There are two major points to consider when you wonder if we did the
right thing: it was crazy and it worked. -Occasional Musings of
Dantien Pindar
Carefully, Janua brought the shuttle out of hyperspace. She was unaccustomed to piloting the craft and was apt to press the wrong buttons and flip the wrong switches. Looking out the forward viewport, she saw the several rocky planets of the system looming in front of them, one of which imprisoned her employer, captain, and friend. The clicking of a Gand's exoskeleton brought her attention to the figure standing beside her.
"Are you sure this plan of yours will be successful?" She had been extremely anxious about this since they left. After all, who would be so stupid as to willingly enter a known Imperial base?
Unlike her, Emaz was supernaturally calm considering what they were about to do. "No, but if we can get near the base, I'm certain I can buy you the time you'll need. That's only if you're sure you can do this.
The Twi'lek thought for a moment. "I can."
"It'll be dangerous. You could end up being Jess's next door neighbor and neither of you will even know."
"I realize that. You don't have to point it out so I'm thinking about it and get distracted. Then we'll all be inmates together."
By the underlying tension in her voice, he knew it was a good time to change the subject. "Okay. You'd better get into your costume. I can handle it from here until we land."
Nodding, she gave her seat up and left to get ready for her part. He sat and switched the comm to a wide-beam transmission, ensuring that the base would pick it up. A sliver of doubt came into his mind, asking what would happen if there was no base, but he pushed it aside. Injecting innocence and trepidation into his voice, he called out to all the ships or bases that might be in the system. "Hello? Is there anyone out there?" Several minutes passed and every now and then, he would repeat his message, putting in more desperation each time.
Finally, when he was about to give up, a young man's voice came through the speakers. If either Dantien or Janua had heard it, they might have recognized it. "Incoming ship, identify yourself," it demanded curiously.
Pumping as much relief into his voice as possible, the alien replied instantaneously. "Oh, I'm so glad there's someone out here who can help me. I'm on vacation, but I guess I entered the wrong coordinates into the navicomputer. I was going to go to this world that has a really big canyon; do you know what planet that is?" The uncertain silence that followed would have made Emaz smile if his species was more accustomed to it. His plan was working so far.
"Do you know anything else about your destination?"
"Not really. It has one huge canyon that is its main attraction."
"Why don't you land on the fourth planet. Do you know how to enter the transmitted coordinates into a navicomputer?"
"More or less."
"Here you go then."
After he received the coordinates, he flipped the comm off. Once he had plotted the course the officer had sent, he put the ship on autopilot and walked back into it to speak to the Alderaanian and Twi'lek. Finding them in the first room back, he noticed that both were about ready. Dressed in an Imperial lieutenant's uniform, Janua looked rather strange whereas Dantien appeared quite dashing.
"Well, since we don't have a map of the base, you're going to have to run from him until someone helps him out," he instructed the blue skinned navigator, jerking one of the three fingers on his hand toward her coworker.
"Okay," she said, "but what if someone else catches me?"
"You rely on Dan."
Her jaw dropped, remembering how he didn't understand Bocce, the most common tongue used for space travel. "You're not serious. Please tell me you're not serious."
"I'm quite serious." He then walked over to a storage locker and retrieved a set of binders. "Here, you'll need these to look like you belong," Emaz told the human as he tossed them to him.
Dantien nodded as he clipped them to his belt. "Let's go see if we're there yet." Together, the trio reentered the cockpit. After dropping out of orbit, Janua landed the ship while Emaz continued talking with the Imperials. Apparently, they had gathered a list of vacation planets with big canyons on them to see if any sounded familiar to the alleged tourist.
A heavy sigh came over the comm just as the *Brilliance* touched down. "I'll have someone come onto your ship to try to figure this out. And you've never heard of any of them?"
"Not a one." Emaz was having the time of his life tricking these Imperials. As far as he was concerned, he didn't do anything this much fun often enough. The rest of the day he spent giving the liaison a hard time, mixing a little bit of each of the vacation worlds he knew of to create the perfect resort while the *Vornskr* members waited somewhat patiently for the right time to begin their performance. They couldn't afford for anyone to see them slip out otherwise they wouldn't get a ride home even if they succeeded.
