Yay, update. I thought I put this up, but apparently forgot =P Have fun
"You created a commotion big enough for the police to wrestle away weapons from the mercanaries," Roga said. "We lost some good officers. The ones who escaped and went with you were all friends to me."
"Your people are very brave," Obi-wan said. He chose to allow sadness to creep into his voice.
The small furry humanoids were surprisingly good runners. They kept a brisk pace into the woods, quickly losing their pursuers in the confusing woods. The woods broken and they came to the edge of a deep gorge. They continued along with the gorge to their right, holding silence until one of the officers signaled them to stop.
"Look at the other end of the bank," he said. The officer held out a metal tag and flashed it in the light three times, leaving a pause between the second and the third. Across the river, a bright flash of light answered back.
"We have a hideout, down there. There are defenses set up which would make it very difficult to find someone there, unless you knew where to look."
"We can find that, later," Obi-wan assured. He used the Force to lock the location into his mind. It would help him find the hideout at any time, in any situation, from any angle.
They ran another two kilometers before they saw buildings shining between the tree stalks. While they were still several hundred meters away, the police force tripped open an underground entrance in a boulder field, hidden so well that it would have been hard for even a Jedi to find. As they descended a flight of crude stairs cool, dank air settled around their shoulders. One of the soldiers spent twenty minutes fiddling with a tiny control panel. They silenced the Jedi every time they attempted to speak. At last, the police murmured amongst themselves and indicated that Obi-wan and Qui-gon should follow.
"Getting through this entrance is a delicate procedure," one claimed, as they moved through the underground passage. "Once you open that hatch, a countdown begins. You have to do this rather deadly dance of code breaking to convince the defense mechanism in this tunnel to not kill you. This security system is much more elaborate than the others. It is the only building they cannot enter."
"If we have judged them well, then there is no doubt they will get through," Qui-gon said. His eyes flickered toward Obi-wan for just a moment for confirmation.
"In theory," Obi-wan said, after a split-second of hesitation. He let his uncertainty ripple through the Force, telling Qui-gon, don't forget I'm just a student and this is all theory.
The odd band passed through an intricate network of curving hallways leading deeper into the building complex. Even though Obi-wan could never see more than ten meters before the hallway took another sharp turn, he felt that this was a very big place. The layout of the floor was precise and meticulous, the sort of design that was intended to make people forget where they were. Some Jedi learned a few theories behind designs such as these, and even more Jedi recognized the pattern. Obi-wan and Qui-gon would be able to find their way back.
"You seem to not know where we should go," Qui-gon said. There was no hint of confrontation is his voice.
"Beyond a certain point, no," an officer admitted. "We are smart. We can figure out what sections are important based on how our administrators move us, but I can tell you very little about how anything in this building works."
"There is a logic to the layout behind certain complexes. I've studied enough blue prints to think you are leading us in the right direction. The set of work stations I think we are about to reach after two left turns should be as good as any other place."
Obi-wan suppressed a grin at the soldiers' surprised expressions. Sure enough, after two left turns they unlocked a door. Behind it was a dimly-lit room lit up by a weak overhead light and colorful lights blinking from dozens of control panels. The Force was strong in the place. Curiosity and knowledge covered the floor like a layer of mist and gave the air a pleasant taste.
"Obi-wan, find a layout of this building. Blue prints, security recorders, everything. I have an idea."
Obi-wan nodded and began to experiment with the unfamiliar controls.
"I suppose you are doing something a little bit bolder," Obi-wan said.
Qui-gon gave a snort from his station, which Obi-wan took for a laugh. Within a few minutes a detailed view of the entire building on screen. One the side, a display flipped through the conditions at different stations.
A familiar, female voice buzzed from one of the stations.
"Alright, who's out there calling me?"
"Me," Qui-gon said. "Say hello to Obi-wan, Mina."
"Hello to Obi-wan," the voice replied. Mina's face appeared on a small side screen. Her black hair was plastered against her forehead and her face was flushed. "I know you would not try to contact me unless it was important, but try to make this transmission as quick as possible," she panted.
"Status?"
"Someone has been scanning this ship for life forms for twenty minutes. Right now I am simultaneously talking to you, hiding this transmission and my own life signs from the scanner, and trying to fix this scrap heap, while jumping on one foot. How are you doing?"
"Worse than you. Can you do it, and how much time do you need?"
"I know how to do this repair, I have the tools and so far, I've been clever enough to do it while convincing probes that this ship is completely dead. Maybe twenty hours. No promises, Qui-gon, and certainly no miracles."
"What was that about promises and miracles? I am very impressed you managed to reach through this channel. The building you are in is the only one we can't seem to break."
This was a voice Obi-wan did not recognize. A new face appeared on one of the large screens. It was a pale man with elaborate tattoos crisscrossing his face, and his lips parted to reveal a row of filed teeth. His face was surrounded by darkness, indicating to Obi-wan that he was purposefully keeping his location obscure.
Obi-wan gave his master a look that said so this was what you were up to. Mina rolled her eyes and gave her head a little shake.
