Following Sabe’s lead Koros does his best to play the part of the obedient clone, and resists his urge to look around the building like some kind of tourist. Besides, there were other ways to get a feeling for one’s surroundings.
Aran stands as tall and straight as he can, doing his best to look like what he thought a Stormtrooper should look like. He keeps his eyes forward except to occasionally check on the 'prisoners', and resists the urge to look back to make sure Zee is OK.
The Pavillion Hospital
The halls of the Pavillion hospital go on and on, twisting and curving. Sabe and the others pass by a number of doctors and nursing staff, most of whom wear the same Imperial medical uniform that was seen earlier, but every now and then a civilian doctor can be seen.
For his part K'kruhk does well looking the part of a dejected alien captive, his shoulders slumped, his eyes cast to the floor as his feet shuffle forward.
As he senses all this, another feeling surrounds him, a small push of calm, emanating from K'kruhk.
Finally Sabe leads the group into a hall with no other branches, until you arrive at a door flanked by two Stormtroopers.
"Subject transfer 21-43," she says briskly, passing a small datapad to one of the troopers. The stormtrooper looks over the tablet and passes it back to subway, "Everything's in order, you may proceed m'am."
The laboratory that Sabe leads her "captives into is a large semi circle. The Doorway opens onto a catwalk that stretches the curve of the semi circle, winding all the way to the flat wall a the far end. A set of stairs descends directly in front of the door to the main level, and bacta tanks are spaced at even intervals along the wall of the first and second floor. a Number of computer stations, chemical equipment and other medical supplies are set up in the center of the first floor.
Two stormtroopers patrol along the catwalk, one on the left and another on the right. Three scientists, each wearing the same imperial medical uniform as before, work in the center of the lab, oblivious to the newcomers.
After a moment, you realize that the creatures that are in the bacta tank resemble the same photos of the viral victims that K'kruhk showed you. They're using the bacta to prolong their test subjects lives.
K'kruhk's voice echoes within the minds of his companions,
Get ready...
The Hangar
"Ha! you sound like Master K'kruhk" Jace balks, as he runs his fighter through pre-flight, "I don't see how it's possible. We gave everything to the galaxy, devoted ourselves to helping them... and when we were slaughtered... they cheered." The Zeltron goes quiet, focusing on his calculations and checklists.
Zee works happily along enjoying the sanitized hallways. It was a bit like taking a trip through the garden of Eden. Zee appreciated more the chance to get reconnected to the Holonet. That was until...
Zee learns of the three shuttles circling and the shut down of all traffic from the station. Zee had seen enough Holos to know that the shuttles were likely carrying strike teams looking for something to drop down upon.
Given that Zee was currently in the company of at least three Jedi. It was not hard to figure out who might be tops on an Imperial Hit list. Further to that, Zee knew that while biologicals would be captured, questioned, and likely put in slave camps; the fate of droids was often worse. Zee could look forwards to either being dissembled or memory wiped. Zee didn't want to experience either of the two choices in the near or late future.
Zee needed to do something or the group was going to be picked off before they had the fighters one foot out of the hanger. Zee needed to shuffle the Sabbac hand that the Jedi had dealt him and hope he didn't bomb out. Right now, he was fast into the negatives of the game looking like he was going to cruise past -23 at any moment.
Zee need to get the Imperials to lock up some of their cards and hope that a few later cards might better change his luck.
The first step was to make a file. Zee grabbed some still shots out of his memory of K'Kruhk from when he had first spotted the Jedi and mentioned it to his Captain. Zee then grabs the bit of audio and video from when K'Kruhk had asked them to the hanger. Zee crops the image and clips the audio to only have the part of K'Kruhk mentioning a meeting but no mention of the location or the time. Zee takes time to edit out from the stills and the video clip any shadows and blackens any mirror surfaces. Zee doesn't want to give away any more clues then what he has edited to his file.
