http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuRf5uIuXdg)

An old freighter came out of hyperspace dangerously close to an asteroid field, but with good reason. Two weeks ago, the Republic lost all contact with the Star Destroyer Cygnus, without anything to indicate that it had been destroyed. Recently, however, Republic Intelligence picked up a garbled signal seeming to originate from the Cygnus, but a good distance away from its last known location. Naturally, it had sent one of its operatives to investigate.

"There it is. That's the Cygnus alright." Jedi Master Komad Kaltas pointed out from the cockpit of the Silver Eagle. The ship was adrift, its hull marred by numerous asteroid collisions, the lights were completely out, and its command tower appeared to have been torn clean off.

"Yeah, but we're way closer to the Hoth system than Geonosis. Something's not right here. There's no way they could have drifted this far in two weeks." Iyav Dourden commented. "I'm contacting Belina, see what you can pick up on the scanner."

"Commander Belina, this is Operative Iyav Dourden. Jedi Master Kaltas and I have confirmation on the RSS Cygnus, awaiting further instructions." He sent out.

"Preliminary scans indicate faint life signs throughout the ship, along with a large cluster in one of the cargo holds. The hull has sustained heavy asteroid damage, the bridge has been completely destroyed, and engines appear to be non-functional." Komad added.

Coruscant, Kenobi Medical Facility

"Your rehabilitation program is almost finished, Miss Evenstar," intoned the post-traumatic stress counselor with a gentle smile. "I'm amazed at your progress. Most who have turned away from the Dark Side of the Force never recover as fully as you have--if they live to recover at all. You possess great courage." He tried not to shuffle the discharge paperwork on his desk, but it was hard to resist. So many patients, so little time! He was going to miss Andorra. She had been one of his most insightful clients, and it was a shame that he would have to return to his usual caseload. She had been...unique.

"Thank you," answered the Avalonian maiden meekly, "although I certainly don't feel that way now. You don't know what I've been through, the issues I've had to face as I confront my recent past. I wasn't just a Sith, you understand. I was the Dark Lady of the Sith, one of the Triumvirate, and all those below me followed my orders. I understand that most of the time, Darth Virul was influencing my mind, but I cannot relinquish all the blame. I was Andirrul, not simply Virul, although he was a large part of me."

The counselor winked. "What is that called, allowing guilt to overwhelm you?"

"Self-defeating thinking."

"Right. And when that occurs, you must immediately do what?"

"Modify my thought patterns. Start pondering something else immediately."

"That's very true." A pause. "You've integrated the psychological principles that I and our therapy group have taught you very well into your psyche."

Andorra could only nod. Half the time, she felt like she was repeating these helpful mantras like a droid. How could this counselor possibly know what it was to be a Sith, to murder in cold blood and to order the deaths of your former comrades? How did he know what it meant to have your mind invaded by a parasite who grew stronger day after day, until only someone with far greater power than yours could intervene? All he had were his...credentials.

"I really owe my life to Doctor Pradhes," Andorra said. "And Kalla Kaltas."

"It is good to recognize those who help you," the counselor replied, "but..."

"I must shoulder full responsibility for all my actions and past behavior."

"Correct." Andorra noticed how blindingly-white the counselor's teeth were. "Hopefully now, you'll be able to move on to become a productive member of Coruscant society again, and foster healthy and appropriate relationships."

The girl would have laughed out loud, were it not for the diplomatic protocol ingrained in her ever since her adoption by the Avalonian governor. "Yes." She was wondering what Counselor Didac would think if he knew that she--

The muted hiss of his office door broke her reverie. She gave a start.

Ackbar

"Commander Belina, this is Operative Iyav Dourden. Jedi Master Kaltas and I have confirmation on the RSS Cygnus, awaiting further instructions."

Belina looked up from a fired control panel as the message from Iyav came in over her personal communicator.

She raised the communicator to her mouth and began replying after a few short moments of thought. "This is Admiral Belina aboard the Ackbar. Good work you two.

"Preliminary scans indicate faint life signs throughout the ship, along with a large cluster in one of the cargo holds. The hull has sustained heavy asteroid damage, the bridge has been completely destroyed, and engines appear to be non-functional."

Belina thought for a few more moments before responding.

"If there are survivors aboard that ship I want them rescued. But watch out. Something happend to that ship and I want to know what. I want you to board the ship and and then head for auxillary control and download everything you can including the logs. They should tell us what happend. Belina out."

Belina returned to the panel and watched as the panel finally came back online. Since the battle of Huntaru station, nearly every member of the crew had been busy trying to fix up the Ackbar just in case. The ship had taken heavy damage during the battle, but it was close to being fully repaired.

It's good we're nearly done fixing this ship up. We lost so many ships during that battle but at least we took out a good portion of the Imperial fleet before they retreated.

"Understood. Dourden out." Iyav replied, switching off the comm, and veering closer to the Cygnus.

As they made their approach, they started picking up another signal from the Star Destroyer. "It's just a short range message, probably important." Komad commented, putting it through. "WARNING: THIS STARSHIP IS UNDER QUARANTINE. DO NOT APPROACH WITHOUT EXERCISING PROPER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS." He then switched it off, adding, "Now let's have another listen to the signal that led us here. It should be much clearer at this distance." He then put that message through, and they heard a panicking, female voice saying, "I think we're the only ones left. They're everywhere. I don't much time, so listen. I don't care who you are, help us. Even the New Empire must have the decency for that. We can't isolate it, sedatives seem to be useless, and they're between us and the blasters, oh no, they found me! I'm not going down without a fight!" Komad switched the message off before it repeated.

"We'll need hazmat suits and our weapons if we want to get anywhere." Iyav pointed out. "An incursion prompting a quarantine? This doesn't make sense. And what about the Guardsmen? They would never have let a situation get this bad. I want answers." Komad commented. Iyav then put his arm around Komad's shoulder, looked into his eyes, and said, "There's only one place to find any."

