StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Good work.

I like the little tidbits, but the banter and the dialogue between the two is very good.

Good chapter, Kuja. You're clearly leading up to something with the allusion that there's more to the Dark Side than the Sith,.

Chapter 6

As soon as the ship was in hyperspace, Saven pulled his headset off and descended from the turret back into the ship's corridors. Despite his fears, the sound made by the ship's engines was a soothing hum, not a horrendous screech that precluded a breakup. Thankful for small mercies, Saven made his way back to the cockpit to find Aeshe leaning back in her chair, feet up on the console. She glanced up as he entered, then went back to watching the void outside. "I figured I would stay here awhile and make sure nothing went wrong," she said.

"Good idea," he said. "This bucket could fall apart on us at the drop of a hat."

She chuckled and turned her head to regard him with one gold eye. "So, how's your head?"

"Oh, fine," he said. "I didn't hit it that hard, you know."

"It sure looked pretty painful. So, what happened?"

"Well, you know, with this ship just being so small and everything…" he gestured.

Her eye narrowed. "Saven, your eyes are turning bright red. What is it you're not telling me?"

He cleared his throat as he felt blood rushing to his face. "Well, I think I'm going to go have a look at our intelligence files and see what I can dig up." He turned away and began walking. "Let me know if anything happens."

"Oh, trust me," she called after him. "If we fly apart at this speed, you'll know about it long before I get around to telling you." With that, she turned back to the windows and closed her eyes, ready for a nice, long nap.

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Saven found that if he stood in the center of his room and stretched his arms out, he could just barely reach from wall to wall. He shook his head and reminded himself that while he was standing in a relatively clean shipboard room heading for a temperate green world, some Jedi were hip-deep in swamp water or wrapped in four layers of cloth to avoid blistering cold. All considered, he was getting off relatively lightly. With that, he faced the computer console and switched it on. There was no chair, so he sat on the edge of his bed as the computer booted up.

He entered his clearance codes and drummed his fingers on the edge of the keyboard as he scanned the screen. Data on Essenne itself, the fleets, the forces deployed on the ground, hyperspace routes, classified flies…he frowned and accessed those. Here was something disturbing. The city of Delios had so far resisted four takeover attempts by the Republic. During the last of these, forty Clonetroopers had fallen prey to some kind of ambush by an unknown enemy. There was an appended audio/visual file, which Saven played.

The screen became a haze of static with only the vaguest of intelligent shapes that bounced back and forth. Saven realized that the recording must have come from a trooper's helmet camera. He recognized one of the shapes as another Clonetrooper. "Quadrant seven-two clear," a voice said, grainy with white noise.

"Copy that, moving to seven-three," another voice replied.

"Picking up movement."

"Stay sharp." The camera swung back and forth as its owner searched the area.

"I've got movement! Engaging!" Saven heard the unmistakable report of a blaster rifle. Voices began to come faster now, along with repeated blasts of fire.

"It's fast, watch left!"

"I've got another one, seven-four!"

"Two more here, they're flanking us!"

"One-six-two is down! Watch out, they're firing full auto!"

"They're fast, very fast!"

"One-nine-seven here, we're pinned down by four, blaster fire doesn't seem to affect them!"

"Hang on Nine-seven, Five-two coming to your assistance!" As this voice spoke, the camera turned to face a new direction and began bouncing wildly. This, then, must have been recorded by Clonetrooper Five-two.

"They're at our left flank, four down!"

"Can we get a count?"

"Four!"

"I've got two!"

"Only one-no, make it three!"

"Two, they're hitting us hard!"

"Report, soldiers!"

"Third Squad, seven down!"

"Second Squad report!"

Saven heard an explosion.

"Grenades aren't working!"

"That's it, pull back! Rendezvous point Aqua! Pull back!"

Saven saw a dark form suddenly rear up on the screen, then the bright flash of blaster fire obscured everything. A moment later, the recording ended. The Clonetrooper must have been killed.

