Chapter 11
Will that be a plain miracle? Or do you want chocolate with that?
The hooded figure stood watching the battle impassively through the bridge main window. The darkness of space was lit with the flashes of light from darting fighter craft engaged in a deadly dance of death and destruction. Frequent coronas of fireworks marked the demise of one,
Larger flashes lashed out as capital ships were hammering against the shields of others.
The sounds of battle stopped coming from the antechamber to the bridge.
The crews in the recessed areas below the walkway started to undo the harnesses that kept them in their seats against the swaying of the deck as impacts hammered the hull.
The figure turned around and faced the bridge door.
"Stay at your post, I will deal with this."
The voice coming from within the mask was cold and mechanical. Two armour encased hands undid the clasp of the cloak. The cloak dropped to reveal a figure encased in armour. The figure crouched down slightly, a metal tube in one hand.
A blue light pushed through the door of the bridge.
"Open the door." A hint of annoyance detectable over the metallic tone
The door opened and a group of eight robed figures appeared. One stumbled slightly, a lit blue lightsaber in hand. One stepped forward and swept back her hood before pointing dramatically
"Surrender now and the Council will show mercy. You have no chance against us." Bastilla postured.
The figure jumped forward in a force assisted leap directly to the group
Terri sat up, gasping. The blankets of the cot pooling around her waist. She felt as if she had run a marathon. Her bedclothes sticking to her in heavy sweat.
"What the kriff?" She gasped
She looked to her left as she heard soft cries. Melissa was twisting and curling in her bed still locked in the throes of a nightmare. She got up from her bed, staggering slightly, and walked over to the edge of Melissa's bed. Gently stroking Melissa's forehead had the girl slowly relaxing.
Terri looked around. Carth and Mission were seated at the table having breakfast. Carth's temporarily abandoned in front of him, Mission merrily eating one handed, the stuffed equinine held in her lap, she had not let go of it since appropriating it the previous night.
Carth lifted his hand defensively.
"Don't ask me. All three of you started having nightmares half an hour ago. Bastilla woke up first. She fled into the refresher looking like she had seen a ghost."
Mission laid down her spoon in the bowl she was eating from. She pointed to the refresher.
"Someone will have to check if she is still alive in there. Zaalbar was in there shortly before her."
Zaalbar groaned and growled indignantly from the nest he had made for himself, made from pilfered bedding and cushions from empty units, next to the workbench
"Not that bad?" You cleared out Jax's cantina with one fart." Mission retorted.
Carth and Terri looked at each other
"Not it." The echoed
The door to the refresher opened and a still very pale Bastilla entered the room. She walked shakily to a chair and sat down at the table Terri rounded on her immediately.
"What the hell was that? Who was that person?"
"That person was Revan."
" Battle Master Revan, Dark lord of the Sith, Revan?" Terri asked
"Yes, I dreamt of the night we engaged in combat. Why you saw that I have no idea. I have never heard of people sharing dreams, it is unsettling."
Carth pointed to the now gently snoring Melissa
"Speaking of unsettling. What is going on with her? She started twisting and turning the same time you two did. Adding on to that a sudden ability to understand a language she had been exposed to for two days. Also being able to heal from injuries faster than any of us"
"Not forgetting feeling the attack on the Endar Spire coming and stopping us from walking into a murder. Everytime she mentions being cold and feeling emotions not her own" Terri added
Bastilla idly started drumming her fingers on the table looking conflicted. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with two fingers.
"I wish I had access to the masters, She is another anomaly I cannot explain."
"Anomaly? Are you calling her an abnormality, something that should not exist?" Terri's voice was lowered, laced with anger.
Carth leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. Mission grabbed the surface of the table angrily. Zaalbar gave a low growl. Bastilla held up a hand.
"I apologise if I offended any of you. I did not mean it in a negative way. What you are describing are capabilities common to trained Force users. But she is not trained."
"There are no untrained Force users then?" Carth asked
"There are but they are few and far between. I am explaining this poorly."
