Alright short chapter today, but bigger one tomorrow
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aedan entered the atmosphere of the "Blood Moon" and immediately activated the Jamming Protocol, he flew low to the ground and landed ten kilometers from the depot. "Master, as much as I enjoy a good ten-kay jog, the weather outside is below freezing."
"Not to worry, Padawan, we're taking the swoops."
"Oh, right. Traveling in an open cockpit swoop is so much better."
"We have extreme cold gear, Kyra."
"Well, why didn't you say so?"
He shrugged, "You never asked."
She glared, then tilted her head up. "You. Are. Impossible."
Geared up in bulky cold resistant clothing, complete with helmets, they hopped on the bikes just as the sun was setting, and sped across the rocky terrain, kicking up a trail of red dust in their wake.
They made it to a cliff that overlooked the depot. "Well, there it is," Aedan said, looking at the nondescript rectangular installation that was at the bottom of a wide canyon. It was big, at least sixty meters long, and thirty meters wide, but being far below surface level made it difficult to spot. No wonder no one knew it was there.
I wonder how Asani found this place?
Spotlights were present, but they lit up the building, not the surrounding area. Stupid. They were overconfident in their secrecy, and didn't think discovery was a possibility. Two large Cargo freighters sat in the ravine not too far from the facility. Loading droids could be seen carrying yellow crates from the building into the cargo ships hull.
"Those are Aurore Class cargo ships."
"Is that bad?"
Aedan shrugged, "It's ominous. Those ships were well known for the involvement in the Zygerrian Slave empire."
"The slave trade."
"Exactly."
Kyra stared at the ships warily, "Did Krayn use those ships?"
"That's an excellent question, but I don't know."
Night had fallen, and would cover their descent down, and hopefully their intrusion into the facility. "Take it slow going down, and stay attuned with the Force at all times. We don't want any surprises to stir up the neighborhood."
"Yes, Master."
Going down was no issue, and soon they were behind a rock twenty meters from the front entrance. "Well, should we knock?" Kyra asked.
"You are rather charming, give it a try."
"Nah, I'm interested in trying this super-secret stealth mode you so boldly boast about. Care to instruct me?"
"I'd rather hear your idea."
"Right," Kyra said, and began assessing the building. "I say we try and find a hatch on top, and enter in from up there."
"I agree. Let's go."
A force enhanced jump, and a bit of climbing got them to the top of the structure, where they located a hatch, and entered the facility. Luckily, they were high up in the rafters and scaffolding and could see quite a bit from their perch. There were only a few humans around, but they were all dressed in an all-black uniform. A red "H" was embroidered over the left chest pocket. Aedan then pointed to one corner of the building where piles of a purple ore were located. "Phrikite," Aedan whispered, "Asani was right. This is the place." A long-armed loading droid exited a mine shaft in the middle of the wall, carrying a large crate full of phrikite.
"Well, what do we do now?"
"You tell me, Padawan?"
She huffed, "Master, I have no idea."
Aedan inclined his head, "Ok, what are we here for?"
"Investigation and, if possible, to stop Salas Sa'kard and his droid operation."
He nodded, "Correct, so what can we do here and now to bring that about?"
"Um," she hesitated, biting her lip, "Look for information or evidence involving Salas."
"Good, where should we look for that?"
"I guess the main office building."
"Yes, if there is one. If not, maybe there's information on one of the cargo ships."
Kyra nodded, "Okay, let's split up. You check the ships, and I'll look for an office building, or computer terminal.
Aedan's eyes gleamed with approval, "Good, but be careful."
"You too," she said, and watched him creep along the catwalk, making his way to the outside. Kyra knelt down and watched the workers inside going through their motions. A short time later, the cavern cleared out, and she decided to leap down, and investigate. She walked to one side of the room where she had seen several of the men walk through a set of double doors. She cautiously walked to them, reaching out with the force to sense any nearby workers. For the moment, she was alone. She walked through the doors and into the first room, closing the door behind her. This room appeared to be a supply and equipment room. There were several racks of thick environmental suits, as well as crates upon crates of mining gear, and droid parts.
She exited that room, and then moved into the next, which was a crew quarters room. There were bunks, and several racks of uniforms, all displaying the red H on the right breast pocket. What in the worlds did the H stand for?
She snuck into the third room, and a handful of computer terminals confirmed she was in the right spot. She tried accessing the mainframe, but it was encrypted. And no matter what she tried, there was no getting past the firewalls. Where's Mayva when you need her? She looked around the rest of the room, and found several datapads laying around, one of which was unlocked.
It only gave her a shipping schedule, no destinations. Just times and dates. The last date being tomorrow. However, she did find out that the H stood for Holowan Laboratories as it was at the top of every single page she searched through. Though she wasn't familiar with it at all.
