Chapter 15: Escape!
Darth Malak's eyes snapped open suddenly, and he found himself gasping for air from lack of breathing. In his meditation in the Observation Lounge, he had seen something, a foreshadow of events. He saw the boy from the probe transmission, the one he had watched over and over again in an effort to ascertain his identity, the familiarity of his face stunning Malak from the first moment. It was younger, but it's features still remained. Malak, in a flash of certainty, had finally uncovered who he was. Malak finally recognized the power behind the lightsaber in the holovid, the soul behind the face. He had known that soul very well, a long time ago...
Malak's vision did not end there. The vision switched to the halls of the Star Destroyer. It wasn't so much a vision, but more of a snapshot. He saw the boy, dressed in a stormtrooper's garb, with a group of strange-looking creatures, four men also in stormtrooper armor, an astromech droid, and...
Malak's shock increased again as soon as he laid eyes on the bronze droid. How could this be? He wondered, astonished. He saw his master's assassin droid, the same one that had labeled him with the humiliating nickname of meatbag when he had insulted it, back nearly 4000 years prior when he and his Master, Darth Revan, had been forming the Sith army that would shake the Republic to it's core. How it was here was a mystery, but it made the situation all the more dangerous.
Malak slowly stood up from his cross-legged position in front of the large window showcasing the canyon, and for a moment he considered alerting the bridge immediately. Then, he decided that Thalus would find out about the intruders soon enough, and with any luck they would be eliminated. His only concern for now was the boy. He would track him down, and destroy him before he could even become a problem for his new Empire.
Malak stalked to the door, the sunlight from the window slowly receding from his pale skin and bald head. As he stepped out into the corridor, he had only one more thought before completing his plan. He would also find the droid, the one who mocked him from under the protection of his Master so many years ago, and would tear it apart piece by piece before melting it down for scrap.
Malak even allowed himself a microscopic smile as he stepped down the hallway, his red robes clashing with the dark gray bulkheads. Today will be a day of vengeance, he mused as he stepped around the corner, already planning his interception of his old foe.
Delta Squad emerged from the turbolift, stepping out in a square formation, their saurian "captives" in the middle of the formation. They marched through the gray, sterile halls wordlessly, pretending not to notice the curious stares of Imperial officers and other stormtroopers as they walked past. Technicians looked up from their consoles momentarily, but no one questioned their actions.
Which made their job that much easier.
During the procession to the subsidiary generator control room, where they would plant the bombs, the gang tried their best to look despaired and defeated. To further the ploy, the two who had hands, Ducky and Petrie, actually had handcuffs on, though they weren't locked and they could slip their hands out at an time. Occasionally, an officer, his greenish uniform proudly sporting his rank plaque and code cylinders, would sneer at what he probably considered "alien scum". Littlefoot hung his head meekly and continued, but in his mind he thought, You guys are gonna get it. We're not going to let you take our Valley.
They finally arrived at the target. Inside, a large window provided a detailed look at the humming generator, which on the inside looking like a bottled thunderstorm. Computer consoles lined the rest of the walls, and four armed technicians sat at each one, pressing controls to regulate power distribution. In the middle of the room was a large circular console for the main technician, a blonde-haired woman, to sit at. Judging by the arrangement, it appeared that the woman was in command and her post was designed to oversee the other workers.
As they stepped through the sliding doors, the technicians glanced over in confusion, but said nothing as the group filed in. Only when the door slid shut behind the large group did the woman finally look up from her console and glare at them, her icy blue eyes contrasting with her lieutenant's uniform. "Sergeant," she said, identifying the rank dots painted on Boss' stormtrooper armor. "what the hell are these things doing in my control room? We've got a ruptured power conduit on Deck 9, Section 24, and my commander's getting very testy with me. If I don't get that fixed, there could be a coolant leak." She spoke in a caustic tone that Boss knew was designed to belittle him.
The dinosaurs shuffled as they were referred to as "things" again, but kept quiet. They all silently tensed, ready to duck if a shot was fired. "They were carrying tools, ma'am." Boss replied in a dull monotone, ignoring the woman's tone. "We were told you guys needed an extra hydrospanner."
"Really?" She said, thoroughly unconvinced. Delta Squad discreetly tensed up as well, tightening their grips on their E-11 blaster rifles. She's on to us. Boss thought to himself. Here comes the shooting part...
