The Games Sith Play (Complete)

Alright this is a story i have been thinking up since i took part in my interview to join Blackscars, basically how Aim'ist'irela went from being a sniper in the imperial military to a freelance agent. I decided to break it down into serveral chapters as it will tie in my other characters including - Darth Lythus, my Sith Warrior and his twin daugthers Stonie and Skyie, who are my bounty hunter and sith inquisitor respectivly and the others. So here is the first chapter, hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1 - Fury in Flight.


Aim'ist'irela (known as Misti to her friends) was sure that the designers of the Fury-class imperial interceptor had not intended it for it to be a transport craft for a twenty strong strike team and it's three man crew, but that just what the one she was currently on board was being used for.  Even so the flight from Drummond Kass to Balmorra was not the most uncomfortable she had ever been on, it was a close second. However she was sure that Darth Xaphen, a powerful Sith lord had no care for the comfort of a lowly sniper such as herself.

Being a Chiss and there fore the only member of the team that was not human Aim'ist'irela really stood out, the others found her red, pupil and iris less eyes unnerving while her blue-grey skin only added to their uneasy ness, well most of them did anyway. The only saving grace for the trip was that she only had to share her small cabin with Darth Xaphen's twin daughters, Iessa and Iessi.

To say that Iessa and Iessi were identical was an understatement, both were skinny, with pale white skin, freckle covered faces, emerald green eyes, flaming red hair, which all combined to make them look completely harmless. Nothing though could be further from the truth. Misti knew from the reports that Iessa had joined the Mandalorian clan which were known for the breathtaking ruthlessness and aggression, because of their they were regularly hired by Darth Xaphen as bodyguards and shock troops.  He had used his close relationship with the leader of the clan to get his non force sensitive daughter a place with in their ranks. As for Iessi she was force sensitive as a result she had become her fathers most powerful and capable apprentice her mastery of the force allowed her to thow lighting about as easily as her sister pulled the trigger on her blasters. Individually the twins were fearless and not to be taken lightly, however when they were together they became something truly terrifying and the young Chiss noted they were always together.

In the cabin they shared Misti cleaning out her sniper rifle, which was her favorite weapon and making sure the rest of her gear was ready for when they went into combat. The twins however were resting in their shared buck watching the Holo-Net, Iessi lay out with her head resting on Iessas lap, she did not seem to mind or notice sister was idilly playing with her hair as they watched. Misti did spot that they twins touched each other often thoug she was not sure if they realised this.

As she watched the out of the corner of her eye the door to their cabin hissed open and Misti's friend and fellow 'Womp-rat' Double-Tap stuck his head in. He gave the three girls is iconic half flirty half cheeky smile.

"Darth Xaphen is summing every one to the briefing room, be there in five minutes," he informed them before disappearing.

With only an annoyed sigh the twins turned off the Holo-Net player and climbed out of their bunk, Iessi flattened her robe while Iessa straighted her trousers, neither even looked at Misti who was carefully putting her sniper rifle back together...

Chapter 2 - Hanging Out in the Hanger

If there was one thing every member of the imperial army knew it was that Balmorra was one of the worse posting a solider could receive, regardless of their rank. So it was not surprising that most of the strike force was in a rather somber mood as they unloaded their equipment, gear and weapons from the ship. Aim'ist'irela was no different, she said even less to the others than normally. In fact the only person who did not seem muted by the task ahead was her old squad mate 'Double-Tap' who was as chatty and upbeat as always.

"Cheer up little Mist," he smiled at her as they Beth began to slot their ammo clips into their belt slots. "At least on this planet we can see the sun," he commented attempting to lift her mood. Despite herself she could not help but smile up at his big friendly face as he grinned like an idiot.

The two of them were the only surviving members of a sniper squad known as the 'Womp-rats' who were made up of young, eager, expendable soldiers who had higher than average marks when it came to sharpshooting. They had been assigned to the wall which had been built to contain the rogue Sith, Lord Grathan and his followers.

In the ensuing skirmishes they had taken losses and gradually their numbers had been whittled down. The final death blow had come when during the night all but Misti and 'Double-Tap', who had been in a briefing with the officer they had all nicknamed 'Their Duchess', we're kidnapped and taken away into the madman's estate.

Since their squad no longer existed the two of them had returned to Kass City for reassignment, it turned out that their high kills counts had been noticed by none other than Darth Xaphen who had immediately informed the military that he wanted them in his own personal strike force, which he was recruiting for an important mission of his own.

'Double-Tap' was about to say something else but stopped when he saw the Darth himself disembarking from the ship. The rest of the strike team who had been standing around in small groups fell silent as he walked through them, directly behind him on either side were his daughters, who were now in full battle gear, in their wake were the two strike force squad commanders. Misti could tell that the males in were both simultaneously attracted to and terrified of the twins.

