Telos




As the sun started to set across the skies of Telos, two men were making their way through the steady stream of tourists , tradesmen, spacers and locals all scurried about their business like ants under the now blood red heavens.

The odd whispers of tainted amber clouds hung effortlessly in the sky, breaking up the breathtaking vista like small islands in a vast sea.

The buzz of the capital's nightlife would start soon, as those who had finished business headed for the nearest water holes to refresh themselves after a hard days work, and others simply went home to see their loved ones.

Ambassador Zhou Chandra'ha, The Commonwealth's newest diplomat walked in step with his Telosian counterpart, Kenji Toshiro, a tall and proud man with sharp features, and dark eyes.

The two men had spent the six two months in intensive talks. The Telosians, the Devlikks and the Snivvians had all expressed an interest in the Commonwealth, and to capitalise on this interest Vinda had Sent Chandra'ha to quicken the process despite the fact that Chandra'ha had not dealt with anything as big as this before. He had been hired to fill the hole left by the previous incumbent Aron Antilles.

With the rising Commonwealth in the Corporate Sector , and the Capricians finding their feet , this whole region of space seemed to be more stable, a lot more than recent times. The Hydian way as a result had seen a large increase of intersystem traffic, and already the economies on each respective planet had seen improvement, but it lacked direction, it needed guidance and regulation. Security of this major and ever increasingly busy trade route was now a common interest to all parties.

As a result a summit had been proposed , and all three delegations had accepted, and attended.

Such a task was no small feat

To say Zhou had been nervous upon accepting the assignment was an understatement. Even as he was appointed the position at VC-HQ he had heard from many sources, and even witnessed first hand that throwing people in at the deep end so to speak was a favourite tactic of the Vinda-Corp Figurehead.

Sink or swim, he called it.

Still , there was something about the old man which made you want to please him, as strange as that sounded, he was... persuasive.

This thought hung in the back of his mind as the Ambassador listened to the Telosian Ambassador talk. In their dealings over these past months the two had developed an unexpected friendship, Chandra'ha was surprised to find they shared many common interests and ideals.

So, when Ambassador Toshiro invited the Vinda-Corp diplomat to be 'informally' shown around the Telos capital, he had accepted the offer gladly.

A break in the daily routine had been a welcome change of pace indeed, to all the endless political debate they had both been subjected to, and as the two men entered a small but charming cafe and sat down opposite each other the conversation had changed from the political to the idle.

"...so..whats he like?.." (asked the Telosian curiously)

"..who?.." Came Chandra'ha's unproductive response, as he scanned down a menu .

Kenji pulled the menu down with his hand in order to see the Ambassador's face...

"...Vinda..." He replied unimpressed.

Zhou grinned and answered as he looked around to catch the eye of the nearest Droid serving tables... "well, I really haven't spent much time with him so I can't tell you a great deal..."

"oh." Kenji replied flatly , disappointed.

Looking up at his opposite , Zhou tried unsuccessfully to hide the traces of a smirk.

"sorry to disappoint you" He responded dryly.

The pair were soon joined by a strange looking droid which took their order in a shrill electronic voice that hurt Zhou's ears.

Smiling again Zhou placed his menu tablet aside and looked at his friend...

"..ok what is it you want to know?..."

"...can we be frank?.." Kenji said warily...

"please do" Zhou responded promptly...

"..well I just wanted to know what he was like, you hear a lot of rumours, I suppose I have always assumed him to be an ogre to work for..." Kenji said, suddenly becoming aware that he might have said too much, and as the words left his mouth a look of guilt began to spread across his face as if he'd just been caught with his hand in the perverbial cookie jar.

Zhou noticed the subtle change in his friends expression straight away, and laughed...

"..well, maybe he is, but I haven't seen that side to him yet...."

Zhou seemed to reflect on this for a moment before continuing , his voice vague..."...I suppose one does not get to the position he is without an element of the ogre..." He added quickly with a smirk "I haven't seen him eat any babies if that's what you're looking for?..." (and it was Kenji's turn to laugh)

"...Still, I have heard he goes through Admirals like anything..." Zhou said with acquiescence.

The two Ambassadors were soon joined by the droid as it duly delivered their orders.

"..not hungry?..or do you just know something I don't?..." Zhou asked with a hint of concern as he noticed the Telosian hadn't ordered any food, just a drink, Alderaanian tea in fact...

Kenji smiled and shook his head as he replied " no, no, the food here is excellent, I'm just not that hungry ..."



"never do anything on an empty stomach" Zhou Stated matter of factly, before picking up his cutlery and starting to eat.

Kenji watched as Zhou tucked heartily into a steak of some description and wondered what the future would hold, and as he took a sip of his tea he found himself slipping into his thoughts.

"...you seem quiet?..something on your mind?..." Zhou managed to say between mouthfuls of food.

"...the future...this planet has had its fair share of bad history, people are just starting to feel positive about the future...I guess I am worried about whether I can help deliver it to them..." Kenji spoke quietly as if remembering some long and distant event. "they deserve it" (He added firmly)

Zhou stoppped mid-chew and took his face took on a serious expression.

