The Rebel Faction

Trandosha: Warehouse

“You’re kidding me…right?” One of the warriors said, a lip curling upward in disgust. “You want us to start using the sewers!?”

Rissonik glared at the warrior, who shrunk back a bit under his Sha’tor’s stern gaze. “They won’t expect use to use the sewers.” He said, still holding the warrior under his gaze. “They would think we hold too much pride to lower ourselves to crawling around like sludge rats. We are in a bit of a desperate straight here due to that marshal law order and if we are to continue to put pressure on the government we must use everything we can to our advantage. So swallow that damn pride of yours warrior and live with it.”

“What about the dagollas?” One of the supporters said, eye the sewer tunnel warily.

“Those sewer monsters only fed off of rotten sewage.” Rissonik explained. “Other then being curious about our presence in their domain they won’t bother us.”

“Still…the thought of those things give me the heebie jeebies…”

Rissonik chuckled mild manneredly. “Most of us shouldn’t need to use the sewers as transportation unless this place gets compromised. Besides, we still need maps of the network. No sense in using them if you don’t know where you are going.”

Asteroid Field: Bloodfang

After a busy day fighting pirates at the far reaches of the system, the Bloodfang and her two fellow destroyers, Fanggore and RedClaw, finally warped back to the perimeter of the asteroid field. All three ships were a bit battered, Bloodfang still having that curious ‘bug splatter’ on the port side of her hull, but otherwise still fully functional.

“Looks like the base is just wrapping up from having a major battle.” Tiosk mused, noticing all the debris floating around both inside and out of the asteroid field. “Hopefully everything turned out alright.”

“Captain, considering this area may be still be a hotspot. It probably wouldn’t be wise to linger here with our ships in this condition.” Konik, the second in command, said.

“Of course Konik, but I wish to find out what has happened during our absence. If the Admiral feels they may need to evacuate the base due to all the enemy activity it would be best if we stuck around to assist if needed.” Tiosk said.

“Aye sir, as you wish.”

“Sir.” The sensor officer piped up. “We have an incoming hyperspace signature. T’Doshok Destroyer, Rynok class.”

“Just one? Are you sure?” Tiosk asked, mildly concerned. With the state his ships were in he wasn’t sure if they could survive another big battle.

“Positive sir. ETA 2 minutes.”

Tiosk tapped his claws on the arm of his chair. Why would a destroyer come alone…especially to a hotbed of enemies? Yes he pulled some lone destroyer stunts himself, but those foes came to him.

“Go to alert status and watch the sensor displays for anything suspicious.” He said.

“Aye sir.”

A couple of tense moments later the Rynok destroyer exited hyperspace just out of firing range.

“It’s the Blackblade sir.” The sensor officer said. “Weapon systems are inactive.”

“Interesting…that’s the Vice Fleet Admiral’s ship.” Tiosk said. “He’s certainly taking a chance to come out here without any support.”

“She’s hailing us.”

“Open a channel then.”

“Aye sir.”

“This is Captain Tiosk of the Bloodfang. Forgive my bluntness, sir, but I am not sure you are being really bold or stupid coming out here by yourself.”

There was a faint snarl in response. ~That’s no way to treat a potential ally now is it Captain? Especially one that outranks you.~

Tiosk chuckled. “Until you are accepted as an alley, which is yet to be proven as your intention, you are not in my chain of command sir. A dare say that the fact you came in without your weaponry powered up is the only reason you’re not currently being blown to bits and I don’t mean by just my little fleet here. I suggest you state your reasons for being here before the itchy fingers get scratched: you here to join us…or demand our unconditional surrender?”

~Neither…at this time.~ Came the response. ~I will be frank Captain, since your leader started her will rebellion things have gotten a bit chaotic. The Speaker’s questionable actions as of late don’t help matters.~

“What has he done?” Tiosk asked, curious.

~I’ll just say your friends back home have done such a good job that Hyossk was finally forced to declare Marshal Law.~

Tiosk raised a brow. “On the whole planet?”

~Indeed. No one can enter or leave the planet, what’s left of our fleet is making sure of that. However I don’t know what’s happening on the surface itself. There’s been a communications lock down as well, only military channels are open and what comes through there is limited.~

“I don’t suppose you are willing to give any details as to what happened before the lock down Vice Admiral.”

