The Rebel Faction

Conference Room

When the Wookiee asked about Tzhali Naosha tensed slightly, remembering that she had seen him…but not recently…and wondered if she should speak up. Remembering that last she heard the Wookiee Fleet considered him a traitor and the fact the Wookiee ambassador seemed supportive of her, she wondered if she can clear Tzhali’s name. However, now was not the time. Perhaps in private I should speak to him about Tzhali. She thought, noting Tiosk was looking at her expectantly.

“Captain Tiosk, do you remember the Sovereign?” She asked him.

“You mean that big ass ship that saved our hides when we were still at Tissuss? Yeah I do, how could I not remember that ship?” Tiosk replied.

“Unfortunately, the Sovereign has fallen into the hands of our government.” Naosha said and she saw Tiosk’s eyes go wide in shock.

“How the hell did you guys lose control of that thing!?” He asked.

“That’s not important right now Tiosk, what is important is that we need to get rid of that ship.” Varcanna said, then started to tell him of their idea to get rid of it.

Guest Hall

Silliss had just turned into the hallway where his room was when he saw a guard step out of Varcanna’s room, looking frantic.

“What’s wrong?” He asked him.

“Those two Trandoshan females asked me to watch their kids while they went to a meeting.” The guard said, panicking. “They warned me about that one…so I made sure I stayed by the door. I don’t know how, but he got out of the room. Gods they are going to kill me…”

Trissan strikes again. Silliss thought with a sigh. “Calm down man.” He said. “What were they doing at the time?”

“Sleeping.” The guard replied. “They were all asleep, hell I was falling asleep…I think I nodded off a bit at one point too. But I would have been woken up if he went through the door, those things aren’t quiet.”

“Hmm…well lets check the room then. If he didn’t go through the door he may just be hiding inside somewhere.”

Silliss entered the room, the guard right behind him. On the bed in the main room he saw the three girls sleeping peacefully, but no Trissan with them. He did a systematic search of the room, checking the closet and cabinets.

Then he found a vent that had it’s grate removed.

“Oh dear…I have a feeling he left through this…” Silliss muttered.

“Oh wonderful…” the guard groaned. “ That’s how that kid got into the rancor den not to long ago.”

“Really? I have a feeling Naosha is going to be so glad when Trissan gets to big to hide in the ventilation system….”

“So what can we do?”

“I suggest you alert the rest of the staff that Trissan is on the loose again and to keep an eye out for him. Who knows what mischief he’s going to end up getting into…” Silliss said. “I’ll watch the girls.”

Conference Room

“You have a reputation for daredevil stunts Tiosk.” Varcanna said as she finished. “So we figured you’d be the best one to ask to do this.”

Tiosk sat a moment with his chin on his hands, thinking it over. “I admit that sounds like something I would do, but I am not used to actually being ‘asked’ to do it.” Tiosk replied with a chuckle. “I’ll do it. However there are a couple of things would like to have done first. The main thing is that I would like to get the chance to transfer all non essential personal off my ship first: if we go down attempting this stunt I want to minimize losses. The second is that my ship is a still a bit fucked up from that pirate base attack we did earlier, if it’s possible I would like her to be as fixed up as possible. The better shape she is in the more likely she’ll survive long enough to get into position.”

“That sounds reasonable to me, but the Admiral…” Naosha’s sentence was cut short when she felt something tugging on her sleeve. Looking down she saw to her shock Trissan right beside her, holding a mouse droid. “Trissan what are you doing here!?” She said.

“Grandma.” Trissan said in Dosh. “What’s this?” He put the mouse droid on top of the table: the youth had to stand on his tip toes to do so.

“That? That’s a mouse droid hun…” Naosha replied in kind, then added in a stern voice. “But that doesn’t explain why you are in here. You should be in bed young man.”

“Mother…” Varcanna said, sounding very frightened. “I don’t think he’s talking about the droid…”

Naosha blinked in confusion for a moment, noting the sudden panicked expressions around the room. Then she spied the package on top of the droid…which had a counter counting down: it was a bomb.

