Ezra, Hondo, and Sister crawled out of the ventilation shaft they'd entered to escape the hangar bay filled with Thrain and his pirates. They've come out into another hangar bay, this one filled with nothing but supply crates. Sister quickly shut the shaft grate and shoved a stack of crates in front of it to make sure their pursers couldn't follow them.
"That'll hold at least on this end," Sister commented. Sure enough, they could hear the grate banging against the makeshift barricade as the pirates tried to push their way through.
"Tell the Captain and the others to go around!" a voice could be heard shouting inside the ventilation shaft.
"We need to move. It's not going to take them very long to find us," Sister remarked.
"Friends of yours?" Hondo asked as they headed towards the exit.
"Not really. Those pirates want us dead," Ezra explained.
"Just because you raid a bunch of helpless ships and steal their valuables doesn't make you a pirate," Hondo stated. "Although that's a good business strategy, there's no flair or sense of style to that and there's certainly no honor in executing a man on his knees."
"Thrain and his crew couldn't care less about honor," Ezra replied.
They reached the hangar bay doors when they began opening. Ezra thought for a second the pirates had found them until he saw who was waiting for them on the other side of the doors. Ezra at first thought it was a droid as its entire body was covered in mechanized silver armor but the sound of a respirator coming from the being's head told him otherwise. Droids don't need to breath. Red LED eyes glowed on a skull-shaped helmet, fixated on Ezra, Sister, and Hondo like the way a Nexu eyes its next prey.
"Please tell me he's at least a friend of yours," gulped Hondo.
A compartment opened on its right forearm, unveiling a blaster cannon. He brought his arm up and began firing.
"No use Captain. They've barricaded the shaft exit from the other side. There's no way to follow them through there," reported Sivarus, a Twi'lek recruit who been proving himself ever since Thrain lost too many members of his crew when Grakus and Narel attack Thrain's ship the Scimitar. While the fighting went on, the captured crew of the Ghost managed to escape and killed Thrain's XO Xar Zorem. For that reason, the rebels were now his primary focus and nothing was going to get in his way.
"Then let's make sure they can only hide, not run," remarked Thrain. He activated his com. "Thrain to Scimitar. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear Captain," replied Jaybo Hood, the Scimitar's main engineer and temporary XO.
"They're here. Bring the ship in orbit and make sure no one escapes the station. Also jam all long rang communications as well," ordered Thrain.
"On the way Captain," Hood acknowledged. Thrain headed towards a nearby window and glanced outside to see his massive Providence-class Dreadnaught appeared off in the distance overhead.
"We're in position Captain. All com channels except short range wavelengths are flooded with static," Hood reported.
"Good. Have platoon of the battle droids transported to the station as well our little contingency for the Jedi. I'll keep you updated on anything else I need," Thrain said before cutting the transmission.
"I thought you hated droids Captain," Sivarus stated.
"I do but our ship is shorthanded at the moment and we'll need those clankers to help us search the station effectively," answered Thrain.
"What about Azmorrigan and his men? They escaped while we were chasing the rebels," Another crewmember named Phaedon asked.
"What about 'em?" shrugged Thrain, not caring whether they got away or not.
He turned to the rest of his men. "C'mon boys! Let's go hunting!" Thrain shouted.
Sister, Ezra, and Hondo took cover behind crates as their mysterious attacker unloaded a volley of blaster bolts.
"Is there anyone on this station not trying to kill us?" grumbled Sister.
"Who is that guy?" asked Ezra.
"No idea," replied Sister who leaned out from cover and fired back. Her blaster fire hit the cyborg in the chest but caused no damage.
Sister quickly took cover again and said, "His armor is blaster resistant,"
"Perhaps now would be a good time to live and let live," Hondo suggested, pointing for them to retreat deep inside the hangar. Ezra was concerned they might be cornering themselves but at long as they cyborg just right next to the exit, they weren't getting out of here anyways.
"Let's look for another ventilation shaft," Ezra said.
"I'm done running," Sister grunted. She pulled out both pieces of her lightsaber and hooked them together. She ignited both ends, releasing red blades of plasma.
Hondo gasped at the sight. "She's a Jedi?" he asked.
"Uhh…you really shouldn't call her that," Ezra remarked.
Sister jumped out from cover and activated her spin function, creating a makeshift shield that deflected every energy bolt fired at her.