"I wasn't notified of any of this." The woman continued, oblivious to the intents of the soldiers before her. She stepped forward, stepping right up to Boss' helmeted face and glaring into his eyes. "I don't recall ever seeing you here before." she accused. "And don't tell me there's a lot of stormtroopers on this ship, I know it. Your voices don't sound right."
"Excuse me?" Boss said, feigning confusion. "What do our voices have to do with anything?"
"You sound like Fett clones." she sneered, her malicious expression becoming more and more pronounced on her face. "And I know that there are hardly any Fett clones left in the galaxy, and certainly none on this ship." Her hand began to grip her blaster handle.
"NOW!" Boss yelled. The squad moved as one, aiming their blasters and firing. Boss shot the lieutenant at point-blank range, throwing her across the room and blasting a burning hole in her chest. The rest of the squad blasted three of the four technicians before they could even make a move. The fourth managed to reach for his blaster, but a quick shot from Sev sent him falling to the ground. Unbeknown to them, a small holocam, disguised as a monitor, recorded the entire thing and sent it up to the bridge for analysis.
The moment passed as quickly as it had come. The dinosaurs, who had ducked at the sudden gunfire, slowly stood back up, paralyzed at the heedless attack. Shorty looked over at the blonde woman, who was spawled on the floor. "She's a girl." he whispered, a little mortified. When the rest of the group looked over at him, he quickly shook his head and hastily added, "I just didn't know the Empire used girls, too."
"All's fair in war, kid." Fixer replied. "Now come on, we got a job to do."
The dinosaurs rushed over to the computer consoles where Delta Squad was. "We'll plant the charges under the desks." Boss instructed, reaching into one of the packs and pulling out a set of proton grenades. "Without these computers to regulate the power flow, systems will overload and will have to be shut down. Use all of them, though. We want to do as much damage as possible."
The squad, with Ducky and Petrie's help, slipped every charge on the underside of the consoles in less than a minute, the magnetic seals gripping the frame. When they were done, the squad dragged the bodies over to a corner so they wouldn't be easily seen. "Finally." Cera said, slightly relieved. "Those charge things were really heavy."
"Objective accomplished. Nice work." Fixer commented after examining each charge.
"Alright everyone, lets get back into formation." Boss announced. The clones formed their square around the gang.
"What do we do now?" Ali asked before they left.
"We escape, of course!" Scorch replied, his voice muffled through his helmet. "We're just keeping up the charade so we don't get shot at, at least not until they uncover those bodies. Then they'll sound the alarm, and since there probably was some kind of bug in the room, they'll know what to look for."
"What do we do then?" Littlefoot questioned. He had an idea, but he wanted to here it from the clones.
Scorch looked over at him through the helmet. "We take off these stupid helmets, grab our guns, start shooting, and run like hell!"
"Oh." Littlefoot said, a little taken aback by the commando's crudeness but agreeing with the sense of his reasoning.
"Cut the chatter, guys." Boss said right before they reentered the hallway. They marched out and back down to the turbolift, the coming action making anxiety claw at their hearts.
Markus walked behind the droids as he walked through the hall, pretending to be escorting them to Mantinence. Wherever the hell that is. He thought to himself. In reality, he was nearly to one of the Star Destroyer's many computer access rooms, where he would download everything he could about the Empire in its current state.
He and the droids entered into a narrow doorway on the right side of the hallway. The room was small, partially due to the rows and rows of databanks lining one wall. Surprisingly, there were only two people in the room. A stormtrooper occupied one of the many consoles facing the other side of the room, while an unaromred officer stood over another, eagerly reading something on the screen. As Markus entered, he stepped away from the console and turned to face the fake stormtrooper, thoroughly unaware of the ruse.
"Trooper, what are you doing with those droids?" he inquired in a slightly bored tone.
The door slid shut behind Markus as he quickly thought up a reply. "I was, ah, ordered to take these droids here for reprogramming." he said hastily. "They were found outside in the canyon and will be put to work as soon as they're reprogrammed."
"I'm afraid you're in the wrong section." The officer glanced back at his screen in a somewhat anxious manner. I wonder what he's looking at. Markus thought to himself. "Maintenance is 3 decks below this." The officer continued, oblivious. "You a new recruit?" he asked. The stormtrooper paid them no attention and continued typing.
