Master Tholme did his job at one hundred twenty percent. We entered like a knife through butter. More specifically, we entered from what could be called the "servants' entrance." We'd been given a schematic of the Spire, so each of us could navigate the location.
After studying the schematic in detail on the datapad across all levels, I estimated the approximate location of my target... More precisely, my targets, since I needed to arrest Dengo, deal with Kertul, and possibly search for information about the whereabouts of the Dominion station, since I had already firmly decided to go there... My liberal nature, which some individuals surely must get excited about and start lecturing me on life for even mentioning, tells me that slavery is one of the most terrible things in our universe.
And this is coming from a man who concluded that power should be centralized and violence monopolized? Yes... I'm for those things, for strengthening the state... But the slavery that could result from such excessive strengthening — that's already unhealthy madness. And the races that are accustomed to being slave-owning... They shouldn't be subjected to genocide, no, it's better to re-educate them. Yes, that sounds like "it'll take a long time" and "we'll siphon off billions of credits on re-education.".. But it's the only way. You could, of course, capture some Super Star Destroyer in the future, fly to Zygerria and say: "You either abolish slavery, or we'll do a Base Delta Zero here," in the simple words of a certain not-unknown person: "Exterminatus."
However... How long will everything go smoothly? And what guarantees are there that someday they won't return to slavery? But if you re-educate their children, show them and themselves that you can build a successful society without enslaving other sentients — then many might change their minds. There will be conservatives, of course, but it's better for their own "modernists" to reason with the conservatives than for someone from the outside, following the right of might. That kind of evolution is most valuable... But now it's too early to dream about breaking the chains of "contract workers." For now, we're not on the hidden Dominion station, but on the third level of this spire, where we managed to infiltrate via the "service overpass."
"HK and Jaro," I turned to the droid and the Padawan. "You only engage when Sheydjen finds and engages Alirk."
"Objection: but master, how I hate that word, you informed me to come in full gear!"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you start shooting at everything that moves and breathes right away. You can't deny the effectiveness of a surprise attack."
"Pfft," Sheydjen snorted. "Being a Shadow has clearly made you more of an assassin than a warrior. A surprise attack... And they still call you 'master'?"
"To defeat an opponent — any advantage is important, even if the opponent is obviously weaker. You can't deny the tactic of striking first. Maybe your opponent has a trump card they can use against you in battle and turn everything upside down, but by attacking first, unexpectedly, you wound them so they can't use that trump card. You ruin their weapon, or leave a dangerous wound. If you want to play warrior — play all you want, Sheydjen, but remember. Better to be alive, having fulfilled your duty, than to be the same kind of sentient, but dead. Don't put Jaro and HK in danger," I looked the blond in the eyes. "Or I'll get you wherever you are."
"Yeah, I got it, I got it." The Matukai raised his left hand, his right hand gripping the glaive. "So, are we going?"
"I managed to find Alirk's location," Tolma's voice suddenly came through. He was speaking into the earpiece. "Alirk and the Morgukai are on the first level, where the pens for slaves and dangerous animals are. Kramul Izrori is there too. Quinlan managed to upload a virus into their system. Now we can hear and see all their guard movements. They haven't spotted you yet, but I'd advise less talking and more doing."
"Excellent," Celeste said. "So, we split up?"
"Yes," Sheydjen nodded, connected to our channel. "I'm heading to the first level. Alirk is mine."
"Do whatever you want with him," Tolma's voice came. Sheydjen headed for the exit. We watched him go. A dull thud sounded.
"Damn Hutt," Sheydjen said, coming back ten seconds later with Jaro, carrying two unconscious guards into the kitchen. "They needed our passes. Fucking gizka."
"Looks like the secrecy of our infiltration won't last long," Celeste remarked. "Where is this Dengo Hutt? And did you get the information?"
"Information is in progress," Quinlan's voice came. He was just a kid, really. "The big, fat blob is on the second level. Kertul is there too. He doesn't leave his side. Dengo... He's discussing a possible price for Jabba's head."
