Chapter 82
Shush, we are raiding the embassy
Carth looked at the diplomat and his staff seated at the head of the table in stupefied disbelief
"Did I just hear you right? You want us to infiltrate a foreign embassy to steal a droid back?" He asked
"Just suggesting it is a violation of several Republic laws." Bastila said crossing her arms
"Not mentioning that doing so is classified as a war crime." Terri added
"You are rogues, you should have no problem do that then." Jolee remarked from sitting close to the republic figures
"Then why don't you go and do it, since you are above the laws of the Republic." Juhani snapped back
The ambassador was not present for this meeting and for good reason, thanks to the recent spate of bad publicity she was doing everything she could to disavow her of anything that could cause further scandal. Terri looked at the camera that covered the room. It was stationary and inactive, she realised there would be nor record of this meeting
"Ran out of spies and mercenaries to do your dirty jobs?" Terri took a shot in the dark
The immediate reaction they felt indicated she was on target.
"If your reluctance is about credits name your price." An aide spoke up
"There is not enough credits to justify becoming an intergalactic fugitive." Terri retorted
The diplomat decided to drop the hammer
"You are already being hunted by the Sith. How long do you think you will last if the republic removes their protection from you. Or even send a discrete message to the Sith that you are on your own." He asked softly
"So now it is time for the threats to come in." Bastila replied
"That is no threat but a promise. Do this and your protection continues, to sweeten the deal we will provide you with transport to the ocean floor to search for the artefact you are hunting."
The diplomat shot Jolee a look
"Yes we know you are hunting an artefact, Knight Bindo has received permission from Master Vrook Lamar to reveal this to us. Refuse to help us and we will ensure you find no way to the ocean floor. Your hunters are aware of where you are. They will be closing in. The pretence of neutrality maintained here will not last much longer." The diplomat smirked
The four looked at one another and shared a look. They knew they had no choice
"Fine what are our options for infiltration?" Terri asked, sounding defeated
"We recently captured a Sith courier, we are in possession of his access card and can clone you one. You will need to obtain his passwords and recognition phrases yourselves though."
"Too squeamish to do your own torture?" Carth demanded
"The republic does not torture prisoners, did you not learn that in school." The diplomat smirked again
"Second option." Terri snapped
"They maintain a small dock in the east section. A diplomatic shuttle is stored there. The courier was grabbed on his way there. Get on the shuttle and you have a way in if you do not want to walk through the front doors with an access card and passwords."
Terri got to her feet and led the way out of the room. She led the way to the entertainment section and a sports bar. The drone of various sporting events being broadcast muffled the conversation of the private booth Canderous had hired. A payment to the Hutt operating the bar ensured their privacy further as the adjacent booths were left open. A scrambler unit disabled the listening devices the Hutt would have embedded in the booth.
Terri removed the visor from her head and handed it back to Mission.
"The thing with clever people is that they are not always as clever as they think they are." She commented
"You recorded the entire conversation?" Carth asked
"Every word and every face. If we wanted to we have enough already to get the embassy sanctioned by the Manaan government." Terri replied
"Though I wonder what is so special about that droid to make them take this risk." Melissa said
"Not much of a risk from their viewpoint. As far as they are concerned we are rogues and could be easily disavowed if caught. They know the Sith will execute any captured and dead men tell no tales. They can spin the story that they had no knowledge of what we did." Carth replied
Terri pointed to the visor
"Even with that we do not have absolute insurance. As much as I hate it we do need to get that droid or its memory bank back. Once we have that we have we have a bargaining chip."
"You know that this will not be a silent mission. It will get loud very quickly and the Selkath will grab everyone and everything coming out of that embassy. Dropping the Republic embassy under the hovertrain may not be enough." Canderous cautioned
"There may be something." Mission said uncertainly
"What?" Carth asked
Mission waved a hand about the room
"When we were fishing for information on the mercenaries, there was a Selkath here looking to hire someone to look for some Selkath children that went missing from a school. The thing was he was convinced the Sith had them." She said
"Okay but how do that help us?" Juhani asked
"We ask the Hutt who it was. If this Selkath is connected to their government we may be able to leverage protection from them. Assuming it is high enough in the chain of command to be able to do so."
