Chapter 10
Day of Thunder
Zeadra was swearing as she approached the checkpoint at the front door. They had fifteen hours till the start of the Taris season opener and she still had a lot to do to get their four riders ready. At times like these she cursed her ambitions to become the leader of the gang. Taking all the extra work on her was tiring but ultimately the results would be worth the aggravation. It was clear the Gaddon would not be able to maintain power for much longer and as his right hand, she was the most likely to replace him. And if he would not step aside, well accidents happen
Till then she would have to deal with the ego's of the riders, the mechanics, the pit crews, the security of their service pits. Old Joe was already getting more cranky than usual with having to pack his mobile workshop and go to the pits and set up. Now she had to go and deal with whatever the door guards couldn't. It was too early in the morning for dealing with this. The guards had better woken her up for a good reason
Her mood had not improved when the greeting that smug bitch had thrown at her had gotten around the gang. During the day she had received several gift wrapped sex toys, catalogues for sex shops, one or two had had the audacity to ask her how she was still walking. Even old Joe had gotten into it by handing her a tin of engine grease and remarking there was nothing smoother for rough surfaces.
"What now?" She snarled, reaching the checkpoint
The guard just pointed. Mission was sitting on a portable engine lift and waving at her. The old man, the brat and the smug bitch stood there looking no worse for wear than they had since this morning when she had escorted them from the premises, looking bored.
"Hey, Zeadra. We got the engine Gaddon wanted." Mission chirped happily
They were back in Gaddon's office. Terri had taken a seat in front of the desk and was idly drumming her fingers on the arm rest. The light tapping was clearly getting on Zeadra's nerves as had the audacity to take a seat without being invited. Mission was seated next to her and becoming more restless the longer the wait. Carth and Melissa was leaning against a wall of the office, seemingly relaxed, Melissa had her hand tucked into her belt just above her thigh holster. A closer look would reveal that the snap was open.
After an extensive wait; Gaddon came in from his quarters and seated himself at his desk. He positioned himself comfortably and laid his hand palms down on the desk. He turned to the sound of Terri's drumming fingers. He looked impassively at her, waiting for her to speak. She kept on drumming her fingers.
"I hear congratulations are in order." He remarked, eventually
"Not sure what you heard, so I can not comment on that."
Terri kept on tapping her fingers. Zeadra was developing a tick to her eyelid. She sighed and stopped her drumming
"We can continue this game where you play the role of the benevolent, wise and all knowing gang leader and you try to get more out of the deal than we agreed to. Or we can get down to business."
Gaddon nodded his head.
" Shall we get on with it then?"
"Yes. As demanded we stole the engine from the Vulkars for you. No, the Vulkars will have no proof that you were involved as all personnel at that base are dead, the security records had been scrubbed so there is no electronic traces either. The engine had been transported here hidden in a stolen delivery vehicle that has been taken care off, before the engine was pushed here on a standard push frame." Terri replied.
"The engine was ours to begin with." Zeadre interrupted
"A distinction that means nothing to me." Terri continued," Job done on our end. Now you have to ensure that we get in close proximity to the prisoner. As agreed."
Gaddon gave an enigmatic smirk, as he leaned back in his seat. The trio went on alert. Mission started to look alarmed.
"And I will. After all how much closer can you get than the winners podium. All you have to do is place in the top three."
"The deal was we get you the engine, you get us in close. Nothing more."
"Did I specify as to how that was to be achieved? I cannot recall stating that your end would be over on the handover of the engine."
Terri snorted.
"Convenient is it not. And what is to stop you from moving the end goals again?"
"It is not my fault that you had not looked too closely in the deal you had should know that no situation is ever fixed. If you had wanted fixed terms you should have brought a written contract"
Mission jumped up from her chair and placed her hands on the desk. Her expression confused and anxious
"Gaddon, why are you doing this? I vouched for you to them. I told them you are a man of your word" Mission said looking conflicted
"And how is any Hidden Bek business any problem of yours? Are you a member of this gang? The last I checked you were not even an affiliate. So How can you give sureties that are binding onto me?"
Mission looked as if she had been struck. Terri did not bother trying to hide her anger, not that the smug bastard could see it any way.
" Don't bother Mission, there is a reason why most criminals would not trust the word of a swooper. But since we are being so open with each other, let us see if you can tell the truth. Why don't you tell her the real reason you sent us after her and not just send one of your men with us as a guide."