Zee then adds in a brief file requesting a meet at one of the Station's Bars. Zee uses his memory of people he's seen on the station to grab the general description of a human and uses that as a template to describe 'who' he is along with a statement of what he will be 'wearing' including the statement of one red boot. Zee will include a reference to the Imperial's bounty for the information on K'Kruhk and a request for double that amount paid at the restaurant on untraceable credit sticks.
Zee is pretty sure from his Knowledge of Criminology that this should fit the profile of an amateur informant that might be willing to turn in some real information to the Imperials.
Zee does his best to strip identifying information from the file, have it downloaded to a message droid and request it be delivered to the Imperial Office on the station (Zee would prefer more cut outs but he didn't have the time to set that up from here). The time for the meet up is set for one hour from the present which Zee figures will give them a slight window to escape from as the shuttles will likely land to quarantine the zone of the meet up at the restaurant.
Aran twitches involuntarily, instinct telling him to ready his weapon and reason telling him to act cool. He was used to ambushes, but those weren't usually launched from out in the open.
He manages to focus his mind on assessing the situation. Five enemies, three of them on lower ground and not armored (and possibly unarmed). The latter thought disturbed him, but hopefully they wouldn't be able to raise the alarm, or the distraction would keep it from being responded to.
H'ishmau's muscles ripple under his fur. The tension roils off him, as his hatred of the shackles is clearly evident to anyone looking. If the Whipid does not use whatever this Force was to unlock him, he will break free on his own power. He will tear every Imperial limb from limb, if that is what it took.
Koros felt the anger rise in him as he sensed the pain and torment from the prisoners. He was no sith, and he made sure his hatred didn’t control him, regardless of how tempting it was to lose himself to his rage at the moment. He was also no jedi however, and he didn’t suppress his hatred either. He would use this anger. Ee would free as many of these people as he could and he would make the empire pay for this heinous act. In blood.
What Zee finds worrysome though, is the reply. An encoded burst transmission from the Destroyer, Zee is unable to trace the signal, but once decoded by the stations comtech, he is able to pull out the body of the message.
irrelevant, Any dissidents will be dealt with by the experiment. maintain lockdown.
As Zee registers and records this. the door seals shut behind him, and audio log 3 plays
Alert Jace
The distinctive hiss of the door sealing behind Koros and Aran is unmistakeable. At that exact moment, Hish feels the bonds on his forearms unlatch and clatter to the floor at his feet.
K'kruhk lets out a mighty roar and charges forward, looking every but the bloodthirsty animal. he slams into Sabe, sending the woman toppling head over heel down the stairwell.
On her knees at the bottom of the stairs Sabe looks up, pointing the K'kruhk and H'ishmau "Prisoners are loose"
The Hangar
The uncomfortable silence between the two Padawans hangs in the air, until suddenly their a display on the hub of their fighters flashes red.
"Go time!" Jace exclaims, suddenly a blur of movement. He pulls his helmet over his head and seals his cockpit, "Imp targets first," he instructs, "If you need to get their attention then strafe the station... but it shouldn't be a problem. Let's go!" with that he leans on his control stick and his winglike fighter lifts up and dives out the hangar bay.
H'ishmau relishes his freedom, ecstatic that his new allies kept their word. He bounds towards the nearest stormtrooper, releasing a fierce howl as he lunged for the Imperial with his claws. As much as he had hated his captivity, the ring was the one place he felt truly free, even more than he had back home on Togoria. In many ways, he agreed with the slavemaster who told him that he was born for battle. The slavemaster had discovered that in a particularly brutal fashion.
His powerful claws cut through the stormtrooper armor as if it weren't even there. A spray of blood gushes from the wound. The sheer force of the strike drives the stormtrooper backwards with a potentially fatal wound. He releases a feral exultation of bloodlust that rattles the bones of everyone who hears it.
This was bad. This was very bad.
Zee processed this thought as he sent Jace the required mission alert.
Zee's prime duty was to obey the commands given to him. He'd been told to alert Jace at this time. Zee just didn't know what good it would do.
