Chapter Seventeen: Infiltration

Now, how to go about this?

Kreia and Zez-Kai Ell had just left, slipping down toward the facility below. Now here they were, some ways back from the border. Peering through his binoculars, Revan saw that there were a large number of droids being put out in lines. All of them were damaged, and there were only two Mandalorians working on it.

They looked tired, and since they were working at night, they clearly had a timetable. They'd been working all day. Which meant they might be susceptible. Revan looked up to Yuthura. How to go about this?

She was obviously very dedicated to Zez-Kai Ell and the Jedi, so a direct attack was no good. Maybe something a bit more indirect? "You know they don't need us, right?"

"Hmm, what do you mean?" said Yuthura. "We're spotters."

"They're Jedi Masters," said Revan. "If something goes wrong, they'll sense it before it happens. They didn't put us on observation duty because they needed us, they did it because they don't trust us."

"Master Zez-Kai does trust me!" said Yuthura quickly. A weak point was identified.

"Sure, but not in a battle situation," said Revan. "We're too inexperienced."

That hit her pride. Yuthura paused. Eventually, she looked at him. "Well, how do you know there's anything we can even do?"

"There might not be," said Revan. "I just... well, I have this idea. I'm not sure if it'll work, but if we pull it off, we could probably free all the slaves as well as my friends."

"What do you mean?" asked Yuthura.

"Well, if I had a guess, Zez-Kai and Kreia will want to come back later, and if Zegil does come in, a lot of slaves may be killed," said Revan, bringing to mind how it felt to be helpless. "I want to save as many people as possible is all, but once Master Kreia and Zez-Kai get back, we won't have a chance."

Yuthura remained silent, and Revan let the silence stretch. If he pressed her on this, she'd have her defenses up. "...What is your plan? I mean, obviously, I do not intend to go through with it, but we may as well pass the time."

"Well, I'm a pretty good mechanic," said Revan, looking down at the area below. "And I'm good at talking my way into things.

"Mandalorians are barbarians, but they're equal opportunity. I think if I got in close, I could probably talk my way into a position. They've got a lot of broken droids over there, so if I just fixed a few, that could get me into their good graces.

"Once I was there, I could observe things in the slave camps and maybe find a weakness."

"And what role would I play?" asked Yuthura, interested.

"Well, I mean, you wouldn't need to do anything," admitted Revan. "All you'd need to do is act as a spotter as Master Kreia told you to. Master Zez-Kai was right, someone does need to keep an eye out."

Yuthura shifted. "...You're really sure you can do all that?"

"Sure?" asked Revan, considering his answer. "No.

"But if we don't free the slaves, they're all going to die. Either the Mandalorians will kill them to avoid hostages. Or they'll get shot down in the crossfire. Even if we make a run for it, and there isn't a battle, a lot of them may die."

Yuthura remained silent for a long time. "...Why didn't you bring this up before?"

Good question, one that could reveal his manipulations. Spin it. "I didn't think of it, okay. And, honestly, I don't think they'd trust me to pull it off. I... haven't exactly been the best Jedi Apprentice." Revan thought about his feelings of disappointment. The ones' he'd felt after realizing he'd be put in the Agricultural Corps. They were limited but enough to get the emotion across. "I'd like to help make up for it."

Yuthura was silent, before looking back down to the area below. Eventually, she sighed. "I suppose it cannot hurt to give it a try. Go down there and get a look around, then come back."

"Okay, fair enough," said Revan.

And so Revan began to make his way down from the rise toward the droids. He tried to stay out of the line of sight of the sentries as best he could, he didn't want to get spotted until he was close.

Slipping behind some boxes, he waited as soldiers moved by. Then he ran forward toward the droids. Quickly he neared one and got into character as he saw two mechanics working.

"Ugh, one more broken droid." said another. "I swear if we don't get more hands to help with these things, the whole mine will go down."

"Cut the chatter, Ren, we need to keep working." said the other.

Time to make his introduction. Revan turned the corner. "Excuse me! You need help?"

Both of them turned around and drew guns. They halted for a moment. "Stay where you are, boy, who are you?"

"A victim of war," said Revan, moving forward. "No family, no allegiance, no prospects.

"But I am pretty good at repair work. I was part of a Melinda slave crew. Can I give you a hand?"

"And what do you want in return?" asked Ren.

"No family, no allegiance, no prospects, and I'm talking to Mandalorians," said Revan, remembering that Mandalorians respected strength. "What do you think I want?"

Ren and the other looked to eachother. "...Fair enough. See what you can do with this, but I'm watching you like a hawk." He motioned to the droid.

Revan moved forward quickly, hoping he made the right choices. Kneeling down, he checked the machine and began looking over it. "Hmm, let's see, yeah, that's the problem? The core motivator is out of whack. My guess is that someone hit with a cudgel when no one was looking."

"Who'd do that?" muttered the other.

