To the Lord Protector [ Dev ]

[Quietus]

My time is pressed and I'm sure yours is much the same - I'll be brief: cross Mustafar off the list. My late-night research has turned out a more fitting location for our next meeting, one I'm not personally familiar with but my colleagues guarantee will have what we need in excess.

Quarzite.

As I understand, this planet also happens to be at your disposal. With good faith, I would like to arrange an expedition to the caverns. How does four days from now work for you?

Regards,
Lorelei Darke
Sovereign of Kuat
CEO of the KDY

Seated at her desk in the grand office chamber of the drive yards, Lorelei pressed a single key on her holoscreen and smiled thinly as the message shot out over encrypted lines directly to the Lord of the Protectorate. She turned her attention then to the armored woman seated at the other side of her desk, quietly waiting for their meeting to begin.

"Tell me, Miss Scheler," the Queen began as she settled back into her throne-like chair, "what experience do you have traversing hostile environments?"

...


@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Lady Silencia"]

"You're sure you can do this?" Ayden stood in the middle of his office, staring out one window while a figure stood behind him. Unlike most days, Ayden was not dressed in his comfortable yet sharp clothes. Instead he wore a heavy black bodysuit while he worked to affix a number of plates and pieces to his person. "It's not like you have firsthand experience doing this."

"Would you relax?" The other man said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I swear by Carath's left buttcheek, it's almost like you doubt yourself." Ayden snorted at the rather colorful saying before standing up to inspect himself in a mirror. The armor had be repaired nicely. "Well it's not li-" "Like I spent the last four days reading up on all your reports and practicing your ridiculous accent? Yeah, I have." Ayden turned and looked at a man every bit his twin, who was busy shaking his head. "You can not have been born under Ehorlen. You're way too uptight."

"First off, I don't swear by the old gods like that anymore. And I'll have you kn-" He started to say more when a buzz caught both men's attention. "Lord Cater? The envoy ship from Kuat is on approach for landing pad 273-D." Ayden nodded unseen to the woman and turned to his doppelganger. "I shouldn't be more than a day or two out. You really shouldn't have any trouble. And if you do-" The other Ayden cut him off with a gesture and mocking smirk. "Call you while your running for your life on some backwater planet without so much as a StarCaff?" He chuckled and handed Ayden his helmet. "Relax. I got this."

"That's what worries me the most." Ayden took the helmet from the other man and gave him a quick handshake before exiting the office. He grabbed a pack that had been prepared for him with everything he'd need. While he headed for landing pad 273-D, he busied himself with a pad containing coordinates and a mission brief. The planet they were going to had not had extensive operations performed on it in centuries. It was only recently that they had started attempts at creating permanent mining operations. And that was when the troubles had started. Hopefully they wouldn't run into any troubles. But as he stepped out into the Fondor afternoon, Ayden knew that was next to impossible with his luck.

He stood while the shuttle came in and landed, moving to stand at the base of the ramp to meet with the people Lorelei had assembled for the expedition.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

The party was small. A collective of one scientist, a geologist, and an engineer from Kuat disembarked the transport. Not yet suited, but judging by the container of supplies brought out on a short repulsorlift spoke of their readiness to do just that when the time came. They introduced themselves, quiet, amiable, clearly both excited and nervous for the upcoming expedition. Following that, a woman fully outfitted in armor strode out after them, on her heels a giant one-ton tuk-ata hound sniffed at the air.

"Lord Protector," the woman addressed him as she approached, disengaging the head casing of her suit to greet him. Hazel eyes took him in without judgment, she offered him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Hazel Scheler. The Queen signed me on as an insurance policy. Not for you, for them." The woman hitched a thumb at her charges before she extended a hand to him. From behind her the massive hound peeked its head up from beneath her arm, rumbling a deep, guttural growl.

Ayden might just notice a blatant twinge in the Force.

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

If Ayden noticed a twinge in the Force, he gave no outward indication. Despite the growl, he took her hand in a quick, but firm handshake; perfectly at home with an introductory business meeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Scheler. Hopefully time will prove that no insurance policy was needed. All the same, I'm glad to have you all." He paused long enough to look at the tuk'ata hound with mild interest before turning his attention back to Hazel.

