Participating Members
‘‘Phase I begins on October 14th and ends on October 28th (two (2) weeks)’’
After intercepting a transmission from the now destroyed Brotherhood Listener ship, the Psi Termina I, your team has been hand-picked and sent on a mission. You are already boarded on the Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser Akan, arriving in an Imperial boarding craft through the auxiliary starboard hangar, only several decks below your target. The Akan’s hyperdrives and major systems have been disabled by ion cannons from escorting ships and a battle still rages outside.
The ship’s power fluctuates with every blow from turbo lasers and ion cannons and you have limited time to complete your mission. The Collective regiment typically onboard is currently deployed, but ship security is fully staffed and some elements of the regiment may still be onboard. Intel expects Soldiers and Partisans onboard.
Your team has been tasked to complete one of the following objectives in limited time (you may complete only one (1) objective):
Revenge path: Reach the main bridge, face and eliminate Captain Brith Kayle and extract valuable information from the computer core before the fleet destroys the ship.
Sabotage path: Reach the primary computer core behind the main bridge, extract the information and set the ship to self-destruct before extracting.
Pacifist path: Reach the primary environmental controls on the main bridge, pacify the whole ship with Stun gas before extracting data from the computer core and calling in the cavalry.
Caution: the Captain is accompanied by an unknown number of enemy combatants.
The Phase must end with the bridge secured and the ship either pacified or destroyed. In all but the Revenge path, the Captain’s fate is up to you.
Post #1: Ethan Martes
Auxiliary Hangar of the Akan
The Imperial Boarding Craft landed into the auxiliary hangar, the landing gears blew out small streams of steam as the built up pressure released. Seconds ticked by in silence as a small group of four Collective Troops took up defensive positions, training their blasters and slugthrowers on the opening doors of the craft. “Oh, look… We have a welcoming party.” Tyraal stared out of one window. “We should try and get them closer to take them out quietly.”
“If we are going into combat, I’d like my lightsaber dear.” Petth spoke, her eyes more focused on her task of sharpening her wrist blade.
Ethan sighed and handed her a lightsaber, which the Chiss glared at, “I grabbed you a different one… Don’t need you going all red.”
“Red?” Celevon raised a brow. Aura looked over suspiciously.
“Don’t worry about it, and I’ll get those guards closer, just be ready to spring on them when I do.” Ethan took a swig of his flask before opening the bay door. A few more seconds ticked by as the single man staggered down the steps and into the hanger, he raised one hand and yelled out, “Hey! What are you doing?! We need some help over here!”
The Collective Troops stared for a moment before they called back, “Identify yourself!”
“Identify? Do you karks realize what this is?!” He pointed to the ship. “This is the medical evac ship! We’ve got wounded! Get your asses over here and help!”
“It’s not marked as a medical ship!” Another called out.
“Then why the kark is it filled with injured?!” He spat back.
There was a moment of silence before the Collective Troops moved in, three heading straight for the ship. One approached the human and eyed them up and down, “What is your name?”
“Ethan Martes, and I hope you don’t mind, but I brought some friends.” Ethan grinned wide, as if on cue Petth, Aura and Tyraal sprung the trap and quickly assaulted the Collective Troops with the only sound being the ignition of lightsabers. Ethan pulled out his lightsaber and pressed it into the gut of the Collective member beside him before turning it on, making it into a quick makeshift shank.
Petth launched herself onto one of the Collective, using her weight and momentum to knock him to the ground before her wrist blade found its way into her prey’s neck. Tyraal and Aura both moved in unison, movements practiced time and time again as master and student as their lightsabers ignited to quickly silence the last two Collective.
Azure and yellow blades swirled to block the incoming blaster fire, crimson bolts deflected erratically around them. Glowing scorch marks left small dents in the hangar’s floor and walls. The Zeltron pressed her attack and rushed forward. The two Collective guards re-aimed their guns towards her quickly advancing lightsaber, its blue light searing itself in their thoughts as she got closer.
Pew. Pew.
Both of the enemy soldiers crumpled to the ground a few meters in front of her, their gear clanking against the hard metal hangar floor. Tyraal and Celevon scanned the hangar for more but there was no need. The Force was already screaming at them to move as more troops poured in from the eastern entrance to the hangar, its emptiness not to their advantage. Aura beckoned Tyraal to follow her and the pair of Jedi ran to join Jael, Celevon, and Ethan by an empty cargo container. Blaster fire zipped overhead as the group crouched behind it, Celevon and Ethan blindly returning shots…
“Petth and Aryn, hold the extraction point and provide us some cover. We need to move to target and this hangar is far too organized. Think you can keep a clear path for us?” asked the Zeltron.
Commander Erinos simply shouted an affirmative and picked up Ethan’s cursing girlfriend. Their imperial boarding craft swung around and unleashed a deadly barrage of covering fire, the staccato rhythm of the pulsing energy bolts almost soothing, in a sick sort of way. The once-pinned Odanites ran from cover towards the open corridor in front of them, their footsteps beating a hurried pattern into the durasteel below them.
Jael got there first. He waited until his team crossed over the threshold and then quickly pressed a few buttons on the control panel next to the blast door, its large doors closing behind them until a mouse droid found its way between them, preventing its full closure. The doors opened and closed on it until Celevon aimed a well placed kick that sent the droid tumbling backward. The opening to the hangar finally slammed shut behind him. Hoping for better omens moving forward, Aura could only hope their fortunes would improve.
“Tyraal, scout ahead and see if you can find a way toward our objective,” the Zeltron ordered.
“I’m so glad you asked,” the Clawdite replied, grinning a grim grin.
He slipped down into the hallway, breathing deeply as he trickled out of sight. Aura grinned as her apprentice vanished from view. The Knight made his way down the hallway slowly, passing intersection after intersection. Eventually, he hesitated before a junction. He glanced forward, before gazing down the other two passages: the right side seemed fine, but on the left he spotted a small squad standing sentry duty. His eyes narrowed, and he made his way down the hallway.
One of the sentries stiffened, and slowly scanned the room.
“Wuz’up?” growled one.
“I thought I felt som’thing.”
“Felt? What, you oone’a them ‘jehd-eye’ freaks?”
The conversation ended abruptly as the hair on their necks and forearms stood up. A crackling became uncomfortably audible as Bitshiver materialized a few meters away from them. Extending his fingertips, he unleashed a barrage of blue-white lightning, shocking the soldiers directly in front of him. The others raised weapons at the suddenly visible attacker, but Tyraal’s yellow blade sprang to life with a sharp hiss. It flew out of his hand as they began firing at him, a deadly golden baton, twirling towards them cutting through the air. Bitshiver sidestepped, drew his pistol, and opened fire on the right side.
The lightsaber cut through those unfortunate enough to be on the left side, while his blaster mowed down those on the right. He reached forward to recall his lightsaber only to watch it whizz past him.
“You might have told us you had something,” came Aura Ta’var’s voice dryly, as she grasped the hilt of his now deactivated weapon.
“Once I knew I had something, I had full intention to,” replied Tyraal, rising out of his squat and holding out his hand. “Besides, you told me to scout out, I had to cover my tracks.”
Aura handed over the weapon, surveying his handiwork.
“Don’t look too closely,” advised the Clawdite quickly.
“They would have to have been dealt with eventually, regardless.” She replied, not happy with the situation.
“There’s a time and a place for mercy, Aura,” Celevon spoke up from the rear, slugthrower at the ready as he kept his gaze focused behind them. “This isn’t it. Each of those that are taken out now is one less threat to an innocent in the future.”
“That looks like an elevator,” Ethan interrupted loudly, stepping between them and pointing; in his blatant way, he had probably stopped what would have likely become an argument between the two.
“There’s a staircase right there–” Tyraal cut himself off after receiving withering looks from the others. “Elevator it is.”
The half-Echani took a deep breath, praying for patience as the durasteel beneath their feet shook with every blast of the turbolasers from the attacking Brotherhood vessels. “The stairs might have been an option if we weren’t getting shot at… not to mention the whole ‘which floor do we need?’ dilemma,” he pointed out sarcastically.
Ethan Martes appeared relieved that they wouldn’t be taking the stairs. He stepped forward and incessantly tapped the button to call the elevator before anyone could change their minds.
“We’d be like porgs in a barrel,” Jael quipped in agreement, highly amused as Ethan gave a sound of victory in response to the elevator arriving. The other four quickly followed Martes into the elevator, only to find him pressing the buttons for every level above them.
As the turbolift doors closed, the half-Echani twitched and turned to Ethan. “Mind if I see one of those?”
The moment Ethan Martes’ slugthrower pistol was handed over, Celevon fired two shots into a speaker that the others had barely noticed. The faint music immediately ceased. When he handed the pistol back, the Onderonian noticed the looks from the others. “What? He has more ammo than I do.”
“I think they’re more curious why you shot a speaker,” Ethan pointed out absently as he checked how many live rounds were left in the cylinder.
“Oh, right… Elevator music is the worst sort of psychological torture,” the half-Echani explained to the others as the bell dinged and the doors swept open.
Jael swore quietly as he snatched the very same firearm from Ethan’s hand and put a slug through the torso of a Collective soldier that had been facing away from the elevator.
“Why the frak does everyone keep taking my gun?” Martes grumbled as he took his weapon back from the half-Sephi. Almost unnoticed by the others, the doors shut again.
“You have more ammo,” Jael deadpanned as the others fought to keep their own amusement concealed. “I quite literally have no ammunition.”
Ethan took a sarcastic tone as he faced Jael fully. “Well, excuse me for thinking ahead and bringing extra ammunition.”
Whilst the two were bickering, Celevon moved forward as they came upon the next level. He took one look outside of the doors, pulled back in and rapidly pressed the button to close the turbolift doors.
“Wrong floor?” the Zeltron questioned, frowning as the half-Echani gave a shudder.
“Don’t know. All I saw was the most heinous of practices…”
“Necromancy?” Tyraal asked curiously.
“Worse,” Celevon breathed. “They were acting like mimes… which is almost as bad as karaoke and elevator music combined…”
Ethan seemed to agree as the other three pondered the questionable sanity of their comrades. When the turbolift doors opened again, there was a guard staring at them; Jael wasted no time in pulling her into the elevator. The guard was shoved toward the others.
