Chapter 47:
"We'll hit the base in a three-pronged attack. I, Bastila and Juhani will go in on the pretext of a diplomatic venue using the code the Sith spy gave up. Mission I need one of those sabers we took off the dark Jedi. You know where we keep them, right?"
"Yah sure, in that nifty secrete compartment under the starboard bunks." the girl answered. "Going to play dark Jedi?"
"No. we try diplomacy first. We point out that Elassa's lightsaber was never recovered by the Selcath authorities then show them the blade and let them draw their own conclusions. It should buy us a little time for you and T3 to sneak in and do your things. Our team will be called Shield.
"We'll take out the opposition as they come and we'll hunt for those missing Selcath younglings. Mission you and T3 go in stealth mode using the code our little droid deciphered. Your job is to get to the command center and start shutting off all the security and causing as much technological havoc you can muster. You'll be referred to as Shadow.
"Canderous, you Zaalbar and HK-47 make up team Basilisk. You will strike the base using the hidden location near the swoop track. Fortunately, you'll not have to enter the races to get to it or the Sith wouldn't be able to use it. I'd say use the distraction of the races to slip in."
"Be much easier if their heads were turned by the races of the Mysterious Stranger." Canderous made a suggestion. "While they are, all looking at you take the track no one will be looking at us slipping in the back door."
Revan seemed to consider the prospect. It would provide the perfect cover to be true. Collectively the races would not take more than ten minuets at worst. "Worth a shot it gives our Shadow team time to get into their positions but Canderous you need to hold position until they get into theirs and we claim ours. This strike will not work unless all three of our teams are ready."
"Roger that Boss. Don't worry. If there is anything a Mandalorian knows is the value of a coordinated attack."
The Nagai only nodded, "Jolee you and Carth continue on with your court case. Again it's a good distraction, while the authorities and common folk are consternating on the case they are not paying attention to us slipping into places we shouldn't be."
Onasi shot a glance to the older man silently asking the aged Jedi should they let their leader in on the information they found at the base or keep silently about it. Jolee answered him back with a cool if not detached stare as if to say: Let this one lay kid. No cause to stir up the muck if we don't need to. Right now, the less she knows the better.'
Though he understood the unspoken command Carth had a strong dislike for it. Keeping something away from a woman like Ravensong was a good way to get your asked kicked three ways to Sunday. Even still he placed his faith in the old man. Surely the elder Jedi knew what he was doing. Besides Onasi told himself Jolee has been doing this Jedi thing a lot longer than Skye, who was still trying at least to the Commander's eyes get a grip on all things Jedi-ish.
At this point Onasi didn't know which was worse an elder Jedi that ignored his training and the ideals of the Jedi or one who didn't know them well enough to follow them. Of course, there was a reason why Jolee sought exile in the depths of the Shadow Lands even if Carth didn't know what it was. Maybe it had something to do with that mysterious wife of his. The galaxy is painted in black and white; Carth always believed and realized a sudden truth and certainty of it deep in every bone. But from far enough away, it all looks grey.
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The cheers of the crowed echoed though the underground compound of the private hanger deck—all of them chanting the name of the Mysterious Stranger. The acoustics carried the roar of the swoop bikes as they hit the accelerator pads. By sound of it, the Whelp had just won her second heat and beaten the standing record and created a new one.
Ha, Canderous thought to himself, of course the Jedi Whelp would take the title. She could do no less, hell she couldn't throw the race unless she ran it backwards and blindfolded. The old Mandalorian scoffed; even then she'd probably take the title—Ravensong was that competitive.
As the three companions neared the docking bay Canderous turned to his fellow warriors, "Shields up, weapons hot. This isn't going to be an easy walk on Dantooine. Distraction or not we've got Sith to face. Forces users. So be ready." There was a hit of joy in the old mercs voice as he relayed his orders. The best thing to killing Orange Coats was facing down Jedi. Dark side Light it was all the same to a Mandalorian.
