Chapter 23: Fraedrak Saxon
Thellus Asteroid, Dressel System
"Uh, Alor'ad, drar ven'urmankala ibic." [Uh Captain, you are never going to believe this,] a voice said into Fraedrak's helmet comm.
[What is it?] Fraedrak asked sternly, once again on Consulate Guard duty, standing on the edge of the desolate sand.
"The Bothans sir," he explained, switching to Basic. "That crazy golden-furred Colonel is assembling a team for an Agkabolomat [injury-material]."
"Holy shab," Fraedrak croaked. "Let me guess, on Ditmas Shar?"
"Yes sir, we are trying to establish his whereabouts…"
"Very well," Fraedrak muttered. "I'll give you a heads up if he stands right in front of the consulate again."
o-o-o
Agkabolomat was a particularly feral law enforcement practice the Bothan Marshalcy developed a century ago. When an order to obtain injury-material was issued, Marshals would intentionally injure a suspect who was targeted by an Implantation Warrant.
After being injured, the suspect would go to a hospital. At the hospital, a doctor would covertly implant the suspect with a tracking and listening device, much like ones Itoll Oc and Lir Sey'les had been implanted with.
The Bothan court case Larisk Ko'jia v Marshalcy established some limitations to this practice. The one concern here, is that Agkabolomat may only be obtained if the target is suspected of murder, treason, terrorism, or an abduction, with a high enough body of evidence to warrant an implantation. Now that the Bothan Marshals knew Shidar Zhol'skar was missing, Ditmas Shar was eligible to be targeted for injuries once Tav sent the request to the right judge.
Of course, it would have been much more effective to simply knock down the door of Ditmas Shar's ship and rescue Shidar. No, Fraedrak thought to himself grimly. That crazy Colonel Mi'zya wants to hurt Ditmas. He wants Ditmas to suffer.
o-o-o
"Saxon here," Fraedrak said urgently into his comm. "Ditmas Shar is casing the Consulate again. I say again, Ditmas Shar is casing the consulate."
Today, Ditmas was a bit braver. Wearing nothing but plain clothes, he walked on the sidewalk at the edge of the consulate grounds, just beyond the yellow paint. Along the paint were the words ЂэлусГрэгрэс/Thellus Border on one side, and You are now entering Mandalorian Territory/ПомонтаўоксаркормМандалорскЂўэло.
The Mandalorian Consulate grounds was not surrounded by a fence. Just one more step and Ditmas would be outside of Thellus jurisdiction. He walked closer and closer to Fraedrak's position and now stood literally centimetres beyond border, just perfectly safe, staring at Fraedrak up close.
Fraedrak stood stoically about a meter away from him, on the edge of the sand, in Protector armour as usual. "May I help you?" he asked politely.
"Sir! What are you doing?" a voice yelled in Fraedrak's helmet comm.
"No—I just, well this place is quite a sight you know?" Ditmas asked. "You sure showed the Bothans that Mandalorians can make art better than them," he scoffed derisively. "You can be better artists than these little scrawny Bothans."
"I was not responsible for the Consulate's aesthetics," Fraedrak said formally. "If you wish to take it up with the Consular, please be my guest and step inside," he said, gesturing towards the Consulate doors. I am going to grab you if you do. We know what you did. We don't know what you're planning, but we know what you did.
"Oh, I think I'll pass on that," Ditmas said cheerily. A joyless leer crossed his face.
"Captain," Murt's voice suddenly came into his comm. "Break off communications with Ditmas Shar immediately. I am sending Lieutenant Kolsh to replace you."
"What is your clan, if I might ask?" Ditmas Shar said suddenly.
"Saxon," Fraedrak answered proudly. "And you?"
"Ah, I do not bear such an honour. Just an Arkanis man myself," Ditmas said with a smirk.
The noisy whining sound of a small engine suddenly entered earshot. Shab. It's happening. The Bothans have no idea what type of beehive they are kicking!
Ditmas turned to the right, in the direction of the noise.
The Hover-scoot suddenly emerged, roaring down the street. Two Bothans were riding it, one red-furred male, one tan and cream-furred female, both in civilian clothes but with very short Bothan military fur-cuts. Both wore helmets, elbowpads, and kneepads; they looked positively dorky.
Fraedrak swore under his breath.
Ditmas continued leering at him for a moment, then turned. The Hover-scoot jumped up onto the sidewalk.
"Positive ID on Corporal Mayer Ta'trek and Sergeant Gavresk Ra'jia, the driver!" a voice yelled into Fraedrak's ear. "I say again, Corporal Ta'trek and Sergeant Ra'jia are driving the Hover-scoot. Bothans are oscar mike!"
"I am sorry! It is out of control!" the Gavresk yelped from the front of the scooter, twisting the accelerator.
