Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues

Three Mandalorian rebels crawled their way through the ventilation.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Sabine Wren asked.

"Of course, it's the right way." Her brother huffed. "I told you I've got the map memorized."

Their mom shushed them. "Quiet. This is a stealth mission, remember?"

"I don't see why we can't just challenge him." Sabine whispered.

"Because no one who challenges him ever wins." Tristan pointed out.

"He's right. Assassination is the only way to get rid of him." Ursa said.

Alarms started screaming.

Tristen swore. "Kriff, they know we're here."

"Now what do we do?" Sabine asked.

"We abort the mission. We'll have to come back another day." Ursa ordered.

They heard a loud crash. Sabine would have asked what that was but before she could even form the question in her mind, something very large smashed its way through the vent. When everything was quiet again except for the blaring of the alarms, Sabine found herself flat on the floor. Picking herself up, she found the rest of her family in a very similar position. She turned around and looked at the massive object that broke through the vent.

It was a ship. Whoever was flying it was either insane or the worst pilot in the entire galaxy. A hatch on the ship opened, and a droid came out.

It was a strange droid. Small and sleek, it seemed to be modeled after the same species as the tyrant currently ruling Mandalore.

She grabbed her blasters and shot it, which had no effect. The droid launched itself forward and Sabine braced for impact, but it shot right past her and down the hallway.

"What the hell was that thing?" Tristan asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that we're not the ones who triggered the alarm."

What the droid wanted was unclear, but it did make for a very nice distraction. They climbed into a new vent and found their way to the throne room only to find it empty.

"He's not here." Tristan observed.

"He must be dealing with that droid." Ursa reasoned. "We'll hide and wait for him to come back."

They waited. And waited. And eventually… someone did enter the throne room. Unfortunately, it was not Shadow. It was the droid again. And it was carrying a large piece of carbonite. Upon closer examination, they could see the outline of someone frozen inside.

And then the droid was blown up by a rocket launcher. A pair of Mandalorians in black armor walked in. "See? I told you it would work."

"You're lucky you didn't kill the scientist. Do you have any idea what Shadow would do to us if anything happened to him?"

"Hey if anything bad happens, we'll blame it on Reg. He's supposed to be in charge while Shadow's away."

Away? So, he wasn't in the palace at all? How long were they going to have to wait here?

"Let's just move him back to the lab."

The two struggled to pick up the large piece of carbonite. "I don't remember carbonite being this heavy!"

"It isn't. It's him. Probably weighs three hundred pounds."

"Ugh. We're gonna need a turbo-lift for this."

They dropped the carbonite and left. Sabine crept out of her hiding place.

"What are you doing? Get back into your hiding spot!" Ursa ordered.

"Didn't you hear them? This guy's important."

"Our priority is Shadow!"

"Well he isn't here!"

Sabine turned back to the carbonite and hit the "unfreeze" button. A tall, round man with a huge mustache began to emerge from the metal. Once his head was free, he let out a groan.

"What do you want with me this time?"

Sabine slapped her hand over his mouth and held a blaster to his head with her other hand. "Speak quietly or I will end you."

She moved her hand from his mouth. "Fine. Just tell me what you want me to build."

"Who are you? And what makes you so important to Shadow?"

The man paused for a moment. "You don't know me? Who exactly are you?"

"If you don't mind, I'll ask the questions."

The man ignored that statement and asked another question. "Are you not with them?"

"What do you mean?"

"It means I need your help."

"Do you know where Shadow is?" Tristen asked.

"No. He makes sure I know as little as possible. He doesn't even tell me what year it is."

Sabine blinked. "How long have you been frozen?"

"I've frozen and unfrozen about… eight times by now. I not sure how much time passes when I'm frozen, but I can tell it's been some time because the faces of the guards look older than they did before."

"We need to go." Ursa hissed.

The three started to climb back into the vent.

"Wait! Take me with you!"

"I don't think you're going to fit into the vent." Tristen said.

"You can't leave me with them!"

"Actually, we can." Ursa said coldly.

"I can help you! I have a plan!" The man shouted desperately.

"And why should we trust you?"

"These people keep me frozen in carbonite! You think they're my friends?"

"He has a point." Sabine said. "And if he's important to Shadow, then we shouldn't let him keep him."

"Then we'll kill him." Ursa pulled out her blaster.

"Nonono! I'm much more valuable alive!"

The Mandalorians in black armor returned. "Alright, now let's move… this…"

"He's free!"

"Look, there! It's the rebels!"

Each side started shooting at each other. The round man hid behind the throne. There, he found one of the legs from his robot.

"So, you came for me after all."

He snuck over to the black-armored Mandalorians and struck the nearest one in the back of the head. He swung the leg at the second one, but he was able to dodge and struck back with the butt of his weapon. In his distraction, the rebels were able to shoot him.

"May we please escape now?"

"You're still not gonna fit in the vent." Tristen reminded him.

Then Sabine had an idea. "We don't need to go through the vent. They're going to let us walk right out the door."

"Why's that?" Tristen asked.

She smiled and pointed her blaster at Eggman. "Because we have a hostage."