"Eh stranga, you making progress?" Sud asked. I grew paranoid. Had he been captured, and was now being forced to out me? I remained silent, ignoring a subsequent call from him. My exit strategy was compromised, so far as I could tell. Unless Sud was safe. I couldn't think about that now, but it worried me regardless. I ignored it and continued on.
The shaft went directly forward, before splitting in two: up, and down. My upper half extended out to look upwards, I raised my gauntlet arm up and fired off my whipcord's grappling hook. The hook traveled for a distance before I heard a 'clank.' I tugged. It was snug. I pulled my body into the vertical shaft, and began climbing up. As it turned out, climbing up an air shaft was a lot easier than huffing it up a cliff face. The grappling hook was convenient, but as long as one put their full weight into their back and feet and shimmied up, it was doable. There were of course no signs designating 3rd floor…4th floor…5th floor within the shaft, so I used my best judgment. As I climbed further, and the shaft's roof came into sight, I knew I was reaching my objective. I came upon a horizontal shaft, and looked down it. It looked like it entered into a similar lounge I had been in several floors down. I climbed inside, and crawled out the shaft and onto the 5th floor. I kept my NV on, as it was just as dark on the 5th floor as it was downstairs. I crept forward while using my helmet scanners. A target coming my way. Guard with a flashlight. I settled behind a fake potted plant, and waited as he rounded the corner. As the soldier passed, I overheard his comm. chatter on my helmet's frequency descrambler.
"So what's going on out there?"
"Don't know. Some crazy old loon shooting off fireworks. The major got pissed and sent out a squad to get the guy. They reported back that they didn't find him. You?"
"Found a rat but that's about it. Hoak…Huag? Whatever his name is, he's still awake. These Ailon are nuts. I got a bad feeling about them."
Thanks for the info fellas I thought dryly to myself. I exited my hiding spot, snuk up behind the guard, grabbed around his neck, and slowly blacked him out. I set his body down within the lounge, nabbed the guest suite keycard off him, and continued down the hall. Unlike the previous floors, which were all classrooms, the 5th floor was more in the style of an expensive hotel. A hotel. The thought gave me an idea. As I ventured further, I found a directory, complete with a holo map. I accessed it. There was the main suite…and room service. I pressed down on the intercom, and patched the line through to the kitchen.
"The lieutenant wants a fresh pot of coffee."
"Got it." Came the reply. I continued down the hall, spotting the kitchen doors. I paused, and watched from the shadows as a server exited the swinging double doors with a cart. The windows along the opposite wall provided the only light, as the server headed opposite my direction. I crept forward, sneaking under the windows in the doors and towards the server. I kept my distance, following him as he made his way down the hall. He turned the corner, and I followed. As he turned another corner, I held back and peered around to see where he was going. The lights in these hallways were on. Better I wasn't spotted, of course. The server came to the door, and knocked.
"Coffee for you lieutenant." The server announced. There was a garbled reply from inside, and the server entered the room. I rounded the corner, flattened my back along the wall, and took a quick peek inside. The server's back was to me, as he prepared the coffee. I couldn't see Huag, but my sensors told me he was inside. I waited for the server to finish, and as he exited the room, I pistol whipped him, knocking him out cold. I grabbed his unconscious form before he crashed to the ground, and set him down lightly in the corner of the hallway before going inside the room, closing the door behind me. Pistol raised, I ventured inside. I entered the master bedroom, where the server left the cart and coffee. To the right of the bed was an open door leading to the balcony. I could see Huag on the balcony, looking down at the celebrations. But there was no one there. My sensors indicated there was a target inside, but not on the balcony.
What the- I was cutoff in midthought as I was thrown to the ground. My pistol fell from my hands as I looked up, and saw the real Huag, armed and armoured, standing above me.