Zee wanted to speak to Aran but this wasn't the time with Aran in disguise.
Then the fight broke out and it became even worse a time to try and speak. It was at times like this that Zee wished he didn't just speak Binary and had a voice modulator.
Zee scuttled to the side and tried to keep out of the way. He looked to see if anyone signaled that they wanted any of the equipment he was carrying. Zee kept his sensors open to look for a Scomp like or a terminal that might still have the pass codes typed in that he could access.
Koros paused a moment in false shock at the escape of his ‘prisoners’. The fake stormtrooper then brought his rifle to bear on the escaped Whiphid, took aim… and just before he squeezed the trigger shot an arm out at the Stormtrooper on the catwalk to his left.
Grasping the surprised Stormtrooper with the force Koros hurls him at the trooper on his right aiming to knock them both off of the railing and to the floor
INIT
The Whiphid and Togorian's sudden assault alerts Aran quickly, and he sets about his business. The butt of the rifle hits his shoulder, he aims, and he pulls the trigger all in one fluid motion. The laser flies true towards the chest of the Stormtrooper not engaged by the Togorian.
The mechanic whistles for his droid, a pale imitation of binary tones, and moves to meet Zee (halfway, if necessary) to retrieve his more familiar sidearm.
Attack
Crit Threat
Damage
Attack
1d20+4
Crit Threat
1d20+4
Damage
3d8
Zee will hear his master's call and trundle forward to deliver the requested sidearm.
In a flash, H'ishmau bounds down the right side of the catwalk, his claws drawing lines of red over white armor as his target falls back to the ground, gutted.
Aran's rifle comes up and a single blaster bolt fires, the red lance of energy piercing the eye piece of the last trooper and coming out the back of his skull.
As the two troopers fall, K'kruhk thoughtfully rubs his wrists and retrieves his lightsaber from ZCC. Sabe gets up and tosses Koros his.
She draws her blaster and aims at the scientists, "The antidote. where is it?"
The head of the three scientists, a tall and thin man with a receding hairline looks smugly at Sabe, even as his hands are in the air. "You're far too late for that my dear. Its gone. We wouldn't want to contaminate our experiment..."
Her eyes narrowing, Sabe motions for the terminal and scomp port on one of the central computers. "someone, find out what he's talking about."
Zee rolls to the Scomp and extends his probe while turning on his Sensors Countermeasure package.
Zee has already an idea of what he will find as he works quickly to gain access to the system.
While Zee works on the Scomp, he projects on his video a picture of the hangman game with the letters and limbs filling into until the man is hanged and under the hanged man is the words, 'It was a trap.'
As Zee projects his message to the group, he accesses the closed database of the lab and downloads what information he can on the virus and its antidote, but many of the files have been wiped. Finding what little he can from scrubbing back ups and left over data, he manages to piece together half completed formulae for both.
What's so terrifying though, is the project logs. the goal to create a virus that infects without prejudice is an ambitious one. The countless diversities of inumerable species make it, from a scientific standpoint, an exteremely difficult challenge. One that would require testing on a number of different species on a number of different scales...
"A trap?" the scientist balks, "Why this has nothing to do with you..." he chuckles to himself and lets his arms fall down to his sides. quite at ease with his situation. "We were aware of a rebel cell... but really that's just a pleasant bonus. This is merely the final phase of testing."
And Zee sees that he's right, the shuttles weren't delivering troops. The relevant information about it was transfered to one of the Star Destroyers, the other shuttles are transporting supplies of the virus to the other two stations. All three stations are set to have the virus filtered and released into their air supply in less than thirty minutes.
Koros removes his helmet after receiving his lightsaber. The grim expressionless mask of the helmet replaced with the Zabrak’s look of utter hatred for the lead scientist. Igniting his silver blade the Jensaarai levels it at the lead scientist’s throat.
“Where are they releasing the virus? Talk you worthless Son of a Barve! Or I start loping off extremities." The last line coming out at a low growl.
