Chapter 10
"With Friends Like These..." (Part II)
General Summary
It all started when they agreed to try on the armor. Zimex Tuzuto and Zel Chiyo both agreed to put on the old clone armor and see if they could pass it off. The answer was a firm maybe. Kirana worked her "for the group" mojo and both found themselves on Corulag, in a stolen Imperial prisoner transport, impersonating clones while in clone armor. As they travelled the small five kilometer distance between the small town and the Corulag Academy where the two were supposed to make a scene and assist with Kirana and Axelmos' getaway, they were attacked.
Zimex & Zel's POV:
A female Mirialan wearing a midriff top and carrying an electrostaff stepped into the road. While Zimex braked, the two Mirialans-in-disguise argued over who got to take the first run on getting the new girl, the transport seemed to suddenly pop into neutral and apply the emergency brakes. As the speeder dipped, the nose slammed into the ground as a hooded figure landed on it and slammed a vibrosword through the reinforced flexiplas windshield.
The Padawan's POV
As Audane Jaa-Ya linked her group through her Battle Meditation, Caid Zhal used his Sense power to ascertain the number and emotional state of the people in the Transport. As Tirra Okotano stepped into the road, ready for battle, Zachade Burstir used his Move power to apply the brakes and switch the vehicle into neutral. As the vehicle slowed, Ayvin Sunrider drew his vibrosword and used his Enhance power to fly through the air in a leap to land on the vehicle's hood. Then, Ayvin slammed his sword through the flexiplas windshield to terrify the pilot into surrendering.
Zimex immediately raised his helmet and motioned between them, indicating that they were on the same team. When Ayvin put away the sword and jumped down, Zimex put his helmet back on and saw the distant gate for the Academy open. Fortunately, Caid saw this as well, and alerted the others. As the padawans scattered, Zel bailed out of the Transport and followed them, only catching up to Zachade. As the two whispered and hid, four squads of Stormtroopers in their own vehicles quickly emerged and surrounded Zimex, who kept his cool and answered their sergeant's questions quickly in his best clone accent. After a few minutes of questions, the sergeant decided that the base commander had just decided to give the clone a bit of made-up droid-work to get the cranky bastard out of his hair for the day and let Zimex, or Z1M3-X as the Clone called himself, go.
Zimex completed an 11-point turn and left, slowly, down the lane to town. On the way he feigned engine trouble and stopped long enough that when the troopers were long gone, he could pick up Zel and Zachade. The three headed back to town, ditched the transport and armor and left in the The Freighter.
Meanwhile, Zachade filled Caid in on his idea that the Padawans join up with Zel's group, and that he was going to go ahead of them and make sure it was a good spot. Caid headed back to the small hideaway that the Padawans had and met with the others, telling them about this place that had others like them. Audane was loath to leave this place, while Tirra and Ayvin were eager to, but Caid proved a voice of reason arguing to find and speak with their commander who was said to be on-planet.
When the Padawans went topside and Caid used his Seek Power to find the Captain and her people, he felt two locations - The Corulag Academy and the Moon. As he relayed this, Audane was certain that if they were in the Academy, they were being held as prisoners. Unwilling to suffer anyone in chains, the Padawans disguised themselves as Imperial recruits and decided to infiltrate the base to find and free the Captain by taking the local recruiting shuttle in.
The ploy works but, after the group gets into the base, Audane has a premonition - the feeling of an explosion ripping through her - and hysterically yells for everyone to get off the transport. Moments later the transport explodes and a Zabrak male drops from the sky and lands in front of them. Audane ignites her lightsaber and warns the guy not to start anything, and he raises his rifle and orders her to help or get out of his way. Audane makes way for him. Ayvin launches himself into a line of stormtroopers killing three and threatening the fourth. The fourth stormtrooper, however, rips the tabs off his belt of grenades and yells "For the Empire!" While he is attempting to commit glorious suicide, Tirra uses Move to fling the grenades in two directions. Meanwhile, as the hangar is belching fire and TIE fighter parts, a T-16 Skyhopper is slowly exiting, badly ravaged by dozens of vehicular explosions. Two of the force-flung grenades strike and disable it. Three more fly to the group of stormtroopers surrounding a gray Wookiee. (See Episode 11: Friends Like These, Part III to understand that bit.)
As all of this chaos is happening around her, Audane stretches out with the Force. Using Sense to try and find their quarry, Audane taps into the Dark Side and feels an almost predatory sense of the Dark Side watching and waiting to pounce, closing in on her. Through the din, she hears the back hatch of the T-16 open and feels an ominous dread.
Exiting the ship is a Mirialan woman with a dark uniform on, wielding a specialized double-sided lightsaber with a circular hilt. Igniting the saber, the strange woman drags it along the base of her ship, damaging it to destruction with her pilot inside. The Inquisitor has arrived.
Ayvin, in a quick decision, grabs the fear-paralyzed Audane and uses Enhance power to leap from the ground onto the descended cargo pad of The Freighter. The Inquisitor taunts the group as she lazily flings her lightsaber with only one blade ignited to strike Ayvin just as he lands and knock him down. If it hadn't been for Wrratcheun, both Ayvin and Audane might have fallen to their deaths but the Wookiee grabbed them and raised the cargo elevator.
Meanwhile, Caid hid behind the wreck of the transport, and Tirra just ran, serpentine, to try and escape. The Inquisitor ignited both sides of her lightsaber and used her own Enhance power with the spinning blades to fly at the ship. Unfortunately for her, Kirana and the Traitors had just escaped the Academy and witnessed this. She got everyone to act swiftly and concentrate fire on the flying witch. The teamwork from everyone attacking at once made the Inquisitor lose concentration enough that she missed the ship and landed in the mud below, being forced into it when Cademe lowered the ship to allow everyone on it.
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