Lop groaned as she began to regain consciousness. Her mind was running as fast as she could, trying to remember what happened before she fell unconscious.
“Wakey wakey… sleepy head.”
Lop began to open her eyes slowly. She found herself tied hand and foot, extended with chains and hanging against the wall, with her hands sealed into metal globes, inside what seemed like a cell. And when her view got clearer, she saw somebody in front of her.
Shador Prar, with his helmet under his arm, and her lightsaber in his other hand, with a smile on his face.
“Oh dear, I thought you wouldn’t wake up. I don't remember being so hard on you before.” Prar said to her, seeing how she tried to move. “Please, don’t bother. This cell was created expressly to keep Force users locked.”
After trying to free herself in vain, she faced the imperial. “What do you want for me?”
Prar laughed at her question. “Oh dear, you already know it. I want you to be part of my military project concerning force users.”
Lop looked away from him. “You should already know. I’m not going to be the puppet of your Empire.”
“Oh, please, please. Just listen to me.” Prar said, moving to her side so she could see him. “Think about it. The Jedi Order, and their legendary fight methods, the Forms, are close to extinction. My Black Knights Corps was created originally to save these fighting styles. Let’s admit it, seeing somebody fight with any of its seven Forms is something worth seeing, and much more using them.”
Lop turned her head to look to another side.
“But between me and you, the Forms are just half of the equation.” He walked to Lop’s side, where she was facing now. “Even if I were able to ‘translate’ each one of the seven Jedi Forms to be used by common people, they’re just half of the whole equation. They can only be used to their full extent by force users like you.” He approached her lightsaber to her face for a moment. “The Emperor doesn’t look at this project with nice eyes, but if I show the galaxy that Force-users can be trained to fight for the Empire, the galaxy will be safer.”
Lop turned her head again, not wanting to talk to him.
“Please, just help me show the Empire that I’m right. I can offer you anything in compensation. “ Prar walked in front of her. Then he made a fake, apprehensive smile. “Even if I promise to take the entire Imperial garrison off the planet?”
Lop rolled her eyes, looking at him for a moment, just before returning to look away, not trusting his word. Prar shrugged at her reaction.
“Fine. I’m a patient man. It’s just a matter of time before you accept to join us.” Prar said, turning around and walking to the door, only to stop when the door opened, turning his head to look at her out of the corner of your eye. “Or, in the worst case, a matter of methods.”
With these words, Prar crossed the jail’s door, being closed behind him by a guard standing there, giving a loud sigh.
“Director Prar.” He turned around, seeing Ochô approaching him. “If I can, I would like to ask you something.”
“Yes, miss Ochô?” Prar asked.
“I was wondering if you could hand over the family’s sword. It practically belongs to me.” Ochô asked him.
Prar looked at the lightsaber in his hand.
“Not now.” He simply answered.
“What? Why?” She asked him, confused.
“Let's just say I'd rather keep her in my possession for now. Just until Miss Lop decides to work with us.” Prar replied. “Just as a precaution.”
Prar began to walk away from Ochô through the corridor. She, for a moment, looked at the jail’s door where Lop was jailed, making an annoyed gesture before walking away.
Back in the Tengu, the crew was reunited in the ship’s lounge, all of them with faces of despair and tiredness. Kota was the only one trying to keep a stern face at the time.
“Three days,” Frall said, rubbing the back of his head. “Three days looking through the planet, and no trace of Lop.”
“Yeah, we used all the confidants and informers we could get on the planet. And even infiltrated the imperial databases, trying to get a clue.” Yavis said, sitting on the couch with his hands on his head.
“And still… we found no trace of her,” Drasha said, sighing loudly.
TD-4 looked depressed on the ground after hearing that.
“Maybe they never took her out of the base?” Byte suggested.
“No, we would have discovered it,” Yavis said.
“I should have stayed to help her,” Kota said, crossing his arms.
“You would have been captured, too,” Brad said. “There was nothing we could have done at that time.”
“And what do you suggest we do? After all, we looked everywhere!” Drasha exclaimed.
Brad was thinking in silence with his head down, until an idea got into his mind, and this idea wasn’t to his liking at all. He gave a loud sigh.
“That’s because we have been searching in the wrong place all the time.” He said, making everyone look at him. “Think about it. He was finally able to catch a Jedi, obsessed with his Dark Knight project. Now he has Lop, there’s only a place where he could be holding her prisoner.”
TD-4 and Byte looked at each other for a moment.
“And where is this place, if I may ask?” Frall asked.
Brad closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking at the group. “In the Claymore.”
“The Claymore?” Yavis and Byte asked, tilting their heads.
“Are you sure of it?” Kota asked, as if he knew what that place was.
Brad nodded at him. “There’s no doubt about that.”
The small droid approached Brad after hearing them.
“Excuse me, Brad, but what's the Claymore?” Frall asked.
Brad looked at them. “The Claymore is Prar’s base of operations, where he created his black knights. Basically is the black knights’ academy.”
“So, there’s from where you escaped the last time, right?” Yavis asked, Brad nodding at his question.
“But how did you escape from there back then?” Byte asked. TD-4 sounded as if wondering the same question.
“I had some help back then,” Brad said, looking at Kota.
“But surely they have increased the security after that incident. And much more now that Prar has his prize.” Kota commented.
“In the crazy case we’re mounting a rescue attempt there, what do we have to expect from that place?” Frall asked.
“We’re talking about a heavily armored Golan-I Defense Station remodeled for Prar’s needs. A large, heavily armored space station that can defend itself from small skirmishes. Kota and I had luck for being able to escape from there that day.” Brad explained.
“Well, like every Golan-I Defense Station the Empire has,” Yavis said. “Fortunately, we still have an imperial shuttle we can use to get there.”