There was a snort. ~I’m risking my career just being here without telling anyone Captain and I may have told you too much as is. Just tell that damn female our people are starting to suffer because of her rebellion.~

Before Tiosk could retort the line went dead, leaving him with a few unanswered questions.

“The Blackblade is leaving sir. Orders?”

“Let her go.” Tiosk said with a sigh. “See if you can get in contact with the Sarendevis HQ.”

“Aye sir.”

Asteriod Field: Bloodfang

“No response sir.”

“That’s not good.” Tiosk said. “Something must be up.”

“One moment sir.” The comm. Officer said with an upraised finger, holding the ear piece tightly against his ear hole. “Sir according to a bulletin that was just sent out from the base, they have sustained heavy internal damage and intend to evacuate the base in a couple of hours, with advice for all ships to stay clear of the area.”

“Sounds like the shit has really hit the fan. Any indication they need assistance evacing?”

“Actually sir, just now on a private line they sent us the bases coordinates, stating we have permission to warp to their location.”

“Well, that answers that question.” Tiosk said. “Put those coordinates in the nav computer and warp there. No doubt they would want us to assist them when the time comes.”

“Aye sir.”

A few moments later the three ships warped in a short distance away from the base. The base turrets turned toward them for a moment but then returned to their default positions.

“Sheesh that place looks like it’s getting ready to fall apart. Must have been hit really hard.” Konik muttered.

“I’m detecting a large amount of heat being vented directly into space sir.” The sensor officer said. “Looks like their reactor took a hit.”

“That explains the evac message.” Tiosk said quietly, hoping Naosha and the others were alright. “With the base damaged like this it will be a target, so keep full sensors and weapons powered up. If anyone decides to attack this place they will have to deal with us as well. Send them a message telling them we await orders and let them know what we just found out on the state of Trandosha from the Vice Admiral of the T’Doshok fleet.”

“Aye sir, transmiting now.”

Sarendivus HQ: Naosha’s room

Naosha blinked in surprise at the guard. “Another meeting so soon? Due to all the ‘fun’ that’s been going on here we haven’t had a chance to get any sleep yet.” She said.

“I am sure the Admiral is aware of this madam.” The guard said apologically. “However due to circumstances we have no choice.”

“Because of the recent attack I am guessing.” Varcanna said. “We will need someone to watch the kids though, as mother will need me to translate what the Wookiee’s are saying.”

The guard looked over at the sleeping pile of Trandoshan toddlers. “Could you just leave them alone in here? I don’t think the meeting will take long.”

Naosha scowled at him. “You never leave kids that young unattended.” She said with a hiss. “Especially considering Trissan will jump at the opportunity to get into mischief if left alone.”

The guard sighed and thought a moment. “I’ll watch them. Their asleep, so how hard can it be?”

“Thank you sir. The girls are little angels so you should have no trouble with them, it’s Trissan you have to grow three pairs of eyes for. They don’t know basic, so you’ll…have to get creative should they wake up and start asking questions.”

The pair left for the conference room then, leaving a guard wondering if he just bit off more then he could chew.

Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

It was only by chance that she looked up and saw the monstrous ship in the sky and her jaw dropped. That’s a Sovereign class destroyer! What’s that doing here!? She thought. Squinting, she could just make out T’Doshok ships in position around it, but there was no signs of laser fire between them. That could mean only one thing: somehow the Trandoshan fleet managed to acquire that bad boy on way or another and who knows what they intend to do with it. There was little doubt in her mind they intended to use the sensor array on that thing to locate the Separatist hideout.

The question was: should she go warn them? She wasn’t a part of their little rebellion and what could she hope to gain from helping them? If they knew what she was they would likely shun her like everyone else. However if it wasn’t for them, whether intentionally or not, it would have taken her a lot longer to get Besk to state he was in now, so in a way…she owed them. Maybe…just maybe…if they succeed they can make changes that will allow people like me to have a fair shake in society. Ha. She doubted it, but a girl could dream couldn’t she? But that dream wouldn’t have a chance of coming true if that ship wiped the Separatists out of existence.

Having made her decision, she started running for the Separatist’s hideout.