With each passing second time seemed to be running out for the crew of the Cygnus...or what was left of them at least. Kurt Krovak was doing all he could for the rest of the crew but even that didn't seem to be enough. He and a very small team manged to quarantine the ship and send out a distress signal. He kept a tight grip on his blaster rifle which was dangerous close to running out of ammo. He had to resort to bashing former crew members in order to kill them. These crew members turned into monsters and began infecting other crew members. Unlike the other survivors who were shocked by this, Kurt was unaffected. He had been through much worse, specifically his time as a Death Guard. However once again both his training and his armor proved very useful to him. The super soldier was doing the best he could to help the others, but even he knew eventually they would be overrun completely. Kurt wasn't going to let that happen though for a long time. The flashlight built into his helmet was looking for whatever it could find. It was one of the only light sources the crew had left so he had to use it sparingly. Kurt was startled by the sudden blinking of his HUD inside his helmet. It was very faint, but it had definitely picked up something friendly. Could this be rescue, or possibly some crew members who hadn't been infected yet? He didn't want to leave and leave the others in case it his HUD was just acting up but he didn't want to leave those survivors out there if he actually picked them up. Ultimately he decided to wait and see if he would pick anything up on his HUD again. If it happened one more time then he would go investigate.

Kerlos Minn dropped his YT-2400 out of hyperspace near the Cygnus. He had been given various jobs by the Republic before, but in all his years as a merc, he didn't hink he had ever taken on a mission where he felt anxious. The idea of ghost ships always made Kerlos feel apprehensive. As Kerlos cam closer to the Star Destroyer, he remembered that he wasn't exactly going to be alone - some Jedi and a smuggler were apparently doing the same thing as Kerlos, according to the briefing. Kerlos decided to try and hail the incoming freighter. He turned on his communicator.

"Silver Eagle, this is Kerlos Minn of the Star Chaser. I'm a merc the Republic sent to assist you guys. Hope you don't mind if I join in with the investigation. If there's anything you want me to do, just ask."

"Star Chaser, this is Iyav Dourden of the Silver Eagle. We welcome the assistance, and we'll meet you at the starboard hangar." Iyav sent out before taking the ship in for a landing.

Komad and Iyav stepped out of the Silver Eagle and into the starboard hangar of the Cygnus, keeping their hands close to their weapons. "And naturally, the doors are magnetically sealed. That's not going to be a problem, is it?" Komad inquired, already knowing the answer.

"What do you take me for?" Iyav jokingly asked, taking out a datapad, and punching a few keys on both it and a control panel next to the door, before finally pressing a button on the datapad, opening the door. "Makeshift remote control, it'll allow us to get the survivors out, while keeping whatever they're fighting in." He explained. "After you." As he crossed the threshold, Komad activated his lightsabers, realising it just about pitch black within the ship itself.

"It's worse than I originally thought. Even if this ship were running only backup power, it would still be brighter than this, which would indicate that the glowpanels have been manually smashed." Komad suggested, pointing to the ceiling and proving his suspicions right. "That or they've been overloaded to the point of shattering. Either way, it seems deliberate. The question is who did it, the crew, or the invaders? Oh, and there's our friend now." Iyav replied, looking back out the doorway and spotting the Star Chaser enter the hangar.

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

As Andorra got up to leave, Reyvan entered the counsellor's office, saying a quick "Hello, Andorra." before sitting down. As soon as Andorra was out of earshot, he said, "You know she'll never really be free of what happened to her. She'll carry it with her the rest of her life. Burying that guilt will only make things worse. She needs to face it, come to terms with it. What might help is someone she might identify with. Someone with similar experiences, such as my wife. She was possessed by Darth Virul as well, during the Battle of Rhen Var."

The next few moments were very suspenseful, even for Kurt. One of the survivors looked over at him and was startled by how calm he seemed. It didn't help the man that he couldn't see Kurt's face either, not to mention how big he was. Kurt watched as his HUD flashed again indicating two large dots and three smaller ones which meant two ships and three allies. The message must have gotten through but did these people know exactly what was waiting for them? Kurt began to make his way for the door when he heard movement from the others.

"Stay calm. We've got friendlies out there who want to rescue us and I want to make sure they make it here alive."

With that he opened the door and stepped outside into the blackness;the door was shut quickly behind him. He began walking forward making sure to sweep the area with both his flashlight and his rifle. It didn't take long for him to be jumped by one of the infected. Kurt kicked it and proceeded to bash its skull in with his rifle. He began to quicken his pace gradually making his way towards the rescuers. He needed to get to them, the survivors' lives depended on it.

Kerlos landed the Star Chaser inside the hangar. He then went into the strogae room and picked out some weapons. He took the frag grenades, his 434 pistol, his T-21, and just to be safe, his mortar launcher. He slung the launcher behind his back, holstered the pistol so his trench coat his it, and put the grenades on his belt. He carried the T-21. He went outside into the dark hangar, and saw two people ahead of him, no doubt from the freighter he had parked next to. One of them had a lightsaber activated. Kerlos walked towards them.

"This ship, quite frankly, gives me the creeps. Can we get this done and over with and find the survivors quickly?"

Counselor Didac raised a skeptical eyebrow at Reyvan. "Really?" he asked, attempting to keep his voice neutral and measured but failing. There was no such thing as keeping a "neutral tone of voice" when one felt the twinges of professional jealousy. "Your wife was a victim as well? In my own opinion, sir, that is rather like the blind leading the blind. You wouldn't trust a Hutt to help one of his fetid fellows deal with his addiction to liquor and recreational drugs, would you?" He shook his head. "Still, if she's as experienced as you claim in dealing with the aftermath of Sith possession, perhaps it is better to leave Miss Evenstar in her charge for her follow-up care program." He took out a datapad.

"Excuse me," said Andorra coolly, "but have I no say in this? Even though I agree with my comrade, I don't appreciate you talking about me as if I were invisible, Counselor." Didac, his face turning fifteen shades of red, mumbled a hasty apology and mentioned something about 'having to get back to the patient archives for some routine updating of the case files.'. In the meantime Andorra was free to leave the medical facility. Counselor Didac left.

She winked. "Thank you for helping me get rid of him. He's so condescending!"

"First of all, rescuing survivors is not our only goal. We also need to figure out what happened here and why. Second, this ship is under quarantine, so unless you've got an air filter you could put on, you'll have to wait here until we determine it's nothing airborne." Iyav explained.

