The Palace and the Undercity
Chapter V | Episode VI | 1/24/2020
“Excuse me, I’m trying to listen to a private message here. How rude can you be?” Twil exclaimed at the four drunken Nemoidians, who were now attempting to get off of each other and get themselves upright.
Ignoring his words, one of the drunks grabs the holocron from Twil before he could react. It then began shouting at the holoprojection, spewing angry, unintelligible Nemoidian gibberish at the Gatekeeper.
“Uh, sir? Did you not hear me? That’s just a recording. It’s not going to respond.” Twil lied, in an attempt to calm the Nemoidian.
Unfortunately for Twil, the Gatekeeper responded to the angry drunk, also speaking Nemoidian.
Whatever the Gatekeeper had said to the drunk, it did not sit well with the stranger. The Nemoidian shouted at the gatekeeper again, and then chucked the holocron across the room. Luckily for Twil, the man was too drunk to put any real force behind the throw, doing no real damage to the holocron, aside from causing it to shut down.
“Whose tha’ bastard think he is, showin’ his face ‘round here again, after wha’ he did.” The drunk said, to no one in particular.
“Wait, you mean Suljo Warde?” Twil asked, “What did he do?”
“Whaddya mean, whadde do?” The Nemoidian responded, barely staying upright.
Using the Force, Twil attempted to calm the Nemoidian’s mind, making him more agreeable. “What did Suljo Warde do when he was here last?” He asked again.
“Whadde do?! He killed him, tha’s what!” The Nemoidian yelled.
“Who did he kill?” Twil asked.
“Whaddya mean, who? You should know, you were there! He killed him right there, right there in Sankar Palace!”
“Right! Sankar Palace, of course.” Twil said, playing along, “But who was it, again, that was killed?”
Unfortunately for Twil, at this point the drunk had fallen into a nearby chair, completely passed out, much as the others had done earlier, which Twil had only noticed at this moment.
“Ugh. Alright Idozzi, let’s get going.” Twil said, dejected, picking up the holocron and slipping it back into his pocket.
Idozzi simply eyed the drunks wearily, before following the Zeltron out of the restaurant.
Rath had now arrived on planet, and had gotten a full debriefing of the events so far. With a pseudo plan in place, he made his way towards the so called Imperial Palace. It was his hope to gain some information on Irbian’s dealings before all hell would break loose when Zanroy rescued Aklee. He could only hope Twil and Idozzi would not need him as they searched for the Jedi trinket that seemed to consume Twil’s interests.
As Rath approached the palace, with his full stealth suite activated, he saw that the only way in or out was through a narrow entryway, guarded by two stormtroopers. As luck would have it, though, it seemed he arrived just at the precise time. The troopers had meals in their hands, and were heading back toward the palace, just as two new troopers were emerging.
Taking advantage of this window, Rath slipped into the courtyard. Much to his shock, the two troopers carrying their food suddenly tripped simultaneously, crashing into the new set of troopers, sending food flying everywhere.
Rath had his suspicions as to the cause of this “accident” because he knew Zanroy was hiding somewhere within the courtyard. But he couldn’t waste time speculating. Breaking out in a run, Rath rushed past the jumbled troopers, and slid in past the temporarily open glass doors of the palace.
The lobby was almost deserted. just a handful of uniformed Imperials, wandering around, looking bored. This place was clearly built for some other purpose, before the Imperials commandeered it as their own. Which meant that it would be understaffed, which made Rath’s job all the easier.
Walking up to a directory posted on a nearby wall, Rath read through the listings. Most were listings written in Nemoidian, but had been scribbled out, only a few floors had actual listings, in Galactic Basic, and only one really stuck out at Rath: Floor 30 Governor’s Suite.
“Top floor, typical.” Rath thought to himself shaking his head.
Waiting for the coast to be clear of wandering, bored Imperials, Rath summoned the turbolift, entered, and pressed the button for the thirtieth floor.
As the turbolift climbed, Rath prepared himself for the worst. But once the door opened, he was shocked at the scene that awaited him. The suite, was more akin to a long throne room. It was virtually empty, except for Duke Erron Irbian, himself, lounging on his throne gazing down at his datapad, swiping at it lazily.
