Fiction Home - More by Lobacca Varss - More in Action and Aventure

The city of Melle, Tibrin

"Vacation at least," Lobacca thought wandering through town.

"For once I don't have to worry for a couple of Dukhang to appear out of seemingly nowhere."

Relaxed, Lobacca called his parents with his comlink.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom."

"No, I couldn't keep in contact more, nor can I tell what I'm doing in the New Republic."

"No, I'm not hurt. Well not missing any limbs anyway."

"I'm not avoiding the question if I'm doing dangerous stuff or not."

"Mom! Aargh. No I haven't. Hand over Dad will you…"

"Yes, I'm fine. I figured Mom would re-act like that."

"So Granddad wanna see me? Sure I'll head over right away."

"Granddad has WHO as a visitor? I really couldn't have picked a better time did I…"

Slightly less relaxed, Lobacca putted down his comlink.

"Jedi, what in the name of the Seven Raccoon Lords is a Jedi doing at Granddad's place? Aside from that, why did I pick this place to go on vacation again? Not like I couldn't predict Mom's nagging. Then again, if I wouldn't come over here on vacation and Mom would figure out, then I'd have to endure twice the normal load," Lobacca said to himself while walking over to Granddad's place.


Lobacca's Grandfather's Home

"Hi, Rez. Hmm, seems like you finally got your arms repaired," Lobacca said to Rez, an old CIS B1-battle droid who was remodeled and adjusted for household tasks.

It didn't actually work out to great nor was it legal to do so, but Granddad always had a weakness for the droids that served under him. He couldn't get it over his heart to shut them down for ever once the clone wars ended, so he decided to remodel most of his B1 battle droids to more civilian tasks.

"Affirmative," the droid responded, while holding the front door open.

"Master is at living room," the droid continued with his squeaky voice.

"So in what mood is he in?" Lobacca asked.

"I don't understand the question," the droid responded.

"Urgh, never mind then," Lobacca responded.

"Watch out for Jedi scum inside. Master has requested me to eliminate her, but that part of my programming code is no longer functional," Rez continued.

"Okay, so he is in a bad mood. Great," Lobacca said.

Stepping into the living room, Lobacca scanned the Jedi quickly with his eyes.

She was a human somewhere in her late twenties, with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in the well known Jedi robes, every looked perfectly fine but something was not quite right according to the mental picture Lobacca had of a Jedi.

Then it struck him - no lightsaber.

"Hi Granddad and… err… Miss Jedi," Lobacca said, smiling. "I'm surprised Granddad didn't call in a couple of old rusty droideka's in to blast you into pieces yet."

"Hmm, I was planning too, but Albert managed to talk me out of it… for now," Granddad responded.

"And I had to come in without a lightsaber," the mysterious Jedi responded.

"I'm not suicidal! You really think I'm gone come close to a Jedi with an operational lightsaber at his disposal? Ha, you Jedi are underestimating me again," Granddad continued.

"I still have… never mind. I'm Jedi Loa Alvar. My great uncle served as a Jedi Master in the Clone Wars, and was defeated by your grandfather. I'm here in the hope of solving the mystery that haunted our family since that day. I'm hoping your grandfather could tell me more of how he died, or at least the names of the people who might know," Jedi Alvar said.

"I already told you, my droidekas made short work of him!" Granddad responded.

"I cannot believe that, I'm afraid. His powers were far too great. There is no way he died because of a few simple machines," the Jedi argued.

"Ah yes, typical. The Jedi does not want to believe it happened so it didn't happen. I don't have a clue on how that force thing works but I'm pretty sure you can't change the past with it," Granddad continued.

"No, how many times do I have to say it? It isn't how he went; in fact the remains of his lightsaber here tell me that," the Jedi responded, while holding up the remains of Jedi Master Alvar's lightsaber - a pink-deep purple power crystal.

"So the lightsaber can talk, hmm? Now why not ask how he died then? Surely the lightsaber knows that!" Granddad responded seemingly growing tired of the same question being asked over and over by Jedi Alvar.

"It doesn't work that way," the Jedi responded.

"I'm getting enough of this. I should order Rez to finish you off!" Granddad said.

"Errr… Rez told me he can't," Lobacca whispered.

"Hmm, well then. Primipilus finish her off!" Granddad said.

"Primipilus? I thought his name was…" the Jedi asked, searching her memory.

"Yes typical. Jedi always thinking they know best. No it isn't his name but his rank in the Tibrin defense force," Granddad responded, clearly smiling.

"I seem to recall he served the New Republic?" the Jedi asked.

"Correct, Primipilus is a rank within the Tibrin defense force, given to soldiers who aren't actually part of the Tibrin defense force but are, due to whatever reason, suddenly working for it," Granddad answered the Jedi's latest question proudly.

"So you more or less fictionally promoted him, eh?" Jedi Alvar said slightly confused.

"Yes," Granddad responded angrily.

"Okay…" Jedi Altar responded mildly surprised.

Suddenly Granddad's comlink went off.

"Yes? Lobacca it is for you," Granddad said while handing over the comlink.

"Hi, Lobacca Varss here," Lobacca responded."Oh… but… fine I'll come straight away," Lobacca answered while he closed the comlink and handed the device back over to Granddad.

"It seems I'll have to leave you, duty calls," Lobacca informed.

"I thought you were on vacation?" Granddad asked.

"I thought that too," Lobacca responded.


WML Space Station, Tibrin Orbit

Lobacca Varss and the rest of his old squad moved into the General's office. The place was quite Spartan as most of the rooms onboard the WML station, General Alquin wasn't the type of man to abuse his power for his own good.

"Welcome, gentlemen," General Alquin said.

"There have been a couple of… developments at the Racnoth surveillance station two light years from here. About a half hour ago we received intel that something has jumped out of hyperspace near the station and is moving towards the old abandoned CIS space repair station," the General continued.