The scientist's eyes widen and he tries to step back away from the blade, his air of collectedness cracking, "Where..why... everywhere. that's how an experiment works. You test it on a controlled environment and compare your results. The compound will be released into the atmosphere of all three stations!"
Koros lets out a low growl.
“Well Targeter? This is your operation, what’s our next move?”
Zee starts a search using his Knowledge of Bureaucracy to look up station medical and custom procedures for implementing quarantines and decontamination.
Zee was certain that all stations had to have quarantine procedures listed somewhere with automated sensors designed to detect possible virus or biological pathogens. There would need to be systems too that were designed to help scrub the air of microbial matter.
Finally, there would have to be medical drills and a full document on file with the governing body on all such procedures and the commands for initiating them.
Zee goes searching for the information using his connection to the computer.
Cordal slides into the cockpit of the starfighter like a hand in a glove. He runs his fingers lightly over the controls, feeling them with the Force. He allows his breathing to show and his awareness to flow outward into the ship. He is the ship. The ship is his body. His body wants to fly.
He eases the starfighter outward, brings up targeting information and prepares to attack. Tonight he will fly, he will fight and they will fail.
Hish leaps down from the catwalk, gracefully landing on his feet. For once, he actually appears feline. He snatches up the two assistant scientists, one in each hand, and lifts them both several feet off the ground. "You want to see the results?" Hish's words are somewhere between a growl and a shout. "I'm going to tear your limbs off and leave you out there! You'll get to see it from up close!" He begins walking towards the entrance. "Bring the other one, Koros! Use your laser sword to cut off his legs right now or I'll tear them off."
As Hish carries the two scientists, kicking and screaming for their lives towards the stairs up to the door, K'kruhk steps directly in front of him. The massive Jedi hardly moves, but his lightsaber ignites in his hand, a glowing sword of brilliant green.
"I'm sorry friend," he says, his voice calm, but with a air of dark authority, "I can't let you do what you're about to do."
Sabe looks back over her shoulder, her blaster still pointed at the same lead scientist that Koros has at gunpoint. "Both a you stand down this Sith-damned minute! We aren't going to infect anyone!" Seemingly decided the matter is at rest, she turns her eyes back to the scientist. Without breaking her gaze from him, she calls out for the droid, "Zee, can we stop it?"
The question is a good one, and one Zee was sure he could answer. but the more he digs, the worse it gets. Months of repair logs on scrubber systems and biological sensors, all with classified adendums stating that they've been re-routed or dealt with. Personnel files that display a number of high ranking transfers to key positions, effectively undercutting the station's bureaucracy with an Imperial shadow government. In short, this isn't a terrorist attack, this is planned and thought out on the highest level.
Zee does the math, if they can initiate a fill evacuation, using all the ships he cataloged in the starport and a reasonable estimate of vessels in the other hangars, the number of visitors and residents to the station and of course the effect of panic.
They may be able to save ten percent of the stations total populations.
That was if they pulled it off,
If the Imperials didn't blow them out of the sky
If they could even work together.
That was a lot of variables.
Hish's ears pull back tight against his head in a show of anger and he picks the scientists up further. "They are killers! They show no mercy and they get no mercy! The Empire won't do anything about this. They're the ones who are doing it! They deserve death!"
The anger leaves Koros’ form in an instant as he speaks to master K'kruhk frankly.
“What they deserve aside, what would you have us do with them Jedi? It’s not like we can turn them in to the authorities. The authorities are the ones funding them. Are we to just let them go on their merry way, to dream up new means of genocide for the Empire?”
Aran takes the time to remove his helmet, glad to be free of the bulky thing, takes his sidearm from Zee and waits on the catwalk, keeping an eye on the exit(s).
The sudden explosion of threats, counter-threats, and the grim revelation of just what's going on catches him off guard. Who the hell have I fallen in with? "Just calm down! Don't get me wrong, I'd like to shoot these guys too, but dead men tell no tales. What they know may help us save the stations!" He makes his way down the stairs and towards Zee and the computer. "At any rate we're a little too pressed for time to be mincing up every Imperial who deserves it."
