Explosions
Two days had passed relatively quickly, Lazarn knelt in one of the larger air vent openings as he waited patiently for the right moment with his loaded sniper rifle in his hands. He had managed to set explosives to the other air vent hatches so that when the time came all he had to do was press a button and the droids would be released into the chamber below. He had spent the day before setting everything up and then had returned to the area around the Jedi Temple to collect Sparx so that he didn't get left behind. The small droid was now back in his charging station that was strapped to Lazarn's back, hidden under his coat. The chamber started to fill with talking Senators who were none the wiser as to what was lurking above their heads.
Chancellor Bail Organa and the Speaker rose to their feet, "Order!" the Speaker called over the noise as he banged his stick on the central platform's floor.
"Thank you," Bail said as the noise diminished and the speaker took his seat, "Senators if you could all settle down in preparation for the proceedings to begin," he added, addressing the Senate.
Lazarn carefully nocked his rifle so that it stuck through the air vent grid so that he could begin shooting as soon as he needed to, "3...2...1," he whispered and then he pressed the button on his arm guard. The ceiling rocked with the explosions as the infiltrator droids spilled out of the air vents, shooting at their targets. Full out panic broke out in the chamber below as Senators scrambled to escape out into the hallways and then scattered everywhere. Security alarms went off as Lazarn quickly aimed for one of his targets who had not managed to escape yet and made the shot which hit the Quarren Senator Christo of Mon Cala. Then Lazarn tried to see if he could shoot any of the other targets but none of them remained in the chamber below. The infiltrator droids would have to finish off the rest of the assassination list which Jaira had given him. He climbed through the air vent shaft until he came to the opening in which he had entered through Senator Kallus's office.
"Duchess you must evacuate quickly," Sabine insisted as she backed out of the pod with Satine and Lux behind her. Then she spotted a shot coming from one of the air vents in the ceiling and noticed a rifle sticking through the grid.
"What is it Satine?" Lux asked when he saw her eyes quickly glance upwards.
"Get yourself and the Duchess to safety," Sabine ordered and the Senator nodded stiffly before running with the remainder of the guard and Satine to the entrance of the Galactic Senate building. When one of the infiltrator droids tried to follow them, "Not so fast," Sabine muttered as she threw one of her explosives at the droid which exploded upon impact. At that moment the security system activated and blast doors were closing quickly as the lights went to emergency power and turned red. Sabine ran through the hallways as she needed to get through on of the rapidly closing doors until suddenly she heard soft footfalls in the ceiling above her. The Mandalorian slid to a halt as she looked up and followed the noise which everyone else seemed to not be able to hear.
"Sabine!" a voice called from behind her and she paused to turn around.
"Mia?" Sabine asked as the Agent approached her, "Long time no see," she added.
"I think I know where the intruder is going to come out," Mia revealed.
Sabine gestured for her old friend to lead the way and then followed at a steady run, "So how did you recognise me? Haven't seen each other for years."
"Who else in the Wren clan is as artistic and creative with their armour as you?" Mia reminded her in amusement.
"Good point," Sabine agreed quickly.
They stopped outside of a door which was now locked due to the security lock down.
"Still got some of your explosives?" Mia asked.
"When do I ever not have them on me?" Sabine shot back as she reached into her belt pouch and pulled out four of the slightly smaller explosive discs. They attached one to each corner of the door and then moved away quickly as they suddenly went off.
Raven, Jania and Rexan were approaching the Galactic Senate building when the alarms started to go off and the security blast doors started to close as Senators came running out of the entrance. The three Jedi ran towards the entrance and were inside relatively quickly to find complete chaos unfolding within.
"Get rid of the droids," Raven ordered as he activated his lightsaber, followed shortly by Jania and his Padawan. They began slicing the droids up as they followed the trail into the senate chamber to find dozen more of them.
"Where did they come from?" Rexan asked in bewilderment.
"My best guess is from the air vents," Jania answered as she pointed quickly to the ceiling before deflecting a few shots from a droid.
Rexan leapt down from the pod he was standing on and sliced one of the droids in half as he landed on the pod below. Jania jumped across to the next pod and then down to levels, destroying five of the droids as she went.
"Raven!" Jania called out as she spotted a droid floating behind her friend and then used the Force to pull the droid down towards her. Raven sliced it in half as it passed him and then Jania cut it into quarters by the time the droid reached her. Then Jedi Knight quickly deflected another bolt back at another one of the droids as she leapt to the next pod. After a quarter of an hour the three Jedi had cleared the Senate chamber of the droids and they looked around cautiously.
"Well now that that's done," Rexan assumed as he deactivated his lightsaber but then saw the look on his Master's face, "Master?"
Raven held a hand to stop his student from talking, "Something doesn't feel right," he stated and then started to jump up each of the pods until he reached one of the air vents.
"Get back to the foyer Rexan," Jania ordered as she followed.
The Padawan looked slightly disgruntled at being left behind but knew better than to try and get into the air vents. So Rexan decided to follow orders and wait out in the foyer of the Galactic Senate building, besides it wouldn't be long until the place was being swarmed by Jedi Knights anyway.
"What's wrong Raven?" Jania asked curiously.
"Just want to make sure that there are no more droids in the ventilation system," Raven explained swiftly as they walked in a low crouch along the vent.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the Galactic Senate building, outside the office of Senator Kallus.
"You could never pass up an opportunity to blow something up," Mia mentioned as they approached the door which had unfortunately not been damaged at all.
"Yes well you know me too well, besides it's not as if it did anything now did it?" Sabine asked in slight frustration.