“And where could she be held?” Drasha asked.
“In the detention center. It’s the only place I can think of where they could keep somebody as Lop jailed.” Brad said.
“Sorry, but we’re forgetting something important here,” Frall said. “Even if we’re using the imperial shuttle to get closer to that place, how are we going to get inside? That place will be crawling with stormtroopers and black knights!”
“No,” Brad said, shaking his head. “The main threat there is the black knights themselves. They have only army soldiers defending the base alongside them. And they don’t have anti-ship weaponry inside, so if we can get the ships inside the hangar, we will have a spot where we can resist their attacks.”
“And how will we hold a whole imperial station’s crew with only us?” Yavis asked.
“Don’t worry,” Brad said with a serious face. “I’m taking care of it.”
Prar was in his office, eyeing some documents he had on the table. The hunt for Lop in Tao took him away from his duties as director of the Black Knight Corps for some time. And now he had his prize, and until she decided to begin cooperating, he thought he needed to advance some work that was left unattended when he was in Tao. He wasn't about to let any sleazy Imperial official try to take funding away from his projects.
He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice someone entering his office, unaware of his patience until he noticed a blue hand resting on the documents on the table.
“I think we have to talk, Shador.” Asked Diara with an annoyed face.
“Uh-huh. And of what, precisely?” Prar asked, ignoring the bounty hunter’s intrusion on his work.
“You know what. Besides me, you have four bounty hunters stationed in their quarters, waiting for the payment for this work. And we’re getting annoyed for not being paid.” Diara explained.
“Oh, that? You don’t have to worry about it.” Prar said, waving his hand.
“And why? We all finished the job. The Lepi is your prisoner.” Diara pointed.
“For now, unless something happens,” Prar said.
Diara raised an eyebrow at his words.
“I think I can explain to you what he means.” Agent Hercules said as he entered the room, hearing the conversation. “We believe that her friends would attempt some kind of rescue mission to take our guest back.
Diara looked at the ISB agent for a moment before glaring back at Prar.
“So you expect the rebels to come, so you’re keeping us here in case that happens, right?” Diara asked.
“Of course. The foundation stone of my Dark Knight Corp will be in danger while those rebels still live.” Prar said. “Don’t worry. If you deal with them, the agreed payment will be doubled.”
Diara crossed her arms before sighing in defeat.
“Okay, I will inform the others.” She said before leaving the office, leaving both Prar and Hercules inside.
The woman wandered through the base’s corridors, passing different security patrols until finally reaching the quarter where the bounty hunters were staying, having their weapons ready for any task they could be asked.
“What has he said?” Xad Bed asked, leaning against the wall.
“He will hold our payment for now,” Diara replied to the Falleen.
“Seriously?” Daliyuha asked as he stood up from the bed. “We’re not here working for free!”
“Yeah, maybe those imperials pretend to doublecross us,” Grazisk said as he approached them.
“I doubt it,” Diara said. “Prar believes the rebels we scared at Tao would come here to rescue the Lepi.”
“And he expects us to deal with them?” Xad Bed asked.
“Yes. At least he promised to pay us the double we agreed to in exchange for this job.” Diara said.
“Oh, then everything’s fine! Come on…!” The Falleen exclaimed, raising her hands as everyone groaned and returned to the beds.
Meanwhile, Zats was working on his rifle, ignoring the conversation in the room as if he wasn’t interested in Prar’s plans or the lack of payment.
A few minutes later, while everyone was getting ready for the mission and Yavis went to get the stolen imperial shuttle, Brad began looking through his belongings until he found a large box that he seemed to have hidden long ago.
“Are you sure of it?” Drasha asked as she was at the cabin’s entrance, looking at Brad, who looked at the box. “You promised yourself to never open that box again when you closed it.”
“I know. And also, I promised myself I would never return to that place.” Brad said, placing his hands on the box. “But if we want to rescue Lop from Prar and get her out of that place, some promises must be broken.”
Brad opened the box, revealing some equipment between parts of armor and clothes, a helmet, and two short vibroblades with spiked guards. Looking at them, he raised an eyebrow, looking at the equipment’s colors.
“I asked Yavis to repaint that thing with different colors. Though you would like it.” Drasha said.
As Brad remembers, the black knights’ equipment was a mix of black and red in their battle suits, but this armor and equipment changed their crimson red for a deep blue. He looked at her with a smile.
“Thanks.” He said to her with a nod.
“I’ll leave you to prepare yourself,” Drasha said, closing the cabin’s door.
When she began to walk through the Tengu, she began to hear a voice coming from the cockpit.
“Don’t worry about it. Remember, after we rescue Lop, we will need a way to escape the space station quickly, and we will be vulnerable to the station’s weapons. So when we begin our escape, you must be there already, understood? We depend on you.”
Drasha entered the cockpit, finding Kota there, closing a communication at that moment.
“With whom were you talking, general?” Drasha asked, crossing her arms.
The old Jedi simply looked at her in silence for a moment before answering. “With a contact of mine. Getting things ready for when we escape from the station.”
“Escape?” Drasha asked.
“With this entire rescue mission, the most important question is not how we're going to get in, but how we're going to get out,” Kota said. “We can have some luck entering inside the station, but the moment we move out of it, we will be within their weapons’ reach.”
“And risk killing his precious Jedi?” Drasha asked, referring to Prar’s obsession with Lop.
“He’s obsessed with her, of course. But in the extreme case he sees he can get her, he may decide to sacrifice her. You can say what you want, but I prefer to make sure of the worst possible situation.” Kota explained to her.
“And this contact of yours, you can trust him? The last ones got us in this situation to begin with.” Drasha asked.
“Believe me, I had my doubts with him in the past, but, compared with them, I would bet my life on this one. He has more than earned it.” Kota said.
