Chapter 4: Infiltration

Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars.



"I cannot believe we just got our asses saved by the people we're supposed to get by to abduct to Jedi," Vash rubbed his eyes as Dorado went back and forth in the Shadow Stalker, checking up on things while Argos followed the large Cragmoloid, "Any major damage, Dodo?

The Crag leaned into view, "You know I hate that name!"

"Yeah, but I hate having my arm stolen by my own dog," Vash shot back, "Seriously, the damage?"

Dorado shook his head, "We were damn lucky those Clone fighters came when they did. With the shield down, we were sitting ducks and knowing how fast droids learn stuff, we could've been dead," he sighed and put his large hands on his hips, "This is gonna take awhile to repair...sometime to get the money for the repair job, too,"

"Well, we'll have the money situation set...if we capture the Jedi," Vash reasoned, rubbing his chin, "But after we do this, we'll be targeted for taking them, so we'd need a safe place and with the War going on, there's not many except around the Outer Rim," a look crossed his face, "Unless...,"

"Unless what?" Dorado raised a brow, "What's popped into that head of yours, Human?"

"An idea," Vash said slowly, the look becoming a sly smile, "A very crazy idea!"

"Uh oh...,"

"Attention, freighter, attention! This is the Nebuchadnezzar. Although we have seen you fight the droids that we fought, we are going to take you into custody for questioning. You're ship is damaged and the shields are gone, judging by our scanners, so if you have any thoughts of fleeing, discard them now because you will be shot to pieces before you can make a jump to hyperspace,"

Dorado snorted, "That's just fantastic!" he cast a sideglance at Vash, "Looks like whatever you're cooking up in that head of yours isn't going to help us,"

"Don't be so sure...,"

"We are sending a squadron of fighters to escort you into our hangar bay. If you are friendly, we will help repair your ship and you can be on your way. Are there any injured aboard your ship?"

Vash reached for the comm button, "Nebuchadnezzar, this is Shadow Stalker. There is an injured sentient onboard and is in need of medical attention,"

"Vash, what the hell-?"

The Human cut him off, "Shh!"

"Roger that, Shadow Stalker. Prepare to be escorted," the Republic officer on the other end cut off the communication as a small group of Clone starfighters came into view again.

"Thank you for that, Nebuchadnezzar, we owe you our lives!" Vash switched the comm unit off and spun around, a very smug look on his face, "Well, Dodo? Waddya say to that?"

Dorado just rolled his eyes, "Just get us there in one piece, ya idiot. By the way, who is the injured sentient being?"

"...prepare for a risky game of chance, my big ass friend,"


"Oh man, those clankers really did a good number on the ship and on the crew...," a Clone Trooper thought aloud as he and his squad led Vash down a corridor of the Republic ship, "You're lucky we spot you guys otherwise you'd have been killed,"

"Yeah, no kidding," Vash nodded, holding his now bleeding right arm, "Very lucky...,"

Damn you, Dodo, I wasn't supposed to lost that!

"Are you sure you don't want a medical bed or a sling until we get there?"

Vash shook his head, "Oh no, I'm good. I may be a flesh and blood kinda guy, but I'm actually tougher than I look. How far is the infirmary, anyway?"

"Not too much further. Don't worry, we'll get you patched up and get your ship repaired so you can head back out as soon as possible. Why were you two out here, anyway?"

The one-armed mercenary let out a loud sigh, "My Cragmoloid partner is a big idiot! I told him 'We need to head to Coruscant, my father's ill and I need to visit him' and he said he'd punch in the coordinates into the hyperdrive, but obviously he punched in the wrong things!"

One of the other Clones let out a loud laugh, "Those are Crags for ya. Big, thick and ugly, nothing else,"

"You got that right!"

"Nice ship you two have there, though. Sure can hold it's own against clankers. You two ever thought of enlisting into the Grand Army?"

Vash shook his head, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, but I can't. I've had enough battles in my time," he held up his synthetic arm, "I lost this puppy in a little skirmish on Tatooine, and since then, I'm staying out as many fights as possible. Lucky for me, I was able to get a replacement,"

"Then why are you traveling with a Crag? I hear they're pretty brutal,"

"That's a long story. I just hope he's not getting in the way of your mechanics...,"


Said Cragmoloid was sitting in the pilot seat of the Shadow Stalker, looking out at the hangar bay of the Republic cruiser that took them in after the battle with the droids, Dorado knew the plan, or at least what Vash called a plan, but he didn't like it at all.

-Flashback-

"Okay, so we get on board the ship, one of us stays behind with the Shadow Stalker and the other one goes around and tries to find the Jedi. When the Jedi are found, we'll make a disturbance, grab the Jedi and then get the hell outta here before they have a chance to lock onto us with their guns!"

Dorado stared at his partner in crime, "Not bad, but I have one question,"

"What is it?"

"Are you stupid by nature or is this another one of your idiotic moments?"

Vash glared at the Cragmoloid, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"You're the one who's usually going on about how Jedi are tough, and how they shouldn't be underestimated and all kinds of crap for just about any situation, but here you are with that half-assed plan! This has got to be one of your worst things yet!"

"Hey, at least I came up with one! You didn't!"

"Yes I did!" Dorado said, sounding a little offended, "I came up with at least five plans and you shot them all to hell!"

"...just shaddup and hurt me, Crag,"

"Oh, you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this!"

"PUT DOWN THE VIBROBLADE!!!"