"That is a possibility and approaching the court to get investigator status to look into this could be another layer of protection." Bastila said musingly
"I do not think getting some Selkath back will be enough to grant that type of immunity from prosecution for shooting up an embassy." Cart objected
"Nor would it stop the Sith from posting bounties on our heads." Juhani added
"We are already wanted. Each of us have a bounty of fifty thousand credits on us already with delivery to Malak himself." Melissa informed the group
"The only thing stopping hunters from taking shots at us is that the bounties specified live capture. The small time players will not be taking the risk." Canderous added
"Leaving us high and dry for the better hunting groups that can throw numbers at us without flinching." Carth stated
"Our only real option is to have the bounties rescinded and since it is a personal bounty Malak has to die or we will be hunted continuously. I do not see him rescinding the bounties out of the goodness of his heart " Melissa said
"Where did you find this out?" Terri asked
"We were approached by the local guild office manager and I was told till the bounty on me is lifted I am considered to be excommunicated from the guild." Melissa said
"So we are screwed if we do this or not. Trying to get protection from the Manaan government will be our best option." Terri summed up.
"That sounds about right." Bastila commented
"That means we are back to operating as usual. Keep the engine ready for takeoff and hope for the best." Carth said
Melissa and Canderous were doing weapons preparation and maintenance when Terri and Bastila slipped back into the docking area. Carth with the help of Zaalbar and Mission were doing hull checks. A quick look to the right had them spotting the yellow photoreceptors of HK as it was on sentry duty. Juhani was busy scraping carbon scoring from the top turret barrel, a spray bottle of solvent close to hand. Canderous whistled for attention as he spotted them. Juhani dropped lithely down and joined the congregation
"We got the investigator clearance and immunity provided we find evidence." Terri reported
There were several sighs of relieve following that proclamation. Bastila spoke up next.
"However we have been requested to keep casualties to a bare minimum and all our actions must be recorded." She said
"That seems reasonable under the circumstances." Juhani commented
"The only things left to do is to decide who goes in and how." Carth said
Terri and Bastila shared a look before looking at Melissa as she finished reassembling a rifle
"I know I will not be going in." She said not looking up
She lowered the weapon onto the deck
"Stealth is not really my strong point, Juhani and Mission are better suited to it and the two of you fight as one. And sending more than four will increase the risk of early detection. I would be better of as backup with Buir, Hk and Zaalbar if you need to be extracted if you get pinned. Should that happen collateral damages is a concern of the past and only heavy fire will help. T3 and Carth need to be by the ship to keep the engines ready if we have to leave the planet if it really goes south." She concluded
"That was what we were going to suggest." Terri said
"So how are we entering the Sith Embassy?" Mission asked
"We are going swimming of course." Terri replied.
Dust moved in the air as a crate was dropped to the ground. Melissa looked around from where she and Carth was obscuring the window of the small shop they rented. With the Sith embassy in close proximity, the previous non human tenant had departed for a more expensive but ultimately safer location close to the Republic embassy. Sparks started flaring as T3 started to weld a stand in the middle of the empty shop. HK was busy assembling the Mehr Sonn rocket launchers that came from the dropped crate. Their ultimate destination the stand facing the embassy. Nothing would say the cavalry was coming more than blowing the front doors to the embassy to bits. She was certain that would have to keep and eye on HK to keep it from firing the rockets anyway. The droid had been extremely enthusiastic when she revealed her idea to create both a rapid entrance should it be needed and to cause shock and confusion
The door leading to the service alley opened up and Zaalbar and Canderous entered pushing a hovertrolley each. Zaalbar was still looking irritated at having to wear custom made armour. He was resistant to the idea of that till it was forcibly pointed out to him that wading into a firefight against close to a battalion sized enemy troop position with just an energy shield was suicidal and should he attempt that the rescue of the four infiltrators would fail. It was easier to get him to agree to leave his bowcaster in the ship and use a rotary blaster like Canderous. While a powerfull weapon that can shred armour easily rate of fire will be the determining factor in a fight like this.
