Trial by Fire

OOC: This runon is restricted to two people, myself, and my apprentice Corin Liwaen. This will be serving as part of his Trials for Jedi Hunter.




Corin Liwaen was awakened from a sound sleep by the increasingly louder beeps and chirps from his astromech droid, R3-N4. The young Guardian rolled over and opened one sleepy eye at the droid.

“What, N4?”

The droid whirred and beeped again.

Corin blinked and sat up, “What message?”

The little droid rocked and chirped then began playing a holomessage from the Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh, Malisane De Ath.

“Corin, I have a very important mission for you, it may be dangerous, but I believe you are capable of handling it. A shipment of vital supplies and equipment destined for Sepros was stolen by pirates who attacked and took over the merchant ship carrying them. Our scouts have tracked them as far as the moon of Endor, but little further information on their exact whereabouts on the moon, or the defenses of their base could be determined. So, Corin, your mission is this, since our Consul does not want to involve a large force from the Clan, you are to take possibly one other person and go to Endor and recover the supplies and return to Sepros.”

The holographic Malisane faded as the message ended and Corin stared at N4 for a long moment.

“Well, looks like I better hurry up and get my stuff packed.”

N4 beeped in agreement.

***********************************************************

A few hours later, Corin had his supplies packed and his modified starfighter, the Falcon was ready to go. His last remaining thought was on who he would get to accompany him on this mission. Finally, a smile flickered across his features and he sent off a message to his Master.

Her reply came quickly, “Meet me at the space port at Lyspair; we’ll discuss the mission and our plans once we rendezvous there.”

Corin nodded to himself and climbed into his fighter, “Well, she’s closer to Lyspair, so I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

***********************************************************

Arriving at Lyspair, Dark Jedi Knight Rasilvenaira StormRaven strode though the port, her boots announcing her measured steps against the durasteel flooring. Her ship, the NyghtFyre rested on its landing pad, being refueled. Her dark eyes scanned the other landing pads, searching for the distinctive fighter belonging to her Apprentice.

A small group of Initiates stood huddling together awaiting their shuttle, but they stared and moved to one side as the Dark Knight passed them. A smirk danced upon her face as she considered that, to them, her appearance must seem imposing. In reality, for her, she was dressed rather simply, black pants, dark charcoal grey tunic, black belt from which hung her lightsaber and a couple small pouches, black boots, and her black cloak that fluttered behind her like the wings of a dark bird. Rasilvenaira had chosen to forego the more typical robes of a Dark Jedi, considering the possible dangers they might face on the upcoming mission.

“Greetings, Master.”

Rasilvenaira turned to face the voice, and smiled as her Apprentice came forward to meet her, bowing slightly as he stopped before her.

“Greetings Corin.” She moved over beside him and put her hand on his shoulder, “Come, lets go back to the NyghtFyre, we can sit down and discuss this errand of yours.”

Corin nodded and fell into step beside her. Rasilvenaira was considerably shorter than her Apprentice, but she failed to pay much attention to the fact.

***************************************************************

Rasilvenaira settled into a seat in the lounge area of the NyghtFyre, and motioned for Corin to make himself comfortable.

“Now, tell me what you know of this mission, Malisane’s given you.” She muttered something more under her breath, which Corin recognized as Keraci, his Master’s native tongue, and he was somehow glad he’d not learned the language yet.

Corin smiled as he entered his Master’s ship, the NyghtFyre, and sat down. He had been in this ship many times before but this time it seemed different; more cold and alone. He did not voice his feelings, but rather dismissed them. His Master gestured for him to sit, and he did so. “A little before I contacted you,” answered Corin, “Malisane sent me a message through N4. He said a shipment of vital supplies and equipment headed for Sepros was boarded and stolen by pirates. He said,” continued Corin, “that scouts have tracked it as far as Endor, but no further information on their location on Endor has been determined.”