With a shriek Naosha practically flew out of her chair. “Trissan where did you get that!?” She screamed, her voice full of panic..

“In the vent.” Trissan said calmly, not understanding why everyone was so afraid. “It was in my way so I was pushing it along. I could hear you above me when I found it so I’d thought you’d know…”

After Varcanna translated what he said Fikan immediately got on the horn. “I need a bomb squad sent to the conference room ASAP!” After getting acknowledgement from the comm officer, he said. “Everyone out now!”

Naosha didn’t need to be told twice. She snatched up Trissan and bolted out the door, Varcanna and Tiosk following close behind along with everyone else that was in the room. When they were a safe distance away, a squad of heavily armored bomb squad troops passing them on the way, Naosha stopped and glared at her grandson, who shrunk back.

“Young man…you are a blight to the galaxy…yet a blessing at the same time…” She said with a sigh.

Trandosha space: Blackblade

The Vice Admiral slumped against the wall of his room, the would-be assassin dead on the floor in front of him, panting and shaking with exertion. He knew the only reason he survived was because he was expecting it, though even then he suffered a few wounds from the attack. None of the wounds were serious, but he had a few new problems now.

One the wounds themselves would be a beacon to every other crew member that he had lost favor with the government and that anyone that did disagree with him would take the opportunity to try to eliminate him. Second was the problem of getting rid of the body and explaining the absence of this former crew member. And last…did the assassin inform anyone that he had dissented? If so, the Admiral was no doubt expecting word that his assassination was completed.

He looked at his wounds, which were still oozing blood slightly. His assailant had used a blade, which means no one would have known he was dead for some time. This could hint that the assassin acted without being under direct orders, thus the Admiral wouldn’t be expecting notification. Still, he best be wary for the time being.

And hope the blade wasn’t poisoned.

Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

She stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, feeling rested now that she had a few hours sleep. Today, she decided, would be the day. The day to finish what she had started. An opportunity she didn’t expect to come so soon.

Somewhere in the city was an injured Besk, who likely hadn’t gotten any rest due to all the patrols now going on in the city, unknowingly waiting for her to finish him off. Yes…the cards had fallen into almost perfect place: the only problem was to get to him before the patrols did.

She stood on the rooftop, the morning rays of the sunlight glistening off her white scales, surveying the city around her. Then she activated the cloaking device and started the hunt…

Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

He was tired, in pain, and feeling too weak for his state of mind. Leaning against the wall, concealed by the shadow of the alley he was hiding in, Besk watched warily as yet another patrol passed by. A combination of blood loss, infection, and exhaustion had brought him down to this point and it was finally starting to sink in that his time may be limited. However, the stubborn warrior pride in him refused to give up and after the coast his clear he left the protection of the alley to cross the street.

The world started to spin suddenly and he staggered, crashing into a trash can and knocking it over. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet again and pressed on: he was determined to find and kill Rissonik if it was the last thing he did.

…

The sound of something crashing not far away caught her attention. Effortlessly she jumped to the next roof and looked down to spy the source of the disturbance. A malicious grin formed on her face when she saw Besk, struggling to his feet and looking rather worse for wear.

Still grinning and cloaked, she leaped down from her perch, landing with a soft thud behind her wounded and weakened prey.

“You seemed to be having a bad day Besk.” She taunted. “All the better for me…”

Sarendevis HQ

“We certainly do.” Naosha said with a slight scowl. She, for one, was getting sick of the attempts on her life and held little doubt that the bomb her grandson found was meant for her.

“While I would love to have a piece of the two bastards myself...” Tiosk said. “I should get back to my ship to inform my crew of the tasks ahead and prepare for the mission.” After a brief pause he added. “But before I do that, I would like to speak to Silliss. Do you know where he is?”

“Last place I personally saw him was in medic bay Captain.” Varcanna said. “But I believe he’s been released so I am not sure where he is at now. I would guess he’s in his room on the guest levels.”

