The Rebel Faction

Asri kept close tabs on the Tuezo as she followed him from the rooftops of the smaller buildings, but also paused every once in a while to ensure Trazu and the rest of the group didn’t lose sight of him. When she lost sight of them, she started to worry and a part of her wanted to double back to ensure nothing had gone wrong. She held herself to her original task, knowing the Tuezo was a mysterious third party that may have a different motive then he said he did: after all he was assigned to kill Lavality. So she continued to follow Vaalm and prayed Trazu will be able to relocate them with the Force if needed.

She didn’t have to follow him much longer thankfully, as they apparently reached the area this warehouse he spoke of was located, for he had stopped, sat down even, in an alleyway across from the parking lot from it. Her body tense and ready for anything, she climbed down from her vantage point and approached him. “This is the place?” She asked in a low voice.

“Yes.” The Tuezo said, those feelers of his on his snout up and waving in the air in an almost hypnotic manner. “There’s a couple of guards at the door and a few more patrolling the perimeter. Seems he uses this place often.”

“And who knows how many are inside, unless your senses are able to ‘see’ through buildings.” Asri added, looking at the warehouse now herself.

“Trazu may, with that Force thing of his.” Vaalm said, with a touch of venom she noticed. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He and the others must have gotten held up somehow.” Asri said with a shrug. “I hope nothing went wrong.”

It was a few minutes before the rest of the group finally arrived and Asri noticed Trazu breathing a sigh of relief. “What happened?” Asri asked.

“We got held up by a couple of bounty hunters wanting to buy our ‘slave’.” Trazu said, a tad annoyed. “Is this the place?”

“It is, but it’s occupied and with guards and regular patrols to boot.”

“Hmmm….” Trazu narrowed his eyes in apparent thought, then closed them completely as he tapped into the Force. After a moment he opened his eyes again. “There’s about a dozen more inside. I can’t tell if the ringleader is in there though. Either way we need a new plan.”

“We could pretend I am returning with her to perform the actual deed before him.” Vaalm suggested.

“Dangerous.” Trazu said, his eyes narrowing slightly again at the Tuezo. “Too dangerous. He could decide to take her out himself before we could even react.”

“I think I can sneak in another way.” Asri said. “The patrols are predictable enough outside where I can approach the building with little trouble. What happens once I’m inside though….”

“I don’t know…you could get turned into swiss cheese the moment you set foot in there and I like you best when you don’t have holes in you.” He smiled faintly before turning serious again. “How about Vaalm here act as if he was returning from a successful hunt and was there to claim the reward? And while they are negotiating Asri and slip in and start taking out the guards inside.”

“A distraction, in otherwords.” Vaalm said, with a small frown. “What if they don’t believe me?”

“Well he didn’t say you had to bring back proof did he?” Vaalm shook his head. “There you go and you have that mind alternating talent of yours to help as well.”

“First off, it’s called ‘psyonics’. Second, it’s about as useless as your Jedi Mind Trick when the target is strong willed.”

To that Trazu just shrugged. “Well that’s the best plan I can come up with, unless Miss Lavality has a better idea.”

Trazu hadn’t headed off yet because he was thinking. A dangerous pass time yes, but sometimes you just had to do it and basically he was refining his plan. Looking at Lavality he gathered she was just about the same height as he was, so he flipped the hood up on his cloak and gathered the edges around him, concealing his figure.

“You are going to try to pretend to be her.” Asri stated, figuring out his idea. “Be a bit hard to fool them with your feet showing…”

He grunted and looked down, sure enough his scaly Trandoshan feet were exposed as the edges of the cloak stopped just above his ankles. That was a problem, one which would be only amplified when he started walking and he doubted Vaalm would be able to trick everyone in that building that he ‘didn’t’ have Trandoshan feet. “Maybe we can convince them I’m wearing Trandoshan hide shoes?” He suggested.

“Why take the chance? Wait one moment….” Asri said and before he could respond she ran out of the alley in the direction they had just came from. A tense moment later she came back, holding a pair of boots. “There was a drunk passed out close by, figured he wouldn’t mind if we borrowed these for a bit.”

Trazu looked at the boots with disgust. “You expect me to wear those? Knowing where they came from?” He said.

“It was your idea to pretend to be Lavality and to keep your cover from being blown you need to hide your feet. So suck it up and put them on.”

He could hear Lavality snickering and Vaalm looked amused by the whole scene. With a sigh he relented and took the boots and put them on. Dear Goddess they felt nasty! How did the other races even stand wearing these things!? They felt so restrictive….

“Maskis, stay with Lavality.” He said, doing his best to ignore the discomfort his feet were in. “I’d rather she not go unguarded in a place like this: too many bounty hunters walking around. Asri, get going and see about knocking out as many of the guards inside as you can. When the fire fight I know will start starts I’d rather not have a whole warehouse worth of blaster fire coming my way.”