"Wait, maybe we can stop the shuttles to the other two stations? Our flyboys should be out there, right?" his voices' pitch goes up a notch, knowing how dangerous it is for all of them. "Or maybe Zee could fake a transmission to call them back..."
Zee hears Aran's words and immediately scripts together Aran's words into a message that he sends by com to the fighters.
'flyboys...help save the stations...stop the shuttles...shoot these guys...Don't get me wrong...we're a little too pressed for time...shoot these guys.'
Zee includes co-ordinates and vectors for the Imperial Shuttles along with their current radio designations and squawker ID for picking up on sensors to better assist in targeting.
Zee will also work to try and lock down any landing bays to deny access to the shuttles forcing them to fly around the station to look for different landing bays. The longer they are in flight the better chance Zee reasons for the fighters to do their part.
Zee tries to work on how to avoid what might happen next.
Hearing the patchwork transmission, Cordal is perplexed. Is it true or has he misintepreted the message? Are they supposed to destroy the shuttles? He searches his feelings to determine the truth: UtF
"What they deserve does not matter!" K'kruhk's arm shoots towards one of the bacta tanks that contains one of the more mutilated subjects. "Look at that, truly see the horror of what it is. You would do that to another living being? You would subject anyone to that?! You would be no better than the filth you hold in your hands."
“What they deserve aside, what would you have us do with them Jedi? It’s not like we can turn them in to the authorities. The authorities are the ones funding them. Are we to just let them go on their merry way, to dream up new means of genocide for the Empire?”
K'kruhk's shoulders slump a little bit at Koros' words, but he doesn't lower his weapon, "Simply because a task is hopeless, does not mean it should be abandoned."
When Aran chimes in to attempt to destroy the shuttles, the scientists barks a laugh. "You really don't understand, do you? This has been planned since we opened this facility. months of preparation. Five moronic insurgents and their vacuum won't be able to stop this..."
In an instant, Sabe's blaster comes up and points at the balding imperial's head, right between his eyes and not an inch from his face. "Stop talking, or I will kill you."
"Zee," she instructs, taking a step toward the computer's console. "Show me what you found, systems analysis, information on the shuttles, everything."
The requested information dump scrolls across the screen and the young woman takes it in with a surprising clarity. "He's right," she sighs, "They've been hooking in reserve tanks of the virus into each stations air supplies for weeks. Antivirus stores have been liquidated." Sabe closes her eyes and for a second it looks like she might cry, but when they open again there are no tears, only a grim determination.
"Zee, patch me to the pilots." then as she speaks into her comlink, she looks to the others with her.
"Everyone of you, listen up. We've walked into something bigger than what it was supposed to be. We're in the middle of an atrocity, one that looks hopeless, but I'm not about to let everyone die if we can help it."
Her hands flying across the computer, she designates both of the shuttles, Alpha and Beta.
"Flyboys, Shuttlecraft Alpha has a trajectory towards the Star Destroyers. I'd bet my whole hand of sabbacc that it's got the antivirus info. Disable and capture it."
She takes a breath and turns back to her screen, her eyes roaming every character as she looks for a solution. As she glances at Zee's inquiries about medical drills. "By the Force, bloody brilliant!" She laughs and smiles down at the floor to Zee, "I swear I could kiss you right now."
She pulls up a map of the station and highlights a room two levels up, and points to Koros, Hish and Aran. "You three, there's a comm room two levels up, off of the hospital's main lobby, get the droid there."
She turns back to Zee, "They're going to have flagged you soon, the Holonet relay there should give you enough of a boost. Override the networks of each station and overload the life support systems. If they blow, they'll shut down and cause the emergency systems to kick in. It'll give everyone hours instead of minutes."
she looks back to the group as a whole, "There's a hangar deck on that level, used for medical shuttles. We'll pick you up there."