Eventually, the landing bay emptied with the exception of the pair of stormtroopers guarding the turbolift door through which the captain had walked many days before, not knowing it was a trap. Watching the liaison nod to the guards before descending to the depths of the base, the uniformed Twi'lek decided they could leave. While Dantien was merely anxious to have Clipper return, Janua wished nothing more than to have everything back to normal, whatever that was.
"Okay, how much time do you want to give me?" she inquired as she extended the quiet, well-maintained boarding ramp.
"I'd be right behind you, but we need a way to get past those guards."
After thinking for a moment, Janua had a plan that could work. "Then you'll catch me as we get over there and I'll 'escape' when the turbolift doors open on the lower level."
"Let's go."
Silently, she crept out of the ship and kept it between her and the two stormtroopers until she could work up to a full tilt run. Hearing heavy footfalls behind her, she knew Dantien had followed her lead and, really getting into his role, he even added a few "stop right there"s and some colorful insults. About nine meters from the rack of TIEs she'd been heading for, he grabbed her, almost throwing them both to the floor.
"Sithspit, you run fast!" he muttered in amazement. The commotion attracted the attention of the guards who probably hadn't had as much excitement since boot camp. Loosely fitting the binders over his friend's wrists, the mechanic made his way over to the turbolift and, before he signaled the car, he turned to the guards intently watching him. "I forget where the detention corridor is; what level is it on?"
"C, fifth on the right." The mechanical voice sent shivers down their backs. Neither had ever before come face to face with an armed stormtrooper, the very manifestation of evil in the minds of many. Nodding thankfully, the Alderaanian signaled the car and roughly pushed Janua ahead of him.
As soon as the doors closed, she glowered at him. "That was just a little too convincing."
He shrugged as he unlocked the binders on her wrist. "Hey, we got in, didn't we?"
Rolling her eyes, she got ready to sprint as soon as the doors opened. When they did, she took off, startling her coworker with her speed so much that he almost yelled for her to wait up. She took particular joy in bumping into one officer after another until she took a wrong turn onto a hall that dead ended, which worked out rather nicely when Dantien finally caught up and replaced the binders on her wrists.
He then noticed that he'd been so intent on catching up with her that he was lost. "Uh, where are we again?" he whispered.
"Third on the left." As they made their way to the detention corridor, she did her best to stare harshly at anyone they passed. When they arrived at the right intersection, they both mentally prepared themselves for a fight. This wasn't going to be easy, especially since both were unarmed. The Twi'lek realized that although she knew a few defensive maneuvers, her hands were bound. The door hissed open, revealing a room full of only two people.
*A lot of good that'll do them if Clipper escapes,* thought Dantien. He did not want to imagine what the Imperials could have done to the vornskr in his absence.
One of the two stormtroopers turned a lazy head and was about to inquire as to why they were there, but he answered his own question. It was obvious to him; a nonhuman wandering the base in an Imperial uniform, it was unthinkable and therefore, she must be punished. Dantien turned toward the viewscreen displaying a list of all the inmates and their rooms. Amazing as it may have seemed, it was also logical that Jess Jess was the only one. Kitzlym was isolated and no one had any reason to visit. No outside influence, no crime. Calmly, he marched her to the captain's cell and before the guards could react, opened the door. Janua, who was in the lead and happened to be looking straight into the room, started when not one humanoid face, but two gazed back at her with just as much astonishment.
Quickly, the uniformed officer in the cell regained his voice. "I don't think we've met."
"Jan! Let's go. I'm surprised Baka didn't follow you!" the Gungan exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, followed by her suddenly energetic pet.
"Uh, Baka's at Mon Cal." She was so taken aback by the visitor that she had completely forgotten about the act.
As the stormtroopers also figured out what was happening, Dantien pushed Janua in the white room with the other two and stood in the doorframe so that it would not lock them in. "I can tell those guys aren't big fans of sentiment. Any ideas?"