"A Mandalorian? Come to avenge your comrades? HA, I'd like to see you try!" Huag roared. He brought his foot up, then quickly crashed down to stomp me. I rolled out of the way fast enough, nabbing my pistol, aiming, and firing, catching Huag in the leg with a slug. The Ailon lieutenant stumbled as I stood back up, and as he recovered, I delivered a kick into his head. Huag fell backwards, his armoured form smashing to the floor. Before I could get another shot off, Huag used magnetic devices in the palms of his gloves to attract his battle staff to his hands, which flew from one end of the room and into his grasp. As I fired a slug, Huag used his staff to stop the projectile. Bewildered, I holstered my pistol as Huag stood up, and used my gauntlet lasers to shoot him. The laser bolt ricocheted harmlessly off his armour and smeared into the floor. "You are weak, Mandalorian. I will break every bone in your body before killing you and turning you in for credits."
I settled on fist and foot, and dropped into a fighting stance. "Shut up and fight."
"Ha, very well. Your battle helmet will make a fine addition to my collection." Huag replied, using his thumb to point to the wall behind him. At least a dozen Mandalorian helmets stacked on the wall. You sonofabitch. Huag moved fast, swiping at me in a diagonal downward slash with his staff. I sidestepped, and attempted to trip him with a swift kick to his shins. Huag held firm, and smacked me in the back of my helmet with a horizontal swipe from his staff. I fell forward, dropping into a somersault past the bed and crashing into the wall. As I looked up, I saw Huag charging me, staff blade forward and aimed for my neck. I reached up, grabbing the staff with both hands before it could pierce me. I used all my might, straining to hold the blade back. "You are strong, Mandalorian. Your comrades would have been easily slain by now."
I gritted my teeth, now pissed off. Using Huag's strength, I quickly directed the staff blade away from my neck and into the wall beside me. The staff pierced into the wall, and Huag's armoured stomach crunched into the end of his staff. I quickly stood up, delivering a one-two punch into Huag's helmet, sending him sprawling backwards. I continued with a roundhouse kick to his midsection, but Huag grabbed my foot and twisted me in the air. Predicting this, I brought my other foot around for another kick, catching Huag in the helmet. I crashed to the ground, as Huag fell against the wall. I stood up as Huag began to pull himself up. I stopped him in mid-recovery, curb stomping his helmet multiple times. Huag grunted, till I eventually kicked off his helmet. I finally got a look at Huag's face.
His Ailon face, which was an odd mix of Human and insectoid traits, was bloody and bruised. Huag was done. I knelt down, ejecting my gauntlet vibroshiv and poking it into his jugular, drawing a small amount of blood. "…Won't…tell you…"
"Shut up Huag!"
"…You…have beaten me…I pledge my forces to-"
"I don't give a damn about your army. Tell me what I want to know. Why hunt my kind? And don't tell me it's a challenge. Revan destroyed us."
"You're cynical. Someone on the brink…yes, we were hired. The High Marshal knew nothing of the bounty on your kind until underworld organizations contacted us…hiring us off to bring down your people, once and for all." Huag replied. Made sense. The criminal underworld was possibly too afraid to fight us in person. Better to send out other warriours, split the bounty.
"Have any other guardsmen succeeded?"
"No. Just my unit. You have my word, from one warriour…to another."
Fuck your word I thought cynically.
"And who do you work for?"
"I was hired by….by…." Huag swallowed his words in death. I punched the wall, annoyed. I was at a dead end. Blood boiling, I began pacing to calm down, when Huag's helmet began making noise.
"Lieutenant, are you alright? We heard blaster shots from your room, we're coming to check on you…lieutenant?" It was time to go. I equipped my silenced slug-thrower, put a slug in Huag's head for good measure, and bolted out of the room. No witnesses. I hurried back to the ventilation shaft, but paused as I rounded the corner. Footsteps were approaching. My sensors alerted me to at least four targets – a squad of Ailon no less. I bolted back to Huag's room, locking the door behind me. My eyes dodged across his room. Where the hell to hide? My adrenaline was pumping faster and faster, as Huag's four pals got closer.
"Lieutenant, lieutenant, are you in there?" One of the soldiers asked outside the door, followed by several loud knocks. I ran inside, frantic. My eyes darted to the balcony. No, too public. I looked to the other side of the room – the window, facing outside. I ran to it, swung it open, and began climbing outside to make my way to the roof. The front door opened with a crack, as the soldiers broke inside. I closed the window with a kick beneath me, as I scrambled up a nearby drain pipe. As I pulled myself onto the roof, the window opened and a soldier peered around. I lay on my back, slowly steadying my breathing.
