Jinn stirred as the doors to the darkened room slid closed. The first thing he noticed was pain. Everything hurt in varying degrees of intensity. His hand was the worst of it but far lessened by the Bacta gel working tirelessly to try and put him back together. His ribs seized as he tried to breathe and sit up at the same time. His back blossomed with a stinging ache and his head was a rush of pressure even the dim red lights did nothing to ease. He pushed through it all to sit up and felt the cloak slide off his shoulders and something hard land on the floor beneath. Moving the cloak, he found the datapad and read the glowing display.
"Seven floors up. I'll be back." It read. Jinn reached for his communicator and spoke in clipped short breaths.
"AE... 46th floor. I need a patch job. Uadda left to... the cells." The astromech responded quickly, relaying its knowledge of the situation and was already on the way.
"Thanks, AE." He replied, then paused. He'd heard something in the background of AE-23's reply.
"AE, who's with you?" then a new voice answered over the communicator.
"My name isn't important. Just a mutual friend cashing in a big favor. I'll explain it all after we meet up. Stay put." The voice was female and strange, accented in a way that Jinn's delirious state couldn't place. The communicator clicked off and Jinn was left alone in the dark room again. He stood shakily and stumbled his way to the terminal on the desk. To his surprise, all security systems had been disabled. He quickly found the video surveillance system and was greeted with a live feed of a blue Twi'lek tearing her way through the compound like a rampaging Wookie. He had to switch cameras as she leaped to the next floor. Looking ahead he could see the turbolift she was headed for and overrode the controls. She hit the call button and waited. He opened a new screen and accessed the turbolift's override controls and bypassed the waiting guards on the seventeen floors above. As soon as it stopped, she was inside. He maintained control of the lift to avoid a repeat of the last one and switched to floor 39's surveillance cameras. His rapidly beating heart sank. As he saw the trap waiting for her. The doors opened, and he was forced to watch, helplessly, as she was pulled toward the Muun and his newly revealed lightsaber.
Uadda could not have reacted any faster as her body was flung toward the waiting blade. Her blue blade leaped in front of her and knocked the red blade to the side. The Muun was surprised by her speed and his grip on the force staggered. The momentary weakness freed her enough to land a kick with the top of her foot against the Muuns humanoid jaw, stunning him. He staggered back and released his hold on her throat. Uadda landed awkwardly on one leg. She prepared to defect the close-range blasters, but no shots were fired. The Sith before her looked at the other Muun who had been standing behind him and scowled. The other man grinned in a way that did not meet his eyes. The Sith straightened and waved a hand. A signal to the soldiers to open fire, which they did without delay.
Blaster bolts ricochet off her lightsaber in every direction. Many scorched the walls and blast-proof glass of the cells. The rapid-fire blasters gave her little time to coordinate her blocks until finally, one bolt was reflected to the opposite shooter, killing him instantly. The other two fell with a swift stroke of her blade, which seared through each torso over the heart. She was careful not to dismember them completely. The Sith narrowed his brown eyes in disgust.
"I've had enough of this!" He shouted. "How are you not dead yet? You have been outmatched, outnumbered, and outgunned at every obstacle and yet you are still, here!" He spat the last two words in a way that made her think she may have overestimated the Sith.
"You underestimate just how much I am willing to go through to succeed." She replied. A serious tone in her voice that could easily be mistaken as malicious hatred, even though it wasn't.
"I still owe you for everything you've put my friend and I through to get here. I don't think I'll ever have a better chance at payback." She snarled. Uadda leaped into the air, turning heels overhead in a somersault as she struck down at the Muun. The Sith activated his lightsaber just in time to block the deadly strike. Their blades clashed in a bright flash of light. She struck out again aiming for his legs. Another block. Another strike at his hip. A block. The Muun didn't let her recollect herself in time for a fourth attack. He lunged down at her from his superior size. His blade was batted away and out of his control.
Then, the metal grating at her feet sounded with a heavy "Thunk" as his head landed hard. The red blade deactivated and the body toppled forward. Now it was just her, and the Muun who had been leaning casually against a cell door throughout the entire altercation. She leveled her lightsaber at him, threateningly. His grin broke into a smile with too many teeth and he held up his hands in surrender.
"You're going to release the Jedi prisoner and let us walk out of here." She said coolly. Her voice was level and serious. The Muun, still smiling answered.
"Absolutely. Out of curiosity, what would happen if I didn't?" With her free hand, Uadda gestured to the headless Muun on the floor.
"I do not enjoy this. Do not mistake it as the inability to repeat it." Her words were clipped, forceful, and overly clear. The Muun nodded and pressed a button on the wall. The cell hatch slid away and he stepped far away from the cell.
Uadda, lightsaber still drawn, peered inside the cell. It was empty aside from a single cylindrical object on the bench at the back of the cell. Master Tophta's lightsaber. Her strength wavered and the tip of her lightsaber, still aimed at the distant Muun, dipped slightly.
"What is this?" She screamed. Her fury rearing its head suddenly. The Muun never stopped smiling.
"This is all we have of the Jedi you seek." He answered. She weighed his words carefully. Listened for the unprepared word or hesitation that signaled a lie. There was none.
"You sent a slave to collect Xebonica, a paralytic torture drug for a Jedi prisoner." She countered.
"I did no such thing." He replied in astonishment.
"You are Hora Tebet?" It was a question but, sounded like an accusation. He chuckled.
"No, That..." He gestured to the dead Muun. "Is Hora Tebet. Or at least was." She glanced at the body. The severed neck still releasing smoldering wisp from the charred flesh.
