Chapter 13: Carida Siege pt. 2: Peril in the Elevators

It took no effort to enter the shield generating facility, Yoda and his army literally just walked in. They stood now in full attention in the lobby of the place after killing seven storm troopers that tried to stop them. In front of them were seven turbo lifts and each had been deactivated, they were the only way up besides the stairs. And that would take a lot more effort. Yoda was busily cutting away at one of the turbo lift doors while the army climbed the stairs to the top of the building, a perfect distraction. Yoda sneaks in and shuts down the shield while his army fights, not exactly the definition of divide and conquer but close. Well maybe it is, though it more applies to an army.

The slab of metal fell inwards and Yoda stepped into the lift, leaving little sludgy green footprints in his wake. In disgust he flipped the boots off. What to do now? He looked up contemplating on the best was to gain access to the turbo lift shaft. What was the story of how Anakin rescued Palpatine from the Invisible Hand? He did cut a hole in the top of a turbo lift and used its shaft. Yoda decided her would have to do that, but how exactly? He was far to short to reach the ceiling. Thinking fast he tossed his gimmer stick aside and using the Force he leaped up into the air, he grabbed into one of the out sticking edges of the ceiling with his clawed fingers and used his saber to carve a hole.

The slab of durasteel with molten edges fell fast, nearly crushing his gimmer stick, it would have to had he not pushed it out of the elevator with the Force, which he now had to completely rely on to move. He jumped up onto the top of the lift. The shaft was dark, lighted with only the red glow of small lights in case of maintenance. Yoda looked at the wall in front of him, it had a long pipe of something crawling up it and was mere feet away from the back edge of the lift. Yoda jumped and grabbed the pipe and climbed up as fast as his little limbs and the Force would allow.

XxX

Shield Generator Facility, Top Floor

The commander of the shield generating facility stood in the monitoring room with glancing down at reading from the controls of the techs in the security rooms behind him. His name was Commander Xaal, a proud commander of the former Imperial military and loyal to the Empire. He was very displeased when a tech called him from the other room with a nervous voice.

"Sir, you better have a look at this." He said. The commander put on the most evil face he could muster, straightened his cap over his neatly trimmed hair and stepped into the room. A turbo lift monitor beckoned him to look at the screen. He came up behind the sitting man and looked over his shoulder at the screen. A small red dot, to mark some sort of creature was steadily making its way up the turbo lift shaft. The screen changed to a holo recording of the stair well then to show Republic Storm troopers hammering at a blast door.

"How the hell did this happen!" Xaal screeched. "I want some answers now!"

"I'm not sure sir, I think the man climbing up the turbo lift shaft is coming to take the base while the storm troopers are a diversion."

"One man! Ha. Activate the turbo lift, I want him dead!"

"Yes sir."

The man pressed a few blinking buttons and from the bottom of the shaft the lift flew up.

XxX

Yoda heard it before he sensed it. He looked down and could see the square turbo lift shooting up. It now filled his entire view. Coming closer until it was right under him. And then, it shot right past him, ripping off his outer cloak. There had been a gap between him and the lift. Convenient. He continued climbing.

XxX

"Commander," The tech said nervously, Xaal approached him from behind again.

"What?"

"It missed."

"IT MISSED! HOW THE BLOODY HELL COULD A TURBO LIFT MISS A PERSON COMING UP ITS OWN SHAFT!" Xaal boomed and the techs all jumped. He pulled out is blaster pistol and shot one that yelped in pure irritation. "I want that thing dead, whatever it is! How could the lift slip past it?"

"Well there's about a two foot gap between it and the wall the being is climbing up."

"Two foot! That's like a damn child!"

"I know sir."

"Well can you do anything about it? Eject poisonous gasses into the shaft, get some troops down there?"

"No sir, turbo lift shafts were not designed to defend against small little people climbing up them."

"What?" Xaal hissed.

"B-but I can try."

"Do that."

"I'll send the lift down again."

