Chapter 2: Forges of Ithyari

[Mara 29]

"Eleven..."

"I see them, Six," Kaden answered Aston. "Same tactics as last time... Keep them in front of your lasers; don't let them get behind."

Kaden sped his X-wing forward to meet the new flight of eyeballs coming for them, falling easily back in combat mode.

* * * * * * * *

After entering the HQ of the N.R. Starfighter Command, the man headed towards an information desk. Best place to start if any. He put on a friendly smile and engaged the young woman's attention.

"Hello... I am trying to find someone."

Edited April 15, 2008 by Mara

[Rogue 4]

Another X-wing pulled up from beneath the tree-cover, entering the sensor's range again and coming in right behind the TIES. It let off a very well-placed quad-burst that hit the first TIE right in the wing pylon, sheering the solar panels right off and sending it into a barrel roll down into the forest where it finally exploded in a brilliant fire. The X-wing then seemed to be heading on a collision course for Aston Kendall's X-wing until it nosedived beneath his fighter, passing with hardly a foot between them at high speeds, and giving them a clear shot once more.

When he came out the other side, Nat inverted, then turned over as he moved to re-enter formation with the others.

---

The Starfighter Command receptionist, a woman born in the lower levels of Coruscant, had thought that today was going to be a boring day. Then this man walked in, and up to her desk. Tall, blond, and muscular. She swore he came straight of daytime holovision, just to smile at her.

She found herself smiling back. "Good Afternoon sir. How can I be of assistance to you?"

Edited April 15, 2008 by Rogue

[Mara 29]

He cleared his throat. "Yes. I am trying to find someone who works here." The man pulled a flimsi out of his pocket and glanced at it. "A Lieutenant Kaden Staal? Do you know where I can find him?"

* * * * * * * *

Kaden hadn't even blinked when the LT's fighter came barreling underneath them, but he heard a sharp intake of break coming from Aston's comm and a burble (joyous or surprised, he wasn't sure) coming from Artie. Once the view was clear, his lasers struck another TIE dead center in the cockpit, exploding it to bits before he and Aston blew through the debris cloud.

He quickly took his fighter upwards and around to avoid the two remaining and more maneuverable TIEs from getting on his tail. Once again, he had them in front of him.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant," Kaden intoned before letting his lasers fly at the two TIEs once again.

[Rogue 4]

"Arni---Thank you, Eleven." Nat felt embarassed as he almost responded in Twi'lekki, a language Kaden certainly wouldn't understand. "Let us show these pilots why they picked the wrong side."

[Bad furday 57]

"Alright then," said Arlan. "I'll need to go to the maintaining machine terminal first and compensate for the addtional load of explosives. Then I"ll have the

process hold the droids a bit longer at the last step, so that we can load the explosives onto the droids. The explosives will detonate whenever you time them

to, so while I'm at the terminal, set the timers and get ready."

Arlan climbed up the access ladder to where the computer terminals to the maintenance system were kept. He plugged in his datapad and began making corrections.

As Arlan did this, the three other Revenants busied themselves at the last stop on the line, setting the timers on the charges and preparing to load up the

unsuspecting droids.

There was a slight hum, and then-

"System is now acting according to our plans!" Arlan yelled to heard above the noise in the service bay. "Get ready!"

The robotic arms swept up an excavator droid, and performed all the diagnostics it was assigned to do. Once cleaned, cleared, and set back down again, the droid stopped for a few seconds infront of the Revenants before heading back down to the mines.

" Now!" said Tak. They tossed explosives into the hopper of the excavator droid, as it began to move again, disappearing down the hatch.

Moments later, another unsuspecting droid arrived in the same spot.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Bad furday

[Mara 29]

Kaden responded by quadding his lasers to concentrate on the left TIE who was trying to pick through Aston's shields.

"Six.... power up your shields..." he called out over the comm.

He quickly took apart the enemy fighter, but it was too late for Aston: his forward shields had weakened from the battering of the two remaining TIEs and a shot got through, damaging one of his S-foils.

"I--I'm okay..." Aston spoke up after registering the damage. "It's not bad."

