Chapter 2
Renos sat in a corner of his cell. Meditating was all he could do in his spare time now. He had tried to entertain himself, but he felt as though meditating was what he should be doing right now. Besides, he was never very good at it so he could use the practice. As he meditated, he picked up the surface thoughts of the pirate outside his cell.
"Serves them right though, damn Republic, swaggering around the galaxy like they own the place."
Renos frowned, this wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to get out of here before he went insane. There was no extraction; his missions were, usually, off the record. Which meant there was no liability if he was caught. This made him think he would need to accelerate his escape plan. He got up and went over to his workbench and began putting the finishing touches to his project. He would have to scrap some of the more advanced features he had planned to include, but he had a functional prototype. Renos smiled; he was going to get out, and he was going to figure out what was going on outside of this cell.
As Pel's ship left the asteroid belt, the toydarian suddenly had a feeling of worry. He quickly shook it off. He had more important things to worry about. Korgan had given him and some of the other pirate captains a specific mission, and his was to make contact with an agent Korgan had in the Empire to sell the Republic spy and any information he held.
"Captain, we have received the co-ordinates and are ready to make the jump to hyperspace." Said the navigator, snapping Pel from his thoughts. Pel flew over to his command chair and sat.
"Let's go then. Best not keep these Imperials waiting."
Pel's ship powered up the hyperdrive and accelerated towards the rendezvous.
Renos felt the hyperdrive engage, even over the inertial dampeners. He looked at his project. He had pretty much finished it. He picked it up with his remaining hand and activated it. Small motors whirred and cables pulled, engaging mechanisms. The fixture he had made prior awaited. He slowly brought them together. The initial components meshed together, and Renos engaged the internal locks that could only be engaged by a Force-sensitive. It all clicked into place, and the mechanisms operated smoothly. Renos grinned. It worked, perfectly. A pirate came alongside his cell, bringing his latest meal and latest set of gear for repair.
"Oi, got some stuff for you ta fix. Get to it, traitor." The pirate put down a large crate of assorted gear, and pulled out a set of keys to open the cell.
"Sure. I'll get right on that. Let me take a look and-" Renos flexed his right hand out and pulled the pirate toward him with the Force. The pirate flew towards Renos bewildered and hovered in front of him.
"What the-?" realisation flashed across the pirate's eyes, "A Jedi? But how-"
The pirate stopped again, as Renos brought up his left arm. In the dim light streaming through the cell door, the pirate could swear he saw the outline of a fist coming towards him, but the traitor lost his hand, how is this possible? Just as the fist flew into the pirate's face, he saw it fully in the light. It was metallic and mechanical. It slammed into the pirate's face and he went limp. Renos dropped the pirate and picked up the keys and his blaster pistol. He flexed his new, mechanical prosthetic hand. "I love having mechu-deru." He said to himself and ran down the corridor towards the small stolen shuttle the frigate had docked with it.
Renos made it to the hangar in a short time; distracting any pirates in his way with simple mind tricks and moving objects. As he boarded the hangar, he ran into a pirate who was about to make a supply run. The two of them stared at each other for a split second, then the pirate reached for his blaster, while Renos rushed him and swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ramp. Renos grabbed his blaster and stifled his cries as he dragged him inside the shuttle. Once inside, he closed the hatch and stared at the pirate, "Now, listen here. You and me, we're going for a little ride. You're going to fly this shuttle to the nearest planet, tell the crew you're making a supply run and you'll be back later. Understood?"
The pirate sneered in Renos' face, "Why the hell should I do anything you say?"
Renos didn't respond for a moment, then he turned around and, without looking, pointed the blaster straight at the pirate's face.
"Tell me, am I close enough? Or should I get closer?"
"You wouldn't-"
Renos fired, missing the pirate's ear by millimetres, silencing the pirate in fear.
"Are we clear on your instructions?" Renos turned back, his green eyes glaring into the pirate's. The pirate nodded slowly.
"Good, then get up and get us out of here. Now."
The pirate scrambled up and began the take-off sequence. The pirate transmitted a short message to the helm and the shuttle pulled away from the pirate vessel, heading into open space. The pirate engaged the retro-fitted hyperdrive Renos had installed and set a course for the nearest planet.
