The next morning, bright and early, the four of us left the quiet of the safehouse and made our way to the staging ground for Inyri and her support troops. I woke up early, anxiety over the mission costing me sleep, and meditated for the remainder.
Once we arrived, Master Tavik went on ahead to the relay station to try and hack into the compound's computer systems and I am left to await his signal to get started.
I told Master Tavik about my encounter with what I suspect was a pair of dark side adepts the previous day and he seemed to take the news seriously if a bit skeptically, the odds of running into Force users strong enough to give a Jedi trouble is rather rare. Unless you count the Blackguard, Night Sisters, Sorcerers of Tund, Seyugi Dervishes, or Prophets of the Dark Side, still rare though. It's a coincidence I don't like and I'm sure we'll see the two of them later, maybe even today.
Inyri looks quite different in her combat armor, she and our backup are all dressed up in durasteel combat armor, there's some paint on it but like always I can't really tell what color it is. I've considered getting armor for myself but there are a number of problems with it. With how often I'm in the thick of the fighting, only heavy armor would be useful for me in terms of protection. Unfortunately, that same armor would hinder my mobility and the effectiveness of my lightsaber. If I could get some Echani armor that would probably work, their armor is designed to work with the wearer's mobility. The problem is, that kind of armor is a bit of a niche market and outside of Eshan you'll have a hard time finding it, much less affording it.
Inyri's forces will be assaulting the compound on our command to draw off the guards while we get in and grab Tyro Vang. We'll probably have plenty of fighting to do eventually but for the first part we'll need to be sneaky.
Which means that Ehruss has to go with Inyri for this, and she is not happy to hear this. Not happy at all
"How can I protect you if we are separated. I must go with you." I do feel a bit bad, but I dread trying to imagine sneaking around with a Trandoshan behind us.
"I need you to help Inyri, she and her men will need your skill and firepower for the assault. Master Tavik and I need to go in quietly, and as awesome as you are, you're not very quiet Ehruss." That armor we bought her yesterday is not at all quiet. And the A280 blaster makes enough noise to break any cover we might have. Ehruss knows this, she's just not happy about it.
"Besides, I'll have Master Tavik with me. He's a Jedi Master, if he can't keep me safe then nothing short of an army could." Ehruss hisses something in her language that I don't understand but I'm starting to become familiar with her facial expressions.
"Look at it this way Ehruss, you and Inyri will be drawing off most of the guards while we grab Tyro Vang, you're protecting me by drawing off the bulk of their defenses." That.. doesn't seem to be convincing her but she's not really arguing the point.
"I do not like this, but I shall obey, I will defeat them quickly to rejoin you." I nod and after a moment give her a quick hug, I'm not sure it means the same thing in Trandoshan culture but it's a symbolic gesture. After a moment, I feel her arms around my shoulder and like that it's off, we'll meet up again later.
I hand her two frag grenades a thermal and some of my flashbangs. I have far too many of those flashbangs from what I picked up on Dioll, she could make use of some of them. Plus, until the game is up, using my grenades won't help us any. I have to remember, sneaky like a ninja.
My datapad pings as a message comes in. Oh, looks like it's time to go. Master Tavik and I already went over where we're going to meet up and what we're going to do, Tyro isn't dumb enough to not have watchers over his compound, all snipers. Any attack on the compound will get picked off if they don't take care of them first.
What's more is these snipers are well hidden in alcoves that are very difficult to get to unless you have a jetpack.
Or Force powers, Master Tavik spotted all of the snipers last night and before we go in, we're going to take them out. I pocket the datapad and bow to Inyri and Ehruss.
"I'm off now, may the Force be with you all." My lightsabers are hidden in my vest, the bandoleer is full of grenades and I am ready to go.
"Safe hunting to you." Thank you Ehruss.
"Good luck kid." Thank you, Inyri I guess.
And off I go.
I merge back into the flow of people and expand my senses outwards, Master Tavik is a blip on the edge of my perception, and I make my way towards him. This time, I avoid bumping into random people and starting a ruckus.
