Mako's Run - Make Way for the Mako

"And in local system news, owner of the Flaming Pipe bar, Jaekin Morel, was found dead early this morning by one of the bar's employees. Morel, suspected of criminal activity by Acheron authorities, had been shot in the head with a blaster, execution-style. Law enforcement officials declined to speculate on any current leads they may have at this time…"

Mrrowl switched off the holonet feed in their hotel room as Shre'ka adjusted the straps holding her crystal sword and her dagger to her hips. The weapons looked somewhat ludicrous with her elegant gowned attire, but she refused to leave them, and, Mrrowl noted, unable to help grinning appreciatively, there was no where to hide them dressed as she was. He just hoped they'd think she was a collector of unusual weapons.

"Well, that's just great," he rumbled. "The guy who helps us out with infiltrating Welborne winds up dead."

Shre'ka tugged uncomfortably at her dress. "What does that mean? Will the badges he gave us still work?"

The Togorian shook his head. His ears didn't flick in agitation, but Shre'ka could see his muscles tense beneath his fur.

"We'll find out," he replied.

The door chimed and Shre'ka let Sparg and Arden in. "Did you catch the news?" the Illyrian asked as soon as he stepped through the door.

Mrrowl nodded.

"We're still going, right?"

Mrrowl nodded.

The group set out.

*****

"We're so pleased to have you tour our facility!" their guide greeted them when the group arrived at the Welborne factory.

Sparg, Mrrowl and Arden held their collective breaths, certain their concealed weapons would be detected. But after a security officer checked their badges at reception, the group was usured into a waiting area.

"Pardon the delay," their guide apologized,"Something's come up. I will return in just a moment."

"Uh-oh," Sparg muttered as he, Mrrowl and Arden positioned themselves at doorways leading into the room.

Shortly security officers erupted into the room, but the group was able to bring them down swiftly. While Sparg had Jate try to befriend the company computer, Arden and Mrrowl kept watch for any further guards. Shre'ka noticed something peculiar with one of the walls and investigated, discovering a hidden lift.

"Look!" she said.

Mrrowl stalked over and nudged her out of the way. Flexing his claws and giving his gear a quick check, he glanced back over his shoulder. "The rest of you will have to follow me. I'll try to hold whoever is down there off."

Sparg and Arden nodded. Shre'ka flicked her ears in anxiety. "We'll be right behind you," she assured him.

The lift took Mrrowl deeper into the complex, opening onto a short hall leading to a large room. Hearing several voices, he stepped cautiously forward, waiting quietly until the lift returned with Sparg, Jate, Arden and Shre'ka.

Arden used slinker ammunition to target guards around the corner, while Sparg ran in with Jate. The Illyrian screamed frantically, "Don't shoot! I'm just a tech! They attacked the guards upstairs!"

The surprised guards apparently believed him, for no one fired at the Illyrian as Shre'ka raced around the corner and with a wave of her paw knocked several large Weequay guards to the floor. Mrrowl followed hard on her heels bringing his axe down on unfortunate prone Weequay.

With everyone in the room occupied fending off a Cathar Force-user, an irate Togorian, and a gunfighting sniper, Sparg wasted no time. "Jate," he instructed, "Access the computer and find the Mako. Show me how we get to her." By the time the conflict had ended, the Illyrian and droid had not only found the Mako's location, but had also shut down the alarm activated by the Weequay's leader, passing it off as a safety simulation to boot. "This way," Sparg told the others. What he didn't tell them was Oneron Fil'vye had entered the building and communicated with him via the computer in an attempt to establish a truce.

After they took a few moments to recover, the group made their way to the hanger bay containing the Mako. A cautious look revealed several guards as well as numerous techs in the area.

Mrrowl growled. "Just get to the ship," he rumbled to Sparg and Shre'ka with a nod to Arden. "We'll cover you."

The Illyrian raced across the hanger bay, Jate keeping up easily with the aid of his rocket jets. Not pausing at the boarding ramp, he charged inside, heading to the cockpit. Shre'ka called upon Sa'uuk and raced after him, pausing at the ramp to wait for Mrrowl and Arden.

A tech stood nearby and she waved a paw at her, knocking her into the ship's hull. The tech staggered. "Run!" Shre'ka snarled at her and the tech obliged.

