Chapter 5
"The beacon stopped moving. Better to home in on its signal before it's found," Blad suggested.
"I finally got the coordinates figured out in this bucket. We're ready to make the jump," Q'evarra added, as he recorded the position of the beacon.
No sooner had Q'evarra finished than the ship's alarms blared to life. He watched the control panel illuminate a hundred different things as their craft shuddered under a turbo laser volley. Blad thundered through the corridor of the cockpit to jump into the captain's chair.
"Sensors are back online!" he nearly shouted.
"Your vessel matches the markings of a stolen ship from the surface of this very planet," the comm channel crackled.
"Who fires on a stolen ship?!" Blad exclaimed. He continued into the comm, "What authority are you with?"
"The bounty hunting kind."
Q'evarra fired shots in response as the craft circled back for a second pass.
"You'd better jump before he gets back in range!" Q'evarra commanded.
As shots glanced by the forward viewport, the star runner rolled to avoid them.
"You're lucky I need you alive," the communicator replied. "Those were warning shots."
"I'm warning you to stay off our tail," Blad said, firing the hyperdrive to life.
"He's no doubt following us," Q'evarra said as he slumped into the copilot seat. "It's risky heading to Neimoidia now."
"I could have waited for him to board and then handed you over if you preferred that instead," Blad retorted.
A short while later, the sensors again blinked to indicate an approaching planet. As their destination filled their viewport, they tracked the beacon to a remote part of the far side of the planet from their approach. They skimmed the atmosphere until they neared the signal.
For as remote as the location was, it stood out fairly obviously among the canopy of the forest it inhabited. It was a huge dome filled with transparent panels that were covered with condensation, attached to what looked almost like a castle, definitely not Neimoidian architecture.
Turbolaser bolts passed close enough to the hull of the ship to have seared its paint. It was an automated system, but whoever installed it had paid good money for it.
"That's close enough by the looks of things. Hopefully that mando's star runner can't dodge as easily as we have," Blad said.
As he switched to repulsors to set the craft down, one engine exploded, nearly blown in two from the offending laser. The alarms blared again, and the ship plummeted the remaining twenty meters to the ground.
The duo coughed and collected themselves among the wreckage of the downed ship. Fortunately, the turbolasers had stopped. They fumbled around in the smoke and damaged innards of the craft, collecting weapons and gear.
"C'mon, even if that place doesn't have guards, that Mando will no doubt be on our heels. His swoop isn't standard fare, either," Q'evarra said, clutching a thermal detonator.
--
The excitement of a real assignment was enough to cause Ta'ni to jump out of her skin. Her training in basic saber mastery and force skills was complete, as was Zim's. The young pair were eager to reunite with their masters and leave the academy for a while. Zim wasn't exactly thrilled to be embarking on an expedition, but Ta'ni looked forward to the experience.
"Are you two ready for your first assignment?" Master Shaak Ti asked.
"Hardly the kind of peacekeeping I was looking to do," Zim huffed.
"Young padawan, war is not the environment of the Jedi. We're not soldiers, but keepers of peace, as you so eloquently put it. Regardless, here are your orders."
Ta'ni examined hers. "No escort, master?"
"Unfortunately, the conflict has spread us so thin that we must send you to meet with your masters. All the more reason to end this war as efficiently as possible. But you'll find the clones to be accommodating on your journey."
"Of course, if you say so, master," Ta'ni bowed her head before departing.
"May the Force be with you," Master Ti bid them farewell.
The ride to the military base was pretty standard until they passed into the base. There they saw formations of troops in the flesh, not just in a generic holodocumentary. All of the Republic's best weapons of war were on display. It was an awe-inspiring tour of the might of the Republic with its blunt tools of enforcement. For an instant, Ta'ni's excitement faltered to anxiety. With weapons as these, in such numbers, it was hard to imagine a force that could oppose it. Conversely, making her wonder what terrifying things she could face in that opposition. The Force was clouded here, busy with so many feelings and emotions. She now fully understood the Jedi's ultimate opposition to the war.
Their transport slowed for the bustling traffic of the base, preparing to depart for every known corner of the galaxy. A small squad of AT-RTs darted in front of them in synchronous formation before the transport began moving to a makeshift check-in station amongst all of the organized chaos. As they stepped off of the speeder, they approached a clone commando barking orders and holding a manifest.
"Jedi, huh? Where are your orders?" the trooper commanded.
The two presented their forms. He examined them for a moment before curtly returning them.