Edited April 16, 2008 by Mara

[Drake 53]

"I set the timer to trigger the explosives in ten minutes," said Takeshi. "Let's go."

After checking to make sure the corridor was clear, the group ran out of the droid maintenance room back the way they had first come. They were nearing the ordnance bay when Atuarre suddenly stopped, her ears perking up. The other three stopped next to the Trianii.

"What is it?" asked Tak in a whisper.

Atuarre let out a low growl. "Boot-falls. Ambush around the corner."

Tak sighed. "Of course there is." He pulled two thermal detonators from his belt and thumbed on their timers. "How close?"

The Trianii tilted her head, listening to any sound coming from around the corner. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that the pair of grenades were slowly counting down to detonation. "Forty feet."

"Excellent." Tak moved to the corridor intersection and lobbed one of the thermal detonators around the corner. He threw the second one right after but not quite as hard as the first, to maximize the damage spread.

There were several gasps and shouts right before the two grenades detonated, atomizing everything within their blast radii.

Leading the way, Takeshi moved around the corner, blaster ready in case he had missed. However, the corridor was empty, save for the pair of perfect spheres carved into the floor and walls. Moving up to the edge of the closest crater, Tak said, "Lucky for us this is the bottom floor in this section. Otherwise we'd have to jump it." He hopped down onto the exposed foundation then pulled himself up on the other side of the crater.

By the time Tak was up, Atuarre had already deftly lept across.

"Show off," he said. Looking at his chrono, Tak added, "Six minutes."

***

Aeric ran down the dimly lit corridor. He had a blaster in each hand with the pack full of explosives on his back. He came across another protocol droid and immediately shot it down. There was no time to stop and shut it off.

When a pair of Stormtroopers rounded a corner ahead of him, he opened fire while barely slowing down. They dropped with smoking holes in their chestplates before getting a chance to raise their weapons. There was no time to stop and make sure they were dead.

He had studied the layout of this base and knew that the fuelling station was close. There was no time to stop now.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Drake

[Mara 29]

Just after the last TIE had exploded, Kaden wasn't sure who had hit it--they were all pulverizing it with lasers, he noticed four more blips on his sensor screen. Artie responded at the same moment with a couple short beeps.

He set his jaw and formed in his fighter with the other two X-wings to meet the incoming fighters.

Something about the whole situation still wasn't sitting well with him. Why were they sending in just waves of four, one at a time?

* * * * * * * *

The woman he thought to be the secretary had turned her gaze away from the sight before her to type into her computer console. He waited patiently with his hands at his sides as she bit her lip in concentration, seemingly confused.

"There's no one here by that name, sir."

All but his eyes, enlarging in surprise, changed in emotion. "Are you sure?"

[Drake 53]

After crossing the second blast crater, Tak reached down to help Layla up after him. Arlan was standing a little way down the corridor, glancing nervously at his chrono while Atuarre was already ahead, scouting for danger.

"You alright?" he asked Layla, quiet enough that only she could hear.

[Mara 29]

The man rested his palms on the top of the woman's desk. "Please check again. Perhaps he was promoted. Check everywhere for just Kaden Staal."

She sighed and typed rapidly for a few moments. "I'm sorry, sir, but he doesn't exist. Do you have the name right?"

He pulled his hands back to glance at his piece of flimsi again. "Lt. Kaden Staal, Golden Eagles squadron. Eagle 5, leader of the second flight." The man recited this all off, though he didn't know what most of it meant."

Some more typing on her keypad. "Lt. Race Bannon leads second flight now, sir." Without waiting for him to reply, she moved on, only because he was fragging hot and only because she felt sorry for him. "If you tell me why you need to find this Lt. Staal and who you are, I might be able to get you in contact with Lt. Bannon."

The man nodded and didn't speak for a while. He was busily trying to form some sort of reply, that wasn't quite the truth. "He's...my half brother. We lost touch of him a few months back. I wanted to surprise my mother."

The secretary grinned. "If you wait a moment, I'll try to bring up some information for you."

He smiled back. "Thank you."

* * * * * * * * *

Kaden and Aston spread out behind Lt. Riamor, the three of them forming a loose triangle as they flew ahead to meet the new flight of TIEs coming for them.