Without waiting for an answer, she clicks back onto her commlink, "Wanderer, this is Targeter, break away and assist any evacuating ships from being stopped."
Captain Varress' voice crackles over comlink, "Uhh, I seem to be missing a few passengers..."
"We'll figure it out, go." Sabe turns back towards the scientist. "You don't strike me as the martyred type, how were you getting away?"
beads of sweat form on the man's brow, "Th... there's a shuttle docked on the eastern side of this level."
"Alright" she nods, "Master K'kruhk, you and I will secure it. "
Checking the clip on her blaster, Sabe looks back to Zee and gets him to access another coded holonet channel stored on the datastick, this time whatever communication was spoken was only heard by Sabe. To whoever she was speaking, she gave a brief and concise account of the events and then said, "I'm sorry to ask you this, but I need you to help my pilots defend the evacuees.... thank you."
With that she turned to her companions and nodded, "You know what to do, let's go."
.....
In space Cordal feels the Force compelling him to wait, when he HUD flags the shuttles and he's then given the order to disable Shuttle craft Alpha. Already he can see a swarm of V-wings and the Empire's new TIE fighters expelling themselves from the bowels of the Star Destroyers.
"Hold on," Jace called over the comm, "This is about to get hairy"
As the two ships enter into the wasp's nest of Imperial fighters, shields rocked by the first salvo, they get two unexpected surprises. The first is the Wanderer, cutting in across their starboard side, red laserfire lancing from her prow.
The next is a second ally, as a Corellion CR70 corvette punches its way out of one of the Pavillion's hangar decks and starts to fire a suppressing line between the Destroyer's and the stations.
Zee preps for the roll-out to the Comm facility. He beeps his readiness to roll.
Hish eyes the scientists angrily, considering whether or not to kill them then and there. After a few tense moment, he throws them to the ground. "Fine," he growls angrily. He takes a few steps to prepare for the assault on the communication center. It would undoubtedly be guarded, giving him the opportunity to voice his disagreement the only way he knew how.
Init:
Pilot Check: REROLL!
Attack on the Shuttle! using a concussion missile
Damage: x 2 = 68 + 2 for level = 70 damage
Cordal leans into the controls, feeling the ship through his conenction with the Force. He spins and rolls as he flies, targeting the shuttle he's been sent to disable and firing his missiles as he goes.
"Well I hope you fellas are ready for a party," Aran remarks morosely as he readies his blaster. "Let's buy some time."
"Well rendezvous at the first level hangar, should be just outside the lobby." Sabe nods to the two discarded stormtrooper masks, "You may want those, in case the atmo fails before we make the pick up." and glancing to Hish she gives a shrug, "Try and find a mask,"the door hisses open and Sabe's blaster snaps up, a laser bolt lancing out and straight through the eye of sole stormtrooper. "See you boys when this is done. first round's on me."
His emerald saber in hand, K'kruhk offers a solemn nod to Aran, Koros, Hish and Zee. "May the force be with you," and he takes off after Sabe.
Koros, H'ishmau and Aran set off at a run in the oposite direction, knowing from the maps that Sabe displayed that a turbolift up to the main lobby is only a short sprint around the corner.
But of course, it's never that easy. As they round the first of two corners, they come face to face with a squad of four stormtroopers. two of whom have taken cover behind crates of medical supplies, popping up to fire a shot or three in the direction of the intruders, the third does the same, brazenly standing in the middle of the hall, but the fourth shows the most daring, or stupidity, as he unsheathes a vibroblade and charges towards the three.
Cordal feels the cloakshape jerk and buffet beneath him, feels the yoke in his hand push against him as his missiles take off. He sees the shuttle try dodge to the side to no avail, both missiles hit home, causing the shuttle's shield's the ripple and flash, and leaving scorch marks along it's hull.
"Nice shot!" Jace calls out over the comm, "We've got incoming!"
