new one had a helmet modified to accommodate Devaronian horns. ?Private First Class Kortasha, sir,? he said by way of introduction. ?I?ll take you to the captain. Stay close.?

Leading the way, the private began jogging through the areas already secured by the strike troops. At least, Armand assumed they were secure by the amount of dead Yuuzhan Vong, Chazrach, and Peace Brigade bodies strewn through the winding corridors. Unfortunately, quite a few strike troops lay with them. ?Did the coma gas not work as expected?? he asked the soldier. The gas, developed by Intelligence, was supposed to make boarding Yuuzhan Vong ships easier by putting everyone inside to sleep.

?Not like you advertised,? the private responded, stepping over a stack of dead Chazrach. ?Most of the Peaceniks are out, but some got to eviro-suits pretty quickly. The Vong don?t seem to mind the stuff at all, and their reptoid cronies have masks on. We had our worked cut out for us, but the captain got us through most of it with some fancy gun work.?

Grimacing as he stepped in a puddle of what he hoped was only blood, Armand nodded. This captain sounded like quite a warrior. Maybe he should have been the one assigned to the Toong?l expedition.

Blaster fire became audible, then grew to a high-pitched thunder rather quickly. Rounding a corner, Armand and the private found themselves staring at a light fight. Alliance soldiers, behind the cover of dead Yuuzhan Vong cargo creatures, traded laser blasts with Peace Brigade troops. The corridor was intersected a few meters ahead of the Allliance troops by another hallway, then it rose steeply, and on the more elevated end, the Brigaders had the Alliance troops pinned downed well. They fired when Alliance soldiers moved

 

Oooh.... suspense.

?Know how to use one of these, Dantes??
"Uh...no, I'm sorry sir."
"Then you are of no use to me." *BaM!!!*
*Dantes falls down dead*

No, I'm just kidding with that, . I liked it!

Courtney_Solo

 

Aw, c'mon, Courtney, that's not the Jedi way Thanks for coming back.

 

Bio-tech Wizard



Kashyyyk was once the site of battle during the Clone Wars, Armand knew, but obviously whatever damaged that had been caused by that conflict was fully healed. Beautiful worshyr trees rose like mountains above and sunk farther than he could see below. He tried to take it all in as he walked with the Jedi towards their next team member, enjoying the exotic landscape.

The stunning scenery ended very suddenly, replaced by the sterile duracrete walls of a Galactic Alliance research station. Nearing the security station dressed as they were, the men were an imposing pair?Armand was in the typical black suit the whole galaxy associated with NRI, and Ossinian wore a black Jedi robe that showed off his lightsaber and pistol enough to suggest his garment was tailored specifically for combat.

A nearby Twi?lek security guard jerked himself from gawking at the blatant show of weaponry to look at Armand. ?Gentlemen, please leave your weapons with me. Then if you would step over here and have your identichips ready.? He gestured and spoke dully, obviously spouting off a memorized passage he?d given thousands of times before.

Armand glanced in the direction the Twi?lek indicated and saw a line of beings waiting to enter the facility. At least two dozen aggravated beings shifted impatiently from appendage to appendage, crawling towards the entrance.

Ossinian exchanged a frustrated expression with Armand before he turned to the guard. In one motion he drew his pistol, ejected its magazine into his other hand, spun it on his finger, and presented it butt first to the guard. ?You don?t need to see our identification,? he said soothingly. ?We?re here on orders from Dif Scaur himself.?

The Twi?lek looked at him blankly as he took the weapon. ?Dif Scaur himself,? he repeated. After a second he glanced downward and shrugged. ?Right this way, gentlemen.?

When the guard left them on the other side of the static security line, Armand turned an impressed expression to his companion. ?I?d heard stories about those Jedi mind tricks. I didn?t know they could be so useful.?

?Mind trick?? He barked out a laugh. ?I?m terrible at those things. I just slipped the guard a twenty when I gave him my weapon.?