"...why on Bonadan would you say something like that for?...you've worked hard to get where you are, I can't think of anybody else more suitable" Zhou said with an air of authority.

"..after all , thats what these talks are about..." He continued, trying to reassure the Telosian Ambassador.

Kenji simply nodded in response and took another sip of his tea.

"...The Commonwealth has a lot to offer the people of Telos and vice versa...Its partnership of shared interest you could say..." Zhou followed up, losing himself in his own oration.

Kenji nodded and smiled inwardly to himself, he had heard this speech many times over these past six months.

"..Be that as it may, the people of Telos need to be wary, we've heard promises similar to this in the past...."

Zhou nodded , and waved a fork in Kenji's direction as he replied, " not by us you haven't..." And smiled as much as one could with a mouthful of steak.

Placing his cup upon the table, Kenji changed the subject slightly, he had heard enough politics for one night...

"...did you watch that transnovel given to us by the Snivvian Ambasssador we met at the summit?..."

Zhou frowned a little and shook his head... "no, any good?..."

Kenji rolled his eyes...

"..it was terrible, I swear the only people who watch this type of thing have no life...I've read better road signs..."

Zhou laughed and shook his head... "..just don't say that to the Snivvian Ambassador..." He advised jokingly.

Kenji returned the diplomat with an unconvinced look.

"...I still can't believe that theres a market for these things!..." He remarked in disbelief.

"...Vinda seems to think so, in fact the advance orders were so popular we'll be looking to form a publishing arm in conjunction with the Snivvians..." (Zhou informed matter of factly...)

"...well, I don't know whether to laugh or cry..." The Telosian quipped in return , with the slight trace of a roguish grin.

As the night drew closer the two men sat and talked for hours before finally bidding each other a good night and taking their leave.




Early hours of the next morning...





Waking from his slumber , the Vinda-Corp Diplomat rose groggilly from his bed and reached clumsily for the holo-net transceiver by his bedside. to deactivate the incredibly annoying alert.

Glancing a look at the chrono , the Ambassador frowned...

..3:16 am! who in the hell?...

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he answered the call, and as his eyes wearily focused on the unfamiliar visage in front of him, a deep frown etched its way across his forehead...

"...Ambassador Zhou Chandra'ha?..."

"..yes?..who is it?..."

"..Sorry to call at this time Ambassador, I am Xim Gorom, Chief of Police, its just we have a very serious matter to discuss with you..."

Zhou straightened as he heard the Chief identify himself...

"...of course, what can I help with you officer?..." He replied , concerned...

"..its about Ambassador Toshiro, I'm afraid to inform you he was found dead this morning..."

Zhou simply stared at the man before him dumbly...

"...dead?..what!?..how?..." He managed to muster...

"...well, thats what we like to dicuss with you Ambassador, we have sent an unmarked transport to your address, to avoid embarassment you understand..after all this is a delicate situation..."

Zhou's eyes narrowed slightly in response...

"..what do you mean?..delicate"

"...we need to ask you a few questions about last night..."

The Chief stated firmly...

The diplomat nodded his head warily...

"...of course anything to help..."

"...Excellent, then a party should be there in a moment...might be a good idea to seek council..."

Zhou fell quiet for a moment, as if confused by this....

"..am I being arrested Chief Gorom?.." He asked finally...

The Chief smiled unconvincingly trying his best to reassure the Ambassador...

"...not if you come willingly, no." ...And with that the communicae was cut leaving a somewhat unnerved ambassador alone to his thoughts...


why doesn't that reassure me...

Bonadan

VC-HQ - Mr Vinda's private office




"...this has got to be some kind of joke?..."

The corporate leader snorted in disbelief, as Achinta relayed the Ambassador's situation...

(Achinta simply shook his head in response)

"...I don't believe this! this is bloody ridiculous!..."

Vinda sunk back into his chair, and the leather creaked as if moaning in protest...

"...I sent him there to talk to the Ambassador , not kill him!..."

" He does say he is innocent..."

(Achinta replied plainly...)

Vinda rolled his eyes and glowered at his bodyguard.

"..of course he's innocent!, I was just ...venting...you know better than to take everything I say literally..." He explained irritated...

Vinda rubbed his face and sighed heavily...

"..what do they have?..." he asked eventually...

Achinta looked downwards for a moment as he recalled his conversation he had been a part of earlier...

"..not much, mainly that he was the last person to see the ambassador alive, in fact they have no motive , let alone evidence, so really not a great deal..."

Vinda's scowel softened a little.


...something at least...


His mind raced with the many possible scenarios that could have taken place, and he sighed once more...

This was not the first time this had happened, and it was starting to get absurd.

How the hell were they supposed to gain more member planets for the Commonwealth, if their leaders kept dying eveytime a Vinda-Corp diplomat set foot on the planet.

(Vinda's face frowned as these thoughts manifested themselves)

The last thing they needed when trying to attract new members was a reputation for for killing them off, regardless of whether he had done it or not, it still didn't look good.

The brief thought that maybe this assignment had been too much for the ambassador settled uncomfortably on the leader's conscience.