HK-47 photo processors blinked as he spoke. "Cautionary warning. Dark Jedi like to use lighting. A lot. With barely contained glee: this will be fun! Let's kill some meatbags!"
"Ha. I like you droid." Canorous clapped the rusted durasteel shell of the assassin droid's back. "Come on."
The Sith soldiers inside the shuttle bay had been listening to the swoop race pod-cast: cheering on the Mysterious Stranger as she took yet another title. It came quite a shock to them when the great doors of the bay slid apart allowing the Ebon Hawk trio entry. Despite their surprise the soldiers swiftly acted and fired at the intruders. Unlike their sliver-backed-troopers these men could actually hit what they were aiming at.
A lucky shot struck HK directly on the chest casing the droid to recoil a little but his shields held. "Declarative boast: DIE meatbag!" he squeezed the trip on his carbine directly into the center off mass of his opponent. The men had not enough time to activate external shielding and was operated swiftly in a cloud of pink mist.
Zaalbar roared his charging momentarily shocking two more officers. He didn't raise his bow caster but lobbed a set of three cluster grandees, concussion, adhesive and frag. A trick he picked up form the matches of the Mysterious Stranger. Creating the cluster 'bomb' had also been her idea, one the crew of the Hawk now used liberally.
It worked like a charm just as it had in the arena on Taris. Those not stunned by the concussion grandees were either locked in place by gelatinous blue goo or rocketed by the fragment grange. His enemies were dead before they hit the deck
They however were faster than HK opponents whose shields took most of the damage. By they time they were able to draw despite being stuck or the ringing in their now bleeding ears, the Wookie had already dodged behind shipping crates readying for another volley.
At the same time Canderous took on two of the dark apprentices. He knew exactly how to stay alive against those armed with lightsabers and the Force. Use fired a grappling hook on the one to his left, dropped to his knees rolled and as he did so he tossed one of the cluster grandees onto the bound dark Jedi.
The other leapt free just as the blue goo oozed to where she was one standing. Now in the upper gantry the Jedi was free to use his powers. Just was HK predicted the dark Jedi lunches a volley of lighting bolts into Canderous. Not even the hard-ablative shell of his armor or the shielding was able to stave off the electrical attack.
Canderous yelped as his body swam in purple lighting. Only his superior Mandalorian training allowed him to push past the pain, absorb it to fuel his rage. Carbine raised he let loose a spray of blaster fire. Targeting not for were the fracking dark Jedi was perched but the I-beams below her feet. The idea was not only to stop the electrical barrage (which was a priority) but cause the filthy Force user to abandon her high ground.
Like all Force wielders the dark Jedi bounded from one beam to another to another with exaggerated ease-like a dammed flea on a kath hound. Spit and blood! what Ordo would give for a jetpack. Damn it all! He'd have to get the Street-rat to install one on his armor when this was done.
HK was locked in battle with his own enemy tag team. Elite troopers had spread out trying to flank the droid. But HK dropped his heavy riffle in favor of a duel wielding blasters. He ran headlong into the stacked barrels the troopers were using as a barricade, firing both hand-cannons with deadly accuracy via his advanced calibrated synthetic optics. No shot fired missed its intended target. Blaster bolt after blaster bolt shredded the plastosteel containers into so much rubberized-slag. Shot straight on, a trooper went down in a mass of shredded flesh, uniform and blood.
His companion looked down saw the corpse looked back up and didn't look again. HK rose his foot and stopped the head that had rolled his direction as one stops a kickball on a playground from escaping. Then his foot came down like a wreaking ball crushing the decapitated head as if it were nothing more than a melon.
The dark Jedi ducked another bolt of blaster fire hurled by the Mandalorian warrior below her. She summed what was left of her reserves readying to slam jagged line of Sith lightening into the bastered when she was struck square in the torso. She plummeted to her death with a sickening splat.
