Welcome to the Rebellion

Posted on Mon Sep 6th, 2021 @ 8:42pm by Lieutenant Kor' de'leia & Lieutenant Melvyn Kosta & Flight Officer Tawshiikkyrr

Mission: Scoundrels, Cuttthroats and Rogues
Timeline: Day 2 at 1945

If he had been given a choice Melvyn would have been perfectly happy to remain unconscious for a while longer. Unfortunately his wishes did not seem to be of much interest to anyone. A sting on his neck, and the hiss of a hypospray, suggested that he was being injected with some kind of drug. The pain pounding inside his brain receded shortly afterwards to a dull persistent ache.

"Subject breathing pattern indicate consciousness has returned." A pause. "If subject does not move this unit may have to start a number of unpleasant surgical procedures."

Melvyn's eyes flew open, promptly blurring with tears when the harsh wight light overhead filled his field of vision. He winced, blinking the tears away, until he could make out the shape of a modified PG unit peering at him. Fragments of broken memories resurfaced. This was the rebel commander's droid, wasn't it ?

"Subject appears responsive," the droid commented with something eerily similar to smug satisfaction. "This unit will test subject's coherence. What date is today, prisoner ?"

"He's no longer a prisoner," a gravelly female voice said, though she sounded more resigned than pleased. The MonCalamari commander stood a bit further, arms crossed, her features unreadable.

The droid's photoreceptors dimmed slightly, changed colours from red to blue, then back to red. "Protocols updated. What date is today, guest ?"

A response was clearly expected. Melvyn tried to wet his dried, cracked lips. He couldn't remember when he'd last had something to drink. "Not sure," he said, voice a little raspy.

The droid didn't seem to love that reply. "What is the last thing the subject remembers ?"

Melvyn rubbed his forehead, noticing absent-mindedly that he was no longer handcuffed, yet unsure why he thought he would be handcuffed in the first place. He'd been escaping, he remembered that much. Well, deserting, not to put too fine a point on it.

"I was... taken prisoner ?" he said uncertainly. "Wookie. Rebels." His gaze swiveled to the MonCal commander. "You."

"Don't complain," Keskis grunted. "You'd be dead if she hadn't insisted that would ruin her recruitment efforts." She nodded at the twi'lek that stood nearby.

The shock of seeing Kor alive was a little less strong this time. Melvyn sighed and rubbed his face, feeling like a fool. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened at the end, even now. The part where an ISB interrogator had started singing was, he was quite certain, a concussion-induced hallucination.

"Since I woke up alive, I assume I passed your little test," he said, only a little resentfully.

The curvy Twi'lek in the remains of her ruined dress smirked at him. Her arms folded across her chest she stepped forward. "Oh Darlin' you passed, with flying colors. I am genuinely relieved you aren't an Imp spy. After two days on the run, I'm fearful I've gotten a little attached to you. Slitting your throat would not have been much fun. Once you get a minute to breathe, we gotta get back at it, the Commander here appears to have lost some of her people, and I volunteered our services to find them."

She turned toward the Mon Calimari her eyes turning serious. "What can you tell me about your crew, and where might they have gotten taken?"

Keskis nodded, glad to be back to business.

"Three of my people. A Bothan female and two human males. I believe one of them is known to our... new friend." She managed to sound only a little bit sour.

The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together. Melvyn nodded slowly, understanding dawning. No wonder they had wanted to test him so thoroughly before even giving him a chance. It probably looked like he'd sold out his own cousin, and then tried to infiltrate the cell under false pretenses.

"Elo."

"Quite." The MonCal's large, unsettling eyes stared at him without blinking. "He told me he was on a new operation. We keep things extremely compartmentalized, need to know only, so I do not know exactly what he was doing. But he had a new source of intel, and it was good." She gave Melvyn a grudging nod. "I assume that was you."

"Yes." Clearly now it was his turn to speak. Melvyn accepted the glass of water - he hoped it was water - the PG unit was handing him and took a sip. "I'll spare you the family history. You already know why I deserted." He tried not to sound to resentful when he thought of being manhandled by a wookie. "When I realized I could not go on serving the Empire, I got in touch with Elo - he was the only one I could think of who could help me. We spoke, one time, at length, through an encrypted transmission. After that it was text only, too dangerous otherwise. Even so, we knew that sooner or later I'd attract suspicion. The last piece of intel I sent, especially... well, after that we knew it was only a matter of time before the ISB zeroed in on me."

"So you organized your defection."