Tyraal went to grab the guard when the half-Echani shook his head, holding out a hand to grasp their captive with the Force. The guard was lifted off of the floor, arms and legs spread wide.
Jael pushed Ethan aside as the elevator started to move, ignoring Martes’ barbed comments involving kinks as he flipped the switch to halt the elevator in its tracks. All of the lights for the levels blinked out. Ethan and Tyraal took this opportunity to attempt to get information, one playing sympathetic whilst the other was aggressive.
It was a classic routine used by Security Forces for interrogation.
After less than three minutes of this, Jael grew impatient and got Celevon’s attention. “Do your thing.”
“What ‘thing’?” the half-Echani blinked in confusion. “That’s not vague in the least…”
Jael rolled his eyes. “The thing where you germinate their brains with smutty images or whatever the frak you do when you mind-kark someone to make them give up information.”
“Why didn’t you do that in the first place? It would’ve saved some time…” Tyraal trailed off when Celevon grinned, glancing between Bitshiver and Martes.
“You two seemed to be having fun venting your sexual frustrations through roleplay. I didn’t want to interrupt.” The half-Echani’s innocent tone would have been much more believable if not for the wide smile.
Jael smirked, cutting up slightly as he raised his hand to his mouth to cover his face as soon as he realized he had made a sound. The look on his face went to an embarrassed one shortly after he realized Celevon had looked his way with a cheeky smile.
“Well…” the half Sephi cleared his throat and flashed a small smile as he looked away towards the rest of the group from the half echani. He could feel the heat of his face turning red and flashed a glance at the dark haired man. “We need to just skip all this excitement and head up to where we need to be. Just do your damned thing and let’s get going.”
Celevon snickered as he moved his attention away from the half-Sephi and back to the sentry. Moments passed as he infected the person’s mind with his own thoughts, worming through the connective branches of her mind until he felt he had made a tight link. The sentry complained, groaning as this went on. Her body wiggled and writhed in discomfort until she eventually settled down with the calming sensations Celevon had placed with his attempts to draw out information. As the woman had became subdued, her attention turned to the Zeltron within the elevator.
“Hey there pretty lady,” the sentry muttered through a somnolent fit of ecstasy.
“Oh come off it,” the half-Sephi muttered, throwing his hands in the air. “Now is not the time for this flirting bullshit.”
“It would appear that she is taken with you, Aura,” the half-Echani mused and held a slight grin as he continued to work his attention through the details.
“We just need to know where the control room is for the computer and not give guards a moment of bliss because we feel like it,” Jael’s voice grew louder and the sounds of desperation to get this mission finished quickly were understood as Celevon frowned and sighed.
“Oh, you want the computer?” The woman turned to Aura and smiled. She lifted her hand and pointed upwards. “It’s just a couple more floors up. I can show you how it works.” She said with a wink before Jael muttered profanity.
“Get on with it,” he spoke out with a quick motion of his hand to grab Ethan’s blaster and pushed aside the half Echani to smack her across the top of her head. “Now,” Jael huffed. “Let’s get to the computer and be done with this comedy bit.”
Once the computer room came to full view with the arrival of the turbolift two floors up, the group quickly emerged, ducking away into the shadows around the room as a technician laid back in his chair, snoring.
Aura nodded to Tyraal, who vanished from sight as quickly as he could and quietly walked into the computer room. She could hear the sound of stun bolts as bodies hit the floor with a thud. A disembodied arm waved them inside before disappearing again.
“Ooo, I didn’t know you had invited a third. Might be a bit cramped,” teased the female guard they had abducted.
Jael hit the woman bluntly over the head and lowered her to the ground. “We have work to do. Excuse me.”
The half-Sephi and his compatriots rushed in and went to work, the former already breaking out his code replicator on the console in front of him. Tyraal and Celevon took posts outside in the hallway, the former disappearing entirely while the latter found something to hide behind. Aura and Ethan stayed by the entryway, keeping a watchful eye out. Jael cursed erratically as he typed, muttering to himself as he worked.
Aura spared a glance towards Ethan, who simply shrugged and waited to hear when they could finally get off the vessel. The ship slightly rocked them from the blows outside and lights flickered overhead. She glanced back at the half-Sephi impatiently. Jael could feel her gaze.
“Hold your lightsaber. I’m just about done. Just need to leave a little surprise for everyone. We, uh, might get some extra company after do this,” warned the half-Sephi as he waved a datacard in the air before safely storing it in one of his secure pockets.
Jael pressed a key and red lights blared overhead, the words self-destruct loud enough to force anyone to yell to be heard. Aura glanced at the hapless woman still knocked out from before but the 5-minute timer didn’t leave them much time. Bitshiver and the half-Echani were already defending the stairs next to the elevator, its power cut off in cases of emergency. Ethan and Jael pushed the Zeltron forward, blaster fire from the other side of the corridor already starting to zip through the air.
“May the Force be with you,” she murmured as she backed into the staircase with her blue lightsaber at the ready.
The five Odanites rushed down the stairs, doing whatever they had to do to get down to the hangar level. Metal slugs and bolts sprayed in all directions, a few too many zipping by closer than one ever wanted. Aura could smell the acrid scent of burnt hair and hoped it wasn’t hers. Celevon and Jael used the Force to physically push over any resistance, their bodies crumpled by the time their momentum was arrested. A few reached for their weapons but Ethan and the half-Echani were quick to dispatch them.
“3 MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT,” blared the speakers overhead.
Celevon twitched in annoyance. “I take it back. This is worse than the elevator music. Though perhaps not the mimes…”
Ignoring the half-Echani, Aura and Jael pushed their way through the door into the crowded hangar level. The mass of life pushing and jockeying for position was a spectacle in itself. The Zeltron growled in frustration, unable to simply sprint the length of the hallway.
“Like porgs in a…” Jael started to joke.
“As long as I don’t become roasted. Petth wouldn’t like that unless she got to do that,” quipped Ethan.
Aura gave them both a withering look and shook her head but Celevon snickered with force humor, relieving the tension. The Odanites formed a chain and relentlessly pushed forward, ignoring everyone else and hoping they were far too busy running for their lives to care who ran with them. Their hearts beat as one unit, counting the seconds until they hit the open ground of the hangar. The Zeltron sighed in relief as the previously closed blast door had opened due to emergency protocols.
As they crossed its threshold, their good luck went sour, a too-long spare glance making the man’s face scrunch in a familiar anger. “Fraking Jedi! Get them!” he pointed as they had just squeezed out of the corridor.
“2 MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT,” blared the ship.
“Move! I can run the fastest. Get the escape ship in line and I’ll jump on. Tyraal, you’ve got my six,” ordered Aura as she surveyed the guns aimed in their direction.
Celevon, Ethan, and Jael sprinted across the hangar while Tyraal and Aura distracted the rest of them with their blue and yellow sabers, the elegant weapons drawing the hatred of the soldiers far easier than any words could convey. Blaster fire shot their way as they stood back to back, deflecting the bolts as she moved sideways towards the ships. The staccato rhythm of the hums of their sabers cut through the air, a symphony of its own.
“Master! To our left, shake and bake!” yelled Tyraal.
Aura twisted round to Tyraal’s side and spied a turret gun being placed. The Zeltron called out to the Force as she punched through the air, aiming it at the sentry loading its ammo. In her mind, she felt as her invisible fist swung through the air, smacking the guard across the chin. Time seemed to move in fast forward as the sentry lost his balance and stumbled, giving them a moment as he regained his footing. Aura quickly ducked and redirected the Force into a shield in front of her. She closed her eyes and focused, the familiar crackling of Bitshiver’s lightning already building. Tyraal took a quick step towards the sentries and unleashed the stream of deadly energy directly against her shield. Ta’var felt it lash against her shield. She focused its current outward in a direct shot towards the recovering gunner, amplifying its energy on the rebound.
The sentry yelled in shock as he fell to the ground, the gun itself partially melted as well. Aura took a deep breath, went back to back with Tyraal again, and brought her lightsaber back into a high guard.
“1 MINUTE TO SELF-DESTRUCT,” warned the ship in a final goodbye.
Both Jedi gave a wayward glance towards the exit, knowing they’d never make it on foot. “May the Force be with you,” they both chimed in.
“HEY, SELF-SACRIFICING SHEBS! GET ON THE SHIP!” yelled Petth, Jael, Ethan, and Celevon.
The quartet was already unleashing a wall of fire of whatever ammo they had left. Aura and Tyraal pulled the Force into their legs and jumped onto the loading ramp their friends had left blaster-free. The pair of Jedi couldn’t help but crack a small smile in relief as the doors to the craft closed and the team shot off towards open space. They all grabbed onto something as Aryn punched it the moment they left the hangar, inevitably pressing into each other as the ship went to hyperspeed. What were friends for after all?
This Phase lasts from October 29th until November the 11th (two (2) weeks)
Request from the organizers: Please add a note to the top of the next post which path your team will choose in this Phase. Thank you.
Your team left the dreadnought Akan with information that, together with the data analysed by Clans and the Inquisitorius, has lead your to the Meridian Prime space station, a fortress, correctional facility and space dock floating in interstellar space just off the Wild Space boundary. Already under attack by Clan and Dark Council forces, dogfights light up the blackness around the behemoth, and intel suggests the shields and defenses have not yet been weakened enough for a full-scale naval assault. The station is on full alert and firefights have already started as skirmishes between Collective troops and Brotherhood assault teams pepper its three massive hangar bays.
The station houses civilian and enemy personnel, including a correctional facility that holds hundreds of Brotherhood prisoners of war, both Non-Force users and Force users alike. The prison has an isolated security system, its own power generator and life-support. Intel suggests that the prison is managed by a powerful AI (artificial intelligence) controlling the Dioxis security system, many defense blaster turrets, ray shields and a large complement of Imperial Sentry Droids acting as guards, controlled by the prison warden. The interior of the prison itself is pumped with a thin mist of Dioxis gas, preventing escape and anarchy.
You have been dropped off on the lower decks via boarding pod.
Breath masks are provided for this mission, should your team require them. Any Possessions item that prevents inhaling of poisonous gas will be effective as well.