Reading the attached files, Saven came to the same conclusion as the analysts. Some type of new battle droid was loose on Essenne. One with enough armor to resist rifle fire and deflect grenades and carrying enough firepower to wipe out entire squads of troops. Thus far, the reports did not correlate with any other type of attack droid noted in the war so far. If this was a new type, it seemed to be only on Essenne.

He rubbed his eyes, concerned. First, he had to deal with this dark Jedi. Then, he had to worry about making sure that this new killer droid didn't make it off Essenne. And lastly, he of course had to make sure Essenne itself came through alright.

Thinking of the dark Jedi made him flip through the data files until he again came across her picture. Taking his hands off the keyboard, he leaned his head on the heel of one hand and just looked at the screen for awhile, taking in more of the young woman's appearance than he'd been able to back on Coruscant. She was very beautiful, he had to admit that. Beautiful and mysterious and deadly, a very dangerous combination if he was supposed to hunt her down.

"Who are you?" he whispered to the screen. Almost of its own accord, his left hand crept back to the keys and began tapping, bringing up a registry of known data. It was very short, consisting only of a list of sightings and fake names. Names like Diesa Dankil, the one under which she'd arrived on Balmorra. Vadania Xiloscient, the name that had been on her parking registry on Ralltiir. Heian Brektal, another fake name that she'd used to purchase power converters for her ship.

Vadania Xiloscient. For some reason, that name seemed to stand out from all the others. He stared at it for awhile, but nothing came to mind. Still thinking, he reached into his robes and retrieved his comlink. "Aeshe?"

A moment went by before the comlink crackled. "Hmmm? Yeah, what?"

He blinked. "Were you sleeping?"

"I was," she replied, her tone a bit short. "What do you want?"

"Does the name Vadania Xiloscient ring any bells for you?"

There was a short pause. "Can't say that it does," Aeshe replied a moment later. "The only thing that comes to mind is that droid manufacturing company we investigated just before it signed on with the Confederacy. You remember, ah, Xilotech?"

"Yes, I remember," he said. "Thanks, Aeshe."

"Any time." She cut the line and he replaced the comlink.

"Xilotech," he muttered to himself. Maybe this was a wild bantha chase. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he accessed the computer's search engine and, just for the sake of it, typed in Vadania Xiloscient. The result was literally hundreds of thousands of results for Vadania and equally thousands of results for Xiloscient. Interested, Saven followed up on a few of the hits and found that the president of Xilotech Incorporated was a man named Jarith Xiloscient. Founder of the company, born Correllia, graduated, so on, so on... Acting on sudden impulse, Saven looked up the man's family.

Jarith Xiloscient was married to a woman named Leate Odonia. Nothing incriminating there, but her birthplace was a Mid Rim world named Dankil, and wasn't that interesting? They had five children, including two daughters. Saven kept searching and found the first on the academic roster of an Inner Rim secondary school. Scratch that. The older daughter was supposedly working for her father's company, and when he looked her up, her company photo looked nothing like the woman he'd seen.

Saven sighed and leaned back against the wall, rubbing his eyes. It looked like a dead end. Slowly pulling his hand down his face, he glanced back up at the screen and froze. Jarith Xiloscient had a brother. In a flash, he was back at the screen, typing rapidly. His hopes nearly evaporated when he found that Keth Xiloscient was a commander in the Republic Navy and a widower, but rekindled some when he checked and found that the man had three children. The embers sprang into a fire when he found that the man's wife had been named Vadania Qurmantha.

A moment later, he hit a duracrete wall when he checked for data on the man's children and found two big words glaring at him: NO DATA. That was impossible! A Republic commander who failed to register three children? He pushed further and realized that while the records of his two sons were perfectly intact, all the data on his third child seemed to have vanished. Saven's heart pounded in his chest. It was her. Somehow, he just knew it. But birth records, school records, military records, travel records, back records...everything was blank, as though the child had never existed. Or more likely, someone had decided to eliminate all knowledge of her, but hadn't thought to cross-reference her uncle's name. If they had done so, Saven would have been left without even a single clue.

