Jail

I heard them open what sounded like the door of a bathroom stall, followed by the tell-tale beep of someone punching in a code on a keypad. Luckily for me, I was still so dazed that I did not have to pretend to allow them to take me as I couldn't have fought them off even if I wanted to. A fact which became even more pronounced after I heard the thunk of a door sliding open and proceeded to be dragged down a set of stairs by my leg, my head bouncing off of every single step on the way down.

Thankfully the extra padding I had added to my helmet saved me from being knocked unconscious by the stairs until we reached the landing where my head fell to one side. The floor was an industrial gray tile, and I found myself looking at a small bunker with a wide viewing window through which were two people armed with BTI A280-C blaster rifles.

"Any updates kid?" Cad Bane asked, his voice quiet as it crackled through my helmet's internal speakers.

It took me a few seconds to respond as the eye controls were hard to manipulate in my HUD due to my probable concussion, but once I had my exterior microphone muted, I groaned. "I have been taken to the underground maintenance area."

There was a surprisingly long pause before there was any response. As I heard the static crackle back to life the first thing, I heard was a surprised Exa say, "Already?"

"Where did they take you kid?" Cad asked me, ignoring Exa. "And how many are there?"

"Move aside," I heard Mac say through the radio, likely to Cad which made me nervous. I had left them behind so they wouldn't get captured with me or make me look like a less susceptible target, and now I was worried they were about to get themselves deactivated. "I have been watching Yous helmet feed this entire time." I heard a thunk which I could only assume was Mac plugging in to the ships computer so they could stream the footage.

Only a few seconds later Cad came back over the radio. "Alright kid, we're caught up. We know where you are but didn't see the code. Try to look around a bit but don't make it obvious you're awake."

While a good suggestion, it was much easier said than done. I couldn't just roll my head to the other side. I couldn't even look down at whoever was still holding my leg without giving away that I was awake.

"Is 'e dead?" one of the guards, a Twi'lec, asked motioning at me.

"No," the Trandoshan said stepping into view and leaning against the wall next to the bunker opening. "Just nearly took his head off. He fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never saw it coming."

"Well, good job big guy. Take 'em to the back with the others. The boss'll come on by 'n inspect 'em soon."

The Trandoshan smiled and walked away, motioning for whoever was holding my feet to follow. They continued to drag me down the hall, pulling me first passed a gated room filled to the brim with weapons. A280s, A180s, DH-17s, E-11s, DLT-19s, even a short row of E-22s. There was enough down here to supply a small army, and I wasn't the only one who noticed as I heard Exa whistle over the radio.

"Keep focused kid," Cad said, likely to both me and Exa. "Gotta see if you can't find the target, they probably…"

His voice trailed off as the next door I was dragged by was open to reveal a large office with a small gray metal desk, behind which sat a Bothan with dark brown fur who was looking between three different holographic monitors.

"Well, look at that," Cad said with a chuckle. "There he is."

My view of them was abruptly cut off as the person dragging me turned 90 degrees changing my view to that of a solid wall as I was pulled through a doorway into a new room. Once inside I heard the metallic clink of a key turning a lock.

"And how is the rest of the meat today?" the Trandoshan asked and was answered by an extremely loud slam that nearly caused me to jump giving myself away. "Ooo such anger, as always."

"Open this cell and I'll show you angry," a new voice said as I heard a metallic door swing open.

"I think we both know how that would end," teased the Trandoshan.

There was another slam on the gate as I was thrown into a 3x3 cell. I let my body remain limp as I hit the ground, rolling in what I assumed must have been a very convincing fashion as the one who threw me said their first words. "You're sure he's still alive?"

"Of course. Now come on, we've got work to do." With that the two of them walked away, closing the door behind them.

Once the room door closed, I immediately sat up and looked to the door, causing the person who I had heard talking in the cell next to me jump. "Witches, you're actually alive?"

Once I was sure that they were gone I nodded. "Yes I…" my voice trailed off as I turned and saw the other prisoner.

Sitting in the cell next to mine was a Zabrak who was quite possibly, the largest man I had ever seen. He was the size of a Wookie and built like a super battle droid but with two more super battle droids for legs… And obviously a head, upon which he had a crown of thorns of varying sizes, some up to four inches in length but some looked as though they had been sawed down to the skull. He had orangish tan skin and black tattoos covering his entire body, or at least the parts of it I could see. Which was most of it because he had no shirt on, and his pants looked like they had been pulled out of a fire.

"I… Yes?" I said.

They just stared at me, a look of concern growing on their face which for some reason made me feel nervous. "You alive in there?" they said after a few seconds, and I realized I had forgotten to unmute my microphone.

My eyes flicked up to unmute myself. "Yes, I'm fine. How are you?" I asked, immediately realizing how stupid the question was.

