Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.
- I don't think this will work. - Carth was nervous, in a brand new, gray, police, bulletproof armor, usually worn by riot police in a serious firefight.
- I like risky plans too, but this is completely crazy. - Mission, appeared in a lighter, modified armor that was tight on her body. Zaalbar also grumbled worriedly, saying that Rina's idea sounded crazy.
- Will there be a time when you'll believe in me? - Rina also received new armor, a greenish-yellow fiber vest armor, full of pockets, in which a specialist like her could easily hide her equipments.
- Maybe, when your plan isn't equal to suicide. - Carth replied.
- Just watch. - Rina pressed the button on her belt, which made her invisible and went out through the sewer door into a very spacious room.
An empty canal that was at least 1km high and there was no need to worry about getting stuck in a tight spot. Rina moved forward with slow, careful and silent steps, paying attention to her breathing so that it wouldn't give her away. One wrong move and she'd die. She looked to the side and clearly saw the Rancor the size of a mountain.
The Rancor was a huge, carnivorous predator and was at least 10m tall and had dark brown skin. It had a flat and depressed snout, a strong and massive jaw, full of sharp, predatory teeth. It had long, muscular arms, with 4 fingers ending in pointed claws. Its legs were quite small compared to its massive upper body, but it could have easily grabbed Rina with its arms and torn her tiny body to pieces with two fingers.
Rina knew these creatures well, she knew that their skin could withstand even the elite soldiers' blaster rifles and Carth's pistol and Zaalbar's blaster crossbow seemed like special and modified weapons, but it was impossible to seriously injure the Rancor, at most, they would manage to anger it.
The solution must be explosives, but not by the usual method, because the creature's skin was even resistant to grenades, so something else had to be invented. In a huge pile, she found a bunch of corpses, swarming with flies and maggots, which had gathered in one of the canal beds and was almost full. There were many corpses of human and other alien species among them, but she also found animals among the corpses.
Rina had to gather herself not to vomit or give herself away with any gagging sound. She began emptying her pockets, which were full of frag grenades. She dropped one, but luckily, it wasn't activated, so it didn't explode, but it still clattered to the metal floor. The Rancor lifted its head at the noise and began to sniff with its wide and flat nose.
The Rancor turned straight towards the pile of corpses and began to sniff again. Rina felt the giant monster's gaze on her, leaning closer and closer to her, so much so that she could almost feel the creature's warm and stinking breath. She even held her breath to make as little noise as possible and not have to smell the rancor's breath.
The creature eventually found nothing and, tired of searching, left the pile of corpses. Rina took a breath and quickly picked up the dropped grenade and used her sword to cut open the stomach of a half-eaten and rotting human corpse, which was teeming with worms. She emptied out the stinking and rotting entrails, the smell of which made her almost faint and her eyes began to water. Finally, she packed it full of grenades, so many that the dead man's stomach completely inflated and could have damaged a larger spaceship.
As a final touch, she stuck a thin plastic rod into the corpse, unscrewed the top and then a strong and pungent smell began to flow from it and quickly but carefully left the pile of corpses and returned to her companions.
- Now you really scared me! - Mission was worried.
- I almost had a heart attack. - Carth was no exception and Zaalbar also grunted worriedly.
- There will be a time when you will trust me unconditionally. - Rina confidently placed her hands on her hips, but suddenly, she heard a rumble that made her excited. - Listen! The show is about to begin!
They quickly hid near the exit and began to watch as the large creature began to sniff again and headed towards the pile of corpses. It began to sniff again, but much more vigorously and began to growl. With one of its clawed hands, grabbed the corpse that Rina had packed with grenades and quickly stuffed it into its mouth, without chewing, and swallowed it. Then it continued searching for other morsels among the pile of corpses, but Rina just grinned and pulled out a small, cylindrical metal, the top of which she removed with her thumb.
- I hope you enjoyed your last meal, you beast. - She said in herself and pressed the button with an evil grin. - Boom.
The grenades the Rancor had swallowed exploded in its stomach, causing the Rancor to first roar in pain, then its stomach to rupture, spraying scorched pieces of flesh everywhere. The monster roared in pain, then collapsed to the ground from the sudden shock and loss of blood and closed its two brown eyes, permanently.
- What do you think? - Rina asked proudly, after she went out and put one of her feet on one of the dead monster's arms and began to pose like a great hunter. - Size isn't everything.
- I think it was a little more brutal than necessary. - That was all Carth had to say.
- You have some serious problem with your head. – Mission also watched the Rancor's death throes with a bit of disgust and shudder and Zaalbar grunted and nodded in agreement.
- Oh c'mon! – Rina wasn't happy with her companions' reaction. – If you had a better plan, why didn't you come up with it?!
One of the most boring jobs in the entire Vulcar base was guarding the back exit, or as the Vulcars called it, the Rancor exit.