As Iyav explained the situation, Komad came across what appeared to be a Guardsman in noticeably battered armour. He noticed that the Guardsman was walking in a slow, lumbering manner, and he seemed to have several discoloured blotches on any part of exposed skin.

"Trooper, what's happened here?" Komad asked, to which the Guardsman responded with just a long groan, and opening his mouth, revealing his bloodstained teeth. Realising the Guardsman was becoming aggressive, he then ordered him to stand down several times before he got too close and Komad was forced to cut him down with his lightsabers.

"What could have done this? It's not an invasion, it's an infection." He asked rhetorically, not really directing the question at anyone in particular.
***************************
"Don't worry about it. The Jedi Masters seemed similar when I was your age. To be honest, though, what I said about my wife is true, though her situation was quite different from yours. She was only possessed for a relatively short time, and Virul had near complete control. She was his first victim, and the only one other than you to escape." Reyvan told her as they made their way out of the facility. "Tell me Andorra, have seen your mother at all since you were rescued?"

Atora should have known that something was wrong the second he had docked in the Cygnus's port hanger but to his suprise no one had been there.

They need to pay me more for these kinds of missions. I wasn't expecting anything as horrible as this. I need to get back into contact with Admiral Belina but those things have taken over the port hanger.

Unfortunatly for him, the ship wasn't as deserted as he thought it was. The ship's crew compliment had been infected with something and had become monsterous...things.

He hadn't encountered any survivors yet and thus had been forced to assume that there were no survivors aboard the ship.

His thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a rapidly blinking blue light on his HUD.

A survivor? I had this thing tuned so that it showed the infected in red. According to this the survivor is aproximatly forty meters away and seems to be heading for the staroboard hanger.

His thoughts were again disturbed when he felt something grab at his leg. He quickly brought his Mandalorian assault rife down and began firing at the creature which now had a hole in it's head. the blaster shots echoeing throughtout the otherwise quiet corridor.

His HUD began to show even more survivors, most of them behind a door on this very level. He quickly kicked away the thing and continued on his way toward the roomful of survivors.

"You're improving too." Kalla said to Tonatius as she parried another of his swings. After being knighted, she started to notice more and more inherent flaws in Niman, and that the lack of deficiencies wasn't worth the lack of proficiencies. She took it upon herself to learn another, and had decided on Soresu. As she learned more of the lightsaber form, she practised by sparring with Tonatius in the Jedi Temple. She enjoyed, she was certainly happy, but at the same time, she was trouble. She knew her old master had gone to see Andorra at the Kenobi Medical Facility, which was unusual enough without considering the Council's recent interest in her. "Do you really think all these secrets are necessary? I'm sure Andorra would understand if the Council told her truth." She asked.

Andorra felt as if a ton of transparisteel bricks had suddenly rained down upon her. She gave a soft, involuntary gasp. "Mother?!" she cried. "By the Force! I have not seen her since--well, you know, since I first wound up in this medical facility. To be honest, I'm not sure she even knows that I, her lovely adopted daughter, was the Dark Lady of the Sith. You can imagine that I'm not eager to tell her, if she doesn't know." She shook her head.

"The worst part," Andorra continued, "is that it's entirely my fault this whole crisis happened. Yes, I was possessed by Lord Virul, and he controlled my faculties at least 90% of the time. What of the other 10%, I ask you? Also, if I had only stayed my hand at Bastion, and not dared to strike the Dark Lord down in a violent fit of rage, I never would have been seized by his pestilent spirit. At the moment when I slew him, or thought I did, my mind was only focused on vengeance. He'd killed so many already, and I wanted to pay him back in kind." She wiped her pale hand across her teary eyes.

Once she composed herself, she stared with numb fixation at the walls of the rehabilitation complex that had been her home for the past few months. "So drab. So cold and sterile. I suppose that's how medical facilities have to be, but you think the staff here could at least have done something to make this place a bit more cheerful!" Andorra tried to laugh, but her chuckle came out sounding nervous and hollow. "No matter. I wasn't here to give anyone interior decorating tips anyway." As she and Reyvan headed for the exits, several doctors and nurses waved, bidding her farewell. She did the same.

"She knows you killed Virul, and that he possessed you, but I'm not sure if she knows about Andirrul. Even if she does know, she'd still be very happy to see you again. She was very accepting when she found out about you and Kalla, and we think she suspected something before then." Reyvan explained. As they left the building, he asked another question. "If you're not returning to Avalon, do you have a place to stay here on Coruscant?"

Kurt rounded a corner just in time to hear a gunshot go off. Kurt was expecting to hear something else but all he got was silence. The shooter either got the target or was taken down. Kurt continued moving until he heard footsteps drawing closer to his position. Was this the shooter he heard or another monster? Kurt aimed his rifle in the general area of the footsteps as well as his flashlight. He didn't want to risk calling out in case it was another one of the infected but he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't. Instead of calling he decided he would signal into the area where he heard footsteps with his flashlight. He began flicking the light on and off while keeping a tight grip on his rifle.

Wrath waited patiently outside for Andorra to exit the medical facility. He wasn't allowed near the place and he could understand why. He was constantly shaking his arms at the annoyance of the robes he had on currently. The armor he was much more comfortable in had a bad reputation and for now he had to go without it but he still kept the helmet. He was lucky the hood was able to fit over the helmet or he would probably have to go without that too. Other than the helmet the only pieces of armor he had were his gauntlets and his boots. Wrath looked up when he saw the doors open up and saw Andorra and Master Revyan exit from the facility. Wrath had decided to actually become Andorra's bodyguard as she was the only real person he could consider a friend. He marched over to the two and stood patiently next to them.

"A place to stay other than this facility?" asked Andorra. "No, I d--!" All of a sudden, she almost collided head-on with a very strange-looking humanoid creature. He wore a helmet and hooded robes, and in her startled brain, she mistook him for an assassin. The Avalonian almost screamed, threatening to puncture Reyvan's eardrums unwittingly, but then her consciousness registered something. This was no assassin...at least, if her split-second suspicions were correct. "W--Wrath?" Andorra stammered, thinking fast...

