Lashar simply stared up, jaw agape. Never in his life had he seen anything of that size...

Suddenly Casira started looking round jumpily, her face filled with terror! "We have to get out oif here!" she babbled. "We have to get out of here now!"

She was panicing. It looked like she had lost all control of her sences! Not only would that not help in the situation they were in, goodness knew what harm the stress would do to her children!

Conme reached forward, grabbing her head with his hands. She whimpered and tried to pull away, but he held her fast, looking into her eyes.

"CASIRA! CASIRA STOP IT!"

Shocked, she stopped strugling and stared at him. There was sheer terror in her eyes, and she was still shaking!

"Casira, we're going to get out of this," Conme continued, keeping his voice calm, "but we need to stay calm and collected. Panicing won't do us any good!"

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. "Casira," Conme continued quietly, "is it who I think it is...?"

She nodded in reply. "They...they're called the Necrain." she stammered. "They're the ones...who...killed my race!"

"They're hunting you down???" asked Lily, wide eyed.

"Why would they go to so much trouble over a single survivor...?" muttered Lashar, still staring up at the ship in awe.

"They have no knowledge of the Force." replied Casira. "Not just like anyone else...they physically reject it. They view it like a disease...think it will contaminate them in some way. That's why they attacked us! We were force wielders, and that ment we were dangerous!"

"But wait..." muttered Waller. "If they want to destroy all who use the Force..."

"...what happens when they descover the Jedi." interrupted Braxxon, finishing the Wookie's sentance for him. Waller fixed him with an accusing look.

"And the Sith!" he replied gruffly.

"That isn't all." continued Casira, wiping her eyes, her breath quick and shallow from fear. "They view emotions in the same way! They have no love or compassion, and they believe they have a devine right to rule over all the other races." She looked up, looking round at the assembled group. "They're cold, mercyless killers, who will flatten anything and everything who will stand in their way, without remorse or fear!"

Braxxon sighed as he listened to the news. "This is bad..." he muttered quietly. His gaze flicked to Conme. "I don't pretend to like the Sith, or ally with them, but this is bigger than all of us. We're fighting for the survival of the entire Galaxy!" He looked up at the massive ship above them. "Much as I hate to say it, I think we have no choice but to work together to get out of this! We can't be fighting each other and them at the same time!"

"What's the point...?"

Casira hung her head, tears running down her face. "We can't fight them...there are too many! We can't escape...no matter where we go they will follow us..."

Lily stepped forward, grabbing Casira's hand. "Don't say that! No enemy is invincible! Besides, you have us as friends now! We can beat them together!"

Casira opened her eyes and looked up at the girl. What could a small group like theirs do against an entire ship of Necrain, when her entire race had been wiped out? Still, it was comforting that she was trying.

She could feel her maternal instincts kicking in again...Lily's young face was so cute...she wanted to protect her...and to protect her own cubs...

"Erm...I think we'd better make a desision pretty quickly..." muttered Lashar. The others turned in shock, looking out of the alleyway into the market square. A large transport vessel had landed there, colored the same dull black as the ship overhead. It bore a similar design too, with large stabilizer fins sweeping back from the nose over the body of the craft.

A door in the side opened, and figures stepped out...

They were insectiod, each sporting six limbs, two pairs of arms, and legs. Their skin was black, and rutted like the bark of an old tree. They wore black armour, pointed and spikey, that seemed to meld with ther skin so it was difficult to see where their bodies ended and the armour began! Each one was over eight feet tall, but their thin, segmented bodies made them look grotesquely out of proportion.

Their faces were hidious: their eyes sunken so far back into their sockets that they were invisible in shadow, making it look like all they had were the eye sockets: their bone-encrusted jaws lipless, boasting sharp, five-inch-long teeth and vicious mandibles that clicked together sideways, chattering and clicking in an insectoid way. They had no nose: instead long antenna stood up from their foreheads, twitching and flicking as they tested the air. Their skulls swept back in two long curves at either side of their face, forming into a large row of pointed horns running off down the back of the neck and down the spine.

Slowly more and more of the creatures filed out of the craft, lining up like an army across the large marketplace, facing the small group in the alley. Each of them help four large, powerful looking blasters, one in each hand, which they held pointing towards the group.

Casira had her hands over her face, staring at the creatures through parted fingers. The others were staring wide-eyed at the newcomers, their mouths open in shock.

Braxxon took a deep breath, fingering the switch on his lightsaber nervously. "Not...good...!"