"Before we lift off, I figure I'd give you a brief rundown. In a few moments, we'll take a shuttle up to a Sentinel-class Cruiser and a pair of Nebulon B7s. The Sentinel-class will have the sensors we need, while the B7s are coming along as escorts. Once we get to the planet, we'll head down with an escort and meet up with the head of operations at the mining site. If all goes well, we should only be gone for a day, two at the most." He gave a warm, confident smile; one that had been well-practiced for crowds and public meetings. For all the usual mannerisms of a state leader, it was still somewhat odd that he'd volunteer to go personally.

"I must admit," he said suddenly, as if answer that unspoken question. "I've been looking forward to this little expedition for the last few days. I can only take so many financial reports and business meetings before I'm ready to drown myself in a stall full of whiskey." He paused for a second in consideration before asking "Before we head out, is there anything you need or questions you want to ask?"

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Hazel is fine," the woman replied at being called Miss Scheler, "and I'm sure it's at no slight to your abilities. She seems a thorough woman and she pays well."

Very well, Ivy thought to herself. She would have been an idiot to pass up what had appeared in all instances to be a cake-run job.

She nodded at the briefing with a short glance to her charges, all three of whom were listening despite their obvious nervousness as the tuk-ata prowled around their things, sniffing. Tail twitching.

"No questions here, Lord Protector. Wouldn't know much about financial reports but I know enough about whiskey and the need to drown in it. We're set to go when you are. The Queen said she'd meet you in orbit over Quarzite. Had some business with the Republic to tend to on the way."

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

Ayden nodded in approval before leading them to the M47 dropship they'd be taking up to Duihr's Eye. It had some of the most sophisticated sensors in the Protectorate fleet. If they needed any help scouring the planet for crystal deposits, it would be the best ship for the job. The Kuat gear was loaded easily enough, though the dock hands were a little nervous with the tuk'ata hound. In orbit, the Sentinel-class was flanked by a pair of Kuat Drive Yards Nebulon B7 frigates. Selected both as a symbolic gesture and as the most well-rounded and capable escort frigate in the fleet.

The flight to Quarzite was to be relatively brief and without incident. Ayden stood on the bridge, observing the crew just before the ship was scheduled to drop out of hyperspace over the planet. He invited Hazel up to join him and see if he couldn't learn a bit more about her and the Kuat of Kuat. Relations between Corellians and Kuati had always been historically strained. If he could find some sort of common ground between the two, he could forge a strong relationship. And the easiest place to start would be with Kuat Drive Yards and Lorelei. When he saw Hazel walk onto the bridge with the tuk'ata in tow, Ayden asked the first question that came to mind. "So where did you get a tuk'ata hound? They're not exactly common pets to the rest of the galaxy."

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy paused mid-stride at the question, glancing down to her beast who casually strolled by her, long lines of saliva hanging from both sides of its maw. A squelching noise could be heard echoing from it's gut. Ivy made an effort to force-feed it some medication to help settle the stomach, but without the animal's store of raw meat that was far more difficult than was healthy. Opting to keep her arm in tact, she'd managed only a half dose.

Lying Hound was not happy. The monstrous thing stalked past Ayden to a nearby control panel desk, toppling whatever man had been in attendance from his chair and shoved his massive, hulking armored form underneath, flopping over in a heap.

"I got entangled with the Sith Empire for a time," the woman replied, eyeing her pet before moving to join the man, "took a trip to Korriban. Hunted this guy down in exchange for two antique Dark Eye Probe Droids. Far as I can tell he'd been ostracized from his pack. Got beat up pretty bad. I had the opportunity to help, so I did."

There was a pause where she blinked and seemed to think on her own story. One that sounded a lot more odd now that she'd spoken it aloud. With a deep breath, Ivy reached up to itch at her head, taken aback.

"Not real sure why, to be honest. Seemed right at the time. I suppose in hindsight it was probably not the smartest decision. He really doesn't handle space travel well."

Hnnnnnnnnnmmmmmmgggggr. Lye threw her a despondent sort of glare.

Ivy raised her brows, "He's gettin' better though."