A picture was forming in his mind. A picture of a man whose rebellious daughter had decided to join the Confederacy and slice out all her data to keep her father from tracking her down. Saven suddenly sat bolt upright, his fanciful thoughts vanishing with a sudden realization. Keth Xiloscient was a citizen of the Republic and a member of the armed forces. If the mysterious woman was indeed his daughter, that meant she was Force-sensitive. If so, she must have been scouted out by the Jedi! Her father must have refused to release his daughter to them! But that would mean her name was on file at the Temple!

He flew through the archive memory. Xiloscient, Xiloscient, Xiloscient...it wasn't there. He checked Qurmantha, her mother's maiden name, and that came up blank as well. Despair was just starting to take hold of him when sudden insight – or maybe it was the Force – prompted him to type in Brektal, one of the other names.

One result. A girl named Karagen Brektal. Six months old at the time of the screening. Rejected for medical reasons. A quick cross-search revealed that Doctor Hyten Brektal ran a clinic only a stone's throw away from Keth Xiloscient's home on Correllia. Saven wondered what relationship Keth and Hyten had entered into in order to shield Keth's daughter, and just how they had done it. Another minute of search and he'd found that Hyten Brektal was a woman. Yet another minute and he'd found that she'd requested, and been granted maternity leave just before Karagen's birth. A third minute and he found the record of her suicide only a year later.

A lot of pieces were falling into place, and Saven didn't particularly like the picture he was assembling.

----------------------

Aeshe heard Saven's footsteps and turned to see him entering the cockpit with a small sheaf of printouts in his hand. His face looked haggard, and his eyes were a dull shade of blue. Without preamble, he tossed her the thin file. She caught it and opened it to find a smaller rendition of the woman they'd been shown in the Council Chamber. "Meet Karagen Brektal, also known as Karagen Xiloscient," he said.

"Karagen?" she asked.

"I did some searching," he said neutrally as he leaned against the cockpit door. "Her mother was a doctor who had an affair with a Republic officer. The girl was screened by the Jedi, but rejected because she had a condition called Telles Lung Disorder. It's degenerative and almost always fatal within ten months, but I also found that with the right medical resources, it can be faked, and very well. Hyten Brektal, the doctor, had access to those resources. A year later, she committed suicide. The girl went to Keth Xiloscient, her father. His wife left him, then died less than a year after that."

"Was he behind it?" she asked as she paged through the file.

"No evidence," Saven admitted. "But I have my feelings."

She looked up at him. "Good work, Saven," she said gently. "Go get some sleep."

He shook his head. "There's more. Keth Xiloscient is dead. Murdered. No killer found. And all the records on Karagen Xiloscient are gone. The only way I found her was through her uncle and her mother, plus what was on file at the Temple. That was information she either couldn't get rid of or didn't think to get rid of." Saven looked down at Aeshe, who returned his gaze. "I think she found out about her mother and killed her father, then went over to the Confederacy to cover her tracks. Not to mention getting a little training," he finished with a tap on his lightsaber.

Aeshe's only response was a solemn nod.

Good stuff, and nice mystery building along with other plot points.

I love it. Please Continue Kuga, I cant wait for more.

For those who've been waiting for some real Star Wars-style action, wait no longer.



Chapter 7

Saven dreamed. In his dream, he was already on Essenne. He sat with his knees drawn up to his chest in the middle of a grassy field. Aeshe sat cross-legged next to him, her back against his left shoulder. She leaned over to rest her head on his knee and he pulled an arm away to drape it across her midsection, just below the rise of her breasts. The day was so warm, he had shucked his outer mantle and now it formed a brown pool of cloth on the ground behind him. The sun shone so brightly that as he turned his face up towards it he was forced to close his eyes. He sighed, thinking that it was a wonderful day to be alive.

The sound of someone shifting nearby drew his attention. He looked to see Karagen sitting less than ten feet from his right. Her lips were pursed in thought, but when she noticed his inquiring gaze, she smiled and shook her head gently. It's nothing, I can handle it, her look said. He decided to let her hold her peace. She tended to get testy when he pressed her. Instead, he looked past her to her companion. He sat adjacent to her, but she didn't seem to notice him at all. Despite the hot day, he was completely wrapped up in black clothes. His hood was up, concealing his face. His arms were crossed and he sat bolt upright, virtually radiating tension. Saven was about to ask him to relax and take a breather when Aeshe nudged him.

