AN: Tried to get this one up faster, but I had a busy week. Thanks to all that have reviewed and hope will continue reviewing
Just fixed a few mistakes that I somehow missed last time. I also changed how I am writting non-basic; I decided to use underline to show alien dialects, but I'll take suggestions if someone has a better idea.
Wookies, Rancors and Vulkers, Oh My
The first thing one would notice about the sewers was the smell. The stench of decay and death permeated the air; also, Gamorreans had a rather pungent odor.
"Come on this way." Said Mission, leading the group to where the Gamorreans made their base.
The sewers were a maze of passages, though not quite as bad as Lower City; but there were a few circular rooms with many exits that could confuse someone. All the pathways were the same dull brown color, but the varying colors of the slime gave them some character. There were at least three ways out of the sewers; two that led to the Under City and one that was the back entrance to the Black Vulker base.
"Ugh, I hate this place; its disgusting." Said Mya, slipping a little on the slime on the floor and getting her hand covered in the gunk from putting her hand on the wall for balance.
"I didn't think Jedi were supposed to hate." Carth teased
"Well, I'm making an exception."
"So, you really are a Jedi." Said Mission excitedly, "That's so cool. Can ya do any tricks?"
"I could, but now's not the time, maybe later."
"So, you know your way through this place kid?" Said Carth
"Hey, I ain't no kid. I can take care of myself." Mission snapped, turning around to stare Carth down.
"Calm down, I'm just asking a simple question. There's no need to throw a temper tantrum."
"Maybe I'll answer your damn question if you apologize for callin me a kid." Said Mission, poking Carth in the chest.
"I'll apologize when you grow up."
"Whoa, stop it you two." Said Mya, stepping between them, "Carth, what's wrong with you? You're an adult, why don't you act like it." She said, slightly glaring at him.
"Fine, let's just go." He said.
Mission led the way, since she knew where the Gamorreans were and they wouldn't waste time getting there, but someone would occasionally slip. The group was making good time and Mission said they were getting close. They had one more of the circular rooms to go through before reaching Gamorrean territory. When they opened the door to the room they were met with a surprise; the room was filled with two dozen rakghouls that simultaneously turned to face the group as the door opened. Smelling the new prey, the rakghouls charged the four sentients.
"Not more of these bastards." Said Ian
"We can't win this, RUN." Carth ordered.
As the four headed back the way they came, Ian rolled a couple frag grenades into the room killing some of the rakghouls. Halfway down the hallway Carth got an idea, he turned and fired a few bolts into the doors locking mechanism causing it to close; five of the rakghouls made it through the door before it closed. The path they were in was very narrow, so they continued to run; hopefully they could lose the rakghouls or at least find a better place to defend themselves.
After going down a few winding paths they looked back to see the creatures still following. Mission made a sudden turn, hoping to lead everyone to another room where they could lock the rakghouls behind them. She did bring them to a room, but not what she had hoped; it was a dead end, they would have to fight now.
All four quickly turned around and fired their blasters at the rakghouls. They had the advantage that the rakghouls were still in the narrow path; so even Mya and Ian, with their poor aim, were bound to hit one of them. Three of the abominations fell before they got close enough for a counterattack. Ian and Mya exchanged their blasters for vibroswords to slash at the two remaining rakghouls, and to block them at the entrance to the room. While Mission and Carth stood off to the side of the entrance ramp and continued to fire bolts at the enemy. About a minute later the battle was over and the group got a chance to look around and see where they were.
The room they were in was small and had a couple piles of bones placed randomly. There was nothing special about the room and they were going to head out and find another path to the Gamorreans. Before she turned around, Mission happened to see a glint coming from one of the piles.
"Hey, what's that? She said, heading over to the pile.
Not minding a little break, the other three didn't complain that they had to get moving; it had been a long day, and it wasn't even over yet. Mission rummaged through the pile for a couple minutes and came out with two datapads. They looked very old and worn; it was surprising that they still worked.
"I don't get it," said Mission, "It has somethin about a 'Promised Land' on it."
The other three's eyes widened at that comment.
"Did you just say 'Promised Land'?" Ian asked, astonished
"Yep, what of it?"
"Some old guy in the Outcast village was talkin about that." He answered
"Oh, I guess we should give these to him."
"That's the plan." Said Ian, "Plus, we might be able to get some credits off of them."
"Ian, these people don't having anything to give." Mya said, a little upset at him
"Right, I forgot."
"Man, do you always have to think about credits; I mean, we could use some, but still." Said Carth.