He dimissed the thought almost as soon as it manifested itself.


...no...Zhou was a capable man...



"Want me to send a company specialist?..." (Achinta said as he interrupted the leader's thoughts).

With a heavy frown Vinda murmured in agreement.


"..yes...see what section can dig up, tell them I want it quiet, and get a solicitor sorted out for Chandra'ha, it seems like he's going to need it..."


With that Achinta bowed his head in acknowledgment and strode out of the office to relay his orders.

Leaving a brooding Vinda to consider the possible dilemmas ahead.

A month previous

Soft red, bold blue, hues of faded color. The room is saturated.

The air is thick with odors. The conditioner is broken again. Stale sweat is prominent; it has been a while since the last alarm.

"How does it look, Mickey," Antrim whispered. He leaned over the Sergeant's shoulder to examine the monitor.

"Clean as a whistle so far, Sir. No detections."

Antrim grunted, and moved down the line. He stopped at Joseph's station.

"Just normal com chatter, Sir."

Another grunt.


*

Captain's Log
Monday
Date Unknown

Yesterday's raid went well. We were completely undetected until the moment of docking, but by then it was too late. Made off with enough supplies for all four craft. Food for three months, if we stick to rations.

Holonet chatter seems to be drifting away from Galactic news and back to the standard Anthos stations. Military encryption has been changed again, Zin doesn't think we can crack it this time.

Thinking about leaving the sector again. Unsure about that. Despite being hunted by the military, I know this sector like the back of my hand. The galaxy at large may be unprepared for me, but they know the territory and I do not.


*


All quarters on the Mandalore-class Stealthcraft were small. The captain's quarters were no exception. Sitting in the claustrophobic and cluttered room, Michael drifted. No, not Michael, Antrim. He smiled wanly. The shift to his middle name was still not coming naturally to he or his crew.

Antrim drifted back to his previous train of thought. His fingers tapped his datapad, causing the current entry to be appended with a line of gibberish. He was confident in the capabilities of these four ships -- they had proven themselves countless times over the last five months. Pike had not lied about their capabilities; he had understated them.

Antrim rotated his chair slightly until a flat panel monitor came into view. It was a display of a starscape. A grey layer of fuzz permeated the display, shifting the dead black of space to a tinted hue of dark marble. The cloak was online.

He made his decision.



Present

The Cutter floated invisibly around the enormous station. Her three sister-ships, the Irreplaceable, the Evanescent and the Bombay were flanking her, forming an invisible left slash formation.

On the bridge of the Cutter a red hue permeated the air. The cloak was online. Men worked quickly, and quietly. They may have been cloaked, they may have been wrapping space itself around their craft, but the principles of planetary submarine warfare still applied.

dBale stood hovering over Mickey's sensor station. The Lieutenant was working in a ploddingly methodical manner. Passive scanning was always a chore.

"No detectable conventional weapons, Sir," said the man. He continued to peer at the sensor readings. "But I'd bet my firstborn that that thing is armed to the teeth."

He pointed to the disc that made up the bulk of the Astral Astoria. "See this?" he said, indicating the trench that went around the perimeter of the disc. "It's very unconventional. Looks like a layer of laser-focusing material, or something like that. Similar to the swivel-cannon mounts on Hapan craft, except it's missing any sort of cannons."

Mickey took a breath, and blew it all out in a rush. He shrugged. "I'm probably wrong though, the whole thing is so alien in design it could be the galaxies' biggest crapper and I'd say it was a refrigeration device."

dBale patted Mickey on the shoulder, and moved off. This was the second time they had surveyed this station the last three months. The first time their cover had nearly been blown when a stray tractor beam had snagged the Evanescent. The Cutter had been forced to perform an emergency yaw and discharge a single ION burst to the offending tractor beam projector. The beam had been deactivated, but dBale doubted that the ION burst had done much damage.

They had burned the engines hot until their ION receptors were full, then the squad had dumped and made a series of short hyperspace jumps. For a week after they had been at a constant state of yellow alert, running silent if not cloaked.

And now, they were back to continue their surveillance.

Over the last two months the four craft had separated and rejoined three times. The corporate Sector was large, so large they couldn't be efficient and together at the same time. At each rendezvous more pieces of the puzzle that was Vinda Corp came together.

dBale had spent days with his intelligence officers piecing together the information. Though VC was primarily a Company, it also maintained a significant military presence in the Corporate Sector. Most planets received protection from VC, even though they were not officially affiliated with them. VC itself seemed more of a government than a corporation, though it did the latter in great amounts.

dBale moved to his command chair and sat. The bridge crono said there were fifteen minutes left before their ION receptors were full. It was time to move out.

Telos

Two days later...





Chandra'ha Sat in what passed as the local law enforcement's interview / interrogation room, in deep, silent thought, trying to clear his mind of his nerves, it had been a full four hours he had been placed here. Altogether though, he had been in custody for almost twenty four hours now, and he had heard little.

Vinda-Corp had sent a team of solicitors , along with someone, whom they referred to as a 'company specialist'...