"I've been waiting for this," the cyborg spoke in a digitized voice. His cannon retracted back into his arm then his wrist opened with a small telescopic cylinder that extended in both directions, forming into an electro staff. Both ends ignited with violet colored electricity as the cyborg charged.
Sister leaped over the cyborg as he rushed towards her and attempted to strike him in the head as he passed underneath her. The cyborg, however, saw it coming and bend inhumanly backwards until one hand was touching the ground to himself up in an arch. Sister missed her swipe and landed behind him. The cyborg pushed himself back up to two legs and turned around.
Ezra tried firing his lightsaber's stun blaster on Sister's attacker but the energy bolts simply dissipated harmlessly on his armor.
"You're partner is a Jedi! Well done Londo. You are an excellent judge of character. You've partnered up with a Jedi and now me," Hondo cheered.
Sparks burst into the air as lightsaber and electro staff repeatedly clash against each other again and again. Sister used her Ataru style well, constantly keeping herself on the move and trying to hit the cyborg where he least expected it. The cyborg, however, proved himself incredibly resilient. He managed to keep up with Sister's moves, blocking and deflecting away all of her attacks. Then Sister managed a quick strike, hitting the cyborg in the shoulder. The impact left a glowing mark on the shoulder plate but incredibly it didn't cut through.
Sister clearly had been banking on taking off the cyborg's arm with that hit as she was caught off guard by her attacker's counterattack. He used his electro staff to force Sister's clashing lightsaber upwards, allowing him to kick her in the midsection. The powerful blow sent her flying through the air, crashing to the floor a few meters away as well dropping her lightsaber. Sister gasped for the air, having the winded knocked out of her.
"We've got to do something," Ezra said, quickly looking around for something to use.
"Might I suggest that," Hondo spoke, pointing to a cargo crane overhead and then to a nearby control panel. Ezra nodded and quickly dashed over the controls and lowered the crane into grabbing a nearby crate.
Sister managed to regain her breath in time to see the cyborg nearly upon her. She reached towards her fallen lightsaber and summoned it towards her with the Force. It flew through the air but the cyborg lunged forward and swatted it away in mid-air before it could reach her. Sister then unleashed a Force Push but the cyborg only swayed from the attack, his feet magnetized to the floor to keep him from getting knocked over.
The attacker brought the electrostaff down, aiming at Sister's heart but his weapon froze inches away from its targets. Second Sister was now using the Force to hold the weapon back but it was taking most of her concentration just to keep it from moving.
If Ezra was going to do anything to help her, he needed to do it now. He lined up the crane and lowered it just enough to hit the cyborg but pass over Sister. He slammed the movement joystick forward, causing the crane to swing its contents right into the attacker. The cyborg was caught completely off guard and knocked right off his feet through the air. He crashed through a stack of cargo crates, knocking them all to the ground and vanishing within the debris.
"And Lando Calrission wins the game!" cheered Hondo. He and Ezra rushed over to Second Sister and helped to her feet.
"You alright?" Ezra asked.
Sister nodded as she summoned her lightsaber back to her hands. She was clenching her chest, probably injured from the kick she received.
"Who was that guy?" Ezra muttered.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just get back to the ship and get out of here," Sister remarked.
"Chopper get the ship ready. We're leaving now," Ezra said into his com.
The three headed towards the exit when they heard a commotion behind them. They turned to see one of the cargo crates vibrating and then was engulfed in a yellow simmering aurora. Slowly the crate began to levitate into the air. Underneath it, the cyborg was slowly raising to his feet. A circular device was protruding from his left forearm, glowing as it emitted yellow energy around the crate above.
"A miniature magnetic field generator? That's amazing!" shouted Hondo.
The cyborg walked a few steps forward and once it was out from underneath the cargo crate, it deactivated the generator which caused the crate to come crashing down harmlessly behind him. He charged and his three would be victims quickly rushed through the exit. Ezra quickly hit the close button on the cargo doors, sealing their attacker inside. He also shot the controls with his blaster just to be safe.
"That'll hold him for a while," Ezra remarked. A sudden impact on the other side of the doors left a massive fist size dent bulging out of the durasteel doors and caused everyone to jump.
"I hope," gulped Ezra.
"How about we don't find out," suggested Hondo.