" The arms trader is starting to ask some questions, we will have to make do with what we have." Canderous said closing the door
"You think he has been talking to people?" Carth asked
"Almost certainly. A gun runner like him would normally never ask a buyer as to what he is planning with the merchandise, unless someone higher on the food chain is putting the squeeze on him."
"The question then is who is doing the pressuring." Carth replied
"Could be the Republic, the Exchange, The Hutts or the two hunter guilds that showed up." Melissa enumerated
"Us going dark will have thrown the Republic watchers for a loop." Carth snorted in amusement
"Like we will just storm the Sith Embassy moments after being coerced. Setting this up had already taken three days and I feel like we are still rushing it." Melissa said irritably
Cart laid a calming hand on her shoulder
"I know and I agree. I also don't like that the others have gone com silent, but it is what it is. Just like I don't like having to leave the four of you here and going to the ship. Especially with that old bastard having returned to it."
That by itself was a thorny issue. Jolee had pitched up at the Hawke carrying written instructions from Vrook countersigned by Atris that Jolee was now in charge of the mission. He then tried to order them to attack the Embassy as a matter of urgency. He was not amused when he was informed that they could not care less about his orders or his position. As Bastila bluntly put it to him the only reason he was not left drugged outside the bounty office for a hunter to make an easy fifty thousand was because he knew too much. That was shortly before he was told not to leave the ship as they departed.
The delivery barge moved away slowly. The quartermaster finished typing in the time and date delivery as droids were moving the fresh produce into the embassy warehouse. He sighed as he realised he still had a long night ahead of him as the produce still had to be tested for contamination before it could be added to the stores. He strode into the embassy and the door closed behind him. As the door closed a light started flickering before dying, a soft his followed and plassglass tinkled as the light was destroyed
A figure slowly rose from the water, the weapon in her hand was one rarely seen in this day and age. The ancient slug thrower had a long cylindrical attachment to its barrel. The figure pulled back a slide on the weapon and a spent cartridge was ejected.
She stepped up onto the dock and crouched low, the slug thrower being replaced by a standard carbine. She was dressed completely in black in a form fitting bodysuit, her face blackened out. There came three more sets of bubbles as another three figures rose from the water and joined the first. One turned around and started pulling on a microrope. Four sealed containers made their way up to the surface. In the distance a stolen pleasure skiff was bobbing at anchor
The cases were opened and load bearing equiptment and backpacks were distributed. All of them slipped visors over their heads, three glinted green for a moment before darkening the fourth blue.
The smallest of the four figures made her way to the datanet port and produced a slicer pad. Within moments the device was attached and the slice began. A yellow line appeared fro a moment on the slicer pad before it was disconnected. A few taps on the pad and all the lights left intact were going dark and the warehouse door slowly inched open once all the lights were disabled. The door only opened halfway before closing up again and the lights started blinking back on
In The security office well above a technician tapped a screen
"Lights are back, no movement on camera. The dock is clear." She reported
"What caused the blackout?" A supervisor demanded
The technician pulled up several data readings before pointing to one.
" Light above the door stopped working before the system went down," She said
Manipulating a camera she closed in on the light that was now sparking madly. She pulled up a power distribution report
"The fixture is pulling a lot of power. Possible bad fluctuators, it blowing could have caused a power surge in the other systems and it needed to reboot." She suggested
"Run thermal and electronic scan, check the door sensors and wake up someone from maintenance to fix that now." The supervisor ordered
She tapped away at her terminal
"Nothing on thermal and no electronic emissions. Door sensors last activated ten minutes prior. Passcode and facial scan confirms the quartermaster was the last to enter through the delivery door."
She manipulated the camera system again showing a group of soldiers scanning and probing the newly delivered foodstuffs. The supervisor nodded
"Log the incident and the time maintenance was activated as well as when the lazy bastards actually fix that light."
