Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (23 page)

Another
rumble came from above. The wall wasn't stable. The Jedi deflected
another falling slab, which crashed next to them with a thunderous
sound.

"Come
on, " said Jet, tugging at his arm. "I think it's time we
found somewhere else to stand. "

Ula
wholeheartedly agreed. Conflicted but grateful, he nodded his thanks
at the Jedi and scurried with Jet out of the danger zone. Jet was
leading them toward what had once been the external exit to the
security air lock but was now a path cleared through mountains of
rubble. Jet's droid was waiting for him there, waving his arms. The
stubby barrel of the laser cannon protruded from between two large
slabs. Behind it, Ula could see Larin and Yeama fighting over the
controls.

Then
Stryver swooped in, firing at the cannon. Larin jumped or was thrown
clear, and Ula's heart hammered in his chest. Was she hurt? Could he
help? Jet pulled him down as the cannon exploded and shrapnel pinged
around them. He belatedly covered his head with his hands, feeling as
though he had spent the last hour in that position.

This
wasn't becoming of an Imperial operative, he told himself, weary of
his own cowardice. He had once had aspirations of being a Cipher
Agent, whose job was to negotiate exactly such situations. Here he
was, right in the thick of things, and what was he doing? When he
wasn't being saved by Jedi, he was cowering and whimpering at the
slightest noise. It simply wouldn't do.

The
droids were busy with Stryver, Shigar, and the Sith. The way into the
antechamber was wide open.

"I'm
going to see what's in there, " he said. "Coming?"

Jet
looked at him as though he had gone stark, staring mad. "You
can't be serious. "

"Why
wouldn't I be? This is my chance to get in before anyone else does. "

"Isn't
that cheating?"

"If
it is, I'm not the only one. Look. " He gripped Jet by the
shoulder. "Larin's moving. I have to stop the Republic from
getting there first. "

Jet
smiled tightly at that. "I think you mean 'the Imperials, ' my
friend. "

Ula
flushed. "Yes. Yes, of course. That's exactly what I meant. "

"Envoy
Nirvin is over there. I don't think he cares much, either way. "

Jet
pointed at a body so badly crushed that Ula couldn't identify it. Ula
winced and averted his eyes.

"Regardless,
I'm going. You can come if you want. I don't care. "

"All
right, all right-but keep your head down!"

Jet
wiped his palms on his dusty trousers and took the lead, as if by
doing so he might increase the chances of either of them returning
alive.

CHAPTER
18

The
wall collapsed despite the Jedi's best efforts to prop it up. Fresh
air rolled in on a wave of dust and ash. Ax's nearly invisible droid
hopped agilely from outcrop to outcrop toward the opening. In two
leaps, it reached the hole and jumped into the light of the outside
world.

The
droid following in its wake fired at her. Its pulses had turned
purple, somehow, and now packed a more powerful punch. She rolled,
keeping her shield intact, and reflected the pulses back at it. More
dust went up, and the droid vanished into the cloud. She didn't need
to use the Force to know that it had followed in its sibling's
footsteps.

Stryver
was hot on their heels, jetpack blazing. Ax risked being burned in
his afterwash, she was following so close behind him. The Jedi
followed her, looking worn out and battered. She considered turning
on him and striking him down, taking the chance to finish what they
had started earlier, but more important concerns drove her now. She
could hear the droids screeching as they burst into the unsuspecting
populace of Tassaa Bareesh's palace. The sound of their voices fueled
her desire to destroy them, to see them all very, very dead.

Evocii
and other aliens were running everywhere, fleeing both the droids and
the Mandalorian firing at them. His concussion missiles brought down
ceilings and walls in the droids' path, stopping them from getting
too far ahead. They fired back at him, causing still more collateral
damage. If this kept up, Ax thought, it wouldn't be long before
Tassaa Bareesh's entire place was destroyed. She couldn't find it in
her heart to care.

When
Stryver was within range, he used his net launcher to bring the
semi-visible droid down. He hadn't tried this tactic before, she
noted. Furthermore, the net was different from the one he had used on
her. Why he had changed his tactics was, however, less important at
the moment than the fact that they were working. The net's mesh was
electrified, and delivered a powerful pulse of energy to the droid-
thing's silver skin. The six-legged creature spasmed and twitched,
shedding sparks into everything it touched. Its keening took on a
new, desperate note as its camouflage failed.

Ax
prepared to rush in and finish it off.

Then
she stopped.

What
am I doing?

The
answer took surprisingly long to come. This wasn't her fight. Unless
one of the droids was carrying the navicomp, she had nothing to gain
by killing them. Revenge might seem sweet at that moment, but she
would be full of regret later if attaining it meant failing in her
mission. Darth Chratis would make sure of that.

The
Cinzia, Lema Xandret. They were what mattered.

The
Jedi rushed past her, lightsaber upraised. Let him finish off the
fallen droid, Ax decided. To him could go that minor spoil. Then he
and Stryver could surely finish off the one droid left to deal with
on their own.

Unnoticed
by either of them, she turned and headed back to the security air
lock.

*
* *

Shigar
stabbed down into the guts of the fallen droid, pressing hard to
penetrate the surprisingly tough metal of its exoskeleton. Its legs
strained against the net, failing either to fire at him or to form
its electromirror defense. Sparks still discharged all around it, and
Shigar was careful not to be either burned or shocked. As it was, the
hairs of his arms were standing on end, electrified even along the
shaft of his lightsaber.

