From the Wilds They Comeith

[Lash]

Lash watched the hologram for a moment waiting for any movement from the surface. A helt breath later, bodies moved around on the world below and the troops of Norongachi began to advance once again. Lash grinned and pondered the man's reaction below. "It looks like they survived," said the Chiss General standing near the hologram. Lash eyed the man for a moment and said nothing. He looked back to the hologram with interest. How was the man going to deal with the shield? Lash considered hitting the shield with an Ion bombardment then decided to let Norongachi deal with it. Lash zoom out of the hologram then looked at the icon labels Intruder three.

"ETA on the Commando force?" Lash asked. A man to his left looked at a section of his console then replied. Four minutes sir. They have closed without detection." Lash nodded then continued watching the picket close on the space station.

The modified Vibre assault cruiser slowly moved toward the station relying on inertia to carry it. The vessel's black hull lay nearly invisible with space as its background. With its stealth systems, it quietly closed to within two hundred meters of the station now reeling from the initial bombardment of the termagant. "Fire her up," said Commander Friln to the vessel helmsman. The ship came alive as the power came online and the ship pointed itself towards the station. The heavy Ion cannons let loose two blasts of blue energy slamming almost instantly into the station. Blue and white arcs rippled across its shielding allowing the smaller ion weaponry to open a hole in the shielding. The small corvette accelerated then flipped on its axis and attached itself to the stations outer hull. "Breach!" said Friln over the commandos channel. Two breeching lasres fired on the hull as the assault hatches extended their umbilicules. "Seal!" souted one of the commanders who then motions for the squad he as leading to drop from the hatch. the hull gave way s the lasers cut through its hull opening the station to the assault hatches. One after another the Chiss Commandos dropped into the station and the unsuspecting and shocked inhabitants.

"They are in" said the Chiss General. Lash nodded and brought up a video feed from one of the team commanders cam. " Very good General, Have them move to their objectives. Pnce we have control of the station we will move onto the next objective" said Lash watching the Chiss' point of view as he fell through the hole into the corridors of the station.

[Salem Norongachi]

A shield could be overloaded. It was designed to stop two things; physical and energy. If they poured on an abundance of either it would fall but they didn't have that luxury. The physical aspect worked upon velocity, if an object moved beyond a certain speed it would impact the shield. So, by that logic, Sal thought as his head swam with broken thoughts and half remembered dreams, someone would have to get close to overcome that weakness.

The silver globes lay heavy in his hands and he tried to focus upon them even as they threatened to slip from his sight. If they took too long, he knew that blue bastard in the heavens would drop so much firepower no one was walking out of this alive.

Needs must, he thought and staggered out into the street, his feet betraying the state of his mind, his shoulder bouncing against the carbon scored wall of a half ruined building until eventually he found some semblance of his dignity and walked straight and true into the mouth of the kryat dragon.

The first of the E-Web and blaster bolts sizzled the air and in his daze the bodies fell. Identical armours, throwing themselves into the jaws of death when they threatened to strike true. He was half way up the street when his mind found its balance and fury rode into the void where conscious thought should have been. The detonators rolled forward, the shield yielded, the explosion blew out the generator and the defenders there in. Atomized in a flash and yet Salem felt no better.

There were moments when he'd forget how much of a bastard he'd been before he'd merged with his clone. This was a day where the truth was shown in stark clarity, to see in full brutal fashion how far the former Dark Lord would go to further his own gains; To programe his own clones to die for him.

"Location secured. Moving onto the next point." Norongachi spoke to Lash.

[Lash]

Bolts of fire spilled out of a doorway at the end of the corridor. "Blow it" said the Chiss strike team leader. A second Chiss nodded then jumped across the corridor taking a hit to his lower leg landing on the far side. He quickly rolled to clear his body from the fire and nodded back across the corridor to his commander. The two looked down the hallway at the small orbs making their way down the corridors reach towards the doorway. "Suit up!" said the Chiss commander as he put his environment suit's helmet on. He looked around at his men then pressed a button on his gauntlet. An instant later A green flash permeated the corridors spreading out down the corridor into the room beyond then the room beyond it. The weapons fire was replaced by choking whimpering cries then silence.