A guard approached, one Naosha and Varcanna immediately recognized as the one they asked to watch their kids. “Why aren’t you watching the kids?” Naosha asked him, hissing slightly.

The guard visibly gulped. “Another Trandoshan relieved me: he asked me to inform the crew that one of your kids had gone…oh…there he is.” The guard looked relieved to see Trissan by Naosha’s side, who looked up and stuck out his tongue at him.

Naosha managed a weak smile. “It was a good thing he slipped away from you. If it wasn’t for him, we would be a bunch of charred body parts by now. Which T’Doshok was it that relieved you?”

“How am I supposed to know?” The guard said with a helpless shrug. “You all look the same to me. He did have a weird looking staff though: looked like he made it out of an IV stand.”

Varcanna laughed. “That’s probably Silliss. He lost his lance back on Tissuss, so it sounds like he made himself a new one.”

“Well that pretty much confirms where my son is.” Tiosk said. Turning to the guard he asked. “Could you lead me to him? I want to speak with him before I leave.”

“Of course sir, follow me.” The guard said.

As Tiosk passed Varcanna he paused and whispered something into her earhole. She gasped faintly, a wave of sorrow griping her for a moment as she nodded to him, realizing this may be the last time any of them will see him alive. The private exchange did not go unnoticed by Naosha, who was curious but did not inquire about what was said.

Instead she motioned for Varcanna to follow her and Fikan down to the brig, where the two Trandoshan ambassadors looked very surprised to see them…

Sarendevis HQ: Brig

Varcanna’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the two males in the cell and pushed her way to the front. Then she grinned and put one hand on her hip, looking slightly seductive.

“Well boys if you think this…” She dragged one claw down the midriff of her lean, muscular frame. “Is ‘fat’…then you two are dangerously obese.”

“Wha…” One of the ambassadors said with a blink.

“Well look at you. All pudgy and out of shape from living the high life and lack of exercise.” She said with a smirk. Then with one smooth motion drew her dagger. “Of course…if you like I can cut a few pounds off you for you…”

At first they scoffed at her, but the moment Fikan raised his hand to turn off the force field they both scurried to the back of the cell, prompting a chuckle from both Fikan and Varcanna. Naosha simply smiled as she approached the force field, Varcanna letting her by and moving to the back.

“If you want to kill someone…you really ought to have a pro handle the job.” Naosha said, tauntingly. “Sloppy…both of you. Why my two old grandson could thwart your attempts single-handedly…in fact…he did.” She looked down at Trissan, who was by her side obediently for once. “Look Trissan.” She said to him in Dosh. “These are the bad guys that tried to hurt us.”

The youth glared at the two ambassadors. “You’ve been very bad.” He said to them, mimicking how both Varcanna and Naosha scolded him at times. “You stay in time out and no dinner for you tonight.”

Varcanna translated what the kid said for Fikan, who burst out laughing.

Guest Hall

Silliss jumped to his feet when the door opened unexpectedly. Snapping up his ‘staff’ he braced himself for an attack, but immediately relaxed his guard when he recognized who it was.

“Father.” He said, sounding slightly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“What I can’t come visit my son for no reason?” Tiosk said, looking slightly hurt.

“You always have a reason. Last time you only came because you heard I was hurt.”

“What parent wouldn’t?” Tiosk countered. “But you’re right…there is a reason.” He looked over at the guard. “Some privacy please.”

As the guard left Silliss stared at his father, a frown on his face: he had a feeling it wasn’t good. He watched as Tiosk paced the room a bit, suddenly looking much older and warily with a look of…was it dread…on his face. “This is not easy for me.” He said finally. “And I know our relationship has been rather rocky in recent years. But before I leave to return to my ship I wanted to make true amends with you.”

“You…sound as if you may never see me again.” Silliss said quietly.

“As things stand…that’s exactly right.” Tiosk said with a sigh. “You probably haven’t heard, but the government has gotten their hands on a Sovereign Class Destroyer.”