- Hey, - One of the two guards addressed the other. - why are we guarding this exit?
- So that no one can get into the base unnoticed. – The other answered, with a deep yawn.
- And who would get in? I mean, there's that damn big rancor that devours anyone and anything that approaches the entrance. What else do we need here?
- The boss' orders, if you want to argue with him, you might be his little pet's next meal.
- I won't argue with him! Last week, his assistant ended up in that beast's stomach because his space coffee was cold!
- I remember he didn't put enough space sugar in it.
- That doesn't matter, it's just that...
Bang
A green beam hit him in the head and he fell backwards. The other didn't have time to react either, because two red beams hit him, one in the chest and the other in the head.
- And here we are, - Rina approached the entrance to the base with calm, measured steps. - Casa de Vulcar. - She looked at the two dead guards, who didn't pose much of a challenge to them. - Just follow me. - She took one of the entrance cards and opened the door.
They came to a corridor full of pipes that ran sewage through, straight into the sewer and the corridor itself was dirty and messy, but it was better than the sewer.
Mission and Rina turned on their stealth generator, which made them invisible, while Zaalbar and Carth moved forward, shooting everyone they saw with a blaster. They killed at least 4 guard droids and 2 gang members before the alarm went off.
Rina and Mission sneaked into a bar, where the bartender, who had heard the alarm, took a rifle with a scope from under the bar and hid in ambush, waiting for the intruders to shoot them from there, but the two girls spotted this and sneaked behind him, Mission grabbed the rifle and Rina stabbed him in the throat with her sword.
Two guard droids noticed this and opened fire on the bar. Rina picked up a bottle filled with a yellow, strong alcoholic liquid and threw it at one of the droid. The droid hit the bottle before it could hit it, but this was exactly what Rina had planned, as the alcohol ignited and the liquid fire engulfed the droid, burning out all of its circuitry.
Mission turned invisible again and plunged her blade through the droid's head, rendering it useless. The entire base noticed the alarm and rushed to the bar, which was then surrounded. Mission and Rina couldn't get out.
- Any ideas?! - Mission looked a little desperate after dodging three beam.
- Let's trust the boys. - Rina didn't seem nervous at all. In fact, everything seemed to be going according to plan. - If I give the signal, we'll both run out the middle and cut down whoever we can.
- Are you crazy?! - Mission could hardly believe her ears. - There will be the most of them and…
A sudden panic broke out among the attacking Vulcars, as if someone had attacked them from the side. Rina knew very well that Carth and Zaalbar were attacking the Vulkars from two sides, which made the shots directed at them die down, thus giving them the opportunity for a frontal attack.
Rina wasted no time, jumped out from behind the counter and charged into the crowd, Mission, surprised by Rina's quick perception, followed her.
Rina had already cut down two Vulcars, before Mission followed, taking another victim.
The Vulcars were so shocked that they found themselves caught between two fires at once and attacked them from the front, that they became confused and started firing in all directions. The terrified and confused thugs shot each other down, half falling victim to their own weapons, the other half to Carth and Zaalbar's blasters and Mission and Rina's blades.
- These were the most fearsome gangsters on Taris? - Rina seemed disappointed. - A bunch of drunken braggarts who panic at such a simple trick. - Her voice was filled with contempt and pity.
- It's a completely different thing to fight disciplined soldiers than ordinary thugs. - Carth didn't seem particularly exhausted by the fight either.
- Do you have any idea what you did?! - Mission was completely shocked by the sight of the smaller pile of corpses. - We can defeat the Vulcars! They said they were the strongest gang!
- Hmm, they were built on quantity, not quality. - Rina just shrugged. – I thought they would be tougher.
– Well, – Carth took another access card from one of the, let's say, officers, but more likely, a bigger and stronger guy. – we still need to find the accelerator.
– Really, – Mission suddenly remembered. – why did you want to get in here? Maybe, to end the tyranny of the Vulcars?
– No. – Rina answered that simply. – Bastila is an extremely valuable military resource for the Republic and if she dies, it could cost us a lot, in the long run. The Vulcars captured her and the winner of the swoop competition can have her.
– The Vulcar's leader, Brejik, stole a prototype accelerator, which is a vital advantage.
– So… all this… for a stupid part? – Mission could hardly believe it.
– Yes. – Rina didn't care at all about what was happening on Taris, she was only focused on the mission.
Arriving at a locked elevator, Carth used the card he had just picked up and the elevator doors opened and its defenses were deactivated. They headed for the garage, where they would most likely find the accelerator.
The garage was a huge, underground hangar that had been built in the early years of Taris, when this part of it was probably still on the surface. It was filled with half-finished or completely useless wrecks that had been looted from the surrounding gangs and then disassembled to develop their own swoops.
