Halo, it's time for the newest chapter. Enjoy the reading.
- I don't think this will work. - Carth wasn't sure Rina's plan would work. She put back on her gray, bulletproof riot police armor.
- You say that to all my plans and they always work. - Rina just put her hand confidently on her hip. She put on her greenish-yellow fiber vest armor.
- Attacking the Vulcar base? - Mission reminded them that they had reason to doubt her plans, she put on her light but body-hugging modified armor. - The clash with the rancor and the Swoop race?
Zaalbaar growled in agreement.
- Although I really didn't sense any deception in the Mandalorian, - Bastila, as usual, poke Rina wherever she could. - it still sounds like a dangerous plan to sneak into the Sith military base.
- If you have a better plan to leave Taris, - Rina stopped in front of the entrance to the droid shop and stared sternly at the team. - I'm listening! - The others just stared at her in silence, no one had any idea what they could do. - If you don't want to come with me, if you would rather hide in the alleys of the lower city and put yourself at the mercy of the Sith, just do it! - She suggested while looking at the team, who knew that the Sith would either exploit Taris or find an excuse to destroy it. - I thought so.
- You talk like a Jedi. - Carth smiled proudly at her.
The shop was full of parts, tools and various droids for sale, which weren't all combat droids, but were in pretty good condition, yet, the business was stagnant, there wasn't a single customer in the shop.
- Customers?! In my shop?! – A hopeful, female voice was heard from behind the sales counter, owned by a yellow Twi'lek woman. – I hope you're not just lost and really want to buy! Most Tarisian citizens don't like buying from aliens.
– Why would the locals be bothered by a Twi'lek owner? – Rina didn't understand why in such a large galaxy, where all sorts of strange creatures live, humans would waste their time on racism.
– I could tell you about. – Mission just rolled her eyes, indicating that she had already had unpleasant experiences with the racism of the humans living in the upper quarter of Taris.
– You must have only recently arrived on Taris, – The woman explained. – since most human here, especially in the upper city, are quite contemptuous of all kinds of alien races, if you're not human, it's quite difficult to get by.
– I understand, – If Rina didn't like the behavior of the Tarisians, she didn't have time to listen to this woman's whining all day. – are you Janice Nall? Canderous Ordo sent me, for the T3-M4 droid.
- Oh, - The woman, the Mandalorian man, was very happy to hear his name. – Canderous sent you?! Why didn't you start with that?! Of course, - She pointed to the light gray astromech droid next to the counter. – it's done!
- It's paid for, right? - Rina asked, wanting to clarify this.
- Of course, Canderous has already paid in advance on behalf of Davik, - She held a data storage device towards Rina. - just sign it at the receiver.
- Very good. - Rina ran her finger along it, as signing.
- It's done and you can take the droid. - Janice removed the droid blocker from T3-M4. - Here's your new owner.
- So, - Rina just put her hand on the little droid's head and smiled, because finally she was no longer the shortest in the group. - welcome to the team.
The little droid, while following its new owner and team out of the store, just beeped in some incomprehensible way, which it probably intended as an introduction.
- I think… - Mission tried to act like she understood. - he's glad to meet us.
- We have the droid, - Carth concluded. - now we can head towards the military base.
- Can you even get us in? - Bastila looked at the droid with her arms crossed curiously, who gave a long beep and whistle in response to the question, but no one understood it.
- Does… - Rina scratched the back of her head. - that mean yes? Only because the success of my plan depends on whether you can get us in.
- Bastila, - Carth, to distract the others from T3's questionable abilities, asked the Jedi the question that everyone had been wondering for a while. - How did those Vulcars manage to capture a famous Jedi like you? Did you faint upon impact?
- No, I was conscious, but my Force abilities were depleted by my Battle Meditation, so without my help you probably wouldn't have left the ship.
- Okay, but even without the Force, I've seen Jedi in combat. Those drunken idiots shouldn't have stood a chance against you with a lightsaber in your hand.
- My lightsaber… - She suddenly became embarrassed, started to wring her fingers and looked to the side. - fell out upon impact. I looked everywhere, I swear! - She began to explain. - They attacked me while I was looking for that piece of junk and they were heavily outnumbered!
- For clarification, - Carth couldn't help but laugh. - you lost your lightsaber?! Isn't that a violation of the Jedi code?
