Chapter 4: Start of a War

Cyprixxia
In Orbit Around Nar Shadaa

Tremar stood in the nerve center of Cyprixxia, the reprogrammed droids moving around him, keeping the station in a stable orbit. Iliyana was preparing to depart for the Refugee Sector to collect Larian, and he had opted to remain aboard to keep an eye on the station. In the return journey from Cyprix, he and Iliyana had discovered much about the station. Parts of it had been modified into large scale holding bays, others into torture chambers.

A small signal lit up on the main panel, one of the commlines he and Iliyana had set aside for their private use, and Tremar touched it, opening the line on this end. “Yes Iliyana?”

“I’m ready to depart milord. Do you have any other instructions for me before I depart?”

“Be watchful. I doubt the appearance of this station has gone unnoticed, and it is possible the Jedi are here seeking us,” Tremar replied, his voice stronger than it had been before from continued use.

“Yes milord. Saviour departing now.” Iliyana clicked off her line, and Tremar watched on holo-cams as the ship lifted off the ground and smoothly backed out of the hangar, spun about and streaked down to the planet. His brow furrowed. Even with the teeming life on the moon below making it hard to sense anything specific, let alone a Force Sensitive, he sensed something was wrong.

Nar Shadaa
Refugee Sector

Iliyana piloted Saviour down into the teeming sky lanes of Nar Shadaa, weaving through other vessels without concern. She had called ahead to warn Larian of her impending arrival, telling him that they needed to talk. She slowed as she approached his hangar, slightly startled to see the bay doors closed. She opened her commline to his hangars frequency. “Saviour, to Bay 630058, requesting access for landing, do you copy?”

No answer came across the commline, but the hangar door began to roll open. Iliyana frowned. It wasn’t like Larian to leave her call unanswered. She brought the ship in for landing, scanning the hangar with her eyes. It looked much the same as it had the last time she had been here, a little dirtier perhaps, but essentially the same, yet something was different. She landed the ship, and programmed it to only open from an interior command, then descended to the main ramp. She checked her blaster and lightsaber under her black robe, and then lowered the ramp. She descended cautiously, her eyes flicking around, searching for answers as she crossed to Larian’s office, one hand resting on the butt of her blaster.

The door opened at her approach, and she found Larian asleep in his chair. She let out an irritated sigh, and gave him a shove. With a startled curse, he toppled out of his chair, and landed hard on the floor. He blinked several times. “Ili! I was waiting for you, must have dozed off.”

Iliyana rolled her eyes. “Yea, you did goof. I guess you got my message then.”

Larian nodded, eyeing her in her tight black clothes with an appreciative grin. “I did, and it looks like you’re sending another right now.”

Iliyana laughed in spite of herself. “Maybe I am, but I need to ask you something. How attached are you to Nar Shadaa?”

Larian stood and dusted himself off. “Not very much; It pays the bills, but the expense of doing business here is horrendous.”

“Well, Lord Tremar and myself are in need of a good mechanic to take care of a station we’ve recently come into possession of, if you’re interested,” she said, turning slightly and giving him a clear look.

Larian laughed. “How can I refuse such a pretty lady?” He stepped closer to her, and took her hand, then kissed it. “Larian Naver, at your service.”

Iliyana laughed and pulled her hand free from his, then stepped up very close to him, smelling his odours. “Mmmm, at my service hmm? And what services shall I have you perform,” she asked with an impish cast in her eye.

“I am available for whatever you require,” Larian said, sliding one arm around her waist, and started to open her shirt with the other. Once it was opened, he slid his hand along her smooth skin, to her braless breast and began to squeeze it, kneading it harder and harder, tugging on her nipple, twisting it, encouraged by the moans and groans of pleasure that escaped her lips.

Iliyana slid her hands down into his pants, and found his stiff cock, pre-cum already making the head slightly sticky, and she giggled. “Had a bit of a naughty dream did you,” she asked, and began to stroke his cock, slowly at first, and then with increased speed. She twisted her hands when she crossed his head, and saw and felt his body shivered and his knees buckle. By now, both of his hands were working on her breasts, and she wanted more.

As she grabbed one of his hands, intent on guiding it to her crotch, she paused, something intruding on her senses. She stepped away, pulling her hands out of his pants, gasping when Larian didn’t immediately release her nipples. Her eyes darted from door to door, looking for whatever it was that had disturbed her, looking with her mind and the Force as well as her eyes.

