Y164 slave transport,Brezak
The three of them hurried down the hallways of the Zygerrian ship, their footsteps echoing down the grimy, blood-stained corridors. Grahrk was, as per usual, taking the lead, his eyes darting left and right to make sure that no Zygerrians or their battle droids ambushed them from some dark corner. Ketya was in the middle, her arms flailing wildly as she struggled to keep up, and Destroyer was in the rear. He could have easily overtaken Ketya, but he did not want to leave her lagging behind, defenceless. Taking the rear guard also gave him the added advantage of being able to monitor behind him with the camera in the back of his helmet, his view unobstructed. So far, no one was on their tail, but he knew that was likely to change at any minute, so their race to the bridge of the ship was a desperate one.
Suddenly, Grahrk whirled as he passed a corridor, raising his blaster and firing. Ketya let out a startled yelp, before slamming herself against the bulkhead, sinking to the floor and gripping her legs tightly. Destroyer nodded to her, before taking a defensive position on one side of the wall, while Grahrk stood where he was, still firing. Chancing a peek into the hallway, Destroyer was almost relieved when he saw a trio of B1 battle droids being led by a single OOM-series security droid; its red-painted body looked conspicuously pristine, like it was fresh off the line. He allowed himself a small smile from underneath his helmet, simple minded battle droids he could handle. One of them clattered roughly to the ground as one of Grahrk's shots nailed it in the centre of the chest, punching a fist-sized hole into its armour. The remaining droids ambled on, one of them stepping over the ruined body of its downed fellow.
"Keep firing and advance," the OOM commanded, its mechanical voice utterly dispassionate.
"Roger, roger," One of the B1s responded, taking a few potshots at Grahrk, who quickly ducked into cover.
As if they stand a chance, Destroyer thought, before turning from cover, quickly taking aim and squeezing the trigger of his rifle. A single shot, and the OOM's head was sent flying as its thin neck-joint was neatly severed. B1 battle droids were hardly quick thinkers at the best of time, but with their officer no longer speeding up their processing power and giving orders, they'd be even slower to respond. Destroyer nodded to Grahrk, who responded in kind, before the two sprang from cover at the same time and fired almost simultaneously. Destroyer took another headshot, this time obliterating the droid's upper cranium, leaving a smoking hole where its optics had once been. Grahrk on the other hand, aimed much lower, he had gone for the narrow waist-joint and torn the B1 in two. Its severed upper half went sprawling gracelessly to the ground, its blaster flying as it went.
"You didn't kill it," Destroyer said, his tone disapproving.
It was true, the battle droid was now crawling towards the group, reaching for the closest E-5 blaster rifle. Without looking, Grahrk raised his own weapon and fired at the battle droid's hand first, destroying it at the wrist, before firing again into its head, taking it offline for good that time.
"Is dead now, yes?" Grahrk shrugged, before bending over to pick up one of the now ownerless rifles, clipping it to his belt. "Villie just has natural showmanship, so sorry that Plastoid Man is all business. For one with such colourful armour, you are being rather dull."
Destroyer couldn't help but bristle at that, glowering at the Devaronian as he slid his own rifle back into his holster. He felt a soft touch on his other wrist and turned to see Ketya standing beside him, peering curiously into his visor. Instantly, the tension left his body, and he calmed down.
"We need to get moving, these battle droids slowed us down too much, we should hurry to the bridge!" Destroyer said, jabbing a finger back down the passageway they were originally heading through.
Faintly, Destroyer thought he could hear the clattering of footsteps behind them, and he cursed at their bad luck.
Ahead of him, he saw Grahrk's pointed ears twitch, and he half-turned to face Destroyer as he ran. "Ville is thinking we may have company soon, yes? Maybe Plastoid Man wants to stay behind and hold them off while Villie and Yum-Yum make break for bridge?"
Ketya flashed him an alarmed look, he wasn't sure if it was concern for his wellbeing or a strong desire not to be left alone with Grahrk. Destroyer definitely couldn't blame her for the latter.
"No, we'll all make it to the control room, Grahrk, even if we have to make a stand there!" Destroyer snapped, and Ketya shot him a relieved, albeit nervous smile.
"Ville very much hopes that it will not be coming to that," Grahrk grumbled, before jabbing his finger at the door ahead of them. "But we are arriving either way!"
Grahrk slammed his palm over the sensor plate to open the door, only for it to remain firmly shut. The Devaronian cursed in Huttese, before pressing the plate over and over again, with increased urgency, still with no luck.
"Sealed tight, they knew we were coming!" Destroyer snarled, pushing his back to the wall and raising his rifle in case any Zygerrians showed up. They were in a bad spot, no cover at all and it was making him sweat.
"Destroyer, what do we do now?" Ketya asked in a small, trembling voice, looking into his visor. He looked down and saw that she had wrapped her small hands around his armour-plated arm.