The
droid's gleaming sense organs turned matte black when it died. It
slumped back with a metallic rattle, and its legs hung limp. Still
Shigar worked through its body, making sure nothing survived. The
case split open, spilling several white, shell-like hemispheres.
Fearing they might create some kind of last-minute attack, Shigar
speared them, too. They hissed and collapsed, oozing a dark red
liquid.

When
he was absolutely positive the droid had no life left, he stepped
away and hurried after Stryver. The final droid was peppering the
Mandalorian with its newly potent pulses, keeping well out of range
of his net launcher. Stryver in turn had managed to maneuver it into
a cul-de-sac and pinned it between him and a trio of Nikto security
guards. Their blasters were ineffectual against the things armor, but
they had a distracting effect.

Shigar
came up behind the Mandalorian and considered how best he could help.
The roof was low and much less sturdy than that of the security air
lock. Reaching out through the Force, he loosened a key beam and
brought a shower of bricks and ceiling tiles down onto the droid. The
distraction was sufficient for Stryver to get close enough to cast
the net.

The
droid went down with a shriek of pain and anger. Stryver pumped three
concussion grenades into its chest, not caring about the Nikto
standing nearby. Shigar pushed past him to finish off the droid
himself, before anyone else could get hurt.

Prior
to delivering the killing blow, he tried talking to it.

"Why
are you fighting?"

"We
do not recognize..."

"You're
a combat droid. You must have core protocols. "

"...not
recognize your..."

"Who
is your commander? Your maker?"

"...your
authority! We..."

Stryver
leaned past him and plunged his collapsible shockstave into the
thing's chest. Its legs flailed, and it squealed so piteously that
Shigar almost felt sorry for it. Then its vocabulator function
degraded and its voice became little more than piercing electronic
tones. He was glad when it finally fell silent.

His
comlink buzzed.

"Shigar,
I'm in the vault, " said Larin. "You need to see this. "

"What
is it?"

"I
don't know. It..."

With
a blast of static, the comlink went dead.

Shigar
turned and ran back the way he had come, Stryver's massive form five
long steps ahead of him.

*
* *

Larin
stepped gingerly onto the pool of molten metal that had once been the
vault's door. It was still hot. She could feel the heat even through
her insulated boots. But it was solid, and her soles held. The body
of the droid killed by the cannon lay nearby, its eight legs splayed
out and its double body inert.

She
quickly surveyed the antechamber and found it to be empty. What had
once been white walls were now blackened and scarred, but the other
three vaults remained tightly sealed. There was a depression in the
center of the room that looked like a tunnel mouth. Re-solidified
ferrocrete sealed it shut, however, followed by a layer of molten
door metal.

Satisfied
that nothing was going to jump her from behind, Larin approached the
door itself. Her rifle was cocked and ready, and she had armed
backup. Potannin's squad members were tight-lipped and efficient.
Most important, they were following her orders.

The
interior of the vault was lit by a single flickering globe. Via the
flashes of light it provided, she at last saw with her own eyes the
object Potannin had described: a low, domed cylinder made of gleaming
silver. The image of a battle-scarred soldier standing low behind her
weapon was reflected in its curved front. In the irregular light, she
looked both menacing and hesitant.

Gesturing
economically, she ordered Potannin's squad members in past her. They
went in separate directions, coming around the object to cover it
from every angle. One of them stepped on a long glass tube that
shattered with an alarming sound. Nothing sinister, she noted with
relief.

There
was no sign of the navicomp.

"Destroy
everything you find, " Stryver had told her, and she had come
armed with grenades to do just that. But she wasn't about to do
anything rash. Who knew what valuable information might disappear
forever if she acted precipitously? She may have been dumped from the
Republic Special Forces, but that didn't mean she was about to take
orders from a Mandalorian without question.

Larin
came forward a step. The toe of her boot caught on something, and
when she looked down she saw more of the shining silver threads
running across her path.

It
came to her in a flash what they might be, and she reached for her
comlink to call Shigar.

With
a crack, the top of the silver object snapped open. From it issued
another droid. She dropped the comlink and fell to one knee, her
rifle rising to fire. The droid was coming right for her, legs
flailing and screeching like a mad thing. Its wild shape was frozen
in a flash of light, silhouetted like a bug on a window. She
registered five arms of varying length, and patches in its body that
light shone right through. The shots from her rifle tore more holes
in its hide and knocked it backward. It flailed and screamed.

She
backed away, her heart pounding, pouring round after round into the
droid and the object from which it had emerged. This droid wasn't
entirely complete. That much was obvious, even from the brief glimpse
she'd received. If it had been, she'd be dead now. It was new, made
from scratch inside the object pulled from the Citizia. As the others
had been.

The
droid stopped moving. She signaled for a cease-fire, and was grateful
for the sudden silence. The air was thick with smoke and static
discharges. The tick-ticking of cooling metal was the only sound.

She
moved closer to the blaster-scarred droid and the object that had
made it. Standing warily over the latter, she pointed her rifle into
its gaping maw and peered inside. She saw a mass of silver threads
and slender manipulators, still moving despite the damage inflicted
upon it. She fired two shots into the maw, and the swirling mass grew
frantic. Half a droid foreleg appeared, stunted and deformed. A black
sense organ came and went.