"Ahh, shinies," he half chuckled. "Headed to all the way to, ehh...Fractis Minor. We've got a supply shuttle making a layover run midway through our journey. You'll be boarding with us," motioning to an assembling division of forces
--
The JS77B Starhound on the Deadbolt's scopes was almost too convenient. Had it not been listing aimlessly in orbit over Deko Neimoid, he'd swear it was lying in wait as a trap. Though the light armament made it a poor choice for any sort of offensive gesture.
"Looks like this matches our description. Apparently the spaceport security got a couple of good shots in while Blad was making his escape." he audibly observed.
He made a slow pass over the ship and saw no pilot at the helm. He banked his ship, rolling his port side, along with the new turbolaser battery, at the floating vessel.
"Okay, let's see how these new guns work. Wake them up, 86."
The turbolasers momentarily roared to life as six bolts shot toward the starhound class shuttle. Three of the six found their mark.
"Your vessel matches the markings of a stolen ship from the surface of this very planet." he stated, bringing the ship around to pursue.
"What authority are you with?" Blad yelled from the other side, as the ship came to life.
"The bounty hunting kind." Conn flatly stated.
The Starhound's laser turret fired shot after shot, tracking the Deadbolt's arc. As Conn straightened to pursue, several blasts shot toward the forward viewport. The Deadbolt lazily rolled to avoid them.
"You're lucky I need you alive." Conn added, "those were warning shots."
"I'm warning you to stay off our tail!" Blad retorted as the ship disappeared into hyperspace.
"Calculate the ten most probable coordinates they likely jumped to, 86. Then we'll give them a loose follow."
The IG droid was statuesque in all of its ferocity for a moment before turning to focus to Conn.
"Given our Intel, their vessel, and the direction of travel they have a 93% probable heading to Pure Neimoidia." the droid declared.
Conn punched in the coordinates and pulled the engaging lever for the hyperdrive, and the stars once again lengthened to infinite stripes, enveloping the ship in its vibrance, bathing the cockpit and the two occupants in a light hue of blues.
As the navicomputer alerted Conn, the stars returned to their white dotted appearance against infinite darkness, blanketing Neimoidia's contrasting colors into the blue-green orb before them. Conn's scopes detected his quarry shortly before he could visibly see them skimming the atmosphere.
"Let's stay off their radar. Already spooked enough. May as well let 'em lead us home." Conn advised.
Conn noticed a large dome in the distance, before watching the starhound be shot down from a defense turret within the castle.
"Someone doesn't want found. Bring us around to disable that battery. No need to suffer any unneeded damage." Conn commanded. "Then we see what our boys are so interested in."
As the planetary turbolaser pummeled the Deadbolt's deflector shield, it banked to return a volley of fire. After a short exchange, Conn managed a direct hit that sent the turret into a fireball atop its column, like a torch. Conn opted to land on a field to the east of the compound, just outside eyeshot from the main entrance. Setting the anti theft measures and charging IG-86 as a last line of defense, Conn set off for the innards of the castle.
As he approached the structure, he noted a large balcony several stories up. He jetted onto the platform, instantly finding the door inside. It wasn't locked, so he cautiously scanned the room through several filters to detect possible traps. Nothing.
He proceeded inside and noted a vast array of art, sculptures, and trophies of apparent game hunts. He saw a case with four lightsabers adorning the decorative mantle. Noting this, Conn pressed onward into the lavish estate, down a few flights of stairs. Oddly, he found no kitchen within, nor a dining area. Though he'd not dismissed having overlooked it for the size of the manor.
Through his search, he continued toward the large dome, and the ship he'd seen landed by the main entrance. Someone was here, they had to be. He noted a few worker droids tending a crop, as he passed by the large atrium containing a vast variety of plants. The corridor terminated into two openings. One was a lab, stacked with vials and dishes the looked like some sort of amateur research project. The next had a placard reading "carbon freeze".
He could hear a lot of activity as he got closer, noticing all of the essential equipment for the carbon freezing chamber to be absent, hastily removed. He continued toward the commotion within the next room, a large store room. He saw dozens of worker droids moving carbonite slabs out of a blast door, obviously leading outside to the parked craft on the landing platform.
The heads up display alerted Conn to an incoming blaster shot from the direction he came. The bolt harmlessly spattered on a durasteel beam as he avoided it. He held his carbine at his hip, ready to discharge it at his attacker. Conn saw an ancillary corridor that he'd not swept yet, deducing the attacker to have fled there. As he approached, he saw medical equipment, including a bacta tank. Though the liquid within was the wrong color for bacta. Upon entering the room, on the far side, he saw a carbonite slab with a woman encased within. He stopped to take it in when he noticed a blaster pistol on the table to his left. From behind the slab came an Ithorian, hands raised in surrender. Conn leveled his carbine at the hammerhead.
"Looks like you've got some explaining to do."