It wasn't going to end like this, he wasn't going to let her down, not when he had promised her that he would keep her safe. He reached up and cupped her cheek for a moment, before sliding past her and approaching the door. He grabbed Grahrk by the shoulder and whirled him around.
"Cover me while I slice through the controls! I'm no expert on this, but I think I can manage!" Destroyer ordered, activating his wrist-mounted vibro-blade and prying a panel just below the sensor plate loose. There was a mess of wires concealed behind it and he felt his head swim at the sight of them. Still, there was no other option, he had to do this.
There was a flash of movement in the corner of his eye, and he saw Ketya kneel down next to him, watching him very intently as he worked. He did his best to focus all of his concentration on getting the door open and not on her, slipping back into the training he received on Kamino. Zygerrian technology was different from the old Trade Federation consoles they had practiced on during their training, cruder, but not necessarily easier.
"Plastoid Man may want to be hurrying up!" Grahrk hissed as he pressed himself against the opposite wall, peering down the corridor. "Villie can hear footsteps, Zygerrians are being on their way!"
Stang, Destroyer thought, beads of sweat trickling down his brow. He bit his lip in concentration, hurriedly trying to find the right wires.
"Come on, come on," he muttered, his frustration rising as he still couldn't do what would have come so easily to Genet. He was vaguely aware of Ketya putting a hand on his knee, but he kept his full attention on what he was doing.
"We are being out of time!" Grahrk snarled, and in his helmet cam, Destroyer saw him raise his blaster and fire.
A squad of battle droids was rushing forward, accompanied by a hulking being that was definitely not a Zygerrian. It was a towering beast of a being, standing over two meters tall, with blue skin, four blood-red eyes, a set of clawed pincers protruding from his chest and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It took Destroyer a moment to recognise the alien for what it was, a T'surr, another species of slavers, this one had evidently thrown his lot in with the Zygerrians. Clipped to his belt were a number of helmets, trophies perhaps. Destroyer could see helmets belonging to Mandalorians, the Ailon Nova Guard, Ubese and the Sun Guard. Destroyer swallowed.
Kriff.
His heart hammered in his chest as he rewired the door controls. A distant part of him mused on how strange his fear was. He had faced greater dangers on Geonosis, certainly more than a mere squad of battle droids and one organic soldier, but then at least he had his brothers with him, and they were more than capable of looking after themselves. Genet could have sliced through the door in half a minute at most while Destroyer used a single ion grenade to take out the droids. Well, no Genet and no grenades, so I'll just have to make do, Genet thought.
"HURRY!" Grahrk exclaimed popping off two quick shots before ducking back into cover. One of the battle droid's head was torn off, and for a moment, it stood there, firing its blaster pistol aimlessly into the ceiling, before toppling over.
"Aim for the kriffing giant, you murglak!" Destroyer snapped, and then was momentarily surprised he had used one of Grahrk's terms.
The droids might have been the ones armed with blasters, but the T'surr was faster, and Destroyer didn't doubt that a punch from one of his massive fists would feel like getting tackled by a rampaging reek. Already, it was charging down the corridor, batting aside one battle droid that was in its way, sending it slamming into a wall and shattering apart like a child's toy.
Grahrk took a moment to snarl at Destroyer, his sharp teeth bared, before he began to fire at the T'surr, which was rapidly closing the distance. The E-5 blaster he was wielding might have been military grade, but it seemed to deter the T'surr about as much as the sting of a jellybee, he seemed to soak the blaster bolts into his skin like they were nothing. Grahrk managed to get three shots straight to his centre mass and the giant barely even slowed.
"Oh no…" Grahrk said in a small, terrified voice before the T'surr was on him, gripping his smaller body under the arms like he was just a child's doll and slamming him into the bulkhead. His blaster was sent flying from his grip, skittering across the floor and slamming into the wall near Destroyer and Ketya.
"Kriff! Ketya, get behind me!" Destroyer exclaimed, abandoning his slicing attempts as the battle droids continued their advance, firing their own rifles as they got closer.
Ketya quickly complied, pressing her smaller body into his armoured back, very careful to keep as much of herself behind the makeshift cover as she could. Destroyer took a careful breath to steady his nerves as he took aim. Five battle droids, all slowly lumbering towards him and firing cautiously so as not to get the T'surr caught in the crossfire. Time seemed to slow as a blaster bolt flew his way, dissipating as it struck the chest of his reinforced Katarn-class armour. Another struck the wall to his right, missing his head by mere centimetres. He could conserve ammo by making carefully placed shots at their heads, but there wasn't time for that, not with Grahrk being slammed into the wall of the ship repeatedly, so Destroyer opted for the spray-and-pray method. He squeezed down tightly on the trigger, spraying a deadly storm of blue blaster bolts. Plenty of them whizzed straight past their targets, but the shots that connect did their job, the battle droids torsos' exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks, sending them toppling over.