...whatever that means... He thought to himself sourly...

Just as the moment, the newly appointed ambassador had started to regret ever taking on this assignment, the heavy door small chamber slid slowly aside, and to his relief, Dent, (his lawyer), stepped inside, flanked by one of Vinda's company specialists and the Chief himself, Gorom.

Glancing up at the three men, Zhou's eyes were met with relieved smiles all round, except from Gorom , who looked uncomfortable, to put it mildly.

The Chief cleared his throat and approached the Ambassador...

"I apologise to have kept you waiting so long Ambassador" He said, lowering his gaze a little...

The Chief threw the other two men a furtive glance before continuing...

"I'm pleased to inform you, that you are free to leave, as of now, and before you do , I, on behalf of the entire police department would like to extend my deepest apologies to this inconvenience we have obviously put you through..."

Zhou turned his attention towards his beaming lawyer, Dent, with a puzzled expression upon his face...

"er..I'm not sure I understand, what's happened? what about Kenji?..."

Dent smiled, and the Chief shifted his weight about uneasily...

"They caught the person responsible, and I'm sorry to say this but Ambassador Toshiro was indeed murdered, poisoned in fact..."

Zhou could only stare at the trio somewhat dumbfounded...

...murdered!..poisoned!?... (the words echoed within his head..)

"by whom?" Zhou ventured, eventually...

Gorom looked at the others , then brought his attention back to Zhou...

"Tienna Sahim" The Chief said in reply...

Zhou looked even more confused...

"An ex-lover, whom he met in the very same cafe you both used to meet at. Turns out the Ambassador finished things with her, and she took it kind of personally..." Dent said, and Zhou simply blinked in response, clearly in disbelief...

"We found traces of the poison at the cafe, and when we questioned the staff, she broke down and confessed to everything, very sad affair, very sad indeed..." Gorom trailed off staring into the distance, then brought his gaze back to the Vinda-Corp Ambassador...

"...you are free to go Ambassador, and once again, thank you for your help and your patience in this tragic affair..."

With that Xim bowed a little, (albeit awkwardly), and left the men to their own devices.

Chandra'ha sunk back into the uncomfortable chair as the gravity of the whole situation began to sink in...

"Well, I don't know what to say..." Zhou said after a while.

"...I don't know whether to be happy or appalled..." He followed up , looking up at the two men standing before him...

the two men said nothing, but simply returned the look...

"...what a very strange affair!..." He said before finally rising from the chair and straightening his tunic...

The Vinda-Corp Ambassador had experienced a great deal these past few months, and especially in these past few days. He knew when he took the assignment on, that it wouldn't be a straight forward one. But he hadn't expected this... he'd had much more than he'd bargained for already...


...very strange indeed...

The letters were scrawled in sort of a half script, half print. What is my Motivation. Beneath them was residue of multiple answers, all of them erased

[font=Verdana]There was nothing coming to mind.[/font]


*


He didn't have motivation for doing as he did, but he did have an achievable goal in mind. He had pondered the significance of committing crime without a moral motivation, but had ceased the line of thought when it began to go sour. Many things were done without a real why beyond "I need this". He and his crew were fugitives from a small reclusive government. They had stolen spacecraft that were far beyond black ops rated. The crew needed a change from silent observation. They crew needed a change in diet.

Antrim wanted anchovies.

They were on the outskirts of the Hydian Way, waiting. The countdown timer was nearing its quad zero.

And then it clicked. Immediately it reset itself to a small number and began to countdown again, while its buzzer transformed an otherwise laid back bridge crew into a shifting set of bodies, all re-rechecking their consol readouts.

"Interdictor bubble activating"

Alarms blared almost immediately as sensors were deceived into believing that their host craft had suddenly been transported into the core of a small moon.

"ION cannons charged and read aboard Irreplaceable, Evanescent and Bombay. Cutter TRU systems ready."

Again the countdown timer flashed a series of red zero's, reset itself and sounded its alarm.

"Incoming hyperspace exits"

"Thirty-four craft registered incoming sir!"

The countdown timer flashed zero, reset and spoke.

A prerecorded message began to transmit off of the communications buoy that floated several thousand kilometers to the port of Antrim's ghost fleet. "De-activate your weapons and shielding systems, you will be boarded. This is your final warning, deactivate your weapons and shielding systems, you are about to be boarded." The voice was cold and mechanical, a verbatim duplicate of a certain famous space-pirate, long since retired. But who was to think of that now, let alone know?

Antrim stared intently at his readout. He was looking for... there!
"Attack group one, lock onto craft number #28, fire at will."

Without taking a breath he turned to his tactical ops officer. "Deactivate interdictor bubble". Simultaneously the countdown timer sounded an alarm and reset itself.

The coms were lighting up with protests, alarmed cries for mercy and warnings of immenent destruction of all hostilities did not cease immediately. The space buoy detonated violently, an impressive testament to the alertness of someones fire-control crew. Laser fire stitched the space between craft as panicking captains ordered their crew to "open fire" without specifying a target. Several dated craft exploded when there poorly shielded engines were hit. Captains with a little more experience under their belts were already vanishing into hyperspace, the device that had ripped them from their travels now deactivated.

