Chapter 41: Breaching Belsavis – Part Two

A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience. We had a lovely trip to Seattle and then up to Vancouver, B.C. (and I am a big OUAT fan, so we did make a side trip to Steveston, Richmond B.C.)- which then became a surprise Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder back to our home in San Diego. I cried. We're hoping to attempt to book another cruise while they have their special Star Wars events aboard, but who knows. And now, back to your regularly scheduled Sith-y adventures.

Songs in order of appearance: We Are the Others ~ Delain, We Hate Everyone ~ Type O Negative, Killer Queen ~ Queen, Dead Stars ~ Covenant

The transports secured for us were two, four-seater landspeeders. These were in much better condition than the ones we had gotten on Quesh. We separated the seating with Sith in one and the "other" in the second. Quinn drove ours, with Jaesa in the front passenger seat and me sitting behind him. Pierce drove the other vehicle, with Vette beside him and the still invisible Broonmark in the back.

We headed out of the Imperial holdings and out into the Belsavis wilds toward one of the minimum security sectors. The task for Medechas would be here, first.

Belsavis' scenery was actually quite pretty. While there were large patches of snow on the ground here and there, the flora was defiantly brilliant. Vibrant purples, pinks, blues, greens, and yellows painted the landscape – some of the plants even gave off a luminescence of their own. Large trees and their labyrinth of roots tangled across the pathways. The whole thing was fairly surreal, it reminded me of a place one only usually sees in dreams.

We pulled up to the main entrance to the nearest minimum security area. The first thing we noticed were all the three-legged Warden Droids jerking around the courtyard. The second, all the Republic guards also patrolling.

Quinn jumped out of the speeder and offered his hand to Jaesa and myself to aid in our exit.

"There was nothing discreet about this prison break," he said as he gestured to the broken down chain link fencing and blaster burns on the walls. "I expect more of the same blunt tactics inside."

"No doubt. Let's take out the machines and guards. Once the convicts see blood, they'll be kicked into action," I replied.

We heard a trumpeted assent and I felt Broonmark move off and up into the courtyard.

"Well, he's eager." Pierce joked as he jumped out of their speeder, pulling his gun from his back.

"He likes to hunt," Vette said, smiling.

"Yeah, well so do I. So, let's go hunt." Pierce said.

###

We returned to the main Imperial lodgment a short time later, all droids and guards destroyed. A rather amusing re-rebellion was in the process as the criminal rabble swarmed the area about halfway through to assist.

Jaesa led us back into Lord Medechas' chambers to report our success.

"The Warden Droids are no more. The rioters took note," she said to the Sith Lord.

"Indeed," he agreed. "It seems thousands of prisoners already move against the droids in the other areas. More devotees follow in your footsteps every minute. Many have died in the process, but that's normal."

Jaesa nodded. "We didn't even break a sweat," she said smiling.

Medechas raised a dark eyebrow, giving her another appraising look. "Then I have a powerful ally indeed. The Warden Droids were meant to be the equal of twenty prisoners. Still, we need more convicts on our side. Turn this mob into an army and the Republic will be permanently occupied."

He glanced at the rest of us, before returning his piercing gaze to "Lord Cynn."

"An army needs generals. We must provide the prisoners with the leadership they require."

"There must be plenty of leadership material locked up here," Jaesa suggested. "Break them out, and put them to work."

"Exactly," Medechas practically purred. "There's a carbonite storage facility in the intake yards, full of frozen convicts. Some were rebellion leaders. Others simply murdered every guard they found. We need both persuasions."

"Sounds both fast and easy. Leave their rescue to us," Jaesa offered.

"Excellent. I've taken measures to maximize the benefit of this operation," he said, looking behind us to the doorway.

He beckoned to someone and a battered young man in green and brown leather came huffing up to the Sith Lord. The young man bent over, hands on knees to catch his breath. He was wearing a slave shock collar on the back of his neck.

"Prisoner, what of your mission into the carbon gallery?" Medechas asked.

"The Crisis Response Unit ambushed us! I got away. Only me," the slave replied. He looked up and over at us with curiosity.

"Excellent. Ruger took the bait. Now you can free the frozen prisoners and wipe out the Crisis Response Unit, all at once." Medechas looked immensely pleased.

Jaesa looked at him, tapping her index finger on her lips. "Who are these guards, exactly?"

"They train for everything!" The prisoner stated. "Hostages, riots, Sith opponents... they slaughtered us."

Medechas' face grew dark with rage and he raised his arm, hitting the man fully in the face with the back of his hand. The prisoner staggered, but kept his feet.

"Another word, inmate, and I'll throw you back in prison. Ruger's men are dangerous, but don't let that give you pause. Destroy the guards, and defrost the prisoners. They'll turn this riot into an organized army. Then, we'll have safe passage to extract the Dread Masters." He offered a datapad to Jaesa.