"Sounds like scavengers, sir. Or treasure hunters as they prefer to be called. But as far as I know the station has been dismantled ages ago. As far as I know it is only being used as a military training station," Lobacca said.

"Correct, Primipilus, but… I think you better see it with your own eyes," the General responded, while opening the holo screen and replaying the Racnoth surveillance station transmission.

"Average chitchat, but here it gets interesting," the General said while releasing the fast forward button.

"What? In the name of the seven Raccoon Lords!" Dal yelled.

"A Clone Wars-era CIS battle cruiser, here?" Lobacca said while looking at the holo screen.

On the screen, a damaged CIS battle cruiser had appeared. The ship looked like it could fall apart anytime soon. But most threatening was the part that it was a clone era one, one of only a select few that had been produced and all of them were supposed to be destroyed in the war.

"That isn't all gentlemen," the General continued.

The General switched over to another program that showed old CIS information.

"That ship is, or more correctly, was part of the Gamma-Delta IV fleet. And as most of you know, that fleet went missing somewhere halfway the clone wars when send on a secret mission for Count Dooku himself," the General continued.

"We don't have a clue what happened on that ship, happened to the others, heck we don't even know the supplies they had on board nor the flight schedule. But you have to be blind not to see that something clearly went wrong. That is why you guys are going in, together with thirty men of the special commando division of the Tibrin defense force. Your top priority is to find out what happened to the CO, crew and ship and what they were supposed to do. That is also the range of importance. Any questions?" the General asked.

"Yes, sir, why us? And why is the CO top priority?" Lobacca asked.

"First of all, Primipilus Varss, as you supposedly are aware, you're a descendent of an Ishi Tib who fought for the CIS in the clone wars. These droids were part of the same Ishi Tib unit as your grandfather. Due to the simplicity of the recognition systems used on the droids, they can't tell the difference between you or your grandfather. For that reason the droids will assume you and the rest of the team as friendly... well that is what is supposed to happen. Aside from that you also are one of the best and most experienced squads when it comes to droids. Skills the special commandos lack.

"The CO is a member of the Raccoon Order. As you all know every member of that order was killed after the Clone Wars by Emperor Palpatine due to their ties with the Jedi Order and the refusal to surrender after the CIS defeat. The Raccoon Order had a lot of knowledge of Ishi Tib history and it is said they also knew the locations of real Raccoon artifacts.

“We all know how a big loss that was—such an important part of our society destroyed by the Empire. The Raccoon Order had existed for as long as we can remember," the General said. "Such a great loss. Anyway you're leaving over 15 minutes, so gear up and... may the Raccoon Spirit surround you," the General said.

"Sir, yes sir!" The squad saluted.


Shuttle towards the TDF Star Destroyer Motivation

"What you think, Wazz?" Dal asked.

"I dunno, looks spooky to me," Lobacca responded.

"There is clearly something wrong with that ship, although I can't actually say what," Dal continued.

"Apart from it being a miracle it still flies?" Bazz said.

"And it is like ages too late?" Elf filled in.

"We don't know that, the danged ship can be right on time," Lobacca responded.

"Yeah, but it is falling apart," Elf repeated.

"Name me one capital ship that we got that looks any better," Lobacca responded.

"Ha, now you're asking something," Bazz responded smiling.

"No something else..." Dal repeated.

"Dal does us all a favour, stop watching those horror movies late at night," Elf responded.

"Tsss," Dal responded.


TDF Star Destroyer Motivation, flying parallel with CIS Cruiser

The hangar was filled with, including the just landed shuttle, three lambda shuttles, two Z-95 Headhunter squadrons and three Y-wing squadrons and countless parts of junk lying around. Except for the thirty special commandos and the ship pilots, there wasn't a living soul in the hangar. There wasn't any maintenance personnel in the hangar for one reason or another and even more strangely, except for Lobacca and his squad, none of them were Ishi Tib.

"Primipilus Varss?" a special commando asked.

"Yer ?" Lobacca responded.

"Colonel Tyrau," the Colonel responded. "I'm leading this operation. I dunno why they want you guys so badly but let me be clear - I don't want or need you. So do me a favour and don't go touching random buttons or whatever to play hero. Is that clear?" the Colonel shouted.

"Yer," Lobacca responded.

"Sorry? I think I misunderstood you," the Colonel shouted again.

"Yer," Lobacca responded again.

"Yer? Can't you just say, yes sir or so? Can't be that hard... even for an Ishi Tib," the Colonel said.

"Ner," Lobacca responded again.

The Colonel looked up to Lobacca angry, but decided the leave the situation as it is.

"Hmph," the Colonel responded.

"Humans and their egos. I prefer Wookiees above ‘em," Elf whispered.

"Wookiees? That's a lot of hair man, and a lot of people are allergic to Wookiee hair," Dal whispered back.

"There is no such thing as being allergic to Wookiee hair," Bazz whispered.

"Yes, there is, my mother-in-law once told me..." Dal whispered.

"SILENCE BACK THERE!" the Colonel yelled.

"I assume you all have been briefed, so get back into your shuttle and get ready for contact, we don't know if anything on board is still active but if that is the case. Feel free to blast it to bits!" the Colonel continued.


Shuttle towards CIS Cruiser

"Am I the only one who noticed all the rest are human?" Dal asked.

"No, but we all know most of the special forces aren't Ishi Tib but ex-Rebel, Imperial etc. Troopers who want decent pay and not too much action. Its a sort of erm... retirement for them," Lobacca responded.

"The correct term would be forced retirement."

"There goes Elf again and his all non-Ishi Tib are evil theory," Dal said.

"Oh! What would you prefer, to be stranded on some backward planet like ours? Or to be actually making a difference?"

