Like a Wraith in the Night

[Malon]

(Arrival music)​

Wraith Squadron's arrival in the Felucia system, less than a standard day after the bombing of the Moff Council, was a surprise no one could have anticipated. The HoloNet had only just broke the Emperor's announcement, threatening Corvo Vis for his involvement in the plot. Bu the public did not yet know the name of Vis' Moff accomplice.

That was intentional.

Newly anointed Emperor Malon, and newly ascended Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Cain, had decided to deal with this traitor personally. Supplemented by Darth Cain's flagship, the fleet they had brought out of hyperspace was more than capable of dealing with Moff Valin's base of operations—a Bastille-series orbital station. Already, turbolaser fire rained down upon the the facility, and fighter craft had been deployed to deal with any resistance.

"Concentrate fire on their shield generators," the Emperor barked on the bridge of the Malevolence. "These stations are meant to withstand siege, so the shields must go down first." He flashed a look at the nearest officer. "And prepare a boarding party. I will deal with this traitor myself."

Malon turned and began to stomp off the bridge. The limitations of his new armor were few, but they were still fueling his anger. Phantom pains still plagued the region where his legs had once been. Now, only mechanical servos kept him bipedal and operational.

Darth Cain was waiting just outside the doors to the bridge. The Emperor had invited the Sith Lord to travel with him aboard his own flagship, so that the two could more quickly board Valin's base station. Dark cape billowing behind him, Malon fell into step with Cain as the two began to approach the turbolift that would take them down to the hanger.

"None who supported this traitor must be allowed to survive," Malon said, though he was sure Cain wouldn't have it any other way.

When they arrived at the hanger, Captain Dreiz was waiting for them with their shuttle and fighter escort prepped. Usually, Malon was in the mood to entertain Dreiz's fatherly commentary, but today was not such a day. The Emperor was out for blood, and he was going to get it.

"Oversee the space battle from the bridge and ensure that none escape," Malon barked as they approached. "Lord Cain and I will deal with the traitor." He then directed a single, gloved index finger at the Captain. "Do not fail me, Captain."

Dreiz never did, but he was reluctant to reply.

In all the years the elderly captain had known Darth Malon, the Sith was usually calm and composed. But in his rare moments of rage, it was usually best to shrink away and remain quiet—so Dreiz did just that as Malon strolled by and boarded the shuttle via its landing ramp, Darth Cain close on his coattails.

@Wit @Alhon @Vinny

 

[Alhon]

"And prepare a boarding party. I will deal with this traitor myself."

It took a great force of will for Austin to maintain his composure. He thought he might freeze, but fear commanded he answer.

"At once". The two words were all he could manage, spoken more formally than anything he'd ever said. But the Emperor was already gone, striding down the bridge like the force of nature that he was, black cloak billowing in his wake.

The Emperor.

Austin could barely believe it. He could still hear the rasping voice. He could still see the menacing mask and smell the smoking air. He felt as if the Emperor was still on the bridge, as if his presence was too great and profound to ever truly leave them. In all his wildest dreams, Austin had never imagined he would actually stand mere feet from their leader, let alone exchange words. Not yet, not ever. Not really. Even when his career had brought him to Wraith squadron, to the bridge of the Malevolence itself, he'd never thought he'd have the chance.

But now he had. Emperor Malon was real to him now, and he was real to the Emperor. There could be no room for failure.

He braced up, standing proud on the raised gantry between the two deep-set wells, one either side of the bridge. Dreiz was seeing off the Emperor, but he would be back any moment. He would expect to find action on his return. The well on the right hand side housed over a dozen crewmen and their terminals, each and every one of them Austin's to command. He was the Tactical Officer and The Malevolence had more fire in her belly than any dragon of old.

"Personnel" he said, his voice clear and direct "Deploy six flights of troopers to the Landing Bay immediately; they will serve as the Emperor's boarding party." The young attendant acknowledged his order even as Austin wheeled about. "Fighter control, dispatch the First Wing to screen the Emperor's approach, but once he and the boarding party reach the station have them withdraw to protect our own right flank." Moff Valin's station was a Bastille class; Austin remembered enough of his academy days to expect a tough fight, at least initially. Bastilles were peppered with heavy turbolasers and could support several wings of fighters, though how many men Valin had to crew them remained to be seen.

"Tactical stations report!"

