FSE

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_ "If you cannot afford to lose, you should not play the game." _~Prince Xizor

Talrik grunted as he climbed up the steep incline, ears folded back in pain and fear as he heard more shouts and swearing from the brigands below. A sharp crack rang out, the space right next to his left paw shattering in a shower of rock shards as a blaster bolt exploded next to him. He hissed, drawing his paw back and swearing as he leaned to his right, eyes falling on a more or less level outcrop of natural stone with decent cover. Trying not to put weight on his injured leg, he pushed against the rock face and lunged into the sufficient cover, just as another blaster bolt scorched the area where his midsection had been moments earlier.

He yelped, landing on his broken limb and writhing in pain, eyes watering as he struggled to sit up while cursing at his bad fortune. It would have been an easy matter to bind his leg in a splint, if he had not lost the sticks he had gathered on the way up. Now he was resigned to taking potshots at his attackers and wondering what the hell was taking Kajex and Syrra so long in bringing down the bombardment shield. The best that could be said about his situation was that he had given them at least 10 good and dead reasons to stay the hell out of his reticle, such that they could only fire intermittently.

He gasped, trying to regain his breath as he held his rifle out. He still had 2 thermal detonators, his pistol and a length of rope at his disposal, but the Black Sun thugs were out of his effective throwing range. Another shot splattered above his head, raining rock chips into his hair. Talrik leaned out of cover carefully, catching sight of the Trandoshan brigand who had stupidly allowed himself to reveal his head. Within half a moment, the fox had dropped the reptile with a shot to the eye.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of an approaching battalion of droids, the same ones he had sighted earlier- their leader guided the from the rear, taking cover behind a boulder and issuing orders for them to move in. With only seconds before they would be within range, Talrik leaned out again, getting the battalion leader in his sights and firing a single shot, ending his life.

It was not enough- one of the other thugs shouted a distinct firing order and the droids complied, their heavy blasters lancing repeatedly against the boulder and stony outcrop Talrik was taking cover in. He ducked, keeping his head protected with his arms as hundreds of blaster shots exploded against the rock face, the area becoming swelteringly hot as the residual energy dissipated around him. Unable to do anything more lest he catch a blaster bolt, he grit his teeth and cursed repeatedly, trying to focus on his mother and brother- if he was meant to die here, he intended for them to be his last living thoughts.

The rock surface of the outcrop he was laying on lurched horribly, and Talrik swore loudly as he heard a tremendous crunch, just as the droids ceased firing. He felt the outcrop give way, the stone crumbling from beneath him and causing him to lose balance. Scrambling to cling to anything, he found himself falling, shouting long and loud until he struck the steep rocky slopes and tumbled down some 70 feet, the vulpine's body wracked with pain as his head, arms and legs took the brunt of the damage. He reached the base still alive but dazed and bleeding, whining in pain as rolled onto his back- the fall had almost certainly broken his left arm.

The crunch of heavy boots on dirt and stone drifted into his ears- he could dimly make out the outline of a dark-skinned human with a rifle raised at him. Talrik closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable- his rifle was nowhere to be found, and his pistol and grenades were on his left side. He was ready to die.

"... Shoot the fox."

The words were enough to make him reconsider- he was not ready after all. "Don't shoot!" he yelped, eyes snapping open. He gasped, coughing up blood, only to realize that nobody had opened fire on him. The droids surrounding him had stopped with their rifles all held ready- but none of them had fired a shot. He stared for a moment, a flash of understanding illuminating the situation as a recent memory shot to the forefront.

"Been a damn headache, having to remember they do exactly_what_ anyone_tells them to do, until you tell them to stop."_

Anyone.

The human glared. "The fuck...? I said--"

Panicking, Talrik shouted first. "Shoot every member of Black Sun!!!"

Compelled to follow the orders of _anyone_who spoke, the droids turned in all directions and raised their rifles, opening fire at the black-uniformed thugs. Within moments chaos had erupted, blaster fire spearing in different directions and sending any Black Sun brigands who were not killed in the first volley scattering. With a panicked laugh, Talrik tried to move, finding it difficult to do so without experiencing pain greater than any he had known. Fighting through the agony as best as he could, he shuffled in the opposite direction, calling to the droids. "Commence search and destroy on Black Sun!"

They began to drift away from him, pursuing the thugs and giving him an opportunity to escape. Unable to help himself, he started laughing hysterically, tears of pain and relief dripping down his face. "Fuck me... this is so fucking stupid..."