"Elf, making a difference isn't all moon and sunshine. Believe me, now cut that flarg or I'll show you the true power of my boots," Lobacca answered.

"When you think Wazz? His sense of humour couldn't get worse," Bazz said, smiling.

"Meh, believe me it does," Lobacca said.

"Ugh, this will give me months of nightmares!" Bazz said.

"Guys, even the pilots were all human." Dal said.

"Isn't that for the best? We all know how many great pilots our beloved WML station has. Aside from that, the special forces also have an SFC department," Lobacca answered.

"Ah, well guess you're right," Dal continued, attempting to believe his own words.


Hangar Bay, CIS Cruiser

The moment their shuttles touched the ground, the soldiers jumped out, ready to unload their guns upon whatever had the same intensions.

But they didn't meet any hostiles but a hangar bay that seemed totally normal, aside from the tons of dust and the battle debris lying around. But one thing in the hangar did catch their attention, a couple of droidekas unfolded in battle formation but without their shields online. The droidekas didn't move nor open fire, it seemed like they were frozen in time. And this counted for every droid in the hangar, they all seemed like they were frozen in time.

"Now this is creepy!" Dal said amazed.

"Primipilus!" the Colonel yelled.

"Yer?" Lobacca responded.

"Ishi Tib stay here to guard the shuttles together with squad Omega. Squad Alpha and Beta move to the command centre. Squad Delta and Gamma check the engines and power supply. I want to know how it comes that this thing is still flying. I'll be heading in with Gamma," the Colonel ordered. "And Primipilus, I heard you knew something about droids, can you tell me what happened to them?"

"Yer and ner. It seems they all got EMPed at the same time. But that is impossible, as an EMP powerful enough to wipe them all out in one blow would need a huge amount of energy amd would cause the non-millitairy droids to go boom. Aside from that, when an EMP hits a droid they don't just freeze, it takes a couple of seconds. In those seconds droids either try to prevent a total shut down or they make sure that they can't damage anything after they got shut down."

Lobacca points at a cargo droid who has crashed into a pile of cargo. "Which doesn't seem to be the case."

"What about two EMPs shortly after each other?" the Colonel asked.

"If they happen to fast after each other, they also damage the lower EMP resisting droids; if they're too slow after each other the other droids would have made EMP resisting manoeuvres. There is no safe zone to fire the second EMP. If it is an EMP that did this," Lobacca responded.

"Anything else you can come up with?" the Colonel asked.

"Yer, but upon those the laws of physics and logic wouldn't apply," Lobacca said smiling.

"I see. Whatever you do, do not try to re-activate, we don't know what there last orders were and personally I don't want to know either," the Colonel continued.

"Squads, move out, and remember do not touch anything!" the Colonel said.

* * * * *

"Guard duty, wow, such fun!" Elf said.

"Elf since when did you start nagging?" Lobacca asked.

"Since the moment you joined the NR, it's because he missed you," Bazz responded.

"Bazz logic, wow, such fun!" Elf said.

Suddenly the comlink went off.

"Squad Alpha here, we lost contact with Beta, we heard some blaster fire slowly after. Something is clearly wrong. Dang it! What is this kriffing noise. Hey what the—"

"Squad Alpha or Beta report in!" the Colonel yelled over the comlink.

"Alpha... at command... flamethro—"

"Alpha, Alpha! Dang it," the Colonel yelled over the comlink.

"Primipilus, you and your squad go check it out, just check it out no fighting what so ever. Aside from that, are there droids that could possibly be equipped with flamethrowers?" the Colonel ordered.

"Not that I know off, but seeing how much we actually now, it is possible," Lobacca responded.

"Nice, a couple of droids decide they wanted to use the barbeque use, and we're playing the main course," Dal said.

"Then I want mine well done," Bazz responded.

"Squad form up. And try to keep the barbeque jokes to a minimum," Lobacca ordered.


Command Centre, CIS Cruiser

Nearing the command centre Lobacca's squad ran into the remains of both Beta and Alpha. Most of the members had their heads bashed in, seemingly with a blunt object, the rest were fried alive.

"Too bad. But whatever killed them was guarding the command centre, check it out," the Colonel said angry over the comlink.

"Yer," Lobacca responded

"Shouldn't we...?" Dal asked.

"No, as we're sitting ducks out here, and there is lots of nice cover in there," Lobacca responded.

Lobacca stepped into the room and was closely followed by the rest of his squad. And what he found inside the command centre was everything except a pretty sight. The command centre was filled with bacta tanks which in turn were filled with humans, clones to be more exact, and Ishi Tib. Only a small percentage of the tanks were still filled, all the rest were empty. But they all had been full at some point. At least that is what Lobacca and his squad assumed seeing the big pile of bones and clothes stacked at one of the corners.

"Colonel, we have a problem. A big problem!" Lobacca said after he keyed his comlink.

"It seems we're dealing with a carnivore with a taste for both human and Ishi Tib flesh," Lobacca continued.

"What?" the colonel yelled.

"We're at the moment staring at a bunch of bacta tanks in the command centre and large piles of bones," Lobacca answered.

"Hold your ground. Omega call up the Motivation and call up for support, my comlink seems to be jammed or something. Gamma and Delta form up on me. We're heading for the command centre!" the Colonel responded.

"Omega, check in. Omega? Omega? Dang it. It seems we're all that's left. You got any clue what more exactly we're dealing with Primipilus?" the Colonel continued

"Aside from that I'd make a blockbuster horror movie? No, not really," Lobacca responded.

"Well dig in and wait for us, don't try to die on me just yet. Colonel Tyrau out," the Colonel said over the comlink.

"Okay, Bazz and Dal setup a parameter to defend this place. Elf, hijack one of the terminals and try to figure out what we're up against. I'll try to activate a couple of droidekas and B2 droids," Lobacca ordered.

"Understood!" they called.