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

That was considerably more honest than he was expecting. Ayden stopped to consider for a moment what it said about him that he assumed she'd try to lie about it. He wondered if Cira's paranoia had rubbed off on him that much, but dismissed the thought. Instead, he let his eyes linger on the tuk'ata and the nervous technician who looked around as if unsure if he should return to work or not. An understanding chuckle from Ayden and a gesture and the technician thankfully left the bridge, most likely to go change pants. "I'll take your word for it."

Before he could say anything further, the helm officer turned and announced they were approaching the planet. Smiling expectantly, Ayden turned and faced out into the swirling void of hyperspace. A few moments later and they slid back into realspace with a rush of pseudo-motion. His smile slowly faded however as an odd feeling washed over him. Something didn't feel right. The orbiting station was still lit up, and he could see a ship that could only be the Kuat of Kuat's ship. But still... His entire body tensed as he continued to stare at the station and planet.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Sometimes Ivy experienced those things she only knew to be her intuition or, as her late husband had jokingly called it, her sixth sense. That moment when something felt so very, terribly wrong, but you simply had no idea what. Generally this was followed by the raising of hairs along the back of one's neck, or that dropping sensation in the pit of one's stomach.

She wasn't getting that, but, her Lorrdian training did allow her to read the man's body language, and it might as well have been screaming at her.

The woman's eyes traveled to the Lord Protector's face, keenly studying his expression which up until now had revealed very little.

"Suit up," a glance was given to her three charges who nodded and set to work. Ivy took that chance while they were busy to take a step closer to Ayden, "Pardon me, Lord Protector, but that look you have goin' there isn't very reassuring."

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

"No no... You're right." Ayden spoke tersely, eyes never leaving the station. It was a modest station, built around a small asteroid, stellarly speaking. More than four kilometers across, the asteroid had been an ideal place to set up a research station. There was already a large cache of crystals on the rock, many of which they reported were on the planet as well. That news excited the scientists and researchers as they set out to answer the questions. The last report out from the system had mentioned possible use as data stores. They reported that the crystals seemed to reactive positively to one another and that signals were boosted on passing through them.

Marching down to the hanger, Ayden stopped for a moment in front of his personal quarters and turned to Hazel. "I'll meet you down in the hanger in ten minutes. Get your men outfitted for close-quarters combat. We're stopping at the station before we head to the surface." And with that, he disappeared into his quarters. In no time at all, he had stripped all his clothes off and pulled the black body glove on. After that, bit by bit, he assembled the armor plates and locked them into place. The helmet was still cracked from his previous fight with Ashin, so he made due with the helmet-equivalent of the body glove, which was an airtight black nanoweave mesh with a HUD interface layered over it. It wasn't gonna protect him nearly as well as a helmet would, but it would do as a short-notice seal for the suit. There was no telling if the atmosphere was still on the station, and he wasn't about to not investigate.

True to his word, Ayden appeared in the hanger ten minutes later and found Hazel and her group already waiting. "I checked with the bridge while I was changing. No response from the station yet. So we're gonna head over there, see if there's any trouble. If there is, we'll assist. If not, we're headed for the planet." He hefted a blaster rifle over one shoulder as a dozen battle droids marched up behind him in formation. "If you don't want to come along, I absolutely understand. This is, after all, a strictly in-house Protectorate problem. You're in no way obligated to risk your well-being today." Bringing the rifle down he popped the action lever, releasing the blaster gas in a brief hiss before the rifle fully powered up. "So are you gonna sit this one out or are you gonna come along?"

 

[Quietus]

"Lord Protector," a crewman approached, "incoming message from the Kuati Command Ship."

"Allow me to stop you before you disembark, Lord Protector," the voice of Queen Lorelei sounded, "Approximately ten minutes before your arrival we received a mayday transmission from the Space Station. Relaying it now-"

Sounds of static followed. White noise. Garbled voices. Indiscernible yelling, static, screaming, frantic words, more screaming. Static.

"All attempts to clear the message have failed. We have received no further transmissions. Miss Scheler, have the research team begin orbital scans until all areas are secured. I can afford to replace equipment, but I cannot afford to lose my best minds. I also cannot afford to lose my business partner. See to it the Lord Protector remains in one piece. You will be compensated accordingly."
Though there was no image to show it, the Queen & CEO carried the faintest of smirks.
@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Risk of well-being comes with the job," Ivy replied, now more than ever aware of the weight of her weapons and armor on her form. She made to speak again but was abruptly cut off by the arrival of the crewman and the message from the Queen. Lips drawing thin, Ivy nodded when her employer finished.