"Sir," came a word from one of his commandos then a gesture down at the man who had been hit. His leg was contorting and the wound he had taken was now festering and turning black. The commander kneeled down by the man who was beginning to choke. "I will see your family knows of the sacrifice you have made for them today." said the Chiss commander as he pulled out his sidearm and fired three charric bolts into the man's chest and head. "Let's go" said the commando leader and turned to walk down the corridor to the command center.

"The Chiss team walked into the command center firing bolts into the dead and dying. Around the room, the bodies lay contorted and disfigured from the radiation they had endured. Radiation bombs were a terrifying weapon, even the small localized ones. The Chiss Commander had seen a whole planet irradiated in his lifetime. He hoped to never see that nightmare of a site again. It however was a very effective way of dealing with an enemy force.

"Here commander," said one of the Chiss as he knelt down and began unpacking his kit. The Commander walked over to the man and looked at the console. "Get the data and return to the ship on transport two. We will clean up here and follow" said the Chiss Commander as he turned and walked into the last room. The site in the room was much the same as the last. Dead bodies irradiated and contorted from spasms lay on the floor. There behind a console, the commander of the station lay dead. The Chiss looked at the man with admiration. He had died fighting, never giving up even when it was clear the Chiss were taking the station. He kept his soldiers fighting till the end. The commander took the man's data badge and the command link off his wrist then turned and walked back out of the room.

"Station Secured," said the Chiss into his own wrist communicator. He looked around at the needless death in the room. It would have been so much easier if they had just surrendered he thought. "Ok we're done here," said the man as he and his commandos returned to their transport and back to the ship.

Lash stood on the command deck watching cam footage from one of Sal's clones. "Rewind it and play it again," said Lash as he and his command staff watch as the bombs fell nearly on top of his men. "Sir, those were some very precission bombing runs," said the Chiss general standing next to him. Lash nodded wordlessly then rewound the video and watched it again. "next time see that out bomber crews give the assault troops a little more room to breathe," said Lash as he closed the video footage down.

"Sir message from Norongachi," said the communications commander. Lash listened to the man's message then stood silently a moment considering the next part of the plan. An instant later the message from his assault team came in from the station.

"Very good, general Move the support force into orbit above the force on the ground and have them support as needed. " Lash said as he walked to his command couch and sat down. The hard part was over now it was time to mop up.

An hour had passed as the two cruisers and their escorts had taken up obit above Norongachis forces on the world below. The Chiss team had returned from the station and Lash had gone over the retrieved data paying attention to the orbital traffic of the system. As he suspected there had been a constant military force visit the system regularly. The CSA was not as weak as Norongachi had lead Lash to believe. It was then a klaxon began to whine.

"Sir multiple contacts bearing two oh four." said a sensor officer. Lash sat calmly and considered the import of this. The logs he had reviewed had given him some insight into the world's import to the CSA as well as an idea of the patrol strength of standard CSA force. He sat the datapad down and looked at the view screen which was now showing their new friends. "It seems their patrol fleet is right on time."

[Salem Norongachi]

The air baked before the transports, whipping past in oven heavy streams. Sal sat at the head of the replusor truck, the driver guiding them across the barren landscape. Cracked tracks of land, mineral stripped and dying, stretched out before them like a weary guest. The repulsors thrummed, a cacophony of sound in a silent landscape. The arm of the ore smasher had fallen silent. The miners had beaten a retreat and who could blame them as the military convoy approached. They were paid to work, not to die.

"No worries here," Hardock spoke and Sal nodded in response. There would be no blood shed.

"Nothing else to see on this rock, get us spaceborne." Sal finished and left the details to his subordinates as he hover van came to a stop just beyond the mines.

"Extract is going to have to wait, sir, Corpies have sent a fleet into the system." Norongachi heard and felt his jaw tense, the death toll would be severer and he didn't know how to feel about that.

"Do we still have coms?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send a com to the Hand of Fate."

"Link established."

"Do your job."

"That all sir?"

"Thats all."

[Lash]

Lash studied the formation of vessels in the distance as they opened fire on the Chiss formation. They had exited hyperspace short of the world's orbit, pulled out of hyperspace by the gravity well generator of the Chiss Interdictor vessel. The group had opened fire almost immediately after they exited hyperspace. Lash noted the response time of the Corporate crew with a hint of admiration. Their commander must be fairly competent and his crew well trained. He considered letting the group survive and give them a chance to leave but only for a moment. The Corporate patrol group found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. At this point in the plan, the group could not be given the chance to report back to the authority security command.