"Hey, I'm a smuggler, remember. I always consider how much something is worth."
"Well, we've taken a long enough break. Let's move out."
It didn't take them very long to find another route to the Gamorreans territory, Mission had scouted out most of the sewers; even though she usually doesn't come in this far often. They were also fortunate not to encounter any more hostile beings while search for the new pathway.
Entering the hallway the group got a look at a Gamorrean patrol walking away from them. The disgusting, pig like creatures were disliked by almost everyone; except Hutts liked to use them as bodyguards. They're not smart by any means, but they make up for that in brute strength; a hand to hand fight against a Gamorrean would be a challenge for many sentients. Another thing to look out for is their large tusks, which can also deal quite a bit of damage.
Even though only Mission had a stealth belt, they decided that sneaking through would be their best option; fighting every Gamorrean would be tiring. While that first patrol was at the other end of the path, the four went into a room that was not being watched. It was a supply room that had a couple guards that saw the group immediately and attacked. Since Gamorreans fought with melee weapons, like vibroswords and axes, it was easy for the four to just blast the hostiles before they got close enough to attack.
Searching the room turned up a few useful items. In a lockbox against the wall they found a very large belt and a bowcaster; obviously the possessions of a Wookie. There were also a few more lockboxes that Mission easily broke into; those yielded some extra grenades, mostly frag and a couple ion. There being nothing else of value, they moved on.
A few pathways and defeated Gamorrean patrols later, the group found themselves in front of a door Mission swore was the leader's. It was locked, so Mission had to slice it open. When the door slid open the other three had blasters ready, but there was nothing there.
'Mission, I thought you said the leader was in here?" said Carth
"He's should be." She said
"Here, I'll look for any life signs." Mya suggested reaching out with the Force in a small area to see what was close. "I sense something over there." She said, pointing to a door to her left.
At that moment the door opened revealing for Gamorreans ready for battle; one was bigger than the other three, this one was the leader. Before everyone could get their blasters pointed at the Gamorreans, the leader threw a flash grenade into the room. Momentarily blinded, the quartet was not prepared for the rushing enemies.
Ian and Carth were knocked off their feet by the muscular beings. Mission was relatively safe being the farthest back and aided since only the three grunts charged them; the leader was watching the battle. Being blinded pushed Mya into her ingrained battle instincts; igniting her lightsaber, she sensed the Gamorrean charging her and she sliced its arm off with a quick slash.
Once their vision cleared, Carth and Ian could see the Gamorreans standing above them with axes ready to come down on them. Carth was fast to react, still holding one blaster, he got a firm grip and rapidly fired bolts into the middle of attacker's chest. Ian, on the other hand, had to get his blaster out of the holster and only managed a shot grazing the Gamorrean's arm; after that it came down with the axe and Ian had to roll to the side in order to avoid having his head cleaved in half. The Gamorrean was coming down fast, not letting Ian get a chance to shoot; this went on for about half a minute before Mission, unnoticed, fired a bolt into the Gamorrean's head.
With two of his grunts down, the leader decided to join the fight. He came at Carth and didn't give him a chance to prepare after standing up; he just swung his axe at Carth's head. Carth was barely able to duck in time to avoid losing his head, but the leader took one hand off the swinging axe and punched Carth in the stomach, knocking him into the wall. Out of breath, Carth was of no help while the leader turned towards Ian and Mission.
The wounded Gamorrean facing Mya only took a moment to reel back and howl in pain before continuing his assault. Since it's not an intelligent being, the Gamorrean didn't know that it stood no chance. It attacked Mya with an axe, which she easily prevented from doing any damage by cutting the top off the weapon. Stepping back, the Gamorrean looked at the stump of the ruined axe in confusion for a second, but then just charged at the young Jedi. She simply side stepped the beast and swung her lightsaber in a horizontal arc, cutting the Gamorrean in half at the waist.
Ian trained his blaster on the lead Gamorrean, but before he could fire it a large hand knocked it from his grip. Suddenly a little frightened, Ian thrust out his left arm to ward off a blow; then next thing he knew the Gamorrean flew across the room and into a wall. Not giving the leader a chance to recover, Ian walked over and decapitated the large beast. With the battle finished, everyone just stared at Ian.
"What?" he asked
"How'd ya do that?" asked Mission
"I didn't do anything."
"Oh. It looked like you made that Gamorrean fly into the wall." Said Mission, "I thought only Jedi could do that?"