Once she was certain that it was indeed he, she threw her arms around him and gave him a long hug. "My old friend!" she cried. "Or, should I say, my new friend because you were one of the ones who helped to save me during that final battle with Lord Virul and its aftermath. I can't believe it's really you!" Smiling and quivering, she continued, "It's good to see you again, after all these months of lying in a coma. Please--if you're willing, I would like to welcome you into my retinue once more. You're a good guard, far more so than most, and the events of the recent past have taught me that I can't fight my battles all alone. Reyvan? You're an excellent fighter as well, but if we walk into an ambush by the remnants of the Sith, I'd rather have two or more people by my side instead of just one." Turning to Wrath, she asked, "Will you stand with me again? I have a feeling I might need protection."

Atora was trying to walk down the corridor toward the survivor as quietly as he could when he suddenly saw a flickering light further ahead in the corridor.

Those things aren't smart enough to pull something like that off. It must either be a survivor or some sort of rescue team. If it is a rescue team I need to warn them of what to expect.

His HUD now showed that the survivor that he had detected earlier was now only ten meters away. Atora continued walking until he saw a dark shape ahead of him standing completley still.

He brought up his Assault rifle just in case this was another unplesant suprise and then activated his helmet's miniture flashlight. He shined it directly on the shape and began to speak.

"Are you friend or foe?"

Tonatius parried her move and countered with a blade technique that Bushida masters learned. He thought while executing the move and then replied, "Andorra can understand many things. Secrets, like for the rest of us, are distasteful."

"Andorra will be fine," Jun-la said as she entered the training arena. She had come to watch the pair spar even though she knew there was a lot more going on than sparring. It was a request from the council for which she volunteered. She had come into one of their sparring sessions and heard the conversation.

Tonatius asked, "Were you eavesdropping my lady?"

"Shamelessly I'm afraid. Good thing I volunteered instead of the COuncil appointed another master," Jun-la replied with a slight grin. She repeated, "Andorra will be fine. True it was your help that gave her the option to see her path but ultimately it was her choice to break free. Strong people do that." She went over to a panel and began keying in instructions, "Which brings me this lesson. Blindfolds on and stand back to back."

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

NarShadda was like something dirty being washed clean in the pouring rain. When it rained, it was like a pure river bathing you. It was one of the few things that Tavaryn liked about the place. It was like a glimmer of hope.

For two months, he had been on various missions for the Shinigami. Mostly the business of protecting the Jedi but also scouting out threats to the Republic in general since it was trying hard to rebuild. This mission was an unusual one for him but he wasn't complaining. With his hat protecting his head from the rain, he stared out from his post at the Refugee Center.

Ever since the Jedi Civil War in the time of Revan, this sector of the city has been named the Refugee Center and has been called that ever since. Made sense since this sector had just about every species that existed within the Republic. His Intel led him here and now he was waiting to see what would come of it. He reached into the folds of his tunic and pulled out his comm. He said, "Shadow one to Shadow two. Alriana do you read me?"

First of all, rescuing survivors is not our only goal. We also need to figure out what happened here and why. Second, this ship is under quarantine, so unless you've got an air filter you could put on, you'll have to wait here until we determine it's nothing airborne."

"Actually," Kerlos replied. "I do happen to have one air-filter and a back-up one on my ship. May as well get both of them now." Kerlos had barely finished when the Jedi had to slash the undead soldier. Kerlos rushed back in his ship, his heart racing, and took out both his air-filter and the back-up, and put on the filter as he walked back outside.

"I only have one spare, so only one of you can wear this if you need it," Kerlos said to the duo, trying to be polite. "By the way, I don't think I caught either of your names?"

"Shadow one to Shadow two. Alriana do you read me?"

Alriana had been staring out over Nar Shaadda, thinking of the last time she had been here. It had been been shortly before the Clone Wars had begun and she and her master had been after a Rodian criminal known as Zegra.

But that was a lifetime ago.

She pulled her comm and began speaking back into it. "Shadow one this is Shadow two. I read you loud and clear."

It looks so different from the last time I was here. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to all the changes.

Kurt could tell his idea had worked as the footsteps drew closer to him. Eventually he was able to make out what appeared to be an armored man. Kurt hoped his massive size did not startle the figure...but then again there were far more scarier things aboard this ship. He was relieved to hear the figure could speak; a clear indication that he wasn't infected.

"Friend; Master Sergeant Kurt Krovak of the Republic. I'm currently in charge of what's left of the Cygnus, I'm glad to see our message was received."

Wrath was glad to see he was not forgotten by Andorra and how willing she was to accept him again. It had taken him some time to convince the Republic he truly had changed. It took everything he knew about the Empire and a little extra to finally convince him. He looked over to Andorra ready to answer his friend.

"I would be honored to Andorra, as long as its alright with Master Reyvan."

Tavaryn listened to the pause in her voice. He had wondered at the brilliancy of her accompanying him on his missions. The council maintained that the best way to become familiar with the galaxy was to live in it. Since he was the closest thing to a friend and relative, they adjusted his orders to include her. Some days were good and others were questionable but at least she was trying. He replied, "I'm not picking up much from the docks. You pick up anything?"

This mission was a person search. Tavaryn had seen the holo image and profile and wondered why the council would bother with him. It was one of those times that when the mission was done, he would do some of his own research. He waited for Alriana's response.

"Friend; Master Sergeant Kurt Krovak of the Republic. I'm currently in charge of what's left of the Cygnus, I'm glad to see our message was received."

Atora nodded and then looked behind him to make sure that none of those things were sneaking up behind him. He had learned his first day on the Cygnus not to underestimate these things.

"Atora Zen: Republic mercenary. Part of my contract is to investiagte and aid any republic ships. I picked up a few messages from your ship before all communication was lost and boarded it over a day ago."

He looked around the corridor to make sure none of the things were sneaking up on either of them before turning back to him.

"So tell me...what happened here?"



Nar Shadda

"I'm not picking up much from the docks. You pick up anything?"

Alriana took a long look around the area, making sure to give everyone she could see a quick lookover before responding. "No. Nothing here on my end. So where do we look next?"