Fraedrak tensed up. Under his helmet, he scrunched his face in anticipation of the collision about to unfold.
Gavresk steered the Hover-scoot directly into Ditmas Shar, aiming the battering ram on the front directly at his pelvis. The Hover-scoot was barrelling closer and closer.
Ditmas took off his dark green cargo-jacket and started twirling it menacingly.
Gavresk's snout hung open in shock, but he continued driving straight at Ditmas.
A few bystanders, human and Bothan, stopped and observed the spectacle. One pulled out her datapad and began recording it.
"Steer somewhere else!" Ditmas yelled.
"I can't! It's out of control!" Gavresk snarled.
When the Hover-scoot was less than a meter from impact, Ditmas took a step back, onto the road, and snared the handlebars the Hover-scoot with his jacket.
Gavresk and Mayer yelped in terror as their Hover-scoot veered to the left, falling off the sidewalk. With very skilled driving, Gavresk maintained control of the Hover-scoot and continued down the road.
Fraedrak sighed in relief. Well, now that's over and they are—
—Moments later, Gavresk made a u-turn in the wide street, turning around, driving once again straight at Ditmas.
Ditmas screamed at and cursed at the Bothans.
Gavresk and Mayer snarled angrily, both flashing their teeth as the Hover-scoot neared. This time it accelerated even faster, roaring its whiny engine even louder than before. Gavresk steered, circling the Hover-scoot across four empty lanes, straight at the sidewalk and consulate grounds.
Several bystanders began screaming and yelling at them to stop.
What the kriff are they doing? There's no way this looks like an accident.
Right as the Hover-scoot was about to hit Ditmas, the terrorist stepped out of the way.
The Hover-scoot hit the sidewalk curb from the road and flipped. Corporal Mayer Ta'trek and Sergeant Gavresk Ra'jia flew through the sky, yelping in terror.
Fraedrak too stepped out of the way as two Bothans and a Hover-scoot crossed the border, crashing through the Consulate grounds. The mangled Hoverscoot barely missed him.
The two Marshals yelped in pain, rolling onto the permacrete before bouncing off and rolling across the desolate sand.
Fraedrak was in shock. Voices in his ear were screaming orders, but he could not make them out.
Ditmas walked away from the scene, swearing about "KRIFFING FURBALLS!"
After turning around, Fraedrak ran to help the two Bothans, both of whom were bleeding. The white sand was clinging to their bloodied snouts. Mayer's hand was broken and bent backwards.
"WE NEED A MEDIC!" Fraedrak yelled into his comm. "Two Bothans down on Mandalorian soil."
Voices in Fraedrak's helmet comm were yelling in a panic. Murt was swearing, telling incident teams to hurry.
"Shtak!" Mayer yelped, panting heavily, grabbing her broken hand with her good hand. Her fur was flat in fear, sand was clogging both of her nostrils.
"Don't worry, you are going to be all right," Fraedrak said, taking off his helmet. He remembered the training posters in the Consulate: When their fur is flat, they are scared. De-escalate!
Gavresk laid back on the sand despondently. His red fur twirled unhappily.
"Here," Fraedrak said, handing Gavresk and Mayer gauze pads. "Can I have your names?" I should at least pretend I do not know you incompetents are Sergeant Gavresk Rajia and Corporal Mayer Ta'trek; two of the Bothan Marshalcy's finest.
"Ma—Mayer" the cream-furred female stammered in shock. "Please, I didn't mean to breach your perimeter. I was just a passenger! Sergeant Gavresk was driving!" she yelped.
"Corporal!" Gavresk snarled, "We shouldn't—" he gulped.
"Sorry Sergeant!" she stammered.
Five protectors emerged from the Consulate in blue armour; accompanying them was the Consulate's medical attaché who wore a white coat and black pants. A Protector medic emerged soon thereafter, wearing blue armour with a red Mandalorian medical insignia on her helmet.
"Well Sergeant Gavresk, Corporal Mayer, glad to know your first names. I am Captain Fraedrak Saxon. It is nice to meet you both," he said with a friendly smile. Looking down on Gavresk, lying in the sand, he added, "if it makes you feel better, Sergeant, we would have learned who your names are anyways. Standard procedure is to detain anyone who attempts an attack on the Consulate. I must say, you two are the first to attempt an attack with a Hover-scoot."
Gavresk's fur fell flat. "We weren't attacking," he yelped. "Sir!" he added belatedly.
Oh, I know that, but I can't tell you I do. "Do not worry Sergeant. You will both be treated humanely and probably released in a few hours. We just want to treat your injuries and ask you a few questions."
Gavresk began stammering as two Protectors strapped him into a stretcher. "I—we weren't attacking you! I swear! This is a misunderstanding!"
"Don't worry, you can tell us all about why you were driving so carelessly. We will also, of course, be testing you both for spice and alcohol."