"What a lovely family," Celeste noted sarcastically.
"Let's go," I grunted. "Let's say hello."
The plan was to attack Kertul immediately and hit him with pyrokinesis right away, hard enough to stop his regeneration. Well, more precisely — overcoming a Gen'Dai's regeneration is almost impossible. But you can inflict damage that will take a long time to regenerate. To tell the truth — Force Lightning was my strongest technique in terms of attack speed and possible damage to a sentient. It exhausted me to a certain extent, but after training with Revan I noticed an increase in my endurance and can now use powerful techniques in combat much more often. But against Kertul, as well as against other Gen'Dai — it's better to use pyrokinesis. Kertul is a walking bundle of nerves, muscles, and capillaries. And fire fights that best. And I, as a user of flame, will be able to take him out of the fight... If I can't hit him with pyrokinesis, I have a couple of thermal detonators. And I will start exactly with an attack on Kertul...
As soon as we approached the elevator, Dengo's Gamorreans ran up to us.
"Out of the way," one of the five who ran up almost knocked Celeste over, luckily she jumped aside in time.
"Sheydjen has already started," Tholme said. "He shouted a pompous speech across the entire level and attacked Alirk. The Morgukai tried to help Alirk, but one of them was immediately shot by your droid, and the second clashed with Jaro and even wounded him."
"What?" I said in surprise. Wound Jaro? After all our training and my work on his reassessment of threats and surroundings?
"He just went to save the slaves in the fighting pit and while he was cutting the chains — one of those bastards managed to try and stab him in the back. He's holding his own and quite successfully, don't worry, if anything — I'm in the security room, right above their battlefield. I can help him, but I assume — he doesn't need it."
"Okay, thank you, Master Tholme," I replied. "Excuse me," I addressed the Gamorreans, drawing my lightsaber in my right hand, "but we need this elevator more than you do."
Activation of the lightsaber... In the first second, I cut two spire guards across their bodies. In the second second, I pinned the remaining ones to the wall next to the elevator button with telekinesis and took off their heads. It was all too fast, the poor bastards didn't even have time to react. Then the elevator door opened and another guard of five Gamorreans appeared. Celeste took care of them, dealing with them using only swordsmanship. Sniffling amusingly, she threw the Gamorrean corpses out of the elevator.
"Do they all shit themselves after death?"
"You didn't know?" I asked in surprise. "The bowels relax and sometimes there's a release. Not with everyone, though."
"It's just that they stink horribly enough as it is," the woman snorted, pressing the second-floor button. "And these ones went and shit themselves too."
"What can I say? Combo..."
"Combo," Celeste nodded. We stepped out onto the second level. And I must say, the atmosphere here was relaxed. Yes, Dengo clearly knew who had infiltrated his base, but he "wasn't paying attention"?
"Jedi are so predictable," the Hutt said from the second level, which, by the way, overlooked the first level. Because the second level was positioned so that through special glass, you could see what was happening on the first. Next to Dengo stood, by the way, not only Gamorreans, but also various bandit scum, mercenaries. And also — cages with wampas. Twi'lek slave girls scurried through the crowd. Mhm, someone just wasn't bothering. "Let them go free the slaves right away. Let them wear themselves out fighting Alirk. And then, Kertul — you will destroy them."
"Do you think these are all the intruders?" asked a Twi'lek standing next to Dengo. He asked it in Huttese.
"There's one more," the Hutt replied. He turned his head to the Twi'lek. "Is the guard room on the first level cleared?"
"No... Why are you standing around?" the Twi'lek looked at the Gamorreans. "Why haven't you sent soldiers to the guard room on the first level?"
"We sent them, five squads of five soldiers each," replied a Gamorrean in more impressive armor than the others. "Two fives didn't make it. And the other three — were destroyed, judging by the sound, by lightsabers."
"Do you want me to deal with your problem, Dengo?" asked Kertul.
"You have no respect for authority, Kertul," the Hutt complained. "But I don't want to lose my guards at a time like this. Jabba isn't sleeping and might have sent his assassins after me."