As for Xaphen himself he was a man of average height with carefully styled hair and beard, in fact everything about him stated that this was a man who was insanely vain about his appearance. For a moment his eyes looked over Misti and she knew for a fact that he was not admiring her skill with a sniper rifle, but then he walked past her as if she did not exist.

"Pick up your gear everyone," one of the squad commanders called out. "Our transports waiting for us outside and we don't want to keep Darth Xaphen waiting." he added.

"Come on let's get this over with," Misti commented to 'Double-Tap'.

"Sure, sure," he shrugged picking up his rifle. "Hey you see the way the Darth looked at you?" he asked as his trademark grin returned. "Maybe on the flight back you can bunk with him rather than his daughters." he laughed.

Chapter 3 - Storming the Trenches

"Another beautiful night on Balmorra," joked private Rice to his squad mates, who just smiled and shook their heads. "And of course where better to enjoy in than in these magnificat trenches of ours," he continued getting a few chuckles but they were cut short by a new arrival.

"If you are quite finished Private Rice," stated the female standing behind him, he turned to find himself looking at a slip of a girl dressed in camouflage with lieutenant pins on her collar, he stood to attention and found himself looking at the top of her forehead. "Well since you have so much energy you can join me in the observation nest," she added before turning and walking away, Rice shook his head and followed her picking up his stopped rifle as he did so.

The observation nest was actually a armored bunker with a tiny gap allowing those inside to view the battlefield in relative safety, since none of the imperial grunts could hit the backside of a bantha's arse. Rice took up position next to the young officer who was even now scanning no mans land with her scope, as he stepped up to his step up on to the raise platform that allowed him to see out, she sighed.

"How long have you been in the republic army Rice?" she asked.

"I thought we were all renegades who had abandoned the Republic," he responded with a smile.

"Don't play stupid with me," she snapped, glaring over at him for a moment before regaining her composure and returning her gaze onto the battlefield. "The captain gave me your file to look over, with all the war zones you have been in why is it your not the officer dressing down a unlucky private, instead of being that private?" she asked without looking over at him again.

"Never was one for leading, mam'm," he replied. "I prefer the simple life of a grunt to the politicking of you officer types." he added.

"Well I'm afraid that's no longer your choice," she told him. "The captain asked me for a name to lead a new scouting squad and I gave him yours. After your watch with me ends you'll report back to him for your new assignment."

"I take it I don't have the choice in this," he protested.

"Nope," she stated. "Hold it I think I see somethin..." she began but was interrupted when a bright green flash lit up the bunker like a rising sun. For a moment the young officer just stood there before slowly falling back, as she did so Rice could see that the lens of her scope was gone, along with the eye she had been pressing against it and a third of her head.

Knowing that the imperial sniper had range on the bunker Rice dropped low and crawled out into the trench on the right, he moved several metres down before carefully lifting his rifle and scanning for the shooter. Within a few seconds he spotted them, a young Chiss girl who looked directly at him through her own, much more powerful sniper rifle.

"Damn," was all he could think to say before most of his head was burned away.


...In the Imperial Trench...

"This is over-watch," Misti stated into her comms. "Republic lookouts strike force clear to advance," she added. Sitting back she watched as the other commandos who were better at close combat entered into the republic bunkers and dispatched the soldiers there with ease.

"Position secure," announced the voice of one of the strike forces commanders. "All units clear to advance."

For once in her life Misti wished she was not a sniper as she found herself moving quietly after them in the rather tense company of Darth Xaphen himself and his ever present daughters.

Before them loomed the intimidating structure of the Balmorran Arms Factory...

Chapter 4 - Into the Blue

On the orders of Darth Xaphen the strike team split up into smaller groups so as to cover the ground between the front line trenches and the factory with out being detected, since she had been at the back with the dark lord and his daughters Misti found herself traveling with them. Though she had seen it on the ship when they had shared their quarters together Misti now saw just how close the twins were, they practically moved as one, neither spoke to the other but they instinctively knew when the other need help.

At one point Stone had been about to place her armored foot on on the outstretched hand of a sleeping republic soldier, as they crept between them, Iessi however had merely reached out and tapped her sister on the shoulder warning her of her near misstep. Later on Iessi tripped over a discarded rifle and would have fallen had Iessa not suddenly been there to catch her, in both of these instances neither sister spoke a word to each other, or in fact acknowledge that they had happened at all.

As for there father well he moved slightly ahead of them all, to Misti's surprise he moved more like he was taking a stroll through a Kass City market rather than behind enemy lines, within spitting distance of their stronghold, his movements were decisive and purposeful, not one was wasted. As they drew near the arms factory they passed a group of latrines, unfortunately a republic soldier who had been inside one of them stepped out just as Darth Xaphen was passing.