Your team has been tasked to complete one of the following objectives in limited time (you may complete only one (1) objective):
Revenge path: Reach the correctional facility and eliminate prison warden Rutgar-4. Caution is advised as there are Imperial Sentry Droids defending him.
Sabotage path: Reach the prison’s AI core to recycle the life support and free the prisoners. Prepare for a riot as many prisoners are powerful Force Users and Non-Force Users.
Pacifist path: Reach the prison’s AI core and disable the security systems to allow incoming Brotherhood troops to secure the facility.
The phase must end with the prison facility secured, one way or another. In all but the Revenge path, the prison warden’s fate is up to you.
Relevant character sheets:
Phase II Objecive - Sabotage
The boarding pod rocked for a moment as it latched on, the Odanites sat in their seats looking at each other for a moment. “So, are we clear on the plan?” Aura finished explaining, almost everyone nodding in agreement except for Ethan, who was currently chugging from his flask. “Ethan, I need you sober.” She reached over to grab the flask, but Petth beat her to it so that the Chiss could finish off the contents. Aura gave her an approving nod and went back to business.
Ethan chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s just whiskey. Not good stuff, either.”
“Just remember, we get to the prison quickly, get our masks on, get to the AI Core, cause a riot, get out.” Jael rubbed the bridge of his nose, partly wondering how he got stuck with both Celevon and Ethan on a team. “No stopping for anything.”
“Do I get my real lightsaber, love?” Petth whispered to Ethan, Aura catching some of it and raising a curious brow.
“When we get home… Promise.” Ethan whispered back as they all got up and opened the hatch doors to the station.
They had landed in the lower levels of the Public Trading Hub, but had lucked out as they entered in some sort of market area right off the bat. They were assaulted by various smells, ranging from foods, various spices and oils, to what one could only assume was the one drunkard over in the corner reeking of death.
“I think I know that guy…” Ethan muttered, looking over to one stall owner selling different pieces of scrap metal and wires. Before any of them noticed, Ethan was over at the stall. It was a Bothan who was busy securing his stocks as the station shook every minute or two. “Rogdan?”
Only Petth kept her eyes on Ethan, as the others were watching Aura getting onto Celevon for having sticky fingers. Not having even been there for a minute, Celevon had already found a way to pocket some shiny doodad he had spotted and Aura caught him immediately. Her whispered admonishments made Tyraal chuckle appreciatively.
The Bothan’s head snapped up and its eyes went wide, “Ethan?!” He reached over and grabbed the Human, pulling him closer and down into a hug, “What are you doin’?! Ya can’t be here! The Technocrats will kill ya if they fin’ out ya got them mind powers!”
“Oh, hey Rogdan don’t worry!” Ethan laughed, “I’m here to uh… Cause a bit of trouble that you can use to skidoo. If you catch my meaning. Just needing some directions if you don’t mind.”
“What kin’ of trouble Ethan?” Rogdan narrowed his eyes. “Better yet, dun tell me. I want to be able to deny it if someone comes askin’ me.” Rogdan produced a datapad from underneath his stall and pushed it into Ethan’s hands. “This makes us even on the four hundred creds, ya hear?”
“Many thanks my friend. I’ll see you at poker night.” Ethan chuckled as he walked back to the group.
“Ethan, what did you steal?” Tyraal looked to the Human as he examined a datapad.
“Hey now, I’m not Celevon.” Ethan shot back, which just got an accepting shrug from the half-Echani. “It was gift from a friend over there, and this gift just so happens to be a map that we need.”
Everyone slowly leaned over to look past Ethan to the shady Bothan as he packed up several items. One of which looked very similar to the explosive point of a warhead. The group then looked back to Ethan, now questioning their comrade’s group of friends.
Ethan didn’t pay them any mind as he began to flick through the datapad showing the way. “From what I can tell, we’ve got at least a mile of walking until we get out of this market maze and then we’ve got more corridors which may or may not have enemy combatants in, and then we go… up. Directly above us is the Correctional Facility, with the Upper Level of the market and Command Center above that. The shield generator rooms are located on each arm of the station and… the power generator is located on the lowest level.”
Despite the Zeltron’s fussing, the half-Echani continued to help himself to items that caught his fancy whenever Aurora’s attention was elsewhere. It was a Collective location, so he naturally could care less about costing them some income.
The Knight had taken point whilst Ethan Martes continued to study the datapad, occasionally suggesting a change in their path. Since they were supposed to be moving upward, Tyraal ignored the instructions and continued to lead the group up the sloping walkway. They came to a halt as it ended abruptly, the Clawdite cussing under his breath about ships that defied logical design.
“Give me that before the damn kid gets us lost again,” Jael grumbled, snatching the datapad from Ethan.
“If he had just listened, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” the Sorcerer defended himself, wishing he had brought another flask of whiskey. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop him from pointing out where they were on the map.
Whilst the Zeltron berated her former apprentice for his language, Celevon’s attention was captured by something that caught the light in his peripheral vision. A quick glance revealed only the Chiss was watching him — Petth was her name, if he remembered correctly. She seemed more amused than anything.
Unfortunately for the half-Echani, the Knight saw him move toward the stall that held jewelry. It was then that Tyraal interrupted Aurora. “Master.”
“What?” The Zeltron asked, turning to look when her former apprentice pointed behind her. With a groan, she quickly moved to intercept Celevon from taking a five-finger discount. Rather than trying to talk him out of it, Aura grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him back.
Tyraal watched curiously, arms crossed over his chest as the two of them started to argue. It had distracted her nicely from getting on his case. The Clawdite noticed that the vendor’s attention had been drawn by the argument, something that the Sorcerer had obviously noticed as well. Ethan held a hand over a display case, clearly advertising the most expensive items, then pocketed them once it popped open.
As all of this was occurring, the part-Sephi had wandered a little, glancing from the images on the datapad to their surroundings. He turned a corner and spotted guards in front of what was clearly a turbolift. The technocrat soldiers wouldn’t be too much of a problem… the droid with them was another story.
The Techweaver made his way back to the group, spotting Ethan and Tyraal standing with Petth. The trio were watching what had devolved into a silent battle of wills between the Zeltron and the half-Echani. “Do you think you can get the two of them over here?”
Petth quirked an eyebrow in a silent question whilst the other two turned their attention to the part-Sephi, who gave a grim smile.
“We’ve got a problem… the kid didn’t get us too lost. The lifts are just around the corner.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
At least one of them jumped, though they would deny it later, as Aura and Celevon had silently returned to their side. Jael had become accustomed to the Onderonian’s habit of startling others due to how quietly he moved — his sister Ozosi had threatened on more than one occasion to put a bell around his neck — and took it in stride.
“Technocrat soldiers… and at least one KX-series guard droid.”
Ethan Martes summed up their thoughts nicely.
“Well, frak.”
The Zeltron stared at Jael while the rest of them held their whispered conversation.
“What?” asked the half-Sephi.
“If we get you alone with the KX droid, could you say make it work for us?”
“Maybe. Who volunteers to hold it down?” he asked, looking among his reluctant companions.
“I can distract the guards,” offered Ethan almost immediately, a mischievous grin forming as he looked around the merchant stalls.
“I can get them from behind while Ethan distracts them,” offered Bitshiver quickly.
The rest of the group went quiet, contemplating their fate. Some cursing under their breaths at not volunteering fast enough for another task.
“Well then, seems Celevon, Petth and I will be your assistants Jael. Where should we move it?” the Zeltron asked as she looked around the crowded trading floor.
“I’ll make us some space,” remarked the half-Sephi darkly as he walked towards a shop with a closable shop screen.
The rest of them pretended to peruse the wares around them, ignoring the Techweaver as he started up the guise of a polite conversation. They could hear the muffled yelp as the shopkeeper suddenly went silent. Aura looked up just in time to see Jael climb into the merchant’s stall. A durasteel cover closed over the opening and a moment later the half-Sephi was leaving out a side door, whistling as he walked back to them. The rest of them looked at him with either mild shock or amused reactions.
“Well, what are you two waiting for, distract the guards and let’s get this over with,” ordered Jael as he looked towards the sentries.
Ethan nodded towards Tyraal and handed him his slugthrower, the latter already disappearing before their eyes. The Sorcerer walked towards a stall close to the lift, pretended to drunkenly yell at its owner.
“Look ya schutta, I know you gave me counterfeit goods. Now give me money back!” Not letting the Rodian get in a word edgewise, he continued. “And on top of that, it has a frakking Jedi symbol on it. I ain’t no sympathizer. Are you one of them?!”
“Please sir, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the merchant stuttered a rushed response, his eyes fearfully eying the lift nearby.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about you traitor,” yelled Ethan as he took out his blaster and shot wild on purpose, one of his bolts zinging past the lift entrance. “I doubt you killed a Jedi for it. So that means you let them live!”
Aura watched as the human sentries rounded the corner, leaving the droid behind. They walked directly to the Sorcerer and Rodian, eying the pair suspiciously.
“What’s going on here? What about Jedi?” they asked, guns trained on the pair of them.
Tyraal snuck behind them, careful to not be seen by the droid, and took out both his pistol and Ethan’s. Placing one each behind both men, he pulled their triggers simultaneously, the stun bolts and slugs quietly dropping them to the grimy floor. Ethan took his blaster and shot the stunned sentry with a standard bolt to the head.
“Better dead than killing us later,” quipped the Sorcerer.
“Say that again when his ghost is haunting you,” replied Tyraal.
“Can’t haunt me if I don’t regret it,” said Ethan.
Meanwhile, the KX droid dutifully stood guard over the lift, following orders.
“Don’t damage him too much. I need something to work with,” reminded the half-Sephi as he took cover behind a supply crate. “Perhaps Aura should go first and Petth should tackle it later. Celevon and I will grab another limb once you get rid of its weapon.”
Petth gave Jael a withering look. “And why can’t I go first?”
“You know why,” the half-Sephi threatened, peaking Aura’s interest again.
The Zeltron eyed Petth again. “Let’s do this already,” putting aside her thoughts on Petth for the time being. Aura brought the Force into her legs and rushed the droid with a supernatural speed, her blue saber activating briefly to chop the gun into halves. The KX unit swung at her head with a metal fist, focused on her head. Petth splayed her fingers, unleashing a storm of lightning that raced across the droid’s body.
