The Xiis woman giggled as Yerbol's knees sank to the ground, shield flickering away to vapor before he fully collapsed. He will make such a fine delicacy. "Carry him to the vessel." Two of her underlings brought the unconscious Yerbol to his feet, shouldering his bulk between the two before carrying out their masters orders. "Tywan, stay here?" One of the younger in the crowd asked, eyes gleaming with a hungry expectation. She walked to the male and ran her soft fingers across his cheek. "You will stay, Hyalwan. This planet is still teeming with life to claim, power to swallow." "What should we do?" Another Xiis asked, the female running her tongue over her lips. "Remember the filth you saw? That you carved to pieces?" Low growls and throaty grunts of approval came from her brethren. "Continue until your breath leaves your body. Prove your worth in the Shasot so that you too can wield the kind of power you seek." The growls grew in volume, prompting another cackle from the woman as she walked past the array of Xiis. "Start from the bottom, then continue to work upwards. There will be more of them. Armed. Dangerous. The perfect combination." She turned on her heel to face the procession of deathly blue figures, raising her fist. "KILL! MAIM! DESTROY! MAKE THEM FEAR THE DAY THEY AWAKENED THE XIIS!" The planet itself seemed to shake at the proclamation, a smile forming on her lips. It will soon be their galaxy. Just as it was always supposed to be. ________ The barking was a bit disarming. Annoying, really. Junoco withdrew his blaster pistol as he rounded the final corner, cursing at whatever deities existed in the universe that they would allow stray animals(and their potentially homeless owners) to take residence in his base of operations; well, it wasn't HIS per se, but an abandoned medical clinic in the farthest portion of the network access corridor was an easy place to repossess. Others who stumbled onto the location were few and far between, Junoco able to chase them off with a wave of his blaster pistol and a rough phrase or two. Dogs were a nice touch, but if he threatened their lives, he knew that the owner would back off. People were so sentimental about dogs. All pets, really. It was rather aggra- When he casually strolled to the entrance, blaster pistol in hand, he was greeted by two bears. With large teeth. No, no, not bears, hounds. Wolves? They were large, snarling and bearing their teeth in preparation to tear him to pieces. Behind the dogs were armored men and women(except one, who had lightsaber hilts dangling from her waist), all of them coated in some degree of exhaust, wounds visible. "Sooooooo...." Junoco sheathed his pistol, wide hazel eyes betraying slight amusement along with anxiety at his new visitors. "I'm just gonna assume that you guys aren't here to rob me? Right? Cause if you are, then I'm screwed." The dogs were still growling. "Could one of you just...you know, have these handsome hounds back off? For a wee bit?" His wispy frame stepped backwards, the dogs in sync, stepping forward. "I can give you guys some meds! Pain killers? Stimulants? Adrenals? Straight up drugs? I've got it all!" Probably shouldn't have mentioned the drugs. "Just have these guys back down and I'll help you get out of here, yeah? Sound good? Free of charge, too! Not something you can get around this moon." He combed a sliver of brown hair away from his forehead(why now?!) as a large, dark-skinned guy looked over at the little black haired girl with the lightsabers. "Ari, he's harmless. I know his type." He cast a knowing glare. "Just out to save his own skin and nothing else. Isn't that right?" "Heeeyy, nothing wrong with that, right? I can save your skins!" The dogs snapped. "Right, sorry, sorry, yes, yes, I'm skeevy, an illegitimate businessman, whatever you want to call me, just let me help you so I can have my clinic back, alright?" "Let the man through." Elara ordered. "Thank you, thank you kindly." Junoco slipped past the dogs and the glares he was receiving from a green Mirilian with daggers in her hands and a Kel Dor that was breathing way too heavily to be appropriate for social situations before rummaging through a strong box next to a broken kolto tank. "See? A man of my word, I am." He handed a number of bottles and other containers that contained everything he had mentioned except the illegal spice. That was to resell. "So, there's that. Off you go, then? To better the galaxy or something like that?" A few minutes passed of waiting for their exit, but they instead chose to take his precious stash of meds and mumble a few things about a "Yerbol" and "Xiis" and other random phrases that made little sense. His curiosity got the better of him eventually, asking: "So ah...where'd you guys come from?" No answer. "You stink to high heaven and beyond, so the sewers, right? Bad idea going down there. Those blue guys are all over that area." Elara quirked a brow. "You've seen them?" "Of course! Who hasn't on this rock? A few days ago they popped out of sewer grates and manholes and vents and...well, you get the picture. They just start killing people in the streets. Hutt 'security' is a joke, so they were taken out reaaaallll quick and the gangs? The Kintan Kings, The Blood Warriors, so on and so forth, they all ran scared when those blue guys(and gals who looked very attractive if they weren't so intent on carving people's intestines out of their guts) made themselves a home here. Most of the Hutts are dead or off world, now...which!" He clapped his hands together. "Explains why you guys are here, of course! Right, so you're 'special operations'. Alliance all the way out here...and a Jedi! Sith? Or whatever you guys yourselves now. Powerful people who use sticks of light to kill people." "We can have her use those sticks on you right now." Zora growled. "Hey, hey, I'm the meds guy, remember? I'm a positive force for good." A snort of derision came from Bex as Elara graciously responded: "I can't thank you enough for your help. We'll be out of your way shortly." "Hey, hey, take your time, but I mean, leave soon, cause I've got a client coming to meet me for some-wait." He grinned. "If you guys are Alliance, that means you're the only ticket off this rock." "No." "Wait, wait, hear me out first!" He squealed, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I, Junoco Pezingas, am a first rate smuggler slash grifter slash hacker slash anything else that requires a drop of illegitimacy. If you guys are after the blue people, I can help...like I just showed you I could." "In exchange for transport off world?" "Pretty much. Drop me off on Coruscant. I've got a hideaway there and you can have my services at your beck and call whenever you wish, just get me out of here!" Elara sighed, looking at her motley crew of exhausted warriors and nodded. "We could use all the help we can get. But if you cause ANY trouble, Bex will dispose of you. Promptly." "Right! Let me get my stuff!"