"There it is," Mrrowl growled softly, pointing to the mining center up ahead, it's lights easily visible in the darkness of the jungle night.
The Togorian crouched as low in the brush as he could, hoping the gray and black striped pattern of his fur would help conceal him in the night shadows of the surrounding forest. Shre'ka knelt silently by his side, peering out at the ore refining operation, well lit by powerful halogen lights mounted on tall posts placed at regular intervals around the facility. Paz, shadowed by one of her IG-88 bodyguards hunkered down on the Cathar's right, her large dark eyes taking in the many Separatist droids as well as the many aliens, made up mostly of Rodians, Mon Cal and Quarren that were moving about the mining camp.
Paz gave Shre'ka a nudge. "All the people appear to be wearing uniforms--and they're unarmed!"
Shre'ka nodded, whispering Paz's observation to Mrrowl. The two felinoids had flown a recon flight over the site much earlier in the day to see what they would be up against, but certain smaller details had evaded their detection. Although the droids had so far ignored them, believing them to be part of the indigenous population and therefore no threat, Shre'ka had not dared to get her sa'naku to fly too close to Separatist installations. She wasn't sure how long their luck would hold out before the droids would decide to start firing on natives that appeared too curious.
Mrrowl shared her concern. That was part of the reason he had spoken in favor of EZ and his remaining troopers to stay behind and help guard the Ra'van'ti village, just in case one or more of the droid patrols stumbled across it. Sparg, too, had remained, keeping the Mako's Run ready for instant departure to extract the villagers to safer ground should it prove necessary.
He growled softly. "I can launch a grenade right into their refining plant from here, but it'd be better if I had a flammable target. Plus if these people are being forced to work here, we need to warn them before we start blowing up the place. Any ideas?"
"There's lots of Mon Cal walking about," Paz pointed out. "If I had one of those uniforms, I could blend in with no problem."
Shre'ka smiled. "I will get us uniforms," she giggled, scuttling through the brush to move closer to the perimeter. At the forest's scarred edge, she paused, wrinkling her nose at the smells emanating from the mining site, her ears flattening at the careless destruction of the living jungle of her home. Raucous music issued from a nearby prefab building, growing momentarily louder as a male Mon Cal emerged from within, swaying a bit drunkenly as he went, letting the door slam shut behind him.
Shre'ka glanced around cautiously and not seeing anyone else or any droids nearby, slipped out of the cover of the jungle and approached the Mon Cal, speaking simply to him in his own language. "Hello. What you do here?"
The Mon Cal was a bit taken aback. He blinked his eyes, peering blearily at Shre'ka. "Why...we mine the crystals, of course."
Shre'ka flicked her ears back. "Why you do that?"
The Mon Cal shrugged. "So I can eat, I suppose. So I can live."
"You not want work here? You want be free?"
The Mon Cal seemed to sober somewhat. "Uuuuhh, well, yes, I want to be free. We all would." He waved vaguely to the droids. "But the droids will shoot us if we try to leave."
Shre'ka nodded in understanding. "No worry. We help. Can you get us clothes?" she asked, pointing to his uniform.
The Mon Cal tugged at his gray coveralls. "You want some of these?"
Shre'ka nodded, pointing to the forest edge. "Throw them in there."
"Hey, you!" a robotic voice called. "What are you doing?"
Shre'ka smiled encouragingly at the Mon Cal when he glanced anxiously at the approaching droids. She began to back away. "Bring clothes quick when can. We help." Turning, she scampered back into the jungle, melting into the shadows as the droid patrol walked up.
"You!" One of the battle droids said, giving the Mon Cal a shove. "What were you doing? You shouldn't be talking to the natives! It's not allowed! We'll have to report this!"
The Mon Cal spread out his flippers. "Please, I didn't do anything! This strange creature ran out of the jungle to look at me, then ran away!"
Shre'ka watched the exchange with a bit of apprehension and sighed in relief when the droids appeared not to have spotted where she went and let the Mon Cal continue on his way. After a short while he returned, edged carefully over to the brush and tossed a couple of coveralls in the undergrowth. Shre'ka quickly snagged them, and with a soft "Thank you!" to the Mon Cal, she scurried away.
Returning triumphantly to Paz and Mrrowl, she held up the coveralls. "Will these work?"
Paz grinned. "Like a charm." She donned one of the garments, rearranging her gear, making sure to keep her ion pistol handy.
"The people are being forced to work here," Shre'ka informed them as Paz made her preparations. "They would leave if they could. I think the droids are here to protect them from the beasts of the jungle as they work, but to also keep them from running away."
Mrrowl fingered his weapons, his ears laying flat. His lips lifted from his fangs. "We're going to do something about that!" He looked to Paz. "Shre'ka and I will take your droid with us and circle around to the south. Once you have warned the people near the refinery and found a flammable target, just say the word and we'll attack."
