Author´s notes: (waves at readers) Hellooo??? Anyone out there? Anyway, one more Manaan chapter to go.
Dark Lord Daishi – yes to all questions… here you go.
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Chapter 27 – Topaz
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The submersible slowly descended down to the ocean floor, carefully avoiding the firaxan sharks or any other objects in the water. The Hrakert station was larger than anyone would expect it to be, since the Republic had so little resources during this war. Kolto harvesting was essential. But now, after the attack of whatever caught the facility unprepared, it really seemed to be a dead zone.
Very little life could be sensed from it, even through the Force, perhaps except that of the firaxan sharks that swam around it, ignoring the damaged defenses. A part of the station seemed to be flooded, but the southern half was still intact. If there were any survivors down there, that part of the facility would be the safest for them.
The Republic submersible emerged from the water in the station. The mechanical door of the transport opened, and Revan stepped out, and then helped HK-47 and the squished T3-M4 out of it. Offering Canderous help could be called an insult.
The only reason they brought the tiny droid was because they might need to communicate with the station's computer system to find out what was wrong. Even the most skilled hackers would have trouble with that. An astromech droid, however, would call it an easy task.
Another submersible was crashed through the ceiling, destroying most of it. There was only one exit out of the dock.
The amount of weapons the group carried would be more than enough for a strike team with thrice as many members. Taking chances against something unknown would be too foolish.
The only exit – a damaged door – opened immediately, and a green Twi'lek rushed out, "How... how did you get in? Did they send another submersible? Quick, we have to get out of here, we have to get away!" he shrieked, panicked.
"What happened here?" Revan asked, using the Force to almost glue him to the wall using an intense Force Push.
"The Selkath, they went crazy!" the Twi´lek – probably a merc - said, shaking with fear, "They started killing anything that moved. Someone must have triggered the defense systems too, 'cause all the droids activated as well. I was one of the mercs the Republic sent down here to find out what happened. We came down and secured the first couple rooms... there were bodies everywhere... And the Selkath came out... screaming and croaking their fishy little war-cries."
"Wonderful. What about the scientists?"
"They're dead! All dead!" the merc whimpered, "They swarmed out and over us. There was no way we could stop them. So we ran... But hardly any of us made it. I locked the door behind us, bu... but the others had already left in the submersible! The sharks... the firaxa out there and... worse... I heard an explosion shortly after the submersible left. They didn't make it. Just food for the sharks and the Selkath... like us."
T3 suggested something about getting the merc back to the surface, but that triggered a new wave of terror from him.
"Back to the surface. Yes... NO!! There's something out there... it got the other submersible already. We can't leave until you do something. Blow up the entire station maybe. That might distract whatever it is long enough for us to escape to the surface. But all the machinery and stuff is in the southern half, and that's been flooded! There might still be environmental suits around but... but... the Selkath might have laid their eggs in them!"
HK-47's eyes flashed, "Suggestion: Perhaps we could dismember the organic? It would make it easier for transport to the surface."
"Hey!" the merc snapped, pulling his arms away from Revan´s grip and backing away, "Y-you... you can't just rip me to pieces! I'll die!"
"Amendment: I did forget that. Stupid, frail, non-compartmentalized organic meatbags!" HK-47 muttered.
"I have to get into the station." Revan said, ignoring the exchange.
"No! I locked the door so that the Selkath won't get in. If you open it, we're all done for!"
"I have no choice. Believe me, fishy mutants are not my idea of the perfect party."
"If you want to die, then go!" the merc snapped, "You won't hear me mourning for you! I'll stay here and be safe until some sort of REAL rescue comes!" he quickly curled behind a one of the footlockers, shivering in fear.
"Don't get your hopes up too high." Canderous sneered, "I have no intention of dying." The merc shivered again and hid from sight.
Revan opened the door leading into the installation, ignoring the merc. Several bodies (most of them other mercenaries) were on the floor. There was a computer console on the other side of the corridor.
"Care to do the honors, T3?" Revan asked, making place for the droid.
"Beep-wzzt-beep!" T3 replied. In the next second, it sliced the computer without the use of spikes and vented toxin into several of the rooms overrun with mad Selkath. Then, it corrupted the targeting program of the security droids. The blaster fire that was heard a moment later was proof enough that it worked. After a few minutes, the shooting stopped with a final explosion.
Revan opened the next door and HK-47 shot the remaining security droid. After several destroyed droids, killed insane Selkath and disabled mines, they finally entered the storage room – and to everyone's delight, envirosuits were there. Well, to the droids´ delight, anyway – it meant they couldn't go.
"Observation: My sonic sensors indicate sounds coming out of that locker, Master." HK suddenly noted, pointing his disruptor riffle at the plasteel object nearby. Revan noticed it too. As if the locker was whimpering…
"Is somebody out there?" a high-pitched voice asked, from within the locker, "Fishy, fishy, fishy? Coming to eat me, too? You can't get me little fishy. Not in here. I'm safe behind my walls."