As he finished, Rasilvenaira nodded, “I feared this would one day…” But as she was speaking, a low beeping resounded through the ship: it was Corin’s comlink. It was beeping an announcement of a message that was being sent to him. He opened his pouch he had slung by his side, and turned it on.
A hologram of a mini Macron stood on the screen of the comlink and announced, “Greetings Guardian Corin and Dark Jedi Knight Rasilvenaira.” Said the hologram. “We have received a transmission from a scout shuttle that has landed on Endor. Most of the message is incoherent, but the rest says all you need to know: ‘We have found traces of a camp that was hastily evacuated; a sign of which was a pot of boiling water still on the fire. We have found nothing …………not surprising……over…’ They also left us another,” said Macron, here it is: ‘We have been tracking their trail for days, now, and we have spotted snipers located on vantage points and we have felt the brunt of the attack. Five men have perished and others are wounded. It is just me and two men now. This shall be the last transmission. They have taken refuge in the abandoned Imperial Generator complex. Good luck in your task. May you……………’ The rest was blank.” He paused and drew a deep breath. “These were only grunts and this is no loss. I want you and your Master to track these pirates and secure the supplies. May the darkness reign over you!” With a beep, the hologram disappeared.
“It’s worse than I thought,” said Corin, “have these attacks been prevalent this past month?”
Rasilvenaira nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid they have. This must be stopped. Corin, is your ship prepared and fueled?”
Corin answered, “Yes. I need to refill my cluster bombs, though.”
His master looked at him with a quizzical look. “I don’t even want to know.” She said as she smiled.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Half an hour passed and Corin and Rasilvenaira met next to Corin’s ship. “She’s a beauty, huh?” Asked Corin and his master nodded.
“We have a fairly long ride" she said, "and we need to start now if we wish to have the cover of dark on Endor. Let us be on our way, shall we?”

By the time Corin had climbed into his cockpit and began to rev up his ship, his master was in her ship, the NyghtFyre, and had turned it on. Getting an "okay" from the hanger operator, Corin’s ship rose from the ground and hovered six feet above the air. He retracted his landing gear, and rose more, this time going forward and exiting the hanger.
When he had successfully exited the hanger, his master was right behind him, quickly accelerating. “Let’s go!” She said to him through the radio, and they both, side by side, exited the planet, and entered space.

As the two ships moved beyond the gravitational influence of the planet, Rasilvenaira began preparing her ship for the jump into hyperspace.

“R5, lock in the coordinates for Endor, but not too close to the moon on drop, transmit the jump coordinates to Corin’s navicomputer once you’ve got them, so we both have the same drop point.”

The astromech beeped and whirred as he complied. Verlassen, Rasilvenaira’s other droid, settled into the copilot’s seat.

Rasilvenaira flipped open the comlink between ships, “Corin.”

“Yes?”

“I’m having R5 send the jump coordinates straight to your navicomputer, once we’re both set, we’ll jump. Better if both ships are using the same coordinates, that way we’ll come out of hyperspace together, less chance of something going wrong that way.”

“Ah, good thinking. Looks like I’m getting the coordinates now, making sure they’re locked in.”

Rasilvenaira nodded as R5 beeped and chirped letting her know the NyghtFyre was ready to jump.

“Alright, coordinates set, I’m ready, Master.”

“Very well, Corin, jump on three.”

“Okay.”

She flipped the controls, beginning the jump sequence.

“One, two, three… jump!”

The ship’s sensors fluttered as the ship leapt into hyperspace, her own senses confirmed her Apprentice’s fighter jumping on mark. A pleased smile flickered across her face, he’d never failed to impress her with the alacrity and dedication with which he performed what ever she’d set before him.

Settling into her seat, she allowed her mind to drift over things, analyzing them as she sorted through them. The Sith couldn’t seem to shake the suspicion that there was more to this mission than either Corin, or she had been told. Rasilvenaira knew pirates; she’d been one, many long years ago, among other things. With a wry grin, she remembered her life before coming to join the Brotherhood. She shook her head and refocused her mind on the mission at hand. What plagued her thoughts most of all, was the burning question of why Corin.
“Why indeed.” She muttered aloud to herself, “Out of the whole of Clan Naga Sadow, why would they send my Apprentice, a Guardian, on this mission? Not that I doubt his abilities, but if this is as potentially as dangerous as they let on, why not choose someone more experienced?” Closing her eyes for a moment, her thoughts continued chasing each other out to various possible conclusions, none of which pleased her.

“Just as well he decided to ask me to come; I’d rather be along in case he needs help.”

**********************************************************

Several hours later, the beeping of an alarm brought Rasilvenaira quickly back to the present moment as the sensors indicated that they were soon due to drop out of hyperspace. Soon the dizzying streaks of hyperspace resolved themselves into a calm star field as the ship lurched slightly as it slowed out of hyperspace.

