Joining Forces

Mar shook his head. "We won't be fighting Sith... You barely can hold your own in a simple sparring match, my guess is you could only deflect blaster bolts, and even then not back at the one who shot them at you..." Mar caught himself, realizing he was being rough again, part of it was more frustration at Serenity's previous masters who had clearly failed her miserably to let her lose her edge so severely than at Serenity herself. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and shifted his tone to be less rough. "So with that in mind, when we go after this Sith and the Imperial officer Rowan is after, you will be aiding Rowan with his side of the hunt. Quint and I will..." Mar paused. "Speaking of Quint where the hell did she get off to?"

It didn't take long for Mar to find the girl asleep in the ship's engine. "Great, I'm a master to a bunch of nappers..." He muttered as he carefully scooped up Quint into his arms and carried her out of the engine room. He rest her on a cot he had intended for Serenity but it seemed that she had claimed Mar's. So now he had to rest in the auxiliary barracks which Mar had long ago transformed into storage. It was irritating but he would tolerate it for now.

Mar sighed as he returned to Rowan and Serenity. "So Quint was in need of some sleep as well..." He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "But it looks like she got the ship fixed so she's earned a rest." He looked to Rowan. "Once she's awake, we can head back to the settlement and see what we can dig up on this Icerraine character you're after..."

---

Liden stood on the devastated bridge of the wrecked star destroyer and looked out at the wasteland beyond the view port. The place was rich in The Force, especially the dark side, great battles always left their mark and sites where many had perished seemed to become wellsprings of dark side energy. It filled Liden with a heady tonic, her mind seemed to breathe in The Force and with each breath she felt her consciousness expand.

After a moment she sensed a faint echo. A darkness that masked itself yet was plain as day to the Sith Mistress. Something was here... And it wasn't alone. A dark shadow surrounded in light... Liden's interest was piqued. There was someone here...

"Milady..." The Lieutenant interrupted her fugue and snapped her back to the present. "Commander Icerraine is..."

"You don't have to introduce me, you fool." Icerraine's voice was insolent, petty, and irate. "I am fully capable of doing so myself!"

Liden turned and faced the Imperial assassin and officer. "And you know who I am."

Icerraine showed visible discomfort at the sight of Liden. He tried to hide it, even through he was doubting that the strange woman could even see through the opaque helmet that covered her entire head aside from her mouth and lower jaw. The lips of which curled into a fiendish grin. "Indeed, I do, Darth Liden... And I know why you're here..."

"I sense you've already come to a decision... one that I do not appreciate." Liden's voice was monotone, no emotion could be read from it.

"It was the affairs of you Sith that brought the Empire to ruin in the first place. Petty squabbles and family drama... that is all you Force users seem to know. And I intend to carve out my own piece of the galaxy on my own terms. I..."

"It's a shame... would you not reconsider?" Liden asked her head tilted to the side in question.

"Absolutely not." Icerraine said firmly. "Now the out of my compound..."

The Lieutenant readied for some awful fate to befall his commander. However, the Sith Mistress merely continued to smirk.

"You are aware of the bounty on your head? Are you not?" Liden asked.

"Every high ranking Imperial has a bounty on their head now with The Republic back in power. They feel we must answer for our crimes. I am not worried about it."

"Yet bounty hunters lurk at your very doorstep."

"Milady... I was a skilled assassin and intelligence officer. I know every time a set of boots lands on this ball of sand. And I know how to kill them all in several hundred ways... Let them come if they dare..."

Liden cocked her head again, curious. "And if one of them was aided by a jedi?"

"A jedi can fall with enough firepower thrown at them..." Icerraine said, though he did seem a little taken aback. "You saying they've sent Jedi after me?"

"I know so... and you don't... Because unlike your little spies and droids.... My informant is The Force. Two are here, now..."

"You could be lying." Icerraine said.

"I would gain nothing from doing so."

"You want to trick me into agreeing to joining forces with you."

"Commander... I came here as a courtesy, to see if you will join me in rebuilding our beloved Empire... I do not need you, I am inviting you. Should you decide to not join, I will merely walk away, until the time comes for me to claim your territory as my own. And I am sure your spies are well aware of the forces I have at my disposal. You know you cannot win. This is me being kind, Commander... do not fool yourself into thinking that you have the high ground in this situation..."

Icerraine grimaced then finally he nodded. "I trust these jedi would be taken care of swiftly?"

Liden's lips curled into a grin. "Immediately..."

It was then that two figures clad in black suddenly appeared from behind cloaks. Icerraine and his Lieutenant reached for their blasters quickly but refrained from turning them on the figures. Still, the two figures ignited their lightsabers in response. One had a double-bladed lightsaber while the other wielded two single blades, one of which was shorter than the other.

"They're with me." Liden said calmly. "And they will be more than capable of destroying any threat to our new alliance..." Liden extended her hand out to Icerraine who took it and shook it firmly.

"Very well..." Icerraine said with a nod. Though he felt he was making the worst mistake of his life.

As Liden returned to her shuttle flanked by the two sith assassins she stopped before ascending up the ramp and turned to look over her shoulder. "The jedi are joined with someone strong in the Dark Side. I am curious wha