"Fine! lets go" Raiflaine said with bearly conceald desgust

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” Nex said as he walked towards Creed. “The droid apparently only responds to you humans. Here.”

Nex handed Creed the datapad and looked over at Raiflaine.

‘Amusing little human.’ Nex thought to himself.

“I do not know what droid is the one we seek. There are three on this level and five above us.”

As the group moved throughout the facility looking for the specific droid with a replacement arm, they found the ground floor to be a futile search. Each of the droids seemed a replica of the one before it in both design and personality, a different serial code marked on their chest-guard the only clue that they were not the same encounter over and over again.

As they ascended the structure their task proved more successful although it was not until they came across the second Droid on that floor that they had any real luck.

Sure enough the group found the Droid in question folding sheets preparing to dispense them throughout the wards on that level of the facility. Its left arm was every so slightly off-colour from the rest of its frame, a clear indication that it was a later model and had been replaced.

They had found their Droid.

Creed signalled the others to stand back as he approached the droid. He really didn't know what to expect. He'd come across rigged droids in the past that had been set to detonate when a target made contact with them, and it was common knowledge amongst his kind that this was a preffered way of dealing with problems. He approached the droid cautiously, taking one slow step at a time.
"The name's Ree'tak, and you've just got to be Creed..."

The Droid paid Creed or the group no heed as they approached, carefully folding blankets and sheets at speed with ease like some ancient origami master folding his one-thousanth paper crane.

Upon hearing Creed's words however, it immediately stopped what it was doing and placed a half-folded sheet on top of the pile. Its head bolting up with extreme speed as it turned its whole body and moved toward Creeds voice.

The sudden shift in movement and speed was enough to make all the group feel ill at ease, especially Creed who was half-expecting the damnable thing to attack rather than talk.

'Ah, Mr Creed Sir! I have been expecting you.' The Droid said, as the group visibly relaxed.

'Mistress Ree'tak gave me a message to relay to you, Sir. It is a holographic flight recording and audio-transmission. Whilst I can play it here for you, it has been suggested that the material in question is private in nature and would be best viewed in a private location. I can do this if you so wish as it is part of the sub-routine of my current protocol, or I can produce a hard-copy of the data for you to view in your own time.'

With its pre-programmed speech complete, the Droid seemed almost to go into stand-by, awaiting a response. Whatever had been done to the Droid had overwritten most of its major protocols making it seem more like a computer terminal than the advanced VI that it actually was.

Creed seemed relieved that the droid wasn't rigged at least , although it's comments suggested that someone could be watching their every move. He decided to take the droids second option.
"Gimme the hard copy tinman and I'll be on my way."

Nodding in response, a hatch opened in the Droids' chest and a small holodisc encased in a robust trasparent alloy ejected and into its hands.

'Of course, Sir. As you say.' The Droid replied, passing the container to Creed.

With its sub-routine fully run, something in the Droids' VI brain seemed to reset as it immediately went back to the sheets and picked up on the fold it had stopped making to speak to the group.

Then, as if to reinforce its change in protocol it looked up and addressed the group as if it had never seen them:

'Good-day, Sirs. May I help you?'

Back at Creed's safehouse:

Placing the holo-disc in the recorder the group watched as the image flickered and stabalised, and a terrorfied-looking Ree'tak came into view. The picture was shaking about and she could be seen to be struggling to hold onto various things to keep herself steady. In the background was the cockpit of a vessel and as the sound kicked in it brought with it the confirmation that the Twi'lek was on a starship, and that it was under attack:

'Brix! Argh, I hope this transmission records... it might be my last words.' she said, scrunching up her face in a contorted look of disgust. 'Yeah, 'cos THAT's not too depressing.'

A sudden explosion rocked the image again and the young Twi'lek let out a shriek.

"Creed? Creed? Damnit I hope you're getting this...I'm under attack from...from, well I don't know who they are! I've seen some odd shunfa and I cant risk it on an open comm-call, so this is going down in a recording.'

