"godsdammit Qin, back to the turbolift, quickly!" Ran reprimanded, gesturing for the crew to follow him as he sprinted for the turbolift, at which point the doors of the turbolift parted to release a swarm of angry and armed Spikesharks
"ok, Plan B!" Ran asked as he sprinted back to the group, pirates in pursuit
"this floor seems thin enough that a thermal detonator should be able to blow a hole it" Xi'an suggested
"do it!" Ran commanded as the pirates barrelled towards them, Xi'an then taking out a thermal detonator, priming it and then rolling it towards the oncoming horde resulting in a deafening explosion, pirates thrown everywhere and the creation of a sizeable hole
"boom!" Xi'an hissed with pride
"Go!" Ran commanded, the crew all jumping through the hole, down into some manner of cell block
"this must be where they keep the people they kidnap, all empty though, interesting" The Mandalorian pondered
"fun story, mando! We gotta move, tracker says there's an observation platform opposite end of this floor, call Ivory and Martyr and tell them where we are so they can pick us up!" Ran stressed
"on it," The Mandalorian replied, activating his commlink, "Mandalorian to Razor Crest, we've acquired the crown, but everything's gone to hell, pick us up on observation platform 5 floor above the one you dropped us off on, speed would very much be appreciated!"
After a worrying moment of silence from the commlink, Martyr's voice crackled into life saying "Razor Crest to Mandalorian, we hear you and are on our way, may the force be with you"
"what is with that girl and her dusty old religion?" Xi'an questioned
"I think we could really do with the help right now, come on!" Ran countered, the crew following him as he sprinted through the cell block, the doors at the end opening into a large cafeteria area with three other corridors branching off from it, filled with terrified civilians and primed and ready pirates who almost immediately spotted the crew entering
"we don't got time for this, straight ahead, run!" Ran commanded, the crew sprinting through the cafeteria, pirates blasting at them from all directions, making for the far door
"close the blast doors!" a pirate called as the crew continued their mad dash, a blast door beginning to seal over their exit, the crew sprinting even faster in response and diving through just as the doors sealed
"everyone ok?" Ran asked, taking deep breaths even as the alarms continued to blare incessantly
"check" The Mandalorian replied
"a-ok" Xi'an chuckled morosely
No reply came from Qin
"where's Qin?" Xi'an asked with uncharacteristic worry
"He must not have made it through in time" The Mandalorian stated, picking up the crown, which had made it through
"karabast!" Xi'an swore, staring, and pointing, daggers at the other two
"we can't go back for him, there were approximately 20 hostiles in that room likely more, he is most probably dead, we have to get to the platform and get out of here before we join him in whatever afterlife you believe in" The Mandalorian stated plainly
Xi'an hissed hatefully before saying "fine, let's go", the crew getting up and making their way through the tangle of corridors towards the observation platform, dispatching any pirates they encountered as swiftly as they could, turning the last corner to the observation platform to come face to face with a pack of pirates holding a group of civilians hostage, blocking their path
"not one step further, ya bandits, who sent ya? The Martezes, The Pykes, Black Sun? never mind, I don't care, jus' put down what ya took and maybe we let you live" taunted one of the pirates, seemingly the leader of the Spikesharks, an ostentatiously dressed Elomin who wore a gold badge of what looked like a codex with the credit symbol on its cover.
"we do not have time for this!" The Mandalorian stated as the other two stood there despite the increasingly loud sounds of the horde behind them, seizing the DLT-50 from Xi'an and opening fire on the crowd, mowing them all down
"credits above! You enjoyed that didn't you, Mando?" Xi'an exclaimed once the cries and screams had died down, licking her lips at the slaughter, seemingly enough to restore her psychotic mojo
"I did not, lets just get out here" The Mandalorian countered firmly, making his way down the corridor, past the dead and dying, towards the exit onto the observation platform. Once the crew arrived at the exit, they opened the door to reveal an empty platform with no sign of the Razor Crest. At that moment, a swarm of pirates turned the corner and began barrelling towards them.
"godsdammit, those two have no sense of timing" Xi'an cursed, taking cover and returning fire from behind some storages crates that had been left near the exit, presumably after the Tauntaun droppings had started hitting the oxygen rotator. The other two joined her in returning fire, slaying innumerable pirates only to see them replaced by yet more pirates, clambering over their fallen comrades in a mad scramble to get to the crown back, blasting away as they did so. This macabre ebb and flow continued for some time with pirates surging forward ,getting cut down, falling back and then surging back anew with filled ranks until the crew's blasters got so hot from continual fire they were forced to stop using them, allowing the swarm to draw in closer.
"where in the hells are you?!" Xi'an screamed down her commlink, narrowly dodging a blaster bolt as she did so. As if in response, the doors to the observation platform parted to reveal the Razor Crest and Martyr on its ramp, holding some sort of ejector weapon