Joren and Dono found themselves in the cramped sewers beneath Hutta Town. The sewers were not the cavernous wonders that could be found in holodramas, large enough for large groups of beings to engage in close quarter combat with room to spare. To the contrary, the sewers in Hutta Town proved to be a very tight fit, barely large enough for a full grown human to squeeze through. Slowly, they made their way to their destination:
The Kath Hounds' compound.
The compound itself once belonged to one of Grakkus the Hutt's Consiglieres. It was uniquely equipped to keep intruders out, boasting magnetically sealing blast doors, blaster turrets, and even guard posts at four points around the compound. There was also the issue of motion detectors on the premise of the compound itself.
Getting into the compound for a direct assault was not only impossible, it was a suicide mission. Fortunately, with Nyna's help, Dono had found the schematics for the compound, and discovered a sewer access point inside of the compound itself. The only problem, was that it was across the compound from the detention area. Which meant that Dono and Joren would have to sneak through the corridors of the compound, avoiding the Kaths inside the compound, make their way to the detention area, break in, and then get Kelsa out of her cell and back out of the compound where Nyna would be sitting in a waiting speeder to get them out of there quickly.
“Easy enough.” Joren had said to Dono after the Mandalorian had proposed the plan. Joren knew that it was a long shot, and there was a good chance that more than likely, they'd all end up dead. But it was the only chance they had.
“It'll be no problem. Just wait.” Dono had said, failing to make his friend feel better about their odds.
As tight of a fit as it was, they pushed forward. It seemed as if they had been trudging through the sewers for hours, fighting for every inch forward. Dono led the way through a narrow opening, and then he looked up, shining his light toward the ceiling.
“This should be it.” He said pointing out a small grate, just large enough for a human to fit through directly overhead.
“You're sure?” Joren asked.
“According to the schematics Nyna was able to dig up, yeah. This should put us inside the compound.” He said as he reached up and began to open the grate.
Once up, he reached down and took hold of Joren's hand, pulling him up out of the hole. Once they were both inside the compound, Dono silently motioned for Joren to follow him. Stealthily, they moved down the long, dimly lit corridor until they came to an four way intersection. Dono checked the holomap that Nyna had uploaded the HUD in his helmet and motioned that they needed to take a left. Dono hugged the wall and craned his neck to look around the corner and immediately put his hand up, signaling Joren to stop.
In the hallway just beyond the intersection, stood six Kath Hounds standing guard. Joren was confident that between himself and Dono, they could easily take the gang members standing guard. However, they couldn't do it quietly. If they engaged the thugs, every Kath in the compound would know that they were there, and Kenso would surely kill Kelsa, and this would have all been for nothing.
So they stood silently and waited.
Eventually, four of the Kaths moved on to another section of the compound, leaving just two of the Kaths standing guard in the corridor. Dono made him move before Joren knew what was happening. He crept up behind the pair of thugs, and in a single, fluid motion he sank his hidden vibroknife into the side of the first thug's neck, let go of the blade and grabbed the other in a headlock, and with a swift jerk, snapped his neck. Once the two thugs were taken care of, Dono and Joren stuffed their bodies into a nearby maintenance closet and continued on their way.
The rest of the journey to the detention area was uneventful. In fact, they didn't cross paths with a single Kath Hound. In fact, it went so smoothly that unease radiated through Joren. And it hit him:
Kenso knew that they were there.
He looked to his Mandalorian companion, and it was clear to him that Dono knew it too. It was a trap, and they just walked right into it.
Just as they reached the door to the detention area, they could hear footsteps racing toward them. Joren couldn't tell just how many Kaths were on their way, but he could tell that they were easily outnumbered. They stood ready to fight as more than a dozen Kath Hounds swarmed into the hall in front of the detention area, then, the blast doors that led into the cell block opened, and more men appeared. They were far outnumbered, and they were surrounded.
The staggering odds did not deter Dono. He pointed his blaster at one of the approaching thugs and was prepared to fire. However, Joren knew that if he did, not only would they certainly be killed, but doing so would also seal Kelsa's fate, if she were still alive. So he reached over to Dono, and with his hand pushed his blaster downward. Dono immediately looked at him, as if to ask what he was doing, but he understood Joren's intent, and holstered the blaster.
“Alright, we surrender.” Joren said, raising his hands, a gesture which Dono reluctantly followed suit.
They were grabbed and their arms were bound by several of the Kaths, and they were forced away from the detention center. They were taken down a yet another long corridor, through several blast doors to another section of the compound. They came to a large set of double blast doors, and after the Kath Hound that was leading them punched in a security code, they were brought into brightly lit room which had computer stations set up around the room, and a large holodisplay screen in the center.
And standing before that holodisplay screen, was Kelsa, held at blaster-point by Amaral Kenso.
“You can take those off-” Kenso said, motioning for his man to release the bindings that restrained Joren and Dono's arms. “-That will be all. Thank you.” Kenso said to his thugs, who in turn, made their way out of the room. Though, Joren didn't need the Force to know that they stood just on the other side of the door.
Amaral Kenso dropped the blaster to his side and ran his left hand through his long blonde hair. Kenso was a larger man. Thickly built, he looked as if he could tear a Blurrg apart with his bare hands. Though he was only a few years older than Joren, his features were weathered, his skin was cracked, and he looked much older than he actually was. His apparent aging was mostly due to the lifestyle that he lived. He had lived a life with few rules, he lived fast, and he lived hard, and that had appeared to have taken a toll on him.