From his hidden vantage point Antrim smiled as he watched the drama. It was a mildy amusing sight; a total of forty-odd craft almost simultaneously appear in the middle of a major hyperlane, open fire upon eachother, and then all continue on their way.

Amongst sporadic red and green laserfire a burst of blue ION fire had come seemingly dead space and struck craft #28 with surgical precision. Dead in the water craft #28 stayed behind while numbers 1-42 (obvious exceptions being 4 and 35, combusted as they were) hurridly made their escape.



The countdown timer sounded for the last time. Antrim's ghost fleet was alone with its prize. Antrim stood from his command and congratulated his bridge crew on an op well done.

"Time to lift our booty and disappear," he said. "Fire the TRU weapon and prepare to board."


*


Aboard the bulk food freighter Illicit Delights, Admiral Joel stared sullenly at his dead readouts. Power flickered here and there, but on the whole it was "pretty fucking dark."

"Fucking space pirates," he swore. "I shit on them." A detonation lurched his massive ship and he swore again.
A blue cloud of profanity followed him as he stumped his way from his bridge down to where it had felt like the explosion had come from. Crewmembers scurried out of the way as he passed, only the brave (or knowledgeable) few followed him.

"What the fucking blue hells is going on in this fucking shithole?" he bellowed.

"Someone... well..." The crewmember stopped, and just pointed.

"What the fuck is that Sergent Shitface?" spat Admiral Joel.

"A ... hole, sir."

"Yeah, well how fuck did it get there Shitface?"

"Someone made it."

"No fucking shit!"

"Security is on its way, Sir..."

Admiral Joel twisted his scarred face into a sour smirk, and spat on the crewmembers shoes. "And what the fuck are those posy-toting red-shirted fags going to do about a fucking three-hundred meter hole in my fucking number two cargobay?"

The man was silent, and slowly turning an outraged red.

"Get the fuck out of my face and go jerk off somewhere else you little turd," Joel barked as he pushed the man aside. "Clear this fucking deck out and start arming the crew" he ordered. A peon scurried to order as such. "We're about to be boarded by fucking space pirates."

When the announcement did not result in a satisfactory amount of hustle and bustle Joel smacked the nearest crewmember over the head with his open palm and yelled "Do You Think I'm Shitting You Asshole? MOVE!

Admiral Joel had hardly left the observation deck when laserfire turned its contents into dripping slag. He heard the distinctive sound of impacting energy and stressed metal, and ordered the evacuation to the next deck. When a bold of red energy punched through the ceiling above him, Admiral Joel began to dish out the profanity and orders, in that order.


*


Captains Log -- Thursday, Date Unknown

Raid successful. Moral improved much, as well as diet. I love anchovies.


*


Admiral Joel was glouring at the holo. "Do I fucking look like I'm pulling a fucking practical joke asshat? The whole number two cargo bay is a fucking slagheap. The entire fucking shipment was either taken or destroyed. Do you want a fucking sample of the metal for analysis or do I need to fly this shitheap to your fucking front doors so Captain Cockup can see for himself?

"No, no, Joel, but, really, the claim sounds a bit off. The Hydian Way hasn't seen any pirate..."

"Check the Vinda-Corporations fucking inbound records captain cocksucker. I'd say about fifty fucking ships registered a complaint about being fucking pulled from hyperspace by a non-existent planet."

"We're doing that Joel. Now, just calm down and find a spacedock.."

Joel exploded. "DO I LOOK STUPID TO YOU JERKWAD? Do I look like I'm going to fucking sit in the middle of the fucking spaceway and wait for you to fucking send me a fucking first aid kit? Let someone competent on the damed holo, dipshit.

Meanwhile...Elsewhere...


Vinda-Corp's Newest research and Development facility - 'Wonderland' - (Undisclosed location )





Vinda entered the strange warehouse-like space with the minimum of ceremony, his foosteps echoing through the large hall , slowly quietening the sounds of many excited and nervous voices of those waiting for him.

The Vinda-Corp leader stood and took a moment to look upon all those gathered together, before addressing them.

"welcome all of you...I daresay you are all wondering why you are all here? and of course, where here is..."

he smiled enigmatically, then reached inside his suit pocket for a Cigarra...

"Some of you may recognise each other, most of you were working for the Observers at one time. We went to a lot of trouble to secure your survival, and now you'll understand why...."

He stopped to cleave one end off his cigarra then lit it, before continuing...

"...all of you have your own skills your own expertise, within your chosen field, it is these skills we are after, this is what I ask from you now, in short I want you to work for me...."

There was a slight murmur within the large congregation of mostly Drewwan refugees...

Vinda looked up in reaction...

"Yes, thats right we knew of the tech-base located on Drewwa, and I can assure you it was no accident we ensured your safe passage when the Empire finally did too..."

There were a few worried glances exchanged between the crowd...

Pausing to take a thoughtful toke on his Cigarra Vinda then continued...

