Chapter 33: Quick Fix and Final Cleanup
34 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) - 2 Years before Canon
Sector/System: Bandomeer
Location: Bandomeer Planetside - Inside 'Meerian Ionite Ventures', current 'Level 8'
A quick fix of the defenses was done quickly enough, and the Meerians listened well to what I told them.
All the boxes and carts were arranged in three lines, with a small line on the left and right sides, consisting of boxes with a cart in the middle, each topped with a Repeater Minigun blaster. These are stationed between two pillars that hide them from the path's upward line of sight. This will cause a crossfire effect when the pirates rush in while panicking.
And a third, much longer, thicker, and taller line of boxes with multiple carts in between for extra cover and defense value. They have the carts all down here, might as well use them, and with how untrained the Meerians are, more protection means more will survive.
I ensured that the top boxes in the third line were turned just enough to stand stably on the boxes below them, which in turn created a small opening just enough to shoot out from, this in turn would not expose the Meerians unless they leaned out of cover, and doubt they would with no training at all.
And not a moment too soon, we finished all of it, judging from the sounds of fighting getting closer and the few dropping on the ground from above, being alive but badly injured.
"Get ready, they will be here any moment now." I said, and watched how the Meerians jumped behind the newly set-up cover, clutching their weapons tightly
I moved into cover and positioned my rifle at the ready for quick and stable shooting. Depending on the enemy's remaining numbers, it might mean I have to get close and personal, also depending on how the Meerians would respond.
If only I had kept 'Team 3' with me, even with them being rookies, they would still pack a bigger punch than the ragtag Meerians.
At that, I could only shake my head at my impulsiveness; however, no time to dwell on what was done already.
"GO! HURRY! 'Level 9' is up ahead!" I heard the exhausted and desperate shouting from up ahead
This made me focus and turn my mind to zero, into combat mode, as some would say.
— — — — —
Inside the 'Lever 8' of the Meerian Ionite Ventures on Bandomeer, things did not look good for the Pirates.
On the two winding paths down, many bodies already lay no longer among the living, with the remaining pirates running as fast as they could down to the bottom.
"GO! HURRY! 'Level 9' is up ahead!" a green Twi'Lek shouted out loud
"FUCK! This makes no sense! Jedi… Mandalorian… FUCK!" a Brown Zabrak cursed in tired breaths
"I know! They should fight, they always did!" one of the few remaining Rodians cried out in exhaustion
In the meantime, a Human was running in the middle of them with a few remaining Humans, all quiet, when the silent leading Human gave a signal, making all the Humans turn around and rush to the edge, using others as cover.
"What the FUCK!" A blue Twi'Lek stopped running in pure shock, watching the humans among them rush to the edge and jump to the rails in between both paths, using some type of hook to get on the rails, climb up, and run as fast as they could upwards.
The Twi'lek who had stopped dropped soon after to the floor with multiple holes smoking on his body.
Making the rest start running down faster.
— — — — —
The group of Humans managed to somehow get rather far without losing any who got on the rails.
"Catch your breath, we are at a platform… we will jog further instead of rushing, we might have about five or so minutes… before the rest are killed and they send some to hunt us down again…" the silent human, clearly the leader among their group of nine strong, said, taking heavy deep breaths.
The others did not say much, only slowing down slightly to recover their breath after climbing upwards, and they were not in the mood to talk much.
Soon after, they started hearing screaming, followed by the two repeater blaster miniguns
"Shit, they got heavy weapons… keep going, hurry up." The leading Human spoke up, starting to climb a bit faster using the hip-high railings besides the road to pull himself further ahead, the others following him in quick order.
— — — — —
"Rooks, follow them back up on the rails, use jet-packs in short bursts to make distance and take them down." Down at the bottom near the doors of 'Level 9,' these commands were sent out by the brown armored Sera Vor
"Yes, Ma'em!" Rook 1 quickly saluted, taking the rest of his group with him, back up the rails to follow the Human Pirates that managed to slip past.
"Interesting, since when did they get a name?" Jack, in his dark green armor, walked towards the others, moving from behind the cover.
"Calling out 'Team 3' all the time became tiring, so I began calling them Rooks, and they listened to it rather well, also Rook can also be seen as Rookie." Sera explained to Jack
[Sir! Sera took over command and started giving my group orders, while both of us were in command of our groups, and…] Rin, in her green armor with red highlights, started saying, before being interrupted.
[When in the clan, we do not mind listening to you compared to the 'Outsider'. However, it is clear to us she has more experience outside in the field, while you have experience in Mandalorian space and clan territory.] The leader of 'Wolf' stated.
[Us Hounds are the same in that matter, Rin, you became rather emotional and hungry for blood ever since we left home.] the leader of 'Hound' stated right after.
[That is enough, all of you. Rin, we will discuss this further back on the ship; this applies to all of you. Right now, the door should soon open, and we will meet up with the two other Jedi. After that, we continue further down into the mines.] Jack said in his bass-sounding voice, unamused by the situation over the coms
While Jack and co talked over coms, the young Meerian, who had been helpful from the moment of meeting at the top levels, started talking quickly.
