Chapter 85
Rakatta
Carth looked at the chronometer on the control panel before taking a firm grip on the control column, He opened the intercom
"We are reverting to realspace in five minutes, we don't know what is waiting on us so keep your eyes peeled and fingers on the triggers." He said
Beside him Bastila activated the combat package and brought the missile launcher and ion cannon on line. Three sets of clicks indicated that the turrets were manned and ready
"Strap in and hold on tight it might get really bumpy real soon." He said
He switched of the intercom and took several deep breaths. Bastila leaned over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile
"We got this." She said reassuringly
"We have come a long way since Taris, haven't we?" Carth commented
"We sure have, now let us finish this and get to living our lives." Bastila replied, squeezing his shoulder
Carth nodded to her before he pulled back the hyperdrive column and they reverted to realspace. They took one look, then a shocked second look, before looking at each other jaws dropping
"Holy fucking shit." Bastila said breathlesly
The scene before them made the CEC, Sluis Van and Commenor yards combined look like an amateur operation. Countless ships were drifting in space ranging from fighters to battle cruisers. Overlooking it was a station highlighted by the primary star. Solar flares were jumping from the star and being absorbed by the station. An opening appeared on the station and a light cruiser drifted into space
"Send the signal." Carth ordered
T3 whistled from where it was plugged in, its tone negative and panicked
"Coms are down, we are being jammed." Bastila translated
"Get a lock on the source, I will see if we can run out of its range." Carth replied
The hawke tilted as Carth banked hard and tried to run to deeper space. The combat monitor went active as multiple ships went online and started giving chase. T3 whistled again
"It is picking up multiple signals from the station, the ships are drones." Batila reported.
Behind them several ships jumped to hyperspace. Moments later they flashed back into realspace before the Hawke. Carth pressed the control column down and the Hawke dived below a barrage of laserfire. The top turret started chattering as Terri opened fire, the dorsal turret following shortly thereafter. The monitor screen went fully red as more and more ships went active.
T3 whistled and bleeped again
"It got a lock on the jammer, fourth planet." Bastila said, opening fire with the ion cannon
The ion bolts danced across a gunship and the ship went dark as the ion bolts shorted out the electrical systems. A distress signal started transmitting as the ship started drifting. Cart pulled the column to starboard to try and run in the opposite direction but more flashes marked ships deploying to cut them off
"Got no choice, we need to get to that jammer otherwise we are not getting that signal out." Carth said grimly
More ships came into range as he twisted and jinked the Hawke, explosions filled the air as the gunners found targets with every shot but for every one ship taken down three took the destroyed ships its place
"Keep the missiles for the jammer, we are going to only have one shot at it." Carth ordered Bastila
They burst trough the atmosphere and Carth levelled of sharply. T3 relayed telemetry to a screen on the control panel. It showed relative distance to the signal jammers emission. Sonic booms came as chaser craft entered atmosphere behind them. In the distance a towerlike structure became visible and the location marker led to it. Master warnings began screeching over the warnings of regular weapons locks
"We are being targeted from the structure." Bastila warned
A massive ion bolt came their way and Carth pushed the column down to hit the deck. The ship shuddered as it took a glancing blow. System shorted out and died.
"We are fried. Restore emergency power." Carth ordered
He pulled back on the column and heaved back on it
"Bastila open flaps to thirty degrees." He ordered
The Hawke started to slow from its freefall as Carth managed to level out but they were still dropping fast. The tower structure became more visible as they approached was on top of a cliff on an island. Carth turned sharply and they veered of course heading to the far side of cliff
The repulsor coils sprung to life and columns of water splashed onto the viewport as they settled barely above water level.
"Open flaps to sixty." Carth ordered
He turned sharply and the ship started veering towards the shore.
"Melissa! Get out of there, we are going in hard." Carth called
Melissa came rapidly up the ladder and dropped into the navigator seat and strapped in
"Flaps seventy five, cut repulsor coils." He ordered
They were shaken as the ship dropped onto the water surface and skidded towards the shore, ripping and scraping sounds came as they ripped through a coral reef, they skidded up the beach before impacting the first line of foliage. A massive ripping sound and a clattering sound came from the top of the hull they shattered a stone column
With a desperate creaking sound the Hawke came to a stop. There was no tense moment of silence as repeated thumps echoed as objects fell onto the ship. The viewport was covered by branches and leaves
Carth gasped in pain and slowly released his seatbelt webbing. His hands were trembling and it felt like his body was one single bruise.