With only one leg and one arm to crawl with, he made his way towards the cave Kajex and Syrra had used, hoping they would be done soon.

The charge setup could not have been easier for Syrra- what had been difficult was the approach.

Moments after Kajex had left her to hunt down Argus, she had shuffled through the breach and climbed down into the sweltering chamber. Sensing that nobody else was in the control center with her she jogged for it, only to find it far more difficult to climb the cylindrical computer core. As Kajex had pointed out, the core was indeed running far too hot, the surface practically burning her paw the moment she attempted it. It took all her willpower not to scream from the pain- she swore silently instead, looking for an alternate means of ascension. It wasn't long before her eyes spotted a platform some several meters away, causing her to swear again.

Her time spent with Kajex had been educational, but she now found herself understanding why he had said he felt he should teach her more- she had not had to rely on the Force to augment her physical abilities beyond sprinting, and now found herself wondering why the hell she hadn't tried to leap on top of the core in the first place. Taking a moment to pace herself and judge the distance, she bent her knees, legs tensing as she focused- the next moment she shot through the air at least 15 meters, arcing over the lip of the raised platform and landing cleaning on the steel-grate floor.

She tensed as the sound of her boots crashing against the catwalk echoed through the core chamber, not unlike the sound of thunder rolling through the spherical room. Letting out a breath, she slipped over the railing and opted to sprint across the hot metal- though it was uncomfortable to her feet, it was far quieter for her to do so. In a matter of moments she had made it to the generator and placed both charges behind the searingly hot power conduit, taking a moment to telekinetically attach one higher up so it could not be so easily disarmed.

Wiping her brow of the sweat she had accumulated she started to make her exit, just as her ears caught the sound of footsteps off to her right, sensing hostile intent at the same moment. With Jedi-augmented reflexes she sank to one knee, lifted her rifle and fired once at the newcomer's legs, hoping to disable them. She watched almost in slow motion as a turquoise energy blade lit the environment and intercepted the blaster bolt, knocking it off to the side- a moment later the rifle was wrenched from her paws by an invisible grip, the weapon flying over the lightsaber-armed figure in front of her as she fell forward, onto her forepaws.

Now forced to pay close attention to her assailant, she noticed his long pair of _lekku_head-appendages- a Twi'lek male with a skin tone that matched his lightsaber's color. She frowned as she stood, noticing he made no attempt to attack. He gave her a leering grin that she averted her eyes from in disgust. "Jedi?" she asked, though she already guessed at the answer.

He shook his head, still leering. "'fraid not, kitty-cat."

"Sith?"

He cackled. "Right, because only Sith and Jedi use lightsabers and the Force- use your head, child, before I cut it off." Still leering he strode forward, weapon at the ready. She glared back, pulling her weapon from her hip and igniting it, the Twi'lek raising an eyebrow. "Ah, so the kitten has a nice pretty laser-sword of her own, does she? Shame she doesn't have the Force to back it u--"

Already tired of his mocking tone she had cut him short, blasting him with a rush of Force energy and knocking him onto his back. Syrra smirked, lifting her weapon to behind her at head level, point forward, in a disciplined _Soresu_guard position, her offhand challenging the floored thug. "Don't you worry- I have plenty enough for the both of us."

With a frustrated growl the Twi'lek flipped up to his feet, reactivating his weapon and charging the trained padawan with a battle cry. Frowning at the approaching combatant, Syrra side-stepped the first attack easily, circling around him with a look of disdain and not even bothering to attack his unprotected flank, keeping her initial position up. She crossed her weapon down as he spun about, slashing at her midsection, catching the blade easily and knocking it away, keeping her defenses moving as he struck repeatedly, uselessly against her guard.

"_Keep the blade tight and close, kitten- let them waste energy trying to shatter your guard,"_Kajex had told her, and she remembered it- though her blade was never less than two hand widths from her body, she deflected the Twi'lek's assault skillfully, keeping herself focused and in control as the thug bore down on her. He overlunged and she thrust her leg out at him, catching him in the midsection- it was her first attack against him, and she had scored the hit cleanly, knocking him back to the floor.

She frowned- the situation was troubling to some degree, fighting a Force-user who was not Sith. "You have energy, but it's not limitless- you wield the Force and a lightsaber, but not with any real finesse or skill. That's not meant to be an insult, but an observation." She paused, knowing she was doing the right thing with this course of action. "I'm not interesting in hurting you- I'd rather help you. Just put away the weapon, my friends and I can take you to the Academy- we can help you become a better person than you are now."