[Rogue 4]

Layla grabbed his arm at the elbow, using his help to climp up by the others. "Fine," She responded quietly, enough that they wouldn't hear. "I was just making sure Arlan got over okay. He's not used to all this physical exertion."

---

Jya led them outside. Only two imperials had stood in their way, both taken out easily by the skilled combatant. Nima ran behind her as fast as she could carrying Szen, who seemed to be in shock from the whole ordeal. It wasn't long before they were at the treeline, Jya comming Captain Brier Fae for an emergency pick up.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Rogue

[Drake 53]

To everyone, Tak said, "We're going to have to push ourselves to get clear of this place in time." He checked his chrono. "Five minutes. Let's move!"

Takeshi started to run with Arlan and Layla behind him. They caught up to Atuarre at the scene of their earlier battle. There were two technicians laying with their necks broken next to the half-repaired power conduit. Without saying a word, they all ran up the stairway.

***

Aeric had finally stopped running. He was now inside the fueling station and lurking through the shadows, trying to avoid the droids and human workers that were moving about. The station was large, with a dozen massive fueling tanks spaced around the room. He was getting closer to one of them now.

He found a small maintenance crawlspace beneath the fuel tank and slid inside. Working quickly he removed his pack, opened it, and set the timer on the explosives. Once finished, he slid the pack into a small compartment above his head then snuck back out of the room.

Aeric began to run again. He had ten minutes to get out alive

[Vergere 1]

Getting a call, Brier excused herself to answer the comm. Getting the request, she told them she'd be down as soon as possible. Returning to the dinner where the Imperials are, "Excuse me, gentlemen. I got a call from the planet that I need to perform a suprise inspection on one of the main governmental buildings. I'm sure you understand." She nodded, saluted, and returned to her shuttle, checking to make sure there were no added devices on it that could track her or worse.

Brier imput the coordinates into the computer, and quickly landed in a nearby open area, opening the shuttle bay door. She jogged over to the opening to the shuttle and gasped as she saw Szen. "What happened?" She got out of the way so that they could get her inside.

[Rogue 4]

"Frag grenade." Nima explained, laying Szen down on the flight couch. Her lekku curled, a long shudder running down them as she looked over Szen's injuries once more. "The Captain's still inside--- I have to start treating her now."

Edited April 24, 2008 by Rogue

[Mara 29]

After letting the Lt. fly ahead to target one of the TIEs, Kaden banked away to get a clear shot at another of the four, keeping his lasers quadded and aiming for the cockpit. Aston did the same on the opposite side of Lieutenant Riamor, going for a different enemy fighter.

The three X-wings flew through a debris crowd with one remaining eyeball in it, the result of multiple laser shots through their flight. Quickly they turned around to face the remaining TIE.

* * * * * * * *

"If you ever have another question, please feel free to come see me!" The woman called after the young man, hoping he would come back and see her.

He walked out of the HQ building with his new information about some Lt. Bannon on another sheet of flimsi grasped in his hand. Before deciding what to do next, he found a bench near the entrance and sat down. He needed to rest, and to think.

[Vergere 1]

"Do we need to wait for him here?"

[Drake 53]

Sorry Furday. Gotta post for Jya...we need to finish this chapter some time this year, lol.

Jya turned back toward the open landing ramp now that her charges were safe in the care of Captain Fae. She stopped and looked back at the disguised Arkanian officer. "You should go. More of our teams might need to get picked up as well. I'll have the droids on the unmanned X-Wings slave up to mine and," she paused for a second, "I'll wait as long as I can for the Captain."

Edited April 25, 2008 by Drake

[Vergere 1]

Brier nodded. "Understood. Stay safe. I'm going to try to get these guys out of here as fast as possible." She then took out her comm and made sure the frequency was only on that of the squadron. "This is Captain Fae. I am picking up people that are wounded or need assistance. Let me know if you do, or if one of your wingmates needs me to pick them up." Brier looked back at her new charges. "Are you guys stable enough for takeoff?"