"Full spectrum turbolaser's online, Sir" , "Ion cannons charged, Sir", "Concussion missiles loaded, Sir", "Deflector Shields charged and calibrated, Sir"....The reports continued to stream in from each of his personnel, male and female voices chiming in quick succession. The Imperial Navy trained their people well and Austin had been quick to smooth the edges. Some had resented him for it, but then many had resented him from the start. He proved them wrong or arranged them a new posting.

"Priority de-conflict?"

"Yes Sir, we have confirmation; all Fleet vessels fly by our order."

"Excellent", Austin took a moment to pause. So far so good; their exit from hyperspace had been textbook and they were primed to assault the station. He turned, daring to take a chance to guarantee their success. "Helm, we need to encircle the station. Alter course 45 degrees to port and instruct the Purge, Taleucema and the Embers of Ithor to take up equidistant positions in a grid formation". With the flagship and the three War Leviathans holding the four corners of the battlespace, they would be better placed to bring the shields down quicker and close off any routes of escape.

"Belay that order!"

Dreiz was back. "Don't scowl at me Lieutenant, you manage a satisfactory assault; content yourself with that. You know well enough that Fleet manoeuvres are my remit or that of the senior Deck Officer." The Captain began to march off towards the viewing port "besides, your proposals would leave us with nothing but the carriers for protection".

"But Sir, the shield strengthens under concentrated fire, we need to attack from more than one angle to siphon its strength"

"Yes, but we'll manage that with our bombers Lieutenant."

"But Sir, it also helps us cut off-"

"That will be all."

Not for the first time, Austin struggled to hold his tongue. But the darkness outside was beginning to flash now, streaks of cannon fire and missile trails as the attack began in earnest. He gritted his teeth and put his back to the Captain, focusing instead on dispatching the bombers. Austin knew it was the wrong choice. He had an instinct for these things, a natural sense that defied experience. He could see the flaw in the formation as plain as a misstep in the Liannan Ballet.

And when the curtain came down, he would make sure it was Captain Dreiz's last.

 

[Vinny]

Darth Cain, Dark Lord of the Sith wondered for not the first time if the agents of the Jedi had considered the consequences of their actions when they had eliminated the last few obstacles between him and the Black Throne on Korriban. Cain was not an ambitious man, not by any means. He craved no glory for himself, he felt no urge to advance, he felt no hunger to dominate for the sake of it. Every ounce of his being had been committed-heart and soul-to the Dark Side. He wondered for a moment if the Dark Side had rewarded him for his devotion-if it had given him this station so his name would carry out through history. He dismissed the thought as a matter of fact. The Dark Side was natural law. The Dark Side did not 'reward' so casually.

Coincidence

Cain mulled the word over as his thoughts turned to the coincidence that he had not been at the Moff Council meeting, or the Coincidence that he had been within earshot of his comlink when the bombing took place. Had he been a few seconds late, had he not been there to oversee Malon's surgery... where would they be right now? Would he be Emperor? The thought made him positively ill.

Just like the other thoughts that churned about in his skull, the Dark Lord dismissed it casually. He took a momentary look around, he had not been on the Malevolence in months, it felt like. Though he admitted it had probably been more recent than that. He and Emperor Malon were close, after all. The Emperor felt like a friend, a student and a leader to him. It was a strange feeling that he could not quite pin down. He dismissed that feeling too, clamping down and compressing it into the furnace in his belly.

His mind went to the Pontifex just a short distance away. The looming, decrepit looking empyreal class cruiser had been restored and given a classy black paint job. Despite it's appearance, it's armor was more or less intact and it's shields were some of the strongest in the fleet. That was important-given that it's limited-life-support decks held a cadre of some of the deadliest weapons the Sith had at their disposal. Fanatical priests trained in long range ritual. Cain's lip twitched.

Behind him the door slid open-Cain turned to look into the deck of the vessel past Emperor Malon. Numerous souls twiddled away at their stations-ensuring that this battle went off flawlessly. He sensed the presence of only one who's ambition burned bright enough to be worthy of notice. Cain felt for his name in the force, sifting through the thoughts of those around him with an effortless flourish-and cautiously avoiding the man's own mind. Austin, mm?

Cain, who had chosen for this very special occasion to go without a mask or force illusion concealing his face, wore nothing but his comfortable combat armor and a cloak with a hood. Though the hood concealed his face, six red eyes glowed out from the pitch darkness, and the sunken edges of the crystal encrusted maw of needle like teeth could be barely visible if you looked at the right angle. He raised a hand to his chest as Malon passed him, falling into step.