Ta’var dodged the fist and circled around to his side, the KX droid unit already slowing down due to a power overload. He got in one more good swing until the lights of its photoreceptors went out, Petth letting loose another stream for good measure. Jael and Celevon rushed forward, the four of them working together to move it onto its stomach. The half-Sephi stopped them as they started to lift it away, instead crouching close to where it had fallen and taking out his code replicator and looking for an access port.
“I thought we were going to move it,” said Celevon.
“I changed my mind. Who knows how long it will be out. Now shut the kark up and give me cover,” replied Jael in an irritated tone.
The rest of them took up defensive positions facing both the lower markets and the lift, hoping no one would come looking just yet. The half-Sephi finally found a covered access port in the back of its head and plugged in, already tapping away furiously. After repeated swearing and the prolific use of “horrible hack”, the droid started to move again.
“Hold it down. Almost done!”
Aura let Celevon and Ethan weigh it down, the pair keeping it relatively still.
“Frak, frak, frak!” swore Jael, putting his own weight down on the droid as he finally pressed a big red button on his code replicator. The half-Sephi took a deep sigh as the KX unit went still once more. “Had to use a temporary workaround,” he explained to no one in particular.
Petth watched as the Techweaver sent it a stream of instructions and finally unplugged his device. He gestured for them to get off the droid and the KX unit picked itself up, looking at Jael expectantly.
“Someone grab me the sentries’ blasters,” he ordered.
Bored, Petth went to get them and handed them cautiously to the droid, who grabbed them and immediately walked into the lift. The half-Sephi gestured them forward as he pulled on his gas mask.
“Unless you want to stay here for more security guards,” he offered.
The rest of them piled in and pulled on their gas masks as well. Jael pressed a button to close the lift doors while the rest of them checked their weapons. Aura looked everyone over, double-checking their gear visually.
“Everyone remember their assignments? Ethan, the droid, and myself will cause as much disruption as possible. If we get caught in a ray shield, we’ll let you know. Celevon, Jael, and Petth will assault the AI core directly and let us know when to rendezvous with them, assuming we haven’t been captured. Tyraal will go invisible and support the AI core assault indirectly, most likely sabotage,” Aura explained once more.
Everyone nodded and the half-Sephi pressed the button up. Mere heartbeats later, the lift doors opened and the first group of Odanites rushed out.
The quick movements of the first team, dubbed ‘Bait’, as they left the elevator were almost perfected in a way of which most sentient beings would be fooled from being detected. However, soon enough, they found the correctional facility’s halls patrolled by droids with a thick black color, which made them hard to see within the darkened hallways of the facility unless one knew what to watch for.
As the two Odanites and the reprogrammed droid slowed their jogging and began to walk around the corner of a long corridor, a few turrets were noticed by the trio as they snuck a peak towards the ceiling. Aura gave Ethan a nod towards the pair of weapons as she cautioned them to halt for a moment.
Ethan spoke at almost at an obnoxious level of amusement as he said, “Looks like we’ll get this job taken care of pretty simple. Just need to cause a stir now that we’ve gotten this far down the hall. Especially when we got one of these good ol’ Imperial dog droids with us.” Ethan placed his hand up towards Aura for a quick high five. The Zeltron eyed him skeptically before bringing her own hand up, slapping the hand with a fierce smack. Wary of Ethan’s plans and feeling a familiar twist in her gut from the Force, the woman stepped away from the reprogrammed sentry next to them. Ethan took notice yet did not say anything as he figured it was a weird Zeltron thing.
“Seems like we should still take precautions though, unless what they say is true about your talents. What will it take to get kicked out Casa La prison?” the woman smirked as she spoke, attempting to give the Odanite a general reminder about the task before them. She knew that Ethan was attempting to make light of the situation, but she also knew that he could sometimes forget how serious the mission might be and forget backup plans.
“I mean… how bad could it be? We’ve already managed to get this hunk of junk on our side and now we’ve managed to get into the prison part. I think we got this one in the bag.” Ethan laughed a bit as he spoke, shrugging off any sense of warning that might be perceived by the Zeltron as she was more in tune with the Force.
“Even so… I get a sense there is something far more sinister lurking in this facility… there is a swirling vorte—”
The droid began to laugh, its mechanic cackle unnerving. The pair of Odanites went from curiosity to dread in a heartbeat, instinctively realizing their cover was completely blown and this droid was no longer who their own but rather dominated by the inner workings of a mad man.
“Humoured response: A Zeltron and a Human are found intruding on a correctional facility. Who are the real criminals here?” The droid spoke in an almost unnatural rasp and the tone crept through the air as if it were a creature ready to move in for the kill. “Curious inquiry: Did you believe this droid could truly be hacked when it is connected to my mainframe?”
“Kark!” yelled the Odanites in unison.
Ethan’s eyes widened and he pulled out his lucky blaster, quickly firing several shots. Aura ignited her blade and deflected the bolts from the sentry unit. She made quick work of the droid with a couple slashes, cutting through the droid’s exterior until the unit toppled in pieces to the floor.
“Fraking droid,” Ethan spewed out insults and made an obscene gesture towards the unit. “Why not take us on with all you got?” He yelled until he found a small camera poised on him. Once spotted, Ethan made another rude gesture towards it and yelled for more.
“Be careful what you wish for.” The Zeltron spoke calmly as she prepared herself in a battle ready stance, the sounding of an alarm and the metallic clang of many droids marching towards them ominous.
As the distorted sounds of laughter echoed through the speaker system of the facility and another blaring alarm spoke of their location, the “bait” had been snagged.
“Statement: I’m going to enjoy capturing you. I’ll see you meatbags soon,” threatened Rutgar-4.
“Let’s hope that they can get into the core now,” Ethan spoke with a smirk, drawing his blaster as sentry units stomped through the halls from each side. Aura moved back to back with Ethan, her attention on the opposite hallway with her blade at her side and the Force ready at her beck and call.
Roughly 5 Minutes before
“Move now,” Jael spoke out very firmly as he began to jog out of the elevator, taking the opposite corridor from where the first team had vanished. Celevon and Petth followed suit, doing their best to stay concealed from turrets that could ruin their best laid plans. As the three of them came to an intersection of hallways, Jael held his hand up and then placed a finger up towards the north corner, where they could see a turret protruding out from the wall.
“Wait,” Jael spoke and Celevon narrowed his gaze as he questioned the half-Sephi’s methods.
We need to assure that the others cause a distraction, the Techweaver shot back telepathically to the half-Echani, who responded with a half-hearted joke.
As the three waited at the corner for another minute, the half-Echani formulated a plan of action, willing the Force within his mind to project the probable location of their fellow Odanites.
The alarm is about to sound, Celevon’s thoughts entered the mind of his teammates. Be ready to make a run for the A.I. core room…wherever that might be in this confusing layout.
Petth was about to question when Jael displayed a set of visual instructions based on his memory of the map.
“Got it,” she whispered as the alarm began to sound. A set of patrolling sentry droids a meter or two from their corner turned around as an alarm went off, presumably towards where the “Bait” team was located. As they did, Petth sprung into action, igniting her saber as she pulled it from her waist. She seemed to slow down at this moment, making deliberate slices into the droids so they fell to pieces upon the grated floor before firing their weapons.
“Com’ on,” Jael scoffed as he spoke, pushing past Petth in a quickened jog until he reached the next hallway junction. He paused when he heard the sounds of droids stomping their way down the hall away from their location. He turned around to see Petth very close behind him and jumped back against the wall with a hand upon his chest.
“Scared?” Petth smirked as she walked past the half-Sephi and looked curiously down the hall, seeing nothing. “Seems whatever was down there is not there anymore so maybe we should move on?” Her question was almost in a sarcastic condescending tone of which Jael began to speak against, but was interrupted by Celevon.
“I don’t suppose we could hurry to the core while the others are distracting? Not that I think our ‘bait’ can’t handle it, but maybe less stress for them.”
“I guess we can,” Jael spoke now, nodding his head towards the next hallway junction. “We should be able to get to the core in a vent just down the next hallway and will need to assure there is nothing else in our way before we get to the core, such as the reported Warden of this facility.”
The two merely nodded in agreement and the trio began to run down the hallway before they reached a sizable ventilation access point.
“What is the point of this if they aren’t going to allow clean air in here,” Petth asked as Jael began to talk over her in a rapid speech, the half-Sephi’s sense of trouble rising.
“Maybe to make it easier for people to break in here.” Jael had placed a hand up and motioned for the others to stop as he popped open the vent grate.
“I’ll go first and attem—” He was stopped by a tap on his shoulder by Celevon, who merely pointed to an access point where a high-security door stood.
“Maybe you could do your hacking on this and we don’t have to crawl through… that,” the half-Echani motioned his hand in a disapproving manner towards the grate the Techweaver had so kindly kicked upon the flooring. Jael sighed and began to work upon the door while the other two stood watch. Keeping their own comments to themselves, they keep an eye out for any droids that might quicken things up.
Tyraal quietly and effortlessly moved through the halls, the light and sound around him manipulated into a cloak of Force energy that shrouded his form. The Clawdite kept his senses sharp as he made his way, careful not to accidentally bump into anyone. He watched from the shadows as a small patrol of droids ran by, responding to something in another area. His thumb casually rubbed his lightsaber, tempted to strike at the patrol, but then considered his other options.
Thanks to the map directions given to him, he knew a security room was just ahead, one that he could use to keep patrols away from the AI core. As he cautiously walked closer and closer to it, he could already hear arguing of some kind. One voice was calling to send more troops to a turbolift while another was arguing that the troops need to be sent to deal with assault going on outside.
The Clawdite snuck into the open door of the security room, seeing the trio of Technocrat droids. With one hand, Tyraal clicked the door’s control panel to close and lock it, with the other his lightsaber ignited. Materializing before them as if out of thin air, Tyraal assailed them with quick swipes of his weapon, making easy work of them before they could react.