The Twi'lek staggered back to his feet, spitting at her boots. "Take your offer and shove it, bitch. Jedi work doesn't get me the drugs and women I want- unless _you're_offering yourself, that is," he added, eyeing her up.

She laughed mirthlessly. "You haven't even come close to penetrating my defenses- you're not going to lay a hand on me."

He glared. "Maybe not you- but you're not alone. I sense the two males you brought with you. I could easily do _them_in first, then you after."

A cold hatred started to fester in her as she glared back. "You won't lay a hand on _them_either- I'll remove both of yours before you do."

"You think so?" he responded, grinning evilly.

She barely sensed it in time, turning around to see a massive sheet of metal flying at her at high speed. She had just enough time to cover her head with her free arm as it slammed against her, knocking her onto the catwalk. Dazed but alert, she raised her blade back up and blocked the man's renewed assault, gritting her teeth as she felt his weapon crash against her defenses once more, arms feeling the full shock of each blow.

"Don't get frustrated, Syrra. You have more to lose by getting angry while using Soresu_, it's the only thing that keeps you protected until you switch forms."_

She backed away rapidly with a leap, giving herself some breathing space. Realizing that her lapse in concentration was due to her losing her composure, she took a breath to steady herself, tucking her animosity away just as he returned to the fight, leaping in with an overhead chop. She sidestepped and battered the weapon down, lashing out with a backhand and making him stagger away with a bloody nose. He roared and they crossed blades again, Syrra this time making attempts to counter-attack after every blow, managing to glance her blade against his shoulder, making him cry out.

"Yield," she demanded, keeping her defenses up.

His response was to resume combat, aiming to remove her head with wide sweeping blows that she counter-struck, knocking him off balance, opening him up to another glancing blow against his calf, leaving an open wound.

"Yield!" she shouted again, trying to get him to let up. He glared at her, struggling to get back on his feet- she could sense he was not going to give up so easily, perhaps not until one of them (or both) were dead.

Reminding herself that Talrik was still out there, still alive and in danger, she followed up with a kick and began to sprint away, intent on abandoning the fight in favor of rescuing her injured friend. Before she could get far, she felt herself being lifted into the air, slamming hard into one of the coolant tanks. With a groan, she staggered back to her feet, seeing the Twi'lek approaching.

"You're making a mistake, friend," she warned him as she deactivated her weapon, hoping the gesture would encourage him to stop.

"No," he replied, looking murderous. "I'm ending_a mistake- _you!" He leapt at her with another battle cry, bringing his weapon around.

She regarded him with a pained expression, dodging and rolling out of the way as he brought the lightsaber down, slashing the coolant tank. She didn't watch the scene unfold, but she could hear his scream as the ruptured container sprayed jets of highly volatile, supercold coolant liquid over him. She kept her eyes shut, crawling away, shuddering as she heard him try to follow. A moan of agony caused her to finally turn, her heart falling as she looked in horror at the mangled face of her Twi'lek attacker, his twin lekku having snapped off and shattered upon the floor. She swallowed, backing up from him feeling a pang as he tried to form words with his now-lipless mouth- she knew he was begging her for help, because he was screaming it into her mind with bare agony. She felt hot tears run down her face as an enormous amount of sympathy and guilt coursed through her.

"I'm sorry, I truly am. I tried to warn you," she said quietly, as the life faded from his eyes. She knew she might have been forced to kill him, and now found herself wishing she had, instead of letting him suffer such a fate from his own hands. Climbing back to her feet and wiping her face of sweat and tears, she regarded the lifeless body with pity for a few moments before sprinting away.

She could not have saved Twi'lek's life- but if she hurried, it was possible she could save another.

In another part of the DCS, a Kajex was sticking to the shadows, approaching a marching patrol from behind and waiting a few moments as they moved farther ahead. Praxah had informed him that Argus would lurking in the bridge tower, but just reaching the base of it had been difficult with the frantic guards pacing all over the place. The station remained on high alert, the howling siren echoing through the enormous wreck's halls- the upshot was that nobody heard him coming when he rounded a corner and found himself face-to-face with 3 more Black Sun guards.