What happened next was so fast that if it was not for the corpse on the ground Misti would have a a hard time convincing herself that it had even happened. First the guard stared at them all dumbly clearly not sure what was going on, then when he figured out just who they were his eyes widened in horror. This took no more than half a second, but it was more than enough time for Xaphen to act. Leaping into the air he spun himself around so that he came round to face the soldier, as he did this he grabbed his lightsabre, ignited it, then severed his victim's head in one blow, deactivated his weapon and reattached it to his belt even before he had landed.

The group moved on quickly as if the whole incident had not happened at all soon they could no longer even see where the body had fallen and moments later they had regroup with the others. What shocked Misti however was not Xaphen's speed or skill at such a fast kill but the fact that his lightsabre was not red or even orange, but blue, bright blue.

"I fought a Jedi once when I was much younger," Xaphen told her reading her thoughts, his voice was like silk. "He was one of their orders most skilled and accomplished swords men, his skill with a lightsabre was unparalleled. We faced each other in the mountains of Alderaan, our duel lasted three days," he explained with a smile. "After I finally defeated him I took his weapon as a replacement for my own, which he had destroyed and as a trophy." he added, then as he was about to move off he paused for a moment and looked back at her. "That was some very nice shooting back their in the trenches by the way," he complimented her.

"Oh, thank you sir," was all she could think to say before following him and the others into the factory, with a feeling of pride at his words...

Chapter 5 - Eyes on the Prize

To say that the Balmorran Arms Factory was big was most likely the greatest under-statement in the galaxy, they had only been inside for about twenty minutes and already Misti was rather turned about and disoriented. It had not help that they had to take such am indirect route so as to avoid detection by the rebels and their droid servants, they had already passed through, at least half a dozen store rooms filled to the rafters with weapons and explosives, three factory lines where some of those weapons were being made, rode up five lifts and down another two.

Eventually they seemed to pass into more derelict areas where rebels were few and patrols non-existent. It was also growing darker as the number of working lights dwindled forcing them to switch on their suit and weapon lights. Pressing deeper into the complex they soon found themselves in what appeared to be a pitch black, silent tomb.

The front line commandos in the team seemed to take easily to the darkness moving in close proximity to Darth Xaphen who was lit by the glow of his blue sabre blade. As always somewhat off from the group the twins moved, though it was dark Misti knew that they were moving in such perfect unison that their foot steps sounded like their was only one person. Both she and her friend 'Double-Tap' came at the rear constantly turning to make sure that no one was following them, their infrared scopes gave them a clear view of every thing around them.

What they saw in the darkness however was truly unnerving, the rest of the group had no idea that they were walking through a massive production line which seemed to have been responsible for producing the largest battle droids that Misti had ever seen. In fact the shoulder mounted main cannons each had a barrel that if they were stood upright would be twice her height, while their diameters where the size of her torso. Those were not the only weapons that these droids had each had pair of upper limbs one of which ended in a smaller but no less deadly its eight barrels clearly meant that it was designed for rapid fire, the other limb had the most gruesome claw which looked as if it could slice through even the thickest armor with ease.

All in all they passed over forty of these heavy battle droids, the first had been the ones closet to completion, as a result she could see just how it was they were built. The droids heaviest armor seemed to be around its midsection, as the strike force moved further down the now deactivated production line Misti was able to see just why it needed such protection, what she saw through her scope almost made her throw up. Within each was a small alcove which was just large enough to hold a person, or rather the head and torso of a person, if fact in the first two she saw without their heavy armor had the remains of their 'pilots' still with in them.

Soon they reached the end of the production line and found a huge chamber a the centre of which was a the computer responsible for storing the schematics for these droids and running the whole construction process. The strike force fanned out to secure the area, both Misti and 'Double-Tap' spotted positions up in the elevated walk ways which would serve as sufficient sniper nests, together they covered the entire chamber with ease. As they did this Xaphen and an imperial army engineer, backed up by his daughters moved directly to the command console, with a nod from the Darth the engineer got to work.

The strike force had secured the with most of the team focused on watching the main entrance way into the chamber by the time the engineer completed his work, the moment he did the lights in the chamber burst into life, as well as whole production line itself. The noise it made roared through the factory like and angry Krayt Dragon...

Chapter 6 - Production Line Sniping

The engineer frantically moved to shut down the sirens and alarms, it took him only a few moments but of course by then it was far too late. Xaphen looked at the cowering man enraged by his mistake, he looked like he was about to cut the cringing man down where he stood, instead however he pointed to the terminal once before turning and leading his daughters towards the entrance.

"Contacts," 'Double-Tap' announced through the comm channel.

"Confirmed hostile force incoming," Misti confirmed. "I make it twenty strong and rising," she added.

"Engaged when they are in ranged," ordered one of the squad commanders. "Stealth Troopers get in position to hit them from behind, the rest of you defensive positions now I want them running into a kill box," he ordered the rest.