- I heard, - Rina couldn't help but join in Bastila's teasing. - a Jedi should be married to his lightsaber! We caught just such a clumsy Jedi!
- That's not funny! - Bastila's head almost turned red with anger and shame at the same time. - It fell off my belt and rolled under my seat! And the Vulcars found it while they were searching the wreckage!
- Don't worry, - Carth wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. - it's just a little funny that a legendary Jedi would lose her lightsaber! Let me give you a piece of advice, this is a detail that's better not to be mentioned in the history books.
- I'm not that legendary, - Bastila calmed down somewhat, but she was still offended. - but I appreciate your advice. I'll leave this out when I report to the Council. They don't need to know all the details.
- We're here. - Rina stopped, the whole team behind her and looked up at the huge, white and gray structure, which was clearly not a Sith structure, they just occupied it.
- And what's the plan? - Carth wanted to hear. - True, you only said that we should sneak in, but I doubt we could do it, even with T3's help.
- Of course it will work. - Rina confidently signaled to T3 to open the front door, which the little astromech droid began to do. - This base isn't the Sith's, they occupied it only a few weeks ago and they barely know it, both structurally and with the security system. The bulk of their army is in the city to find Bastila, practically only a fraction of it could have remained at the base, where they certainly don't expect a raid.
- Hm, - Carth was surprised at how confidently and sensibly Rina explained something. - you analyzed this well.
- Maybe it was a bad idea to underestimate you. - Bastila was also satisfied with Rina's analytical skills.
- Many people made this mistake. - Rina just smugly clasped her hands behind her back.
- Hey, Bastila, - Mission, while they were waiting for T3 to open the base door, who had already heard a lot about the legendary ability of the Jedi, the Force, wanted to know something. - have you ever used the Force for fun? Like, to prank someone you don't like?
- I would never use the Force for such a pathetic thing! - Bastila was outraged even by the thought of using the Force for a game. – Even the thought is ridiculous!
- Oh, stop being so arrogant. – Mission patted the Jedi girl on the shoulder. – You must have already conceived in your mind. You can tell me.
- I'm not arrogant. – Bastila shook the Twi'lek's hand off her shoulder, as if annoyed by the fact that she had touched her. – It's just that my masters have taught me patience and wisdom for years, so that I understand the unpleasant consequences of such a stupid, childish thing.
- Childish?! – Mission was offended that Bastila was looking down on her like that. – Is this a reference to my age?! I'll just tell you that you're not much older than me, Ms. Perfection! Just because you're a Jedi… - She couldn't finish, because suddenly, an invisible force pushed her and she fell. – What the… - Mission, for a moment he didn't even realize what had happened, but she understood that Bastila had used the Force to push her up. – This isn't funny!
– I have no idea what you're talking about, Mission. – Bastila gave her a sly grin as she walked past her and the base door was just opening. – Get up, let's continue our journey and try not to be clumsy in there.
Mission stood up with an angry huff and, fuming to herself, followed her and the others to the Sith base.
The elevator, although not the largest, which was unusual for the Sith, as they always use wider elevators to allow more soldiers to enter and exit the base at once, took them straight to the base's lobby, where they found a reception desk in front of them.
Behind the desk was a pale yellow Twi'lek woman, who was surprised to see the unknown newcomers.
- Excuse me, - She stood up immediately and tried to look sternly at the armed group in front of her, who made the blood run cold in her veins. - but this is forbidden territory! Leave or I'll raise an alarm!
- Look, - Rina, unlike her teammates who were pointing their weapons at the woman, took some money from her pocket and placed it on the table. - here 50 credits. Yours, just don't raise an alarm.
Everyone waited with bated breath for the consequences, since it depended on whether the woman would accept the bribe or not.
- 50 credits?! – The woman's eyes widened at the sight of the money. – Thank you very much! The Sith have been making my life and my family's life hell ever since they took control of the planet and the base! – She stood up from the table and headed for the exit. – I'm taking a day off!
- Wow… - Carth and the others couldn't help but marvel at Rina's resourcefulness.
- Rina… - Mission had to ask. – you can see the future?
- No, - Rina sat down in front of the machine. – but as soon as I saw a Twi'lek woman on the human-centric Sith base, I knew that her life was going badly and a little bribe would be enough to get her out of the way.
- So, - Carth remembered how Rina had threatened a doctor and done everything in the first few days, hoping for more money. - that's what you needed the money for.