His heart jumped but he kept himself upright and relaxed, striding past them- the instant he had been spotted was followed by another instant when he realized his attire, which still consisted of his black captain's longcoat, would be enough to buy him a few seconds as they assumed he was deliberately dressed as they were, in black uniforms. They paid him little notice as they walked in the opposite direction, and the wolf let out a quiet sigh of relief, hurrying down the corridor before anybody could glance back and notice he was not actually among them.

Deciding not to bank on this fortunate turn of events happening again, he spent the next few minutes tracking down the turbolift to the bridge tower while remaining out of sight. He managed to locate it just as a voice burst into his headset.

"I set my charges, had to battle a Force-user. He... he won't be bothering us anymore," she added sadly.

Kajex sighed, taking a moment to thank the Force that she was safe before responding sympathetically. "It's going to happen every now and again, kitten- can't spare them all, even if we want to. Just do what you're able to do. How's Talrik doing?"

"I'm heading down to him right now- he doesn't seem to be doing well, but it feels like he's found some cover. I'll keep in touch."

The headset cut out and he resumed his work, activating the lift and stepping inside. He cursed as his eyes fell on a keycard slot- the lift was likely accessible to only a select few. Taking a moment to glance out the lift and ensure nobody was coming, he extracted his datapad from his satchel, hooking into the device and working quickly to slice through the security that kept the lift locked down. He frowned irritably at the significant amount of complex coding- whereas Imperial security was inflexible and simplistic, Black Sun's security programming seemed less like a slapped-together job and more like pragmatic art. Thankfully it was still coherent enough for him to parse through the coding, but it pushed his skills to the limit and took an inordinate amount of time compared to most slicing attempts.

Making matters more tense, he could hear the patrol he'd passed marching back down the hall. He stood a little straighter, looking as if the lift was where he needed to be and hoping desperately nobody needed to use it, hiding the datapad behind his back. With a furrowed brow he glanced at the human patrol leader and nodded seriously, the gesture mirrored as they marched past. Letting out another gasp of relief, he returned to the datapad, managing to finally breach the lift's security measures just as he heard a voice down the hall.

"...Wait a minute... who...?"

Kajex grit his teeth, panicking and slapping the elevator controls just as the patrol started sprinting back towards the lift, the wolf looking up just in time to see the guards raise their weapons. Before any of them could fire a shot, the lift doors snapped shut and the lift started to move. The wolf cursed- it was too much to hope for that his ruse would work several times in succession, he was an alien type that nobody knew about. Now the element of surprise had been lost and this Argus character would no doubt be forewarned of his arrival.

"Well... shit."

Syrra had only passed one patrol the entire way, and she had been moving at an inhuman speed at the time such that she had outrun her pursuers in a matter of seconds. There was no sense in trying to hide, not when she was fully aware that Talrik was badly injured and outnumbered. Within a matter of minutes she had backtracked her steps the entire way up to the DCS's hull breach, sprinting through the caves. Slowing down so as not to trip over Talrik and cause more injuries she slowed her pace, keeping her lightsaber and pistol at the ready.

She was halfway into the cave when she heard a pained groan. "Talrik?" A paw waved out from behind a stalagmite weakly and she jogged forward, kneeling beside the soldier and wincing at his wounds. "They did a number on you, my friend."

The fox smiled shakily. "It's alright. I did a number on them, too. 23 by my last count." He groaned as she sat him back upright, the Trianii eyeing his arm and leg critically.

"Need to get splints on that," she muttered. "Are they still following you?"

Talrik shook his head, crying out as she helped him up. "Nng! N-no, I think they split when their droids turned again them. Syrra, those droids- they aren't calibrated to listen solely to Black Sun. Damn things started shooting at _them_when_I_told them to."

The feline's eyes widened incredulously. "Are you serious? That's amazingly stupid of them."

"I guess they didn't expect anybody to show up who would be ballsy enough to try something so obvious," he groaned as they moved out of the cave, peering out into the open. It was still evening, but parts of the forest were now lit with minor fires from blaster exchanges. "Would've said something earlier but I only just found out. Couldn't raise the Gold Rush to let them know they might have incoming droids, my headset got wrecked."

Setting the fox against the rock face and reaching into her satchel for first aid, she set to work- a trio of telescoping splint bracers kept his leg in place as she set the bone at a proper angle, Talrik struggling not to howl from the immense pain as she wrapped the limb in medical gauze. With an offhand flick of her headset, she set the channel to the Gold Rush.

"This is Padawan Syrra to the Gold Rush, does anybody copy?"

A burst of static preceded Aija's voice. "Thank the Force you're still alive, sapling! What news?"