They quickly dashed down the corridor as more dents were pounded into the door behind them.
"I don't understand. How did your lightsaber not cut through his armor? I didn't think anything could do that," Ezra said.
"There are a few materials in the galaxy capable of that such as cortosis and beskar," explained Sister.
"An entire cybernetic suit made of beskar or cortosis armor? He could have bought his own Star Destroyer for the same price," jested Hondo.
A klaxon suddenly began to echo throughout the hallway.
"Oh now what?" grumbled Sister.
Ezra's com activated with Chopper screaming binary.
"Slow down Chop. What's happening?" asked Ezra.
Chopper replied in more binary.
"A ship above the station?...Oh no it's Thrain's ship," replied Ezra.
"What does that mean?" asked Hondo.
"Let's see for ourselves. The lounge might have a window," suggested Sister, tilting her head towards a sign on the wall that pointed to a lounge. On the way, they ran into several people who was running back and forth in the hallways almost in a panic.
"Pirates!" one of them shouted as he run right past them.
Sister entered the lounge first followed by Hondo and Ezra. Most of the tables were empty but a few various species of sentients were hiding underneath. Sister's hunch was right about the window but what they saw through it wasn't encouraging. Thrain's massive Providence-Class vessel Scimitar was hovering just above the station. That would explain why everyone was panicking seeing a ship of that size descending on them.
"Karabas. So much for just flying out of here," grumbled Sister.
"That Thrain's ship? Judging from the size, I think he's compensating for something," remarked Hondo.
Ezra activated his com. "Chop can you get a transmission through to the others back on Gorel?" he asked.
Chopper replied in binary.
"Not good. All long range communications are being jammed," Ezra stated.
"And that's not all," Hondo said, pointing out the window to a group of transports descending from the massive Scimitar.
As they got closer, Ezra noticed his Weequay companion was smiling. "What is it?" he asked Hondo.
"We cannot escape on my own ship. It'll be tractor in or worse by that oversized relic but they won't attack one of their own ships. It just so happens those particular shuttles they're using have hyperdrives," smiled Hondo.
"That's not a bad idea. If we can sneak aboard one of them, we might be able jump out of the system before they even know what's happening," agreed Ezra.
"Not like we have much choice in the matter," grumbled Sister.
"Let's check out the ventilation shafts and see if we can move through there," said Ezra.
"First we need to cover our tracks," Sister said before heading to towards the others in the room who were cowering under tables. One by one she used mind tricks to erase their memory of ever seeing or hearing Ezra, Sister, and Hondo.
Thrain along with a small escort moved through the main corridor where hundreds of battle droids under pirate supervision were rounding the station's personal and visitors. Those that put up a fight were quickly put down. Strangely enough, the station had minimal security personal. Thrain wondered what happened to them as there was no way the Exchange would leave one of their own stations this heavily understaffed.
"Captain we've secured the majority of the station but there's no sign of the rebels," reported Sivarus.
"Not one ship has left the station since they were last seen so we know they're here. Rip up every bulkhead if you have to but find them," ordered Thrain.
Sivarus nodded and headed off to continue directing the search.
A Nikto named Kradis was the next to approach the captain along with a set of two seemingly ordinary sweeper droids. "Jaybo said you needed these droids," he stated.
"Good. Now we just need to find our little insurgent friends," smiled Thrain.
"But Captain…aren't these the same droids you use to clean up the mess hall after parties?" frowned Kradis.
"Appearances can being deceiving," remarked Thrain as he opened up one of the droid's command ports and entered commands via a small typing screen.
Ezra shoved another cable out of his way as he moved slowly through a maintenance shaft with Hondo and Second Sister right behind him. He could hear commotions through various ventilation grates that led into the main corridor. Sounds like Thrain and his pirates were securing the station by force and what little resistance was put up didn't last long. Ezra was worried what the pirates intended to do to these people but he wasn't in much of a position to do anything about it.
"So who was that last guy? One of Thrain's newest pirates?" inquired Ezra, referring to that mechanical menace that almost just killed them all.
"Doubtful," remarked Sister. "Thrain might be able to get his hands on a lot of impressive tech but that cyborg was beyond anything you'd find on the galactic market. Only way something like that can be created is in some black ops Imperial research facility or the Hutt Clan pooling their resources to create some kind of super assassin."
