"It's time to leave," Ellis stated firmly. "Temos, get your team together and back to the transport."

Ellis took out the comlink from his belt and switched it on.

"Lyle," Ellis said into the device.

"I read you," the pilot's voice answered. "What do you need?"

"Power up the ship, but keep the hatch sealed until we arrive," Ellis instructed. "We're evacuating the station."

"Will do," Lyle answered before muttering under his breath. "I knew it."

"Gyson," Ellis spoke into the comlink after changing frequencies. "Gyson, come in."

Silence.

Ellis tried again two more times but with similar results. It was possible the shielding around the station power plants was interfering with the diminutive signal of the hand-held device, but with everything else that had happened so far on the station, Ellis wasn't about to discount the possibility something had gone seriously wrong and his team was in trouble.

"Corin," Ellis called to the second in command of his own squad.

"Corin here," the man's voice replied. "Control center is still secure."

"Get out of there and report back to the transports," Ellis quickly instructed. "I haven't been able to contact Gyson or his men. I'm going after them. If I haven't contacted you by the time everyone else arrives, don't wait for us; have Lyle take off and report back to the Republic."

"Understood," Corin acknowledged after a brief pause, clearly wanting to argue the point but deciding not to.

With two squads on the move, Ellis centered his focus on the one remaining. He'd sent Gyson to inspect the power generators, and it was a fair distance from the garbage smasher. However, without having to coordinate a squad of civilian workers, Ellis could move much faster by himself. Adopting a brisk pace, he measured his speed to allow him the time to react if an enemy were to appear, slowing down at corners and corridor intersections but moving swiftly at all other times.

Ellis reached the first of the power generating areas. Because the station was large, overall production of energy wasn't concentrated in one location but dispersed across the entire width of the upper saucer. He doubted Gyson and his team would've had time to move very far beyond the first few rooms, so Ellis slowed down to a cautious, creeping pace. He frequently paused, holding his breath to listen intently for any sign of movement. If his people had run into trouble, it could still be in the area, and Ellis didn't want to run blindly into it.

He stepped through a partially open door and found the first signs of trouble. A maintenance pack of tools had been dropped on the ground, the implements contained inside scattered over the floor. Several holes the width of his thumb marked the wall, the area around them scorched black. Pressing himself up against the wall and keeping a careful watch on his surroundings, Ellis cautiously touched the blaster holes.

The metal was cool, and the burn mark easily brushed away, indicating the damage wasn't a recent occurrence. Ellis' thoughts returned to the grisly scene in the garbage smasher, wondering if the previous events were going to unfold again with his teams being disposed of in a similar manner. He shook his head slightly to dislodge the worrisome thoughts clinging to his mind like mynocks. His military training during the final years of the war kicked in, allowing him to focus on the task at hand.

The next room had makeshift barricades, all of which had been either shot to pieces or broken apart. Because blasters fused organic tissue with their heat, no blood marked the floor, so it was impossible to tell how many people had been involved in the fight and what the total number of casualties might have been.

A door to his left slid open a hand's width, and Ellis spun around, his weapon swinging into line to aim.

"Ellis," hissed a voice from behind the partially open door. "It's Gyson. This way."

In four long strides, he reached the door and found Gyson and his team hiding in the room beyond.

"We're getting out of here," Ellis said.

"Not yet," Gyson denied. He and his men pushed the unpowered door open further, enough for an average sized human to squeeze through if they turned sideways and held their breath. "Get in here."

Ellis decided standing in the open corridor wasn't the place to have a conversation. Additionally, Gyson might know more about what was going on down there than Ellis did, so Ellis accepted the suggestion of his team leader and ducked into the dark room beyond the door. Gyson immediately worked to push the hatch closed again.

"What's the situation down here?" Ellis asked in a low voice. "Why didn't you respond to the comlink?"

"There's a scrambler active down here," Gyson explained. "Once we found out what was blocking our signals, it was too late to get out."

"What do you mean?" Ellis prompted. "Why was it too late?"

"The power generators are regularly patrolled," Gyson told him. "We've been watching for some time, trying to find a pattern."

"Our other team found evidence the previous owners were disposed of by whoever is currently on the station," Ellis stated. "Have you seen them? Do you know who they are?"

"Shhhh," one of the techs whispered, pointing frantically to the corridor.

Everyone went quite as the sounds of footsteps reached their ears. The door was mostly closed with only the slimmest of cracks between it and the doorframe. Gyson slid a paper thin diagnostic scanner through the opening. Turning the connected display unit around for Ellis to see, they watched a replicated view of the outside corridor on the screen.

What appeared to be a stormtrooper entered the hallway and marched past, but the armor wasn't the pristine white as was standard wear for the Empire's troops. This armor was completely black, and the helmet was slightly elongated, narrowing to a wide point at the base of the chin like a downturned snout. No one made a sound until the dark warrior had moved on.

"I've heard about them, but I've never seen one before," Ellis told Gyson. "An Imperial death trooper."