"Why should I waste resources on a long shot. You fail, I lost nothing. She is a street rat that I fed from time to time, nothing ties her to me. Obviously she was trying to make herself look good to you and over reached. As to why you were involved. How would I know what the newest top bounty hunters wanted? You succeed, I gain everything at no cost. Now as you said if we are done playing games? I suggest you get your bike ready to race. It would be unkind of you to make me look foolish by sponsoring an independent out of the goodness of my heart and not have their bike working, after all getting it to work is in your own best interest"
Gaddon stood up from his desk and straightened his clothing.
"Zeadra please escort our guests to bay thirteen. Make sure old Joe knows to extend every courtesy."
Swoop bay thirteen was at the very back of the warehouse next to the general junkpile. Parts , broken bikes intermixed with domestic items and general scrap bike they were offered looked to have been pulled recently from said pile. Melissa looked at the rusted and charred frame in horror. The old Ithorian was making sounds of discomfort. He shuffled his feet in embarrassment and coughed to draw their attention.
"You can use any tools on the shelves to get it ready, the workshop manager has been told by me to supply you with any parts you need."
"Good luck you will need it, especially with that engine." Zeadra remarked smugly, walking away
"What did that uppity bitch mean "with that engine"? What else has that sleemo conveniently not mentioned" Melissa snarled.
Old Joe looked around, hoping for someone else to field that question. When no help was forthcoming he sighed and spoke
"The reason not one of our riders wants to use the engine is that the engine is more experimental than ready for use. There is a problem that we never solved before the prototype was stolen. The engine has a heat build up issue with that accelerator. Three runs and it will most likely explode."
"Why does that not surprise me? Just another hoop to jump through. Get it to work Gaddon makes money selling the tech. It fails no loss." Melissa remarked
Old Joe looked around carefully for witnesses before speaking
"Look I don't agree with what Gaddon is doing but he is my boss and I have to do what he and Zeadra says. If it is any help, I left the plans for a general bike on that datapad there on the bench as well as the full specs on the accelerator. For what it is worth I am sorry. This not the way the Beks did business under his father."
"Not really worth much then." Melissa replied
Old Joe looked defeated at that statement, but could not refute it. He turned and shambled away. Melissa turned to face her group, Mission still looked as if she had been curb stomped. Carth looked ready to spit nails and Terri just looked plain pissed. She sighed and angrily kicked the frame.
"Let us get to it, there is no point in just staring at this mess. We have ten hours to get this piece of crap ready to go. Carth go get some sleep, we need our pilot rested. I will need to study these specs and see how best I can fix this then and improve on it. Mission I need you and Terri to start cleaning the frame in the meantime, so I can see what I am dealing with here. Good thing we are next to the junkpile it will save us time to get the scrap to fix this thing"
Terri cleared her throat.
"Love the enthusiasm there. But Carth will not be piloting. I will. I have had training using these types of craft. Spaceships is Carth's thing, not this."
Mission was busy scraping carbon scoring from the frame with a steelbrush, her mind clearly somewhere else. She was vaguely aware of someone starting to work beside her. They continued on in silence for several minutes. Melissa looked up from where she was studying the datapad, seated on a crate. Terri was asleep under the workbench, using her pack as a pillow
"Do you want to talk about it?" Carth asked, eventually
She sighed and moved on to a new spot and started scrubbing
"Yes, no, I don't know." She replied listlessly
"Too many stuff running around in your head all at once, then I take it."
"Huh. How did you know?"
"I know it is hard to believe but I was a teenager once too."
"So how old were you when hyperdrive became a thing then?
Carth gave a grin at the brief reappearance of her sass. He kept working as she kept scrubbing the spot
"It is just… Growing up I looked up to him, he looked after his people. He treated people fairly, he made time for me when others just brushed me off. He told me how proud he was of me, when I finished jobs for him. He made sure I was fed, protected me from the older ones."
"And now you found out he was using you."
"It hurts so badly. I guess I always knew he used me , so it should not be such a shock. I know everyone uses everyone, but I wanted to believe he was different. And I know I should not have, any kid on the streets know you don't believe anything. Then I looked at the gang and they had something. Sure it was not perfect…"
"But you wanted it with all your heart."