Lashar also reached for his lightsaber. I GUESS this counts as observing, he thought, as his fingers closed around the hilt...

IC:
Lily, got ready to draw her own, counting the blasters and Necrain and felt a twinge of fear when she realised how many shots could be fired at once.
"They're a lot uglier than I expected." She muttered, trying to boost her confidence...

Waller raised his lightsaber handle and flipped the switch, and gasped when nothing came out! He tried again and again each time the same.
"Something's wrong with my lightsaber!" Waller roared.
He quickly stepped back and tried tampering with it again.
TBC

COnme handed the whipsaber to Casira. "This was supposed to be a present for later, but I want you to have it now. He then acivated his lightsaber.

"We all have one main concern here, and that is Casira's safety. We need to cause a distraction so she can get away. Where she goes from there is her decision."

There were more ships filling the sky. "They want all of us dead. We need to save Casira first. Then we can save the rogue girl and Waller. They're the youungest here, so they need to get out first. Then the rest of us. We can't fight these guys with just us. We need more people."

Conme was right. There was no way they could fight an army with the small number of people. What were they going to do?

"Where are your ships?" asked Braxxon, still eyeing the aliens in front of them warily.

"Landing platform 23." replied Conme.

"Okay, on the count of three, run for it." He glanced across at Lashar and Waller. "We'll cover them."

Wether the others agreed or not he didn't really care...he could see no other way out. "One...two...THREE!"

He charged forward, raising his lightsaber into the air.

It was what the Necrain had been waiting for. They raised their blasters, and a hail of energy bolts flashed towards the group. All of them had their work cut out, deflecting the bolts with their sabers as they exited the alley and ran across the square.

Casira felt like she was re-living a nightmare! It was exactly the same...the ships in orbit...the streams of Necrain, charging through the cities and overwhelming everyone by sheer weight of numbers...

She glanced down at Lily who was running in front of her. "Lily! The Thermal Detonator! Throw it!"

Lily had taken her hand away from her lightsaber when she was told to run, and now reached for the detonator, pulling it out she aimed, activated it on a timer and threw it...

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Conme screamed. The detonator exploded in mid air, just enough to knock the Necrians over. "LET'S GO!" He said.

Lashar didn't need to be told twice. As he got up, he tapped the apparatus behgind his ear.

...back at the parking lot...

"Beacon online. Drives charged. Regret moving out."
The control panels hummed to life as the ship's interior moved out. It pulled out of its space and shot out into the streets, controlled by the droid AI unit. As it pulle dout, a pair of credit coins spun in the payment tray...

As the group ran on, four laser shots fired over their heads, straight back at the Necrians. "Yes! Everyone' it's arrived!" "What has?" "My ship! Everybody in! Now!" he yelled as the gangplank lowered and the ship kept a cover spray of cannon fire.

Blaster fire erupted around them as they raced into the ship, battering the hull and leaving black burn marks. Braxxon positioned himself on the gangplank, deflecting the lazer fire while the others ran inside. "Get us out of here!" he roared at the top of his voice.

More Necrain were appearing from all sides, flooding into the square like water and racing towards the transport as it began to lift off the floor. Several jumped at the gangplank, trying to dive on board before the entrance closed!

Inside, Casira had found a small corner and was curled up in it, shaking. She had never known such fear! When the Necrain had attacfked her own planet it had been scary, but this was even worse! The feeling of helplessness...knowing that they had followed her here...knowing what it ment. She would never be free! They would chase her indefinitely!

Father...father I can't do it! I'm sorry...I can't carry on our kind! I've failed you!

"We need to get to the landing platform." muttered Conme. "Get the other ships."

As they rose higher into the air, the city came into view...and everyone but Casira gasped in amazement!

Every single street and alley was crammed full of a black, swirling tide of aliens...they must have numbered well over a million! They all moved together in perfect co-ordination, flowing like liquid between the buildings with impressive speed! Nothing stood in their way, and it was fortunate that most people had already escaped to their homes...the creatures didn't seem to be entering the buildings at the moment.

Suddenly Lashar noticed several shapes on the horizon, rapidly growing larger as they got closer and closer. "Fighters!" he exclaimed. "We've got trouble!"

Lashar grabbed the control sticks as the fighters appeared on the scanners. "If any of you have starship experience, there's firing controls on the sides of this ship. I can control it from up here, but it's a lot easier with help. Computer! Activate all deflector shields and ready all laser cannons!" He looked behind him at the group huddled into the cramped hull. "Hang on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."