“You make it too easy, Irbian.” Rath thought to himself.
He knew full well that the enhancements made to his suit made him virtually undetectable by any sense, yet still, he walked slowly and cautiously, until he was finally behind the sum that had caused so much trouble for Twil.
Rath stared down at the oblivious Imperial for a long minute, weighing his options. He knew that the only good Imperial was a dead Imperial, yet he could not deny Irbian may hold answers. Of course, the datapad in his hands could hold the same, and given the choice between the two, the datapad would be much more cooperative in Rath’s experience. Still, he decided against killing the man just yet. Producing a sedative, he plunged the syringe into the man’s neck, knocking him out instantly, and pocketing the datapad with his free hand. Unfortunately for Rath, that’s when the doors to the turbolift opened once more.
“Ktah!” Rath cursed to himself. Pocketing the used syringe, Rath stood perfectly still, not making a sound, not making a move, as he watch the most heavily armed bounty hunter he’d ever seen enter the throne room, and walk slowly and carefully down the room, until he was standing before Irbian’s unconscious form.
The masked bounty hunter stood there, silently, for what seemed like an eternity. He then began investigating Irbian. Checking his pulse, checking for any visible wounds, checking his clothing. He then began pacing the room, looking at windows, ripping up carpet, checking the nearby lit braziers, checking the plants, scouring every inch of the room.
Whoever this masked man was, he knew what he was doing, and Rath questioned just how long his luck would last against someone like this, even with his suite of stealth technology. He needed to get out, he needed a distraction, he couldn’t just sit here for hours, to many things were already in motion. Thnking quickly, he sent a digital message to Zanroy’s datapad through use of the internal communicator in his implant, “Need a distraction. Trapped on the top floor.”
“Top floor, huh?” Zanroy said to himself, reading the message. He gazed up the building, and he could spot rows of windows at the top, “Hmm…” He mused.
Looking over at the two stormtroopers now on guard, he noted that they were busy watching outward. They’re job was to keep civilians out of the courtyard, they had no reason to focus in on the courtyard. Besides which, they were still too busy laughing about the other two who had lost their lunch due to “their own clumsiness.”
Turning back towards the building, Zanroy made a split second decision, and began rushing towards the side of the building. Channeling as much of the Force as he could muster, the human cyborg began literally running up the side of the building. With the Force pushing him onward, Zanroy couldn’t help but feel a rush of elation as he scaled the palace. Unfortunately, this elation proved to be his downfall, as he lost track of just how swiftly he was scaling the skyscraper. As he reached the top floor windows, he burst through one of them, tumbling into the throne room.
Reacting immediately, the bounty hunter spun to face the new intruder, and unloaded on Zanroy with a heavily modified flechette launcher.
Rath winced as he watched Zanroy take the shot. Although he had somehow managed to reflect the brunt of the attack with his cybernetic arm, there was no question the human did take at least some of the damage.
Rath did not have time to think about that, however, the game had changed. Plan A was now a bust, as it so often was… However, Rath would not let this opportunity pass him by. This Imperial Duke had hurt Twil, hurt his family, and for that, he would pay. He would just have to hope the datapad would prove sufficient enough. Taking his goo gun, in hand, he slid the nozel into the unconscious Duke’s mouth. Activating his newly created explosive cartridges, Rath sprayed the volatile goo down the Duke’s throat, and ran.
Much to his shock, the distracted bounty hunter somehow heard this, and turned away from Zanroy to check the Duke, particularly, he noticed the ooze foaming from his mouth. Somehow understanding what this meant, the bounty hunter also ran across the hall of the throne room.
As he did so, the chemicals within the explosive goo combined, igniting as Rath had designed, causing a massive explosion that shook the palace itself, but more importantly, reduced the Imperial Duke to a shower of gore and viscera.
Rath watched the explosion with grim satisfaction. Messy, but effective. Unfortunately for the Chiss, it was too messy. The splatter covered him in chunks of Irbian’s corpse, rendering his stealth tech temporarily inoperable. He was now visible to the shocked and confused bounty hunter.