"Then I found Zaalbar and it felt better, but something was still missing. And now I am back where I started. I… don't want to talk about it any more."
Carth lifted his hands.
"Okay I won't pry. Just know I am here if you want to continue this. And Terri and Melissa would tell you the same thing"
They continued in silence,
"There is something you need to know though."
"What?"
He pointed at his nose.
"You got a little something there."
Mission scrubbed her nose with her hand.
"What is it? Is it gone?"
"Well it was a blue nose, till you rubbed grease all over it."
Mission paused and she registered what Carth had said and done. Melissa snorted without looking up from the pad she was studying. Mission grabbed a piece of reflective plasteel and looked at her face
"Carth. I will get you. I swear I will get you."
Carth noticed Melissa going still. He saw her looking the accelerator, then back at the pad and back to the accelerator.
"Found something?"
"The swoop bikers are damn idiots, the answer is so obvious, a six year old would have found the answer to the problem."
"A little bit of context would be helpful here."
Melissa jumped up and walked to the tool bench and scratched through the power tools till she found a drill, she then scratched triugh the bits looking for a wide bore bit. She pointed to the junk pile
"Bring me those two exhausts, a fusion cutter and a spot welder."
Both Carth And Mission was looking a bit worried as she power walked over to the accelerator and started drilling holes in the casing with the wide bore drill bit. She started a small rant as she worked
"Heat build up. The accelerator becomes unstable due to heat build up. As it runs it generates heat, it has nowhere to go as it is a sealed case, you use it again; more heat with nowhere to go, it starts overheating the parts, Third time or more bang, be cause you have reached critical mass and the fuel explodes because of excessive heat. How do you get rid of it? Give the heat somewhere to go."
"That explains the holes, now why do you want the exhausts?" Mission asked
"By adding airflow you reduce the initial heat up and help any to dissipate faster."
"So you will use the flanges of the exhaust to force air across the unit." Carth guessed
"Precisely."
Old Joe was shaking his head as the other mechanics were making jokes and comments while they watched the girl struggling to get the bike ready from the comfort of the garage lounge. The images being relayed from a camera by the junk pile from the security office. Not having anything to do till the races started, the mechanic pool had decided that it would be amusing to watch her struggle and fail. Bets were being made as to when she would quit
He sat looking at her and saw what the other was not seeing. She was not failing, far from it. She solved a problem in minutes that he had been struggling with for weeks before the unit had been stolen by a turncoat, and the answer was so obvious in hindsight. When she added extra mounting brackets for the engine block by using pipes from a discarded shower unit, the others mocked her for adding unnecessary weight, he saw her resolving a structural problem all swoops suffered from. They derided her using plasteel cut to size for the casing and discarding the standard metal covering. The result was looking ugly even for a swoop bike, but they could not see the differences she brought about and how effective it could be.
He stood up and walked from the lounge. Stopping at the guardrail, he leaned on it and stared down into the pit. It was time to think of the future. For a while he had been growing discontent with the way things was going. It started with small things here and there and generally escalated. Now he could not recognise the gang he had joined. Gaddon is not half the man he father was, sure the old man had been tough but everyone knew his word was his bond. Gaddon started of following his father footsteps and then the slide started. It started with Brejik, a snivelling coward. Old Joe snorted at the irony of that though, just how much of a coward can you be when a Ithorian calls you one
Gaddon had brought him in due to his ability to make money. The more money that came in the more they moved away from the values of the old Beks. The shift grew worse when he was blinded. Joe had always wondered at the timing of that accident. Zeadra, just thinking of her upsets his stomachs. How Gaddon did not realise that the woman will do anything for power, he will never understand. When the initial tear away had occurred he had expected her to join Brejik, but he supposed she saw a bigger picture
"Saying goodbye to the place as well?"
Nico Cahe was standing next to him. The junior mechanic had followed him from the lounge. The young human is a good mechanic and a better man. The two had spent many hours in the workshop together and Old Joe would like to think he knew the man well. He knew the only reason Cahe had joined the Beks was to make money, another sign as to how low the Beks had sunk. But he could not hold it against the man for instead of wasting his money on women, drugs or drinks like so many others, Cahe send nearly every credit off world to put his siblings through school on Alderan.
