Chapter IX
Red Spire Outpost outskirts
Val gradually slowed the speeder to a stop a mere half-mile from Red Spire Outpost.
As Riko dismounted and moved to detach Artoo from the cables, he could see that his solution, while it worked, wasn't... entirely pleasant for the droid.
Artoo was okay, but he was covered in dust. Small pebbles had left tiny gouge marks in the poor astromech's paint scheme.
"I'm really sorry, Artoo," Riko apologized as he disconnected the magno-cables from Artoo's legs, "I'll give you an oil bath when this is over."
"Vreo-breet," Artoo dismissed Riko's concerns as he wiped the dust off his sensor eye, "Beet Beet Dee Dee Deet?"
"We'll figure it out when we get there," Val responded, "Let's see what we're dealing with."
The triad left the speeder and saw the outpost in the distance, built atop a rocky hill.
Riko grabbed a pair of microbinoculars and took a closer look.
With a lift connecting the bulk of the structure to the plains, the outpost was a short, stubby tower culminating in a dome, out of which stood multiple sensor eyes. Thick supports held it to the ground, resulting in a surprisingly familiar shape...
"It kind of looks like you, Artoo," Riko commented.
"Vreet-beet!" Artoo was clearly annoyed.
"Okay," Val said, "Who's guarding it?"
Riko looked around, zooming in. He could just make out a group of soldiers – Riko counted thirteen – patrolling the small outpost, dressed in tattered cloaks and painted armor that varied wildly in hue. Still, it wasn't until one of them turned and Riko saw the distinctive tinted visor that he recognized them…
"Mandalorians," Val whispered, "They've hired kriffing Mandos."
"Are we still going in?" Riko asked, uncomfortable memories of his mission to Taris coming to the forefront of his mind.
Val was silent beneath his helmet, glancing at the outpost first, then Riko.
"I'd rather not," Val eventually said, "But I guess we have no choice."
He pointed to the red slash painted on his helmet, "I'll need to cover this up."
"You got any paint?" Riko asked.
"Not at the moment."
"Vreet bree dee dee deep!"
Artoo opened up one of his head's panels and out protruded a nozzle.
A spray of oil hit Val in the faceplate, splattering across his helmet, the rocky ground, and even Riko's vest.
"Aagh!" Val staggered back. He raised his hand, presumably to wipe the liquid off his helmet.
"Wait!" Riko said.
"I can't see out of this thing!" Val complained, "Let me wipe off some of it."
"Just be careful," Riko quipped, "I don't want your aim to be off."
An awkward silence ensued amongst the trio. Embarrassed, Riko looked down towards the sand.
"That's still on your mind, huh?" Val commented.
Riko nodded.
"We'll talk about it later," Val assured him, "After we get those coordinates. Okay?"
"Okay," Riko replied.
As Val gently wiped away parts of the oil from his visor, Riko stuffed his ornate saber into Artoo, the other in his backpack. Within a minute, they were both finished, Val's red wound almost perfectly obscured.
"Let's go, kid," Val said gently.
"Halt!" The leading commando, dressed in angular armor with a flaking green color scheme and overlaying tattered cloak, trained his blaster pistols on the three strangers who approached him.
"Easy," Val said, the oil dripping off his helmet, "We just got sent in."
"What happened to you?"
"Oil spill, we had problems with the speeder."
"Names?"
"Na'ann Karta," Val said, "This arueytic is Laj, he's with me."
"The droid?"
"My assistant," Riko explained, "He's a family heirloom."
"Why are you here?" the Commando asked.
"Routine maintenance," Val explained, "I'm escorting him."
"Something about a problem with the sensors?" Riko elaborated. For a kid who was often incredibly nervous and hated lying, Riko always did a good job maintaining his facade. Val was impressed.
The commando silently regarded each and every one of them.
"I see," the Commando responded, "Take it up with the ver'alor."
"We will," Riko responded.
The three entered the lift. Val kept his finger on the trigger of his rifle, especially as the lift started to move upward.
As they approached the junction, Riko – channeling Bao's lessons – couldn't help but study the Mandalorians present.
On the surface, they appeared to be wildly different from each other. Their armor consisted of a variety of styles: angular and sharp, smooth and curved, heavy and segmented, light and scattered. Some didn't even wear a full helmet, instead wearing a mask and hood. Some helmets didn't even have a full T-visor, instead featuring a straight line and breathing filter. Their choice of weapons varied just as wildly: some brandished rifles, some sported pistols, some carried heavy, menacing guns, and a few were brandishing melee weapons such as electrostaffs and vibroblades.
However, they all wore robes underneath their armor or tattered cloaks over their shoulders, always in hues of brown or black. A strange symbol was always painted somewhere on their armor, whether on the chestplate, helmet, or pauldron. Riko was only able to examine it through fleeting glances or from a distance, but it appeared to be an orange-black circle with some kind of white helmet or oddly-shaped humanoid skull at the center.
Riko had a number of questions for Val that he intended to ask when this was over.
"Bee deet!" Artoo gestured towards one of the tower's moorings.
"Access point," Riko explained, pointing towards their target.
"Got it," Val replied.
Riko led them to their destination. It was a narrow space, built into the structure surrounding the mooring. Inside lay a remote access module, sealed by a metal plate.
Val nodded to Riko. The padawan and the astromech entered the junction.
Riko reached into his tool belt, retrieving a hydrospanner.
"Deet-Bree?"
"A lightsaber would be more suspicious," Riko explained, lowering his goggles onto his eyes.
Riko moved the spanner to one of the bolts sealing the panel, and activated it.
As Riko held the tool in place, the spanner unscrewed the bolt. Riko deactivated the spanner and grabbed the bolt, placing it on the floor gently.
Riko repeated the process with the second and third bolts, taking extreme care with each one.
Once he got them all, he gently eased the panel open, exposing wires, circuit boards, and an interface port.
"Okay, you're up," Riko said. He moved to the side as Artoo plugged into the computer remotely. Artoo was currently engaging a series of subroutines designed to mask his presence within the computer system.
"What're you doing here?" a filtered voice, that of a humanoid male, issued from behind them.
A startled Riko turned back towards the cloaked, armored warrior watching them. He was tall, his helmet featuring a black T-visor that disappeared into a narrow, menacing breath filter. His arms were constructs made of burnished metal, highlighted by visible wires and gears. Held in his clawed, skeletal hands was a large, sharp, vibroaxe.
"Maintenance," Val explained.
"There's a problem with the memory port," Riko explained, "We're patching things up."
The warrior was silent for a deep moment, his helmeted gaze turning towards Riko, Val, and the repair junction.
"What's the problem?" He asked.
"One of the conductor chips burned out," Riko replied, "It's Kubaz xirkonia. These crystals are extremely cheap."
The warrior paused for a deep moment, his visor almost appearing to scan Riko. Riko did his best to maintain his sabacc face.
"Keep at it," the warrior instructed.
As the warrior left, Riko sighed in relief.
"Bee dee beep deet, vee vreet!" Artoo chirped positively.
"What do you have?" Riko asked.
"Breet!"
"You found the records?" Riko asked eagerly.
"Beet-dee-deet!" Artoo affirmed.
"Can you plot his trajectory?"
Artoo didn't respond instantly. Riko could barely contain his anticipation as Artoo worked.
"Beep Deep Deet!" Artoo declared triumphantly.
Riko hugged the dusty astromech, smiling from ear to ear, his eyes tearing up.
They had a lead, they were going to find him! They were going to find Kali'sto!