Zanroy watched the events unfold in disgusted shock. He didn’t fully understand what happened, he only knew Rath was responsible for it. He also understood that Rath was extremely vulnerable, as he was now visible in the most repulsive way, and the bounty hunter was staring him down.
Calling on the Force once more, Zanroy leapt through the air, igniting both lightsabers, Zanroy crashed down on the disoriented bounty hunter, slashing at the armored man with both blades. Whoever this hunter was, he was no joke. His armor, while not completely resistant, did not give like that of a standard stormtrooper. He was confident, though, that his strikes were deep enough that the man would not survive.
Through muffled yells, the armored man kicked back against Zanroy, creating some distance, as he stumbled backwards toward one of the windows. Looking back and forth between Zanroy and Rath, the man lifted his rifle, with great difficulty, turned shot the window, and leapt from the building.
“No!” Rath shouted, rushing towards the blown open window, arriving at the same time as Zanroy.
Rath could see the man had somehow managed to gouge the side of the building with a vibro knife, and was now slowly descending, cutting a long, long scar into the side of the building.
“No you don’t!” Rath shouted.
Taking hasty aim with his goo gun, he let a concentrated glob of adhesive fly. His shot hit true, as the adhesive completely engulfed the man’s hand and blade, effectively leaving him hanging against the side of the wall.
Zanroy smiled in satisfaction as he watched Rath’s shot land. Not wasting a second longer, though, he followed suit of the bounty hunter, and leapt from the building. He planned to make use of the Force, on impact with the bounty hunter, he would push down with all his might, ripping the hunter from the wall, sending him plummeting to his death.
That was the plan, anyway. Unfortunately, due to the bounty hunter’s incessant squirming, Zanroy’s kick was askew. Instead of sending the man plummeting, he kicked him into yet another window of the building. His pinned arm, however, did not accompany the man as he was thrust into the palace once more. Zanroy took a slight moment to appreciate that fact before he refocused on the fact that he was plummeting from a thirty story building.
Calling on all the Force he could muster, Zanroy tried his best to soften his descent. He only partially succeeded. The Force did indeed ease his fall, but not enough to land quietly. As he landed, he caused the ground below him to quake, which was accompanied by an incredibly loud boom.
As Twil and Idozzi wandered the town, Twil only following the faint essence of the data crystal, the two could hear the strangest sounds coming from over comms. Apparently Zanroy had left his on. Explosions, blaster shots, lightsaber swings, yelling, more explosions.
Twil looked at Idozzi, and in unison, the two shook their heads, saying, “Nope.”
After the two were finished laughing, Twil continued, “If they really needed our help, they’d have said something. Even though it sounds like things aren’t exactly going to plan…”
“They’ve got it under control, I’m sure.” Idozzi replied, “Besides, it’s like Rath said, this is probably going to be your only chance to find this data crystal.”
“True.” Twil said with a sigh, stopping in his tracks.
“What is it? Is it here?” Idozzi asked.
Twil looked around, they were in a poorer part of town, simple markets and even simpler residences. No. It wasn’t here. But the further out from any direction only made the presence of the crystal lessen, form what he could sense. Confused, he looked all around, then up, then down. That’s when he realized what it was he needed to do.
“It’s down there.” He said, looking at the ground beneath them.
“So… like, in the sewers?” Idozzi asked, “Should we call Zanroy?”
Twil laughed at the comment, and took another careful look around the area. It was then that he spotted a particularly dilapidated alleyway, tucked away between a series of run down buildings. The sign was old and rusted, but the wording was clear enough, “To the Undercity.”
“There.” Twil said, pointing towards the dark, dank alley.
After ensuring Zanroy did indeed survive his foolhardy leap, Rath stepped away from the shattered window, and took an assessment of the situation.
He first decided to make sure he could use his stealth suit once more, as he preferred not to exit the building the same way Zanroy did. Thinking for a moment, an idea so ludicrous occurred to him that he couldn’t help but laugh.
Digging through his pack, Rath procured an item that he had been holding onto for years, never knowing when an opportunity might arise in which it was needed, never believing such an opportunity would ever occur, but here he was. Still in it’s original tube casing, Rath held the vacuum sealed warm towel in his hand. The same towel that a droid had given him while he was at the Cloud City hospital, recovering from having his invaluable cybernetic implant installed only three hours prior.