Canderous walked up to the dead body and shook his head. "Pathetic! I fought padawans in the war with more to what you showed. Your Master should be ashamed of your performance." he stooped down and confiscated the acolyte's lightsaber and hooked on his belt. A badly won trophy but a trophy none the less. "The Whelp had more muchness to her and that was before she woke up and became a Jedi."
With the token opposition taken care off the trio entered the transport. Next destination: the Sith Base.
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Across the city, Shadow team consisting of Mission and T3 were drawing close to their mark readying for when Team Specter arrived. Team Basilisk must have already be in the process of confiscating the shuttle and launched towards the base. Granted Basilisk's method of entry involved the lease cranial straining and the most combat but it allowed for infiltration via a secondary door. It also allowed for a pincer move against the Sith who would be under the impression their only concern was moving from the front door.
The new stealth device not only masked Missions footfalls it erased her heat signature. As long as she didn't engage in direct combat no one would know she was there. Mission looked at her chrono for the eleventh time, counting down the time it would take for Skye and the other two appear. The third heat should be over. No doubt Skye won, she always did. Thankfully she had T3 tap into the broadcast and record the Jedi's heats.
The little astromech droid bleeped indignantly as he shifted from tread to tread. His seeming rant continued until Mission kicked him in the side. Not hard but enough to silence the droid's tirade.
"I know, I know okay. We're on time so relax. We didn't get a call from Basilisk so that means they're on the way to the base. And don't worry about the paint job it'll come off."
T3 bleeped unmeasured.
"Of course, I'm sure, it's not permanent. I made sure of it. It's the stuff used on shipping crates not ship or droid. One good soak in an oil bath and it'll slip right off. You won't look like some Imp droid for long. Now come on they're all counting on us. We got the code from those cards, so let's crack this egg."
Mission activated her stealth belt and stepped on the top of the droid's back ambulatory strut tread-hubs and used his 'shoulders' as a purchase to hang on as he rolled forward. The access code granted entry. As soon as T£ moved into the foyer of the embassy a woman behind the reception desk looked up scowling at the sudden intrusion.
Unlike the Twi'lek female receptionist in the Sith base on Taris this woman was human and judging by the lapels on her gray uniform a lieutenant in the Sith army. She gave a scathing look to the little mech. "What is the meaning of this droid? What were you doing outside the base? Explain yourself!"
T3gave a shot series of beeps. The companion had devised a contingency for this inevitability. T3's answer was to give the answer that he was to monitor activity near the Grand Hotel should the Republic send more than an ambassadorial agent to investigate that murderer Sunry.
"I see. You have used an outdated code. By all accounts you should be purged. That code is a day old!"
T3 went into a series of bleeps and excitable chirps.
"What do you mean it couldn't be helped?"
T3's answer was short.
"You were detained?" the attended scowled. "Detained by whom? Those Orange Coats? They catch you spying? What did you find out?"
T3 answer came out almost snarky chirp.
"Alto city Port Authorises. Why would the fishmen detain you? If you were just to monitor the situation there fishmen have no need to hold one of our droids."
The blonde woman scowled. She clearly did not like the irregularity of the situation; her hand was already hovering near the button that would summon a contingent of guards. Not that a heavy presence was necessary to take care of one errant astromech.
T3's answer was almost cheeky.
"Because the Jedi are involved in the murder case? We already know this! The city authorities already informed us of who the Republic arbiter is. Your information is outdated as that pass code you utilized. Clearly your logic circuits are malfunctioning. Perhaps too much salt air caused some corrosion. Get down to maintenance, have them some diagnostics."
T3's answer was the equivalent of 'whatever.'
"See this is what I'm talking about. That isn't normal behavior." The lieutenant turned feeling something...someone behind her but before she could question it the door to the embassy opened for a second time.
"Now what is this!" the aid spun around. "Who is blazes... Jedi!" gave a scathing look to T3 "You could have told me thee robes were coming here." The turned back to the Jedi sneering. "I don't know how you got in here but you won't be getting out." Her hand went to the desk but was stopped by an unseen hand.