"No, other people can do that as well, we call them Force Sensitive." Mya answered, "They can't consciously control the Force, but sometimes things happen; mostly when in a desperate situation." She finished, looking Ian over again.
"I said I didn't do anything." Ian said again, becoming angry and raising his voice slightly.
Carth, finally catching his breath, figured it was time to end this bickering. "Come on, let's go. We have many things to do today."
After applying some kolto to their wounds and searching the bodies for supplies, the group continued to search for the captive Wookie. They entered the room that the Gamorreans came from and looked around, figuring that Big Z was kept under heavy guard. Investigating the room was rather quick, since the only thing of interest was the door at the other end. Ian tried to open it, but the door was locked. Mission and Carth were the only two with skill in picking locks, but Carth was pitiful at it, so Mission went to work; as a last resort Mya could cut the door down with her lightsaber.
A could minutes later the door started to open; it was a little rusty, so it slid slowly and made a lot of noise. Inside the room Big Z had jumped up and prepared to defend himself. The tall Wookie, about seven and a half feet tall, looked a little more haggard than normal; having suffered at the ill treatment of the Gamorreans. His brown fur was a matted mess and there were a few bloody spots. When he got a good look at who opened the door he immediately dropped his aggressive stance and appeared to have a relieved look on his face.
"Who are they Mission?" asked Zalbaar, curious of the people Mission has teamed up with and wondering if they are not dangerous.
"These guys are my new friends Big Z. They helped me rescue you." She answered. She and Ian were the only two that understood Shyriiwook. Carth had no idea what the Wookie was saying, and even though she knew many languages, Mya didn't know Shyriiwook either.
"Is this true Mission?" he asked, surprised that someone would actually help.
"Yep," she said, hugging the Wookie, "Actually, it was Ian who said they would help. I didn't think they would, since they seemed busy."
"Hey, it was nothing." Said Ian
"You are the one to offer to save me from the Gamorreans?"
"Yeah, that would be me." Ian answered, but instead of it coming out in basic the words sounded like a bunch of grunts are roars.
"Whoa, wait a minute, you speak Shyriiwook?" said Carth, incredulous of the fact Ian spoke the Wookie language. I didn't think any human could speak that. I have to ask Bastila about this guy once we find her.
Getting on one knee, Zalbaar spoke to Ian. "I thank you Ian …."
"Verik"
"Ian Verik for assisting Mission in rescuing me."
"It was nothing." He said, waving his hand dismissively
"But it is something to me. If you had not come to my aid I would most likely have been sold into slavery. There is only one way I can repay you for saving me."
"You don't need to repay me, really."
"But I must." said Zalbaar in seriousness, "I pledge to you a life debt."
"Whoa Big Z, a life debt. This is serious stuff." Said Mission, shocked, "You know what a life debt is?"
"Yeah, I know what it is. It's when a Wookie will stay with the sentient they pledge it to and make sure they come to no harm; something like that right?"
"Yes that is the basics of the life debt."
"Well, I would be honored to accept it." Said Ian, not wanting to anger the Wookie by rejecting the life debt.
"Hey guess what?" said Mission excitedly.
"What?" Mya asked
"I'm gonna be going with you guys too, since were Big Z goes I go." She said with a smile.
"I'm glad to have you with us." Said Ian.
"So, where is the entrance to the Vulker base?" Carth asked
"This way, follow me." Said Mission
The group of five went back through the sewers, leaving Gamorrean territory. There was little excitement during the walk, except for a couple rakghouls that were easily dealt with. Within a short time they came to a place in the sewers that had a pathway blocked by a force field.
"Alright, now how do we get past the force field?" asked Carth
"We need a password that I just happen to have." said Mission, flashing a grin, "I stole it from a Vulker a few days ago,"
Punching in the code on a console along one of the sewer walls caused the force field to lower. Taking the only path, the group eventually came up to a door. Ian was about to open it, but loud rumble made him stop.
"What the hell was that?" He said
"Oh, umm … oops." Said Mission, looking a little embarrassed.
"Oops?" asked Carth
"I might have forgotten to mention a little detail about gettin into the Vulker base."
"Like what?"
"A Rancor that guards the back entrance."
"A ra … rancor?" Mya asked, wide eyed.
"Yeah, there is a rancor that found its way into the sewer and lives in there." Said Mission, pointing at the door, "He eats things that try to get into the Vulker base, and sometimes a Vulker leaving the base."
"How do we get by that?" Said Ian, raising his voice.
"Well, I can turn on my stealth belt and sneak past it."
