"Must run faster. Must run faster," Hondo kept muttering as he and Ezra squeezed through the jammed landing ramp that was just open wide enough for them to fit through. It didn't help that the cyborg that shot them down was right on their tail. He had broken into the cockpit and had chased them through what was left of the small ship. Whoever was inside that mechanical suit either had serious behavioral problems or an axe to grind with Ezra or Hondo.
Ezra forced his way through just in time as something slammed into the ramp. The Padawan glanced over his shoulder to see the cyborg reached through the opening trying to grab him. Ezra leaped forward far enough away from the cyborg's reach and took off running towards the exit with Hondo. The pursuer then opened up a slot on top of his forearm and a blaster emerged from it.
Everything seemed to slow down as Ezra realized there was no way for him or Hondo to get to cover in time. The cyborg would be able to shot both of them long before they could reach safety. So Ezra did the only thing he could do and grabbed his lightsaber. Blaster bolts came hurling towards them but Ezra ignited his weapon and swatted them away.
Hondo glanced behind to see what was happening and his jaw dropped. "You're a Jedi too?" he gasped.
"I'm a work in progress," Ezra said as he deflected a few more laser bolts. The cyborg gave up trying to use his blaster and was now trying to force the landing ramp open to squeeze through. Fortunately, he wasn't as small as Ezra and Hondo.
"You and Bastila are both Jedi? No wonder you didn't tell me your real names," Hondo commented.
"How about we discuss this somewhere safer," suggested Ezra.
"Great minds think alike," agreed Hondo.
Chopper came flying out of the damaged cockpit of the wreck. He was screaming in binary as he landed next to his comrades.
"Hey it worked didn't it. We made sure he chased after us so you could sneak past him," shot back Ezra.
Chopper wasn't happy but he didn't have a choice over the escape plan they came up with on the fly. The landing ramp wouldn't open enough for the astromech to fit through so he had to hide and wait until the cyborg passed by him in his pursuit of the others.
The three headed towards the hangar bay exit when Ezra heard something. He grabbed Hondo's arm, stopping him. The sound became louder and more distinguishable. The sound of metallic footsteps.
"Not that way," Ezra said.
"Vents," Hondo said, pointing to a ventilation opening at the other end of the hangar bay. The trio just decided to throw caution to the wind and dash there as fast as they could. They were halfway there when battle droids began marching inside. Ezra deflected incoming fire as they reached the vent grate.
The cyborg had managed to force an opening large enough to squeeze through. It turns out his escape was actually a blessing in disguise as the battle droids quickly turned their weapons on him. Their blasters did no real damage to the cyborg's armor but it did turn his murderous rage on the droids. He leaped high into the air thanks to a burst from his rocket engines and landed right into the thick of them. The cyborg tore through the droids as easily as tearing apart paper plates.
Meanwhile, Hondo, Ezra, and Chopper managed to rip the grate off and crawled into the ventilation shaft.
Velken ripped a battle droid in half and then used both halves as weapons to literally pummel every other droid nearby. He was actually enjoying himself. The power the suit had given him was nothing short of miraculous. His Beskar armor could protect him from blasters and even lightsabers. His advanced cybernetics gave him superhuman strength that even a Wookiee couldn't match. He felt invincible and he couldn't relish it more as he tore these old Clone Wars relics into scrap. After the years spent fighting these same droids in the Clone Wars, Velken wanted nothing less than to rip them apart and grind them into dust.
He glanced around after disposing of the last of them and realized Ezra Bridger and his accomplices managed to escape. No matter, he'd find them again and this time he wouldn't allow anything to get in his way. Velken heard of pirates who used old Separatist battle droids in combat but never heard of a pirate crew that had this many. Not only that but they also had a Providence-Class Dreadnaught. Not many people could maintain a ship of that size so these pirates were more than just a nuisance.
A noise caught his attention. He turned to towards the hangar bay doors to see 3 Destroyer Droids rolling inside. They unfolded themselves into attack positions and activated their shield generators. Velken knew his Beskar armor was strong but sustained fire from those droid's cannons might be too much to handle. He unfolded his electro staff and started his hand's spin function. The droids opened fire but Velken easily swatted them away, using his staff the same way a Jedi uses a lightsaber.
He simply walked up to one of the Destroyers and slowly reached his hand through its shield. He grasped its head and crush it like a paper bag. Its shield dropped and it's electronics shorted out. He lifted it up and slammed it down on the next destroyer with enough force that broke its shield and crushed it into scrap. The final destroyer continued firing but couldn't get past Velken's spinning electro staff. Velken calmly walked up to it and kicked at its legs through its shield, causing the droid to stumble and fall. He then stomped on the machine's head, crushing it into dust.