"Unwise." Bastila said her hand out stretched.
"You must not act too hastily." Juhani echoed her companion's words.
"Indeed," Revan held up the confiscated Sith saber, her lips curling into a sly smile.
"Your Jedi tricks don't scare me, nor do your lightsabers." The lieutenant growled. Now free from Bastila's Force-hold, the blonde rubbed the wrist to stimulate the psychometric feeling of a lack of circulation as she might have done if she had been wearing binders.
"Oh this is not a Jedi's blade, this weapon belongs a Sith." Revan ignited the lightsaber, revealing the crimson blade. "I could very well be mistaken but I believe this once belonged to a Sith acolyte named Elassa. Recently murdered?"
The expression on the aid changed immediately. Anger was replaced by astonishment. "Where did you get that!?" the blonde demanded hotly.
"Where I got, it is of no relevance to a glorified receptionist. This Sith Force-user Elise must not have been a full Master or even a full acolyte or she would never have been taken by surprise as she was in that hotel room. Perhaps her Master is here on Mannon? And it could be they might desire to have their apprentice's blade back."
The aid glowered. "I am not some glorified aid, Jedi!" Completely distracted by the Jedi, the aid didn't pay attention to the fact that the 'wonky' she had before the Jedi arrived was in fact Mission coming out of stealth. "And why would Jedi return a Sith weapon?"
"An astute question." Revan answered. There was a slight node of the head and the woman toppled over. Hit by a stun blast from behind. "One I fear you need not the answer too."
"Takes care of her." The Twi'lek moved to the computer terminal not taking care not to step on the blonde's hand as she passed. "Opps. Sorry didn't see you there." she said accessing the terminal. "Okay, primary security is off line, cameras, alarms and I've got the base schematics, down loading the plans to your HUDs...now. Okay you should have it."
The Jedi each checked their wrist comms and found they had the entire base's blueprints.
"Still need to get to the hub so we can get to disassembly room. That droid that dull-stone Roland needs will probably be there."
T3 chirped a little disgruntled.
"Don't worry T3 we'd never dismantle you or allow it to happen." Revan patted the cylindrical head.
The chip was only slightly more hopeful before the spoke of the plan they had in motion.
"Don't worry about the troopers; we'll take them out in the barracks and in whatever little nests they're' hiding in. That should give you both enough time get to the flow controls allowing Basilisk to get in. Once they do we search for those Selcath younglings." Revan said. She moved to Mission and touched their girl's shoulder. "You did good here. I'm proud of you. Both of you have truly proven yourselves. Now I need you two to keep up that good work. If this plan is to work I need you to stay hidden Mission. T3 try not to be too conspicuous."
The small astromech bleeped a question.
"I don't know... roll around casually." Revan shot back with a imperious wave of her hand.
The answering chirp was a little more indignant but compliant.
"Youngling...when the battle commences you will not engage directly." Junhani said firmly adding a bit of Force persuasion into her words. "You will use stealth and your slicing skills but you will not directly become involved. Your talents are better served elsewhere."
"Got it, we don't get directly involved." Mission said dutifully. "T2 and I slice you Jedi dice."
"Nicely done." Bastila whispered to the Cathar who answered with a smirk.
"Hey!" Mission shook her head. "Did you just do a Jedi mind-whammy on me?" Mission folder her arms over her chest like a petulant child. "You did didn't you! Ugh...I don't believe it. So not fair! I can't even get that thought out of my head now, it's like a stupid song you get bugging your brain forever."
"We can not afford you to do anything foolish. Control your thoughts, control your feelings. Focus on the moment. Don't let your mind stray. You must stay on target, Mission. Slice the systems as ordered, sabotage them, cause a bit of havoc and then get out of here." Revan commanded. She didn't use any Jedi powers but the full force of her essence as a veteran General of war. As the Revanchist. She was obeyed.