"The Dark Side is with you, Malon." Cain said, his voice like a knife scraped across a block of ice, feeling for it's dark presence looming over the Emperor. It cloaked him like armor. "You are right and just to take up this cup. It pleases the encroaching dark."

"None who supported this traitor must be allowed to survive," Cain nodded, his horrific features twisting into something resembling a smile.

"Your conviction makes you strong, your majesty." Cain said, pleased. He paused though, considering the ambitious youth on the bridge. "Certainly it would be the arrogance of a fool to interfere with your revenge." He warned, and Malon seemed to give it some thought. They approached the vessel for their departure and Cain drew inward, focusing on fanning the flames of his power. He would become a endless cycle of zeal and arcane might. He would be the Dark Steward. He would serve, and through his service he would be strong.

"Do not fail me, Captain." He heard Malon say. The Emperor must have taken his words seriously. Cain eyed the old man who seemed to deflate just a bit in the face of Malon's rage. As they stepped on to the ship, Cain turned to regard the Emperor.

"Your majesty, forgive the insolence of your Pontiff. However, it is plain to me that vengeance burns through your blood. While it makes you strong-beware the pitfalls of blinded judgement. Turn it into righteous fury, my Emperor. Remember that by striking you-they have struck the Empire itself. They have offended your station. Burn with the righteousness of your revenge, and you will have clarity." Cain insisted, stepping close to the Emperor.

"Remember what I taught you when you learned the Tyrant's Whip. You are the master here. Let them know your anger, but let them see your cold wrath." Darth Cain added, and lowered his head in deference to his imperial majesty.

 

[Wit]

The erstwhile Moff Malak Arpha, in reality Jedi Knight Valin Thorne, was frantically typing away at a console when the alarms started blaring throughout the space station. He had expected this, maybe not this soon, but considered the possibility nonetheless.

He wasn’t really worried, well maybe a little, his ship was ready to go, he was almost done pulling the data from the station’s archives, and as long as he made it to his ship then he should be alirght. But he had spent enough time among the Sith to identify a great many of them through their signature in the Force alone, and it was because of that he knew that the fleet that had arrived at his door had also brought Malon and Cain with it. That, he had to concede, might make things a little more tricky.

But while he was still confident in his ability to escape, he had hoped to give everyone else on the spacestation some more time. They might all work for the Sith, and from the sort of experiments his predecessor had them participate in, they weren’t particularly nice people. But still, they were innocent of his crimes. Sighing inwardly, he activated a comm line to the flagship of the arriving fleet, and started doing the only thing he could do for those on the spacestation. Buy them enough time to make their escape to safety. Oi, Malon, I know you're out there. If you're here for the whiskey, you can just forget about it. I would have sent you a bottle or two if you had just asked for them, but this is too much. Pity too, the whiskey is divine, the taste is incendiary.

All the while his hands continued flying over the console, edging closer and closer to being ready to leave.

 

[Malon]

Space was a brilliant show of explosions, various in their color, as the Sith shuttle sailed towards the targeted space station. The Emperor paid no notice to the transmission from the Moff. Words meant nothing. Not now. Not any longer. The only thing that mattered now was how many bodies were between him and the Moff. He guessed a couple hundred at most, though a space station of that size could carried many more. A thought dawned on him as they neared the hanger, and he turned to address it to Darth Cain.

"Contact the fleet and have them jam the enemy's communications," he commanded. "We don't want the Moff transmitting any important data to his Jedi friends before his death."

Shortly thereafter, the shuttle touched down in the hanger. The moment Malon stood, his lightsaber was in hand, and a blood-red bar of crimson plasma was sprouting from the emitter. Death had come to Felucia.

Cape billowing behind him, Malon marched for the landing ramp and stormed into the station. No doubt, Cain would hear the first screams echoing up the ramp as the first of the station's resistance fell to the Emperor's blade.

@Vinny @Alhon @Wit

 

[Alhon]

Outside, the attack was in full flow. The dark shapes of Imperial fighters barrelled past the windows, while sickly green cannon fire lanced across the night. Distant missile impacts rumbled like thunder and the embattled station's shields flared under strain. Wraith squadron pressed on, raining down a fury only a traitor deserved.

Inside, the bridge of the Malevolence was deceptively calm. There were no screaming klaxons or running feet. No sudden jolts or blown relays. Instead, the bridge officers walked their stations, issuing orders in calm, careful voices. Well-trained hands moved about their consoles, while chief engineers planned the station's refit. There was, as always, a rhythm and cadence to an Imperial advance; a reassuring order that made the crew confident of victory.