"Admiral, Please order the group to maintain position and target the Victory Destroyer at the front of the formation. Order the Interdictor to maintain its field and rotate out its generators in ten-minute intervals. Let's launch the droid fighters and have them close on the target group and have our CAP take up defensive positions and intercept incoming attack craft," ordered Lash looking out at the small group of ships now slowly attempting to turn and move out of the interdictors range.

The fire erupted from the Chiss group reaching out across the emptiness between the two groups striking the Victory Star Destroyers shielding rippling the invisible bubble battering them in a flurry of energy. A volley of missiles fired from an escort spread out in front of the formation and sped off towards the small group of attack craft the Corporate group launched. the missile barrage exploded releasing their conner net payloads spreading out into electrically charged ionic energy nets before the incoming fighter craft. The nets spread out before the Corporate attack craft like a spider web before a helpless gnat reaching out past the group's ability to compensate grabbing fighter after fighter in its ionically charged netting disabling many of them before they could get free of the trap. The few fighters who had escaped the conner nets grasp broke off from their attack runs and sped off back towards their base ship's protection. Behind them, the Droid fighters of the Chiss gave chase peppering them aft shielding with laser bolts.

"Sir The Fate is asking if we need assistance," said one of the communications officers. Lash considered the ship and its capabilities and its importance to Salem and its importance to Him and his plans. "By all means her help is welcome. Have her move in on the enemy formation and assist out droid fighters in disabling the Corporate fleet before it can exit the system," said Lash with a slight grin. He was certain the ship would be able to finish off the small group once she had opened upon them. The Chiss fire had all by disabled the Victory. Its missile salvos had stopped firing and the ship had begun to list and its power was fluctuating indicated by its external lighting and the few ports visible flashing intermittently. Even if the Corporate managed to pull a trick out of their hat it was Sal's ship, not his.

"maintain supporting fire for the Hand of Fate as it closes in and finishes off the fleet," ordered Lash as he sat down to watch the fight to come. "Inform Mister Norongachi of the situation and advise him to remain on the ground for the time being. Once we have mopped up we will give him the all-clear." Lash nodded as the communications officer acknowledged his order. Lash did not care about the Hand of Fate but he was curious to see it's battle capabilities first hand. This would be a very educational lesson for him. He looked forward to the fight to come.

[Salem Norongachi]

"Do your job" The three words echoed around the empty bridge and somewhere in her matrix Emah smiled. A request for support went out to the Chiss and came back affirmative, all the while the great bulk of the Imperial-Class Star Destroyer moved. Its matt black hull, scorched and scarred by a decade of service, shifted against the light of the systems star.

Emah observed the formation of enemy ships, the Victory Star Destroyer listing toward the weak gravity of the planet and its Titan patrol Frigate and Etti Light Transport escorts firing desperately at the swarm of droid fighters Lash had launched against them. In a breath she had calculated the firing solutions for each ship and brought herself into a position to execute. The huge ion engines of the ISD burned blue and then she fired.

The turbolaser batteries sung in the void, their crimson lances stabbing into the escorts. Their shields flared under the impact, their captains trying to evade only to find that their maneuvers were useless. Emah had them locked, had calculated their possible escape vectors and so when they moved, the array of turrets moved with them. No where was safe in her field of fire.

The heavy turbolasers pounded into the stricken hull of the Victory Star Destroyer, the dark blade of the Hand of Fate slicing through the enemy formation and on either side her weapons sent death. It was a light show that only battle could bring, shields blossoming and dying under her incessant tyranny before failing and committing one more crew to the black.

The Victory sent a flare of fire and shattered hull into the void along its midsection, bodies like specs in the dark tumbled away into frozen death, as Emah came along side them for a broadside, the dagger shape tilting toward the starboard to bring the maximum amount of weapons to bear on the dying capital ship and unleashing everything she had into her wounded foe.

The ships reactor took a hit, then another, as she scorched away the armoured hull and collapsed into a corona of fire while Emah pulled herself away and toward the distant formation of Lash' fleet. If she could have been breathless, caught up in the ecstasy of death she would have been. This was what she was built for, this was her life and hopefully, in a distant future, this would be her death.

"Hand of Fate to command; Enemy destroyed."

