Republican flagship RSV115 "Emancipator", command level.
Everybody had gotten into the elevator. Jed was ready to leave when he remembered the jedi lying in the hallway.
"We're going to take a prisoner" he said to Diane as he exited the shaft.
"Lieutenant, come back! You're crazy, there's no more time!"
He walked towards the elongated form. The lightsaber still sizzled.
"How do you stop that?" Jed thought.
He leaned over and tried to open the Jedi's hand, but the Jedi, though unconscious, held on tight.
He was startled when he heard Diane.
"Jed, they're coming!"
He turned and saw two Death Troopers and an officer running towards him. He got up, but he was already held at gunpoint.
It was lost.
"Go away, Diane! It's over for me!" he shouted.
He heard the doors slip and lock.
"Jackass!" he thought. "If only you had listened to her..."
The Death Troopers approached, still holding him at gunpoint. The officer stopped in front of the body and said:
"Is he dead?"
"No. Just asleep"
The officer waved discreetly and the guns lowered. He continued:
"Your name and rank"
"Jed Koïnsky, lieutenant in the LRSS"
"A scorpion, huh?"
Jed didn't answer. Isse saw the bandage under the open jacket.
"Hurt? Where?"
"On Capricorn"
"You've come a long way, so..."
Isse approached the sleeping form and grabbed the hand that held the laser. The blade disappeared silently.
"You have to know these things" he said with a small smile.
He turned to Jed.
"Take him by the feet. We'll take him back to the command post"
"And you, under the arms" he added to the attention of one of the "blacks".
The soldier did so. They walked up the corridor towards the command post.
Passing by the airlock of the rescue pods, Jed discovered the wide bloody trail that Youlia had left behind in her escape.
"I didn't see her hurt" he thought. "It all happened so fast..."
Republican flagship RSV115 "Emancipator", command post.
Crebs was lying at the foot of the platform, next to the trooper shot down by Youlia. Jed saw the syringe stuck in his neck. He reached out to retrieve it, but a Death Trooper came before him.
"You're a smart guy, you..." he said, waving to him to step back towards the other prisoners.
The coxswains, closely guarded, had taken their places and were waiting for instructions. The two other operators, transmission and navigation were sitting on the ground with their legs crossed, back to the station bay.
Jed went to join them, under the watchful eye of a trooper.
"Could the Admiral have..." asked the transmission technician.
"Shut up!" barked the soldier. "I don't want to hear it!"
Isse intervened:
"Cool guys. We did the hardest part and apart from the scorpion they are not elite fighters. Let them chat together if they want"
The trooper pulled away, but the prisoners remained silent.
Isse took a transmitter out of his jacket, turned it on and simply said:
"Climb Mount Manarai"
"Copy that" answered a metallic voice.
What's going to happen? Said Jed, who lost nothing around him. They still have a surprise in reserve or what?
Isse placed the device on the bridge shelf, and addressed the specialist:
"How's it coming?"
"It's almost finished. All I have left are the recycling codes to crack"
"Huh! You mean they can depressurize everything?"
"No. I blocked the vent controls. But it's true, they can still block air renewal"
"Good, come on"
The key crackling resumed.
Isse looked at the screens. He could see the two frigates approaching, and read on the radar that there were two more on their way to join them.
"It would be better if they would hurry a little below. He grumbled. It's getting crowded..."
A trooper who had come to read the billboards next door jumped at him:
"Commander, they're sending a shuttle!" he cried.
"Yeah, you're right" replied Isse, leaning over the screen.
"What are we waiting for to take her down? We're in control of the aiming now!"
"That's not the orders. No shooting except in return"
"But why, Commander?"
"Don't try to think. Just hold your post"
Jed listened, and the more he listened, the more worried he was. An explanation was beginning to emerge, still pale, but he guessed it was great in his fog.
For the moment, there was nothing to be done. He closed his eyes and tried to doze off.
Louchké put the transmitter down.
Most of the stations were switched off; only the transmission and detection consoles were still active.
"Is the jamming still going on?" asked the admiral.
"Yes, it is. But now that they are close, they can talk in ultra-short. I can hear them, but I can't understand them. It's encrypted"
"What about detection?"
"Two frigates at five minutes, two more at 15 minutes. And one lost in a black hole" added the technician with a wicked grin.
He continued: "They also sent a shuttle. No boarding, perhaps listening"
The transmission approved with a nod.
"It's up to us now" Louchké said.
Both operators turned off their screens.
The admiral then turned to the wheelhouse and the machines. Two sailors were there.
They had donned light suits but were not yet wearing helmets.
"Thank you for volunteering. It won't be an easy mission"
"Above all, keep kicking their asses, Admiral!" replied the engineer.
"As for me, I'll finally have the ship all to myself!" concluded the helmsman.
Louchké shook hands with the two men, saluted them and then left the station with the two technicians. The watertight door closed behind them.
The corridor was dark, only the airlock at the end was still lit. They headed there.
Louchké was dragging his leg a bit, probably remembering a rather extensive interrogation on Jagg Island.
Four Death Troopers were waiting for them. They saluted when the admiral entered and then began to help the three men into their exit suits.
"Was arrangements made for the wounded? asked Louchké to the highest ranking of "black".
"Yes, Admiral. They were transferred by the holds to the central hospital where a doctor and three volunteer nurses took care of them"
"And the prisoners?"
"Locked in containers. A free one will be left with a shears"
"Let's go, then, since we must"
He put on his helmet, took a last look down the dark corridor, and the rest went smoothly.