"We've set charges to the orbital shield but Kajex is still hunting down Argus in the DCS. A battalion of droids was sighted, they have orders to head in your direction and burn the area to the ground- they'll cause considerable damage to the ship if they find it."

There was a moment of silence. "What would you have us do?" she asked seriously.

Syrra paused, thinking quickly as she extracted another trio of rods and started to treat the Amaran's arm. "Take off, and don't worry about the 3 of us. A Republic warship should be in the area by now, hail them and let them know what's happening- tell them to have a medical team ready, I have wounded down here. You'll be out of range from our headsets... so let them know to launch their assault when they detect the shield going down."

"But... very well, Padawan Syrra- may the Force be with you."

Feeling less confident than she sounded, she smiled at Talrik. "We're going to make it through this, you know that, right?"

The fox snickered. "Alright, now say that again without the worried look and you might convince me." His smile disappeared as he gazed past her. "Syrra!"

She had turned just in time with her lightsaber activated, catching the blaster bolt cleanly and knocking it aside- 3 Black Sun members were approaching slowly, trying to suppress the feline with rifles. Her practice with Kajex and Talrik had paid off as she put her focus into defending herself while approaching them with long strides, deflecting their fire to all sides away from her and Talrik. She heard him struggling around behind her- before she was halfway to the group, the fox had fired two wickedly accurate shots, disarming one thug and killing another, while the last charged forward. Syrra slashed through the rifle, rendering the weapon useless, then ducked and swept her leg around, tripping the man and knocking him to the ground. Another two shots rang out and both remaining attackers lay still. She let out a breath.

"Nice shooting, Talrik."

"Nice bladework, Syrra," the fox offered back quietly.

Kajex's voice rang out in her ear. "Syrra, you there kitten?"

She withdrew her blade, setting her channel back to his. "I've got Talrik here- he's in bad shape but we're safe for now. Kajex, listen- the droids here will obey _any_voice command, even ours. If you come across any up here, use that to your advantage."

"... That's fucking retarded," Kajex said incredulously. "Anyway, I heard you tell Aija to lift off, that was a good call. I need you to set the charges off right now."

"You're still in there!"

"Doesn't matter. They've figured out I'm here and it won't take them long to use the lifts once I'm done with the one I'm on, assuming there isn't a welcoming party at the top. I need a distraction, and the Republic attacking will be the perfect opportunity."

Syrra groaned. "This is going to get you killed, love," she whimpered slightly.

"You don't know that- just trust me, please."

Grimacing, she reached into her satchel, pulling out the detonating trigger, glancing at Talrik first. He nodded. "He told me to follow orders, that if he told me to do something it would make things easier- do it."

She winced. "I just hope _he_knows what he's doing." Having a very bad feeling about it, she flicked the safety off, hesitated a few seconds, and squeezed the trigger.

Kajex had braced himself against the lift's side wall as he waited, noting with some dismay that he had nearly reached the top- even at half-efficiency, it was capable of moving at a reasonable speed. Taking in a deep breath he got his rifle ready, tensing up as the lift doors slid apart.

He had barely taken a step inside the forward bridge when the entire room shook violently, tripping up the captain and flooring him- despite cursing for falling on his muzzle he realized fairly quickly that it had saved his life, as 4 gunmen opened fire on him from either side of the control room and missed completely, taken off balance by the same explosion. Panicking, the wolf flicked his weapon onto full auto and began to spray firepower side-to-side from the prone position, at this point not really caring if he hit Argus or not in the process. Two Black Sun thugs went down. The other two took cover behind control consoles, giving Kajex enough time to shuffle under the railing and tumble a few feet off the raised flooring with a grunt, taking cover behind another console.

Keeping his head down he blindfired over the top of the station, ducking again when the thugs responded hotly. After a few more shots, he heard a deep, guttural voice command the soldiers in a Quarren dialect. "<Cease fire!>"

The wolf let out a sigh of relief, sitting up. "Aaaaar-guuuus," he called out in a taunting, sing-song voice. "Are you in here?"

There was silence as he edged to one side of the row of consoles, peeking out. He heard the voice before he saw its speaker. "<Shall I assume my wayward Falleen lieutenant is missing thanks to _your_efforts, mercenary?>" the Quarren asked, stepping out from behind cover, a concussion rifle in his claws.

