Chapter Twenty
Inyri handed Darvix the macrobinoculars she was looking through. Placing his eyes up to it, he began to scan the area they were supposed to enter. So far, their entrance looked clear. The Rogues had split in to two separate groups, one with Face to help create chaos in the hanger, and the other with Darvix. Provided nothing had gone awry in the last two days, both of the groups should be in place to make their entrance. Inyri, Corran, and Cheriss were providing him an escort and cover while he sliced into the Impnet terminal.
Corran Horn. Darvix had protested having Horn placed in his support group. Even though he was a Rogue, Jedi simply could not be trusted. Still, Wedge insisted that he needed to have that…cult member with him. If something were to go wrong, Darvix knew that Corran would be responsible for it. He would be keeping a close eye on the Jedi.
Darvix heard the click as Inyri inserted a fresh pack into her service hand blaster. He didn't even bother bringing one. In closed quarters combat, he wouldn't be able to tell whom he was shooting at. The last thing he wanted to do was blast one of his fellow Rogues by mistake.
"Time to get going," Inyri said quietly.
Darvix checked the Vibrosword strapped to his back one last time, ensuring that it was secured. Letting out a heavy breath, he stood and began his trek to the ventilation shaft that would allow them to enter the facility, and hopefully put an end to the Phantom project.
***
Wedge tugged at the shirt cuff of the technician's uniform that Face had provided him. Here I thought that our dress uniforms felt awful, he mused.
"Identification," A security guard at the durasteel door said bluntly.
Face ran his identification card through the scanner, an affirmative beep letting him know that he had cleared security. Wedge prayed that Face had managed to get their fake identification through the Impnet system. If not, they would be in serious trouble before the chronometer even began to count backwards.
With Wedge were Ace, Wes, and Tycho. Ooryl had been sent back to the Skate with the other Rogues to help Mirax with the sensor readouts. Wedge ran his datacard through the scanner and held his breath for what seemed like an eternity. The scanner gave the same affirmative beep, and he entered the production facility. Not far behind were Wes and Tycho, who made it through without incident.
Face dropped back and into step with Wedge, whispering quietly, "I've left a cache of hand blasters and power packs in a panel next to the hanger entrance. The security holocams should be playing a loop I programmed in a few weeks ago, so don't worry about tripping an alarm."
Wedge nodded and approached the durasteel door that would allow them access into the hanger. After a quick glance to ensure no one was walking towards them, he kneeled over a loose panel by the door and pried it open, pulling out a box. Wedge quickly opened it, and handed a holdout blaster and spare pack to each member with him. He replaced the panel and nodded to Face.
The door in front of them hissed open, and the Rogues stepped in. Wedge suddenly stopped dead in his tracks
"Oh, sithspit…" he murmured under his breath.
There were only two ships left in the hanger, the last remaining Phantom TIE, and an aging assault gunboat. They were too late.
***
Darvix glanced at his wrist chronometer. Another minute at the smokebomb would go off in the room where he would be accessing the Impnet terminal. He reached to his belt of his orange flightsuit and retrieved his gasmask, placing it over his face. Darvix placed his hand on the vent cover that would allow him to drop into the room.
He heard a loud bang, followed by a steady hiss. Sounds like the bomb went off, mimicking a steam leak from one of the nearby pipes. Technicians yelled at others to get out of the room. A few moments later, when Darvix was confident the room was empty, he opened the vent and let himself fall to the floor.
Moments later, Cheriss, Inyri, and Corran were at his side, watching the exits as he began to run his hands over the terminal. Things seemed to be going well, he had managed to access a few backdoors to access the Impnet. Now it was all down to him finding the right command line to trigger an alarm.
"What are you doing here!?" came a new voice from across the room.
Darvix blinked and looked over. An Imperial technician had just shown up, and was staring at the Republic flightsuit clad Rogues.
"Ah, just trying to lock down this steam leak, sir," Darvix said.
"Why the devil are you wearing that flightsuit?" the technician demanded.
Darvix looked to Cheriss for a moment, "Uh…Didn't you get the message, it's ah…costume day."