"No good Captain. The com's memory core's been purged," reported the technician that Thrain had looking over Second Sister's wrist com.
Thrain turned Second Sister who was currently suspended in the air, encased in a ray shield that enveloped her entire body. After trapping her, Thrain had her stunned long enough to disarm her of her weapons and com unit before she came too.
"I'm guessing you did that once you realized you were corned," Thrain said. "Didn't want to risk me using this to contact Ezra and drawing him out once he hears what's happened to you. How touching."
"Let me out of here and I'll show you how gentle I can be," Sister challenged.
"Tempting but I prefer a woman in chains…or an energy field in this case," chuckle Thrain. He looked over Second Sister's lightsaber. He was so used to the single hilt that seeing something like this was quite the treat. He switched the configurations of the weapon back and forth between single blade and double blade along with occasionally hitting the spin function.
"Nice weapon. Why is it the Sith and dark side users always get the good toys?" Thrain asked Sister.
"We always come prepared," shrugged Sister.
"Well I'll just it to my little collection of your crew's personal effects. I'll put it right next to the holocron I still have. I think that was Kanan's right?" smiled Thrain.
Sister finally smiled. "How's that Falleen friend of yours?" she smiled.
Thrain's smiled faded. "So you've figured it out have you?" he inquired.
"Kanan said he shot him, most likely fatal. I'm guessing that's why you've been so obsessed with finding him because he killed your little…I mean big friend. Or should I say former friend," Sister taunted.
Thrain's smile returned. "Trying to rile me up?" he asked. "This wouldn't be an attempt to get me to kill you in a rage so that Ezra Bridger won't come running to your rescue and get himself killed as a result?"
Sister shrugged. "No but answer me this. Is it true Falleen's corpses stink worse than your typical dead body?"
"No worse than what Ezra's corpse will smell like," shot back Thrain. He was pleased by Sister's reaction, the rage in her eyes. You could feel it through the Force like a sudden change in temperature in the room.
"To be honest…" Thrain continued. "…I don't even care about you or the little Jedi brat. All I want is Kanan Jarus. You don't even need to tell me anything damaging to your precious rebellion. Just tell me the com frequency to contact your friends for a proposition. Kanan in exchange for you and Ezra. We both know Kanan, being the precious little do gooder he is, will take the deal. So why bother resisting? Tell me the frequency or I'll go with Plan B."
Thrain activated the lightsaber, showcasing it's crimson energy blades. "I'll use your lightsaber to cut off one body part after another from Ezra until you talk," he smiled.
Sister's face was controlled but Thrain could sense the one emotion through the Force that he wanted to elicit from her. It was faint but he could tell she was finally afraid.
"Captain we've got a problem," Kradis's voice came through the com.
Thrain knew he was making some progress into making Sister crack so he was a little annoyed by the interruption. "What is it?" he replied into his wrist com.
"We located the other Jedi but our troops were attacked by some kind of droid or cyborg or something. It just tore apart an entire droid platoon," explained Kradis.
"Then send in the heavy units," Thrain sighed. Did he really have to explain the obvious? It felt like some crew members practically needed him to tie their shoelaces for them.
"That's why it's a problem. We already did," Kradis said nervously.
"You sure do move fast in tight spaces Lando. I take it you're used to wondering around in ventilation shafts," Hondo quipped as he followed behind Ezra and Chopper.
"It helps keep me alive," replied Ezra.
"So does being a Jedi," remarked Hondo.
Ezra felt a little guilty about lying to the Weequay. Hondo was a little quirky but he'd been nothing but helpful through this whole mess.
"Well technically I'm still a Padawan so I'm not really a Jedi," Ezra pointed out.
"I've met many Padawans in my time and I can tell you that they were all special as well as their masters. Maybe once we get out of this I'll tell you the time I befriended two of the Jedi's most powerful Knights," Hondo said.
They rounded a corner and came face to face with a swarm of insect-like droids covering the floor, walls, and ceiling. The machine turned their glowing eyes onto the new arrivals and readied their weapons.
"Wrong way," gulped Ezra.
They turned and dashed back the way they came with the masse of mechanical insectoids chasing after them. The trio ducked into a narrow shaft and Ezra kicked open a grate covering to allow himself his companions into a loading bay. Ezra shut the grate behind him and waited as he heard the sound of clanking movements moving through the shaft. Everyone was quiet until the clanking stopped and the shaft went silent.
