Homecoming
Battlelord Ric Hunter (Sith) / House Acclivis Draco of Clan Scholae Palatinae [SA: VI] [GMRG: IV] [SYN: V] [ACC: Q] [INQ: VII]
3160

Sitting alone in the dark, Ric Hunter gazed out of the small window in his cabin, his mind was lost to memories. Ric had been in seclusion for almost eighteen months while he tried to rid himself of the destructive programming that the Sith cult had left in his mind. The torment was sometimes almost too much for him to bear as he recalled the things he had done.
The fall of Imperium had been a brutal event that he had not only planned, but had carried out. His clan had understood what had happened to him but he could feel the lack of trust towards him now. They had made the choice to spare him and try to bring him back to who he once was, something he never thought he could do. Yet here he sat on his ship on the way back towards home.
Ric reached over and turned on the holonet to try and catch up on the news. He fast forwarded through the slow months until he was a bit shocked by the news of a vendetta on Dandoran. Last he had heard, years ago as a matter of fact, that it had been a minor Imperial outpost during the days of Empire. Ric had never even been near the place in his sixty-plus years and wasn’t sure where it was even located.
As he looked around for information about the events leading to and during the Rite, he really couldn’t find many details. With a shrug of his shoulders, he figured that it hadn’t been that big of a deal. He scrolled on.
As he surfed through some personal messages, the small glass of whiskey he had been sipping slid from his hands and shattered on the deck. He had finally been made a Palpatine. It was a total shock and an honor to be sure, but he had given up on it years ago.
“You ok?” said a voice. Ric looked up at the hatchway as Malodin poked his head inside.
“Yeah, just something totally unexpected happened. I guess I’m going to need my good robes when we get home,” Ric chuckled at the confused expression on his friend's face. “And yes, we are headed home. Looks like we are going back to House Acclivis Draco of all places. Might want to call ahead and find out where it is…” So many things have changed in the time he had been away.

ISN Palpatine - Hanger Bay

Ric began to feel dread since Flight Control had issued the clearance to land. He mentally prepared himself just in case he had to fight for his life. He had done some terrible things the last time he had been home, although they were not his fault. He still had done them.
As the Holdout touched down, he rose from the co-pilots seat and headed for the landing ramp. Ric slapped the controls and with a hiss of escaping air, the ramp began to lower.
Ric walked down the ramp alone, Malodin was finishing up the shut down of the ship and would follow later. Besides, Ric didn’t want him to get caught in the crossfire if things went badly.
Lined up at the bottom of the ramp, there was a platoon of Imperial Guardsmen dressed in their red armor. Ric had not seen so many of them together in a long time and marvelled at the sight. They split into facing ranks without a word and parted for the Empress.
Ric knelt down. This would be the moment he would live or die.
“Rise, you have nothing more than normal to fear from here. We are glad you are home,” Shadow said.
“My Empress, it is so good to see you. Its been a while,” Ric rose.
“We have much to do, I hope you are ready,” Shadow turned and bade Ric to follow.
“It is good to be home,” Ric said as they left the hanger.

High Value Targets
Lieutenant Colonel Malodin'Tater (Loyalist) / AED / House Empire's Chosen of Clan Scholae Palatinae
Pin #3160

Sitting alone in a back corner booth, with eyes constantly watching, a man sat shrouded in darkness. To most of the patrons in the bar, the man was not someone that most would notice. He had practiced for years to be invisible even in the brightness of pure daylight and now he needed this skill more than ever. After recent events, he really couldn’t go to his normal haunts and hangouts.
Ric Hunter, former Sith Battlelord and current fugitive from Imperial justice, was waiting for his contact. The woman he was meeting, a former fellow Imperial Intelligence officer, was supposed to meet him shortly with a new identification, one that he could use to disappear into the unknown regions. As he waited, his head began to throb and his concentration slipped a bit. The slip wasn’t much but it was enough for people to begin to notice him. He rose to his feet and made his way to the exit knowing that even as small of a slip that it was he had been tagged.
Ric entered the small hanger he had rented and keyed the airlock to his ship. The small unregistered shuttle had been a gift from the Supreme Director of Imperial Intelligence for his years of service as the SDIRs escort squadron commander. The best part about it was that the ship was completely untraceable and had been loaded with the best stealth equipment available. He never knew that he would need it, even for a small getaway or vacation. Now he was glad that he had kept it off the books and hidden from nearly everyone.
Ric activated the defense system to the shuttle and started his pre-flight checks. He flipped the switch to warm up the engines and felt a familiar presence in his mind. Ric hung his head and let out a sigh as the door to the cockpit slid open, and an armored figure entered with his weapon drawn.
“So what now, my friend?” Ric said with a defeated tone to his voice. They had sent the only man that they knew Ric wouldn’t automatically kill on sight. “Disintegration?”
“Not hardly,” the man replied, his voice distorted by the Armored helmet that he wore. “I have a chance for redemption for you, slim but you have beaten worse odds before.” The man reached up and activated the releases on his sealed helmet. With a slight tilt of his head, he slid it off to reveal his dark blue hair.
“The Empress sent me to find you. She knows that you were not in your right mind and has asked me to give you this,” Malodin’Tater smiled at his friend. He had known Ric for almost thirty years and had never suspected that he was a plant for the Insidious. To be brutally honest, Ric had never suspected it either.
“What do I have to do?”
“What you do best, it’s time to go to war,” Malodin’Tater smiled with a twinkle in his red eyes.