Tavaryn was about to answer when he spotted movement. Pulling down his trackers, he thought he made out the target. It was worth a closer look. "Hang tight for a moment. I'm gonna check something out. It won't take long."

He cut the comm just as he finished, more out of force of habit than anything else. From his perch, he stood up to his full height as the rain continued to fall. With a downward glance, he took a leap and jumped down. He might have found what they were looking for.

**********

It was a simple courier job though why he actually had to physically put it in the hands of the receiver was beyond him. Haruka watched as the cargo was being loaded onto his ship. The one who hired him gave a lot of credits for the job but he wasn't complaining. It was a nice change from the small time skull busting he did for the cantina. He shouted at the loaders, "Careful there."

"Republic Operative Iyav Dourden and Jedi Master Komad Kaltas. That's just my official title, though. In some ways, 'Contracted Freelancer' might be more accurate. I've got a lot more freedom than a typical agent, I've got no uniform, and that's our own personal ship." Iyav explained. "And we've got air filters built into our hazmat suits anyway. Now we need to determine the nature of this infection. So far, all we know is how horrifying the effects are."

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

"I have no objections, what matters is that Andorra trusts you." Reyvan explained. "And Andorra, if there's ever anything you need, just let us know.

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

"You're telling me. I don't even know why they're so interested in her." Kalla replied, putting the blindfold on and trying to stand back to back with Tonatius. I thought we were just practicing, this wasn't a lesson She thought.

"Life is a lesson," Jun-la replied as she continued to set the standings. "This lesson is about team work. The ability to fight as a pair or team with your partners. You have to be able to help cover each other's weaknesses while taking down an enemy."

Jun-la smiled as she watched the pair thinking about her own pilot who was busy with a freight job. She knew what existed between them and went to great lengths to keep them together. Which was why she volunteering to be a training master. "Training droids and remotes." She hit the last command and training droids came to life followed by the remotes." It seemed unfair to give them so much to do but they had fought in battles before and they needed to develop their other senses.

Kurt checked his HUD and looked around the hallway to make sure none of the infected were there. He looked over to Atora and nodded at him.

"Well we successfully drove off the New Empire from Geonosis. We were to return back home when...well all of this happened. It started out with one of the corporals acting strange. He was sweating a lot and was quick to get angry. Suddenly he lashed out at a private and bit her neck. We locked him up and made sure the private was taken to the med bay where in due time she bit the entire medical staff. After a few hours nearly half the ship was infected. They're quite intelligent though for whatever is causing them to act this way. They disabled most of our systems, stranded us, and made sure we couldn't get to the armory, like they knew. I've gathered whatever survivors are left and put them in the cargo hold where we've been holding off. Keep in mind these things are fast and quite agile, I had a few jump on my back. The took out the lights and have no problem finding us so they either can see in the dark or rely on smelling and or hearing, I'm not quite sure."

Kurt looked down at his rifle which was covered in blood stains from all the killing he had done. He had to kill them thought otherwise everyone on this ship would have been infected by now.

"My HUD picked up three additional allies, are they with you? Oh and in case you're wondering no I haven't been bit. My armor is too strong to be penetrated by their jaws and I've killed them before they've had the chance too."

"Hang tight for a moment. I'm gonna check something out. It won't take long."

"Got it." She said quickly before the comm was cut off on Tavaryn's end. She began thinking of what Tavaryn could do against possible opposition that came to a conclusion.

I should at least keep an eye on him. If only to make sure that he's safe. But he did tell me to stay here...


Cygnus

"My HUD picked up three additional allies, are they with you? Oh and in case you're wondering no I haven't been bit. My armor is too strong to be penetrated by their jaws and I've killed them before they've had the chance too."

Atora hefted his assault rifle over his shoulder and looked around again to make sure they were still in the clear before responding.

"I'm sorry. But I only recently managed to fight my way to the end of the ship. What you said does clear up some of the mystery, like how most of the ship was infected, but other mysteries now remain. As for these "Allies" no, I have no knowledge of them. Perhaps we should make our way toward them before they encounter any of the infected."

He began walking toward the other blue lights on his HUD, anxious to warn the others of the threat that was posed by the infected.

"Actually," replied Andorra, "there is something you could both do for me. Now that I'm out of the medical facility, I have no idea where to go or what to do next. I want to help the Republic and the Jedi out in some way, but how? I suppose I could go back to Avalon and see my mother, but I really don't want to do that. I have a funny feeling that you might need me here on Coruscant."

Lenatha had bought a small corellian pastrie as a gift for Andorra since she had finally been discharged from the hospital. She made her way through the halls of the psych ward which gave her the chills. She stopped for a moment before and office hall. She could see there was a doctor standing infront of the main desk signing some electronic pads. He looked up and waved at Lenatha who simply just nodded in his direction but he walked over to her.

"Doctor Pradhes, nice to see you again", the Doctor said. He was an old doctor, in his late sixties, slim and with a large mustache.

"Hello Doctor Naville", Lenatha said a bit uneasily.

"I had hoped you had decided to join our group again since it's been a really long time since we've seen you last", Doctor Naville said.

"Well I have been kinda busy, too many patients to see, so little time to devote to myself. Besides I feel better now, for the past few months I have been rather good", Lenatha said.

"Well I do notice you're more at calm with yourself. What about the dreams?", Doctor Naville asked.

"They're not frequent now, not so much as before, they rarely come", Lenatha said and the doctor smiled.

"Well that's good to hear, the door is always opened to you if you wish to talk", Doctor Naville said and Lenatha simply gave him a small smile and a nod, he then went on his way patting her in her shoulder. Lenatha simply sighed. She always had goosebumps when going inside the psych ward but she had to do it for Andorra since she was trying so hard.

As she reached the psych ward she was told that Andorra had already left not too long ago so she made her way to the entrance of the hospital, she noticed there were others with Andorra, the one she had met before on her hospital room, Wrath and another that she did not recognize. She walked over to them with the small pastry in a small box in her hands.

"Am I interrupting anything?", Lenatha asked.