"Hey," she said. She'd turned to look up at him, and now their faces were very close together.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Are you awake?"

He blinked. "Of course I'm awake."

"No you're not. Open your eyes."

Saven's reply was a mumble that didn't quite make it out as the friendly day slowly faded into blackness and he opened bleary eyes to a dark room. The first thing he made out was Aeshe leaning over him and for one wildly impulsive moment, he wanted to hug her. A moment later, he yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Whdya wnt?" he mumbled.

She grinned. "Lazy bum," she said affectionately. "You've got ten minutes until we drop out of hyperspace."

That woke him up like a bucket of cold water. "Ten minutes? Why did you let me sleep so damn long?"

Her grin faded. "You needed it," she said simply. "Go get ready. I'll be in the cockpit."

--------------------------

One quick shower and a hurried ration bar later, Saven crammed himself back into the gunnery chair which, despite his silent prayers, had not miraculously expanded since last time. With a sigh, he buckled in and unlatched the gun, swinging it upwards and away from the restraint locks. "Two minutes," Aeshe's voice said as he pulled on his headset.

Saven watched the curling threads of hyperspace, barely feeling the triggers on the gun or the cushioning of the cramped seat. "Aeshe?" he suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think love is worth fighting for?"

There was a long pause. "You're asking me this now," she finally said, voice deadpan.

"Sorry, it just came to mind."

He could just see her shaking her head. "You're bizarre. One minute." She paused. "Wow."

"Wow what?"

"There's a lot of interference up ahead. I thought I set us for a clear trip in."

Saven suddenly felt his blood run cold. "Aeshe, drop us out of hyperspace! Now!"

Too late. The freighter pierced the veil between normalcy and hyperspace almost twenty-five seconds before it was supposed to, and exactly five hundred meters ahead of it was the massive starboard side of a Trade Federation battleship. "High holy hell!" Aeshe screamed, and suddenly the freighter rolled wildly onto its side and dove into a running voidfight between the Republic and the Confederacy. Battleships exchanged fire at point-blank range. Fighters flitted back and forth, snipping at the bigger ships and occasionally getting pulverized when they weren't quick enough. Saven frantically clicked off the safeties as he heard the hum of the shields being raised. Just in time too, because just as they were finished a bright red bolt of energy slammed into their aft section. "Saven, do something!" Aeshe shouted.

"I am!" he shouted back as he swung the gun aftwards. They'd picked up a trio of Vulture droids that hung on their exhaust and swarmed back and forth, defying his attempts at a clear shot. "Why did they come onto us so fast?" he shouted as he squeezed the trigger and opened up, hitting nothing but forcing one of the droids to peel off.

"Maybe it's because we're broadcasting Republic codes like there's no tomorrow!" she replied sarcastically as she threw the ship into a barrel roll. Saven finally got a clear shot and took it, blowing a wing off one of their pursuers. "I'm going to try and get us through this! Hang on!" The freighter pulled out of its headlong dive and Saven saw his chance. He pushed down on the gun, bringing the barrel up as the last of their pursuers began to pull up as well. A steady stream of laser fire struck the Vulture in its main chassis, taking it apart and finally detonating something vital. Saven grinned victoriously and swung around to face the front of the ship. The grin died as he saw them rushing right towards another Confederacy vessel.

"Aeshe, what in the name-"

"No time! Saven, shoot at the bulge just forward of the midsection!"

Saven chose not to waste time asking stupid questions. He aimed at what he hoped was the right spot and opened fire. The low-power bolts slammed into the capital ship's armor, doing little more than scorching the paint job as the freighter roared past closely enough for Saven to read individual numbers on the other ship's hull. A jolt announced that they'd picked up yet another friend. Saven acted on instinct, swinging the gun back aft and opening fire, destroying the droid almost before he saw it. Before a sense of relief could creep over him, a dozen more droids boiled out from behind the Confederacy ship and swarmed after them. Saven swallowed hard. "Um, Aeshe? We're in a bit of trouble."

