[TOR] Vifi Sunfell - Pernam Minor

[Vifi Sunfell]

"This damn suit is too tight," Vifi thought to herself. "After I get off this assignment – less meditation and more training. Can't put on weight at my age."

She had spent several days lodged at a mountainside mining facility overlooking the trade center of Corrsk Corek on Pernam Minor.  The city was well kept by Republic forces, with Major General Ahn Leras pushing the Sith beyond the horizon. Still, out of sight was not out of mind for the citizens of Corrsk Corek. By now, the current interstellar traffic seemed like the last few flies darting around a long-dead carcass.

She finished zipping up the camouflage gear and secured her lightsaber to her thigh using a pocket that normally held light-sticks or flares.

A man's voice from the outside growled, "Captain Sunfell. Barge is on approach. A little over an hour before it arrives."

"Make sure the soldiers are ready, Lieutenant Taanzer. This one is a go."

"Why this one? We've been here for eight days, and we haven't checked a single ship so far," carped Taanzer as he entered the small quarters.

"Because I know this is the one," snapped Vifi. "You should thank me for not turning your commandos into customs agents with disproportionately expensive guns."

"I'd thank you if we had done a blasted thing since setting up here! Not just sitting around –"

The door shut behind Taanzer as Vifi stood up, casting her eyes upwards to meet the Lieutenant's gaze.

"I am your commanding officer on this mission and I will not be questioned!"

After a moment, Vifi lowered her voice, "You will get the crew ready now and have them fit for action. I do not want to be responsible delivering a casualty list to General Leras and especially not because my Lieutenant was not one hundred percent on board."

Mustering up as much professionalism as he could, Taanzer barked, "Yes, Captain."

[Vifi Sunfell]

Vifi watched the barge on as it plodded toward the facility. It was built on antiquated surplus repulsorlift technology, likely scavenged from decades-old ships. The concept was something like a floating general store – rather than own a building in a city you could take a small store and prop it up with just enough lift to get it to move. On impoverished planets like Pernam Minor where ships were scarce and homesteads were often spread out over vast distances, bringing the usually cheap, second-rate goods to the customer made all the difference to keep profits up.

With the Sith taking a beating and unable to make progress toward Corrsk Corek, Vifi figured that the Sith commander, someone named Mozh, might attempt an unconventional method of capturing the city. The facility had virtually nothing in the way of offense or defensive value at the moment, but it did have two advantages – it sat high above the city and had an ample source of power. It was also largely disconnected from the city so that a takeover would go unnoticed for a period of time. Vifi wasn't certain how the Sith would transform the site to a weapon or a base – but that wasn't her problem.  It was the best chance at a wild card that the Sith had remaining and it was also similar to other strategies they had employed in the Minos Cluster.

It had taken well over 26 hours for Vifi to sift and splice strands of future thoughts to get a clear enough picture of the assault. This would be the barge carrying the infiltration force.

[Vifi Sunfell]

The squad watched the slow-moving craft from a perch in the rock face a few hundred meters away from the facility's landing pad.

"Remember team," Vifi noted to the four commandos, "this is a vendor barge. It's normally staffed by two or three workers tops. These workers will either not be on board or will be on board and D.O.A. There will be Dark Jedi here, and their methods do not include sparing people they consider to be weak. These craft are so simple a Gammorean could fly them. Given the size of the vessel, there will be a dozen targets, tops. Occupants will have very limited visibility due to the lack of windows and cover of darkness. So take out anything that moves and do it quickly. Understood?"

The camouflaged group of men shot back their affirmatives. There was a pause before Taanzer readied a hi-mag zipline and fired it at the barge. The tether used a repulsorlift mechanism to rapidly decelerate when approaching the hull - resulting in a tiny click as it locked on.

Vifi readied herself to cross and barked without a shred of humor in her voice, "My apologies if any of your in-laws are Gammoreans.  Let's go!"

[Vifi Sunfell]

Vifi hit the side of the barge and noticed a slight wobble from her journey over.  "Blast, the engines are even shoddier than I imagined," she thought to herself. She pressed the mic from her comms headset close to her lips to compensate for the loud thrum of the ship, "Slight change of plan - Soto and Deo, head back toward the station, set up two sniper positions. This thing's already straining load capacity. Taanzer, Erith come over."