The Zabrak looked at the cell walls surrounding them. "I mean, I'm here so…"

"Yea, same," I said and the two of us went quiet once again.

"Hey kid," Cad said over the radio. "Quit staring and get back to scanning."

"Sorry," I said and started looking around the room again.

"For?" the Zabrak asked their look of confusion deepening as I realized I forgot to mute.

"Sorry, not you," I said as I kept scanning around the room.

There were six other prisoners other than me and the Zabrak in identical cages all along the wall. Mine was the closest to the door which had a small window I could use to see out to the main hallway if I could get over to it. On the far side of the room were crates upon crates, most of which were closed and locked, other than two of them near the middle of the room. One was packed with A280-Cs, while the other was filled with what looked like sand.

"That's a lot of spice," Exa said over the radio. Which really confused me. Looking at it again it did look a bit like cinnamon, but I don't know why they would be smuggling spices.

The Zabrak shook his head. "We need to get a doctor in here, you sound like you hit your head pretty hard. What's your name?"

"Liam," I said as I kept looking around. "You?"

"Name's Angory. Angory Brutess," he said sticking his hand through the bars to offer to shake my hand, though it didn't get far as his forearm was too thick to slip between the bars.

I shuffled over, taking his hand for a quick shake. He felt like he was made of iron, and I was pretty sure if he squeezed he could break every bone in my hand. Thankfully, he chose not to, only slightly tightening his grip as he smiled.

"How'd they get you?" he asked, leaning back into his cell.

"They had a decoy steal from me, then ambushed me in the bathroom," I said as I continued to look around. The other prisoners were all laying silently in their cells to the point I would have thought they might be deceased until I saw them breathing. The biggest surprise though was that there were no guards or even any cameras in here from what I could tell.

"Hope they didn't steal anything worth a lot," Angory said rising to his feet before jumping up to grab the ceiling bars and began to pull himself up over and over again. "Did you get it back?"

"… No. That Jawa kept them," I said sadly.

"Sorry to hear that. Once we're all out of here maybe you'll be able to find them and kill them."

For a split second I was surprised by the escalation from stealing to murder, but then realized that was the way some people truly felt about things. An eye for an insult or something like that. "Maybe," I said, almost going awkwardly silent once again. "What about you?"

"Stunned me with one of those Imperial rifles while I was scoping out the place," he said still raising himself up and down effortlessly.

"I'm surprised it only took one," I unintentionally muttered aloud as I shuffled over to look at my cages door to inspect the lock.

"Who said it took only one?" Angory said with a small grin I saw out of the corner of my eye. "Plus one of them forgot to switch it to stun." He dropped down and turned so his back was to me. "Hit me right in the lower back."

I looked and sure enough in the middle of his lower back below the countless bumps and valleys of muscles was a scorch mark from an E-11 blast bolt.

"But so is the life of a bounty hunter," Angory said, taking a seat facing me.

"Kid," Cad said over the radio suddenly. "We're gearing up, and about to head to you. We may need you to cause a distraction when the time comes. Be ready."

This time I remembered to mute my helmet before I said, "Roger sir." Now I needed to formulate a plan on how I was going to make a distraction when the time came. Then I remembered who I had been talking to this whole time. "So," I said unmuting my microphone. "If you're a bounty hunter, you must have a plan for escape right?"

Angory smiled, but even I could tell this one was forced. "Of course I have a plan. And let me tell you. It's a great one."

I just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "… Is there anything I can do to help it?" I asked when he failed to elaborate.

"… do you know how to pick locks?" he asked hopefully.

I nodded but stopped suddenly. "Well… technically."

"What do you mean?" Angory asked tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Well, I know how to picks locks form a theoretical standpoint, I just have no practical experience."

"… So you've never actually picked a lock."

"… no. But I've read about it a lot."

Angory just looked at me for several seconds then let out a small chuckle. "Well, be my guest then."

"Do you have anything to pick with?"

"No, though I don't know what I'd be looking for."

"Do you have any silverware from your meal?"

He looked around his cell until he held up a small fork. "Will this work?"

"I can only hope."

The fork was too large initially to fit in the key hole, so I tried to bend some of the prongs to the side, but they were too sturdy, then I tried to pinch them inward, which also failed.

Seeing me struggle, Angory held his hand out through the bars. So, I placed the fork in his hand and watched as he closed his fingers around it and crush the prongs together like it were made of dough.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Once I had it back, it became immediately evident that I should have integrated more practical exercises to my studying regiment. I thought I could feel the tumblers, but it could also have just been the prongs dragging against the sides of the lock. After only about a minute Angory got bored of watching me and started doing sit-ups near his door.

"How much longer do you think this will take?" he asked after about five minutes.