Mrrowl and Arden charged across the bay, firing shots at any guards that seemed intent on getting in their way. As they closed on the ramp, Shre'ka whirled and ran inside. She came face to face with techs fleeing the ship, hands up, and heard the Mako's engines whining to life. Leaving Sparg to his piloting, she began a quick check of the cabins and other ship areas to be certain no one else was aboard.

Mrrowl slid up against the ramp, a blaster shot whizzing close by his ear to smack into a stack of crates on the hanger bay floor. Wincing, he looked back for Arden and snarled as he spied none other than Oneron entering the bay, a human accompanying him. Sorely tempted to open fire on the Bothan himself as the guards gunned the human down, the Togorian followed Arden up the ramp. He yelled to the Illyrian. "We all in, Sparg! Let's go!" Mrrowl looked to the holostar gunfighter. "Go help him. I'm on the guns." Arden nodded as the big Togorian raced away.

Shre'ka found nothing overly amiss as she hurriedly checked the cabins, but entering the lounge area, she was brought up short by a Wellborne representative there. He raised his blaster, but she waved a paw and it failed to fire. Flattening her ears, she bared her fangs. "Get out!" she snarled and the representative fled.

Sparg held his breath on take off, hoping the dismantled panels the techs had been tinkering with wouldn't slow their escape. Swinging the ship around he noticed the Frayed Whip resting in the hanger as well as another freighter. He spoke to Mrrowl through com. "What a little target practice?"

The Togorian roared an affirmative and trained the laser turrets on the slaver ship. The vessel erupted in explosion. Techs, guards, and Oneron scattered. After a moment, the second freighter fell to the guns as well. "Shouldn't have run off and left us, you honor-less coward," Mrrowl muttered.

Escaping from Acheron into hyperspace, the group finally breathed a small sigh of relief. After tending to their wounds, Shre'ka meditated on Sa'uuk, still trying to search for Paz. An oddly clear image came to her of a place she had seen before--or at least, similar architecture she had seen before. She saw Paz, thankfully alive and well enough, confined not a cell, but to a room like one would find in a residence. The Mon Cal captain was frantically trying to figure a way out of her predicament.

Coming out of her trace, Shre'ka found Mrrowl checking the weapons in the Mako's armory. "I know where Paz is!" she told her mate.

Mrrowl backed his ears. "Then you better let Sparg know."

*****

"Point Nadir!?!"

The Illyrian almost fainted. "How the--? What are we gonna--?" His one eye nearly bulged out of its eye stalk. "We can't go there! That's crazy!!!"

Arden tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Don't be so sure. The Hutts owe me a favor or two. Maybe I can convinced them to let us visit."

Sparg shook his head. "Even if they do, it's a trap, you know that." He turned to look at a light blinking on the com panel. "That's odd. An incoming message. Who could possibly be contacting us?"

Nevertheless he flipped the switch. "Ah! My friends!" a familiar voice spoke over the com. "I was starting to get worried about you. Are you coming to the rendezvous point?"

"Nivv!" Shre'ka exclaimed, delighted.

"Hey, Nivv," Sparg replied. "Uuuuhh, rendezvous point?"

"Yes," their friend continued. "You know, the rendezvous point to meet up with my yacht. After Gallo Memm returned to Vaynai, I found it prudent to leave there. I bought a yacht with the credits I made during the Tandalion concert. Oneron should have given them to you."

"Oh, uh, yeah," Sparg answered. "Do you think you could send those again? We ran into some trouble on Acheron and uh, well, Oneron didn't make it."

"Oh! Sorry to hear that! But he is a very resourceful Bothan," Nivv said amiably. "He's very good at getting out of trouble."

"As good as we are at getting into it?" Sparg muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. We have the coordinates now. Thanks."

"Very good. I look forward to seeing you, my friends."

Sparg broke the contact.

"So, we are going to see Nivv?" Shre'ka asked.

"I think that would be wise," Mrrowl replied. "It will give Arden time to contact his Hutt friends and us a chance to resupply and ready ourselves before going to Point Nadir."

Everyone nodded agreement. As Sparg turned to key in the coordinates to the navcomputer, Shre'ka tried not to worry. After all, they had the Mako back. And soon, hopefully, they would get Paz back as well.

A Time for Action

It took only a couple days of idleness on Vaynai before Paz started to feel restless about the situation she had not dealt with. Guilt pressed down on her like all the oceans of her home world which now seemed so far away and so long ago. She had had only been gone a few months but her past life seemed like a blur, hidden behind everything she had been through since fleeing Dac.

