Chương 56: The Doctor is in
I don't own star wars.
The morning began normally. I awoke in my room with Onara at the foot of my bed. I did my morning stretches, checked a few chemical mixes and read reports and documents. I had no idea that everything was about to turn catastrophic.
Ever since Tuuba had been bankrupted I was placed in Babayaga's palace mixing her drugs and concoctions, and still managing to cut large swathes into my research… but it was progressing slowly. To slowly, and Babayaga wanted something new and fresh… and my first mistake came when I gave her something, one of my failure mixes, weeks ago. I had done it all the time with Tuuba… but even my brilliant mind couldn't ignore the fact that I wasn't dealing with Tuuba…
My morning lab routine was interrupted by one of her majordomos, Asdack. And he came armed with battle droids…
"The Mistress would like a word with you, Xalbaia…" he had said with slime filled silk that would make your skin crawl. "At your… earliest convenience." With Babayaga; 'earliest convenience' would translate as 'right fucking now' if you haven't figured that out.
So I was led towards her throne room. It was a classy place, it wasn't filled with slavegirls or half-naked dancers or even a hidden deathtrap at the front of the throne where you'd be fed to some horrible creature. It was just filled with loyal soldiers, armed and armored like a well-supplied Mandalorian clan. In fact they were; the entirety of Clan Calvo was her personal guard… she gave them a planet for that loyalty.
Babayaga herself however was more impressive; older than dirt she was grotesquely huge, and had a shine to her leathery skin that was far more massage oil than slime. Double the size of Tuuba she adorned herself with jewelry and silks. In one hand she held a smoking pipe with a lit cigar at the tip. Her large amber-colored eyes were glued to me as I approached her.
Now you could snark to Torga, stand up to Tuuba, and maybe even tell off Tulba and get away with it… but you would be respectful to Babayaga or be shot where you stood. I naturally bowed politely to her, I was nothing but respectful, "You wished to see me Babayaga?"
She watched me for a moment, sucking on the pipe as the cigarette vanished into ash. "…Bring her in…" she said in huttese and a nearby guard stepped out from the room. I waited nervously, unsure of what was going on…
The guard returned, dragging a poorly dressed brunette human woman. She looked sick, or maybe even delirious. Moaning erotically as the guard carried her in front of me and dropped her unceremoniously to the floor… she shivered in obvious pleasure, her body twitching on the cold stone floor as an orgasm hit her.
"…She's… drugged?" I said rationally, unsure of why I was here… did she want me to fix her? Examine her?... was that a patch of my new drug?
"…She is drugged…" Babayaga confirmed, "She has been like this for two days… she is too sensitive-" She puffed on the pipe, holding it out suddenly as Asdack fixed a new lit cigarette to the end and she began smoking again and continuing. "-On the drug you gave me."
It was then I understood. Or thought I understood what was going on. "Oh… well I can mix up a tamer batch for…"
"Many of my clients have taken the drug…" she said, stopping me in my tracks with a cold deep voice, "Street girls have taken it…" she sniffed angrily, her eyes narrowing, "…I've lost a lot of money fixing your fuck up… this drug is worthless."
"Well I wouldn't say that…" I said nervously, eyeing the aroused girl before me with curiosity, "Surely you could toss her into a pleasure house and…"
"The girl already works in a pleasure house…" Babayaga said coldly, interrupting me again, "She does not dance. She does not tease… she just lies there like a cold fish." She pointed at the girl with her pipe; smoke wafting into the air with an ashy sort of smell dominating the room. "Clients don't like a girl like that… I have to detox, I have to fix… more money from my pocket."
"You could just buy a new girl, Tuuba did it all the…" but I stopped, seeing the icy cold glare in Babayaga's dangerous eyes. And I was mentally dominated into silence, perhaps I should study Babayaga rather than pheromones…
"…Slaves are slaves… this is true." She said admittedly, not dropping her cold glare, "But girls in my service bring lots of return business, some have favorite clients, very high-quality merchandise. If I just threw her away and bought another one that's not cost-effective…" she seemed to grow in size before me as her intimidation subtly grew, "Tuuba was a slow-minded, wasteful fool. He didn't understand that an experienced worker was not the same as a fresh one… I AM NOT TUUBA." She added slowly, glaring at me with harsh severity that made me realize quickly that I had royally fucked up.