"Hutts sharing their resources together? And I thought I was the comedian," chuckled Hondo.
"Point taken," conceded Sister.
They continued moving down the narrow corridor then Ezra heard some kind of mechanical humming behind them. It was getting louder and louder. "Do you hear that?" he asked.
Everyone turned to their flank to see a levitating probe droid moving through the shaft, heading right towards them. Sister pulled out her blaster and shot the machine. The droid dropped to the floor grating, shorting out.
"Did it get a transmission out?" asked Ezra.
"We shouldn't wait to find out," suggested Hondo.
They moved forward, a little faster now. It wasn't long before Ezra began to smell something. Smoke was slowly seeping through the various vents into the shaft.
"So much for the stealth part of this plan. I think they know we're in here," Ezra grumbled.
"They're trying to smoke us out," Sister said. She stretched out her hands, creating a Force bubble around the three companions. The smoke continued to build up but stopped short of enveloping anyone.
"You are certainly handy my dear," Hondo complimented.
"We need to keep moving," Sister insisted.
"Captain this is Kradis. We've secured the security office but it's a bloodbath in here. Someone or something tore the staff apart like a vornskr in a gizka pen," came through Thrain's com.
"Any idea what caused it?" asked Thrain.
"Judging from the damage, something with serious anger management issues," replied Kradis. "Not only killed the security staff inside but damaged the computer system as well. Most of the station's cameras are offline."
"Keep me informed," Thrain said before ending the transmission. Someone or something else was on this station and was clearly a massive threat to anyone onboard. Thrain didn't like the fact that he had no idea what this was or what it wanted.
"Captain! The rebels were spotted in one of the maintenance shafts," reported Phaedon. "Sivarus is using smoking to force them out but says he's lost their general location."
"They're up to something," Thrain mused.
"Like what?" asked Phaedon.
"Don't know yet but make sure we've got battle droids stationed at every possible exit," ordered Thrain.
"That's gonna spread our mechs thin boss. The shafts run throughout the entire station and have countless access points and vent grafts," protested Phaedon.
"I know and whoever we station that finds the rebels will be too small of a force to stop them. The important thing right now though is just to find them," Thrain replied.
He glanced down at his sweeper droids. "These kriffers will take care of the rest," Thrain added.
A ventilation grate went flying off its hinges via the Force and was sent soaring into the path of three battle droids, taking their heads off. The remaining four battle droids raised their weapons but were quickly gunned down by Sister, Ezra, and Hondo as they emerged from the shaft.
"I can't believe anyone still uses these things," remarked Hondo, kicking the wreckage of a droid.
"They killed plenty of people during the Clone Wars," Sister stated.
"C'mon. One of the hangars can't be far," said Ezra.
He then activated his com. "Chopper we're heading for Bay 21. Meet us there," he said.
Chopper acknowledged in binary. They headed down a corridor and turned a corner to find a Destroyer Droid standing guard. It turned towards them and activated its shield generator before opening fire with its blaster cannons. Everyone was forced to take cover again
"I'll handle this," Sister said as she pulled out her lightsaber. She ignited both ends and activated it's spin function, creating a makeshift shield with her weapon. She rushed into the corridor, her lightsaber deflecting every shot with almost no effort on her part. The Destroyer didn't let up as Sister got closer and closer until she leaped over the droid, landing in the blind spot behind it. The droid tried to turn around but was too slow to stop Sister calmly put her blaster through the mech's shields and blasting it point blank in the face. The droid dropped to the ground, now nothing but scrap.
"If only all the Jedi used a lightsaber like that, maybe more of them would still be around," jested Hondo.
"We need a new plan," fumed Sister. "They know we'll be heading to the hangar bay at this point which means they won't let any of their shuttles take off let alone get near their ship."
"Then what do you suggest?" asked Ezra.
"A distraction. I draw them away and keep them busy while you two get to a ship and get out of here," said Sister.
"And just leave you behind by yourself? No way!" protested Ezra.
"You're not leaving me behind. You're going to get help," Sister corrected him.
"But why can't we just pick you up?" argued Ezra.
"By then the pirates will know you've stolen one of their shuttles and none of us will get out of here," shot back Sister.
"As noble as this is, you're heavily outnumbered Bastila. There's no way you can take all these pirates on at once," Hondo said, his tone serious for once.
