Quarantine

The gleaming ship with liquid metal skin hovered over the scorched remains of what had been Kitten's fathers lab. On the surface two humanoid figures made of the same material held several synths in their hands.

"We are getting closer husband. Omniketaltorum was here a mere few years ago."

"Yes, our boy has led us on a merry chase for certain. I see from the memories in this fragment that he has still not discovered himself again."

"Hopefully he will have by the time we find him. If not the problem can be fixed."

"I do have concern with this idea of saving minds inside him. I hope it does not cause him problems."

"We will see."

The female looked out over the shattered landscape sadly.

"Everywhere we go we see the same destruction and waste. I worry how our boy has developed after seeing all of this."

"As do I."

The figures disappeared from the surface and re-appeared on the ship. They placed the gathered blobs into a tank already partially full of them. The liquid blobs seamlessly absorbed into the whole.

"Course set, we should bridge the gap between universes in a few days."

"Very well."

The ship shimmered and then disappeared into nothingness.

On Nathea, Omni felt something. It was familiar somehow but he couldn't put a name to it. It wasn't fear, however, so he got back to work.

On Mivina Darby was in one of the strangest arguments of his life with most of the 18 freed slaves on the yacht. He was trying his best to send them off to either the legion or the mando's but they kept insisting that since he was the one who had freed them he was the only one they trusted.

The only ones not arguing with him were the three males, apparently purchased to be the prey in the trandoshans clan's next hunt.

The three were Delphidians, picked up in a raid on yet another small settlement. They were still in a bit of shock so were not being as argumentative as the ladies.

Finally Darby had heard quite enough.

"I have a mission that i NEED to do, you are all nothing but a distraction to my ability to perform that mission. I am willing to ensure you get to safety but there are a lot of other peoples freedom riding on the legions ability to conduct this raid."

To their credit the girls looked abashed.

"How can we help?" Triella asked.

Kagunu, one of the delphians, finally spoke up.

"What the Captain has been trying to tell you is that you can help by going where he tells us."

"But we want to stay with you!" she insisted.

"I am going to be attacking the pirates mobile base in just a couple of days. What, exactly, will you all do to help?"

It was obvious that none of them had an answer so Darby shot Kagunu a thank you glance and then restated his offer for the upteenth time.

"I can either send you to Yaimi, which is a colony of my people, the legion, or I can arrange for you to go to the mandalorian culvert on Yeneshan. Either way you have my word that I will come and find you when this attack is over."

"I want to go to your home and wait for you there." Triella said emphatically. The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then Yaimi is the closest we can get you for now. I will arrange passage for you there and you all can either stay on this very nice ship or rough it in the settlement for a few days."

"If you wish to join the legion there is a procedure set up there to do so. I will send a message ahead and let them know to expect you. I will even have some of my clone brothers meet you there."

That seemed to calm them completely, well, all but Triella, who was staring at him with fear in her eyes.

He managed to get the others up and about, preparing for their departure, and he pulled her aside for a talk.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"I am afraid I won't see you again." She said honestly.

"I can make no promises about the outcome of the battle Triella but I do give my word that if I am able I will come find you on Yaimi as soon as the battle is over and I am free to."

"You promise?" She begged.

"Word of honor." he returned.

She quickly reached up and gave him a brief kiss, then hurried off to do her packing.

He left the ship with a good feeling. One that lasted all the way to the base of the ramp, where another human pirate, Kornic Yates, was waiting with several of his crew.

"This should advance our plan nicely." Darby thought as he casually keyed the comm device on his wrist.

"Gentleman." He said casually.

"We heard you took out Hawil the slaver," Kornic said, "but we were thinking that a whole extra ship would be a bit much for a relatively young captain such as yourself to manage."

"Did you now?"

The two infiltrator droids appeared at the top of the ramp with their weapons in view. The intimidating sight seemed to back down several of Yates' crew but their Captain continued unabated.

"Yeah, we figure we will take it off your hands and maybe let you keep some of the cargo." He snarled.

"I think I will pass." Darby said calmly.

"I think you'll die!" The word on the human pirate was that he had started as a gun hand and assassin and that was certainly in evidence. His draw was smooth and fast.