Nesolat Station -

Ric sat cross legged on the floor nearby the starboard side airlock. He had tried to meditate knowing that this battle would be very brutal. He cleared his mind and focussed on his objective, which was to push the Collective out of the station at any cost.
Malodin sat nearby, checking all of his weapons and watching Ric. Once the control chip had been found in Rics brain, they had tried to remove it but had not been able to. After some of the clones had been able to remove theirs at the end of the Clone War, the chips had been changed to be more integrated.
“Mal, do me a favor. If I fall, find my machine and see if you can stop it from implanting a control chip in my next body, provided there is a next body that is.”
“I’ll do what I can. It would be helpful if I knew where it was,” Ric had placed his cloning machine on a small ship that randomly jumped around to avoid being found. It was as secure a system to keep others from tampering with it as there could be but it did create problems of their own.
“That’s all that I ask my friend,” Ric grasped the lightsaber that Kell Dante had given him. He could feel that the enemy was fast approaching and wouldn’t be long in coming. The proximity alarms began to go off as the Collective ships began to attach themselves to the station. Ric got to his feet just as the first ship breached the airlock. With a snaphiss, he ignited his lightsaber and dropped into a fighting stance.
Ric didn’t have long to wait. Smoke filled the passageway as the nearest ship breached. Ric shifted his stance as four shapes emerged from the dense haze. He only took a quick moment to size up his opponents. Ric noticed that ech one was almost exactly the same as the others, it was like they had been made in a lab, sort of as he had technically had been
The foursome came towards him as a fast pace and began firing. Ric let himself fal into the force and directed the blaster fire away from him. Some bolts returned to the nearest enemy but if it did any damage, Ric wasn’t aware of it. The pale thing just absorbed the fire and kept coming.
Ric advanced to try and get within striking distance of the enemy. As he advanced the enemy increased their rate of fire and forced Ric to drop back. As he fell back, he used the Force to drop the blast door down to block the passage. He reached for his com to let Malodin and the rest know about these new fighters that the Collective had deployed.
Ric pushed the button on his comlink as he raised it to speak, the blast door flew upwards. Two of the enemy were lifting the great door while the other two advanced through it firing at Ric. He activated his saber and deflected the bolts that came towards him, or at least most of them. Ric twisted to his left as a bolt slammed into his chest plate. He rolled with the momentum of the impact and came back to his feet a few meters away. As he rose, he was hit twice more with one burning into his arm.
The impact tore the lightsaber from Rics hand and sent it across the compartment. He reached out for it but before he could summon it back to his hand, he was hit again and went down to his knee. He raised his eyes and watched as the four enemy soldiers once more advanced on him. With each hit, he could feel anger rising in him, an anger that fueled him. He rose to his feet and summoned a great burst of Force Lightning. Ric had very seldomly used this power as even with the years of training, he knew that he would not be able to hold the state he needed to be in. Plus he would also burn.
The lightning hit the first trooper squarely in the chest and with a shower of sparks, it dropped to the ground. As it did, the others closed around it and formed a circle. From what Ric could see, they were trying to repair their fallen comrade. Ric drew on every last bit of anger that he possessed and flung another round of lightning at the small group The electric current hit the first one and traveled along the connected wires to the rest. Ric had not realized that they had connected to the fallen one much as a droid would. With the connection, they were vulnerable. He knew that he had to get this information back to the Empress. It might be something that they could use.
As the lightning left his fingers, Ric could feel his strength beginning to fail. As the drones fell in a heap, Ric felt darkness coming for him as he fell to the ground. The very last thing that he saw before he faded into blackness was Malodin rushing into the corridor followed by a platoon of Scholae soldiers.

Fallout: An Empire Changing
Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / QUA / House Imperium of Clan Scholae Palatinae
Pin 3160

XS Stock Light Freighter “Holdout” - Outer Rim

Malodin’Blade, Chiss loyalist and partner of Battlelord Ric Hunter, sat behind the controls of the old freighter and kept her on a return course to Seraph. The war had ended but the two members of Scholae Palatinae had missed most of it. They had urgent business to attend to and it had kept them away during most of the fighting. Mal knew that some things had happened but the details were a bit unclear. Ric had been in his cabin on the holonet almost the entire trip back from Dantooine. He knew that major things had happened and knew that Ric would fill him in once he finished.
The cockpit door opened and Ric stepped through. He took his seat and let out a loud sigh. He looked tired.
“So what news from home, Boss?” Mal asked.
“I don’t even know where to begin. Things have changed. I’m not sure of all the details but once I get there, we’ll know much more. I tried to reach Kiera and she was busy on an assignment. Which means that Shadow has asked her to do something. I couldn’t reach Shadow directly. All the calls I have made to the Quaestors office have bounced back. I even tried to check the backlog of Aedile messages with no luck. It seems the war left the clan in a weird way,” Ric leaned back and rubbed his eyes.
Mal had seen him like this before. It had been when he started the hunt for Alex Malone, the rogue Jedi with a large bounty on his head. Mal had worried then that it was going to become an obsession and after recent events, it just might have. Mal knew that they had left at the start of the war because of a tip they had received about Malone and Rics stubbornness had led him to follow it. This time it had almost paid off, they had closed on Malone but once more he had slipped through their fingers.