Paz nodded and slipped away to the mining camp, walking up behind a group emerging from the bar. She strode purposefully toward the refinery just like she belonged and was heading there to start her shift. No one stopped her.
Grinning, Mrrowl motioned to Shre'ka and the two slipped around to the south side of the camp, the IG-88 in tow. Arriving a bit closer to the refinery, they peered cautiously out, waiting for word from Paz. Shre'ka noted the distance to the nearby command center with its communications array and power generator.
Paz made her way to the refinery hardly able to believe her luck. None of the droids seemed any the wiser. Looking around, she noticed a ladder going to the second level and climbed up. There she encountered a Rodian and another Mon Cal.
"Hey!" she told them in an urgent, low voice. "Get the other workers away from here!"
The Mon Cal blinked. "What?" The Rodian eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"
Paz waved them away impatiently. "Because we're going to blow this place up! Now warn the other workers and get out of here!"
The Mon Cal continued to stare at Paz in shock. The Rodian clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on! Let's go! We've got to warn everybody!"
They hastily departed. Paz watched them a moment before looking around for flammables. "You don't need to worry so much about warning the Quarren," she muttered.
After searching a few minutes, she found what she was looking for. Scrambling down to the ground level, she started putting some distance between herself and the refinery, motioning for any straggling workers she encountered to do the same. Using her crystal bracelet, she sent an image of Mrrowl's target to him.
"Now!" the Togorian and Shre'ka heard. Mrrowl snarled, launching a grenade as Shre'ka sprinted forward toward the command center.
The grenade hit its mark but the explosion failed to rupture the containers. Alarm klaxons began to wail. Shre'ka leapt to the roof of the command center and calling upon Sa'uuk, ripped the communications array completely loose from the building.
Mrrowl launched a second grenade hard on the heels of the first. This one also found its target, the force of the explosion rupturing the tanks of combustibles. The refinery rocked in the following explosion. Shre'ka fought to keep her footing on the nearby command center and control of the communications array, to keep it from falling on top of a Mon Cal who happened to be working atop the building at the time.
Battle droids and crab droids began to organize, heading toward the refinery to investigate. Encountering some of them, Paz fired several shots with her ion pistol, managing to disable some of the droids as the workers fled the area. Spying a couple of the battle droids approaching the command center, Shre'ka dropped the communications array on top of them, telling the Mon Cal to get to safety.
Dropping to the ground on the far side of the command center, Shre'ka uses Sa'uuk to drain the power from the generator, plunging the camp into semi-darkness. Seeing Paz in trouble fighting a crab droid, the young Cathar rushes to aid her.
Mrrowl charged from cover toward the command center. Several droids spotted him and the IG-88 droid and opened fire. The Togorian and droid return fire, destroying several droids before Mrrowl tries the door. In the excitement of the attack, he spent a moment trying to punch a code into the panel to enter the command center before he remembered he needed to open the door manually. With a snarl, he began cranking the manual access.
Paz and Shre'ka notice the miners are fleeing to a ship resting on a landing pad some distance away. Concerned they will be destroyed by the Separatists if they take off, Paz tried to call after them, but is ignored.
"We've got to warn them!" she told Shre'ka as a STAP patrol swoops in.
"Go!" Shre'ka replied, gesturing Paz toward the ship. The Cathar stepped toward the closing STAPs and drawing upon Sa'uuk struck them with its power. An invisible force send the droid STAP patrol flying. Looking after her friend, Shre'ka sees Paz disappear up the ramp as the engines ignite. Looking around for her mate and seeing only the IG-88 droid, she noticed several more crab droids approaching from the east, apparently recalled from a patrol.
Calling upon Sa'uuk as the IG-88 opens fire, Shre'ka manages to destroy one of the three crab droids. The remaining two scuttle closer, one going after the IG-88 while the other comes for her. It struck at her with a claw, wounding her. Falling back out of its reach, she cuts back across its path to head toward the command center, concerned for Mrrowl. Belatedly Shre'ka realized she should have used her bracelet to check on her mate. The pursuing crab droid overtook her and a slash of one of its powerful claws struck her down.
The Togorian had managed to enter the facility and was fiendishly battling several megadroids inside. Managing to defeat the droids and take control of the command center he noticed the IG-88 droid falling back before its attacking crab droid. With a snarl, he slammed his vibroaxe into the crab droid, destroying it. Ears flat, he looked around for his mate, gasping when he spotted her lying on the ground.
On board the commandeered ship, Paz shoved her way through the crowd of miners to the cockpit and managed to persuade the pilot to land. As soon as the vessel touched down, she sprinted back to the camp. Spotting her friends, she ran over to them, pulling out a med pack.
"Help me," she cried to Mrrowl as she tried to bandage Shre'ka's wounds. Hissing in distress, the Togorian assisted her. The two friends sighed in relief when the Cathar opened her eyes.
Leaving Shre'ka in Mrrowl's protective care, Paz entered the command center and slicing into the computer systems made some very important and interesting discoveries...
To be continued...
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