Wood clanked against durasteel as Uji stepped over one of the incapacitated partisans. His almond eyes glanced about the room, assessing for any missed opposition, before affixing on Zujenia. “We should hide the bodies.”
The woman nodded and, with a quick search about the immediate vicinity, located a small closet. With Luka’s aid, the pair swiftly stashed the men out of sight while Tameike kept watch. Machines beeped and buzzed about the whitewashed space, filling in the otherwise quiet space. A severe lack of people in the ward was odd, a fact briefly communicated through raised, questioning brows. The ship shuddered under their feet, reminding them they needed to keep moving.
“Let’s not take to much time here. Get the things, change, go.”
Zujenia flicked her tail, gesturing for Luka to join her in finding the supplies they needed. In a long minute, through searching cabinets and lockers, they had procured three respirators and medical uniforms. The halfling handed Uji his set as Luka started dropping their robes. The older man took the bundle and hung his cane on a nearby chair. They kept their backs to the walls, gaze flitting frequently to the entry.
Midway through buttoning up shirts, the overhead communications beeped urgently alive post another violent rattle. “Medical to the Bridge, Medical to the Bridge. I repeat — “
“That’s our cue?” Luka half-suggested, unlocking the coupler of their dual-bladed vibroblade and slipping the halves onto their back side, under the uniform’s jacket.
“Yeah, couldn’t of been more perfect.” Zujenia looked between her two comrades and nodded. She hoisted her own weapon, thumbing a button, transitioning it into a more compact mode. The Rollmaster slipped it into a large medical bag before handing Luka a smaller one. “That has the canister in there. I want you to get close to the environmental controls to release that.”
“Understood.”
“Uji and I will cover you when trouble arises. We hold put disguise as long as possible.”
“There will be trouble if we do not get moving.” Tameike reminded gruffly, heading for the door.
The other two took his lead and grabbed their bags, slipping out the med ward in a hurried, purposed pace. A bloodied pair of officers in gold and white rushed past them with some mangled, yet alive soldiers on hover-stretchers. They barely gave the trio any heed, reassuring them their disguises would hold for now. Passing frantic engineers and hustling partisans, dodging sprays of electricity and fallen panels, they finally reached the Bridge.
The blaster doors were stuck open, malfunctioning from the damages unleashed upon the Collective’s ship. Hunkering down in a nearby hall, the group had paused to gather intel. With a slight whistle, Zujenia called down the spherical spy droid who bumped happily against her hand. With a gesture, she sent Dwoid slipping into the bridge’s ceiling space.
“What’d they see?” she asked Luka beside her, chewing on her lip and glancing for oncoming trouble.
The drifter pulled up the camera feed on the Rollmaster’s datapad. “The Captain of the ship, several guards —”
“—how many exactly?” Zujenia prompted with a flick of her tail.
“Five soldiers and six technicians. There’s a droid, possibly two.”
“What model of droid?” Uji inquired.
“Protocol droids, it looks like.”
The veteran Jedi raised an eyebrow, taking the datapad from his grip. He nodded and handed off the device to Zujenia after confirming the data. She gave it a glance, amber eyes noting a small gathering of individuals near a smoking and shot control panel. The medical emergency.
“It looks like the doc was called in right near the environmental controls. Be vigilant and blend in.” The half-Ryn advised, returning the pad to her med bag.
The three hurried into the Bridge, drawing the attention of all within. A pale-green skinned Rodian in a distinguished Collective uniform turned to address him. With pupiless purple eyes, he simple pointed towards the injured crew member. “Severe burns. I want them up and functioning asap.”
“Yes, Captain.” Uji replied, lacing in false subordination.
They made efforts to rush to the downed human, Tameike earning only a brief glance at his trailing behind and cane-clinking. He used the same cane to wave off the couple personnel crowding the man. “Clear out, we need space to work.”
Zujenia kneeled down and started pulling out bacta salve, gloving her hands, and getting to work. Her first aid knowledge from her mother aiding in their deception. Golden eyes met with brown as Luka knelt behind her, swiftly and subtly attempting to navigate the controls. Uji positioned himself strategically to block the younger man from view, his own gaze keeping an eye out.
The ship shuttered followed by Captain Kayle barked out orders in his alien accent. Most of the bridge focused intently on keeping this ship functioning. There wasn’t no time to notice the infiltrators up to no good.
Luka fished out the stun-gas canister from the bag and locked it in to a circular dispenser. The resulting click was masked heavily by the klaxons blaring through the bridge. The yellow-green gas coiled as it sucked into the air system.
They turned to give the Rollmaster a thumbs up, respirator ready, who nodded back and helped the groaning, injured man to an undestroyed terminal. “There, good luck, officer.”
With a nod to the captain, they slipped out of the Bridge. Infusing the Force to control their bodies or placing the respirators upon their faces, they hid nearby, Dwoid as their eyes.