"I think we've lost them," Ezra remarked.
A sudden gasp could be heard coming from behind a crate a short distance away. Ezra pulled out his lightsaber, activating it's blaster setting as he approached. He ducked around the crate, weapon ready to fire as he was met with a blaster in his face.
"You!" a voice shouted, belonging to a familiar fat red Jablogian.
"Azmorigan?" frowned Ezra.
"You're the reason those blasted pirates are tearing this place apart and killing anyone in their path. You almost got me killed!" snapped Azmorigan.
"I'm the reason you're still alive," protested Ezra. He noticed Hondo and Chopper sneaking up behind the Jablogian and decided to keep up the distraction.
"If I hadn't shown up…" Ezra continued. "…Thrain would have killed you."
"Well he isn't now that I have you to bargain with," Azmorigan stated. Hondo suddenly lunched forward and jabbed a shiv right up against the Jablogian's neck. Ezra wasn't sure how the Weequay got that but was glad he had it. Azmorigan yelped.
"Let's all calm down now," Hondo spoke. "No need for things to get messy now."
"Why doesn't everyone just calm down and lower your weapons," suggested Ezra.
"Yes yes yes. That sounds like a great idea," Azmorigan squealed as he dropped his pistol. Chopper was quick to roll up to snatch the weapon up.
Ezra glanced around and noticed a set of portable generators. "You kept your generators?" he asked.
"Of course I kept them. I'm not walking out of this debacle with nothing," protected Azmorigan.
"While I can appreciate that my big red friend…" Hondo said, shoving Azmorigan away from him. "…you might be a little bit more concerned about those pirates."
"Why do you think I'm hiding here?" protested Azmorigan. "Those marauders are going to kill everyone."
"Yes that Thrain character does seem to have an itchy trigger finger," agreed Hondo.
"I mean literally!" shouted Azmorigan.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Ezra.
"I got away from him with a few of my men but then that massive ship showed up outside and we couldn't escape," explained Azmorigan. "We ran into a few of those pirates. I overheard them talking about how they weren't going to leave any witnesses. That's why they're putting all the station's crew and pedestrians into the same hangar bay so they vent them all into space."
"What?!" Ezra and Hondo shouted.
"My men were killed soon after but I managed to escape," grumbled Azmorigan.
"You escaped?" frowned Ezra.
"I can move quite quickly when my live is in jeopardy," protested Azmorigan.
"Killing the entire station? But that doesn't make any sense," Hondo said, completely stunned.
"Yes it does," Ezra said, putting the pieces together. "He told Azmorigan that he didn't care about the bounty on me or my friends. This is personal for him. He wants to deal with us as slowly and painfully as possible but he can't do that if someone onboard this station reveals that he managed to capture two of the most wanted fugitives in the galaxy. Word will get back to the Empire."
"What does that have to do with Thrain?" asked Hondo.
"He's getting fuel for his ship from the Empire in exchange for getting rid of other pirates. But if the Imperials find out he has me and Second Sister, he's finished. He'll either have to hand us over or the Empire will hunt him down. But if no one's alive to spill the news to the Empire, he can use us to get to the rest of my friends and kill them," Ezra explained.
"How do you know about this deal between the Empire and Thrain?" wondered Hondo.
"I found out about the last time I dealt with that pirate," muttered Ezra.
"That pirate is insane," grunted Azmorigan.
"Insane but unfortunately surrounded by countless battle droids," added Hondo.
"Is this thing on? Hey it finally works," Thrain's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Oh kriff he's found us," gulped Azmorigan
"I don't think so. That's probably being broadcast all over the station," Ezra observed.
"Ezra Bridger I know you can hear me," Thrain continued.
"So that's your name? Nice to meet you," Hondo quipped.
"Your friend put up one hell of a fight. Certainly better than the Jedi did at Geonosis but turns out quantity does beat quality. You're in luck though, she's alive and brooding at least for now. And unless you want that to change, you'll get your carcass down to Loading Dock C-22 in the next fifteen minutes. After that, I'm going to start playing Second Sister's greatest hits over the com system and they all have the same lyrics. It's goes a little something like this," Thrain announced.
His voice was replaced by the sound of bolts of electricity followed by Second Sister's screams. Ezra's blood boiled, knowing she was enduring Force knows how much pain she was enduring to force her to scream. Knowing Second Sister it was probably a lot.