The Jedi passed through the sealed doors, shutting off any noise from the outside. The access corridor continued eerily silent. The door had to be soundproofed. It meant whatever occurred within the embassy would not attract outside intrusions, such as the Alto City police.
Silence or not their admittance deeper into the complex had not gone completely unnoticed. Almost instantly the trio drew the attention of a contingent of clankers. They spun rose their rifles and levelled their blasters.
"Halt!" the one with a red strip on its skull husk commanded. "You are not permitted in here. Commander Grann will be alerted..."
Green sparks flew from Revan's finger tips cutting short the droid command unit speech. The droid's chassis shuddered as it was coiled in tendrils of electricity. Sparks fingered outward to the remaining droids preventing them from locking on target allowing a microsecond of initiative for the other two Jedi to act.
In one synchronized movement Juhani and Bastila Force-leapt forward. A back handed swing form Juhani's blue blade decapitated one of the battle droids as she turned a roundhouse kick in to the duranium chest plates of another. So powerful was the kick it careened backwards like dominos taking the one directly behind it with it toppling useless to the deck
Bastila's golden duel saber spun like ancient propellers on an aeroplane...striking low cutting off the legs of one droid and on the upwards swing slicing a second in-twin.
Revan's victims were now smoking ruins due to the strength of the Force-lighting she had unleashed. She causally stepped around them like so much detritus in a scrap yard.
Footfalls, a movement of a shadow. Darting from the Nagai's left hand was her shorter green saber. It spiralled in the air, spinning just as the shadow turned from the cross-section of the corridor it slammed into the gray suited body.
The human went down with a very short sharp cry of astonishment, then nothing. Revan stretched out her hand to summon her blade; it shot back into her palm and just as smoothly the Jedi replaced it upon her hip.
Any Force-user of course could feel the intrusion of an enemy, even still the act was impressive and Bastila had said as much.
"Nagai have much better visuospatial awareness than humans." Revan said nonchalantly. She gave a short nod to Juhani. "So do Cathar."
"It comes with our predatorily ancestry." Juhani echoed the line of thought.
It was hardwired reflex reaction both Nagai and Cathar possessed to any rapid movement. In that moment Bastila saw her companions for what they were-predators—fast precise hunters just as she was the agile, opportunistic, cooperative team animal her ancestors had been. In a war like this, a predator was a great asset.
Bastila offered a half-hearted smirk. "Let's hope those abilities prove equally beneficial as we neutralize the rest of the base. Good thing Mission shut off the security systems or all this noise would attract a lot of attention."
"Probably has, I doubt the sound-proofing extends to the interior of the base. But we need to buy her time so she can shut down all the turrets and snares Team Basilisk will face. She's gonna have to get that forcefeild down if we want to move north to south." Revan said moving down a short corridor then came up short when she spotted a defunct droid.
"At least that is one clanker we need not worry about." Bastila tapped the droid on its arm with the tip of her lightsaber.
"Nope, but our enemies will. Let's give the Sith a little trouble of their own." Revan moved to the droid's operation panel in the back then reached for the small repair kit on her utility belt.
"You're always tinkering with those things. I assume you intend to use that clanker as a means to distract out enemies." it was not a question for the young Sentinel knew the answer.
"But of course," There was a very cocky smirk on the former Dark Lord's lips. As she spoke she continued to repair the droid's main motivator, weapons and shielding arrays. "What else are battle droids good for?" She shrugged her shoulders indifferently "There. Done. Let's cause a little havoc, shall we?" the cocky smirk turned into a devilish smile.
The three darted in, simultaneously using force push to propel their targets away from the computer terminals into bulkhead a several paces behind them. In those precious very seconds, they splintered off encircling their pray as kath hounds on the hunt.