Revan raised an eyebrow, "The fishies are dead." she said, slightly uncomfortable with the tone, "Come out, coward – it's safe."
"Oh, you'd like that - wouldn't you?" the maniac said, "I walk out and - BAM! Selkath swarm in from everywhere, ripping and rending! Fishy move fast and silent."
"Come out from there right now, or we'll blast our way in." Canderous snapped.
"Ha-ha! That's what you think! Fishy think that too. These walls and door are six centimeters - no... twelve centimeters! - of durasteel! I'm invulnerable behind my walls! Nobody's getting in here!" he said, laughing maniacally.
"Statement: I'll blast you into little fish-bits, meatbag!" HK snapped at the idiot hidden in the locker, already preparing his blaster.
"Nooooooo! You can't harm me in here! I'm invincible!"
But a vibroblade pierced the locker before HK could shoot. The Republic soldier's corpse opened the door with its own weight, dropping to the moist floor. Canderous wiped his weapon into the soldier's uniform – the blood wasn't at all visible on the red fabric. "Program your droid to talk less with its toys, Revan."
"Objection: That was most unfair, Mandalorian mea-" HK stopped after a death glare. Even the droid knew better than finishing that sentence into the Mandalorian´s face. "Statement: I was simply having some fun before splattering the meatbag´s brains all over his locker."
"Blasters wouldn't do much good against durasteel, anyway." Canderous noted.
"Statement: The locker is made of 100 plasteel, not durasteel, as the idiot meatbag suggested. It would have been an easy task." HK reported, but quickly followed the others – they were already a few meters away from him, and still walking.
The corridors were filled with Selkath, droids and other security equipment that went nuts and turned against its own creators. Soon, it was destroyed. There were also several airlocks in one corridor – probably the only way to get to the south part of the base – the only part of the station still filled with mad Selkath. Though walking through firaxa-infested waters wasn't exactly a vacation. There was no way to get the droids to swim, so Canderous and Revan put on the envirosuits and entered the airlock, ordering the two droids to wait near the computer console by the entrance to the base. And naturally, blast everything that moves.
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The airlock opened and the pair found themselves surrounded by water. Not much light reached the ocean floor, so they had to use flashlights that were adjusted to the envirosuits. The darkness made Revan spot something…another yellow envirosuit. She slowly managed to approach it, the Mandalorian following. The other sentient jumped a bit.
"Who's there?" a man's voice said through the communicator in the suit that the scientists used to communicate. "You´re not Selkath, I can see that much."
"The Republic sent us here to investigate." Revan said simply. "Who are you?"
"I was one of the mercs the Republic sent down here to investigate. But all we found was a wet death and a bunch of crazed Selkath! I've discovered a way to get to the kolto harvesters and the airlock to the southern part of the facility!" and he explained a way to get out to them, "I'm not spending another minute in this facility! We should probably stick together, but I´m not gonna wait around with the Selkath everywhere! Let´s move – it's here down the hall."
As soon as the merc said that, he attempted to move as fast as he could. Revan followed him to the ocean floor, but sensed something through the Force. Danger. From the right.
"C'mon, hurry up!" The merc called. "Don´t just stand there, we have to keep moving! The water is filled with – AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" he managed to choke out before a firaxan shark that launched at him like a predator opened its mouth and pierced his flesh and the envirosuit with its fangs.
Revan took a step back without realizing it. She had never attempted to kill something with Force powers underwater – chances of success were bellow 100. And that was the only level of chances she was about to take. They would have to rely on reflexes and the sonic emitters they had with them.
Luckily, the only firaxa she saw were in front of them, easily stopped with the sonic emitter the pair had, allowing them to reach the other building.
Quietly, both of them took off the envirosuits and left them near the airlock. Revan sensed that there were Selkath around the corner. Three or four. Hand signals from the Mandalorian wars came very useful in situations like this. Revan used the Force to speed up and charged at them, jumping over a hidden mine. The Selkath drew several sonic pistols, but she deflected the shots. The Selkath were effectively distracted, so the heavy blaster fire coming from behind one of the lockers took them by surprise. One of the unarmed Selkath swung a fist at Revan, but she dodged and whirled to kick him to the ground. The heavy boots she was wearing were as good as Force Stun. Avoiding a kick, she stabbed the Selkath that managed to get behind her. With a powerful slash, the remaining Selkath fell down, dead.
The next room seemed to be a crossroad, one path blocked by a force field, the others closed. There were two people behind the force field and they immediately noticed the newcomers. Both potential survivors had panicked expressions.
"No…no…I can't let you pass! You'll let the Selkath and the firaxa get in! I won't let you open the door for those monsters to get in! I'll stop you!" the man yelled, "I'll suck all the pressure out of the chamber! That'll stop you!"
"Kill them! Kill them now!" the woman shrieked.
