Inside the Sky Palace there were a similar lack of lights as there had been outside. For whatever reason, the Zabrak had cloaked them all in darkness.
'This reminds me of the good days,' Bellamy said quietly, even that sounding like a shout in the silent domed rooms that echoed with every noise.
Clarke was hardly listening to his ramble, more intent on discovering where Kranog was.
'Is this really the best time to be reminiscing?' she whispered sharply, her blaster raised and ready for any more security droids that might be lurking in the adjoining corridors.
They were on the bottom floor, one of three levels that Clarke had noted from outside.
'Maybe not, but you must admit, it brings back memories.'
That went unsaid. The two of them had been on quite the vast range of missions together in an effort to earn credits. Ammo and weapons were not cheap for a smuggler and a few side missions were required to raise the appropriate funds.
This reminded her in particular of the task they had been set by a rather frantic Rhodian whose prized possessions had been taken by thieves and the two smugglers had been sent to retrieve the goods.
Easy credits in the end. No-one had been home and the possessions were retrieved without a problem, but going after Kranog was proving to be far more of an ordeal.
Everything was too quiet. The Zabrak must have been expecting them, but that wasn't to say he wasn't still inside the building.
'Just keep your eyes sharp for any more of those droids.'
They scoured each room at a time, finding nothing but trophies of wealth and the odd statue adorning a passageway. Perhaps the Zabrak had abandoned the accommodation after being warned of their arrival.
'This is useless,' Clarke said through gritted teeth, allowing the weapon to drop as they looked out into yet another empty room. 'Can't you see that all this is just one big game to Janos? He enjoys watching us run around at his beck and call.'
'It'll be worth it once he upholds his end of the bargain.'
Clarke shook her head at the man's short-sightedness. She was beginning to doubt that the crime lord had any intention of keeping his word. The only way they could win this was to play him at his own game.
'We could do so much better than this. Why should we accept our fate as if we have no choice? We need to make a stand against him, bring this whole drama to an end once and for all.'
Bellamy did not take kindly to the suggestion, a hint of annoyance creeping into his tone.
'My sister's life is at stake here. You may not care about that but I do, and if that means trading her survival for that of the Jedi's then its a decision I'm willing to make.'
'Well I'm not,' Clarke said bluntly, turning to look her friend straight in the eye. This was her only chance to change his mind. 'You're better than this. We can find another way to save her without having to sacrifice another life in the process. Trust me, that will haunt you forever.'
The smuggler remained unconvinced, not wanting to risk his sisters life for that of a stranger. On the other hand Clarke's words did resonate with him. This was not going to rest easy with him that was for sure, even if he did get his sister back. He wasn't heartless, but he was loyal to family before anyone else.
'I can't lose her Clarke,' he admitted, knowing that his actions were being driven by fear of not seeing her again.
'And you won't. Not if we do this the right way. What would she want you to do?'
Clarke had only met Octavia briefly, but her first impression was that of a decent person. A person who wouldn't want their big brother to sacrifice his morals at the command of a criminal like Janos.
There was a moment of silence as Bellamy considered this. It was a difficult call to make but his friend was right. This was not the way to go about saving her.
'Fine,' he said, resolute in his final decision. 'We get Kranog, find the shipment and then work out what to do from then.'
Clarke smiled, pleased that her friend was seeing sense.
'The Jedi and her crew, you promise me they will be safe?'
Bellamy nodded, sighing in resignation that this was how they would be proceeding.
'I promise. They will be freed upon our return.'
It was the best news Clarke could have hoped for, but that didn't stop her from feeling a twinge of guilt at deceiving him earlier.
'Wonderful,' she proclaimed, lifting her weapon once more as they progressed further into the darkened room. 'In that case, I have a small confession to make.'
Bellamy regarded her suspiciously, ignoring their abandoned surroundings for a moment as he watched her with narrowed eyes.
'What did you do?'
Clarke looked back at him apologetically.
'I may have cleared the way for an escape attempt to be made,' she admitted, giving it a second for the words to sink in. 'NOVA is by no means a faulty droid.'