Plugging his data pad into a droideka, Lobacca started to work on re-activating the droideka. He quickly figured out what actually happened; somehow someone managed to overload the command sequence of the droid with a shut down sequence. This gave Lobacca two options, either fully reprogramming the droid or destroying whatever was broadcasting the shut down sequence.

"Elf, you already in?" Lobacca asked.

"Yer," Elf responded.

"Good, check the command sequence on the droids. What does it say?"

"Hm. It's normal, average command sequence?"

"Yes."

"Do the sensors and scanners and so on work?"

"Yep. Why?"

"Any foreign objects found?"

"Yes one. It seems to be next to the main communication unit."

"It in firing range?"

"Yes... no, you have to be kidding."

"Blow it up, but only after you have change command sequence of droids to hibernate until I, you, Dal or Bazz activates it. Make it work on voice patterns."

"Why?"

"We don't know the voice patterns of the special force unit, and I have the idea our friend the carnivore is listening to our comlink chatter. And you know how much I love playing with droids."

"Hm. I'm wondering should I be amazed of your clever thinking or feeling worried for the love playing with droids part."

"Both."

"We're dealing with a kriffing cannibal and our beloved Wazz decides to play with droids."

"Hey don't overdo it Elf, and unless he is a human or an Ishi Tib, he isn't a cannibal, technically."

"Ah, I'll remember that once he starts chewing."

"Shh. Think I heard something," Dal said.

A small noise of a pair of metal boots was heard in the distance.

"Elf get on it. Hurry. Dal, Bazz I don't think this guy will go down easy. So try to slow him down or disable him. Play as dirty as you can," Lobacca said.

The noise of marching boots continued and the cannibal came closer and closer, until he finally turned around the corner.

At that point Dal, Bazz and Lobacca opened fire, while Elf continued to work on activating the droids.

"Any other idea Wazz?" Dal yelled after each of his shots ricocheted off the opponent's armour.

"Just keep firing!" Lobacca yelled back.

The opponent was a humanlike creature about as tall as a Wookiee. It was clothed in metal armour which revealed several spots where blaster fire had already burned through. He was wielding a flamethrower and had a jetpack on his back. The cannibal ignored any shots that managed to tear trough his armour as if nothing happened. Aside from that it seemed the wounds he had healed as fast as they were created.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Dal said.

"This some sort of Force thing?" Bazz yelled, reloading his blaster.

"No, that is impossible!" Elf yelled back.

"Oh really?" Dal yelled back

"Explain me then how most of the Jedi died before they reached retirement?" Elf joked.

"Point taken," Bazz yelled.

"Okay, keep him away from Elf. The droids are our best bet," Lobacca ordered.

Suddenly the cannibal, nearing Dal, activated his flamethrower and sent Dal rolling away for cover. Seeing that, the cannibal activated his jetpack to close the distance with Dal faster. Understanding the cannibal's last move, Dal quickly rolled himself behind one of the bacta tanks. Thanks to Dal's clever thinking, the cannibal smashed right into the empty bacta tank. While the cannibal was trying to free himself, Dal quickly ran for cover.

"Orders?" Bazz yelled.

"Dal, that flamethrower, how does it work?" Lobacca yelled.

"Hm, it uses a gas that causes fire on impact with air," Dal said.

"Cover me," Lobacca ordered while he started running towards the cannibal.

"Wazz, you insane?" Bazz yelled in fear.

Lobacca ran up to the cannibal who was still stuck in the bacta tank. Seeing Lobacca closing in on him he attempted to activate his flamethrower in the direction of Lobacca, but he failed as the flamethrower was stuck in the debris.

"I only got one shot at this," Lobacca murmured as he neared the cannibal.

Lobacca dropped his blaster and grabbed his stabbing weapon, a ceremonial axe, and slashed the tubes leading fuel towards both the jetpack as the flamethrower.

Within seconds the cannibal was ignited as the fuel of the jetpack soaked him and the end of tube of the flamethrower, the gas used as fuel caused fire when in contact with air, came into contact with the jet fuel.

But this didn't kill the cannibal; in fact it enraged him even more. Lobacca had hoped that the natural healing ability that the cannibal seemed to have wouldn't apply upon burn wounds. But sadly this wasn't the case.

The cannibal screamed while he finally came lose out of the bacta tank. In a frenzy the cannibal, still ignited, closed in on Lobacca, who when he tried to escape the inferno had trapped himself into a dead end.

"Wazz, no!" Dal yelled while he dropped his blaster and grabbed his stabbing weapon.

"Dal, don't!" both Bazz and Lobacca yelled.

But it was too late. Dal had already closed in on the cannibal and started attacking it with his stabbing weapon in the hope of giving Lobacca a fighting chance.

Confused by the sudden outburst of blows on his back the cannibal turned and was meet with a quick slash across his face.

In the blow Dal slashed through a necklace around the cannibal's neck.

Suddenly the cannibal stopped.

"Thank you! Free at last!" the cannibal yelled while he fell to ground, still burning. "The pain will end... finally... destroy amulet!" the cannibal yelled while he crawled towards the amulet and started to bash at it with his hands. But sadly with the loss of power caused by the loss of the amulet, the cannibal hadn't enough power left to even dent the amulet.

Figuring that out, the cannibal turned around.

Looking toward the Ishi Tib squad, he uttered a final wish, "Finish me, please!"

Lobacca looked gaze with Bazz, who was closest to the cannibal and nodded.

With one squeeze of the trigger Bazz granted the cannibal's last wish.

A silence ensued.

"In case there more of these ... poor lads... the droids are up and running, Lobacca," Elf said muted.

"Nice, on time I'd say Elf," Dal said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Elf said watching the dead cannibal.

"Colonel, Primipilus here, we killed the cannibal, there might be more of them so keep your eyes open. We'll hold position," Wazz said over the comlink.