"Understood. I'll have team set up with the long-range orbital scanners at once. Lord Protector, any idea what's behind all this? I was aware this planet was a hostile environment but the space station?" Something didn't quite add up and Ivy wondered if Ayden wasn't entirely sure himself.

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

Ayden shook his head, confirming her suspicions. He was just as perplexed as she was. It was as much of a mystery to him as it was her, and that did not sit well with the Corellian at all. Even worse was the message sent by the Lady Darke. Something terrible had happened on the station. Considering for a moment, Ayden turned to the Deck Chief and signaled. "Get me another bird prepped and give the bridge a call to send down a couple more squads of battle droids." Twelve droids and two humans weren't gonna cut it anymore.

As another M47 dropship was prepped, Ayden sat on a container and worked over the blaster rifle. It wasn't necessary, as every Protectorate ship kept their armories in top condition. It just gave him something to do besides think. Even the wait for the second dropship wasn't long, as almost every small craft was kept at launch-readiness at all times. In fact, they had to wait longer for the droids to reach the hanger than they did the dropship. In addition to the four squads of droids they'd be accompanied by over to the station, two more squads of marines were being sent along. Clearly something terrible had happened to the crew of the station, and they would have to be prepared to take care of it.

Once both dropships were loaded and secured, Ayden stood beside Hazel with one hand wrapped through a support strap in the cockpit. The dropships both launched from the hanger and slowly made their way towards the station. No signs were apparent as to what ill-fate had befallen the station, but soon it didn't matter. An alarm sounded as the pilot and co-pilot began to furiously work the controls. "The station's weapons are powering up." The pilot paused for a second before shouting the reason as to why the dropship's alarm had gone off. "They're targeting us!"

Turbolaser fire lanced towards the two dropships, who had begun evasive maneuvers. Inside, Ayden activated the magnetic seal in his boots to help him keep his footing. Looking out the cockpit, he watched as a bolt clipped the second shuttle and caused it to spin dangerously. "The second dropship's been hit. They're going to attempt an emergency landing in Hanger 4," the pilot reported tersely as he continued to work the controls to avoid a similar fate. Unfortunately, as they started in on approach to the hanger, a bolt struck the port engine. The whole dropship was shaken violently as it began to list to one side. "Brace for impact!" Ayden yelled just heartbeats before the dropship fell through the hanger's shielding.

The screech of durasteel on durasteel tore through the dropship as one of the consoles exploded from a power overload. Then the cockpit was thrown into further chaos as the dropship crashed against the far hanger wall. Fortune was with them this time as the damaged wing took the brunt of the damage. Bringing himself to a shaky stand, Ayden coughed and looked around. The pilot had been killed when his console exploded. If there was any doubt to his fate, it was sealed when Ayden saw the jagged piece of durasteel that was lodged in his neck. Luckily the co-pilot seemed shaken but otherwise unharmed. Smoke was beginning to pour in from the shattered transparisteel screens.

After checking his own suit's hardseal, Ayden turned to find Hazel. "Well that was less than ideal... Are you alright?"

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Having managed to wedge herself into a corner right before impact, Hazel picked herself up off the floor, tasting blood.

"Weh," the woman remarked as she blinked away the stars from her sight, reaching a hand out to steady herself against the wall. She'd bitten her lip in the process and it was smarting up a storm. Bleeding too. Helmet restricting her access to the wound, she resigned to dealing with the mess during the mission, "fine, I'm fine. Jus' workin' on my ugly," she relayed to him over their comm channel. He might catch the grimace through the clear portion of her helmet visor as she pushed a mouthful of blood through her lips and felt it drip down her chin.

Barrings set, she pulled herself around to the chair of the co-pilot and reached to yank the man out from the mess of rent metal. Bringing him to his feet, the woman shoved a blaster into his hands before giving him a pat on the shoulder and turning to assess the damage of the dropship hatch. Already twisted from its seal, a solid kick to the latch sent it reeling open on unsteady hinges.