A Few hours Later - Seraph

The freighter touched down at Imperiums small landing pad. Ric dropped the hatch and made his way to the building as Malodin finished securing the ship and getting it refueled and ready to go again if needed. With the recent upheavals in the Clan, Ric wasn’t sure what kind of situation he was walking into. He took the turbolift to his office and let himself inside. The first thing he saw was the light on his com unit was flashing so he sat and began to read.
The first thing he saw was a death warrant for Empress Elincia Rei. It seemed that during the War she had betrayed Scholae and become a target for Imperial retribution. Part of Ric was surprised but another part of him really wasn’t. The Empress had always had a very good way of making sure that she preserved herself and if the opportunity arose, he could see her turning traitor if it was in her best interest. He knew there had to be more to the story though and he would find out later what it was.
The next message was for him to report to the ISN Retribution as soon as he returned. This message was sent from Shadow and was marked urgent. His Quaestor was on the Retribution? Now that was a strange development. Maybe she was helping the new Emperor settle in to his or her job. He would find out soon enough.
Ric brought up the shuttle schedule and logged a flight to take him to the Scholae Palatinae flagship. He hoped to finally find out everything that had gone on in his absence. Ric sent a short message to Mal and warned him if he didn’t return that he was to get Keira and Major Harkness and flee the system. He had seen purges before when a new ruler came to power in the clan and didn’t want to be caught in one if he could avoid it.
Ric changed out of his armor and settled took a quick shower. He dressed in his robes and attached his dual lightsabers to his belt. Once he was ready, he left for the hanger and whatever waited for him.

ISN Retribution - Seraph Orbit

The shuttle landed on the hanger deck without incident. Ric could feel something in the air, some sort of current that he couldn’t quite pin down. It was a cross between excitement and fear. It was mildly unsettling to be totally honest.
He checked in with the deck officer to log his arrival and was told to report to the Emperors shipboard throne room. Ric made his way to the turbolifts and within a few moments entered the Royal Deck area of the ship. As he approached the throne room, the two Royal Guards blocked his path.
“I was summoned,” Ric said, handing over his identification. They scanned him with the palm mounted sensors and without a word stepped aside to let him pass. The doors to the throne room swished open and Ric entered quietly. He approached the throne and knelt before it. It the shadows, the figure sitting on the throne motioned him forward. Ric stood and approached the darkened throne.
Ric couldn’t conceal the shock on his face as he recognized Shadow Nighthunter. His Quaestor had become Empress.
“My Empress, what shall you have of me?” Ric said as he bowed his head.
“What I have always needed of you. Service and loyalty,” Shadow replied.
“As always, whatever is needed,” Ric felt a bit more at ease now.
“I do have a job for you. I need to to take the Quaestor position in Imperium. Now more than ever, especially after the recent events in the war, we need to be aware of all threats, both from within and without,” Shadow continued. “We need to rebuild Imperial Intelligence and to watch all.”
Ric had spent years with the Intelligence Division while he had served the remnant. He was sure he could fulfil this task.
“Anything for the Empire, my Empress,” Ric replied. He seemed to have a lot of work cut out for him but at least he was secure and not in danger of being purged.
“Now go and begin your work,” Shadow dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Ric bowed and turned to leave. “I know you’ve got this,” She said as he neared the door.
“I won’t fail you,” Ric said as he exited the chamber.

Ric looked over the after action reports from the war and was shocked to see some of the things that had happened. He wished he had been here for it but knew that there was really nothing that he could have done to prevent most of the damage that had been done. All he could do was to move forward and build his network up.
“Let's do this,” Ric said aloud to his empty office.

Imperium: Unleashed

Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / AED / House Imperium of Clan Scholae Palatinae
DBpin # 3160

Caelestis City – Imperial Palace

Battlelord Ric Hunter, Aedile and acting Quaestor of House Imperium, stood at the railing overlooking the formed troopers below. As acting commander of Imperium, he was given an operations order to begin the final assault against the Meraxis forces. He knew what his mission involved, it wasn't his first time to be thrown into the breach.
His mind flashed back to the days before the Exodus, to the days of Empire. In his minds eye, he could see the combined might of full battlegroups of ships as well as legions of troopers decked out in full armor, waiting for battle. With a wistful smile, he shook those thoughts from his mind to focus on the task at hand.
Placing his hands on his hips, he turned to look at his longtime friend and confidant, Malodin'Blade. The Chiss merely smiled and waited. Ric turned back towards the gathered troops below.
“This is it. The day has finally arrived where we are going to finally finish what was started with the Meraxis Empire. As of last night, we received messages from members of the Meraxis military who want to overthrow their Emperor. This information has been verified and we have been given orders to link up with the separatist members and do what we do. Check your datapads for detailed orders and get ready to move out. Serve the Empire above all others!” Ric watched over the assembled crowd of force users and soldiers as they raised their arms and shouted in response.