"Everyone okay?' He croaked out
"Let us not do that again." Bastila replied shakily
"Owe, my everything hurts." Melissa complained
Disgruntled bleeps and whistles had them four for four as being alive and in one piece. Slowly they got to their feet and staggered out of the cockpit. Canderous came back from the loading bay. A thin line of blood was running down his face from his hairline
" Mission and Zaalbar is out cold. Boarding ramp is jammed and buckled. I have not seen Terri or Juhani." He reported.
Two sets of footsteps came in from the lounge. Juhani was holding a confused Terri upright. Bastila moved closer rapidly and helped keep Terri upright
"Found her by the ladder to the turret, seems she jumped down before we struck." Juhani explained
They sat Terri down in a chair and followed suit. Juhani wiped a hand across her eyes
"Top hatch is blocked by something, bottom hatch is clear if we can get the ship onto its landing struts we should be able to crawl out."
"Airlock?" Carth asked
"We seem to be right against stone, it do not think we will get out that way." Juhani shook her head.
Carth moved back to the cockpit
"Hopefully we have enough reserve power to lift the ship once with the repulsor coils." He said
Moments later the hum of the repulsor coils started up, and grating sqeeuling sounds of tortured metal came as the ship lifted. Three thumps came as the ship dropped onto the landing struts before the coils died down. Melissa and Canderous went to the bottom hatch and dropped out before crawling under the hull to the get out from under the ship.
A trail of destroyed foliage marked their path. Looking up at the top of the hull the area was covered by destroyed branches and trunks. From the sea water was filling the trench they had gouged through the beach. Canderous looked to the top of the hull
"From high that should give us some cover when they search." He said
"But the moment they start circling lower they will find us." Melissa replied
Canderous looked up in the air and to his surprise the ships hunting them seemed to be pulling back
" It looks like they are not going to bother to search for us." He remarked
"That means we are being hunted from the ground or they assume the crash killed us." Melissa said
Canderous pointed to several rusted hulks sticking out of the water
"Seems like a reasonable explanation, if those did not make it why should we have. Though that means they are leaving any survivors for whatever is down here."
Melissa looked around and her shoulders sagged., she pointed to the side
"Please tell me that is not what I think it is." She said
"The broken dish and antenna? Yeah that is ours." Canderous replied
"Well, shit." Melissa mumbled
They crawled back in and climbed up the hatch and secured it. They found Zaalbar and Mission lying down on the floor, mission had an arm in splints, Carth was seated in his chair holding an icepack to his chest. Terri still looked concussed as she was lying next to the first two and Juhani and Bastila were playing nurse.
T3 was logged into the ship systems. The holographic representation of the ship was currently showing more red areas than green and yellow. HK moved past them to secure the bottom hatch, carrying a pulse cannon instead of his usual disruptor.
"Medbay is wrecked, and the meddroid is damaged." Juhani reported
"As is the galley, the conservator seems to be intact so we have not lost all of our food." Bastila added
"How does it look from outside?" Carth asked
"Ship is pretty banged up, the good news is the ships hunting us is pulling back and thanks to all the broken trees we are fairly covered." Canderous answered
"We lost our coms sensors and dish. I can check if we can salvage something from the other wrecks but for now we are not sending any signals." Melissa reported
Melissa pointed to the outside
"We will set up a perimeter with what we have and then see what can be fixed." She said
HK stepped back into the lounge, his weapon trained on the bottom hatch, a steady hum came from the weapons indicating the weapon was hot and ready for use
"Warning statement: We have meatbags outside the ship."
"Sith?" Carth asked
"Rapid response: Negative. I am not picking up any electronic emissions and they are speaking in a dialect I have never heard before."
"So you do not understand what they are saying?" Bastila replied
"Rapid response: Negative I do understand the language, the data was uploaded by my Creator. This is the first time I have encountered it outside of my database"
" Can you make out what they are saying?" Melissa asked
"Response: Affirmative language is primitive. They are looking for meat. They are planning to return in greater numbers to force their way onto the ship."