“Well, basically, we’re betting our lives on this mission,” Drasha said. “I just hope that this faith you have in him is reciprocated.”
“For our own good, it must,” Kota said. Drasha looked at him for a while until she saw a ship approaching their landing spot.
“It seems that Yavis’ here with the ship,” Drasha said.
Kota turned his view to the outside to see the imperial shuttle land close.
“General Kota?” Kota and Drasha turned to see Brad, who had just spoken, getting surprised at what they were seeing. “Time to go.”
In the Claymore’s command center, the crew working there was bored by the lack of action, until they detected the signal of a ship approaching the space station. At first, they identified the incoming ship as an Imperial shuttle, beginning to ask for the ship’s identification. For some time, it didn’t get no confirmation.
But without warning, and when the shuttle was close enough, it shot a few ion missiles that hit the communication and radar antennas, nullifying them and making it impossible to use the station’s weapons.
With the path open, the Imperial shuttle arrived at the hangar bay, landing there. In no time, dozens of security soldiers and black knights reached the hangar, aiming their weapons, ready for whoever was piloting the ship.
After a few seconds of tension, the shuttle’s ramp lowered. The first thing they saw coming out of the ship was the old general Jedi Rahm Kota, lightsaber at hand. But the next one to come down wore the same uniform as the black knights, but with the red colors changed to blue, with two short vibroblades with spiked guards.
The security guards and the black knights there just looked at the intruders, wondering what they were doing here, until the blue colored black knight spoke.
“Tell Director Shador Prar that BK-0013 is here! Tell him that he knows why I’m here, and that I’m not leaving until I get it back!” Brad exclaimed, holding his weapons tightly.
Meanwhile, in his office, Prar was working on his paperwork until a security soldier rushed in.
“What happens?” Prar asked, not facing the soldier.
“Sir! A black knight with the numberation BK-0013 has entered into the base alongside a Jedi.” The security guard said.
“BK-0013?!” Prar asked in surprise, turning his head to him. “And where is he now?!”
“In the landing hangar, sir!” The soldier replied.
Prar began to operate the devices on his table, trying to activate a holovisor to see what was happening. And after a while, he was able to see what was happening at the hangar.
“Prar! Do you hear me?!” Exclaimed Brad, raising a hand to the guards there.
“Well, well… look what we have here,” Prar said, seeing the hologram, pressing a button.
In the hangar, the people present heard how a communicator sounded in the place, soon followed by a known voice.
“BK-0013. Welcome home.” Prar’s voice was heard in the hangar as Brad looked around. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again. “Get ‘em!” He said before cutting the communication
The guards and black knights aimed their weapons at both intruders, ready to shoot at them, but both Brad and Kota weren’t worried about it.
Without warning, the Tengu entered abruptly into the hangar, getting the defenders off guard, using the inability of the detection systems to get inside. The Tengu’s frontal cannon began to fire a few times, taking down a few guards and forcing them to take cover behind anything they could get behind.
When the Tengu stopped shooting, the boarding ramp lowered, and then Drasha, Frall, Yavis, and Byte got out of the ship armed with blasters, taking cover wherever they could and beginning to fire at the imperial forces, who then began replying the fire.
While the blaster fire flew everywhere, some black knights and security soldiers with melee equipment rushed at Brad and Kota, but the former black knight was able to hold himself alone against the attacks of the imperials, while the old Jedi used his lightsaber to block any incoming blaster fire.
“I can’t believe we got this far here!” Frall said as he shot at the Imperials.
“Yeah! Never expected the trick would work!” Yavis said while covering from the enemy fire.
“Well, now we’re here, let’s do our part!” Drasha said.
“I still wonder why I don’t stay in the ship using the cannon,” Byte said, shooting and avoiding the shots.
“Because we need to make them focus on us, and not on our ship. If we use the ship, they might begin to use any anti-ship weapon they might have stored. We will need the Tengu to escape after we get Lop free.” Drasha explained.
“Okay, I get it,” Byte replied.
“Can you stop babbling for a second?” Frall asked while shooting at the Imperials from his hideout.
Brad was holding and repelling the black knights and security soldiers all by himself, while the others covered him against the imperial fire, soon calling Kota.
“General, we will hold them here! You go and find Lop!” Called Brad at the old Jedi.
“Okay, but don’t dare to die here!” Said Kota before beginning to run from one side of the hangar while the rest of the Tengu team covered him.
At that moment, TD-4, as it hid with the rebels when they came, began to fly behind Kota.
“TD, come back here!” Byte called at the small droid, seeing how it ignored it. “Damn it!”
Meanwhile, Prar was hearing the alarms sound everywhere in the station as Agent Hercules and Ochô rushed inside his office.
“Agent Hercules? Call the bounty hunters! It’s time to make them win their payment!” Prar said as he began to prepare his armor.
“Understood!” The imperial agent nodded, rushing out of the office.
“And Lady Ochô? Do me the favor of commanding all units to the hangar. We must make sure they can’t escape.” Prar said to the woman.
Ochô wondered for a moment, but then she nodded, rushing out of the quarter.
In no time, while passing near every imperial soldier running to their positions, the imperial agent reached the bounty hunters’ quarter just when Diara rushed out of the room.
“What is happening?” The female Azun asked the imperial officer.
“Just as we expected, the rebels are here, in the hangar.” Agent Hercules said. “Now it’s time to win your payment.”
“Just what we wanted to hear!” Diara said, looking into the quarter. “Come on, everybody! We have a job to do!”
“At last, damnit!” Grazick said as he began to grab his weapons, as did the other bounty hunters.
One by one, the bounty hunters began to run out of the quarter, Zats being the last one to prepare to leave, but Agent Hercules placed a hand blocking the way.
“I want to talk to you before you leave, mister.” Agent Hercules said, while the Lepi bounty hunter didn’t reply.