The Sith Embassy had once belonged to Alderaan and had been standing empty for several years after they moved to a bigger building in the east block before the Sith moved in. Sith slicers had cleaned and wiped all the embedded systems before a covert action had resulted in the Manan government database losing all of its records of the structure, shortly thereafter the Alderaan embassy had a very embarresing data crash resulting in their entire database being deleted, among the documents and data had been the plans and schematics from the building. Being unable to find data on the building had stymied the infiltrators till a payoff to the local Hutt had led them to a senior Alderaan maintenance technician. The man was close to retirement and had been serving on Manaan for most of his adult life.
More importantly he had two exploitable vices, a drinking problem and the inability not to gamble while drunk. He was an intelligence officers wet dream for an easy mark to subvert, something a lot of other planets had already done. So him taking one more payoff was an easy score, especially since he had down loaded the schematics for ease of moving around while working.
The four found themselves in the walls of the service area. A previous administration had a parallel wall built during a renovation period keep the unsightly pipes and cables from being seen and in this walkway was there best chance to move unseen.
Mission was on point a rifle like device held in front of her. Instead of laser bolts this custom built device send out electromagnetic pulses to disable any cameras and scanners in the direction it was pointed at. Having the device built had cost nearly as much as paying of the technician for his plans. Coming to a hatch she knelt down and lowered the scrambler. She pulled a datapad from a pocket with a flexible tube attached, a hydrodrill followed and she drilled into the wall. When a thinshaft of light appeared she pulled the drill bit back and pushed the tube into the hole. The image of the space in front of the hole appeared on the screen, She pushed the probed forward and used direction movements on the pad to scan up and down the passage. The screen went blue as she scanned for electronic signatures
"Clear." She reported
Juhani rapidly unbolted the fasteners securing the hatch and pushed it open. The exited from the service walkway stepping right underneath the camera pointing down the passage to the loading dock Before stepping into the stairwell leaving the turbolift well alone
The sound of machinery filled the air as they stepped onto the next level. The scent of lubricants was near to overwhelming, the bulky machines servicing the embassy created large pools of shadows in the barely lit room. Music was drifting in the air and a larger pool of light showed where the on duty staff were seated in the maintenance office
Juhani took up the scrambler and point leading a route skirting the main walkway. She stopped at a service hatch and Mission took over again. This hatch led to the turbolift shaft. Mission took the chance to flash a light down the shaft
"The shaft is deeper than the plans showed." She reported talking very softly
"By how much?" Terri asked
"I would say it goes down easily five levels. And the plascrete looks newer going down"
"Does the access ladder go down?" Terri asked.
"It does." Mission replied
"Change in plans, we are going down first. The chances of finding what we need is higher in this secret levels than in the offices upstairs." Terri decided
Carth was seated in the cockpit, the engines being kept at pre launch sequence. On the terminal in front of him a clock was counting down. T 3 whistled as it receieved a message where it was plugged into the dataport. The clock reset. Carth started tapping his fingers on the control column
"What did you find?" He asked himself
In the shop HK tilted its head to the side
"Mission Update: Pulse message, reset clock."
Melissa shielded her cards before leaning to the side and pressing down on the timer unit standing on a crate close to her chair
"Timer reset, mission time one hour thirty minutes." She reported
She dropped her cards onto the table
"Read them and weep. Full Sabac." She said
Zaalbar dropped his cards and growling vigorously in protest. Melissa started raking the winning closer. Canderous stubbed out his nicotine stick
"Normally that would do it, but not tonight."
He dropped his cards
"Fools array. I believe this round is mine."
They turned their heads to face the back door as a sensor close to it started blinking. In a corner of the shop several tied up beings started squirming against their restraints. Melissa lifted a datapad and looked at the activity outside the backdoor
"Seven this time. Three right and four left. No sign of a lookout on the service alley ends."
Canderous and Zaalbar stood up and moved to the back door. Zaalbar carrying a Coruscant police issue stun cannon. Canderous opened a box standing by the back door and pulled a stun grenade out. Priming the grenade he tossed it into a hole cut in the shop ventilation system.
The six outside where inching closer to the door as their seventh started the breach slice. They heard a clattering sound. Looking up to where the noise was coming from they saw a grenade exiting the open ventilation system hatch. They reeled back already too light as the grenade blew with a sonourous crack and blinding light. The door opened and three massive blue bolts enveloped them.