"What can you tell us about the species?" Bastila asked
"Bipedal, two legs two arms. No discernable reinforcement on their bodies. Cannabilistic and highly aggressive, some might have rudimentary force capabilities. Use of primitive weapons observed aswell as more primal forms of attack"
"Can they be reasoned with?" Juhani asked
"Clarrification: Negative, as per my files the Creator had decided on termination on sight after attempts at negotiation had been rebuffed."
"Meaning they will already be aggressive towards outsiders even if they could have been negotiated with before." Bastila pointed out
"Addendum: The language matches that of the droids located at the Starmaps as well as the programming language."
"Could this be a failed colony of the builder species?" Bastila wondered
Melissa shook her head and moved to the loading bay.
"A riddle for later, but not really useful for now. Better get started on those repairs then, getting the shields working sounds like a good idea. I have no intention in being a main meal any time soon."
Canderous followed her
"I will start on the perimeter defence so long. Rustbucket, feel like going on a hunting trip while we work?"
"Affirmation: That would be delightfull."
Carth tried to get to his feet groaning as he did so but was stopped by Bastila
"Sit down, you need to rest." She said firmly
"We have too many people down to allow me to do nothing."Carth objected
Bastila considered it for a moment
"I will go and get the portable terminal from the cockpit, You can sit there and run diagnostics only. T3 can detach and start doing what it can to repair systems while you supervise from your chair." She said
Juhani stood up from where she was kneeling
"I will go help Canderous and start an inventory check thereafter. Apart from providing muscle I can do little else for now. Something for me to rectify later." She said
Terri woke up to banging noise and the frustrated cries of an irritated wookie. She rolled to the side and groaned as a spike slammed into her head. She felt a cool cloth being used to wipe her forehead
"Easy love, just rest a bit more." Bastila whispered to her
A screeching sound came along with the noise of grinding gears, followed by happy barks from a Wookie, nearly immediately fresh air started to flow through the ship and break the humid heat in it. For a moment she thought she heard the clap of thunder. She gagged.
Terri felt herself being turned to the side before she started vomiting. Once she was done she felt herself being lifted in the air as Bastila moved her away from the deck before being set down on their bed. She could now hear the patter of raindrops hammering against the hull. Bastila propped her up on some cushions before placing the cool cloth back onto her forehead
"You have been sleeping for several hours, it is evening now. We guess it was early morning when we crashed." Bastila said
"How is everyone?" Terri asked
"We are all banged up a bit but you, Mission and Zaalbar were the worst. Mission is still sleeping, she got knocked out and she has a broken arm. Zaalbar went from unconscious to, well you heard him. Carth is guarding his chest and being grumpy but I suspect it is just bruises. The rest of us have minor scrapes and bruises. The only one really happy right now is HK, he was given permission to be his homicidal self and he is out there hunting."
"One out of nine is not a bad percentage." Terri tried to joke
"About time for you to wake up." Melissa said from the doorway
She was covered in grime and grease and looked exhausted
"How is repairs going?" Bastila asked
"Slowly. Hyperdrive is shot so no jumping to hyperspace. I will need to go scavenging in the morning to see if I can salvage anything from the other wrecks. I got one engine fixed so we can make atmosphere if we need to. And the hull seems relatively intact so that helps."
Melissa yawned and pushed away from the doorsill and looked towards Bastila
"Buir says you are next on watch, I can cover for you for a bit if you need a few more minutes." She offered
"No go and rest, we need our mechanic in top shape." Bastila said rising from the bed
"Juhani will relieve you in three hours then I am up after her before Buir takes over from me. We keep rotating every three as we are only four in any shape to be effective guards till the LSD list get their act together."