She took it and handed it off to Quinn without looking.

"The coordinates for the carbon gallery are on the device. Good luck." He turned away, and Jaesa led us out of the small building.

"These coordinates are quite close to the ones we have for the last known location of Melicoste's men." Quinn stated. "That is fortunate."

"Great! Two mynocks with one blaster," Vette said cheerfully.

Just as we were getting ready to head out, Pierce noticed a staff non-commissioned officer trying to flag us down.

"Should check it out," he suggested.

Jaesa nodded and led us over to the skinny older man. His rank indicated he was a Master Sergeant.

"It's a relief to see you here, my lord," the man said in a rough Imperial accent. He had sallow skin, but brilliant blue eyes. "Don't mind the troops sulking. Being reduced to cannon fodder isn't sitting well with them. This prison is far more dangerous than we originally thought... and far older. Many of these vaults were constructed thousands of years before the Republic came. Imagine the secrets inside."

Jaesa shared a look with me and shook her head. "I doubt whoever built those vaults just filled them with loot."

"Yes, the contents of these vaults tend to be more dangerous than valuable, as we've discovered," he admitted. "We've been blasting open the older vaults in hopes that whatever horrors were locked away might turn on the Republic guards. In one vault, we discovered ancient war droids – ungrateful wretches that vaporized my men on the spot. Now they're on the warpath."

"And you want me to destroy them." Jaesa stated with some amusement.

The Master Sergeant looked at her in alarm. "Actually, no. Those droids, properly controlled, would be invaluable. However, our reprogramming spikes need to be inserted manually."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Vette step closer.

"Lost thirty men trying to dominate the ancient droids. Validating, in a way, but these massacres are crippling us. I need your help uploading those spikes." He gestured to our group.

Jaesa turned to look at Vette. Our Twi'lek was practically vibrating with her need to accept this challenge. Jaesa nodded and turned back to the Staff NCO.

"I will happily face this danger," she replied, handing him her datapad to give us coordinates.

"Once installed," the Master Sergeant explained, typing on the offered device, "the spikes are designed to make the droids target only people wearing Republic guard uniforms." He handed her the pad back. "Until then, though, those droids will be extremely hostile. If they get you in their sights, they won't let up. And they don't miss."

"Your concern is noted," Jaesa said with a dark smile. "We'll return when we've tamed these droids of ancient origin." She turned and we followed.

###

The sector we speedered into proved how well our previous show of strength bolstered the released prisoners. The convicts were pinning the Republic guardsmen down hard, using makeshift bunkers and barricades with whatever they could find. We walked among them, getting respectful nods and no hostile actions. It was an interesting dynamic.

We entered the area that was supposed to house the carbon gallery first. The hallway leading down was peppered with some minor Republic soldier interference, but nothing we couldn't handle. Well, more like nothing Broonmark couldn't handle. He was scouting ahead of us and taking out anyone dumb enough to be alone. Our way down was littered with his kills.

We came upon a three-way intersection and turned left, entering the official wing of the gallery. We could see a few patrolling Warden Droids and some soldiers down each corridor from our vantage point.

"Let's clear the way and get this task done," I said, twirling my blades. "Then we can move on to more important tasks."

"Broonmark take out living. Sith work on machines." Broonmark stated from his cloaked position.

"Works for me," Pierce said with a nod.

We moved forward and to the right, Jaesa, Quinn and I Force leaping at the three prison guards and getting them to turn their backs. Broonmark unstealthed and delivered an impressive waist-high slash that cut into all three men.

We turned and studied the lumbering machine heading toward us.

"It looks a little different than the other ones," Jaesa observed.

"It has more armor." Quinn stated. "You can see the thickness of its plating from here."

I shrugged and pushed my hands up and out, using the Force to disable it. Then both turned and looked at me, half amused and half impressed.

"I promise one day I'll teach you how I do that," I said with a wink as I walked forward to stab my sabers into it's core and effectively destroying it.

Vette jogged up to us, pointing at the pillars nearby. "Okay. That's a little creepy."

I looked at the carbonite slabs on display, one to each side of a pillar so it looked like some kind of macabre art gallery.

"I know some Sith who have similar, smaller, displays in their homes," I remarked.

"Please promise me you won't do that," Vette said, making a visible shudder of revulsion.

"I can't." I said, looking at her. "One day I may want to display an especially difficult foe in this manner. I think this may be worse than death. Eternally sleeping under a casing for all to witness."

She shuddered again, but nodded.

We moved further in and found a few more droids and guards, which were just as easily dispatched. The end of this hall held the raised control platform for the suspended convicts and a large man in heavy infantry armor with a small rocket launcher.