Instead of going down like yesterday, I take a ramp upwards, heading towards a service ramp and slipping inside quickly. The throng of people begins to dim and soon enough the way is mostly empty and those that are there are too busy to bother with me. Okay, now I'm at a balcony of sorts, overlooking the lower levels all the way down to where the headquarters is located. I nod to Master Tavik who is busy stretching when I arrive. He nods as I approach.
"Hello, Padawan. Ready to go?" He stands up and heads over to the railing and I follow him.
"Ready to go Master, what's the plan?" I look over the railing and down to the very narrow service walkway meters down, it seems to lead to another point farther below and from there I have no idea where we're going.
"Well, ready to do some more climbing? I bet those snipers aren't looking up, we'll drop down on them and take them down silently. I've already got a backdoor into his systems. I'll weaken the shield when we get there. I nod and he vaults over the railing, already beginning the climb down the ledge and I follow, vaulting over and finding my footing quickly. Down we go.
I used to be scared of heights, but after learning how to leap so high into the air and land gracefully, plus all this climbing, I'm happy to say I have mostly gotten over it. But still, this is quite the adventure, I am so glad I'm in better shape here and have a higher power that can strengthen and empower me.
"Alright, Viera, focus on the Force as you descend, let it guide your hands and feet. Trust in the Force and you will make it." Alright, I'm doing that, and it's not helping as much as I'd like it to. The things we do to catch people off guard.
"You know, my Jedi Master, was quite fond of climbing, did it all the time, if there was a route that required climbing you could guarantee she'd make us climb it." Oh, story time, I love story time. I also wouldn't mind hearing more about this person I have not met.
"Ommatea Terrak was her name, she was a good Jedi, kind, patient, and willing to listen. She and I went all over the galaxy, from the Core to the edge of Wild Space. She became one with the Force some time ago." We land on the walkway and slowly make our way down, it's narrow and clearly meant for a species smaller than us but we manage to balance it as we walk.
"She sounds like a good Jedi, I wish I could have met her." Again, we vault over the railing and begin our descent down, I feel like this is leading somewhere, not sure but maybe.
"You would have, I think, she had an easy nature, she got along with most everyone she met. We went to
Kashyyyk once, to help the Wookiee's with a diplomatic dispute and you should have seen her when she saw them climbing the
Wroshyrr Trees. She insisted we climbe from branch to branch, this isn't nearly as terrifying as that was." I suppress a shiver, I can't imagine, knowing how far down it is to ground level.
"Yeah, I suppose there's a point to the story?" I really didn't see it and as we descend just a bit more he laughs and shrugs slowly.
"There was no point padawan, just trying to ease your anxiety with conversation." Okay, fair enough, it worked a little I suppose? More conversation it is then.
"Master, what would you say is the purpose of the Jedi?" He perks up a bit but there is a question I would like answered here.
"Well, beyond the easy answer, I think our purpose is to fight the practitioners of the Dark Side whenever they appear, beyond that we do what we can to help the people of the galaxy wherever we can." Okay, not a bad reason I guess, but it doesn't quite answer what I'm wondering.
"So, do you think we're doing that now, the Jedi as a whole?" Foot down, lower yourself slowly and pretend that your heart is not pounding a mile a minute. He's silent for a few minutes as we continue our descent.
"We could be doing better, I guess, but we're not doing terrible. I'll admit that I've never liked the Jedi being too political, it's detrimental to our goals in the end to be favoring one polity over the other." I vaguely remember him not being happy about us going to Troiken at the Senate's request.
"Call it the rebel in me but I've always wondered what the galaxy would be like if the Jedi never left the old days, when we weren't so centralized and plenty of Jedi never stepped foot on Coruscant, going from system to system, planet to planet, going where the Force directed them and doing what they could individually in each system." Okay, plenty of downsides to that though, it would be stupidly easy to ambush isolated Jedi, a center of power for the Order would be somewhat necessary for the ultimate survival of the Order.
Still a mix of both could be useful I imagine? More wandering Jedi like Master Fay and Jon Antilles alongside other Jedi who operated out of the Temple on Coruscant. Or like the Altisian Jedi maybe? I really need to find out if they're as ridiculous as Traviss wrote them or if they're more reasonable?