“What!?” Silliss said, turning a bit pale. “With that thing…they could hunt down every single Separatist…oh no…no no…you’ve been asked to go against it…Th..thats…”

“I know son.” Tiosk said calmly. “Unfortunately my reputation for pulling risky stunts and living to tell about it has preceded me. They asked me to be the one that takes the squad that will take that thing out to get them to the ship.” He spread his hands. “That squad knows they are on a suicide mission with no hope of retrieval, so once I drop them off I am to bugger out of there. However the risk of the Bloodfang not making it is high.”

“You can just hyperjump in and out again can’t you?”

Tiosk shook his head. “The ship is too close to the planet. I will be forced to run the gauntlet both ways, especially on the way out. To increase the chances of me making it, the Admiral is having the Bloodfang fixed up as much as possible and all non-essential personal will be evacuated from the ship before hand. If we gone down the losses will be minimized.”

“But…if you don’t make it…that means…” Silliss crushed his eyes closed and turned away.

“Should I not return, the family inheritance goes to you, all of it.”

Silliss looked back at him shocked. “But what about…”

“Your two brothers are well off as is.” Tiosk said flatly. “You are the most deserving out of my children Silliss. Plus I already asked Varcanna to ensure you get the proper care when you need it.”

“But unless our rebellion succeeds…the docs back home…”

“Which is why I need to do this son: to take away that nasty advantage the government has so we can succeed and you can continue to get the care you need…and deserve.” Then in a rare display of affection between father and son, he reached out and embraced him. “No matter what happens…know that even if I disapproved of your choices, I am proud of you. Despite the disease that plagues your body you have risen to a level no one ever expected you too, even me. That tells me it is a great honor to have a son such as you.” He pulled away then and started for the door.

“Father…I….make it back alive…please…”

Tiosk glanced over his shoulder, a faint smile on his face. “I intend to try my very hardest to. Take care of yourself…my son.”

Then he was gone and Silliss sank to the floor of the room. He buried his head in his arms and let the tears pride wouldn’t let him spill before flow freely.

Trandosha: Hsskhor Sewers

In the large storage room Rissonik had pointed out a few hours before, they were yet again pouring over the maps of the sewer network, marking off areas of interest. Though they had to hide in some locations that were nearly just as foul, a good number of the Separatists didn’t like the idea of staying in the sewers. Fortunately they realized that until that damn ship was gone, the sewers were the only place they could hide in relative safety: that didn’t stop the complaining though.

“Sha’tor.”

Rissonik looked up from the maps and toward the Keshir that had just arrived. “Yes want is it.” He said, hoping it wasn’t another whine about the location.

“While scouting above I was pulled aside by a third party, someone who claimed to work for someone that wished to ally with us. They want to meet with you to discuss the Hyossk problem.” The Keshir said. “Sounded sincere enough, but it could be a trap. I made sure I wasn’t followed back here.”

Rissonik furrowed his brows, looking suspicious. “Did they state a time and place?”

“No sir. He said they wanted you to make that choice and told me he’ll wait for your response.”

The elder Trandoshan mulled over this, wondering if he should take the risk. Finally he nodded. “We’ll take the chance. However to minimize the chance of a double-cross you will not tell them where the location is, but lead them there instead.” He pointed to a small house on the map he knew was abandoned and run down: his spies had used it before to exchange information.

“Understood sir. When?”

“Tell them they have an hour to met you at a place of your convenience, not too close…but not to far from the meeting point.” Rissonik said. “Warn them that if they do not arrive within an hour and a half I will leave and they will have lost their chance.”

“Yes Sha’tor, I will go at once.” The Keshir bowed and left.

“Now…” Rissonik said looking at his small group of K’Satikur warriors. “Which two of you want to make a trip to the surface?”

Not surprisingly, all of them raised their hand and Rissonik sighed.

Street of Hsshkor

Besk froze, the expression of fear appearing on his face every so briefly before turning around to face the speaker, only to see no one. “Who’s there!?” he demanded, reaching back to grip the handle of his K’Zuta, ignoring the pain that flared up in his side when he did so.

“What goes around comes around Besk…” The voice said, slowly, almost seductively and definitely female. Why did it sound familiar?