"Okay. I'm Sorry." I said sincerely, "I can fix this… I just need-"
"I want you gone…" Babayaga said with finality, interrupting me again. "…No more refuge…" I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a hand and waved my non-existent words away dismissively, "You have become more trouble than you're worth…"
"No!" I said desperately, "No-No. Ma'am I assure you I can make this right! I can-"
"You brought the Kane family down on my idiot son…" she said coolly, "…I can respect that." She said admittedly very impressed, "But when you try to invite Sith into my palace behind my back, I have to make an example."
"I-what? Sith? Ma'am I haven't dealt with sith since-"
"You sent Ozjin on a job to find a Sith Holocron…" Babayaga said knowingly, "…I am not deaf or blind quite yet. He is no longer searching for one by the way, I told him to return to his home. Apparently, he came across a familiar bounty hunter that left him less than 100%"
"I assure you ma'am… it was just a curiosity I wasn't planning anything uncouth." I said desperately, trying to clear up any sort of misunderstanding, "I just wanted to study one."
Babayaga however stared me down, she seemed to grow in size before me. It was like staring down a tidal wave. "I don't care. You were amusing for a time Xalbaia but I don't need you, you need me. I know all about the contracts on your head." My blood went cold, those were supposed to have expired or been cleared by Tuuba… fucking asshole. "And there are a few Sith in huttspace who would love to meet you and would be more than happy to owe me a favor…"
"Ma'am please I-!"
But she shushed me, with cruel kindness… like a grandmother about to tell you she's written you out of her will. "…But I'll give you a chance to run. I want you off my planet by the end of the day. Let's see how long you last without the hutts' protection."
"Please! I assure-" but she silenced me again, with an emotionless glare and I knew it was all over. There was no way to convince her to let me stay under her protection. I was a fool to think I could function the same way that I had under Tuuba. I needed to take what advantage she had given me.
"So I packed up what I could along with Onara of course and here we are…"
iden
I stared at Xalbaia, dressed in a hood and overcoat that luckily for her didn't make her stick out like a sore thumb in the cantina… however the large Albino Kath hound that I was currently belly rubbing on the floor was probably going to turn a few heads. Still, though turning my attention to the adorable creature I continued my petting. "Who's a good girl?" I cooed happily as she barked just as cheerfully, "Who is it?" she barked happily again, as if to say 'ME!' before letting her leg kick the air at my scratching.
"Please stop that and listen to me!" Xalbaia yelled angrily, hissing down at me as Baleen glared at her over her shoulder. Xalbaia was very hesitant around her, especially after I told her Baleen was not fond of her drugs at all.
"Okay…" I said slowly, still scratching Onara as she rubbed her head affectionately into my hand, "What's in it for us? I don't like your drugs, I don't need your experimentation, and as far as I know you have nothing to give me that would make me want to take you on my ship and protect you…" I said casually, "Well that's not true, you can give me Onara…" I squished her adorable face in my hands as I stroked her fur, "Because she's such a good girl!" I cooed happily.
Onara barked just as happily.
"Look." Xalbaia said seriously, her eyes wandering the crowded bar nervously before settling on Baleen, "…How about information? Good old-fashioned credits? I am a doctor as well, a real one, not just a scientist."
"Kolto tanks." I said casually, sitting across from her as I stroked Onara's head as she rested it on my lap. "Although I suppose we could always use more credits… but this seems like a really long term job…" I cooed at Onara as she sighed adorably in my lap, quite content with my absent-minded petting. "…And I'm not really an 'information broker' kind of guy…"
"...What if I were to tell you that the information is documentation of your birth and parentage?" she asked softly, whispering to me as I turned my attention to her, looking confused.
"What do you mean?" I asked, unable to hide my curiosity. "Why would I care about that?"
"I was the one that examined you when you were a baby, I also doctored your birth certificate, all your tests… Altora made me give the Imperial bureaucracy false information to keep your true parentage a secret. But I kept the real ones on file for an unforeseen occasion that would require the use of blackmail…"
"So why haven't you used it before?" I asked rolling my eyes, "Why not use it now?"