Checking, she smiled as the Falcon appeared right beside the NyghtFyre in an informal formation of two ships. She pressed the comlink, tight-beaming the transmission, to prevent it being intercepted.

“Very nice Corin, flank the NyghtFyre, and follow my lead. I’ve been to Endor before, I know a few good landing places, hopefully we can get in before we’re noticed, and we can plan out how to proceed once we land.”

“Understood.”

The Falcon changed position slightly, dropping back a bit to allow the larger NyghtFyre to take the lead as they approached the Forest Moon.

Rasilvenaira maneuvered her ship around Corin’s, and took the lead, speeding off ahead of him. Corin chuckled as he watched his Master take off ahead of him. Debris that was attracted by the planets gravitational pull obscured their vision as they neared Endor, the Forest Moon. His Master easily maneuvered her ship through the debris and Corin did the same.

As they neared the ship, Corin got directly behind the NyghtFyre, and prepared his ship to enter the atmosphere. As he did this, a distress signal suddenly was picked up by Corin’s radio. Tuning in to it, Corin heard these words: Help us…………deserted………we need help…...please……Wa… The last word was cut off as the Falcon began to pass through the atmosphere and enter the stratosphere. “Master, I just received a transmission coming from Endor. It was a distress call. Shall we heed it?” He reiterated what the message said.

There was silence as their ships entered the troposphere, followed by his Master’s voice, “Corin, we’re not here to rescue. We are here to search and recover. But the message does disturb me. I will see what we can do.”

“Yes Master.” answered Corin.

They were over the lush forest of Endor, when Corin spotted a clearing in the distance. “That looks good!” His Master said, and they both descended into the depths of the Forest Moon.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

With a whirl of wind and rain, the two ships landed in the swampy clearing as quietly as they could.

With a leaping bound, Corin jumped from his opened cockpit and landed on the muddy forest floor, followed by his blue droid, N4. Beep beep! cried the droid when Corin asked him to scan the area.
Just when Rasilvenaira exited her aircraft and joined Corin and N4, did the droid finally share his gathered information in a series of clicks and beeps.
“He says he found nothing, but the planet seems to be giving off a strange force aura.”

“Strange…” Rasilvenaira said. “There hasn’t been Jedis of either side on this planet since the destruction of the Imperial army.” She took a step forward into the thick fog. “By the looks of these clouds, this rain aint going to let up soon. And this fog isn’t going to help us any. Get your things, Corin. We may have to leave this area...”
“Watch out!” Yelled Corin as he jumped on Rasilvenaira, pushing her to the ground. A bolt of plasma whizzed by their heads a second later: snipers.
“Damn!” Yelled Corin as the onslaught continued. They took refuge under Corin’s left wing as the attack of plasma buzzed at their feet. N4 ran for cover also, but was hit by a stray bolt that disabled him in one hit: these snipers did not want to kill, but capture.
“We have to get out of here.” Corin’s Master said. “I think we can take ‘em if we both attack at once. What do you say?”
Corin smiled and nodded. “Ready when you are, Master.”

Plasma bolts whizzed past, coming a lot closer than Rasilvenaira liked. Growling, she pulled her comlink from a pocket. “Verlassen!”

“Yes, Mistress?”

“Stuff the formalities, we’re under attack, sweep the area with the port ion cannon, ten second burst, now! Give whoever it is something else to think about, and it’ll give us the cover to retaliate.”

“Right away.”

She turned to Corin, crouching even lower as another round of bolts seared past. “Be ready, once the NyghtFyre opens fire on them, we rush them, aim to stun them, I want at least one of them alive to find out what’s going on.”

He nodded, reading himself. Soon the NyghtFyre’s ion cannon roared to life, echoed by the startled cries of their assailants.

“Now!” Rasilvenaira lunged forward, her crimson saber igniting with an angry snap-hiss. Her dark eyes burning with anger, she focused on the form of one of the attackers as they scattered from the ion cannon blasts. Giving into her anger, Rasilvenaira launched a furious flurry of attacks, her saber becoming a vicious blazing blur of motion.

“Master!” Corin’s voice finally penetrated through the haze of bloodlust and hatred that clouded Rasilvenaira’s mind.