"Sir, do not worry, we will clean up behind you, that way you can focus on the rest." the young Meerian Modok said with a smile while looking a bit pale and shaky
"You and the others did well, even taking a few down, while the turrets did most of the work, not one of you hid in fear, well done." Jack told Modok and the Meerians militia, who all showed tired smiles
"Modok, would you mind opening the door or calling someone who can?" Jack asked the young Meerian
"Sure, I can, see that and that? Those are cameras, just me waving and pointing at the door like this…" Modok pointed while talking, then started jumping and waving to the door in front of the camera's
Soon enough, the door opened up, and behind it in the middle of the room sat two Jedi in meditation.
"And that is how you open them." Modok said, returning to his energetic self from before
— — — — —
Team Rook did as ordered and jumped ahead in small bursts of their jetpacks; however, due to not being experienced enough, they had some rather rough landings, making them look unorganized.
Even then, due to that, they quickly gained on the pirates. However, just before they got within range to start shooting, the group turned around and threw their weapons away, yelling something, making Team Rook stop in pure shock and surprise at what they heard.
"Don't Shoot, We Surrender! Without us, you can't get through the minefields in space and on the ground around the bases and fortress!" the leading Human started yelling
"Rook 2, Rook 3, apprehend them, Rooks 4 and 5 cover them, if they try anything, shoot them." Rook 1 ordered his team with a hand on his com.
— — — — —
[Sir, Rook 1 here, ehm… we caught up with the pirates but they surrendered, stating that without them we won't be able to get through the mine fields in space and on the ground of their bases and fortress, sir. Something about codes.] Jack heard through his coms unit
'Minefields… again something not mentioned in the information before we left, what else is omitted or adjusted out of the low-level intel and enemy presence we expected… seems new plans need to be made… again.' Jack thought to himself.
[Escort them back to the surface, inform the 'Valitas' to pick them up, also tell Butch and Korar to try and get some information out of them.] Jack ordered back
[Yes, sir!] came Rook 1's reply before going silent again
'Things are getting weirder and weirder. What else will be thrown our way?' Jack thought, shaking his head slightly.
— — — — —
Jedi Master Quigon Jin and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi:
Opening their eyes and slowly rising to their feet, or jumping up in Obi-Wan's case at the opening of the door.
"See that, my padawan? That is why we had to wait." Master Quigon said
"It seems so master." an annoyed Obi-Wan answered back
Watching the Mandalorians pass by and hearing this female Mandalorian in green armor with red highlights scoff in passing at his padawan, Quigon, walked towards the other two Jedi with the Mandalorians
"Master Gallia, Master Shaak Ti, how wonderful to see you both." Quigon began saying when the red Togruta master raised her hand
"None of that, Master Quigon, you and your Padawan rushed too far ahead into the mines, without clear information of what to expect or what the overall situation was." Master Shaak Ti calmly told him
"Indeed, and with these 'Beasts of the Depth' that we were told about by the Meerians a while ago, and knowing you both that on encountering it, you would have run back to the surface, knowing you could not fight it alone. Thus bringing it back with you. Also, these 'Beasts of the Depth' are responsible for over 60% of all Meerian casualties as a race, meaning you would likely have been the cause of many innocent Meerians losing their lives if you did such a stunt." Master Adi Galia said in a calm voice, but showed a displeased expression on her face
"Or collapse the mines on top of them." Obi-Wan grumbled quietly, going silent, seeing the disapproving gazes of both female Jedi Masters
"These beasts, what sort are they?" Quigon calmly asked, stroking his short beard
"Likely a force resistant beast… we saw it on the camera's feasting on slain pirates back in the command room when we arrived, it is nothing we have ever seen before." Shaak Ti quietly said, making Quigon stop stroking his beard and look in surprise
"You mean to say, this mysterious beast is why the Meerians lost so many of their people over the years? 'Would explain why some looked hopeful and others looked as if we were already dead' " Obi-Wan questioned, thinking the last part to himself
"Yes, something foul is afoot in the depths of the mine, and we are uncertain of the numbers." Shaak Ti calmly said again
"Mmm… interesting. Anyway, Master Shaak Ti, how did you arrive so quickly with a ship and five Mandalorian prisoners? Last I remember, you were sitting in the Jedi Council?" Quigon said, changing the subject
"Rather astute of you, Master Quigon. We had plans in place to trade them with Duchess Satine on Mandalore for some concessions in the Jedi's favour. Letting us send a Jedi Knight on Rotation. Something not done after the last one died during the bloody civil war that lost Duke Kryze and many others." Shaak Ti informed him
"That solves one mystery, master, but how did you get here so fast in a ship… as far as I remember from Master Plo-Koon's classes, hyper drives are not instantaneous, and we are multiple days to even weeks flying in a transport ship." Obi-Wan suddenly started saying
"That is a wonderful question, the force moves in mysterious ways, young Kenobi." Shaak Ti answered him before walking away with a small smile.
"Master Shaak Ti is up to her old mysterious ways again." Adi Gallia mumbled before following her to rejoin the Mandalorians
"Huh? Master, what did Master Shaak Ti mean by that?" Obi-Wan asked Quigon in clear confusion
"No idea, my Padawan… no idea, let us follow along before we are left on our own and be forced to lure a beast back up." Quigon said before walking to the Mandalorians, soon followed by a confused Padawan.