"Because that information became irrelevant to me when I went underground…" she said disappointedly, "A disgraced doctor trying to sully the good name of Kane? It would be a fool's errand for me to use it…"
"So why would I care?" I replied shrugging, before turning to Baleen, "Am I missing something?"
"If the knowledge of Altora Kane's affair with a Zeltron came to life it would be politically damaging, especially with solid proof. Even then an investigation by her rivals would be called on, and a significant portion of her life would be examined by investigators…" she then mumbled quietly to me, "Imagine all the dirty things they'd dig up on her…"
"…I suppose having that sort of information would be worth it…" I noted, "…And I do like Onara…" at her name the albino kath hound actually gave me puppy dog eyes. "... okay where is this information? Do you have it on you?"
"…That's… a little complicated…" she said sheepishly, not meeting my gaze as Baleen approached her standing ominously over the Faleen.
"How complicated?" Baleen growled, actually making Xalbaia flinch in her seat.
"…All that data was stored onto my computer in Tuuba's former palace, I didn't exactly have time to get everything from it before Altora glassed the place… it should still be secured, but there are all kinds of thugs and pirates running around in there now." then still not meeting my gaze she added, "Along with my main credit account… I hadn't had a need to access it until Babayaga cut me off… I've only had access to whatever I had on hand…"
"So I need to get into the wrecked palace, find your hidden bunker home, and find your computer…" I said softly, crossing my arms. "…You really want my protection?"
"…Yes." She nodded slowly, "…Honestly I imagine Babayaga already lifted my protection with the guilds… you protecting me is the best option I got."
"There's always the republic…" Baleen said rather dismissively. She might be working for the republic now but that didn't mean she fully approved of it. She was an Imperial Trooper once…
"I'm wanted there too…" Xalbaia said sadly, "And if my face shows up in Imperial Space, especially Dromund Kaas, Altora would have a hit squad on me before I took two steps off the ship. "…Until I find someone brave enough to give me protection again, I have nothing…"
I watched her silently for a moment, there was no reason to take her. No real usefulness I could see. She'd probably bring more trouble than she was worth… but she had dirt on my bitch of a mother, hard evidence of her deceptions. And she had credits… and I suppose as long as she was on my ship she wasn't thinking up drugs to peddle for Babayaga… but we also had to reclaim her computer from Tuuba's wrecked palace. I imagine that wouldn't be a fun experience but it would probably be worth it.
"How many credits does your account have?" I asked thoughtfully.
"I don't really remember… Tuuba deposited a stipend depending on how much money I made him. But it'd say close to million or two? More?"
I nodded, clearing my throat at the number… then I made my decision. "I want the info of Altora, and on my ship you follow my rules." I pointed at her as she nodded her relieved understanding, "That means no 'experiments', no drugs, and all of your credits…"
"W-wait what?!" she said shocked, "All of it?!"
"This is a long-term job…" I said firmly, "Maybe even permanent depending on how you look at it." I added, "So… every credit in the account goes to paying for that. If we find someone else to take you, or you find another protector I'll return what's left."
"That's outrageous!" she said shocked, gaping open-mouthed at me.
"Then find someone else…" I said standing up, "Maybe Torga would watch you for a while… but between you and me he doesn't like your drugs either…"
She drummed the table nervously, weighing her options as her brilliant mind world and her deep-rooted opinion on 'lesser species' fought with her own innate desire to survive… "Fine. You have a deal." She said finally, also getting up and bumping into a solid Baleen who didn't move; still glaring at her.
"…One drug…" she said, holding up a finger, "Just ONE, I pump you full of blaster fire." She said firmly, before letting Xalbaia walk away from her seat; just slightly more nervous than she was before.
"Well now that we got an agreement…" I began, scratching Onara's ears and walking out of the cantina. "Let's head to Nal Hutta… we got a computer to find."
"I'll have to come with you…" Xalbaia replied, trying to stay ahead of Baleen and walk beside me. "I'm the only one who can access it. But I'll need a weapon… as I said it's filled with thugs and other scoundrels scavenging or looting the place…"
"We'll talk to Short-round…" I said simply, as Onara's trotted next to me like the loyal hound that she was, "We can arrange something…"
"How about a pointed stick?" Baleen grumbled coldly, walking behind us.