The Knight looked around, Corin had two of the attackers held at bay with his plasma rifle aimed at them. Two others had rather serious wounds from the rifle, and two had been relieved of their heads by Rasilvenaira’s saber. Three others lay writhing in pain from various severed appendages. Judging from their appearance, Rasilvenaira assumed they were part of the group of pirates they’d been sent to find.

She extinguished her saber, and clipped it back on her belt. “Good job Corin. Now, I wonder if these gentlemen will feel like talking.”

Walking over to the two Corin was holding, she met a glare from the first pirate. Suddenly, an unseen force pulled his legs out from under him, and he landed with a hard thud at Rasilvenaira’s feet. She kicked him hard in the side and then put her booted foot down on his arm.

“Word to the wise, don’t make her mad.” Corin offered with a sly grin. “She’s not as forgiving as I am.”

The pirate stared up at the jet black eyes of the Knight, his jaw clenched against the pain from her kick and the pressure as she stood on his elbow.

“I have a few questions, I’ll only ask each of them once, failure to answer, or if I sense you’re lying, and I will be forced to remove some part of your body. Understand?” Rasilvenaira ignited her saber, its raging red glow reflecting in the pirate’s frightened eyes as he nodded.

“Good. Now, who are you working for?”

Corin raised an eyebrow, not having anticipated the question. His Master caught the look, “Scum like this rarely ever work for themselves, I want to know who’s behind them.” He nodded in understanding.

****************************************

“How many do you think got away?” Corin asked as they returned to their ships.

“I’m not certain, I couldn’t get them to answer me on how many there were. At least we got some of the answers we were looking for. I think we’ll move the ships, there’s a better place I know of, that will offer better protection for them.”

“Alright.”

Sensing that her Apprentice was deep in thought, she turned to him, “What’s on your mind Corin?”

“The pirates said they were working for Sith.”

“Aye, they did, you must remember, the Brotherhood are not the only dark Jedi around, we’ll need to be careful, certainly.”

Some time after the confrontation with the pirates, Corin, his Master, Rasilvenaira, and their droids were in their ships, and ready for take off.

“Master,” radioed Corin as the engines roar rumbled his aircraft, “I’m still confused. Why would our own Sith Brothers betray their kin, and raid and attack like this?”

Rasilvenaira pondered the question for a moment, and than opened her mouth to speak, “Corin, not all Sith are alike. Some have different motives, different ways of thinking. Not all Sith are proud and ruthless like us, Corin, rather, these Jedi have no honor, no care of their brethren. They are a disgrace to the Sith.”

Corin was surprised at the fervor to which his Master put into her answer. “I’m sorry Master. I did not…” The NyghtFyre’s engines, along with the Falcon’s, roared with life as both ships rose from the muddy earth.

“Corin, it is alright. Let us get out of this swamp before more snipers arrive. Shall we?”

Corin grunted a word of acknowledgement as he buckled himself into his cockpit. Flipping on switches and turning knobs, Corin’s ship slowly rose higher and higher into the foggy twilight air.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The rain beat down upon their ships as they flew through the night, searching franticly for a safe area to land. Mountain passes passed under them as their ships engines carried them further and further away.

The pouring rain made it hard for them to see, but their aircraft’s instruments helped them to have a sense of what was going on below.

Not until the second hour since they departed from their first landing point did they find another suitable landing area. It was surrounded by thick stands of pines and firs, camouflaging the area under their thick boughs.

“Let’s land there!” Advised Corin’s Master, as their ships slowed to a hover. “I can sense no enemies about.”

As they did so, Corin pointed out another advantage of this area: “The swamp will have thick underbrush, and, with this rain, our tracks will be wiped away.”

Their ships landed in the swamp, although deeper than Corin anticipated. N4 expressed his dislike and displeasure of their present situation. “N4!” Exclaimed Corin as N4 let out a sentence of curses and complaints. “One last word…” Just than Corin’s Master exited her ship, and was next to N4.

“What’s the matter?” She inquired, but only got the shake of Corin’s head as an answer. “Okay than.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

A long black figure hunched over a metal table with a tattered map sprawled across it came into view. It was apparent that he was in some sort of emotional or physical stress. His head cocked from side to side, as the sound of cracking joints filled the empty room. In front of him was a dented and ruined door that hung lazily on its busted hinges. With a repetitive creak, it swayed to and fro, metal scratching metal.