"What do you mean? Saying goodbye." Joe asked
"I am taking the offer." Cahe said simply
The offer was a yearly sub event at the season opener. During the races mechanics from professional teams would recruit from the gangs mechanics. Those whose bikes had made the top ten were usually offered well above the going rate. Joe knew Cahe had turned the offer down twice. Joe had asked him why he had turned down he offers. The answer was that while the offers were good the Beks paid more consistently and reliably.
"What made you change your mind this year?"
Cahe pointed into the lounge where a burst of laughter burst through and then to the pit where the girl was struggling with two inexperienced helpers.
"What Gaddon is doing is wrong and I will not be part of it. You know I stayed for the money for my siblings, but at what cost to yourself. Somewhere you have to take a stand"
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"I am going down there and helping the kid."
Mission looked up as the man and the Ithorian approached. Her eyes widened as they took of the leather half jackets they wore and placed it on the bench, knowing what that action signified. Melissa looked up from where she was tightening a mounting.
" What do you want?"
Cahe lifted his hand to show that he was not there for trouble.
"We came to help. I know you have no reason to believe us but what Gaddon is doing is wrong and I want to prove that at least some of us here are decent people."
" You can trust put their colours down, they are no longer Beks." Mission said
" I will get the explanation for that statement later. Now there is till too much to do. Fine I need you to rivet the plasteel plate to the nose assembly, one rivet every two centimetres otherwise the plate will tear off."
Zeadre did not bother informing Gaddon as to what she saw. Old Joe was just that, old. He was a representation of the old Beks, him leaving would save her time from later having to convert him or get rid of him. And the human had never been truly loyal. Truth be told the less humans around the better as far as she was concerned
Despite being exhausted and worried about the rebuilt bike and the danger they were in, Melissa could not help but to swept up into the euphoria permeating the stadium. Noticing the smiles on Mission and Carth's faces she could see it was affecting them as well. The pit was filled with the whine of engines, underlying it was the swearing and shouting of the mechanics and riders. From outside you could hear the crowds getting worked up, the public address systems hawking the products of the sponsors.
They had caused a stir when they entered the pit for sponsored independents. Firstly when it was noted that Cahe and old Joe was with them, not wearing Bek colours. The senior mechanic for Starstream racing had broken tradition to offer Joe a contract on the spot, where the tradition was that poaching attempts only started after the second heat. Joe insisted that Cahe be offered one too before he would consider signing. The senior mechanic had not hesitated to make his offer.
There had been a significant amount of snickering at the state of their bike from the other crews. That lasted till the bike was scanned for illegal modifications and weapons and the scans displayed to all. The professional design engineers had gone still for a moment before they exitedly started pointing. Another man in the Starstream team had been arguing with a well dressed man who held him back from approaching. Cahe had identified him as the chief designer.
The next tradition to be observed was the rider walk about. Where the riders of the different teams tied to psyche out the new riders. Mostly it was done in good sport and taste, some took it a bit Far. A Duros , named Redros, from the Black Vulkars had been significantly more vile in his insults and threats than most of the riders. Terri had blankly ignored him
The final event pre race was the inspection of the price. The format was winner takes all. The different teams and/or gangs had to present and submit the prices pre start where the officials were to guard it till the winner could collect the accumulated price.
Terri was leaning against the wall when Brejik strutted into the room several minutes late in an attempt to appear more important, She noticed several eye rolls at the obvious power play. He was followed by two of his lieutenants pushing a cage that had a sedated woman tied to the back of it. Her long black hair kept them from seeing her face as she hanged limply.
Brejik was smiling widely as he addressed the room.
"I am happy to announce that the price I am offering is much more valuable than a mere republic officer. I present my price, A Jedi!"
There was a sudden and deep silence. Brejik's smile increased while he basked in the success his revelation brought
Terri kicked off from the wall and walked back to the pit. She no longer had any interest in the posturing going on. She had to get ready. She had a race that needed to be won and standing around looking at the pissing contest of the gang leaders would serve no purpose
Terri felt a curious calm settling on her as she was sitting astride the swoop bike. It was just her and the track. The roar of the crowd, the voices of the announcers, Melissa's nervous advice coming through the comlink in her helmet, shifted to a white noise. She felt herself take a deep breath. She leaned over the handlebars. The air stilled, she breathed out. She was barely aware of the lights turning from amber, to orange to green. She opened the throttle.
