Have I mentioned that I'm working on creating a gaming commentary channel? Well, I'm working on creating a gaming commentary channel, and you should come check it out when it's up and running.
The bomb in hand, Setress confidently made her way to the space port. The Jedi had detailed layouts of the building that any member of the order, padawan and up, could access. With a structure like this, maintained by the government for public use, she wasn't likely to run into any sudden surprises, or security upgrades like she would in the Senator's apartment building.
The anticipation was intense. She couldn't wait for the inevitable release, that final conclusion that made it all worth it. That warm feeling that would fill her body, and leave her trembling in ecstasy in it's wake. It was so close, she could practically taste it.
The taxi slowed down, and pulled up to the off-loading lane. Setress jumped out, and made her way to the passenger terminal. "Terminal 12-A." She said. She made her way through the throngs of people to the security check point. Setress quickly took in the situation, making not of where the stationary security cameras were, and where the droids were buzzing around. The box containing her bomb wouldn't warrant much suspicion from a cursory visual inspection, but the scanners could pick up the combustible components.
She approached the check-point, and walked through the detectors. The sensors started blaring, and one of the droids approached her.
"Halt," the droid said. "Identify yourself."
"Padawan-learner Ahsoka Tano." The droid scanned her, and confirmed her identity.
"State your business here."
"It's classified, Jedi business."
"Move along." The droid waved her through. She quickly made her way to the maintenance area, dodging the cameras as best she could. When no one was looking, she slipped into the maintenance room. The small storage area held a tug, and some basic equipment to clear the tarmac for landing ships. A small maintenance team sat on the other side of the room, smoking and talking amongst themselves.
Setress used the Force to cause some boxes and equipment down. The workers stood up, confused. A few of them went to investigate, leaving just one. With a simple mind trick, she convinced the worker to take an early lunch. With all of the workers distracted, she quickly made her way outside.
Getting to the shuttle from here would be the simplest part of the mission. She activated her stealth field generator, and ran across the white duracrete. There weren't any people out here, and the droids weren't equipped with stealth scanners. Anyone looking on from the space port would just see another heat wave rising from the ground.
The Senator's shuttle was just starting passenger boarding, starting with the VIPs. That meant, there wouldn't be very many, if any, people near where she was going to plant the bomb. She sprinted the rest of the way, and jumped up the landing gear. The ports lead into the cargo hold, an incredibly spacious chamber that looked like it could hold a whole platoon.
"What a waste." She said to herself. "Kre could have this retrofitted into a front-line drop ship in less than two days." Setress put her criticism aside, and focused on her mission. She was here to kill a Senator, not complain about their decadence. She had reached the door when she heard someone coming. Not sure she would be able to sneak by someone in the narrow corridors, she took up a position next to the door. One of the flight attendants walked in, carrying someone's luggage.
Setress silently stepped behind the attendant, and snapped her neck. She quickly hid the body under a pile of bags, made her way out of the hold. Another attendant was coming down the corridor, her way. She was too far to head back, and there was no way he wouldn't notice her. That left just one option.
Setress closed the distance between the two of them, faster than the attendant could react.
"What the-" was all the man could say. Setress grabbed his chin and the back of his head. With a quick jerk, he went limp. She let the body lie there, hoping she'd be able to make it back before anyone noticed.
After a short run, she made it to her target; the kitchen. With a high-class shuttle like this, they used actual gasses and stoves, rather than the pre-packaged meals. She turned all of the gas jets on, placed and set the bomb, and made her way out. Using the Force, she broke the internal locking mechanisms. The gas would fill the room, creating a giant pressure container. When the bomb went off, the pressure from the exploding gas would tear the ship apart.
She quickly made her way back the way she came, grabbing the body she had left, and carrying it back into the cargo hold. Setress hastily through the body into a pile of luggage, and jumped down one of the ports for the landing gear as it was closing. She made her way to the only restaurant in the space port with a balcony, where she could watch the fire works.