Then she saw it. One of the doors was beginning to turn a cherry red around the edges. Either a cutter, or a lightsaber, and neither were good signs. “Grab your gear, hurry. Get anything you want to keep onto Saviour now!”

Larian leapt into action. He had seen Iliyana respond like this before, and didn’t question it He slapped his hand on a row of switches, and heavy emergency blast door slammed down over every door leading outside. Another switch activated his droids, and yet another brought up the platform with his fighter. Iliyana stepped into the launch bay, leaving her shirt open. She activated her lightsaber, taking comfort in the bronze light of the blade, and flicked her free hand at Saviour, lowering the main ramp as Larian’s droids approached, each carrying a bag or heavy looking box. They trundled up the ramp, and Iliyana kept her eye on the doors.

The blast doors were beginning to glow cherry red now, all of them. The Jedi spread out, to hit us from all sides, Iliyana thought. One of the presences she felt was familiar, and she felt a tremor of fear. Kaesar was no Jedi to be trifled with, and his Mandalorian heritage gave him an added edge in battle. He was fearless where death was concerned.

She chewed her bottom lip, and started towards Saviour’s access ramp as she saw Larian running to his fighter. Its engines were already humming, and his droids had obviously been getting Saviour ready as well. Thruster gasses hissed down, forming thin white pillars that she walked between as she ascended the ramp. She turned off her lightsaber, and broke into a run for the lift. Instead of waiting for it, she leapt to the second level, aided by the Force, and then ran to the cockpit. She jumped over the droid and lifted off as the emergency doors gave way. Four Jedi ran into the room as Iliyana backed Saviour out of the bay, pulling in the landing gear and starting to close the main ramp, and two of the Jedi ran towards her, leapt with powerful Force assistance, and made it inside. She cursed, and set a course for Cyprixxia, telling the droid she had jumped over to land them safely. She felt the main ramp seal, and drew her lightsaber again. The corridors of the ship weren’t very wide, so she walked to the lift, drew a deep breath, and stepped into the open air.

She rolled when she hit the floor, and darted for the cargo bay, ignoring the humming swings of lightsabers behind her. The cargo bay doors opened at her approach, and she ran inside, spun and backed to the center of the room, stripping off her robe and shirt, deliberately leaving herself bare breasted, her breasts gleaming in the ships lighting.

The two Jedi entered, one man and one woman. They ignored her semi-nude form, and spread out like great hunting cats. Each held their lightsabers in the Makashi form, best used against lightsaber wielding foes, and Kaesar’s favourite style. Iliyana smiled at them, and spun her lightsaber into the Shii-Cho form. She identified the Jedi by assigning them the colors of their lightsaber blades. Blue, the male, stepped to her left while Green, the female, moved to her right. Iliyana feinted at Green, whirled out and struck at Blue. Their lightsabers met with a humming crash, and she aimed a kick at his knee. He twisted to avoid the kick, and spun away. Iliyana spun in the other direction, whirling her lightsaber to deflect Green’s. The lightsabers crashed together and came apart, and Iliyana found herself facing them on the same side. She was grinning now, enjoying herself. Blue leapt at her, swinging his lightsaber in a wide arc, and Iliyana stepped back, letting the lightsaber impact the deck, watching it as it jarred to a stop. She jumped back in, and delivered a crushing kick to his throat. He fell back from the force of the kick, and Iliyana pulled his lightsaber into her hand.

She spun both lightsabers about herself easily. While one was her preference, she was fully proficient in dual wielding. “Ah, a word of advice hun, the decks and bulkheads are made of a durasteel cortosis alloy. Completely impervious to lightsabers,” Iliyana said sweetly, stepping over Blue’s still body. She felt a change in the way the ship moved, aware that it was no longer under its own power. Either they had been caught by Cyprixxia’s landing assistance, or the Jedi had a Republic Cruiser with them. Either way, she had to end this soon. She leapt at Green, whirling like a bronze and blue dervish, driving her back to the fore most point of the hold. Green’s defence was masterful, giving ground grudgingly, deflecting both lightsabers, never stopping them, always redirecting them. When Iliyana spun to the side, narrowly avoiding a thrust from Green, she kicked once, expertly striking the back of Green’s knee, causing her to sink to the deck on one knee, and activated the ray shields for that corner.