- That, food, armor and weapons. T3, - She looked at the droid. - connect to the system and look for launch codes. - The droid didn't need any more, it already connected to the terminal and started beeping in frustration.
- I have a feeling this doesn't mean good. - Carth guessed.
- Did you find anything? - Unfortunately, Rina, though she understood many languages, the beeping of the astro droids was beyond her capabilities.
- I don't think so. - Mission guessed, and Rina gave the droid a new command.
- Could you at least tell us where we can find it? – That was all, and T3 had already loaded the base map and marked a location that was only listed as the "Meditation Tower." – Meditation Tower? – Rina shook her head in confusion.
- Whoever controls the Sith in this part of the city, – Bastila stated. – is skilled in the use of the Force.
- A Dark Jedi? – Carth was worried.
- Probably. – Rina thought as she looked at the base's cameras on the terminal and there were surprisingly few soldiers present. – T3, turn off the alarms, turrets and droids and turn me on the public address system. – T3 did so and a microphone appeared in front of Rina, into which she began to speak. – Attention, in order to prevent a possible virus attack, we must turn off all droids on the base. Thank you for your understanding, everyone continue your task until further notice.
- Nice. – Carth barely managed words.
- Most of the guard is made up of droids and we will only meet them until the elevator to the meditation chamber. - Rina stated. - T3, you stay here, watch us through the cameras, warn us if anything bad is going to happen. - T3's beep was probably agreement, but they wouldn't really understand if it wanted to warn them about something.
- What if, - Mission crouched down next to the little droid and stroked its head. - me and Big Z stayed here with the little guy while you get the codes?
- It would be dangerous to divide our forces. - Carth warned the others.
- Leaving the exit unguarded and leaving the droid who would be our eyes and ears in here unprotected is also dangerous. - Bastila listed counterarguments.
- I hate to say this, - Rina turned to the Jedi, but the two women exchanged a disgusted look at each other again. - but I'm with Bastila. It wouldn't be a good idea to go any further without rear protection.
The team split into two, Rina, Bastila and Carth left Mission, Zaalbaar and T3 behind and started down the corridor, where there wasn't a soul patrolling except for the deactivated guard droids.
- Okay, - Mission spoke over the radio. - everything is clear in the next room, T3 will open the doors now.
And so it did, the door at the end of the corridor opened and led to another, empty room, where only deactivated droids were.
- Is this really a Sith base? - Carth, although pleased that they had made it this far without resistance, was a little disappointed in the Sith's negligence. - Only because I don't see a single Sith soldier.
- I don't feel many soldiers either, - Bastila, who could sense the mood of the soldiers on the base, was also not thrilled. - but those who are, are dissatisfied, careless and stupid.
- They are looking for you with all their might. - Rina stated. - Only the weakest are left here.
- Let's make some noise, - Carth, after they had walked through who knows how many empty corridors, was almost bored. - this isn't even exciting!
The excitement that Carth so desired was waiting for them behind the next door, a 3m tall, light gray battle droid, with a rotating cannon in place of its left arm, the end of its right arm ended in a large drill and with one eye, as soon as it noticed the intruders, it activated a red energy shield around itself. The left spinner's hand rose, as did the right drill's hand, but purple electric sparks appeared around it.
- You have to ask for it. - Rina stared tiredly at Carth for opening that big mouth, but there was no time for a long conversation, because the droid immediately opened fire on them and they all jumped in three directions.
Carth ran left, Rina ran right and Bastila jumped up high and they immediately counterattacked.
Bastila attacked with her lightsaber, while Rina and Carth opened fire with their pistols.
- The laser projectile won't hit her energy shield! - Carth stated.
- Neither will my lightsaber! - Bastila jumped back nervously.
- It's shield blocks all energy! – Rina knew this type of energy shield, designed for prolonged firefights, to protect tanks and other heavily armored vehicles and guns. – I've never seen one on a droid like this, it's clearly a prototype!
– How are we going to break through it?! – Carth dodged the electric drill at the last moment.
– We can't! – Rina knew that her and Carth's pistols, and not even Bastila's lightsaber, could do any damage to such a strong shield.
– So what?! – Bastila used the Shien form with her lightsaber, which seemed to create a perfect defense against the blaster projectiles.
– I have an idea. – Rina turned on her cloaking field, which made it seem as if she was invisible.
