Enter Black Flag, Part 3

“Right, thank you Aurrelius. Nice work down there!”

Shimas clicked off his com link and turned to his pilot Gukal and the rest of his strike force. “Alright, this is it. Everyone get to the escape pod and brace for impact. Gukal, just try not to make it too deadening, alright?”

Gukal nodded and grinned mischievously, “Yeah, sure! Because I can totally crash into a stone castle with grace and tranquility!”

Shimas smiled and rolled his eyes before heading to the escape pod with the rest of the strike force. He sat down and strapped in, trying to meditate to calm his nerves before the inevitable chaos of the coming battle. Around him he saw his old padawan Zatah, saddened at the loss of Ber'viski, and eager to damage Malefestus; Uruzil, packed and loaded with enough ordinance to blow the entire planet; and Unala, desperately trying to contain her powerful emotions following the death of her master. It was a small crew, but deadly. Shimas only hoped it would be enough.

He could feel his stomach flip as Gukal guided the Fury class imperial light cruiser into a nose dive, directly towards the fortress miles below.

The smuggler locked in the controls and staggered the few meters to the escape pod, hastily sealing the door behind him.

“We have less that 15 seconds till impact. 12 seconds, 8 seconds, 4 seconds, here we go!”

Gukal slammed the launch button on the escape pod and the tiny capsule ejected from the doomed ship moments before it crashed into the base of Castle Dark. The pod then fell the remaining few meters and thudded into the soft earth behind the wreckage.

Shimas popped the hatch and motioned the small team to clamber out quickly.

“Come! We have a ways to go and little time to do it in. Zatah, you know this place better than do we. Guide us to the command center if you would.”

The pale Twi'lek nodded and raced towards the black smoking hole behind the crashed ship and into the darkness of hell...

***

It was supposed to be an easy plan. Cut a hole in the wall well away from patrols. Sneak inside using mind tricks on those few guards they did meet. Get to the command centre, shut everything down, and sit tight until relief came. But as she had already found out, when it came to Aurrelius' plans, nothing was ever that simple, ever.

First it started with her being assigned to a sith, a SITH of all things! The very thought made Snow cringe. But then they not only had to walk next to each other, but also work and fight together?! Oh yeah, the fighting... There wasn't supposed to be any of that either, but setting the base on high alert did have the effect of drawing out all the combatants, how ever tired they were.

“We're almost there. The command centre is just at the end of this hall way,” came the sith's whispered announcement.

“Then this is where the fun really begins,” came Snow's sarcastic reply as she unslung her vibro staff.

***

That Aurrelius was loosing his cool was quickly becoming apparent to Exxeter. As second in command, he knew that the whole mission revolved around hitting hard and fast, and loosing next to no one in the process. But now that was falling into the same hell that he was. He winced as one of the two soldiers detailed to carry/drag him stumbled and jostled him. Aurrelius had signaled a stop in front of a blast door that looked very trap like to Exxeter.

Assigning some men to stand on either side of the door with weapons drawn, the leader of the company activated the door controls and stepped inside. All that Exxeter could see from his position near the back was two human men wearing the uniform of Malefestus' commandos and holding bloody knives and compact pistols. Strangely, Aurrelius breathed a visible sigh of releaf, motioned the two men to report, and the rest of the column to resume the march.

By straining hard against the sound of boots and the eerie darkness that still enveloped the men, Exxeter could just make out bits of the report.

“Base... High alert”

“Half our number...”

“New plan...”

“Retreat...”

Exxeter looked around him. The men were tired and needed a victory, soon! But this wasn't the direction Aurrelius had originally intended to take. This wasn't the way to the inner sanctum, this was the way to the command center...

***

“This day was definitely not going as planned!” thought Aurrelius darkly. Plan A had served it's purpose, plan B had failed. Plan C was only a temporary fix, and plan D was still being formed in his mind.

The news Special Agents Stien and Westwind had brought him certainly wasn't good, but it did leave for some interesting possibilities. All units, (excepting the HK droids they had already scrapped) were being sent down to the lower levels to guard the prison block, the treasure stores, and the inner sanctum. Apparently the war song had done it's part in spreading terror after all...

Aurrelius hastily rounded the bend and could see the command centre at the end of the hall way. He opened the door to see only Ryiena behind the controls.

“Fire Eyes, glad to see you succeeded. What happened to Snow?”

He felt a tapping on his shoulder to see the small form of the white haired girl smiling behind him.

“Rear guard,” was all she said.

Aurrelius let out a nervous laugh, as did Exxeter.

“We both heard and felt Shimas' landing. Any word of where he is now?”

Another blast door hissed and in walked a white Twi'lek followed by four others, including Shimas himself.

“Impeccable timing. Maybe the force is still with us after all,” commented Aurrelius.

“To be sure Aurrelius, the force is with this mission, I can feel it,” Replied the big, bearded man. “But it seems you have lost a good many men. Are we still to proceed with the rescue?”

“Not as I first explained it to you. We've lost too many good men. It would be suicide for the rest of us. But I've been thinking, how long can your lightsabers extend?”

“About a meter and a half, why?”

Aurrelius grinned. Plan D was ready to implement...

***

“My Lord, we have just confirmed. Shimas has breached the castle. He and his team have now converged with Aurrelius' forces in the command center. All remaining troops have been devoted to guarding the prison block, the treasure trove, and the inner sanctum as ordered, sir!”

Malefestus frowned. Seemingly all his enemies converging on one point, and in his own house. This was to good an opportunity to miss. He cracked his knuckles and stood up. “Ready my armor and Lifebleeder. It's time to give our guests a proper welcome.”