"Everyone hold the line and give no quarter," Xaphen ordered his voice smooth but there was a hint of menace "What we do here today is vital for the future of the empire, do not fail me," he added drawing and igniting his light sabre, before looking over his shoulder and nodding to his daughters. Rather than draw their own weapons like their father Iessi spread her hands to her sides as they crackled with lighting while Xaphen began preparing her various gadgets and equipment built into her state of the art armor.

Above them all Misti fired the first shot of the battle, it was not the most difficult shot of her life. She merely placed her crosshairs on the face of the most eager rebel rushing towards them, who was already several steps ahead of his comrades. Squeezing the trigger she placed her shot exactly between his eyes, his head snapped back with enough force to not only slam him on his back but shatter his neck as well. Despite seeing their comrade fall the other rebels surged forward in such a way that Misti had to assume they were all hyped up on battle stimulates, with such a mass off targets it was impossible for her not to hit with every shot she fired, and every shot she fired was a kill.

To her right on another raised walkway her friend 'Double-Tap' was also firing freely, though his shot went into his targets chest no there heads. As always he was using the technique which earned his his nickname killing his enemy with two shots, the first burst through their chest armor, while the second was the one which actually killed them. Misti had once asked his why he did this rather than go for a clean head shot, his told her he would rather hit a larger target like the chest twice, than risk missing the much smaller target of someone's head.

Within the space of a minute both snipers had notched up at least twenty kills between them, but they could only fire so fast and with so many rebels rushing the strike forces position they had no chance to stop them all. Soon enough the commandos of the strike force were engaged in a brutal close raged gun fight with growing numbers of rebels, who had made it past Misti and 'Double-Tap'. Again they might had been over run had it not been for the efforts of the twins, they combined Xaphen's mandalorian tech with Iessi's force powers to rack up the largest kill count of the whole battle.

Iessi used her lighting to both drive the rebels out from what ever cover they were attempting to hide behind, or holding them in place for her sister to 'light them up' with jets from her wrist mounted flame thrower, or for those that we out of range of her pyro attacks, her numerous micro rockets. In almost any other situation the carnage that they unleashed on their enemies would have turned the tide of battle in their favor, but not here in the heart of the Balmorra Arms Factory.

It was as she fired one of the last shots from her sniper rifle that Misti spotted a large, well built, woman advancing with the rebels, unlike those around her she was not rushing into to engage the strike force but walking steadily, her face was set and emotionless, but through her scope The young sniper could see the sheer anger and fury which drove this woman and she was barely managing to keep in check.

Knowing that she was a greater danger than the rest of the rebels Misti prepared to fire, but just before she squeezed the trigger the woman stopped and looked directly up at her with a look that froze the blood in Misti veins, then in the next instant she was gone. At first Misti thought she had engaged some form of stealth field but in fact what she had actually done was jump, over the entire battlefield, and landed in front of Darth Xaphen himself.

"Well well, this is a surprise," the dark lord smiled as the woman drew a huge savage looking Vibrosword. "I did not expect to find you here Jo'lisa," he added, her reply was to attack first...

Chapter 7 - Mercenaries and Droids

The ammo counter on Misti's sniper rifle was running close to zero on her last clip, still though she was making every shot count with each claiming one or more rebel lives. However a more life threatening problem at the moment was that she was now becoming pinned down by the increasing number of enemy sharpshooters who were now firing on her position, as she ducked behind cover she spotted that 'Doube-Tap' was already out of ammo for his rifle and was attempting to fall back while also under fire.

He had made it back to the ladder when a shot caught him in the hip spinning him round and sending him spinning to the ground bellow. Despite the battle raging around them Misti swore she could hear the wet crunching, snapping sound his neck made as he hit the reinforce durosteel concrete floor at that moment she knew two things, first her old friend was dead and second if she attempted to reach the ladder then she would die too.

The question to just how she was going to move from her position without being killed was answered for her when Iessa fired several micro rockets at a group of rebels who had made it to a position next to the main support for the raised walkway which Misti was on. The resultant series of explosions ripped the structure apart, those that had not been killed by the young Mandalorian's attack were shredded when the perforated metal walkway collapsed on top of them.

Misti had found that her world suddenly dropped out from under her a few moments before she plunged into a rising cloud of dust and gore, with a startled yell of surprise. No one apart from the sharpshooters who had been trying to killed her even noticed that she disappeared from sight, this fact more that another saved her life that day as they switched their attention to trying to kill the rest of the strike force. As the dust settled around her Misti found that she had a clear view of the brutal duel between Darth Xaphen and the woman he had called Jo'lisa, a large piece of metal had fallen across Misti's leg, though it had not hurt her she was now trapped, all she could do for the moment was watch the battle in front of her unfold.