Cordal sees them just as Jace calls it out, a trio of the Empire's new TIE fighters swoop in from the chaos, coming in behind Jace and Cordal and letting loose a spitfire of green energy, each shot just missing the two Jedi's fighters.
Cordal banks the cloakshape and rolls, coming up firing. He aims at the lead TIE, looking to take it out before it can take him out!
Attack:
Damage:
"Hrmph," Aran grunts as he puts the blinders back on. "I'd rather have this pot on my head than suck space, I guess." He slings the rifle over his shoulder - never bad to have backup - and takes up the rear.
Initiative
Aran resists the urge to fire on the charging vibroblade wielder, knowing that fool is bound to meet Hish's claws or the Zabrak's saber soon enough. He instead focuses on the easiest target standing in the middle of the hall. The joining of the melee throws off his aim, and the bolt goes high over the trooper and scores the wall beyond him.
Blaster attack
Zee does what he usually does in such situations.
He reverses the vacuum and spews out a cloud of dust.
He scuttles under any furniture or behind boxes that will provide cover. He hopes the dust will reduce the troopers aim coming from down the corridor.
A grinning Togorian is an unusual sight. It isn't that they are an unhappy species, just simply that their feline aloofness and facial muscles make a smile go from a happy sight to one that is most off-putting.
H'ishmau is smiling.
He launches forward to the stormtrooper with the vibroblade. Swordfighting was an honorable pastime on Togoria, one that H'ishmau had spent quite some time doing in his youth. This enemy is honorable, willing to meet him on the field of battle without the coward's weapon of a blaster. That is an enemy that H'ishmau is glad to face.
He bounds towards the stormtrooper, briefly dropping to all fours, and leaps into a charge. He lands on the soldier's chest with his legs, knocking him to the ground as he slashes through his armor with razor-sharp claws. Blood sprays out from under the stormtrooper's body armor, quickly pooling beneath the corpse.
Hish stands to his full height and roars loudly, glad to be in the thick of battle. He will return to claim the sword as his prize for victory in honorable combat.
Rounding the corner, Koros ignited his lightsaber as they came into contact with the group of stormtroopers. Knowing full well that the trooper stupid enough to charge them would be torn asunder in but a few moments by Hish, and that the trooper standing in the open would make the easiest shot for Aran, Koros decided to focus on the two troopers in cover. There was no hiding from the force.
The Zabrak’s free hand thrusts out, fingers making a grasping motion at the stormtrooper on his left. The targeted stormtrooper yells out in surprise as he is lifted off the ground, he waves his arms and legs in the air as if trying to tread water.
A wicked grin crossed Koros’ face behind his trooper helmet before he let out a roar and swung his arm towards the second stormtrooper.
The second trooper, hearing his partner’s surprised yelp turns just in time to see the white armored form rushing at him as if shot by a cannon.
A sickening crunch is heard as the two plastoid-composite encased forms collide, slam into the bulkhead and slump motionless to the ground.
Koros takes in a deep breath and exhales while rolling his head to the side, an audible crack coming from his neck.
“Moving on.” The zabrak commented as he began moving forward.
Zee zips forward to keep up with Koros.
H'ishmau growls and sniffs the air, ready to tear the next srormtrooper to shreds.
The Station.
Aran levels his blaster and lets fly one more shot, catching the last trooper in the gut, searing through the white plastoid armor, without missing a beat H'ishmau charges forward, open paw slamming into the man's head hard enough to sending spinning more than half way around with a sickening crunch. The Togorian smiles back at Koros, "Moving on, indeed"
The four companions took off at a run down the halls, Zee guiding them by tracing the fastest route along a station map he'd downloaded.
They made it to a turbolift that Zee immediately plugged in to, overriding it and forcing it to rocket to the station's main level.
The doors open to a panicked crowd as teams of Stormtroopers take over the mezzanine, tossing over tables as barricades, lining the catwalks all, aiming for that sole turbolift.
"Zee, go! Aran screams as he dives to the side, sending a small spray out towards the wall of stormtroopers, trying not to hit any of the hospital's fleeing staff.