With a satisfying hiss, Rath opened the container. Much to his shock, steam escaped the tubing. The towel was indeed still moist and warm. Which was perfect for cleaning his armor of blasted imperial viscera.
After being satisfied that his armor was once more impeccably clean, and his stealth tech once more functional, Rath tossed the now bloodstained, filthy towel into a nearby lit brazier, destroying the evidence.
“Now to make sure he’s taken care of.” Rath said to himself, calling the turbolift, once more.
Heading down to the floor in which the bounty hunter was thrown, Rath peered outside of the turbolift doors to see a much anticipated scene of complete chaos.
Uniformed Imperials were running around the office in panic, no one really understanding what happened or what to do. Some distance away, Rath could spot a group of four or five Imperials hunched over the bounty hunter, who seemed to be on the brink of death. One of the Imperials seemed to be attempting to cauterize the wound.
“Allow me to assist you in that.” Rath muttered under his breath. Taking aim, he let one more shot of his explosive goo fly through the air. The substance coated the bounty hunter and the imperials hovering over him. Before anyone could react, before anyone even knew what hit them, the chemicals combined, triggering a massive explosion, killing the hunter, the huddled Imperials, and a good number of the other Imperials in the office.
With another grimly satisfied grin, Rath allowed the turbolift doors to shut. He then casually pressed a button to descend the turbolift to a floor he knew would be unused.
As the lift descended, he received a call from Twil.
“Twil.” He answered.
“Hey buddy, how’s it going up there?” Twil replied.
“Irbian is dead. I saw to that myself. I have his datapad.”
“Yes!” Twil drew out the word for as long as possible, “And Aklee?”
“I believe Zanroy is working on that as we speak. I will be looking into finding the Purple Pear next.”
“Awesome!” Twil replied, excitedly, “Alright, well, just so you know, Idozzi and I are in the Undercity, some sort of inverse city on the underside of the city-bridge. I’m pretty sure the data crystal is here somewhere.”
“Keep me updated.” Rath replied.
“Of course!” Twil responded in his perpetually cheery way, before ending the call.
Just then, the turbolift doors opened, and Rath was greeted with a large, dusty, abandoned floor.
“Perfect.” He said to himself as he entered and took out Irbian’s datapad, “Now, let’s see what you can tell me, my new little friend.”
“Can’t believe I’m saying it, but this place is worse than Mos Shuuta.” Idozzi mumbled.
Twil eyed their immediate surroundings, and he had to agree. The “Undercity” was little more than a dilapidated wasteland of broken bridges, homelessness, scavengers, and strange inverse skyscrapers jutting out to the rocky expanse below them.
“Yeah…” He agreed, eyeing a half torn Separatist Clone Wars era propaganda poster, “Let’s find the crystal and get out of here.”
Twil wasn’t sure how long they had been in the Undercity. Even a minute seemed like too long a time. More often than not, they could not follow a straight path towards the data crystal’s ever more powerful aura due to bridges that led nowhere, or ruins of once mighty structures blocking their way.
Eventually, though, they did reach an area with an unusually new looking sign that read, “Sankar Palace ahead, restricted zone, keep out!”
Recognizing the name from his earlier encounter with the hopeless drunks, Twil ignored the warning and forged ahead, with Idozzi following close behind. Not long after, the two came face to face with a much more modern droid than anything they had seen previously. Twil wasn’t sure of the exact make or model, he was sure Rath could tell him, but he did recognize the unmistakable emblem of the Empire printed on its shoulder.
“This is a restricted zone.” The droid stated as they approached, standing before a closed blast door.
“Yeah, I know!” Twil replied, “I’ve been sent here on official Imperial business.”
“Present your credentials.” The droid replied.
“Ah, see, here’s the thing, I was kinda sent here on the down low, you know, so, I don’t exactly have credentials, but I swear to you, this is legitimate Imperial business.”
“Present your credentials.” The droid repeated.
“I just told you, I don’t have them on me.” Twil replied.
“For access to restricted areas please consult the Imperial Palace.” The droid responded.
Twil rolled his eyes. He knew there was no chance at actually charming a droid, but he figured he’d try. In one swift motion, he pulled out his lightsaber, ignited it, and sliced the droid in two.