I have an idea that'll probably be stupid in the long run, but oh the potential.
"Not a bad purpose, all things considered Master, though I would say there is a benefit to being visible politically. Our ambassador's and diplomats do serve an important function." We're not that far from our goal now, just a little bit more to go.
"True enough, but those of us who aren't more politically or diplomatically inclined ought to spend more time in the Rim than in the Core. But sadly, reality isn't so simple as that, too many complexities in life I fear." Fair enough, we're just about there. There's a small protrusion of metal bars and girders of some sort. I can see the sniper, a Weequay, hiding inside an alcove. That's either the best or worst job. Hah, I have a plan for him though.
Hello Adhesive grenade, float it in the air, then slowly back towards the alcove, he can't see it coming, no sign he recognizes his imminent doom. I activate the countdown and push the grenade into the alcove. There's a startled gasp as it goes off and man, he's just covered in foam. Alive, but not moving or calling anyone for the next few hours.
"Good Work padawan, there are two more, go left and get the second, I'll go right for the last and we'll meet midway." Okay then, go me I guess. Now, where do I? Ah, over there.
I begin moving to the left and Master Tavik goes right, the other sniper is a hundred meters away and I hate it, this is the scariest hundred meters ever.
I have another adhesive grenade though! A quick detonation and it's off to meet back up with Master Tavik, I'm sure the rest of this mission will go smoothly and with no difficulties whatsoever.
Master Tavik is already on the ground when I get to the meeting point, hidden behind one of the complex's smaller buildings and I quickly drop to meet him. There's a risk of discovery here but things are quickly going to start going to hell and it won't matter then.
"Alright, let's get ready to move then, Padawan." The buildings around us have a number of people in them, none of them reacting to us quite yet. Down below I can see even more people but it's harder to make them out. My sight is getting better at distinguishing people but it's not that good yet.
"Padawan, the man from yesterday, he was a Zabrak right?" I nod, already dreading what's about to happen.
"Well, he's down there, with the younger female. We're about to meet your new friends then." I sigh and wonder why I expected any different?
"Alright then, we'll get to say hi, I guess. I'm ready to go Master." He nods and together we slip around the building and head for the main complex, I can see the Ray shield, it's shimmering around the building but there's…dips in it, places where it's thinner. Master Tavik sees them too and we head for one while he takes out his datapad and begins inputting commands.
The shield dims even further and for a moment there's a gap in front of us.
"Go!" he yells and we both dart inside, there's a door nearby and with a wave of his hand it's open and we're through. Master Tavik has already opened his comlink to signal Ehruss and Inyri.
"We're in, go ahead with the distraction." I don't hear the reply but I see it, there's an explosion in the distance and suddenly everything's on high alert. Master Tavik and I both ignite our lightsabers as the complex springs to life.
Ah to see the looks on their faces as they rush out, only to spot two Jedi. Surprise, assholes, blaster fire erupts as we advance down the hall. One thermal detonator out of the bandoleer, let it fall to the ground and a nudge with the Force to send it rolling behind us, wait till it gets to the corner and activate it.
The guards running around the corner don't even open fire before the grenade goes off and kaboom. Master Tavik presses forward, and I follow, settling in beside him to cover. The guards ahead of us are smarter than the others and begin falling back around the corner. It looks like they're trying to link up with some of their fellows farther back?
"Padawan, a flashbang grenade would be very useful right about now." Oh, right, it would. Grab the flashbang from the bandoleer, activate it and watch as Master Tavik grabs it with the Force and flings it down the hall and around the corner.
And then it goes off and Master Tavik runs forward, around the corner his lightsaber flashing and I follow. Striking legs and arms, we're not killing any of them, but they are hurt. Except for those ones I detonated but let's ignore that for now. Take another adhesive grenade, set it off and let it drop among the wounded unconscious guards before we take off.
They'll be fine, maybe I don't know, but I didn't kill them, so I feel better about it. Tyro is probably down below, I don't see anyone important looking in the main complex and my two friends from yesterday are down-level so that's where we'll go I guess.