"You could say that." Markus asked. R3 gave a low rising tone that conveyed the droid's agitation. HK shifted slightly and twitched his fingers. I don't have time for this. Markus thought. The door's closed; if I kill them now no one will notice. Markus then sighed and turned back to the stormtrooper, his malicious intent concealed by his stolen helmet and armor. "Actually, I was supposed to deliver something to you."
"What?" the officer inquired, perplexed. The stormtrooper shifted slightly in his seat, but did not move. Markus pretended to toy with his blaster rifle and casually answered,
"This."
He sprang to life and rapidly fired two shots into the unsuspecting officer, who fell to the floor with a surprised look pasted on his face. The stormtrooper in the corner, however, was not so unsuspecting. In less then a second, he whipped out a small, humming knife from a pouch on his belt and hurled it at Markus, who ducked just in time. The humming knife slammed into the wall, where it slowly began to cave it's way to the floor through the metal. The stormtrooper then reached for his blaster, but Markus was a fraction of a second too quick and blasted a deep hole in his chest. He sat in the chair, immobile.
Markus took off his helmet after a moment, sighed and said, "Well that was unexpected."
HK glanced over at the dead trooper, then reached over and pulled the humming knife out of the wall. "Indeed. He had incredibly high reflexes, for a human, and I don't believe I've ever heard of a stormtrooper equipped with a throwing vibroblade."
Markus walked over and dumped the dead man out of his chair, then sat down at the computer. "Here's why." he said, gesturing to the computer screen. "This guy wasn't an ordinary stormtrooper. He was with the ISB."
"The Imperial Security Bureau." HK read. "Apparently it functions as a secret intelligence organization in the Empire. I'm surprised they even still exist."
"Yeah, but this is a good thing." Markus replied. "Now we'll be able to access the more secret information without having to bypass too many security protocols. He left his account on." Markus leaned over to see what the officer's computer held. "This guy must be really paranoid." he mused. All that was on the screen was a comm frequency to a woman working in the Pilot Corps.
HK picked up the discarded blaster on the floor and said, "Well, we've got a job to do."
"Right." Markus turned to R3. "R3, plug into their network. Try to get anything that looks important."
R3 warbled an answer and rolled over to the databanks and plugged into a data outlet. After a few moments, he was able to bypass the security algorithms and enter the mainframe. He found the folder of current communications data in no time, and it took only a few seconds to download. He searched for more information eagerly.
Unknown to the group, a tiny bead holocam focused in on them, eagerly recording it's data. It sent it all to the bridge, where the officers in charge of surveillance would analyze it for anything suspicious.
"Hurry up, R3." Markus urged after a few more seconds. "We gotta go now!"
R3 warbled back and did one last search. After downloading the comm frequencies and fleet movements, he found one other folder of interest. It was marked "Galaxy Gun". Curious, R3 began the download. Seconds ticked by as the large file was copied into the droid's memory.
"OK, time to go." Markus urged. R3 sputtered at him. He only needed a few more seconds. Markus and HK stepped towards the door and were about ready to chastise the droid again when the download completed. R3 yanked himself away from the dataport and trundled away, seeming very pleased with himself. Whatever was in that folder, he felt it would be very important. Markus put his helmet back on, and the group stepped back out into the hall.
Mission accomplished. Markus thought to himself. That wasn't so hard, was it?
Thalus stood before the triangular windows of the bridge. The past hour had not gone well. Already one of his starfighter squadrons had fallen victim to a mysterious ship that had taken off from the valley containing the facility. He silently cursed Boba Fett and whatever had caused him to lie to the Empire. Nevertheless, he vowed not to let the mysterious attacked deter him in his quest to rebuild the Empire.
The turbolift door at the rear of the bridge hissed open suddenly, and Darth Malak stalked into the bridge, seemingly alive with new fire. Since he had performed incredibly well in his first five months in the Imperial Remnant, the Force-blocking ysalamiri had been removed from some areas of the ship, allowing him to feel the Force anywhere he needed to. He felt it course through him, and it was all he could do not to unleash his fire on some unsuspecting crewman on the side.
Instead, he stood beside the Moff and inquired, "How goes the conquest of the facility?"