Xaal turned his attention to the screen. He saw the dot that marked the turbo lift shoot down, right past the blinking dot that marked the tiny intruder, again.

"Damn it! Open the doors to the lift."

"Sir?"

"DO IT!"

"Alright doors opened."

Xaal tore out of the security room back into the monitoring room, to the left and into the lift lobby. One door was open, he unclipped a thermal detonator from his belt, activated the switch and tossed it down, with luck it would hit the climbing man, or at least show Xaal where he was to get a clean shot. He looked down and pulled out his blaster pistol. The detonator exploded near the opposite side of the wall. It lit up the shaft like it was daytime in there. He caught a glimpse of a little green, big eared… creature. He aimed his blaster pistol where he thought it was after the light from the detonator disappeared. He squeezed the trigger and two shots spat out. They flew downward as a green bar of energy activated it. Both bolts hit it and sizzled into nothingness. The green light was extinguished. That was a lightsaber, so that was a Jedi!

He sprinted back into the monitoring room then into the security room.

"Close the lift door!" He cried. "Close the blast doors to the monitoring room! All three of them, this is a Jedi!"

The techs all gasped and furiously began pressing buttons. Seconds later he heard three doors bang. He looked out into the monitoring room, indeed three blast doors had closed, blocking it from the lift lobby, but then again their only way out. Xaal looked back at the turbo lift tech's screen. The being was already out of the shaft and in the lift lobby.

It was a small green little alien, it stood there, in the middle of the lobby as if waiting for something, or thinking. The finally it ran up and plunged its blade into the blast door. Xaal smiled confidently, there was no way the little Jedi would come it. But it seemed he had thought to soon. There was a huge clunk from the monitor room. He rushed into it to see a piece of molten door had fallen off. He gasped and stood gaping as more of the door began to melt. He could almost see the other side. He snapped out of his horror stricken state and ran back into the security room.

"Reroute all shield controls here! Close out blast doors!" He shouted. The techs replied with nervous yes sir's and seconds later a very thick door pounded down where the entrance of the security room was. This door was now the only defense they had. Xaal turned his attention back to the monitor. The Jedi was just leaping in.

"Switch visual to monitor room." Xaal commanded the tech. The image of the lobby disappeared from the screen and was replaced by an image of the monitor room. Xaal chuckled as the Jedi cut up the control panels in the room and looked out of the view port eagerly expecting the shields to die. When they didn't the Jedi seemed to realize the controls must have been rerouted, he looked around the room, searching for a door. Xaal was confident he would not find the blast door since it was cleverly disguised but just as he thought this the Jedi activated his lightsaber again, hopped up to the exact spot where the blast door was and plunged his blade into it.

Xaal got over his shock remembering the door was about two and a half feet thick and the Jedi seemed to be cutting a hole in it. Xaal smiled again and it stepped back as if waiting for the metal to fall out. But then he extended his hands and pushed them forward as if that was… there was a terrible screeching sound as metal ripped and a huge cylindrical chunk of it flew from the blast door and took out the entire row of techs behind Xaal. He looked at the door as the Jedi dived in, spinning like a deadly drill with a lightsaber. He landed on his feet and the two remaining tech's charged at him, blasters blazing. He deflected their shots back into them and they fell down dead.

Xaal quickly reached for his own blaster pistol but the Jedi was to fast. With a slice from the lightsaber the pistol broke in two and Xaal dropped the useless handle. Just as he was about to beg for his lift he was pushed backwards by some invisible force and he landed on his rear end in the supply closet. Before he could do anything he was overcome by a powerful tiredness and fell asleep instantly.

Yoda released the grip on Xaal's sleeping mind, shut the closet door and locked it. He walked slowly toward a control panel. The screen on it displayed the shields power, ninety nine percent. Yoda grabbed a lever on the panel and dragged it down with his clawed hands, with it went the shield power. Yoda smiled as it reached zero. Then he took his lightsaber and stabbed the panel, the readings died.

The shields were down, leaving Ackbar to start his attack.

Next Chapter: Distress Call From Mon Calamari