"LSD?" Bastila asked
"Lame Sick and Dying. Though I would play ill too to get my girlfriend to play nurse if I had one. Though no breaking out the costumes and no sponge baths we are conserving water." Melissa grinned tiredly at Terri
Morning brought an end to the storm that had been raging, it also brought back the humidity and the heat. Mission was listlessly pushing the food around on her plate, she was pale and she winced frequently as pain shot up her broken arm. Melissa was absently eating as she was compiling a list of parts she needs to help with repairs, She Zaalbar and Juhani was going scavenging as soon as they had finished eating. Canderous was on guard while the two droids were connected to a solar charger to top up their powerpacks. Carth looked a bit better than he did yesterday though he still moved gingerly, Terri and Bastila were planning on taking him and Mission into a healing trance with them once the others returned from their scavenging trip. Juhani and Melissa would most likely have to repeat the procedure with Mission again but taking all of their force sensitives out of circulation at the same time was a bad idea
Carth woke hours later feeling ravenous, walking into the lounge he found T3 and Melissa wiring the holocom unit to the holographic table. Both units were currently detached from the deck and standing looseMelissa looked up and saw his puzzled expression
"Power conduits and fibre optics in the coms room are all fried beyond repair. Using the processor from the holomap and its emergency powerpacks we can add it to the transmitter of the escape pod and hopefully boost power enough to get the necessary signal. That is if we add a fifth of our reserve battery capacity."
"How long will that transmitter work?" Carth asked
"Assuming it does not get targeted and blown up? Thirty minutes. Our second option is to get to the jammer and rewire it to transmit our signal. T3 already carried copies of the necessary files and signatures."
"Which would be the most effective?" Carth asked
"Neither, the jammer will be targeted the moment it goes online. We will only be able to get it working once the first signal goes out to have a chance to get the signal out. That also means we will have to leave someone behind in the tower." Melissa pointed out
"Declaration: Mistress, that will be my and T3's duty. We have calculated that leaving crew behind would be a necessity. We have downloaded our data and circuit patterns into the ships database to be rebuild if required."
"You are still part of the crew and we leave no one behind." Melissa objected
"Declaration: Mistress it is the logical conclusion. The probability of one signal getting through to the staging fleet is neglible. And as synthetic forms we can be rebuild, something meatbags can not copy. With our data and circuit patterns copied and downloaded we are in essence still on the ship."
"Rustbucket is correct, Ad. Them staying as rearguard is optimal as distastefull as the option of abandoning crew is." Canderous spoke from the doorway
"Should have kept Jolee, he was perfect as an expendable option." Melissa sighed
"He would have been but hindsight is perfect after the fact." Carth shrugged
Carth waved a hand across the room
"How is the rest of the Hawke?" He asked
"We got one working engine, no hyperdrive, repulsors at seventy percent effective. Dorsal turret is not repairable and I have sealed it off. We are good for one atmosphere departure at which point a third of our shields will be unusable. The hull will hold, hopefully." Melissa said tiredly, her tone defeated
Carth gave her a one armed embrace
"You did the best you could with what you had and again you produced results beyond any reasonable expectation." Carth said encouragingly
"Now it is up to the rest of us to do our part." Canderous added
Carth loosened his embrace and pushed her towards the dormitory.
"Now go sleep with Mission, we have a long day ahead of us and we need you everyone at their best." He said
Terri and Bastila entered the lounge getting ready to step out. Terri held a hand up to stop Melissa from restarting her brief
"We heard it all, go and rest."
Melissa nodded and stepped away. Terri turned to the two men
"Carth we will need you to keep to the ship and pick up the ground team at the tower complex once we get through to it. Canderous we will need you and Zaalbar as well as the droids with us, Juhani and Melissa will be with Mission in a force trance for several hours once they start. Our best option is to get to the tower now before nightfall." Terri ordered
"Rapid march, I take it." Canderous nodded
"Yes, we were lucky the fleet up top has not investigated. We can not count on that luck holding." Bastila said
Terri was on point, they were steadily gaining altitude as the tower grew closer. A path led between several boulders. She stopped and pushed out with her force senses. She detected several life forms on top of the boulders. She and Bastila dropped their backpacks and force jumped onto the boulders, lightsabers in hand.