[Lash]

The operations were all but over as the ground force wrapped up on the world below and began to load their transports to return to the Hand of Fate. The world below was a smoldering wreck, the mine had been destroyed as had the main spaceport and any industrial facilities on the world. the orbital station had been cleansed of life and any orbital defenses destroyed. The patrol fleet had been destroyed by the sentient ship giving Lash a good idea of the vessel's capabilities. Salem had cleared the world leaving the survivors with enough to survive till help arrived. Lash had learned much today, The CSA was better equipped and manned than he had known. He had studied the security logs and traffic logs intently. He skimmed over the personnel logs of the military command personnel stationed there. His engineers were working on breaking the coding on the encrypted files and Lash had more importantly seen what Norongochis ship was capable of.

"Sir, All stations report ready and we are prepared for the jump," said the Chiss admiral. Lash nodded and brought up a detailed mission report. He looked over the data then clicked a button to enter the data into the computer and saved it. Now He and his people were preparing for the next mission. The next step was much more important than the Kamar operation. They had taken Kamar to gain information and introduce themselves to the galaxy. The next mission would send a much different message once complete.

The lift door opened and three Ryn males entered the room. "Greetings Commander, I hope you were satisfied with our information," said the Ryn standing foremost of the three. "I told you the Corporates were far more prepared for a fight than your data indicated." said the Man as the three stopped walking towards Lash. The Chiss looked at the three then out the viewport as space and the floating debris of the CSA patrol fleet.

"Yes," Lash said without looking from the floating scrap that once patrolled for the Corporates. "I assume the remainder of your information is as accurate as well," said Lash. He looked away from the viewport at the three Ryn. "Mister Kamora, I will give you and you're associates what you asked for. I am sure you understand the need for anonymity in this. Do not make me regret our choice to utilize your services," said Lash staring at the three. The man named Kamora seemed unflinching by his words but the two men standing behind him were noticeably shaken by Lash's words. The Ryn would supply him with much-needed information on the Corporate Sector Authority, information he had no intent on sharing with Norongachi.

Lash motioned for the men to leave without a word then went back to looking out at the shattered hull of the CSA. the three Ryn paused then turned and left when it becomes obvious the CHiss was done. Lash listened to the three as they left. He needed the information the Ryn would deliver but if the three were far from trustworthy.

"I am retiring to my quarters Admiral, Please inform me when Norongochi has returned to his ship and we can depart," said Lash as he stood and straightened his coat. "You have the com Admiral," Lash said and turned and walked to the lift.

[Salem Norongachi]

ETT IV
Mondder
The Crystal Spire

The headquarters of the Direx Board and central hub of government of the Corporate Sector pierced above the skyline of the capital city of Mondder, weak afternoon sunlight caught the prismatic glass walls of the twisting eighty storey building and set it sparkling in yellows and hues of orange. On the highest floor, in the largest boardroom, the leaders of the CSA would gather. Collectively known as the Direx Board, the 12 most powerful executives of the 12 most lucrative companies that made up the Corporate Sector each held a seat and the power to alter the fates of every citizen in the Tingel Arm.

Standing beside the long wroshyr wood table were the ExO, leader of the CSA, and leaning against its edge at the other end the Prex, his opposite and counterbalance in the game of corporate power. The room lay in tense silence, the holo-display casting a map of the Solenbaran Merchant Route, a valuable hyperlane that ran through the heart of the Corporate Sector. A young Vice Prex was explaining the data to her superiors.

Kamar, at the far end was shaded in red, it had been the first to fall in the assault two weeks prior. Oscin and Fether had been pillaged shortly after; Industry disabled, starports destroyed and ore mining and processing facilities put out of commission. These three worlds by themselves were not essential to the manufacturing power of the Corporate Sector but the trade route they lay on was and already businesses had begun to reroute freighters and hire additional escort craft for any shipments travelling through the region. These costs on top of destabilizing supplies to other manufacturing worlds sent ripples throughout the sector and more importantly the wallets of those capable of having their voices heard by the Board.

ExO Fennick had been staring hard at the display and to the left and right of it, material and cost reports of the incursions. He was dimly aware that the Vice Prex was speaking and withdrew his grey eyes from the numbers.

“The military cost has not been insignificant either, we have lost One VicStar, Three Dreadnaughts, One Strike Cruiser, dozens of escorts and five wings of fighter and bomber craft. In terms of personnel recruitment and training to replace-”

“What does he want?” the ExO asked the room, cutting off the Vice Prex.

