Blaster shots and explosions rang out from below. This was a war zone, one of the first Abadeer had every been in. He sat in the hanger of his transport vehicle, eyes closed. He was trying to focus on the task at hand. He’d recently come to Florrum, the site of Plagueis’ assault on the Light side guild of Odan Urr.
A pinging sound went off interrupting Taasii’s concentration. He quickly opened them, and jumped up to answer the expected hollow message. The disk activated, as the young Acolyte knelt before the holoprojection of his master.
“Tazzzii, you’ve been sent here for a mizzzion of great import,” the hologram of Kz’set di Plagia sounded throughout the hanger where the Sith was all alone, “I expect great thingzzz from you. Do not dizzzappoint me. You’re mizzzion izzz thizzz: zzzome of our own Plaguein zzzoldiers are pinned down, by a particularly zzzkilled sharpshooter. The area izzz a zzztrategic zzztrong point for uzzz. He hazzz hidden himzzzelf well. You muzzzt locate him, and eliminate him.”
The Acolyte stood and bowed to his Verpine Master. There were no questions, no clarifications. This wasn’t how the Battlelord operated. He was clear, concise and expected perfection in everything he asked.
“Of course my lord. It shall be done.” bowing to the hologram, Abadeer flipped off the projector with a quick hand wave. Taasii sat back down, and once again prepared himself for meditation. He was young, but in an feud of this scale all members were expected to participate. Losing to the Odan Urr was not an option. The Togruta focused all his emotion towards this new mission. He would not fail. He was trying to prove himself. He was trying to move up and gain new power. Only recently he’d failed in grabbing the position of Battle Team Leader by another Acolyte by the name of Malice. She was the apprentice of one of his Master’s rivals, Selika Roh.
The shuttle flew for another hour or so, before the pilot let Taasii know that they were arriving to the drop site. Apparently this shooter was skilled enough to shoot down aircraft, and no pilots were confident enough to get that close. The Togruta would have to make a jump from the ship at a colossal height, and then he would still have a few mile run to where his soldiers were stationed. He would be able to draw upon the Force to allow him to make the landing without any equipment, but going through the thin atmosphere he would need a oxygen mask.
The intercom for the ship sounded right before the pilot’s voice came on. “Doors are opening, you’re jumping now!” As he said this, the blast doors slid up into the ceiling and floor allowing for the Togruta’s exit. He fastened his mask quickly, and ran to the aft of the ship. He gathered his nerves, and launched himself out the door. Immediately he was squinting as he sulfurous atmosphere oppressed his senses. The air rushing past him as he fell towards the planet didn’t do anything to help. It was night on this side of the planet aiding in his stealth drop. He fell quickly, doing his best to keep his focus on the fall. He needed to time his landing perfectly. As he drew closer and closer to the planet, he reached out to the Force and willed his fall to slow right before he hit the ground, while also strengthening his own body for the impact. He tucked into a half roll to land on his feet. The impact was hard, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
He removed the oxygen mask, and dropped it to the ground. He wouldn’t be needing it anymore. He looked around, reaching out with his senses to make sure he was alone. There was the occasional small life form, but nothing to be worried about. After checking his surroundings he collected his bearings, the battlefield was to the north of his position. The shuttle had flow from east to west, with the drop zone as close as the pilots were willing to go. Abadeer knew the lay of the land, studying holocrons of the area. He had prepared for this, and now it was time to move. There was a rocky plateau in the distance, marking his destination.
Reaching out to the Force, Abadeer reinforced his legs and lungs with excess strength. He began to run in the direction of the battlefield. It took about an hour to see Plagueis base of operation in the area. Running to the camp, Taasii felt a dark crawl along his neck, and he dived forward into a long leap. A whizzing over his head, and seconds later the crack of a powerful rifle. He had to keep running. He’d miscalculated, his enemy must have some thermal sensors to be able to see him under such cover of darkness. The Acolyte reached out with the Force to keep himself safe from anymore shots. There were two more attempts on his life before he arrived at the bunker. Sprinting, Taasii reached out with the Force and pulled the sliding door open to allow his shelter. He dived inside, slamming the door behind him. As he looked up, panting, there were three soldiers standing ready, blasters pointed at his head.