She was blessed with a good crew and even better friends. She never wanted to be a ship’s captain and was tired of everyone looking to her to make decisions about everything except what she should be doing. How could she possibly rest while her parents were being held hostage and ransomed against the very corporation they founded. Why wouldn’t they just pay the price, whatever it was, and get them back? Short of that she and the crew of the Mako could rescue them. But her cousin couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell her where they were.

“We could do it Reenic. Why won’t you trust me?” Paz pleaded into the holo recorder.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you Perca.” He said to her in his most patient and condescending tone. She resented his manner, but by using her real name she knew he was very serious now. “You do not understand everything that’s at stake here and it would be best if you stayed put for now and tried not to get into any further trouble.” He continued.

“You’re right, I don’t understand. Because you won’t tell me anything!” She was losing her cool now which only compounded her irritation since she resolved to be the picture of composure during this conversation. “Look, I know you can’t tell me everything that’s going on here.” She said trying to regain her sensible demeanor. “But you can’t expect me to sit idly by and wait for news. It’s driving me crazy. If it hadn’t been for the Cathar rescue I don’t know how I would have coped with everything these past couple months.”

“That was a very unfortunate situation and you handled it better than you probably should have.” Paz knew he meant that as a compliment. “But you were lucky to pull through with all your scales pointing one direction and you know that’s the truth. You managed to get a price on your head with the Hutts, break into the home of Vaynai’s most influential nobles and instigate a Republic and Separatist conflict on Sorn V. Not to mention starring in a viral holovid where you attack part of the stage show at a Tandalion concert. Which one of those exactly falls into the ‘keep a low profile’ category?”

“Alright, alright.” Paz said while trying to hide her grin.

“I’m serious Perca. You’ve got to hold tight for now. You did manage to get rid of the Clone, right?”

“We didn’t get RID of him. He had to return to duty. I’ll miss him.” Paz said a little hurt

“Missing him is exactly what I was worried about. A single Clone in your motley crew only calls more attention to it. You’ll be able to come home soon and bring the Mako with you.” He said trying to lighten his tone.

“I will do my best to keep the Mako and me out of trouble until you send for me. Sometimes I think you’re more concerned about this ship than you are about me.” She said half serious.

“The corporation has a lot invested in that ship and it can’t fall into the wrong hands. You were the only one I could trust with it. Speaking of which, how is she?” Reenic asked seriously.

“Fine. I keep trying to tweak the engines and get a little more performance out of her.” She knew this would get a rise out of him.

“Unlikely! The propulsion system is all my design and you never were able to match me in that area.” He said defensively.

“That’s about the only area though.” She said playfully pressing her advantage. “Sparg is quite the wiz with these things and he managed to get an extra 5% out of the hyper drives on the most recent jaunt between systems.” She knew he wouldn’t believe her until he saw it himself. “When this is all over the two of you will have to compare notes. I’ve got something else I need to talk to you about regarding Sparg, but that can wait.”

Paz decided to ask what was really on her mind. “Did you discover anything about that extra board I found connected to the main computer? Did the schematic I created ring any bells with the design team?” Paz asked. She was more than a little curious to see what Reenic came back with. Her hopes were quickly dashed though.

“No one knows what that is or what it’s for. It’s nowhere in the main specs of the Mako. If we had it in our lab we could reverse engineer it. But, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s probably a spare part from a test run.” Reenic said.

“Don’t you know about every piece of this ship, being the lead designer and all?” Paz asked knowing he only recently became the lead.

“If I had been lead when it was installed you bet I would have known what it is. Propulsion is my baby and I’m looking forward to hearing about this 5% increase your pilot managed to get out of my system. Hmmm” Reenic smiled into the recorder. “Get some rest Captain Paz. You’ve had a wild ride so far. Let’s make the rest of your journey, um … less adventurous.”

Paz fingered the small metal captain insignia Reenic had given to her the day she left with the Mako. It was the only connection she had to her old life and she treasured it. Reenic had said it represented her becoming an adult and would be the key to her surviving exile. “This gives you the opportunity to be whatever you want to be. It’s more than a symbol; it gives you power over others. Make sure you use that power wisely.” He had told her.

“I’ll do my best.” Paz repeated the same words she had said then, except this time she was lying. “Talk to you soon.” She said before terminating the connection. “But first I’ve got a meeting in the Vault with an old corporate buddy.”

