Chapter 15: Releasing the Beast
T3-M4 listened as the battle raged around them. The ancient droid had been reluctant to unleash the other messager from Revan, but this battle would be perfect, and Master Revan's orders had been specific; the prince from the lost world had to be protected. He rolled into the Ebon Hawk behind Luke Organa, who was still giving orders and preparing to leave for Cloud City in the Bespin system.
Inside the vessel, Artoo Detoo was communicating with T4-42 about the extent of modifications over the years the droids had done to the Ebon Hawk. Artoo was completely distracted, giving T3 the chance he needed.
He rolled up to a long sealed door, and cracked the seal. The hatch opened with a slow hiss, releasing air that had been sealed inside nearly four thousand years ago.
The little astro-droid rolled up, and… very reluctantly, activated what was inside.
It took a few moments, but then two glowing red eyes emerged from the darkness. There was the clanking of footsteps, and then a moment of silence.
Then came the voice. Ominous and yet… prepared and deadly.
"Statement: Is there anything you would like me to kill?"
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Davin Felth gritted his teeth as his AT-AT took another heavy hit. The Gungan energy shield had done its job, allowing him to get the Clone Wars relic close to the enemy. He aimed the huge walker towards a group of two AT-ATs and four Juggernauts. He ran the engines up to full power, ramming the lead AT-AT with the sound of two planets hitting each other, and then he hit the main power switch.
He sat back in the control room as outside, he heard the detonation from the remote controlled AT-AT.
Besides him, Kyle Katarn smiled as he watched the fireball obliterate Davin's target group on a nearby monitor. "Now that was cool. We better get to the Moldy Crow and get the hell out of here." He could hear the sound of blaster fire echoing through the halls. Davin Felth grabbed his blaster rifle and patted the control board. "Thanks." He said softly, then followed the rebel spy.
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"The last transport is away!" came the announcement over the comm. "The last transport is away. All defense ships jump system!" Jareth let out a breath he had not known he had been holding, and flipped his B-wing towards open space, but there were too many fighters around them. "Dark, burn space! Get the hell out of here!" he said to the last four survivors of Dark Squadron. Shadow Squadron had faired little better, with only six fighters remaining. "I'll cover you!" Jareth opened up with his turbocannons. "ABANDON ALL HOPE!" He yelled into his comm. towards the enemy.
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Not far from the hanger, Imperial stormtroopers of the 501st were still moving down deserted corridors. With them strode their leader, the dark-robed figure who surveyed the shambled that had been the Rebel base on Raxus Prime. Darth Vader felt the gathering of Jedi, and their anticipation. As he moved through the ancient catacombs, he regally stepped aside to avoid a falling section of junk from the ceiling. Then he continued on his way with such quick strides that his troops had to hurry to keep up.
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A low whine, rising in pitch, began to issue from the saucer shaped freighter. Han Solo stood at the controls of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit, at last feeling at home. He quickly flipped one switch after another. He was pleased to see the lights and sounds of his baby quickly flicking to life. That little jawa sure knew his stuff when it came to fixing things.
Besides him, Chewbacca rumbled about the ship ready to go. Behind Han, Olee Starstone pointed out the window. "It's Vader!" she exclaimed.
See Threepio clanked into the cockpit, and, gesturing, tried to get Han's attention. "If I may, sir – "the droid volunteered, "I was wondering if I might – " But his optics read the scowl on the face staring at him. "It can wait." He concluded.
Imperial Stormtroopers, accompanied by the rapidly moving Darth Vader, thundered into the main hanger bay.
Before Han could get into his chair, the Falcon was jolted by a blast of Imperial laser fire that flashed outside the cockpit window. They could all see the squad of Imperial stormtroopers rushing with drawn weapons into the far end of the ice hanger. Han knew that the Falcon's dented hull could easily resist the force of those hand weapons, but would be destroyed by the more powerful E-web blaster that two of the Imperial troopers were hurriedly setting up.
"Chewie!" Han yelled as he quickly strapped himself into his pilots' chair. Meanwhile, Olee turned quickly towards the main hold. "Jayden, Shen Jon! NO!"
Outside, two Jedi, Jayden Vel Dar, and Echuu Shen Jon stalked towards the stormtroopers, their green colored lightsabers intercepting and returning the incoming fire. Several stormtroopers dropped as they were killed by their own fire.
Then Lord Darth Vader leaped forward. Jayden Vel Dar leaped to intercept him.
The Dark Lord met a Warrior of Light in midair.
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General Veers, proudly transmitting his report to Chi'anna Eclipse, was totally unaware of the approaching danger. After the destruction of more than half his forces at the hands of the Rebels, he had finally managed to approach their main target. "Yes, My lady. I've reached the main power generators. The shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing."
As he ended his transmission, General Veers reached for the electrorangefinder and looked through the eyepiece to line up the main power generators. Electronic crosshairs aligned according to the information from the walker's computers. Then suddenly the readouts on the small monitor screen mysteriously vanished.
Confounded, General Veers moved away from the eyepiece of the electrorangefinder and turned instinctively towards a cockpit window. He saw something he had not expected.
A red droid stood in the exact spot where his rangefinders had been pointing. It was a rather strange looking droid, with red armor plate, and sinister red glowing eyes peering from a face that looked unlike any droid he had ever seen.
When it raised its arms, the longbarrel heavy rifle it bore aimed right at the cockpit window.
The other pilots also saw the evil looking droid. "He's going to – " one of the pilots began.
At that instant, the heavy blaster bolt smashed through the cockpit window and into the pilots head. General Veers fell flat onto the deck, as a second blast killed his second pilot. "BY THE GODS!" Veer's yelled as his AT-AT came to a slow halt. There was no way he was going to stand up now! He started crawling his way towards the rear door, not lifting his head an inch.
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Outside, the assassin droid HK-47 tilted his head a little disappointed. "Insult: Stupid looking walker thingies. Observation: Two kills in .24 seconds. I must be slipping."