“I am Abadeer Taasii… Acolyte of Clan Plagueis,” the Togruta said through gasps of air, “Lower your weapons immediately if you’d like to live a moment longer!” He stood, giving the two men and single female the darkest scowl he could. “I’m in charge of this facility now. Take me to the commanding officer.” The soldiers looked at each other nervously, lowering their weapons.
“Well sir, you see.. the Captain.. well he died..” one of the male soldiers muttered off. “Technically we’ve got no leadership now..” They all shifted nervously about.
“Then it is fortunate for you that I’ve arrived. I need a full rundown. Any information you have on the situation. A list of our assets and any information we might have on the enemies.” Taasii said. *I need to take charge of this situation quickly, these men are terrified* he thought to himself. The soldiers went back to a room that looked like it was used for briefings and meetings. Abadeer followed quickly behind. Three more soldiers entered from the opposite, all male, and all terrified sensed the Sith. The female from the first group walked over to the holotable and activated it, bringing up a map of the area.
“This is what we know so far. The enemy is incredibly difficult to track or find. We’ve located a few positions where we think he might be. The only problem is that the kills have come from all of these locations, and sometimes at impossibly close times.” the woman marked the map on a few locations with her finger as she spoke.
“What exactly do you mean?” Taasii asked.
“Well.. the first day this situation arose, we had two patrols out here in the valley,” she pointed too two locations on the map, “and both were killed within moments of each other. Five men dead in mere moments. The only problem is that after analyzing the direction of the shots we’ve found they come from three directions.” She marked two large areas on the plateau and one area in the lower end of the valley. “We haven’t been able to scout the areas to see where he might be. We’re running low on food and we can’t even walk out the front door. He seems to have eyes everywhere.”
The soldiers all had looks of concern and worry. Looking at each face, Taasii started to formulate a plan. He’d never had to deal with a situation like this, but he felt up to the challenge.
“So we have six soldiers, a sharpshooter team pinning us down and very little information. We have a bunker that they’ve not been able to penetrate yet. What weapons do we have access to?” Abadeer said looking to the soldiers.
“Sir,” one of the males behind him saluted, “We have several blaster rifles, thermal detonators and one rocket launcher, Sir!” The man was very formal, and the Togruta enjoyed the respect.
“Good.. good. I can work with this. Leave me now, allow me time to think and when I’m ready I’ll call upon your services again.” He motioned for them all to leave. The soldiers all filed out quickly and silently.
The Acolyte poured over the holotable map for over an hour studying the lay of the land and where the points were marked. *Whoever had set up these soldiers put a lot of thought on where.* The entire valley was covered from the vantage points. Taasii began to formulate a plan. The soldiers would only slow him down. This is something he’d do on his own. The first target to hit would be the one in the valley.
“I’ll want to leave while I have some cover of night..” Taasii muttered to himself. He strolled into the break room where the soldiers had gone to wait for him. “You will all stay here. There’s nothing any of you could do to help me. I’ll be back before sunrise. Don’t do anything until then.” He spoke quickly and left. He’d started to pick up some habits from Kz’set.
The Sith moved to the door of the bunker. He’d have to be quick and aware. With multiple shooters he’d be sighted almost instantly. Abadeer closed his eyes, preparing for the task at hand, drawing on the Force for strength.
He opened the door and before it could even get half way open, he was sprinting out into the night. The Togruta didn’t want to give his adversaries even a moment. He dashed out with unrivaled speed down the valley. He felt the prickle of danger as shots began to fly around him. They didn’t come in quick succession, but at a slower steady rate. Abadeer reasoned that these must be higher power ballistic rifles with lower firing speed. As he drew closer to where the first shooter should be, Taasii sensed something was off: he couldn’t feel any major life signs where the shots were coming from.