"So that's the plan…" I said to the girls when we boarded the Rebel Mark II "We go to Tuuba's old palace and clean out Xalbaia's accounts." I told the girls who were watching me looking very disappointed. "…What?"
Milky glared at Xalbaia for a moment and snorted, "…I don't like her…"
"Same." Scarlet and Yura replied as Short-round fiddled with a bracelet-looking device unconcerned with the conversation.
"Well we don't have to like her…" I said soothingly, "Just her money, blackmail material… Oh, and Onara…" I scratched the Kath hound's ears as she sat at my side, "We have to like Onara because I'm keeping her…"
"The dog?" Yura replied, eyeing the albino Kath hound a little skeptically, "You already have pet cat, who might not appreciate the addition…"
"I'm actually okay with the dog…" Milky pointed out surprisingly, approaching Onara who equally surprisingly allowed Milky to pet her as well. "But can we really trust Xalbaia? This could all be an elaborate trap…"
"I'm right here…" Xalbaia noted, glaring at Onara as if she had betrayed her.
"Good then listen. We don't like you…" Yura repeated annoyed.
"Okay, what have I ever done to any of you?" she said skeptically, looking around the hold at them.
"I have a few friends in my Holo-girl days who spent an awful lot of time undergoing treatments for overdose from your drugs…" Milky said annoyed, but still petting Onara.
"Same here really… a lot of girls in the Torga's brothels got slapped by a few patches…" Yura added in.
"And I cannot even begin to count the times your associates raided Republic chemical plants for supplies…" Scarlet noted sourly.
Baleen bodily picked Xalbaia up off the ground as easily as breathing and glared at her dead on. "I have a clit the size of a dick because of your red X patches… I'm not amused by it at all."
"And most importantly…" Milky began, "You put Aiden in serious danger…" at this the girls nodded in a united front of solidarity. If I didn't know better I'd say there were about to lynch Xalbaia. I decided to add in my own two credits to protect her, but Short-round moved first.
The device he had been working on wrapped around Xalbaia's wrist and slowly tightened like a closing handcuff. "Here…" he said simply, then handed me a remote. "If she tries anything…"
"What does it do?" I asked, pressing the button on the remote as Xalbaia suddenly twitch as electricity flowed through her body and Baleen dropped her to the ground in surprise. "…Oh…" I mumbled sheepishly as she twitched unwillingly from the shock.
When she finally stopped shaking, she stood up from the floor angrily stumbling as she tried to keep her footing and struggled to remove the wrist device, "What the hell?! Get this off me!"
"If you do anything we don't like the boss can shock you, it's solar powered… so I don't have to charge it like the boss' taser." He said, sounding surprisingly bored with his work. "And the girls can have some assurance."
Baleen snatched the remote from my hand and before anyone could protest another shock went through Xalbaia and she stumbled against the wall, the entirety of her rather toned and shapely body visibly tensing against the wall. "Give me that!" I shouted yanking the thing back as Xalbaia slid down the wall. "Short-round was this really necessarily?"
"Well if she doesn't do anything wrong it won't be a problem…" he said practically.
"What the fuck-" she shouted, recovering again, "Was that for!?" she shouted at Baleen.
"Clit dick…" she said simply, crossing her arms imposingly, not backing down from Xalbaia's glare. "I'm not letting Aiden go anywhere alone with you… let's just get this ship to Nal Hutta before somebody realizes you're here…"
"You put a shock collar on me!!" Xalbaia replied indignantly, shaking her wrist with the device at them as the crew began to part, Yura heading towards the cockpit and Scarlet and Milky simply losing interest as Baleen stared down imposingly at Xalbaia. Determined to not let her out of her sight…
I was however content with Onara, and she was content with me.
"Can I at least have a room?" Xalbaia asked, scratching at the thing on her wrist, "Considering we might be stuck together for a while?"
