Su'cuy! Hope you guys have been enjoying this! Of course, I don't know if you have been enjoying it or not because no one has reviewed :(

Anyway, here's the next part. After you're done reading, you can...well, you-know-what...

Disclaimer: I am not the genius who created Star Wars, nor did I develop the Mandalorian language and culture. However, most of the characters and some of the creatures and planets are of my own creation.

Chapter 20

"Y-y-y-y-a-a-a-a-h-h-h-h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!"

Kay Lee was actually having a blast sliding down the dark, smelly chute, right until the point when she got to the end of the shaft and fell straight down into a pile of muck and filthy water and scrap metal and…other things. She surfaced seconds later, spitting out streams of contaminated fluid and miscellaneous substances that left a gritty, acrid aftertaste on her tongue. She gagged and threw up an instant later as she realized what she had swallowed.

"Shavit!" she spluttered, following her outburst with a string of Huttese cuss words. Somewhere in the semidarkness, she could hear another girl cursing quite fluently in a foreign language Kay couldn't identify.

It took several moments for the girls to recover from the general shock of landing in a pond of excrement. "You are never going to make me jump down a dark tunnel again," Kay Lee told Adriaan, who was smacking her ears to get the water out.

"Sith happens," ell Talaan agreed, pulling out from her hair what disturbingly looked to be an animal intestine and throwing it into the darkness.

Kay Lee perched on a flat durasteel panel, shivering with cold and retching at the vomitous fumes rising up from the murky black liquid. "Can we get out already?"

"We have to wait for the others to get down here first."

Presently, the sound of many heavy objects sliding down the chute were heard. The durasteel shaft shrieked loudly overhead as it disgorged its first passenger.

"Frink!"

The Corellian expletive was followed by a splash as Storm tumbled into the water.

Andora came down shortly after, expressing her shock in a much more sophisticated manner. "Oh my stars!" she said, and then proceeded without much success to clean her sopping wet, ragged tunic.

This was followed by an even louder crash as the six members of the Wicked Club shot out of the vent and cannonballed into the murky liquid, screaming "WICKED!"

"Where's Klamin?" Adriaan asked, when the rest of them had made it down. The Shi'Odo had failed to appear.

Heatrian was about to reply when suddenly a gigantic object hurtled out of the chute and flopped down into the garbage, drenching everyone in a thick, grimy residue. The Shi'Odo rose from the water, lightsaber activated to reveal the massive smirk that stretched across his face.

"Someday, I really am going to kill you," Kay Lee told the impish alien. Klamin shrugged, spitting out a stream of fluid in her direction. Kay wisely decided to keep her distance.

"Well, this is a fine mess; can we get out now?" she pleaded again.

"Yuk! What is that orange goo floating in the water?" Cor asked, pointing.

"Looks tasty," Klamin commented, edging toward the disgusting substance.

"Oh, that's just vomit," Kay Lee said casually. "I threw up."

Klamin gagged, his eyes wide as he hastily backed away.

"This water is freezing my skin," Heatrian complained.

"Boo hoo! It's too bright in here!" Jahn Pal whined.

"It hurts our eyes!" Sai'wer added, shading his face from the imagined glare.

Adriaan was feeling along the magnetically sealed walls. "I found the hatch," she called out.

"Well, open it already," Kay said.

"It's locked."

"Here, allow me," Klamin started forward with his lightsaber, but was stopped by the Pyronite.

"No, WICKEDLY allow me," Heatrian said, baring his magma teeth in a grimace as he prepared to take a bite out of the door.

Adriaan ignored them both. "Kay Lee!"

"Ma'am!" Kay Lee said, on automatic response.

"Come help me get the door open, will you?"

They faced the hatch, shoulder-to-shoulder and in deep attack stances. They threw their arms back in a synchronized motion, accessing the Force at their fingertips. As one, they shot their hands forward, pushing the concentrated energy like a battering ram toward the hatch. There was a loud pop as the door was disengaged from the air lock, and they were blinded by the electric lights flooding the station hallway.

Kay Lee expected to be confronted by a couple of startled sentries ––– or at worst a squad of fully armed Super Battle Droids ––– though her hope was that the chute would open out into a little-used corridor, or even a completely empty shaft. Anyhow, the last thing she expected to see when her eyes adjusted to the glare was a team of twenty-plus SBDs escorting Aedan Kenobi, Nic Modd, and Andre down the hall.