"I understand this may seem to be quite mercenary of me, and if this offends you, I apologise, but !" (he raised his finger in the air, still clutching his smoking cigarra) "There is more at stake here than many of you realise, I ask you now to help me..."

A voice came from within the crowd, and Vinda strained to see who it had came from... "What about the Observers?...The Jedi?..."

Vinda grunted in acknowledgement as he nodded...

"The Jedi , the Observers, look after themselves. They were well aware of the situation and were pleased at our intervention, but there is only so much we here can do. The Empire wanted the Jedi, that was why they came to Almania, that is why we could not help any further. Those of you who were rescued, were done so because all of you have talents, knowledge and skills which can help benefit many more people...and more to the point, you were not Jedi"

Vinda's face stiffened...

"..unless of course you'd rather work for the Empire?..." He said flatly...

He raised his eyebrows in expectation, then waited for those in front of him to speak, when no-one did, he smiled... "I didn't think so..." he added before taking another toke on his cigarra, sending blue smoke curling and unfurling upwards...

"those of you who lost loved ones, I am sorry, that was most unfortunate, but it is now time to think about the future, your future, and here is your chance. The Commonwealth needs you, and your skills, here and now. Start again, make a new life, work for me, and you'll find me a very generous employer..." He stated calmly...

Another voice, a women's , ventured a question...

"..what if we don't want to?..."

Vinda nodded, then took a quick toke on his cigarra, now starting to generate a small hanging mist around him creating a kind of foggy aura...

"If that is what you want. I will not force you to work for me if you do not wish it. You are all free to go if you wish too, but I am offering you a chance to start again, think about that very carefully if I were you. This is no holiday I am proposing, this is a top secret installation, which only a handful of people know about, and that is how I wish it to stay, so if there is any doubt, I suggest you leave now.
For once you are beyond those doors, ...(he pointed to the large heavy looking metal double doorway they all stood before in the hall) you are self-sufficient and cut off from the galaxy... Hell , you as people don't exist anymore, all records of you were lost when the tech base was systemactically destroyed. Even then, we only knew of your presence in the first place due to contact with the Observers themselves. So should you all wish to leave you will be given a new identity and welcomed into the Commonwealth....you have fifteen minutes to decide. Decide right"

As he finished , the hall erupted into a mass of conversation, and those standing before the head of the galaxy's most successful entrepreneur found themselves suddenly having to make a hard choice.

Vinda watched with a kind of bemusement, bringing them from Drewwa alive in the first place had been no small feat, and he had pushed the Empire's patience probably as far as he dared to, but if only half of the crowd before him accepted his proposal it would be worth it.

There were Scientists , Doctors, Physicists, Engineers, all with many different and valuable skills. The Observers and their advancements in holographical technology would give the Commonwealth's own similar program a huge boost in that area alone.

A figure walked up beside him...

Vinda looked up and smiled as he recognised the woman before him...

"Dr Killian, a pleasure as always..." Then bowed slightly in greeting...

The Doctor joined him at his side and watched curiously as the large congregation discussed their decision amongst themselves...

"these our newest recruits?..." she asked

"with a bit of luck, yes..." he answered without skipping a beat...

"I have seen their records, very impressive, It'll improve our development times no end..."

Vinda murmured in agreement... "yes, experience and knowledge are priceless commodities Doctor.." he looked up at her with that sly grin he did so well, and at once Dr Killian found herself remembering the first time she saw it...

One year ago...



"Uh...there's someone here to see you Fay..."

Kyle's voice carried with it an air of nervous tension, and despite being wholly absorbed in analysing a tissue sample at the time , Dr Killian , a young but already reknown and hugely talented biological research scientist and Xeno expert looked up from her electroscope and frowned as she replied over the comm... "Damn it Kyle, I thought I said no interruptions..."

"I told him that already...but he says it won't wait, he's very insistent" Kyle complained weakly...

"who is it?.." She asked, becoming increasingly annoyed at the intrusion...

Kyle was a good assistant but he had absolutely no backbone, something which irritated her no end.

"Uh, he won't say, but he says its very important..." Kyle added. Removing herself from the electroscope with a sigh, Fay murmured under her breath " It better be..." Then rubbed her now weary eyes as she made her way out of the lab to meet this mysterious visitor.










As the door slid aside , Fay tilted her head to one side as her eyes settled on a man with his back to her, well dressed, smoking a cigarra and looking at her display of various awards and accolades hanging on the wall of her office.

She coughed slightly, and the visitor turned around to face her...

"Ah Dr Killian I presume?..." The man asked and flashed a smile that could sell sand to sand people...

"this office is no smoking..." She said flatly, annoyed at the mist of blue smoke that had started to collect around his person...

"oh I'm sorry I didn't realise , my apologies" Fay watched as he stubbed it out...

...great! another damned salesman...I stopped for...this?... The doctor thought to herself angrily, then stepped forward to greet the annoyance.

"and you are?...."

And as the man bowed slightly in greeting and introduced himself, Dr Killian had already stopped listening as she walked over to her desk and started reading a results analysis on an earlier experiment...

Something made her stop and look up from her datapad, something the man had said, she interrupted him..."what did you just say?..."