Paz sat in contemplation for a moment and before standing to leave she removed the insignia from her collar and placed it on her desk. Scooping up her datapad she headed out the door and on her first step towards finding her parents.

Mako's Run - Missing Moon

Paz?

Blackness…silence…nothing...

…Paz...Paz, where are you?…

Shre'ka roused herself from her Sa'uuk trance with a sigh of resignation. For whatever reason--distance, Paz's current state of well being, inadequacy of the young Cathar's mystic skill, or possible interference from a Ruk Ro'at, a Shadow Hunter--she was unable to make contact with the Mako's Run Mon Cal Captain. She headed up toward the ship's cockpit, hoping the others had better luck obtaining information from Paz's datapad.

Sparg looked up when she entered. "Jate had a bit of trouble breaking Paz's encryption," he told her, "but he did manage to pull up these." The Illyrian held out the viewer which showed schematics of the Mako, with a few areas and compartments highlighted.

Shre'ka flicked back her ears. "What does it mean?"

"Dunno," Sparg admitted. "Either these areas have something she's looking for or…something important about them, who knows." He shrugged."Doesn't tell us much."

"What about a message?" she asked. "Was Paz able to leave us one about what happened to her?"

Sparg shook his head. "Doesn't look that way."

Shre'ka hung her head. "I was unable to reach her with Sa'uuk, not even to tell if she is alive."

Mrrowl placed a comforting paw on her shoulder. "We'll find her," he said. "You can always try again later. Besides, we should be arriving at the coordinates Jate and Oneron gave us shortly."

Sparg checked the navcomputer. "Yep," he agreed. "Looks like we'll be arriving…now!"

The Zygerrian ship, The Frayed Whip, dropped from hyperspace. Everyone's jaw dropped at the view before them.

"What the hell?" Mrrowl growled sharply.


In their path lay the remains of what appeared to be several ships, some of them quite large. Sparg cut in the sublight engines and promptly began to try to maneuver through the drifting obstacles of scorched and twisted structural debris. "Jate! Gonna need your help, buddy!"

As the Illyrian struggled to avoid a crash, the others stared apprehensively at the destruction. "What happened here?" Arden murmured to no one in particular.

The ship gave a sudden lurch. "Careful, Sparg!" Shre'ka exclaimed.

The Illyrian frowned. "We didn't hit anything! That was blaster fire!"

Instantly Mrrowl was racing to a gun turret, his footfalls thundering on the deckplates.

"Let me know when you're set!" Sparg yelled after him.

Arden threw himself into the seat beside Sparg and began to help.

Shre'ka's ears flattened. Who was attacking them? And why? Where they the ones who had destroyed these other vessels? Trying to still her thoughts, she closed her eyes, reaching out to Sa'uuk to see what she could find out.

The Illyrian pilot made way through the debris field with a dazzling display of combat maneuvers. Arden was able to scan their attackers, discovering there were three smaller fighter craft in pursuit. One couldn't keep up with Sparg's flying, crashing into a drifting twisted bulkhead of durasteel that the Illyrian had dodged past. Another fell to Mrrowl's guns. Shre'ka reached out to touch the minds of the two beings that she could sense nearby. One was frightened and wanted help, the other slammed its mind closed to her when she thought "Stop!"

The last fighter kept pace with them through the field, but finally fell to Mrrowl's guns. A cheer echoed through the ship. "There's still someone out there!" Shre'ka warned. "Someone who's frightened and needs help."

Arden scanned their surroundings while Shre'ka used Sa'uuk to sense where the being was located. Finally they managed to find a lone survivor on a small drifting damaged freighter and get him to safety. The human, called Wing Lauderman, told the group he was making a delivery to the local space station of the Varic system, the "second moon" of Acheron. Unexpectedly, the station and everyone there had come under attack by an unknown weapon that had devastated everything in the area.

"What could possibly have been able to do all this in a single attack? Certainly not a ship--even a capitol class," Mrrowl mused.

"I don't know," Wing replied. "I've made this trip many a time and I've never seen anything like this! Why, I could tell you about this one time--"

"Maybe later," the Togorian rumbled.

"What do we do now?" Shre'ka asked.

Her mate's eyes narrowed. "Have a little talk with Oneron."

*****

"If you're quite through throwing me around, slinging this ship to and fro, I'd appreciate it. I tell you again, my people were to take your ship to the second moon of the Varic system."

