Capítulo 95: Getting Information
Being careful not to make noise, Metal and Brain grabbed the dead guard, using all their strength to carry the heavy body. It just barely passed in the hole General Di had cut. After that, they lifted the block that was cut off and put it back in place. It wasn't a very good disguise, but thankfully the palace was really dark, so it should be able to trick the guards.
The time they took to complete these actions was perfect. The moment they finished, another two guards appeared at the end of the corridor. When they saw the clones, the guards started screaming some incomprehensible stuff.
Dageer's grip on his DC-17 tightened, and he prepared to take action. However, the moment he was about to reveal the blaster, a silver figured followed the guards and talked to them, stopping their screams.
When the silver person approached, followed by the guards, Dageer saw it was actually a protocol droid. It had an human-shaped figure, but some wires were hanging out of its torso.
"Respected lords, please pardon those guards. They were afraid you were trying to escape mighty Jabba's palace. You surely are not doing that, are you?"
General Di was the one to answer.
"Of course not. We were just looking for a friend."
"Ohh. Maybe I can help you. I am F5-PO88, a protocol droid. What is the name of your friend?"
"No need. We already found him. We will be on our way to our accommodations."
"Ohh. I wasn't informed of any guest staying in our rooms. Usually my lord prefer that everyone sleep near him. I suppose that by accommodations you mean level 3?"
"Uhmm... yes, yes. I'm sorry, is just that it is a great thing to be near Lord Jabba, so we unconsciously referred to it as accommodations. Level 3 is what we meant."
The droid seemed as pensive as a droid could be for a moment, but then accepted their shady explanation.
"Follow me and I will take you to level 3. If you stay here the guards might mistake you for trespassers or fugitives."
"Of course."
The droid sent the guards away, and started to guide them, always talking about the palace and how glorious Jaba was.
"Lord Jabba is not merciful... Lord Jabba is the mightiest in the galaxy... If you try to go against him, he will..."
From time to time he would point out some rooms or directions, as if they were visiting some tourist attractions, and not the lair of a crime lord. Dageer suddenly thought that maybe they could take advantage of how talkative the droid was. He walked a little faster to catch up with F5-PO88.
"This is such an impressive palace, as expected of Lord Jabba. However, he must have many enemies that are jealous of him because of that."
"You are right. The Pikes, the Crymorath, Kaldana... but Lord Jabba have special ways of dealing with such scum. Those he considers unimportant he gives to his favorite pet. Those that he needs, he keeps them very well guarded."
"That is what that scum deserves for daring to defy Lord Jabba. I'm sure his prisons are packed full of those idiots. I bet it feels amazing to see them receive their punishment."
"Unfortunately you can't do that. The prisoners are kept on level 13, where no light enters, but anyone who tries to go there has to be authorized by Lord Jabba."
"I guess such unimportant pirates like us will never have that pleasure. It is really a pity. Well, what about..."
After talking with the droid a few more minutes, always in a happy manner, Dageer slowed down and let the protocol droid continue on its neverending monologue. He looked at General Di, who nodded at him, recognizing that his plan worked. Brain smiled at him.
...
After quite some time the droid finally left them at a junction, indicating that they should go ahead. Apparently, he was forbidden from entering the room.
Of course they didn't go in, but Dageer could see part of the room through the door. There were people sleeping on the floor, one on top of the other. But there was an empty space in the middle of the room, on which a big bed was. Snoring on it was Jabba, who looked like an incredibly big and incredibly fat worm.
Two beautiful Twi'leks were with him, chained to the feet of his bed. One of them saw Dageer, who was peeking inside the room, and stretched her hand to him, tears on her face. Dageer almost walked to the room, but Commander Keeli put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Dageer looked to the Twi'lek, who now was crying profusely, and walked away with heavy steps.
...
Two hours. That was the time that they took to arrive at level 13. The more they descended, the better guarded the floors were. At start, they had just slipped past the guards, or General Di used the Force, but they faced their first problem on level 8 or 9. General Di took care of those problems with his lightsaber, and from that moment on they had no choice but to keep going until they found Ragout.
Of course, they were still trying to do it silently. It would be for the best if no one noticed that they rescue a prisoner until the next morning. But the clock was ticking. Soon it would be dawn, and the palace would wake. The bodies would be found very soon.
Dageer had taken out his blaster pistol, and all the clones threw their cloaks away. It hindered their movements, and it wasn't necessary anymore. Their armor, already full of scars before, now had brown patterns of dust, that had been shaped by the contact between cloak and armor.
Moving ahead of formation, Brain signaled 'enemies in front'. Dageer peeked over the corner. Two pig-men were snoring on the ground, a bottle of something near them. Dageer walked to one of them, and hit his head with the butt of the pistol. The only change was that the snoring stopped. Then he repeated the action with the other, and glanced at the floor number.
"General, we are just one floor away. We might just do that without fighting."
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