“Who, sir?” the woman asked.

“Norongachi.” came a response from the Prex Ullic behind her. He pushed himself away from the edge of the boardroom desk where he had been quietly observing the situation reports and moved to stand beside Fennic with the VP between them. “He left no one alive on Kamar, military at least. But at Oscin and Fether, there were survivors with his name on their lips.”

“He was showing us what he could do at Kamar, wipe out an entire military force if he wished.” Fennic added narrowing his eyes at the sector map. “So what does he want? For us to know he’s coming? To have us shaking in our mansions out of fear?” the ExO chuckled at that. They’d been surprised, nothing more. If Salem Norongachi wanted a stand up fight he would find himself sorely outgunned.

“There are reports he has Chiss on his side, we matched weapon and armour configurations to our database. No mistaking Chiss technology.” The VP added, trying to work her way into the stream of thought that seemed to be flowing between her two superiors.

“No.” Ullic responded with a small shake of her head, her greying brown hair barely moving. “If this were an assault by the Chiss, they’d have wiped out half our worlds already. The Chiss do not mess around.”

“They are Chiss soldiers, but I’d wager a rogue element. Possibly a house that has fallen out of favour.” the ExO added and the Prex nodded in agreement. “All of this doesn’t answer my earlier question; What does he want? A seat at the table? His old office back? Is he simply bored or still in the grips of his madness?”

“No.” the Prex spoke, crossing her arms across her chest and resting her weight on her left foot. “I think he’s saying hello in the only manner he knows we’ll respond to.”

The Vice Prex was now well and truly lost. She hadn’t been long in the office of the executive branch, nor had she been part of the Corporate machinery when Salem Norongachi had sat at the head of the Board Room table. The ExO saw the emotions flickering across her young face and laid a hand on her shoulder as she passed before answering her question.

“Profit margins, Vice Prex Dannica. It's the only language we speak and the only one that matters.” she took a seat at the long table and laid her cigarra case on the varnished surface, set an electrum lighter beside it and then cast a look to her counterpart. “So, how do we respond?”

[Lash]

WIld Space
Force Blue Steel rally point.
Termagant

The muffled clank of fuel lines disconnecting from the battlecruisers hull rang through the ship like a bell at dinner. the massive Tender sat beside the battlecruiser. Its long arms reaching out to grasp the larger ship like prey, the grappling and repair arms worked around the ship as the arms which had been connected with the refueling systems began to retract from the Chiss vessel. Like a Spider, Its lanky appendages finished the repair and refueling of the Termagant then released the massive vessel and began to pull away.

"Command, The Recluse has released us and we are free to maneuver," said a Chiss officer standing at the communications station. Lash nodded without a word and continued to look at the datapad before him. The torrent of destruction the Chiss had left behind them had done little in the way of providing resources for the hungry fleet at his command. They had gathered more intel than they had food and supplies over the last weeks. The three battles the group had seen had left one of the frigates and a corvette damaged beyond the capacity of the mobile fleet tender to repair. These ships had been pulled up alongside the Recluse and its crews had begun to strip the interior of the vessels at Lash's order. He had told no one why he wanted this done nor did he care to. He had a use for them and he left it at that when questioned by his staff.

"Helm, Move us into formation with the group," ordered Lash still reading the information on the pad before him. A nod and a "Yes Commander" came from somewhere beyond the datapad. Lash cared not who answered him, only that the order was heard and carried out. His crew had begun to sound concerns about their mission. They had hit three worlds and taken nothing. Had destroyed a handful of vessels and left them adrift without salvaging a single bolt of their hull. The vessel had supplies for the crew for the next six months but his people were more than aware of the finite amount of food and supplies which they had in their stores.

Lash looked up from the pad to see the image of three ships before him. Slowly the massive hull of Termagant moved into position with the rest of Force Blue Steel. He sat the pad on the arm of his command couch and thought about what he had read. Intel throughout Corporate Authority space had become much more secure in the last weeks. Even his spies had returned little intel since their raid on Fether. The Authority had caught on at some point that they indeed had a problem and it seemed they now had begun moving resources and equipment both away from and into the path of Norongchi and the Chiss. Oddly enough many of the resources of the CIS had disappeared over the last week and it troubled Lash that he had no intel of their location.