"My plan is stay on the move and not let myself get cornered. If I can do that, I keep them on a wild bantha chase for days," remarked Sister.
Metallic clanking would be the hear echoing down the hallway, the sound of battle droids approaching.
"This is no time to argue kid. Get out of here and bring the cavalry back," Sister ordered. She suddenly dashed down the corridor as she activated her reactivated lightsaber.
"No!" Ezra shouted. He tried to run after her but was held back by Hondo.
"Lando she's right. If we don't leave now, we may never leave," Hondo urged.
Blaster fire could be heard down the corridor along with the sound of lightsaber slicing metal. Every fiber in Ezra's body was urging him to run after Sister and drag her back here yet the simple fact was that wouldn't accomplish anything. If the pirates realized their one of their shuttles were about to be taken, the massive dreadnaught overhead would blast or tractor any of them that tried to escape.
"Let's go," Ezra whispered.
The two headed towards the hangar bay as Hondo asked, "What did Bastila mean by cavalry?"
"I'll explain later," Ezra replied.
"Captain. Cameras had a visual on one of the rebels. She's on Corridor B6 heading towards Junction 3," reported Kradis.
"Have all teams converge on all corridors leading to Junction 3. We'll close the net there," ordered Thrain. The rest of the pirates followed him as he headed down the hallway as well as the two sweeper droids.
Ezra and Hondo arrived at the hangar and were relieved by what they see. Only about a dozen battle droids were scattered around the large room containing numerous Sheathipede class Type B shuttles.
"We're in luck. Security is lite," remarked Hondo.
"I just hope Sister is okay," Ezra muttered to himself.
"Sister? Bastila is your sister?" asked a confused Hondo.
"No…I mean just forget it," grumbled Ezra, kicking himself for not being able to keep his mouth shut.
The two could hear something down the hallway behind them. They drew their weapons and turned to see Chopper rolling up to them.
"Glad you're hear. We need to get onboard one of those shuttles and jump out of here before the pirates know what's happening," Ezra said.
Chopper asked where Second Sister was.
"She's providing a distraction. We'll try and pick her up once we've taken off," explained Ezra.
Chopper then grunted about how leaving Sister behind wouldn't be that big of a tragedy.
"And neither would leaving you behind so shut up," grumbled Ezra.
"I believe a distraction is warranted for this situation," Hondo suggested. He snuck towards an automated grav pallet and started tinkering with the controls. Suddenly the pallet lunged forward at full speed, sending it on a collision course with a stack of cargo crates. The resulting impact knocked the stack to the floor in loud racket. The battle droids turned their attention to the crash site and moved to investigate.
"Now's our chance," whispered Hondo. Ezra and Chopper followed him onto one of the shuttles, quickly closing the entrance ramp behind them.
"Now then my piloting skills are a little rusty but I believe I can get us out of here," said Hondo as they entered the cockpit. The Weequay took a seat in the pilot's chair and started up the engines.
"Chop get the hyperdrive ready," ordered Ezra as he took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. The astromech plugged into a wall socket.
"I don't care what she said. We can't just leave her. We just need to find a place to pick up…Bastila," Ezra said, barely able to remember to keep using the fake name.
"Of course we will. Hondo Onaka might be a pirate but he would never leave a damsel in distress behind," announced Hondo.
"Yeah you really shouldn't call her that to her face," chuckled Ezra.
"Well I won't do that nor will I call her Bastila as that's clearly not her name," remarked Hondo who threw Ezra a look. "I might be old Lando…assuming that's even your name…but I'm not stupid."
Ezra cringed, knowing he was way too obvious to someone like Hondo not to figure it out. The shuttle began to slowly ascend into the air while the battle droids could be seen turning around and opening fire harmlessly on the ship's hull.
"I'll deal with them," Ezra said. He activated the shuttle's cannons and destroyed the mechs with a few shots.
Suddenly the ship shook violently, nearly knocking Ezra out of his seat. Klaxons went off as red lights lite up on the control console.
"Our left sublight thruster has been hit," Hondo grunted as he struggled to keep the ship in the air.
"By what?" asked Ezra. He thought he hit all the droids but he must have missed one. Also he didn't remember any of them armed with anything other than simple blasters.
The shuttle was rocked again by another explosion. "Hold on!" shouted Hondo.