(They weren't in the psych ward, they were outside at the entrance to the medical facility)

"Not at all, we were simply discussing what Andorra might wish to do now that she has been discharged." Reyvan explained. "She would like remain here on Coruscant, and continue to help the Jedi and the Republic. On that topic, Andorra, with your kind permission, the Jedi Order would like access to your medical records since admission to this facility. Given what happened to you, I'm sure you understand our interest."



Hearing the remotes activate, Kalla increased the setting on her lightsaber, ensuring that she would be able to both deflect their blaster bolts and cut them down. To be honest, the idea of fighting remotes blindfolded sounded fun, or at least more so than fighting blindfolded in an actual battle. "Ready?" She asked Tonatius, still unsure what weapon he was wielding now.



As the group made their way through the derelict ship, lit by Komad's lightsabers, Komad had an unnerving realisation, making matters even worse. "I'm don't think this was a naturally occurring virus." He commented. "What do you mean?" Iyav asked, unsure how Komad reached that conclusion so quickly. "Think about how strong the average person's immune system has to be in order to not simply get sick and die the moment they step onto the surface of another planet. If something like this infection was natural, we'd have overcome it millennia ago." Komad explained. "The only other explanation is that this thing was genetically engineered, which means that the infection must be some sort of bio-weapon." Iyav surmised.

Kurt nodded to Atora before following him. His HUD showed him the ally dots were beginning to move. He guessed these three others had come to check up on Atora as the man had been here a day. Kurt was glad he bumped into Atora first, as the man had survived here an entire day. Kurt made sure to sweep each area as they moved and always checked behind him whenever he got the chance. He needed to make sure all four of these allies were unharmed by the infected as they were the survivors only chance at rescue.

Wrath remained silent and listened to Reyvan and Andorra talk. He looked over to see Dr. Lenatha and nodded to her. She had done everything in her power to keep Andorra alive which meant she was alright in his eyes. With not much to contribute he saw no reason to speak.

Andorra was absolutely delighted to see Doctor Pradhes, who had brought a delicious pastry to her as a recovery gift. Gingerly, she took the delicacy from the Twi'lek's scarlet hand and sunk her teeth into its luscious dough. Moaning with the delight of tasting far finer food than she'd ever had in the medical facility, she winked at Lenatha. "Thank you, Doctor!" she cried. "This is absolutely the best thing I've eaten in months, and it's so kind of you to see me off. Actually..." She let her words fade into silence. "Could you please do me a favor and retrieve my medical records from the facility archives? We'll wait here. Normally, I would be calling this an invasion of my privacy, but this is not a normal situation. The Jedi and Republic have a right to know how much progress I've made--or not--since I came out of my coma." Smiling, she continued, "Besides, this will help me get rid of my shame about being kept in the psychiatric wing of this hospital while I recovered. I never thought I'd be...crazy..." Andorra sighed. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Lenatha smiled brightly as Andorra thanked her for the small gift. She had known that while the service in the hospital was top notch, the food was the exact opposite, although very nutritious.

"Could you please do me a favor and retrieve my medical records from the facility archives? We'll wait here. Normally, I would be calling this an invasion of my privacy, but this is not a normal situation. The Jedi and Republic have a right to know how much progress I've made--or not--since I came out of my coma." Smiling, she continued, "Besides, this will help me get rid of my shame about being kept in the psychiatric wing of this hospital while I recovered. I never thought I'd be...crazy..." Andorra sighed. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Lenatha shook her head.

"You weren't crazy, it was only a precaution, you did have an uninvited guest invading your mind. The psychiatrists only wanted to assess how much damage Virul had made. Thankfully, it wasn't much because as I said before, you're very strong", Lenatha said and turned around to the entrance. "As your attending physician it won't be a problem for me to get your files so I will be back shortly".

Lenatha then walked into the hospital wing banishing from their sight.

Tonatius nodded out of habit and said, "Ready." He pulled out the sword he always carried on his person. It made a distinctive clang as it was released from its sheath.

Jun-la watched intently as Tonatius positioned himself. She figured he would have had some training with a blindfold. Any who are accepted into the ranks of the Bushida warriors must have some training in it as well as able to perform several mandatory skill sets. There have been few exceptions but that was the general way.

She watched as the remotes and the droids moved into position. The remotes would fire blaster shots and the droids would have either a training saber or a blade.

Tonatius cocked his ear and he could distinctly hear the whirring of remotes. Instinctively he adjusted so his elbow gently grazed the back of Kalla. The first droid fired. With spring in his step, he leaped out of the way of the blaster shot and came down in front of a training droid. He heard the pop hiss of a lightsaber and back jumped, tapping Kalla again to let her know that he was there. "Seems like we have a challenge," he muttered to her.

"Should be fun." Kalla replied, trying to rely on her hearing to spot the remotes. She heard a blaster shot in front of her, and managed to deflect it, but didn't her the explosion that would have come with hitting the remote that fired it. It must have hit the wall or something She thought.

"Here's something: ship to ship communications panel." Iyav pointed out after gunning down another zombie. Komad approached it and set it to transmit shipwide. "This is Jedi Master Komad Kaltas. Any surviving crewmembers of the Star Destroyer Cygnus please respond." He said into it before switching it off. "As far as those things can tell, my message could have come from anywhere on the ship. We're no less safe than we already were."

"Use your senses yes but also learn your partner's weaknesses and strengths," Jun-la prompted.

Tonatius said nothing but lowered his head to listen. He could tell from the slight bumps Kalla was giving him that she needed more practice learning to see without her eyes. He heard the remote position itself before it fired. He was able to prod Kalla to dodge it and brought his sword up to block a blow from a droid wielding a lightsaber. It was tempting to charge on his own but he wasn't going to leave is partner. He said, "Anything I should know about your technique?"