-End Flashback-

Dorado drummed the armchair, "Well, no turning back now," he murmured just as something grazed against his leg. Looking down, he saw Argos looking up at him, whimpering since Vash was gone. The Cragmoloid sighed, reached down and picked up the Kath Hound, placing him on his lap before he he began to pet the hound, "You got a bad feeling about this, huh mutt? Yeah, me too...," Dorado looked out at the hangar bay through the Shadow Stalker's viewport, "I don't know what it is, but I"m getting a baaaaaaaaaaad feeling about this,"


"Is this the room where the starpilot of that ship is?"

"Yes sir. His co-pilot's in the hangar with the ship, but he's getting patched up," he pointed to the infirmary door.

Master Kai gave a nod and entered the infirmary, her Padawan close behind her. The two Jedi saw Vash getting his arm bandaged as he sat on a medical bed. Beka had seen combat and consequences of combat, but even she let out an audible gasp when she saw Vash's mechanical arm. Kai glanced at her, then turned to the pilot.

"I am Master La Kai Jing and this is my Padawan apprentice, Beka Tardun," the Jedi gestured to the young woman, "May I ask who you are and what you do?"

Vash shrugged, "Sure, why not? My name's Vash and I'm a star pilot,"

"What were you doing in this part of the universe?"

"Got lost on the way to Coruscant," Vash shook his head, "Piece of advice, Jedi, when you're flying with a Cragmoloid, don't trust them to punch in coordinates in the navigational system, their huge fingers will screw you over big time," he glanced at Beka and grinned, "You're kinda cute for a Jedi,"

Beka felt herself turn red at the compliment and looked away, "Uh...thank you, sir,"

"You have impressive shooting skills-,"

"Actually, that was my partner, the Crag in my ship," Vash interrupted Kai, "I just flew the ship,"

"Well, in that case, you have decent flying skills," Kai walked up to him as the medical droid whirred away, "Have you ever thought of mercenary work?"

Vash held up his synthetic arm, "I told your Clone buddies I try to avoid conflict as much as possible since I lost this on Tattooine, Master Jedi. However, if my life is on the line and there's no other way, I will use a blaster if necessary,"

"I see. Well, perhaps you can pilot for us?" Kai suggested, "I'm aware that you have your own agendas, but the Republic is in need of support and we're no strangers to hiring mercenaries, or just star pilots to escort supplies and information,"

Vash snorted, "Yeah, like that's gonna happen,"

"I'm sorry,"

"Look, I'm all for the Republic winning the war, I am, alright? I saw my father get blown to bits because of a Droideka, and I'd love nothing more than to blast the crap out of every single droid, but are you really gonna stand there and say, to my face, that you are hiring complete strangers to handle precious stuff like escorting and information delivery?" he scoffed and shook his head, "Thought you Jedi and the Republic were supposed to be smarter than these things. Hell, you made the Clones, didn't ya?"

Kai tried to quell the bit of anger that was inside, "We didn't make the Cl-,"

"Whatever," Vash grabbed his shirt and hopped off the table, "I just wanna get back on my way to Coruscant, alright? I'm gonna grab my stuff, and I'm gonna head back to my ship. I trust the Republic is still going to help handle the repairs, or do we have to do it ourselves because they only help those who help them fight?"

"I know what you're trying to do, human," Kai growled, "You're trying to agitate me. However, that won't work because I've been trained to suppress the anger that could lead me down the Dark Side of the Force. Now, if you're all better and if you're so damn persistent on leaving...," she stepped to the side, "There's the door right there,"

Vash picked up his gear and walked out of the infirmary, muttering to himself as he exited.

Beka looked at her master, "Are you alright, Master Kai?"

The Rutian Twi'lek sighed and rubbed her head, "Yes. Truth be told, that's the first time in awhile I've been irritated like that in a long time. I don't know why, but that man just gets to me,"

"Hey, he's a starpilot, they're all nerfherders,"


"Are you sure you know how to fix a ship?!" Dorado snapped as he watched a number of Republic mechanic officers climb over the Shadow Stalker, "You look like you're just making it worse! Hey!" he snapped at a couple that were climbing around the gunner's area, "Don't you screw with anything over there, you know how much work we put into this puppy?!".

A beeping came drom Dorado's pocket, and by the sound of it, it was his communicator. He growled at the mechanics again before heading back into the ship, pulling out his comm unit, "Yeah, what do you want?!"

"Geez, Dodo, you're awfully cranky. What's the matter, miss me?"

Dorado growled again at the mini-image of Vash, "I'm just pissed at these so called mechanics. They wouldn't know how to repair a landspeeder by looking at their handiwork," he punched the landing button, closing it behind him and giving him privacy, "What's going on, Vash, when are we getting out of here?"

"I'm not sure, but I got lucky. I found the two Jedi Grevious was looking for!"

"Already?!"

"Yeah, believe it or not, they came and asked me a couple of questions while I was getting my arm patched up. It could take us awhile to pull this off-,"

"A miracle, you mean,"

"Listen, Dodo, you were the one who accepted this job without even consulting me, alright? You accepted it, you see it through to the end," mini-Vash snapped, pointing a tiny holographic finger at the Cragmoloid, "Trust me to come up with a plan!"

"Like the one you had to get yourself hurt is paying off so well!?" Dorado snapped, his trunk jabbing the hologram, "I have one, but you never listen to me and that's why-!"

"I gotta go Dodo, I just thought of something!" Vash cut him off before turning his head, as if looking at something, "Someone's tailing me, I gotta end this anyway. I'll meet you back at the ship. If i'm lucky, I'll be bringing the Jedi with me. Later!"

The comm unit went dead, leaving the Cragmoloid standing very still and quiet inside the Shadow Stalker.

"...friggin' hate you, Vash!"


Kilnorc: MAN it's been forever since I updated this. Dunno what happened, but it just came to me, so I give to you, mwaha. Hope ya'll enjoyed!