"Well, that's something to go off of," she whispered, and snuck back out of the room, down the hallway, and into the cavern. There weren't any workers around, so she deemed it an excellent time to gather Will's payment. She quickly walked over to one of the open containers of Phrikite, and began loading up her backpack full of pieces. It took less than a minute to fill it up, and soon she was scaling the ladder, and back up on the catwalk, a few meters from where they had entered the facility.
Aedan showed up a few moments later, "Did you find anything?" he asked.
Kyra shook her head, "Nothing really, just that I think the H stands for Holowan Laboratories."
Her master nodded, "I concluded that as well. I didn't find much else, however the next destination was already programmed into the nav-chart on the ship."
"Really? Where?"
"Geonosis."
Kyra felt her brow furrow, "Way out there? Why?"
"Not sure," he said, standing up. "Guess we'll have to find out."
"I guess so. But first," she said holding up the backpack, "We have a payment to make."
Aedan rolled his eyes, "Okay, okay. Let's make it quick."
They arrived back at Rojar Station, and approached the docking station. "Docking fee is one hundred credits," the docking officer said.
"We were just here six hours ago," Kyra said exasperated
"I don't have you on my list. One hundred credits or I can't let you in."
Kyra looked back at Aedan and raised her eyebrow.
Aedan laughed in response, and held one hand out, palm facing upward.
Be my guest
Kyra turned back towards the docking official, "We don't need to pay the docking fee," waving her hand through the air. We already paid it. We can go on through."
The male just stared at her for three seconds, then answered, "You don't need to pay the docking fee. You've already paid it. You can go on through."
Kyra grinned widely, "Thank you so much, Sir. You are too kind."
Moments later they walked into Hedo's hideout and found Wil Ansani sitting in the back once again. Kyra greeted him by dropping the backpack right as his feet. "What's the-" Wil started, then looked up at Kyra and Aedan, and then back down at the backpack. His eyes went wide. He picked the bag up, testing its weight, and found that it was heavy. His eyes shot back up to the two Jedi, eyes even wider. "No way." He opened the main pouch, saw the phrikite, and gasped. "How?"
Kyra shrugged, "Like you said, we're resourceful people."
"But you brought it back."
"Of course, we're Jedi. And you were right, they were definitely clearing out, but we found enough evidence to continue our search. So, thank you."
Aedan chimed in, "But we kind of need to get out of here, and you may want to skip systems and not be found with that."
"Absolutely," Wil said, standing up, "This is-" he sputtered, "I don't know how to thank you. I'm not sure you realize how much this is worth, what this means to me."
"We're aware of its value."
Wil blinked, "How can I repay you?"
Kyra once again looked back to Aedan, asking permission. He nodded in response.
"We need capable people like you for help from time to time. Would you be willing to continue providing intelligence for us?"
"I can do that. I'm your man forever," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a datachip, and giving it to Kyra. "That's a direct contact to me."
Kyra took the datachip and put it into her belt, then extended her hand towards Wil, "Good doing business with you, Wil."
The smuggler shook it, "And you also, Master Jedi."
Aedan inclined his head, and then they both walked off, back to the 'Guile.
Kyra and Aedan relaxed in the lounge of the 'Guile, as they still had a few hours to go before they arrived at their destination. Kyra watching the latest holodrama, while Aedan meditated. Both were knocked out of their quiet time as a loud beeping came from the cockpit.
"Incoming transmission," Aedan said, and moved swiftly towards the cockpit. Kyra following right behind him. He activated the comms, and the blue visage of Mace Windu appeared in front of him.
"Master Windu," Aedan said, inclining his head slightly.
"Aedan, what's your location?"
"We are on our way to Geonosis," he said.
The Korun master was about to say something, but he stopped abruptly. Confusion settling in. "How did you find out about Kenobi?"
Aedan and Kyra both looked at each other, the confusion apparently contagious. "What? Obi-Wan knows about Sa'kard?"
Master Windu blinked several times, "What about Sa'kard?"
"He's on Geonosis," Aedan said. "How did Obi-Wan find out?"
"He didn't."
"Then why is he on Geonosis?"
"Count Dooku is there."
Aedan and Kyra once more looked at each other befuddled, then turned to Master Windu, "What?" they said simultaneously.
They watched as the Jedi Champion closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a long, slow breath. "Obi-Wan was looking for Senator Amidala's assassin, that brought him to Geonosis, where he found Count Dooku dealing with the Trade Federation, Techno Union, Corporate Alliance, and the Banking clan. They've developed a massive droid army. And Obi-Wan was taken hostage."
"Oh," was all Aedan could respond with. "We've missed a lot. What do you need us to do?"
"I've gathered as many jedi as I can, and we're already on our way to rescue him. I need you to get into Geonosis, locate Kenobi, and guide us in."
Aedan nodded, "We can do that."
"Good. You'll only have a few hours to find him, but make it quick so we can formulate some kind of strategy."
"You got it, Master."
"May the force be with you two."
They both inclined their heads, "And you also, Master."