The bike jumped forward, she changed from first to second gear, opening the throttle more, First pad coming up, dodge it, it is a repulsor pad. Switch to third gear, accelerate. Two pads coming up dead centre and left, accelerator pads. Hit one twist steering to hit the second. Open throttle wide jump to fifth gear. Dodge repulsor pad. Accelarator coming up, throttle full open, hit pad, hit the booster. Brake now.
Melissa's hand was smacked again by Mission as she brought it up again to her mouth to chew on her nails, her eyes stuck to the holoscreen in their pit. She was too scared to look at the timer as it was recording. Her mind was running constantly through all the things she could have done to build a better bike, doubting the changes she made. Terri crossed the line and finally she heard the voices of the announcers
"There you have it people, a new track record and the current first place, This race just became interesting. The Beks and the Vulkars were neck to neck but the newcomer has upset the board. The next heat should prove to be much more exciting than we had hoped."
Melissa spun around to the bench and prepared her tools, she had to make sure the bike was in its best condition for the next run
Terri could feel the glares coming from the Beks and the Vulkars as she was towed to the service pit. She was almost pulled from the bike by Melissa to get to the engine, Mission led her to a chair and offered a drink as Melissa was already taking the engine cowling off to inspect the engine.
"I know you don't see it now, but she was a bundle of nerves." Mission whispered
Terri motioned Carth leaned in close as she lifted the visor to her helmet
"Get them ready. We are most likely to have a fight to get out of here."
The address system was calling for all riders to mount upa dn be ready to be towed to the tracks. Melissa had finished her checks and Terri was getting mounted when the officials stepped in to check for compliance.
She saw Carth having a conversation with the two mechanics, clearly urging them to leave. She leaned down to Melissa
" Get ready, This is going to go down soon and it is going to be ugly"
Terri felt a tucking sensation at her boot. She saw the butt of a hold out blaster before Melissa pulled the trouser leg over the boot
The chief mechanic of Starstream racing frowned as his two new hires walked into their concession before the second heat started. Their entrance stopped the conversation flowing between the team manager and a representative for a soda company looking to have their brand listed as a sponsor
"Shouldn't you be with your crew?" He asked mildly
Old Joe shook his head.
"They told us to leave. They believe a fight will break out soon."
The team manager looked at old Joe. A sudden wariness in his posture.
"And what do you believe?"
"They are right. A really bad fight is coming, it would be better to leave while we can."
The chief designer stood up.
"Then I better go talk to the girl and make her an apprenticeship offer."
Cahe shook his head with a laugh.
"She will not leave her friends. Nor will she leave the Republic."
"Republic?"
"Apart from the Twi'lek girl, they are all republic soldiers. The old man has the Telos tattoo on his arm. The girl is too good not too have had special training. The other woman moves like a predator. My guess they are from some form of special forces squad that was on the ships blown apart by the Empire. You may have heard the Vulkars were bitching about being attacked pre race despite the truce. They did it. Gaddon scammed them to steal back an engine. The thing is they infiltrated the Vulkars going in through the under city through Sith patrols, scavengers and Rhakghouls. They are here for one reason only and I think it is for the Jedi; Brejik offered. At this point I believe it would be better to get of this planet, never mind out of this stadium. Gaddon tried to fuck them over and they are not going to take it lying down"
The team manager seemed to ponder this for a moment. Swoop racing was not a gentle sport, more often than not linked to a criminal elemant , if the ones dealing with gang bosses demands get nervous about outside threats, it is generally a good idea to listen. He stood up and addressed the room.
"I think it is high time for us to be somewhere else."
He led the way from the room. The representative from the soda company looking blankly at his associates It took a moment for the credit to drop before they too scampered for the door, leaving the documents for their presentation scattered around the room. Getting out alive was more important than losing the sensitive information the forms contained
Brejik was screaming at the race officials like a toddler having a tantrum, Gaddon goading him on not deescalating the situation. At this point only the most dense of being were unaware that a fight was brewing. The leaders of the smaller gangs were slowly filtering from the room, leaving the main players to their own fates
Terri slowly knelt down from her position on the top of the podium, hand reaching for the hold out blaster in her boot. Carth was standing ready close to the door, hand on his blaster, her blaster in his left hand ready to be thrown to her. Redros was looking at a flunkey nearby edging to step of the podium from his place in second. The Bek rider looking around for back up.