"Probably the slaves," said Revan quickly. "I used to be one, so I know how they think. When you've got a collar around your neck, you do everything you can to hurt the person who put it there. You just do it in secret. It's why Daan only uses volunteers."

"Make the repairs where I can see you," said Ren.

Revan got to work. He'd established himself as insightful, not he had to prove himself useful. So he worked and worked, swapping things out for the parts. As he did, he noticed several new things about these models. Glancing at the toolbox, he noticed an AI chip.

"Hmm, so, you are the real thing," said Ren, "Alright, boy, we'll let you help us fix these droids. Then we'll talk about long-term employment."

And so they began the work, though obviously, the other workers kept a close eye on him. He more played the role of an assistant than anything else.

"So, what do you use these droids for?" asked Revan. He guessed mining.

"The absolute worst parts of the work," said Ren. "Even if you're using slaves, it pays to keep them intact. Certain parts of the mining process tend to kill more people than others.

"Why they would break the machines keeping them alive is beyond me."

"What do they have to live for?" asked Revan.

Ren laughed at that. "Fair enough."

"...So how do these things operate?" asked Revan. "Most of them don't seem to have a real AI chip, just a communications outlet."

"The machines as a whole have a network that controls them all," said Ren. "They all receive communications from a central relay. It logs mistakes made and records them, so in theory, they become more intelligent over time. But, it can also go deviant and get sidetracked. Every so often, we have to discard them.

"We tried using the system on a droid by droid basis, but they kept getting busted up."

"That's a pretty elaborate setup for mining droids," noted Revan.

"It's experimental," said Ren. "Mandalore wants the system bug tested before he puts it out onto the field of battle."

"I thought Mandalorians hated using battle droids," said Revan.

"We do," said Ren. "But we also hate support jobs. If we could have droids that took care of mechanics and basic repairs, we'd have more men to fight. That would mean we could spread our armies over a larger area.

"Most people don't have the guts to become Crusaders, so we're usually outnumbered by the sheep."

Revan nodded and looked up to Aedal's vessel. "So, who's in the ship above?"

"Chieftain Aedal Ordo, come to check on our progress and get some repairs for his vessel," said Ren. "Mandalore has been trying to expand our numbers by creating new clans in other worlds. We're one of the Ordo colonies."

"Really?" asked Revan. "So, what's the AI chip for?"

Ren looked down at it. "Oh, this? It's an older backup of one of the relays. You've got to burn it onto a chip like any other AI. Now the damn thing has gotten fixated on quirks in the design. We can't overwrite it, so the thing is useless to us.

"I was going to scrap the thing?"

"Well, if you don't want it, can I have it?" asked Revan.

"Sure," said Ren, "but you're not gonna be able to make any use of it. The thing has way too much data to be put onto any one droid. And it's incompatible with the relay anyway." He picked it up and handed it to Revan.

Revan pocketed it. Quirks or no, an AI was an AI.

It took a lot of work, but after Revan got there, he felt focused. All of them began to work quickly. Very quickly, actually. Revan suspected Bastila was using her battle meditation to help them. It gave them a serious advantage.

"Done," said Revan, finishing another droid. "How did we do?"

Ren gave him a nod. "Well done, I think we have a use for you. Let's get to the others."

"So, did all the mechanics get called away to take care of Aedal's ship?" asked Revan.

"No, it's just us most days," said Ren. "We used to have a crew of five, but three of them went on a raid and got themselves killed fighting Daan. Though I hear they killed a few before they went out.

"That's the disadvantage of being a Mandalorian. Even if you're specialty is mechanics or computers, you still need to fight. Some guys don't have any talent, so whatever else they're good at gets lost."

"Ever consider pairing up the worst with the best?" asked Revan.

"Hmm, what do you mean?" asked Ren.

"Well, mechanics and such are pretty handy on the battlefield," said Revan. "So if you have a mechanic who can't fight at all, and you put them with a deadly warrior, they might balance each other out."

"We're not a formal military, kid." laughed the other. "We're clans. Warbands pick whoever they want to go out with them. They're not going to tolerate being told who to take with them."

"Still, what's your name?" asked Ren.

"Naver, yours?" asked Revan.

"I'm Ren of the Mechanical Core. My friend is Caris," said Ren. "We're under orders to head to the fortress once we finish up here to speed up Aedal's repairs. How'd you like to come with us? If you impress him enough, you might just get a formal position. Though I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"Has anyone ever said no to this kind of offer?" asked Revan.

"Probably not," admitted Ren. "But, I figured I'd observe the courtesy."

Just as planned. For the most part.


Bastila had observed Master Kreia and another slipping into a facility. She'd done her best to help them, lead them through the security systems. Even so, it had been incredibly difficult, and their progress was slow. Then Revan had gone and started helping the mechanics with droids. Bastila could only assume it was as part of some scheme.

She'd helped them finish quickly. Revan was too proud to ever join Aedal and not a bad enough person.