He took a deep breath and smiled to himself, feeling rather accomplished as he took control of one of the comms and used the speech-to-text robotic translator. “This is Security Room 3-4-A, I need available patrols to report to sector 2-4-B. I’m getting reports of hostiles.” He only hoped this would give aid to the others.
Meanwhile, both Jael and Celevon watched with a bit of horror as their Chiss “comrade” held down another droid. “Now then… I don’t think I was clear in my request.” Petth calmly spoke, twisting the droid’s arm behind his back as she kept it pinned to the ground. “What’s the quickest way through the doors to the AI Core? Or do you need motivation?”
Jael plugged himself into the detained droid, immediately scrounging through its systems. “Third time’s the charm, right?”
Celevon glanced over to the two other droids on the ground in pieces, where Petth had released a lot of her frustration on them when they didn’t hold the access code they needed to get into the AI Core.
The droid bucked, trying to get them off, but then Celevon joined in on holding the thing down. Seconds ticked by before Petth’s eyes moved to Jael, “Well? Does this one have it or do we need to find more?”
Jael wasn’t sure if the look was one of annoyance, or anticipation for another hunter. He just knew they were the eyes of a predator, “Uhm… One moment?” Mentally he wondered where in the blazes Ethan found this psycho. Another few seconds ticked by before a big grin came upon his face. “Got it!”
The half-Sephi nearly ran to the control panel to punch in the commands, “This might still take a minute, so hold on.” Celevon watched Petth take out her lightsaber and take the head off the droid before she moved toward Jael, looking like she was about to help motivate him to work faster.
Celevon reached out to stop her, “Hold on, let him work in peace.” Petth stopped though, that is when Celevon realized he had inadvertently copped a feel. “Oh uhm… Nice.” He grinned and winked at the Chiss, who grabbed two of his fingers and twisted them, making the half-Echani yelp in pain.
“Stop making so much noise! I’m trying to focus here!” Jael spoke through gritted teeth, more focused on his task.
“I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to!” Celevon whimpered, his body twisting to try and get free of the Chiss’ grasp. After a moment she freed his fingers and he held his hand, rubbing the fingers and making sure they still worked.
The doors to the AI Core opened and the three ran in, Jael already preparing himself for another intense session of techweaving.
Celevon and Petth took up position by the door leading into the AI core, keeping an eye out for any droids that might walk by. Only a routine patrol could be seen further off in the distance but it had yet to walk towards their location. Petth moved to destroy it but the half-Echani grabbed her arm.
“You’ll get plenty of time to kill droids on the way out. There are better ways to take care of them,” reminded Celevon as he pointed to his comlink. “Tyraal, we are in the AI core but see two droids in our periphery. Can you take them out and meet up with us?”
“I’ve distracted a bunch over here. Heading over to deal with those. Be right there,” replied Bitshiver.
The Clawdite rushed over to the core’s approximate location, finally spotting two droids running away from him. His heart raced until he realized they were running away from Celevon’s team. Intrigued, he followed from behind, taking care to remain invisible. After what felt like quarter of a mile, distance approximation being but one perk of his Jedi training with Aura, Tyraal heard the sound of blaster fire and a background hum of a saber cutting through the air. A droid’s sarcastic voice cut through the air as it ordered nearby troops to converge on what Tyraal assumed were Ethan and Ta’var.
“Statement: I am glad I could see this myself. I look forward to your interrogation,” taunted Rutgar.
The warden stood safely behind three of his droids, patiently tapping away at a datapad in his hand. The Odanites heard a quick power cycle, the lights flickering overhead for a moment, and then a ray shield formed around Aura and Ethan. Tyraal heard the Zeltron swear all the way from the corner he was hidden behind.
“Time to shine,” the Clawdite told himself as he walked around the KX droids, looking for power lines.
On the second hallway he found a cluster of metal wires bolted to the ceiling above him. Bitshiver decloaked with a grin, ignited his saber, and threw it upwards towards the power lines, using the Force to guide its path. The yellow blade cut straight through them, a shower of sparks accompanying a loss of power in the area. Smiling, Tyraal did the same thing for every corridor that had one, until finally all the lights went out.
“Commentary: It appears you have an accomplice. Three Jedi, my circuits are humming with anticipation already. Come out and play, meatbag. I want to play a game,” said the warden.
Bitshiver could already hear the march of metallic feet towards him, echoing through the prison. He let himself become visible and focused the Force throughout his body, ready to slice and dice as much as possible while the power was still out. He could already hear blaster fire not far off from what he assumed were the others he had just saved. The Clawdite ran forward and carved a path of destruction through the KX’s, their limbs falling to the floor with a clatter. Finally he rejoined Ethan and Aura, both of whom had left their own pile of droid refuse.
“Was that you?” the Zeltron asked.
“You know it. I believe that means you owe me one,” smirked Tyraal.
“Last mission didn’t count,” she countered.
“Twenty versus one, you bet that count,” Bitshiver replied.
“Sounds like a fun time to me. Can Petth and I join?” asked Ethan.
The Odanites short celebration was short-lived as the power was starting to flicker on one hallway over. Rutgar’s eyes glowed brighter.
“Retreat!” said Tyraal as he beckoned them forward at a running pace.
“Command: Let them go. We have them now, my friends. The hunt has just begun and the endgame is near.” The warden’s robotic voice sounded almost gleeful.
The trio followed the Clawdite past the droids and straight towards the AI core, not stopping for any KX droid unless it blocked their path. They banged on the door impatiently and Celevon let them in, warily eyeing the corridor.
“That took a while and our distraction followed us here. I assume we are going to have company?” the half-Echani inquired.
“As certain as a bad roll of dice,” answered Ethan, already locking all the doors nervously.
Jael scoffed about never enough time and continued to tap away at the console, occasionally activating his code replicator. Many heartbeats went by with only the tapping of Jael’s fingers, the rest the group now disturbing the half-Sephi until Rutgar-4 made his presence known once more.
“Your resistance is most entertaining, meatbags. I do want to thank you for all you have done to entertain me to this point. As a parting gift, I’ll give you the VIP treatment during interrogation, maybe even make you kill one of the other meatbags. Here I come,” taunted the warden.
“Take that you fraking droid,” mumbled Jael as he pressed a button and a ray shield appeared around them.
The sound of marching droids as their metal feet clanked against the prison floors pulsed across the prison, the Odanites weighing their options. They could hear Rutgar-4 continuing to taunt them from outside, arrogantly barking out orders to surround the AI core. The shield that Jael had put over their position would not hold up to firepower of that magnitude.
“Kark! They have us surrounded. We won’t get out of this alive. I always thought I’d die on a gambling table or a bed,” whined Ethan as he peered at one of the security screens.
“Options?” said Aura as she looked towards the half-Sephi.
Jael growled in frustration. “The moment I bring down this shield we are dead unless we distract them. Either we get to keep the ray shields and the prisoners stay where they are or we kill the whole system and the prisoners get out. Odds of survival are better if we have some help out there,” the half-Sephi recommended.
“I want to live. Let the prisoners play with Rutgar as well and maybe we can leave with his head and our lives,” ordered Celevon, ignoring Aura. The rest of the Odanites agreed, save the Zeltron.
“What if some of them legitimately deserve to be here?” she asked.
“Then they’ll get a chance to repay their debt. A consensus isn’t required,” stated Celevon calmly.
Jael keyed in a few strokes and walked towards the door. The ray shield went offline, the dioxis turned off, and the prison’s automated defenses went inactive. Inmates rushed out of cells like banthas with their heads chopped off, indiscriminately attacking anyone in their path in their bid for freedom. Rutgar-4 was already reorganizing his remaining droids to take them out, though not quickly enough for two of them to have their head forcibly ripped off with what looked like Force-imbued strength.
“Run to the exits and meet on the lower levels. May the Force be with us,” said Aura. The Odanites glanced towards each other, rushed out the door, and hoped for the best.
Celevon and Ethan led the charge for the elevators, with Petth and Aura close behind. The kerfuffle surrounding them was tremendous, and Jael already shaking stressfully was scrambling madly to get his equipment packed. Several wires jammed themselves in, and with a series of tight-lipped swears, he began to yank at them to free them. The others were already out of sight, swallowed up in the tonnage of bodies outside of their makeshift hidey-hole. A prisoner swung at him, smashing against the wall as a heavy hand gripped his forearm and pulled.
With a sharp flash, crackle, and yelp, the body fell back, but the hand still clung, lifelessly to his arm. Had he the time to think about it, he would have been mildly disturbed by the limb.
“Leave it, Jael,” growled Tyraal, cutting off the cold appendage.
The Mystic ignored him, continuing to struggle with his wires and tech until Tyraal wrapped an arm around the Sephi’s neck and pulled him back.
“I will personally pay for your replacements to your specifications, damn it! We can buy new toys, we can’t buy new lives, now let’s GO!”
Before Jael could argue, Tyraal turned him and shoved him down the hallway. They stumbled into the crowd, Tyraal keeping a tight grip on his fellow Odanite as they waded through the ocean of bodies.
“Jael, which way?!” Roared Tyraal.
“DOWN!! Make for the gap over there!” Shouted back the half-Selphi, ducking under the bodies and weaving towards the position in question.
He burst out from the crowd, and broke to a frantic halt less than a meter from the edge: he didn’t need to look down to know it was a deadly long drop, straight into the sewage system. Something slammed into him, and he skirted along the edge, spinning and igniting his crimson lightsaber with a sharp snap. The red illuminated his face as a pair of prisoners raised makeshift weapons at him.
Before there was time for either party to act, a sharp crackling made itself heard, accompanied by a back-of-neck tingling from vibrant, extraordinary energy. The two prisoners shrieked as a few hundred volts of lightning passed through them, before Tyraal appeared overhead, kicking them to the sides and landing beside Jael.
“We can’t get through this crowd,” he muttered, surveying quickly for options.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to this edge?” Offered Jael lamely.
The two of them looked around against the tide of bodies pressing ever closer as the prison riot grew more and more intense. A slow alarm wail went off somewhere overhead, prompting the two Odanites to look at each other.
“Is that—?” Started Tyraal.
“They’re cutting life-support!” Finished Jael. He extinguished his lightsaber, clipped it to his belt, and began more frantically to search for escape routes.