"I see. I think it's best to keep radio silence for now, we don't know what else is on this ship," the Colonel responded.

"Understood," Lobacca said while he switched his comlink off.

"Elf, download anything you can find from the ship's logs. I got a feeling that a second fight like this might damage the equipment beyond repair, as far as it isn't already, that is," Lobacca ordered.

"Roger Wazz!" Elf responded.

"Dal, Bazz defensive positions," Lobacca said.

"Oh this ain't good, not good, bad in fact," Elf yelled.

"What now?" Lobacca yelled back.

"Whatever we had as a power supply is failing on us, in a couple of minutes only the critical life support system will still be running."

"Then download whatever looks the most important first!"

"I don't think you're getting it Lobacca, they're cutting off the power to the bacta tanks too."

"Ugh, and I guess you can't do anything about it?" Lobacca asked.

"Correct," Elf responded.

"Then we have to get them out of the bacta tanks. Dal, lend me a hand will you?" Lobacca said.

"You sure about this?" Dal asked.

"What? You want to let them die in there?" Bazz responded.

"No but still... they have been in an induced coma for so long and so much has changed, they will be freaking out," Dal said. "And I'm counting both clones and Ishi Tib, as far as they know we're still in the Clone Wars. This could get messy..."

"Not like we'll be cleaning up afterwards, so we can make all the mess we want for my part. Now where are the damn controls?" Lobacca said.

* * * * *

The Ishi Tib managed to get all the clones and Ishi Tib out of the bacta tanks without too much trouble. As far as the clones knew, they were under CIS arrest, but the remaining Ishi Tib crew wasn't that easily tricked.

"What is going on? Soldier, rank and unit!" the Ishi Tib with the CO tag ordered.

"Primipilus Varss," Lobacca responded.

"A Primipilus? What is going on in Raccoon’s name?"

"Ugh, how do I explain this? Um, the Clone Wars are over..."

"Over? But how... hm. Where are we?"

"Onboard an old CIS cruiser flying around in Tibrin space. We and a couple of others were sent in to check what was going on. We know as much if not less then you."

"So what are you planning to do now?" the Ishi Tib commander asked.

"Wait for the Colonel and his team to get here, and then rush out of here before this ship literally falls apart," Lobacca said.

"Sounds like a plan. Anyway, you related to Major Varss?" the CO asked.

"Yes, he is my grandfather," Lobacca said, deciding not to lie to the CO.

"What? I see..." the CO said confused.

"Shh, something's heading this way!" Dal muttered.

"I don't remember ordering you to release the prisoners," Colonel Tyrau said while entering.

"Prisoners?" Lobacca said, amazed.

"Hey, what?" one of the Ishi Tib muttered.

"Sir," one of the released clones said while saluting Colonel Tyrau.

"You!" the Ishi Tib wearing the CO tag yelled.

"As long we aren't cleaning up afterwards," Lobacca muttered.

"Everybody shut up. Now what the hell is going on?" Lobacca yelled while he signalled his squad to take firing positions.

"And not even one casualty, I expected that idiot of a bounty hunter to put up more of a fight. Ah well, I guess Alpha and Beta already beat him up enough."

"He didn't even have a scratch."

The Colonel sniffed. "What's that smell... you fried him with his own flamethrower? You're way more bad then you look, I have to give you that. You would have made a fine ally, but sadly I'm in a human only army and a no fail one too," he said while glancing at the clones.

"But sir, you..."

"Enough. I'll deal with you later. Now where was I? Right! The part where I ordered my men to kill yo,." The Colonel said while readying his blaster.

Suddenly his comlink beeped.

"Saved by the bell," the Colonel muttered while he keyed his comlink. "Yes? Make it fast I'm busy!" the Colonel yelled.

Quickly Lobacca keyed his comlink on too.

"A fine ally indeed," the Colonel muttered seeing Lobacca's action.

"Motivation is being boarded by TDF forces as we speak, also five TDF capital ships and smaller ones of all sizes are closing in on us sir," the soldier briefed.

"Who's the idiot that forgot to key out the Ishi Tib? Call in our backup!" the Colonel ordered.

"What backup, sir?" the soldier said slightly confused.

"The backup soldier," the Colonel yelled.

"I think he means the fictional Super Star Destroyer crewed by pink ponies and armed with highly explosive ice cream," Lobacca joked on the comlink.

"No backup? Now that is one hell of a flaw, I'd say," Lobacca said while looking at the colonel.

"Seems you have no option but to surrender."

"Or take you prisoner."

"They have no clue why we're here or who we are."

"But I do... I know you're related to those clones. So you're Imperial or at least an old Republic officer, one of the higher ranking ones, seeing the salute. You also clashed with these Ishi Tib who were after the same thing as you—the amulet or medallion or whatever it is."

"Correct. But that isn't actually much or is it?"

"Enough for me to know that whatever happens, that amulet isn't falling in your dirty hands," Lobacca said taking aim.

"Don't act too fast. You know what? I'll explain so you at least know what rancor nest you just bumped into," the Colonel said, strangely calm.

"I'm not Imperial but I am an Old Republic vet. I'm working for a secret organization which was created sometime shortly before the Clone Wars," the Colonel started his story. "They wanted to create a new galactic order, driven and fuelled by war. Like the Emperor they stirred both the Old Republic and the CIS into the Clone Wars. But the Emperor out-smarted them, he managed to take total control before my organization managed to get total control of all the weapon manufacturers on both sides. The plan was to keep producing new and better weapons, and to keep buying up corporations until literally everything was under their control. War is after all the perfect business, it always needs more weapons, more products, better products, deadlier products, sneaker products."

Taking a deep breath, the Colonel continued, "But this perfect plan was destroyed by the actions of the Emperor. Lucky we managed to foresee this problem so we decided to try a different approach. Instead of making weapons, why not create their user?" the Colonel continued.