Juhani sprinted ahead, Force-flipped into a handspring-launching herself into the air landing onto the shoulders of one of the elite red-armored Sith shocktroopers. She used her weight to twist the bones in the topper's neck and snapped them. As he fell dead, the Cathar Jedi shoulder-rolled forward and took out the next two Sith: the first by driving the tip of her blade deep into the gut of an elite trooper and eve before she drew breath she used a leg swipe on a grey-belly as he fell she used the Force to slam in into the wall with such momentum it shattered his pelvis and spine rendering him paralyzed: forever.
In that same instant that Juhani sprinted ahead, Bastila and Revan snapped out their hands and sent forth a riptide of Force lighting. Twin arches of green fingers of electricity shot into two greybellies and the two behind them. They splintered off: back –to-back—the blades black, green, gold swirled and hummed. It was a dance of Arturo, Makashi, Soresu and Shien / Djem So. One style seamlessly blending into another and into another, into another. Their symmetry, their connection, their dance was absolutely perfectly insync.
Spin, swirl, block, deflect, riposte, behead. They were fast, furious, efficient and thorough.
"Mission, report to our position and takeover. Slice everything and anything. Take all records then sabotage everything. We need you both on this. Get it done." Revan ordered.
*Right on it Skye. Not a problem. Don't worry. T3 and I will be there, we all ready got the back door open for Big Z and Grandpa Candy to do their thing. Oh, yeah and that crazy-ass droid you got hold of. Can I just say for the record—I hate that thing? Love T3 by the way. Just sayin'*
T3 waitlisted his agreement.
"Protests noted. Now get to work, you two." again it was a military command that issued from the former Dark Lord. Revan expected to be obeyed without question or hesitation and she was.
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Across the compound team Basilisk waited. HK flanked the left side of the grate shield door. Canderous and Zaalbar the right. Of course, Missions Intel did hurt. Beyond the doors were seven organics and eight clankers. As soon as the doors slid open Canderous tossed in a volley of cluster grenades of flash-bangs, frags and adhesive bouquets. At the same time, HK threw in a handful of droid-poppers.
An instant after the blast Canderous, Big Z and HK spun in through the door; blasters and bow caster raised and opened fired indiscriminately on whatever was left standing or prone on the floor. The enemy forces, little over a dozen armed and armored mercenaries, lay dead or destroyed.
Standard Mandie sweep-and clear. 'Whatever is on the other side of the door is not your clan, not your team-destroy it: with all do prejudice. Overwhelm the enemy with superior firepower and attrition.' If the Mandalorians knew anything it was how to glass a planet, use scorched earth tactics, and mass slaughter, to taking down enemy fortifications.
Canderous and Zaalbar moved forward taking the next corridor leaving HK to play tail-end-Charlie.
The corridor stretching between the landing bay and the processing room beyond was vacant. Mission and T3's swift and careful sabotage of the computer systems muted alarms and security feeds just as she had for the Jedi.
At the next set of blast-doors the old merc and his team assumed their same positions. HK would remotely command the door slid open. from their limited over on either side of the bulkheads Both Canderous and Big Z tossed in several bouquets of cluster-grenades.
Ozone cloyed the air as it had in the previous chamber, smoke, blood and burnt flesh. The stench of battle. Canderous loved it. It filled his blood with fire and battle-lust. He didn't even have to use the thermo imagining on the HUD of his helmet to open fire on the Sith, all he had to do was follow the sounds of the screams of dying men.
HK and Zaalbar reacted almost instantaneously to his command, charging forward from the corridor with a barrage of blasterfire. The second wave of their attack ribbed into the pack of scattered with. The fight would have ended right there if not for the red body armour and energy shields.
Three of the enemy combatants dropped to the floor, but enough of the deadly projectiles were deflected or absorbed so that the rest of them were able to fall back and dive for cover behind the computers banks that littered the chamber.
The next few seconds of the battle were utter chaos. Canderous's team pushed forwards, scrambling to use the computer banks for cover. They had to fan out quickly, before enemy crossfire could pin the entire group down in a single location. The chamber echoed with the staccato recoil of assault rifles and the sharp zip-zip-zip of bolts ricocheting off the massive computer banks and bulkheads, and the incandescent tracer Bullets that made up every fifth round ignited the chamber with ghostly luminescence.