"Yeah, but that doesn't help the rest of us." Said Carth
Mya opened the door so she could get a good look at the Rancor. The mammoth creature was about thirty feet tall and could move faster than its size would suggest. It could easily catch them with a quick swipe with one of its huge paws, tipped with large claws. The Rancor wasn't facing completely away from them, so Mya could see some of the creature's gaping mouth; the only thing deadlier than its claws are the even larger teeth the rancor had.
"There is no way we could fight that thing." Said Ian
"Maybe not." Said Mya, "Wait, I have an idea"
"What?" Carth asked
"Just wait here, I'll take care of it"
"What are you talking about; you can't go out there that's suicide."
"Trust me." She said smirking at him
Carth just grumbled as Mya walked into the room with the Rancor. Slowly she made her way closer to the Rancor, stopping whenever the beast would make any sort of movement. At the rate she was moving it took a few minutes before she was in position, and the Rancor still hadn't noticed her. Mya took out her lightsaber and got a firm grip on it, preparing for what she was about to do
Force I hope I know what I am doing.
Tapping into the Force she made a leap onto top of the Rancor's head and plunged her lightsaber into it to hold her steady. Everyone else could just watch with horror as the Rancor roared loudly and shook about trying to throw Mya off. Using the lightsaber as a grip, she dragged it across the Rancor's head moving closer to the front of the creature. Once she got in between the protruding nostrils she took a minute to keep her balance and ready a frag grenade. When she figured that she was ready, she jumped off the Rancor's head. Using the Force to help her the whole way, she turned around during her fall and threw the grenade into the Rancor's open mouth. The beast closed its mouth, containing the blast when the grenade exploded a second later. The force of the blast caused the Rancor's head to blow off sending pieces flying all over the place. A few large chunks hit Mya while she was still in midair and pushed hit back; she hit the ground hard, the impact lessened slightly by the Force. The headless Rancor fell backwards with a mighty crash and a small earthquake.
Everyone ran out to Mya, but Carth got to her first. "That was a stupid move woman, you could have been killed." He snapped. Heavy breathing and a couple grunts were the only reply he got.
"Are you alright?"
"I'll live."
The group helped pull Mya out from under the Rancor chunks and see how badly wounded she was. She was sore, but besides a few scrapes and some tears in her clothes, she was fine; although there were plenty of places that would soon sport some nice bruising.
"Oh great, first sewer slime and now Rancor brain. I'm going to have to really clean up when we get back." Mya commented, "Ugh, I doubt I can wear these again."
"You can always wear that other outfit I got for you." Ian suggested with a sly grin
"In your dreams." She said, while applying kolto to the few wounds she received from her crazy stunt.
While Mission spoke with amazement over what Mya just did, Carth pulled Mya aside.
"What were you thinking? Are you insane? Damn it woman, you can't be going off and doing things like that." Carth ranted
"But it worked, didn't it?" she answered smiling
"That's not the point." Carth said, calming down, "That was a very dangerous move you pulled over there, you could have been killed. I don't want to see you doing things like that, we need you Mya and taking on a Rancor single handedly is not something you should waste your life with."
"Sorry." She said eyes downcast.
"It's alright," said Carth, lightening up on Mya and putting a hand on her shoulder, "You did get the job. And it was pretty amazing that you pulled it off." He finished, smiling at her.
"Thanks." She said, smiling back.
"But next time save that for when we have no alternative." He said, becoming serious again.
Mya just nodded in response. My master always told me I was too reckless and didn't cover up my emotions good enough; why can't I ever seem to learn?
When they returned to the rest of the group, they made the plans for breaking into the Vulker base.
Carth, being a good strategist, took charge. "Alright, first thing is to define our goal for this mission. What we need to do is find the stolen swoop engine and return it to the Beks, understood?"
"Yep." They said in unison
"Good. Now, the Vulker base will most likely be filled with hostiles, so a small group will work best." He continued, "Mission, you seem to be skilled in stealth and hacking computers, you should be in the group infiltrating the base."
"You can count on me"
"Going with you will be," Carth hesitated a moment trying to figure out the best group, "Mya and Ian, since they are better at close quarter combat. Big Z and I will head back to the main entrance of the Vulker base to cut off any reinforcements. Everybody got that."
"Yes sir." They said, half mockingly and giving a salute.
"Very funny." He said, "Alright, move out."
