Water swirled and rushed by the viewing windows of the Broken Spear, but it was impossible to see any of it this deep. The darkness of the trench that held the S.T.A.R. facilities didn’t allow for anything other than instrument navigation, which meant that Carmen and Vanli, the pilots, had their necks craned down to stare at screens instead of looking forward.
Remy stood behind them, just watching the swirling blackness, and deciding she much preferred empty space to this crushing entombment.
“How much longer until we arrive.”
Her voice seemed quieter than usual here, like the water stifled sound like it did light.
“Less than five minutes,” Hoplite, the ships droid brains, replied, “Stand ready for departure.”
About time to meet with the others one last time then. Remy turned and walked through the automatic door to the muster room behind her, the other three standing around a hologram of the target laboratories and conversing with ease. It had been a while since she was the lowest ranked in a strike team, but she didn’t particularly care one way or the other. Not since she got used to co-existing with Dark siders.
The plan was simple by nessecity. This was a secret facility, and one of the first things the AI did was remove detailed maps of the labs interior. No exterior defenses were present, but it would know they were coming. They would approach the facility from below, perched as it was on the mouth of an undersea canyon, and breach it, using the ship to establish a beachhead. It would be loud and messy. Such was the way of things.
Had anyone bothered yo check if Snaz was physically capable of this mission? No? Did they have a bunch of files in front of them, took one look at Snaz’s big ol’ grin and decided that yep, he was their guy!
He was eighty years old. He let that sink in for a moment. Eighty. He wasn’t a spry young'un anymore, and when he closed his eyes, he felt the weight of his past drop onto his shoulders like anchors.
He didn’t want to retire in obscurity. He wanted some excitement at the end of his life. When he joined Anders, however, this was not what he had in mind.
As Snaz looked around, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had maybe taught some of them here during his days as a Shadow Academy professor. He simply shrugged. It didn’t really matter.
He turned to their new arrival, a small whoopee cushion placed in the palm of his hand and a smug little grin on his face. This was going to be good.
“Hey,” Snaz offered his hand out to Remalia, concealing the ptop in his hand as best he could. “Nice to meet'cha. Names Snaz.”
Remy reached down and grasped his hand, not flinching or even changing her mostly blank expression as the whoopie cushion loudly emptied itself.
“Whoops. You got me.”
She had expected this. Not because of any supernatural abilities, it would be foolish to waste mental strain in a situation it wouldn’t help, but because his dossier had made extensive note of this ones sense of humor. Almost exclusive, in fact. While there could be no doubt this small, old man was accomplished and powerful, most of his recorded history was simply one or two sentence acknowledgements of service in a position or conflict, then a detailed description of a prank. Perhaps his history was confidential? Or… maybe it was the doing of Snaz himself. Another joke at the expense of anyone trying to be informed.
Either way, she was prepared for almost anything to come from this one, though she had expected a buzzer in the hand. Or maybe something with slime. It cost nothing to humor him, and it was always wise to play along with an Elder, though Remy could already tell her own lack of humor was going to make that that difficult.
“I apologize for my inattentiveness on the trip here. The modifications to the Winged Spear were extensive and last minute, so I had to brief the pilots on the way.”
Carmen was being difficult again. How his track record had so much success when he was such a coward, she would never understand.
“Anyway, you all have had time to confer. Any additional orders?”
“A solid plan,” Rajhin remarked as he studied the holographic maps, such as they were. The Togorian gave a respectful nod toward Remalia. “We should expect heavy resistance, do not underestimate the Collective strike team.”
The former Fist’s recovery since his near death during the Brotherhood’s invasion of the ethereal realm in the last Great Jedi War had been long and arduous. While he relished his new role training members of the Royal Guard, he longed to engage the enemies of the Brotherhood in combat once again. Not as a general, but as a warrior. Rajhin fought to take this mission on personally. He would leave neutralizing the rogue A.I. to the more technically minded members of the team, he would be their shield.
“Yes, sir,” Remy said with a small bow of her head, “It is an honor to be considered worthy of deployment in such a team. I will do my best not to dissapoint.”
“Attention. Target in sensor range. Prepare for assault.”