"I'm calling security," the technician said, turning on his heels…only to have a blaster bolt put into his back by Cheriss.
"Couldn't have done that sooner?" Darvix asked.
Cheriss shrugged, "It's fun to see you squirm."
He shook his head and returned his attention to the terminal. Suddenly, his hands stopped moving. Kriff, he said to himself.
"What is it, Dap?"
"…I can't remember the error code for a coolant leak."
The Rogues around him let out a groan. Suddenly blaster bolts erupted in the corridor outside of the room.
"Just choose anything!" Corran yelled.
Darvix ran his fingers over the terminal again and stepped back, unsheathing his vibroblade as the intercom in the facility went off.
"Warning, Code-425 in the production hanger, Code-425 in production hanger! Evacuate immediately!"
Inyri raised an eyebrow "What's Code-425?"
Darvix looked sheepishly at the other Rogues, "Well…"
***
Two Imperial stormtroopers stood outside of the production hanger. It didn't take long for boredom to set in during these guard shifts.
"Seen that new hologame from Anvisoft?" one of the stormtroopers asked.
"Sure did," the other replied. "Soon as I get some leave I'm going to pick up a copy."
The intercom blared to life, causing the stormtroopers to look up.
"Warning, Code-425 in the production hanger, Code-425 in the production hanger! Evacuate immediately!"
The first stormtrooper looked over at the other, "Code-425?"
The second stormtrooper picked up his datapad, cycling through information "Code-425…Let's see, tribe of Ewoks loose, armed with blunt weapons…"
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before the first one finally spoke up, "Kriff, let's get the hell out of here!"
With that, the stormtroopers burst into a run down the hall…and away from the hanger.
***
"Warning, Code-425 in the production hanger, Code-425 in the production hanger! Evacuate immediately!"
Wedge saw Face smack his forehead in disgust, causing Wedge to raise an eyebrow. "Code-425?"
"Tribe of Ewoks loose, armed with blunt weapons," he muttered.
Wes grinned, "Don't look at me, I didn't slice in to the terminal."
Wedge shook his head, glaring at Wes, "This is your doing, somehow, Janson. Well, we'd better make with the chaos now."
Tycho grabbed his blaster and fired a few shots randomly into the hanger, causing an instant panic among the technicians and guards present.
"Kriff!" Wes shouted, "They've got stone spears!"
Wes armed his own blaster and fired back behind a few crates. Soon enough, technicians and guards were making their way out of the hanger amidst the chaos.
"There's something to be said about preying on idiots," Wedge said.
***
Darvix slashed his vibrosword through an oncoming stormtrooper, causing him to fall to the ground instantly. Cheriss and Inyri were firing their blasters in the opposite direction, trying to hold back the stormtroopers coming after them.
"Loose Ewoks!?" Inyri said, flabbergasted.
Darvix cut through a security guard, causing red blood to splatter on to his flightsuit. "He said to choose anything!"
"By that," Corran said, flicking his lightsaber on, "I meant choose anything –feasible-! How the hell are Ewoks supposed to get on this planet anyways!?"
"I don't know!" Darvix said, "Maybe they flew themselves!"
Cheriss let loose with a few blaster shoots, leveling a stormtrooper rushing after them. "Ewoks can't fly, you nerf-herder!"
"Maybe if they had arm and leg extensions-"
"This line of thought ends now!" Corran snapped.
The four Rogues blasted and sliced their way towards the hanger, meeting up with the others. Darvix could see Tycho and Wes firing their blasters randomly, trying to stir up more chaos within the hanger. Who'd have thought a bunch of little fuzzballs could stir up this much chaos? Darvix asked himself.
"I'll credit you for your originality, Dap," Wedge said. "But you'll be doing mess hall duty for a month when we get home!"
"Yes, sir!" Darvix said as he ducked behind a few crates. "Next time I'll try loose Ewoks with speeder bikes."
"Will you cut the chatter and go slice that damn terminal!?" Wedge demanded.
"Yub-yub, Wedge," Darvix replied.
End chapter 20