"I'm inclined to say Lord Protectors first, but feth, I'm the disposable one here so we're going the chivalrous route." Taking point with her own blaster charged and ready, Hazel glanced once to the assortment of soldiers and droids picking themselves up from the transport hold and moved to the open hatchway, HUD on the inside of her helmet relaying signs of life within the hangar where she dropped down to the floor and immediately pegged off three approaching hostile droids. Once clear she gave the signal and moved aside to cover the others as they disembarked.

"Lots of smoke out here boys, keep sharp. Where are we headed?"

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

Stepping out of the broken dropship after the all-clear was given, Ayden did a quick scan of the hanger before lowing his weapon. The soldiers and droids came out though and kept their weapons at the ready while Ayden knelt beside one of the destroyed droids and inspected it. It was one of the Mk I's from the 300 series. He looked between it and one of the Mk I's that accompanied them and compared the two. They looked identical, save that the chest light of this droid was cracked and had what looked like a small pink crystal shard jammed into it.

A cursory glance at the other two fallen droids revealed similar slivers embedded in their chest pieces. "Something's not right with these droids. Something turned them against the station and us." Ayden said matter-of-factly as he stood up and turned to Hazel. "Come on. Let's head to Main Engineering. We can get a better reading on what the hell happened from there." He kept his rifle against his chest, not quite at a fire-ready position but ready to be brought to bear in an instant if necessary. The soldiers formed up on the two of them while half of the droids took point and the other half brought up the rear.

As they moved to exit the hanger, Ayden idly wondered who had jammed the crystals into the droids, and what exactly they hoped to achieve by taking control of the station. The planet was only recently subject to colonization and research efforts. Its tactical value was near zero. But as they marched onward, Ayden was getting the sinking feeling that most of the station's scientists and staff had been killed. But something about it was important. There was a reason for this attack, and Ayden resolved himself to finding out what that reason was.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Bent down next to Ayden as he inspected the droids, Hazel leaned in to take a closer look. She hadn't noticed it before, but these were not her droids to recognize. A curious brow arched as hazel eyes set upon the crystalline sliver lodged in the chestpiece. Reaching down she pulled it free and held it up for a closer look. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but if she'd learned anything from her life it was that ordinary things could often be responsible for extraordinary events.

Hazel slipped the sliver into a pouch on her figure and nodded after Ayden, falling in step as he lead the way.

Their path was obstructed only by more tainted droids. They had yet to encounter anything living, which gave Hazel pause when, finally, they reached the hall leading to Main Engineering. No bodies ... alive or dead.

"Where is everyone?" the woman muttered to herself as she stepped over another downed droid, stooping long enough to snap the crystal sliver from its chestplate and add it to the collection. She was certain by now that these crystals were part of the puzzle, even if she could not interpret it there had to be someone, perhaps the Queen's scientists, who could.

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

"I'm not sure..." Ayden answered truthfully, trepidation straining to leak into his voice as they moved on. This whole thing freaked him out more than he cared to admit. There was something about these crystals that sent a shudder up his spine as he thought about them. In the brief time he had studied the sliver, he had gotten the unnerving feeling that it was looking back at him. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, like saying that there was a malevolent sentience to the crystal, but there was certainly something strange about them.

A sudden clang caused him to stop and signal for the rest to follow suit. Further down the corridor, a side door slid open and a man stumbled out into the open. Weapons instantly came up but Ayden gave the motion to lower them. The man rolled on the floor for a moment as if disoriented before he struggled to get to his feet. Ayden began to walk towards him but stopped as the man's face came into full view. His eyes glow deep shade of pink, and the blood vessels around his eyes had crystallized. In the center of his forehead, a pink crystal had been jammed through the skin and had likewise crystallized the blood vessels around it.

Stunned, Ayden stood rooted on the spot as the man made an other-worldly shriek and charged. Bringing his rifle up, Ayden did not hesitate to put three bolts through the man's chest. As he wore civilian clothes, it was hardly surprised that he fell like a puppet with his strings cut off. As the others came up after him, Ayden knelt and turned the man's head to the side just in time to see the crystal dislodge itself from the man's head and dim. That did not bode well. And as he stood up to the distant shrieks that had come in response to his weapons fire, Ayden turned to Hazel with a rather grim face. "I think we know what happened to the crew."

