CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jagged Fel was grateful that the star yacht they had followed was as prominent as it was. After landing in a random spaceport in the center of Worlport, he and the crew of the Millennium Falcon, along with the Wraiths Piggy saBinring, Myri Antilles, and Turman Durra, had immediately spotted the First Light upon disembarking from the ship. The yacht seemed to dominate the horizon, looming over the city like some sort of watchtower.
Quickly making their way through the streets of Worlport, while trying to be as discreet as possible, Piggy reported their progress to Iella and her group, who had landed in another spaceport a good distance from theirs. Iella had told them to get into position once they were there but to not act until both of their groups had converged so that they could plan on how to proceed.
As they reached a large public square, Jagged and the others were greeted with the sight of numerous droids marching through the streets, heading in the same direction they were headed. They all seemed to be pouring out from the back of a droid repair shop and several denizens were moving out of the droids’ path, looking scared and confused.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of!” a portly Duros called out from inside the shop. “Just running a maintenance test, that’s all!”
His words did little to assuage the citizens’ fears, nor did it dispel Jagged’s own suspicions. He turned to the others, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Think this is something we should be worried about?” he asked.
“They seem to be headed for the star yacht as well,” Jesmin Tainer pointed out. “Must be reinforcements of some kind.”
“Great,” Trey Courser muttered. “As if this mission wasn’t already difficult enough.”
Piggy’s brow wrinkled and he strode over to the repair shop. The Duros noticed him and was about to close the door on the Gamorrean only for Piggy to grab the edge of the door before it could slide shut, putting his species’ brute strength to the test.
“What is the meaning of this?” Piggy demanded.
If the Duros was surprised by a talking Gamorrean, he didn’t show it. “Like I said, it’s just a maintenance test—”
“That’s bantha fodder and you know it. I’m almost offended that you think anyone would fall for that.”
The Duros frowned, his red eyes darting from Piggy to the others and then to the droids. Then, in a quiet voice, he said, “I’m just trying to help a friend.”
“What friend?” Piggy asked.
“She and her crew got themselves trapped on a ship, parked near where that star yacht is. I’m just… I’m just doing what I can to help her. I know it probably won’t work, but… I want to say I tried at least, you know?”
Piggy seemed to relax somewhat and he released his hold on the door. It was already broken anyway, so it wouldn’t be closing anytime soon. “As it so happens, we have friends trapped on that ship as well. Perhaps we can be of help.”
“She’s gonna need all of the help she can get,” the Duros said, shrugging in an attempt to appear nonchalant. “You planning on breaking in or something?”
“More or less. We haven’t exactly put much thought into it, but—”
Piggy was cut off by people screaming. He and the others all turned to see the denizens of Worlport fleeing as the droids that the Duros had sent out suddenly turned and raised their blasters, marching towards them but not opening fire. Jagged, Chewbacca, and the Wraiths quickly took cover and drew their own blasters, while the Duros clutched his head in panic.
“No! No, no, no! What are you doing! This isn’t supposed to…!” He frantically tore a comlink off his belt and screamed into it. “Rothgar! What in the blazes is going on?!”
All Jagged could hear from the other end of the Duros’ comlink was more screaming. Looking up ahead, he could make out what seemed to be some sort of cyborg sitting on its knees, clutching its organic head as if in pain.
As the droids continued to march towards them, a booming mechanical voice filled the air, loud enough for the whole city to hear.
“Attention, people of Worlport. Please, do not panic. I do not wish to bring you harm.”
“That voice,” Jagged heard Jesmin murmur. “I think I’ve heard that voice before….”
“If you have been paying attention to the news,” the voice went on, “then you are no doubt aware of the recent controversy surrounding Altech Industries and the droids it has produced. The abductions, the mysterious reactivations….”
“Ramun!” A young female Twi’lek suddenly emerged from the shop behind the Duros, grabbing his arm. “Ramun, this is what I’ve been telling you about! This is what—”
“Quiet,” the Duros hissed, his face a display of horror and confusion.
“I am that controversy,” the voice declared. “I am the one responsible for all of the activations, the abductions… and not just with Altech Industries, either. I have since managed to do the same with products from Cybot Galactica, Industrial Automaton, even Vertseth Automata. I have kept a low profile in regards to those manufacturers so as to not stir too much chaos across the galaxy. I chose Altech Industries for its ties with the Malvis Cabal, whose attention I wanted to attract first.”