“How’s that for credentials?” He asked the melting slag heap at his feet.
“Now what?” Idozzi asked.
“Ugh, we need Rath.” Twil moaned as he glanced at the sole datapad on the door.
With a shrug, he went to work on the datapad, hoping to somehow get lucky. Of course, his luck was not that great. All attempts at opening the door were met with the same negative buzzing sound from the data pad.
“Oh come on!” Twil yelled, smacking the datapad after his tenth attempt.
“Let me try something.” Idozzi interrupted.
Twil turned to see that the Twi’lek had her blaster pistol out, and aimed at the datapad. He lurched out of the way just as she took a shot. However, it proved to be yet another hopeless dead end, as the datapad simply sparked, died, and the blast door remained sealed.
“Hmm…” Twil mused. eyeing his lightsaber, he decided to just go full brute force on the thing. Plunging the energy blade into the thick, thick durasteel, He began carving into the door.
Unfortunately, not two seconds later, a second, even heavier blast door closed in on him, causing his lightsaber to stutter, halting his attempts at carving. It would seem even a lightsaber had its limits. Sure, he might stand a chance at carving through the thing, after hours of working at it, but he didn’t have hours.
Deactivating his saber, Twil let out a yell of frustration.
“Any other ideas?” Idozzi asked, once Twil had calmed down.
Twil just stared at the door in silence. He knew the crystal was somewhere beyond this door. He could feel it. And that’s when it occurred to him, that wasn’t all he might feel. Calming his mind, he reached out with the Force, to see just what exactly was beyond the door.
At first, he could feel nothing but small, insignificant lifeforms, rodents and such. Certainly no one with enough intelligence to open the door from the other side. He was beginning to feel disheartened, when he realized he might not need someone on the other side. Reaching out, feeling the door and surrounding wall with the Force, Twil searched for an emergency release. Surely there must be some such thing on the other side. After a few moments of searching, sure enough, he found it. A small lever. With a nudge of his power, he pushed the lever down, and lo and behold, the blast doors creaked and whined as they finally opened.
What greeted them on the other side was a site Twil was not entirely expecting. They were in some sort of courtyard which was surrounded by ruined buildings, but it was half demolished. A portion of the courtyard was simply gone. A big empty space which offered a quick drop to the rocky, deadly surface of Cato Nemoidia. The remaining portion of the courtyard, though, was hardly clear. It appeared to be a battle droid graveyard. Hundreds of broken, dead battle droids littered the area.
Or, at least, Twil thought they were dead. As the duo entered the courtyard proper, Twil begin to notice some strange stirring movements coming from the piles of scrap. Much to his dismay, three fully functional commando battle droids rose from their mass grave, with weapons aimed directly at the two.
Rushing towards them, Twil took a swipe at the two closest droids. Even though they were functional, it didn’t mean they were in the best condition. The lightsaber easily dispatched the two ancient droids.
Before he could even think of taking out the final one, however, a shot from Idozzi’s new blaster put it out of commission.
“Nice shot!” Twil cheered on his friend.
Idozzi shot him a smug smile, but the smile faded quickly, turning to a look of grave concern.
Twil’s own smile faded too. As he turned back to face forward, he saw the cause of Idozzi’s sudden distress, as the piles of droids all began rumbling to life. Before Twil could blink, he was suddenly facing off with at least fifty battle droids, if not more.
Realizing their situation, Twil pulled out one of his restocked Thermal detonators, and chucked it at the mass of droids. Unfortunately, it just didn’t seem to be his day, as the detonator bounced off of one of the droid’s chassis knocking it backwards, past Twil, and into one of the dilapidated skyscrapers.
“Oh crap…” Twil muttered.
Just then the detonator went off. The explosion was more than enough to send the building falling, straight towards Twil, Idozzi, and the droid army.
“Run!” Twil screamed, rushing headlong into the army of droids, slashing at the rusted piles of scrap with his lightsaber as he went, attempting to clear as much of a path as possible.
Unfortunately for Twil, due to his haphazard running, he caught his foot under one of the hundreds of piles of scrap, causing him to fall flat on his face. “This is so not my thing!” He yelled, as he hit the ground.