 

[Quietus]

KDY Command Ship - In orbit over Quarzite - Bridge

The Queen stood before a massive holoprojector table overseeing the advance on the Station and the feed from the Scientists aboard Duihr's Eye. The tensions had run high since the incoming transmission picked up earlier, the woman maintained an air of quiet focus. Alone and secluded in this space as she was, the woman opted for a few moments of silent introspection and meditation. Allowing her senses to touch upon the Force for the briefest of moments, she let it flicker across the surface to test the flow. Centuries of honing her perception gave her the ability to read the slightest of changes, the minutiae of existence - to calculate and compose all possible events, to prepare for the inevitable.

The Research Team's readings came in, pinpointing several viable crystal deposits located within four active mines. With the locations set it should have made the mission all the easier, but it seemed the trouble wasn't just on the Space Station.

Perhaps it was just a local civil dispute, but the largest of the mines and the most viable for their needs was currently under fire. Lorelei's brow tightened.

"Contact the Lord Protector. Request permission to send in a team to investigate this disturbance. And get me an update from Scheler."

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Seven hells," what in the galaxy happened to this person? To these people? Frown tugging at her lips, Ivy firmly reassessed the grip of her blaster, looking up at the chilling sound of further ghastly sounds from within the compound.

Whatever was at work here made the woman's stomach twist into tight, painful knots.

"Captain Scheler, Captain Scheler, do you copy?"

She perked at the sudden incoming message on her comm, "This is Captain Scheler."

"Queen Lorelei is requesting a status report. Is the Lord Protector alright?"

"Aye, he's standing here next to me. The Space Station is compromised. All occupants, living and mechanized, have succumbed to..." Ivy glanced to Ayden, expression wondering at how to explain this current situation.

More beastly shrieks sounded from beyond. Louder. Closer. Her lips drew thin.

"I didn't get that last part Captain, please repeat. Occupants have succumbed to what?"

"Delirium. They're crazed ... we've found crystal shards in all of them. Something must be controlling them. I'll report when we know more."

"One more thing Captain Scheler, do you-"

SCRAAAAWWWW
HHHRAAAAAAAAAAA

"On point! Cover the Lord Protector!" Ivy lifted her blaster as a wall of crazed, lucid station workers cam tumbling through a doorway and spilling into the hall. Sounds of blaster fire from their contingent of droids and soldiers rang out in a deafening chorus. Ivy did her best to aim for non-lethal shots, hoping to leave at least one of these....corrupted beings alive. Perhaps if they could remove a crystal from a live one it might return to normal?

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

The screeches echoed throughout the halls as Ayden knelt on the ground and leveled his rifle. The first horde came spilling in from the auxiliary hallways, each person with the same exact shard lodged into their foreheads. Even the droids came scrambling through, their vocalizers shrilling in unnatural pitches. As the first few were felled, more and more came spilling out into the hallway.

Acting on an order from Ayden, the droids took up frontline positions ahead of the soldiers. Rifles spewed blaster bolts just as fast as they could, yet the growing horde of psychotic crew kept coming. For each one shot, another three took their place. Dimly, Ayden recalled that these stations had an optimal crew count of around 15,000; far more than their crew of seventy-two could hope to take out. The horde crashed against the droids with unrelenting force. The Mark II's hacked away with their vibroblades and knocked down waves of attackers with their flechette launchers, but it was only delaying the inevitable.

One of the possessed crew members jumped on a Mark II with a feral scream. It stumbled about for a moment before tipping over as two more piled on it. "Fall back!" Ayden yelled as he took several steps back and dropped his rifle, its power cell drained. Bringing his hands up, Ayden waited until the last soldier had run past him before hurling them forward and unleash a massive wave of the Force that sent everything in its path flying end over end. He didn't even stop to survey the results, instead immediately turning and running to join up with the others.

"We need to get to Deck 17. That's where the station's main reactor is. If we take that offline, then we can join up with the other team and get the hell off this station." He yelled into the com as they ran onward. In the distance, the screeches began again.