"Hard to tell," I said attempting to press my head to the door to listen to the lock, but couldn't get my microphone against it due to the hardlight head, and when I turned up my microphone all I could hear is Angory grunting quietly as he exercised. "Could you stop that for a minute?"

He paused mid rep and looked at me with a questioning eyebrow.

"I'm trying to listen."

"Oh, that makes sense," he said then just fells onto his back.

With him silent I could hear that I was still a ways off from the tumblers in the lock. Shimmying the fork a little higher I got to them and started testing them, seeing if I could get them to fall into place. If this had been an electric lock I would have already been out of there, but physical locks took time.

"So," Angory said interrupting my focus. "Where are you from?"

"A lot of places. I've moved around a lot," I said then turned to him. "Not to be rude, but could you talk to someone else so I can focus?"

Angory let out a short barking laugh. "Have you never seen how people act when they take spice?"

I turned to him in confusion. "What?"

He sat up and motioned at the other prisoners, all of whom were still yet to actually move. "When they capture people they offer them some of their supply to keep them quiet. They all took the offer."

I looked from them back to Angory, then back to them. "… what do you mean spice. What kind of spice gets people high?"

Angory's just stared at me or a moment, before the biggest smile came to his face and he started laughing so hard he fell back over, his voice echoing off of the walls as he rolled onto his side. I could feel my cheeks warming with embarrassment as he tried to breathe but just burst back into laughter again. "Red skies," he said once he finally managed to gain enough control to speak. "Sheltered is spelled Y, O, U."

I sighed, pushing my embarrassment to the side. "Firstly, that's not even close to how that's spelt. Second, just tell me what it is."

"It's spice," he said, the wide smile still on his face. "The drug is just called spice."

"… Well that's stupid. Not only is that name extremely uncreative name, but italso tells me nothing about what it is and does."

Angory motioned again at the other prisoners. "That."

I let out a heavy sigh and decided it would be best to just change the subject. "Alright, fine, whatever. What about you? Where are you from?" I asked turning back to the lock.

"I was born on Dathomir," he said, immediately drawing my attention back to him. "Yes, that one. Born the same year the Separatists attacked. Yes my mother was one of the witches. No, I don't have any of their magic."

I swallowed nervously. Imperial teachings were extremely consistent in their teachings about dealing with Zabrak in the wider universe. According to what they taught, the Zabrak were very defiant individuals, and it was safe to assume any even minorly suspicious Zabrak was likely a member of the rebellion.

This was even more true for the Dathomirian Zabrak. The Dathomirian Zabrak came from a matriarchal society which had been controlled by the Witches of Dathomir. These Witches were the enemies of both the Republic, and the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Notable historical figures from the Clone Wars were the Sith Lord Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Asajj Ventress, and Mother Talzin.

They had been a major player until 20 BBY when a Separatist attack lead by the Supreme Marial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies, General Grievous almost completely wiped them out.

"Oh," I said, not sure what to say. Angory was already much less… evil than what my Imperial training would have lead me to expect, which left me with two options. Either he was putting on an act to get close to me and use me as a pawn for his escape. Or this was another part of my imperial training that was not entirely accurate. "So… ummm… where did you grow up?"

Angory's eyes narrowed for a moment before he let out a small sigh. "You don't have to worry. I didn't go to like Korriban and mediate inside a Sith temple to channel my hatred so one day I could subjugate the universe under my control like the Emperor. I was smuggled to Ryloth and I grew up there. Joined the Free Ryloth movement once I was old enough. Then when I got a bit older I wanted to see more of the universe and joined up with the Rebellion. So, yea, no need for you to worry. All my hatred is reserved for Empire dogs and spoiled Core worlders."

I was very happy for the holographic disguise matrix in that moment as I felt the blood drain from my face as an immediate ball of fear started twisting in my stomach. Angory, was huge, had a name that was basically a combination of angry and gory, was a former Rebel, and I just so happened to be a combination of the two things he just said he hated. Well technically I wasn't an Imperial anymore, but I doubted that meant much to him considering I stopped being an Imperial only a week ago. "Y-yea," I said, cringing at the nervousness in my voice. "Fuck the Empire."

"Yea!" Angory said punching one of his cell bars, denting it slightly. "Though with the Emperor dead might not have to worry about them for much longer. Soon the New Republic will take over and we'll see some real changes."

I smiled and nodded but then very intensely got back into my work on the lock, though now I was distracted, nervously looking at Angory out of the corner of my eye.

The fear was so severe that I had not been making any progress when a familiar voice suddenly crackled over my radio. "Would you like some help, You?" Mac asked, causing me to drop the fork.

I looked around searching in vain for the droid but couldn't find them. "Mac where are you?"

"Who?" Angory asked pausing mid pushup.