Bastilla stood up and started pacing
"She comes from one of the planets where they frequently test for force sensitivity. If she was she should have been detected long ago. Her midichlorean count would have been checked every time a blood test was done, never mind showing abilities of a force user. The second thing is apart from a few flickers I cannot detect a presence from her. Everyone here has a presence in the Force; some stronger than others. She is absence where there should not be one. It is disconcerting"
"What does that mean?" Mission asked
"I do not know. I really do not know"
A total silence descended. After a few minutes Carth turned on the holonews. Pictures of anarchy came into view, a teleprompt running across the bottom of the images urged residents not to venture to the lower city. A more useless one followed the second urging residents of the lower city not to engage in criminal acts and wait patiently for authorities to regain control and resume normal daily life. The two messages kept cycling. The group winced as they saw an image passing, Jack's shop was a fire gutted shell. Mission grabbed the stuffed toy harder when an image of the still burning Hidden Bek warehouse was shown.
Carth reached over and pulled her into a tight hug. He moved to switch of the unit
"No. We need to know what is going." Mission stopped him
"Mission; I can see it is hurting you, we can find news another way, you do not have to see this."
She pulled the toy tightly to her chest and lowered her head into the fake hair of its mane.
"Switch it off, please." Came her muffled voice
Two blondes, a blackhead and a twi'lek exited the residential building several hours later. Terri noticed with a chuckle that the now black haired Melissa and newly blonde Bastilla were checking their radically changed hairstyles in any reflective surface they passed. Mission was still chortling about Zaalbar's reaction when she had told him she would return with enough purple hair dye to give him a proper new disguise. The howling and growling had increased when Melissa had suggested a deep forrset green, for better camouflage of course.
Bastilla was walking stiff backed with her arms across her chest, a slight pout on her face
" I still do not see why we need to go to the merchants when we have to concentrate on getting of planet."
"You cannot keep wearing my clothes and underwear, you need your own. Two we need to change our identities and get you, Mission and Zaalber a set. Three the Slicers I used could give us up to the minute information. Four we have a Wookie and two teenagers living with us, our food supply will only last another day." Terri responded," Now quit whining and get moving."
The new display in the window of Kebla Yurts emporium was impressive. The holoviewer filled the display window, clearly they had commissioned a special unit as Terri could not recall ever seeing one so large.
The Setting was on some forrest planet. Ruins from an ancient temple mixed in the foliage. The centre point was two heroines fighting off an attack from highly oiled and muscled spear wielding savages dressed in loincloths. The two heroines moved in concert. The human female was dressed in skintight camouflage trousers, the nearly bursting half top showing she was not wearing a bra as sweat was slowly turning the top translucent, a hint of underboop showing as well everytime she flexed her arms to fire another arrow. The twi'lek was duel wielding carbine pistols, the pants could not have been tighter and more form fitting if they had been painted on. The real highlight was the acrobatic twisting and turning and jumping the heroines were performing as they defended their position.
There was a large group watching the new display. The only problem is that for the most part they would never be interested in the products the shop contained. Slack jawed and drooling pimply faced teenagers were staring entranced at it, not all of them boys.
Bastilla's face was confused, her shopping bags held in slack hands. Melissa pulled the zipper of her tunic up higher and crossed her arms across her chest, whining in mortification. Mission was bouncing on her toes, trying to look behind her
"Is my ass really that big?"
Two teenagers spun around at that. Mission's bouncing doing interesting things to her figure.
"It is them, it really is them." One called out, voice cracking.
It was like a feeding frenzy in a gundark hole. Terri stood to the side recording it all.
Both Isana and Kebla Yurt rushed to them as Bastilla and Terri entered the store. Terri pointed to the display
" Our laywers has adviced us as long as no names are attached to the images any use thereof is in public domain." Kebla stated
"I was going to ask, where can I get a copy?" Terri replied
" We can supply you with one, free of charge course." Isana smiled" it will take but a few moments to retrieve one."