Rina immediately had an idea and a devilish grin spread across her face. She signaled her companions to stay in the elevator and used her cloak generator again. Fortunately, alongside the completely harmless wrecks, there were well-functioning swoops stored there. Rina opened the main computer on one of them and turned it to maximum speed, but the lock that held the vehicles there wouldn't let them go. She didn't have much time left, she used her sword to poke a hole in the fuel tank, just like the other scooters and the liquid turned into a bigger puddle under her feet.
The swoop that had been engined started to smoke and Rina knew from this that she didn't have much time left, so she quickly started to run and climbed to the top of the wreckage hill, to hide there and lie in wait.
The swoop started to smoke more and more and it was already sparking, but finally the engine couldn't take it anymore and exploded. The fire that was created during the explosion caused the fuel to explode and so the other swoops were also in flames.
The alarm also went off and a bunch of Vulcars arrived, but they were terribly shocked by the great fire. They were convinced that it was an accident, so they came with firefighting equipments instead of weapons to save what they could, but Rina signaled to Zaalbar and Carth to open fire, who killed at least 6 self-proclaimed firefighters before they could come to their senses.
They would have been caught fleeing, but Mission got behind them and cut down two others and Rina, opening fire with her pistol, so the rest of the terrified Vulcars were trapped between 4 fires, as Carth and Zaalbar, Mission, Rina and the fire itself made escape impossible and all the Vulcars were killed.
Rina jumped off the mountain of wreckage before the oil and fuel in the wreckage could ignite and signaled the others to follow.
- Let's hurry before the whole place blows up! - Rina ordered them.
- And what if the accelerator was in one of the swoops you blew up? - Carth was a little worried and Rina just smiled.
- Come on, Brejik isn't stupid enough to trust these scumbags with the accelerator he could win the race? - Rina explained as she's running.
- Stop! - Suddenly, a young, teenage Vulkar jumped out of one of the corridors, holding a rifle that shook in his hand. Rina didn't hesitate and immediately fired a beam at his head.
- Stupid kid. - There was no remorse on her part. - He could have hid. Or shot me without warning.
They kept going, straight in front of an office, where the area was less oily and less dirty. The door at the end of the corridor was different from the previous doors. More complex and thicker, but for some reason it was open. Rina felt that the accelerator would be here, but she also felt that it wouldn't be so easy to get it.
They opened it and found themselves facing a team armed to the teeth.
- Well, well, - A green-skinned Twi'lek man was the leader of the team. - Gadon finally felt bold enough to attack the Vulcar base with his pathetic little Beks. This means war!
- Wait, Kandon, - An orange-skinned Twi'lek woman warned him. - these do not look like Beks.
- Indeed. - The man looked nervous and pointed his gun at the team. - Who are you?
- Your guard's right, Kandon, - Rina wasn't at all frightened, in fact, she was more amused by it. - I'm not a Bek. I just want the swoop accelerator and we're leaving.
- So, that old fool Gadon, not only won't give up his leadership of the gang in favor of his son, but he's also sending mercenaries to steal his accelerator? - Kandon listed it as if he were an innocent victim.
- Brejik stole the accelerator from Gadon and lied to everyone! - Mission snapped.
- Bah, I'm not interested in the Bek lies! - Kandon didn't even pay attention. - You, - He turned back to Rina. - you said you're not Bek! Brejik could use your abilities! I have an offer for you that you can't miss.
- Thanks, but I'm not interested. - Rina rolled her eyes. - Just give me the accelerator while I'm asking pretty. - She answered sternly.
- Come on, don't be a fool! - Kandon looked a little nervous. - Gadon Thek is the past! - Brejik is the future of the Taris swoop gangs! In his hands, under the rule of the Vulcar, a new criminal syndicate will rise and maybe we can even become members of the Exchange!
- Then I'll put it this way, - Rina began to speak slowly and syllabically. - so that even an idiot like you can understand. I don't give a sh*t on your little gangster wars.
- It's really unfortunate that it turned out this way. - Kandon shook his head, and then he and his people opened fire.
Rina and the others retreated to the other room and Rina came up with a new plan. The others, like her previous plans, found it risky and a little crazy, but her successes earned the respect of the group.
The three male gang members came out first and immediately aimed their rifles, but they saw no one, however, this didn't lowered their caution and they looked in all directions, before they opened fire on them from the other end of the room.
Although the shot hit, it didn't harm any of them, because their energy shields caught the beam, but Mission, who fired the shot, didn't seem surprised at all.
- Catch me if you can! - She just shouted at them arrogantly, showing off.
The three men didn't seem to be in a good mood at all and gave chase to the Twi'lek girl, who instead ran towards the end of the corridor. Her pursuers didn't give up, so they followed her all the way out, into the garage, where the fire was spreading and so much smoke was created that it was impossible to see anything.