Her mind kicking into gear, the Twi'lek pivoted and demanded, "Get these things off of me."
Before anyone could do anything else, however, the vornskr took the lead in the rescue, leaping toward the guards and knocking the blasters out of their hands. Zimel, who had been visiting with the captain, stood. "Maybe we should follow Clipper?"
"Sure, but how are we going to get back?" asked the mechanic as he unlocked the binders.
"I'll take care of that, just go."
The *Vornskr* members instantly agreed and took off after the furry pet, yelling quick good-byes and short thanks. There wasn't enough time. With a strange creature running through the halls, followed by two aliens and a human in a lieutenant's uniform, the two guards in the detention corridor were going to get a lot of back-up real fast.
Zimel rushed to the comm unit and got connected to the general. "Sir, we have a D-BAM breach in the main turbolift." He would help his new friend, even if it meant he would receive a court martial, but that would only happen if he stayed. He then disconnected and ran for the stairs. It was only two flights until he was in the landing bay.
Meanwhile, Clipper reached the end of the hall and stood patiently waiting for his owner's command. He did not understand the urgency of the situation, even though he knew it was there. Soon enough, the Gungan arrived and slapped the call button. The car had probably not gone anywhere; it opened almost instantaneously. They crowded in and someone hit the button for the landing bay. The turbolift, an object not affected by emotion or urgency, seemed to take an eternity to arrive only two levels up. Eventually, it opened and the crowd dashed out. They ran for all they were worth toward the modified Imperial landing craft that sat in the middle of the wide open space that was only one of the gigantic caverns formed by natural forces and incorporated into the design of the base. The high whine of the engines told Dantien that Emaz was ready for them to board and leave, and for that he was thankful. What none of them knew, though, was that they were not first to run up that ramp that could lead them back to the sky or keep them grounded for who knew how long. While that other person was officially an Imperial, he no longer believed in the morals and ethics that were the foundation of the Empire. He, like the three now breathlessly charging onto the ship, wanted just to get away from the underground prison.
Slapping the button to close the ramp, Jess Jess slumped to the floor. "I never imagined you'd get Emaz to come."
"I never would have considered him if it wasn't for Bex," admitted Janua, also slouched against a wall.
"I was worried you might bring a fleet."
Appalled, the Twi'lek looked over at her friend. "You don't really think I'm that careless, do you?"
"I was wondering." Clipper, the only one not winded, laid down and rested his chin on Dantien's lap.
A voice floated back from the front of the ship. "You landed this thing, Jan. Aren't you going to get us out of here?"
"Oh!" She raced to the front and flipped a few switches while she sat. She brought the repulsorlifts up a little bit quicker than she usually would have, but she wanted to leave a little bit sooner than usual, too. Layers of rock sped by as the Brilliance ascended. Then it peeked out of the tunnel and into the vacuum of space.
Emaz glanced over at Janua then back down at the screens in front of him. One showed several blips behind them. "Uh, I think we have a problem. TIEs."
"Sithspawn, can't they ever leave us alone?"
At that moment, Jess Jess walked in. "Emaz, why don't you let me?"
"Sure." He let the Gungan sit in his seat and took one of the back ones. Both of the individuals at the helm had more experience than he did; he had no right to be trying to figure out the controls when they had fighters on their tail.
"Captain, it's good to have you back," Janua said lightly as she fed more power to the sublight engines.
"Just fly. I'll enter an exit vector into the navicomp. Where'd you say you left everyone?"
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light ahead of them and from it emerged the familiar shape of the *Gungan Vornskr.* The Gungan switched the comm over to the frequency she knew her ship used. "Bex, what're you doing here?"
"Um, captain? We were going to help rescue you and it looks like we have good timing."
"Turn around and go back to Mon Calamari. Now!"
Baka's voice came on next. "But those TIEs behind you, don't you want me to get 'em?"