The figure had shifted in his chair, but was still hunched over his old map, studying ever aspect of it. As the door continued its repetitious creak, the man began to fidget, as if anger and malice were being bottled up, but now were ready to come forth in a show of hate and revenge.

Finally another sound entered the room. It was coming from the hallway beyond the door. Whispers licked the ear of the man who straightened, eagerly trying to overhear the conversation. The door swung outward as two burly men–one with a flowing beard, the other with a curly mustache–clad in brown leather entered the dimly lit room.

“S-sir…” The beaded man stuttered. “The s-scouts have f-fought bravely…B-but…”

“But, Tavre?” Inquired the hunched man behind the desk. “But what?”

“T-they have…” The bearded man gulped, unable to finish his sentence.

With an air of annoyance the second man spoke up, “They have failed, my Lord.” Here he bowed his head in somber remembrance. “They ambushed the scouts when…”

“They? Who?” Interrupted the man behind the desk, straightening out some more, this time brandishing a new found authority. “There are more than one, Gregor?”

Gregor lifted his head to face his commander. With a quick nod he answered, “Yes, Fritya, there are two Jedi. Although one does not have a lightsaber, he is quite keen with the blaster.”

Fritya slowly stood up, pushing his chair aside. “I have given you an easy task. See to it that you do not fail me again. How far have your tracked them?” When both men stood there silently, Fritya raised his voice. Asking again, “How far did you track them?!”

The men shook there heads, voices unable to speak.

“You will leave me now and you will find these Jedi. Do not come back without them. I want them dead, or alive. NOW LEAVE ME!” Fritya yelled as he slammed his fist…

Corin suddenly awoke from his slumber, heart beating uncontrollably. It was early morning and he could see the ceiling of his Masters ship. Faint sounds of water hitting metal could be heard from above. The rain had not stopped, but it had died down.

Corin’s heartbeat slowed as he propped himself up on his elbows. The dream he had was too real. It seemed as if it had really happened. Had it? Or was it just his imagination? These questions he could not leave unanswered.

Corin went to his Masters chamber, and slowly woke her from her slumber.

Rasilvenaira’s mind snapped back to the present moment just in time to stop her reflexes from reacting to Corin waking her. However, always perceptive, Corin had retreated beyond arms reach as she stirred. Sitting up, she shook her head to clear the tangled dark web of thoughts. “So, my young Apprentice, I know the source of my own nightmares, but what has you troubled?”

She looked at him, and motioned for him to take a seat. He settled down in the chair, and Rasilvenaira turned, tucking her feet under herself to sit cross-legged on the cot. “I had a dream, Master. I saw who I think is the leader of the pirates we seek, but I’m not really sure if what I dreamt was real.”

“The force works in mysterious ways sometimes, its perfectly possible that it was real, a vision through the force. Tell me about it, everything.” Over the next several minutes Corin related his dream to his Master, pausing occasionally as she questioned details.

“Hmm.” Rasilvenaira went over the details in her mind. “The deeper we get into this mission, the less I like it. We’ll definitely have to be careful about this one.”

“Yeah, wish we knew more about what we were facing. I really don’t like being this outnumbered.”

“Well, I think it’s time to make the best of what we have. You left N4 with your ship right? Or did I just not notice him come on with you?”

“No, he’s with the Falcon.”

“Okay, either you can leave him on there, or I can set up one of my remote droids on it. Either way, I think for now, we use the NyghtFyre as our main ship, and let the droid fly the Falcon. Your fighter’s the more vulnerable of the two ships, until we know better what we’re facing, I’d rather you and N4 stay on here.”

“Alright, I’ll tell N4 to join us.”

“I’ll get the reomote. It’s basically a modified bare bones astromech, it will allow us to control the Falcon from the NyghtFyre.”

Moments later, the remote droid was plugged into the Falcon, and Corin had transferred his supplies and N4 to the NyghtFyre. The young Guardian paused after he stowed away the last of his things, and looked at his Master with a curious expression. Rasilvenaira sat cross-legged in the middle of the ship’s floor surrounded by 15 spheres and she had a datapad in hand, tapping away at the keys.