The man seemed surprised at the interjection but repeated his last sentence anyway...

"unlimited funding for your research programs..." A look of complete sceptisim engulfed her face , she then appeared to shrug it off , then narrowed her eyes instead " I'm sorry I missed your name, Mr..."

"Vinda, Seth Vinda..." The man smiled once more, realising he had piqued her interest, and she was now giving him her undivided attention...

She looked at him almost open mouthed, "Vinda as in Vinda-Corp..."

Vinda threw her a wry smile... "the very same..."

It had finally sunk in.

...Fay you idiot!...

"I am so sorry Mr Vinda, I thought you were ..uh.....what can I do for you?..."

Knowing he had her full attention the Corporate man grinned broadly...



"I want you to come work for me..."

Antrim had been mildly surprised when relatively little news of his 'pirate raid' made it onto the Vinda-Corp holonet. Forty-odd craft had been delayed, two destroyed and one severely crippled and raided, yet the event didn't rank a slot on the nightly news?

He flipped the channel again. Vinda-Corp had multiple news-feeds going at once, they had plenty of bandwidth to broadcast some sort of announcement or blurb.

"Maybe Vinda-Corp is censoring it," suggested Mickey, his communications officer.

"That would go against their policies, wouldn't it?"

"Policies? What the hell are you talking about Antrim?" Johns, Antrim's first mate and closest companion these last few months spoke with a tone of derision. "You're not a politician Antrim, you're a richie brat who joined the military. When matters of national security are in the balance free speech of the people falls every time."

Antrim frowned back at Johns. "That's duplicity," he said.

”Duplicity will cease to exist only in perfection," muttered Captain Suon from his armchair. Suon was educated.

"Regardless," said Johns, "Why do we care if Vinda Corp has news coverage or not?"

"Because it interests me," replied Antrim.

"So?"

"And we don't have anything better to do, do we?"

Johns pursed his lips and looked evenly at Antrim for a few moments. Antrim could tell he wanted to say something, he suspected what that something was, but he didn't open a path. Johns would have to bring it up himself. And so he did.

"Antrim, I think we need to have a little talk. Concerning that... concerning what the hell we're doing. Or should I say not doing."

Antrim muted the holo off and placed the remote on his desk. "All right Johns. What are we doing here?"

"We were collecting intelligence on the VC. Why I don't know, I had assumed that our entire defection from Anthos had been an authorized ruse to cover Anthos' ass if we were detected or captured. But now, I'm not so sure. Before the incident over the Astoria we moved like we had a plan. After the incident we've been doing diddly shit. Hitting that convoy was the biggest thing we've seen since we broke out of Anthos space. Tapping into that coms satellite was the most surveillance we've done since the Astoria incident."

Johns let it hang there. He obviously expected Antrim to reply, but dBale simply continued to sit silent.

"Give it to me straight Antrim, give it to all of us straight. What the hell are we doing?"

Antrim looked at Johns, then Micky and then at the three other men in the room, the captain's of the other craft.

"Political differences can be painful Johns, there are wheels within wheels turning in the Anthos government, levels of politics that I cannot even begin to comprehend. I said some things that made me a few enemies. I saw an opportunity to leave and I took it. I will not be presumptuous and claim to understand fully or even partially the layers of motivation on both sides that surround our leaving. Yes, you are right, I am not a politician. I am the son of a rather wealthy man, a 'richie brat' as you call me, but I am a military man too. I made what I am with my own sweat and blood, not upon the shoulders of my father. "

More than one set of eyes blinked. Antrim looked at Johns.

"I don't know what we're doing here now. The original plan that I had was to use these craft for Mercenary purposes. The folly of such an action became apparent quickly; we cannot afford to be seen. If a rumor was to develop about invisible craft, every spaceport in the sector would have tripled security by the weeks end. Rumors can be good to a mercenary. We used the reputation of a past pirate in the previous raid. But they can also kill -- loose lips will certainly sink these ships."

Antrim stopped there. He didn't know where to go next for quite frankly, he had no idea what to do next. He had had this discussion twice already with his other co-commanders. All three of them generally agreed with Antrim on policy, and all four of them were stumped concerning this situation.

Captain Suon cleared his throat. "We have been on the run for approximately six months now. It is quite clear that the Anthos navy either has no intention of recovering us or has not a clue where to begin searching. The challenge is daunting. We've left relatively little disturbance in our wake. A few events that may show up as mere anomalies on anyone's lists, nothing more. When looked at in this light, we are free to do what ever we could wish to do. I agree with Antrim concerning Mercenary work, it's quite impractical with these craft. Even with the most careful planning word would get out about us. If not from our targets then from those who hired us. We have no particular political agenda to forward with terroristic attacks, and we have no grudge against any government in particular save for the Empire, and do we truly wish to start our own private war against the largest government in the galaxy?"

Heads nodded in agreement. Suon continued.

"We could take a page from the so-called 'Galactic Liberation Front' and express demands followed by violence upon the non-action on the part of the Empire, but that would be quite foolish. Policy may change on the outside, but without a complete reorganization from the inside the Empire will never truly change. We could be a nettle in their foot, nothing more; and with the Empire we can be certain that they would just as soon cut the foot off than cease trodding through the nettle patch."