– What are you doing?! – Carth didn't understand, he just kept shooting at the droid, but in vain, its shield was too strong and only angered it.
- Let's just keep fighting! - Bastila didn't give up and as soon as she managed to escape from the clutches of the spinner, she tried to turn off the droid with the Force, but even the Force couldn't penetrate that shield.
Suddenly, the droid's back began to spark, and the red shield deactivated and the droid only realized too late that Rina had penetrated the shield and stabbed her sword into it. She tried to finish her off with its drill, but the girl was too fast and attached a grenade to its body as a farewell gift, which exploded loudly.
The explosion wounded the droid's body, but it was far from destroyed and it opened fire on Carth, but before it could fire, the droid's rotating arm was torn off after it threw its lightsaber at Bastila.
The droid still had its weapons and was about to strike Bastila with its electric drill hand before its lightsaber could be returned to it, but Carth, with a precise and accurate shot, shot out its only eye and sensor, blinding the droid.
Unfortunately, it then went completely berserk and started swinging its electric drill around, hoping to kill at least one of them. Rina skillfully and lightning-fastly dodged the blows and, accompanied by a somersault, placed a mine in front of the droid's feet and quickly jumped aside before it could step into it.
The mine successfully blew off its right leg and it fell to the ground, but it still continued to fight wildly and slashed at Rina with its drill, but Bastila immediately appeared in front of it and blocked the blow with her lightsaber, deflecting the drill and cutting off the droid's head.
The body was still writhing madly, but in place of its head there was nothing but a few sparking wires, but despite this, the droid still raised its electric drill and stabbed it into the wall, causing it to explode and the body to not move anymore.
- How… - Carth panted, looking at Rina. - did you get… behind its shield?
- Its shield can only stop energy and beams of radiation, including the lightsaber blades. - Rina crossed her arms confidently. - But it is powerless against a human body. I simply walked through it and pierced its generator.
- An acceptable achievement for someone who is not a Jedi. - From Bastila, it almost sounded like a compliment.
- To get recognition from you… - Rina just shook her head. - like getting water out of a stone.
- What? - Bastila just shook her head in confusion. - I was just praising you!
- Really? - Rina only feigned surprise. - I didn't even know you knew that word! - The two girls glared at each other angrily, Rina still annoyed by Bastila's arrogant behavior and Bastila irritated that Rina reacted like that to a compliment coming from her.
- Maybe we should move on. - Carth felt that if he didn't stand between the two women, they would start fighting each other. He opened the elevator door at the end of the room that they had entered through.
As the elevator moved up, the tension between Rina and Bastila could have been cut with a knife. The elevator took them high enough, it took at least 10 minutes for the elevator to reach the top floor and open.
- I can sense a Dark Side Force user on the other side of the door. - Bastila stated.
Rina, if she couldn't stand Bastila's voice, knew better than to listen to her. A Dark Jedi could prove to be a very dangerous opponent. Rina raised her sword to the ready, Carth raised his pistols, and Bastila was ready to draw her lightsaber.
The door opened and they found themselves in a large, almost empty room where a bald, gray-armored man sat meditating. As soon as he saw his visitors, he stood up angrily and reached for the double-bladed sword slung across his back.
- Who dares to disturb my meditation?! – He demanded an answer. – You'll pay for this… – He suddenly looked towards the girls and felt something strange. – You… I feel the Force in you and… – He took a step back. – it's very strong. Who would have thought that I would find a Force user on this insignificant planet. – He was clearly terrified, but he tried to show courage. – But no matter how strong you are, your Force is no match for that of a Sith apprentice!
– It seems, Bastila, – Rina just rolled her eyes. – they recognized you.
– Bastila?! – The man looked at her in shock. – We are looking for you… – He smiled. – Of course, you came with your Padawan! – He swung his sword again. – Lord Malak will surely reward me if I take you and your Padawan.
– Padawan? – Rina didn't understand why this man thought she was a Jedi too and looked at Bastila questioningly.
Bastila, instead of answering, just charged at the man, in a very aggressive style, preventing him from speaking. It seemed that Bastila was dominating the fight, but the man dodged at an unexpected moment, got behind Bastila and clamped the hilt of his sword around her neck and began to strangle her.
Like a fool, he turned her back on Carth and Rina, who easily shot the man in the back and killed him with their pistols, thus saving Bastila's life, who was coughing and gasping for air.