As Zalbaar and Carth headed back to the Lower City; Mission, Mya and Ian went to the door on the far side of the Rancor's den. Inside there were two Vulkers guarding an elevator shaft that led into their base. Seeing intruders, the Vulkers lifted their blasters to shoot them; but before either of them could fire Mya put slight pressure on their minds using the Force, and put both guards to sleep. The elevator could only be accessed by a pass card; searching the guards, they found the pass card and a couple personal shields. While Ian and Mission attached the shields to their wrists, Mya opened the elevator.
After a short ride the three ended up in a storage closet. They looked through a few containers, deciding to see if they could find anything useful before moving on; the most valuable items were four extra frag grenades and three computer spikes.
"We need'da find a computer terminal for me to hack." Said Mission
Luck, or the Force, was on their side; opening the door in front of them, they caught a glimpse of a patrol droid rounding a corner. With that break they ran across the hall and into another room. There was a guard droid to their right when they entered; before it could attack them Mya destroyed it with her lightsaber.
They opened the door at the other end of the room and looked out into the hall way; they saw a Vulker walking away from them. While that should have been good news, the Vulker's patrol took him into a more open area.
"We'll wait for him to come back and then ambush him." Said Ian
When the Vulker returned, he found it strange that the door was open, so he went inside to check things out. Inside, there appeared to be nothing wrong with the room so he turned to leave. As he turned around the three intruders stood in the doorway. Quickly, the Vulker turned on his personal shield for protection from blaster fire. He was about to aim his blaster at Mission, but a strange snap-hiss sound caught his attention. The Vulker momentarily froze; but confident that his shield would protect him, he opened fire. He got off a few shots that were easily deflected by the lightsaber, then Mya cut the blaster in half.
Unarmed, the Vulker started to back up and leave through the other exit. When Ian noticed that Mya wasn't going to finish off the Vulker, he took out his vibrosword. She caught his intent a second too late; before she could stop him, Ian stabbed the defenseless in the chest, killing him.
"Why did you do that? He was unarmed." Said Mya angrily.
"Why?" said Ian, "It's pretty obvious, he would have sounded an alarm if we let him go."
"But that doesn't give you the right to kill someone in cold blood."
"Whatever, let's just get moving."
They walked into the main part of the base, the entrance to the base was to their left; also there was a room in the middle of this area providing some cover. Mission turned on her stealth belt and walked around the room, making sure everything was clear. At the entrance to that room there were to guard droids and right across from them was a computer terminal. She pulled out an ion grenade and held onto it for a second, letting it get closer to exploding. When it was ready, she threw the grenade at the droids; it exploded sending arcs of electricity through them and short circuiting the droids. Making one last survey of the area, Mission went back to Ian and Mya.
"All clear." She said turning her stealth belt off in front of them.
"Great work." Said Ian
They went back to the computer and Mission proceeded to hack it, while Ian and Mya stood guard.
A couple minutes went by and nothing had happened. "How long is it going to take Mission?" Ian asked
"A few more minutes. Ya gotta be careful with this stuff, don't wanna set off some alarm." She answered, "And this ain't the main computer. They could fix everything if I don't take my time."
"Gotcha."
Like Mission said, it took her a few more minutes to finish hacking into the system.
"I'm done." She said.
"So, what did that do?" Mya asked
"Well, I turned off the blaster canons they had guarding the elevator for their swoop hangar. And, I put their cameras into a loop, so they wont even see us" Mission said with a grin
"That's good. We should be quick; get this over with before they notice something is wrong." Said Ian
Heading to the elevator, the group didn't run into any trouble besides the patrol droid they avoided earlier; but that was easy enough to destroy. Since they knew so little about Mission, Mya decided to talk to her.
"So, a Wookie and a Twi'lek, quite an interesting pair you make." She said
"Maybe, but we fit will together ya know." Said Mission, "I got the skills and Big Z has the muscle."
"How did you two meet up?" Ian asked
"Well, it was just another day down here and I got into a fight with a couple Vulkers. Most times they just leave me alone, but they pulled blasters on me. I guess Big Z was close by and saw what happened. He came over and picked one of the Vulkers off the ground and roared into his face. Then he dropped him, the Vulkers ran off. We've been best pals since then."
"You're lucky that Vulker didn't kill you." Said Ian
"Hey, I can take care of myself."
"So, how about Zalbaar. How did he end up on Taris?" asked Mya, changing the subject before Ian and Mission got into an argument.
"He never told me about it. All I know is that he had to leave his home."
Just then the elevator came to a stop. The room they entered was a swoop hangar, there were four swoop bikes being stored in the middle of the room. There was a patrol droid at the other end of the room flying back and forth, it didn't even notice the intruders. Looking around some more, they saw a couple decommissioned droids.
