Chapter Fourteen: Sabotage and Ultimatums
Bastila was watching events play out on the bridge from where she was bound and gagged as if she were some trophy. Looking out the windows, she saw them soaring into the sky. Bolts of turbo-blaster fire streaked past the bridge, some hitting the shields.
Aedal, however, seemed pleased.
"Aedal, we're coming out of the starport now." said a bridge officer. "However, we have multiple Daan attack vessels coming toward up."
"Raise the shields and order the men to prepare for battle," said Aedal, raising a hand.
Bastila had been working on the gag for some time now. Finally, she managed to spit it out. "You're outnumbered. You can't possibly fight the entire planet. If you surrender the Jedi-"
"Will quietly sit back while Zegil executes the lot of us," said Aedal flatly.
"Jedi don't believe in execution," said Bastila.
"But they don't believe in stopping them either," said Aedal, "what's it matter who's order it is? If we're dead, we're dead. So I can't be bothered to care about Jedi values. Anyway, we only need to hold them off until we make the jump to lightspeed.
"Patch me through to the crew."
"You're on." said an officer.
"Attention, ladies, and gentlemen:" said Aedal. "We've got what we came for, and a nice bonus to go with it. Now we just need to make sure that we can make it back to Ordo in one piece. Man your battle stations, and let's show the Daan what true warriors fight like!
"Remember, you've only got until our nav computer is finished in its calculations. So take your shots while you've got them."
This was a game to them, Bastila realized. The fact that they'd had to have a full-scale engagement instead of a clean getaway wasn't a disaster. It was a pleasant surprise with minor inconveniences.
Aedal then motioned, and two guards brought forward a box with a tarp over it. Drawing it off, it revealed a cage, and within it was a white and orange furred puppy. Aedal drew out a blaster with a spin and put it to the creature's head. "Now, Bastila Shan, use your battle meditation to support our fighters. If you don't, I'll shoot this baby Kath Hound."
Was he serious?! What kind of sick and twisted monster would kill a puppy? Yes, it was technically not the worst thing he'd done today, but it was a puppy. No, no Bastila could not simply give in, no matter what-
Aedal laughed. "Just kidding, you'd probably take their side."
He sheathed the gun and went back to commanding the battle. Aedal was a truly sick man. Bastila sent her mind on stopping him the only way she knew...
Revan and Malak made their way out from under the boxes and quickly found themselves in a cargo hold. One that was packed to the brim with Mandalorian workers who had been unloading it. They'd had to dodge one patrol after another as it was organized, and only now had a moment to breathe.
The inside of Aedal's vessel was bright gray, with a very practical appearance. Everything was designed for efficiency, a sharp contrast to the exterior.
"This is the single worst idea you've ever had, Revan," said Malak.
"Will you relax, Malak?" asked Revan. "We've got control of the situation."
"How?" asked Malak.
"No one knows we are here," said Revan, raising his blaster. "All we have to do is blow up the nav computer, and we'll be golden."
"Why the nav computer?" asked Malak.
He didn't get it, did he? Revan guessed he'd have to explain. "If we blow up the nav computer, Aedal will be stranded here. He'll have to negotiate, or at least find another place to land. That'll buy us time, at least."
"And how are we even going to find it?" asked Malak.
"We'll locate a map, first of all," said Revan. "Let's see, there should be a maintenance terminal around here somewhere. This area is for unloading supplies, and they'll be able to send them all over the place. So I figure they'll have something to start with." Then Revan saw something else. Over a box, he could see an engineer typing into a datapad. "Hold on."
Drawing near, he sensed for anyone else, praying to the Force and the Force Gods as he drew near. Soon the man was distracted by the arrival of Canderous, carrying his usual blaster. With him was a companion in brown armor.
"What are these, anyway?" asked a man of the engineer.
"Just some goods we looted off of the merchant shuttles in the starport." said the engineer, putting down the datapad. "We'll make a pretty penny off these, I can tell you."
"Just be sure you keep your priorities straight," said Canderous, making himself known. "Tarisian Ale is a luxury. True Mandalorians seek only the glory of battle."
"Right, we know Canderous, I was just talking, y'know." said the engineer, shaken.
Canderous looked at the flasks. "These goods are a bonus. The training camps are why we're here. And the Jedi was a windfall."
"Cut them some slack, Canderous. No need to get testy." said the brown-armored one.
"We're being shot at right now, and you're all casual, Jagi," said Canderous. "Who's the one with skewed priorities? I want all the volatile cargo we've picked up moved out of the outer hanger bay. If the enemy does break through the outer hull, I don't want it taking the ship with it."
"Right, right." said the engineer.
Revan snatched the datapad where his enemy had left it, before moving off. He and Malak made their way unseen till they had a clear shot of the entrance. There they saw Canderous walk out of a door.
