Chapter 6
I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Prototype.
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Freelance jack of all trades Alex Mercer sighed as he put down the glass containing Whyren's Reserve, a very expensive Corellian whiskey. He had taken a liking to the crisp and woody taste. The mission to 'save' Monraux had ended pretty well, what happened afterwards didn't. The Sith starfighters descended upon the city as lightning from a storm, killing anyone unfortunate enough to stand in their way. He was rather impressed with their invasion, it had been done fast and not so clean, and just the way he likes it. With the republic forces being almost nonexistent, it had only taken a few hours to get complete control of the entire world. Whether or not that could be considered a good thing remained to be seen. He had to give the Sith some credit, they knew very well how to get their point across.
Everything that had happened had made moving around a bit harder with Sith patrols almost everywhere which conducted random searches as they pleased. That was why he had spent most of his time in the local cantina Javyar in the lower city, while Canderous was trying to figure out a way off the planet. The Sith ruler, Darth Malak, had inflicted a planet-wide quarantine preventing any ships from landing or leaving. Alex wasn't too thrilled at the idea of trying to make a break for it with his ship, a few had tried, and no one had succeeded.
Alex continued to scan the cantina for something, anything really which could peak his interest. The cantina was full of different kinds of beings, the right side mostly contained humans, and the left filled with various aliens. The local band containing Bith was a personal favorite; their bubble like heads was amusing to him. He had opted to pay Zax, the manager of the Bounty Office a visit, but Canderous had insisted that he kept a low profile. And he didn't like it one bit. Rumor was Zax took on unauthorized bounties from the Exchange boss Davik Kang, and Alex really wanted to meet this Kang person. But Canderous had made him promise to do nothing, and he always kept his promises.
"Hello there."
The voice came from an attractive blonde woman to his left, she watched him with a smile as he nodded and made a motion for her to sit down. Judging by her clothing and looks, Alex deduced she must be rich and popular around these parts.
"You know, I've seen you in here for four days straight." She put her own glass down on the table. "You always order the same thing and you don't talk to anybody. It's almost like you want to be alone."
Alex raised a brow. "And you didn't get the message?"
"Oh I got it alright; I just choose to ignore it."
He flashed a smile, her boldness was intriguing.
Alex leaned forward. "Do you know what I do to people like you?"
She leaned forward, challenging him. "Oh I bet it's something exciting."
He stared at her for a moment, she smelled of alcohol, before leaning back again. "Any particular reason you're here?"
"I've watched you. Like I said, you've been here for a couple of days. You don' talk to anybody, just watching all the time." She bit her lip. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were browsing."
You have no idea. "And you thought I've been searching for someone like you."
"Exactly."
Alex took a sip from his class. "Why isn't such an exotic creature like you with your friends?"
"Oh Barry can't hold his liquor, and Jonathan doesn't really like to party." She leaned closer to his ear. "They're going to announce him as the new Ceo of the mining company InterGalactic Ore tomorrow. But don't tell anybody."
He nodded. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul."
Out of the corner of his eye, Alex spotted a familiar face. His partner in crime watched him across the bar and nodded.
"Unfortunately, I have some business to attend to." Alex tossed her a credit chip. "Go buy yourself a drink, I might join you later."
She seemed all too eager at the prospect of another drink and left right away, now replaced with Canderous.
"Things are looking up, Mercer."
"Do you have a way off this shit hole yet?"
Canderous took hold off the only glass left on the table and poured it down his throat. "Ah… That hit the spot."
Alex's hand twitched. "You do know that was my drink."
"Yep… Anyway I've found out a lot since yesterday." Wiping his mouth he continued. "We can leave the planet if we have the right codes."
"Great, where are they?"
"That's the problem; they're inside the old republic base. Guess it's the new Sith headquarters now."
Alex nodded. "A minor inconvenience."
"This is why I struck a deal with the escape pod survivors. We help them save their missing companion, and they get the codes for us."
"Good, then let's go."