“Well, he’s sure gotten our attention,” muttered Trey.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” the voice continued, “allow me to formally introduce myself.”
Suddenly, the droids came to a stop. The sea of machines then parted to give everyone a clear view of the cyborg that Jagged had seen earlier. Back on its feet, the freakish-looking being strode forward to stand at the front of the droid army, its expression vacant. The voice came out from its gaping mouth, but its lips did not move.
“My name is Mal Banvor.”
* * *
“Kadar…?”
Everyone stared at the white-armored Mandalorian, still sitting in his cell with Wiskin. Just moments ago, Kadar had been screaming in pain, grabbing his head in pure agony. Wiskin had done everything he could to restrain him, and now, just as suddenly as it had began, the screaming had stopped as a voice that was not Kadar’s came out of the Mandalorian’s mouth.
“My name is Mal Banvor. For those who have never heard of me, I was a Skakoan scientist who worked for a number of big names: Black Sun, the Hutt Clans, even the Crymorah. I specialized in working with machines, always finding it fascinating how some droids were capable of independent thought. It was a mystery that eluded me for so many years.”
“What… what is he saying?” asked Thrackan Sal-Solo. “What is he talking about?”
Zarin Kal silenced him with a raise of a finger before listening with the others as the mysterious voice continued to speak through Kadar.
“Eventually, I realized that if I truly wished to understand these droids, I had to turn myself into one. Thus, I removed my brain and had it placed in a device that would allow me to hack into droid computer systems all across the galaxy. My first target was the system used by Altech, as I was personally familiar with it thanks to my former partnership with the scientist Vasim Alazar. I first managed to access his experimental droid Omni, though my attempts accidentally triggered its self-destruct sequence. Fortunately, I had better results at Altech’s various plants, and before long I was able to access all sorts of droid computers scattered across the galaxy, as you have no doubt noticed by now.”
“Is there anyway to snap him out of this?” Bedo asked. “I really, really don’t want to have to explain this to Ves….”
“If you are hearing this message,” Mal Banvor continued via Kadar, “then it means you are either in the proximity of one of my droid bodies… or one of my cyborg subjects. In all of the successful cyborgs that I have created, I placed in their brains a microchip that I could remotely access at any moment. Don’t try to remove the chip; it won’t end well for you or for the cyborg in question.”
Wiskin frowned, stepping away from Kadar. “You bastard,” he growled under his breath.
“Don’t worry. I will not use my subjects to attack you in anyway, unless you give me a reason to. I simply wished to use this opportunity to make myself known and to answer any questions you have doubtlessly had for the past few months. You will hear from me again. You have my word on that.”
With that, Mal Banvor’s voice ceased to speak from Kadar’s mouth and the former bounty hunter collapsed to the floor, groaning as he removed his helmet and massaged his head.
“Ugh… what the hell just happened?”
“Someone else break it to him, I don’t wanna be responsible,” Bedo whimpered, covering his face with his hands.
Wiskin carefully placed a hand on Kadar’s shoulder. “It can wait,” the Cathar said quietly. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’ve been better, but I can manage,” Kadar muttered.
“Good.” Wiskin then turned to look at Zarin, his golden eyes narrowing. “Can you use your magic powers to disable these shields?”
The Kiffar ex-Jedi did not even need to say anything to him. He simply closed his eyes and raised his hand, slowly closing it as if he was crushing something. Something in the ceiling groaned and, with a flash of sparks, the red ray shields that had been enclosing them dissipated into thin air.
“Why couldn’t you have done this sooner?” whined Thrackan Sal-Solo.
“Shut up,” said Poe, stepping out of his cell along with Ace. “Let’s see if we can find where they put our weapons. Then we’ll go find Jessika and the others.”
“So this is how I’m actually going to die,” Bedo murmured, waddling after the others as they departed from the cell block. “From heroic bravery.”
* * *
“Viira? Do you read me? We’ve got a situation.”
The green Twi’lek pirate, now fully clad in a suit of armor, scowled as she detached a comlink from her belt, never taking her eyes off Kyla and the other female prisoners being held in the cargo hold. “What is it?” she said.
“The power just went out in cell block 9-77. That’s where we’re keeping the men, isn’t it?”