Armand blinked. ?Well, bribery?s another type of mind trick. Good thinking.?

Continuing deeper into the installation, Armand and the Jedi found themselves in long, bright white hallway. They followed its jagged twists for dozens of meters before passing through a door that looked better suited on a space vessel than in a research facility. Beyond it, transparisteel viewports offered views into rooms on either side of the hall. Scientists hustled about in each of the rooms, eagerly continuing their experiments after taking brief glances at the newcomers.

Armand recalled a holograph from his memory and began matching it with the faces he could see. When he saw a small young man hunched over a small plastic tank, he didn?t have to see the vaguely rat-looking face to know he?d found Davi Smee. At only twenty-four years of age, the man had survived the bombardment of his home planet, over a year in a Yuuzhan Vong slave camp, and a dangerous escape with the help of a local resistance force. During that time, the former biology student turned his knowledge of local and Yuuzhan Vong biology to develop the Galactic Alliance?s fledgling knowledge of bio-technology. Armand had no doubt that he?d used many of Davi?s creations on his prior insertions.

Entering the sterile room, Armand and his Jedi companion startled everyone but Davi, who kept his long nose deep inside whatever he was studying. Armand and Kenos approached his back until they were close enough to touch the young man. Reaching outward, Armand tapped the man on the shoulder. ?Davi Smee?? he asked.

He yelped and threw his hands into the air. Something black flew from them and landed on the white tile floor, rolling over to put itself on six spindly legs. It took a brief moment to compose itself before it be

 

Dante is a piece of work.

I can't get over what he did to Tatch

This is great. Looking to see who else is on the team.

 

Nothing gets a good laugh like some good, old-fashioned toilet humor. I'm happy you're still around, Lolo64.

 

Eye of the Stormtrooper



Two waves converged on the amphibious vehicle, spraying almost a whole liter of saltwater into the cramped hold. Armand ducked his head and closed his eyes, hoping to quell a stomach roiling with seasickness and fear. Around him, a score of Alliance soldiers tried to do the same. One failed, spilling his breakfast onto the already wet deck of the churning vehicle. Grimacing, Armand leaned away from that man.

The Jedi stood next to him, looking as comfortable as any man could when he was on his way to invade an island. His boots remained firmly on the deck despite the boat?s rocking, and despite Davi?s clinging to his leg. Armand hoped it was the Force that helped keep the young Jedi upright?it was a sobering notion that maybe Kenos was actually used to this sort of thing.

A heavyset sergeant strolled up and down the ranks, yelling over the roar of engines and crashing waves. ?Twenty seconds! I want a clean dispersal this time! Move fast, and clear that beachhead. No more than two meters between beings??

Another man?an officer?added his orders to the noise. ?Suppress that crab armor. Concentrate on your team leader?s target. Don?t get sand in your weapons; keep those emitters clean.?

Armand had to wonder if any of the soldiers were even listening. This was the second wave of the invasion of Thia, an island on Corulag from which Alliance command wanted to base their future invasion of the whole planet. Fighting was already fierce on the beach and in nearby Yuuzhan Vong structures, but there was going to be plenty left for these men. Armand wondered if this assignment hadn?t turned too deadly to accomplish.

As if reading his thoughts, the Jedi looked to him. ?We?ll be fine. Just stick with the fire team and watch your back.?

There was a violent lurch, and the boat had landed. The front panel dropped away, giving a clear view of the chaos beyond. Yuuzhan Vong warriors ran headlong at Alliance fire teams, who mowed down individual warriors with concentrated blaster fire. Bands of warriors stuck together, running through Alliance columns, dropping four or five soldiers at a time before being put down. Bodies dropped by the dozens every second, and from the ridge beyond the beach came more warrior reinforcements, eager to raise the death toll.