The ship dropped to the floor plating. Fortunately, it hadn't been that high in the air so the crash landing was nothing more than just a violent thud that didn't cause much damage to the ship and only jostled the passengers slightly.
"Time for an alternative transportation," remarked Hondo as he got up from his seat.
"I just want to know what attacked us," grunted Ezra.
He got his answer as he saw something soaring through the air towards them. It came crashing down onto the view screen of the cockpit. Ezra instantly recognized it as the cyborg that attacked them from before. A rocket pack it used to fly onto the ship folded itself back into his chest unit then his wrist opened, unfolding his electro staff. He ignited both ends with violet energy and stabbed it into the view screen. The glass was incredibly thick, designed to withstand blaster fire and small asteroid impacts but it was obvious from the cracks starting to form, it wouldn't hold long.
"Time to go," gulped Ezra. Everyone quickly scrambled for the exit.
"I'm starting to think he doesn't like us," Hondo said.
Sister blasted the head of the last battle droid in the patrol. It staggered forward a few steps before collapsing to the floor. This was the third set of battle droids she slaughtered which meant she had to have attracted Thrain's attention by now. If not then Sister will just have to find him and slice his head off. She could hardly believe what she was doing. Second Sister heroically sacrificing herself to save someone. That was something she never thought she'd see the day but of course, Sister had no intention of dying today.
Sister reached a junction when she heard the clanking sounds of metallic footsteps and it sounded like a much bigger patrol then the ones she dealt with before. Time to get this wild mynock hunt underway. She turned head down another corridor when she saw a group of pirates and battle droids were assembling at the end. She turned back the way she came but a group of three Destroyer Droids rolled into sight and unfolded themselves into attack mode. Kriffing pirates were trying to surround her which was the last thing she wanted. On the move, she could stay one step ahead of them but if backed into a corner her options were be limited as well as her life expectancy.
Using the Force, Sister pulled out a grating from the ceiling and leaped up into the ventilation shaft. She pushed through a set of cables then realized she wasn't alone. A swarm of Buzz droids were crawling all along the walls and ceiling. To Sister's shock, the small mechanical insects started blowing fire of their chest units. Thrain's crew obviously had given them some upgrades.
Sister was forced back, using the Force to envelop herself in a protective bubble to ward off the flames. It might protect her from being set aflame but it couldn't keep out of the heat. She could already feel sweat drip down her face as she coughed, her lungs protesting the hot hair she was breathing in. It felt like she was inside an oven. Sister slashed a few Buzz droids that got close but had no choice to drop back down through the shaft hole into the junction she was just in.
By now, the pirates had all three corridors secured with numerous kinds of battle droids. They had her cornered like a womp rat in a cage but that didn't mean Sister was finished. A cornered womp rat was always the most dangerous. First she summoned all of the cargo crates in the junction around her via the Force to use for cover. She then ignited both ends of her lightsaber and activated the spin function to create a makeshift shield while pulling out her blaster with her free hand.
A wave of battle droids advanced from each corridor. Sister focused on the central corridor, taking three down with a rapid series of shots. The machines returned fire but Sister deflected all of their shots easily. She blasted at least another five of them before droids from the other corridors were close enough to get a shot around the crates she was using for cover. Sister finally had her chance and leaped right into the thick of them. At a distance they had her at an advantage but up close with a lightsaber, Sister turned the tables.
She tore through the ranks, slicing through droid after droid without slowing down. More than one battle droid was destroyed by friendly fire either from its companions or the pirates who were hanging back and firing from a distance. After finishing off the first wave, Sister turned to see the pirates were sending the three Destroyer Droids after her. They were slowly advancing with their shield generators activated. They fired their turrets but Sister deflected them aside. She fired a couple of shots in each of the corridors, forcing the pirates in each one to take cover. That gave her time to focus on the metallic ceiling panel right above the Destroyers and used the Force to bring it crashing down on top of them.
Destroyer Droids shielding was designed to block incoming energy or objects of a certain speed such as blaster bolts which made the droids incredibly effective during the Clone Wars. However, the shielding had its limits and the weight of the ceiling panel was too much. The Destroyer's shield quickly burnt out as the panel crushed the droids underneath. Sister then lifted up the panel telekinetically and hurled it down the corridor, crashing through another set of droids preparing to advance.
