Chapter Thirteen: Explosive Infiltration

Revan cut the channel as Aedal's laughter died out and motioned to Malak. Together they rounded a corner, making their way down a hall. Hearing footsteps, they ducked into a room. Moments later, a troop of Mandalorians rushed by.

Revan breathed a sigh of relief as he drew out a grenade. The Mandalorians had halted beyond, but he couldn't waste it.

"What now, Revan?" asked Malak.

"We need to find the turbolift," said Revan. "We've got to help Zegil's men get in past the front door."

Malak nodded. "I saw the map. Follow me."

Scurrying through the halls, they heard the sound of shots distantly. The fight, it seemed, was still going strong. At last, they came to the turbolift and found it locked down. Malak quickly cut through the door, and they moved in.

Leaping up, Revan knocked the ceiling out with his own lightsaber and clambered up. Coming to the top of the elevator, they began to scale up it. Both had training in this kind of thing and moved quickly.

Even as they did, however, there was a shout from down below.

"Chieftain, we've got them in the elevator shaft! They're scaling up it now!" said a man.

"Hurry," said Revan, moving faster. "We've got to get to the third floor."

"Why not the second?" asked Malak.

"They'll have that locked down for sure," said Revan, scaling all the faster.

Then a blaster bolt shot by them. It smashed against the wall, and another was reflected by Malak. Revan fished out his blaster and aimed at the turbolift before firing to shoot out the rope. He missed. Firing several more times blindly, he hit it! The rope broke, and...

Nothing happened.

Oh right, the turbolift was on the first floor. So there was nothing to pull on. And it wasn't a turbolift at all, but an elevator. Revan sheathed his pistol and nearly shot himself in the leg as he did so. They began to scale again, Malak covering for them. But more Mandalorians were scaling up after them. A shot winged the rope, and it began to strain.

Thinking quickly, Revan drew out a grenade, activated it, and threw it down. The Mandalorians ducked for cover before an explosion resounded below. Even so, it wasn't the same as the last one, and their enemies were getting up.

So that armor was good for something.

The rope broke, but Revan caught it, even as his other hand was caught by Malak. He was torn by gravity, but gradually he pulled his friend up. "Grab ahold!"

Malak did, and they began scaling anew.

The shots started again, but by now, they were farther away and in the dark. They passed the second floor and climbed all the faster. Reaching the door, Malak drew out his lightsaber and smashed it open with a single strike. The flimsy door fell inward, and Malak swung in. Revan did the same before they made their way into a room overlooking the city.

Gunfire was being traded between the Mandalorians here and the security forces below. Revan went for a grenade and found he didn't have one.

And then the gunships arrived.

Revan saw them flying toward the floor and priming missiles, straight at them. Something, the Force, God, or a sixth sense screamed at him to run. "Up the elevator shaft! Now!"

And up they went, even as missiles hit the floor. The Mandalorians had been clearing away, but many were consumed in flames. The building shook, and screams resounded. Revan scrambled desperately upward. He got higher before flames burst through the open door. Pulling his legs up just in time, he felt the heat on his legs, it was scalding!

Then he screamed, feeling heat taking hold of his left pant leg. Kicking at it desperately, he tried to beat it out while hanging on for dear life. But it was spreading. Then he remembered his training. Raising a hand, he force pushed on his legs, putting it out. But his leg was in agony.

"Are you alright?!" asked Malak.

Revan looked up and tried to flash a smile. "Fine, just a little cooked."

They climbed up, and every movement was agony.


Bastila Shan awoke.

She could not really remember what had been happening. There had been an opera, and she hadn't liked the ending. Then she was.

Her eyes opened, and she found her hands were bound. She was lying up against a wall. Heavily armored men were everywhere. Out a window, she could see men with heavy weaponry firing at gunships. "What the..." And then her eyes locked on the man from before. "where am I? You, who are you-"

"Shut her up without harming her, I'm busy." said the man.

"I will not be silenced!" snapped Bastila. "You do realize that kidnapping a Jedi is a serious-" And then a gag was forced through her mouth by a white-armored man.

"Where are they now?" asked Aedal.

"The kids have gone up the elevator shaft." said the white-armored man. "Went past the second level, and then the gunships hit the third. They're probably dead."

"No, Canderous," said Aedal, "they're alive. Trust me."

How could he be so certain? Bastila ran through the possibilities and remembered what he had done earlier. Could this man be a Sith? Sensing with her mind, she felt Revan and Malak, still alive, and many others. People were fighting everywhere, security forces against these men.

But now the men were drawing back.

"They'll probably try to scale up to the next level," said Aedal. "That'll take time. All troops, withdraw away from the elevator shafts." And he drew out several heavy devices. Making his way over to the elevator shaft, Bastila felt murder in his mind as he opened the doors to an empty shaft.

"What are you doing," asked Canderous.

"Thermal detonator," said Aedal. "Ten of them."

"That's a bit of overreaction, don't you think?" asked Canderous.

"What goods an explosive if you don't get to have any fun with it?" asked Aedal. Then he paused, and he looked to her. "Still, I can think of ways we can use it. "Sorry for the interruption, Princess. Now I'd like you to do something for me right now." He motioned with his neck, and the gag was drawn off.

Bastila tried to stay calm. She was trapped and surrounded by men with murder on their minds. She also felt something, a gnawing shadow over many of them. It hurt her just to think about it, and yet it drew her in.

Was this the Dark Side?

"I will do nothing to aid any of you," said Bastila, trying to sound bold.

"Well, that's a shame," said Aedal. "See, I've given the people in this place an ultimatum that I'll kill all my hostages if they don't open the air doors for me. These Daans are holding out on me, they're a lot tougher than the Republic.

"I'd like you to motivate them into giving in.