The albino Trandoshan nodded and slipped away. He and Vaalm waited a few moments before starting their approach: they were immediately noticed.

“If you don’t have business here I suggest you leave immediately if you know what’s good for you.” One of the guards said menacingly.

“Business I do have here, with your boss.” Vaalm said evenly. “I’m here to calm the bounty.”

“You better have proof of her death, otherwise the boss will have your hide.”

Vaalm snorted and patted ‘Lavality’ on the shoulder. “The proof is right here, though she’s not quite dead yet.”

Trazu made sure his head was down to keep his snout from showing, relying on the Force instead to keep tabs on his surroundings. “He said for you to kill her.” He heard the guard say.

“And kill her I shall.” Vaalm replied. “I figured the boss man would enjoy watching me do so in person.”

“She seems awfully willing to be going to her death…” The second guard said suspiciously.

“Silly man…” Vaalm chided. “You know not of my kind. I have made her my willing slave through the use of my mind powers.”

Trazu didn’t like where this was going, so he sent a mental message to the Tuezo via the Force. ~Don’t even ‘think’ about ‘commanding’ me to do something stupid.~

There was a low grunt from Vaalm, low enough to where only Trazu would have heard it: he got the message and he wouldn’t be surprised if Vaalm was shocked he was able to speak telepathically if he wanted to. Proof of understanding the message came a moment later, when the guard asked. “Is that so? Have her do something, like…bark like a dog.”

Vaalm snorted again. “Any ‘tricks’ I have her do before her demise will be for your boss and the boss only.” He said. “I am not here to entertain his lackey’s. Besides, I can only make her do what she would be willing do to on her own. To make her do something…out of character…could result in me losing my hold over her. Now are you going to admit me or not?”

“Well I was hoping for a show, but your point is valid.” The guard said, disappointed. “You may enter, I’ll send a messenger to the boss telling him you are here.”

The guard opened the door and said something to a guard just inside. Then he stepped aside and allowed Vaalm and ‘Lavality’ to enter unhindered.

Trazu frowned at this, wondering how they were going to improvise this situation. The Force was giving him the warning that something wasn’t right here, but he couldn’t tell what exactly. On top of that there were still too many guards around for them to reveal themselves without becoming swiss cheesed: just were did Asri go?

He heard a low hiss come from Vaalm, but couldn’t risk looking up to see what was upsetting the Tuezo. Vaalm revealed it quickly enough thankfully. “You are not the one that gave me the task.” The Tuezo hissed. “Your heat signature is all wrong. Where is your boss? I will speak only to him.”

***

Asri meanwhile had found the only other way into the place: a hidden hanger. She was having fun ‘taking care’ of the guards as she made her way to the door that would lead into the main part of the building. The albino had just finished off the last of the guards when that door opened, revealing a heavily scarred male Trandoshan. Asri had only the description the Trazu told her from the Tuezo’s testimony, but from this guys dress it was obvious this was the big cheese and he looked surprised to see her there.

It looked like he was fixing to leave and she knew by now Trazu and Vaalm had to have made their entrance. If he was trying to leave now then that meant he saw through their ruse right a way: he was a smart one…she had to give him that.

“Running away?” Asri said teasingly, striking a pose. “Isn’t that like all so-called ‘big boss men’? Such cowards…” She smiled at him, showing her teeth, then dropped into a fighting stance.

Asri was dumbfounded. How did he know her name? What did he mean by ‘second donor’? One then was certain with this new information: this bastard had a hand in what happened to her and what the heck they did with her DNA…she didn’t want to think about right now. Before she could react though, Lavality burst in and Asri was helpless as the girl completely lost her cool and was incapacitated by him with merely a glance.

This gave her a measure of pause in attacking him herself: was this guy Force Sensitive? Gods she hoped not, for while she was immune to the mental attacks via the Force she was just as helpless against the physical attacks as anyone else. "We will meet again... and when we do... it'll be your turn..." The man said to her before fading away and the bounty hunters started closing in on her. Then a new bit of info from the hunters themselves made her heart sink.

"First one to claim her head get's the bounty."

Great…so there ‘are’ people what want my hide. She thought, gritting her teeth. Granted she knew it would happen eventually, but she wasn’t expecting it this soon. Right now though there were more immediate concerns. “You don’t know what you are up against…” She snarled as she rushed them.

