Project Boussh: Regroup
by scifantasy

Sci, Corran, Ooryl, and Shalla had been observing comm silence, since
it was hard to sneak up on anyone when your comlink is squawking all
the time. Sci raised his blaster as the four heard footfalls down the
hall. Quickly they crouched in a side corridor. "Sounds like a group
of stormtrooper recruits," Sci whispered. Indeed, the steps sounded
like a group that tried to march in unison, but lacked military
precision. They were still deadly, though, and they were approaching
steadily. They sounded about ten meters away.
Corran raised his lightsaber. "On three?"
Sci nodded. "On three. One... Two... Three!"
Corran whirled out of the corridor, lightsaber glowing. The other
three followed close behind, firing as they ran. Corran, blocking
shots with his saber, slowly advanced on the troopers. Some fired
back, but several froze. "Keep one alive!" Sci shouted over the din of
shots fired. It was soon over, with one trooper standing, paralyzed
with fear. Sci walked over to him, took off his helmet. "Who are you?"
"S...S...ter Ces..." the trooper managed. He looked young, barely out
of his teens.
"Where are the prisoners Atner captured?"
"T...Two of them were taken to the p...p...prison level. The others
were t...taken to the med center."
Med center. Now that was an idea. It would probably be a place where
he could rest for a moment, at least. "Where is this med center?"
"D...Down the hall."
Sci gestured with his blaster. "Show me. And don't do anything that
will make me do something you'll regret."
The trooper turned and walked down the hall. Sci kept his blaster
trained on him, set to stun. The other three followed, Shalla flanking
Sci to the left, Corran to the right, and Ooryl at the rear.

Ahkrak and his Noghri companions were watching the door when he heard
a noise outside. He dropped into a ready stance, prepared to
attack--but he wanted his enemy to have a good look at the manner of
his death, so he was prepared to wait until the door was open.

Ster arrived at the door, and Sci gestured him to the side. Blaster at
the ready, he nodded to Ooryl, who hit the door control. The door
opened--

--The door opened, and Ahkrak decided that he would wait a beat before
he attacked. Just as well--when he got a good look at his enemies, he
realized they were wearing the same black combat fatigues as the
others. The one in the front, with the blaster, holstered his blaster
as soon as he saw them.

"Who are you?" asked Ahkrak.
"Friends," said the leader. Becki, who had turned at the sound of the
door, ran forward smiling.
"Don't worry, Ahkrak, they're with us."
The leader removed his left glove, held his hand palm up. "I'm
Scifantasy. I'm commanding this mission."
"I greet you, Scifantasy," responded Ahkrak, a little surprised that
this human woul dknow the proper greeting to a Noghri. "I am Ahkrak
clan Kimbar."
Sci thought back to all the reading he had done. "Is clan Kimbar
anything like clan Kihm'bar?"
Ahkrak was again surprised. He smiled a little. "Kihm'bar is the
proper name for our clan. Off of our homeworld, however, we find it
easier to say Kimbar." Sci smiled back. Then, as if remembering
something, he turned and stunned Ster.

Sci turned his attention to Becki. "So, what's been happening?"

-----

Sci sat down, head spinning. "Is Thirteen here?"
"He's in the bacta tank next to Mike. He's concious."
"Get him out."
"What?"
"Do it. I won't keep him long."
"Okay..." Becki walked towards the row of bacta tanks, opening one.
The occupant swam to the top. "Our leader wants a word with you."
Sci sat patiently while Thirteen--Josh Cochran--got out of the tank
and into a white robe. Josh looked at the man sitting on the bed.
"You're Sci?"
"That's right. And you're Josh Cochran." Nothing more.
"You wanted to speak to me?"
"What in the name of hell were you doing?" The voice was low, as if
barely containing rage. Josh resisted the urge to step back--something
in Sci's voice meant he was deadly serious. "What were you doing,
looking for fame?"
Josh laughed. "Fame?"
Suddenly Sci remembered something about the conversations he'd had
with Josh. His voice softened. "Not fame. An escape. You wanted to go
down in a blaze of glory, because your life was over."
Josh hesitated. "That's not exactly what I was thinking."
"I've talked with you. All that about your past, about having no
future..." Suddenly there was an edge to his voice. "You're acting
like a real idiot, you know that?
"What?"
"You have a whole life stretching in front of you, and like a fool you
decide to throw it all away. Come on!"
Josh thought for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"So you got burned a little in the past. You're still alive, right?
You still have everything you had before?"
Josh was silent. Maybe he did, after all.
"So get back into that bacta tank, and heal up. I'm not letting you
walk away, or die pointlessly. we need you. You're a good pilot, and
there's still a Star Destroyer in orbit. The world needs you. And
damned if I'm going to let you ignore a responsibility like that."
Josh headed back to the bacta tanks, his head spinning. His first
reaction was fury. *How dare he,* he thought, *Don't I have a right
to...* No matter how he tried, though, that last line came back to
him. Grudginly, he thought, *Whoever picked him for leader knew what
he was thinking.*

Sci looked around the med center. Suddenly a voice called him. "Sci!"
It was Kristy. She was over at a computer, with Alison, who had a
bacta patch on her hand and looked ragged, but seemed determined to
stay involved, and Morwen, who looked pretty tired herself.
Sci came over. "What?"
Alison looked up. "When I confronted Atner, he told me that he had
reports on me. He seemed pretty well-informed, so I asked Kristy to
find out why. Look." She pointed at the screen.
Sci took one look and his hands clamped into fists. "That's AFW. He
posts to AFW? What's his handle?"
Kristy looked up, smiling wryly. "Darth Brooks."
Sci smiled back, but it quickly became a frown. "He's been on to us
since the beginning. Why did he wait, and not attack?"
"Probably for effect. The great forces, crashing and burning on his
home base...He's as egocentric as Zsinj."
Suddenly Sci smiled again, a smile that quickly became a laugh. The
three women looked at him like he was crazy. "Sci, he knows everything
about us! Our strengths, our weaknesses..." Morwen trailed off at his
look.
"He knows absolutely nothing about me." At that, the ladies looked
confused for a moment, then all three broke out into smiles as well.
Alison looked very pleased.
"Atner's an information junkie. He's like Isard--he can't prepare for
what he doesn't expect. You're a random element he can't control."
"Exactly."
"Okay, when are we going?"
"You're not going anywhere, Alison. You're injured."
"He has my sword, Sci. And my hair. I want them back." Alison's face
was set. It was clear that the choice was let her come along, or stun
her and tie her up. "Very well. The tale of Nine is filled..."
"You called?" asked Corran from across the med bay.
Sci chuckled. "I've got to stop using book quotes around Corran."