The Acolyte dodged and weaved through the fire and sprang over a little rocky outcropping where the shots were coming from. Midair a crimson blade of plasma came to life in the Togruta’s hands. He landed behind the shooter and swung around with his blade. As his eyes followed the lightsaber connected with something he wasn’t expecting. It was a turret, designed to be remotely controlled from great distances. It had tried to follow him as he jumped over it, but it was only set up to track inside the valley.
The slice cut the back of the barrel of the turret, and Taasii brought his lightsaber over his head for a two handed downward chop. This cut toppled the turret, totally disabled. The Togruta had a great distaste for guns to begin with, but now seeing this turret that wasn’t even manned by a shooter began a burning hatred inside of him. The controller of these guns would pay.
Abadeer wasted no time going towards his next target. The Acolyte predicted correctly, the turrets had limited fields of view to shoot in, and as he neared the back of the plateau he was out of this range. Taasii was strong and dextrous. He gathered himself and jumped as high as he could with the assistance of the Force. Taasii found purchase in the rocky face allowing himself to free climb the remaining distance. It was a long way up, taking about half an hour. Reaching the top, Abadeer stopped for a few minutes letting his straining muscles relax. He’d expended a lot of energy already, and he suspected that the shooter would be here in the plateau somewhere. His fight would begin in earnest then. After feeling some strength come back to him, Taasii made his way through the rocky plateau, weaving his way through boulders and outcroppings.
Taasii soon came to where he thought he’d sensed the second set of shots coming from. The shooter wasn’t here, but only another turret. Angered, Taasii reached out forcefully pushing the turret off the plateau, with a gesture of his hand. *The third turret will hold my opponent.* Taasii continued to run, keeping his senses open trying to find the final turret. Finally the Togruta came to a point that his echolocation sensed the last turret. Just as predicted, the shooter was here. Taasii took his time, as though hunting on back on Shili. He maneuvered around the shooter, who seemed to be frantically working on the gun.
The shooter was a Weequay, gnarled skin, and single braid of black hair coming down from his head. He wore dark brown leather clothes and armor. He looked to be a pirate, probably from one of the local gangs around the planet trying to make a quick buck from the conflict on Florrum. Taasii was silent as he emerged from behind the outcropping.
“Quite the set up you have here,” Taasii said, startling the pirate, “Too bad your time is over.” He again reached out with the Force to launch this turret off the plateau from it’s precarious position close to the edge.
“You Jedi think you’re so powerful with your magics! Nothing like a good blaster by your side!” The Weequay yelled as he pulled out a blaster from a holster on his chest. His other hand went for a sword at his hip. Abadeer pulled his lightsaber out even more quickly igniting the blade. Taasii’s skills weren’t quite proficient enough to deflect an incoming volley of fire, so he rushed the pirate to not give him a chance.
The Weequay got two shots off before Taasii reached him, the first going wide and the second right into the Acolyte’s shoulder. Abadeer grunted through the pain. A blaster bolt would stop him from his target. Rage had slipped into his conscious, flooding his entire being. An upward swing cut the blaster from the pirate’s hand. The pirate brought his sword in front of him to try to fend off the next strike, but it wasn’t designed to be able to take an attack from a lightsaber. As Taasii brought down his blade hard he cut through metal, armor, flesh and bone. None could withstand the burning plasma of even an armory saber. The cut wasn’t as deep as he’d hoped, but the Weequay fell to the ground. The fight was out of him now.
The man on the ground spit up blood, coughing violently. “Good Jedi, but did you sense this coming?” the pirate laughed holding what looked like a detonator. “At least you’ll be going to other side with me!” The Weequay pushed down on the button and suddenly everything around the Togruta started to shake. Explosions were going off all around the Acolyte, mostly from the base of the plateau far below. Taasii had no chance to get away before the entire area started to fall out from beneath him.
Abadeer fell, doing his best to stay alive. He reached out to the Force doing his best to deflect falling rocks. He was hit many times, and fell hard to ground, only slowing the impact minimally. After the rockslide settled, Abadeer moved the rubble that had fell on him. He stood bruised, and several ribs broken. Taasii stood shakily to his feet. “Damn I hate pirates.”