The man pressed a few buttons on the control console on that side of the force field, and the doors on three sides of the room sealed themselves, so the force field was the only way out. A hissing sound indicated that the air was being removed from the room. Revan´s eyes widened, and she stepped closer to the force field, "Let us in." she said quickly.
"What - what do you want? Go away!" the man said, "You'll let the firaxa and the Selkath in! They'll get us like they got all the others!"
Even Canderous was having a hard time breathing, so there was no time to negotiate. "We're friends. You want to let us in. You want to stop the depressurization sequence." Revan said with a strong Force persuasion.
"Yes. You are friends. You'll protect us. You won't let the firaxa eat us. You'll keep the Selkath away." the man said, nodding frantically. He pressed a button, and the force field dropped. As if realization of what he was trying to do hit him, the man bowed his head, panting. "I... I'm sorry for what I did. I don't know what came over me. I... I just panicked when I heard someone outside the door." he sighed, "Please, forgive me. I'm just so scared."
"I…I must have been hysterical. I truly don´t know what to say. I apologize for almost making such a terrible mistake." The woman added.
"Calm down, you're getting hysterical again. Now, what has the Republic been doing down here?" Revan ask, making a mental note to kill those two when they wouldn't be useful anymore. they didn't have time for displays of hysteria. Especially not life-threatening ones.
"We had a secret agreement with moderates in the Selkath government." the woman said, "They knew that Manaan could not survive independently if the Sith were victorious. Those thugs would wipe out the whole damn planet just to get at the kolto. So the Republic approached them about making this secret installation to harvest more kolto where the Sith couldn't see us. But that all went horribly, horribly wrong..."
"And who are you two?" Canderous asked flatly.
"I am Kono Nolan, and this is Sami." the man said, "We were scientists working here on the Hrakert Rift project."
"The diplomat told me about you." Revan said with a nod. "What exactly went wrong?"
"We don't know! Not for sure." the woman said, frowning, "The work teams were outside in the Rift near the vent. Then there was this rumbling and my head felt like it was splitting open. This... this monster rose up from the Rift. It was a firaxa shark I think... bigger than any I'd ever seen before. Bigger than our submersibles. It was like it was screaming inside my head. Then all the Selkath started screaming too... and they turned on us."
"Turned on you?"
"It was like they couldn't control themselves."
"So what can we do about the shark?"
"I don't know. It must still be out there." Kono said, frowning.
"Out there waiting for us..." Sami whimpered.
"The firaxan sharks have always been a serious problem." Kono explained, "We had some blasters and projectile cannons to defend against them, but they still got some of our workers from time to time."
"We were working on a soluble chemical compound that would drive them away." Sami noted, "Something that smelled or tasted repulsive to them, but we never got it working right."
"Oh, I think not! Even flawed like it is, it should be ideal for this situation." Kono retorted.
"No! It's not working right! You don't know what it will do!" Sami said, then she turned to Revan and explained, "The repellent we made was supposed to drive firaxan sharks away, but we never got very far in its development. The one we tested instead was violently toxic to them, rupturing their outer skin in seconds and preventing them from drawing oxygen from the water by clogging their intakes."
"Which is exactly what we need in this situation! Something to kill that monster shark that destroyed our station!" Kono snapped.
"But we don't know how else the chemical reacts!" Sami said pleadingly, "We only tried it in a controlled environment. In the open ocean, who knows what it could do... it could even affect the kolto."
"We know exactly what it will do: it will kill the shark. That's what we designed it to do."
"And it'll probably wipe out all the Selkath, too. Nice plan." Canderous noted with a sneer. "Let the woman speak."
"Well, the monster seems to have been driven out by the machinery we installed at the edge of the Rift." Sami said, glaring at Kono, "We've seen it out there on the cameras bashing itself against the machines. I think if you could destroy the machinery we installed, the shark would calm down and retreat back into its lair inside the Rift."
"And how would we do that?" Kono seemed determined against, even after Sami´s quick and really clear explanation.
"I'll try to destroy the harvesting machine." Revan noted, tonelessly.
"Good. Once you've gotten back to the surface, make sure to tell the Republic that there are survivors down here."
"That won't work and you know it!" Kono objected again. "That'll set us years back!"
"It's better than whatever your repellent will do to the water!"
But Revan had had enough of both them, their hysterics and their arguing and pushed past them without further thought. They weren't even worth the trouble of killing them. Apparently they tried to protest, but thought better of that once Revan glared at them. There were more envirosuits in the next airlock – the one leading to the kolto harvesters and directly to the other part of the base.
Sami was right – overloading the terminal required only basic mathematic skills. The Guardian, the Progenitor, was satisfied with the destruction of the machines. It showed no signs of hostility. It allowed both of them to pass.
A circular chamber-like area… and the Star Map in the center. The dark waters were pierced by the light that emerged from the orb that floated out of the center. The image of a galaxy appeared… new coordinates were loaded into Revan´s datapad.