“What are you talking about?” Besk freed his weapon and held it out in front of him, looking around for his harasser. Suddenly something slammed into his back, sending him sprawling to ground and his weapon flying out of his hands, landing with a thud a couple feet away.

“Someone you have wronged has come back for revenge.” The voice hissed as he struggled to his feet. He reached for his weapon, only to watch as it got picked up by some unseen entity and tossed further away.

Cloaker. Besk thought with a snarl. The last time he was able to fend them off, but in his present state he wasn’t sure he could do so again. “All those I have ‘wronged’ are dead.” Besk countered.

There was a chuckle that seemed to float on the wind. “Not all…my dear Besk. One you sold off to die a horrible death has survived.”

Sold off… The term nagged at him, as did the familiarity of the voice itself. Despite the obvious danger he was in, he found his mind wandering back to the past, trying to piece this puzzle together. It did dawn on him that this cloaker seemed content to wait for him to try to figure it out for himself before attacking: she wanted him to know. However it was not clicking and in frustration he shook his head.

“I guess your weakness has affected your brain.” The voice said coldly. “Perhaps this will help jog your memory.”

There was a faint shimmer in the air, then a figure appeared before him almost out of thin air. Beside himself he took a step back in shock: this female was an albino. She was somewhat sparsely dressed, the main articles of clothing consisted of black leather bracers, top, shorts and shin guards: on the top he could see a small device which he safely guessed was the control box for the cloaking device. Finally he could see she welded not one, but two K’Zurs, the fingered blades of which were twitching with anticipation.

At first he was even more confused. He certainly never met any albino Trandoshans before: most are killed the moment they are born and those that aren’t killed outright are thrown out into the wilderness to die. But then he focused on her face, the shape of her nose and head crest and it clicked.

“Asri…” He breathed softly, his eyes wide in shock. He recognized her now: she was his daughter…

Trandosha: Streets of Hsskhor

Asri smiled cruelly, watching Besk stagger backwards a couple of paces in complete shock.

“You remember me now don’t you…father.” She spit out the world like it was the foulest thing she had ever tasted. “Yes your dear old daughter who was mistakenly labeled as sterile has come back from the dead, to have her revenge.”

“What for?” Besk hissed faintly, regaining his composure somewhat. “The one you should be mad at is your sister; she was the one that fooled everyone after all: I would have killed her myself if she hadn’t ran away.”

“Kosi is already dead.” Asri said flatly. “And her death brought me no satisfaction, for she was already ruined with nothing to lose but her life. Bringing you down from your high perch has been far more satisfying….”

Besk felt the heat of anger rise to his face, his eyes seeming to burn with red flame. “You…are responsible for my current situation?” He growled.

Asri grinned. “Indeed, at least for the most part. I must give some credit to the Separatists for the blowing up your little pet group and landing you in jail. Whether that’s what they intended I do not know, but served my purposes perfectly by giving me the opportunity to literally rob you blind. You really shouldn’t keep your account information in your pockets…”

“So you laid claim to the fortune you would have rightly earned anyway.” Besk said with a faint scowl. “All you had to do was reveal yourself earlier and be patient.”

Asri scoffed. “Are you blind? Do you think the financial institutions would have even considered giving me access to the fortune looking like this.” She pointed at herself. “Really now…you are usually a lot smarter then that. The only way your ‘theory’ would have had any merit was if you hadn’t jumped the gun and sold me to those fucking scientists the moment you heard I was supposedly sterile. Thanks to you…I am a social outcast and a freak with no hope of gaining any status.”

“If you hadn’t brought me down, I could have made arrangements to ‘fix’ that.” Besk said calmly. “As the last of my fertile children you are very important to the bloodline…”

Her expression turned very dark. “That is all you males care about.” She hissed dangerously. “Bloodlines and whether or not you have an heir. That’s the only purpose you ever saw in Kosi and me…to serve as egg layers to ensure your damn bloodline continues. Never mind what other hopes and dreams we had, that wasn’t important at all to you…what you did to me is proof of that. And even if I hadn’t brought you down to the level of sludge rat, I hardly consider you family worthy of lending my womb to. As far as I am considered…your bloodline no longer exists.”