The Sith Misti had watched duel in the arena's had always seemed to follow a certain set of unspoken rules, in fact the one time she had witnessed a Sith and a Jedi fight those same rules seemed to apply, however the fight the young Chiss was watching now had none of these rules. Unlike Xaphen who fought just with his sabre like a true duelist, his opponent fought not just with her vibroblade but with her fists, legs and even her head, Jo'lisa it turned out was a brawler.

Her first attack was a powerful, two handed, overhead swing with the aim to cut Xaphen in two from his left shoulder to her right hip, it was an obvious attack and one that he easily blocked with his light sabre, however without warning Jo'lisa let go of her blade with her left hand before balling it in two and fist and slamming it into his abdomen. Both the strength and shock of the blow caused him to stagger back, which allowed her to swing her blade at his left side, this time he parried the blow away, but only just. He had no reply however for when she slammed her right knee into his side forcing him to stumble awkwardly, with a scream of rage Jo'lisa kicked him squarely in the groin, then as he doubled over she rammed the hilt of her weapon on to his back sending him sprawling to the floor.

That would have been the end of Xaphen had it not been for the twins, seeing that their father was in trouble they instantly switched the focus of their attacks to aid him. The twins unleashed a combined attack of blaster fire and lightning, however acting on what seemed to Misti to be instinct Jo'lisa leapt out of the way of the danger, she did this not once, but several times, her feet only touched the floor for a second before she had to dodge another assault. As they drove her away the twins moved up to their father and helped him to his feet, but as a result of their rather over enthusiastic actions Jo'lisa found herself standing next to the engineer who had been working on the console, just as he finished downloading the schematics for the droids. Misti saw first shock then horror as he turned to find the violent woman standing next to him, before anyone could act she decapitated him in one swing before snatching the data pad he held out of his hands before his body had even toppled off its feet.

Another result due to the twins switch in focus was that the rebels were no longer bottle necked and as a result had poured in over running the strike teams positions. Knowing that the game was up Xaphen pointed to one of the droid cannons which hung from the ceiling, waiting to be attached to a droid, Iessi instantly stuck at it with lighting, the energy from her attack overloaded the weapons power cells causing it to first fire into the wall it was pointed at them explode in a blinding and deafening explosion.

When her senses returned to her Misti knew that Darth Xaphen and his twin daughters had left her behind, she lay on the ground helpless as several rebels stood over her, from the sadistic expressions on their faces and lustful glints in their eyes she knew that she was in real trouble...

Chapter 8 Balmorran Justice

Two of the men surrounding her grabbed the debris that had pinned her leg as they lifted it off her Misti leapt to her feet, with a vibroknife in her hands, she took a swing at the first rebel to make a grab for her, the blade cut through his gauntlet and into the back of his hand. With a snarl more from surprise than pain he recoiled from her, much to the amusement of his comrades, something which only seemed to enrage him further.

"Damn you you blue skin freak," he raged and surged towards her again, this time he was able to knocked her blade aside and punch her in the face, the force of the blow would have sent her back to the ground, but one of the rebels who was behind her reached out and held her. " So you like to use a blade then do you," he grinned sadistically. " Well lets see how you like this," he added and proceeded to cut away her clothes and armour. Each time she tried to stop him one of the other punched, kicked or slapped her viciously, one of them pulled her hair, forcing her to turn her head painfully one way then the other, she would however not give them the satisfaction of begging for mercy and she continued to resist them.

Though it seemed to last forever they soon had her top cut away from her, with a gesture from their knife wielding leader the rebels grabbed Misti and dragged her onto her back so that he could shred her pants as well, however as they were moving her she managed to twist her body so that the one pulling at her left leg lost his grip. Seizing her chance she lashed out, kicking the one who let her go in the face and breaking free of the others, but the moment she hit the ground they were on her again, she continued to fight but there was little more she could do.

"What do you think you are doing?" an enraged female voice yelled causing the rebels to stop. Misti was able to turn her head enough to make out Jo'lisa standing a short distance away. "Let her go, now!" she ordered, the men did as she said, but the one who had been cutting Misti's clothes away remained where he was.

"You can't tell us what to do mercenary," he stated in his snarling animal like voice. "This imperial bitch killed our friends it's our right to get justice," he added.

"Your Justice looks a lot like rape to me," Jo'lisa commented coldly.

"Maybe it does," he conceded with a sadistic grin as he straightened up, tightening his grip on his blade, behind, following his lead the others drew their own weapons in his support. "Now why don't you just back off, unless of course you want to join her," he threatened with his voice taking on a sleazy tone at the end.

What happened next was perhaps the most violent fight that Misti had seen in her life so far. The moment after the man had made his threat Jo'lisa ripped her Vibrosword from it's sheathe and had leapt the short distance, plunging her weapon into his chest with such force that it smashed his rib cage, shredded his internal organs before finally shattering his spine as it came out the other side. His leering sadistic expression turned to one of disbelief as he looked first into her enraged face then down at the hilt of her blade which was now pressed against his torso, he was about to say something but she rammed the palm of her left hand into his face and pushed him off her blade. As he fell backwards the huge wound blood gushed out, filled with chucks of gore and bone.