"Sorry, not you again," I said muting my microphone.

"You sure you're not on spice?" Angory asked. "You have a lot of people you talk to who aren't here."

I ignored his comment as Mac projected his camera view to my HUD, showing me an overhead view of the room, including me in my cell. Looking up I could see a grate for a small vent that was likely just large enough for it to slip through, though I couldn't see them since they were likely invisible.

"How'd you locate the vents?" I asked. "I didn't see them on the map."

"I used the force to locate the fastest route to you," Mac said suddenly becoming visible. "Also the vent entrance was right next to the entrance they took you though while you were pretending to be dazed. So after I found the control room for those two partners of yours I came to find you."

"Can you help me get out of here?"

"I cannot get out of the vent."

"Why not?"

"This grate is screwed into place from the outside and has some sort of light side shielding around it to prevent me from using the force to remove them."

Angory finally followed my line of sight and looked up, spotting Mac in the vent. "Oh shit, a droid!" He reached over and took the fork from me and hurled it up at the vent. Luckily he missed Mac as the fork hit the corner of the grate, punching a hole clean through it, causing it to flop open.

"Thank you foolish Zabrak!" Mac said aloud as he floated down and Angory started looking for something else to throw.

"He's mine!" I said, forgetting I was muted.

"I am not!" Mac said as I fumbled to unmute myself. "If anything you are mine as you are my apprentice You."

"Angory!" I shouted as he grabbed his metal food tray and crumbled it into a ball.

He stopped, his head swinging towards me, and I could see a slight glow of anger in his greenlined yellow eyes which caused me to jump back.

"Sorry, the droid is mine, its name is Mac."

The glow faded as his broad shoulders relaxed. "Oh. Hi Mac," he said giving the droid a quick wave.

Mac returned the wave. "You, I would like you to stop telling people my name is Mac. You may call me Mac, but I would prefer for others to call me by my true name, Darth Machina."

"Darth?" Angory said in confusion.

"It'll tell you about it later," I said to him. "Mac, can you pick the lock."

"Can You?" it asked floating down to be in front of my cage. "Also when did you start speaking in the third person?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. "I'm not. Mac are you able to pick the cell."

"Oh," the droid looked at the lock for a second then nodded in the air. "Easily." It floated up and stuck one of its tiny arms into the key hole. Less than thirty seconds later I heard a click, and my door swung slightly open.

Angory clapped his hands together excitedly. "YES! Let's get out of here."

As I pushed my door open my radio crackled to life. "Kid," said Cad. "Exa is about to open the door. We need that distraction."

"Yes sir. I think I have an idea."

"Hop to it then."

"You," Mac said over our private channel. "Are you sure you wish to release this… person?"

I looked at Angory. It was a reasonable question. If I left him, I would be left alone to cause my distraction. If I let him out he could easily overpower me, even with my armor and RSKF-44. He had been nothing but nice to me so far, but how would he feel if he found out who I actually was. Not to mention he was a Rebel, and those people were well known to betray each other.

As I was pondering all of this, I looked into his admittedly evil looking eyes, and he smiled. I don't know what it was, but something about the excitement of that smile made the decision for me. "Yes," I said over our private channel. "Let him out."

Mac paused, then floated up to the cage and started picking the lock as I reached drew my RSKF-44 from behind my back. Moving over to one of the A280-C crates I pulled one out and tossed the blaster rifle to Angory as his cell door opened.

"Where did you get the pistol from?" he asked as he started doing a system check on his rifle.

"Well… you see…" I said nervously. "Alright I've been lying a little bit."

Angory suddenly paused, his eyes narrowing at me.

I held up my hand. "Hold on, it's nothing that big… more lying through omission. Don't freak out," I said then reached up and deactivated my holographic disguise matrix.

For a moment it appeared as though I had made a mistake as Angory's hand snapped to the trigger of his rifle, and he started raising the weapon at me when he saw my helmet, but he paused before the rifle came to bare. "Oh… You're shorter than I thought."

I took a muted deep breath to steady myself before I spoke. "I'm also a bounty hunter and my partners are about to break in up top."

"So, you're here for the bounty too," he said, eyes scanning over my helmet distrustfully. "… I want an equal share."

"I'm not even getting an equal share," I said as Angory started lowering his rifle and I made my way to the door.

"No one who has to be rescued deserves equal pay, Zabrak," Mac added.

Angory glared up at the robot. "I deserve some for helping."

"We can talk money with the rest of the team. I'm kind of the newest one."

"Obviously," he teased, a small bit of his smile returning. "They sent you to get captured."

"I don't think that necessarily makes me the lowest ranking one. It's the most important step. You would need to make sure whoever was most likely to get the job done."