“Sewer pipe,” snapped Tyraal, not even giving Jael the option to reply before he threw himself forward, off the edge of the platform, towards a dozen or so technicolored pipes on the far wall.
He smashed against them, sliding down a few meters as he strained to get a grip. He passed a nut system connecting two pipes together, and caught hold. He steadied himself and began scaling the wall, thankful as always for Aura’s unnecessary amounts of training.
“Are you—?” Gaped Jael, before turning to look behind him. Lights overhead were sharply swapping color, from white to dark red, and the prisoners were screaming in panic.
It became a stampede of bodies, all knowing that death was fast approaching: some made for their cells again, others rushed for doors, slamming fists and bodies against doors and windows in desperate attempts to escape certain extermination.
“Statement: all things are under control.”
A dozen droids, in various conditions and states of assembly, lined up beside Rutgar-4, now holding a blaster in place of his smashed datapad.
“Time to go in a blaze of glory…” muttered Jael half-heartedly, gripping his lightsaber.
“‘Blaze of glory’ hardly befits the situation,” corrected Rutgar dryly. “You will suffocate and freeze. There is no way you can ‘blaze’ in this scenario.”
Rutgar raised his blaster, and at the motion, mirrored his action, leveling a dozen blasters towards Chi’ra’s chest.
“Command: ready.”
Jael ignited his lightsaber, sweating as more and more lights switched from white to red and the lack of atmosphere closed in on him.
“Aim.”
He heard fizzling of blasters warming for another shot. And then most of the droids fell to the floor as a yellow beam and green beam carved through them.
“Statement: that accomplice is more trouble than I thought.”
Jael rushed forward, chopping up the remaining droids as Rutgar raised his blaster towards the pipes where Tyraal hung upside-down by his legs, manipulating his two lightsabers through the return arc of the throw. Rutgar fired two shots towards the Knight, and then redirected at Jael: the first shot missed by two meters, but the second nailed Tyraal’s thigh. The Knight’s two lightsabers abruptly flew wide as Tyraal lost focus and, with a sharp cry, dropped from the pipes he hung from. Jael lunged at Rutgar and sliced him neatly in half, bottom upward.
Tyraal dropped from the pipes, scrambling through his options with which to catch his fall: options of which there were none.
“Tyraal!” Shouted Jael, throwing himself to the edge of the platform, and stretching downward towards his comrade: far past arm reaching, Jael grabbed Tyraal with the Force as the Clawdite fell, straining to break his fall by pulling him upwards.
Tyraal felt himself slow in his plummet and then abruptly halt, a few meters from the ground, over a vent, spewing putrid aromas upward.
“Jael, let me drop! I’m at the bottom, I can see a grille through the bottom!”
“How do I get down?”
“I’ll catch you in my arms, like some bride or other.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Just get down here you idiot, I can use the Force too.”
Jael clipped his lightsaber once again, and with a little pizazz, hopped off the platform, and rushed downward. He felt a tentative resistance catch him and then suddenly break his fall a bit too abruptly as he landed on his feet.
“That wasn’t–”
“Look, it’s more Aura’s thing than mine: just be glad she taught me some.”
He didn’t give the Techweaver time to answer before slicing off the grille and hopping down. Jael, grimacing at the squishy sound of Tyraal’s landing, followed closely.
Aurora and Petth scrambled up the stairs, lightsabers out. Truth be told, Aura would have probably chosen her current companion as her death-mate last out of the list of options she had. But, she didn’t have much choice in the matter, and so kept her mouth shut and her feet moving. And lightsaber slashing. And using the Force whenever necessary to rip open a door.
She was keenly aware of the air thinning around them as they sprinted onward, down the endless halls, up the stairs again, through another doorway, down a chute, up another stair, and down another corridor. She was also aware that the sounds of rioting had rather abruptly ended around them. Coupled with the thinning air, Ta’var assumed that somehow, somewhere, someone must have switch life-support off.
“Not very nice of them.”
Ethan and Celevon were anxiously twiddling thumbs as their lift sluggishly chugged along its rail. The lights had, a moment before, shifted to an obnoxious red hue, and the car had begun heating considerably.
“Game of strip poker?” Asked Ethan nonchalantly.
“No.”
“Even in this heat?”
The car abruptly halted and the doors opened. A dozen droids stood without, backs turned, attempting to retain control of the trading hub. Ethan and Celevon made rather instantaneous ends of them, and froze. In the chaos, most of the goods had been been abandoned. A slow grin started creeping across the half-Echani’s face.
“I mean… it’d be a shame if all of this was—”
“MARTES!” Roared a rather strained female voice, as Ta’var magically appeared from out of sight, sailing through the air towards from the side. Petth was close behind, vaulting over smashed kiosks and smashed droids. Most of which had been left behind from their first visit.
“So much for that,” Ethan rather flatly completed Erinos’ hopeful statement; but not before quickly snagging a large, wide-brimmed hat that was rolling past his feet much like a tumbleweed.
Aura stopped and looked at them expectantly, and then whirled, surveying the room as a whole.
“Where’s Tyraal?!” She demanded.
“And that other one?” Yawned Petth. “He was kind of cute when he got frustrated.” In an almost inaudible voice she added. “Kind of wanted to see him get frightened.”
“Weren’t they with you?” Shot back Ethan sharply.
An abrupt explosion from the hanger caught their attention, and the foursome exchanged looks.
“We have to go,” announced Celevon.
“But Tyraal—” Protested the Zeltron.
“We’ll all be dead. They must’ve gotten caught in the mob.”
He began sprinting towards the hanger, and Petth followed, leaving Ethan and Aura rooted to the spot. They exchanged looks, and looked back towards their respective paths. Although they started off rather despising each other, their mutual friendship and camaraderie with the Clawdite had brought them a bit closer. And as they both outranked the Clawdite, they both felt a mutual guilt at him being left behind. Ethan ground a tooth, and laid two fingers on the brim of his newly acquired hat in a moody salute to the Clawdite and half-Sephi.
“Hope you died quick, and took that damned droid with you,” he growled, and turned away. And with a slight effort, forced himself to jog towards the hanger.
Aura’s eyes blurred as she forced herself to follow his example. She knew Tyraal was crafty enough to get himself out of this, she just had to believe in that.
In the hanger, all hell was breaking loose. Droid control forces had opened fire on evacuating merchants and non-station personnel, as per Rear Directory Order 115: in the instance of Station Administrator Rutgar-4 being destroyed, all non-station personnel are to remain on premises, by force if needed. Most ships were utterly destroyed, and dozens of bodies littered the floor, gunned down in their panicked flight. The ray shields containing the hanger flickered menacingly, trapping all ships in the hanger.
“Damn, how do we get out of this?” Muttered Martes, reloading his weapon, beside the other three Odanites, hunkered behind a Lambda-class shuttle wreckage.
“Get to the control booth and shut down the ray shields,” replied Celevon as he pointed across the hanger, with monotony that suggested that that was obvious and that Ethan was an idiot for not knowing that.
“…and how do we get to the control booth?” Added Martes rather dryly. He waved his slugthrower towards the open expanse. “You want to run across that wasteland?”
Before the half-Echani could reply, Petth drew their attention to the fact that there was already a fight going on inside of the control booth. They all looked up and found that there were indeed blaster bolts flying like mad inside of the tinted windows. The ray shields abruptly shifted color from the menacing yellow trapping them inside to a more friendly cobalt.
“They got it down, whoever they—”
“It’s Tyraal!” Interrupted Aura, leaping to her feet.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” shot back Ethan hopefully, following her up.
It was actually Jael who did the ray shield magic, but Tyraal was beside him, leaning heavily on the half-Sephi as they struggled out of the control booth and down the stairs to the hangar floor.
“Bloody-karking-blazing forces, it is Tyraal, damn it!” Ethan whooped, and threw his hat victoriously, before swearing as he watched it fly neatly out the ray shield. He didn’t have time to mourn for the hat before Aura had him in a crushing celebratory hug.
“Then let’s go, there’s no time to—” ordered the Warden, starting to run towards a shuttle, and abruptly halting as a wing fell off and the ship burst into flame.
“How about—” Offered Aura, also stopping as her suggestion also burst into flame.
“How about we just follow them?” Suggested Ethan dryly, pointing at Jael and Tyraal limping across the floor towards an E-9.
“That ship somehow hasn’t blown up: how many missions has it survived with Tyraal?” Wondered Aura, igniting her lightsaber and sprinting out towards it.
The others followed suit, weapons blazing as they charged across the hanger floor towards the E-9. The last of the droids dropped clunkily as Tyraal and Ethan opened fire on them with their two blasters. As they all reconvened at the E-9, the ray shields again turned yellow, and another dozen droids began pouring out of the control booth: many were wielding electro-staffs and batons.
“Jael?” Muttered Tyraal.
“Of course,” replied the ex-Sith, bringing up a screen on a confiscated control-pad from the hanger control room. “Shall we get on?”
“Ideally.”
Aura swung Tyraal’s arm over her shoulder and they limped up the ramp, followed by Ethan, Petth, Celevon, and Jael. As soon as the ramp closed, Jael flipped some switches on his pad. The control booth erupted in a hideously glorious fireball. The explosion destroyed the shield controls, shutting down the ray shields. The emergency blast doors began to close, but Tyraal, having beat Ethan to the pilot’s seat, lifted the E-9 off of the hanger floor and out of the gap.
Celevon and Ethan slowly moved to the back of the ship and both opened their pockets as the rest of those gathered silently panted from the chaos of the mission.
“So in total, how much do you think you got?” Ethan asked, keeping his voice low.
“At least a thousand creds worth.” The Half-Echani whispered. The two of them had stuffed their pockets whenever they got the chance of goods and shiny bits from the market.
“Well…. That went rather off the rails,” commented Jael, sitting down and looking sadly down at his new datapad. “I lost my lucky equipment.”
“No such thing as luck,” replied Ta’var, as she reached around the chair to hug Tyraal. “Glad you’re alive.”
“Me too.” He jerked his head towards Jael. “He’s pretty handy in a fix.”
“You’re still paying for my new equipment.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on.” Tyraal sighed. “There go all my savings.”
He glanced back at Aura expectantly.
“Alrighty. Where to next, boss?”