“If I remember rightly…you were all too eager to become a clutch mother my dear.” Besk countered.

“I was…” Asri admitted, a note of sorrow in her voice. “But that dream got dashed to pieces when Kosi pulled her little double cross.”

“Obviously you learned it was a trick and killed Kosi for it. If only you had come to me before, I could have had those docs determine if there was a way to ‘fix’ your…freakiness….and you if are still fertile.” Besk said, hoping to tempt her into joining him. “If you still desire to be a mother, I am sure there are ways to…”

“Again with the one track mind you males have.” She interrupted hotly. “I already know my ‘condition’ cannot be reversed. I am doomed…doomed to gradually turn into something that many do not consider living. I must kill every day to keep myself alive and that process going, a process that has no doubt made me incapable of ever having children of my own. All because you consider those that cannot breed better off dead If you weren’t so prejudgest, you would have remembered our people’s tendency back stab each other in the name of social advancement, and demanded a retest. Your own actions have doomed your precious bloodline.”

Her points were very hard to counter, leaving Besk frustrated. She was his last chance to insure the family bloodline was continued in his name. Even if she did go along, he realized, the fact that they were both social outcasts would make it virtually impossible for him to get her bred. “By bringing me down, you have left me with no means to try to make it up to you.” Besk hissed, then he added in a calm voice. “However, if you could clear my name, I can get you the help you need.”

“I don’t want your help…I want you dead.” Asri said bluntly. “The galaxy will be a better place without you and the Separatist will be able to accomplish their goals much easier.”

It was Besk’s turn to have a dark expression. “You sympathize with them? I never thought I’d see the day one of my own children would go rebel.”

“You only have yourself to blame for it. Your actions practically drove me to their side.” Asir said causally. “I am not just a sympathizer…I’m virtually a member now since I warned them of that.” She pointed up at the Sovereign, which dominated the sky. “They have since gone underground, where that things scanners can’t penetrate.”

Besk smiled, thinking her an idiot for just revealing that. “Well, thank you for telling me where they are…” He said. “I’m sure Hyossk will find that information useful…”

Asri just smiled back. “He will only know if you live long enough tell him…which you won’t.” She then pressed the button on the cloaking device and disappeared…

Sarenedivus HQ: Brig

“What a shame…you brain washing your kids like that…” One of the Ambassadors sneered.

“Our little ones make their own decisions on events I assure you.” Varcanna replied. “Besides…if I remember correctly you two did state you intended to kill our kids, so mother has every right to refer to you as bad people.”

“So Fikan what should we do with these two?” Naosha asked, a slight mischievous grin on her face. “I’d stay leave them here to go down with the base…since they were so eager to blow it up anyway.”

(ooc: I had a lot more, but if I had posted it all this post would have been a mile long. So I am saving the rest for the next post.)

Trandosha: Alley

The time for talk was over Besk realized and instinctively he brought his rifle to bare, only to have it smacked right out of his hands. The rifle smashed against the wall of the alley with enough force to bend the barrel, rendering it useless. With one weapon ruined and the other currently out of his reach Besk had no means to defend himself, plus he was fighting an invisible foe that was hell bent on killing him: this was not going to be an easy fight.

Pain erupted on his arm and lower back as two more attacks from Asri connected and Besk knew he had to move or be sliced to pieces where he stood. Hoping his adversary was still behind him he dove forward, toward his K’Zuta, wincing as she scored another hit on his leg. He grabbed the weapons handle and rolled upright, then swung the weapon around to fend off fend off her next attack. He heard a hiss, but it was one of annoyance and not of pain has he hoped. His own wounds were screaming, especially the older one in his side, but his training enabled him to ignore it. He swung at the location he heard the hiss, only to hit nothing but air.

“You call yourself a warrior!” He growled frustratingly. “Show yourself so this fight can be one of honor!”