Another explosion.

'Crink it! Now I have an electrical fire! Aaaaaaah, be right back!'

The image flickers and changes, a sign that the recording had been stopped and resumed. Upon her return, Ree'tak seems to have a slight head injury and is bleeding from one of her Lekku.

'I was hoping we'd lost them, but they're still following us. Damn! how far do we have to get from this skragging system!' Shaking her head she leaned into the recorder with a resolute and determined look on her face.

'I don't know who these people are... I don't recognise their ships or any of their insignia. Maybe you can, I don't know. Switching to external cameras.'

The image changes to a view of the top of Ree'tak's Class 720 Frieghter The Pathfinder, and then pans round to reveal the hull of another ship following, firing lasers that are narrowly missing the smaller ship. The camera zooms in and re-focuses on the persuing vessel, a slender and deadly looking fighter which didnt resemble any known ship currently in use. Utterly black with no visible bridge to speak of, the only adornment was a symbol on both sides of the vessel - presumably an insignia of some kind - which looked similar to an A-Wing if viewed from above.

As the image returns to Ree'tak, she is looking visibly worried.

'See? I have no idea who these people are... I was just passing this way moving some...uh..."goods" for a client when I picked up a distress beacon coming from the planet...'

Again, the image shakes to the sound of laser blasts impacting on the shields.

'Arrgh! Which is Rafa III by the way, in the Rafa System, so I went to investigate. I know, I know, Ignore it next time! Well if I don't get my Choobies to Coruscant there wont BE a next time!'

A large explosion knocks out the sound and image for a second.

'Heh. That was a close one! guess these freaks can shoot straight!' Adjusting something on the recorder Ree'tak exhaled deeply.

'I've just uploaded my other recording to follow this one, it should start directly after.' After a sigh and rubbing her eyes from exhaustion, she continued.

'The distress call was from Jedi, four of them or so it said. I managed to get in contact and agreed a place to pick them up...but....well, when I got there there was only one guy, but he had...er... friends.'

Hanging her head in shame for a moment, a tear could be seen to drop from behind her Lekku then as she looked back up her eyes were welled up.

'I couldn't help them! There was nothing I could do...they....oh Goddess, Creed... I can't fight these people! I'm no Jedi! I....I'm on my way to Coruscant. Hopefully your employer will be able to help me. I wont be able to keep visible for long, but maybe this will go some way to explain things..'

Hanging her head again she pressed something on the holo-recorder and the image flickered and changed.

Changing between two external cameras on The Pathfinder, the ramp on this ship seemed to be down as a human dressed in the robes of a Jedi Knight was backing slowly towards it, his light-saber glowing a florescent green against the dark brooding atmosphere of Rafa III. Approaching him was a group of five individuals; three Human, a Duros and a Rakata. The Humans were all dressed alike, identically to 'The Man' who had approached Ree'tak in the Swollen Shaak Cantina when she and the group had first met.

The Jedi takes up a defensive stance as the four approached, but as he uses the application of Force Telekinesis the wave of his hand does not send his opponents spiralling back as it should, in fact they do not even break their stride. Confused, the Jedi pulls his light-saber back, ready to strike if neccessary as the group produce cortosis blades. When they refuse to stop their advance, seemingly unaffected by the Jedi's powers, he swings the light-sabre and severs the lead aggressors arm.

Amazingly the Human does not even slow his advance, seeming to utterly ignore the pain caused by the light-saber as the group descend upon the confused Jedi and dismember him with their blades.

The Holovid ends with the ship taking off with the group trying to get aboard the vessel as the loading ramp is closed, the various body-parts of the jedi sliding off onto the ground as the group hold on until the ship reaches the atmosphere. Incredibly the five still manage to hold on despite the lack of oxygen, only falling off as their bodies completely freeze and stiffen, unable to continue gripping on to the outter hull.