"Man, if I had some spare parts I could have fixed them." Said Mission
"That would have been helpful." Ian said
There were two paths for them to take; one to their right and one straight ahead. They took one leading to the right first. That hallway was empty, but around the corner was a patrol and this time it was coming towards them. The two Vulkers saw Ian poke his head around the corner and instantly they trained their blasters on him. Ian pulled his head back as two blaster bolts went by and hit the wall, leaving scorch marks. A few seconds later an alarm rang out through the base.
"Shit. Well time for subtly is over." Said Ian, gripping a vibrosword in his right hand and a blaster in his left.
The two Vulkers were met with reinforcements before rounding the corner and apprehending the intruders. The, now six, Vulkers rushed out to face their enemy, overconfident with their advantage in numbers. They were met with blaster fire that quickly took down one of them, and they were a little surprised to see three infiltrators; but two of them were girls, so they paid them no mind.
"You made a big mistake human." Said a Vulker, "Now we will kill you, but we will keep your women." He finished, giving both Mya and Mission a lustful leer.
"Too much talk." Said Ian, shooting the Vulker in the head
The remaining four Vulkers opened fire, but both Mission and Ian had activated their shields rendering the bolts ineffectual. Two more fell to blaster fire, and the last two turned to try their luck with attacking Mya. Up to this point Mya hadn't even moved, no one was paying her any attention; but when the Vulkers turned to shoot her, she instantly ignited her lightsaber. The bolts shot her way were easily deflected and even killed one of the thugs.
"A Jedi?" The last Vulker said, shocked. He would never have thought that the young woman was anyone of importance. Those were his last thoughts as blaster bolts tore through him.
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Carth and Zalbaar had little difficulty making it back to the front of the Vulker base, they only encountered a few rakghouls; it took them a while to get there because it was a long walk. But when they got there they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
On the path leading to the Vulker base there were alcoves on either side where they could hide. It took a while, but eventually they heard some commotion further down the path and it was headed their way. Five Vulkers were running to their base, letting the pair know that something was up. So intent on getting back to their base, the Vulkers almost didn't notice Zalbaar hiding in the alcove; but its difficult for a Wookie to hide and a couple of the Vulkers saw him. They turned to question the Wookie, hefting their blasters to aim them at him.
Not giving them a chance, Carth shot both Vulkers in the back, pumping a few bolts into each of them. The sound caused the other three Vulkers to stop and turn around. Seeing the bodies of their comrades, the Vulkers slowly made their way back to the alcoves where pair was hiding. Carth knew that they would soon have company, so he tried to signal to Zalbaar to poke out and shoot at them. He seemed to get the message, a moment later he snuck out of his hiding spot to fire a few bolts. He had to move back when the Vulkers started to shoot at him; and using that distraction, Carth came out on his side and shot at the hostiles.
This went on for about a minute with Zalbaar and Carth having a slight advantage. The Vulkers had no cover, so they had to hope the bolts missed; which most did, since the pair didn't have time to aim, but they did take out on of the Vulkers. When Carth came out he started shooting, but the Vulkers had dropped to the ground and all the bolts went over their heads. Not expecting this, Carth was a little slow with his reactions and got shot in the side as he was moving back into his alcove. He slid to the ground wincing and held his side while giving Zalbaar another signal. As the Vulkers stood up the Wookie rolled a frag grenade at them, their eyes widened a second before it exploded killing them.
"Nice work." Carth said through gritted teeth as he applied a kolto patch to his wound. "I hope everything is going fine in there."
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Continuing down the hallway they started with, the trio came to the security room. Inside, a green Twi'lek sat behind the desk checking some monitors and was working quickly at something. He didn't notice the blasters pointed at him right away, but when he did he put his hands up.
"Please, please don't hurt me." He pleaded
"Move away from the desk." Said Ian and the Twi'lek complied, "Mission, see if you can turn that alarm off, I'm getting a headache."
"Sure thing."
"So, why shouldn't I hurt you? You are a Vulker, right?"
"W … well yes, but … but I'm unarmed."
"So. If I let you go you could get some reinforcements." Ian said, tightening his grip on the trigger.
"Ian, stop this." Said Mya, "Talk to him, maybe he can help us."
"Ye … yes, I can help you."
"And why would you do that?" Ian asked
"Be … because, I don't l … like Brejik. He ruined the Vulkers."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. Before he came along, the Vulkers stood for something and were not blood thirsty punks. Plus, I held a place of power, not a pitiful security guard."