“Are you all right?” Joren asked Kelsa, ignoring the gang leader. Kelsa nodded that she was, which was a relief to both Joren and Dono.
“Joren, Joren, Joren.-” Kenso started, clicking his teeth as he shook his head while looking down at the floor, before bringing his gaze back to the duo. “-We have a slight problem, my friend. You owe me 75,000 credits for that stunt you pulled. I checked the chance cubes, they weren't loaded. But I know you cheated. And nobody cheats me.” He said, his voice rising slightly.
“I didn't cheat you, Kenso. And I only took you for twenty-five.” Joren countered.
“Consider the rest interest.-” Kenso said with a grin. “-So, here's how this s going to work. You can pay me what you owe me now, and we'll forget this whole affair.” Kenso paused, still grinning from ear to ear.
“Not going to happen.-” Joren said. “-I don't owe you anything. And even if I did, I don't have that kind of credits.”
“Or...-”Kenso said, drawing out the word as he spoke. “-You belong to me. You and your Mando dog. You do what I say, no questions asked. I give you a job to do, you do it. You are mine until you've paid your debt.”
“Never gonna happen.” Joren said defiantly.
“And you, Mando?” Kenso asked, turning his attention to Dono.
“Sorry.” Dono said flatly.
“Looks like you'll just have to kill us. Or try, anyhow.” Joren said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Kill you? Oh, my friend, I have no intention of killing you. Not yet, at least. So I'm going to make this offer one last time, and I want you to really think about your next words, because if you don't agree to my terms, you will live to regret it.” Kenso said smugly.
“I already gave you my answer Kenso. Get karked,” Joren said, refusing to give in to the gangster.
“Well now, that's really unfortunate.” Kenso said as he raised his blaster and pointed it first at Joren, and then he moved his arm, aiming it directly at Kelsa's head. “I said that you were going to live to regret it. Such a shame to waste such a fine 'specimen.'” He said as he began to squeeze the trigger.
“NO!” Joren shouted as he reached out through the Force, pushing Kenso's arm away, which caused him to fire two blaster bolts harmlessly into the wall.
Without hesitating, Dono lifted his arm, and fired a bolt from his wrist blaster, which hit Kenso between the chest and the shoulder, dropping him in the process. Though he seemed to be un-phased by what he had seen, the truth was that he was in a state of utter disbelief. Had he actually just seen Joren do what it appeared that he did? Could his friend have lied to him about who, and what he was for all of this time? He didn't know what this meant, for him, for their friendship. However, these were concerns for another time, because if they didn't get out of this compound now, it would all be a mute point.
“Joren, this way!” Dono said as he motioned for the blast doors.
Joren ran over to Kenso where Kenso lay, writhing in pain from the surprise blaster shot that he had taken. He reached down and grabbed Kenso's blaster, then, for good measure slammed the butt of the weapon into the gang leader's temple, rendering him unconscious. He then made his way over to Kelsa and ran his hand over her shoulder and down her arm, as if you comfort her as well as making sure that she really was alright.
“You'll have time for that later. We gotta go.” Dono shouted as he activated the blast doors.
Dono immediately opened fire as the trio stepped out of the security room, surprising the Kath Hounds that stood guard. Joren fired off several shots as more Kaths raced toward them. Dono quickly went over to one of the fallen Kaths and retrieved their blasters, which had been confiscated when they were captured, and tossed Joren his. Joren held his blaster and felt a level of comfort with the familiarity with the weapon. He then handed Kelsa the blaster that he had taken from Kenso.
“You might need this.” He said.
“I don't even know how to shoot.” Kelsa protested.
“I can't think of a better time to learn.” He said as he grabbed her hand and led her as they began running down the corridor behind Dono.
“I can...!” Kelsa exclaimed as she followed.
They ran down the corridors, Dono, using the holomap in his HUD led the way. They passed two intersecting corridors, and then when they reached the third, they took a left and came to another intersecting corridor. They took a right, and made it to the door which would lead them out of the compound. However, someone shouted at them from the corridor just to the left of the exit.
“Don't move!” The voice shouted.
Joren looked toward the source of the command, and was shocked to see that it did not come from a member of the Kath Hounds, instead, it was from a white armor clad Imperial Stormtrooper, one of several who had leveled their weapons at the trio as they tried to escape. Joren raised his weapon and fired at the stormtroopers, taking them by surprise. Dono and Kelsa joined in, and by the time the door had opened, all six of the stormtroopers lay motionless on the floor.
“Come! This way!” Dono shouted as he led the other two toward the rendezvous that he and Nyna had agreed on.
“Get in!” Nyna cried as she brought the speeder to a screeching hault just as more Kath Hounds and stormtroopers made their way toward them.
Dono provided cover fire as Kelsa and then Joren jumped in the speeder, before jumping himself, still returning blasterfire at their pursuers.
“GO! GO! GO!” Dono yelled once he was in the speeder.
“Hang on to your seats!” Nyna shouted to the others as she put the speeder in gear and raced upward to the skylanes, where they disappeared into the evening traffic.
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LeeRoy
Izurich