Terri handed over a piece of flimsy.
"While we are waiting we are going to need this order filled up."
Melissa and Mission was still in the toy store when they exited. Melissa had retreated there on the pretext of "buying something for the kids". The store security had had their hands full with keeping the mob of the "new action movie" celebrities. This was not helped by a few appearances by Mission at the window of the store waving at the fans.
Bastilla offered to stay with the hovertrolley filled with their purchases, another "gift" from the emporium, to allow Terri to extract the girls. She shifted the holster on her hip, still uncomfortable with her new weapon.
The three came out carrying four very large bags, Mission was hugging a neon pink and purple Ewok to her chest. Bastilla was thankfull that the last scheduled stop was to go buy food. Hopefully this ordeal would be over soon.
The approach was made when Bastilla and the two teens had entered the food merchant, leaving Terri to watch over their purchases. A Rodian walked up slowly hands in open sight. Terri lifted an eyebrow
" Finally decided to approach have you"
" I bring a message from Canderous. He said you will know who he is."
" Go ahead."
"Twenty hundred at Javiers cantina at the bar."
The Rodian stepped back for a few paces before turning and walking away.
A strong bass beat was thumping as Terri; Carth and Bastilla pushed their way through the pulsating crowd on the dancefloor. Spotting canderous was easy. His was the only booth with one occupant, despite the room being packed. The fact that a cleaning droid was cleaning up what looked like teeth and blood could have contributed to it as well.
They slipped into the booth keeping their hands in sight. Though with Bastilla present, the peacefull gesture meant little. Canderpos raised his empty glass up and a waitress scurried over
" Four Ales. Decent Ales. Lunch of the day"
They said nothing to this. Terri had briefed them earlier that no Mandolorian would do business with a person not willing to eat or drink with them. The exclusion to that rule would be the minority group called the Death Watch, who had a rule never to reveal their faces, always wearing their helmets. Mission; of course; had asked if that included having sex as she reasoned that clanging helmets together would spoil the mood and give everyone a headache. She went on to ask if they had special tattoos to prevent mistaken identity. No one wanted to field those questions.
Their order came rapidly, proving that Canderous was both well known and feared in this establishment, especially considering that the bar kitchen had been closed hours before.
Halfway through the meal, canderous lifted his glass and pointed to the holoscreen replaying the swoop race and subsequent fight.
"More interesting performances to add to your list. Personally speaking; I was more impressed by your brats convincing Kage and his idiots to commit suicide by Gamorean. Speaking of which; early bed time for them?"
"We decided a small group would be better. A sentiment you seem to share as I could not spot the usual butt monkeys following you around." Terri replied
Canderous drained his glass and lifted it to the bar, before putting it down.
" Cards on the table. Davik has been having some cash flow problems and has not paid me in full what he owes. I do not see him obtaining that in the immediate future, so it is time to move on. You need to get of planet and have no way of doing so. Davik has a ship and a warehouse filled with rare goods. I can get you in."
"Why us? You can simply stuck a blaster to the back of his pilot's head and tell him to take off."
" Davik caught him skimming and has him locked up in his personal "detention facility", if the stupid bastard is till alive it would be a miracle. To get into the hanger and warehouse, you need the access codes to the ship and the hanger which are kept in the dockmasters safe, so you will need a slicer. All of this is pointless if you do not have clearance codes to exit the blockade."
"Which is only accessible from the Sith base." Terri said
" Correct I can not go in and collect it as I am a known associate of Davik. If I go in, they will bomb Davik's estate minutes after leaving the base. There is a go around however. Davik was having Janice Nall building a slicing droid for him. Go to her and tell her I sent you for it."
He took a pull from his new glass.
"The timing will be tight on this. Davik has given me two days off. This opportunity will be gone if I have to return. Once you grab the codes it will be valid for six hours only. Getting to Daviks Estate takes half an hour. I can only take in three with me and the Jetti cannot be one. Davik will never buy a jedi slave routine."