Hyossk’s Chambers

For once he received good news and Hyossk was grinning from ear hole to ear hole. On his mini view scene he had the Vice Admiral, who had just informed him that they have acquired a Sovereign Class Destroyer. The details on how they got it were currently unknown, the Admiral had that information and he was currently exploring his new toy. Hyossk didn’t really care how they got it anyway, just the fact that he now had the tool to tracking down and eliminating the Separatist once and for all.

“Order that ship to start doing scans of the planet Vice Admiral.” He said, still grinning. “Any unusual large concentrations of individuals are to be wiped out through any means necessary.”

The Vice Admiral’s expression turned to one of concern. ~With all due respect sir isn’t that a bit reckless? The potential for innocent civilian lives being lost would be high, not to mention our own forces on the surface would be put at risk.~

Hyossk’s grin faded into a scowl: was this male questioning his authority? “The Separatist must be stopped before they do any more damage Vice Admiral. You are to relay my orders to the Admiral immediately!”

~Yes Speaker.~ The Vice Admiral said through gritted teeth before the screen went blank.

Warehouse

They had managed to find a map of the sewer network and were going over it. There were several storage rooms they could use to stash supplies and use as secondary command posts. The fact that the sewers consisted of two different levels and was a practically a maze made it look more and more promising to them as an alternative hide out.

“As a precaution, we should only use the manhole entrances that are in alley ways and within buildings.” Rissonik said. “They are less visible and I don’t think anyone wants to run the risk of getting smacked in the head by a speeder.”

“If we there are entrances near or in the buildings we use as safe houses that would be even better.” One of the warriors said, Rissonik nodding in agreement.

“Sir with all due respect, how we are going to keep people from knowing we’ve been using the sewers?” Another warrior asked. “I mean, they will be able to smell us from a mile away.”

“Boy are you a dunce or what?” One of the supporters said. “Water constantly flows through the network, so unless there’s a blockage somewhere or you go into one of these collection points” He tapped the map were one such place was. “It won’t stink that much.”

The warrior growled at the fellow Separatist but Rissonik’s stern look shut him up.

“Now, this storage house here…” Rissonik pointed to it on the map. “Would be an ideal rondavu point should we be forced to move…”

“Which is now…if you wish to live.” A voice said suddenly.

Everyone jumped and the warriors drew their weapons and looked around for the intruder feverishly.

“The government has somehow gained control of a Sovereign Class destroyer.” The voice continued. “As we speak they could be scanning the planet looking for you.”

“Obviously you are not one of our ‘normal’ spies.” Rissonik stated, looking around for the speaker, but couldn’t see her. “How do we know we can trust you and what proof do you have?”

“Go outside and look up. Any T’Doshok with half a brain should be able to deduce the meaning.”

Rissonik looked over at one of the Keshir, who nodded and quickly scaled a series of steps that led to the roof. A moment later the Keshir came scrambling back down those steps, his face white. “Shit…that’s the biggest fucking ship I have ever seen!” The young male said.

The room was quiet as everyone digested this, the silence finally broken by Rissonik. “Alright, we have no time to lose. Everyone, grab what you can and down into the sewers. Some of you get word out to our friends in the safehouses on what’s going on. We’ll meet at the storage room I pointed out. Go!”

There was immediately a bustle of activity, people packing and grabbing what they could and going down the sewer hole. In less then 20 mins, everyone but Rissonik and one warrior had left.

“You still here.?” He asked, not really expecting the cloaked female to still be there.

“Yes.” Came a response.

“Thank you for the heads up. We likely would have been caught with our pants down if it wasn’t for you. Are you by chance in the same group as Lissuss?”

“I belong to no group, I work for myself.”

“I see. Could you show me your face miss?” Rissonik said. “So when this whole mess finally blows over I know who to give credit to for your deed.”

There was a long pause and Rissonik could almost feel the individual’s tension. What was she afraid of? It became clear when a black leather clad white scaled female suddenly appeared. Despite himself he took a step back in shock.

The warrior that was beside him made a cry of disgust and charged her. The albino Trandoshan reacted by dropping to the floor and sweeping the warrior’s feet out from under him. Infuritated, the warrior got to his feet and was about to attack again when Rissonik grabbed his arm.