"Yes." Another sip of water. It tasted like water, anyway. "We knew the Exterminator's route would take it to Nar Shaddaa eventually, so we agreed I'd bail when we got here. Except I got caught a bit earlier than we thought."

"What about Elo ?" Keskis asked. She still wasn't blinking - weren't her eyes itchy ?

"I don't know," Melvyn said. "I assume they intercepted our last messages and got to him while I was trying to avoid being shot by my former friends. If he's been caught, he's either being detained in a local prison cell, or held on the Exterminator. And getting him out of there is going to be... complicated." He tried not to sound too grim, and was unsure how successful he was at that.

Kor crossed her arms as they spoke. No way in 14 hells was she pulling a rescue operation against a Star Destroyer. That was virtual suicide, or worse yet an interrogation that put their little farce to shame. Neither one was she marching into for anyone's rebellion. "So we need to check the nets for a local prison that might be holding rebel prisoners. Our little heroics of the last day may have upset their transfer schedules, you know two daunting and deadly traitors and spies running lose in the city." she said giving her lips a slight twist.

"It's possible," Melvyn shrugged. "But I'm not sure that would put us in a much better position. A rescue is going to require preparation, intel, equipment. Everything we don't have right now. I'd love to just go in all guns blazing, but it wouldn't work and they probably have orders to kill their prisoners rather than let them be rescued..."

He trailed off and exhaled a slow, deep breath. Elo being interrogated - the real deal - was a terrible thought, moreso because he knew exactly what it entailed. Much worse than Kor and Keskis' little joke at his expense. He'd fallen for it because he hadn't really been clear-headed, but they'd gone easy on him, he grudgingly had to acknowledge that.

"We can always try to find out where they'd being held," he said after a moment. "But even a local cell is going to be a tough nut to crack. This is Nar Shaddaa, I expect they're used to holding dangerous people."

Kor's lekku shook for a moment as she let her mind settle into this whole rescue idea. "You know, if they..."

Her words were interrupted by the sudden klaxon alarm that was unmistakably an intruder alert. "Bloody hell." she exclaimed as her hand went immediately to her dagger. "Give him something to get him mobile?" she demanded of the medical droid. She didn't wait for a response but turned to the Mon Calimari Commander.

"Tell me that's just for the food you ordered." she stated pointing to the flashing red screen on the nearby monitor.

Keskis was already on the computer, bringing up feeds from the security cameras, dread twisting her belly. If anyone was close enough to trigger the alarm, that was too close.

"Imps. Several squads. They just gained entry into the building."

The building where they were presently was one of the immense skyscrappers that spanned several kilometers in height. A glance at the screen confirmed that the stormtroopers had forced their way in several hundred meters lower, which left them a bit of time while they searched their way up.

It was impossible to know if that was just part of a larger net - send stormtroopers in and see what came out - or if someone had seen Tawshii dragging the two prisoners in, but at that point that was mostly irrelevant.

"We need to evacuate," Keskis said.

"E chu ta we do." Kor responded darkly.

The droid, meanwhile, obeying its orders, approached Melvyn.

"This unit recommends subject does not move."

"Wait, what's that ?" Melvyn asked, eyeing warily the hypospray it held in one mechanical hand.

"Methylanthephylemine acetominopropylophen," the droid said.

"Thanks, that's helpful." It turned out that near-death experiences brought out a sarcastic streak in him, Melvyn found. "What does it do ?"

The droid's red photoreceptors faded to a lighter shade of red. "Strong stimulants mixed with pain relief and a number of other drugs. The subject will be able to move without dizziness or other side-effects commonly caused by concussions, dehydration, hunger and lack of sleep. Subject should know that one the effects wear off they may experience symptoms similar to that of a serious hangover, including but not limited to vomiting, sensitivity to light, nausea and headaches."

Melvyn made a sound that expressed dismay and resignation in equal parts. "Beats being dead." He allowed the droid to inject him, not wincing when the cold metal touched his skin.

"Allow five minutes to fully feel the effects," the PG unit informed him, then moved away.

Melvyn approached Kor and Keskis. They looked concerned, as well they should if the shrill sound of the alarm was anything to go by. A glance at the screens showed movements that involved more than a few stormtroopers. For them to be making such a show, the local garrison must have agreed to help.

"Did I hear the word "evacuate" ?" he asked.

Taking a deep breath Kor looked at the icon representing troopers flooding into the building. "Yeah. Time to go. We will have to plan our little rescue later, if we are still alive. I trust you got blasters. I need the two nearest entrances with parked speeders."