[Drake 53]

Nima looked up from what she was doing. "Yes. Just try to avoid sharp turns, barrel rolls, or Imperial attacks."

[Vergere 1]

Dryly, "Well, you sure know how to take all the fun out of flying. Sheesh. Next you're gonna tell me I can't turn off the gravity in here either." She just shakes her head dramatically and heads up to the cockpit again, closing up the hatch and beginning to get the shuttle prepared for takeoff again.

[Drake 53]

The four Revenants, sent to destroy the droid foundaries of Iriya, emerged from the stairway and ran down the straight corridor toward the exit and their X-Wings beyond. They didn't bother with ducking beneath the windows this time.

When four Stormtroopers burst out from a side office, the group didn't even slow. In fact, Atuarre sped up.

Takeshi reached behind him, unsheathing his katanas. To Layla and Arlan he said, "Keep running!"

Atuarre grabbed two of the soldiers by their throats, then slammed them both to the ground, with bone-cracking force. They both stopped moving. She glanced back at Takeshi but started running again when she saw him.

Tak took two blaster shots to his armoured chest and one to his thigh before reaching the remaining two troopers. One of them brought up his blaster but Takeshi quickly removed that hand with a quick slash of a blade. The trooper bent over in pain, grabbing at his bleeding wrist. Tak's katana came up again, this time stabbing straight up through the soldier's head. Meanwhile, the other trooper had unshealthed his service gauntlet dagger and was lunging at Tak's seemingly exposed left side. However, the Lieutenant deftly side-stepped, and brought his other weapon around for a clean decapitation as the Stormtrooper stumbled past.

Quickly flicking the blood from his katanas, Tak sheathed them and ran out the doors. Layla and Arlan were already lifting off while Atuarre was just about to. Glancing at his chrono, Tak saw that it read [00:01:04]. He swore and climbed into his X-Wing as fast as he could. The pain from the blaster shot to his leg was being dulled from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. That was good. It would buy him precious milliseconds to get in the air and away with the rest of his team.

"Sixxa!" he shouted at his droid. "Let's get the froz out of here!"

It took another twenty seconds to make it into the air. He spun around in a full 180 and hit his thruster to full, following the other three Revenants under his command.

The factory grew smaller behind them as the distance between grew larger. In a matter of seconds, it was just a speck against the moutains.

"Come on, come on," Tak said to himself, willing their fighters to gain more ground. He had no idea how large the explosion would be but he would rather be safe than sorry. His chrono beeped once, as a warning. He opened the comm to the rest of the flight "Five seconds! Here it comes!"

Five seconds later the landscape behind the escaping X-Wings burned bright like a nova.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Atuarre risked a quick glance behind her into the fireball. She whistled appreciatively over the comm. "Lovely explosion. Great job, everyone!"

Her droid tweedled angrily. She switched off her mic before answering.

"Yes, I'm well aware we cut it close." More tweedling. "I don't know all the finer points of X-Wings, but I'm pretty sure this is as fast as it goes......No, I don't think you really want to cut the shields for more speed........Lasers either. We might need those.......Sithspit, you're paranoid........Alright, alright! Listen, once we get groundside, if you want to tweak this thing to make it go faster, go right ahead. Just don't break anything. From now on, I'm calling you Speed."

Crazy droid....

[Ayingel 24]

This is all unconscious, so..yeah...

Szen felt as if every pain she's ever experienced was hitting her all at once. She wanted to scream, cry; she almost wanted to die. Colours were rushing at her from all sides, screaming by her face, rushing past her body. Then, suddenly, it all stopped. The pain lessened, the colours stopped moving. It was peaceful here, wherever she was. As suddenly as they stopped, the colours began moving again, and Szen felt as though she were being ripped apart at her very core.

[Vergere 1]

Getting no responses from anyone else in the squad, Brier began to take off from the planet to leave so that Szen could get the best medical attention as soon as possible.

[Mara 29]

The man sitting on the bench glanced at his chrono and, seeing what time it was, quickly jumped up and hurried down the walkway to hire an air taxi. He had let time get away from him and needed to get back to his shuttle right away. Finding Lt. Bannon could wait for another hour.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Mara