Canderous combed fingers through his hair. "There's one more thing. I kind of promised they could leave the planet…on your ship."
"You what! I leave you alone for two seconds and this is what happens." Alex pointed across the cantina. "You see that group over there? There's a couple of more strays we can pick up. I think there's still some room left in the cargo hold."
Canderous crossed his arms. "That's the deal, accept it."
Alex sighed. "Fine, how many are there?"
"After we save their friend, five people."
"I guess if I don't like them I get a free meal at least, or five."
Canderous shrugged. "Do what you want, but at least wait until after we have the codes."
"Of course, I'm not stupid."
In truth, Alex thought it could be fun to have some more victims to torment. He wasn't bored with tormenting Canderous, only it could be nice with some variation.
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Republic officer Carth Onasi straightened his flight jacket and sighed.
Damn Jedi.
Everything had been fine; he was under orders to go on a scouting mission to the republic outpost on Taris in the Ojoster Sector. The Republic navy didn't have many warships to spare, and Carth was more than willing to take a small frigate to investigate the rumors of a nearby Sith fleet. Being bumped up to the Hammerhead-class cruiser The Endar Spire would have been fine if not for losing his command to an inexperienced Jedi brat named Bastila. Supposedly, she was very important to combating the Sith armada with a moral boost power. He didn't know how it worked; only that it was important.
He could have taken all that, change in command did happen sometimes on short notice. But said Jedi had lost the fight, and managed to get kidnapped by the Black Vulkar's at the crash site. Not only did he have to find a way off a Sith controlled world, he also had to save his Jedi commander from her captors. It wasn't all bad though, he had managed to save one fellow soldier. A human male called Voren. He was an unprepossessing man, with fair skin, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. An 'average' man by all accounts.
All Carth really knew about him was that he came from Deralia and was important enough to be selected as a Jedi's personal bodyguard. Why a Jedi would need a non force-sensitive guard was still a mystery. But after what happened, he guessed Bastila really did need one.
The man was resourceful, he had managed to find out where Bastila were being kept and struck a deal with the Hidden Beks. Not to mention, convincing the child Mission and her Wookie friend Zaalbar to aid for no other reason than to see the Vulkar's faces as they lose. Voren really was leadership material.
"What is taking them so long?"
Carth realized the man could use some more patience though. "Relax, they'll be here soon."
"I'm just itching to get our commander back and get out of here." Voren said.
"Yeah, and to show those Vulkar's whose boss." Mission agreed.
"You do know you're not coming, right?" Carth looked firmly in her eyes. "We can't have a child compromising our mission."
"Hey I'm not a child, I'm fourteen. Besides, I got Big Z to look after me."
"Bet that's all he does." Carth said under his breath.
Voren shook his head. "Do the two of you have to antagonize each other? We have to work together, see solutions instead of problems."
Mission turned her head away. "Is that them over there?"
Voren turned around and spotted the middle-aged Mandalorian along with another being. He felt something was off about him from the start; he couldn't pinpoint why but he felt like something was out-of-place with the man. He signaled the others to be ready in case this was a trap.
The pair now stood in front of the group and nodded as a greeting.
"You guys ready?" Canderous looked them all over and received several nods in return.
Alex tapped his foot. "Could someone please tell me what the plan is?"
Voren took the lead and began to explain the situation as effective as possible.
"So let me get this straight." Alex crossed his arms. "You made a deal with the Beks to sneak into the Vulkar's base to get a prototype accelerator for a swoop bike, this swoop bike will be driven by you to win your friend back from the Vulkar's in a swoop race. Is that right?"
"Pretty much."
"That just might be the most stupid plan I've ever heard."
"W... what? Why?"
"Oh gee I don't know. If my friend was kidnapped and I knew where he was and when, I'd probably just go there and take him back." Alex grimaced under his hood. "But that's just me apparently."
"Maw ryuraygy wyogg mumwa."
Alex leaned closer to Canderous. "What's the walking carpet saying?"