"What about clones and droids?" Lobacca interrupted.

"Both have their limitations, but with the power of this amulet, we would be able to create super soldiers. Unkillable, controllable and deadly. A perfect marriage of flesh, steel and the Force."

"But it seems our good friend the Emperor figured it out too, and sent these Ishi Tib to retrieve it. We arrived about at the same time near the possible location of the artefact and a battle ensued. To your credit, the CIS won."

"What about the bounty hunter?" Lobacca asked.

"He was sent in by the Emperor long before we arrived, he was issued as a scout for the CIS troops. Seemingly he found the amulet, harnessed its powers, overpowered the remaining CIS troops and... it seems you're right, went into cannibalism," the Colonel said.

"And I would suggest you drop your weapons... now!" the Colonel said, when suddenly a bang went off.

"Flanking... smart but I only remember two squads still being among the living. Nor do I count you as dumb enough to leave the shuttles unprotected," Lobacca said.

"Hah! Got you there. Omega was never destroyed. I just ordered them to keep radio silence. Seems an old fox still might have some old tricks up his sleeve," the Colonel said.

"Hm, you win. Squad drop your weapons," Lobacca said.

"But Wazz..." Elf said.

"Just do it. If anyone of us even gets touched by their hands, then General Albert will hunt these rodders till the ends of their days. And we all know how that usually ends," Lobacca said.

"Oh, I'm scared, but sadly I guess you're right, but that doesn't count for these clones."

"Hey, what the... don't!" the Ishi Tib CO yelled.

The Colonel tightened his grip on his blaster and shot every clone at point blank range. The clones didn't even drop a sweat, or even try to resist. It seems they somehow were trained to accept this.

"They were..." Lobacca said.

"Worthless," the Colonel filled in.

"They just spent half their life in a bloody bacta tank, you can't just shoot them!" Lobacca raged.

"Oh, I can just shoot stuff, believe me," the colonel said."Now get moving or I'll actually will. Delta guide, you go on point," the Colonel said.

"Gamma and I will take rear guard," the Colonel said while he hanged the amulet around his neck, and ordered the group to start moving.

"Even if you try something, you won't be able to kill me," the Colonel said smiling.

"I really don't think that is a smart idea, you don't want to have that hanging around your neck when all hell breaks loose," Lobacca said helpfully.

"Don't worry I'll take it off soon enough, thanks for your concern though," the Colonel responded.

"I strongly doubt it will be soon enough," Lobacca responded.

"Oh, really?" the Colonel said.

"Yes, as these droids open fire on you," Lobacca said, while he ducked for cover, and the droids scattered around the room sprang to life and started opening fire as commanded by Lobacca.

"You!" the colonel yelled seeing his men drop left and right from him. "This was your plan all along wasn't it? Damn you! But don't worry, these droids will be destroyed soon enough! And then I'll come after you. I'd suggest starting to run," the Colonel yelled, while getting hit everywhere on his body and slowly starting to lose himself to the amulet.

"Breath vacuum!" Lobacca yelled in disgust at the Colonel, meanwhile giving a hand signal to the combat droids in the room to concentrate fire on the viewports.

Realizing Lobacca's actions, the Colonel started to run towards the doors. But he was too late, the viewports were destroyed , the breach doors were closing and all air was being sucked into space, including him. Meanwhile all the Ishi Tib had already left the room and were heading towards the shuttles.


Hangar Bay, CIS Cruiser

Omega squad, unaware of what happened to both Delta and Gamma, was waiting relaxed at the shuttles. Although relaxed might be a wrong term, seeing the stressed conversation the commsman was having.

"So what we do now, Primipilus?" the Ishi Tib CO asked.

Readying the blaster Lobacca had taken from one of the fallen Alpha squad members, Lobacca smiled at the CO and entered the room uncovered.

"Hey stand still!!" one of the Omega squad members yelled raising his blaster.

"Tsss," Lobacca sussed.

"Your commander is dead, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta are dead. Your Y-wing and Headhunter pilots are supposedly dead too. And Motivation is back in Ishi Tib hands," Lobacca said, still closing in on the hostile squad."So what is your plan? Still waiting for the pink ponies?"

"Surrender! Or we will open fire," one of the Omega squad members yelled.

"Tsss," Lobacca sussed. "So you guys didn't get briefed at all, eh? You know jack about the amulet?"

"We did, but you are carrying none," one of the squad members stated.

"Did you really expect the amulet to look like an amulet?" Lobacca said while rolling his eyes.

"But..." one of the Omega squad members muttered.

"Did you?" Lobacca said smiling.

The Omega squad leader made a quick hand signal and dropped his gun.

"Trying to get out of this system alive and free is one thing. Trying to take down an immortal is another..." the squad leader said.

"Okay, we're gonna do this by the book. On your knees and hands on your heads. Any sudden move and... well, you can join the pink ponies," Lobacca ordered.

Once Omega squad finished doing so, Lobacca signalled the rest to enter.

"You took one hell of a risk," the Ishi Tib CO said. "Pretty much totally your grandfather I'd say."

"But why take such a risk? You could have just ordered the droids to kill them."

"Maybe, but we know little if nothing of this secret organization. I'm hoping we could get some info out of these."

"I got the feeling this is just a tip of the iceberg."

"But why this comedy, there are easier ways."

"This is their least experienced squad. But they're fanatical just like the rest of them. So the only way of making them to surrender is playing on the doubts that their sacrifice is actually worth it."

"Hm."

"It worked." Lobacca said.

"Yes it did, yes it did. Anyway I don't think I actually introduced myself yet. My name is Lafee Huel, Commander of the Gamma Delta IV fleet, member of the Raccoon Order," Lafee said proudly.

"This is good news," Lobacca said trying to force a smile, but failing miserably.