Dismayed screeches came from up ahead as the ambushers became the prey. Zaalbar stepped forward and knelt down. The wookie disarmed a crude rock trap before moving up the pathway followed by the droids with Canderous bringing up the rear, carrying the two dropped backpacks. The noise above them died out. Zaalbar stopped short as a Rakatan dropped in two pieces before him
"Sorry!" Bastila called out
Zaalbar howled back irritattedly
"I said I am sorry. It is not like I did it deliberately." Bastilla replied
The two women dropped behind Canderous and retrieved their backpacks. Zaalbar huffed as he took over point. He stopped moments later to disarm yet another trap. T3 whistled in warning. Zaalbar growled back before dropping to his stomach and crwling forward. He found the mine moments later and disarmed it before adding the mine to his backpack. Zaalbar growled as he got to his feet
"T3 move up and scan for more electronic signatures, where there is one mine there will be others." Canderous ordered
The droid and the wookie leapfrogged as they proceeded up the gulley. Bastila lifted her hand in a stopping motion. She made a fist before extending her fingers three times, before pointing to her eyes and pointed ahead and upwards. Canderous and HK Stepped forward arming their heavy weapons and activating their energy shields.
They fired into the barrier that had been set up on an arch leading out of the gulley. As the fire ripped the position apart several Rakatta dropped as the stone shards ripped into them. The two kept up sustained fire till they counted fifteen dead, hanging over their barrier or having been dropped on to the floor of the gulley. A final crack came as HK fired into a faker before the droid took up point.
The area levelled out and they saw a small tent city on the plateau. Several Rakata ran between the tents to grab their younglins and pull them into the tents. The group noticed that several older Rakata was dressed in the remnants of Republic and Sith uniforms. Several complete skeletons were set up on poles at the edges of the camp. A large pile of bones laid at the edge of the camp. A deadly silence ensued as the group moved to the tower structure. Several shield generators b;ocked off the main approach to the tower and the surrounding area. A turret swung up towards them and clicked as it dry fired
"Old Republic model. The last time I saw one was during the war. It is probably out of tibana" Canderous pointed out.
" I do not know if I should be relieved at the lack of maintenance or not." Bastila commented
"We are more likely to find functional turrets deeper in as we go." Canderous shrugged
He pointed to the solar panels that stood a distance back, clearly defined tracks ran through the mown grass.
"The maintenance droids are most likely prioritising the shield generators. At a guess I would say they have run out of supplies if Revan has not returned recently. Malak would not bother to maintain the scrambler."
"Yes, he is the type to invite anyone to attack him." Terri nodded
"We seem to have drawn some attention from outside the planet though." Bastila pointed out
A shuttle had been set down on one of the landing pads. The gleaming hull indicating that it was new. The group studied it for a moment
"Carrier capacity fifty troopers excluding flight crew." Canderous said
"Most likely less, I would say a few force users, soldiers and technicians and whatever equipment they brought down." Terri hazarded a guess
T3 moved forward and accessed a panel on one shield flickered and died moments later. The droid reactivated the shild the moment they stepped through. A rhythmic clanking sound came as a platoon of older generation war droids marched through the main doors of the towers. Terri and Bastila sprung forward and landed into the midst of the droid formation. They hacked and slashed as Canderous, Zaalbar and HK fired on the front lines.
T3 trundled forward and accessed the dataport outside the door. The door slid open as the last of the platoon was destroyed in a cascade of sparks. Stepping into the large hallway they saw a battalion of droids packed tightly into the area. All of them in the in the process of booting up. Canderous, HK and Zaalbar stepped forward firing as they moved with Terri and Bastila depleting their supplies of ion grenades. Dust filled the air from the continous chain of explosions as they pushed forward
"Now they know for certain where we are." Canderous said grimly
"Less talking more shooting." Terri remarked
She threw several bolts of purple force lightning ahead of her. Droids spasmed as the bolts destroyed their circuitry. Zaalbar shouldered his bowcaster and pulled a vibrosword out as he depleted the last powercell for his weapon. They pushed through the throng to where a door was set at the far side of the hallway. They stopped at the door for a long moment to let their hearing recover from the barrage of constant explosions. HK was moving trough the destroyed droids scavenging for power cells before giving up moments later. The few cells that it found to be compatible was near to drained after the long period of disuse the droids weapons had been in. Canderous also shouldered his rotary cannon and duel wielded two heavy blasters. Bastila and Terri handed over what spare powercells and tibana cartridges they had before swapping the powercells on their lightsabers.