"I'm terribly sorry." Said Ian sarcastically, "Okay, tell us what you can do to help."
"I can help you escape. I can send what guards are here away due to an emergency." Said the Twi'lek
"Sounds good, but how can we trust you?"
"I'll do it now while you watch, but please don't kill me after. I just want to leave, I'll join the Beks, just don't kill me."
"Yeah, sure. Just get on with it."
Mission finished with disabling the alarm system and move to let the Vulker send out his message. He told the Vulkers, over the intercom, that they were needed in a gang fight that erupted in a section of the Lower City; a section that was far away from the base.
"There, that should keep them busy for a while."
"Good. Here," said Ian, handing the Twi'lek a datapad, "show this to a human and Wookie, they should be hiding somewhere just outside the base. They'll keep you safe while we finish up here."
"Th .. thank you."
"Yeah, yeah." Said Ian dismissively
The trio went back and took the other hallway. There were no patrols, so it was easy for them to check every room in the hall, until reaching the last one which was locked. They figured that this was where the swoop engine must be and Mission picked the lock. Inside there were four Vulkers waiting with weapons drawn, the leader was another green Twi'lek.
"Ah, so here are the intruders." He said, "Planning on stealing the swoop engine are you?"
"Good guess, now if you would be so kind as to move out of my way." Said Ian, gesturing with his blaster.
"I don't think so. But I see you don't wear the Beks colors, perhaps you are a mercenary?"
"What's your point?"
"I am Kandon and I hold and important position with the Vulkers. Maybe I can persuade you to join us instead."
"I doubt it."
"How about a thousand credits?"
"Tempting, but I promised to help the Beks; and I won't betray them."
"Fine." Said the Twi'lek and then turning to the other Vulkers, "Kill them."
Not wasting any time, Ian turned on his shield and started shooting at the Kandon. Unfortunately, he also had a personal shield, so the bolts did nothing. Three of the Vulkers opened fire on the group, while the last one pulled out a vibrosword and charged Mission. She tried to defend herself, but this Vulker also had a shield; putting her arm up, Mission prepared for the blow, but it never hit. A violet lightsaber parried the vibrosword before it could hurt Mission.
Mya pushed the Vulker back a couple steps and swung her blade in an arc aiming for the Vulker's waste. Regaining his balance in time, the Vulker managed to block the attack; but the Jedi was moving so fast he didn't have a chance to counterattack, all he could do was try to parry each attack. Mya knew that she would be unable to fight with this Vulker and deflect bolts from three blasters at the same time, so she tried to finish this as fast as she could.
Knowing his shield was running low, Ian switched his blaster for a vibrosword and moved in to attack the Twi'lek. Not prepared for this move, all he could do was stumble backwards before the blade caught him. As the Kandon fell to the ground, Ian pressed his advantage and went for the kill, but instead was kicked in the stomach as he got too close. Ian stumbled back a few steps from the blow and was going to try it again, but one of the other Vulkers challenged him.
Mission stood in the doorway shooting her blaster, but still having no luck at getting through the Vulker's shields. With her own shield running low she needed a new plan. When Ian and a thug moved into the line of fire there was a break in the shooting; using that to her advantage, Mission turned on her stealth belt. When the dueling pair were out of the way the Vulker that was shooting at Mission was a little worried that the Twi'lek disappeared. She crept up behind the Vulker and pulled out a vibrodagger; since sudden movements would ruin the stealth field, Mission had to make this count. Getting a good grip on the dagger, she thrust it at the back of the Vulker's neck and with a gurgle he dropped to the ground.
The Vulker was becoming exhausted trying to keep up with Mya and was finding it more difficult to parry her attacks. In an act of desperation, the Vulker brought his knee up into Mya's gut knocking the wind out of her. She fell back against the wall, one had clutching her stomach and the other holding the lightsaber at her side. While regaining her breath, the Vulker attacked aiming his blade for Mya's neck; she moved out of the way in time, but with the downward angle of the attack the blade tore into her left shoulder. She let out a small cry before using the Force to dampen the pain. Fixing her grip on the lightsaber she was able to parry a slash; then Mya pushed the Vulker's blade down and came in with a high slash of her own, taking off the Vulker's head.