Freshly restrained the seven would wake up in a few hours to join the ever growing pile of bounty hunters. The peacekeepers would not bother sending a patrol to check out the latest noise disturbance reports from that area. The previous eleven times nothing has been found and the officers were tired of wasting their time, a city maintenance crew will be send in the morning to go and investigate that area, obviously with no beings around it must be a mechanical or electrical system malfunction.
Mission looked up as she finished the slice
"I am in." She reported
"What do you have?" Terri asked
"Visual and audio. I also rerouted the uplink to the upper building. Any messages sent will go nowhere." Mission said
"Yet you don't sound happy." Bastila remarked
"I count fifteen Selkath and four dark Jedi in there and another five humans." Mission stated
"Relay the feed let us see what is going on in there." Terri ordered
A human was tied to a chair. She was currently writhing and screaming in pain as electricity coursed through her. The electricity cut of and she slumped in the chair gasping harshly
"The true way to use the power the dark side gives you is to bask in it revel in the power it gives you. The power it gives you over others." The hooded figure spoke
A selkath stepped forward eagerly and faced the tied up woman
"Good. I feel your anger, I feel your lust for power. Give in to its release and feel the power of the dark."
The woman trashed again as electricity sparked around her. True the power was much less but to her overexposed nerves it did not matter.
The Selkath stepped back gasping , its already yellow eyes taking on a sulphurous appearance.
Terri stopped looking at the feed.
"Shit this is bad." She muttered
"They look a lot weaker than the ones teaching them." Mission remarked
"It is not about their power levels, it is what it represents. The Selkath have previously been force neutral, that is unable to use it. There is a very good reason that newly emergent species are slowly introduced to force usage over generations." Bastila replied
"Imagine it like this. You are part of a species that has just learned to use fire without unintentionally killing yourself and the ones living with you in your cave. Then a being walks into your cave and hands you a fully loaded blaster rifle before pointing you in the direction of the cave of a clan that has recently stolen a kill from you. How do you think that ends?" Juhani said
"With a bunch of dead cave dwellers." Mission replied
"Not only that. How long will it take you from going to want to be the leader of your cave to want to rule over it all and you have been given the means to do it and there is no one that can oppose you. That is what giving access to the force is like for an unprepared species. That is one of the reasons Dathomir is an interdicted planet and Dagobah is the graveyard for its native species." Juhani said
"The force is powerful and if you are not prepared to treat it with respect and caution it will destroy as easily as it can create and unlocking the easy way to that power like they are doing here…" Bastila trailed off
"Maybe that is why they are doing it. To create a new ruling class of Selkath they can easily control while they are still weak and if the Selkath destroy themselves all that Kolto will still be there to be harvested." Mission suggested, thinking it through
"Which is why everyone in there has to die." Terri said tiredly
"What about trying to turn the to the light side?" Mission objected
"They will fall again. While the Jedi might over rely on not using emotions to perfect their use and control. The newer the species is to the force the less control they have and the more dangerous they become to themselves and others. That is why guidance is so important for emerging species, they simply do not have the control needed to safely use the power."
Terri dropped her back pack and rifle before unclipping her lightsaber, Juhani and Bastila grimly followed her example
"If it seems we are about to be overwhelmed destroy this section by any means possible and get out. As much as we dislike the Council they must be warned of this." Bastila said, her tone determined
Mission had a sudden thought
"When you said everyone has to die, does that include the prisoners?" She asked
"After what they have been through in there, death will be a mercy. Force lightning would have been the least they have had to endure." Juhani said softly
Terri led the way to the airlock leading to the secret section. The last Mission saw of the trio before the door started closing was them standing before the inner airlock deploying their blades one by one.
Melissa was on the two to dawn watch as the door to the embassy opened and the quartet made their way out of the building. She whistled to wake up Canderous and Zaalbar.