"There's an empty room you can occupy, yeah…" I said, "Come on I'll show you…" I lead her to the 'empty' room, technically she would share it with Newt but considering she wasn't here it would be nice and spacious. Baleen turned into her shared room with Scarlet as I gestured inside the spare. "Here you go… Milky will have uh…" I checked my watch, ship time was confusing sometimes, "Dinner will be ready in a while and I'm just across there…" I said, gesturing to my room.
"I'm not going to sleep with you…" Xalbaia said firmly, a little haughtily for my taste really.
"Well I was talking to Onara…" I said, scratching the dogs ears again, she had apparently taken to sitting beside me. "Contrary to your obvious belief I don't sleep with everyone who steps on this ship… but I have slept with most of them." I admitted sheepishly as she deposited her meager possessions under the bed just as Baleen entered the room with a sack of things.
She tossed them abruptly under the other bed and sat down, glaring at Xalbaia as she rested her repeating blaster on the floor. Xalbaia merely sighed, understanding Baleen's intent. "Apparently I will be having a roommate…"
I shrugged, "…Don't kill each other…" I said simply, walking into my room with Onara following me.
"Depends on her." Baleen said firmly, crossing her arms and leaning back on the bed.
"Onara!" Xalbaia said indignantly but the kath hound continued to follow me, making herself comfortable on the floor near my bed. "Traitor!" she shouted childishly as I lay down with a smirk on my face, my foot gently stroking Onara's fur as she moaned slightly at the touch, joining me in my nap.
Milky shook me awake, offing me dinner as Yura declared our arrival on Nal Hutta. Strangely I heard the rumble of our turrets as Onara yawned and stretched on the floor. Milky casually stroked her fur as I quickly devoured the plate of food she brought me.
"Why are the turrets on?" I asked, carrying the plate to the kitchen as she followed me with Onara.
"The wildlife." She replied simply. "Chemilizards took an interest in the ship. There's about eight of them stinking up the surroundings now…" suddenly the turrets let out several rounds of fire as I placed the dish in the washer. "Nine." We said together as the firing cease.
"Who's on the turrets?" I asked dusting my hands and pulling a strip of meat from the counter and holding it to Onara who promptly devoured it.
"Scarlet and Short-round." She replied casually, helping me as I made my way to the hold and began to strap on my guns. "We're parked pretty close to Tuuba's palace. And Xalbaia says that it'll probably be teaming with scavengers by now…"
"Please… Baleen and I can handle scavengers…" I said confidently, "Speaking off…" Baleen shoved a rather annoyed-looking Xalbaia into the hold. Baleen was fully armed and armored, her republic-issued armor and her red armguard along with her massive heavy repeating blaster. She pulled her helmet on, it was different from standard issue republic and imperial. It had a more mandalorian design thanks to Short-round's tampering. Make her more unique.
"You don't have to shove…" Xalbaia said sourly, turning to me and looking me up and down, "…You're going to want a mask or something. A breather, its stinks outside… and may I please have a gun?" I stared at her for a moment, then promptly handed her one of mine, the imperial blaster.
"Do we have rebreathers?" I asked scratching my head and looking at Milky.
"I'll ask Short-round." She said sweetly, heading towards the starboard turret.
"Okay so where is your computer?" I asked, quickly raiding the armory for another blaster pistol, granted these weren't top quality but at least they were better than nothing.
"A deep level of the palace… Tuuba didn't want me anywhere near him most of the time." she said, checking the blaster I had given her. "It should still be secured, so we shouldn't meet any resistance other than local scavengers…"
"Okay then… You'll lead." I said casually, "Then me and Baleen will follow up…"
"What, why me?" she asked skeptically.
"You know the way…" I said simply with a shrug, "And we don't know the lay of the land. We'll get there faster if we follow you."
"Well why don't I just follow close behind you?" she said, her voice strangely soothing as she approached, and strangely my suppressors on my ears began to heat up. That was new…
"…Are you using your pheromones?" I asked calmly, scratching my ears and drawing her attention toward the suppressors. She frowned and answered my question with another question, "…Are those suppressors?" she pouted and blew hair out of her eyes, "…Fine. Just don't use me as a blaster shield or we all lose. You won't get access to my computer without me."