"Hey, anyone seen my datapad?" asked the engineer. "I swear I just put it down here."
"Focus, man. Canderous gave his orders, and we're carrying them out." said the other. "You can find it later."
Revan took the datapad and was pleased to see there was no password. This was a worklog with boring records of shipments and such. It was all very well documented and organized, Aedal obviously knew his stuff. Zegil would kill for a subordinate with this kind of organization.
"Let's see, yeah, there's a map here alright," said Revan, licking his lips.
"Didn't he leave a password?" asked Malak.
There was a shuddering as the ship was hit. Some boxes fell over onto the ground. Revan glanced at Malak. "Why would he? This is all basic stuff anyone on the ship would know." He saw most of the men were rushing to right the boxes. "Now."
They made for the door, opened it, and slipped through. Moving along the halls, Revan prayed they wouldn't run into any Mandalorians. Soon, they came to a window, and out of it they saw Daan vessels outside of it. They were using outdated models of the Republic Hammerhead class of warships. They were trading fire with the Mandalorians and doing poorly.
Revan saw one of them take several hits and began drifting downward. Several more hits sent it breaking apart. At the moment, he felt thousands of men consumed in flames, blasted to pieces in mere moments. His jaw dropped as he heard a cheer come from some quarter of the ship.
"Oh no," said Malak.
A blast hit the ship, and it shuddered as they moved on. Revan followed the map as quickly as he could. Several times, the Force told him to stop, or duck, and he did so, allowing patrols to pass.
"We're nearly there," said Revan, rushing along. "The hyperdrive should be just around this... corner."
If the Force Gods did exist, evidently, one of them was working against them.
Canderous Ordo was standing there in the middle of the hall, between them and the door they wanted. Jagi was next to him, and both had swords in their hands.
"Well, look what we have here?" asked Canderous. "Couple of stowaways. I'll admit, I'm impressed you two got this far." He glanced at Jagi. "How long until we can make the jump to lightspeed?"
"One minute," said Jagi.
"Then we'll make it on time alright," said Canderous. "One enemy ship destroyed, another forced to limp off. Decent enough as far as victories go."
"You don't seem happy about it," said Jagi.
"Victory or no, this is all just foreplay, Jagi," said Canderous. "If every operation we undertake turns hot. We won't have anyone left for the truly glorious battles." He glanced back at them. "Their mine, Jagi."
"Have it your way," said Jagi.
Malak surged forward, spinning into the air with superhuman speed. His lightsaber was out and arcing down. It clashed with Canderous' own blade and was held firmly in place. Canderous shoved Malak back with an effortless move of one hand, and he fell.
Malak hardly avoided being impaled at Canderous drove him back. The Mandalorian fought with swift, brutal strikes.
"What the hell..." said Malak.
"Do you really think we haven't prepared for your lightsabers," said Canderous. "Our weapons are forged with a cortosis weave. You won't be able to hack your way out of this." Another blow sent Malak staggering, and that next would have cut his head off. However, Revan surged forward with his own lightsaber.
The blade clashed, and there was a shower of sparks. Canderous reeled back, and Revan slashed, only to nearly lose his head. Malak pressed his assault and drove him back. He thrust with one hand to send Jagi sprawling with the force. "Revan, get to the hyperdrive. Go!"
Revan nodded. "Right!"
Rushing off, he hoped Malak wouldn't die. Blaster shots rang over his head, even as he opened the door. Sliding it open, he rushed through, and shut it, before blasting the control panel.
Here he was, the hyperdrive.
It was shielded and surrounded by an energy field. Revan struck it with his lightsaber, but the blade couldn't break it. It hit it again and again, but nothing would stop it. Behind him, there was a banging on the door.
He didn't have time.
Grasping his blaster, he quickly set it down in front of the hyperdrive. Vaulting over it, the door was blasted open. In came Jagi, blade in hand. "What, you think we'd be stupid enough to leave our hyperdrive unprotected?"
"Attention boys and girls of Clan Ordo, this is your captain speaking." came Aedal's voice. "We will be leaving for home in approximately thirty seconds."
Taking hold of the blaster with the Force, he wrenched it within. As he did, the blaster exploded, and the shield flickered. Then, Revan stabbed his lightsaber into it from behind and tore through it. Vaulting over it, she surged toward Jagi, even as the machine sparked. Their blades clashed, and for a moment, they were face to face.
Then Revan leaped over him and sprinted for it. Before him, he saw Malak lying on the ground with Canderous over him. The other Mandalorian turned to him, but Revan force pushed him back. Even as he went to Malak, however, he saw men coming around the corner.
Revan could not carry Malak out of here. Surrender would lead to death or being a prisoner for them all. And fighting was out of the question. So, Revan made a new plan.
He ran for the escape pods.