5 kilometers from Nardash – Lead LAAT/i Transport

Ric could feel the air rushing through the open troop door as they traveled towards the capital of Meraxis. He was outfitted in his Katarn commando armor but had decided to not wear the helmet in favor of a headset.
“THIRTY SECONDS!” Ric shouted above the wind. The troopers nodded as they made their final preparations. The transports began to move towards their designated areas and descended to drop their assault teams off.
As soon as the transport touched down, Ric dropped to a crouch with a E-11 rifle clutched in his hands. He scanned the perimeter as the rest of the troops took their positions. Once they were all there, Ric headed towards the designated rendezvous point to meet up the separatist leaders.
As he rounded the corner, he saw a woman wearing a dark uniform wave at him from the darkened doorway of an abandoned shop. He signaled his troopers to cover him and crossed over the street with Malodin right behind him. Ric crouched by the woman and was a bit surprised to see that she was a Zeltron. Zeltrons were not rare by any means but she seemed to be out of place on this world.
“The Colonel is inside and waiting for you, sir,” she said in a whisper. Ric knew from her accent that she had at least grown up on this planet, she shared the local inflections as the rest of them.
“Lead the way,” Ric replied and followed her in. Malodin waited and had the other soldiers to take up defensive positions around the area and then followed Ric inside. As they entered, Ric peered around the room and noticed a man leaning over a table studying a map.
“Ahh, you must be the one we have been waiting for. I am Colonel Jace Calson, formerly of the Royal Meraxis Army,” The man held out his hand and Ric took it.
“Colonel, I am Ric Hunter and this is my second, Malodin'Blade. Its very good to meet you sir,” Ric reached into a puch on his armor and pulled out a datapad. “So what's the situation here?”
“Loyalist forces are set up around the palace here, here, and here,” he pointed out the positions on the map. “The shield generator is lightly guarded by about a platoon of soldiers. It should be relatively easy the destroy.”
“Great, that needs to be our first objective then. Once the shield is down, then other elements will arrive. Malodin, get the men ready to roll. Anytime you are ready to go, Colonel,” Ric took the helmet for his armor from his pack and slipped it on his head. With a click it locked into place and the visors tactical display lit up.
The group left the building and made their way towards the objective. Ric began to feel uneasy as they moved down the darkened streets. He could feel something was in the air and something wasn't right. It seemed that the local population had just disappeared. Checking the display screen on his HUD, Ric saw that they were one block over from the target.
Ric caught movement in his display from a second floor window. Suddenly blaster fire filled the air and rained down on them. Ric dropped behind the cover a a halfway that separated the sidewalk from the street and began to return fire. Ric watched as Colonel Calson and three of his men were caught in the open and were cut down by a barrage of blaster fire.
“NOOOO!” Major Harkness screamed and tried to run into the street to her commander. Ric grabbed her by the flak vest and threw her to the ground.
“They are GONE! You can't help them!” Ric yelled as he pinned her to the ground. Ric looked at Malodin across the way and used hand signals to send men up into the buildings. Malodin nodded and took three men and moved out. Harkness finally stopped struggling and had calmed down. Ric looked down at her and could see tears welled up in her eyes. He knew how she felt but there was no time to grieve at that moment.
Blaster fire stopped coming from the windows on the second floor. Finally, after a few moments it stopped completely.
“Objective secure,” the comm unit in Rics helmet crackled.
“Copy, regroup and prepare to move out,” Ric replied.
The men dropped down from the second floor and got back in formation and ready to move. Ric motioned forward and the troopers moved out. Ric walked next to Major Harkness to make sure her head was in the game.
“We good here?” he asked.
“Good to go sir,” she replied quickly.
“Good because I need your head in the game for whats next,” Ric saw that his troops were now in their position to attack the shield generators “Take your men and follow me. Better or worse, this fight ends tonight.”
“Copy that sir,” Major Harkness signaled her troops to follow and they moved to the check point. Ric fell in behind them as they approached the guards station. As they approached one of the guards called out.
“Who is there?” he yelled.
“Major Harkness, fourteenth regiment. We are here to reinforce you and take over. You may have heard the firefight a few streets over and we were ordered here by command,” she replied.
“Ma'am, we were not notified about this. I need to check with headquarters to verify these orders<” the guard reached for the com switch. Major Harkness abruptly brought up here blaster and sprayed the man as her troops followed her lead. The sergeant that had been reaching for the com unit fell back into the man behind him, knocking him to the ground. Ric leapt forward and ignited his lightsaber to deflect a few blaster bolts that were headed towards the Major.
The fight at the guard station was very short and very violent. It ended after only a few minutes of intense fire from the forces of Imperium and the separatist forces. Malodin made his way towards Ric to update him on the situation.
“Looks clear into the building, Boss. I still think it'll be best if we breach the wall instead of the doorway,” Malodin was great with breaching charges and Ric nodded.
“Let's get t his done. The rest of Scholae will be landing soon and we need to open the door,” Ric checked his watch and saw that they were indeed right on schedule even after the ambush. Malodin set his charges and they were ready to roll.
“Fire in the hole!” he shouted as he fired the detonator. With a flash and a thump, the wall was now a door. Malodin entered as soon as the flash had subsided and began to clear his side of the room. The rest of the team followed right behind him. Ric followed them into the building with Major Harkness and her troops behind.
“Building clear, Boss” Malodin commed after a few minutes.
“Set the charges and evac. We got to move to meet up with the others,” Ric glanced over at Major Harkness and made ready to leave. “This is it. There will be no going back now.”
She nodded grimly.
“Going back was never an option, sir. Going forward is what scares me,” she seemed to deflate a little at the thoughts about her future.
“Not 'sir', call me Ric. After this is all over, I may have a place for you if you want it,” she nodded and seemed to consider it.
“Kristil,” she said as she walked towards her soldiers.
Ric smiled as he left the building to the speeders that his men had captured. He knew that he had just added another person to his life. As the speeders moved away, Ric flipped the switch on his detonator and the shield generator building exploded.
“One to command. Shields are down, you may start your landings at your convenience,” Ric smiled as he watched the ships start their landings. 'Yeah' he thought to himself 'There will be no going back and everything is going to change.'