Though their comrade had been cut down in such brutal fashion which would have given even season troops pause for thought, the rebels did not even blink, after all they were Balmorran natives and such brutality was a common, almost every day occurrence for them. Two rushed at her with their own blades ready to cut her to pieces with a third took aim with his blaster pistol, from where she lay on the ground Misti could not see how Jo'lisa would not die.

With her weapon free Jo'lisa spun on the spot raising the blade above her head in her right hand, only to bring it down with all her strength onto the skull of the nearest of the rebels, she buried it deep into his skull cutting down to his neck, but now it was stuck and she could not free it before the second closed on her. So she let go of the blade and dropped into a crouching position pulling a smaller though still rather big secondary vibroblade from its sheathe on her belt, this sudden drop meant that the second rebels attempt to decapitate her failed utterly his weapon sailed cleanly over her head. Once he had over reached himself Jo'lisa came back up, with an up ward slash from her new blade she cut open his throat, like the first rebel his eyes went wide as he realised she had just killed him, dropping his own weapon his hands went to his neck in a vain and hopeless attempt to stop the flow of bright red arterial blood which had sprayed over his and her armour.

The deaths of those two however had give the third all the time he needed to aim his pistol at her head, what he did not expect however was for her to now throw her second blade at him. It was a heavy weapon however and not designed to be aerodynamic so though she threw it at his head it stabbed into his upper right thigh, but the wound was enough to drop him down to one knee with a scream of agony. As he cried out attempting to pull the weapon from his leg Misti watched as Jo'lisa simply walked past him turned and around and gripped his head with both hands.

"No..." was all he managed to say as he figured out what she was doing. With out even blinking she violently twisted his head, his whole body spasmed as she snapped his neck before dropping limply to the floor.

The rage which had fuel her attack on the rebels simply vanished with the loud cracking sound of the last ones death, without pause Jo'lisa retrieved and cleaned her weapons, before looking over at Misti. Calmly she walked over to where the young chiss lay, for a moment she stood over her saying nothing, then reached down and with a great deal of care and no apparent effort picked her up, holding her close to her chest like a baby.

"Come on we better get out of here before more of those feral inbreds come looking," she told Misti, before carrying her away from the carnage. "Besides I know someone who will be very interested in talking to you," she added...

Chapter 9 Huttsbane and Debts

The journey through the arms factory was some what of a blur to Misti as she was carried like a child through the mammoth complex in Jo'lisa's arms. The injuries from the battle plus those form the beatings she had taken afterwards had taken its toll and she was fading in and out of consciousness, she was aware of the other woman speaking to rebel forces who had been sent in to sweep the area for any more imperial commandos and pointing them in a direction that kept them out of the two women's path. Finally she black out completely as they exited the main factory into an area which contained numerous starships, though she never saw which one they actually boarded.

When she finally opened her eyes again she found herself lying on a large soft bed in a extravagant cabin, the main features of which were pair of bejewelled statues, each depicting a scantily clad dancing girl, one twi'lek, the other human. Misti had never seen anything so extravagant, as she stared at them the door opened and in walked a gold protocol droid which seemed startled by the fact she was awake politely but rather annoying began to speak.

"Oh my good heavens," the droid exclaimed. "My apologies Mistress Aim'ist'irela I did not realise that you had woken, I will collect your clothes for you if you would but give me a moment."

Before she could say a word it disappeared back out the door that it had come through, it was only when it had mention clothes that she realised she had nothing on, tentatively she placed her feet on the ground, expecting pain from the injury she had received from the rubble which had trapped her leg, but there was none, so standing up she found and mirror. She gasped somewhat as she saw that the only reminders of the battle she had just fought were a few fading bruises, as she stood their admiring her fit, trim figure the droid returned.

"Here are your new clothes Mistress Aim'ist'irela," it announced holding up some fine new clothes. "I do hope you fine them satisfactory," it added, Misti turned and took them from the droid.

"You can go now," she told it firmly, dismissing it with a wave of her hand, even as a child Misti did not like droids and these protocol models really made her skin crawl.

"Certainly," the droid chimed. "Mistress Jo'lisa awaits you in the Communications and recreation room once you are ready," it added, Misti did not responded.

Once she was dress she left the cabin and found herself in the ships central chamber, like the cabin it was lavishly decorated, but Misti could tell that this decoration had been added to the ship long after it had been built. She found her unexpected saviour standing in behind a small bar pouring herself a drink, as the young chiss entered Jo'lisa looked up and smiled at her before grabbing a second glass and a full bottle of a green liquid.