--------------------------------

Aeshe didn't reply, she only pressed the throttle and brought them about to face a trio of oncoming Acclamator-class vessels. The head's up display tagged them as Vigilance Squadron, ships A, B, and C. "This is Republic Jay-two-one," she announced calmly on an open channel. "Request assistance from Vigilance Squadron."

"Vigilance A guns to Jay," a voice promptly replied. "Stay your course. We've got you covered." Aeshe felt the ship jump again and heard the answering blam-blam-blam of Saven's gun. She sent the ship into a headlong roll, hoping it wouldn't disrupt the gunners' attempts to shoot down their pursuers. Suddenly, the cockpit was filled with rapid pulses of green light as the Acclamators opened fire. Aeshe winced and was tempted to squeeze her eyes shut, but she resisted. Almost as abruptly as it had started, the fire ceased.

"We got them all!" Saven crowed.

"Good shooting, Vigilance!" she said, her voice unconsciously filling with exuberance.

"It's our job, ma'am," the other voice replied calmly. Aeshe brought the ship in closer to Vigilance A, using the bulk of the larger ship to discourage anyone else who might try and pursue them. As they cruised over the metal hull, Aeshe's hand left the yoke and tapped a button on the control panel. To her left, a small door opened up in the front of the freighter, revealing the cones of four standard-issue concussion missiles.

"Aeshe, what's going on up there?" Saven's voice suddenly said.

"I'm bringing us around," she replied calmly, pulling back on the yoke and sending the freighter into a loop that would return them to the battle.

"Right. Aeshe, exactly when did you realize that you had a death wish?"

"Shut up." She finished the reversal and pointed the bow of their ship at the distant shape of the capital ship they'd strafed earlier. The somber leviathan was vaguely shaped like a torpedo that had eaten too much dinner and bulked up in the middle. Despite its ponderous movements, the ship had collected a defensive screen of fighters, probably thanks to Aeshe's crazy rush earlier. "We're going to take out that Interdiction cruiser." She switched her communications channel. "Vigilance squad, this is Jay again. I've got something for you to shoot."

"Roger that, send me the coordinates."

She tapped a series of numbers and pressed 'send'. "When I give the order, I want you to open up on this ship with everything you've got."

"Jay, I've just fallen in love with you. Vigilance guns, standing by." Amused, Aeshe smirked and shook her head as she brought the freighter onto an intercept course with the cruiser.

"Saven?"

"Still here, fighting my better sense to run for an escape pod."

"Shut up. We're going back the way we came. I want you to shoot at the same place as last time."

"Sure, why not? If I'm going to die here, I might as well go out spraying deadly energy."

"You're unusually positive today, Saven," she growled as she brought up the missiles' targeting program. The cruiser grew as they approached it, blotting out the other ships maneuvering for position as they came closer. Saven suddenly opened up, red bolts of energy flying out to strike an invisible energy shield that glowed blue as it radiated the energy away. In return, the cruiser began firing on them and its fighter screen peeled off to intercept. "That's your cue, Vigilance!" she shouted. A moment later, the entire port hull of the cruiser was illuminated by dozens of emerald beams slamming into the shields and making them glow a bright blue. In the hail of fire, many of the ship's escorting fighters were pulverized as if they were nothing more than insects. Aeshe had little time to watch the display however, as bolt after bolt of energy slammed into the freighter. Systems began dropping and Aeshe smelled smoke.

"What are you waiting for?!" Saven yelled.

The shields on the cruiser wavered...