[Objective 3]
Recovery Mission

Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / House Ektrosis of Clan Taldryan [GMRG: IV] [SA: IV] [INQ: IV]
DB Pin 3160

The YT1300 Aluminum Falcon in Orbit around Tatooine

Ric Hunter gazed out of the cockpit at the bright, sandy world of Tatooine. After four days floating in orbit, he was hoping to see the star freighter he was waiting for to finally arrive. Actually, not so much the ship as to who it carried.
Ric didn't have anywhere else to be of course, he had freed up his schedule when he left Scholae Palatinae last year. Now he was doing some freelance work far away from the Brotherhood and its current crisis fighting the Collective. The last skirmish with them had left a mark on him and he had decided to put some distance from it all. Bounty hunting wasn't as steady as having a nice clan support network, but at least he was free to move about the galaxy.
With a slight rush of atmosphere, the hatch between the cockpit and the rest of the ship opened. The figure who appeared took his seat in the copilots station. He glanced over at the sensor screen and grimaced.
“I know,” Ric answered before his friend could ask. Malodin'Blade, former commander in the Scholae ground forces and current bounty hunter, just grunted his reply. He was not known for his eloquence as most of his species was, he was more a man of action.
“Four days and nothing. I am beginning to think we might have been misled,” Mal checked the sensors again and then leaned his head back.
“If we don't see anything in the next twelve hours, we're going back to Nar Shadda and get answers. That I can promise you,” Ric got up to stretch. He had been in the pilot seat for hours and it was time to get some food and rest. “If you see anything, I'll be in the back.”
Mal nodded his head and went back to scanning the sector.

Docking Bay Eighty Nine - Mos Eisley Spaceport

A silence filled the docking bay as the freighters engines finally wound down, replaced only by the ticking of cooling metal. With a hissing, the outer hatch slid up and a ramp lowered, allowing the two men who had arrived to disembark from the ship. They glanced around the bay and were satisfied that there was no one around. Grabbing their gear, they headed towards the main entryway.
“About time you arrived, Sil,” A voice from the dark called. Both men dropped everything and went for their weapons. It wasn't fast enough as the flash of a stun blast flew out, dropping them both.
Ric exited the dark and placed cuffs on both mens wrists. Malodin wheeled a cart in to load the men on and take them to their ship. They had an appointment with their destiny and they couldn't be late.
Ric noticed his comm was blinking, indicating he had received a message. As Mal is loading the unconscious men, Ric opens the message and scans its contents, fully expecting it to be from a member of Scholae. The image that greeted him was someone he had never seen, although he did recognize the symbol that stamped the message. It was something he had not seen for a very long time.
“Greetings Battlelord, I am Savant Justinios Drake, the Quaestor of House Ektrosis. I come before you to ask for your aid in our struggle against the Collective. I ask this of you because of your history with this house and we are in need of your help,” with a beep the message fades out and is replaced by a set of coordinates. Ric closed his eyes and shakes his head. It seemed no matter how far he runs, he will always been drawn back in. As soon as this job is done, he'll at least contact them and see how he could assist his former house.

YT1300 Aluminum Falcon - Wild Space – Two days later

“I still don't like this. We have been out and away, out of this madness, this conflict. I really don't like it,” Mal said for the seventeenth time in the last hour.
“As you have said, several times now,” Ric checked the jump coordinates one last time before he reached for the hyperspace levers. Hopefully this wouldn't take long and they could once more roam the galaxy. “All we need to do is find this black box and take it to Ektrosis and get paid. Once we do that we are free to go.”
“I've heard that before... several times as a matter of fact,” Ric knew that Mal would complain but still follow him, no matter where he lead.
“Its just a simple in and out with a paycheck at the end. Nothing more and nothing less. Trust me,” Ric pulled the levers to the hyperdrive, stretching the stars into streaks.
“That's usually my first mistake...” Mal muttered under his breath.