Sprinting to a nearby bulkhead, Canderous felt an all too familiar shudder as his energy shields repulsed several shots that would have otherwise found their mark. He hit the deck and rolled as a line of bolts struck the floor just in front of him, disintegrating the metallic titles and sending tiny showers of sparks and metal up under his visor and into his face.
He came to his feet spitting out the foul grit, instinctively checking the remaining power on his shields. He was down to fifteen percent—not nearly enough to give him a fighting chance if he had to make another run through direct enemy fire.
They had lost their initial advantage of surprise, and they were now facing an enemy squad nearly double their number. But the Hawk team were trained to work as a team, to cover each and watch one another's back. Over the months, they had learned to trust their teammates, and they trusted their Jedi leader.
Canderous rolled to the left, emerging from behind the half-bulkhead shielding him from view and firing a quick covering burst in the direction of the enemy. Even with smart-targeting tech built into his blaster rifle it was almost impossible to hit a human-sized target without taking at least half a second to steady his aim.
HK forgone taking cover in order to draw their fire allowing the old meatbag and the rug to inflict as much damage to the Sith as possible. Even the elite troopers could not draw a line up either of his teammates with his constant disruptions. After a two-second burst HK dodged back behind his own cover; it wasn't good to day out in view in one place for too long even with heavy armorplay ablative platting coating his chaise.
Zaalbar popped out from behind a large computer bank to lay down another covering burst for his squad-mates to move, and as he ducked back to safety Canderous filled in and fired again. This time he emerged form the left side of the bulkhead; jumping out from behind cover in the same position twice in a row was a sure way to catch round in the teeth. But his dash crated the perfect trifold crossfire.
The remaining Sith could feel it happening too. They were pinned down by the coordinated effort of team Basilisk, trapped, virtually helpless. It was only a matter of time before they launched a suicidal counter assault or broker ranks in a desperate retreat. In this case, they chose the former.
It happened all at once; the Sith burst from their cover, back peddling toward the passage behind them as they fired wild bursts into the vague direction of the Hawk crew. Exactly what Canderous and his team had been waiting for.
As the Sith fell back Canderous stood up from behind the bulkhead. He was exposing his head and shoulders, but someone running backwards while firing an assault blaster would be lucky to hit the broadside of a battleship, let alone a take half the size of a human torso. He rested his weapon atop the partition to steady it, took careful aim at mass of bodies, let his weapon's autotargeting systems get a hard lock then slowly pulled the trigger into the center mass of bodies.
From the left and right side flanks HK and Zaalbar opened fire. The remaining Sith did a short, stuttering dances steady streams of bullets depleted their shields, shredding their armor, and ripping through their flesh.
The whole sequence took maybe four seconds from start to finish—an eternity if they had been worried about someone on the other side calmly lining them up in their sights. But with that threat now gone, Canderous and his team had more than enough time to guarantee their aim was lethally accurate.
"Commentary: That did not last as nearly as long as I would have liked. Hopeful: Perhaps the Sith are holding back the bulk of their enforcements for a real battle."
"I don't think they were ready for a continuous volley of munitions." Canderius said. Especially in a place that seems to be leaking."
The Wookie said something but unlike the Whelp and her Jedi underlings and tail-head, Canderous didn't understand a grunt or growl of Shyriiwook.
"Translation: Not leaking, it's a water pump control room."
"Yeah? Why the hell is it here?" Canderous looked at the digital map on his HUD. There is no submersible egress beyond them that needs to be equalizing pressure."
"Sarcastic hypothesis. Perhaps the Sith wish to make things more difficult by having ineffectual aquatic damnable puzzles as a means of redundant security"
"Whatever it is doesn't matter once that little tail-head gets that forcefeild down we go straight through to the north side."