"No. You heard me. Turn around." The comm clicked and the *Vornskr* turned and shot back into hyperspace. "Well, it looks like they've got it right. We're out of the gravity well. Everyone hang on." She pulled the lever and the *Brilliance* was also on its way to Mon Calamari.
right thing: it was crazy and it worked. -Occasional Musings of
Dantien Pindar
Carefully, Janua brought the shuttle out of hyperspace. She was unaccustomed to piloting the craft and was apt to press the wrong buttons and flip the wrong switches. Looking out the forward viewport, she saw the several rocky planets of the system looming in front of them, one of which imprisoned her employer, captain, and friend. The clicking of a Gand's exoskeleton brought her attention to the figure standing beside her.
"Are you sure this plan of yours will be successful?" She had been extremely anxious about this since they left. After all, who would be so stupid as to willingly enter a known Imperial base?
Unlike her, Emaz was supernaturally calm considering what they were about to do. "No, but if we can get near the base, I'm certain I can buy you the time you'll need. That's only if you're sure you can do this.
The Twi'lek thought for a moment. "I can."
"It'll be dangerous. You could end up being Jess's next door neighbor and neither of you will even know."
"I realize that. You don't have to point it out so I'm thinking about it and get distracted. Then we'll all be inmates together."
By the underlying tension in her voice, he knew it was a good time to change the subject. "Okay. You'd better get into your costume. I can handle it from here until we land."
Nodding, she gave her seat up and left to get ready for her part. He sat and switched the comm to a wide-beam transmission, ensuring that the base would pick it up. A sliver of doubt came into his mind, asking what would happen if there was no base, but he pushed it aside. Injecting innocence and trepidation into his voice, he called out to all the ships or bases that might be in the system. "Hello? Is there anyone out there?" Several minutes passed and every now and then, he would repeat his message, putting in more desperation each time.
Finally, when he was about to give up, a young man's voice came through the speakers. If either Dantien or Janua had heard it, they might have recognized it. "Incoming ship, identify yourself," it demanded curiously.
Pumping as much relief into his voice as possible, the alien replied instantaneously. "Oh, I'm so glad there's someone out here who can help me. I'm on vacation, but I guess I entered the wrong coordinates into the navicomputer. I was going to go to this world that has a really big canyon; do you know what planet that is?" The uncertain silence that followed would have made Emaz smile if his species was more accustomed to it. His plan was working so far.
"Do you know anything else about your destination?"
"Not really. It has one huge canyon that is its main attraction."
"Why don't you land on the fourth planet. Do you know how to enter the transmitted coordinates into a navicomputer?"
"More or less."
"Here you go then."
After he received the coordinates, he flipped the comm off. Once he had plotted the course the officer had sent, he put the ship on autopilot and walked back into it to speak to the Alderaanian and Twi'lek. Finding them in the first room back, he noticed that both were about ready. Dressed in an Imperial lieutenant's uniform, Janua looked rather strange whereas Dantien appeared quite dashing.
"Well, since we don't have a map of the base, you're going to have to run from him until someone helps him out," he instructed the blue skinned navigator, jerking one of the three fingers on his hand toward her coworker.
"Okay," she said, "but what if someone else catches me?"
"You rely on Dan."
Her jaw dropped, remembering how he didn't understand Bocce, the most common tongue used for space travel. "You're not serious. Please tell me you're not serious."
"I'm quite serious." He then walked over to a storage locker and retrieved a set of binders. "Here, you'll need these to look like you belong," Emaz told the human as he tossed them to him.
Dantien nodded as he clipped them to his belt. "Let's go see if we're there yet." Together, the trio reentered the cockpit. After dropping out of orbit, Janua landed the ship while Emaz continued talking with the Imperials. Apparently, they had gathered a list of vacation planets with big canyons on them to see if any sounded familiar to the alleged tourist.
A heavy sigh came over the comm just as the *Brilliance* touched down. "I'll have someone come onto your ship to try to figure this out. And you've never heard of any of them?"
"Not a one." Emaz was having the time of his life tricking these Imperials. As far as he was concerned, he didn't do anything this much fun often enough. The rest of the day he spent giving the liaison a hard time, mixing a little bit of each of the vacation worlds he knew of to create the perfect resort while the *Vornskr* members waited somewhat patiently for the right time to begin their performance. They couldn't afford for anyone to see them slip out otherwise they wouldn't get a ride home even if they succeeded.