"The lieutenant is dead. We have an intruder. Everyone on full alert!" One of the soldiers inside ordered.
Have your fun without me boys I thought to myself. I stood up, regained my composure and looked around. This place would be on lockdown soon enough, time to make myself scarce. Sud's fireworks had ceased, with Sud having either fled or been arrested. I spotted another support cable, held tight between a pole and the flag on the defensive wall. I jumped up, grabbed onto the cable, and ziplined down to the flag pole. On the wall beneath me was a soldier. As I zipped down, he looked up and spotted me. Ah shit. Using my momentum, I dropped down from the cable, launching an air kick straight into the Republic trooper's head, knocking him out cold. As alarm sirens began going off all over the Academy, I hopped the wall, and using my gauntlet's whipcord grappling hook, began rapelling down the wall, then the plateau.
After 20 minutes, I eventually made my way down to ground level. As I set down and began walking, there was a whistle from the nearby trees. "Psst, eh, stranga, it's me!"
"Sud? What the hell happened?" I asked. I did a scan with my helmet. No one else was around. I kept my guard up regardless.
"I should be asking you that, but we'll both have time to explain on the way back. Hop in and let's go!" Sud said. I trudged forward, and saw Sud had brought the speeder around. I jumped in, and we were off. We kept our distance from the academy, and after another long drive, along with me retelling what happened inside, we reached Sud's hovel. We went inside to relax.
"…And then I made my way out, you found me, and here we are." I said, finishing. Sud poured himself a glass of wine and shook his head.
"So the Ailon were hired by somebody else, to split the bounty 50/50? Very interesting. And this 'Huag' characta died before he could tell you who? Hmm…"
"I know. Dead end." I replied, sitting down at the kitchen table. Sud took a sip of his wine and sat opposite me.
"Maybe not. I have a friend. We used to be army buddies together. He works in, let's call it, information technology. Anything going on in the underworld, he'd know." Sud said. I mulled this over in my head.
"Alright. Give him a call." I replied. Sud nodded, and exited the kitchen into his private study. He came out a few minutes later.
"He'll be expecting you."
"Your friend have a name?"
"Ah, of course. Strask Girov. Bothan. Runs a manufacturing plant. Here are the coordinates." Sud said, handing me a datapad. I pocketed it and looked over at Sud as he finished his wine.
"Well, thanks for all your help Sud." I said, standing up. I extended my hand and he shook it.
"Of course stranga." Sud replied. I nodded to him and left his small novel. In a short while I reached my Basilisk, and began powering it up. Within a short time, I flew off Carida, input coordinates, and blasted off into hyperspace.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Hyperspace trips were long and boring. Alone and restless, I slouched in my seat, and removed my helmet, resting my head against my fist. I felt…odd. Alone, useless, pointless…was it that same feeling from before? I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Such sentiments were weakness. I shook my head. My absent mind soon began reminiscing, thinking of the old days. Battling alongside old comrades. The boys of Klaar squad, Tairek, Conall, Gawain, all my brothers and sisters Tairek and I assisted. Boudica.
"They're dead. All of them." I said hesitantly to myself. I blinked a couple times. "Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum, Vishnal, Henrish, Derryl, Begaro, Hirohito, Tairek." I said. My closest friends and companions, dead. I sat still for a few moments in thought. I quickly realized that to truly remember my companions, I would have to recite hundreds more. Thousands. All of them were dead, and gone. They either died slowly and painfully in battle, or were killed in a manner so horrific only a Jedi would allow it. Malachor.
I felt something dripping down my cheek. I reached up with my finger to stop it. It was a tear. I blinked a couple times, numb. And then it all just fell apart. I cried, angrily, my eyes watery as the tears poured out. The ship's engines were nearly silenced by my cries, as I choked for breath. I stood up and stumbled to the cargo hold, then fell down on my knees. I thought that these years were going to be a breeze. Tears pouring constantly as I continued gasping amidst cries, I picked up one of the new firearms from Sud to inspect it, hoping to set my mind at ease. Fiddling with it for a few moments, I chucked it aside angrily, then held my head in my hands, then collapsed to the cold iron floor. I was alone in the Galaxy, completely and utterly alone.