"Or the convincing bait. Tell me, did you pretend to fall for the whole snatch and grab routine or did you actually fall for it."

I paused, once again feeling my cheeks warm with embarrassment as I looked out the small viewing port towards the front. I could see that Thyne was still in his office across the way and the Trandoshan was back at the front, likely talking with the guards again.

"You," Mac said over our private channel. "You have to respond."

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because it's embarrassing."

"Wait, you actually fell for it?" Mac asked.

"Yes, now don't talk about it."

"Just lie and say you didn't."

"I don't like lying."

"What kind of Sith Lord apprentice doesn't lie."

I just turned to him then pointed at myself.

Angory looked between the two of us and chuckled. "Oh you totally fell for it," he said then let out a small sigh. "Alright, no money talk. I'll help. But I want to see your face."

"What? Why?" I asked turning back to him.

"Can't trust someone whose face I haven't seen."

I paused for a few seconds then with a sigh I stepped away from the door, undid the strap on my helm and raised it up enough for him to see my face.

He walked over and leaned down so we were face to face, his yellow eyes staring at me inquisitively until my nose wrinkled at the smell of the unwashed prison, prisoners, and the stench coming from the spice.

He grinned, taking in a deep breath through his nose to make fun of me before straightening back up. "Alright. Let's get to work then."

I pulled my helmet back down and redid the strap as I activated the com channel. "Alright sir, one distraction coming right up."

"Took you long enough."

I muted myself on the channel and turned on my mic as I zipped up my jacket. "Quick, help me move this," I said to Angory, motioning at one of the smaller boxes of spice. We walked over but before I could take one end of it Angory wrapped his large arms around the box and hoisted it up.

"Where do you want it?" he asked casually, as though he didn't even notice the weight.

"By the door," I said moving over and pointing to the ground a couple of steps away from it, and a good distance from everything else. Once he set it down I nodded in approval. "Alright, get to cover."

Angory's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Cover? But they're out there."

I grinned under my helmet. "Don't worry, I have a plan to bring them here."

Angory remained where he was for a few seconds then nodded and took cover behind one of the many boxes in the room, facing the door.

Once he was in position I reached down and shook the box back and forth as much as I could, which wasn't a lot because the box felt like it weighed an actual ton.

The shaking did what I needed it to though as when I pulled off the lid a cloud of dust rose into the air from the spice. I took a half step back as I stuck the barrel of my RSKF-44 into the dust, pointing it down at the spice and fired.

The dust let out a loud pop as it exploded, the field around me flickering as the intense heat of the dual blaster bolts lit the spice aflame. I jumped at the noise, dashing away despite the fact that I was completely unaffected by it. Hurrying to the opposite side of the room I took cover behind a different box to Angory.

The room wasn't particularly large with all the boxes filling the room so I was only about five or six meters away from him, but it was enough that it would be difficult for them to target us both at the same time.

"Mac," I said over our private channel. "Can you give me an overhead view?"

"Easily, You," it said and as if on que, the fire alarm started to go off, and the sprinklers activated.

"We hear you down there," Cad said over the radio. "Moving in ten seconds."

As his transmission ended the door on the far end of the room swung open and the two guards from the front burst into the room. From Mac's vantage point I could see Thyne step out of his office behind them. He gestured wildly at the storage room. "PUT THAT DAMN FIRE OUT OR WE'LL LOSE THE PRODUCT!"

As he yelled, both me and Angory poked out from behind cover and fired. Angory's first shot hit the Quarren guard square in the chest. I failed to compensate for the spread caused by my double barreled blaster and the shots flew to either side of the Twi'lec guard who jumped in surprise but was so surprised they didn't go for cover before my second shot hit them just below the throat with the right bolt.

Thyne jumped in surprise at the three shots. "GUARDS!" he shouted then dashed into his office, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut a blast door slid over it as two more guards dashed into the room, along with the Trandoshan who now carried a bowcaster and had on a bandolier of grenades.

Angory fired a shot at the Trandoshan that just clipped his shoulder causing him to roar in annoyance as he ducked behind cover.

"What's up fuck!" Angory yelled. "Ready for round two."

"Kill them!" the Trandoshan shouted.

One of the guards fired at me, blowing a hole in my crate right next to my head, showering me with debris as I dropped prone. Blaster fire tore into my box, their rounds screaming over me.

Angory poked his head out and fired two shots at the first one who shot at me causing them to dive for cover, and for their partner to turn their rifle on him. As they did I took aim through one of the holes in my box and shot them in the side of the head.

As they hit the ground, Angory, the Trandoshan and the other guard all moved and fired simultaneously. The guard's shot just clipped the energy shield surrounding my helmet, reflecting to the side with luckily only a slight jolt of electricity tickling the top of my head. Angory's shot hit the guard in the center of the chest, sending up a cloud of smoke as the bolt tore through them. The Trandoshan's shot missed entirely, striking a box between me and Angory, causing it to violently explode, sending shards of wood everywhere.