Suspected location of the ship Psi Termina I

The Aluminum Falcon dropped out of hyperspace near the last reported position of the Psi Termina. It was an unremarkable sector, save the patrol of Collective star fighters. Almost immediately the enemy fighters turned towards them and powered up their weapons. Ric grabbed the flight stick and sent the ship into a quick snap roll as Mal activated the shields. He didn't bother charging the guns, they would be nearly useless on autofire while they were going evasive.
“I guess we're in the right area,” Ric said as he throttled up the ship. “Do you see anywhere I might be able to lose them?”
Mal checked the sensors, looking for anything that might allow them to drop their pursuit. He was coming up with nothing substantial. There were no clouds of gas, no asteroid belts, not even a singularity. He shook his head and began to set jump coordinates into the hyperdrive.
“Nothing here we can use. Best bet is to jump out and try a different approach,” he knew his friend well enough that he wouldn't argue the point. “Coordinates are set, get me a clear vector and we can jump.”
Ric pointed the ship away from all the planetary bodies and gravity wells in the system, increasing his speed. He had to stay out of the firing solution of those ships that were fast approaching. Once the computer chimed, he pulled the levers and they made a short jump away from there.
After a few minutes, the Aluminum Falcon dropped out of light speed and Mal once more checked the sensors. Seeing nothing, he turned to face Ric in the pilots chair.
“So, whats your plan now? Jumping in straight out didn't work too well it seems,” Mal said.
“No it didn't. Did you get a good read on the system before we jumped out?” Ric replied.
Mal made no reply and just looked at him.
“Of course you did. Sorry, stupid question,” Ric had to smile at his partner. They had worked together for a very long time and each knew the other so well. The deadpan look on Mals face faded and was replaced by a smile of his own.
“I think I might have found a spot we can jump to and get to the ship undetected,” Mal got out of his seat and headed towards the main cabin. Ric set the sensors to alert them in case they were followed and also headed aft.
Mal activated the main display and it showed the tactical readout of the last system. There were two moons in orbit of the planet they had just left and the distance between them cast a sensor shadow. In this shadow, the ship could jump in undetected. However, the main problem was that the computer wouldn't allow them to do it. It was going to be a manual jump, something that was considered impossible. Impossible for someone who didn't have control of the Force that is. Even though Rics skills in astrogation were mediocre, this should be a easy jump to make.
“And the good news is that the ship hadn't crashed on the surface of the planet yet. It was adrift between the two moons. If we can get close one of us can go across, get what we need and get away before anyone notices us, provided the central data core is still there and intact,”

Six Hours Later, in the shadow of the double moons –

As soon as the ship had dropped from hyperspace between the moons, Ric had powered down the ship as low as he dared. The ballistic trajectory of the freighter would carry them close to the derelict ship as possible, but they would only be in close enough range for about thirty minutes. Malodin'Blade had volunteered to go across and access the ships systems while Ric stayed behind to fly the ship.
Mal stepped into the airlock and prepared to jet across the void to the Psi Termina. This was going to be the most difficult part of the mission as he would only get one shot at it. If he missed the ship, he couldn't turn and try again, the extra use of the thrusters might alert the patrolling ships. He lined up with the ship as the ramp lowered and got ready to launch himself into space.
“Alright Mal, this is the straightest I can get us. Good luck,” Ric called over the comm.
Mal didn't reply but sent two clicks to acknowledge. He crouched down and grasp the thruster controls in his right hand. Mentally counting down from five, he launched himself towards the wreck. As soon as he was clear of the ship, he activated the thruster and accelerated towards the Termina.
Mal readied the magnetic grapple that was attached to his suit. He would need to get within one hundred meters to catch the ship. As the distance rapidly decreased, he lined up his shot and let the grapple fly. After what seemed like and eternity to him, the magnetic anchor latched onto the hull and he activated the reel to pull him to the ship.
Mal could see some lights on in the ship and there was a small shuttle docked with the main airlock. He activated the heads up display in his helmet and scanned the ship for heat signatures. Sure enough, he counted three near the area that he needed to go. He made his way towards the very large hole that had been blasted away by the suicide bomber. It was going to be his way inside.
As he entered the cavity, he could see exactly how much damage had been done. This part of the ship used to house the actual listening post. He saw a few technicians still strapped into their stations, but it seemed the rest had been blown out of the ship in the decompression. Mal worked his way towards the center of the room and found the main sensor suite. It was here that he would fond the highly upgraded black box that he was looking for.
He didn't know what made it so important but to be honest he really didn't care either. It was a paycheck to him. It seemed that there was some damage to the mechanism that locked the module in and it was going to take a bit of time to get it free. He started working on it.