Thalus did not look at him as he replied, "Not well. Fett lied to us. Our reconnaissance TIE squadron was destroyed by an unknown force. Only one pilot remains alive."
Malak bristled. "I told you we should never have trusted him." Thalus remained unfazed at the bitter remark.
"No, I suppose not. But we will not let this stop us. We're preparing groud forces for deployment. They should be ready in three hours."
"Good." Malak replied. For a moment he thought about telling the Moff about the Jedi and the others who had infiltrated the Star Destroyer, but his thoughts were interrupted by an ensign hurrying over with a datapad.
"Sir!" he sputtered. "I-I...well, it's terribly bad news!" He eyed the Sith Lord at Thalus' side fearfully, cowering in his shadow.
"Well, hurry up ensign." Thalus admonished. "Out with it!"
"We have intruders on board!" He regained some of his composure and continued. "They disguised themselves as stormtroopers. We have the identification numbers from their armor."
Thalus rubbed his brow in exasperation, then turned to Malak. "Did you know of this?"
"I was about to inform you quietly." he replied icily, glaring back at the cowering ensign. "The boy from the probe transmission is still alive, and he and about a dozen others have infiltrated our ranks."
"I see." Thalus replied slowly. Malak fought the repulsive feeling in his throat. He wanted very much to tear the small man's throat out right then and there and take his place as the head of the Empire. A man like Thalus could never effectively lead an Empire. An Emperor needed passion, ambition,...the dark side.
"Sound the alert." Thalus told the ensign. "Inform all commands to shoot them on sight. The ground attack, meanwhile, will proceed as planned." The ensign scurried away to his station to busy himself with the task.
"That will not be enough." Malak said ominously. He strode for the turbolift.
"Where are you going?" Thalus called after him, surprised at the quick action taken by the Sith Lord.
"An old enemy needs defeating." the Sith shot back. The turbolift doors hissed shut, and Malak disappeared into the ship.
The squad and the gang continued the same way as before, and walked through at least a mile of hallway on their journey to the hangar deck. They were in an empty hallway just above the junction when the ship's announcement system came online.
"All personnel!" It blared. "Intruder alert! Stormtroopers TK-951, HI-975, HH-175, TT-884, and MS-029 are disguised enemy infiltrators! They are also accompanied by a group of unknown creatures and a pair of droids! Shoot them on sight!" Alarms began to sound all across the deck
The squad jumped at the loud announcement, then glanced at each other. "That's us." Scorch said with certainty. He threw his helmet to the floor. "No point in keeping that damned thing on." he muttered. The rest of the squad followed suit.
"Alright, guys, let's get the hell out of here!" Boss cried, hefting his blaster. The group broke into a run, rushing down the hallway madly.
"This is where the fun begins." Shorty said wryly. The rest of the dinosaurs just gave him worried looks. The group dashed to the end of the hallway and around the corner...straight into a group of stormtroopers!
"It's them!" the leader shouted. "Blast- ahhh!" The trooper was silenced by none other than Cera, who had not skidded to a stop like the others and instead charged into the leader before he could aim his blaster, knocking him to the ground and startling the rest of the soldiers. Boss fired two shots at the flailing soldiers, taking the attention off of Cera so she could escape and rejoin the group. Ducky and Petrie rushed over to Littlefoot's pack during the commotion and hauled out the two pistols hurriedly. They fished them out just as Sev yelled "This way!" and charged the other way down the hall, firing wildly to keep the now-recovered stormtroopers from following.
They ran charging through the halls, Delta Squad firing back at the stormtroopers behind them, who had begun to return fire. "Nice move back there!" Scorch said quickly to Cera before firing a few more shots down the hall.
"What now?" Cera shouted back over the blasterfire.
"We run to the meet-up point and hope Markus and those droids made it!" Scorch blasted another daring trooper who tried to get closer for a good shot. "Let's just hope we survive long enough to get there!" he added as they charged around another corner at a T-junction. At the end of that hallway, four strmtroopers stood in front of the lift, blasters ready. What made the group cry out in shock and jump back behind the corner was the huge tripod gun being manned by the fifth trooper. The E-web repeating blaster fired a deafening spay of bolts at them just as they slipped behind the corner, the scarlet bolts eating their way through the durasteel plating on the floor and walls.