With most of their ammunition depleted they combined the contents of their backpacks that Zaalbar placed in a single backpack on his back. They moved forward and pushed deeper into the tower. The thick dust had been scuffed up by the group that had preceded them into the tower. Checking several rooms to the side they noticed that the rooms had not beein disturbed in a long while. The dustsheets covering the furniture near black from the amount of dust that had gathered on it. Ignoring the archaic lift system they pressed upwards as they mounted the stairs.
Coming to the fourth floor Terri and Bastila stopped suddenly
"Hold. This is our fight." Terri announced
Three dressed in dark Jedi robes stood up from the chairs they had been seated in. They spread out and lit their lightsabers. Terri looked over her shoulder and Canderous pointed upwards. She nodded and the rest of the group mounted the next set of stairs. Bastila cricked her neck as she moved closer to the trio before them
"I suppose there is no way for you to just stand down?" She asked
The trio flourished their blades and got into ready positions
"Had to try at least." Bastila said shrugging as she lit her blade
The five met a furious melee of flashing blades. Bastila taking on two at one time, her twin blade thrumming as she forced them to split apart even more as she twisted and moved using a more aggressive form of Ataru as she attacked. Terri closed the space with the last opponent, using her longer blade to keep the shoto wielding opponent out of effective range. The two twisted and turned at times switching opponents. Bastila scored first blade, literally disarming one with a flurry of strikes. The crippled force user staggered back, he was too slow as Terri leaned in under Bastila's arm and pushed her blade into his chest. The remaining two tried to fall back to try and force Bastila and Terri to split up, a move they declined as they stepped closer and waited for the dark siders to move first.
They heard the sound of firing coming from the floor above along with the crump of grenades. One opponent looked up as a particularly large explosion came from abaove, making the ceiling shudder and crack. His companion hissed at him to focus. Bastila and Terri used that moment rushed their distracted foes. A short while later two bodies dropped to the ground. They scanned the rest of the floor before moving up another level to find the rest of their group scavenging the Sith troopers for ammunition. The smouldering remains of a light tank droid showed the cause of the larger explosion. HK was seated on the ground a repair kit opened next to it as it repaired a hole in its upper leg. It came to its feet and moved with a noticeable limp.
Another floor had them pushing them up to the last level, leaving behind another dead group of Sith soldiers and Dark Jedi along with a another destroyed platoon of newer Sith droids. Both the droids had taken damage but pushed forward. Zaalbar had one arm in a sling, the chest armour they had forced him to wear blackened from multiple hits. Canderous moved with a limp, his armour also a scorched mess. Terri and Bastila took the lead as they entered the final move. The technicians seated at the terminals jumped up producing blasters as they did so
"Don't make us kill you, stand down" Terri ordered
One tried to fight and had her blaster bolt redirected by a lightsaber into her thigh. As she dropped to the ground with a sharp scream the rest slowly lowered their weapons and stepped back from them. T3 moved forward and connected to the terminals as Terri and Bastila secured the prisoners. It whistled sharply several minutes later. Terri pulled her comlink out and opened the channel to the Hawke
"Jammer and tower defence is down. We are ready for pickup." She said
"Hawke en route." Carth replied
The grating sound of metal on stone came as HK pulled a table over to face the door , before it flipped the table. Zaalbar was busy stacking several rifles behind the table as well as several bandoleers of grenades and loose ammunition. Canderous shifted several crates in front of the table after checking first that nothing explosive was in said crates. HK turned to face Terri
"Declaration: Thank you for this opportunity, Creator, it was pleasure to have been your droid."
"Take as many with you as you can." Terri replied
"Delighted and introspective reply: Of course Creator. I live to serve. Look after my Mistress, she is likely to indulge in her usual self destructive behaviour if given a chance."
T3 whistled from the terminal
"Hawke is incoming, time to go." Bastila translated.
They made it to the landing pad moments after the Hawke touched down. A minute later the ship lifted of with the boarding ramp jerkily closing. HK looked away from the monitor showing their departure before making its way back to where it had set up the barricade. If it was capable of amusement it would have chuckled as it observed the secured captives.
Not being content to merely tie their arms and legs, Terri and Bastila had pulled their tunics and trousers further trapping the secured limbs and ensuring no one had any hidden surprises in their uniforms. T3 whistled as it restarted the disable ion defence system before scanning the communications frequencies in anticipation of transmitting its signal