Celeste and I began to carefully approach the target during their conversation. Carefully, using a distraction technique, we closed in on the Gen'Dai, who had to be eliminated first.
"As you wish," the Gen'Dai replied. "However, I think you're right, Hutt," he turned to the crowd of guests, who had frozen in anticipation. Most of those present weren't particularly interested in what was happening. Apparently Dengo had convinced them that almost everything was under control. Or maybe it was because there were about thirty Gamorreans in the room right now, who could, on Dengo's order, attack the guests themselves, not to mention Kertul, who was the Hutt's mercenary. I got a good look at this Gen'Dai... He was tall, almost two meters, in impressive armor. And indeed, around his huge, impressive arms were attached, like a revolver cylinder, six nurs... unguided aircraft rockets. And that's not counting the arsenal he carried on his back in the form of various blasters and rifles. "I sense... I sense someone who clearly wants to hide their presence. He, or she — has undergone good training," Kertul clicked his teeth. "Yes... Excellent assassins," Dengo turned to the crowd. "Hiding in plain sight."
"Find them, Kertul!" the Hutt demanded loudly. "Find them!"
"As you say," Kertul drew a blaster from his belt and fired at the cage with the dangerous beast. There was a wampa inside, which instantly blew the door open and charged... At a little girl, no older than two or three years old. What the hell was she doing here, damn her parents to every corner of hell? And why was there a strange feeling coming from her... Like she was calling me telepathically. Gifted? The Gamorreans and Dengo's guests scattered in all directions, while I rushed towards the girl. The wampa was about to bring its huge paw down on the blue-skinned Twi'lek girl.
Level 2 of Hunnvar Spire. The main hall.
"ROOAR!" it roared. I appeared right in front of the dangerous animal, scooping the girl into my arms and dodging the line of attack. Holding the baby with my left hand, I activated my lightsaber in my right and cut off the wampa's arm. The animal howled in agony, grabbing the stump of its right arm with its left, while I slipped between its legs, slashing at the wampa's tendons, and when it fell to its knees, I jumped and drove my lightsaber straight into the monster's head.
"Jedi," the Gen'Dai said. "I knew it. You were hiding too skillfully, so I decided to draw you out like this," he bared his teeth. What an asshole... The wampa fell to the stone floor. I felt gratitude from the girl. And she was clearly gifted. "You Jedi are predictable, even the Shadows. Still striving to 'minimize harm to the innocent.' But there are no innocents, Jedi. There never were. Everyone is guilty of something. Even this little brat," he aimed his left hand at me. Celeste attacked him at that very second. Kertul was distracted, and I found a blue-skinned adult Twi'lek woman and ran towards her.
The woman was just coming out of shock and turned her head towards me.
"Here, take her and get out of here..."
"Aayla!" the woman said. "Thank you... thank you... thank you!"
"Run, I said!" The Gen'Dai turned out to be a skilled close-quarters fighter too. He used an electrostaff, the kind the Morgukai used. It was made of phrik, so a lightsaber wasn't particularly useful. Celeste used pyrokinesis, but in her execution the technique lacked power; besides, Kertul was ready for it and managed to dodge the fireball, and then aimed his right hand at Celeste and launched the nurs. She jumped up, dodging the rockets, but that was also part of the Gen'Dai's plan — he jumped too and wanted to strike Celeste with his staff. However, I wouldn't allow that, throwing him with telekinesis straight into the armored window, and then focused on the flames... An instant and a fireball a meter in diameter slammed into Kertul. Armor might protect from fire, but in our case, even a little bit of flame on his skin was enough.
I also threw two grenades at him... The explosion from which not only hit Kertul, but also broke the glass that separated the first level from the second. The Gen'Dai was blown out onto the first level. The smoke cleared, revealing a coughing Hutt. Who decided to slip away unnoticed.
"Going somewhere, Dengo?" asked Celeste, pointing an icy-white blade at him. "Light, go after that monster, I'll watch the slimeball."
