The Rebel Faction

I ordered Leonidas to follow me as I walked through the corridors of the Astral Astoria, like a shadow watching for unknown presences that I could not see. I had the skill to see through the darkness and through light, yet I could not see behind me.

The turbolift was close and I decided that it would be easier for both him and I to take the lift, rather than follow random directions and hope that I would find my destination. I pressed a button on the control pad and I heard the lift screeching down to our floor.

As the lift doors opened to allow us access to the 111th floor. Strangely, there was a shadow in the lift, and as the doors open to it's full span, a man ran out from the shadows of the lift and grabbed both myself and Leonidas. All he said as we ran was...'If you value your life, you'll follow me'. I truly valued life and clearly so did Leonidas.

Patiently and attentively, I followed Spiritius whilst looking out for attackers that might come from behind us. Izizi walked by my side, ready to pounce upon the slightest unidentified movement. We stopped at the turbolifts as Spiritius watched the door whilst Izizi and I examined the corridors on the opposite sides from the Turbolifts. As the durasteel doors slowly parted, I heard the thud of footsteps roar towards me as I was grabbed by tha arm before I could even turn around and looked upon who or what had grabbed me.

"If you value your life, you'll follow me" said the unknown person assertively as he commenced to drag Spiritius and me away from the Turbolifts. Instinctively, I hoisted Izizi onto my shoulders as I tried my hardest to keep my tired legs running at the same pace as this unknown man who I began to trust out of complete confusion, chaos and need for safety. But I knew that a question ran through the heads of Spiritius, Izizi and me: "Is this man trustworthy?"

Seeing the smirk upon the unknown mans face, Leonidas acted with instinct, without hesitation and without even having to stop and think. Suddenly, a swift punch to the stomach winded Max as he fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Placing his foot on top of Max's chest, Leonidas leant on his knee as he as he talked down to the cocky Jedi.

"I don't have questions, Jedi, but I do have demands. Tell me why you are here, what you want and why we should trust you. If you don't, Izizi here will electricute you over, and over, and over again until you tell us what we need to know"

Leonidas lifted his foot off of Max's chest and knelt down, placing his mouth merely inches away from Max's ear as he began to whisper, "If you want to keep your sanity, stay out of my head"

Swiftly, Leonidas turned around and began to step towards Izizi, until he stopped and bowed his head, concealing his face from all the others. Slowly, Leonidas lifted his head to reveal a sadistic smileas his eyes seemed to look into something that was out of this world. Suddenly, he swung round and gave a thunderous kick into the ribs of the Jedi, Max. A second kick followed as Leonidas' voice bellowed down upon the man lying on the duracrete floor beneath him, "If you ever try to control me, or any of us, again, I swear that I will kill you!" Leonidas took two paces back as he waited for Max to accept his demands...

A smile spread across Leonidas' face as both he and Izizi simultaneously aimed their blasters at Max's forehead. Spiritius kept his blaster holsted, yet it was easy to see that he was ready for action. Once again, Leonidas began to speak in a threatening tone,

"Ok then, how about we make a deal? You tell me what it is you have done and why you are running, or I'll hand you over to your Nikto friends" For a split second, a flash of awareness darted through Max's eyes. "That's right Max, I saw them looking at you in the cantina, and I saw you trying your hardest to scout them out without being noticed. Now I don't have a clue what's going on between you and them, but I'm pretty sure that you'll fetch a high price for me"

Leonidas' voice became lower and quieter as he concluded what his statements: "And if you think I'm bluffing, than you are gravely mistaken" Leonidas kept eye contact with Max for about fifteen seconds until a quick click of his fingers alerted Izizi into action. A quick non-lethal, yet painful jolt came out of Izizi's bolt thrower as Max stepped backwards out of a mixture of hurt and lack of awareness. Leonidas had his blaster rifle ready, although he hoped that he wouldn't have to use it...

Leonidas smiled as he exchanges galnces with all three people around him.

"It seems to me, Max, that you are preparing to fight your way off. Well I'm always up for a round round of fisticuffs. What do you think Spiritius, shall we see where he takes us?"

Leonidas continued to smile as he listened to Spiritius' reply...