As Zee weaves through the crowd towards the control room, Hish and Koros take center stage, lightsaber blazing and claws flasing, they cut down troopers left and right, but there are too many... that little droid had better hurry.
In Outer Space
Cordal felt the fighter kick against his hand as he came in behind the TIE, setting his enemy ablaze with two quick squeezes of the trigger, "The Shuttles shields are down," Jace intoned over the comm, "I'm going for it, cover me!"
and with that, Cordal watched in shock as Jace's fighter pulls up along side the shuttle and rolls his fighter towards it. All of a sudden Jace's cockpit blows and the young Jedi is flying through space, blue saber ignited against the blackness of space. He lands on the shuttles side and starts to cut his way in. As Cordal marvels at this, he hears an automatic transmission from the stations.
"Warning... Trinity Life Support malfunction..."
The Station
The call echoes through the station's lobby, only causing the screams of chaos to increase. A second later ZCC comes zipping back from the control room, whizzing past his three companions and towards the hangar.
"Move!" Koros yells, taking up the rear and using his saber to deflect the bolts of Stormtrooper fire.
The chaos in the hangar is no less aparent as ship after ship takes off, breaking procedure as each tries to be the first to leave. To the side, to small freighters crash into each other as they each try to take off at the same time, along the same vector. And there, waiting at a hover in the center of the hangar is an Imperial shuttle, its hatch open and Master K'kruhk standing on its end, beckoning his new companions to hurry.
H'ishmau is the first one on, already feeling his lungs pounding against the lack of oxygen, Aran is next, scooping Zee up into his arms as he dives into a roll.
Then the unthinkable happens, There's a buckling sound as the hangar's forward shield fails and everything is pulled towards the vacuum of space! Koros feels his feet leave the ground and for a moment is certain that he's going to die. But as he rushes out towards the sheer emptiness, something holds him back. K'kruhk stands on the edge of the shuttle's ramp, his arm outstretched. Koros' realizes that the Whipid has a hold of his with the Force. Working together, the two pull Koros into the shuttle's bay. As the Whipid collapses to the ground, Aran slaps the ramp's control switch and shouts into the ship's comm, "Go go go!"
------
An hour and three short Hyperspace jumps later, four ships now regroup in a part of space that literally holds nothing. The Wanderer and the two Shuttles hold position along the Corellian Frigate, The Sundered Heart, which picked up Cordal and his fighter, which is incapable of hyperspace, before fleeing the station.
While there is hardly enough room for any more ships in The Sundered Heart's hangar proper, everyone is still brought aboard. The Wanderer attaches to the ship via a berthing tube and the two shuttles are ditched once stripped of any useful parts, and of course, the information of the virus.
Upon your arrival on the Sundered Heart, each of you is greeted by a good looking human dressed in a blue military uniform and blue grey cape. He's a handsome man with a squared jaw and dark brown hair, a small scar rests on his chin. He introduces himself to you as Captain Raymus Antilles.
As Sabe informs the Captain of what happened and asks to speak with him privately. The Captain acquiesces and informs the others that they are welcome on his ship as long as they wish, and can consider themselves to have free reign.
H'ishmau stalks. There's really not a better word for it. Togorians are a feline race, and H'ishmau likes to pace. It simply comes off as stalking. If that cleaning droid happens to come in his sight with no witnesses, all the better.
Hish is upset by their relative failure at the station. He is glad that they were able to save some and that he was able to rip several stormtroopers to shreds, but there were many that they did not save. It bothered him.
He would avenge them. The Empire would not get away with this. It had been involved in many sins, but none so great as this.
Hish heads off to find his friend Koros. Koros would know what to do.
Zee mopes in a corner depressed at all the loss of money with no financial payout for him. Imperials make such a waste of money and he had finally found a place with a cleaning staff that kept things to Zee's high standards.
Speaking of standards, this ship could use a good going over. Zee starts to get to work cleaning in the background while listening.