There was the screeching of metal as the two girls pushed the solid workbench away from the wall, this was followed by a crash as they tipped it over. Melissa was laying out a line of grenades next to several power cells and the quiver of arrows. She took the bow and shook it. It extended to its full length
" Cool. Did not know I could do it like that."
The news crews were panning in on the podium and the crew pits as they sensed the oncoming brawl. The crowds protected by force fields were getting rowdier at the chance of extra entertainment as the images were being relayed over the oversized screens.
Isana Yurt jumped up from her chair with a cheer when the cameras panned in on the indepedendant pit. The two girls in it had pushed the workbench forward and created a barricade. What was getting her excited was the redhead holding the vanity piece she had sold her. She turned to one of their staff members acting as a waiter in their concession stand
"Make sure you get all the footage of her using that thing. It will be the centre point for our next displays."
Her mother shook her head.
"I never thought anyone would actually buy that piece of junk never mind use it." Kebla Yurt said
"I already have a slogan. From the ancient to the newest Kebla Yurts stocks it all." Isana continued
"Needs some work, but we can refine it later. Let us just hope she gets us decent footage to use."
"Get the computer to make her look younger and in a dress to make her look more innocent, add some soot to make her look battle worn." Isana suggested
"Yes. The innocent winning against the odds is a good selling image"
Kebla turned to another employee.
"Are you recording this or do I have to do everthing myself again?"
" Mam since she is a minor and not an employee covered by a contract should we really be considering this?"
" Do not bother me with legalities now just do as I say."
The fight was not kicked of by the tantrums of the two gang leaders. It was kicked of by the door of the cage being ripped off and smearing a Vulkar against the wall.
The restraints holding the woman popped loose. She stepped forward and extended her hand. A tube pulled itself from the belt of a black Vulkar lieutenant. Twin yellow blades cut through the air before bisecting the lieutenant
"Get them." Brejik squeeled.
The man then showed his valor by dropping to his knees and trying to crawl under the presentation podium as all hell, broke loose
Terri pulled the blaster and dropped Redros with a bolt to the back of the head, before standing up and pressing the barrel under the chin of the Bek rider. She dropped the now useless blaster as the second body dropped. He eyes following the arc of her blaster as Carth threw it at her
She caught it and spun to a crouch firing twice, killing two bikers that had been sneaking up on Carth blades in hand. The Jedi dropped to a knee as whatever sedation she was on was till effecting her, she was slowly starting to topple forward. Terri moved in and grabbed her. She shook her to try to get her to focus
" You can sleep later, time to go."
" No. Wanna sleep." The jedi slurred
She went limp and a snore escaped her. Terri swore and pulled her onto her back by a fireman's lift. Carth was holding the door, keeping their extraction point open.
Terri rapidly crossed the space to where Carth was. Her attention was drawn to the presentation podium. The officials were calmly seated behind their table protected by a force shield. What drew her attention was the scene in front of the table
Zeadra killed Brejik with a shot to the back of the head where he was kneeling, gibbering for his life. She said something to Gaddon. The look of surprise on his face was knocked of by a pained grimace as she shot him in the chest. She looked around her a victorious smile on her face.
Terri reached the door as they locked gazes. Hate flashed between them and both swung their pistol barrels at each other.
Terri's blaster came onto position faster. Zeadra dropped to her knees, a look of surprise on her face as her blaster fell from suddenly nerveless fingers. She tried to say something before falling face down, never to move again
Melissa and Mission were being pressed hard as the two gangs seemed to have reached an impromptu truce to take them out first. Another Vulkar dropped with an arrow to the chest.
"I still do not know what that thing is but I am really starting to like it." Mission called out over the din of battle
"Frag out." Melissa called back
The explosion gave them some breathing room and a serious of shots from the rear announced the arrival of Terri and Carth
In the Yurt Concession stand the two women were jumping in joy, the assistants deperately trying to record all the ideas being spouted.
"Forget the innocent look. Green camouflage pants, tight top, bigger tits and black camouflage paint stripes." Isana called
"Same for the Twi'lek, add a scar under her eye, Change the blaster to an old slug thrower. Belt filled with knives across her chest. Really short camouflage or black short, bigger ass, not too big though"
They fought a running retreat to the exit. Mission and Melissa changing positions with Cart on fall backs as Terri was still carrying the unconscious Jedi.