Feeling her student’s gaze, the Knight looked up and smiled. “Seekers, my design. They’re a hybrid of features from standard probe droids, and normal seeker drones.”

“Do you always have them with you, or did you just happen to think to bring them?”
She chuckled, “I always have some with me when I travel, it’s always amazing how often they turn out to be handy little critters to have. Same with the remotes and various other droids I have onboard.”

“I always thought the Dark Jedi didn’t like droids.”

“Many don’t. I’m one of the odd ones, so is Macron, I know he’s often made use of his droids as well.”

Corin nodded and settled into a chair. “Anything I can do?”

“Go check that fourth monitor, I set up five sentry droids, you should be able to check the vid feed from all five, let me know if they’re functioning.”

Corin stood and moved over to the mentioned monitor and terminal, keying in a few commands, he scrolled through the video feeds from the five droids. “Where are they positioned?” he asked as he tried to guess from the images each one was seeing.

“One is on top of the NyghtFyre, by the top hatch, which is where these little seekers are going to be launched from. Two by the entry hatch, which is closed and secured now that you’re in. One is on the Falcon. The last is under the bow of the ship. They’re set to scan for any approaching life forms bigger than a Hopper. Two are also equipped with long range sensors that can detect vehicles. Hopefully we won’t get any more unpleasant surprises.”

“Do you think they’ll try to attack us?”

“It’s possible, but they have to find us first. Even if they do, the NyghtFyre’s shields are strong enough to hold up against anything they’re likely to have. At least long enough for us to get airborne again and get away. Verlassen’s already set to bring up the shields at first sign of any attack, and to power up the engines as quickly as possible. R5 can handle flying the NyghtFyre; N4 is plugged in to the terminal controlling the remote on the Falcon.”

“So you’re going to send out the Seekers, to see if we can find the pirates?”

“Yeah, I’m sure they know we’re here, the trick is to not let them know we’re only two. Old philosophy I learned along time ago. If you are far, make your enemies think you are near, if you are few, make your enemies think you are many. So, we need to find them, and figure out what their defenses are. Then we can make a better plan for how to go about finishing our mission. However, I will not jeopardize you, or my ship beyond what is reasonable. Remember that.”

He nodded, “Yes, Master.”

Standing, she tucked the datapad back in a pocket. “Grab some of the seekers, as many as you can carry, and we’ll get them off on their way.”

The round droids were a little less than a foot in diameter each, so it took a few trips for the two of them to get all the seekers to the top of the ship. Finally as the last one was set down, Rasilvenaira pulled out her datapad again, and began launching them. One by one the spheres began hovering, then whizzed off in various directions.

“Well then, for now, we wait.”

They went back down into the ship, and Rasilvenaira grabbed a odd looking bottle. “If you’re like me, patience is not your strong suit, but sometimes it’s necessary.” She found two glasses and poured two drinks. Setting the bottle down on the table, she took hers and sipped it.

Corin took the glass and looked at it. “What is it?”

“Kusali, a lightly alcoholic beverage from Ord Mantell. Hmm, don’t suppose you play Paazak do you?” She grinned.

Corin shook his head and sat down beside his Master.
"Oh,I almost forgot something...Striker..." Corin quickly stood up and was about to exit the ship when his Master stopped him.

"Striker? Who the hell's that?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh, he's a modified Battle Droid I created. He's the perfect droid in this situation." Corin turned his back to his Master and pressed the button on the door console that let down a ramp.

"Be careful out there. Need some help?"

"No, I'm all set. Striker is a capable droid." Corin slipped out of sight, and was walking toward his ship when he heard his Master's footsteps behind him." Corin turned around.

"I said I don't need..." A butt of a rifle crashed into his head. Corin screamed in agony as another strike was delivered to his gut.

The sound of an ignited saber cued his Master's arrival. The Pirates who attacked Corin did not count on this, and were easily taken by Rasilvenaira's saber. Rasilvenaira began to inspect Corin's wounds, and just when she thought she could relax little, Corin's Master whipped around and was confronted by three more pirates, this time carrying swords and guns.

Corin quickly turned around and headed for his ship. As he heard the pain filled screams of his enemies, he opened the cargo hold on his ship and took out Striker.

Five more Pirates joined the fray.

Striker came to life as Corin gave him his commands: help and protect his Master. The dual rifles on his metal arms were lit to life as a barrage of gunfire meant the end for the pirates.