Once within the confines of the medical facility's archives, Lenatha read this:

NAME: Andorra Evenstar
GENDER: Female
RACE/SPECIES: Avalonian
AGE: 21
DIAGNOSIS: Psychosis accompanied by hallucinations and delusions
PRIMARY COUNSELOR/PSYCHIATRIST: Counselor Ewan Didac

CASE HISTORY: Ms. Evenstar was brought comatose to the Kenobi Medical Facility by her escorts and relatives. She lay in such a state for two months under the supervised care of Doctor Lenatha Pradhes, a highly-respected employee of this facility. Once she awoke, the patient described having been "possessed" by a mythical entity she calls "Lord Virul"; this is obviously a delusion on her part, being unwilling to take full responsibility for her own actions as the flesh-and-blood Dark Lady of the Sith. This "Lord Virul" is a perfect scapegoat, if an imaginary one. The patient's projection of her misdeeds onto "him" is not surprising. However, that does not mean it is not disturbing. Ms. Evenstar must be willing to relinquish "Lord Virul" as the cause of her past suffering and present illness. If she does not, she will not recover. Children immerse themselves in fantasies in order to escape the world; but in time, the patient will discover that reality must be faced. Logdate X-X.

"Primarily defensive, good against blasters and multiple opponents. In melee combat, the trick is to trap opponents in their own attacks, as well as tiring them out, which doesn't help much against droids." Kalla explained, deflecting another blaster bolt, this time managing to take out the remote. "I suggest you deal with the lightsaber droid, if it's just one, and I work the remotes."

As Lenatha finished reading the report she scoffed.

"The nerve", she said mostly to herself. "Blasted psychiatrists".

She put the file away and was ambushed by Doctor Naville again.

"Digging the old archives I presume", Doctor Naville said with a smile, but Lenatha knew it was just a cover. No psychiatrist was that nice, at least none she knew.

"Yeah just reading on the patients", Lenatha said but Naville peeked over her data pad and noticed whose was the file.

"Ah yes, Miss Evenstar. Quite a lost case that one, delusional, poor girl, so young and all", Doctor Naville said and this completely pissed Lenatha off.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, what happened to Andorra was real, all her companions confirm it. You want to go ahead and do some outrageous allegation that it's a collective delusion then go ahead, but how you people can call yourselves Doctors is beyond me. All you do is pretend to listen, pretend to care while passing judgment on others. Who the hell do you think you are to decide who's sane and who's not?", Lenatha said as the Doctor listened to her very intently with a serious face. Lenatha simply sighed and looked away. "I don't know why I even bother".

Lenatha just walked away, Doctor Naville simply grinned to himself and stayed. She then made her way back to the entrance hall. She was clearly upset but tried to hide it as best as she could. Being a doctor after all, she had to be able to suppress her emotions while on the job and she was fairly good at it. She arrived where Andorra and the others were but she couldn't bring herself to say what was on the file. She didn't know how Andorra would take it but she was obligated to tell her. She simply limited herself to say, "I have your file here".

Kerlos turned to Iyav and Komad.

"You know, some of the ship might not have heard our transmission, since it seems power has been lost in most, if not all of the ship. I know it's going to be dangerous, but I say one or two of us goes ahead to search for survivors, and another one of us can stay here to keep in contact with anyone who responds."

Kerlos knew that what he was proposing didn't sound like an attractive idea, but he felt that it was the only way to make progress. "Besides, we might learn what's causing this bio-weapon thing along the way."

Andorra, while perusing the datapad that Lenatha handed to her, looked as if she were on the verge of crying. However, being the adopted daughter of the governor of Avalon, she was also trying to be "dignified" and not let raw emotions get the better of her. Delusion? Projection? Excuse?! She could not have been more insulted had Counselor Didac and the other doctors slapped her in the face. This indignity was worse, because it would take far longer for the scars to heal in this circumstance. Not only did the professionals at the medical facility consider her a "lost cause", but they also believed her recent troubles to be caused by none other than a figment of her own unstable imagination! She wanted to crush the delicate piece of electronic equipment within her fist right then, but she held herself back.

"Here," she said tersely, practically shoving the datapad into Reyvan's hand. "Here's what the good doctors have to say, if it's of any use..."

Lenatha could tell by how Andorra was acting, that she was upset by what was stated in the datapad. She was deciding whether or not to attempt to cheer her up, but she decided to do it anyway because if she was in the same position as Andorra, and she had been, she would want someone to be on her side.

"Andorra, it may not mean much but all Doctors make mistakes, I know I didn't experience first hand what happened but I believe every word you said about Virul. And all your friends know this to be a fact. So screw them, psychiatrists are the worse kind of people and lawyers maybe", Lenatha said and put a hand gently on her shoulder. "I guess the important thing is, we all believe you, we know it's true, whether we saw it or not".

Everytime Lenatha would speak the word psychiatrist her hatred for them carried on her voice.

"Good idea. However, if our encounters so far are any indication, most of the survivors are likely holed up in that cargo hold. On our way in, we scanned the ship, and found a rather large cluster of life signs in one of the cargo holds." Komad explained.

"On top of that, dear, we also need to download the ship's logs from the auxiliary control centre. I think we should split into three then: one goes looking for survivors, one downloads the logs, and one waits for a response from anyone else, and makes sure we can get out alive. I'll get the logs, you find survivors?" Iyav suggested.

"Sounds good." Komad replied, waiting for input from Kerlos.

"Sounds like a plan," Kerlos responded. "So, I guess that means I'll wait here and listen for any response, and that also means I'll have to have to make a clear path to the hangar." Kerlos thought for a minute, and then asked a question. "I know this next question is going to make me look like an idiot, but how do you suggest we keep a clear path to the hangar, besides barricading and jamming the doors in the hallways? I'm not aware of anything laying around that could hinder these things at the moment."

"You might be able to reactivate the autoturrets. You could also try to manipulate the blast doors." Iyav suggested. "If nothing else, you must have grenades or something on your ship."

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

Reyvan noticed the loathing emphasis in Lenatha's voice on the word 'psychiatrist'. "You've had a similar experience with them, haven't you?" He asked.

"What is your title?"

"I am Vec--Aaahh!...I am a bishop."

Hm....yes...What are you?"

"I am a 'Nex Sicarious', assassin of the 'Nex Orbis'."

"Yes. What is your purpose?"

"To bring 'Nex', through the 'Orbis'."

"Yes, bishop. Now for the hardest question of all. Who are you?"