"I swear music these days is such garbage but it's the only thing I've got so I guess I've got to make do. However, I'm not sure how long Second Sister's singing voice and her body will be able to endure it so don't be late kid," warned Thrain before the transmission cut.
"I'm afraid I can't make any good jokes out of this," Hondo stated.
"What are we going to do?" squealed Azmorigan.
"We? What do you mean we?" Hondo shot back.
The two of them argued as Ezra tried to focus and come up with a plan. Something that get everyone out of this. Not just himself, Hondo, and Chopper but also Second Sister and the station's crew facing certain execution. He suddenly realized that Second Sister had been in this exact scenario back on the medical station where Ezra was taken hostage by two Inquisitors. He had a bomb strapped around his neck and Sister had to torture an Imperial to get the codes to disarm it. She had to do a terrible and hard thing to save someone she cared about it.
That's when Ezra knew what he had to do. He first rushed over to a maintenance locker and was relieved that they had space suits inside. They were standard issue for hangar bays like this but there was always the chance whoever was running the facility had decided to skirt some safety regulations. Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case here. With that confirmed, Ezra quickly rushed over to one of the generators and started opening it up to exam its control systems. Time to see if Sabine's lessons had sunk in.
"Uhh…what are you doing?" Azmorigan asked.
"Does either one of you have expertise in explosives?" Ezra called out.
"You're in luck Ezra. Hondo Onaka is a master demolitionist," Hondo said proudly.
"Then I need you to help me rig a few detonators. I know we can fashion some from a control board like this one but I'm going to need several," Ezra explained.
"Hey you're ruining my generators!" protested Azmorigan. Chopper pointed the blaster pistol at him, shutting him up.
"Not all of them," remarked Ezra. "Once we get these working, we need to get to Hangar Bay 12. That's where we left the Rhydonium shipment we were supposed to hand over in the deal."
"Making detonators and gathering up explosive fuel. I sense some booms coming," Honda quipped.
"Ok once that's done then what?" Azmorigan asked.
"We can't escape and we can't hold out forever so we're going to have to play a game of cuckoo hens," explained Ezra.
"I don't like the sound of that," gulped Azmorigan.
"Well you're going to need to start because the only we're going to get out of this is by forcing to let everyone go. I'm not just going to let him kill all those people," Ezra sighed.
Azmorigan thought about for a moment and then groaned, "Fine but I'm staying here with my generators."
"You can't come anyways. The space suits won't fit you," remarked Ezra. "There's a spacesuit in the locker over there. Hondo, I need you to suit up and spacewalk outside of the station to Hangar Bay 12. Chopper can use his jetpack to fly there. Once you're there, install the detonators and move the various Rhydonium crates to different parts of the station."
"How are we supposed to do that with Thrain's pirates and droid all around?" asked Hondo.
"The delivery system!" shouted Azmorigan. "There's an automated distribution system of cranes and conveyor tunnels that's used to transport various crates from one hangar bay to the next. If you can get the controls working, you wouldn't need to even leave Hangar Bay 12 to spread them out. Normally you'd have to wait in a que line as the system finishes delivering one set of cargo to the next but I doubt anyone else is using it right now."
"Do you know how work it?" inquired Ezra.
"Only one way to find out," shrugged Hondo.
"Then get going," nodded Ezra.
"What about you?" asked Hondo.
"I'm going to buy you some time. Contact my com link once you're done and no matter what happens do not disarm the bombs unless I tell you to," said Ezra.
"We lost sight of the cyborg sir but not before he wiped out another droid platoon," reported Kradis.
"Find him!" Thrain shouted into his com before cutting the transmission. He had no idea who this General Grievous wannabe was but he was losing far too much droids. Already Thrain's droids and crew couldn't properly patrol the facility anymore due to the losses Second Sister and the cyborg inflicted. Hence why he finally got the speaker system back up on the station and sent a threatening message to Ezra to get him here. It was time to get this mission over with and get back to his ship.
"If you lay one hand on Ezra then Xar's death will feel like a mercy compared to what I'll do to you," threatened Second Sister.
"Tic toc time for another shock," Thrain sang before tapping a button on his wrist com. The sweeper droids that held Second Sister in a ray shield shot out bolts of electricity that passed through the shield and into Sister's body. She struggled not to scream but finally couldn't hold back. Once Thrain was certain she'd learned her lesson, he tapped the button again to cease the torture.
Thrain glanced at his wrist com, focusing on the display screen showing the time. "Kid's really trying to run down the clock," he commented.
