There were no psychotic droids to greet her. Only a dingy mining uniform and the cool, stale air beneath the asteroid's surface. Atton's voice came ringing through the static of her comlink.
"How are you doing down there? Any luck?"
"I'm fine – I found some clothes." She could hear vehement swearing. "Sorry, didn't catch that."
"Er, nothing. No, the clothes are good – they'll protect you from the worst of the heat. Listen, I'm picking up signals that aren't… completely positive."
Mærin grimaced, glancing around at the jagged faces of grey rock around her."What's the problem?"
"There are a lot of droids. And by a lot I mean a battalion. The last explosion stirred up heat and dust, so they're less likely to see you, but I'd still be wary. They're all mining droids, which means that the guns on their heads aren't strong. Personally, I'd just go electric stick on their shiny metal asses and make them all scrap right there. But that's me. If you can find a shield, use it for the huge hoards of them, but it'll only work for a limited amount of time."
"That's always what I want to hear. Anything else?"
"Yeah, one more thing: I missed a lot morein prison than a peck on the lips." Mærin smirked in doubt. "I sincerely doubt it Atton. Over and out." The next set of doors opened with a jolt and a wall of heat and smoke hit Mærin straight in the face. She reeled haphazardly through the doors to face exactly what Atton had predicted: a battalion of angry mining droids. The passage narrowed and dust clouded her vision as she charged her attackers. Small spherical droids hovered around her, heightening her sense of claustrophobia. She didn't spare them a second glance until she realized that they were repairing their larger counterparts. Mærin swiftly took the maintenance droids out with a blaster and finished the last of the miner droids easily.
The tunnel led into a huge vaulted antechamber. Mærin breathed in relief and marveled at the sheer amount of rock that had been cut away – its solemn grayness stretched endlessly into the shadows above her.
She walked out to the computer in the center of the room with caution, on edge for any droids that might have been lurking. It was too quiet.
Mærin pushed her suspicions aside as she turned to the console and beamed at the results. The droids on the level were put out of commission and the shields that once blocked her way were down.
"Uh, Mærin, I'm picking up some bad signals up here." Atton's voice came crackling from her comlink. His dark hazel eyes held concern, but whether it was for her or the mission, Mærin couldn't tell. She sighed.
"Whatever's wrong, it's probably my fault."
"Yeah, that's what I figured. It's going get extremely hot – if you don't get out of there fast, your skin will basically melt off your bones."
"What a nice mental picture Atton, thank you. I'll—"
But there was only static.