"Roger," synthed Taanzer over the com, "You two, move back up about oh-point-seven-five, there was one spot there. Then find another further up."

The Jedi scrambled to the top of the barge and pressed her body onto the roof to keep a low profile. Erith arrived with a dull thud and wobble. Taanzer followed close behind and released the tether, sending it whipping back to the rocky ledge.

"You two take the garage hatch," said Vifi, referring to the rather large cargo bay door at the front of the barge. Typically, this was turned into a storefront entrance once the merchant arrived at his destination."I'll go to to the bridge. Be liberal with your fire, we can't afford to lose either of you seeing as we're down two men"

"Yeah, don't worry Captain," remarked Erith, "I can't really afford to lose me either."

The two commandos stayed at the rear of the ship and attached rebreather mechanisms to their helmets. Taanzer climbed down a portside ladder while Erith patched in to a maintenance interface.

"Huh, no security. Guess that makes sense since its a floating sweet shop," buzzed Erith through the comm. "Okay mate, open in three... two... one..."

Taanzer fired a stun grenade through the hatch just as it opened wide enough to permit the shot to clear.

Vifi heard some blaster fire as she crept toward the bridge. She eyed an access ladder going down the side of the ship that should allow access to the bridge.

Taanzer came on the comm channel, "Only two soldiers here, Captain. Got them both. Honking big mortar here. Very shiny. Don't see how they could take on the whole facility with just two soldiers.  I mean facility isn't really armed at all, aside from personal firearms, but still..."

She climbed down the side of the craft thinking, "mortar couldn't even be used to attack the facility, they'd just blow themselves to dust as soon as -" She saw the bridge door latch and worked it open.

Quickly swinging into the long, narrow cabin she had only a moment to react after seeing the three Dark Jedi.  One was on the far opposite side, exiting the bridge to climb on to the hull.  Immediately, she thrust her arm out at the pushing the Sith overboard! With equal reactions, a one of the other Sith did the same and sent her flying through the open door.

[Vifi Sunfell]

Vifi frantically pawed at the door frame and managed to grab the stern-side ladder, causing the ship to lurch violently to one side.  It seemed to stay slanted as she climbed up making it a challenge to maintain her balance.  She shifted her weight to her left leg to compensate for the angle.

"I have three Jedi here, guys!" she shouted into her comms, "Can you get up here?" One of the acolytes scrambled onto the roof from the port-side ladder. Vifi sent another thrust through the force, trying to knock him off to no avail - he was prepared for it.

"Captain, that mortar shifted and pinned the Lieutenant against the wall!" cried Erith. "I'll see if I can get up there!"

Vifi ignited her lightsaber, getting into as comfortable a stance as she could given the uneven ground. Her opponent, clad in a dark green robe, eyed her cautiously as he rose to his feet and drew his humming red blade in front of him.

In a instant, the Sith leaped forward and two weapons clashed violently, crackling and hissing as red met green. There was a long pause where the combatants pushed, trying to gauge the others strength, and then a flurry of short staccato moves that pushed Vifi back toward the fore of the ship.

The Sith's cloak billowed in the night wind in stark comparison to her close-fitting camo, the entire battleground bathed in red, green and white. Suddenly he stumbled. and Vifi took advantage, pushing back with a series of windmilling strikes.

She could sense a second Sith presence very close - another, stronger one had climbed up to join them.

Blaster bolts fired past Vifi and she could hear them fly off into random, disparate directions. Her opponent was momentarily startled and glanced off into the distance - and she used the distraction to quicken the pace with short, fast deliberate strokes. After a few seconds, the Sith was unable to keep up and fell to a large, sweeping upward stroke clean up the front of his body.

He dropped to his knees and collapsed as his lightsaber tumbled off the side of the ship.

"Yes. Kolot and Stass have both proven unworthy," slurred the remaining Sith, with his blade already extended. He gestured at the crumpled body and the still gasping form slid unceremoniously off the barge into the night. "Come, Sunfell. I bring you death."

[Vifi Sunfell]

Erith sent a burst of blaster fire at the figure, who responded by deflecting it with relative ease. The commando suddenly reached at his throat as the Sith raised his hand in his direction.