The ships droid almost seemed excited, though he was quickly replaced by a tone of dread from Co-pilot Carmen.
“Good news, we were right. No external defenses in sight. There’s no way we are going unnoticed though, so get ready to go in hot.”
Remy nodded despite the fact the pilots couldn’t see her and led the way to the loading ramp, standing ready to move. It was even more eerie in here, one hand propped against the wall, just waiting for something to happen.
After a minute, she heard the muffled screams and hisses of heavy laser cannons, then distant muffled explosions. Another thirty seconds, and there was the much more clear sound of blasters, still quiet inside the ship. Finally, the ship slowly swung left, then right, with cannon blasts and rocket explosions clear as day.
Vanli came in over the intercom then, “Most defenders have been taken out, but we cant stay too much longer or they’ll bring out anti-armor! Get out there and we’ll leave to poke holes in the station!”
“See how many Super Soldiers we can turn into Super Repairmen!” Carmen added.
“Keep your guard up, good luck!”
Vanli’s last words were punctuated by the ramp cracking its seal and beginning to lower, letting the sounds of blasters and crackling flames in. Remy took a deep breath.
Time to go.
Xantros looked around and grinned evilly. It was going to be an interesting mission. Rogue AI that became self-aware, but conflicted and confused in regards to its own nature and purpose. It had to be either destroyed or brought back under Brotherhood’s control. The Duros was aware that it was not going to be an easy task. The AI was not going to let anyone destroy it and it had deadly means to protect itself. It could see everything within the research complex and it commanded technologically augmented soldiers that were more than willing to sacrifice themselves to save their master. There were reports that mentioned Strikeforce Senth Six, Collective’s elite spec ops team, entering the research facility too. They wanted to steal all technology from the Dark Brotherhood they could. They would not take any resistance lightly, eager to kill anyone who would dare to oppose them. And the facility itself was located deep in the ocean. Pressure could destroy it at any time, especially if the structure of the facility got damaged during the fight. It would be no fun to die crushed by tons of waters. Xantros realized that the mission was not designed for assassins like him, but for warriors like Rajhin. There was little room for tricks he could pull off, but it would require more direct actions. Still, he had to take part in the mission. He just returned from his self-exile to the Outer Rim and found himself a Battleteam Leader of Wildcards in House Sunrider, Clan Odan-Urr. A lot had changed since he had been a member of that Clan. He had to earn their trust and respect and was there any better way to do that than to jump right down to the enemies’ throat?
The Force Adept grinned again and activated his lightsaber as soon as the ramp started to lower down. He was not a warrior himself, but he spent so many years on misleading people about his true identity that he often subconsciously attempted to surprise everyone around, including his own allies. Normally, he would not engage the open combat if he had an opportunity to strike from shadows, but he was the first to leave the Broken Spear. He walked slowly down the ramp. Few enemy soldiers that survived the initial cannonade of the assault ship noticed him and immediately opened fire at him. Luckily for the Duros, the distance was long enough to make it difficult to hit him even for enhanced soldiers, but it still took all his attention to deflect the incoming blaster bolts away from him and some of them back at the hostiles. He just hoped that Rajhin and Remalia would act quickly enough to crush the opposition before enemy reinforcements would arrive.
Of all the cockamamie ideas.
Xantros was either brave, stupid, or a mix of both. Quite incredible really.
And yes, Snaz was indeed getting far too old for this. That being said, he was far from defenceless. Though, that didn’t mean he was about to pull a Xantros and walk into the smorgasbord of blaster fire.
“Well, do you say?” Snaz smiled at Rajhin and Remalia. “Shall we?”
Hey, they were effective meat shields. Especially if he could hitch a ride on one of their shoulders…
As the first wave of fire crashed forward in a wave, Remy took not of how… perfect it was. Every shot placed in a perfect grid, the fire rate of automatic weapons seperated just enough that it came in undulating waves that left no downtime between shots. That meant that they had brain implants, with the AI possibly even having direct control of its soldiers. Of course, it all splattered harmlessly on an invisible wall that was projected from an almost casually raised hand by Rajhin.