Kajex grinned as he ducked back into cover. "Yeah, you should. By now you've probably realized that me and a couple of buddies of mine are throwing a wrench into your operation. That little tremor you might've felt just now is the sound of one or two charges taking out your energy shield."

There was another moment of silence. "<Jakobs, check the viewport.>" Kajex waited as he heard one of the remaining guards step out of his cover, his steps echoing in the hollow room. Another pause- it ended when the soldier swore loudly.

"He's tellin' the truth, shield's gone, sir!"

The Quarren growled. "<How irritating. It took me weeks to have that device set up. You've set Black Sun back a few hundred thousand credits- don't be surprised if you end up on a death list or 12, assuming you get out of here alive.>"

Kajex considered the odds, deciding to play for time. "Well, you do have quite the advantage. What kind of hardware d'ya have there in those claws of yours, a Stouker C-R?"

"<Come out from your hiding place and perhaps I'll show you. Won't take more than a single shot, I assure you,>" the leader challenged.

"Oh, don't doubt that for a moment," the wolf responded genially. "It's a pretty nice gun, I'll admit. But what're the odds of _you_getting out of this in one piece?" He let the question sink in for a moment. "You probably thought you had all your bases covered- nice-sized droid army to utilize, a relatively intact base of operations, some loyal mercenaries, a large war chest to buy all sorts of neat shit. Hell, you even sprung for some nice Commerce Guild Spider Droids."

"<And what did you bring to the table, dog? A handful of dead troops and the hope that ending me was going to put a stop to my operations here? Once you're dead, the Ho'Din are Black Sun's. In fact, you don't even need to die- I've already sent-->"

"--About 80 B1s, a handful of mercs and 3 or 4 Spider Droids- yeah, I know. That's why my friend already had them and_their research get off-planet with my ship." There was a pause in the conversation where Kajex could feel the Quarren's mood turn murderous- the sound of wind blowing through the pane-less viewport could be heard, a slight breeze ruffling through the wolf's gray fur. "Because you see, Argus, I'm not just some mercenary. I'd actually like to categorize myself as something of a... _philanthropist. And that kind of work tends to get me a lot of nice friends, capable of making good decisions. Like a top-rated ex-Imperial sniper, and a well-trained former Trianii Ranger- who just so happens to be a Jedi padawan, no less."

The Quarren scoffed. "<I have my own Force-user, whelp.>"

"I know," Kajex chuckled. "He didn't stand a chance against her." He grinned as he heard the Quarren growl again.

"<That's only 3 of you. I have no fewer than 80 of my own men and half a thousand functioning B1s at my command. You may as well surrender now, you're outclassed and outnumbered.>"

The wolf hesitated a moment, then stood, turning and facing the leader, staring the Quarren directly in the eyes- he did not fire. "Well that's a matter of perception, isn't it? Because your underling, Praxah, clued us in on the fact that the clankers only respond to voice commands. And not long ago, one of my buddies easily found out that your droids function from _anyone's_voice command." He grinned. "As we speak, those same droids are performing a search-and-destroy operation on your men, assuming they aren't smart enough to re-issue the commands again and bring them back under your control. Assuming there's a next time, make sure your engineers don't rely on using such a shitty workaround to replace actual dedicated AI."

The Quarren glared at him and raised the weapon, firing just as Kajex dropped to the floor again, laughing loudly as the massive blast of cerulean energy flew overhead and exploded against the lift doors, busting them wide open and raining shrapnel over the wolf's head. A screeching sound issued from the lift as the damaged transport pod dropped from its position and went into freefall, crashing several levels below. "<Shut up! If it's as simple a matter as re-issuing the command, as you so kindly pointed out, then all I need to do is ensure your friends are silenced first before_I gag you and put you in front of a 500-rifle _firing line!>"

Still smiling, Kajex decided to drop the bad news to him. "Too late for that, Argus- you failed to connect the dots in time. Like I said, I have a Jedi at my back. So who do you think we're affiliated with?"

Nobody spoke as the distant sound of starfighter engines filtered into the room. A moment later, the ship trembled violently as a series of ion blasts from the New Republic Y-Wings thudded against the massive sphere's hull, reverberating throughout the entire orb and echoing out through the lift shaft near Kajex, as the vessels circled through the night skies just outside the viewport. Argus roared in rage as he began to fire on the console the wolf was still hiding behind, the massive weapon vaporizing chunks of the cover- his men followed his lead immediately, peppering the edges of the wolf's decaying shelter. Swearing loudly, Kajex sprinted out from cover across the left side of the room, narrowly avoiding a concussion blast as the Quarren attempted to intercept him- putting all his focus into aiming while leaping, he fired three shots at his nearest assailant, dropping him just as a blaster bolt glanced off the wolf's leg and tripped him up.