(( Aplogies for the slight God-modding, but nobody had posted in 7 days and i wanted BH and Red to get a chance to join - EDIT: I see Red beat me to it, as I was writing this! Cheers Red!))

The low throbbing hum of a passing air taxi barely broke the silence. Wide flat shafts of light swept across the bedroom, gone as quickly as they appeared. The stillness was as much a part of the room as the tall narrow windows or the rumpled satin sheets laying on the unmade bed. A dusky orange glow dimly illuminated the chamber sifting down from between long shadows cast high on the ceiling by the horizontal blinds.
A tiny indicator gleamed on the bathroom door panel reflecting acid green pinpricks of light off a pair of crystal tumblers sitting empty on the bedside table opposite, one still bearing a smear of lipstick on the rim. A dry towel laying discarded on the floor was keeping the automatic door open.
The opulent fittings in the windowless room centred on a large sunken bathing pool almost imperceptible in the dark. The meagre glow bleeding in from the adjacent room failed to penetrate the perfectly still water filling the oval pool.
Another set of passing headlights sent bars of light running through the suite. The brief illumination flared over the pool and seemed to linger in the bulging eyes staring sightlessly from beneath the glassy surface.
A pre-programmed instruction activated the bedroom blinds and darkness wrapped it’s forgiving embrace round the scene. In the bathroom, under the water, the gaping mouth continued it’s silent scream into the black.

Creed turned to his cohorts with a look of concern.
"Load up the Zenith, we 're heading to the Rafa system..."
He paused and grabbed Nex by the arm and then moved in closely so that Raiflaine couldn't hear what he had to say.
"...Are you sure you want to join us on this mission? From that holovid it looks to me like Ree may well be in some kind of trouble with the Sith. I can always talk to the boss about making some enquiries into Ree's dissapearance as he has strong connections within the empire. I just didn't want to speak on your behalf old freind, because although you're the most experienced when it comes to dealing with this scum, you're also a valued member of this agency and I'm sure the man with the plan would rather have you alive and kicking".
He patted the Talortai on the back as he left the safe house to prepare the Zenith for flight.

Creed patted Nex’s back before leaving the safe house and walking to the Zenith. Leaving Nex standing in the room slightly amused.

Nex began to chuckle as he thought to himself ‘I’m here to do a job and to see that it’s done. It will take more than the empire to dissuade me.’

Nex walked out of the safe house and towards the Zenith where Creed was making preparations. He stopped to briefly look-over the ship before walking towards Creed.

“While I’m sure fighting the empire will hold a few surprises, I came on this mission to help and I intend on keeping my word no matter who we face. I’m sure the boss could pull up some information that could prove useful, maybe even make our job easier, and as for me staying alive…I’m tougher than I look my friend.”

With a respectful nod Nex began to look around to familiarize himself with the ship.

"Well, this looks like its going to get alot worse befor it gets any better" Raiflaine sighs. "This atlest should be intresting if nothing else!"

Raiflaine walks on to the ship, and finds himself a seat some were and talks down his com-link

"Bretta, im heading off world, over to the Rafa system. Keep to the simple jobs whilst im gone."

He then Busys himself checking over his guns and armour.

Creed carfelly counted up the supplies before their trip to Rafa III. He had no doubt that the trip was going to be hazardous and there was nothing worse than being left drifting in the cosmos without food or water for days on end. Oddly, the only worry that truly plagued his mind was that he was piloting his employers pride & joy, 'the Zenith' to get them to their destination. Although he often appeared to be emotionless green Gorg the best of times he held a strange attachment to the ageing heap of junk.