Vifi saw an opening and rushed forward, bringing her weapon down in a brutal slash at his upper body. The attack forced him to direct his attention away from Erith as he halted her blow. Swinging his blade around, he drew Vifi's momentum to her left - and the into the steep decline of the barge - causing her to stumble. She caught her fall with one hand, crouched, and promptly sprung backwards a good ten meters. A moment later, the spot she ha been standing on sizzled and charred after a swipe from her opponent's blade.

"He's much stronger than the other," she thought as she returned to a defensive posture, staring intently to discern the slightest hint of his next move.

He walked forward, showing no concern or fear. "Is this planet so worthless that they only send a daughter of a third-rate Jedi bloodline?" He advanced, readying his lightsaber for attack. "You aren't good enough for this Sunfell." He thrust forward in a furious volley that had Vifi barely matching the pace, even while focusing solely on defense.

"Spare me the words, Sith!" shouted Vifi, as she tried to concentrate on her movements, desperate to slow the onslaught. She inched closer, hoping that she could diminish the advantage of his far superior reach.

The flow of battle slowed a bit as the two drew closer together - they moved in a slow, twirling dance as they fought to gain an advantageous position. Then, after luring the Sith into getting too comfortable in close quarters, she timed the rhythms and landed a perfect strike with her palm sharply beneath his sternum. He reeled back and Vifi twirled around with a roundhouse strike that missed entirely.

The Sith clutched his midsection. "The pain... It focuses the mind. It is not a burden, it is a source of strength!"

He lunged and thrashed his weapon with precise, powerful strikes.  He pushed Vifi back, this time toward the bow of the ship. "You cannot keep up, Jedi! This is your end!" The night lit up with the yellow sparks from each parry. The assault showed no signs of slowing down when suddenly there was a cry of pain as one of the lightsabers blinked out. Vifi fell to the hull of the ship as unimaginable pain washed over her body.

[Vifi Sunfell]

The searing sensation subsided leaving in its wake an intense scalding burn down her right side. She thought about moving, but it didn't happen. "I can't feel my arm - my right arm," she thought over and over. Her face pressed against the cold metal hull but it was no more than a lost thought drowned out by the agony.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard blaster fire and looked up to see what appeared to be Erith engaging the Sith - her perception was not cooperating with her body still trying to recover from the shock. She muttered, probably only in her own head, "If there's any time I needed focus, its now, grandfather."

Vifi tried to clear her mind and visualize the Force flowing through her - all the little wisps and flows of energy dancing with purpose - weaving together her, the ship, the Sith, the air, the landscape, the planet and beyond. As she did, her mind started to block out the pain, moving it to a back corner of her mind.

She started to pull herself up to her knees using her one good hand and thought about the futility of this gesture. Crippled and weaponless. Her body wanted to rest, more than anything else. But her grandfather did teach her to have no regrets - to at least make it as hard as possible for someone to earn their victory.

The Sith quietly advanced to Vifi. "Finality is a blessing in this universe. I am not inconsiderate to your plight. We both achieve our goals. Through victory, my chains are broken. And you will be 'One with the Force.'" He held his lightsaber high while slowly levitating Vifi off the ground. Striking someone while they were prone on the ground just didn't seem sporting.

She peered at the Sith and just his fervor in his eyes nearly cut through her. Her mind was once again sharp, but for what good? She looked for something to use to her advantage, anything - but nothing presented itself.

Abruptly, the Sith cried out in pain as a blaster bolt hit his arm, jolting the lightsaber out of his hand. Vifi fell from his Force grip and instantly drew her opponent's lightsaber to her good hand. As soon as her feet planted on the ground, she jumped at him - igniting the weapon and slicing through him across his chest.

She hit the ground hard, losing her grip on the saber when she impacted the hull. All her energy was expended but the final blow was dealt - she knew it.

[Vifi Sunfell]

Lieutenant Taanzer woke Vifi later at the facility. "You got grazed by a lightsaber Captain." He paused. "Remind me never to get 'grazed' by a lightsaber. Nearly took your right arm clean off. But it seems it only cut through some tissue at your shoulder. And a bit of skin down your right side."

"How many did we lose?"

"Nobody," replied Taanzer. "Erith got knocked around quite a bit, but it seems that big ugly wanted to finish you off first before spacing him. We even recovered that mortar they were transporting."

"Yay... Hooray for us," Vifi droned wearily. She closed her eyes and replayed the strike that disarmed her repeatedly as she fell back asleep.


---end