Eventually, the landing bay emptied with the exception of the pair of stormtroopers guarding the turbolift door through which the captain had walked many days before, not knowing it was a trap. Watching the liaison nod to the guards before descending to the depths of the base, the uniformed Twi'lek decided they could leave. While Dantien was merely anxious to have Clipper return, Janua wished nothing more than to have everything back to normal, whatever that was.
"Okay, how much time do you want to give me?" she inquired as she extended the quiet, well-maintained boarding ramp.
"I'd be right behind you, but we need a way to get past those guards."
After thinking for a moment, Janua had a plan that could work. "Then you'll catch me as we get over there and I'll 'escape' when the turbolift doors open on the lower level."
"Let's go."
Silently, she crept out of the ship and kept it between her and the two stormtroopers until she could work up to a full tilt run. Hearing heavy footfalls behind her, she knew Dantien had followed her lead and, really getting into his role, he even added a few "stop right there"s and some colorful insults. About nine meters from the rack of TIEs she'd been heading for, he grabbed her, almost throwing them both to the floor.
"Sithspit, you run fast!" he muttered in amazement. The commotion attracted the attention of the guards who probably hadn't had as much excitement since boot camp. Loosely fitting the binders over his friend's wrists, the mechanic made his way over to the turbolift and, before he signaled the car, he turned to the guards intently watching him. "I forget where the detention corridor is; what level is it on?"
"C, fifth on the right." The mechanical voice sent shivers down their backs. Neither had ever before come face to face with an armed stormtrooper, the very manifestation of evil in the minds of many. Nodding thankfully, the Alderaanian signaled the car and roughly pushed Janua ahead of him.
As soon as the doors closed, she glowered at him. "That was just a little too convincing."
He shrugged as he unlocked the binders on her wrist. "Hey, we got in, didn't we?"
Rolling her eyes, she got ready to sprint as soon as the doors opened. When they did, she took off, startling her coworker with her speed so much that he almost yelled for her to wait up. She took particular joy in bumping into one officer after another until she took a wrong turn onto a hall that dead ended, which worked out rather nicely when Dantien finally caught up and replaced the binders on her wrists.
He then noticed that he'd been so intent on catching up with her that he was lost. "Uh, where are we again?" he whispered.
"Third on the left." As they made their way to the detention corridor, she did her best to stare harshly at anyone they passed. When they arrived at the right intersection, they both mentally prepared themselves for a fight. This wasn't going to be easy, especially since both were unarmed. The Twi'lek realized that although she knew a few defensive maneuvers, her hands were bound. The door hissed open, revealing a room full of only two people.
*A lot of good that'll do them if Clipper escapes,* thought Dantien. He did not want to imagine what the Imperials could have done to the vornskr in his absence.
One of the two stormtroopers turned a lazy head and was about to inquire as to why they were there, but he answered his own question. It was obvious to him; a nonhuman wandering the base in an Imperial uniform, it was unthinkable and therefore, she must be punished. Dantien turned toward the viewscreen displaying a list of all the inmates and their rooms. Amazing as it may have seemed, it was also logical that Jess Jess was the only one. Kitzlym was isolated and no one had any reason to visit. No outside influence, no crime. Calmly, he marched her to the captain's cell and before the guards could react, opened the door. Janua, who was in the lead and happened to be looking straight into the room, started when not one humanoid face, but two gazed back at her with just as much astonishment.
Quickly, the uniformed officer in the cell regained his voice. "I don't think we've met."
"Jan! Let's go. I'm surprised Baka didn't follow you!" the Gungan exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, followed by her suddenly energetic pet.
"Uh, Baka's at Mon Cal." She was so taken aback by the visitor that she had completely forgotten about the act.
As the stormtroopers also figured out what was happening, Dantien pushed Janua in the white room with the other two and stood in the doorframe so that it would not lock them in. "I can tell those guys aren't big fans of sentiment. Any ideas?"