"Think of it as a test of your abilities."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Bastila.

"Sure, you don't," said Aedal. "And ever crewmember in your fleet wasn't talking about the mystical Jedi Padawan. The one with Battle Meditation. Quite a rare gift, and one I could use."

It was the Dark Side. Bastila felt terribly afraid. "...You're a Sith."

Aedal laughed cheerfully. "Far from it. I'm a Mandalorian.

"I have no interest in the Sith or the Jedi. They're both equally stupid philosophies, and I've no use for either of them.

"Life is a series of hungers, emotional and physical. The Sith obsess over fulfilling their hunger, losing all self-discipline. And so they are consumed by them. Meanwhile, the Jedi Code just isn't any fun.

"Either way, it doesn't matter.

"If I don't get that airlock open within the next... four minutes, I'm draining their life force and using it to force push the doors off their hinges. And if I don't get it open in the next forty seconds, I'm going to be annoyed.

"Let's skip to the ultimatum.

"Do what I say, or I'll toss these down the elevator shot and blow Revan and Malak to pieces."

Bastila could sense them still there. What were they doing here? But she couldn't admit as much. "What? How could they be here?"

"They're trying to rescue you, I guess. Clever kids, way over their heads," said Aedal. Then he started the countdown. Bastila shuddered.

If she didn't act, Revan and Malak would die. She couldn't just do nothing. "Wait, wait, I'll do it. Please, just... just give me some time."

"You've got forty seconds to motivate them," said Aedal, and he pointed to a door. "They're over there in that room. Reach out with your mind, feel their panic. They're afraid, they all know they might die. Some of the men who know the launch codes are on the verge of panicking.

"You feel it, don't you?"

Bastila did feel it. These people were terrified, and there was a counter on right now. And at the end of it, they'd all die horrible deaths. The men who knew the answer were looking at them, torn between duty, fear for their own lives, and compassion. And there were many others in this starport that had been taken, hostage.

"Remind them of all those people who will die," said Aedal. "Remind them that this facility is locked down. Even if the door were opened, we'd never escape."

Bastila focused, sending out her Battle Meditation as she tried to drive them to act. One of them needed only a nudge, and she felt him give in. Had she done the right thing?

A man moved out, clad in brown armor. A gun was slung over his back. "Aedal, we've got a snitch."

"Well done Jagi," said Aedal. Then he glanced at Canderous. "I told you I could do it, Canderous." He activated the thermal detonators and tossed them down.

"NO!" screamed Bastila.

"What did you expect?" asked Aedal. "I lost an entire squad to those kids."

There was a massive explosion, and Bastila felt the heat of it on her face.

But they were still alive.

Aedal radiated fury. "How do they keep doing that?"


Revan had gotten lucky.

Very lucky, in fact.

He and Malak had been hit with the feeling that they had to move and fast, or it would be too late. They pushed themselves as hard and fast as they could until they reached the door. Breaking through, they'd gotten in just as the thermal detonators dropped past them.

Ducking for cover, they'd leaped behind a desk and hit as the flames surged outward. Glass shattered, flames kicked up, and the desk was thrown over them. One inch lower and they'd have been given a concussion. Instead, they'd slammed against the railing of a balcony. If Malak hadn't been using the force to shield them, they'd have died there.

Lying in place, Revan limped up and looked around to see a sheer drop. Furniture and glass had been thrown out the window. Even now it was smashed on the ground below,

"Remind me what we're doing here, Revan?" groaned Malak. "How are we going to kill all the Mandalorians?"

"I don't know." gasped Revan remembering his pain. "I was bluffing. At least now we know which Mandalorian Clan did this, so the Republic-" He fell to one knee. "Nevermind, let's go."

Staggering onward, Revan walked with a limp. As he did, he heard voices. They had the same modulation as the other Mandalorians. "What the hell was that?

"Lord Aedal, we just saw massive explosions come out of the elevator. What the hell is going on down there?"

"Nothing to be concerned about gentlemen." came Aedal's reply. "Mission accomplished. All squads pull back to the ship. We're getting out of here."

Revan fell to one knee as he saw the Mandalorians move off. Not like this, he'd not be beaten yet. "We'll follow them. They might lead us to Bastila."

Forcing himself to move, he ran after them. The agony on his leg was horrible, but he tried to use his anger to cloud it out. He remembered all those innocent people. a Mother and her infant cut down. Revan thought of all the people who would never see their family again. It was wrong, but he felt nothing, other than the acknowledgment of the fact. Then he thought of Aedal casual mockery of him, and how he'd stolen one of Revan's friends.

There was the anger he needed.

On he ran, tracing the Mandalorians up a set of stairs and finally into a hanger. They joined hundreds of others boarding a vessel. It was a huge, black ship, designed to look almost like some wild beast of metal, then a device. The loading ramp appeared like a maw with teeth, and the body like a great carapace.

Malak pulled him behind some boxes as they were gradually loaded. They were on platforms that were to be carried by skiff. He could see the skiff in question doing the loading now. "This is a terrible plan."

"Do you have a better one?" hissed Revan, slipping between some of the boxes.

"We could wait for Master Kreia," said Malak, sliding in after him.

"Look around you," said Revan, praying they were out of sight. "If we make a break for it now, we'll be seen. Our only way out is in. Now quiet, I need to think."

As the skiff arrived to take them away into the cargo bay, Revan focused on controlling his pain. He tried to inspire his body to heal himself and still his racing heart. He was hurt all over, with only an unstable lightsaber, a blaster, and Malak to back him up. There was no going back and no hope of outside difficulty.

The game had just gotten difficult.

The boxes were loaded, and Revan and Malak entered Aedal's vessel.


Author's Note:

So I'd like to know what everyone thinks of Aedal so far in the story. Is he an effective villain? And are you interested in him?