“Enough!” Rissonik said harshly. “Is this the way you treat the one who just saved our hides?”

“But she’s a…” The warrior started to retort.

“I know what she is…and that changes nothing.” Rissonik hissed. “Go join the others.”

“But..”

“GO!”

The warrior, growling, snatched his arm away from his Sha’tor and disappeared down the sewer hole. Sighing, Rissonik looked back at the female, who didn’t look at all surprised at the warriors attitude, it was only then he noticed the two K’Zur attached to the side of her belt. So it was you that was at the Sykir building. He thought. He wanted to know why she was there, but knew it wasn’t really any of his business at this point.

“If there’s anyway we can repay you…” He started.

“We are even.” She said suddenly.

“How so?”

“If it wasn’t for your group, Besk wouldn’t be in a position where I could easily destroy him.” She said this with a dangerous and hateful glint in her dark blue eyes.

Rissonik frowned. “You play a dangerous game with that one.”

“Indeed.” She smiled and spread her hands. “But the prey is already wounded…and it’s just a matter of time before it is too weak to fight back…” Before he could ask what she meant she disappeared.

“But injured and cornered prey fight the hardest.” He said softly, shaking his head. He took one look around in the warehouse before descending the ladder into the sewers, dragging the manhole cover over the opening as he went.

A moment later, a crate moved over the manhole cover, apparently under it’s own power…

Serendevis HQ: Elevator

Naosha stared at the disk the stranger gave her: a part of her fearing it was a bomb, the other relieved she finally got word from her lifemate. She turned the device over and over in her hands, looking for signs of foal play and found none. She did find however, a series of marks on the disk’s underside: they were Trandoshan glyphs and the word they formed was in Clan Dialect. This gave her a small measure of comfort, but the word could have been copied or the disk could have been tampered with afterward.

“Is it really from Uncle Rissonik?” Varcanna asked, also suspicious of the disk.

“It looks like it.” Naosha said, deciding to take a chance and turned the device on.

Both females jumped when an image of Rissonik appeared and Naosha felt a stab of emotion when she saw her lifemate image. She had lost track of how long it’s been since she’s seen him and her worries about his welfare were relieved a bit.

They could only listen to a short potion of the recording before the elevator jarred to a stop and the door opened, forcing Naosha to shut off the device quickly. Though the recording was in Clan Dialect, they weren’t going to take any chances while not in a secure area.

A couple moments later they entered the conference room and Fikan ordered the door’s secured.

“Aren’t we missing a couple more Trandoshan’s?” One of the Ambassadors asked, noting the two non-Separatists were absent this time.

“They are both taking a power nap.” Varcanna said with a faint smile. “And are currently incarcerated for attempting to end the life of myself, my mother and possibly the lives of the children as well.”

Medic Bay

Silliss sat on the edge of the bed, feeling much stronger then he was hours ago. Cautiously he tested his limbs, looking for signs of weakness and noted with a bit of annoyance that his strength hadn’t fully returned yet.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a couple of nurses watching him from the observation window. No doubt they were getting ready to chastise him for getting up.

“Make yourselves useful and get me some food.” He said sharply, not liking how they were staring at him. “None of that hospital food crap either.”

~Of course sir. ~ One of the nurses said through the intercom, which Silliss found annoying. ~Are there any foods you are allergic to we should avoid?~

He sighed. “No there isn’t. Just because I have an immune disorder doesn’t mean I have food allergies…or any other disorder…as well. How about this…let me out of this damn box and I’ll get my own food.”

~That’s not an advised action sir.~ The nurse said. ~One with your condition should be stay in a sterile environment…~

Silliss growled and paced the floor: he had a feeling ‘that’ argument was going to come up. After a few moments pacing he suddenly charged the window, slamming against it with both hands. Both nurses jumped back with a cry of fright, even though they knew there was no way he could break through it.

“Do you think I got to the position I have by staying in a fucking box all my life!?” He screamed. Gods he hated being confined against his will, even if it was ‘for his own good’.

Bloodfang

“Any confirmation on our message or any orders for us?” Tiosk asked.

“Negative sir.”