"Stay away from me! You're a scary woman! And don't point that thing at me!" the Hutt pleaded. I chuckled and jumped down. And then I saw true chaos.
"Light! Congratulations, you've stirred up this dump," Tolma's worried voice came through. "Kramul wants to escape, he's heading for the hangar. I'm interfering, of course, but a company just showed up here. So — it won't be for long. Your Sheydjen — got carried away with the fight with Alirk. HK and Jaro finished off the Morgukai and started destroying every guard they see. Deal with the Gen'Dai quickly and go after Kramul. We can't let him escape!"
"If only it were that simple," I jumped down to the first level. And there really was a mess going on. Jaro and HK were having a blast destroying Dengo's guards, while covering the battle-absorbed Sheydjen.
"And who's this?" Alirk got distracted. "A Jedi? Another one? Your allies keep getting smaller... Even in the physical sense," the Matukai smirked. The man looked strong, tall. Black hair fell to his shoulders. A tattoo adorned his face. "What a shorty... You're lost. Kindergarten isn't at this address..."
"You talking to me?" I asked, turning my attention to the Matukai.
"Alirk, stop, I beg you, it's better to apologize..." Sheydjen also got distracted from the fight.
"Oh, shut up, you loyal dog of the Council," he snorted. "Yes, I'm talking to you, shorty."
I shrugged, and in the next second Alirk was literally blasted away. He was carried about fifteen meters across the room and slammed into the wall next to the exit. The man coughed up blood... And then a Force Lightning struck him. A green, branching lightning bolt literally saturated every cell of his body, causing him to writhe in pain and slump. Still, he remained conscious, even trying to get up.
"Light! I was supposed to do that! I was supposed to kill him!" Sheydjen protested.
"Not my problem," I shook my head. "Besides, he asked for it. And anyway — he's practically unharmed," I looked at Alirk. "Look, he's trying to get into a stance. Go on, do your thing."
"It'll be boring..."
Just then, a volley of nurs flew at Sheydjen. Kertul had come to? I swapped places with Sheydjen and raised a Force Barrier. The explosions — I managed to deflect two rockets aside — didn't hit me because of the Force Barrier. They hit the walls...
"Fuck," Kertul cursed. "This is very bad. You can teleport too... Killing someone this guilty will be very fun!"
He swung his staff at me, which I blocked. And Kertul was significantly stronger than me, so he tried to overwhelm me with physical strength, while I tried to use my second lightsaber and pierce him through. The plan was to pierce his armor, then set him on fire again and this time control the burning. And it didn't work... Kertul sensed the danger and retreated. Shit...
"We don't have time," Tolma's voice came. A strange clang sounded. Something like a weapon with a harpoon loaded into it extended from the ceiling. It aimed at the Gen'Dai and fired. However, Kertul reacted to that too, deflecting the attack.
"Agreed," I swapped places with the harpoon and used pyrokinesis right in Kertul's face. He roared with rage and pain, while my lightsabers, which I controlled with telekinesis, cut off both his arms. So his attempts to throw me off came to nothing. The electrostaff fell to the floor, and I kept burning his face and body... the flame spread through all the tissues of the Gen'Dai warrior's body. Finally — his head was turned to embers and the fire passed through every part of his body, literally burning the life out of every cell. The air filled with the smell of burnt flesh... The body of the two-meter, armor-clad warrior fell onto its back. "Tholme, show me the way!" I demanded. Kramul could not be let escape. A door opened next to the wall I had slammed Alirk into earlier. I entered a corridor, illuminated only by dim lamps. Using Force Speed, I rushed forward, quickly reaching another door. I sensed sentients behind it.
"There are Zygerrians there," Tholme said. "They're preparing for takeoff. This is the last corridor before the hangar."
The door opened again and I entered a completely dark corridor. The light was off here, Tholme was clearly trying to completely blockade them.
"Hutt-cursed door!" one of the Zygerrians was lamenting. "When will it open?"
"Hurry up, or they'll leave without us!"
"And what was that sound?" asked a third voice. "Like the door from the Spire side opened. Footsteps?"