"Please work," Aeshe whispered as she pulled the trigger. With a blast of sound, all six missiles leapt from their rack and shot out ahead, screaming towards the cruiser. "Saven, cease fire!" she yelled as one of his shots nearly went up a missile's tailpipe. He did. Aeshe's eyes tracked the missiles by their tail fire as they arced in towards their target. One of them slammed into the cruiser's shields and detonated, but the other five found their way through, going all the way to strike the bulge on the ship's topside that covered its gravity well projector. The exploding warheads did far more damage than the laser cannon could have ever hoped for, punching through armor and destroying delicate circuitry. As the freighter passed over, Aeshe got an eyeful of the damage done. She grinned. "They won't be dragging anyone else out of hyperspace anytime soon."

A new voice cut off Saven's reply. "All Republic ships, form on vector seven-one and break off."

"Guess that means the party's over," Saven said. Indeed, both fleets were peeling away from each other, a few damaged stragglers being finished off by the opportunists. As Aeshe brought the freighter around, she noticed the Vigilance trio taking a few parting shots at the now-frantically fleeing cruiser.

"Jay-two-one, this is Vigilance A. If you'd care to land, we've got a spot for you in our hanger bay."

"Jay-two-one," Aeshe replied. "I'd be happy to. I could use a quick rearm before moving on to Essenne."

"Come on over then. Door's open."

"Roger that," she said, and flicked off the link.

A moment later, Saven's voice registered in her ear. "It's not the open door that worries me. It's the thought of you running right through it onto a ship full of crewmen who haven't seen a woman for months on end."

Had Aeshe been human, she would have blushed very, very deeply.

LOL...nice ending, and good action.

They may be lustful for her, but how can they possibly fit a woman into the Rum, Sodomy, and Lash routine?

Chapter 8

Kufe was an average Nemoidian, which was to say that he liked money, hated surprises, disdained physical labor, and was easily intimidated by displays of strength. So when a cloaked man walked up to the desk where he was filling out a business form, picked it up, and hurled it against the nearest wall with uncanny ease, it was safe to say that Kufe was very, very frightened. And this was only the beginning. "I'm tired of waiting," a woman's voice said sharply. In panic, he let out a little squeak of fear as his eyes darted to the door of his office. Leaning with her back against the doorframe was the red-haired woman who'd shown up on Essenne three days previously. Together with her partner, who was now looming overhead with a fixed snarl on his inhuman face, she'd been making life hell on Kufe ever since, demanding information she had no right to access and brandishing one of her lightsabers whenever anyone tried to put her in her place. And all the while, there was her pet dog, following at her heels and snarling whenever someone stood up to her, the way he was doing now. He rarely spoke, it seemed, when a good growl would do.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-" Kufe sputtered.

"Help the man up," she said calmly, examining her fingernails. Without hesitation, her partner reached down, grabbed Kufe by the lapels of his expensive robe, and hauled him to his feet. "I said," she repeated, speaking deliberately, "I'm tired of waiting. The factory. Now."

"Wha, buh, uh, I-"

The furry one tightened his grip on Kufe's robe and shook him. "She said now," he growled fiercely.

"I, yes, yes, of course!" Kufe finally managed. With that, he found himself being propelled forward, out of his office and into the hallway with the two black-clad figures at his heels. His mind virtually blasting fear and confusion, he was nearly to the door of the building when he thought to object.

"But the factory is-"

"Where you're taking us immediately," she snarled as she grabbed his shoulder, spun him, and slammed him up against the wall. "Listen, my coin-counting little friend, my partner and I are getting very tired of being jerked around. We were sent here to protect the Confederacy's assets, and that means you are going to show us exactly what is going on here. Is that understandable?"

"P-p-p-perfectly!" Kufe sobbed.

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The woman wove an aggressive course through the streets of Delios that kept Kufe huddled in his seat with his hands over his eyes. At first, he let out a chocked sob every few seconds, but that stopped when the other turned to glare at him and snarled, "Stop that whimpering." From that point on, he remained absolutely silent until the landspeeder finally jerked to a halt outside the Delios factory. Kufe once again felt himself being hauled up by his robe, to be deposited on the ground a moment later.

"Now march," the woman ordered. Kufe did more than that; he practically ran to the front entrance, nearly tripping over his own feet as he went. The droid guards came alive as he approached, noting his unusual demeanor, but at an order from the woman, returned to their vigil. Kufe fumbled with the door handle for a few moments before successfully opening it and stumbling through, closely followed by his unwanted companions.