Finding an opening, Ian slugged a Vulker in the face sending him tumbling backwards. Not giving Ian a chance to obtain any advantage, Kandon took the other Vulker's place. The two slashed and parried around the room for about a minute; then Kandon used Ian's move against him, and punched him in the face. Staggering back, Ian wasn't prepared for Kandon to kick the vibrosword out of his hand. Ian backed up from the blade pointed at his chest, but tripped on his own feet and landed on his rear. Seeing his victory, Kandon smiled and raised his blade; Ian reached for his sword, but it was too far.
If only I could reach it.
Kandon's blade came down in a wide arc and was quickly approaching. Ian closed his eyes thinking that only if he had his vibrosword.
Across the room Mya dealt with the other Vulker. He had recovered since Ian had punched him, but that wasn't helping him against Mya's superior dueling ability. Thinking he had an opening, the Vulker thrust his blade at the Jedi. She knew what was coming and moved to the left, avoiding the attack; she then spun around and slashed at the Vulker's waist while he was still facing away from her. After defeating her opponent, Mya felt a disturbance in the Force that was very close, but she wasn't sure what was.
As Ian raised his arm to try and ward off the incoming blow he felt the familiar feel of steel in his hand. Not taking the time to think of how the vibrosword returned to his hand, Ian moved the blade just in time to parry Kandon's attack. Momentarily frozen by what he had seen, Kandon wasn't ready for Ian to bat his sword to the side.
When Ian saw the look of shock on Kandon's face, he knew he had him. Batting Kandon's weapon away left his torso exposed and Ian wasted no time in thrusting his blade into Kandon's gut. Kandon dropped his weapon and put both hands to the wound in his stomach as he fell to the ground.
"H .. how … not possible." He said, still not able to believe that Ian's vibrosword flew back to his hand. And a moment later he collapsed, dead.
"Let's get that engine and get out of here." Ian panted
"Right." said Mya. He was the disturbance I felt.
The three patched up their wounds and made their way to the main entrance of the Vulker base. True to his word there was not a guard in sight throughout the base as they walked through it with the engine. It took a few minutes to make it out hauling the engine. The scene before them as they exited the base was a charred spot on the ground with body pieces strewn about; a little farther there were a couple more bodies, intact, lying on the ground next to an alcove.
"So I see you guys had a little excitement out here." Said Ian, "I'm glad we didn't have all the fun."
"Yeah, it was a blast." Said Carth, still holding his wound
"Are you alright?" asked Mya
"I'll be fine." He said, wincing slightly
"Here, let me help you." She said, using the Force to aid the healing of his injury.
"Thanks."
"Hey, Big Z, can ya help carry this thing, its heavy." Said Mission
'Of course' Zalbaar replied, taking the engine.
The five returned with the ex-Vulker Twi'lek and the swoop engine to the Bek base. The guard looked at the group suspiciously, but let them enter. But things didn't get any better once they got into the base.
"Hold it, what are you doing with that Vulker?" Zaerdra demanded, pointing her blaster at the Twi'lek.
"Whoa, wait." Said Ian stepping between Zaerdra and the other Twi'lek, "He helped us get out of the Vulker base and he has decided to leave the Vulkers."
"Why should I believe you?" Zaerdra spat
"Not this again." Carth muttered
On cue Gadon appeared, to put an end to the bickering. "Enough of this. So you have the swoop engine?" he asked
"Yep, right here." Said Ian, signaling for Big Z to bring it forward.
"Excellent. Now we can get started attaching it to one of our swoops."
"So, now about getting Bastila back." Said Carth
"Yes, now we will have to win the swoop race in a couple days." Said Gadon
"What do you mean 'we'?" Carth asked
"Well, normally I'd have one of my Beks ride the swoop, but the prototype engine is unstable and could explode." Gadon began, "Instead I'd like one of you to ride that swoop, giving my other riders a chance should you fail."
"I see." Said Carth, "Since we have no choice in the matter, I'll ride the swoop."
"I'm glad we c…" Gadon started
"Hey wait, how come you get to ride the swoop?" Ian asked
"Because I'm the commanding officer on this mission and I'm a professional pilot." He stated in manner that left no room for argument.
Ian decided to argue anyway. "So, that doesn't mean you'll have the best chance at winning this thing."
"Like I said, I'm the commanding officer, I make the decisions."
"I'm not a soldier, I don't have to follow your orders."
"Hey, I could do it." Mya suggested
"No way, out of the question." Said Carth
Before the three started a yelling match, Gadon decided to intervene "It getting late, you are all probably in need of some rest. You may stay here for the nights up till the race; you can decide who is riding in the morning."
"Thank you for your hospitality." Said Carth, turning back to the others, "We'll discus this in the morning, get some rest."