This Phase lasts from November 12th until November the 19th (one (1) week)
Request from the organizers: Please add a note to the top of the next post which path your team will choose in this Phase. Thank you.
The Brotherhood advances. What started as sporadic fighting in the major hangar bays of Meridian has turned into an all-out battle on all decks. Spurred by your team’s success in the prison, your Clan forces have come to support you and issue new orders for your team.
Daggo Mouk, one of the leaders of the Collective and the Guildmaster of the Technocratic Guild, has been confirmed on the station. With him he has a potent Technocratic Artifact that, if whisked away, would threaten the position of the Brotherhood in future engagements.
Daggo’s last known position was in the command center, however we have been having trouble following his movements. Wherever he is on the station, he would not leave the artifact unattended. The return of the artifact to Brotherhood hands is of absolute strategic value.
Your team has been tasked to complete one of the following objectives in limited time (you may complete only one (1) objective):
Revenge path: Confront and eliminate Daggo Mouk. Have no mercy.
Sabotage path: Sabotage the Collective’s future plans by stealing the artifact by any means necessary.
Pacifist path: Capture Daggo Mouk for interrogation and trial.
The phase must end with the artifact retrieved. Daggo’s fate is open-ended and up to you.
Relevant character sheets:
Objective: Sabotage
As soon as the words left Tyraal’s mouth, Jael cursed as his datapad answered the question. “Back into the station.”
“What?” Aura glared over before moving to look over Jael’s shoulder.
“Read for yourself… We have been ordered to return to the station to steal an artifact.” Jael enlarged the image of the artifact in question, showing it was a large green Force Crystal. “Kind of glad we left Aryn back with the rest of the fleet before getting on the boarding craft. Otherwise we might not have gotten this information.”
“ARE YOU FRAKKIN’ KIDDIN’ ME!?” Ethan yelled, his arms going up in the air with balled up fists.
“Hey, at least we might be able to snag a good bit more.” Celevon chuckled, gently elbowing Ethan in the side with a grin.
“Stow it you two, we are going back. Injury report, who’s hurt the most?” Aura spoke up, mentally cursing at the idea of going back to steal something, especially since she spent at least an hour keeping two of them from robbing the place blind.
“Well, my ribs and my leg are still reminding me that I’m alive.” Tyraal spoke up from the pilot’s seat, feeling a throb of pain surge through his body almost every time his heart beat.
“Then move and I’ll pilot. I’ve only got a few scrapes and bruises and can heal myself.” Petth started her way over. “Also, Ethan.” Her words became sharp. “We are going to have words about how he was allowed his saber, but I could not have mine.”
“I didn’t know there would be other former Sith!” Ethan shot back, but then his eyes went wide as he saw Aura tense up and turn her attention to Petth, who at this point was piloting. “Aura, calm… Wait. Former is a keyword, she is not like that anymore.”
Celevon shrugged, “I don’t see what the big deal is. I jumped at the chance to join the Inquisitorius originally… I only became a double-agent for the Lotus when we were given orders to commit genocide.” Aura shot him a glare, only to receive a cheeky grin in response .
“We’ll talk about this later.” Aura spoke through gritted teeth. “The mission first, but before that healing. Tyraal, get over here.”
Awkward moments went by as they sat in silence, Aura focusing on using the Force to heal her former apprentice. The ship rocked once or twice before Petth finally broke the silence. “Enemy forces are getting hammered, re-entering into a different hangar of the Meridian Station. If we are getting this artifact, we better be quick before the fleet tears it to pieces.”
“Are you going to have a problem getting into a new hangar?” Ethan called out.
Petth didn’t answer, focusing on flying and scowling ahead. Jael spoke up. “Well?”
“No problems.” Petth answered, making Ethan mutter that it isn’t going to be fun because now Petth was mad with him. “Just need someone to man the guns.”
Jael and Ethan both made their ways to the two mounted turrets, leaving Celevon to aid Aura in trying to get Tyraal to be able at least walk and wield a weapon. “Keep us alive, love and I promise to you… We’ll go to that new restaurant with the really fancy chandelier.” Ethan called out to Petth, bringing a small smile to her face.
Petth suddenly began accelerating, turning the E-9 towards the other side of Meridian Station, hoping to meet minor resistance to get back onto the station.
The E-9 rocked as fire pounded against the hull, between station defenses and the all-out fleet versus fleet brawl outside. Petth steered the E-9 along the ring of hangars, sliding into the fourth one in, cutting in under the closing hangar doors.
“Too close!” Snapped Jael, who was pressed as far back into the seat as he could be.
“That was very attractive,” grinned Ethan, prompting a devious grin from Petth.
The three of them joined the others in the back, Tyraal and Aura fighting over the former’s thigh with the smouldering blaster crater.
“What’s the game plan, ladies?” Asked Ethan pleasantly, holding back a snicker as the two glared at him.
“Tyraal stays.” Said Celevon flatly. “Without being able to run, he’s dead weight.”
“HE is right here in front of you,” growled Tyraal. “And HE would like to be spoken to directly and not like the corpse you just compared him to.”
“So what, he stays and guards the ship?” Asked Aura, rather dryly.
“You of all people should appreciate me keeping him, and us, in less danger,” Celevon retorted.
“I can cover you out of the hangar,” muttered Tyraal, struggling to stand. “Since it seems that good ol’ Captain Cel here ordered me grounded. But once you’re out of the hangar, there’s no point to me.”
“Keep the hangars clean,” said Ethan. He leaned in, whispering “And steal everything in your downtime.”
“I heard that, Martes,” warned the Zeltron.
“There’s just another problem,” added Tyraal. He gestured behind them towards the hangar blast doors. “How the hell do we get out of here?”
“Jael could hotwire it to open when we get back,” said Celevon, already seeming antsy to get a move on.
“How about hotwire now, open later,” corrected Jael. “I don’t want to have to jury-rig this place while we’re holding onto some artifact and being hunted.”
“Fine.”
Celevon lead the way out of the E-9, followed by all except Aura, who stayed behind to assist Tyraal in climbing down into the ventral turret.
“Here,” muttered Tyraal, tossing his lightsaber to Aura. “Might be handy to have; not like I can use it here.”
“Tyraal, no—”
“Aura, come on. I’m going to sit here fidgeting in this turret until you get back. I’ve still got my blaster, and my other lightsaber; just take it. With our current streak of luck, something’s bound to go wrong; keep a Wildcard up your sleeve.”
Ta’var clutched the weapon and withdrew down the ramp. The hangar was a smouldering, smoking, burning ruin, rather similar to the one they had charged out five minutes previously. She jogged to catch up to the others, while behind the E-9 turret charged. The others were gathered behind a gunship wreck, huddled around Jael who was pulling up various files on his confiscated datapad.
“As far as Aryn tells us,” he muttered, more to himself than to those gathered around him, “This thing is with the Technocratic Guild.”
“We should make our way to the central control room, and then redirect from there,” offered Aura.
“No, head to the engineering wing,” corrected Jael. “Looks like the Technocrats are rendezvousing down there.”
“And engineering is…?” Asked Ethan, having a guess already.
Jael swore.
“Far side of the station.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t tell us such good news. It might make us too happy, and then where would we be?”
“Shut up, Ethan,” snapped Celevon. “Let’s go.”
They stood up and made their way around the shipwreck; on the opposite side, barring the exit of the hangar, were a dozen droids of various makes and models.
“Well,” muttered Celevon, drawing his blaster. “Shall—”
He was interrupted by a sound of guns firing, and a few shots from the E-9 whizzed past, erupting across the droid forces.
“Let’s go,” said Aura, sprinting out from cover.
Jael ran alongside her, focused on guiding the group through the various bays and bowels of the ship.
“May the Force be with you up there,” came Tyraal’s voice, crackling over the comms in the datapad.
Aura, Celevon, Ethan, Jael, and Petth jogged together in a loose formation past the destroyed droids and into the crowded corridors, weaving in and out of panicked residents and merchants. Loud booms from the fight outside made some of the younger ones startle as they clung to their elders. The Zeltron silently hoped the Force would look out for them. Ta’var followed the half-Sephi through one hallway after another until they found themselves running down a long corridor with a bright light at the end of it.
“Isn’t that the lower mar—” the Chiss started to ask before an Ithorian male with a dozen Technocrat soldiers and HK assassin droids came into view at the far end of the hall.
“Look a little short, don’t they?” joked Martes.
“They’ll grow plenty big soon enough,” Jael growled, taking out his red lightsaber.
“Finally have some luck,” said the half-Echani with a smirk.
“And I can feel the artifact from here. They have it. Thank the Force. Let’s get this thing and get out of here,” sighed Aura.
“And if we take care of Daggo along the way, all the better,” offered Celevon as he took out his slugthrower, the rest of them already taking out their weapons.
The enemy forces got closer. Several heartbeats went by until they too stopped in their tracks several meters away from them, technocrat guns already at the ready. The pale-skinned Ithorian was holding a box that emanated the strange Force energy Aura had felt earlier. He caught sight of their unlit sabers and spat on the ground.
“Kill them!” ordered Daggo as he retreated behind his guard.
Aura and Petth took up the front, their blue sabers coming to life with a snap-hiss. The air whistled as they weaved their sabers through the air, intercepting each bolt that came their way. The Chiss even managed to deflect several shots back to their origin, leaving black scorch marks across the Technocrats’ heavy armor and decapitating an HK droid. Ethan and Celevon, who had so far hid behind them for cover, popped out for some well-aimed headshots, a hole in their head matching the ones already on their armor.
Changing tactics, the remaining soldiers and droids focused their fire on the pair of lightsaber wielders. Ta’var and Petth breathed quicker as they took their chances, letting some through to block sure hits and hoping none of the others would hit. The rest of the Odanites yelped as a few bolts zinged far too close for comfort. The half-Echani mentally counted three dead and nodded towards Jael.
“Even the playing field for us so Ethan and I can take pot shots,” ordered the half-Echani as he looked behind him.