The imperial agent entered the quarter while the bounty hunter simply ignored him.
“I want to talk with you about your mission.” The imperial agent said. “Your real mission.”
Those words were enough to make the male Lepi turn his eyes at the imperial, frowning his eyes.
Kota and TD-4 ran through the corridors, eluding any black knight or security officer who guarded the corridors or was rushing to the hangar to aid in the battle there. If the enemy knew that they were roaming around the base, the Imperials would begin looking for them, dividing their forces, making it difficult for them to find Lop. And the most vital part of the mission was that all attention was to be centered on the hangar, with Brad and the others keeping them there.
But it was difficult for them to look for the way to the cells, and roaming around wasn’t helping them with the task. If at least they could find a terminal form where TD-4 could connect itself to unload the base’s planes…
TD-4 bipped in a worried tone as the old Jedi looked at it.
“Don’t worry, we will find her,” Kota said.
Eventually, he felt a group approaching where they were, forcing them to hide behind a door before they found them.
Kota took some steps back, staring at the door as the small droid attached to his shoulder, believing they were safe at that moment.
“Who are you?”
A droid voice startled him as he turned around, finding a group of young people with black training uniforms and weapons, and a droid there with a weapon too.
The old Jedi wondered where he was until he looked around. He seemed to have gotten inside one of the base’s training classrooms, cursing his luck.
“I asked, who are you?” The droid asked, advancing to Rham Kota. “You don’t seem to be part of the base’s personnel. I must ask you to identify yourself right now, mister.”
TD-4 made some bips, looking at the old Jedi for a moment.
“Look, right now I don’t have time for this, okay?” Kota said to the droid.
“I'm sorry, but I must insist.” The droid aimed its weapon at him. “Ignoring my questions could result in a breach of base security, so I feel obliged to-” The droid was interrupted when Kota slashed it in half with his lightsaber, surprising the trainees in the room as the two halves fell in different positions.
Kota looked at the droid for a moment and then at the trainees in silence.
“Jedi forms must be only used by Jedi, so better stop trying to learn them.” The old Jedi said to them before beginning to walk, until he suddenly stopped, turning to them. “Does anyone know where the cells are? Or at least a terminal for my small friend?”
The trainees quickly signaled with their hands in the same direction.
Agent Hercules walked around the quarter while Zats looked at him in silence. Eventually, the imperial agent took from his pocket a small object.
“I suppose you know what this is, right?” Agent Hercules asked him.
Zats was silent for a moment before replying. “It’s a holopuck. All bounty hunters here have one.”
“Yes, that’s right. But what is interesting here it’s what’s inside it.” Agent Hercules said, placing it on a table.
He activated the holopuck, showing on it a hologram with the image of Lop under some words.
“Yeah, and?” The bounty hunter asked.
“As you know, every one of you was tasked with the mission of aiding in the capture of the Lepi, alive.” Agent Hercules began to explain. “But, this one asks for her death, tripling our original offer.”
The bounty hunter didn’t say anything, as if all this was normal to him.
“Somebody has hired you to kill Miss Lop, right?” The imperial agent asked. “I want to know who, and why.”
Zats shrugged. “You already know the story, mister. I can’t say who hired me, and why. Why don't you investigate it by yourself, as your people always do?”
“That’s what I plan to do.” Agent Hercules said. “But sadly, you won’t get any payment, much less after director Prar discovers your double game. Said this, I must ask you to come with me, so don't resist.”
The bounty hunter smiled. “Sorry, but that's not going to happen.”
Zats tried to aim with his rifle at Agent Hercules, but he was fast enough to grab his weapon. Both began to struggle against each other with the weapon in their hands. The two of them kept crashing their backs and said that every locker and furniture in the quarter had.
Eventually, Zats kicked the imperial agent away, crashing against a wall, but was able to take the weapon out of the bounty hunter’s hands. The imperial agent began to prepare the bounty hunter’s weapon to fire against him.
But a blaster was heard, and moments later, Agent Hercules fell dead to the ground while Zats held a blaster in his hand, keeping a serious expression while looking at his corpse. He simply recovered his weapon and kicked the imperial’s body before leaving the quarter, closing the door behind him.
Lop could hear the alarms sounding in the cell. It was clear that something was happening right now in the place where she was being held. If it weren't for her restraints preventing her from using the Force, she might have taken the opportunity to escape. But without her family sword, she'd have a very difficult time defending herself, at least from the guards protecting her cell door.
At that moment, Lop heard the sound of a struggle, though it sounded more like someone banging hard against the corridor walls. After a moment of silence, the cell door opened. But to her surprise, it wasn’t an imperial or a bounty hunter.
“Are you okay?” Rahm Kota asked as he entered the cell, with TD-4 floating at his side.
“Master?! TD?!” Lop asked, surprised to see the old Jedi and the droid.
“You don’t sound happy to see us,” Kota commented sarcastically as he released Lop from her restraints with his lightsaber.
After she got free, Lop caressed her wrists as the small droid floated at the lepi’s side. “I'm just surprised to see you here.” She replied. “By the way, where’s here?”
“A long story, but now we must get back to the hangar. I don’t know how much the others will be able to hold the imperials there.” Kota said.
“The others are here too?” Lop asked.
“Yes, run!” Kota said, making Lop run behind him out of the cell with TD-4 flying behind her.
Out there saw the imperial guards were out cold on the ground, surely Kota’s work with them, but then stopped, turning around.
“Lop, what are you doing?” The old Jedi asked.
“My lightsaber! I must get it back!” Lop said.
“There’s no time! Come here!” Called Rham Kota, forcing her to follow him as fast as she could.
In the hangar, Brad and the rest of the Yokai kept the Imperials at bay, keeping them away from their ships and getting their attention. They lost track of time of how long they had held them in the place.