"Damn!" Fixer cursed. "An E-web! Somebody blast that guy!". Delta Squad tried to lean around and get a claer shot at the gunner, but every time the stormtroopers or the E-web forced them back. "We're running out of time!" Fixer cursed as he saw the troopers from before (or what was left of them) emerge at the end of the hall and start shooting, causing everyone to duck and the squad to concentrate their fire on the stormtrooper squad behind them, allowing the other soldiers to slowly advance on them.
"We're pinned down!" Sev cried, firing another volley at the advancing troops. Ali ducked as a shot narrowly missed her head and shouted,
"We're dead!" Ducky and Petrie suddenly looked at each other with a clarity that can only exist when two like-minded people have the same idea. "Ready?" Ducky yelled over the blasterfire. Petrie nodded back.
"Ready when you are!" They both pressed in the safety switches Boss had shown them. "On three!" Petrie shouted. "One...two...three!"
The pair jumped out from behind the corner in one, fluid motion. The stormtroopers, who were expecting the much taller Delta Squad to fire back, were caught completely off guard, which gave Ducky and Petrie just enough time to each fire one shot. They both awkwardly pulled their triggers at the same time, recoiling as the two blue bolts shot out at the surprised stormtroopers. One caught the E-web trooper in the head, sending him sprawling towards the floor. The other bolt caught another trooper in the shoulder, and he collasped. The other soldiers shouted in surprise and fired back at the saurian pair, but the bolts met empty air as they jumped back behind the wall.
Seeing the oppotunity that the pair created with their attack, Boss and Scorch leaned out and fired two volleys, their bolts spraying out and hitting all three remaining troops. "Come on!" Boss shouted at the group. "Head for the lift!" They all ran down the short hall and crammed into the lift. The Imperials followed, but were just in time to see the door his shut as the lift lowered them down to the hangar junction where they would meet Markus.
It's too quiet. Markus thought as he walked down the hall towards the next junction. All he had to do was take another left and he would be at the rendezvous point. From there, all they had to do was run down to the hangar entrance and steal something to get away. His helmet was gone, having been discarded some time ago. The droids had already separated from him, as the stormtroopers on the previous deck had been relentlessly pursuing Markus as soon as the intruder alert was given, and the droids had taken a different route rather than get shot up by his pursuers. Markus' disguised lightsaber still hung on his belt, as did his datapad. He had learned early on the lightsaber was not effective against so man tightly concentrated enemies, as he wasn't very good at blocking the hailstorm of blaster bolts they fired at him. Surprisingly, he hadn't run into a single stormtrooper on this deck, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks.
There, standing in the corridor, was a red-robed figure, his red-bladed lightsaber already ignited and humming. Markus felt a wave of dread as he recognized the figure as the ancient Sith Lord Darth Malak, the instigator of the Jedi Civil War. The Sith turned to him and said in a hissing, ominous voice, "So, we finally meet. I've been looking forward to dispatching you myself." He stepped forward.
Markus dropped his blaster and yanked his lightsaber out of it's disguise, igniting it and snapping it down to his side in a passive-aggressive stance, the blue blade illuminating his part of the hallway. "Darth Malak. I thought you'd be taller." He took a few more steps forward, until both were nearly ten feet apart, Darth Malak blocking his way to the Hangar Junction.
"There is much power in you." Malak suddenly sprang at Markus and snapped his saber up in a diagonal slash. Markus caught the blow on his blade in the nick of time, gasping at the ferocity of the attack but holding Malak at bay. Malak cackled slightly. "Impressive. Most impressive."
"You're not that bad yourself." Markus forced his blade back and attacked twice, Malak blocking both easily. Malak swept his saber in a broad sweep that Markus ducked under with little effort. He parried the counterattack Markus had attempted from his crouched position, the two now much closer in proximity.
"You have learned well." Malak observed. "But you fail to embrace the dark side." He swung again, forcing Markus back a little. "You hold yourself back. Not what I expected at all from someone like you, especially when given a second chance at life."
Markus, slightly confused at Malak's talk, swung his saber in a short attack combination and spun away, his saber grazing the wall. "You don't know me." he shot back.