Hissing in pain, he backed up against his cover and attempted to get back up to his feet- before he was able to, the second of his attackers rounded the corner and kicked his rifle out of his paws. With all the reflexes of a trained mercenary and starship captain, the wolf grabbed the man's wrist and wrenched it upwards in time to redirect the blasterbolt away from him, bringing his other paw colliding against the thug's temple and sending both tumbling to the floor. Rolling back into his original cover just in time to avoid another concussion shot, he grabbed the fallen assailant from behind and wrenched him up, grabbing the soldier's rifle and getting unsteadily to his feet, intent on using his attacker's body as a human shield.

The moment he stood up, he realized it was a mistake.

He should have expected Argus to not give a shit about his own men, to be so content with hazardous working conditions and half-baked ideas that were easily deflected and cost lives. The only thing that kept him alive was the body of the soldier, who within the next moment had been completely separated as he was blown apart in every angle, blasting Kajex back into the lift shaft. Desperately trying to keep himself from falling to his death he grabbed around blindly as he descended, his paw catching against the durasteel cable and grabbing it tight, howling as the threads of the splintered length of cable impaled into his wrist. Eyes watering as he moaned with pain, he tightened his grip, feeling himself stop short and grasping what he could with his other paw, gritting his teeth as he assessed his compromised situation inwardly with the words 'well and truly fucked'.

He looked back up the shaft, seeing the Quarren staring down at him, his concussion rifle aimed directly the wolf. "<Before I kill you and send you both to the bottom of this elevator shaft _and_Hell, be a good dog and tell me your name.>"

Deciding to spend his last few moments alive laughing death in the face, he grinned weakly. "Pay me 1,000 credits and you can call me whatever you want, baby. Otherwise, go fuck yourself."

"<Have it your way.>" He braced the rifle stock against his shoulder and prepared to fire.

A tremendous explosion rocked the station again, unbalancing the Quarren and rocking the wolf enough that he bounced against the shaft walls. Both of them stared down the shaft as a massive eruption of fire and shrapnel appeared at the base of the tube. The control tower gave an enormous lurch to the side, Kajex slamming against the wall and sliding upwards against it as Argus toppled out of sight, as the tower began to fall over completely.

"By the Force, no," Syrra moaned.

She had expected relief when the New Republic Y-wings had started their strafing runs on her orders, peppering the sphere with ion blasts and disabling the electrical components within. It was a safe avenue of attack, suppressing the ship's functions without causing major physical damage, but her order to refrain from dropping mag-pulse warheads had gone unheeded as a trio of them were launched at the base of the control tower, where she had sensed Kajex.

"I told you _not_to fire your warheads, I have a friend in there!" she shouted into the headset.

"Sorry ma'am, cutting off our attack now!" the squadron leader responded.

It was of little use- the damage was already done as the structure, already weakened from decades of disuse, lack of maintenance and exposure to the elements, felt apart at the base, the massive weight unable to support itself any longer and toppling much like the tree Syrra had felled earlier, tumbling over and crashing against the side of the sphere with tremendous impact. The collision dislodged and severed what few strands of wreckage held the tower to the sphere, causing it to flip over once more and impaling into the ground momentarily, until forward momentum caused it to tip a final time, landing sideways into the forest with a deafening crash.

She and Talrik both looked on in horror at the carnage this all caused- even in the dead of night, enough light from spreading forest fires and starlight illuminated the scene clearly enough for both night-sighted non-humans. Syrra felt her eyes blurring with tears, dimly aware of the sound of dropships approaching their position. Talrik grabbed her wrist.

"Syrra... is he alive?"

She couldn't feel him. Why couldn't she feel him?

"Syrra?"

Fear overcame her senses as she felt her legs tense, ready to sprint to the scene.

"SYRRA!"

The shout caused her to jump in fright, her eyes landing on the still-injured fox, who was looking at her with concern.

"It looks bad, but if you're as scared as you look, you're not going to be able to find him. Focus!" he snapped.

She stood still, stunned for a moment before she slowed her breathing down, reaching out with her feelings and concentrating on the tower. The fear slowly dissipated, the scene growing clearer in her mind until it was removed completely, the golden aura she'd associated her lover with as clear as day. He had been hiding reflexively, her anxiety making it that much more difficult to find him.