"They're not here," Mrrowl growled, showing his fangs a little. "And neither is the moon. Luckily the Mako wasn't found among the wreckage."

The Bothan threw up his hands. "Then I don't know what to tell you."

The Togorians lips lifted dangerously. "You'd better start being more cooperative."

Oneron visibly cringed. Mrrowl grinned a distinctly unfriendly grin. Shre'ka started to feel a little sorry for the Bothan. "Where would they have gone if they could not get to the "moon"?"

Sparg scowled, watching Oneron closely. "Acheron, perhaps?" he suggested.

The Bothan shook his head. "No. Not there!"

"Wait! Wait!" Arden interrupted, holding up his hands. He looked to Oneron. "What I want to know is: what has happened between ya'll before that they don't trust you?"

Shre'ka flattened her ears, waving a paw to cut the holostar off. "Why not?" Shre'ka asked the Bothan, curious about Oneron's reaction.

He cast her a sullen look, but didn't answer.

Mrrowl blew through his whiskers, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a hiss. "This is pointless." He looked at Sparg. "Come on. Acheron it is."

"Do you want anything?" Shre'ka asked Oneron as they turned to leave.

"Yes!" the Bothan replied. "I want out of here!"

Shre'ka scowled. "Do you need food or water? Are you cold? Do you need a blanket?"

The Bothan crouched on the floor of his cell, glumly shaking his head. "No, thank you."

Shre'ka sighed, then turned and followed the others.

*****

"You are cleared to land, docking bay 10."

Sparg responded with an affirmative to the neutral voice coming over com, guiding the Zygerrian ship in on final approach. Jate twittered softly at his side.

The others congregated around Wing, dubious looks on their faces. "I'm telling you," the human assured them, "my boss, Jaekin Morel, is the one to talk to. I've flown the run between here and the second moon many, many times--"

"So you've said," Mrrowl rasped.

"Uh…yeah…so my boss, he's connected. He can get you work or whatever you need with the Wellbourne company. They control the durasteel mining that takes place on Ancheron."

"You'll take us to see him?" Arden asked.

"Sure thing! Soon as we land."

However, as the group departed the ship, they saw a small group of officials approaching. The one in the lead waved a hand toward the vessel. "Did you just come from the second moon of Varic?"

"Not exactly, no," Sparg replied. "We're here looking for work. What's the problem?"

"That area recently came under attack," the official responded. "Any ships coming from that area are impounded until an investigation into the incident is concluded. You will, of course, be allowed to retrieve any necessary items you require before the ship is sealed."

"There are others still on that ship in cells," Shre'ka protested. "They could die if you leave them in there."

"Cells? Are you slavers?" the official responded.

"We're not the slavers," Mrrowl growled. "They are."

"Yes," Shre'ka nodded. "We freed ourselves and took over the ship."

"So you're thieves," the official replied.

"No," Sparg answered. "We don't want this ship. We're here to find our ship."

"I thought you were here looking for work?"

"Is there someone in authority we can turn the slavers over to?" Shre'ka asked.

The official shrugged. "Trafficking in slaves isn't illegal here."

"So they would be set free?" Shre'ka asked.

The official nodded, jotting some notes on a datapad. "It'd be best if you gathered your belongings and vacated the ship as quickly as possible."

Shre'ka sighed.

*****

"You are mad! All of you!" Oneron cried. "You can not possibly expect me to be seen on Acheron! I would be killed!"

"By who?" Sparg asked.

"That is no concern of yours," Oneron snapped. "But believe me, it would happen!"

"You can not stay on the ship," Shre'ka told him, exasperated.

"He…could," Mrrowl drawled, grinning.

Shre'ka snarled to herself. "The officials here are taking the ship into custody while they investigate the attack that destroyed the place you sent us! You can not stay here! You will die!"

"I'll die if I go out there!" the Bothan argued.

Arden thoughtfully tapped his chin. "What about a disguise?"

Sparg blinked. "Brilliant! One of those Zygerrian helmets should work!"

Oneron gave them a dubious look. Arden smiled. "Don't worry, friend," he said. "I have experience with make-up and costuming. You're own mother won't know you."

*****

A disreputable tough surrounded by several scantily clad Twi'lek females looked up from talking to Wing Lauderman as the group approached his table at the back of the bar, The Flaming Pipe. "These are the people you were telling me about?" he asked.

Wing nodded. "Sure, thing, Boss. I told 'em how you could help 'em out with working for Wellbourne--"

"What happened to my cargo?"