The elevator isn't there but that's fine we don't need it. The two of us plunge our sabers into the door and begin the process of cutting a hole, the other guards on this level are scrambling to organize and to decide whether to go after us or go outside so we have time. A Force push and we send the door tumbling down the elevator shaft, jumping through and heading down. Is that the elevator coming up to meet us? Oh yes it is, there are guards inside, panic!
We both land on the top of the rapidly ascending elevator and we don't even have to speak to know what to do. Our sabers plunge into the top of the elevator and begin cutting a hole, kicking the metal into the elevator and dropping in.
The guards around us level their blasters at us, aside from the one crushed under the metal roof and we both begin swinging, cutting weapons in half and cutting the guards. The elevator reaches the top with no door and I sigh, pressing the down button. Master Tavik chuckles and shakes his head beside me as the doors close and we begin descending.
I contemplate dropping an adhesive grenade in here but decide that would be bad. We do have to come back up here when we capture Tyro.
We reach the bottom and I can see the guards posted on the other side of the door, weapons drawn. Oh boy, the door opens and immediately we're blocking a hail of blaster fire. Flashbang time, open the bandoleer activate the flashbang and toss it into the middle of that mess. And again, the sound of people screaming in pain as they clutch at their eyes.
You know, when my enemies become mostly droids or armored people with flash-resistant visors I'm going to miss this simplicity. We both move forward, deflecting bolts back into arms and legs, striking out with lightsabers to down our enemies and progressing further onward into the complex.
There's a big open room farther down with only three people inside, two of them are my new friends. I bet the third is Tyro Vang, this is going to be climactic I bet.
Hah-hah two bit thugs can't stop a Jedi Master and the Jedi Grenadier. I take a deep breath as the last of the guards is taken down, okay, we're good. Inyri, Ehruss and the others are distracting the others and it's just the two dark siders stopping us from getting to Tyro. As we approach and open the door, I can see them close ranks around what I assume to be Tyro Vang, he's Devaronian, tall and one of his horns seems blunted whether from injury or something else I can't tell.
Ysanne and Ousan both have lightsabers in their hands, okay this is much worse than I thought. Dark side adepts would have been tough but manageable? I really hope they don't know how to use those lightsabers but I know they do. God damnit.
We seem to be in a machine shop of some sort? There's an upper walkway overlooking the rest of the floor and what seems to be a conveyer built where they're building something I don't understand… droids maybe? Or it could be more complex machinery I don't know for sure. There's a great big generator in the back
Ysanne waves and I sigh and wave back, why not, just roll with it.
"Tyro Vang, you are under arrest for sentient trafficking, drug trafficking, murder, bribery, embezzlement, and more. Please come peacefully and your subordinates may leave without harm." Master Tavik steps forward as Tyro steps back. Ousan steps forward to block him, the giant Zabrak raising his lightsaber in a guard.
"I can't allow that, Jedi. If you want Tyro then you'll have to go through us." I can see Ysanne shrug as she steps up to block me preemptively. I have to ask, I can't not.
"And you are? I don't think you're Sith but, who are you?" Ousan twitches at the name Sith but says nothing. Ysanne doesn't either, I guess they're not going to tell me?
"The two of you, kill them! I hired you to protect me, so do it. I'll triple your pay, give you whatever you want if you kill them." Tyro runs towards a back room, a safe room maybe or just somewhere out of the way who knows.
Master Tavik raises his lightsaber and I mirror him, this will be my first duel to the death, or not. I really don't want to kill either of them. I'd like to know what information they have.
"This is your last warning, step aside and no harm will come to you. You haven't committed any crimes that can be proven, there is no need to fight." Master Tavik moves to the left and Ousan follows him.
"There can be no recourse Jedi, I have always wanted to face your kind in battle, to avenge our losses before. Now I have the opportunity, for the
Black Knights!" The Black Knights? Oh….boy this isn't going to be good.
They both charge forward and Master Tavik and I move to meet them. Here we go.