Rasilvenaira doubled back to her apprentice, making sure he was safe. Corin unsheathed his dagger that was holstered by his side. Corin reached for his rifle around his back, but there was none.

Swearing, Corin followed his Master who lead them safely to her ships ramp. Another wave of pirates came, this time bearing sabers! Weather training sabers or real ones, Corin didn't know and didn't care to find out.

Only when their sabers met contact with Rasilvenaira's and kept their form did he find out.

Corin stepped back and watched his Master perform her expert moves on the Pirates, slaying two and dismembering another.

Corin's own training saber buzzed to life as a Pirate ran his way. To Corin's relief, the Pirate had a training saber, and his skill was lesser than Corin's.

Knowing that he would not be able to slay his opponent with a training saber, Corin drew his dagger, Dregon, and swung it around skillfully, cutting the throat of his enemy.

Rasilvenaira had three Pirates on her now, making use of their sabers.

Striker fired off rounds, but to no avail: the Jedi Pirates deflected them all.

Corin reached for the Force and harnessed it.

Closing his eyes and ears to the distractions of the swamp, Corin let the Force flow through him. holding out his hands in front of him, Corin grabbed hold on two of the Jedi Pirates and pulled them off of his Master.

They landed in the mud, angry and soaking. They charged at Corin with speed aided by the force. Corin was quick to react, though, and stopped them using the force once more.

By the time this was done, Rasilvenaira had killed her opponent, and sunk her blade deep into the chest of the Pirate to Corin's right, and cracked the neck of the other.

"You don't need help?" Rasilvenaira exclaimed to her Apprentice.

"I'm sorry, Master. I didn't think..." Corin apologized solemnly.

"No, you didn't." Interrupted Rasilvenaira. "Now get in the ship before more come. Now!"

"Yes, Master." Corin bowed his walked up the ramp of the NyghtFyre.

Once they were inside and Rasilvenaira set the security guns on high alert, she sat down beside her Apprentice and sighed.

"Corin, you have much to learn." She said, saying each word slowly.

"I know, Master. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault that the Pirates came, Corin, but it is your fault for not being cautious. Next time, there, accept my help." She sighed and looked to the floor. "It was also my fault for not setting up the security correctly. Let us take this and learn from it." She stood up and walked to the control panel for the droids. "It seems they haven't found anything yet."

Corin moaned as he got up, his head swimming. He fell back onto the chair as Rasilvenaira turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry Corin. Let me look at those for..."

"I'm fine. I can heal them with the Force." Corin answered flatly.

Rasilvenaira smiled, realizing Corin's skill with the Force. "I sometimes forget that you can do that. It's not something I see you do often." She smiled and sat down in front of Corin, handing him his glass of Kusali.

Suddenly an alarm went off and Rasilvenaira moved to the flashing terminal. Scanning the monitor, she grinned slightly and turned the alarm off.

“What is it, Master?”

“The Seekers found something, looks like the pirate’s main base; I’ve just sent the other three nearest Seekers to the same location to give us a more detailed look around. I don’t know about you, my dear Apprentice, but my patience is beginning to wear thin with these pirates.”

Corin nodded, “Patience is not my strongest feature. What’s the plan?”

Turning around, Rasilvenaira leaned against the terminal, and chuckled, “Well, since they were so nice about extending their hospitality to us, I say we go give them a little appreciation gift.”

The young Sith regarded his Master with a curious expression.

“We go blast them to bits. Then when the smoke clears, we can gather up the supplies and equipment that they took and load it up on the NyghtFyre and head back home.”

He grinned, “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

She nodded, “I thought so. Look here.” She turned and pointed at the monitor. Corin moved over to look where she indicated. “I recognize that area, remember, I’ve been here before. We should have a clear run at them if we come in from the south, here.” The display changed to a map, with the pirate base marked by a flashing dot. Their ships were marked by another dot. She indicated the proposed flight path, and looked over at him.

“Alright, when do we attack?”

“Let’s wait for the cover of dark, the last couple hours before dawn. That’ll give me time to see what kind of defenses the Seekers can find. I’m sure they have something we can’t see, especially if there are Sith with them, but if we hit them hard and fast with what we have, then we should get enough of them to be able to handle any stragglers when we go back in for the cargo.”