And then she'd been interrupted in her cell, gagged and led behind Aedal into a large, round tabled room. Sitting there was a tan-skinned, pink-haired woman. She was wearing a double-bladed sword on her back. Aedal sat down across from her. "Well, Actava, nice to see you. As fetching as ever."

Why didn't he ever remove his helmet?

"What's with the girl, Aedal?" asked Actava, speaking with a lilting accent.

"Oh, she's a hostage and/or tool for my plans," said Aedal.

Then there was a scream from behind them, and Bastila glanced back in terror. Actava sighed.

"And the screaming?" she asked.

"Oh that, that's the sound of an interrogation," said Aedal. "It'll continue either until we get the information we need, or until the poor sap dies. Whether or not the Jedi Apprentice is next on the table depends on what Bastila here chooses to do with her time.

"Just think of it as surprise motivation."

"What good is that girl going to do us?" asked Actava.

"It's not the girl, it's the power she got handed," said Aedal. "Now then, my being stuck here is not according to plan. But it opens up time for another kind of fun. We're going to have ourselves a nice, bloody, little war."

"With who?" asked Actava, looking eager.

"Melida, of course," said Aedal. "I've just received word from Canderous. He's successfully ambushed a large number of their caravans. He's left evidence that will lead them here, to this place.

"So, they'll attack."

"Won't they call on Daan for help?" asked Actava.

"Of course not," said Aedal. "Melinda will be happy to get here first. They might not be enemies, but they're still rivals. I want you all to get together your men and prepare to repel the enemy.

"Understand?"

"Yes, of course," said Actava. "I'll have some serious fun tonight."

"Good, because if we destroy an army from Melinda, Daan will still have to attack us," said Aedal. "Zegil can't let something like what we pulled to stand.

"We can destroy both piecemeal. If you do this, you'll be worthy of being your own clan. And with all other powers on this rock discredited, that clan will be the dominant power.

"Which brings me to your purpose in this, Bastila." And he looked down at her from within his black mask. "You're going to use your battle meditation to help me win, or Malak is going to suffer a long, grisly, horrific death. If you still refuse after that, I'll start cutting pieces off of your until you agree or die.

"And by the way, I've seen your battle meditation in action.

"I'll know if you're favoring the other side.

"On the other hand, if you do what I say, Malak stays alive, you stay alive. Oh, and if and when I catch your boyfriend, I may just have an offer for him.

"Your choice.

"Nod or shake your head."

Bastila had no choice if she wanted to keep Malak alive. This was... not what one had come to expect from being captured by a Dark Jedi. The stories always told how they would torture Jedi into insanity, or break their will. Sometimes they would tempt them into destroying themselves or violating their principles.

Somehow Aedal was worse than anything she could have imagined.

Bastila was nothing more than one more piece on a chessboard played for his own amusement. She knew full well that he had no particular attachment to her ability. Aedal was willing to kill both her and Malak on a moment's notice. And...

Was it possible he could know who she favored? Certainly, when he was observing her. But Bastila doubted that he was aware of Revan and Master Kreia. She should cooperate for now and hope for rescue.

"Yes, or no," said Aedal flatly.

Bastila nodded quickly.

"Good," said Aedal. "Now, you can start by helping the mechanics down below repair those droids. I want them finished by noon, or I cut one of Malak's fingers off.

"Understand?"

Bastila nodded quickly. He didn't know she'd already sped the process up.

"Good to hear," said Aedal.

Then, suddenly, he tensed.

"What is it?" asked Actava. "This your force again?"

"...I sense someone," said Aedal, voice grim. "A presence I haven't felt since..." He stood up in a hurry.

"What is it?" asked Actava.

"The Jedi are here," said Aedal.

"What?" said Actava, before smiling and straightening her hair. "How do you know?"

"I can taste them in the force," said Aedal, voice hungry. "The last time I felt like this, I was burying one Master and fighting another."

"Nice," said Actava. "If they are here, I'll take my forces out and-"

"No," said Aedal. "Get in contact with the troops at the communications array. Tell them to leave immediately."

"You sense the Jedi are going to attack it?" guessed Actava.

"No, the Old Witch is far too good at hiding her presence for that," noted Aedal. "But, if I were a Jedi Master far from help and I' need a plan beyond mass slaughter or negotiation. I'd want to chat with the regional government."

"So you think Kreia is going to-" began Actava.

"She's already there. They just don't know it," said Aedal. "Dismiss the guards on the communications tower."

"But-" began Actava.

"The Jedi have come, and the force is with them. I will face them alone," said Aedal. Then he stood and strode away. "Take her majesty back to her cell and drug her so she can't interfere."

As she was dragged away, Bastila remembered her training on what to do when poisoned. Above all else, she had to stay conscious. She had an idea of what Revan's plan was. He'd infiltrated the repair crews, and with them, he might get into the fortress. So she had to be conscious to help him.

There was no emotion...