Remy was about to break off from the group when she noticed something worrying; small bits of metal bouncing off the Barrier before being atomized by incoming plasma.
“They have slugs,” she whispered into Xantros’ mind over the screaming blaster fire, “do not rely entirely on your saber for defense. They are prepared for us more than I’d like.”
Remy couldn’t spread the message to the others without shouting loud enough for the machine to hear, but that shouldn’t matter. Aside from edge cases like ‘Sabers, blasters packed more of a punch, so the other two would be able to deal with that particular challenge in their regular ways. Hopefully.
That taken care of, Remy focused the Force into her eyes to seek out the culprit, scanning the room. It seemed the ship had blown its way into a barracks, destroying the floor and several walls to open enough space for the ship to fit inside, and there were several firing lines positioned behind a veritable wall of bodies rendered to pieces or mush from ship-scale weaponry. Luckily, it seemed the entire station was pressurised, so water wasn’t flooding in too badly yet. There was maybe a dozen total warriors firing, each one acting completely unfazed by the rampant destruction and death of their comrades, silently timing their reloads with each other to not give an opening. Thankfully, Remy didn’t need one.
Spotting her target, Remy switched the focus of her Amplification to her legs and leapt to the side, bouncing off a barracks wall and igniting Beckon, the bright green blade immediately drawing attention. Deflecting even this much blaster fire was trivial, she had regularly dealt with actual encampments with heavy repeaters, but it was barely even a second before the true threat revealed itself. She saw herself get shot dead center with a small piece of metal, molten slag after passing through the blade of the Lightsaber. Instinctually, she reacted to the prophecy, strengthening her fist with all the focus she could spare and deflecting the shot into the water below.
Her momentum carried her in the right general direction, and she didn’t have to pause to lunge again towards the offender. Spearing the automaton through the chest and hand closing around its throat, she spun to use the corpse to block the blasters of the squad that turned entirely too quick to face her and open fire. Skipping back through an open doorway, she found herself in a hall that seemed empty, at least for the moment. She almost took a breath before the “corpse,” heart still impaled on her 'Saber, began to swing its fists.
It was quick work to bat the offending limbs away and sever every extremity, but it was still very worrying how durable these things seemed to be. Faster and more nimble than droids, but with the inurement to pain and perfect efficiency of machines. She turned to face the squad of six that poured into the hall after her, half pulling out swords that buzzed with energy as the others aimed blasters. She stowed her Lightsaber and closed a fist. It would be useful to test how much abuse these things could take before they had an actual fight on their hands.
.
Kids these days and their athletics. Snaz missed the days when he too could move like a breeze in the wind.
Alas, life had not been fair to him. Although, with age, did come wisdom, and within all the fighting, the small Aleena slipped past them undetected. It was time to open the doors. Thankfully, the panel was just low enough for him to reach…
Warned by Remalia’s telepathic whisper, Xantros paid more attention to what weapons their opponents utlized. Luckily for him, guards using slughthrowers focused on Remalia who jumped right into the room that seemed to be barrack. Few seconds later, Rajhin followed her with a loud roar, distracting other enemies with a challenge. He did not wield a lightsaber, but the Duros gasped when he recognized a weapon in Togorian’s right hand. It was a Sith Sword, an alchemically treated bladed weapon that could deflect blaster shots and even block lightsaber’s blade. It was a rarely used weapon even among Force sensitive members of the Brotherhood as it required one to prove themselves worth a privilege to access this kind of weapon. Rajhin was definitely worth it as he was a brave and skilled warrior. The Duros heard rumors that the Togorian was maybe a little bit too brave, finding the most heated battles as the only interesting challenge. Still, the Force Adept was thankful for how quick Remalia and Rajhin joined the battle and brought the fight to the defensive positions of their enemies. It gave him enough time to try another tactic.
Xantros found a large piece of rubble created by the destruction caused by the bombardment conducted by the Winged Spear. It provided him a partial cover from any incoming fire. He quickly located three enemy soldiers and focused on their minds. His face tensed as he attempted to dominate minds of his opponents. Normally he would turn the soldiers into his puppets with easy, but it seemed that their minds were a part of something bigger, like if the rogue AI joined the turned soldiers into hive mind, or it steeled their minds by getting rid of emotions. Instead of following his mental command to betray their comrades, they they stopped shooting and looked around confused. They remained incapacitated for several seconds only, but it was enough time for Rajhin to cut them into pieces. The Togorian nodded in respect, but quickly run towards few remaining troopers. Soon, there was no enemies left in the area.