“Where are they? I'm running out of ammo!” Frall asked.
“Then stop shooting as usual and make every shot count!” Drasha said, giving a few shots at the imperials.
Brad was holding himself with a pair of black knights that approached him, the three avoiding stumbling over the corpses of dead black knights on the ground. Brad’s breath was heavy inside the helmet.
“Getting too tired, traitor?” One of the black knights asked.
“Yeah, tired of killing morons like you.” Brad taunted them.
The two black knights growled at his words and prepared to charge at him at the same time.
But something invisible stopped them and pulled them backward, hitting hard the hangar’s boxes, scaring the guards behind them.
Brad looked around, soon spotting Kota, Lop, and TD-4 running at him.
“Okay, let’s get outta here!” Ordered Brad to the rest of the team.
Frall nodded, but looking at the imperials, he saw something that made his eyes open wide. “Watch out!” He called, lowering his head.
They saw how a missile flew past them, not hitting them but the Tengu, causing an explosion that damaged the ship beyond repair. Everyone looked horrified at what happened to their main ship.
“No!” Yavis exclaimed, seeing the Tengu’s remains burning in flames.
“Now we’re done!” Byte placed its hands on its head.
A small laugh caught the attention of everyone. When they turned around, they spotted Shador Prar and Ochô with more imperial troopers and black knights aiming their weapons at them, with some of the bounty hunters with them too, the Devaronian with a missile launcher between his hands.
“Oh my, were you planning on leaving so soon? You just got here!” Prar said, with his helmet under his arm.
Kota prepared his lightsaber to fight as Lop began to step behind him and Brad.
“You bastard!” Yavis was about to jump to them, but Frall and Drasha held him, extending a hand to spot Byte doing the same.
“You missed something, lady?” Prar said, waving Lop’s lightsaber with his hand.
Seeing her weapon, Lop extended her hand, and using the Force, she pulled it away from Prar’s hand back to her, the man yelping a little in surprise.
“Hey, that’s not very kind from your side.” Prar signaled her.
“I don’t have to be kind to you,” Lop said, activating her lightsaber.
But nothing came from the handle. No noise, no light. Nothing. Confused, Lop began to hit the handle trying to activate it.
“Again, you missed something, lady?” Brad said with a nasty grin.
Kota looked at the lightsaber’s handle, soon figuring out what happened, looking back at Prar. “You took away the kyber crystal?” Lop and Brad looked at him before looking at the imperial.
Prar simply smiled at his question, while Ochô looked at him, surprised.
“You took what?!” Ochô asked him, fury in her voice. “So that’s why you didn’t give it to me!”
“Just a precaution, my dear. This will make things easier for us.” Prar said as he placed his helmet.
“Not if I have anything to say,” Kota said, stepping forward.
“No, leave to help you,” Brad said.
“No, Brad. You have been fighting all this time, and it’s clear you’re tired. You simply rest and keep her safe.” Kota said to him, walking to Prar.
“This will be fun,” Prar said, taking his twin rapiers. “Don’t get in the way. Just keep your weapons aiming at them, but do not interfere. I always wanted to fight a full-fledged Jedi.” Prar began to walk toward Kota.
After a few steps, both Rahm Kota and Prar were staring at each other, their weapons ready in their hands. Meanwhile, the remaining Yokai began to move, keeping their weapons aimed at the imperials as they approached the imperial shuttle.
“Yokai 4, Yokai 5, prepare the ship!” Drasha said to them.
Both Byte and Yavis nodded and rushed into the Lambda, while Drasha and Frall stayed behind the ship’s ramp. When Drasha saw the Devarorian prepare another projectile, she shot at the weapon, taking it away from his hands as he yelped in surprise.
“Stop!” Prar raised a hand, turning his head to face his forces. “Do not interfere!” He then looked at the rebels. “That goes to you, too.”
Rahm Kota turned his head to Drasha, nodding with his head to her to lower her weapon.
“Sincerely, I always wanted to fight against a Jedi master, Master Kota,” Prar said.
“You will learn that the style of fighting of a Jedi can only be used by a Jedi.” The old Jedi said.
The two fell silent, looking at each other for a while, until suddenly Prar attacked him with one of his rapiers, Kota blocking it with his lightsaber. They held the pulse against each other for a few seconds until Prar attacked him with the second rapier, forcing the old Jedi to avoid it.
Prar began to attack offensively at the old Jedi with his rapier with fast movements, but Kota was able to hold himself against the imperial’s fast attacks, staying on the defensive but not giving him any chance to hit him with his rapiers.
Lop, as was covered behind Brad, could recognize the movements that Prar was using against Kota. They were the same kind of movements and attacks he used before when she fought him at the imperial base when she was captured. She was surprised that her master was able to fend off the attacks of the imperial.
After a few clashes with their weapons, both of them moved away from each other, aiming their weapons at each other.
“I admit that to be an old man, you’re pretty good,” Prar said, aiming at him with a rapier while spinning the other.
“And I recognize that you know how to fight against a Jedi, but neither you nor any of your warriors will be able to fight like a Jedi, no matter how hard you train,” Kota said to him.
After that exchange of words, both began to clash their weapons again, putting pressure on each other and without losing ground, clashing and blocking the attacks of each other. Everyone was focused on seeing the duel between them with their weapons.
In a swift move, Rahm Kota was able to take one of Prar’s rapiers out of his hand, pushing hard his lightsaber against his remaining rapier as he struggled to hold the attack.
“You thought that you could compete with the real Jedi… but I can sense your future,” Kota said as he pushed his lightsaber against Prar’s rapier. “And you won’t be always the master of this house of dupes… You will be…” He kept saying, until confusion appeared on his face. “More?”