And entirely too slow as a stun bolt took him down before his pistol had even cleared the holster. Darby dove to the side as blaster bolts flew.

The pirate crew was down in seconds, a quick glance showed that none of his people, nor the droids, appeared injured.

Less than a minute after the last bolt was fired the former slaves were going through the fallen scum, stripping anything useful. They gathered it all up and

headed back onto the yacht.

"Cruise!" Darby hollered.

An older weequay approached.

"Yes Captain?"

"I've got a job for you. This ship and its contents need to get to Yaimi safely. You have the droids for security and possibly some of the former prisoners can help, do you think you can do it alone?"

The weequay grinned. "I have been flying these parts alone for far longer than you have been alive. With those two droids for back up I have no fears at all."

Cruise wasn't a clone. He was a settler who had volunteered to join. He had spent the better part of his life as a smuggler in this area, or, as he liked to refer to himself, an independent trader. He had retired to raise some crops and hopefully a family before the pirates had raided his settlement and he was enslaved, only to be freed by the legion.

Once Cruise was aboard and settled, and after Darby shared a brief good bye with all the ex-slaves and a slightly longer more emotional one with Triella, the yacht lifted off.

Once it was gone Darby slung the unconscious Captain over his shoulder and he and his crew headed for the newest pirate ship in the legion fleet.

Considering the crew had been decimated and Darby was still holding their Captain the remaining crew of his ship didn't put up much of a fight about debarking. Less than 30 minutes after the shooting the two corsairs lifted for open space as Darby sent a long update to Tao and a short mention to a few batch mates now on Yaimi.

Once his messages were sent Darby headed for a prearranged rendezvous point to meet up with the strike teams.

On Nethea preparations for the attack had reached fever pitch. The all woman team was suited and booted and ready to go. Sparrow got a surprise when Tony and Raul came to his door suited up in battle dress, accompanied by a crew of hard looking soldiers.

"We're the second strike team going in with you." The pair informed him.

"All planned out already?"

"I'd like to introduce you to the "legioj pugno", the legions fist. We set it up as a full squad of the heaviest hitters we could find."

"That certainly suits my style." Sparrow returned with a grin.

"Please try to keep him safe. I need him back." Casse commented from behind him.

"We'll do our best Ma'am." Tony responded.

Casse recognized that Sparrow was going to be right there in the fighting but she was certainly nervous about it. Her pregnancy added to her fears. She was a strong woman though, and held it together through their goodbyes.

Once Sparrow was ready the team headed for the shuttle they would be taking to the meeting with the pirate corsairs. The plan was to meet up with the Mando ship there that had Jith and a few others onboard. She had insisted on being involved in the take down.

The two corsairs would conduct the boarding op and begin the attack from within. The rest of the combat capable ships the three groups could field, minus a few for local system security, were going to enter the system once the battle started.

Also onboard the shuttle, riding various troopers, were most of the synths. Their abilities were too powerful for them to sit out a fight this important and it was hoped their aid would make the difference and keep the death toll down.

The teams all met up with the two pirate corsairs in an empty out of the way system and began juggling around crews. The team on the first ship was all the ladies who had trained specially for the performance as slaves. They were already in character, dirty and unkempt, dressed in rags with a few minor scrapes and scratches showing.

The heavier squad was on call from the first. They would wait at the edge of the system until the attack began unless something went wrong, but if it did they were all prepared to fight in space if necessary. They had prepared a plan to breach the pirate command ship via the unfinished corsairs but hoped not to use it.

Tension was high as the final preparations were made. If this action was successful they would not only get rid of a major threat to the area but would gain access to a solid amount of resources and, best of all, a major shipbuilding asset they hoped to convert for their use.

Sparrow discussed the overall plan with the leaders of each group as well as all the synths in evidence. The synths were without droids at the beginning of the attack, so, at first, they would concentrate on getting control of the comm and security systems. Once that was done any not required to maintain control would grab whatever assets were available and fight alongside the biologicals.

A final run through the plan and the checklist and everyone took a deep breath. It seemed like it had been forever in coming but it was now time to take control of the local area from the pirates.

Darby took a deep breath and ordered the jump. Lyssandra standing next to him on the bridge. The first stage was entirely up to them.