Malak laughed, then charged in and pinned Markus to the wall, their sabers locked together. "I know you more than anyone else alive-even you!" Markus slipped out from under him and backed away slightly, still perplexed at the Sith's ramblings. What was he talking about?
Malak relented for a moment. He must really not know who he is. he thought. He certainly isn't the man I knew. Malak allowed the boy to attack him twice more, deflecting all attacks with ease. Their sabers locked again, crackling and sparking against each other.
Markus didn't understand any of it. What is he talking about? And why can't I force him anywhere? I feel like...like he's...toying with me?!
Malak cackled at the look of surprise on the youth's face. "Now you know how powerful I truly am." The saber lock continued, with Markus rapidly losing ground. Then, out of nowhere, the gang and Delta squad finally showed up, followed closely by the droids. They all looked absorbed by the lightsaber battle, unable to take their eyes off the combatants.
"Markus?" Littlefoot called out, in awe at the battle between the two.
Thay survived! Markus thought jubilantly. The feeling was twisted out of him as Malak glanced back and saw them.
"Ah, these must be you're allies." He turned back to Markus. "When I kill you, they'll be next." He cackled again, the laughter echoing through the hallway.
Markus suddenly felt something rise up in him. The feeling, the rage he felt at Malak, the Empire, the Sith, for trying to ruin the new life he had made for himself came to the surface. "NOOOOO!!" he cried out. In a surge of strength, he shoved back the surprised Malak and swung his blade in a wide arc, slicing up the Sith's lightsaber-and his jaw.
Malak fell to his knees, and a terrible scream pierced the air, emerging from his throat. The group at the end of the hall gasped in shock at the horrific sight, but they were unable to take their eyes from it. Markus stood, completely shell-shocked for a moment, until finally he dashed down the corridor, back to the gang.
"Markus-" Littlefoot began, but he was silenced as they started to run towards the now-visible hangar door.
"No time!" Markus gasped, his lightsaber still in hand. "Come on!" They ran down to the end of the hall, and quickly Markus slapped his hand on the control. Just as the door was slowly opening, another stormtrooper group emerged at the end of the hall, firing wildly. Markus could see two of them carrying the injured Malak off somewhere, but didn't stop to think about it as he reignited his saber to block the incoming bolts. The squad, Ducky and Petrie fired relentlessly at the incoming troops, but still they came. They rushed through the open door and fired a few parting shots before the door sealed shut. Markus ran his lightsaber along the middle of the blast door, wielding it shut.
They stood for a moment in the empty hangar, catching their breath, then looked around madly for a way off the Star Destroyer. Markus spied a small, sleek passenger airspeeder with a blaster turret on the top. "That's out ticket out of here!" he cried, and the group ran over and piled into it, Markus in the pilot's seat and Scorch in the gunner's.
Markus handed HK his datapad in order to set off the explosives at the reactor and remote-pilot the Ebon Hawk back to the Valley. He glanced at all the unfamiliar controls, and soon found the startup. The speeder rose up on it's repulsors, ready to go. "Sir," HK said suddenly. "they have erected a force-field across the hangar."
Markus instead turned the veichle back towards the door they came through, which was now turning red from the constant laserfire of the stormtroopers on the other side. "Well, only one way to go."
"You can't be serious!" Fixer said, aghast. The rest of the gang echoed his sentiment.
"Sir," HK added. "are you sure this is a wise course of action?"
"We're about to find out." Markus replied wryly. "Scorch, fire at the door, now!" The blaster turret fired two bolts into the door, and it imploded inward. The speeder lurched forward, directly into the halls. It scrapped against the wall and slammed into anyone in it's path. Markus turned a corner and saw only one door at the end of the hall-a dead end. Unless...
"Scorch!" He yelled as they neared the door. Scorch quickly squeezed off a volley of blasterfire that tore through the door.
The airspeeder crashed through a window, and soared into the open air. As soon as they were out, HK tapped a control on the datapad. An explosion ripped apart part of the Star Destroyer's superstructure, the subsidary generator destroyed. Another tap sent the Ebon Hawk hurtling out of the cave it was parked in and right behind them.
Shouts of triumph and joy filled the speeder as everyone saw the Star Destroyer unable to attack. They had escaped! Boss just grinned and said, "That wasn't too hard, was it?"
The airspeeder soared out of the canyon and back to the Valley, the Hawk right behind it.