"I am Mo Plord. I am a representative from the planet Niro. I was invited here as an investor by Hora Tebet." Again, she sensed no lies.
"What was it you were investing in?" She pressed. Mo scoffed.
"That's hardly any concern of yours." Uadda lifted her lightsaber slightly higher. Mo grimaced.
"Hora Tebet was in pursuit of a genetic alteration program that would gift life of all species with the power of what is referred to as 'The Force.'"
Uadda furrowed her brow. It didn't make sense. The Force was in all things. All life all around them.
"That's not how that works. That's not how any of this works. You can't give someone force abilities through genetic alteration." She blurted. But Mo Plord just smiled that wide toothy smile again.
"Oh, but I assure you, you can. See, Hora was not inherently gifted in the force. But a generous donation from someone who was helped to change all of that." Uadda's instincts told her to run, and she was not about to argue. Through the Force, she retrieved the Lightsaber from within the cell and dashed toward the turbolift doors which had remained open. Mo simply watched her go. The broad smile grew only wider. The doors of the lift slide closed, but not before Mo was able to relay one final message.
"I told you there was no Jedi prisoner. And now, there are two." She didn't even bother searching for a lie this time. She knew it was there.
Jinn felt his knees begin to shake. They had come all this way for nothing. But one thing was certain. Master Tophta had been here at some point. How else would his lightsaber have been in that cell? Just then, the door to the terminal room slid open. Jinn drew his lightsaber. The yellow blade adding to the dim red and glowing blue of the terminal. He had to ignore the pop in his chest from the movement, but not for long as AE-23 wheeled into the room, followed by a new face.
She was tall and lithe dressed in black leathers and carrying a blaster pistol. Her skin was a vibrant orange framed by a natural headdress of white and grey striped leku. She was a Togruta.
"Jinn Kreed, I presume?" She said certainly. Jinn didn't waver.
"Who's asking?"
"Shal Mymm, Thar sent me." She replied. Jinn glared at her.
"Thar is dead." He adjusted his stance and felt another pop. This time he couldn't ignore it and collapsed against the desk. Shal helped him to his feet and pulled his left arm over her shoulder. She was roughly the same height as him which made things easier.
"No, I can assure you that crotchety old pirate is still kicking. He radioed my ship about an hour ago. Said he'd owe me double if I got you kids out." Her words were so matter-of-fact that Jinn couldn't find reason to argue the point further. "Now where is the other one?" She asked hoisting him onto the desk. AE-23 used its lift jets to place itself beside Jinn and tend to his wounds.
"She went up. Seven floors to the holding cells. There was a Sith waiting for her."
"Safe to assume I only need to get you out then," Shal commented. Jinn shook his head.
"No. Uadda killed it. My master was supposed to be in one of those cells but he's not there. We don't know where he is." Shal looked surprised. She looked at Jinn, really looked at him, as if she could see what he and his friend were truly capable of.
"Kid, no offense but Sith don't just drop like Fever Wasps. So, either you're delirious, or your friend really won the lottery in luck today."
Jinn shook his head.
"No, she killed him. Playback the feed if you don't believe me."
Shal Mymm hesitated, then tapped the screen and watched the slaughter happen all over again. As she watched, her face took on a look of horror. AE finished the quick but delicate process of attaching a temporary skin on the palm of Jinn's hand. Jinn yelped as the little droid stuck him in the arm with a needle of pain killer. The astromech hadn't been fitted for full medical care, but enough to help him hold out in a serious situation.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Shal commanded. Jinn jumped at the force of her words.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked.
"That's not just some Muun standing there. That's Mo Plord." Shal answered as she threw Jinn's arm over her shoulder again. The pair hobbled to the door. Jinn tried his best not to whine at the pain he felt since the pain killer had yet to take full effect.
"Mo Plord? As in, Sith sympathizer and cartel leader, Mo Plord?" He asked, hoping he was wrong. Shal nodded and touched the release pad beside the door. The door slid wide to reveal Uadda out of breath and reaching for the panel on her side. She jumped and readied her still-lit lightsaber.
"Wait, Uadda stop!" Jinn shouted giving her pause. "This is Shal Mymm. Thar sent her to help."
"Thar is alive?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, apparently so. We need to get out of here." He said quickly. She deactivated her lightsaber and moved to take jinn from the Togruta, but Shal waved her off.
"I've got him. You play guard. There's another lift down this way. It should lead us straight to the surface where my ship is docked." AE sped ahead of the trio and around a corner.
"Follow your droid." Shall instructed. Uadda nodded and quickened her pace. Together, they followed the droid around the corner and through a door that opened to a second corridor. AE opened the turbolift and everyone piled inside. Connecting to another scomp-link, AE took complete control of the lift. Jinn tested his stability by adding weight to his legs. The aches were still present but he could move on his own now. He let go of Shal and picked up his lightsaber just in case. Shal did the same with her blaster.
The lift slowed to a stop and everyone looked at the little droid.
"AE, this is level 13. We need the ground floor to get out." Uadda prodded. The lift doors opened and AE-23 wheeled out into the hall. Shal reached for the command panel but Jinn stopped her.
"I'm not dying here for a short-circuiting droid." She said. Jinn shook his head.
"No, AE-23 is equipped with a Mission-sense AI system. If he strays from the current plan, it's because the mission's success calls for it and the rate of success has increased favorably." He explained. Without another word. He stepped out of the lift after the droid.