Ballistic Trajectory near the Psi Termina I -

Ric closed his eyes and tried to listen to this system of space. It had been a while since he had let himself drift into the force. He had been on the go pretty much since leaving Scholae and didn't have time to listen. Something had changed in him in the last year, of that he was certain. Now he had to figure out what.
In the back of Rics mind, he began to sense an urgency. It wasn't directed at him specifically but in his general direction. He glanced at the sensors and watched the ships flying around him. None of them had changed course and none of them were heading in his general direction. Yet in his mind a warning was forming, something he couldn't ignore.
Mal surely would almost be finished by now, and should be heading to egress the ship. Ric had received no pick up signals yet but time was rapidly running out. It had been almost twenty minutes since Mal had left the ship and he was almost past the blown out hulk of it. If Mal didn’t get out soon, he was going to have to power up and come back around, and that was sure to draw attention. He knew he couldn't do the ballistic floating trick again either, space was large but there were only so many floating rocks.
As Ric watched the floating wreck, he saw flashes through several of the windows. That was never a good sign. Mal seemed to be engaged in a fire fight with someone on the ship. Ric let a fleeting thought flash through his head, maybe he should have gone over. As sudden as the flashes had started, they ended just as fast. Ric knew that his time was up.
Ric slowed the ship, knowing that he had just blown his cover. As soon as the thrusters fired, the sensors pinged, letting him know that several fighters had broken their patterns and were now heading to intercept. He only had about eight minutes before they were within firing range.
Ric locked on to the port side airlock since there was a ship on starboard. He grabbed his lightsabers and his blaster, preparing to board the ship and do what he needed to. As he approached the airlock, it slid open and there stood Malodin'Blade, computer module in his hand and a few new burns on his armor.
“Time to go,” he said as he headed towards the ventral guns. As he passed Ric, he handed him the module and started to climb the ladder to the gun pod.
Ric headed towards the cockpit and charged the main guns and raised the shields. He put power to the engines and headed towards the edge of the gravity field. The fighters were now almost within firing range, they must have put everything into their engines, which would be a good thing. If they did that then their cannons would be depleted as well as their shields.
Mal started firing at the incoming ships as they came into range. The lead ship exploded in a ball of fire, proving Rics thoughts true. The other fighters broke off and began to fly evasive. The underpowered lasers were no match for the fully charged shields of the old freighter, but that wasn't their only weapon at their disposal.
A fighter made a quick turn and headed straight for the cockpit. Ric turned the ship as it approached and Mal blasted it with the upper cannon. The Collective pilots were doing anything they could to stop them, including suicide runs. Ric thought it was a waste, it reminded him of the way that the Empire had wasted pilots and troops.
“Unidentified ship, you are trespassing in this system. Stand to and prepare to be boarded,” a voice called over the com system.
“Look, we were just passing thru on the way to the Coleous system when you attacked us. We are just simple traders, trying to make our way in the galaxy,” Ric replied.
“Coleous system? Never heard of it. Stand to and prepare to be boarded,” the voice replied.
“I'm sorry, but I don't speak basic,” Ric replied as he pushed the engine throttles all the way forward. The old YT shot forward like a barve with its back legs on fire. The enemy ships fell behind and opened fire. They never had a chance to aim but they figured if they put enough blasts in the air they might get lucky. Ric never let them get lucky and evaded them with ease.
As they reached the jump point, Ric activated the hyperdrive and they jumped away.

In Orbit Near Taruma -

Ric watched the planet of Taruma from orbit. He had not been in this system for many years and when last he saw it, it had been his home. Now it was a barren waste land, destroyed from orbit by the fleet of the Iron Throne, from what he heard anyways. He had technically been reborn on this world, cloned in a lab. Not the first time it had happened but it was the first time in the aftermath of the Exodus.
The sensors emitted a beep letting him know of a new ship arriving in orbit. He glanced at the readout and saw that the IFF was reading the ship as Taldryan. Finally, he'd get his credits and be gone from this place and all of its memories.
“Aluminum Falcon, this is the Shuttle KEP four one, please respond,” Ric hit the acknowledge button and leaned back in his seat. Not long now.
“Copy Shuttle. Standing by,” Ric left his seat and went towards the airlock. He could hear the other ship locking on and the air pressure rising in the tunnel. When the board read green, he activated the hatch and it opened with a slight rush of air. Ric waited until the other ships hatch had fully opened and waved the man through to his side.
The cloaked figure climbed down the ramp and faced Ric. He reached up and pulled his hood from his head and revealed the face of Justinios Drake, the Quaestor of Ektrosis himself. Ric looked down at the diminutive Aleena and had to stifle a giggle. He had served under many different people in his time in the brotherhood. Figures ranging from Alanna and Bubbles, his first masters, to figures such as Dante and Braecen.
“I have what you asked for. Do you have what I wanted?” Ric asked, holding the module.
“I do. I also have a request,” the Aleena pulled a chip from his robes and handed it over. Ric handed him the module, waiting for the details of his request. “I wish you to return to Ektrosis. With the perils of these current times, I am in need of your power. You will be well paid if that is your worry.”
Ric was silent for a moment as he thought the offer over. Something in his mind was telling him to accept this offer. Maybe he would be able to get a look at their cloning stuff and see if there were improvements since he had left. That might make it worth it.
“Let me think about it. I'll get back to you on that,” Ric replied. He didn't want to sound eager but he did want to keep that door open.
“Reply on this network and I'll see to it you are directed in,” Justinios indicated on the datapad he carried. Ric nodded and turned towards Mal who was standing behind him. Mal could see that Ric had made up his mind already and they would be joining in the war again. He nodded his agreement. Ric turned back towards Justinios, decision made.
“We're in,” Ric said.