I stood calmly before the crowd of Zygerrians in the dark corridor, who had taken firing positions and aimed blasters at me.
"What? What?" came the questions.
These bastards... Slave traders... They deserve no mercy. I ignited my lightsaber. Green light illuminated the room...
"FIRE!" came a shriek, and they attacked.
Blaster bolts flew at me, but my hand with the blade spun, deflecting every single one. Two soldiers fell when the blaster bolts, reflected from my blade, hit them.
"Open it!" came the cry of a Zygerrian at the door. "It's jammed!"
Meanwhile, I lifted another slaver to the ceiling with telekinesis and split his belly open with a strike of my lightsaber. Returning the blade to a guard stance in the same instant, I deflected another blaster bolt into a Zygerrian, then, pointing my hand at the four standing nearby, I pulled their weapons away from them and then pressed each of them against the walls with such force from telekinesis that they passed out. The last two Zygerrians, standing at the door, turned around. One of them aimed a blaster at me... I pulled him towards me with telekinesis and cut off his head.
"Don't come near! Stop!" the last Zygerrian in the corridor whimpered, drawing a knife. I stabbed him in the belly, pinning him to the door, which immediately opened, thanks to Tholme. In the spacious hangar was a light HWK transport, aka the HWK-290, painted yellow and black.
HWK-290 light transport.
And it was already taking off.
"I can't control the hangar doors, looks like Kramul took precautions," Tolma's voice came.
"No problem," I aimed my left hand at the ship. "My ally is the Force, and a powerful ally she is."
The ship, which had already begun to pick up speed, suddenly jerked and stopped in mid-air... I felt a trickle of blood start to drip from my nose. Damn, overexertion. No matter how powerful the Force is, I can't hold a ship like this for long, especially after a battle. I need to finish this, and quickly. I launched my lightsaber from my right hand at the engine nozzles, or rather at the part of the ship behind them. And the blade hit the bullseye. The alternative was to use the cat and jump onto the ship, but then I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on holding it and would have been blasted into space. And I didn't know how that would have turned out. The ship tilted, an explosion roared near the engines, and then it landed with a "hard landing" on the hangar floor. The cockpit opened, probably the emergency evacuation system. Six Zygerrians fell out — two women and four men. They were coughing and cursing profusely.
I pulled all six towards me and moved away from the ship with them. As I walked, I dragged them across the floor like mops.
"Stop it! Do you even know who I am?" one of the women yelled.
"Let me think," I crouched in front of them. "At the moment — you're an excellent floor mop. Although — using trash as a mop is questionable," I snorted. "But in our case, beggars can't be choosers, right?"
"My father will avenge me! Do you even know who he is? He's an important minister at the court of the Emperor himself!"
"Shut up," I said roughly. "I don't care about your father, or any Emperor. I need a certain Kramul Izrori. And the coordinates of a certain station called Dominion... By the way, guys, you have a problem with imagination. What's with the Dominion? You should take an example from me. I once played a pirate simulator," the Galactic Game Industry puts out all sorts of stuff. "And I had a pirate on my crew, missing a leg, an arm, and an eye. You know what name I gave him? Johnny."
"Hutt. You're fucking crazy, Jedi," the woman snorted. "Playing little games too..."
"Stupid fool," I summed up. "You wouldn't understand, like many others. But anyway... Let's get back to the subject of our conversation. So which one of you is Kramul Izrori?" I returned the lightsaber, which I had thrown with my right hand, to its hilt. I had just been playing with it in my hand. "There will be an answer... Or we will... move on to alternative interrogation methods?"
"I am Kramul," said one of the Zygerrians, dressed in yellow robes. "And I won't tell you anything..."
I looked into his eyes.
"That's just what you think. An illusion, nothing more. In reality, you'll tell me everything, whether you want to or not. But, I suppose, conducting an interrogation here isn't the best thing," I looked at the burning ship. "Let's go, we'll get comfortable. I'll be comfortable, and you'll experience a little bit of what it means to be a slave."