Terri drained her glass and slid from the booth
"I am guessing you are staying here till we bring the codes?"
"Cadet! You will stand down! That is a direct order!" Carth Bellowed
"Sir! Yes,sir." Melissa slammed to attention
To say that the idea of a small party infiltrating the Sith base, consisting of Terri, Carth, Bastilla and the new droid, did not go down well, was like saying fluid is wet. The argument had been raging for fifteen minutes since it had been aired with the return of the visiting party accompanied by a new droid.
The party was grabbing their gear to move out. Melissa was standing rigidly at attention, woodenly staring at the wall. Terri sighed as she walked past Melissa. She had not moved her eyes from the spot she was staring at.
Exiting the unit she waited till the door closed before addressing Carth.
"You know they are right. Three extra will not really make a difference."
Carth rubbed his face and sighed.
"I know. And I know I took it to far back there. But damn it, I just want the kids to have a moment of safety. They have been in non-stop battles for days with minimal rest and relaxation."
" And the rest of us, had not?"
"Fine, I am a hypocrite. But it still does not change the fact that I don't want to take them on a suicide run. If something happens to us, they still have a chance to disappear, granted not much of a chance but still."
"I see your point." Terri replied, shrugging," Not much we can do about that now"
Carth led the way to the turbolift. He paused at a planter.
"Might as well grab this now before I forget."
He pulled a dead plant out and dug into the ground before pulling out a plastic bag. He handed it over to Bastilla.
"Melissa recovered those two lightsabers on the Endar Spire, we thought it might be useful to identify their owners."
Inside the unit Melissa was busy repacking her backpack with grenades and power cells. She left the bow on her bed, not having had access to a fabricator to replace her arrow supply.
" You know Carth will have you court martialed or brought to a tribunal or something if you go after them." Mission said
"Already going to happen, might as well have them add gross insubordination to the charge sheet."
" Why? What did you do?"
"I lied my way into the academy in Toprawa on Alterra. I overheard Carth saying he has to report me, it came out shortly after we crashed"
"No way. Carth might be pissed at you now. But he will not turn you in."
"Then miss straight and narrow Jedi will. I have seen the way she looks at me. She will do it in a heartbeat, and you can not tell me am I seeing things."
Zaalbar stood up from his nest and started preparing his bowcaster. Mission stood up with a sigh and started packing gear as well.
" Fine. But I reserve the right to tell you; I told you so and watch when Terri paddles your butt."
"Will that be before or after she does yours."
Mission paused for a moment.
" If Terri is going to do us, who is going to paddle Zaalbar?"
The two looked at each other for a moment
"Carth." They unisoned
Zaalbar just grumbled.
The door closed behind them. No access code had been required as T3M4 had not bothered to reset the system after hacking it. The officer on duty vacantly wishing them a pleasant night from here he was tied to a chair was beyond creepy.
Accessing the computer systems in the adjacent office was easy as well as the droid again not having erased the hack he left. Mission was loudly grumbling about droids disrespecting her trade as she searched through the directories.
"Got the security allocation for the night. Officer of the watch is currently recorded as being in the armoury."
Mission pulled up the cameras. The trio and the droid were shown to be outside the armoury. Mission rolled her eyes and locked down the doors to the security barracks room outside the armoury. She was to late to cut the alarm signal waking up the barracks but was able to intercept it from spreading throughout the base
"And that is why a sentient is always the better option for a slicer than a droid." She loftily declared.
" Not to get between your gloating at your nemesis. Those troopers are awake and trying to break through. If they get out the alarm will be raised." Melissa pointed out
"One flash fry coming up."
Bastilla staggered for a moment with a gasp as a lot of lives exited her Force senses.
" Bastilla?" Terri asked
" Nothing. Just a small disturbance in the Force nearby."
" What kind of disturbance?"
" Death, a lot of it."
Terri thought for a moment.
" How close was this disturbance."
"Very close, I cannot be more precise."
"I don't like it but there is nothing we can do about it but be more vigilant."