Suddenly something slammed into his back and he was forced to stumbling forward a few paces: fortunately he was able to keep a hold of his weapon.

“Since when did you fight with honor?” Came a scathing response. “You would even kill children if you believed it would further your cause.”

Besk ignored her jibe and focused on using his other senses to try to pinpoint her location. Her statement had placed her still behind him, but he knew by now she was smart enough to not stay in one place. She knew he was on his guard now, so he could hear little.

Then there was a tiny, almost inaudible sound of something scraping against the pavement just off to one side. Besk quickly whirled around slashed with his weapon and felt it connect with something. There was a yelp and suddenly Asri flickered into view, sparks emanating from the control device for the cloaking device. It was a blow of pure luck and nothing more, Asri herself was uninjured, but she no longer had the advantage of invisibility.

Besk smiled as Asri looked down at the ruined device in disbelief. Then to his surprise she just snarled and adopted a fighting stance: a stance he recognized as vaguely Teras Kasi in form. This fight was only going to get more intense he realized, but the question was: would he survive it?

Abandoned House

Rissonik paced the main room of the house, the two K’Satikur warriors becoming increasingly nervous due to the long wait. It was fifteen minutes until time was up and he knew the Keshir should be on his way by now with mysterious contact in tow. While he trusted his Clan member there was no telling what this individual who wanted to meet them was going to do, so they kept their guard up.

The minutes ticked by and just before the time limit was up the sound of a door opening reached their ears. Immediately Rissonik and the two warriors hid themselves, in case it was a patrol looking for squatters.

“Sha’tor?” A familiar voice said. “Are you here?”

“Doponds.” Rissonik replied in Clan Dialect, keeping himself concealed. “Is it sufo?”

“Uyo Sha’tor. Wo woron’t fellewod und tho centuct is net whe yea oxpoct.?

“How so?” Rissonik stepped out of his hiding place, and his eyes widened in mild shock when he saw who was with him. “Councilor Shissa, if I had known it was you I would have cleaned myself up and chosen a less…run down location.” He said, giving her a slight bow.

“Spare the formalities Rissonik, at least for now.” The Councilor said. “Considering how much trouble I had to go through to find you this is a small price to pay.”

“Indeed, especially if a political opponent found out about our little rondivu. So what has driven you to such risks to contact me madam?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Shissa said. “Hyossk has gone plain mad and is no longer fit for his position. His recent decisions, especially the one regarding Marshall Law, he didn’t even consult with the whole Council before making them. He is overstepping the bounds of his station and thus becoming a danger to us all.”

“In other words, you realize Naosha was right all along.”

The Councilor’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yes.” She said softly. “We should have been more open minded to her concerns and ideas, but pride made us blind. Unfortunately beside myself there are only two other Councilors that have realized this for sure. We suspect there is at least one other who is too afraid to dissent, Councilor Nitakk in fact, but we have been unable to confirm.”

“Even if he was, you would still be at two short of the majority needed to remove Hyossk from office without assassinating him.” Rissonik said.

“We are also looking into the stance of the other Councilor’s heirs.” Shissa said.

“But assassinating anyone would ultimately work against our cause.” Rissonik pointed out, getting what she was aiming for. “If anyone was to be killed the Separatists can’t be involved in it.”

She nodded. “Understood. It is possible that any heirs that do support you may not be risking killing their parent until they know they would be killed in turn due to their views.”

“You seem to have a plan at least. But this still doesn’t explain why you have sought me out madam.” Rissonik said.

“You may not know this, but we never filled Naosha’s position after Hyossk kicked her out.”

“Really?” Rissonik rose a brow. “So you are one Councilor short.”

She nodded. “We didn’t fill it in part due to your rebellion and because we couldn’t decide who should take her place. At the time, we knew her children would be strong supporters of her and thus unsuitable. However, recent events have changed our point of view on this.”

“Hyossk would never allow you to reinstate the position to our family.” Rissonik pointed out. “And even if he was stupid enough to we would still be one vote short to oust him, that’s providing Nitakk sides with us.”