"Captain one of the patrols' found the kid…He's surrendering without a fight," reported Kradis.
Thrain turned and triumphantly smiled up at Second Sister. "Bring him here," he said.
The former Inquisitor wasn't even hiding her fear now. Now it was time to really hammer down on that chink in her armor.
A shackled Ezra Bridger was brought into the hangar bay escorted by Kradis and a squad of several battle droids. He glanced up at Second Sister and asked, "Are you okay?"
"You idiot!" Sister shouted at him.
"Mind your manners sweetheart. He's just trying to save your life," Thrain remarked. He turned his attention to Ezra. "Gotta give you credit kid. Most people wouldn't have the spine to do what you just did."
"I'm not here to surrender. I'm here to negotiate," Ezra said.
Thrain burst into laughter as a battle droid handed over Ezra's lightsaber and wrist-com to him. "A Jedi to the end. Always thinking you people can talk your way out of everything," Thrain chuckled as he hooked the Padawan's equipment onto his belt right next to Second Sister's lightsaber.
"I'm not here to talk. I'm here to make demands," Ezra frowned.
The other pirates all snickered. Thrain glanced up at Second Sister and said, "You've been a bad influence on this kid."
"I know you've been rounding up everyone on the station into the same hangar bay and that you're going to vent them all into space to make sure there's no witnesses to tell the Empire about capturing us," Ezra accused.
Thrain shrugged, "What can I say? Loose lips can't sink ships if they're on corpses. I don't see your other friend around but don't worry. We'll just blast this station from the Scimitar once we're all done here. That'll take care of any loose ends."
"No one dies," Ezra said firmly. The other pirates were now openly laughing.
"I swear kid you've got a pair bigger than my ship," chuckled Thrain. "You're in no position to make demands to me. The only thing you've got to offer me is the contact frequency for your friends. Kanan gives himself up for the two of you. That's the only thing that you've got to bargain with and if you won't then I'll just torture both of you until one of you cracks."
Thrain activated his wrist com. "Jaybo it's me. We've got what we came here for. We're on our way back," he reported.
"Either you let everyone go or you all die," warned Ezra.
The pirates all burst into hysterical laughter. Thrain, however, was less than amused. "Oh really and how are you going to pull that off you little womprat?" he asked.
"You'll find out any minute," shrugged Ezra.
"Sorry but I've got a schedule to keep. Play time will have to wait another day junior," scoffed Thrain.
Ezra's wrist com then lite up. "Ezra. All set," a voice spoke.
Thrain threw the Padawan a look. "What's set?" he inquired.
"You'll find out," smirked Ezra.
Thrain activated Ezra's wrist com. "Whoever this is, I'm only going to say this once. I'm leaving with your friends now and if you get in my way, you will die," he warned.
"That won't be necessary my friend as we'll all soon be dead," mocked the voice.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Thrain demanded.
"Boom," the voice said.
Suddenly the whole station shook violently, nearly knocking everyone in the room off their feet. Red lights went off with klaxons on the ceiling, indicating a fire has been detected.
"That would be one of the bombs I have scattered around the station," smiled Ezra. "We brought some Rhydonium here with us so all it took was to craft some detonators and…well now you know the end result."
Thrain could see his crew members were starting to panic. "Calm down," he ordered.
He turned his attention back to Ezra. "You really expect me to believe that you're going to go full suicide bomber on all of us?" Thrain scoffed. "I'm calling your bluff."
"No bluff," Ezra said bluntly.
"Since I've received no word from Ezra Bridger, I have no choice but to make more booms," the voice chimed in from Bridger's wrist com.
Another explosion rocked the station, this one actually knocking a few pirates and battle droids off their feet. The red light was now replaced by a new purple light. This meant a catastrophic fire was now raging and that everyone should evacuate. Thrain took it all back, this kid was nuts.
"Boss it's Phaedon. What's going on?" "Captain it's Kradis, the station's on fire. We need to get out of here," were among several transmissions that were all broadcasting from Thrain's wrist com all at once.
"We're leaving. Everyone to the ships," Thrain ordered. His men quickly scrambled towards the exits as the Captain grabbed Ezra and started hauling towards the rest of the crew.
"Do that and you're all dead!" Ezra shouted. The pirates all instantly froze. "My partner is under orders to detonate all the bombs at once if you attempt to evacuate."
Thrain grabbed Ezra by the shirt and lifted him off his feet. "This is some pretty good theater I'll give you that but show's over. You're a Jedi and a Jedi would never anything like this."