Carth finished rummaging through the pockets of the officer in charge.
"Got the keycard."
Mission was following their movement on the camera.
" Right, we are here, they are moving to the lifts to the second level. What is our plan for being here, exactly?"
" We are going to the armoury, grab all the explosives we can and mine the hell out of this place, fall back here and cover their extraction if needs be, blowing this place up as we leave. They will be too busy digging through this place to look at their systems to notice the clearance codes that have been issued."
Melissa led the way to the armoury. Mission and Zaalbar falling in behind her. They made their way quickly to the room not having to worry about meeting any resistance. To make live even easier two repulsor trolleys were already loaded with ordinance.
The door to a refresher slid open, framing her in its light. Melissa stood frozen. A trooper stumbled past and collapsed on her bed with a grunted greeting as she passed. Letting out a deep sigh she placed the charge and tip toed from the barracks
"What took you so long?" Mission hissed
"Had to wait for the refresher, it was engaged." Melissa replied, blandly
"I hate it when that happens." Mission responded.
The three saboteurs continued on their self appointed mission of mayhem and destruction. Mission observing the way forward from the hacked camera system. Getting Zaalbar to stay out of the pots took some doing as the mined the kitchen and the mess hall.
Mission was whistling a merry tune softly as she was attaching a charge to a fuel tank in the fighter bay.
" Hold it! Back up slowly with your hands up."
A trooper had her at gunpoint. She slowly raised her hands. A mass of brown was moving stealthily closer. She needed a distraction as the metal walkway was not ideal for a stealth approach, no matter how skilled you were. She might have to rethink that statement though as she had not heard his approach. A look down at his stockinged feet told her why.
"Surely officer, we can come to an arrangement." She huskily said
She slowly slid one hand across her collarbone and grasped the zip of her suit and pulled it lower. His helmet movement indicated that he was following her movement.
Zaalbar reached in and grapped him in a chokehold. Mission jumped forward and grabbed the rifle before it could drop on the grating. Zaalbar lowered the corpse and they pushed it into a shadowy gap between a fuel pump and the tank.
Melissa met them back at the door having planted her charges already.
" One more room and we go back." Melissa said.
" Fine, we are running low on explosives anyway."
They looked upon the four large droid shuttles dwarfed in size by the cavernous warehouse. Multiple drop pallets stood ready for deployment alongside the wall. Droids were scuttling about between the shelves moving inventory.
"Mission. How would you like to show that droid once and for all who the best slicer is?"
Droids were busy loading foodstuffs, medicines, tools, weapons and ammunition in the drop pods when Melissa and Zaalbar returned with a tub of Rhakghoul serum from the labs. Two droid ships were already loaded with drop pods. Mission finished inputting the last commands and stepped away from the terminal
"The ships will launch in thirty minutes, drop their loads and run straight for the blockade at the far side of the planet. Coms have been disconnected so they can not be recalled or overwritten." Mission stated
"Good job, that will really show that droid" Melissa praised her
"Take that Tin Can! I am the best!" Mission shouted
"No need to wake up the base, you can gloat later" Zaalbar growled
" Can you not just let me have this moment?"
Bastilla finished cutting through the last droid. The two halves tottered fot a moment before falling apart in a sparking cascade. She lowered herself to one knee and entered a light force trance to sense ahead and replenish her reserves. T3 emerged from under the secretaries desk where it had been slicing the system disabling the turret system in the officers office section. The last door led to their objective, the commanders office and the sole terminal set up to issue flight clearances.
Terri and Carth were looking slightly haggard, standing in the door to the second to last office. It had been continous fights to reach this door, if not for T3's hacking the alarm would have been raised several times before.
Terri lowered herself in a chair to get a brief moment of rest, Carth following her example, both breathing hard. Terri looked down in the face of her last opponent. The woman was dressed in a tight black dominatrix outfit, a blaster bolt burn mark dead centre in the chest. Jerra Camph looked surprised in death. Frederickson was still tied to his chair, the handcuffs had allowed him just enough movement to reach the blaster under his desk but not able to draw and fire it effectively.