Angory and I ducked into cover as the wood reigned down, covering our heads. As the barrage of shards came to an end I looked up and made eye contact with Angory, giving him a thumbs up which he returned he readjusted his grip on his A280. Then as we were both about to poke our heads up a red light flew between us, bounced off a box, then rolled directly between us.

As soon as it settle we both recognized it as a Class-A Thermal Detonator.

"Shit!" Angory shouted as he started scrambling to get up.

The Class-A has an effective 20 meter, too much for either of us to escape before it detonated. Even with all the cover around us, some of the boxes were bound to be filled with spice which would only increase the explosives radius. Throwing any grenade in this part of a ship was reckless, but with the added threat of follow-up explosions it was downright foolish. It could tear a whole in the ship, opening it up to the vacuum of space. With all that in mind, my body was actually moving before I had consciously realized it.

I dove on top of the grenade, internally hoping my electromagnetic shield could deflect enough of the shockwave that my bodysuit could contain the fireball. Mac's camera shot towards me as I dove, and I could see Angory roll to the side as the detonator rumbled beneath me.

The intense heat from the explosion was the first thing to hit me. One thing I had not factored into my decision was that this was not a legal Imperial made Class-A, which meant its strength could either be far more, or far less potent than standards. Luckily, this one was the latter.

However, the explosion was still strong enough that I was thrown straight up, my body slamming hard into the ceiling before falling directly onto a pile of crates which I bounced off of and fell into the center of the room, all the while I was being fiercely electrocuted by my own shield.

In the end though, it worked. I took enough of the explosion that the fireball did not spread, and the only one who was seemingly effected was me.

I lay face down near the center of the room, stars dancing across my swimming vision of the floor. The electricity coursing through my body was enough to keep me completely ridged, unable to move, but my ears had been saved by my helmets speakers automatically muting. When they turned back on the room was surprisingly quiet save for an approaching thump thump thump.

"You! Get up!" Mac yelled in my ear.

I groaned in response, forcing my eyes to focus on the feed from Mac's camera which enlarged as I stared at it. It was hard to tell what I was looking at for a moment, then with a sudden moment of clarity I realized that the thumps were the footsteps of the Trandoshan walking towards me.

I put one hand on the ground to try and push myself up, but my arm barely moved as he put his foot on the center of my back and pushed me down with ease. He let out a raspy chuckle as he raised his bowcaster at the back of my head and I closed my eyes, the electrocution finally fading far too late.

Instead of the explosion of a bowcaster, all I heard was blood chilling roar, then felt the weight of the Trandoshan's foot removed from my back. I opened my eyes just in time to see Angory hoist the struggling Trandoshan into the air, then slam them down into the ground next to me so hard that it shook the room.

He began raining down hammer fists on the Trandoshan, bouncing his head off the floor, smashing its snout flat as splattering out its green blood until it suddenly opened its mouth, catching Angory's hand in its sharp teeth.

Angory grunted in pain and grabbed the Trandoshan by the throat squeezing it with his free hand. In response the lizard man threw two quick punches into Angory's sides and rolled them over, so they were directly next to me with Angory on the bottom. From Mac's vantage point I could see the Trandoshan reach back for an A180 blaster pistol holstered on the back of its belt while Angory yanked its head down into two ferocious headbutted, freeing his arm and sending out another thick spray of blood.

Seeing the pistol I knew I needed to help. My RSKF-44 had been thrown somewhere during the explosion. Even now that I was freed from the electrocution I was still too weak to stand. So with what little strength I had I rolled onto my side and flipped the switch that activated my untested vibro-gauntlet.

The Trandoshan looked over at me as it drew its A180 clear of its holster. I threw a weak jab, the punch hitting it directly in the center of the forehead. As it connected, the tiny needle inside my gauntlet shot out, piercing its forehead.

Being poked by a needle was never fun, but when its being vibrated by a vibro-generator meant for a force staff it went from generally harmless to devastating.

The Trandoshan's head, exploded.

Green blood, skull fragments and brain matter rained down on Angory and me. He did his best to cover his eyes and mouth with his arms while I just let my arms fall back to my sides and rolled onto my back.

"Son of a witch," Angory said next to me. "I think I got some in my mouth."

I grunted in response and started slowly moving my body to get some more feel back after the electrocution.

"That was some crazy shit you just pulled," he said reaching over and patting my chest, which drained the last bit of the battery left in my shields.

As he said that the entire room shook violently, causing him to sit up, but I stayed where I was, knowing it was just Cad and Exa releasing the arm as planned. Also, pain. "Don't worry," I said with a small wave of my arm. "All a part of the plan."