The dark haired man couldn't believe how blind he had been. Clarke's insistence that he accompany her to collect the bounty, bringing the guards along to back them up, it all made sense now. It had left the ship virtually undefended.
He had no time to protest such underhand motives when a booming voice split the silence around them.
'Welcome my honoured guests! I can only apologise for the rude reception but do come up to the main lounge and join me. I never did thank you for saving my skin all those months ago.'
The announcement cut out abruptly and a sudden beam of lights illuminated the next room, a central spiral staircase surrounding by a gallery of exotic art pieces, presumably leading up to the lounge in question.
'Kranog,' Clarke said softly, recognising that malicious tone of voice anywhere. 'It would appear we've been summoned.'
She exchanged a look with Bellamy before they proceeded towards the staircase. It was time to confront the traitorous Zabrak.
Back on the HellDiver NOVA whirred quietly to himself in the corner of the engine room, maintaining his malfunctioning cover as he fumed over his treatment. He had been lobbed into the same category as those basic droids with no concept of a personality or even conscience as they blindly followed their programming.
These hostiles would soon learn their mistake, he promised solemnly. For now, he looked out across the ships lower most decks, assessing what he could do to help his friends. The blonde human and the enemy smuggler had departed not long ago and she had craftily advised her false ally to redistribute his troops to back them up. That made the droids job all the more easier.
Step one, free the Jedi, Step two, free the crew. Or both simultaneously.
It was achievable. He just had to be careful.
With no one particularly bothering to keep an eye on the G3P droid, he was able to come and go as he pleased, muttering strings of random jargon to himself to portray the necessary image of a faulty droid. It was insulting just how easily they bought the act.
He listed off the closest star system coordinates as he lurched unsteadily past the captive crew members. They barely glanced at him, not wanting to give away his cover but fully aware of what he was doing, waiting patiently for the time to strike.
Receiving no protest from the guards, he took the stairs slowly, finding the upper decks vacant of any armed guards. What idiots, the droid berated them, though it suited his needs perfectly. He let himself into the cockpit and observed the panels of buttons and switches laid out before him, deciding what he could do to make the greatest impact.
Before he could analyse all the possible options, the door slid open behind him and one of the armed men stepped into the small area, observing the droid with obvious suspicion.
'What exactly are you doing in here shiny?' he inquired, not helping his case with the added insult. Not that NOVA thought a comment about his clean and perfected body plates could be considered a bad thing, though he was smart enough to know how it had been intended to sound.
'Hello newcomer! I am calculating the trajectories and light speed coordinates for our return journey to Coruscant,' the droid explained in a painfully bright tone that even he detested. 'Is there anything I can assist you with? I excel in mathematical equations, language translation, and I have hundreds of data stores regarding planetary history for your pleasure. Hoth, Yavin, Ziost, Alderaan, Voss, Tython, Illum, Balmorra-'
'Enough already!' the guard interjected, waving his arms wildly to bring the brain numbing list of planets to a stop. 'Damn droids, just do whatever it is quietly.'
He backed out of the room before he was subject to another torrent of useless information, still mumbling to himself about how irritating droids were.
NOVA turned back to the control panels in satisfaction, knowing that whatever it was he was about to do it most certainly wouldn't be quiet.
Ah, that gave him an idea. If the droid had lips he would have smiled to himself but instead he hummed with anticipation, pressing the necessary buttons on the panel. This was going to be interesting.
The bottom deck of the starship HellDiver was shrouded in a forbidding silence. There was no hum from the dead engines, no chatter between guards, it was as if the world was waiting for something to shatter the peace.
Four guards were gathered behind the prisoners, ready to fire if they received a signal from the smuggler. No words were exchanged between the mercenaries who were unsettled by the ominous tension that filled the deck.
The world seemed to be holding it's breath.
Cal dared not speak for fear of being shot, but he used the time of peace to evaluate his surroundings. Calculating the number of weapons, guards and potential threats that could be used to his advantage. He rolled his shoulders in a subtle movement, ready for the instant that all hell would break loose.