Melissa fired her last arrow and drew her pistol, when Terri dropped the Jedi and ran to the back entrance. She slapped a breach charge on it and rushed back after priming it and dropped on top of the Jedi
"Fire in the hole"
They dropped into a crouch and waited for the crump. Carth picked up the Jedi and moved for the door. Terri now taking over as dropback. From a big screen holoviewer they could see a view being broadcast from the streets as Sith armoured transports were moving in.
Melissa paused for a moment before sending a message from her comlink, before exiting the door behind the others, a long range detonator in hand. She pressed the detonator, before entering another code and pressing it again
Spinner was looking at the race from behind the terminals in the container he grandly called his domain. The walls filled with pictures of young models in interesting poses. He was shocked for a moment as he saw the leadership of the gang being usurped and the usurper dying shortly after.
"Time for my exit strategy." He said to the empty room
He started up the program to siphon the registered Hidden Bek monetary assets from several banks to his account with the intergalactic banking guild. He had a few moments before he could leave, So he sat back to have a bit of a daydream studying his pictures. He had a brief recollection from the previous day when the redhead had leaned over the terminal to stare longingly at him as he was loading her biometrics for the passes. She may have had a bit more up her top than he preferred and a bit older than his usual tastes, but he could see she wanted him. Why else would she let him know the number for her burner comlink?
Speaking of that; a message flashed on his terminal from that number. He called it up and looked at it in surprise.
"Goodbye, Pervert. You will never look at another child again."
The explosive hidden underneath the desk of his terminal activated and he and his chair impacted the wall of his container before the fireball did.
One of the riders for the now defunct Beks was about to jump onto the abandoned swoopbike intent to ride it out of there. Images of wealth flowing through her mind as she imagined selling the new design and engine to the highest bidder. She heard a click and saw a red light being activated inside the accelerator. The blast totalled all the assembled swoop bikes in the holding area
Melissa jogged to catch up to Terri as she waited by the manhole cover to the sewer system by the stadium.
"Message delivered." She said
"And the second one."
"Teaching them why kriffing with the mechanic is a bad idea."
"When did you add it to the engine?"
"After the first heat."
"And I was not told why?"
"Oops, I knew I was forgetting something
Melissa looked at the ladder leading into the sewer.
"Do we really have to do this again?"
"Yes and just so you know first shower is mine."
Bastilla woke as an acrid smell entered her nose. She sat up with a groan and a pounding headache, a hand supporting her back. She noticed that she was still dressed in the trashy clothing she had been forced into by her captors. A bottle was pressed to her lips and she thankfully started to swallow the cold fluid.
"Listen closely, we have to move quickly now. Stay in the middle of the group and don't make eye contact with anyone."
She was pulled to her feet and felt two small hands taking hold of hers. A blonde boy and a redhaired girl smiled at her. Six more children was spread out between a group of adults, teenagers, two droids and a Wookie.
The Sith troopers on duty groaned in frustration as yet another group of civilians returned from the swoop races. The hyper chatter of the children grating on their ears already. One being carried by the Wookie servant was screaming her head off. Anther was whining about wanting a refresher. The Twi'lek maid was trying to reign in a bouncing redhead. This was going to suck.
The seargent threw an imploring look at the officer on duty. The man looked at the group and shuddered.
"Move along. Just move along."
Showering with real water instead of sonic waves was a luxury she had not experienced since leaving the temple and being deployed on the cruisers. She reluctantly closed the taps and stepped from the cubicle. She looked at the pile of borrowed clothing with a small frown, missing her softer robes already. Though to be honest she preferred the borrowed clothing to what she had been dressed in. Concentrating for a moment she used the force to suppress the last lingering traces of the headache the sedation had left her with. She took a look in the mirror and took a deep breath
" There is no emotion, there is peace"
She opened the door and stepped into the room. The republic officer seemed familiar. They had been introduced before in the officers mess when she boarded the ship, but she could not recall a name. He was seated at the table and the scout was seated with her back to her , both stripping and cleaning their weapons, any activity being shared by the Wookie, the twi'lek and the redhaired teen.