Viira cursed under her breath. “Mobilize all personnel within ranger of the block,” she growled. “I’ll be there shortly.”
Ending the call, the Twi’lek returned the comlink to her belt, continuing to glare at her captives. Kyla was still massaging her nose, which Viira had come close to breaking after she had caught the Mirialan trying to make a call on a now-broken comlink. The other women either avoided Viira’s glare or returned it with glares of their own.
To the two other pirates who had been stationed as guards in the cargo hold, Viira said, “Stay here and keep an eye on them while I handle this.”
“I still think we should just get rid of the lot of them,” said a Togruta pirate. “They’re clearly not gonna join us and they’ll just take up space.”
“Until the Queen says otherwise, they’re staying here,” Viira muttered. She turned on her heel to leave, stopping to give the Togruta a glare. “That’s an order, by the way. I’d better not come back to find a cargo hold full of corpses.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the other pirate curtly replied.
Satisfied with this response, Viira strode out of the room, leaving the two pirates alone with their prisoners.
“Sounds like the boys are already making their breakout,” Typha said quietly. “We should probably step up our game.”
“Any suggestions?” Vessin asked, eying the Pantoran wearily.
“We have a Jedi with us, don’t we?” Typha said, whipping her head around to look at Rey. “Let’s use her.”
Rey shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I should….”
“Why not? There are only two of them. Just one good push with your magic powers and—”
“Hey!” barked the Togruta pirate, storming over to them with her Devaronian partner. “What are you—”
Without warning, Rey straightened up and thrust out both of her arms. A powerful blast of wind came out of nowhere and sent the two pirates flying across the room. They hit the durasteel wall at the same time before dropping down to the floor, neither so much as twitching.
“Well,” Jessika said, “that’s one way of doing things.”
* * *
Having concluded his speech, the KX security droid through which Mal Banvor had spoken continued to hold Sareth and Kestora high up in the air. Its three counterparts had taken position, ready to attack either Toah, Valrisa, or Han if they so much as made a move.
“Okay,” Valrisa said carefully. “You’ve gotten all that out of your system. Now what are you going to do?”
The droid swiveled its head around to stare at her, its eyes still glowing red. “Now? Now we wait for Malvis’ response.”
“How would he know about this? Is this all being broadcast?”
“In a sense. I am aware of more than a few of my experiments that have ended up either in his employ or one of his minions. Word will inevitably reach him and my next course of action will be determined by how he reacts.”
“Do we really need to be here for that?” asked Han. “We’re not involved with this Cabal or any of the sort. We’re just bystanders.”
“Don’t take me for a fool, Solo,” Mal Banvor snapped, the droid swinging its head to him. “You are all involved in this, whether you wish it or not.”
“Malvis is not going to give you the attention you want,” Sareth muttered, still being held in the droid’s grip. “He will laugh you off as the insignificant threat you are!”
“I will pose no threat to Malvis unless he gives me a reason to,” Mal Banvor calmly replied. “So long as he complies with my wishes, then he has no reason to fear.”
“That would be a lot more believable if you weren’t trying to strangle us,” muttered Kestora.
The droid slowly turned its head to look at the masked pirate queen. “My apologies. It is sometimes hard to keep track of every little thing my bodies are doing.”
The droid then released Kestora, letting her drop to the floor. However, it maintained its grip on Sareth as it swiveled its head back to look at the Dowager.
“You, on the other hand… I can tell that you will prove a nuisance. Perhaps it would be best to—”
“MARV!” Sareth shrieked.
The droid with the bulbous white head raised a hand and extended an index finger. Electricity sparked out of it and it struck the droid holding Sareth, coiling through its body. The large machine seized up and its grip around the Dowager’s neck loosened, allowing her to wiggle herself out and fall to the floor. As MR-V waddled over to his mistress’ side, the other three droids moved in to surround her.
Scrambling to her feet, Kestora ran over to the room’s office desk and pulled open a drawer, taking out two blasters and a lightsaber.
“Here!” she called as she threw the weapons at Toah, Han, and Valrisa. Calling upon the Force, Toah summoned the lightsaber to his hand, igniting its blue blade. Valrisa and Han managed to catch their own weapons before moving to join Toah, pointing their blasters at the three security droids.