"I told you something was off about that woman." Terri remarked
Carth airily waved a tired hand
"You said she was not a trooper and you were right. However that does not give you a blanket claim as to everything wrong about her."
Bastilla opened her eyes and stood up.
"There is one more ahead. Be carefull this one is filled with insanity and hate."
" Is he force sensitive?" Carth asked.
"Not that I can sense." Bastilla replied
Terri and Carth took positions on the outside of the doorframe, guns up. Bastilla turned her hand horizontal. The yellow blades engaged with the snap-hiss common to all lightsabers.
"T3. Open it." Carth ordered
The Commander was standing in front of his desk, a two bladed polearm in hand.
"When I defeat you I will hand over the Jedi to Lord Malak and he will finally see my worth and unlock my Force potential. I will rule the Sith under him and one day be the master of all."
Terri fired a shot at him, he dodged. She noted that it was at normal speed, not the speed at which Bastilla could move.
"Stay back, this is my fight." Bastilla command
"I am pretty sure I can just shoot him, but he is all yours."
The crazed man charged Bastilla down and they engaged in combat.
"T3, get that code." Terri commanded
The droid trundled forward, skirting the two combatants and connected to the mainframe. Second later he detatched and moved to the door from the far side of the office, avoiding the conflict in the middle
"Got it?"
T3 gave a short beep and a few whistles
"No need to get shirty. I had to ask."
"What is it with everyone speaking strange languages these days." Carth complained lightly
"Not my fault you did not take supplemental languages in school instead of playing griffball."
The Commander dropped with a cry and Bastilla deactivated her blades. A right light started flashing through the Commanders tunic.
"Dead man switch! Run!" Terri cried, already sprinting
The base alarms started screeching first, before an explosion triggered from within the office.
They were back in the security office by the front desk when the intruder alarm began to wail. Melissa ran to the second terminal and used the tied up officers keycard and code. The man had been very accommodating, whatever had put him in that state must have been very strong. The wailing of the alarms broke the contol over him and he cursed and thrashed in the chair he was tied to
" Mission. Lock the barracks doors now. Give control of the cameras and prepare to activate the turrets on my mark."
Her hands flashed over the terminal.
" Zaalbar, keep an eye on the front door, I cannot risk activating the turrets. Before you go, pass me the datapads with the detonators codes."
Zaalbar dropped the pads and jogged to the doors, he dropped to his knee behind the reception desk and aimed at the door.
" Mission, catch."
Melissa chucked one pad to her.
" It will be quicker to load the activation codes together once you are done send them to me."
Melissa turned back to the camera feed.
"Are you kidding me, taking the lift? Don't they know it is the last thing you should do in an emergency."
"Are you listening to yourself right now?" Mission giggled
Melissa paused and shook her head.
" Sorry, you are right."
Carth had a stitch in his side as they were running for the front door of the base. T3 came past, screeching in distress. The first explosions rocked the building. All three of them stumbled and fell. The turrets above them came to life.
"Of course, now will be the perfect time for that." He thought sarcastically
Another set of explosions rocked the building and the sound of a series of smaller secondary explosions rippled through. He felt Terri grab his arm and pull him up
" Come on flyboy, you can nap later."
The urrets opened up, hosing the air with lasers. Carth braced for impact. None came. The turrets were hosing down the passage behind them
" I am buying a drink for whoever is saving our asses right now." He declared, starting to run again
"Second round is on me." Terri gasped next to him
" No time to dilly dally." Bastilla chided
Compared to them she still looked as fresh as she had when they started their run through the base. Sharing a look they plodded on.
Terri would love to say she was surprised to see the three exchanging fire with the returning Sith patrols, but she was too tired to care. Mission's cheery greeting not worth responding to. Zaalbar thrust a flask into her hand before shooting at movement by the door.