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"Okay got eyes on the bunkers. Count like seven guys there. No clankers. Just Sith...er...I mean normal guys, I don't see any of your evil brothers. Least-wise no guys with lightsabers. I can run a surge through the all the computer terminals and into the Oh-Two scrubbers." Mission called out. "It should take them all out. At least in this section of the base." Mission pointed to the overview map. It was a security annex just pass what was labelled as the flow control room. "There's another access node here that can do a lot of damage. HK can probably slice it. There are a lot of redundant security measures here. I mean a lot."
"Please explain." the question came from Juhani
"Well like these chambers here. These water flow rooms. I can' figure out why there even there. They don't seem to serve any true purpose. Unless it's like some sort of training thing for something they're doing on the ocean floor or something?" Mission shrugged. "be better if they had osculating forcefields if they wanted to keep something hidden away but even if its to keep those younglings locked up..." again her blue finger pointed at the map. "It would work cus' all ya have to do is go through this hallway here. There's a single forcefeild in the way but T3 can get that down easy-peasey.
"Perhaps in that annex there is a more secure if not isolated computer systoles. Files perhaps like the one in the Republic embay." Bastila pointed out.
"Yeah but that one was in the open in the security hub." Mission shook her head.
"The Sith are far more paranoid." Came Revan. "If it is a data storage facility we need to get to the core and pull the hard-drives. If it isn't then we need to shut it down regardless. I'll have Basilisk cheek it out. They took the eastern wing, they'll be the closest."
"K'. Mission nodded. "Still want me to take out the barracks."
"Do it. T3 collect all the data in that droid and make a duplicate. Then I want you to destroy the droid. I also want heavy encryption- on that Intel it had. That dull-stone blackmailing shutta that runs the Embassy will never get his hands on it." Revan ordered. "He can't be trusted."
"Roland might be in a little inept but I do not see why you do not trust the man." Juhani said.
"I'll explain latter." Revan stated blandly and just was she finished speaking the last syllable Canderous's comm came over the radio.
*Basilisk: to Shield: Secondary data base secure. There are flow water pump chambers blocking our path. We secured the passkey from what was left of the dead, we don't need a slicer. We got though it easily enough. If the little tail-head's info on this map is correct then there are a quartet of rooms just beyond. The blueprints indicate a training room, barracks, a droid practice room and some kind of detention chamber. *
Revan nodded as she heard the SitRep. "Roger that. Secure the outside but do not engage the captives you're not exactly a people person, 'Grandpa Candy'. We need those younglings alive and on our side. Shadow team will seal their doors so they don't interfere. Those same flow water-pump chambers we're looking at them now. If you have them secure we'll proceed northward to the chambers you mentioned.
"Get to that data nod and have HK slice it. Whatever intel it contains we need. If he can't get through T3 will guide him through it. Above all insure no reinforcements regroup to flank us. There are dark force users here make no mistake. We can feel it. They are here. Hard to say how many of them there are here."
"But if they can feel you doesn't that mean they can feel you three." Mission asked
"Indeed, it does." Bastila answered. "And they will be ready for us. It will not be an easy battle when we face them."
*I fought Jedi before Whelp..."
"With an entire squadron of Mandies at your back. * the former Dark Lord cut Canderous off. "You don't have that advantage now. And don't forget any Force user we find here are all vets of that same war. They once followed Revan. Now they follow Ol' Tin Jaw. Just like you know how to engage them, they know how Mandies think and how you fight. If you engage make sure you're unpredictable and fast. If you let them throw a stasis field on any of you, you're dead."
*Nice pep-talk, Whelp. I know what I'm doing. * Canderous said a little annoyed he had to be reminded on how to fight bloody Jedi—dark or light. "It will be just like that ridge on Duxan. *
"As you say." the amnesiac Nagai commented dryly.
KOTOR~ KOTOR~ KOTOR~ KOTOR~ KOTOR