She opened the door to the shop and flashed a light to attract their attention. The group seemed subdued as they trooped into the shop. Mission walked straight to the drinks cooler and scratched around in it till she found an unopened bottle of alcohol. She cracked the seal before taking a long pull before passing the bottle to Bastila who did not hesitate to copy her actions before passing the bottle along.
"Let us get to the courthouse, the sooner we report in the sooner we can get this databank to the Republic and get the hell of this planet." Terri said after coughing from taking long a pull from the harsh liquor.
The Adjudicators were not happy to be woken hours before the start of their regular day to be briefed by a bunch of off worlders. They sat down in their chairs and the black maned one spoke
" We have just returned from the Sith Embassy and we have news on your missing younglings." She said without preamble
"Are they still in the embassy?" An adjudicator asked
"They are dead." The woman said
She produced a datapad and linked it to the servers.
"We found a newly built subsection under the embassy. Your younglings were inside this new section."
The feline one spoke next
"They had been expiremented on and had become feral. Their minds were gone. We were forced to terminate them."
"They were being programmed to infiltrate and ultimately take over your government." The black maned one spoke
A file was started. Several Selkath were secured to cognitive training chairs while a bright green IV fluid was being given to them. One of the females dropped a bright green fluid bag on the podium and a second file showed chemical formulations
"As you are aware cognitive training chairs make it possible to quickly train a person in basic skills, however it is banned due to the damage it can do. The only beings to use them are species that allow cloning and this form of training is only used on the most expendable of clones. The iv contains various drugs designed to keep a human relaxed and docile as well as a mixture of growth hormones and steroids. This makes it easier to overwrite a humans personality. And in that lies the problem. It was never modified for Selkath physiology." The black maned one explained
The brown haired one was next
"They were being exposed to a program that instilled loyalty to the Sith empire as well as behavioural modification to make the more competitive and aggressive. From records we found and included in our report is was done to make them more likely to seek rapid advancement in your government. These younglings were the test subjects to see if the conversion would work. We found plans for the program to be expanded in the guise of a private school for future leaders, that was to be created."
The file was stopped.
"What is about to follow is going to be very distressing to watch. This section was recorded before our entering the facility by the sith themselves. As you will notice from the time stamp on this recording."
A selkath broke his restraints and jumped on the prone form in another chair, green blood plattered as he bit down on the form below him before jumping towards a technician monitering the tied down Selkath and ultimately being gunned down by a roof turret. The recording stopped
"They were all like this, we found them secured in testing labs and force cages. We did not record the state to what they have become." The feline spoke
Another file was popped up and a copy of a report was shown
"They were scheduled to be terminated en masse and dissected to find out why the procedures failed and a new batch of younglings found to repeat the experiment." The black maned one spoke
"How were the younglings terminated?" An adjudicator asked
"We injected them with an overdose of narcotics. They died peacefully."
There was a distant rumble and there was a ripple as power fluctuated
"That was the self destruct for that facility. The only records of what was done is before you. We believed it best to purge any sign of what was done." The feline spoke
"The facility was barely connected to the embassy above and was self contained except for its power supply. We believe only a few knew of the program. The researchers had quarters attached to the facility. The data before you was recovered from the servers of that facility and from the office of their senior intelligence officer. We found no traces of data to that project in the files of the ambassador's server. Which had last been accessed five days ago."
The adjudicators lifted their barrier to converse. An hour later the barrier was dropped
"We believe you were right to purge that facility. As much as we would have liked to use the data to expel the Sith from Manaan it is clear this was a rogue operation and the data was obtained illegally under Republic laws and thus unusable in galactic courts. There will be no repercussions for the death of the younglings at your hands or the deaths that occurred in the embassy from the Manaan goverment."
The black maned one bowed to the bench
"We thank you for your time amd we express our regrets that we could not produce a more beneficial outcome."
The brown maned one placed a micro datapad on the podium
"On this is an address to the commercial sector. Inside this shop the peacekeepers will find several bounty hunters and mercenaries and a large amount of proscribed weaponry. Considering the fact that the republic has recently been aggressively recruiting those beings I think the safe assumption would be that they were planning an attack on the embassy and blame it on disruptive elements, though I will admit that is only my suspicion and we found no clear proof." She said