Prar growled under his helmet, and with a free hand, he caught the lightsaber’s laser and with his rapier, he pushed it against Kota. The lightsaber hit the old Jedi’s eyes, making him cry in pain as he backsteps before being kicked by Prar to the ground.
Lop’s eyes widened seeing how Kota held his face with his hands, his lightsaber fallen on the ground at his side as he twisted in pain on the ground.
Prar panted, looking at the fallen Jedi.
“You know? As you can use the Force for your benefit, my broken form of Force has advantages that only I can make use of.” Prar said. “Hope this teaches you that your time is over, and that my black knights are the future. You know, with the benefit of hindsight, if you were much younger, maybe I could make use of you.”
The black knights and security guards began to prepare themselves to attack the rebels, while Drasha and Frall looked at each other.
“Great, now we’re in trouble,” Frall said, preparing his blaster as Drasha looked at him with a worried face.
As Brad prepared for another battle, Lop’s closed fist was shaking at that moment, dozens of emotions running through her as she saw her master defeated at the hands of the imperial by a nasty trick.
Just as Prar grabbed his second rapier from the ground, Lop roared loudly, her eyes yellow in rage. She rushed toward Prar, using the Force to grab Kota’s lightsaber and turning it on against the Imperial. Prar had mere seconds to block Lop’s sudden attack with his rapiers.
“You… will pay for what you did to my master!” Lop roared in rage as she pushed the lightsaber against Prar.
For a moment, Prar struggled to hold Lop’s push against him, but eventually he began to attack the enraged Lepi with his two weapons, using the same abilities and tactics he used the last time with her.
But on this occasion, Lop wasn’t falling for many of his tricks and kept disrupting each of his attacks as she pushed him more with her violent attacks, putting him on the defensive to his surprise.
Ochô was surprised at seeing Lop fight that way. She never saw her put such rage into her attacks in the times the two clashed in the past. Something was different about her compared to the other battles. In fact, she never got this rageful when she blinded their father or destroyed TD-4 in front of her.
Using the chance, Brad rushed at Kota and began to pull him to the shuttle using the distraction that Lop got. He saw then how the old Jedi’s eyes were burned by his lightsaber, and if he wasn’t treated quickly, he would lose his eyesight for good.
Lop and Prar kept clashing their weapons violently, the imperial officer getting desperate to push the Lepi away, but her violent and fast attacks were too much for him. Eventually, they blocked each other with their weapons, pushing against each other, trying to get the advantage over each other.
During the clash between the two of them, Zats got over one of the boxes far away from the battle, preparing his rifle and trying to get a good aim on Lop while she was focused on her enemy.
The two kept their push against each other until Lop was able to break Prar’s defence, pushing his arms over his head as he stumbled. Lop gave a spin with her body, and with a raging roar, she made an upward slash with the lightsaber, cutting both Prar’s armor and helmet, consequently making him fly away.
Prar landed on the ground with his rapiers falling at his sides. Lop panted loudly, with the lightsaber over her head as she faced the Imperial with her raging eyes. Prar quickly sat up and took his damaged helmet away, facing the Lepi who had just defeated him.
Everyone was surprised at seeing how she defeated Prar, this being enough to keep the Imperials and bounty hunters stunned, not knowing what to do at that moment. Even Zats raised an eyebrow in amusement at what was happening right now.
Lop looked angered at Prar, holding tightly the lightsaber, preparing herself to give the finishing attack on the Imperial.
“Lop!” She heard Kota’s voice, which was enough to stop her. She turned around to see his weakened master being taken into the shuttle. “He's already lost. Let it be. Don't let anger get the better of you, or there'll be no turning back for you in the Force.”
Lop breathed hard as she looked at him, his words running through her mind for a long moment.
Eventually, Lop aimed the lightsaber against Prar, her eyes turned blue at that moment as she calmed down.
“Don’t follow me, abandon Tao, and never come back!” Lop warned Prar as he frowned, looking at her.
“Lop, quickly!” Drasha called out as she and Frall began to climb the shuttle’s ramp.
Lop began to run until she reached the ramp, where she stopped. After a few seconds, she turned around, facing Ochô at the distance.
“Ochô!” Lop called. “No matter what I must do, I will free Tao, and take you back with our family!”
Ochô looked at Lop with doubtful eyes while Prar stood up, getting ready to give the order to attack them.
Lop smiled, looking at Ochô. “Maybe in the future, we'll laugh when we remember this who-”
All went in slow motion.
A blaster was heard.
A sharp pain was felt on Lop’s chest.
Ochô’s eyes widened.
Prar’s eyes widened.
TD-4 got silenced.
The tengu crew’s eyes widened.
Lop’s body began to fly inside the shuttle.
Prar turned his head behind him to face Zats at the distance, his rifle’s cannon smoking.
“IDIOT!!!!”
Prar’s scream was heard all over the hangar, just when Lop’s body hit the ramp.
“LOP!” Everyone exclaimed as they rushed to her.
“Yokai 4, get us outta here! NOW!” Frall called.
“What just happened?” Yavis asked, approaching.
“Lop has been shot! We must get away from this place now!” Drasha called out as he tried to use some clothes to plug the wound.
Yavis' eyes widened before running at Byte, urging the droid to take off as fast as he could.
Byte quickly closed the ramp and elevated the imperial shuttle, turning around and flying out of the hangar.
“Stop them!” Prar ordered, aiming the running shuttle with his hand. “Don’t let them escape!”
Then he turned his face to the bounty hunter, aiming a finger at him. “We will talk about this later!”
The lepi bounty hunter didn’t care about his words.
When the shuttle began to fly away from the space station, the station’s weapons opened fire against them, at the same time that a large group of Tie-fighters began to chase them.