"Report!" ordered Thrain as she joined up with Phaedon and his contingent. They were taking cover, hugging a corner that led to the junction where their target was making her stand.
"We've got her pinned down in the central junction but this Jedi's scrapping every droid we throw at her," replied Phaedon, leaning from cover to see. He quickly pulled his head back as several Buzz droids came flying down the corridor, nearly hitting him in the head.
Thrain was impressed. Most Jedi he dealt with during his own time in the Order were more stoic monks then actual warriors. Sure there were the exceptions like Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker but most Jedi were not really good in combat. The massacre in the Geonosis Colosseum at the start of the Clone Wars was proof of that. Yet Second Sister was definitely proving herself to be one of the exceptions. No wonder she's stayed alive this long.
"Keep the corridors secured but don't send anymore droids. I'll take care of her," Thrain spoke. He took up positon hugging the corner then tapped a few buttons on his wrist com, ordering his sweeper droids to spread out.
"Nice job!" Thrain shouted down the hallway. "You could've taught those kriff wads back at the Jedi Temple a thing or two."
"C'mon out and I'll happily teach you a thing or two," Sister taunted back.
"Oh I'm sure you would," chuckled Thrain. "The problem is that you could probably hold out here for a while but it's only a matter of time before you're overwhelmed. The thing is all this killing and violence is really starting to turn me on."
"You're not my type. Being a psychopath is a major turn off," Sister shot back.
Thrain bust up laughing. "You don't know what you're missing," he chuckled.
"Step out and I promise you I won't miss at all," Sister challenged.
"Ok then," replied Thrain. He stepped out from cover to the shock of not only Second Sister who was watching him from behind a cargo crate but also the shock of Thrain's own crew.
"Take your best shot luv," Thrain called out, he came to a halt and placed his hand on his blaster holster.
Sister glanced around, probably thinking this was some sort of trap and she was right. Just not in the way she thinks.
"C'mon this is our first date. First impressions are important," smiled Thrain.
Sister took her shot but Thrain simply sidestepped it. Turns out being able to use the Force to warn you of incoming blaster bolts was quite hardy for situations like this. Thrain drew his own pistol and fired back. Sister deflected it away and returned fire. Thrain spun out of the way, drawing another blaster in the process. He fired dual blasters and twists his head casually to the side to avoid another bolt that Sister swatted back at him. She was putting her blaster into the hole at the center of her spinning lightsaber, allowing her to shoot and protect herself at the same time.
Concentrating within the Force, Thrain focused on Sister's blaster and fired twice. His first shot was deflected aside but his second hit it's mark, hitting the dead open center of the lightsaber. The bladed weapon itself wasn't damaged but Sister's blaster took the hit instead. Sister groaned as she dropped her projectile weapon, now nothing but a scrap pile.
"And I took that shot from my left hand," chuckled Thrain. "You should see what I can do with the right."
He tapped his wrist com. "Have the droids advance in the other hallways but not in mine. Force her towards me," Thrain ordered.
"Time for our first dance sweetheart. You can come for me or fight off the droids and I'll come for you at the same time," Thrain called out.
Second Sister didn't need a moment to consider as she leaped out from cover and came charging at the pirate, closing the distance in nearly a blink of the eye. She leaped into the air, ready to bring her lightsaber down on him. Thrain didn't move, in fact he didn't even flinch at his apparent death being just moments away.
Suddenly two waves of energy passed by him and Second Sister was engulfed in a red glowing aura. She was suspended in mid-air, struggling to move but unable to do so. Thrain smiled as he turned to see his sweeper droids had moved into position in time to activate their ray shield emitters. A little upgrade Jaybo Hood wiped up after their last encounter with a Jedi.
"Well certainly beats dinner and a movie," chuckled Thrain. Sister kept struggling but wasn't accomplishing anything.
"Ah ray shields, a Jedi's true nemesis. Not the Darkside or a Sith Lord but simple fields of energy," Thrain spoke as he approached Second Sister's enveloped form.
"I almost thought you had me there for a second. Haven't felt a rush like that in a long time," Thrain continued. "So I'll make you deal. Tell me where Kanan Jarrus is and I won't have my men gut Ezra Bridger the moment they find him."
(Didn't want to split this into another chapter but it was getting long enough as it was. Hope all of you like this and please review.)