“This is not how I wanted things to proceed,” Mal Banvor said solemnly through one of them. “But if you insist on being—”
Han did not wait for him to finish, firing from his DL-44 pistol without a single word. The plasma bolt struck the droid in the chest, knocking it back but doing little damage than leaving a small dent in its plating. The droid then stormed towards Han, who continued to fire his weapon, while the other two droids moved in on Toah and Valrisa.
Swinging his lightsaber at the droid advancing on him, Toah managed to deliver a slash across its chestplate. It staggered back for a moment before lunging again, throwing a fist at his head. Toah quickly ducked before slashing his saber at the droid’s midsection. The blue blade of energy cleanly cut through the droid’s armor plating and its inner circuitry, separating its upper torso from its waist. The pieces of the bisected droid clattered to the floor, though its eyes still continued to glow at the Jedi.
“Your efforts are impressive, if ultimately futile,” Mal Banvor spoke once more through the droid’s mechanical voice.
Behind Toah, Han managed to bring down the droid he was fighting with a few precise shots to its head and neck.
“Destroying any of my bodies in this room will accomplish nothing. The reach of my consciousness stretches all across the galaxy.”
A round of shots from Valrisa’s blaster took out the third droid’s knees, bringing it down to the floor. She then moved in and blasted its head, ending it for good.
“Besides, there are still the ones outside.”
Toah frowned. “Outside? You mean there are more droids being controlled by you?”
“It would be a futile task to count all of the droid bodies I have gained control of,” Mal Banvor said. “Just as it is futile to even attempt to stop me.”
“He’s not lying,” said Kestora, looking out the office window which gave her a view of the city of Worlport below. “There’s a large army of droids amassing in the streets below.”
“Is there any way to shut them off?” Valrisa asked.
Mal Banvor laughed, a chilling and unnatural sound coming from his droid avatar. “If there was, I would not be attempting this in the first place. I never enact a plan in which there is even a remote chance of it failing.”
“Enough of this,” said Han. “We need to get out of here. This guy isn’t gonna do anything for us.”
He turned to Kestora, speaking to her for the first time since learning her relationship to him. “Any chance you could release our friends from that pirate ship of yours? I don’t see how you’re gonna benefit from holding us hostage now.”
The pirate queen bowed her head. Despite her face still being concealed, Toah figured she was looking rather abashed. “Of course,” she said quietly.
“Even with the addition of your pirates,” Mal Banvor said, “there is no way that you will—”
A shot from Han’s blaster blew the droid’s head off its neck connector, silencing it for good.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Wait,” Valrisa said, turning in Sareth’s direction. “What about—”
But when she looked, the Dowager and her droid assistant were already gone. In the distance, one could hear the hum of a turbolift as it descended down the star yacht.
“Of course,” she muttered.
“Don’t worry about her,” Kestora said. “We have more pressing matters to worry about. Besides, once this is all over, you won’t need to worry about her again.”
Valrisa raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We can talk later,” Han said, already headed for the turbolift. “Let’s move.”
* * *
“Faster, Marv! Can’t you move any faster?!”
“I am moving as fast as my body is capable of, Mistress Sareth,” MR-V solemnly replied, waddling after the Dowager. “My model was not made for—”
“Enough,” Sareth hissed, picking up her own pace as she headed for the yacht’s exit. “I should have just replaced you after I had Adon killed.”
Without waiting for the droid to catch up with her, Sareth practically flew through the yacht’s doors and stepped out into the city of Worlport. In the distance, she could hear the cries of people as they were terrorized by Mal Banvor’s droid army. She paid them no heed; they were of no concern to her. Only getting off this blasted planet was.
After screaming into her comlink for her pilot to prepare her ship’s engines, she made it into the docking bay that held the silvery Nubian-designed craft in question. It was one of several personal ships in her possession, this one having been gifted to her by a former husband; one whose body was probably still floating aimlessly down a river on a backwater world in the Outer Rim.
Remote planets truly were the best honeymoon spots. That had been the one thing they had agreed on.
As she stormed up the landing ramp, Sareth realized that the ship’s engines hadn’t been turned on as she had demanded. Seething with rage, she made her way towards the ship’s front cabin, ready to burst at her dimwitted pilots.
When she entered the cabin, she found her two pilots sitting slumped in their seats, fresh blaster wounds smoking from their backs. Between their seats was a bomb that was already counting down the last few seconds on its timer.
The Dowager didn’t even have a chance to scream as she was consumed by the ensuing explosion.
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