He nodded, “Anything I can do to help?”

“Make sure you and Striker are ready. The remote on the Falcon can handle the weaponry and flying for it, with N4 controlling it. I’ll need your help with the weapons for the NyghtFyre, you’ll be in charge of the torpedoes and missiles. I’ll handle the laser and ion cannons.”

“Okay, for now I suppose I’ll just rest, how long until we attack?”

“It’ll be a few hours; it’s just now getting dark. Go ahead and rest. I’ll let you know when it’s time to go.”

Sleep didn't come easy for Corin, as the thoughts of those pirates who attacked entered his mind. Corin's inexperience as a Jedi almost cost him and his Master their lives. He vowed he would never let that happen again. He was going to think before he acted from now on.

An hour passed, and still no sleep came to Corin. Only when he began to think of other more pleasant things did Corin begin to feel drowsy and dose off to sleep.

He was awoken by his Master as her cold hand touched his chest. "Corin, it's time." Were her words as she silently shuffled about, readying herself for the upcoming journey. "I've instructed N4 to pilot your ship. He'll follow mine when we take off. Striker's on guard duty outside."

Corin reluctantly got up and was dressed in minutes. He did not wear his usually Sith Robes, but chose a stealthier suit. Corin slung his rifle over his shoulder, strapped his knife and sword's sheaths to his belt, and outfitted himself with various detonators which Rasilvenaira had in her storage compartments.

"This has indeed taken long enough Master, it's time for us to get off this horrid planet." Corin stated as he busied himself with packing supplies in his backpack.

"I agree, my young Apprentice, but let us wait some more. This storm is supposed to get worse," she said, checking the data pad she held in her left hand, "and I the cover of torrential rain is key to our stealth. We may have to land our ships quite a ways from their base, so be prepared for a long walk in the mud."

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When everything was set, and the droids reported back to Rasilvenaira all they could gather of the base, the NyghtFyre lifted off the murky ground of Endor.

The NyghtFyre's lights were turned off, and it was nothing more than a shadow on the sky.

N4 piloted The Falcon and followed in the NyghtFyre's wake.

Corin sat in the co-pilot's seat and began to think of the upcoming mission. He voiced his thoughts to his Master, "This Pirates aren't the best of fighters, so I think we'll be able to get around most of the guards either with force or mind tricks. The commander must have a lot of power, for he wouldn't have been able to board the Brotherhood's transport ships, and his men wouldn't want him as their leader if he didn't have power to back his position up."

Rasilvenaira cocked her head and looked at Corin, "Very good, my Apprentice," she said, "Use your head like that and you'll be going places."

She smiled and Corin turned back to the ships readings: they were normal, but her engines were working differently. They were slowing down as they went further and further. He pointed this out, and Rasilvenaira explained to him: "It's the mud and rain that's been getting into there. With this wind and rain, it's hard to keep junk out of my engines."

Corin wasn't convinced, but he trusted his Master and said no more.

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They flew for another half hour when they found a clearing not too far from the Command Center. "That looks good." Corin said and Rasilvenaira nodded.

"Aye, let's land there. Get ready, this is going to be one hell of a night!"

The NygthFyre landed, quickly followed by Corin's ship, and Corin and Rasilvenaira, followed by Striker, exited from the cover of their ship, and were out in the wet mud in minutes. "Make sure you have everything!" Rasilvenaira yelled over the roar of the wind and rain.

As Corin checked his pack, Rasilvenaira tested her weapons. When all was checked and ready, they began on their journey.


They had only been on the journey for a couple of minutes, and Corin and Rasilvenaira were already soaked. However, this did not dampen their spirits. It only made them blend in to the environment even more.

Dawn was approaching fast when Corin suddenly halted and signaled for Striker and Rasilvenaira to do the same. They were finally at their destination. A crooked building half sunken protruded from the swamp. Despite it's condition, it looked to be stable. "This is our chance, Corin. Let's get in their before we're..."

Corin spun around and planted his knife in the neck of pirate. "Damn way to die." Corin commented as the knife slid out of his neck and blood followed. Corin turned around to face the structure again. "As you were saying?"

"..before we're spotted." Continued Rasilvenaira, half smiling.

Corin and Rasilvenaira, Apprentice and Master, both shadows on the dawn sky, silently ran into the swamp and entered the old building.