Nonetheless, Austin found himself having to suppress a mild anxiety on this occasion. He clasped his hands tightly behind his back, standing over the comms chief and focusing intently on the man's terminal. They were watching a live feed of the boarding party closing in on the enemy hangar, a swarm of fighters with the Emperor's shuttle at its heart. Austin hated such approaches. They were brazen by their very nature, particularly in such open space. A docking shuttle was an easy target, even in the midst of a battle, and there was only so much could be done to screen its advance.

The comms chief felt it too; Austin could see beads of sweat on the back his neck. The crewman knew as well as him that any attack on that shuttle could be extremely dangerous. Its loss did not even bear thinking. Austin allowed himself a breath every time it dodged danger, feeling as if time itself slowed down as it made its approach. First, it managed to penetrate the outer defences, gliding within reach of safety. Finally, grudgingly, it entered the hangar.

"The Emperor is aboard" he announced in the Captain's direction, feeling a spasm of pain as he tried to relax his stiffened shoulders.

"Excellent" Dreiz called down the deck, himself visibly relieved. They used to say Sith didn't die as easy as men, but that was before the bombing. Now even senior officers worried what might happen on their watch.

Austin turned back to his men to find his ops chief waving him over, one hand on his earpiece. "What's the issue, Max?" Austin had a lot of time for the Velmorian; they'd had a brief thing at the Academy, but Max had never let it get in way. "They're asking us to jam the station's communications, Sir. It's from the Emperor himself."

"Do it." He wasn't about to think he knew better than the Emperor. It would mean the fighter wings having to rotate frequencies, but that was a small price to pay for keeping his head. "In fact, lets do one better. Their shields are weakening; see if you penetrate their network. The Emperor is looking for Moff Arpha; let's see if we can't find him for him."

If they could triangulate Arpha's position, even roughly, they could pass vital intelligence to the boarding party and perhaps even anticipate his intentions.

@Vinny @Wit @Malon

 

[Vinny]

And give the order Darth Cain did. Imperial Command aboard the Malevolence readily relayed the order to those who needed to receive it. Cain waited only long enough for the return confirmation that the order had been relayed, before cutting the connection and whirling on his heel. Malon had already gone on ahead. Cain felt a twisting in his gut. Another Emperor, gone off alone to play his game of death and chaos. He shook his head. A moment of impatience crossed his mind that he dismissed with little effort, focusing inward, he let the change take place. He let the galaxy see him. He let the world feel him. He let those on the station know.

The Dark Side was here.

There was a difference, you must understand, between Darth Cain, Dark Lord of the Sith, the Face of the Empire-and the other guy-Darth Cain, Steward of the Dark Side. You see the first was an almost pleasant being, a socialite that rallied the Empire through charisma and strength, urging sith and nobleman alike to continue to serve the Emperor. The second walked with one, singular purpose. To destroy the enemies of the Dark Side and to uplift it's presence in the galaxy-by any means necessary. The Steward drew the dark side into himself, feeling it's power roiling within his soul, and he let it free. An aura of misery began to etch out across the ground. Durasteel scratched and rusted here and there in his wake, a thin layer of frost formed on the ground, and he marched.

Already the screams of Malon's victims began to echo down the hall. The Emperor was in no mood to wait for Cain to catch up. Cain sniffed, almost miffed, had he already forgotten their agreement on Mon Calamari? He chuckled and shook his head, his expression becoming dour once more, and trod slowly up the steps and into the hall. Just as he did he felt a presence pass through his aura. There was a sob somewhere behind one of the bulkheads, and a blaster shot went off. A body fell to the ground. Cain kept walking. If one did not have the will to stand in his presence, one really should just kill themselves.

It took nearly a minute to find his way to the room Malon stood in. The only man he had met whom had the strength to resist the suicidal thoughts brought by the Lord of the Mind's aura.

@Malon

 

[Wit]

Finishing up his work on the data panel, Valin turned his attention to the various holorecorders scattered across the station and cycled through the various screens to figure out where the Sith had boarded. The shortest path to his ship was so far still safe, but he could see that given where Malon and his cronies had boarded, they could easily intercept him on his way to the hanger where his ship waited for him.

