Enter Black Flag, Part 4

“Clan leader Jilak? Clan leader Jilak? Are you there? Please respond!”

“Clan leader Jilak. What is it, command?” came the thick Mandoa accent over the com.

“The assult crew has taken the armory! They've dressed themselves in the commando's armor and are marching for the inner sanctum. Lord Malefestus has ordered that you mobilize your troops to intersect at once!”

“Copy that. We're on our way.”

***

“Commander Osmek?”

“Command centre? What is it? What's going on up there?”

“Sir, it's the mandalorians. They've betrayed us! They're making a push for the inner sanctum, and yours are the only troops left who can stand against them! Lord Malefestus orders that you head them off before they reach the sanctum.”

“We're on our way command.”

***

Agent Stien nodded to Aurrelius. They just might be able to pull this off after all, especially now that all remaining enemy forces were busy fighting each other. He watched as two of those mercenaries planted ionic devices on the control equipment. Quite clever really, for scum like them...

“All right men, this is it. We are now only moments away from achieving our goal and beginning our exfiltration. Stay on guard. We're still in enemy territory, anything could happen. Company, move out!”

Aurrelius lead his remaining forces down one of the dark hallways, now devoid of any life except their own, until they reached an anteroom where Shimas and his crew were knelt on the floor in deep concentration. The girl Unala had her lightsaber out on full length, and was slowly cutting a wide circle into the floor. When she had cut all the way around, Zatah and Shimas used the force to lift the massive chunk of floor into the air, and set it down near by. Some of the soldiers attached ascension cables to the ceiling and descended through the hole to the floor below. The rest of the party gradually followed suit until they were all on the floor below. Unala, Zatah, and Shimas prepared to repeat the process, but this time with a group of eight snipers positioned around the edge of the hole.

As soon as the segment of floor was lifted clear, the snipers took aim, and fired at the few remaining mandalorian guards below them.

Aurrelius was the first one to descend into the dismal prison below. It was a dark place. One that had seen and preformed dark deeds. Lining the walls of the large room were laser cells giving the place an eerie red glow. Some of the emaciated captives looked up in hope to the new arrivals, but most were too far gone to even move.

Aurrelius looked sadly around him. It served as a reminded of why the sith deserved to destroyed and their dark reign ended.

There! At the far end of the hall stood two cells sitting by themselves. Their inmates were both strapped to what looked like torture beds, needles and tubes sticking out of their arms.

Aurrelius ran over to his young friend Ktulus and began carefully removing the tubes and other apparatus' from his sickly body. Ktulus weakly looked up to him and smiled.

“A day shall arise...”

“Just as I promised you it would.” Aurrelius saw that Exxeter had just been lowered down into the prison level and was began hobbling over to Aurrelius.

“This the kid we're here to save?”

Aurrelius looked shocked to see his chief medic moving, let alone walking unaided. “Aren't you supposed to be half dead?”

Exxeter grinned. “I'm high on enough stim to wake up the dead. A mans gotta do his job. So is this the kid?”

Aurrelius rolled his eyes. Exxeter did have a way of always getting the job done...

“Yes, this is Ktulus.”

“Looks to be in pretty rough shape, but I think he'll be alright. You know what they put in those tubes he was attached too?”

“Haven't had time. Can you get him out of here or not?” Aurrelius nervously scanned the large room, now occupied by his remaining forces.

“Won't be pretty, but I can make it happen,” Exxeter cautiously replied.

Aurrelius nodded and turned to attend to the rest of his plan when he heard a moan sounding like his name from behind him. Ktulus was trying to tell him something.

“What is it my friend?”

Ktulus weakly pointed to the pale figure strapped to the bed next to him. “mothe...” was all he could say before passing out. For the first time Aurrelius gave notice to the sickly looking female next to Ktulus. Looking beyond the grime and caked blood, he could see that this woman, whoever she was, did indeed bear a striking similarity, not to Ktulus, but to Shimas.

Seeing the medics around the beds, Shimas himself strode over to the small group. Looking down at Ktulus broken body he said, “So this is my little brother. Yes, I can feel the same force flowing through him too. Will he be alright?”

Aurrelius dumbly nodded and instead pointed to the unconscious woman. In a low whisper he asked, “Do you know this woman Shimas?”
Shimas looked puzzled. No, he had never... He looked up sharply at the druid next to him. “Who is this Aurrelius?” He asked, but deep down, he already knew the answer...

“Apparently, not only do you have a new brother, but a mother as well.”

Shimas stood in stunned silence, a single tear dripping down his cheek. All these years thinking she was dead, and know...

“Think she might make it too, but it'll be a rough trip for her, she's in pretty bad shape,” mentioned Exxeter, just now inserting a needle into Ktulus before having a detail prepare him for extraction.

Unable to speak, Shimas silently waited for Exxeter to stabilize her and remove the tubes before gently picking her up in his strong arms as carefully as he might a small child.

Aurrelius conferred with Zatah for a moment, then ordered the soldiers to form up by the main prison door. All other prisoners were either dead or too far gone to survive being moved.

“This is it, the final leg. We have what we came for. We move quickly and quietly. Zatah will lead us through the labyrinth of tunnels to a clearing in the jungle where we will be air lifted by the troops we left to guard the walls. Stand your ground sons of the sky, we are almost home.”

Through the darkness the company crept, moving swiftly despite their burdens. A turn to the left, now a turn to the right, another right then two lefts. They were almost out. Suddenly, they came to an intersection, a small hole in the ceiling flooding the room with a pale light. Everyone and everything stopped. Standing in the middle of the path, lightsaber on, stood the black armored figure of Darth Malefestus.

“Going somewhere Shimas? I thought you might want to have a heart to heart before you leave. Tell me, how is our ancient friend? Still alive?”

Aurrelius made a subtle movement to Zatah to guide the men a different way. He reached forward to put a hand on Shimas' shoulder. Both knew that it wasn't his time yet. Aurrelius then coolly walked forward and addressed the Darth.

“Oh I'm sorry to inform you, Malefestus, but Shimas isn't the leader of this party. In fact, I invited him. Oh and thank you for being such a generous host. It really has been fun!”

The company of soldiers were now slowly retreating into the darkness as Aurrelius provided the distraction.

“I'm so glad. I hear my HK droids were especially entertaining for you!”

“Yes, though the poor things are so fragile, you may want to consider a new investment. Oh, and did you notice that I returned your ship?”

Malefestus nodded sagely. “I did indeed, though next time I would recommend finding some one else to park it.”

Aurrelius only needed a few more minutes in order for his mission to be accomplished. “Ah, yes, how clumsy of me...”

Malefestus rolled his eyes. “Do you really believe that you can distract me long enough for your friends to escape? This game grows tiresome. Let me introduce you to one more friend before you go, I call him Lifebleeder.”

Aurrelius sighed and bowed his head. He could certainly think of worse ends. The moon shown brightly upon his woad as he raised his head to defiantly glare at Malefestus. The team would be out by now. He had the victory he sought and paid so much to achieve. “Do your worse darkness! I know the truth, the truth has set me free!”

Malefestus swung his life bleeder and a great flash of light and a loud CRACK resounded through out the tunnels. The raid on Castle Dark had ended.