Setress watched the shuttle slowly rise into the sky, it's purple-grey hull reflecting the bright sunlight. Not for the first time, she felt a pang of guilt about what was about to happen. Oh, not for the Senator, she understood why he needed to die. Setress was actually looking forward to it. One more problem would be solved, and with a fiery explosion to boot. She wished she could have seen the look of terror in his face as the inferno tore through the cabin to consume him. Surely, it would be one of those memories to last a life time.
It was all of the other people that were about to die that was giving her pause. Two hundred and fifty other people were on that shuttle, mostly families. In another minute and a half, they too would be raining over the city in millions of fiery pieces. Maybe that was the point of this mission, though. Maybe Kre was showing her the importance of knowing when to act, and how. Maybe he was trying to show her how quickly things can escalate, and just how bad it could become. Maybe she was just thinking too much into this, and all he really wanted was the Senator dead.
She supposed it didn't really matter, in the end. The Senator would be dead, Grievous would soon join him, and Kre would happy. If that wasn't the case, hopefully he'd at least be a bit less angry. That would be a victory in and of itself. She looked through the Force one more time, to see if she could figure out where Kre was at mentally. She was immediately beset by strange visions.
Twisted dreams, like some kind of psychotic dreamscape. People would shift and twist, until they looked more like hell-spawn. Verdant field combusted and morphed into some sort of ephemeral...thing. And- beetles? Lots of beetles. The insects were crawling all over her, in her mouth, up her nostrils. They burrowed into her skin, cut into her montrals and lekku, and dug into her eyes. She let out a sharp scream, and tried to brush them off of her.
Setress snapped back to reality when a loud and powerful explosion rocked the restaurant balcony she was on. The fireball made her eyes water, insuring her they were in fact still there, and the heat caused her to break out sweating. There was one thing she hadn't counted on, though, and it was currently raining down all over the place.
A rather large piece of debris, probably from the hull, came flying towards her. She jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the chunk of shuttle. The impromptu artillery took out the balcony, restaurant, over a dozen people, and slid into the lower speeder lanes.
"Bollocks." She whispered to herself. "No one's going to be happy about this." Fire crews and security droids were swarming the scene almost immediately, trying to halt the spread of the chaos, and free people from the wrecked buildings. Setress tried to slip away in the confusion, but one of the clones in the fire crew recognized her.
"Commander Tano," he started. "We need your help here, sir. There are hundreds of people trapped inside, and that building is going to collapse. We need your help to clear the entrance, so we can get these people out."
She stifled a frustrated sigh. "You got it." She said. Setress focused on some smaller pieces of rubble, hoping to create an open large enough for a few people to get through at a time.
"Perfect, Commander." The clone said. "Alright, hurry up, you people need to get out of there." A small stream of people started to pour through, all of them in a panic. She couldn't really blame them. Where she in their position, weak and powerless, she would probably be scared witless too. Above her, she could hear the sound of the supports groaning under the increased pressure. There was no way they were going to be able to get all of the people in there out before it collapsed.
"Move, move, move!" The clone urged. Setress heard a low rumbling sound coming from the lower levels of the building. Curious, she tilted her head, and focused on the growing sound.
"Oh crap." She said. A flash inferno was tearing its way through the building. She dropped her control over the rubble she was holding up, but it was too late. Time seemed to slow as the inferno approached. People were consumed, and immediately vaporized by the intense heat. The clone screamed in agony as he started to cook inside his armor. The sound was quickly cut off as the hellish rumble of the blaze overtook him, too.
Her skin began to blister and burn as the blaze grew closer, super-heating the air around her. Sweat beaded on her brow, and immediately evaporated. Her heart pounded in her chest, as the fear grew within her. There was no way she'd be able to dodge in time.
Suddenly, something hard and fast hit her, knocking her out of the way. "What the hell?" She asked, shocked. Her savior held out a hand to help her up.
"Careful, Ahsoka, I might not be there to save you next time." The stranger said as he was walking away. His voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Do I know you?" She asked. The stranger turned for a brief second, letting her catch a glimpse of the face under the hood. "Lux?.." She couldn't believe it. Her amazement was cut short by a sudden realization. "Kre is going to be pissed."