It all hit Armand in a millisecond, then the men around him began dying. A volley of razor bugs slammed into the first rank of soldiers, cutting through their armor and the flesh beneath. One fortunate soul deflected a bug with his plasteel helmet, but the soldier behind him paid the price for that luck. His blood splattered everywhere, adding more drops of scarlet to the already burgundy seawater.

Alliance fire teams on the beach moved to engage the Yuuzhan Vong reinforcements, denying them the cohesion that would allow such devastating bug volleys. Though distracted, the new warriors continued their charge in the hopes of destroying the Alliance second wave while it was still landing.

A lieutenant next to Armand hefted his rifle. ?Let?s go, boys!? he screamed, then led his troops in a charge off the boat. He hardly had a boot in the water before an amphistaff sliced his throat. Responsive blaster fire erupted centimeters from Armand, burning his ears.

Frozen with pain, he hardly felt a hand smack his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Kenos yelling at him. ?Over the side!? he said. The Jedi had Davi in his hands and was already tossing him off into the ocean.

A harsh snarl behind Armand gave him all the reason he needed to jump. He rolled over the edge of the boat?s wall and plunged into the murky water. Under the cover of the cool liquid, schools of multicolored fish swam in a formation no yammosk could hope to rival. Darting right and left in a side-winding path, they fled the battle, racing to more peaceful waters. As he felt his bouncy bring him upwards, Armand wished them luck.

Harsh light from crisscrossing blaster bolts blew apart the early morning fog when he came back to th

 

Im enjoying your story alot so far. It is a shame you'll be leaving fanfiction .

Im pretty confident that this story takes place during TUF, am I right?

 

Im enjoying your story alot so far. It is a shame you'll be leaving fanfiction .

Thanks, Mike, I'm glad. Too much of everything else, though, means its time to concentrate on real life for a while.

Im pretty confident that this story takes place during TUF, am I right?

Exactly right.

 

Can?t discuss that here, Sergeant

"Why not?"

"I have to pee." Just kiddin'!!!! Yeah, I know it's not the 'jedi way'.

 

I'm happy to see you're still around, Courtney.

 

Is There a Doctor in the House?



The sign above the entrance of the Tough Actin? Firaxan cantina popped loudly before exploding. Had it not been the brightest light in the place, no one would have heard it over the rumble of conversation and music sung by drunken Rodians. But Armand noticed it; sparks fell on his bald head, and his table dropped into almost complete darkness.

?Real classy place,? Kenos commented over the lip of his mug.

?I heard stories about Mon Calamari back home,? Kaliv said, staring nervously at a wall that was leaking water. ?This wasn?t in any of them.?

?Which means the Yuuzhan Vong are less likely to know about this place,? Armand responded. ?And even if they did, they wouldn?t be crazy enough to come in here. Even the Chadra-Fans are packing heat.?

The only one of them that didn?t seem to notice the squalid surroundings was Davi. He was staring eagerly at Kenos, assaulting the Jedi with questions about the Order. ?So, how did you become a Jedi? Was there a written test or something? No, probably a Force power test, right? Like in that holodrama Bright Knight, where Cowan had to pass a test for Luke Skywalker, but he failed and went to the dark side. Have you gone to the dark side?? The Jedi ignored him, which Davi took as a sign to speak louder. ?I mean, has anyone gotten to you so bad that you wanted to go to the dark side??

Kenos gave him an annoyed expression. ?I can think of one who?s getting there,? he said testily.

Davi frowned, but before he could speak again, Armand interrupted. ?Davi, it looks like you need a refill. Why don?t you get us another round??

?Sure,? he replied, and moved to the bar.

Armand looked at Kenos. ?I thought you Jedi were eternally patient.?

The Jedi smirked and raised his mug. ?I can?t help what you think.?

?So, what are we waiting for, exactly?? Kaliv asked. As he spoke, he adjusted a hat made out of the skin of some animal only he could name. It wasn?t in any style Armand had seen; that only furthered his opinion that people in the Remnant were just plain weird.