"Suon," said Antrim

"Yes?"

"What did you mean when you said that Mercinary work would not be practical considering that we would be betrayed, if not by our targets then by our employers? I think I understand what you mean, but expound?"

Suon pursed his lips and arranged his thoughts before beginning. "With careful planning and execution we can eliminate the chance of our targets even having an inkling of what hit them. Employers, however, are a completely different matter. We would have to meet with them off-craft. No messages could ever be sent or received aboard these craft. We would quite literally have to obtain a 'false front' so to speak, a craft from which we would put on our charade. The idea did occur to me that we could do this -- pretend to operate from a discarded set of gunships, perhaps, and carry out the actual operations from our Stealthcraft. But after careful consideration I discarded the idea. These Stealthcraft are, from the ground up, designed for one purpose in mind. To sneak in, deal as much damage as possible in an incredibly short amount of time, and then escape unnoticed. This method of warfare is so radically different from what we would be pretending to do that any employer would need to be certified brain dead to not be suspicious after two or three operations. Yes, we could move from employer to employer, but with that mobility would come downsides. We would receive less pay, trust, reliability of work and the inability to be choosy concerning the motivations and moral character of our employers. No, it would be far more satisfactory and profitable to find one employer and continue on with him for quite some time. However in doing so we most certainly will be making ourselves vulnerable to discovery by first he, and successively by the Anthos Navy."

There was silence. Even Johns was silent. Here they were, as free as a man could be and in command of four of the most deadly craft in existence, and they couldn't go anywhere. It was almost enough to make a grown man talk to himself under his breath.

Then Johns said something. Antrim turned his head, he hadn't been listening.

"I'm sorry, I missed that..."

Johns repeated it. "Let's trust someone." He continued, "Let's find someone. Let's do a few jobs, let them know exactly what we're capable of doing. Let's find someone smart, someone smart enough to know that if we can do it to his enemies we can do it to him. And if he's smart he'll keep us."

Once again the men fell into deep thought.

Hydian Way...





The flotilla of Commonwealth ships exited hyperspace without complication. The two star destroyers and one interdictor were flanked by smaller frigates which sped alongside , protecting both sides of the larger vessels. Almost immediately fighters were launched , and they buzzed around their larger cousins like flies as they took to their patrol duties.

This was not a welcoming committee, they were here for one reason, and for one reason only.

Someone or something had threatened the safety of one of the galaxies busiest and largest arteries. One of the most important hyper-routes to the core, and of course , The Corporate Sector. The crew onboard the vessels responsible might have been forgiven for thinking their actions had gone unnoticed, since the decision to keep it quiet had indeed been issued. Where was the sense in causing unnecessary fear and paranoia? It would be counter productive and would only hurt the steady flow of trade.

Better to investigate first and then perhaps have something to report, but one thing was for sure...



...It had not gone unnoticed.










Onboard The 'Defender' - Imperator Class.




The bridge was a hive of activity, and one man stood calmly amongst it all , studying the sensor reports that had just begun to come in. A sweep of the area was in process.

The events that had unfolded here at these co'ordinates given to Vinda-Corp had aroused much interest in certain quarters.


It was to this end, Section Agent Four-nine-five had been dispatched to investigate and learn all he could.


As Captain Zarek , a rather stout looking individual with greying hair, approached him. He gestured for the Agent to follow him to his ready room, out of earshot from the rest of the crew. There was a hissing sound as the door slid behind them both, and as Zarek handed over the sensor report he watched silently as Four-nine-five perused them with interest...

"It seems, nothing is here, Captain..." Four-nine-five said eventually... "A whole lot of nothing..."

Zarek raised an eyebrow in response "I trust this has not turned out to be a wasted journey, I know how busy you Section types are.."

Four-nine-five looked up from the data-pad he was holding and narrowed his eyes a little, then let slip the subtle traces of a smile..."We shall see..." he said, looking through the plexi-glass into the black void surrounding them outside...

"or rather we don't see..."

He spoke without shifting his view from the window "Its so vast, the perfect place to hide. One could feasibly stay hidden indefinately, the perfect place should one wish to be lost..." He said enigmatically..

Zarek's response was quick... "If you ask me, this whole Pirate affair is ridiculous , there hasn't been any Pirate activity around these parts in decades..."

The Section agent smiled to himself while Zarek continued unabated, "As you've said yourself, trying to find anything out there is like looking for a needle in a haystack, why we could search for the rest of our lives and still find nothing... besides I'm sure whoever may have been here left long before. Pointless waste of time if you ask me..."

The Section agent turned to face the Captain as he responded, his voice calm and collected "It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness..."

Zarek simply stared at him for a while with a curious frown.

"what the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?..." He said eventually, clearly confused. The Section agent silently cursed the man for his lack of insight, and briefly wondered how he had even made it to the rank of Captain in the first place.

Four-nine-five's reply was simple, but to the point.


"Launch the ASCA"