As the first group of enemies was no more, the operatives of the Brotherhood noticed Snaz standing next to an open door. He made an inviting gesture and the other three people followed him. They had to move quickly if they wanted to achieve their goals before S.T.A.R. would stop them with more of its minions.
Quickly was indeed the word. Snaz reckoned everyone inside with several tiny waves of his hand. For whatever reason, the team decided to enter in a single-file line. Why would they do that? Who even knew. The events that led to their conflicts surrounding S.T.A.R were as mysterious as the individuals walking into the facility right now.
Snaz was positive there was a funny joke in there somewhere.
Despite outward appearances, there didn’t seem to be much of a defence on the inside, at least compared to the fight they had outside. Curious. They seemed hell-bent on securing the area, yet disregarded safety measures on the inside? Something did not add up correctly.
The answer came when they entered the main console room. There, in the middle, was a table set up with an assortment of… snacks? Cakes? Why? The giant, red, beaming light of the computer in control gazed upon them, centering on them.
“Congratulations. You made it. Here, I made cake, though you’ll have to excuse the chefs. They’re all dead now.”
A few Minutes prior
A squad of Collective commandos took up a hasty position in the corridor as the chaotic sounds of battle grew closer. The soft pulse of crimson light reflected from the durasteel walls as claxons wailed in time with the light pulses to indicate the base’s high alert status. The squad’s sergeant gave the hand signal for the unit to ready their slugthrowers. This was it, the moment they had trained for, the moment they would spill the blood of the Force users who were spreading in so-called Brotherhood space like a cancer.
The squad’s earpieces sprang to life with the cold voice of the modified shard of S.T.A.R. their commander had seized, “Squad two-three, xesh-level threat approaching your position, use appropriate countermeasures.”
Every Collective commando had extensive training in fighting Force users, including an informal system for classifying the relative power/threat level a particular Force user posed. Xesh was the third highest, usually a combat-focused Elder but not the apocalyptic power of the highest Zerek level (usually Grand Masters) or an army crushing advanced Elder Yirt level threat.
Blaster fire erupted just around the corner as some battle droids engaged the threat. Each member of the commando squad gripped their weapons tighter. Implants regulated the adrenaline levels of each commando to that sweet spot of maximum combat alertness without veering into tunnel vision or fear that came with a full onset of each species fight or flight response.
The upper torso of a battle droid flew into the corridor intersection in front of the squad with a “WAAAAAH” followed by a metal on metal thud as the torso struck the wall and fell face first into the deck. A towering Togorian in primitive looking armor made from natural materials rushed around the corner with near supernatural speed, wielding a large metallic sword of unknown make. The feline assailant had a digital eyepiece on their right eye and fur striped in a black-and-orange tiger pattern.
The commandos’ optical implants tracked the Togorian’s movements and their augmented arm muscles moved their slugthrowers up with enhanced precision. They opened fire. The beast moved with lightning speed to bat away one of the first rounds with a metallic clank. The assailant was fast, but not that fast. He managed to deflect the first round and move out of the way of most of the first volley but was struck in the shoulder by a slug round.
The Togorian let out a roar as his left shoulder was thrown back from the impact with a small spray of blood. The impact should have knocked him down at least, but the beast stood firm. With a wave of his right hand a translucent wave of Force energy crashed on the commando squad, knocking some down but disrupting the aim of all.
Even injured, the Togorian leapt onto the squad, slashing with the sword in his right hand with a fury in his eyes that haunted the commandos in their final moments. To their credit, the Collective commandos stood their ground and did not flee. The final two commandos managed to train their rifles on the feline for one last shot only to have their rounds strike an invisible barricade raised by the Force use as the last second as he half raised his left hand. The squad sergeant’s last moments of consciousness were of their head rolling on the ground after having been severed from its body. Before everything faded the sergeant noted that the HUD in his optical implant read COMBAT DATA DOWNLOADED TO S.T.A.R.. At least those who came after would be better prepared to face the Force using scum.