"Nothing important," Qui-gon said. He sauntered up to the screen and casually folded his arms across his chest. "Why can't you get in to this building? You have taken the entire civilian population hostage, and you have infiltrated every other complex."
The disembodied face gave a crooked smile. "The codes protecting this building are particularly powerful. It is a worthy opponent. I will be very happy when we have the power of this building added to our force. We were able to shut down all of the planet's and moon's defense mechanisms from our mobile station, located in the ship."
"Some of the scientists must know how to get in. I'm sure they refused you at first, but I'm certain that if you threatened them and their families with death or torture, someone would let you in," Qui-gon said casually.
Obi-wan's eyes widened at the suggestion, but Mina looked very interested and leaned in closer toward her screen. She, of course, could not see the tattooed man.
"Quite a suggestion from a Jedi," the man mused. He reached into the darkness and brought Qui-gon's lightsaber into view. "You know that we would have to do some rather horrible things to people to accomplish that. Very messy. Besides, even from this floating station, our computers are powerful enough to override every security program based of your primitive understanding of how such things work."
"And when you break through, and get into this building, you win," Qui-gon said with a short nod. "Did you know about our ship? No one followed us when we crashed."
The man shrugged. "I could not have you fly off to report that something was happening. This stage is far too delicate, for that. Jedi are valuable hostages. I see two of you, but tell me, where is the third? You were speaking with her a minute ago."
"She is trying to see how your defenses work, don't mind her."
"Tell her to enjoy the work. Understand that you are stuck on this moon, and we have a defense system around in which would make it exceedingly difficult for an unauthorized ship to leave. Especially your lifeless one."
Qui-gon let his eyes roll to the side, but Obi-wan could tell he was only pretending to consider his next answer. On the table, he slid his hands where the man in black could not see them. He scribbled something directly on the desk with a marker, and drew his hands away so Obi-wan could see. He had written the word "Couruscant Collapse!" on it, with a little building drawn on the side. Obi-wan recognized it immediately as a popular game and struggled to remember the rules. You had to build up a city from a set of digital blocks, and you took turns without up to five other people to try and build the biggest sector.
"Jedi are also very dangerous hostages. Why risk it, and not simply kill us?"
In the game, as your city got larger, there were handicaps which made it more and more difficult for you to expand. At certain points in the game, you would have to start cannibalizing your own buildings for materials to build other sections. Later in the game, you could repair them. If you removed the wrong part of your city to try and build another part, an entire section could collapse. Qui-gon wanted him to search for what block had to be removed in order for the security system around the planet to collapse. Obi-wan immediately brought up an advanced statistics program and began to analyze the relative power of all the buildings in the complex.
"Jedi are supposed to be peaceful. You have more destruction in your mind than I. I do not want to destroy things."
The power of the station they were at was incredible. Obi-wan was able to trace the surveillance system imposed over the atmosphere of the moon. The Force guided his fingers to along the panel until he came to his answer: a station located along the perimeter of the largest complex. If the invaders lost control of that station, it would be sufficient to make an opening and take a ship through undetected. There, however, were many caveats.
Qui-gon caught Obi-wan's gaze and shut down their link to the mysterious invader with a few keystrokes.
"Right now, master, this building is a critical point," Obi-wan said, pointing to the map. "Disabling this station should be enough to make an escape from the moon. I do not know how long it will stay that way. The playing board is constantly changing – as they take over new sections, disabling any one station might not be enough. If we want to use this weak spot to our advantage, we will have to do it quickly."
Qui-gon nodded. "Mina, what do you think about him?"
"This operation is a game. He wants to see how precisely he can do it. He's probably well on his way to breaking into your little safe house. His intentions are destructive, and he knows we know. He might honestly not realize there is someone in this ship. And, before you ask, I have no idea how long I need to make these repairs."
"Twenty hours, you say? Thank you, I knew I could rely on you."
Mina raised her hands in a you've got to be kidding me way and cut the transmission.
"I have a plan in mind," Qui-gon said. "It requires a good deal of luck, and the reversal of a few laws of physics."
"Sounds like it needs modifying, then."
Qui-gon threw an arm around Obi-wan's shoulders and leaned in close.
"That would be less fun. Here is the plan: you take a team of security officers and you disable that building."
Obi-wan ticked their assets off on his fingers and frowned. "The seven of us. With two guns and no lightsaber."
"Not exactly. If you want seven, you will have to free some more officers. I want some help here because we are going to keep them out of this station for as long as we can. That will slow the spread of their power, allowing us as much time as possible to escape the planet."
Obi-wan dropped a few of his fingers and let his hands fall to his side.
"In all seriousness, Obi-wan," Qui-gon began with a darker voice. "It would be better if I were leading instead of you. The only reason you are going instead is because I have very little confidence you can do the job that needs to be done in here."
"And you only have little confidence that I can do the disabling job, as oppose to very little," Obi-wan said flatly.
He met Qui-gon's stare, a look he could endure longer than most other sentient beings.
"Get used to others not trusting you. I want you to prove me wrong."
Well, until next time. Expect a swashbuckling update within ten days =) And I actually do mean ten days this time, as oppose to others times where 10 days means a few months.