"That shaking or the explosion earlier?"

"Everything alright kid?" Cad asked over the radio.

I muted and responded. "I'm alright. Got into a shootout. We won."

"We might have more company on the way," Cad said, and I could hear him and Exa were jogging. "Can you move?"

"Yes sir," I said slowly rolling back onto my stomach.

"Hurry up then and get ready to breach the boss' office."

I groaned as I switched my mutes over. "Both. Question. Why didn't you shoot the Trandoshan?"

"What?" Angory asked as I heard him move, then felt him wrapping his arms around me and hoist me up back into a normal vertical position, but my feet were dangling just over the ground.

"You charged the Trandoshan. Why didn't you shoot him with your rifle?"

"Oh… I… umm… why didn't you shoot him?"

"Lost my gun in the expl-"

"Actually, better question," Angory interrupted, still holding me up. "Why didn't you shoot the lock if you had a blaster pistol that whole time?"

He stumped me with that one. "… We have to meet up with my partners. Put me down and help me find my RSKF-44."

"… you had me in the first half, then you said a bunch of letters."

"My gun."

"Not to worry You," Mac said aloud as it floated over with the pistol grasped by the trigger between its two thin arms. "I have it."

"Can you stand?" Angory asked as he slowly lowered me to the ground.

"I believe so. Can't tell until my legs are actually on the ground." Honestly, I was surprised he could hold me up without accidentally crushing me as he slowly released me, keeping his arms at my sides for a moment to make sure I didn't just fall over again.

I took a moment to flex my legs, then stepped up to Mac and carefully took back my blaster pistol. "Thank you, Mac."

As we exited we saw Exa and a still disguised Cad Bane, who looked like male Nautolan, waiting on the far side of the room by the door. Exa was attempting to hack the door, but I could tell she was not making any progress while Cad leaned casually against the other side of the door. Angory started raising his blaster when he saw them, but I immediately put my hand on the blaster barrel, and he froze.

"Your partners?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Who's this?" Cad asked, his voice not disguised like the rest of him.

"A fellow bounty hunter," I said as I stepped up next to Exa. "Want me to take a look?"

"Name's Angory," he said, stepping up to Cad and offering him a handshake which Cad did not bother accepting.

"You don't need to know names for now," Cad said, adjusting a toothpick that was not a part of his holographic appearance.

Angory's brow knotted but he shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Exa stepped to the side, and I got to work. As I started making progress, Mac floated up to the council and inserted its Scomp Link Computer Interface. I wasn't sure how well both of us working on the same lock would go, but with both of us in tandem it took only a few seconds to open the blast door. Which proved to be instrumental as an explosion back towards the entrance rang through the halls.

"Move now!" Cad shouted, drawing his LL-30s and dashing into the room with Exa, and Angory right behind him. Mac and I were the last two inside. On the far end of the well decorated office we could see Thyne at a small council, bashing his fist against the controls which were clearly not responding. My eyes scanned across the ornate carvings and intricate paintings decorating the room as I turned back to the door and reversed my work so that the doors and blast doors resealed. With it closed I changed the passcode and revoked all appropriate credentials to open it before turning to join the others.

They had brought Thyne away from the council and had sat him down in his chair, Exa and Angory aiming a weapon at him, while Cad leaned against his desk in front of him.

"Kid, find out what he was trying to get to," Cad said motioning at the control panel.

"You're never getting out of here," Thyne said, glaring up at Cad from his chair. "You can hear them can't you. Those are my guards approaching. They'll be in here any second."

As he said that we all heard a single blaster shot go off. "They just shot the door controls," Cad said amusedly. "Now they've got to wait for a droid with a CI to get in here. Meaning I got plenty of time."

Thyne's face went pale, which indicated to me that he didn't even know if any of his droids had one. Getting to work on the interface I found that at some point someone must have hit it and damaged the council, which was likely why whatever code he had was not working.

"Still," Thyne said, still trying to act unintimidated. "You have nowhere to run. You can't possibly imagine you're going to get out of here through all of them."

Cad chuckled and reached up, deactivating his Holographic Disguise Matrix.

As soon as Thyne caught sight of Cad's face he let out a small yelp.

"Still feeling confident?" Cad asked.

Looking back I could see Angory was also distracted by Cad's reveal, his focus now solely on the veteran bounty hunger.

"I…" Thyne said, completely fumbling over his words as he tried to think of something to say. Before he could recover though there was a loud hiss as I finally activated the council and the entire back wall split down the middle and slid into the walls to reveal two escape pods. Thyne looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened in panic. His head snapped back around, and he screamed, "I'LL PAY DOUBLE WHATEVER THE BOUNTY IS!"

