“Listen, it’s over. I have control of the space, and I’m right outside the door into the control room. I don’t want bloodshed, if you are willing to work for me that’d be a much better arrangement than me having to find out what individual members of your crew are willing to work for me and are trustworthy, and which ones I need to send off to a private reserve-” He cut the comm for a second and turned to Sirka. “-I actually do have a private reserve. This isn’t slang for a prison or killing them, it’s quite nice actually. If you ever have anyone you want to relocate somewhere nice let me know-” He activated the mic again “-We don’t need anymore bloodshed. So what say you, is it over?” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A voice came back to him through his communicator, one that he hadn’t come across yet. Likely the agent that had worked so hard to keep the station off the grid. “I don’t think we will surrender. After all, you want this station in one piece, otherwise you wouldn’t have boarded it. This leaves us room to negotiate-” Koren cut him off. “I’m afraid your chance for negotiation is over. Your choice is to be captured or killed, or to surrender yourself. These are your choices.” The station rocked as a shot from the Star Destroyer glanced it. Then without warning the door to the command centre opened, the commanding officer from earlier was mysteriously missing, and instead in the centre of the room was someone dressed in an ISB uniform. Officers stood all around, looking up as the doors opened and the droids filed in. Koren nodded at Sirka. “Sorry that this operation didn’t go exactly as planned, you ended up being more of a mercenary than a bodyguard.” With that he walked into the room. He raised his pistol at the agent. “Call back your fighters, and stand down. This is over.” As they headed into the room, Sirka moved in quite close to Koren. She had not responded to his comment, instead focusing herself once again on observing her surroundings in as much acute detail as possible. The officers were the obvious focus for the droids, but Sirka too noticed that the commanding officer was not present. She was not sure that she trusted that the former Imperials would be so willing to give up, at least without trying everything they could. Of course, she did believe that they would put saving their own skins over every other concern, but that did not mean there was not some potential for treachery. Sirka angled up her head and took in the scents of anyone she could, looking for any warning signs of betrayal. Even a brief warning could be enough for her to protect Koren from danger. As Koren and Sirka advanced inside the station, the [i]Revenant[/i] continued to strike it with shots, rocking it around but not doing any serious damage. The pirate band had full control over the space outside the station, they could essentially blockade it and force the former Imperials to agree with Koren. It was only a matter of time now, the deserters would negotiate before long. “Don’t let them get away.” Lalni stated as she and several other smaller ships darted away in pursuit of a fleeing transport. The vessel was quickly brought down in a rapid spree of laser fire. “Let’s hope Koren has already begun negotiations inside the station. We have full control here.” She stated through her commlink, speaking to Iakar, who stood in the bridge keeping a close watch on the going ons inside the Star Destroyer. He paced confidently around the bridge, a smile on his face. “I’m sure he will begin them soon if he has not already, captain. Be patient.” Iakar replied, staring out the front view window on the bridge at the space littered with destroyed ships they tried to stop them. He was one of the only ones in the Marauders that could speak to her in such a way. The agent stepped forward, blaster in hand before doing something unexpected. He pointed his blaster pistol at the ceiling and then lowered it to the ground. “Okay, we surrender then.” Koren blinked, he expected them to give up sure. They were outnumbered, they were outgunned. He had at least expected some negotiating first. He hadn’t expected the agent to give up, and apparently he had some pull as others laid down whatever weaponry they had. Koren nodded. “Well, okay then.” He hid his surprise as best he could, though Sirka and her special nose would likely be able to pick up on it. “I guess we’re done here.” He pointed to the console. “Send the stand down code to the rest of your forces, and file into the same hangar that my ship was docked in. We’ll see who wants to relocate and see who wants to stay working for a living there.” He turned to Sirka. “I need you to do me a favour. Head back to Paradise and tell a contact named Toth that we’re done there. After that head to Nar Shadda, check in with your sister and then your friend Elias.” All the while that Koren was speaking, Sirka’s black eyes were darting around, and her nose looking for anyone who might have been nearby, perhaps hidden. Aside from surrendering, an ambush while their guard was down was about the only option the defectors had left. If they could capture Koren alive, then they could perhaps negotiate their way out of the situation. It would be risky, and certainly stupid, but these men were likely desperate enough to be stupid. She did not look at Koren as she replied, having no intention of budging until the officers had issued the order to surrender. Even then, she was not going to leave Koren’s side until he was in a reasonably safe place, unless he outright ordered her to. “Yeah, I can do that. How about we get back to the ship, then I can go.” Koren nodded as the agent keyed in the station deactivation code, however he had traitorous intent. Sirka likely picked it up before he did, all he picked up on the smug grin as the lights of the station turned red and alarm started blaring. “Oops.” Koren walked right up to the agent and raised his blaster. “You kriffing bastard-” He unloaded a single shot into the middle of the agents forehead. Everyone else started running. Koren punched his communicator on. “-Lassa, let the pirates know the stations set to self destruct. They’re