Tiny blips now appearing on the screen were definitely imperial gunships bringing in more troops higher in the building. Kor's lekku bunched tightly. "Yeah, drop everything, grab a blaster and lets get out of here." she spoke icily as her mind phased into her years of running from authorities, gangs and anyone else trying to kill her. Her fingers wrapped around the comforting contours of her knife. Only a little longer my friend, you will dance tonight. she said in her head as a dark smile slowly spread over her face.

Keskis stared at the screens a few seconds longer. She had contingency plans in place of course ; she had always known that she'd have to leave in a hurry, someday. But she'd had her headquarters here for a long time now, and the potential urgency had somehow faded away. Now the apartment felt like... home.

She shook herself. Mortal danger was hardly the right time to indulge in nostalgia. "You go on ahead. I'll erase all the data and send a warning to my people."

One of the cupboards had a hidden compartment which, once opened, revealed Keskis armoury. Several blasters, a sniper rifle, two utilitarian vibroblades each the size of a dagger, and a thermic detonator. "Help yourselves." Keskis directed a sour look at the imp defector before adding, "you, too."

***

The MonCal's dislike of him could hardly be more obvious but Melvyn didn't care. Being armed again made him feel just a tiny bit less defenseless. He grabbed one of the blasters ; the rifle would be too hard to conceal and he was not adept enough with a vibroblade to go for one.

Kor snatched up a pair of blasters sliding them uneasily into the thin belt holding what was left of her dress together. She then reached out with two hand and lift up the thermal detonator. "This should do nicely." she said with a cruel smile.

"Take the droid," Keskis said. "He'll show you the way out. But get away from him if you get captured. He'll self-destruct. Explosively."

Kor turned to look quizically at the Mon Calamari Officer. "Really? Finally a droid that's good for something. Come on." she gestured to the droid, not really turning to face it.

Melvyn wondered if escaping with a literal time bomb was such a good idea but they would need the guide, if Keskis didn't catch up with them. He put the blaster he'd just picked up in the empty holster at his belt. It fit, more or less, being a standard model.

"I'm ready." The cocktail of drugs the droid had injected him had kicked in and he felt this artificial sense of alertness that usually came with too much coffee.

Nodding Kor patted Melvyn's arm. "Just like old times eh. You ready to meet your old compatriots?"

"If I say no, do I get to pass ?" Melvyn asked drolly. He checked he could pull his blaster easily from the not-quite-right holster, then looked Kor straight in the eyes. "I really, really hope I don't have to kill a friend today. But I'll shoot if I have to."

The medical droid ambled out the door and into the main corridor. The signs clearly indicated the direction of the main lifts, somewhere Kor knew was no place for them to be headed with the bucket brigade coming up as quickly as they could ride. "We need a speeder, ideally a fast one." she told the droid as she shoved it to the side and strode past it.

"Your best option would be a rental speeder. They are available on level 226." the droid responded, shifting it weight to compensate for the Twi'lek's shove.

"Not looking for a rental. I want the closest speeder, I don't much care who owns it." Kor snapped back at the machine.

"If I might point out, that is an illegal request. It will draw the attention of local magistrates." the droid responded.

"Blowing up when you are being captured is illegal too." Kor stated not turning to look back as the medical droid lumbered after her.

"Fair point. Suitable speeder located down the next corridor to your left." the droid directed, struggling to keep up.

Kor smiled at the machine finally getting with the program. She started running up the corridor and made a sharp left. Ahead was an ornate door to a private apartment. Kor walked up and placed her boot forcefully against the entry mechanism. She bounced back as the door did not give to her force. She looked to Melvyn "You want the honors or shall I?"

Melvyn eyed the lock critically.

"I'm sure PG can unlock it if - "

A blaster shot interrupted him. The smell of melted metal and plastic wafted across the corridor, and the door opened in a subdued hiss.

" - if we ask him to," Melvyn finished, arching an eyebrow.

The speeder PG-18 had located was a standard model, quite old if the garish, golden paint job was anything to go by, and owned by a slob judging by the state of the upholstery. Some of those stains looked like - better not to think about it.

"Ladies first," Melvyn said, gesturing to Kor. "I've never stolen a speeder before, so I'll take your cue." He paused, as the heavy sound of boots echoed from a level down. "I don't mean to rush you but how good a speeder thief are you?"

Kor looked over the aged speeder, not exactly what she had in mind, but it was better than staying in the building with a legion of Stormtroopers closing in. She gave a slight smirk at Melvyn. "Not as good a thief as I am a driver." she said arching her eyebrow. She pulled out her dagger and smacked the control panel with the butt of it hilt. The casing crack open, showing some of the circuitry within. Kor hunched over the holes and began to make adjustments. Melvyn could hear the clang of boots drawing ever closer. Kor looked intently at her work. 20 seconds had elapsed when suddenly all the control boards jumped to life and the turbines of the repulserlift spun up. She looked back over her shoulder at Melvyn and winked.