Never before had cold water tasted as good as it did now. She reationed herself to a few sips before passing the flask to Carth. She stood with her hands onher knees drawing air in deeply. Melissa came up and pulled her arm over her shoulder.
" Last stretch, almost done." Melissa encouraged her.
She saw Zaalbar propping Carth up. Mission was busy tyoing commands into a terminal, before stepping back and frying it with a blaster shot
"Turrets will come online in thirty seconds, big boom in one minute. Time to really run." Mission called
Bastilla had moved ahead and was engaging the scattered Sith outside. Force jumps dropping her in between pockets of regrouping soldiers, pushing troopers in to one another or redirecting blaster shots into them with her saber.
They made it fifty meters from the base when the concussive force of the remaining explosives rocketed them from their feet
Admirals Quarters. The Leviathan
Saul Karath woke up swearing as the insistant tone of an urgent message from the bridge pulled him from his sleep. He rolled over and tapped the light switch next to his bed., grabbing his comlink to read the message.
He was wide awake in an instant. Jumping from his bed he was ripping of his night clothes as he was walking to the stand holding his prepared uniform.
His flag captain was standing to outside his quarters as he left the room, datapad at the ready to give a briefing as he walked to the bridge
"What do we know?" He snapped
"The base commanders life monitor deactivated at zero one hundred fifteen. General base alert activated shortly thereafter. No Communication had been received from the base since the last scheduled check in at twenty four hundred. Ship sensors had reported several smaller surface explosions starting at zero one hundred twenty two and culminating in a large explosion at zero one hundred thirty. Prior to that four ships had launched from the base and had attempted to flee the surface. The Morningstar has reported the destruction of all four vessels when they failed to deviate course or respond to communications."
" Type of craft?"
"Visual images suggested they were four of our Droid cargo carriers. Search and Rescue units are scanning the debris for organic traces."
The woman looked at her pad.
" A fighter patrol has been launched and should be able to provide us with on site visual telemetry shortly. The Captain Air Group has been placed under arrest for not having a patrol ready squadron in place, resulting in the delay with this information."
"Has Lord Malak been apprised of the situation?"
They exited th senior officers corridor. The toops on duty by the door came to attention and one tapped the controls before sketching a salute. The door to the bridge opened to reveal Malak staring out the main viewport onto Taris. The crew deck below the walkway was filled by the night watch, the silence disturbed by the noise of normal operations. No one dared to look at the walkway above.
"This search has delayed us for too long. This has given the Jedi opportunity to ferment rebellion." Malak stated
" What are your orders my Lord."
"Wipe the planet clean. Deploy the fleet glass the surface."
"What about our men, innocent civilians." Karath attempted for clemency
He felt a grip on his throat.
"Do not make me repeat myself. Admiral."
Malak strode past Karath. Karath massaged his throat before turning to the communications hub
"Relay the orders, deploy the fleet. Synchronised barrages once all units are in place. No contact allowed to the surface"
Canderous was till seated at the booth when the seven walked or stumbled in. He threw his empty glass against the counter of the bar, waking up the barman
" Breakfast for six and another round."
He looked at the Wookie in the group.
"Make that food for ten." He adjusted his order.
He looked fresh and alert, despite the hour and several empty glasses and plates scattered across the table. Terri sank down thankfully into the soft seat.
The barman came and cleared the table. Bastilla and Carth joined her at the booth, the other three took a nearby table. Canderous waited till they had been served a drink and taken a sip before speaking.
" Judging from the noise outside, I would say the base has had a visit?"
"Yes, it was a bit more lively than anticipated."
"Nayc dajan cuyanir akalenedat" Canderous shrugged
Carth was about to demand an explanation when Melissa spoke
" No plan survives hard contact."
Canderous raised his glass to her.
" Finally an aruetti* that speaks like a civilised person."
The food arrived and they thankfully dug in. The meal was not interrupted by conversations Terri finished her plate at roughly the same as Canderous
"When you said three people could join you, did that include the droid or not?"
Mandalorian to English
Aruetti: traitor, foreigner, outsider