—-
Rajhin wiped the blood off of his prized Sith Sword before taking a moment to bind his wound. The use of slugthrowers was a tactic he would have employed himself; he couldn’t fault his opponents for that. The former Fist regained his composure and continued down the corridor until he met up with the rest of the team. Snaz waved the team inside a strange room set up with a table of snacks and cake. Rajhin was puzzled but ultimately wary of a trap.
“Congratulations. You made it. Here, I made cake, though you’ll have to excuse the chefs. They’re all dead now.”
“The cake is a lie!” Rajhin retorted to the computerized voice.
“Not a lie,” Remy said as she stepped forward and raised a hand, “An insult.”
She pounded her fist once in empty air almost two feet away from the console, only for the limp strike to bounce with a wave in the empty space.
”This will save me from the storm,” S.T.A.R. taunted behind its shielding, somehow despite lack of intonation, ”but you will be consumed.”
Remy stepped back to inspect the rest of the computer room as the rest began to look over the objective, right there, yet so far away.
“Stinking Rakghoul-bait boxed itself in tight. This looks like starship grade shield projectors recessed in cortosis-alloy plating.”
Xantros scratched his chin as he looked back and forth to find a weakness, “We’ll never break through. Not before significant reinforcements show up.”
“Then we will flush him down.”
The other three members of the squad turned to Remy, who was looking at a more detailed map of the facility that was on one of the many screens that was apparently not important enough to S.T.A.R. to warrant locking down.
“The cord,” she said, pointing to the main supporting beam that held the facility above the abyss, “we’re going to cut it.”
Rajhin noted some vague pathways up to those levels and nodded. It was better than hoping they could tear this place apart fast enough with the Force.
“Get word back to your ship. We will need a quick extraction when the place begins to fall. I don’t like the idea of being crushed to death.
Snaz’s smile widened a little, “No pressure. Heh.”
Xantros fell from his place on the ceiling and neatly speared one cyborg through the top of its head and unloaded a salvo of blaster fire into the one standing next to it. These things were almost easy to fight, if only this mission fit his skillset better. He looked up to see Snaz using another S.T.A.R. soldier to bludgeon another four, almost lazily wagging a finger back and forth to control his enemies’ flight. Remy and Rajhin had found a rhythm together. The commander bellowed and smashed to draw attention, then guarded against the hail while the slim woman darted in from another angle to slash apart those attacking his Barriers uselessly.
“Hey, you think there will be time to go back and get those snacks before we leave?”
Snaz had turned to Xantros, looking a little tired, but otherwise as he had before this mission began.
“I, uh… don’t think so. I’ll buy you something when we get back.”
“Oh no worries, I snagged some of the smaller stuff before we left the control room,” Snaz commented as he produced a few wrapped snack cakes, “want one?”
Xantros’ mouth hung open for a moment.
“No, wait, when did you grab those? You could have just turned the thing off!”
Snaz winked as he bit into one of the cakes, “Nah, there was a shield and everything, but that was just for the computers. S.T.A.R. didn’t really care about defending the snacks.”
Xantros was about to continue the argument before Remy yelled back to get their attention.
“You two! We are almost to the superstructure! This is no time for chatter!”
Snaz wiped his mouth, “No patience in these young ones. But I guess we should wrap this up.”
He pointedly dropped the wrapper on the floor and gave a side-eyed stare to Xantros.
“Uhm… yeah, sure. Let’s finish this.”
The four agents met up again and made short work of a locked door, hammering through to the other side, the huge logistical spine of the whole laboratory sprawling out before them, or rather, to each side. At this level, there were several rails that had various sizes of storage crates, tubes of fluids, and even unfinished cyborgs rolling in both directions. The important part was the huge support beams that went side to side overhead, the main beam perhaps a hundred feet tall and lodged solidly in the bedrock on both sides of the huge underwater gorge.
“We need to cut that… somehow.”
Remy didn’t seem too sure about the plan now. She hadn’t expected this to be something the scale of taking down a battleship.