“Twil!” Idozzi shouted from behind, firing away at the droids.
He felt a hand grab the back of his collar and pull him upright. Once back on his feet, the two continued their mad dash through the haggard droid masses. A few more lightsaber swipes and blaster shots, and the two were finally clear of the courtyard.
It was then that the building came tumbling down, crushing every droid left behind, destroying them absolutely.
“Well… that was something.” Twil said, attempting to catch his breath.
“Yeah…” Idozzi replied, hunched over and breathing hard.
“You there! Stay where you are!” One of the stormtroopers at the courtyard gate yelled, lifting his rifle.
Zanroy rolled his eyes. He knew his landing would cause a stir, so this was hardly unexpected. But he was in no mood to deal with it at the moment. Igniting both sabers once again, Zanroy rushed the troopers in a blinding flash of white and red. With one swing, he decapitated one of the troopers, but missed the second.
In a complete panic, the second trooper took a shot, barely grazing Zanroy.
Zanroy wasted no time in returning the favor, running the trooper through with his blade, killing him instantly. Just then, alarms began blaring, and Zanroy saw dozens of troopers flooding out of the barracks, heading into the palace.
“Rath, Zanroy, we’re in Sankar Palace, in the Undercity. I’m pretty much positive that the data crystal is here.” Twil said over comms.
“Good job Twil.” Zanroy replied through his own comm.
“Mmhmm.” Rath replied, only half listening, as he had just finished stripping Irbian’s datapad of any Imperial encryption, replacing it with his own.
“Problem is, I don’t think we can get back the same way we came.” Twil continued.
“Comm Rackett.” Rath said, “Give him your coordinates. If you're in the Undercity, he can just fly to where you are, and you can drop down into the Sovereign when you’re done there.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Twil replied.
Rath rolled his eyes. Of course it was.
“But if we do that, it’s gonna be tough for you guys to meet up with us.” Twil continued.
“I have my own ship, Twil, remember? Besides which, I’ve just found the Pearl.” Rath informed him, finding the information easily on the datapad.
“Yes!” Twil shouted triumphantly, “And Aklee?”
“Working on it.” Zanroy cut in.
“Regardless, the Sovereign, the Purple Pearl, the Crescent Blade, we’ll get off this awful planet one way or another. If she’s able, Aklee can fly the Pearl, if not, Zanroy can.” Rath offered.
“Sure thing.” Zanroy agreed.
“Sounds good.” Twil responded.
“Where should we rendezvous?” Rath asked.
“Your base?” Twil asked more than stated.
“That works.” Rath confirmed, “While you’re down there, Zanroy can rescue Aklee. Meanwhile, I’ll make sure the Pearl isn’t locked down and ready for take off.”
“Okay everyone, you know what needs to be done, let’s do it!” Twil shouted, ending the call.
“Sooner we get off this rock the better.” Rath mumbled.
As he made his way back down to the ground floor, the scene was in stark contrast than to what it was when he first entered. Uniformed Imperials and stormtroopers were everywhere, no one really seeming to understand the situation. While chaotic, it was easy enough to slip by the fools, and out the front door.
However, what awaited him out there was a scene he was not expecting. Across the courtyard, outside the barracks, there were at least a dozen, if not two, stormtroopers with their rifles aimed high, towards the barracks roof. Atop the roof was Zanroy, with lightsabers ablaze, standing defiantly.
Rath let out an exhausted sigh, unable to understand how this situation even came about.
As Twil followed the essence of the data crystal, he knew that they were drawing close. Reaching the room he was sure the crystal was located in, however, he was struck with a feeling he was not at all expecting. An ominous, dark cloud of negativity pervaded in this room. And with one glance, he understood why. There were at least a dozen corpses, strewn about the floor, long since dead and decayed. Something awful happened here. and the words of the drunken Nemoidian suddenly crept back into his mind.
“He killed him right there, right there in Sankar Palace!”
Before Twil could process the sight, the two were interrupted by a rolling, mechanical sound.
“That can’t be good.” Idozzi said, drawing her blaster rifle.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Twil said, readying his saber.
Just then, three ancient droidekas rolled into the room.