"Hm?" Lafee looked up confused.

"Nothing," Lobacca responded, trying to halt the conversation.

"Lying towards a member of the Raccoon order isn't considered polite!" Lafee continued.

"And is also considered history, I'm afraid." Lobacca responded.

"No... I see..."

Trying to break the painful silence Lobacca turned to Elf. "You get communications with the TDF forces?"

"Yes, yes, there are sending a team towards us. We did get them worried a bit after we blew up the command centre," Elf said.

"We didn't blow it up, but vacuum cleaned it," Lobacca said.

"This entire situation must have stirred up a lot of commotion. So you can expect the media messing around. And you can be damn sure they'll be wanting a tour around the ship. We at least cleared all the stuff related to the cannibal and the amulet. Let us hope they never figure that one out,” Lobacca continued.

"But the truth..." Elf started.

"Ignorance is bliss," Lobacca stated.

Elf gazed at Lobacca for a second and realized how much his lifelong friend had changed, and decided that although he didn't know anything of what Lobacca did in the New Republic, that it could only be caused by messes far larger than this one.

"Fine," Elf muttered.


TDF Mon Calamari Cruiser Primipilus

"You had us worried back there, Primipilus," General Alquin said while he shook Lobacca's hand.

"Yes. How did you figure out it was all fake?" Lobacca asked.

"We? We didn't had a clue what was going on, well at least until Jedi Alvar here contacted us, claiming she felt a disturbance in the Force. And that it was somehow related to you," General Alquin continued.

"Actually, I was sent here to retrieve the amulet. The powers it contains are... well, not intended for mortal hands," Jedi Alvar revealed.

"Doesn't explain how you know it would be right here," Lobacca asked.

"The Force flows in mysterious ways." Jedi Alvar continued.

"Yes, yes," Lobacca said while hand signalling his squad.

"Drop it, Lobacca. You've been near your Granddad for too long it seems. She just saved your life; you could at least thank her."

"Fine. But I'm not buying it. Something is fishy about this," Lobacca said lowering his gun.

"Nor do I," Lafee said.

"Noted. But I am and in command. So just drop it," General Alquin ordered.

Lafee coughed. General Alquin looked up surprised and figured out his error.

"I see. But just drop it, please. The situation is already more then we can handle," Alquin said.

Suddenly the alarm went off.

"Mechanics to hangar bay! Mechanics to hangar bay! Y-wing Centurion 05 is experiencing engine trouble and is making an emergency landing."

"No..." Lobacca muttered.

"Everyone take cover," Lobacca yelled.

"Yes, I can sense it. It is him," Jedi Alvar said while looking at Lobacca.

"What is going on?" General Alquin said.

"The amulet. It grants people a sort of immortality, as I already explained. Whoever was carrying the amulet was sucked into space somehow, I guess when the command centre blew, and is now heading this way on that Y-wing," Jedi Alvar explained.

"I see," the General muttered.

While landing, a strongly deformed figure jumped off the Y-wing. Whatever was still left of Colonel Tyrau, as far as it could be called Colonel Tyrau, was limping towards Jedi Alvar while giving out a blood chilling howl.

He didn't seem to be having any fight left in him, and had seemingly come to the same conclusion as the mercenary. The price for immortality just isn't worth it.

Jedi Alvar gazed at Colonel Tyrau, or whatever was supposed to be his face, and with one quick motion she slashed off the amulet.

Immediately Colonel Tyrau dropped dead to the ground.

"The cannibal did put up more of a fight..." Elf muttered.

"This amulet must be destroyed as fast as possible. It would be highly appreciated if I could borrow a spacecraft to fly to the Jedi Academy, as I don't want to take bets using public transports," she said looking at the General.

"Sure, right away," he muttered slightly confused with the actions that had just unfolded before his eyes.

"And Lobacca, tell your grandfather of my actions, maybe he will rethink his opinion of the Jedi," Jedi Alvar continued.

"I highly doubt that. I think he'll claim you let me do all the dirty work," Lobacca answered. "But I'll give it a shot. Who knows? Besides he never liked that leg anyway."


Lobacca's Grandfather's Home, a couple of days later

"Hi Rez, grandfather home?" Lobacca asked.

"Affirmative. Two other meat bags with him. Master seems to respect them a lot," The B1 droid beeped.

"Hah! He still didn't erase that meat bag joke I coded into you, eh?" Lobacca smiled thinking back to his childhood.

"Affirmative."

Lobacca stepped into the room.

"Hi Grandfather. Sir Huel and General Albert, I didn't expect you here." Lobacca said.

"Lobacca take a seat," Grandfather said.

"Yes, I wanted to thank you for everything you did to rescue me and my crew," Lafee said.

"And I'm trying to keep these two from getting stuck in the past. You cannot believe the amount of stories of the good old days they can dig up," General Albert said.

Lobacca smiled. "I don't know how to ask but... what is the story behind the amulet?"

"I thought ignorance was bliss," Lafee said.

"That counts for the ones not getting shot at," Lobacca countered.

"Heh, I suppose. Now the reason we were send you in, you know. The power of the amulet you know too. I guess the story behind the amulet itself wouldn't hurt," Lafee said.

"A couple of millennia ago, there was a pirate lord. He had a certain degree of force sensitivity. Some even say he was a Jedi or Sith exile. Anyway he had a crystal. This crystal granted immortality but unlike the amulet, it didn't take over the person.
"Well, take over isn't totally correct. The more the amulet heals, the more it strengthens the emotion the carrier is experiencing at that very moment. Pain and fury in case of the mercenary and sadness and willingness in case of the Colonel. At some point it strengthens that emotion that much that the carrier can't control himself anymore and totally gives in to it.