He slowly signalled to Raiflaine to raise the ramp "Close her up!"
Just as the ramp was closing his commlink starting flashing. 'Oh great, the boss. I hope it's not another lecture about this damn ship cause I've got enough on my plate', his thoughts almost made him forget what he was doing and he quickly signalled to Raif to lower the vessels ramp once more.
"Lower her down I can't hear a damn thing down here!"
From inside he could hear Raiflaine mutter an obscenity but he couldn't make out clearly what it might be. As the ramp lowered he jumped out onto the hard ferrocrete below and answered his incoming message...
"Why hello there chief! I hope you're having a great day?"
His employer didn't catch onto the sarcastic attack against him, and very rarely did. Sure, being emotionless had it's advantages but it must come with a stack full of disadvantages too.
"Creeeeeed" His employers tone was strangely playful in it's delivery. "I do hope you're looking after my ship?" 'Uh-oh, here it comes' Creed thought to himself. "We wouldn't want any damage caused now would we? You know how I feel about that, don't you Creed?" Creed paused and thought carefully before uttering the words....
"Hey chief, it's me! Your number one, you know you can count on me right? I'll treat her like she was my own."
"I do hope so.....for your sake."
His employers voice muffled as the link faded into nothing.

He jumped back onto the ramp and prepared to signal to Raif to raise it but before he could do so, he noticed a woman approaching from the corner of his eye. He could see her more closely now. She was human and her flame red hair flickered like sparks from an open fire. She truly was a credit to his race, that was for sure. He once again skipped down to the floor below and approached the brazen beauty.

He slowly raised his goggles so that he could see her for all that she was.
"Well, what do we have heeeeere?..."

Without breaking her stride the panicked look on the woman’s face was replaced by a bright smile as she slipped back into her shoulder-bag the datatpad she had been checking.

”Hello darling!” she said dropping her bag to the ground. ”You big tease – I thought you were going to leave without me!” She playfully punched Creed on the arm before laughingly encircling her arms around his neck and planting on him a lingering kiss.

Tilting her head she whispered “Twenty-thousand credits for getting me off this rock now. I–I don’t have any more… Anywhere you’re going. Please!”. She pulled back a little and over her shoulder a tall stranger could be seen coming to a stop across the way. He was followed by a Republic Guard but as the two talked he stood with his face pointing straight at the pair, openly observing them.

The hands on the back of Creed’s neck were ice cold and trembling. A thin film of unshed tears glistened over her wide blue eyes as they stared imploringly into his. Her voice was almost inaudible, trembling, fear constricting her throat. ”He’s going to kill me.”

Dark and foreboding shadows danced across the large dome-ceiling room, forming myriad sinister shapes before vanishing into the peripheral of the minds eye.
The only real light-source came from above, a sliver of light desperately struggling to pierce the gloom that filled the chamber and shrouded the circular central recess in an unnatural and shifting shadow.
From out of the surrounding darkness walked a man, a human dressed in an expensive and tailored black suit with short cropped dark hair and skin a sickly grey. Despite the lack of anything to constitute such a necessity, he wore protective eyewear.

Stopping within a foot of the swirling shadows, he knelt on on knee and bowed his head.

In response the shadow-mass moved, alost seeming to turn in his direction as if alive. Then, in the center of the mass two points of red light appeared which, whilst not normally considered bright seemed like two miniature suns against the gloom of the chamber and the unrelenting darkness of the shadow. Joining nearer together they seemed to synchronise and move with independent thought until they were mere inches apart.
They blinked.

'You bring me news?' The voice was distant, etheral. Yet it contained a definate feminine tone.

'Yes, Mistress.' By contrast The Man sounded gravelly and bass, as if speaking was a struggle or unwelcome necessity. 'We followed the twi'lek female and contacted her on a world called Coruscant, we...'

'Is she dead?' The mysterious voice interrupted.

Keeping his head bowed, The Man paused for a second then replied.

'No. She was contacted and an ambush was set. Despite observation, she escaped us and we are currently attempting to re-establish contact.'

For the shortest of moments there was silence.

Then:
'Inadequate.' followed by a sudden and massive arc of purplish-blue lightning that erupted from the shadow-mass and engulfed The Man.

As the body of the human shook and convuled, it showed no signs of pain nor screamed in agony but it spasmed violently regardless.
After a couple of seconds the charred remains of The Man collapsed to the floor.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant....