I know it's been awhile since I last updated (no, I hadn't forgotten about the story), but I've been busy with school and my computer is a mess. Hopefully, now I'll be able to update again on a regular basis. Enjoy!
CHAPTER EIGHT: STARTLING DISCOVERIES
It was rather easy for Jaina and Lex to board the first turbolift they came across. It required a keycard to operate it, one that Jaina had managed to acquire from a guard that was safely subdued in a utility closet somewhere.
She inserted a card into the open slot and went to press the button for the lowest level but Lex stopped her.
"What?"
Lex didn't respond. Jaina watched as her hand hovered over the keypad before pressing a seemingly empty spot below it. A glowing button was revealed and the lift began to descend.
"Not bad," Jaina remarked. "How did you know that, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I didn't,"
"I can live with that," said Jaina, watching the numbers of the floors drop as they descended lower and lower.
She took out her lightsaber, but didn't turn it on. Lex did the same, and Jaina did her best to hide her surprise that she had such a weapon despite never having trained at the Academy.
When the lift arrived at their designated level, they both pinned themselves against the wall on either side of the cart – in case of any unexpected visitors. They tensed when the doors slid open, but nothing happened – no one got on. A quick check with the force revealed no one in the near vicinity. Jaina signaled to Lex and the other woman followed her out of the lift.
"Which way?" Jaina whispered when they came to a junction in a corridor.
"Why are you asking me I've never been down this far before?"
"Fine, I'll pick – "
"No. Let's go left," Lex said quickly and went ahead.
Jaina was left with no choice but to follow, though a quick check with the force revealed Lex really had no idea where they going. This is going to be fun, Jaina thought sarcastically.
After walking in silence for some time, they could make out the distinct noise of boots on metal. They quickly flattened themselves against the wall in an adjoining corridor as a group of soldiers walked passed.
Though Jaina only saw them for a brief moment, out of the six she saw only two really looked like soldier material. She was no expert in the area, but she knew in her gut there was definitely something wrong with the picture she just saw. She had no further time to dwell on the thought because as soon as the coast was clear, she and Lex came out from hiding.
Jaina was beginning to wonder if maybe Lex had guessed wrong and they were going the wrong way when they came across two, large steel doors. Beside them, a pulsing panel was attached to the wall.
Jaina stared intently at the computer panel. It looked configured to read DNA.
But DNA could be manipulated and computers could be fooled.
Jaina placed her hand on the panel and reached out with her senses until she was able to convince the system she had the clearance to enter the room. The doors parted with a loud groaning sound, allowing Jaina entrance.
"Wow," Lex said seemingly impressed as she followed her in.
"I've had a lot of practice," Jaina told her.
The walls were bear on either side, but as they rounded the first corner they came across the wall turned into transparent windows on their right side. The two women ducked immediately to avoid being seen before peering over the small section of the wall that was providing them with cover.
What Jaina saw looked like something out of those old holonet horror films that Anakin used to make her watch when they were younger. But this was ten times more frightening because it was real. Humans in lab coats were filing about the room, some subduing other humans and aliens who were fighting to break free from the restraints holding them to their bunk, while others appeared deep in concentration as they focused on attaching a round, slimy-looking thing – that was the only way Jaina could describe it – to the lower back of several different candidates.
Jaina found her instincts taking over and was almost on her feet when she forced herself to stay where she was. She turned around and sat on the floor with her back to the wall. As much as she wanted to run in there, swinging her lightsaber to free those people she had to be realistic. She wasn't sure how far the room extended and she couldn't see every inch of it, which meant there might be other soldiers somewhere inside. She was only one person, and had no idea how good Lex was with a saber. And walking into a room full of danger was not the way she wanted to find out.
She fumbled for her comlink in her pocket and brought it to her lips. "Is anyone there?"
"Jaina?" Ganner's voice came back to her. She dialed down the volume so only she and Lex could hear it.
"Where are you?" Zekk's voice came on.
"I think Lex and I found their little lab,"
"Get out of there," he told her.
It was pointless to give a comlink a dirty look but that didn't stop Jaina. "Zekk, there's people in there – "
"And there's people here looking for us. In the last twenty minutes, Ganner and I have seen patrol after patrol of guard marching the complex. From what we've been able to gather, they found the bodies we left by the mountain,"
"Sithspit," Jaina swore.
"We need to regroup and then work from there. There's no point in mounting any rescue when they're out looking for us,"
"All right. We'll meet you – "
Jaina was cut off by the sound of blaster fire aimed high above her head. The comlink fell from her hands as she swiftly drew her saber to defend against the next onslaught of shots.
A bombardment of blaster fire was coming at them from both ends and did not take Jaina long to figure out that the bolts coming out from the weapons were stun beams.
Above them, the ceiling opened up and several cages dropped onto the floor in front of them.
"This just keeps getting better and better," Jaina muttered in between blocking shots.
The nutrient cages each housed a single ysalimiri, but all it took was for one to create a force bubble that prevented a person from tapping into the force.
Lex had only dealt with the creatures once before, so it did not take long for one of the blue stun beams to break through her defenses and render her unconscious.
With no one watching her back, and without the force to keep her movements quick and precise, the situation was completely of control. Ganner and Zekk would never reach her in time. But she wasn't about to give up without a fight.
And she put up a good one – until that inevitable blue beam hit her square in the back and then in her shoulder and then – nothing.
Ganner and Zekk were already hurrying towards a turbolift as fast as they could without drawing any unwanted attention to themselves. They had just lost contact with Jaina, but not before the sound of blaster fire could be heard.
They found a lift, but there was a guard standing watch outside it.
Despite the sense of urgency they felt, the two Jedi walked calmly towards it. The guard blocked the lift when they reach it.
"All turbolifts are off limits without proper identification," he told them.
"There's intruders somewhere in here and you've got the lifts off limits?" Zekk said incredulously.
"I need identification in order to give you access,"
"You're wasting time," Zekk said, focusing his attention on the blaster rifle the guard was holding.
"If you don't show me the proper ID I'll have to report you,"
"That won't be necessary," Ganner said, and reached for his saber.
At that moment the blaster the guard was holding exploded in the face of the guard, rendering him a bloody, unrecognizable mess.
"What did you do that for?" They both shouted at each other.
"He was going to blast us," Ganner said. "I was just going to take out his weapon and knock him it. You didn't have to blow him up,"
"That wasn't the plan. I was heating up the blaster so he would drop it. It wouldn't have exploded if he hadn't fired it because he saw you reaching for a weapon," Zekk argued. "Look, I think it's time for a change of plan. We have to face the facts: without proper identification we're going to be stopped at every point. We'll never make it to Jaina and Lex or out of here for that matter,"
"So, what's your plan?"
"I know I can get us out of here but you're going to have to trust me,"
Ganner made a noise. "Zekk, I've already trusted you enough today to last me three lifetimes,"
"I'm going to turn you in and you pretend that dead guard is me, then that'll leave me free to move around here and figure a way out,"
"That's a bad plan,"
"Dammnit, Ganner, would you put your hate of me aside for two seconds and accept that my plan is the only way we're going to get out of here alive,"
More then reluctant, Ganner agreed.
"If you see Jaina and Lex tell them what I told you. But make sure you tell them I'm not dead,"
Ganner was more than a little lost. "What?"
"We don't know what we're up against here so I'm gonna have to cut myself off from the force completely incase they have anyway of detecting it,"
Looking at Ganner, he thumbed his comlink on and spoke into it. "I've got one of the intruders on level six by the turbolift,"
He got an affirmative response back and then turned it off.
It took less than sixty seconds for a dozen troops to meet him and Ganner.
"I hope your plan works, Zekk," Ganner muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
Zekk didn't respond. He pushed the end of his blaster rifle into the other Jedi's back and shoved him forward.