As Eshen fled he came across a dead officer and dug into his bandoliers and thankfully found a keycard.

“Jackpot…”

Taking the road back  Eschen fled the force adept, hoping to find a useful weapon amongst the dead Imperials he left.



In orbit of Thule

Screed watched below on the planet impatiently, that woman mystic Vader trained had better been correct. Lanu Pasiq she was called, a former Jedi, even one pledged to the Empire couldn't be trusted at this point. He knew all about the Jedi plot to overthrow the Chancellor before such a creature should be kept at arm's length.  


He had searched this planet out on Zsinj’s request, it was likely a test of loyalty after all he was simply an ally not a true underling of the Warlord, and the Raptors given to him as a gift were more than likely exicutionors if the time ever arose.

 He was no fool when he allowed the Warlords forces onto Gladiator, he was depleted after Endor and he was desperate for support at this point. It was still a disgrace to go from one of Palpatine’s right hand men into one of the many Imperial Warlords feeding on his Empires corpse to survive.

 What was worse was Screed was allying with a poser like Zsinj, he was already a decorated Veteran of combat before Zsinj was a boy who had entered the late stages of the Clone wars riding his mother’s coattails. Eventually her son became her executioner, he had great respect for Maarisa which is one of the few reasons Screed tolerated her son.

 Many of the man's rivals underestimated Zsinj’s cunning, he often obfuscated stupidity to hide his sociopathic tendencies leaving many of his rivals dead and the handlebar mustache twirling blowhard free to feed on their corpses. 

Screed was not a man of the same calibur and preferred working with the predators rather than becoming prey like Sate Pestage, a soon to be carcass surrounded by hungry beasts thirsting for his position. Jace Dallin, became Prey for questioning the New Order of things, as did his old friend Dodonna when he tried to fight against it alongside his only son. 

Screed was resolved to survive the Empires collapse, maybe spend the rest of his life in comfort of his private Empire, and if it required him to do the bidding of an inferior such as Zsinj so be it.

“Admiral there seems to be some kind of conflict outside of the Storehouse, our sensors detected blaster fire and explosions.” A bridge crewman knocked screed out of his musings. 

“Deploy a raptor team at once! We must have the facility intact. It may be Rebel interlopers! Eliminate all parties.”

The name for Zsinj’s pet military force was apt, Screed would once again be taking the role of the predator. 

Imperial troops transports descended from the sky in formation escorted by TIE fighters. The Raptors within loaded their weapons and prepared themselves to face down whatever enemy had attempted to break into the vault. Those below would have to now face one dozen Raptors and a two dozen of Zsinj’s soldiers. While intel on who exactly had broken into the vault was scarce, Screed was certain that Raptors could take them. Once they were disposed of, Screed had been ordered to send in a team of specialists to open the vault and loot its contents. According to Imperial records secured by Zsinj’s spies, this particular vault held something of great value to Emperor Palpatine. However, the manifesto detailing its contents had been expunged following the death of Palpatine. Zsinj and Screed figured that the records were wiped after a kill switch was activated following the death of the Emperor. It was clever, but not clever enough to deter Zsinj from sending a force there to secure whatever it was that Palpatine had placed within. 

The ground around the vault rumbled as the transports approached. TIE fighters roared past as the transports settled only a few feet away from the main entrance near a clearing in the trees. Zsinj’s conscripts along with a pair of TIE maulers were the first to emerge from the transports. They secured a perimeter around the landing site before beginning their approach toward the vault. The Raptors emerged from the transports last, serving as the rear guard for the main group. With precision, the Raptors split and began to cover ground around the vault’s entrance, ensuring that the area was clear before setting up a camp on site. Seeing the bodies littered about, the Raptor’s leader figured that whoever had been here was able to wipe out a whole squad of Stormtroopers, several Imperial Commandos and two Royal Guards. He theorized that New Republic Commandos had attempted a raid but failed to get to the vault itself. A group of Raptors approached the doors, seeing that they had been sealed. Upon closer study, the doors had clearly been closed recently. That seemed to shut down the theory that whoever was behind this hadn’t been successful. Or… the Imperials were still here.