"Commander, we are in position. All vessels and stations report green sir. We can jump at your order. " said the Chiss officer standing at the front of the vessel's command deck. Lash looked at the image on the forward screen and entered a set of codes into his chairs computer interface.

"Jump officer, you have the com. Jump when ready," answered Lash. The Chiss officer nodded then turned to begin the process of jumping to hyperspace. A large timer came online on one of the forward displays which read one hundred and twenty standard seconds. The Chiss officer walked to the forward most of the navigation consoles and entered in a code.

"Starting count," said the man as he punched a button and the timed began to count down. The timed counted down as the hyperdrive motivators began to charge. Under their feet, the hull of the massive ship began to vibrate as the power of the coils charged. The timer hit sixty seconds and the man began to count. "Sixty, fifty-nine....." The man counted with the time as it rolled down towards zero. "Ten, Nine, Eight..." counted the man as the deck now vibrated slightly to the rhythm of the coils humming. The man's count hit zero and he spoke, "Predeecing with jump"

The starfield which had filled the forward monitors darkened them lite up with light. The blue and white swirl lines of hyperspace now filled all of the external cameras and every monitor displayed the vivid light show of hyperspace. Lash stood and turned to an officer standing beside him.

"Captain, the ship is yours," said Lash as he began to walk past the man towards the turbo-lift. "I will be retiring for the evening. When we reach the rendezvous point inform Mister Norongachi that I will meet him for dinner aboard the Termagant at eighteen hundred hours standard time. Until then I am not to be disturbed. I have much to understand before we move into the next stage of the operation." said Lash as the officer beside him saluted and answered "Yes Commander."

Lash had questions, many things eluded him presently, and until he had a grasp on what the data he had been given meant, he would retreat to his quarters and deliberate with himself until the answers were apparent. They would arrive at the rendezvous point in seven hours which was well ahead of their scheduled meeting. Lash would spend that time alone in thought preparing for what was to come.

[Salem Norongachi]

The shuttle skimmed through the hangar shields, its scarred gunmetal hull slowing and turning to land between the half dozen others already settled in The Hand of Fate's bay. Armoured clones were already disembarking and retrieving gear before settling in for the brief respite before the next battle. Norongachi stepped down onto the deck, rifle slung over his shoulder and let his dark visor take in the ranks of faceless soldiers.

"Welcome back, sir." the voice of the ships AI came through as a tinny voice in his helmets com-system.

"How many did we lose." Salem asked without a pause, his boots already walking the well worn path from hangar to command deck. As he passed each clone, they stopped and snapped to attention, and Norongachi felt no inclination to returns the salutes. Guilt squirmed in his gut with every gauntlet raised for him. He'd birthed them to die -whether slowly or quickly, depended entirely on the day- and worse than that he'd stripped them of their ability to say no. They followed orders with a rigidity that made battlecruiser hulls seem like glass.

"Sixty-three."

How many lines had he crossed now? Lines that had seemed canyon wide, lines that had been crossed before by others and driven him mad with rage and bloody vengeance against them. And for what? Power? Safety? Relevance in a Galaxy he hardly recognized? Maybe, and he feared this most of all, that he was simply bored.

If he'd commit a thousand genetic duplicated of himself to die out of boredom what would be throw on the fire if he was really committed?

"Whatever was needed..." he thought darkly.

The bridge of the Star Destroyer was empty and dark, she needed no crew to operate. For years no one but Norongachi had set foot aboard The Hand of Fate now it felt too crowded, like an infestation they couldn't be rid of. Off to the starboard side of the bridge were his quarters. A small spartan space with a sleeping cot, desk, chair and recessed weapon and armour rack. A dull orange strip light cast shadows across the bare walls as he set about stripping away his Nemesis Armour. He winced once or twice, he'd taken more hits than he would have liked in the last fight and yellow and blue bruises bloomed across his right shoulder and upper chest.

"We've reached the jump point."

"You know the drill." he replied as he buttoned up a dark shirt.

"And the Commander requests your presense on the Termgant at Eighteen-Hundreed-Hours when we reach the rendezvous."

"Any particular reason?"

"Dinner, apparently."

"I've lost my appetite already." Salem replied as he sat down at his desk and lit up a cigarra.

"Which reminds me, you haven't eaten in three days. Be sure to bring yourself back a doggy bag, if nothing else."

"Yeah yeah, just jump us already."

"Jumping."