Shissa sighed. “So we are kind of stuck aren’t we?”

“Unless we can find out for sure which Councilors support us.”

The Councilor pondered a moment. “We do have a meeting this afternoon. If Hyossk decides it is important enough to attend we can ask him to explain his recent actions. How everyone responds to his answers may give us clues.”

“Sounds like our best chance madam. Be careful though, as paranoid as he is he take your questioning of his decisions as dissent.”

“I am aware of the risks Rissonik, but we are fast approaching the point of no return. If we don’t act soon, there may no T’Doshok left to change…”

“Sadly it does seem that way doesn’t it?” Rissonik said with a slow nod. “Especially with the recent development of that damn ship.”

“You must mean that huge monstrosity of a ship that’s been in orbit as of late. That thing concerns us as well: whomever is in charge of that thing must have interests in keeping our government the way it is.”

“I had assumed it was a forceful take over.”

She shook her head. “If our Fleet was at 100% perhaps, but we have lost so many ships since this mess started a forced take over of a ship that size would have been impossible: we simply don’t have the man power anymore.”

“There’s certainly enough to enforce the Marshall Law though.”

“The Fleet and Army are two different forces Rissonik, they are only loosely connected.”

“Still, it seems Hyossk has the Armies full support.”

“For now. If it brings you any comfort, my spies have heard whispers of dissent even there. It will be only a matter of time before it starts to fall apart like the Fleet is.”

“But as you said Councilor, ‘we are fast approaching the point of no return’. We need to remove Hyossk from office before a full scale war breaks out…”

“A war we would surely lose in our present state…” Shissa nodded grimly. “I’ll keep you informed the best I can Rissonik.”

“I wish you luck Councilor, for all our sakes.”

Space just outside of the Sarendivus HQ: Bloodfang

“Captian.” Konik said as Tiosk returned to the bridge. “What is going on? Just before you returned a bunch of repair ships arrived and started attaching armor segments to the hull.”

Tiosk looked around at the bridge crew, all of whom were looking at him curiously. “We’ve been asked to do a very difficult mission, one we may not return from alive.” Tiosk said simply.

“The additional armor must be to give us a better chance of survival…but against what?” Konik asked.

“Do you remember the Sovereign Konik?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“Our government some how got control of it.”

His second in commands jaw dropped in shock. “We…we were asked to go against that thing!?”

“Not directly.” Tiosk explained. “This ship is just going to serve as a transport for the squads that are going to board that thing and blow it. The problem of course is getting close enough to it in one piece, hence the additional armor. Fortunately, we are not expected to perform an extract as well.”

“Those squads sacrificing their lives in other words, we along with it most likely considering the odds.”

“I am not taking everyone on this ship on this mission Konik.”

“How do you mean sir?”

“Consider this my final order before this mission gets on the way. All non-essential personal are to be transferred to the Fanggore and RedClaw. This will include any remaining fighters and their pilots and the Hunters Way. I want nothing but practically a skeleton crew, enough people to man the guns, and those infiltration squads on this ship before we depart. Understood?”

“Aye sir…”

“You are to leave as well.”

“But…sir….I….”

Tiosk sighed and put a hand on the younger Trandoshan’s shoulder. “Listen to me Konik, you are still young and have your whole life ahead of you, while I am starting to feel my age. I will admit the prospect of this ship going down attempting to accomplish the riskiest stunt ever and the fact this may be my last hurrah is rather invigorating, but I am not about to sacrifice lives needlessly. I want to spare as many young lives as I can on this mission.”

There was a moment of silence between them. Then Konik slowly nodded in acceptance. “It’s…been an honor to serve under your command Captian.” He said, his voice cracking slightly.

“And it’s been an honor to have you as my second Konik. You have done me proud and I truly believe you will make an excellent Captain of your own ship some day. Now go relay my orders, I’ll be in the hanger to see everyone off.”

Konik nodded and turned away. Tiosk looked around at the crew on the bridge and noted with a small measure of pride that they all had accepting, if not slightly sobering, expressions on their faces…