free to the debris and I’ll repay them for their services with a second light cruiser-” That was him down to a bare minimum fleet with what he had in hiding. “-I’ll pay extra for every lifepod that they shoot out of the sky.” It was a little bit of overkill, survivors had nowhere to go except the planet and even then they’d be trapped. Though he wasn’t in a forgiving mood. He pressed buttons to change frequency. “I want all droid units to assist those guarding hangar bay 17. Keep the Imperials from taking those TIE Defenders, and I want every single one launched and off this station straight for Paradise.” He turned to Sirka and nodded down the corridor. “Let's get out of here.” Koren might have been given a few seconds forewarning, given that Sirka suddenly raised her blaster and growled at the agent, but it was too late. Now, it looked like they had to get off the station quick, though Sirka decided that she was done holding her fire on any of the defectors that they might see along the way. Even though it did not affect her quite as personally, she was not keen on being betrayed. Sirka was the one leading the way, though she was careful to keep a pace that Koren could stay close to. She might not have been terribly agile with all her equipment, but her long, powerful legs could still keep up a good sprint. “Can’t trust those honorless defectors...made it too easy...whole thing smelled like a Quarren’s boot.” Sirka grumbled, mostly to herself. “Move the gunships towards the planet’s orbit, ready their weapons towards the station. Any escape pods you see are to immediately be shot out of the stars.” Lalni replied as she received the update on the mission from her employer. Her loyal pirates also got the memo. Her fingertips tapped against the controls as she wondered why exactly the Koren had taken the station then decided to destroy it. It was an odd decision, but she hadn’t been promised any of the fighters so it didn’t really matter to her what the man decided to do. Being able to loot the debris was a positive though, she’d make sure her more technically minded personal would scour the remains for any useful materials. She had done her end of the bargain, now she only hoped Koren held his. Him being a well known entity in Hutt Space put her mind slightly to ease on that regard, but she was always watchful of betrayal. “Iakar, I’m hopeful that you kept a running tally on any of our brothers and sisters we lost today. Ensure an exact tally of our ships lost is sent to Koren. I would also like to schedule a proper ceremony so their sacrifices are not forgotten,” The pirate queen ordered calmly. The ceremony was more akin to a party, but it was a way to boost morale and make everyone feel closer together as a pirate band. “Also move the Revenant and any other of our ships out of the explosion range from the station.” “Of course, captain.” He replied from the bridge as the Star Destroyer shifted, beginning to turn and maneuver away from the TIE manufacturing plant. Lalni flew towards their capital ship, as some of the fighters returned to the hangar. Others patrolled a distance from the station, watchful for any escape pods. Koren stumbled as he tripped over what he could only presume was a dead body. “No you can’t.” He huffed and puffed through the words, he wasn’t as young or fit as he had used to have been. He tapped another button on his wrist as a code was sent to his small probe droids that immediately zoomed off. As they kept running towards the hangar Imperials ran passed them, mostly ignoring them to get off the station. Occasionally a Commando Droid would run passed firing its blaster as it chased down Imperials on it’s way to a fighter. He spoke into his comm unit. “Lassa, let the Marauders know that any TIE Defender running to point two are mine, and to not fire on them, and that their Captain and any Crew are welcome to be my guests on Paradise when this is over-” he took a deep breath “-free of charge of course.” He paused as he turned into the hangar just as the Nightfury zipped into it. Immediately a large group of stormtroopers started firing at the hull, likely trying to get an opening so they could board the ship and use it to escape. The large group of stormtroopers was not particularly encouraging to Sirka, but the fact that they were all focused on firing at the [i]Nightfury[/i] at least gave them some advantage. It allowed them to move into the hanger behind them and get into cover without being noticed. Sirka crouched down behind a collection of crates and hoisted her blaster cannon up onto them. “Just got to clear a path, then we make a run for it. If the ship has any cannons that can help, it should really join in. Droids, start firing when I do.” Sirka had only used one of her own stun grenades so far, so she still had a few of them, and her one thermal detonator. Given that they were about to leave, she decided to use them both. She took a flashbang in one hand, the thermal detonator in the other, and quickly made sure their fuses were identical. She threw both into the crowd of stormtroopers at the same time, then grabbed a hold of her E-Web once more. She opened fire alongside the detonations, trying to spread her fire onto those directly between them and the [i]Nightfury[/i]. They did not need to kill them all; they just needed an acceptably clear path to the ship. Some of the troopers were stunned, while some turned to face their new aggressors. They were quickly dissuaded when the bottom turrets of the ship turned to face them and the ramp lowered to display more droids. Koren tapped Sirka on the shoulder and nodded, indicating it was time to run. He kept an eye out for any trooper that was willing to try his luck, and he even heard a couple of pleads for help. As they ran up the ramp Koren stood at the top and looked down at them. “Blame your boss, this could have been most profitable. You ruined it for yourselves.” With that the ramp raised and the ship lifted off and out of the hangar. Koren turned around to Sirka. “Help yourself to anything on the ship, I need to cool off.” With that he just walked out of the room as the vessel jumped to hyperspace...