Her mind kicking into gear, the Twi'lek pivoted and demanded, "Get these things off of me."
Before anyone could do anything else, however, the vornskr took the lead in the rescue, leaping toward the guards and knocking the blasters out of their hands. Zimel, who had been visiting with the captain, stood. "Maybe we should follow Clipper?"
"Sure, but how are we going to get back?" asked the mechanic as he unlocked the binders.
"I'll take care of that, just go."
The *Vornskr* members instantly agreed and took off after the furry pet, yelling quick good-byes and short thanks. There wasn't enough time. With a strange creature running through the halls, followed by two aliens and a human in a lieutenant's uniform, the two guards in the detention corridor were going to get a lot of back-up real fast.
Zimel rushed to the comm unit and got connected to the general. "Sir, we have a D-BAM breach in the main turbolift." He would help his new friend, even if it meant he would receive a court martial, but that would only happen if he stayed. He then disconnected and ran for the stairs. It was only two flights until he was in the landing bay.
Meanwhile, Clipper reached the end of the hall and stood patiently waiting for his owner's command. He did not understand the urgency of the situation, even though he knew it was there. Soon enough, the Gungan arrived and slapped the call button. The car had probably not gone anywhere; it opened almost instantaneously. They crowded in and someone hit the button for the landing bay. The turbolift, an object not affected by emotion or urgency, seemed to take an eternity to arrive only two levels up. Eventually, it opened and the crowd dashed out. They ran for all they were worth toward the modified Imperial landing craft that sat in the middle of the wide open space that was only one of the gigantic caverns formed by natural forces and incorporated into the design of the base. The high whine of the engines told Dantien that Emaz was ready for them to board and leave, and for that he was thankful. What none of them knew, though, was that they were not first to run up that ramp that could lead them back to the sky or keep them grounded for who knew how long. While that other person was officially an Imperial, he no longer believed in the morals and ethics that were the foundation of the Empire. He, like the three now breathlessly charging onto the ship, wanted just to get away from the underground prison.
Slapping the button to close the ramp, Jess Jess slumped to the floor. "I never imagined you'd get Emaz to come."
"I never would have considered him if it wasn't for Bex," admitted Janua, also slouched against a wall.
"I was worried you might bring a fleet."
Appalled, the Twi'lek looked over at her friend. "You don't really think I'm that careless, do you?"
"I was wondering." Clipper, the only one not winded, laid down and rested his chin on Dantien's lap.
A voice floated back from the front of the ship. "You landed this thing, Jan. Aren't you going to get us out of here?"
"Oh!" She raced to the front and flipped a few switches while she sat. She brought the repulsorlifts up a little bit quicker than she usually would have, but she wanted to leave a little bit sooner than usual, too. Layers of rock sped by as the Brilliance ascended. Then it peeked out of the tunnel and into the vacuum of space.
Emaz glanced over at Janua then back down at the screens in front of him. One showed several blips behind them. "Uh, I think we have a problem. TIEs."
"Sithspawn, can't they ever leave us alone?"
At that moment, Jess Jess walked in. "Emaz, why don't you let me?"
"Sure." He let the Gungan sit in his seat and took one of the back ones. Both of the individuals at the helm had more experience than he did; he had no right to be trying to figure out the controls when they had fighters on their tail.
"Captain, it's good to have you back," Janua said lightly as she fed more power to the sublight engines.
"Just fly. I'll enter an exit vector into the navicomp. Where'd you say you left everyone?"
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light ahead of them and from it emerged the familiar shape of the *Gungan Vornskr.* The Gungan switched the comm over to the frequency she knew her ship used. "Bex, what're you doing here?"
"Um, captain? We were going to help rescue you and it looks like we have good timing."
"Turn around and go back to Mon Calamari. Now!"
Baka's voice came on next. "But those TIEs behind you, don't you want me to get 'em?"
"No. You heard me. Turn around." The comm clicked and the *Vornskr* turned and shot back into hyperspace. "Well, it looks like they've got it right. We're out of the gravity well. Everyone hang on." She pulled the lever and the *Brilliance* was also on its way to Mon Calamari.