“No worries, kid. You’re a cut above the rest. Heh.”
Snaz reached out and grabbed the beam with the Force. There was a loud groan that echoed through the cavernous construction, but nothing seemed to actually move. Regardless, Snaz was… trying. Remy had forgotten, she was the weakest in the group by a wide margin. If each of them put their back in, taking down a starship, or at least a huge beam, wouldn’t be such a large task. There was nothing for it but to do what she could and hope it worked out.
“Xantros,” she turned to face him, “we need you to cut the bottom of that beam the best you can. Rajhin,” she turned the other way, “Your dossier says you are very strong. Is that true?”
He gave a smirk and a small snort as he nodded back at her.
“Then let’s get to it. Time ran out long ago.”
Jumping and climbing from strut to strut, it wasn’t long before the three more spry members of the team made it to the walkways under where the beam met other support girders that held up the whole laboratory. Xantros didn’t need any goading, he immediately pulled out his saber and began the process of cutting a slice in the bottom of the huge support. The cut itself wasn’t important, it was all about structurally instability.
Remy and Rajhin both moved on opposite sides of the beam, finding the biggest support struts they could find and wedged their bodies in the angle where beam met beam. Like mirrors of each other, they both let the Force flood inside and push out everything else. Remy’s eyes glowed red as Rajhins glowed yellow, and their planted feet pushed in shearing directions.
Nothing seemed to happen for a while. Snaz pulled, Xantros cut, and dents formed and grew under the feet and backs of Remy and Rajhin, but the groans only began to grow after almost two minutes of this. When it did, it got loud. The groan became a scream, then a resounding crack, then silence. Finally, there was a rhythmic tapping that echoed down the beam, more something Remy felt than something she heard. As her focus broke, the Force fled her, leaving her to fall onto the walkway barely able to stand.
“Did it work?”
The call resounded for a moment, then finally Snaz spoke up.
“Oh, wait, sorry.”
Finally, the beam snapped and the two halves began to slide past each other slowly, the durasteel roof tearing wildly and letting black water dump in, drenching everyone with ice cold spray. Most of the lights in the space shut off instantly, and all the alarms that weren’t already blaring finally set off.
”Hey, guys, I got bad news.”
It was Carmen, back on the Winged Spear.
”While they don’t have any ships, it seems S.T.A.R. is throwing a Hail Mary with some armed divers! It’s won’t take long, but I might not be able to grab you for a while. Hold on while you can!”
Remy’s teeth gritted as Snaz appeared behind her. This happened now? Of all times?
“You look sour. Where’s our ride?” Xantros said as he joined the huddle.
“Busy.”
Remy looked almost downtrodden. All this to die on the bottom of the ocean. Then, Snaz nudged her side.
“Chin up, kid. Cats hate getting wet.”
She looked up, and indeed, Rajhin seemed to be weighing an option in his head, staring up into the rapidly widening holes in the ceiling.
“Get close, you three. This is going to be tricky.”
The huddle tightened, and Rajhin sat down, closing his eye and holding his arms out over the rest of them. He waited, silently, for agonizing minutes. Remy had nothing to do but meditate while waiting for his plan to fruit. Finally, the last of the structural stability gave way, and the ocean crashed in around them.
Water and metal crashed against the invisible sphere surrounding Rajhin. In their tiny, Force sustained submersible, Remy watched as the lab began its slow fall into the abyss, the only light now the sparking arcs of electricity as everything began to short and blow onboard. She herself felt the sensation of rising as the bubble of air shot to the surface. Miraculously, she also felt the pressure of the air inside lessening, meaning that he was also carefully allowing tiny holes to form in the pocket as well. A true master at work.
“Well, this was kind of anticlimactic,” Snaz said, eating another snack cake, “Kinda thought we would get a bigger-”
A brilliant flash of blue-white light engulfed all of them, followed by an immense pressure wave as the plasma generators in the lab finally blew. Rajhins face tightened in a snarl, and a small trail of blood trailed out of his nose, but it was quickly replaced by serene focus once again.
“Ah,” Snaz said, looking down, “There it is.”