Tiosk grumbled and leaned back in his chair. “I hate the waiting game…” He sighed as he closed his eyes. “Let me know if anything happens…I’m going to take a nap…”

Conference room

Both Naosha and Varcanna felt their blood freeze when the Wookiee Ambassador suggested war, despite suggestion of restricting it to military ships: a war was the last thing they needed. After hearing what Lissuss had to say they both sat quietly in their seats for a moment.

“Tiosk, Captain of the Bloodfang.” Varcanna said suddenly. “Uncle Rissonik told me he is something of a risk taker; likes to pull stunts with his ship no one expects during a battle. He would be the best choice to get behind the Sovereign.”

Naosha nodded slowly in agreement. “He’s gutsy from what I’ve heard, but his crew is top notch and he has yet to fail in performing one of his stunts. However in all fairness, I’d rather he decide if he wants to do it.”

Fikan nodded and opened a comm Line to the bridge. “Contact the Bloodfang and ask for their captain to join us here.” He said.

~Aye sir, right away.~

“As far as what we know…” Naosha continued. “For the most part we only know what you do. What I do know is that a war would devastate our people with the current state of things, but the only way to truly prevent it is to remove Hyossk from office.”

“Something tells me that won’t be an easy task.” One of the ambassadors said.

Naosha shook her head. “Besides assassination or his natural death, the only way to remove him from his office is if the rest of the Council saw him as unfit to continue on. If they did, his son Russis would automatically assume his position, however we do not know which side he is on.”

Medic Bay

Silliss pacing in his confinement again, glaring at the nurses the whole time and making them nervous.

~Sir please calm down.~ One of them pleaded. ~This is for your own good.~

“You don’t know…just how sick I am of hearing that excuse…” Silliss said with a snarl. “How would you like it if you were confined like this your whole life?” The two nurses were silent. “Didn’t think so. So…” Suddenly he grabbed one of the smaller pieces of monitoring equipment. ”LET ME OUT OF HERE!” He screamed as he threw the equipment at the window.

The equipment impacted the window with a loud bang, the two nurses screamed and ducked. It didn’t break through…but it left a nice crack in the window….

Bloodfang

“Sir?”

“Hmm?” Tiosk moaned, having just been on the brink of falling asleep.

“Admiral Fikan is requesting your presence at a meeting.”

Tiosk straightened up in his chair. “Any mention of a reason?” He asked.

“No sir.”

“Hmm. Very well. Have my personal shuttle prepped for departure. Let them know I am on my way. Konik you have the helm.” Tiosk rose form his chair and started making his way to the hanger bay.

Medic Bay

While the doctor was arguing with Fikan, Silliss was getting a spot of inspiration and was toying with an IV stand. The nurse who wasn’t actively arguing with an Admiral was watching him, a nervous and tense look on her face, wondering if he will throw something else.

Silliss however was completely ignoring them for the moment, in fact he didn’t even know one of them was talking to the Admiral about him. Instead he was working on the stand, working it’s wheeled base off.

“What the heck is he doing?” The nurse muttered as she watched him succeed in removing the stand base. When he started twirling it around she got her answer: he was making a compromised weapon.

It wasn’t quite what he was looking for, but it would have to do until he got his hands on a proper lance. He then proceeded to rip up the bed sheets and wrap them tightly around the base of his new ‘lance’. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the two nurses arguing about something, one of them pointing at him.

Suddenly the door to his little ‘prison’ opened. Silliss, not wanting to take a chance that the nurses accidentally hit the wrong button, rushed out. He smiled with a kind of sadistic satisfaction at how both nurses coward away from him. Still smiling he turned and started to walk away.

“Um…sir…you can’t take that with you…” One of them said meekly. Silliss looked back at them over his shoulder with such withering look they took a couple steps back. “Never mind…keep it…”

“I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me.” Silliss said bluntly as he headed off down the hall, in a rather fowl mood.

Conference Room

“Woll…” Naosha whispered to Varcanna in Clan Dialect. “Sooms Silliss is fooling bottor new, se yea cun step boing werriod ubeat him.”

Varcanna smiled and chuckled. “Lots jast hepo ho deosn’t eff u ceaplo ef decters in rotuliutien.” She said.