“At this pace, we will be caught or shot down by the imperials!” Byte exclaimed as he piloted the ship, trying to avoid the imperial.
“You just fly as far as you can!” Drasha called, trying to keep Lop’s wound closed.
“Don’t worry, they will be here,” Kota said weakly.
Then Byte detected something on the radar. “Hey, something is jumping out of the hyperspace!”
Then suddenly, a large pack of A-wing interceptors and a trio of CR90 corvettes jumped out of hyperspace in front of them.
“Who are they?!” Yavis asked as he saw the ships appearing.
The group of ships passed the imperial shuttle and began confronting the Tie-fighters, while the corvettes used their shields to stop the shots from the station’s weapons. And without warning, another ship got out of hyperspace, a very big one.
“An Acclamator?!” Byte exclaimed.
“Now you've got to be kidding me!” Yavis called out.
“You had some pretty weird friends out there,” Brad commented, looking at Kota.
“Get in the Acclamator, quickly!” Kota called.
“Seriously?” Byte asked.
“Just do it!” Yavis called.
The shuttle soon entered the Acclamator’s hangar area. And just when the shuttle got inside, the other ships began to turn around and fly away from the imperial station, as the larger ship turned around, soon every ship jumped into hyperspace.
Just when the shuttle landed, the ramp lowered down, and quickly, a few gun-wielding men climbed inside, aiming their weapons, but Kota raised his hand to them.
“Lower your weapons. They’re with me.” Kota said.
Eventually, a man wearing a worn-out armor with yellow lines rushed into the ship, running to the old Jedi. With a simple glare, Brad saw that this armor was from the Clone Wars era.
“Oh my goodness, general. What happened to you?” The armored man asked. “I'll have you treated immediately.”
“No!” Kota exclaimed, aiming his hand at Lop’s body. “Take her first! Take her to the medical bay!”
The man looked at Lop for a moment as Drasha tried to keep her alive, soon calling to the other men. “Bring a stretcher immediately! Now!”
Eventually, a stretcher was taken inside the ship. The paramedics placed Lop’s body there and began to move her out of the ship. The man stood up to follow them when Kota grabbed his arm.
“Please, don’t let her die, no matter what,” Kota begged him.
“Don’t worry, general. She’s in good hands.” The man said and began to run behind the paramedics, while Brad and the others stayed inside the ship, as other paramedics checked them.
The paramedics with Lop’s body ran through the Acclamator’s corridors as fast as they could until reaching the medical bay, where a medic was waiting for them.
“What’s now?” He asked them when he saw the Lepi on the stretcher. “Oh, dear!”
The armored man soon entered the medical bay. “Doctor, the general said we must save her, no matter what.”
“The general doesn’t need to give that order. Come on, put her here!” Said the doctor to the paramedics, who placed Lop’s body on the operating table, where he could see the damage on her chest. “Oh, my. This is serious. I’ll need all your help for this one. Quickly!”
Soon, some medical droids approached the operating table as the doctor prepared to operate on Lop to save her life.
“You complete BUFFON!!!”
Prar yelled furiously in his office, as he had the bounty hunters in the same room, with Zats sitting in front of him, with his hands behind his head, relaxed on the official’s wrath.
Ochô was silent as she witnessed what was happening.
“I hired every one of you, each one of you, with the simple mission to capture, and keep, a simple female Lepi, and stop her from escaping from us. That was simple. Much simpler than trying to figure out how a pacifier works.” Prar said with a frown, aiming Zats with his hand. “But you… YOU! You had nothing better to do than shoot her to KILL her! What was wrong with you!!!”
“It wasn’t personal, director,” Zats said, settling into the chair. “It’s just business.”
“Yes, I know that!” Prar said, slamming on the table a holopuck. “Thanks to this holopuck that we found in possession of Agent Hercules’ body. And that’s another topic. Seriously? Kill an ISB agent?! You’re dumb or anything?!”
“As I said, business,” Zats replied.
“Cut the crap out of it! Thanks to you, we’re not getting paid!” The Falleen said.
“Now, you’re going to tell me who hired you to go against my orders, unless you want me to turn you into a high-power light bulb!!!” Prar slammed the table hard.
“Sorry, but I don’t talk about my clients,” Zats said, but then he raised one of his ears to hear something. “Talking from the devil.”
Then, at that moment, the door of the office opened.
“NOW WHAT?!” Prar asked furiously, facing the door, but his expression changed to surprise seeing who was there.
The tension in the room was so tense at that moment that everyone took a little time to be able to hear artificial breathing in the room, making all of them look at the entrance, seeing who was there.
“Lord Vader!” Ochô exclaimed, looking at the Sith Lord entering the room.
“I hope not to interrupt this meeting,” Vader said calmly.
Prar looked at Vader for a moment before beginning to look both him and the bounty hunter in turns, until an idea got into his mind, making him look at Vader angrily.
“You? You HIRED him behind MY back?” Prar signaled Zats while looking at Vader.
“It took you long enough.” Vader simply replied.
“Why? Why?!” Prar asked, his fist shaking.
“Your projects have been a great diversion for the Emperor. They may even be of good use to the Empire. But make no mistake. Neither I nor the Emperor will allow the formation of your Dark Knights. All Force users will be loyal to us, or be destroyed.” Vader said.
Ochô was speechless after knowing that Vader ordered Zats to kill Lop. She wasn't supposed to care, but the mere news affected her inside.
“Now, tell me, what's stopping me from taking off my gloves, grabbing you by the neck, and shocking you with all my damn electricity until I fry your brains?!” Prar threatened Vader, making with his hands the gesture of strangling him.
“Maybe the fact that he got you a promotion.” A new voice said.
This time, it was Grand Moff Tarkin who entered the room, standing at Vader’s side.
“Tarkin?” Prar asked in confusion, shaking his head when his brain processed what he said. “P-promotion?”