"Desperate please mean nothing to me," Cad said pushing off the desk and motioning with his blaster to one of the escape pods.

Instead Thyne fell out of the chair onto his knees. "It's not a plea. I'll transfer the money right now. I've got my data pad in the drawer right there," he said as he motioned at one of the desk drawers. "I'll triple it and pay you right now. I'll make it untraceable too."

Cad looked at Exa then motioned with his head to the desk drawer. She carefully slide the drawer open, running the barrel of her blaster pistol along the inside of the to check for traps. Once she had it open she reached in and pulled out a large data pad, showing it to Cad.

"Hmmm," he said rubbing his chin. He pulled out a holoprojector and pressed the button to display his bounty. "You have thirty seconds. Any longer and you're coming with me."

Thyne jumped up and snatched the data pad, nearly earning him a shot in the back from Angory, who was stopped with a stern look from Cad.

"Todo," Cad said into an earpiece.

"Yes sir?" I heard the chipper droid respond.

"Open my accounts and let me know if you see a transfer."

"Right away."

"You've got 25 seconds left," Cad said, resting his LL-30 against his leg.

"What's your account number?" he asked, a sheen of nervous sweat covering his face, which was strange considering he was covered in fur.

"Todo, account number," Cad said then put the earpiece up to Thyne's ear.

By the time that was done he was down to about 15 seconds and Cad put the earpiece back in.

"Ten," Cad said casually.

"It's done!" Thyne said looking up at Cad hopefully.

"Todo?"

"Nothing yet sir."

"8."

"But… but it's done!"

"Not until I see my credits. 5, 4, 3, 2…"

"Transfer received," Todo said.

Cad spun his LL-30 on his finger and slipped it smoothly back into its holster. "A pleasure doing business with you," he said tilting his hat to him and walking passed him towards the escape pods.

"Wait," Angory said, making my stomach drop. "You're leaving him?"

Cad stopped and turned to look at him over his shoulder. "That's how the game works."

"But he's a criminal," Angory protested.

"Who do you think is paying the bounty?"

"Well… I…"

"You didn't think about it," Cad said motioning for me and Exa to go into the escape pod, which we did. Cad walked into the entrance and turned to face him. "Been doing this a long time, kid. Not one bounty's ever been place by normal folk."

Angory looked back and forth between Cad and Thyne.

"It's always easier for you boys to think of yourselves as the good guys. Until you realize ya ain't running a charity."

Angory looked like he wanted to protest, but thankfully he drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh. He took a few steps closer to Cad, stopping before he reached the entrance to the escape pod. He looked Cad up and down then straightened up. "Cad Bane, you were once hired by my uncle when he was first striking out on his own. He said you were the best."

"Smart man. He got a name?"

"He was called Maul."

"Ahhh, I remember him. Unfortunately, my transaction with him was settled up long ago."

"No I… I'm new to this bounty hunting stuff. I came to Makta to find you and ask for guidance."

"You'd only slow me down. Like you're doing right now."

"No I won't! I was a Rebel Commando, I've been fighting the Empire since I was ten."

"That ain't bounty hunting. You're too soft for this line o' work kid. Go back to the Rebels or New Republic, whatever they call themselves now where you can play hero."

"I'm not soft. This is what I want to do."

"Son, I'm getting tired of all these delays," he said, and his hand moved to his LL-30. My eyes glanced between Cad, Angory and his pistol. Angory too looked at the pistol, and despite the fact he already had his rifle in hand, everyone in the room knew he wouldn't get a shot off before Bane.

Angory looked from Cad back to me sadly then just let out a small sigh. "So, just making sure, I'm not a part of your crew?"

Cad nodded, his hand still on his blaster.

Angory nodded slowly then gave me one last look and I caught the smallest hint of a grin. He suddenly spun around and tackled Thyne, who had gotten up out of his chair and started walking towards the door. "This bounty is all mine then!" he shouted then dashed towards the other escape pod.

"Bane!" Thyne shouted. "Stop him! We had a deal!"

Cad shrugged, letting his hand falling off his blaster. "You heard him. He ain't one of mine."

"I'll pa-" he started but Angory clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him as he carried him into the other escape pod, and the door hissed shut.

Cad pulled his trench coat back over his blaster and stepped inside. "Let's get a move on."

HI! WAMMFFics here 😊. So, sorry this was late. It is kind of a lot of words, and I did not plan properly. Unfortunately, there will also be a slight pause in the release of more RGtBH since I have several other personal projects I'm working on that need my attention for the next couple of weeks. I plan to make this one my major writing focus for a while after that though so there will be more content soon, I just don't want to give a timeline since words are hard sometimes.

TLDR: Sorry for the delay. Slight pause in content, will be back.

May the force be with you.