"He said you have a point." Canderous explained as he gave Alex a 'don't start any shit' look.
Mission turned and looked at Voren. "I agree with the creepy dude, that plan is probably much faster."
"True, but that way will probably result in a lot of violence."
"The Vulkar's consist of rapists, murderers and overall scumbags." Alex shrugged. "Who cares what happens to them."
Voren observed his team for signs of approval, only the republic officer disapproved.
"Fine, we'll go along with your plan. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
As per Mission's suggestion, the newly formed team Voren regrouped the day after close by to the swoop track. Alex wanted to raise his concerns with the situation, that name wasn't any good at all. Team Zeus on the other hand sounded both mysterious and dangerous. He wanted to change their minds about it, but the amount of work put down wouldn't outweigh the result.
There were three ways to get inside the swoop track, as a sponsored driver, as a VIP and lastly if you were simply rich enough. Thanks to the Hidden Beks, the group classified as VIPs. Canderous and Alex passed through the entrance to the spectator area at the same time. The pair recognized several people as Vulkar's members from their dark orange armor, the same ones they had seen inside the Vulkar's base. As the competition had already started, they took up their positions and waited.
"Who do you think will win?"
"There's really only two that could win." Canderous pointed towards an orange-skinned Twi'lek. "Anglu of the Hidden Beks"
"And Redros from the Vulkar's." A male Kadas'sa'Nikto.
Before Alex could response, he continued. "Now don't do anything stupid before we get the signal."
"Define stupid."
"Ladies and gentlemen. I present to you the winner of this year's swoop race!" The voice of the Duros announcer echoed over the area. "And here to hand over the champion's prize is Brejik, the leader of the Black Vulkar's."
That piqued Alex's interest; Brejik was the man they were going to convince of letting the republic soldier go. Alex however was less interested in hearing how proud the man was about one of his own winning the race and proving that the Vulkar's was the best gang on Taris. Alex scanned the area around the cage, then observed his Mandalorian friend and saw what he was looking for.
"Well Canderous it's time to do one of those things you might call… stupid."
A second later, a round silver-colored container flew through the air and landed with several thuds between a couple of Vulkar's near the swoop track. Alex felt pleased with the result; the following explosion caused the deaths of two Vulkar's and mass panic from all 'normal' people.
Voren came running up and took Alex by the shirt. "You idiot! There were civilians caught in that explosion."
"An acceptable loss." Alex tilted his head to the side. "Unless you want to die I suggest we deal with those angry-looking men with blasters."
"I'll deal with you later." Voren let him go and joined the rest of the team in the ensuing fight.
Canderous shook his head. "I told you not to do anything stupid, so why?"
"Well of course I'm going to do something stupid if you tell me not too."
Several explosions brought them to their senses and Canderous joined the fight with his heavy-repeater. Now alone, Alex didn't really have the will to fight. Having dealt with the Vulkar's before, he knew it wouldn't be any interesting. So he stood there and watched as the people around him fought for their lives. Canderous was impressive as always and Voren could easily give him a run for his money. Seeing the Wookie lift up a defenseless enemy and killing him effortlessly made an idea form in his mind. The Wookie would look really nice in his living quarters on his ship; due to the size he opted for the floor instead of the wall.
During the commotion the republic prisoner had managed to escape her cage and had now joined in the fight. Alex walked up to Canderous as the fight was almost over and simply observed. With a quick series of sequences, the newly freed girl ended Brejik's life with a vibroblade.
"I do hope she has a charming personality." Alex commented to Canderous.
"Bastila, were here to rescue you." Voren said as he came running.
"I'm a member of the Jedi Order and a fleet commander for the republic. I didn't need saving and in truth it was I who saved you."
Alex stared with a blank expression.
"I hate her already."
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Au
This chapter was a pain in the ass to write. I'm not used to write conversations and actions of several characters happening at the same time, something I have to work on. You can probably expect an update in 2-3 weeks time.