The voice was dark, the voice brought pain, the voice caused fear to crawl up one's spine, for Vector, it did nothing at all. Tormented by physical fear, and emotional pain, mentally warped, his mind convulsed at giving the answer that they had, for so long, tortured, and tormented him, to receive. He had held on so long, resisted, and in the end, failed; he gave in, he replied:

"I am brother, I am a servant. I am a 'Nex Venator'."

"Yes! Very good, bishop. Your reintegration is complete, welcome back, bishop. Now for your task."

Vector stood, head cast down, body slouched, hands loose by his side, a slave in his own mind. His mind raced, his mind slowed, his thoughts processed, he felt recognition in the words, in the word: task. Task; fault, who's fault? The 'Venators'? Yes! No. An obligation, their purpose. To blame; yes, a fault; no. The Sith! No. Maybe. One of them, once, teachers of hate. Always to blame, not their fault. The Jedi! One word goes through his mind: 'Vengeance!' His fists clenched as he thought on that word, and those at fault; his ears were open to his task at hand.

"You must kill Komad Kaltas, and his allies, bishop."

His head lifted when he heard the name. The ones who'd forced him from his home, his usurpers, the Jedi. Was this how he'd get revenge?....If obedience to his key-holders brings him closer to his end, then why fight the means. Vector's body straightened, his whole demeanor, changed, his mind slowly returned to racing.

"Good."

"Yes, bishop. Good to see you agree. As our philosophy says: Order..."

"...Through entropy."

"Yes!"
******
Coruscant: Jedi Temple

Vector walked through the beautiful marbled halls of the Jedi Temple, unhindered, and unquestioned. He had his arms folded into the sleeves of brown robes, and his head covered in the shadows of a hood. Vector had taken a Jedi's robes, the former wearer of the robes now dead in a trash disposal unit. The robes had been wrapped in a manner that allowed his figure underneath to remain hidden, so as he walked he received no hassle from the unguarded Jedi, who'd grown complacent as they'd thought themselves safe in this refuge, deep within their territory. How sad they would be to find how easily Vector had infiltrated their ranks, the Knight who's robes he'd taken were a testament, as he'd had no problem luring the unwitting man to his quick end. How much easier could they fall if the 'Nex Venators' wanted to destroy them?

Vector moved purposefully towards the training room where his first target lay. Komad's heart, one of his line, his child, Kalla.

Recently Knighted, and barely coming out of her teenage years, and a heavy practitioner of the perfectly balanced Form Vl: Niman, she would be a target he felt would be perfect for setting Komad off balance for future conflict, and ultimate assassination. Vector knew these things, as any assassin should; he did his homework.

Vector paused as he reached the door to the room, feeling others within he stopped, measuring up what he felt. His racing mind processed what he'd studied on Komad, and his allies. Kalla could just be training with some other Jedi, but from what he felt from within he doubted it.

Vector entered, keeping his head low, he nodded as he entered, and moved off to the side. They were training blindfolded, one was Kalla, the silver-tongued young girl from months back, and the philosophical by-speaker, Tonatious. The third was another of those, Avalonians, and was, from his knowledge, Jun-la. All allies of Komad's, all people he had to kill. One against three, one of those three far more skilled than the two ((right now I'm assuming that, don't have time to study up)), a match he didn't see himself walking away from, at least without losing a limb. He needed to nullify Jun-la, put the woman out of the fight, before it even starts.

He'd use his abilities as a half-Umbaran to persuade, and influence her to leave. Even if he just got her out of the door, that would be enough, as he could close, and lock it, giving him time to kill Kalla, and her philosophical friend.

"Excuse me ma'am, you're needed outside. One of the Masters wishes to speak with you," he said to the Avalonian, his voice sounding no different than any other human's, actually sounding rather handsome. A trait he acquired when he became a 'Nex Sicarious'.

((Well, I finally posted Alkonium, but I didn't expect to have to attempt Kalla's assassination with two others around! But I don't mind, I compensated by trying my best to move one of those two out of the picture, without character control, so let's hope it works, so that Vector's assassination attempt may commence! :D ))

Tonatius listened. He could hear multiple droids and remotes. Looks like this is going to be a challenge. He said, "Multiple bogeys," and paused, "One sounds like it has a tick in its actuator." He adjusted his position to listen some more. The droids were programmed to attack like humanoids but they could attack at random and at strange angles.

Listening to the hums and swishes of the blades, he could make out a pattern but he had to test that theory. As he deflected a lightsaber blow, he concluded that the droids have a tendency to make a sweeping lope before striking but the number of droids differed. After a while he thought he detected the numerical sequence. He said, "Kalla I have a feeling that two droids will strike at once. I need you to cover my back."

**********

Tavaryn jumped down from his post to have a closer look. The target apparently was in the middle of a loading job but he didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Scanning every shadow, it was a mere five seconds before he spotted something stealthly moving towarsd the boy. Tavaryn reached for his comm, "Alriana, I need you to contact the nearest Republic retrieval. Better yet call Komad. Then join me at the docks. Things are going to get dicey soon."

Peering through the rain, he knew it would take time to get all the way down but he'll have to move as fast as he could. Taking a breath, he lept off his post and began jumping down.

"Alriana, I need you to contact the nearest Republic retrieval. Better yet call Komad. Then join me at the docks. Things are going to get dicey soon."

Alriana nodded and then opened a commlink channel to Komad's comm. It should reach him even though the last she had heard he had been invistigating the disappearence of a ship in the outer rim.

She began recording a message on his commlink so that he could check the message when he had time.

"Komad...this is Alriana on Nar Shadda. I don't mean to bother you but according to Tavaryn the situation here is going to get dicey."

Alriana then terminated the comm and then turned and then began running toward the docks, using the force to increase her running speed.




"This is Jedi Master Komad Kaltas. Any surviving crewmembers of the Star Destroyer Cygnus please respond."

Atora looked up at one of the speakers before turning back to Kurt. His helmeted head gave away no expression. His HUD began flashing as it pinpointed three more possible friendlies around forty meters ahead.

"My HUD is picking up at least three more possible friendlies ahead. Unfortunatly there are several hostiles approaching our position from behind."