The few people in the lobby looked up in fear and surprise as the trio entered, and one even started to pick up a commline. "Tell them all to mind their business," the woman snapped.

Kufe waved frantically. "No calls!" he said. "No calls! No trouble! Go about your business!" Despite his fears, nobody tried to argue with him, although some went back to work more reluctantly than others.

"Now, to the assembly line," she said.

"I, ah, ahem, this way please," he said, trying very hard not to think about how easily their red blades could slice him open if he fouled up. He started towards a nearby elevator whose doors were plated with gold.

The woman's hands dropped towards her waist. "Don't play games with me," she said. "That goes to the offices upstairs."

"Yes, yes, that is its primary purpose," Kufe replied, starting to feel a little more in control of himself now. "But it goes down as well." He tapped the summoning button. "I have a key around my neck to make it do so, may I take it off?"

"Go on," she replied.

Kufe definitely felt better. His hands barely trembled at all as he unlocked that chain and revealed the small white key. A moment later the doors opened and he gestured inside. "Please, step in." He went in first to show that there was no treachery at work and the two of them followed. As soon as the doors closed, rather than tapping any of the five buttons present, he inserted his key and turned it counterclockwise. As he completed the required motion, a small keypad popped out of the wall near the series of numbered buttons. Kufe rapidly entered his command code, only to have the pad buzz angrily at him.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked.

He swallowed hard. "Nothing, nothing," he assured her. With fingers that had once again started trembling, he carefully tapped his code in a second time, and this time he was rewarded with a soft chime. The elevator began to move downwards, the soft hum of machinery filling the air. "We are now descending five hundred feet into the planet's crust," Kufe announced smugly. Neither black-clad figure showed any interest, which took some of the wind from his sails.

"How long has this factory existed?" the woman asked.

"Less than one standard year," Kufe answered. "This used to be a simple manufacturing plant. The Trade Federation began work on this wartime addition shortly before the Battle of Geonosis."

"Without proper authorization or permission," the dog stated.

Kufe sniffed. "By that time it was clear that there would be war between the Republic and the Confederacy. It was not necessary to ask for permission." The dog did not reply to this and Kufe felt at last that he had scored a victory. Moments later, the elevator slowed and stopped, the doors slowly sliding open. The room ahead was a stark contrast to the lobby above, being a perfectly square room of gray concrete occupied only by a dozen battle droids.

"Identify yourself," stated the captain.

"Kufe Draahuo and...guards," he said, flashing an ident badge.

"Proceed," the droid said as it stepped back into place.

Kufe led the two down between the rows of droid soldiers to the far wall, which bore only a door, a locker, and the painted words PLEASE WEAR SAFETY EQUIPMENT WHEN IN HAZARDOUS AREAS. Kufe opened the locker door and retrieved three sets of yellow safety glasses. "The machinery is quite quiet," he said as he put one of the pairs on and held out the other two. "But there is always the chance of an accident. Please put these on." To his relief, they didn't argue.

A moment later, he opened the door and stepped into a massive chamber that buzzed with activity. The sight was made even more impressive by the fact that rather than walking out onto the main floor, Kufe was moving along a catwalk hanging suspended high above the machinery. "This is the main manufacturing facility," he explained. He was quite satisfied to finally see them look even moderately impressed.

There was a lot of facility to be impressed by. The main chamber stretched eight hundred feet from end to end, all of it filled with conveyer belts, hot metal, worker drones, and assembly lines. "Please hold still a moment and stay away from the sides," he said as he tapped a button. The floor beneath them lurched and began to carry them across the room. As they traveled, Kufe extrapolated on the various details of the facility; the configuration of the lines, the heat of the raw metal, and the very low maintenance costs of the automated machines.

"But what is it, exactly, that you're manufacturing here?" the woman asked as she idly gnawed on the tip of her smallest finger, a habit Kufe found disgusting.

"Mark Seven Heavy Battle Droids," he replied.