It was over in the span of a few seconds. The droids dealt with, Destroyer whirled to face the T'surr, ready to shoot it as much as necessary to put the rampaging alien down. The T'surr still had Grahrk in his grip, squeezing down tightly on his chest. Destroyer began to press down on the trigger when the giant let out a pained cry and jerked back, a splatter of blue blood flying through the air. Destroyer's eyes widened in surprise as he realised what had happened, Grahrk had lunged his head forward and driven one of his horns into the T'surr's lower-left eye. The alien was howling in pain and trying to pull away, but Grahrk was driving his head forward and worrying it back and forth, goring the T'surr as more blood hit him in the face, turning his red skin cerulean.
"You think you can take on Villie? Ville is showing you what will be happening when you mess with him!" Grahrk was shouting, shaking his head back and forth madly.
The T'surr let out a choked gurgle, before his fingers went slack and Grahrk tumbled out of his grip, catching for a second on the T'surr's eye socket before slipping free, his horn covered in blood and grey matter. The T'surr unceremoniously collapsed onto the floor, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as blood and spit began pooling onto the ground. With wide eyes, Destroyer and Ketya stared at Grahrk, who was dusting himself off as he picked himself from the ground, his face still covered with gore.
"Ville show him," Grahrk said simply, before spitting on the corpse. "Now, doesn't Plastoid Man be having door to be slicing open?"
"Uh…yeah," Destroyer said, struggling to find words after what he had seen. He tried to shake himself from his stupor, he knew Grahrk was right, reinforcements could be rushing down the hallway any second, time was of the essence.
He was about to return to his job when he heard Grahrk groan in pain. Turning, he saw the Devaronian start to slump over, clutching at his side, his eyes clenched shut. Ketya rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him in support. She struggled to keep him steady, but somehow, she managed.
"Destroyer, I think he's hurt pretty bad," Ketya said as she helped Grahrk walk over to the wall, next to the panel Destroyer had been working on. She set him down and pulled up the back of his shirt, revealing some ugly, dark bruises. "His back's really banged up!"
Grahrk hissed as he sat up, cradling his blaster rifle in his lap. "Villie is being tough! All Devaronians being so, of course, but Villie especially so! Villie not go down so easily!" Despite that, he stifled another groan, wincing as he pulled his shirt back down.
"Watch him and keep him awake," Destroyer said to Ketya, who nodded. With that, he went back to his duty of opening the door. "Come on, come one…" he muttered, running a pair of sliced open wires together…
…And the door to the bridge slid open!
"You did it!" Ketya exclaimed, an amazed smile lighting up her face.
"Oh, kriff!" A voice from inside cried out.
Destroyer was inside in an instant, blaster raised at the two Zygerrians who sat at the controls. They looked alike enough that Destroyer thought they might be brothers, even the bone spurs lining their brows looked identical. They each had holstered blasters on their hips, although a quick gesture from Destroyer and his own blaster made sure the Zygerrians knew better than to go for them.
"Slide them over to me and then carefully step away from the controls!" Destroyer ordered, motioning with his rifle again.
The Zygerrians reluctantly did as they were told, their red-orange eyes not leaving his weapon for a second. Their pistols skittered to Destroyer's feet and he clipped them to his belt. More blasters for my collection, Destroyer thought, I could start an armoury after today. From behind him, he heard a pained groan and saw in his rear-mounted helmet cam that Grahrk was hobbling into the bridge, supported by Ketya.
"Don't shoot these ones, Grahrk," Destroyer said, not taking his eyes off of the Zygerrians, who exchanged alarmed glances with each other.
Grahrk growled at that. "So long as they are not giving Villie reasons to shoot them, Villie supposes they can live." Still, he kept his blaster trained on them.
"Shoulda taken that job with Captain Onyx," One of the pilots muttered under his breath as he stood against the far wall.
"Ketya, find something to tie their hands with, just in case," Destroyer said.
Ketya nodded, first helping Grahrk into the pilot's chair before scanning the cockpit, her eyes coming across a coil of wires. Hurrying back to Destroyer, she held them out to him, "H-here."
He nodded his thanks to her, before going over to secure the prisoners, who continued to grumble as their bonds were tied, perhaps just a bit tighter than necessary, but Destroyer didn't want to run the risk of them getting loose. With the bridge successfully taken, he went back to the still opened door, very eager to shut it and rig it to seal before any reinforcements arrived.
"Plastoid Man may want to be moving faster on issue of doors…" Grahrk called out, looking at a viewscreen in front of him.
Ketya hurried over to him, her face going pale as she watched the screen. "Destroyer, there's more coming! A lot more! They've got destroyer droids too!"
Destroyer gulped as he hurriedly worked on sealing the door.