Ezra smiled, "I'm not a Jedi. I'm a Padawan so I guess I never got that lesson. I know that you're going to kill everyone here the moment you leave and you'll just use Second Sister and me to lure the rest of my friends into a trap so you can kill them too. So if I can't save these people, Second Sister, or myself then at least I can make sure you don't hurt Kanan, Hera, Zeb, Sabine, or anyone else ever again."
Suddenly, Thrain realized this kid wasn't bluffing. Ezra knew he was dead anyways so why not take Thrain and his men with him?
"C'mon Captain he's not bluffing! The kid's crazy!" A terrified Sivarus spoke and judging from the look of the rest of the pirates, they all felt the same.
"Alright fine!" shouted Thrain. He dropped Ezra to the floor and tapped his wrist com so that every of his commanders on the station and the Scimitar could hear him. "Phaedon let the station personal leave," he ordered.
"But boss I thought you wanted no witnesses," protested Phaedon.
"It's out of my hands now. The bomber behind all of this is threatening to blow us all to the next galaxy if we don't now let 'em go. That includes you too Jaybo. The Scimitar doesn't open fire on any fleeing ships," Thrain explained.
"Understood Captain," acknowledged Jaybo.
"Now let Second Sister go," Ezra ordered. Thrain was tempted to break the little brat's jaw for throwing his weight around like this but instead the captain just tapped a button on his wrist com. The ray shield enveloping Second Sister disappeared. She dropped to the floor, landing on her feet but was instantly surrounded by dozens of pirates and battle droids ready to shoot her. It was too many for her to deal with unarmed.
"Bring her here," Thrain commanded.
Sivarus grabbed Sister by the arm and forcibly led her along with four battle droids towards Ezra and Thrain. As soon as she was close enough, Thrain wrapped his arm around Second Sister's waist. He pulled her close and jabbed Ezra's lightsaber into her ribs. With a touch of a button, he could ignite the weapon and cut her in half.
"You're not my type," spat Sister.
"Don't flatter yourself sweetheart. You even twitch and I'll give you the Darth Maul treatment," mocked Thrain.
"Let her go now!" shouted Ezra.
"Shut it!" Thrain snapped. "You wanted those people freed and you got your wish but if you think I'm just going to let the two of you go then you're even crazier than your friend."
"What are you doing?! He'll blow us to all of hell!" shouted an incredulous Sivarus.
"No he won't," Thrain smiled confidently.
"Ezra the hostages have been freed now let's get back to my ship," the partner could be heard from the kid's com-link.
Thrain pulled out Ezra's com link and replied, "Sorry but his ticket's been revoked."
"I'm warning you. Hondo Onaka leaves no man behind…" the partner proclaimed.
"Spare me the act," Thrain interrupted him. "I'm guessing the fact that you had nothing left to lose is the only reason why you'd go along with the kid's suicidal plan. Now that you have a chance to escape, are you really willing to die for him?"
The com was silent for a moment. "My apologies Ezra Bridger but I'm afraid you're on your own," Hondo sighed.
"Hondo!" Ezra shouted but Thrain deactivated the com.
"I hate pirates," Sister grumbled.
"Well that was entertaining. So tell me kid, you got any other cards up your sleeves?" laughed Thrain.
Judging from the kid's reaction, Ezra didn't have one though he was glancing around the room for some reason.
"Looking for an escape route?" mocked Thrain.
"Actually I figured the other guy would be here by now," remarked Ezra.
"Other guy? What other guy?" frowned Thrain. Sister's eyes widened, obviously knowing who he was referring to.
"Well you did use the loudspeaker over the whole station to demand I show up in this exact loading bay at a certain time and you're also not the only one after me," replied Ezra.
"Who's he talking about?" asked Sivarus. The man glanced around and then gasped as he glanced up at the ceiling. Thrain looked up to see what his subordinate was looking at and saw some kind of droid or cyborg crawling out of a vent shaft and onto the ceiling like a spider. The cyborg's right shoulder opened up and unfolded into a launcher, firing a miniature rocket out of it.
Sister used the distraction to kick Thrain away from her and quickly tackled Ezra out of the way as the missile was heading right towards them all. Thrain and Sivarus leaped out of the way as the missile impacted the floor and exploded.
(OK I honestly thought I was going to finish Brothers of the Broken Horn by now but I feel I need to separate it into two chapters because it's starting to get too long for a single chapter and I need more time to get the conclusion done correctly. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)