"As much as I'd like her to be wrong, she's right…" Baleen said, her helmeted voice coming out loud and clear. "We'll have to be careful."
Milky soon returned carrying a facemask, handing it to me. "Here you go. Short-round said short of a supernova sized explosion of smell it'll keep you secured." I put the mask on, the lenses of the mask turning everything green.
"…Neat." I said as the mask distorted my voice, "Everyone ready?"
Xalbaia put in own rebreather and then nodded, I scratched Onara's ear. "You stay here girl…" I smiled as she leaned into my scratching. "Milky will take care of you…"
"Seriously stop ordering my dog around…" Xalbaia said as Onara circled the spot she was standing in and lay down, Milky casually stroking her fur contentedly. "…She's a guard dog not some common house pet!"
"She can't be both?" I asked, wading through the swamp as we headed toward the wreckage of Tuuba's palace.
"Milky is Aiden's pet, girlfriend, and team muscle I feel Onara could also function as both…" Baleen said, making Xalbaia glare at her.
"Now now… focus… I don't want to be ambushed by anything, so keep your eyes open."
Xalbaia pulled her odd mechanical injector glove. I briefly wondered where she was hiding it and slipped it onto her arm as it erupted into life. "…Good. I'm still connected…" she said, taping a few buttons on the glove as a small holo-display appeared, "…Looks like…" she said slowly, "…Pretty clear… there are some small signs of life… I assume it's some sort of creature…"
"That's helpful…" Baleen said looking over her shoulder at the screen, "Why did you need us?"
"The glove is connected to my computer but if I'm too far away it's worthless other than an injector." She replied simply, suddenly leading the way. "And since there's nothing between us and my old compound we can rest a little easier."
"She said, whining that I asked her to lead earlier…" I mumbled, getting a rather girly chuckle from Baleen as we followed her.
Apparently under the palace was a collection of twists and turns that we probably would've been lost in if we tried to find our own way. But either through sheer memory or her device we soon came across a door with a hand scanner lock. "Here we are…" she said casually, placing her hand on the scanner as it flashed once and the door hissed open.
"Welcome to my humble abode…" she said drearily, walking in as we followed her, Baleen making sure weren't being followed ourselves. "Please feel free to make a mess, we won't be returning…"
We were beaten to the mess however. Apparently, after the palace got bombed, because my bitch of a mother would never leave something un-bombed when she had to come out personally, not even Xalbaia's underground bunker was left untouched, several broken pieces of concrete and shrapnel peppered the rooms as we looked around.
A room that was simply stuffed with unknown chemicals and creations of Xalbaia's concoctions were mixing dangerously together so Xalbaia had permanently sealed the room, shooting the reader as we approached.
"I was hoping some of my old experiments were safe… but now they're far too dangerous. Possibly with those mixes, even lethal." she shrugged as Baleen glared at her, "What? Even failure is still progress…"
Baleen snorted, looking through the door window at the broken vats and barrels, "…What do they do?" she asked curiously.
"No idea now…" she replied, "Come on my computer is this way…"
"How do we know it's still intact?" I asked, speeding up to keep in step, "Considering how wrecked the place already is…"
"Eight feet of solid reinforced Durasteel would stop just about anything… sort of direct fire. And considering my compound is twelve feet underground we'll be set… or hell I don't know we find Tuuba and shoot him for lying to me."
Luckily we wouldn't have to. We found her very impressive computer and watched as she booted it up. "Let's see here…" she began typing but Baleen suddenly held a blaster on the side of her head making her jump. "What the fuck?!" she screamed staring at Baleen.
"…Just making sure you don't do anything stupid…" she said firmly, staring her down. "Keep typing. I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to…"
"Holding her at gunpoint seems extreme…" I said nervously, "At least put it on stun…"
But Baleen held firm as Xalbaia began typing again hesitantly. "Seriously Aiden do you really believe she's changed?"
"What? No of course not…"I replied flatly.
"Gee thanks…" she grumbled nervously.
"But last I checked she needed us… and if she left and we didn't there are about eight barrels of hot blaster fire ready to meet her." then a noted with a rather dark chuckle, "Also an angry Milky, and nobody wants that. Besides I got this taser thing Short-round gave me…" I replied holding up the control.