Using his mug to gesture, Armand indicated an empty table in the middle of the cantina. ?Our next team member, Letin Ciat, will sit right at that table, table sixteen. We?re waiting for her to get here.?

The drunk Rodians in the corner shifted musical styles, changing to a slower, more romantic tune. At the same moment, as if celebrating her entrance, a pretty young woman walked into the cantina. Her self-assured gait made Armand?s draw drop. Doctor Lethi?s here? He decided to watch her as she moved, and for more than the obvious reasons. Business came first, but he wanted to mark her location for a later conversation. He kept his eyes on her as he gracefully slipped between tables and stumbling patrons to sit at an empty table.

Table sixteen.

Armand choked on a mouthful of ale and cursed the woman for her facility for making him do that. ?Well, there she is,? Kaliv said. ?Pretty as a Jorgia sweetfruit, too.?

Grinning, Armand ran a hand over his bare skull. ?Okay, guys, get out of here. I?m going to go work my magic.?

Kenos gave him a curious glance as he and Kaliv stood. ?Force be with you.?

?You?ll need it,? Kaliv said.

Armand waved them away and began walking towards table sixteen. Weaving between crowds, he purposefully kept his presence hidden from the doctor until he was only a few meters away. Then he emerged from the perimeter of the crowd, smiling at a very startled psychiatrist. ?Fancy meeting you here,? he said as he sat. ?You know, Letin Ciat, I can?t help but think that we?ve met before.?

Doctor Lethi snorted and shook his head. ?Mister Dantes, for some reason I?m not surprised. And what irony?you finally catch me alone, in a raucous cantina, but I?m sorry to say that I?m with someone. He just hasn?t arrived yet.?

?Hasn?t he?? He bit his lip thoughtfully. ?And Intelligence men are usually so punctual.?

The doctor froze for the briefest moment. ?What did you say? How did y

 

Center Stage



This was where things got a little difficult. Scouring the galaxy, rounding up random soldiers, scientists, and doctors, wasn?t easy, but in all of those different situations, Armand was only a visitor. Battlefields, research laboratories, and dank cantinas weren?t usually regarded as places about which an Intelligence agent would have a leading amount of knowledge. But that had changed now that they were entering Intelligence training, and everyone was looking right at Armand for the information that would keep them alive through the next mission or doom them all.

As he stepped into the training room, and as four pairs of eyes turned to him, his stomach fluttered and his sweat glands began working double time. Wiping balmy palms on his pants, he took a deep breath and consoled himself with the thought tat this was only training. They were a long way off from the real thing?at least, for now. With every step towards his teammates, he couldn?t help but feel the planet of Toong?l?and the Yuuzhan Vong?inch closer to him

Throwing himself headlong into his work would cast those thoughts away, he decided. He walked into the room, nodding a greeting to everyone, and stopped behind a rolling cart. A black plastic sheet covered its contents, and the odd shapes that protruded from it added to the mystery of what was being hidden. To further tantalize the curiosities of his companions, Armand acted as if it wasn?t even there.

?Good morning, everyone,? he said. ?And welcome to New Republic Intelligence. That?s right, we are not Galactic Alliance Intelligence; the Chiss, Remnant, and Hapans do not know what it is we are to do, or even that we are being assembled here today. Chief of State Omas, understandably, doesn?t completely trust our allies in this war.?

He waved a hand through the air. ?But I?ll get to our mission later. Right now, it?s much more important that we get to know each other and why you?re here, as we?ll be spending a lot of time with each other over the next two and a half weeks.?

A few steps brought him around the table and in front of his teammates. He stopped in front of Kaliv and put a hand on his shoulder. ?This is Sergeant Kaliv Grelem. He?s from the Imperial Remnant and served as a stormtrooper in the 501st Imperial Legion?the legendary ?Vader?s First.? Since leaving the Remnant and joining the New Republic Army, Kaliv has earned four Nova Star awards for bravery, and has been injured in combat three times. He?s participated in countless actions with Alliance Special Operations, working with Chiss and Imperial units many times.? He taped the man?s shoulder and smiled as Kaliv blushed from all the attention. ?So, I?m sure this guy can get along with even you dirt bags.?