- What was that? - Rina asked Bastila in shock.
- I wanted to finish him off before he could use the Force. - Bastila answered, in a very cold and impatient style.
- Did you know him? - Carth asked, who also didn't miss Bastila's quick and unusually aggressive outburst.
- He was skilled in the Force! - Bastila clearly kept quiet about something that she really didn't want to talk about. - If I hadn't acted in time, who knows what he would have done!
- But... have you ever fought another Force user? - Rina thought.
- She finished off Darth Revan. - Carth stood next to her. - This student was definitely not on her level.
- Remember what I say now. - Bastila glared angrily at her two companions. - Never give the enemy a chance, - She glared at Rina, as if she was ready to strike at her at any moment. – because they will stab you in the back at the worst possible time.
- I noticed. – Rina replied, not feeling a single spark of sympathy for the arrogant woman.
- We have the launch codes. – Carth, he took a data storage device from the storage at the end of the room and gave it to Rina.
- Then let's head to the lower city! – Rina instructed them.
It wasn't difficult to get out of the base, Mission and Zaalbaar were still at the reception, but a pile of Sith soldier corpses were spread out in the room.
- Shall we ask? – Rina wasn't surprised.
- Big Z doesn't like being questioned by Sith soldiers. – Mission only answered briefly. – Do you have what we need? – Rina proudly showed the data storage device. – Neat.
Leaving the base didn't pose any particular difficulties, nor did getting to the Lower City tavern, since the Vulcar gang had been destroyed and the Beks had taken over, life had become unusually, but pleasantly quiet and peaceful. The Beks knew and respected Rina for her courage and talent in the Swoop race.
Canderous, just like in the Upper City pub, was waiting for Rina at an empty table, a glass of beer in his hand.
- I knew you'd be back. - Canderous just smiled before taking another sip of his beer. - I know the military base was broken into, I know it was you and I know you have the launch codes.
- You know a little too much. - Rina crossed her arms jokingly.
- If you have the right connections, the strange thing is not knowing something. - Canderous cut back. – So, the codes?
- Okay. – Rina took out the data plate. – Let's do this. How will you get us to Davik's estate?
- Davik's always looking for new recruits and he'll take my word for it. - The man took the data plate. - If I say you're a promising person who would also work for the Exchange, then you have a good chance of getting an interview with him. Besides, he's a big Swoop fan, he must have seen you win the race. If you play your part properly and convince him that you want to work for him, we've got a case. You'll be his guest for a few days while he looks into your background and such, it's a procedure.
- That's too risky! - Bastila interrupted. - We should find another solution.
- Do you have another plan, sis? - Canderous didn't like Bastila's excessive caution. - It's the only way we can get Davik's ship, the only ship we can use to leave this dump planet!
- No. - Bastila admitted. – I have no other plans, but I don't like to put my life in your "understanding" hands.
- I could say that about you, Jedi. – Canderous's words shocked the girl. – What would the Sith say if I whispered a few words about you? – It was clear that this was an offer that could no longer be refused. – Luckily for you, we all want to leave this planet and we need each other.
- Sounds good so far. – Rina wasn't planning on refusing.
- Right, while Davik checks your background, we can steal his ship. – Canderous stood up, paid for his beer and headed for the exit. – Come on, I'll park my air chopper here. I can take you and the droid.
- It's a good plan, but it has a few pitfalls. – Rina, if she liked Canderous's plan, wasn't sure she would accept it.
- What are you referring to? - The man found it a bit insulting to be interfered with in his plan, which he had been working on for a month, but he had the sense to listen.
- Prepare your air chopper and take the droid. - Rina instructed. - I will initiate the rest of the team and explain everything as we go.
- As you wish. - Canderous found it unusual that this girl, who was a third of his size, commanded like a born leader. There was something very charismatic about her that made people respect her.
- I'm afraid to ask what are you planning? - Carth was again not happy to let Rina go on a dangerous mission alone, but he was used to this girl doing what she wanted.
- Just gather the most important things, weapons and everything from our apartment. - Rina explained. - And don't forget the couch there!
- Seriously? – Mission whined.
- Yes, seriously! – Rina nailed it. – If you leave it there, I'll be really angry and I'll leave someone here!
- Okay, - Carth rolled his eyes. – we'll get the couch, just let us in on the plan.
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