With the sounds of explosions and blasters in the air, almost everyone on the space station knew it was time to evacuate. But just to make sure, Valin activated the all space stations self destruct protocols, the first steps of which involved issuing a general evacuation order and prepping all escape pods for jettisoning. He didn't think there was much chance the self destruct would actually be allowed to go through, despite the changes he had made to the protocols this was still a Sith facility and it would not take them long to get into the system and revert his protocols. But trapping Malon in another explosion was not his aim this time, though it would be a bonus it did happen, but rather the added confusion it would create was what he was planning to use to make his escape.

So he ran, off from the control room towards the private hanger where his ship waited, primed and ready for take off. But while he had been lucky so far, it seemed like his luck was starting to run out. He had hoped to make it to the hanger before running into any of Malon's forces, but as he turned a corner he found himself in a corridor lined with storage lockers and the far end blocked not just by a bunch of Malon's troops, but the man himself.

Coming to a skidding stop, his breath a little ragged, Valin put on an air of nonchalance and faced up to the Sith Lord blocking his way. As his solders came charging towards Valin, he raised his arms out wide and brought them slamming together in front of him in a loud clap. The lockers lining the two sides of the corridor, went flying and mimicked the motion of his hands, slamming into the troops and sandwiching them between their metallic mass. His breath a little more ragged now, Valin pulled out his lightsaber and settled into a defensive stance as the crimson blade sprang to life, waiting for the remaining troops to charge towards him. Let's get this over with, shall we.

 

[Malon]

There he was. The traitor. Malon could see him now, crimson blade in hand, preparing to fight. Perhaps Valin had given up on the notion of escape; or perhaps he was really foolish enough to believe that he could deal with the Emperor and the Dark Lord of the Sith together. Either way, Malon was satisfied with the visions of death playing behind his eyelids.

"I have been expecting you, traitor," Malon said coldly. "In a few moments, you will wish that your scheme on Korriban had killed me." Then he added: "If, that is, you do not already wish it."

There was nothing more to be said. Instead, with Cain at his side, Malon reached out with the Force and wrapped its dark tendrils around the former Moff's windpipe. Valin was strong in the Force, sure, but not as strong as the Emperor; and Malon intended to show the traitor just how outclassed he was before slowly killing him aboard his own space station.

@Vinny @Alhon @Wit

 

[Alhon]

Austin heard the chime of the terminal even before it was verified. "Sir, we have triangulation!"

The Lieutenant swept back along to the ops terminal, his blue eyes tracing the schematics of the station as the readout began to download.

"We're accessing the internal sensors" Max said, pressing his headset to his ear "Moff Arpha's lifesign appears on Deck 3, Section 5, access corridor K...The Emperor's boarding party are in the same section Sir, they have him!"

Austin was pleased to hear it, though he was sorry to have lost his opportunity to impress.

"Sir!" The call came from Fighter Control and the Lieutenant glanced across, motioning for them to speak up. "The Wing are reporting escape pod launches across the station Sir, increasing by the minute."

"Order full pursuit, capture only" he replied, "instruct the fighters to drive the pods within tractor range - not one gets away!". It was hardly likely in any event. Escape pods were small, slow and carried minimal fuel; those on Arpha's station were no different. After their initial jettison, they were all but helpless in the face of a task force like Wraith Squadron. Austin had to wonder at the futility of the gesture. The Emperor was a terrifying presence, but the Moff's crew couldn't really hope to escape him so easily.

"I'm getting something else on the internal sensors Sir!" It was Max again, his terminal still connected with the station's internal systems. Austin wheeled, striving to keep his situational awareness. His academy training had made him a proficient multi-tasker, but he couldn't afford to miss a trick on this particular mission. "There's an energy build-up in the station's reactor" the ops chief said, "it's rising, steadily, but cumulatively. I'm picking up power transfers from auxiliary systems across the station into the reactor; it's no accident".

"The self-destruct." Austin had reached the conclusion almost immediately, but the ramifications took a little longer to process. "They're not fleeing the Emperor, but the station. He's going to blow the whole thing..." It was a sobering realisation. Self-destruct sequences were necessarily undetectable in their early stages; they had picked up the energy spike now, but they were likely already several minutes behind. There was no time to go through Dreiz. Austin had to act now.

"Cancel the protocol" he said sharply, "I don't care how you do it Ensign, hack the system, deploy a tunnelling program, jam the power transfers, but that sequence is not to complete!" Max nodded, his fingers flying across his console as he worked countermand Moff Arpha's orders.