"Well…there was an attack, see? I barely managed to escape with my life." Wing gestured to his rescuers. "I wouldn't have made it, if it hadn't been for them."

Jaekin Morel clapped a hand on Lauderman's shoulder. "Yeah, ok. Wing, go with these two fellas, all right?"

The tramp freighter pilot nodded and left, escorted by two of Morel's minions.

He turned once more to the group. "Now what can I do for you folks?"

Sparg stepped forward. "We're looking for a ship. Mon Cal design freighter. Wavedancer riding a mako shark emblem on it."

Morel nodded slowly. "Yeah…I've seen that ship. Interesting design. Up at the Wellborne facility, I believe."

"We need to go there then."

Morel smiled. "Of course. It'll cost, though."

Mrrowl returned the smile. "Of course it will."

Sparg braced himself. "How much?"

"20,000. In advance."

"Fifteen," Arden spoke up. "Half now. Half when you get what we need to us."

Morel considered a moment, then nodded. His smile widened. "While you wait, perhaps you'd care for some entertainment? Or a massage, perhaps?" He gestured and the Twi'lek females approached the group, smiling invitingly. Arden and Sparg followed them into the back, but Mrrowl and Shre'ka declined, finding a table for themselves. Shre'ka tickled Mrrowl under his chin. "Perhaps you would care to dance?" she asked. The Togorian smiled.

*****

"You're a buyer," Morel told Shre'ka as he handed out badges to the group. "Security," with a glance to Mrrowl, "and," with a sweeping gesture to Arden, Sparg and Oneron, "mechanics and technical staff with an R-2 unit."

Arden handed over a cred chip which Morel swiped through a reader with a practiced flourish before returning it. "A pleasure doing business, friends. Good luck."

"Yeah, yeah. You might let a guy know the Twi'lek girls aren't going to be the ones doing the massages," Sparg grumbled.

Leaving the bar, they made their way down the streets following the road that led to the Wellborne Corporation headquarters. Oneron fussed with the helmet on his head. "I want a weapon," he demanded. "I need some means to defend myself."

"Not gonna happen," Mrrowl told him firmly.

Shre'ka tried to reassure the Bothan. "We'll protect you, don't worry."

As they were walking between two buildings, assassin droids suddenly stepped out from the corners behind and in front of them, immediately opening fire. As everyone dived for cover, Arden muttered, "I'd REALLY like to know what ya'll did to piss so many people off."

Realizing shots were coming from overhead, Shre'ka cried, "The roofs!" before calling upon Sa'uuk and leaping up beside one of the droids standing near the rooftop's edge. Calling upon Sa'uuk once more, she sent the droid staggering, damaging it slightly and knocking it down. She flung an outstretched paw toward the other droid and it went over the edge, falling to the ground below.

Hearing his mate's warning, Mrrowl roared and leaped for the opposite roof, his front paws catching the edge. Digging in with his claws, he pulled himself the rest of the way up with a snarl, promising quick destruction to the droids standing there.

Arden and Sparg drew their blasters and returned fire, damaging their attackers somewhat, but pinned down in the open. Oneron cowered behind them, cursing, then broke away to the rear, racing around a building corner and disappearing. "After him, Jate!" Sparg yelled and the droid ignited his rocket jets to pursue the Bothan.

Shre'ka spied other attackers running up to join the fight and realized they wore the same insignia as those they had fought rescuing her people from Gallo Memm's estate. The remaining droid stood up and fired at her, but she managed to dodge. With a wave of her hand, she drained its power and it clattered to the roof.

Mrrowl single-handedly battled two droids, his vibroaxe making a satisfying crunch as it bit into either of his attackers. Arden and Sparg managed to drop the assailants on the ground with a little assistance from Shre'ka who moved the power drained droid overhead of one attacker to drop it upon him, while stunning another.

Dropping back to the street, Shre'ka healed Sparg, who appeared to have been injured the most severely, with Sa'uuk. However one of Memm's men still lived. While the others discussed what to do with him, Arden pulled out a blaster and abruptly shot him, shocking Shre'ka. Needing to move quickly before authorities arrived, they followed after Oneron and Jate, but sadly the droid had been unable to catch the Bothan and he escaped.

Deciding to find a hotel to rest for the night and allow things to calm down, the group prepares to visit the Wellborne facility the following day to retrieve the Mako and resume the search for their missing captain…

To be continued...