“I weald hepo ho hus oneagh sonso net te.” Naosha said seriously. “Lust thing wo nood is fer him te bo threwn inte tho brig.”

Varcanna nodded in agreement.

“Now.” Fikan said turning back around to face them. “Where were we before we were interrupted?”

“We were just discussing about how to get Hyossk booted from his office.” Varcanna said. “And the fact that we don’t know if his heir, Russis, is a supporter to our cause or not.”

“Even if he was on our side, unless the majority of the Council itself supports us, the lad would most likely end up with a knife in his back soon after he assumes that position.” Naosha said, spreading her hands. “If we are to remove Hyossk, we must first try to determine the stance of the other Council members. That in on itself may be time consuming, for any Council members that did support us now would be tight lipped, for the sake of their own careers and their lives. Voicing my dissent when I was still a Council member was what got me booted…and you already know they want me dead as well.
“The one that would be in the best position to find out the needed information is my lifemate Rissonik. In fact I just got a report from him thanks to your agent here.” She nodded at Lissuss. “However, I had not the time to review the whole thing before this meeting and what I was able to review thus far is information we pretty much already know.”

“Plus the report is in a dialect of our native tongue for security reasons.” Varcanna added.

“Can’t you just translate?” One Ambassador asked.

“We could.” Varcanna said. “However, according to Clan policy the dialect is sacred and it is prohibited to teach it to non Clan members. Even if we had a computer work out a translation it would be violating this policy: past Sha’tors have been known to cut out the tongues of offenders, both the Clan member and the ones he was trying to teach it to.”

“Besides, there is not guarantee the report has anything we could use in our present situation. Either way, we would need to figure out how to stay in contact with Rissonik.” Naosha said.

“Which will be even more difficult now.” A voice said. All turned to see Tiosk stride in and took the nearest empty seat. “In case you didn’t already know…Hyossk has declared Marshall Law on the whole planet.”

The other Ambassadors and Fikan blinked in shock. Naosha felt her heart sink: if what Tiosk just said was true it will be hard for Rissonik to do anything without getting caught.

“How do you know this?” Fikan asked.

“Believe it or not, the Vice Admiral of the T’Doshok himself told me.” Tiosk said. “He could be on the verge of dissenting, going by the fact that he took a lot of personal risk to come to this area by himself and tell me this. However he also said that the people were suffering because of us.”

“That’s bull crap.” Naosha said with a snarl. “Any suffering our people are encountering is due to Hyossk’s own actions, not ours.”

Tiosk nodded. “I would have told him as such…but he cut off communication and left before I could.” He looked over at Fikan. “I tired to relay this information to you sir, but either something was wrong with our signal or your comm guys were deaf.”

Trandosha space: Blackblade

The Vice Admiral was in fighting a mental battle. Hyossk’s order disturbed him and his refusal to listen to his concerns disturbed him even more. Even worse, he knew the Admiral was waiting for him to report to him any orders Hyossk had for their new toy: he knew the Admiral would follow such orders to the letter. Looking around at the crew on the bridge, he could see some of them were nervous, especially those that had families.

What am I to do? He thought. Relay the orders as told and possibly become an accessory to the murder of who knows how many innocents? Or lie and risk my career…and my life?

Career and ones life…both important things to a Trandoshan, especially if one was high up in rank like he was. If he took the latter path, no doubt the assigned ‘spy’ he knew was on his ship would stab him in the back at first opportunity.

“Sir.” The comm officer piped up. “The Admiral is on the line. He wants to know if Hyossk had any orders for the Sovereign.”

“Tell him there are no orders for the Sovereign at this time.” He replied. He had answered so quickly and easily he could hardly believe the words out of his mouth.

“You sure sir?” The officer asked, his expression unreadable.

There was a moment of doubt, a slight hesitation, but he said. “I’m sure.”

The officer smiled and quickly relayed his response, the officer’s obvious happiness with his decision lifting his spirits a bit. However he could almost feel the daggers that were being glared at him from behind his chair, or was that his imagination?

Looking out the view screen he could see the Sovereign, which completely filled the screen with no apparent end in sight to it. He could also see the turret placements on the beast…and he wondered if in a few moments that vast firepower would be turned on his ship.

There was no turning back now though…