They all shared a laugh as he gestured to Davi. The small man smiled slightly and wiped away unruly hair from his face in preparation for an introduction. ?Davi Smee is a twenty-three year old bio-engineer genius. He was stranded on his homeworld for a whole year after it was invaded, learning to get by with a gang of survivors on Yuuzhan Vong flora. Adding that to his knowledge of this galaxy?s biology, he brought a wealth of knowledge to our scientists when he escaped. Since then, he?s been increasing that knowledge, and all that work has been vital to us Intelligence guys. I?m sure I?ve used plenty of his creations on my past insertions, and I know he?ll see a few familiar toys on this one.? Davi nodded and waved to the others.

The broad shouldered Jedi was next. He glanced around uncomfortably when everyone else looked at him, but his discomfort was quickly hidden behind his emotionless face. ?Kenos Ossinian is a Jedi Knight who?s been involved with this war since Ithor. After that battle, he enlisted in the Army and became an officer after the loss of Coruscant. He commands the 1534th Special Operations Company, a unit Kaliv was briefly a part of. He?s been injured numerous times, five of them seriously, and according to his medical records, his left shou

 

I will consider that a weird team for now.

Can't wait to see them in action.

 

Yeah, certainly a bunch of random personalities. Thanks for reading, Mike.

 

I'm so glad that you sent me this link! I'm loving the story! Obviously you took some artistic license with Cait's physical appearance, but I'll take all the "credit" I can get (it's always nice to have someone write your character to be prettier than you really are!). You pretty much nailed me on the control freak part, though *sheepish grin*.

I really like this Davi character, he reminds me of Riley from National Treasure. And Kaliv is so cute! Southern drawls in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...I love it! Kenos is, as usual, his kickass self, and I'm definitely a fan of Armand, dysfunctional as he seems.

Anyway, my friend, I look forward to your next post and I'll get to work on my fics so that you can read them. *hugs*

~E_S

 

I've missed some posts.

I like the team. They'll do just fine, no matter what the actual mission.

Can't wait to see what kind of toys they get to play with.

?I mean, has anyone gotten to you so bad that you wanted to go to the dark side??

Kenos gave him an annoyed expression. ?I can think of one who?s getting there,? he said testily.

Is he one of Kyp's Jedi's? Maybe Wurth Skidder's twin brother? Sounds like he could be.

Armand choked on a mouthful of ale and cursed the woman for her facility for making him do that.

I hope there's a little romance action in this fic. I can't wait for these two to get together.

 

Earwien: I'm glad you're enjoying this. You better be, since I'm only doing it because I lost that stupid bet .

Lula65:

Is he one of Kyp's Jedi's? Maybe Wurth Skidder's twin brother? Sounds like he could be.

No, not at all. You'll find out why he is the way he his.

I hope there's a little romance action in this fic.

Well, we'll see, won't we? Thanks for reading.

 

Just letting everyone know that this while be on hiatus for a little bit. Crap-loads of school work are taking over my life.

 

I was out of the country when you started this one, so perhaps I can be forgiven for missing up to this point
Regardless, I'm here now, and I'm excited to read another one of your stories. I know this may be the last, but it's already shaping up to be a good one. I love how you can take common themes and spin them into something new and fit it seamlessly into the GFFA, which is what Star Wars really is at it's heart.

 

Who awakens this thread from its homework induced slumber?

Oh, it's Neo-Paladin. Thanks for showing up to this one (and yes, you're forgiven.) I'm glad you're enjoying this one because I hope to go out with a good one. When I get back to this thing (should be in about a week) I hope you stick around.