The men held themselves behind each other so that shecouldn't surprise them from behind. In vain, Zaalbar grabbed one of them from above and lifted him up, and his companions didn't see him anymore. They didn't hesitate to open fire, but in the smoke they had no idea what they were hitting, so they quickly gave up.
As soon as they approached the place where they had taken their companion, they found him, but he was full of beam shots. As soon as Zaalbar caught him, he deactivated his energy shield, knocked him down and let his companions shoot him to death.
Suddenly, from above, Mission jumped forward again and with one movement jumped on the man's head, causing both of them to fall to the ground and Mission took the opportunity to pierce her opponent's throat with her blade.
- Just die! - The last man aimed his rifle straight at her, but two muscular, hairy arms locked themselves under his armpits and with one strong movement, broke his spine, then threw his body aside.
- Nice save, Big Z! - Mission stood up and dusted herself off. - Let's see how Carth and Rina's action turns out.
Carth quickly ran down the corridor, hoping that his opponent wouldn't hit him and quickly jumped behind some boxes, as cover. He carefully looked out from behind his cover, seeing that the orange Twi'lek woman was chasing him.
- It seems, - His opponent laughed mockingly. – I got the handsome guy! – She fired a few shots into Carth's cover. – I would really mind shooting your pretty face off, so come out and let me shoot your balls off instead! I like to see a handsome man suffer!
Carth didn't take the threat, he just pulled out his two pistols and started shooting blindly, which scared the woman, but she was also protected by the energy shield.
– Is that all you got?! – She asked mockingly, although a little nervously.
– I'm just warming up! – Carth replied, confidently.
Carth grabbed a flash grenade and threw it out of cover, but the woman, being a good shot, couldn't miss the chance to hit it in flight, but that was exactly what Carth was counting on. As the grenade exploded in midair, it briefly blinded the woman, giving him the chance to quickly run to the end of the corridor and activate the wreck-crusher, which the Vulcars use to grind scrap metal into pieces.
The machine made enough noise that by the time the woman regained her vision, she couldn't hear Carth at all, as she passed his cover, giving him a chance to attack her from behind. Carth stood up, aimed his pistol and pulled the trigger, but the bullet ricocheted off the woman's head, but that was enough to disable her energy shield.
She was able to dodge the next shot and return fire at Carth, who had to take cover again. Carth threw another grenade, this time a frag one, but this time the woman didn't want to fall into the same trap as the previous one and instead took cover, but Carth had expected this again.
The grenade exploded and brought down the rickety roof above their heads, straight at the woman, who successfully dodged the falling debris, only for a wire to get caught in her leg, which she didn't notice and which was swallowed by the shredder.
She opened fire angrily at Carth, but the wire was running out and the machine pulled her leg hard, causing her to fall, drop her pistol and approach the shredder in a helpless state. She tried to untie the wire stuck in her leg, but it was too tight and she couldn't handle it. She tried to climb away, to grab onto something, but the machine was too strong and the wire didn't break.
Desperate, she looked at Carth, who had carefully assessed the situation and realized that that machine would soon tear her to pieces and that she was no longer a threat to it. Carth didn't want to give anyone, especially a woman, such a cruel death, so without a word he shot her in the head before she could reach the machine. There was perhaps only one person he would have let suffer in such a situation, but he quickly brushed that aside and returned to see how Rina and the others had fared in their struggle.
Rina recognized Kandon in just one conversation, a loudmouthed stuntman who liked to make his own voice heard.
- C'mon, little one, you better come out! - This only proves that he saw this fight as a simple game of hide and seek. - Believe me, you don't want to know what I have in store for you if I find you!
Rina kept her cloak generator on and walked up and down around Kandon, who couldn't tell if she was right in front of him.
- You dirty little rat! - Kandon grew angrier and shot a few to lure Rina out. - Come out and fight me!
- Last chance, Kandon. - Rina turned off her cloak. - You give me the accelerator and I'll let you live.
- Idiot! - Kandon grinned evilly. – As if I was considering a little…
BOOM
One wrong move was enough for Kandon to arm a dozen mines, which then exploded at once, and despite the Twi'lek man's energy shield and armor, nothing would protect him from such a powerful explosion. Kandon's body was completely destroyed, to the point that it might be impossible to identify.
Rina deliberately lured Kandon and his team out of the office, because she suspected that such a valuable component would have to be stored in a well-sealed place, like an office. Therefore, she had planned in advance for the others to deceive Kandon's people, while he cowardly stayed behind, and undermining the terrain, so at the right time, she would lure the bandit to her.
When Rina revealed herself and offered to let Kandon live for the accelerator, she was actually lying. She didn't plan on letting him alive, but she had to do something to get him to come towards her.
Rina was right, the accelerator had been found in the office, in a locked chest with the keycard on Kandon's desk. Rina took it with her, gathered the team and they left the burning Vulcar base behind.
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