Austin was already moving, hurrying along the deck to buy the Velmorian some time. Reaching the gunnery station, he relieved the tactical chief and took his place at his console, bringing the Malevolence's heavy ion cannons to bear. The station's shields were down and the hull exposed. The Lieutenant closed his eyes for a moment, praying to a Force he did not believe in that his next move didn't cost him his life. Keying the comm system, he contacted the Emperor himself.

"Your Majesty, this is Lieutenant Viett on the Malevolence. Moff Arpha has initiated the station's self-destruct - we are taking steps to stop it in its tracks. The command processors are exposed and we are about to disable them with ion cannon fire." With the processors disabled, the station's computer would take valuable minutes to switch to the more heavily shielded backups; giving Max more time. "Other systems may be temporarily damaged or disabled in the strike your Grace, the men may want to brace themselves."

Gritting his teeth, Austin fired the volley.

 

[Vinny]

Darth Cain stood behind his Emperor. His force-mutilated face exposed for all to see. Malon had already issued his own force-powered rebuke on the traitor. Cain was to serve as support, nothing more. The Dark Lord was more than fine with that. He had been careful thusfar not to exersize his full power against anyone who might be in a position to escape his wrath-and thereby expose his abilities to the galaxy. None of the Dark Council who had assisted him in the ritual to destroy Tython lived, except Malon. None who witnessed the resurrection of Vanus and understood the breadth of what had happened still lived, except Malon. Truthfully... none knew what Cain was truly capable of.

Except Malon.

One of the force ghosts who accompanied him itched at the back of his mind. Vengeance for Solum? He dismissed the thought out of disgust. The Dark Side had been growing stronger in him, and temptation toward ambition had been always something he had warned his people about. This was just another one of those tests the Dark Side put before him. An option he would never consider. He was without peer in his faith.

So instead he paced just a few steps to the right, moving to obtain an improved vantage angle on the Traitor while simultaneously keeping one of his many eyes on Malon. Anyone who dared approach the Emperor would be honored with dying at the hands of the Dark Lord.

While all this happened, the charismatic face of the empire remained silent. He had nothing to say to the Moff.

 

[Wit]

As Malon's grip tightened around his neck, Valin reacted on instinct, using the Force to counter the crushing force attempting to choke him to death. But Malon was right, despite everything he had been through Valin was still outclassed by the Emperor, he just didn't have enough juice to counteract Malon's attack. But what he had managed to do was buy himself a few moments of respite. A few moments to catch his breath, quite literally, and maybe try something to save his life.

A direct confrontation through the Force had failed, he wasn't stronger, so he had to be smarter. Reaching out with the Force, he caught the lockers once more along with the soldiers he had just knocked out with them. Lifted them all in one swift motion, he sent them flying at break-neck speeds at Malon and Cain. With a strength born more out of desperation than skill, Valin felt the grip around his neck slip as the two Sith Lords responded to his desperate attempt at survival.

Dropping panting to his knees, Valin realized that he had mere seconds before Malon dealt with his attack, and in that moment he knew that his only means of survival was going all out. Upon waking up in this new body of his he had quickly discovered its strengths. He was faster, stronger, but his body had almost no ability to support that strength and speed for an extended period of time. Only once had he pushed himself to anything close to the limits of his body, and he had been unable to move for hours and hours.

Drawing the Force into himself, he pushed himself off the ground and launched himself into a sprint, pushing himself to speeds he had never managed before. Darting down the corridor, he jumped off diagonally from the floor a few meters from Malon and such was his speed that he managed to run along the wall itself for a few steps before hoping off towards the floor once more. Those few steps were not much, but they were enough to get him past Malon and Cain.

Not looking back to see if either of them were following him, he ran towards the hangar where his ship was waiting for him. A few turns later he found himself in another occupied corridor, though luckily it was only with troopers. Slowing down a little he brought up his blade and slashed through the first trooper as he ran past him, reaching out with his other hand and catching the next one by the neck and tossing him down the corridor to knock out a couple more of his comrades. He jumped over next two as they opened fire, landing with explosive burst of the Force that pushed back everything and everyone around him. Using the opening that created he ran past the remaining soldiers and finally found himself in his private hangar.

Pulling out his com link from his pocket, he opened the cargo hatch and dashed into the ship, shouting out an order to take off to the pilot droid and collapsing in a heap in the cargo hold. He had never pushed himself this much, and in all probability he might not have lasted another minute. His entire body shaking with fatigue, barely able to breathe, he could do nothing else but hope that the droid pilot was able to do enough to get him out of the blockade that had formed around the space station.



@Malon @Vinny @Alhon