Bastila sensed it moments before it happened. She'd been focusing and using her battle meditation to help them move through the ship. Patrols were misdirected, Revan and Malak had a sudden feeling to duck. It had all gotten them as far as the hyperdrive.
Aedal glanced up as the explosion resounded. "What the hell was that?"
"Aedal, it's the kids from before." said Jagi's voice over the com. "They blew up the hyperdrive."
"How did they get past the shielding?" asked Aedal.
"I don't know, the younger one, he, he turned a heavy blaster rifle into a bomb. I think he overloaded the power pack. The shield blocked a lot of it, but we've taken damage and won't be able to do anything."
Raw, unbridled fury came to Aedal and he shook visibly for a moment. "Where is he now?"
"Canderous captured one of them, the other made a run for it. We lost him when we took the last barrage." came the reply.
Aedal clenched a hand, and for a moment Bastila thought he'd kill someone. But then he calmed himself and sighed. "Fine, bring the hostage up here.
"Bridge crew, set course for our bases in the mountains."
"You realize, sir, that Daan will pursue us there with all they have, don't you?" said the officer.
Aedal shrugged. "Well, we are Mandalorians. Why not have a proper war while we're stuck?" Then he stalked about, giving orders and allocating resources. As he did, he vessel changed course and escaped the initial pursuers. But more could be seen coming.
Eventually Malak was dragged the room, unconscious. Aedal moved forward and grabbed the unconscious boy by the throat, lifting him up. "Now, Bastila, there are two ways we can do this. Either you help my crew escape the enemy, or I choke the life from your friend here and now."
He'd kill Malak. There was murder coming from him and Bastila knew he'd do it without a second thought. But, last time he'd done that, he'd done it anyway.
"You... you'll kill him anyway?" said Bastila, stalling for time.
"No, I won't." said Aedal, calm returning to his voice. "Because I can use him to lure out your other friend. But if we get blown out of the sky because you won't play along, that's all the moot point.
"So, what's it going to be?"
Bastila could not help them kill the Daan fleet. But maybe she didn't have to. "...I'm going to use my battle meditation to make sure that no one's shots hit eachother. To ensure no one else dies. That's it.
"I won't help you shoot your way out."
"Well, I'm guessing that's the best we can hope for." said Aedal. He put Malak down, almost gently. "Take us out. Redirect all power to shields and let's move. Get to work."
Bastila did get to work, clouding the attacks of everyone involved. Aedal would kill Malak if anything went wrong, even if it wasn't her fault. So she didn't dare sabotage anything. Soon they were speeding beyond the Daan fleet.
Aedal looked pleased. "Nicely done." Then he turned to the bridge crew. "You patch me through to all areas of our vessel, I'd like to make an announcement.
"With any luck, we'll be able to lure out our last stowaway."
"Sir!" said a man. "One of our escape pods has been released down to the planet's surface!"
"Right to the escape, eh?" asked Aedal. "Smart move, not the one I'd expect from a Jedi. Blow it to pieces."
"I can't, sir." said the officer.
"Why not?" asked Aedal.
"We've put all power to shields." said the officer.
Aedal laughed at that. "...Well played. Take them to cells."
Revan was still on Aedal's vessel, of course.
He was not one to abandon his friends or concede defeat. But Aedal had to think at least he was off the vessel for any chance of success to remain. Malak had been captured and could be useful as a bargaining chip.
But there were several different bargains Aedal could strike using him.
Aedal could force Revan to come out of hiding, with the threat of killing Malak. If Revan refused, he'd likely do exactly that to show he wasn't bluffing. And if Revan agreed, he would have no assurances Aedal wouldn't kill them both anyway. But if Revan was not on the ship anymore, he could not make that bargain.
Therefore the logical thing to do was to make a bargain with Bastila. To force her to use her Battle Meditation to get him out of this mess. Malak could be used longterm for that role, and so would remain alive, in the short term at least.
All Revan had needed to do was launch an escape pod.
"Well," said Revan, "I'd say that worked out. Now all I have to do is wait until we land, then I can free Malak and Bastila in the chaos. As long as we get clear before Zegil-
"Who am I talking to?"
"I had wondered why you surrounded yourself with yesman. I see now it was to avoid the indignity of talking to yourself." said a familiar, old voice.
Then Kreia walked out of the shadows. Revan shuddered. "Master Kreia?!"
"I'm glad you are not so wholly devoid of loyalty as to leave my apprentice to a fate you led him into," said Kreia. "One can, perhaps, hope for the betterment from even the most lost of causes."
"When, uh... when did you come in?" asked Revan.
"Shortly before you did," said Kreia. "I had intended to observe the situation; however, you seem to have a more... proactive approach."
"I aim to please," said Revan, trying to regain the edge in the conversation.
"You miss the mark often," replied Kreia. "Now, let us find somewhere else to have this discussion."
Revan couldn't agree more.