"Finally awake I see," she commented. "Here come have a drink," she added walking over to a couch curved round a circular game table, Misti stood there for a moment. "Relax I'm not going to bite," the larger woman smiled, Misti smiled back and quickly walked over, Jo'lisa poured two drinks and slid one over. "Here you'll enjoy this," she added, as soon as the liquid touched her mouth it felt like it was on fire, a few seconds later she was coughing while her eyes began to water, sitting across from her Jo'lisa laughed.

"Damn what is that?" Misti asked when she stopped coughing. "I've never taste anything like it."

"Its called Huttsbane," Jo'lisa answered with a smile. "Don't worry you'll get use to it, want another?" she offered, Misti surprised herself by nodding, she downed this second one too and grabbed the bottle for a third.

"Why did you save me?" she asked having finally built up the confidence to do so.

"Because I owed a debt," the warrior replied with a shrug.

"A debt, to who?" Misti responded clearly confused. "We've never met, and we are on opposite sides of the war," she added.

"My debts not to you your right," Jo'lisa conceded then finished her fourth glass. "It's to your father," she explained, Misti head shot up in surprise.

"My father, how do you know him?" she asked.

"He helped me out a bad bind I had got into," was all Jo'lisa said. "He gave me the chance to work for him, plus help with my revenge against Darth Xaphen. It was his sources that led me to intercepting you all on Balmorra, he didn't know you were part of that strike team however. So you can see, by saving you I have payed back the debt I owe him."

"I've not spoken to my father since I joined the imperial military," Misti commented.

"Well you can talk to him soon, we'll be landing on Nar Shaddaa in a few hours," Jo'lisa told her filling their glasses once more...

Chapter 10 Dark Temptations

If there was one place in the galaxy where a person could buy anything or anyone, a place where they could indulge in any vice, to reveal in glorious debaucheries of every imaginable kind, then Nar Shaddaa was it and if there was one place on the planet to get all those things together it 'Dark Temptations'. It's owner was a reclusive Chiss who had earned enough respect and credits for the Hutt Cartel who owned the planet to be allowed to form his own 'family'.

As usual the line out side the club it long, pulling up in the speeder which had met them at the port Jo'lisa and Misti stepped out and walked straight towards the door. Jo'lisa's protocol droid had mended her armour as well as cleaned off most of the blood stains, for Misti it had found a lavish black dress which accentuated her slim well toned figure. Having never worn anything like this in her life the young Chiss was very unsure, even self conscious about it, plus the make up that the droid had applied on the ship did not help either, her feelings became even more acute when she emerged from the vehicle and found every one waiting to get in staring at her, luckily her saviour came to her rescue again.

"Just breath and put one foot in front of the other," Jo'lisa whispered and she hooked her left arm round Misti's right. "Oh and don't forget to smile," she added with a smile of her own, before leading her towards the front door.

Much to annoyance and fascination of those who were first in the queue to get in the doormen stepped aside, clearing a path for them to enter, Misti could feel the eyes of numerous male, and females on her as they entered it made her uneasy, it was not that she was not used to being looked at, rather it was the way they were looking at her, where as before others looked at her as an alien or a solider now she was being looked at as an woman or more accurately as an object of desire. It was this uneasiness that made her draw closer to Jo'lisa without even realising she was doing it, with a chuckle the warrior held the young Chiss tighter.

When they stepped into the club the light level was down low so the two had to pause for a moment as their eyes adjusted to the darkness,when they had Misti found herself looking at a stage which dominated the room, it was designed to be a catwalk from the back of the room to its centre, but where a runway ended abruptly this ended in a wide circular dancing platform with two poles that went up the the ceiling, what was more out of the circle there were four slimmer catwalks each leading to another circle smaller platforms that only had one pole in their centre.

Though the main dancing platform was empty at the moment the other four each had a dancer on them, all young females, all of whom were in varying forms of undress, one was red Twi'lek, another was a green skinned Mirialan, with only a few tattoos on her face, the third dancer was a human and the final one was actually the most surprising of them all a Rattaki. Though they all wore different outfits Misti did notice one thing they all had in common, both with each other and with other staff around the club, slave collars.

Jo'lisa led her through the club, skilfully guiding them to a curtain covered door just off to the side of the main catwalk, the guard in front nodded to them and stepped out of the way holding the curtain aside to let them pass. After a short lift rife they found themselves on a balcony that over looked the entire club, numerous very wealthy club goers sat or stood around in this smaller area which only had one stage in its centre that at the moment was occupied by a stunning twi'lek woman again with a slave collar fixed to the back of her neck.

Like on the main floor Jo'lisa paid them no mind, however as she attempted to lead Misti through them a fat, older human male who had clearly to much to drink grabbed the young Chiss and pulled her on to his lap, however even as he leaned in to kiss her an armour fist slammed into the side of his head. Had this man been smaller both he and Misti would have gone flying as it was his head rolled around from the force of the blow while his body remained where it was, his bodyguard started the move towards them but caught the look in Jo'lisa's eyes and stopped.