"At least you know that the Senators are well protected during a crisis," Mia stated, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"This means the only way into that room would be through the windows," Sabine pointed out.
"Not necessarily, still got those slicing skills up your sleeves?" Mia inquired with a raised eyebrow as she pointed to the panel next to the door.
"Do I ever not?" Sabine asked with a chuckle as she knelt down and got straight to work.
Suddenly Mia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she looked around and then spotted a rifle aimed at them.
"Sabine!" Mia yelled as she pushed the Mandalorian out of the way of a blaster bolt and they rolled together until they crashed into a wall. They both got to their feet to see the shooter run in the opposite direction down the hallway, the Mandalorian and Agent quickly ensued in a race. Mia and Sabine were catching up to him slowly but it wouldn't be long until they were right on top of the intruder.
"He's heading for the foyer," Sabine said as they both realised where the assassin was headed.
"Probably to try and make an escape," Mia pointed out as she heard the lock down doors opening with loud clanking sounds.
As they reached the foyer which was still overflowing with panicking Senators the intruder grabbed one of them around the neck and began walking towards the doors, holding a vibroknife to the diplomat's neck.
"Don't come any closer," Lazarn threatened causing Sabine and Mia to slide to a halt as he backed away further. Luckily for him this particular Senator was one of his targets which meant he could use him as a hostage until he managed to get away and then could slice his neck. At that point he noticed the look of recognition of the Republic Agent's face as she realised who the intruder was. Then Mia spotted Rexan who had his lightsaber activated and was ready to strike Lazarn down in a moments notice.
"Rexan, no!" Mia yelled at him and the Padawan reacted by deactivating the blade. The Agent and Mandalorian followed Lazarn outside slowly as they tried to coax him to release the Senator.
"Do you think I'm that stupid? As soon as I do you'll shoot me," Lazarn pointed out as he continued to back up. Then they found themselves outside on the landing platform as Lazarn walked backwards up a loading ramp and into a shuttlebus.
"Let the Senator go and we won't follow you," Mia requested carefully.
"Yeah right," Lazarn stated as he pressed a button on his arm guard, setting off explosives that were inside the Senate building causing a distraction long enough for him to get inside the shuttlebus and for the droid pilot to take off. Mia ran towards to the entrance and then Rexan approached her.
"Raven and Jania are inside," Rexan revealed.
"What?" Mia asked in shock and then ran to the doors, "Stay out here Rexan."
Then the Agent disappeared into the crumbling building, "Raven! Jania!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she ran through the hallways that were quickly collapsing in on themselves.
Meanwhile, Sabine had activated her jetpack and was now gaining on the shuttlebus quickly while she had started shooting at the vehicle with her two blaster pistols, aiming for the engine mainly. The Mandalorian managed to grip onto the door and attach a minor explosive before flying away and then the door exploded, leaving a gaping whole for her to climb through.
"Missed me?" Sabine asked in amusement as she entered the vehicle. Inside she found Senator Dantum Roohd dead and blood pouring out all over the floor and the standing above the body was the assassin.
"You Mandalorians are so predictable though I do admire your courage and perseverance," Lazarn muttered in slight admiration.
"Oh you'll find that I'm full of surprises," Sabine said as she shot at him, deliberately missing the target to keep him distracted as she quickly closed the gap between them and then set off her repulsor causing the intruder to loose his balance momentarily. When Lazarn found his balance he found Sabine was now directly in front of him and she kicked left foot out to aim for his chest. However, the Imperial Agent caught her ankle tightly and held it up in the air for a moment as Sabine then tried to keep her balance.
"Amateur," Lazarn chuckled lightly, "Allow me if you would to show you how it's done," he scowled as the Agent dropped her foot and then proceeded to punch the Mandalorian in the lower gut between the gap of her armour. Sabine groaned as she doubled over slightly and then tried to dodge out of the way of another punch which she had only just managed to narrowly avoid.
"I highly doubt that you would be able to show me anything new," Sabine responded cheekily as she activated her grappling line which wrapped around her opponent tightly and then she swiped his legs out from underneath him with a quick leg swipe, knocking Lazarn onto his back.
"Ha! Looks like you need experience in fighting Mandalorians," Sabine mocked but then Lazarn pressed a button on his arm guard and the line basically became useless as they lost their electronic energy and disappeared back into Sabine's vambraces. The Agent jumped back up onto his feet as the Mandalorian tried to quickly regain her composure as he aimed a kick at her thigh, which Sabine jumped over. Lazarn was advancing on his opponent, slowly pushing her further back towards the hole where the door had once been.
"I have spent my entire life studying how Mandalorians fight," Lazarn revealed as he aimed a kick at Sabine's chest which sent her flying backwards. She crashed into the back row of seat that lined the end of the shuttlebus and looked around in an attempt to find something that she could use.
"Well I hate to leave so soon but see ya next time!" Sabine farewelled as she threw an explosive at Lazarn who caught it and threw it out of the hole at the Mandalorian which exploded in an array of colourful smoke.
"Amateur," the Agent spat as he went back to the front of the shuttlebus, "Land on that landing platform," he ordered the droid pilot. Upon exiting the shuttle bus he pressed another button on his arm guard which caused the vehicle to explode into flames as he quickly boarded the ship and entered the cockpit, quickly taking off into the sky. It wasn't long until he was in the space above the planet of Coruscant and he entered Hyperspace without even checking the already inputted destination. Lazarn turned on the auto pilot and looked at the navigation computer which showed that they were enroute to the planet of Byss. Once he came out of hyperspace the Agent would be able to then jump to Lothal where his ship was waiting for him and then Lazarn would contact the Sith Empress with his report.