Adriaan and Kay had dislodged the door so quietly that none of the tinnies had registered their presence…yet.

"What the brix…" Kay clamped a hand over her Master's mouth to stifle her exclamation, but her efforts at staying hidden were in vain, for the geniuses of the Wicked Club had caught sight of their monarch.

"Yoo hoo!" Jahn Pal screamed.

"Andora! You have come to rescue us? Thank you!" Sai'wer yelled, waving his arms frantically to get Andora's twin's attention.

Ironically, the person they were attempting to communicate to was the only one who didn't respond to their shouting. As Aedan obliviously continued to walk away from his cohorts, his fellow prisoners and their captors turned around as one and gaped at the people in the garbage compactor.

"WICKED!" Nic and Andre yelled as the SBDs cocked their cannon appendages at the group and began peppering the surrounding walls with laser blasts.

"Boo hoo! Stop shooting at us, Aedan!" Jahn Pal cried.

"Yes! We're on your side!" Sai'wer sobbed.

"WICKED Aedan, turn around!" Heatrian shrieked.

"Get behind us!" Adriaan shouted at the escapees as she, Kay Lee, Klamin, and Heatrian took their positions at the front. While the Shi'Odo and the Pyronite deflected the fire away from the group, Kay and Adriaan shot down the droids with their blasters. Andre and Nic dove to the floor to avoid the ricocheting blaster bolts, and began to crawl steadily away from the battle droids. Meanwhile, the stubborn ruler of the Wicked Club simply continued his straight path down the hall toward the turbolift that would take him to the detention area.

"Moron," Kay muttered.

"Has he gone deaf or something?" Klamin asked.

"Perhaps his mind is in a semiconscious state, ma'am," Comet suggested. "It can happen if someone is hit too hard with a stun baton."

Adriaan stared at the sole retreating figure and sighed. "No," she said. "I think he's just being Aedan."

The SBDs seemed to realize Nic and Andre's intentions to escape, for they had changed position so that they formed a solid durasteel barrier that blocked the boys' exit. Andre leaped on top of a Super Battle droid and flailed his arms wildly to get the team's attention.

"They won't let us out! GOODS!"

"Climb over them!" Adriaan said, but was cut off by a scream as the droid flung Andre off its back and tossed the boy back into the cordoned area.

"Ah, never mind," Adriaan said, wincing.

"I could really use my lightsaber about now," Kay Lee complained.

"Ma'am, we can do more than just sit in a garbage compactor and watch you all get blown to pieces," Storm said.

"Someone needs to get to the command center and deactivate the scan gate for squad entry," Adriaan said. "Any ideas on how we might accomplish that?"

"Blast all these droids and then run for it?" Heatrian suggested.

"That would take too long," Kay Lee said. "Do you have any idea how many droids we'd have to kill? I think we need to avoid hard contact as much as possible if our goal is to make it to the command center in one piece."

"I have some thermals that we can chuck at them," Klamin piped up.

"Are you crazy? In this confined space, you'd blow us up along with them," Adriaan said.

"Well, ma'am, since the kid Aedan is the only one not pinned down, I suppose that all we can do is keep the tinnies distracted while he makes a getaway," Cor said.

"I don't trust Aedan that far," Adriaan said. "He takes too many risks; he'll only get caught."

"I don't think we have much choice."

In answer, Adriaan tossed her blaster over her shoulder and stepped boldly out into the middle of the hallway. Kay Lee immediately caught on to the plan quickly and did the same, ignoring the horrified gasps coming from her companions. The two girls crouched down low and turned sideways, minimizing the space the droids could use as targets, and inhaled slowly, letting the Force build around them. Ever since the day that Adriaan had given her Padawans the synchronized fighting drill, Kay Lee had become especially good at interpreting other people's intentions, even when they did not outwardly communicate with her. It seemed that whenever Adriaan was about to execute something, Kay Lee would know immediately what she was going about. The General suspected that this newly acquired skill would turn out to be one of Kay Lee's special Force talents.

Adriaan and her Padawan sent a super-condensed battering ram of Force energy rocketing toward the group of SBDs. The force of the impact was so powerful it scattered the tinnies like little bits of flimsiplast, leaving the escape route momentarily clear. Taking the opportunity, the group raced out of the garbage compactor and flew down the corridor, leaping over fifteen sprawled clankers. They knew that even though Adriaan and Kay's combined Force push had bought some time, it would only last approximately ten seconds.