"Take your boss home," she told the man, as she and Misti locked arms again "And warn him not to touch club property without permission again," she added with a clear and threatening tone, the man nodded. Before Misti could protest about being call club property she was led out of the VIP area through a guarded back door.

They entered a very richly decorated office which was dominated by a large office desk and chairs in the back of the room while to the right of where they entered was a series of comfortable looking seats all facing a table which clearly also served as a yet another dancing platform, to the left was a bar which was stocked with exotic drinks from all over the known galaxy. By the desk a two people who had clearly been discussing something important which the girls entrance had interrupted all looked in their direction, the person in charge and sitting behind the desk was Misti's father, Aim'alg'arela.

"Misti!," her father called out as he rose from behind his desk and came over to her. "it's great to see you kiddo," he added as they hugged.

"You to dad," she replied, as they stepped back she looked around the room once more. "You look like your doing well," she commented.

"Yes well rising through the ranks of the cartel does have its perks," he smiled, before looked around the room. "Ok guys out, I need to talk to my daughter alone," he ordered, the huge man who her father had been talking to before nodded and headed for the door, the other person in the room had been a stunningly beautiful human slave as she turned to go Jo'lisa picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, as if she weighted no more than a feather.

"That girl sure loves her R and R," Misti's father commented with a shake of his head. "Take a seat I'll get you a drink," he offered walking over to the bar Misti nodded and moved to sit in the seat he had indicated. He came over with two glasses of what could only be Huttsbane, once they were both seated Misti spoke up.

"Your friend Jo'lisa sure like her girls all dressed up," she commented indicating towards the dress.

"Though I'm sure she enjoy the view, it was my idea to dress you this way Snowflake," her father admittedwishing the nickname he gave he when she was very little, Misti looked at him with a mixture of surprise and concern on her face.

"Snowflake, you only called me that when I was in trouble with mom, deep trouble," she stated. "What's happened dad?"

"Two days ago there was a broadcast from imperial space list the names of individuals who the empire considered threats and the bounties it was placing on them, yours was on it Snowflake," he explained. Misti felt as if some one had just slammed their fist into her gutt, so she took a long drink from her glass.

"If the empire is looking for me then why did you have me enter your club in such a public manner, you should of had me slip in the back," Misti pointed out, her father shook his head.

"Your thinking like and imperial Snowflake, remember this is Nar Shaddaa, spies loyal to your friend Darth Xaphen have been staking out the club since before the broadcast, they expect me to sneak in a Chiss mercenary that way, they will not even look twice at a new club girl wrapped around Jo'lisa's arm." he told her.

"But why is he doing this? What have I done to earn his wrath?" she questioned her father.

"It's because of those droids that he tried to acquire on Balmorra, the ones which Jo'lisa stole right from under him," as he said this he held up the data disk that contained their blueprints. "To says these are state of the aren't would be a woeful under statement, everything about them from their armour to their weapons are years ahead of anything we have out their at the moment," he went on as he placed them in a small safe behind his desk. "With an army of these at his beck and call the good Darth will be more powerful than any sith lord in the empire."

"So he wants to use me to get to you," Misti realised. "I'm just a pawn in his game against the other dark lords," she concluded somewhat angrily.

"Fraid so Snowflake," her father agreed with a sad smile on his face.

"So what do I do now?" she asked both him and herself. "How do I strike back at him?"

"First get some rest, you look exhausted, I've set up a room for you upstairs next to mine, inside you'll find some gear and equipment you might find useful," he instructed her. "Tomorrow, if you want you can help Akadric and Jo'lisa out with some problems we have been having with the Exchange, it's not going to be glamorous work but it'll will start building up your reputation as a mercenary."

"Why is that important?" she looked puzzled.

"Because sooner or later you'll need more protection than I can give you," he answered truthfully. "You'll need others who can watch your back in for when Xaphen or his daughters come looking for you, so while your doing that I'll contact some of my sources and see if I can find you a group."

"Alright you sold it to me," Misti smiled, before rising from her chair. "So where is my room again, I really want to get out of these clothes," she added, her father laughed and pointed to the back door.

"Just go out their and up the stairs your can miss it Snowflake," he instructed her, she nodded and walked out the door he had told her to, once she was gone his smile vanished as he walked over to his desk and actived his Holocommunicator. after a few moments the huge figure of Akadric appeared in front of him.

"What's up boss?" the large man asked.

"Akadric tell me everything you know about the Blackscars," Aim'alg'arela requested...


So thats Aim'ist'irela's back story and how she ended up out of the imperial military and as a mercenary, what did you guys think feel free to let me know.