The half-Sephi made sure he was safely behind cover and knelt down, closing his eyes as he reached out to the minds of a small cluster of technocrat soldiers diligently firing towards them. Their hairless almost-identical faces suited their pristine cybernetic modifications gave the man an idea. Slightly grinning as he pulled at their minds with images of the flesh, bombarding their consciousness with a vision of it so palpable they could touch it in disgust. They yelled in pain as they fired, the half-Sephi ruthlessly continuing the assault.
“Get that meatbag away from me!”
“It’s dying. Don’t you see the sagging skin?!”
“No, stop hugging!”
Ethan and Celevon waited patiently, counting the heartbeats till they could fire again. Like Mustafar shooting up a hot load of lava, six technocrat soldiers finally snapped, unable to ignore what they alone could see. They turned around and promptly fired at their fellow technocrat soldiers. A chaotic stream of red blaster bolts flew in all direction, reminding the Zeltron of a particularly dangerous dance party. Several soldiers fell dead to the ground before Daggo ordered the HK’s to fire on the traitors.
“Wipe them out before they kill us all, then kill those Jedi scum!”
Martes and the half-Echani took advantage of the situation and ducked out into the open once more, firing precise bolts and slugs into any human or droid not currently looking their way. One after another, the dead bodies hit the floor with a dull thud until there was the shortest moment of silence. Taking stock of their diminished numbers, Daggo growled a new command to the remaining two technocrat soldiers and five HKs, the latter of which were oddly silent. Sighing with relief, Aura and Petth smiled for the first time.
“Ready to push? I’ll keep these guys safe,” said the Zeltron.
“I was born ready. I’ll show you how to use that saber of yours, Jael,” retorted the Chiss.
Erinos, Chi’ra, and Martes reached out to the Force in unison and pushed over three HKs, their metallic bodies scraping against the floor. The half-Echani and Ethan finished the job of with bolts and slugs, the droids heads falling off as they tried to get up. At the same time, Petth was already advancing on the two lone technocrat soldiers, her saber hum menacing as she stalked them. Daggo Mouk yelped and stepped backwards, tapping away furiously on his datapad. The Ithorian put the device away and brought out his grenade launcher, already loading it up.
The Chiss cut through one of the soldiers and and two of the remaining HKs, their remains toppling next to each other in an ironic synergy of flesh and droid. Meanwhile, Celevon and Martes double-teamed the last remaining soldier, crippling it with body shots until it fell over and dropped its gun. Petth went for Daggo but quickly backpedaled as the sound of approaching additional reinforcements came closer, the reflected light off their guns visible in the distance and gaining ground.
“Petth, get out of there! Ethan, launch grenades,” ordered Aura, turning off her saber.
The Chiss ran back to safety as Ethan let loose an concussion grenade, the cylindrical ball rolling towards the Ithorian despite his best efforts to flee. Celevon, who was using the Force to pull the Ithorian in the opposite direction, wasn’t helping. The ordinance went off with a wave of concussive force, throwing Daggo backwards in a heap on the floor and breaking the cybernetic arm holding the Artifact. The Zeltron pulled the item safely into her hands using the Force, handed it over to Celevon to keep safe, and relit her blue blade.
“Item retrieved and heading back. Be ready for us Tyraal,” said Aura into her comlink as the Odanites doubled-back the way they had come, hoping they could outrun Daggo Mouk’s reinforcements.
“Can’t wait,” replied Bitshiver tersely.
It took a split-second for their situation to change. In one second, the quintet were running toward the hangar. In the next, Aurora went down with a pained cry, cradling her left shoulder.
Whilst the rest took cover, Ethan knelt by the Zeltron to inspect the wound. “Blaster hit. Not as much damage as I would expect, so it was probably fired from beyond the range of the weapon.” He explained just loud enough to be heard over the repeated muffled retorts of the half-Echani’s slugthrower before he gave a wry grin. “On the plus side, wounds like these cauterize themselves. No major vitals hit, but it’ll hurt like a—”
Ta’var managed to push him away with her uninjured arm, giving a quiet hiss as she pushed herself to her feet. “No time. We need to keep moving.”
All of them could hear the strain in the Zeltron’s voice. Martes dropped his playful air in an instant. “If you jostle it too much, it will start bleeding. Swinging a lightsaber around is out of the question.”
“They’re getting closer,” Celevon pointed out as he emptied the cylinder of spent slugs in a deft move, reloading with practiced ease. “His reinforcements must have been nearby.”
“Can we slow them down somehow? The damn station won’t last long under the continued bombardment,” Jael growled back, fiddling with the crate that held the artifact in an attempt to open it. The half-Echani had dropped it so he could focus more on returning fire. “This thrice damned thing must have been damaged… it won’t—oi!”
The snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting and a flash of crimson had the others turning. Celevon had taken Chi’ra’s lightsaber and slashed through the side of the crate. “This key seems to work fine,” the half-Echani quipped as he deactivated the weapon and tossed it back to Jael.
As the half-Sephi fumbled to catch the cylinder without accidentally activating it, Celevon reached in and grabbed the crystal with his left hand. Within a matter of seconds, the glove concealing his cybernetic had burned away. “Huh… that explains why it was in a box,” he muttered quietly to himself.
“Let’s get moving,” the Zeltron hissed from between clenched teeth. “Do whatever you need to slow them down.”
The Chiss amongst them grew concerned at the grin this command gave Celevon. He holstered the slugthrower, peeked around the corner and reached out with his free hand. Silver eyes closed in concentration.
The Warden’s eyes snapped open as he rose to his feet. “Let’s move.”
“How are we going to continue without getting sh—”
Jael’s question was interrupted by the sound of panicked shouting down the walkway. The ground quaked as an explosion ripped from the location of their enemy before the blast doors slammed shut. Just before they did, the half-Sephi was aware of the increase in pressure.
A snort escaped Ethan as he failed to subdue his mirth. “You saw it too?”
Ta’var sighed as they started moving toward the hangar at as quick a pace as they could manage. “Do I even want to know?”
Martes took a deep breath to keep the laughter down. “The Ithorian had a thermal detonator on his belt. H-he—” Another snort escaped as Petth rolled her eyes.
“You told me to slow them down. I figured a thermal detonator going off would do just that,” Celevon explained in mock innocent tones, drawing a giggle from Ethan. “I just used the Force to push the little red button.”
“If you didn’t, I would have.” Ethan bit his lip, trying to suppress the laughter.
Jael Chi’ra put the pilfered datapad away, urgency clear in his voice. “You also blew out half of the walkway. We need to get the hell out of here before this section detaches from the station.”
“What in the name of slice just happened? Nevermind… I probably don’t want to know. Could you guys get a move on? I want to get out of here before this hangar blows as well!”
“We’ll be there shortly, Tyraal. Be patient,” the Zeltron managed to chide her former apprentice despite the pain she was in. Aurora grimaced as she sensed the wound; it would take several bacta treatments and a meditative healing session at the very least.
Truth be told, if that was indicative of the amount of damage the bolt did when it had burned off some of its power, she would have hated to see what would happen within range.
“Ethan, Jael and Petth: you run ahead and cover any preparations we need to depart. Ethan, see if there’s a medkit or something we can use to wrap her wound with onboard,” Celevon ordered the moment they stepped into the hangar. It was clear that Tyraal had been kept busy if one were to judge by the amount of scorched droid parts strewn about.
The Chiss lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at the half-Echani ordering her around when she caught sight of Martes’ subtle headshake.
“Someone needs to pilot the ship, since Tyraal is already situated in the turret,” Ethan muttered, setting off at a jog. The other two followed shortly behind him.
“I thought I was the one that was supposed to bark orders at everyone,” the Zeltron murmured with an attempt at an amused smile. It was ruined by a wince. Every slight movement of her arm sent a wave of agony across her senses and it was taking all of Ta’var’s willpower to remain conscious.
“Old habits die hard,” Celevon grumbled good-naturedly, keeping pace in case she needed assistance. He had seen people with wounds like that pass out without warning; no sense adding a head injury to the mix.
The final two made it up the ramp of the boarding shuttle mere moments before it retracted and sealed the vessel. The first thing they were aware of was the sound of an argument between the half-Sephi and the Clawdite.
“—do you mean, you ‘forgot’? Those doors—”
“—fire on that mechanism when we’re near the shields. We’ll only have a few seconds—”
“Are we having fun yet?” Ethan gave a weary grin as he directed the Zeltron into a seat. “Apparently, Jael was supposed to blow up the thing keeping the shields active. Petth is reporting Daggo’s death. You might want to go strap yourself in so we can get underway.”
The Warden nodded and made his way into the cockpit, taking a seat and starting to strap himself in. The Chiss glared warningly and Celevon held up his hands, indicating that he wouldn’t touch a thing.
“—an you confirm that Daggo Mouk is dead?”
Petth rolled her eyes. “We didn’t exactly see him die. The thermal detonator that caused the explosion and part of the walkway to blow out was on his belt. If you want to check the debris field for tiny pieces of an ugly Ithorian, be my guest.” She ended the communications with a curt gesture, activating the flight controls at the same time. “We’re getting out of here. Someone knocking out those shields would be nice,” she called back to the others as she maneuvered toward the hangar doors.
Several bursts of energy from their turret struck the edge of the hangar doors and the shield collapsed. The emergency doors started to rapidly close, slamming shut a heartbeat after they made it out.
Petth glanced over her shoulder and spotted the half-Echani white-knuckling the armrests. “Don’t tell me you—”
“Shut up. I hate these flying death traps… especially when there’s a chance of us getting squished,” Celevon grumbled, trying not to twitch as he kept a tight grip. Silver eyes widened as he realized she was still grinning at him and not paying attention to where she was flying. “Whoa, hey! Eyes front!”
“Don’t be such a wuss, Edraven. I know what I’m doing,” Petth snickered quietly, purposely doing several unnecessary aerial maneuvers that brought them close to other vessels. “I wonder if I could fly with my eyes closed, using only the Fo—”
“Ethan, your woman is trying to kill us!”
The Chiss grinned from the pilot’s chair. “He’s mine, not the other way around. Get it right.” She paused, turned and called out to Martes. “That reminds me… When am I getting my lightsaber back?”
“EYES FRONT, FOR SLICE’S SAKE!”
Though he would vehemently deny it later, all of the others clearly heard Celevon’s voice go up an octave or two in his panic.