The lull in the battle only lasted seven in reality. Super Battle Droids had more advanced programming than the regular B-1 droids, and they were larger and built to last longer. That was why they were so quickly back up on their feet and firing away at the exposed backs of the squad.

"Hukaat'kama! Watch my six! Watch my six!" Adriaan yelled at Heatrian and Klamin, who immediately fell back to the rear of the group to deflect the laser fire. Andre and Nic had been freed from the SBD prison and were now running to save their backsides from getting beamed by blasterfire. The two boys ––– who were natural athletes ––– soon caught up to the group.

"What the brix are you guys doing in here?! How did you get in?" Adriaan asked angrily between pants.

"We followed you, of course," Andre said.

"Then we found the GOOD old droid sentries and we decided that the best way to get inside was to get captured, so we turned ourselves in," Nic said proudly, as if they had done something incredibly clever.

"Idiots," Adriaan hissed.

"You did the same thing," Andre protested.

"Well, I distinctly remember giving you three strict orders to stay at camp until the signal was given for QRF to move in. Wait…QRF didn't react without permission, did they?"

"QRF ain't GOODLY here yet," Nic informed her.

"They're on caf break," Andre said happily.

"Well, you boys are gonna find my boot up your exhaust ports if we ever get out of this mess…"

"You mean, when we WICKEDLY get out of this mess," Andre said, ever the optimist.

"And you'll never kick our butts," Nic added. "Because you're just a GOOD, slow, weak old woman."

The SBDs couldn't move as fast as the squad could on a run, so it wasn't long before the runaways lost sight of the droids. They were fast approaching the turbolift and Aedan Kenobi, who had been stoically marching away from the team the entire time.

"Hey, WICKED Aedan!" Nic yelled.

"WICKED!" Andre shrieked.

"Come on, WICKED, can't you hear us?" Kien asked.

"Aedan!" Terry shouted. "WICKED Aedan! WICK-A-WICK-A-WICK-A-WICK-A-WICKED Aedan!"

It was no use. The imbecile's ears didn't even twitch.

"GOOD man," Minir muttered.

Aedan suddenly whirled around, his bloodshot eyes probing the approaching crowd. "Who GOODLY said that?" he demanded.

"What?" Adriaan asked wearily.

"Who whispered that I was a GOOD?" Aedan asked, glaring through his mop of sweaty, greasy blond hair.

Kay Lee stared at him in disbelief. "We shout till our brains fall out without provoking a signal response from you, but when someone whispers that you're a Good, you suddenly regain your ability to hear?"

"I could hear WICKEDLY well the entire time, thank you very much," Aedan informed them huffily. He turned to his minions. "So! Who dared to challenge my WICKEDNESS?"

"Minir!" Nic shouted enthusiastically.

"Idiot!" Minir hissed at the tattletale as Aedan pummeled him to the ground.

"Okay, reunion's over," Adriaan said. "Let's get this show in the space lane."

They had reached the turbolift. Adriaan glanced quickly at a holoplan of the station that had been conveniently posted right over the lift control panel, found where they were on the map and traced a route from their position to the command center. Level thirty-two. Adriaan tapped in the floor level on the control panel and slid in as the turbolift doors opened. The others crammed into the space, and the turbolift rose, carrying them to their destination.

After two brief minutes, the doors slid open, and a robotic, disembodied voice pleasantly announced that they were on level thirty-two. The Wicked Club members tumbled out of the confined space of the lift, while the others cautiously exited, looking in both directions for any sign of a threat. Surprisingly, there were no battle droids in the vicinity.

"Odd," Klamin said.

"Quiet!" Adriaan snapped.

She consulted a map of level thirty-two on the wall and without a moment's hesitation started in the direction of the command center.

Immediately, the shriek of an alarm deafened their senses. Quick to react, all seventeen simultaneously dove for the floor. They were just in time; three disruptor cannons slid out of the ceiling and covered the space above their heads in a crisscross of red laser beams. Before any of them had a chance to breath a sigh of relief at the close call, twelve droidekas were released from a hatch in the wall and were sent rolling in their direction.