"Allow me," Pierce said, bringing his own over-sized gun up to bear and firing off a volley.

The soldier attempted to fire off his own weapon, but was instead set upon by a "wild Talz" and had his neck snapped before he managed to do more than be alarmed by our presence.

We walked up the ramp and looked over the controls, comparing them to the information we were given earlier. We punched in the first set of override codes and headed back down the hallway to the other side of the gallery.

More soldiers and droids fell before us and we walked up the ramp to the second control platform.

Vette popped up to the main controls, her fingers a blur as she typed.

"Okay. Minor recalibration of the plan. This system has been cut off from the main generator," she said, frowning as she watched the information scroll past.

"Meaning..." I prompted.

"Meaning, there's only enough power to release half the prisoners. You can thaw out the murdering psychopaths with this button." She pointed at one large switch. "Or you can thaw out the grid of more peaceful protesting rioters with this one." She pointed at the other switch.

I looked over to Jaesa and smiled. "What say you, Lord Cynn? Which flavor of prisoner shall we unleash to lead this revolt?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about it, leaning back into Pierce as he came to stand behind her.

"Which one would you choose?" She asked.

I smiled and looked over to Quinn, who nodded. "Chaos is often quite helpful in situations like this. Most of their mentality is already kill or be killed, so who do you think would handle that better?"

"I suppose a few psychopaths should keep the Republic awake at night." She nodded, turning to the console and pressed the button to release the murderers. A pulse shook the room slightly and the sound of melting carbonite echoed through the chamber.

The small holocommunicator on the console flickered to life and the image of a tall, heavily bearded, muscled man appeared. He had some pretty massive scarring on the left side of his face.

"I hope you're proud. Your time on Belsavis is up," the man said to Jaesa.

She turned and tossed a surprised look at me. I mouthed "Ruger" at her and she gave me a small nod, then turned back to the man, composed once again.

"You speak that way to a Sith Lord?" She countered.

"I'd speak this way to the Emperor himself if the coward dared show his face," Ruger replied. "I've been cracking heads twenty years this spring. Every Sith I've downed thought the law never applied to them. So let me make this perfectly clear. You've made a mistake. Time to pack up and fly home."

Jaesa laughed, smirking at the small image. "You can not scare me, lawman."

He frowned, shaking his head. "You'll learn. They all do." His image abruptly cut off.

"Well..." Jaesa said, trailing off.

"Let's go assist our new... officers and get them set up, shall we?" I asked linking my arm with Quinn's and walking us back down the ramp. "We'll worry about Ruger once we make sure we've steered these unstable warriors in the right directions."

###

Pierce popped his head back around the corner, crouching down as he turned.

"Real Imperial troopers, just ahead," he said, motioning back with his head. "Ol' Broonmark is already on his way down to 'em. Can see him with my glasses."

Melicoste's original bunker had been fairly close to the carbon gallery, so we decided to pop over there and do some reconnaissance.

"How many?" I whispered.

"Only see two. You know there's going to be more. These unlucky bastards are just perimeter guards." Pierce replied.

"So, we take them out fast and quiet," I said.

The soft sound of metal hitting metal rang up to our position. Pierce stuck his head back around the corner then snorted.

"Bloodthirsty bastard," he chuckled. "Broonmark already got them. He's beckoning us down."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the same time. I had known he was going to be valuable.

We moved down the sloped hallway and past the dead troopers. Both Pierce and Quinn held their fists up simultaneously and we all stopped. Both men looked up and the rest of us did as well, watching the three troopers fast roping to us from a small alcove above.

"Smart," Pierce said begrudgingly.

He hefted his weapon and shot at the troopers as they swiftly slid down the ropes. Vette also joined in on the target practice and the soldiers lost their grips before they hit the floor…dead.

"Like shooting Gree in a barrel," Vette commented as the corpses slammed to the ground in a clatter of weapons and other combat gear.

We moved further in, taking out the scattered remains of Melicoste's platoon. The hallway ended in a small antechamber, where a youngish man with chestnut skin stood. His back was to us and he had his hand up to his ear.

"Bravo five five three, do you copy? This is command center. Report. Bravo five five three, do you copy?" he said aloud.

I gave Jaesa a little nudge on her shoulder and she stepped in front of us, once again falling into her Lord Cynn role.

"Your units are gone, Lieutenant... Kaid." She said glancing at his insignia and nameplate.

He turned to us, confusion and then angry resignation on his face. "What? Why? What's the meaning of this? My men and I are here in support of Lord Melicoste. If you're responsible for this, you will answer to him."

Jaesa shook her head. "No. He will answer to me. Tell me where Melicoste is and I will gladly present myself."