"Jump in." she said, sitting up in the driver's seat. She made a few quick adjustments to the controls, suddenly flooding the cab with an atonal droning. "Agghh!" she cried out in disgust. "I can't drive with that poodoo." she began scanning the frequencies of broadcast stations.

At the remnants of the door to the apartment, the familiar toggled mic of a stormtrooper could be heard. "Try in there." a voice called. An arm shoved against the wreckage of the door splintering it open. "There they are! Blast em!"

Kor flipped the dial once more, a highly rythmic dance number came on. She gave her passengers a look of surrender. "Its better than that other crap." A shower of sparks fell down on the speeder as the Stormtroopers opened fire.

They were easy to find. A mess of noise and some horrific music drew more than the wookiee's attention, though that did mean a whole bunch of troopers to play with on the way through. Tawshii made short work of the three bucketheads at the door, one up-ended with a swift grab of white armoured ankle, swiftly followed by a heavy shake - expertly transforming the first trooper into a human weapon with which to bludgeon his buddies. Clashing helmets and dented armour resulted in a small pile of bodies that Tawshii happily walked straight over as if they were mere carpet tiles beneath his heavy steps.

A loud, triumphant rattling wookiee roar then thundered through the apartment's narrow hallway, easily audible to the two in the speeder. It was followed by a wavering growl as Tawshii warned Kor and Melvyn of still more incoming. He'd slowed down the reinforcements, but that would only work for so long.

Melvyn had drawn his blaster but had not had time to use it ; over one hundred kilos of angry wookie made their way through the squad of stormtroopers, hitting them from the rear where they did not expect it. Melvyn thought of a rude joke but wisely refrained from voicing it as the wookie took a running leap and vaulted into the speeder, tipping it sideways and dropping it heavily down as he settled his weight on the last seat available, in the back, next to the droid.

The memory of what had happened the last time the wookiee had got that close made the hair on Melvyn's neck rise, but he was not in a position to protest. It was too late anyway, as already Kor had hit the thrusters and the speeder lumbered through the air. Clearly the older model struggled to carry this many passengers. Maybe they should have gone for the rental after all, Melvyn thought, with a hidden grimace.

"Where to now?" he had to shout to be heard over the cacophonous noise blaring from the speakers. "They'll be on our tail in no time, we need to ditch that speeder."

Kor listened to the rythmn of the music, getting her heart moving in synch. On the down beat she dipped the front of the old speeder down and sent them diving toward the planet's surface far below. She hoped the gods blessed them with something that could pull up decently, but right now Gravity put the most distance between them and their pursuers. She had done get aways in worse vehicles, but this one really did suck. With all the people she was carrying she could pretty much guarantee the engine would be shot by the time they got to... somewhere. She hadn't put much thought into where they might actually go, just get away from blasters.

Weight settled comfortably into the back seat, Tawshii took a pair of flying goggles from his satchel and pulled them onto his face. Much better! Easier to see now - what with the air rushing up over the short windscreen blowing his long fur everywhere. He growled a few directions for Kor, adding some hand-signals to the mix, warm breath close to the Twi'lek's ears as the big wookiee leaned forward. The words came in turn, as needed during their journey. Down there. East 5. Blue sector. Below the lower smog level. Lower than the neon. Old canning plant. There! Aim left, low and slow. Drift right.

Kor listened to the wookie's instruction as she weaved and dipped the speeder through on coming traffic. It wasn't the best way to blend in with a crowd, but it kept pursuers back typically, although the Empire had taken more of a shoot first sort it out after wards approach in the recent year. She breifly looked back to spy whay may be an inbound Imperial gunship. She dove straight down, making the wookie scramble to call out recognizable landmarks. Soon they were deep in the recessed of Nar Shadda. The streets became less organized and labyrinthine as they approached the bases of the massive towers above them. She began to look for opportunities to fade into their surroundings and make it to the place the Wookie was directing them with less chance of being followed. The old city was deep with decay, rust and an ever present fog of vapor. Kor kept her basic running lights shining into the fog, not using the main lights so as to keep it from reflecting back in her eyes. The speeder passed through the clouds of fog, weaving as Tawshii growled out directions. She drifted right, making out a dark rectangular shape in the distance.

A letterbox of an entry point came into a view...