They had looked up at the sound of the door She waved the officer down as he started standing up and glanced at the room. Two of the beds contained luridly coloured items, placed in pride of place. At least they had cleared up the broken crockery that had littered the ground on their arrival in the unit in the upper city. She walked to a point in the room where she was clearly visible to all and cleared her throat
"Good afternoon. For those of you who do not know me, I am Bastilla Shan. Jedi Knight and I will be taking over command of this operation"
The twi'lek dropped a brush and looked at her in irritation
"Who died and made you the ruler? Zaalbar pass the solvent please?"
The wookie passed the item over and continued with his weapon maintenance. Bastilla was flustered by the response and the underwhelming attention she was receiving.
"With that being said, I would like for you all…"
"Chuck it over when you are done." The scout interrupted
Bastilla cleared her throat
"It seems the first point of order would be to correct the lack of discipline being demonstrated."
" Lady, me and Zaalbar we are not soldiers, we do not take commands"
The Twilek lifted a fist up which was bumped by the wookie who grumbled in acknowledgement. The officer put down his reassembled blaster. He pointed to a chair.
"Mam, why don't you sit down and I will bring you up to date with the situation before any more decisions get made."
Bastilla sat down in the indicated chair. The officer cleared his throat
"I believe we may need to start with a round of introductions. I am Commander Carth Onassi, ex chief pilot of the Endar Spire. To my right is specialist Terri Cazor, Republic Scout division. We have cadet Second Class Melissa Carpenter, ex Endar Spire general crew. To her side we have Miss mission Vao and her companion the honourable Zaalbar, civilians
"Hear that, big Z, I got promoted to miss."
The Wookie growled something.
" No, Zaalbar. Miss is not a rank, it is a general title." Melissa replied distractedly,reassembling her rifle
"Why did you have me translate the whole time when you speak Shirrywook? Were you messing with me?"
"Because I don't speak Wookie." Melissa replied
"Then how did you know what Zaalbar asked?"
Melissa looked up and saw everyone looking at her
"What?"
Terri looked at Carth.
"We will table that for later."
Bastilla was frowning within minutes of the tale commencing and the longer it went on the deeper the frown went. She briefly pressed her fingers to her forehead before sitting back.
" I can see clearly that my presence has been desperately needed. Now that I have effected my escape…"
"Sister, we rescued your rigid butt." Mission interjected
" Affected my escape with your assistance…"
"What assistance. You did not escape. We rescued you, you were tied down in a cage. The only thing you had missing to look like a regular at Uncle Crusties Social Club; was a ball gag."
Carth snorted and coughed, he looked to the side and took a sip of water. Melissa hastily looked down, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Terri did not bother to hide it and laughed outright.
Bastilla was confused for a moment, then turned bright pink. She hastily cleared her throat
"To continue what plans have been made to remove ourselves from the planet?"
"We are working on it. Our first priority was to ensure meeting up with you" Carth coughed
"I see that more effective leadership is needed if that is all you had achieved in this time frame."
"I did not see you doing any better." Mission snarked again
Bastilla chose to ignore the interruption.
"And to bring up another matter I do not approve of the fact that you had involved civilians in this matter. Especially the children you used to get past the checkpoint."
Terri looked Bastilla dead in the eyes.
"I do not care of what you approve of or not. We have done what is needed to survive and will continue to do so. You have a choice to either work with us or leave."
The door comunit chimed. Terri stood up and walked to it.
"And for the record. If we had not brought up those kids to here, they would be dead by now, And as far as I am concerned they are infinitely more valuable than you."
Jack's one girlfriend was at the door. She handed over a bag carrying the label of the dispensary.
" Hi Terri, I got what you asked me for. By the way I asked the girl at the desk what happened to the old guy you mentioned. She said she was the new caretaker. Apparently the old man left with a Sith patrol and never came back."
"Thanks, Doreen, you better go before the kids and Jack drive Vanessa mad."
"If I call for backup send Zaalbar over, the kids behave for him. And me and Vanessa have our ways to tame Jack."
Terri walked over to the table and started unpacking. She snapped the shears of a pair of scissors together a few times and checked the power levels on a hair buzzer. She looked at Melissa with an evil smile.
"Talking of playing. Time to play hairdresser."
Melissa looked ready to bolt. Carth chuckled from his chair.
"Glad I am not you."
" Who said you are not on the list as well?"
Carth gulped. Mission turned to Zaalbar.
"I think this the part where you start running."