Kaid stared at her with a nearly seething contempt. "Damn these Sith games. Lord Melicoste proceeded into the High Security sector of Belsavis. He's after the records room of the blown Republic prison there. He seeks the location of a former Dark Council member."

"Darth Ekkage is the Dark Council member he plans to free," Jaesa remarked.

"If you say so," Kaid said with resignation. "I'm not privilege to such details. And when it comes to Sith business, I prefer to be kept in the dark." He looked around at us. "All right. What now?"

"Do I have to kill you to keep you from warning Lord Melicoste that I'm coming?" Jaesa asked him, playing idly with her dormant lightsaber hilt. She twirled it between her hands.

Kaid watched the hilt and then looked up at the rest of us, eyes widening slightly. "Absolutely not Sith... I mean, my lord." He gave a short bow. "I shall report to Lord Melicoste as scheduled and not before."

"Excellent choice," Jaesa replied, giving him a radiant smile. "Then you may live to fight another day for the Empire."

She turned from Lieutenant Kaid and marched through us, heading back out the way we came.

###

We returned to the Imperial command center just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. Jaesa, Quinn and I headed up to Lord Medechas' office while Broonmark, Vette and Pierce went into the main building and the cantina to wait for us.

"There was only enough power to thaw the best prisoners," Jaesa explained as Medechas turned to acknowledge us. "I unleashed the worst murderers I could find."

Medechas smiled in sadistic delight. "The convicts were violent before. With psychopaths at the helm, there's no telling what crimes they'll commit. Ruger will not be pleased." He stroked his goatee, obviously pleased.

"You can worry about his mood swings. I won't," Jaesa said flippantly. "He called to threaten me. He seemed unafraid."

"Ruger's tamed prisons before, even restored order to Coruscant's depths. We can use his temper to our advantage. Infuriate Ruger and he's bound to fall. It's time we end his career. But first we must remove his defenses." Medechas handed Jaesa a new datapad. "The only thing keeping us from his throat are the force fields guarding his base. Luckily, a mad Devaronian prisoner – Gholan – has the key."

Jaesa looked at the datapad and then handed it off to Quinn.

"Gholan will surrender the key, he has no choice," I said from behind Jaesa.

Lord Medechas looked at me, his eyebrow raised in another appraising look. He nodded to himself and smiled. "The Devaronian may see things differently. He knows the key is valuable. Plus he's trained in the Force, and highly violent. The Republic tried executing him four times." He shrugged. "That's when they shipped him to Belsavis. Now Gholan thinks he can't die. He's refusing to hand over the key to Ruger's guard station."

"I will study his power in action as I kill him," Jaesa said with a dark smile.

"What you do or learn is none of my affair. The key is what matters. Gholan roams near the resettlement camps – the coordinates on the datapad there – in the open areas, where wise inmates leave him alone. Make your way there. The longer we delay, the more likely Ruger will change the lock frequency on the security fields," Medechas stated.

Jaesa gave him a small head bow and we left to join the rest of our group.

###

We grabbed a quick nap in a borrowed barracks room and headed out after the "mad Devaronian" still under cover of night.

Needless to say, we caught him sleeping. It made his assassination that much easier. Key acquired, we traveled further into the labyrinth of the prison planet, heading to a place called Veractyl Vale. There was an Imperial resettlement camp there, and we were supposed to contact Medechas from their holoterminal when we had the key in hand.

It was still dark, the promise of dawn not far off, when we arrived at the resettlement camp. The Imperials on watch were slightly surprised to see us arrive, but were quick to accommodate the needs of Lord Cynn and her entourage.

It wasn't long before we got in contact with Medechas, who was securing a robe around himself as he appeared. He didn't seem too upset with the early call.

"It's done," Jaesa said. "I have the key to the security fields."

"We must strike quickly, before word of Gholan's death spreads. Ruger is finally vulnerable." Medechas' voice nearly purred with anticipation. "If you're ready, we can end his campaign and secure this landing zone for good."

"How much resistance is Ruger packing?"

"He lacks his Crisis Response Unit, but the guard station will be full of veteran soldiers. Expect the worst," Medechas stated. "Use the security key to drop their shields. My teams will cut off Ruger's backup. No one gets in, no one gets out. We'll give you time to work. Just make sure Ruger doesn't escape."

Jaesa nodded. "I've been waiting to get my hands on Ellis Ruger."

"His men know what to do. Any initial shock will wear off quickly." He looked past Jaesa to those of us huddled behind her. We must have only appeared as shadowed figures in the transmission. "This is his stronghold. Bring everything you have, and every ally you trust. We will get no second chance."

She bowed her head and the transmission ended.

"Breakfast, then we'll strike Ruger," I said, directing everyone toward the mess tent. Broonmark was going to wait by the speeders. We would bring his food out to him before we left.