"Cover! Hug the walls, boys!" Adriaan yelled, leaping to her feet and thrusting both hands forward to deflect the impending laser blasts. Besides being a master of storm-manipulation, Adriaan was able to deflect blasterfire with her bare hands, as long as it was coming from one direction. Though it appeared that the laser blasts bounced off the palms of her hands, Adriaan never really touched the fire. The trick was treat the blasts like solid objects ––– once they got too close, she simply created a Force wall in front of her hands that was solid enough to deflect the fire away from her. It required all of her energy and focus, but it beat clinging to the durasteel walls and watching Klamin and Heatrian sweat it out for her.

"Hukaat'kama!" Ember shouted. Adriaan, surprised that Ember had caught on to the Mando'a phrase so quickly, turned and barely had time to register the laser blasts coming at her from the opposite direction as a squad of B-2s stepped off the turbolift, catching the escapees on the jump. To Adriaan's dismay, the arrival of the Super droids had effectively cut off Aedan, Minir, Terry, and Kien from the others. Adriaan, Ember, Cor, Storm, Shakir, Klamin, Heatrian, Kay, Nic, Andre, Jahn Pal, Sai'wer and Andora were cordoned by a wall of droidekas and disruptor cannons on one end of the hall, a line of SBDs at the other end, and the sides were lined with thick durasteel panels. They were cut off from escape, but Aedan and his three minions now had a clear route to the command center.

Adriaan had no choice. "Go for it!" she shouted at them. "What are you waiting for?! We can't distract these tinnies all day! Run…aw, sithspit. Cor! Cor!" Aedan, Minir, Terry, and Kien were running their tails off now, but Cor had gotten picked off by an SBD with an attitude problem. Heatrian sliced the clanker into three even pieces while Adriaan dropped onto her belly and crawled toward her wounded soldier. "Cor! Speak to me, kid! Come on, brother, you've got to make it."

She was relieved to find that the clone had only been clipped by laser fire, but it had hit a part of his leg that had not been given the protection of the body armor pieces. Adriaan ripped off the clone's shin guard and knee pads, rolled up the body glove to expose the skin, and slapped an adhesive strip of bacta onto his thigh. Replacing the plates and black glove, Cor was up and shooting like heck into the midst of the battle droids, blasting them with the CIS blaster Adriaan had procured at the detention bloc. The whole operation had taken less than twenty seconds.

Adriaan did a handspring back into the center of the hall as a group of B-1 battle droids came up behind the droidekas to help them out. Adriaan bounded over the destroyers and Force-pulled the E-5 blaster rifles from the B-1 droids' hands, tossing the procured weapons to the unarmed clones and Jedi. As the droidekas slowly shuffled around to shoot her, Adriaan sent a Force wave that knocked them off their feet and sent them rolling into the line of SBDs at the other end of the hall. With the droidekas' deflector shields momentarily deactivated, the clones were able to slot ten out of the twelve before the clankers had a chance to recover. Heatrian and Klamin charged, wiping out the remaining droids with six clean strokes from their lightsabers.

Kay Lee wiped her sleeve across her face to clean off the sweat and grime. Cor stood up carefully and tested his wounded leg, while Ember rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his short, thick black hair.

"I hate fighting without my helmet," he muttered. The clone prisoners had had their helmets, chest plates, belt, weapons, and thigh plates confiscated. The only things they were allowed to keep were the white armored shoes, shin guards, and body glove. If they were to be fighting any more battle droids that day, they would need more protection.

And the Jedi would need their lightsabers. Adriaan could Force-deflect, but it was far from being as effective as a lightsaber. Two armed Jedi Padawans just wasn't enough to protect a dozen or so prisoners against a garrison of CIS infantry.

"You can deal without your bucket until we get QRF moving in here," Adriaan told Ember. "The first thing we've got to do is catch up with Aedan and his companions and help them get the command center offline."

"Aren't they capable of doing it themselves?" Klamin asked.

"Did you fail to notice that they were unarmed?"

"Ah. An excellent point."

"But how are we supposed to infiltrate the command center with just a handful of blasters and two armed Jedi Padawans?" Kay asked.

"We'll manage."

Kay sniffed. "I hope that you aren't planning to run around the station unarmed for an indefinite period, 'cause I don't think we're gonna last that long."

"As soon as the command center is offline, we can have a pantry raid," Adriaan promised.

"I still don't understand why we have to go to the command center first…"

"Because," Adriaan said patiently, "I don't know where the heck the CIS stowed all your kit, whereas I do know where the command center is. Besides, we might discover that the droids stashed all your stuff at the command center anyway. Come on."