“Yes, as governor of Tao,” Tarkin said.
“What?!” Ochô exclaimed after hearing him, losing her composure.
“I don’t… I don’t understand. As far as I know, Tao isn’t an imperial planet, and we’re just there because they allowed us.” Prar said, trying to reason out what was happening.
“That was before. Recently, Lord Vader has convinced all the Great Families, with the obvious exception of the Yasaburô Family, to give full control and rule of the planet to the Galactic Empire. From this moment, Tao is officially part of the many planetary systems that serve the Empire.” Tarkin said. “Besides, Lord Vader suggested you for the post as governor.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Prar asked, “And why?”
“I thought that maybe ruling a planet would make you busy enough to forget about some of those projects that neither I nor the Emperor are interested in,” Vader said. “Besides, your ancestors were from Tao, right?”
Prar’s eyes twitched after hearing Vader’s words. After a few seconds looking at him, he grabbed his helmet and weapons, passing Vader’s side.
“You. Me. Training room. Now!” Prar said to Vader, holding his anger before leaving the office, eventually being followed by Vader.
Ochô was silent about everything that had just happened, just when Tarkin walked by her side.
“Don’t worry, lady Ochô. With the planet under the control of the Galactic Empire, we will ensure that its people acquire the industrial advances your people so desperately need.” Tarkin said. “As long as we also have the willing cooperation of Tao’s people. I look forward to your cooperation in this matter, Miss.”
Ochô stared at the imperial Moff, her mind still running with the knowledge she had just got right now.
Zats smiled while leaning on the chair, just when the other bounty hunters leaned on him with annoyed faces.
“Don’t get so happy, Zats. You owe us a good bounty.” Diara said with a serious tone to the bounty hunter.
Back on the Acclamator, Brad, Drasha, Frall, Yavis, and Byte were waiting in some quarters that the crew left to let them stay, while a droid medic was treating Rahm Kota’s eyes. But the medic simply shook his head and placed a bandage on his eyes.
“I’m sorry, General, but there’s nothing we can do with your eyes.” The droid medic said. “If he had allowed treatment first, it would have been possible to restore his vision. But now that's impossible.”
“I know, thanks,” Kota said, his head lowered while the droid left the quarter.
There was some silence in the room until Frall coughed.
“Well, when you were waiting to reveal to us that you had a whole ship under your command, ‘General’?” Frall asked.
“Frall, not now,” Drasha said.
“It’s fine,” Kota said. “I had been in command of this rebel cell for a long time, until you asked me to take care of Lop.”
“And to whom did you leave in command in your absence?” Yavis asked.
“I think that would be me.”
They turned to the door when it opened, the man with the clone armor entering inside, with Byte getting behind some of the members of the team.
“And you are?” Drasha asked, looking at the man.
The man took the helmet off, revealing an old face with a white military cut hair, brown eyes, and a scar at the side of his left eye. Brad looked at him, surprised.
“A clone!” Brad exclaimed.
“My name is Cody, and formerly I was the Clone Marshal commander of the 7th Sky Corps and the 212th Attack Battalion. But after seeing how wrong we were with the elimination of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire, I defected. I was alone for a time, until I encountered General Rahm Kota, and he took me into his cell.” Cody explained.
“At first, I had my doubts with him, but knowing the long story he had with Master Kenobi and the information he could have from the Empire, I decided to keep him at my side, after taking some measures,” Kota said.
“Meaning?” Yavis asked.
“Wait, Kenobi?” Drasha asked. “I know that name. He was the Jedi who rescued the Togruta Colony captured by the Zyrregian slaves!”
“Well, I wished to have aided him on that operation longer than to take their planet from the Separatist,” Cody said with a wry smile.
“Cody.” Kota interrupted the conversation. “How’s Lop?”
“I came to inform you about the Lepi, General,” Cody said.
“And?” Brad asked.
“The medic has treated her wounds. She’s actually out of danger and actually recovering in a bacta tank. But she will need some time to recover.” Cody said.
“I see.” Brad gave a reassuring sigh.
“Well, in no time we will have her asking us to help Tao again,” Frall said with a smile.
“Tao, you said?” Cody asked, making everyone look at him, concerned.
“What happened, Cody?” Kota asked.
“Recently, we intercepted an imperial transmission. It mentions that the Tao leaders have granted full control of the planet to the Empire.” Cody informed.
“What?!” Drasha asked him. “Are you sure?!”
“Affirmative. In the transmission, it’s indicated that a man named Shador Prar will have the rank of planetary governor.” Cody said.
Brad sat on the chair in despair with his hands on his head.
“Lop isn't going to like it one bit,” Frall said.
“You can say it,” Byte said.
“We must return to Tao.” Said Drasha. “We must get Yasaburô and take him to a safe place before the imperials find his hideout!”
“We will take care of this, don’t worry,” Kota said.
Everyone got silent in the room. Not only did they almost lose Lop trying to rescue her. Now, Tao was in full control of the Galactic Empire. Things are going to be much harder from now on. That’s for sure.
Back on the Claymore, Ochô was looking at the space from one of the windows, remembering everything that happened, from the moment she joined the Empire, up to this moment, wondering if this it’s going to help her planet as she wanted.
At the same time, Prar was on the training room with his two rapiers aiming at Vader, who was standing in front of him with his red lightsaber on, keeping his guard down but having his distance of Prar, before he roared and jump against the Sith Lord with his rapier as he prepared to intercept the attack.
Meanwhile, Lop was submerged in a bacta tank with a respirator in her mouth, healing the wound on her chest while TD-4 stayed at the tank’s side with her clothes on the nearby table, its eyes looking at the unconscious Lepi inside it, not having moved since entering the tank.
Until one of her fingers twitched imperceptibly.