"Well let's cross that bridge when we get to it…" she installed a device into a computer port and the download began. "There… that's all the information we'll need. Now for the credits…" she began typing again and the sound of a pressure being released in a hiss as a nearby wall panel opened. "There we go…"
It was a small safe full of stacks of credits and various shiny metals. "…Well that explains why you couldn't access your account," I said, quickly looking around for something to use as a makeshift sack to carry it all. "I guess an underground drug dealer can't exactly walk into a bank."
"Shut up and take my money…" she grumbled, "Bad enough you're putting me on a damn allowance." We packed up the credits and I tossed it over my shoulder as she pulled the data storage from her computer and disconnected everything. "…Okay… all your information's on the drive. But it probably won't amount to anything."
"But at least it's something." I pocketed the drive, "I'm sure we can think of something to…" I frowned as we made our way back towards the entrance. "…Do either of you hear that?" I said, listening carefully as I lowered the sack of credits.
Xalbaia checked her gauntlet, "Still no life signs… you must be jumping at shadows…" I lunged at her as blaster fire peppered the room, Baleen's repeater was up and firing rapidly into the dark, suddenly hitting and sparking something in the shadows. I joined her, rolling off Xalbaia's soft body and pulling up my rifle and blaster, firing blindly into the shadows and clearly hitting something…
"Droids!" Xalbaia shouted angrily, pulling her blaster and firing as the lights of the bolts lit the room. "I forgot about the guard droids!" Baleen roared her anger at Xalbaia and focused it into the enemy droids, her heavy armor shrugging off stray bolts as her barrel heated up rapidly.
"Cover me!" Xalbaia shouted, ducking down behind a wall protrusion as Baleen and I kept up suppressing fire, which would've been a good idea if the droids attacking us had any survival instinct, instead they were mowed down by the dozens as blaster fire peppered their armored chassis. "Come on you hunk of junk. Yes!" the droids stopped firing, and many of them collapsed into the light. "I shut them down…" she smiled, walking over to one of the deactivated droids and giving it a kick. "Ha!"
Baleen was about to shoot Xalbaia, but I stopped her. Lowering the blaster and shaking my head quietly, "…Let it go." I whispered softly as Xalbaia began stripping the droids for parts.
"She conveniently 'forgot' the droids?" she hissed angrily at me, "Aiden come on."
"If something like this happens again you can shoot her." I said, picking up the sack of credits, "Just let it go for now alright." Then I slipped the remote for Xalbaia's shock bracelet into her pocket and added, "Just wait until we're back on the ship to use it…" I said, sharing a smile with her as we got Xalbaia up and moving. "Come on Xalbaia I want you back on the ship and off this rock."
We made our way out, of the ruins of Tuuba's palace and back onto the ship surrounded not only by more chemilizard corpses but several old mining droids that Short-round was stripping for parts with Milky's help. She smiled as we approached. "So… how'd it go?"
I shook the sack of credits, "Oh I'd say it was a success…" I smiled. "And Baleen didn't shoot Xalbaia so we're good!"
"I'm glad we could reach an understand-ING!!!!" Xalbaia suddenly shook on the ramp, twitching violently as the electrical shock made her fall off the ramp and into the shallow water of the swamp. I turned angrily to Baleen who shrugged dismissively.
"…She was on the ship…" she noted, smiling beautifully with self-satisfaction as she strode up the ramp, an indignant and recovering Xalbaia glaring at her as she went.
I sighed softly as Xalbaia went stomping up the ramp, angrily shouting obscenities at Baleen only to be interrupted by another electrical shock. I turned to Short-round, utterly ignoring the scene, "Will she have any side effects for that thing?"
Short-round shrugged with an 'I don't know' sort of grunt, "She's the doctor, ask her…"
I rolled my eyes, committing myself for a very long, long job. "…Just finished up, we leave in twenty…"
"Kay." Milky and Short-round said together happily, as I walked up the ramp, finding Onara waiting patiently at the entrance I scratched her ears fondly, listening to the sound of Xalbaia and Baleen trading jabs off in the ship. But as Onara licked my petting hand fondly, I figured it wasn't so bad…
End of Chapter
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