"There's no such thing," she replied quickly.

"Incorrect," he said smugly. "There are very few of them, but I can assure you that they do exist. They are only manufactured here and have only been deployed twice, both times right here in Delios. They have been very effective in protecting the city."

"I want to see them."

"But of course," he replied. "As soon as we reach the other side, I will arrange a demonstration for you. I assure you, it will be most impressive." The moving walkway reached the end a few moments later and they stepped off, moving into a series of smaller rooms. Kufe took a few moments to speak with the technicians and quickly arranged an impromptu demonstration. Fortunately, the facility had not been built without such things in mind.

He led the pair to a mid-sized room with several rows of comfortable seats facing a wall of transparisteel beyond which lay another boxy gray room. After inviting them to be seated and their refusal, he keyed a transmitter. "Please send in group one," he said. In the room beyond, a door opened and two squads of gray super battle droids swaggered in, moving in perfect formation and stopping with faultless precision halfway across the room. "Now their opponent, please," he said.

The forest-green droid that thundered into the room on the opposite side was nearly twice the size of the squad members. A massive pair of guns mounted its shoulders. It moved like a primate, loping in an asymmetrical fashion, its huge arms hanging down to the floor. When it came to a stop, Kufe was very pleased to see that the woman's eyes were wide in awe and even the dog had raised an eyebrow. "The mark seven," he said impressively. "Twice the armor of a super battle droid and twice the firepower of the destroyer. It can match the destroyer in speed, but is more agile and does not need to shift position to enter combat. In addition to its repeating blasters, it is quite capable of defending itself in close combat as well." Right on cue, the heavy droid reared up and stood on its legs, displaying three-clawed hands the size of a man's head. A moment later, it shifted back to all fours. "Please begin the demonstration," Kufe said.

It was a one-sided massacre. The super battle droids all moved in unison, racking their gun arms and opening fire. Their first rank was cut down in moments by the rapid-fire shoulder guns that swung back and forth. A moment later, the heavy droid charged into the group, simply plowing over many of its lesser cousins and swiping the legs out from under several more. The fire from the smaller droids simply bounced off the heavy armor as they were gunned down or crushed. The fight was over in less than a minute and the heavy droid came around to face the audience room. However, not all was well. Sparks shot from its left leg and the droid continuously twitched in that direction.

"A lucky shot," Kufe commented. "On the battlefield, each of these is worth fifty of the super battle droids."

"And it must cost nearly twice that," the woman said, unable to keep the smallest shake out of her voice.

"Yes," Kufe said reluctantly. "But for its mission profile, that is quite acceptable."

"What's the mission profile?"

"Mark sevens are designed to completely destroy unarmored targets – you saw how well its claws worked against other droids. It is also designed to keep up with an enemy both fast and agile, well-equipped for close combat, and if all else fails, to completely inundate an area with deadly fire."

"I don't understand," she said.

Before Kufe could make his grand revelation, her partner did it for him.

"Jedi killers," he said flatly. "He's saying that they're Jedi killers."

Excellent chapter, Kuja.

Save that for it to be a really secure facility, I think it would be much deeper than 500 meters, let alone 500 feet--try 4 kilometers or so. The current deepest mine in the world with our own technology is 3.3 kilometers, after all.

Always a pleasure to read, and I enjoy the soon to be inclusion of obviously an ugly breed of enemy.

Great chapter, great story. Keep up the good work.

good, good.
the chapter 8's are most impressive.
they're boredom killers

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:Excellent chapter, Kuja.

Save that for it to be a really secure facility, I think it would be much deeper than 500 meters, let alone 500 feet--try 4 kilometers or so. The current deepest mine in the world with our own technology is 3.3 kilometers, after all.

Point taken. Then again this is a beurocracy running the show and not a military. Money comes first.

good, good.
the chapter 8's are most impressive.
they're boredom killers

Do you mean the chapters from the bad guys' POV? Or do you just like the 8th chapter of every fic you read?

I don't beleive I;ve commented on this one before. Good work Kuja i'm looking forward to more of this...