He wasn't waiting for long.
One of the guards almost dropped his blaster in shock when a deafening blare of alarms rippled throughout the ship. The ear splitting tone was only broken by the shrill voice that called over the comms with urgency.
SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED.
DETONATION WILL COMMENCE IN EXACTLY TWO MINUTES.
I REPEAT - DETONATION IN TWO MINUTES.
Horror filled the guards as they glanced at each other uncertainly, lost in the sheer panic that was creeping over them. The smuggler was not here now to instruct them, without leadership the men were like abandoned children.
A stone faced man marched onto the ship, followed by two nervous guards. His face was tinted by a red hue as he bellowed at the troops.
'Someone tell me what is going on in here!'
The four guards opened and closed their mouths with blank expression but had no explanation for the chief guard. His moustache wiggled furiously at the lack of response until finally one of them spoke.
'Er, apologies sir, it would seem that the self destruct mechanism has been activated.'
The chief guard turned an ever deeper hue of red if that were possible and shot daggers at the unfortunate man.
'I'd grasped as much you fool!' he roared, mentally facepalming at the painfully dumb criminals that he had been posted to lead. 'I'll do all the hard work, you just stand here like a flock of laser brains.'
He advanced up the stairs two at the time, the guards close on his heels as he burst into the cockpit.
'What have you done droid?'
NOVA turned away from the control panel, still twitching as he focused on the angry human. He was mildly amused to see a deep vein protruding across the mans forehead.
'It was not me Sir,' he insisted, cocking his head to the side as his eyes dimmed and then focused within the same second. 'The Jedi must have done something!'
The chief guard, Darrn, stared back at the useless scrap of droid standing before him and had a good mind to blow it into tiny pieces. That would at least make him feel better, but it would not save them from the destruction process.
'Then stop it now! Cancel the detonation.'
'There is only one viable way in which I can complete such a task Sir, due to sensitive-'
'Shut up!' Darrn bellowed, struggling to be heard over the automated voice that sounded even louder from inside the small confines of the cockpit. 'I don't care what you have to do, just do it now!'
'As you wish Sir,' the droid replied, turning back to the array of buttons and began punching them in a select order.
IMMINENT DESTRUCTION IN EXACTLY THIRTY SECONDS.
'You two,' Darrn continued, ignoring the repetitive message booming from every speaker and turned to the guards hovering uncertainly behind him. 'Go and check on the Jedi, have Skarv accompany you.'
They nodded in understanding and quickly backed out of the room, leaving only the droid and the human in the cockpit.
NOVA hummed in satisfaction as he finished entering the sequence and finally punched in the last code.
'Is it done-'
The guard trailed off when a whine emanated from the ship and he raised his eyes to the ceiling where the lights flickered out of existence, dousing the room in darkness as even the control panel dimmed until the red and green lights were no more.
NOVA had switched off power to the entire ship.
On the plus side, the irritating automated voice had ceased to exist, but that meant that the protective barrier keeping the Jedi contained had also failed now that there was nothing to power it.
Realisation dawned over the guard's expression and, for the first time since the self destruct had been activated, there was a glint of fear in his eyes.
He brushed past the droid and cast a panicked eye over the disengaged controls. His fingers pressed at buttons and switches in a futile attempt to restore power but he knew nothing of how the ship worked.
A growl of frustration escaped his lips and he twisted to demand the droids aid only to find that it was no longer there. It stood on the opposite side of the door way, a perfectly functioning and aware being.
Darrn had been deceived. He opened his mouth to voice the deep rage that burnt within him at the realisation but NOVA had already activated a manual override of the door controls and had projected the last remnants of fading power to them.
His obscene words went unheard when a deadlock seal contained the man within the cockpit, preventing him from raising a warning for his men.
NOVA had done all he could. Now it was down to Lexa and the rest of the crew. From the sounds of fighting echoing from below it must have already begun.
Thanks for reading the chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it!
I know its slightly shorter but I wanted to upload at least something for you whilst I work on the next part.
Leave a comment and let me know what you thought, I really appreciate it! :)