The only bounty that had yet to speak was the first to fall, Asri’s sharp claws slashing his throat open before he could even put up his guard. “Good thing you two seem to be outcasts from Wookiee society…” She hissed as she pounced on the first of the Wookiee bounties. “Otherwise with the new Wookiee Trandoshan alliance this could be a bad thing I am ending your pitiful lives…”

“What? What alli…ahhh!” The wookiee started to ask, but his question turned into a scream as she impaled both his eyes with her claws. She left that one flailing and screaming as she turned toward the second Wookiee.

“Our people would never ally ourselves with you cold blooded killers.” The second Wookiee snarled.

“Hey….” The Trandoshan hunter said, looking hurt.

“You’ve been away from home for too long then.” Asri said as she dodged a punch from him. “I speak the truth, pity you won’t discover it for yourself in this life…” She landed a strike in his gut, doubling him over, then followed up with an uppercut to the chin. As the wookiee staggered back, she rammed him into a wall, finishing his trip into unconsciousness. Before she could finish him off, the Trandoshan hunter managed to grab her from behind.

“Got you now toots.” He said.

“First off…” Asri growled as she twisted out of his grasp. “You’re not my type. Second…” She punched him in the throat, making him gasp and choke. “I’m already taken…” Asri grabbed his head and gave it a sharp twist, snapping his neck.

***

“Please…you forget what I am.” Vaalm said calmly. “I simply ‘persuaded’ the pilot to take us here. How else was I going to make the trip back here? I don’t own my own ship.”

Trazu was already certain that the ruse was up however, considering what the Force was telling him of their situation. ~Forget talking…they’ve figured us out.~ He told the Tuezo mentally, as he gripped his lightsaber from underneath his cloak. ~I hope you have some experience in fighting groups.~

Calling upon the Force, he leapt up and landed on the balcony beside who was apparently the second in command of the place. “I am not a child…first off.” He said with a snarl as he focused his will and directed it at the man, only to hit the Force equivalent of a brick wall. Ok, strong mind….will have to be physical then. He thought as he changed tactics and hit him with a Force Push instead.

Asri was giving the two remaining bounty hunters the coup de grace when Maskis finally made his presence known to her. He glanced at him, the revelations that she just discovered starting to resurface in her head now that the thoughts of battle were waning. She wanted answers to the questions that now coursed through her head, but the only one that may know the answers was unconscious and while she valued Maskis as a friend, she felt it wouldn’t be a good idea to reveal what was just discovered.

“The big boss man did this.” She said simply. “How I do not know, as he didn’t even touch her. She definitely knew him and wanted to tear him to pieces. He called her by a different name though…Sharia.” She paused and looked at the door the boss man had come through moments before, faintly she heard the sound of blaster fire beyond it. “He was smart one, he knew something wasn’t right from the start. Stay with her Maskis, sounds like Lord Trazu may need some back up.”

Without another word, or even waiting to see if Maskis had anything to say, Asri went though that door. She was greeted with the backs of two snipers aiming their rifles down into the warehouse proper. Through the windows they were aiming through, she saw brief flashes of red light: Trazu’s lightsaber she guessed.

She grinned at the two snipers backs. It was time to even the odds a bit….

***

His lightsaber flashed to life, it’s blade deflecting the blaster fire from the two guards as he rushed forward. Bolts were taken care of first, then the guns, then finally the guards heads. By now the whole warehouse seemed to be shooting at him, forcing him to seek cover behind some crates. The blaster fire was too numerous and coming from too many different directions for him to deflect them all. They seemed to be all aiming at him to boot: where was that blasted Vaalm? No doubt he took the chance to make a break for it…damn that Tuezo. He thought bitterly as he racked his brain for some way out of this mess.

Then he heard screams and shouts of surprise. Curious and taking a chance, he poked his head out to see someone from one of the over seeing officers taking pot shots at the other guards. He couldn’t see who though, but was that really important right now? With the fire not so heavy on him now, he dashed out and beelined for the nearest guard, cutting him down. Chaos ensued as the guards no longer knew who to shot at and the fight finished quickly. It was then he finally knew who his assistant was.

“I thought you were a pure melee fighter like me.” Trazu said teasingly as he watched Asri emerge from the office.

“Sometimes one has to make an exception.” Asri said with a small smile. “I would have been quicker, but I had to do a self crash course on how to use this damn thing.” She held up the sniper rifle, then dropped on the floor in disgust. “The boss man got away, but not before doing some damage to Lavality.”

“What?” Trazu said as he joined her. “Why is she here? She was going to wait in the alley!”

“I don’t know.” Asri said with a shrug. “Apparently she got the feeling the boss man was going to get away and came in to try to stop him, only he ended up being much more then she could handle: he incapacitated her without even touching her.”

Trauz didn’t like the sound of that: if this man was a Force Sensitive he could be more dangerous then they thought. “Lets go to her and get off this planet. I doubt that guy will stick around here now that we invaded his base.”