Extraction:
GJWXII Phase 1 Fiction

Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / Battle Team Tacitus Athanasius of House Excidium of Clan Scholae Palatinae
Pin# 3160

“This is the ISN Sidious calling all ships. We are in need of assistance. We have sustained heavy damage and are under heavy fire. Please respond.”
“Looks like you are going to get your excitement for the day, Mal,” Ric told his copilot as he set course for the beleaguered Victory Star Destroyer. Ric checked the tactical display and watched as another wave of suicide tugs swept in towards the Sidious. At this rate the ship wouldn't last long, he had to push his small ship to its limits to get there before it went up.
“Sidious, this is the Holdout. We are inbound to your position at this time, over,” Mal angled the deflectors and put as much power as he could towards the engines. Ric knew that his friend lived for times like these. His Chiss blood screamed for action, sometimes at the cost of common sense.
“What the....” Ric watched as the Iron Fleet moved off and disengaged from the battle. The Grandmaster had abandoned them to their fate, not that he expected anything different of course. Pravus had destroyed his former home while he had been asleep.
“Looks like they are pulling back to Arx,” Mal confirmed. “You want me to get on the guns?”
“Yeah, I can handle the ship, but we need to buy sometime to get as many as we can off that Ship,” Mal left his seat and went aft to the upper gun mount. It wasn't long before Ric could hear the thump of the dual laser cannons. He watched as a small number of the closer fighter escorts veered or just disappeared from the scopes. Malodin'Blade was a lot of things, but Ric knew that he was very good with blasters.
The Ghtroc 720 freighter jolted sideways from a hit. Ric glanced at the damage control board and watched as almost a third of the green lights turned to red. So far no essential system had been knocked out but if they kept taking damage like that, it was bound to happen.
“Mal, I am going to need you back down here. We are taking damage and I need a hand to deal with it,” Ric flipped the ship on its back to avoid a flaming Z-95 headhunter that had rocketed towards them. It passed by and flew on before exploding in a huge ball of fire.
“Send the droid! I am having too much fun up here,” Mal replied.
The Holdout approached the stricken capitol ship and was shocked at the large amount of damage that had been inflicted on it. Half of the upper decks and the bridge were a flaming, twisted wreck and the other half was just gone. The ship was beginning to spin on its axis from venting and escape pods were shooting out from all sides. Ric watched as enemy fighters chased them down to destroy as many as they could. With a flash of anger, he slammed to throttles to full and armed his small load of concussion missiles.
The Holdout shot forward towards a flight of Incom T70 fighters, moving in a way that a freighter really shouldn't. Ric was not just a man learned in the Force, he was also a former Elite Squadron pilot and commander. His skill in the cockpit was legendary in some parts of the galaxy. He brought the ship around and let loose a salvo of missiles, disrupting the attacking squadron. Malodin let loose with the laser cannons, further disrupting the attack.
“Hold on, I'm going to bring us around and see if we can board the Sidious,” Ric had found a suitable place to dock that was intact. “Sidious, I am preparing to dock at aft section of deck fourteen. I can take some survivors from there.”
As soon as the docking ring had sealed, Ric ran to the hatch to help load as many as he could. The scene that greeted him sent memories cascading through his mind. In an instant, he was back on board the Vigilance at Endor. He had just landed his damaged Interceptor in the hanger as the Death Star exploded. The crew had all paused, not believing that the station was gone and had been overcome by panic. That was the scene that greeted him here.
Men and women began to fill the hold of the small freighter until there was no more room. Ric returned to the controls of the ship and unlocked from the damaged destroyer. Another small rescue ship moved in to take his place as he guided the severely overloaded craft towards the ISN Thrawn.
As he pulled away, the ship that had just taken his place was hit by a kamikaze tug and exploded, destroying the airlock and creating a breach in the ship. Ric watched as crew members who had been waiting for rescue were sucked out into space. He pushed the engines as fast as he was able to, trying to evade the enemy fighters and tugs that lay between him and the Thrawn.
“Holdout, this is Rancor Five. We are coming up on your port side. We'll cover you as long as we are able to,” Ric looked at the tactical display and saw seven green IFF signals circling his ship.
“Copy that Five. Where's One?”
“He's gone sir.”
“Copy Five. You are now One. Form up and move out.”
As the small group of ships moved through the battlefield, Ric could see the damage wrought by the Collectives attacks. There was wreckage, death and destruction everywhere. His mind once again flashed back the final battle over Endor.
He vowed to himself that he would never again sit idle on the sidelines and do nothing. Now he would help take the fight to the Collective and then on the Grandmaster who had let it happen. Once his clan had been avenged, then he could rest.

3160 pin