"He's alive," she said, sounding relieved. "Injured badly, but alive."

It was to the quiet rustling of leaves, the acrid smell of smoke mixed with earthy scent of forest soil, and the coppery taste of blood in his muzzle, that Kajex Surnahm woke up to. The first sensation of touch that he perceived was an incredible amount of pain, the wolf whining slightly as he shifted his head around and noticing the awkward change in positioning- the computer consoles were up at an incline, while the lift opening gaped overhead. The canine had been shunted next to the viewport covered in metal, glass and blood. Feeling as if he'd had a few dozen shots of Corellian whiskey and slept with a Wookiee (a sensation he was familiar with), he tried to sit up, only to find himself unable to conjure enough strength. Without any way to tell how much time had passed, he tried to raise his arm, intending to glance at his chronometer, only to find the display cracked and the device inactive. He lowered his paw with a groan, dimly aware of blaster fire in the distance- it seemed, for the moment, he was safe.

Despite now realizing he'd have to devote some credits towards a new timepiece, he found himself smiling. All things considered, the wolf felt pretty damn lucky. He could at least feel everything below his neck, which was a good sign, even if every fiber of muscle was screaming in torture from the bruises he had suffered on every inch of his _everything._He only wished Argus had been in worse shape, as the Quarren seemed to have suffered little more than a few lacerations across his head. The wolf groaned, spotting the criminal on his hands and knees, and struggled to get back to his feet before the squid did, only to find his body refusing to operate completely. At least, Kajex mused, he no longer had the concussion rifle.

A few moments later, Kajex felt as if his luck had run out- 5 Black Sun brigands, having quite obviously noticed the scene as it unfolded, had leapt into the remains of the bridge and came to the aid of Argus, helping the moderately-injured leader to his feet. The Quarren regarded the wolf with disgust as he backed away from him. "<You came close, but not close enough, dog. Nevertheless... it would clearly be a mistake to let you live.>" He waved to his men tiredly. "<Kill him.>"

Too weak to move, Kajex sighed, resigning himself to his fate as he watched them approach. He jerked reflexively as a shot rang out, his vision going white with a blinding light.

What he had not expected was the deafening roar of the explosion, nor the heat and shrapnel of a ruptured thermal detonator. The screams of the brigands was cut short as they were blown to either side, if not completely apart. Shaking his head and clearing his vision of the afterimage, he saw Argus' inert body near the opening, stirring feebly. Ears still ringing from the explosion, he forced himself to sit up, seeing two figures approaching the opening to the control room.

Talrik grinned at him, supported on one side by Syrra as he held a pulse rifle in his uninjured arm. "Pretty good shot for a sniper with an injured arm, wasn't it?"

Despite the pain he was feeling, Kajex found himself laughing, hot tears running down his face as his chuckles caused him severe pain. "F-fuck... you got that right." He laid up against the wall (or ceiling), watching them approach and relaxing as best as possible as they sat to either side of him, all of them out of breath.

Syrra leaned her head into the wolf's neck, purring. "Hell of a day, wasn't it."

Kajex nodded. "Hell of a day," he repeated. He nodded towards the injured Quarren. "What about--"

"Let the Republic deal with him, love," Syrra groaned, sensing the criminal was in no shape to get up and start running. "They're sweeping the area right now."

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"An hour, at least. The droids stopped attacking, but New Republic commandos engaged the rest of Black Sun's operations here," Syrra explained. "Talrik and I moved in when we saw these gentlemen climb into the remains."

Talrik yawned loudly, a whine squeaking from his chest as he also leaned against the wolf, looking too tired to feel embarrassed. "This was fun. We should do it again sometime without the injury, forest fires and Black Sun dickheads."

"Kid... don't. It hurts my balls to laugh right now," Kajex warned good-naturedly, trying not to break into another laughing fit.

"Sorry," Talrik murred softly, eyes closing. "How'd I do for my first mission with you guys?" he asked.

Kajex paused, looking to Syrra briefly, who did little more than nod in approval. "Well... remember when I said you were on a 3-mission probation period?"

Yeah?"

"About that- fuck it. You're on the team. Congratulations. I'd shake your paw, but I'm too tired right now," he said, grinning.

Too injured, too exhausted, and too happy to be alive to do anything but rest, the New Republic medical team later found them all napping side by side, barely stirring as they were whisked away on stretchers.