"Now where was I? Right, the crystal. I assume I could talk hours about how the pirate lord managed to escape death, fool authority, rob the rich and so on. But I don't think you're interested into that. Anyway this crystal granted him immortality but didn't drive him mad like the amulet. Needless to say both Jedi and Sith, and a lot of smaller groups, heard of this crystal and tried to get their hands on it.

"I guess I'll keep the story short as most of the sappy details slip me, but a Jedi or Sith managed to corner the pirate lord. A fight ensued and the crystal was broken into three pieces. Ironically both pirate lord and attacker died in their fight for immortality. Once it was figured that one of the three pieces still contained the immortality granting powers, the one that was made into the amulet, the pieces were sold, stolen, and so on.

"In time the whereabouts of two of the crystals were lost. The still known crystal is, or was, in hands of a certain industrial family. The family is, or was, quite active in the weapon business and I'm quite sure they're part of this secret organization or that this secret organization got their hands on this piece already. They pretty much used this piece as a lucky charm as it had lost it immortality granting powers.

"The amulet changed hands quite often and quite fast, so it was impossible to keep track of its whereabouts. Most of the rumours claimed it rests at the grave of a certain powerful Sith Lord. Others claim the grave was of a daredevil. To be fair I don't know whose grave we robbed nor do I know how Emperor Palpatine gained knowledge of it. And to be honest I don't care.

"The third crystal... it changed hands a lot between Jedi and Sith. It was in fact used as a part of their lightsaber. If I'm right, some Jedi or Sith legend claims that that crystal also contained some of the immortality granting powers but then in a lesser extent. Translated into basic that would be, the wielder is still killable but harder to kill.

"Anyway some legend claims that if you would add the three parts together by the use of the Force, you'd recreate the original crystal. It is also said that this crystal could be used to grant people temporarily immortality, the super soldier the Colonel talked about, but I do not believe that to be right. As a member of the Raccoon Order, I have a certain knowledge of these special crystals. Yes, there are more of these, and just adding them together won't let them regain their original abilities. When fused together with the force, something that mostly fails and consumes the parts in the process, they most of the time are weaker versions then the original," Lafee explained.

"Most of the time... so it is possible?" Lobacca asked.

"If what I told you is actually true. It is but a story after all. Add that to the probability they have the manpower, Force power sort to speak, knowledge and luck. And the chance is as good as non-existent," Lafee said.

"But existing?" Lobacca asked.

"Theoretically... yes. Although it has never happened as far as I know. The fusion of a broken crystal without weakening it original powers, that is," Lafee answered.

"How did the Jedi and Sith know the difference between it and a normal lightsaber crystal?" Granddad asked.

"It has a distinctive colour," Lafee said.

"Some mix between pink and deep purple?" Lobacca asked.

"Yes, how you know?" Lafee said confused.

Lobacca exchanged a look with his grandfather.

"There is one way of figuring it out, Lobacca," Lobacca's grandfather said.

"I know, I know," Lobacca said while he stood up and walked towards his Granddad's trophies cupboard. After opening the lightsaber, Lobacca's worst fear came true.

The power crystal was gone.

"It's gone." Lobacca stated while holding up the lightsaber as proof.

"You sure it had one?" General Albert said keying his comlink.

"If you would know the amount of times I dissected this thing, yes it did," Lobacca said.

"But who? And the odds, it was the right one?" Albert said.

"One sentence: the Force moves in mysterious ways," Lobacca said angry.

"And Jedi in sneaky ones," Grandfather said angry.

"The Jedi? Seems my gut feeling was right," Lafee said.

"Mine too," Lobacca stated.

"Mine too," Grandfather stated.

"Actually, gentlemen, she wasn't a Jedi. I just checked. Nobody knows anything of a Loa Alvar. They even woke up Master Skywalker to ask. Also, it was forbidden for Jedi to have connections with their family back in the times of the Old Republic," Albert said.

"She did seem to have Force powers," Lafee stated.

"I have a suspicion she is a Sith, or something in between a Jedi and Sith," Albert said.

"And part of that secret organization of ours," Lobacca said.

"Why you think that?" Albert asked.

"I dunno, but seeing how they knew about the lightsaber and the timing on the CIS cruiser. Not to forget how amateur every one of the bad guys was, except for the Colonel. How many flaws there were in their plan, and how much information they seemed to have. It all seems to contradict itself. I mean they took over an entire Star Destroyer without us even noticing an oddity, but we retook it without breaking a sweat.

"They managed to sabotage the power supply, sabotage the comlinks going outside the ship, sabotage the communications from the cruiser towards the outside world. Elf told me he has a certain suspicion it was sabotaged shortly before we arrived. They managed to hack their way through every security measure on board that ship. But still they all died in the end like... well, amateurs. And bought my story like amateurs, forgetting to turn off my comlink like amateurs…

"I think they were especially trained for this mission, knowing they would all die in the end to give credibility towards Jedi Alvar's doing. I think it was all a trick. And it would also explain why the colonel killed those clones. He couldn't take the risk they'd tell on him," Lobacca explained.

"Doesn't explain why Omega squad surrendered knowing they should have died," Lafee stated.

"Actually they all died mysteriously in custody," Albert stated.

"I see," Lafee muttered.

"So what do we do now?" Albert said.

"Ignorance is bliss. Aside from that, I'm actually on vacation remember. And I was supposed to be at my parents place for dinner like two minutes ago," Lobacca said.

"So you don't want to help save the galaxy? It is the dream of most people," Lafee said, confused.

"I'm already doing a lot of galaxy saving in the New Republic Army, believe me. And I'm sure Dal, Bazz and Elf would do their best to help. They're good men. I also trust that you, Sir Huel, and General Albert and even my grandfather if needed, will do their utter best to achieve that goal. Now will you excuse me, I have to head home or my Mom will get the better of me. And she is a couple of levels worse than that cannibal I ran into." Lobacca said.

"I can verify that," Lobacca's grandfather said.