“Botajef?” Rex questioned, turning from the displayed image to Ahsoka, “this explains why N’dali was never able to extract any information, but this isn’t why we’re here.”
“That does create more questions than answers, I’ll give you that Rex.” Ahsoka responded, concentrating with narrowed eyes on their present position. “Nara, are you sure this is Aborah?” She asked without removing her focused gaze.
“We haven’t exactly explored much of it, but I am fairly certain. Every passage was circular, very few straight lines...and the tanks behind us.” Nara responded turning from the image to gaze at the huge tanks once again.
“It must serve as a dual-purpose facility, or at least the one we are currently in has some form of mobile capacity.” Rex continued his own observations, “although I do not see any secondary power sources to suggest as much.”
“The probe operation and Aborah share the same power source?” Ahsoka asked with a twist of her lip.
“Unless I’m missing something, yes.” Rex responded, backing away slightly from his own wrist, pinching at his beard in the process, “It’s ingenious really…”
Ahsoka wasn’t certain if her old friend was waiting for acknowledgement or had actually found something she hadn’t, “what?”
“A power source notwithstanding, the surrounding operations will ensure the security of whatever is transpiring here...in fact, I can’t find a way for us to leave, much less rely on any form of rescue. Either attempt would be suicide.” Rex continued his analysis, shaking his head.
“We will just have to see where the Force takes us Rex.” Ahsoka said with a light chirp in her voice.
Rex rolled his eyes incognito, ‘because that always works out…’ he thought to himself.
“We must be toward the bottom of the facility.” Nara stated as the others brought themselves to their feet behind her, Rex deactivating the small holo emitter in his comm device before tugging R3’s memory core free of the access terminal. “Those tubes…” She pointed upward for emphasis, “all lead away from the tanks and into the ceiling.”
Ahsoka followed the offered finger and nodded to herself, “then we find a way up.”
“Of course we do…” Rex said with a lighthearted laugh.
“Unless you have another idea.” Ahsoka turned with a mock smile gracing her lips.
“Nope, the Force will guide us.” He returned with a wink.
‘A little guidance here would be greatly appreciated Zannah…’ Nara thought to herself.
“I am a foreigner in a strange new world Nara, my guidance would be outdated at best. Is this the creation of your Lord Sidious?” Zannah replied internally.
‘It is, and by extension, my birthplace.’ Nara thought solemnly, ‘I do not know what to do.’
“The thought alone is a solid starting place Nara, as the Togruta suggests, let the Force guide you.”
‘I would rend this tortured mutation from its seams Zannah, incinerate it from the inside out and destroy anyone associated.’
“If that is your message to deliver then it will be so, however, if the motivation to do so is borne from an urge to drive the dagger of your revenge solely, the Force will commission its own price in return. Remember this.” Zannah warned.
Nara thought on the advice briefly as she worked to calm the angst within, noting that any desire to destroy the facility was most certainly derived from her hatred for it and nothing more. She needed to find a center within her thoughts from which she could move forward, without a need to appease the hunger for destruction she was contending with.
“Nara? You still with us?” Rex asked as placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Yes...sorry.” Nara began lowering her head from the continued visage of the ceiling above, “this place is bringing back far too many unwanted memories.” She continued in a remorseful lament, pausing slightly as she closed her eyes slowly and exhaled, “and far too much anger.” She finished, opening her eyes, and turning to the old clone.
Ahsoka could not stifle the slight hint of suspicion that wormed its way through the Mirialans words but could find no cause or reason to follow it toward any notable conclusion. “Let’s find a way up.” She said simply, turning for the doorway.
“According to the rough schematics, there should be an access ladder to our left as I am assuming we are avoiding lifts at all costs…” Rex offered what insight he could as the trio approached the doorway cautiously.
“Precisely, although I am sure some confrontation will be unavoidable.” Ahsoka whispered as they peered into the turning corridor.
Rex led the way as he shuffled forward and around the corner, bent at the knees and moving quickly. He retrieved his primary DC-17 as he pulled up a full ten meters from the opening, falling to a knee as he tapped his comm device. The same image came to life above his arm that had dissolved, “ping location and zoom to 1 by.” He whispered to the device, letting it perform the task while he set his gaze to the looming curve ahead of him. A blinking red dot pulled his attention back down to his wrist, locating the mentioned access ladder five meters distant. “Close.” He whispered again, the image dissolving as the light tap of footsteps began to echo faintly ahead of him. Rex pressed his hand to the wall quickly, remembering the porous nature of the composite material that was noted earlier and realized the footsteps would be much closer than anticipated. He pulled his hand from the wall quickly and held it up above his shoulder for a second before closing it into a fist and holding up a solitary finger.
“Only one?” Ahsoka found it odd, quickly dismissing any thoughts that a patrol was on the way.
“Maintenance maybe…” Nara offered, whispering close to Ahsoka’s head.
“If that’s the case, they would be more valuable alive.”
“I like what you’re thinking..” Nara responded quickly, setting herself back a step and calling upon the Force energies around her.
Ahsoka reached both hands into the corridor, ticking her tongue against her cheek to get Rex’s attention. As he turned she raised her left arm and slowly lowered it across her chest. With an affirmative nod, Rex returned his forward gaze and set the DC-17 to mid-level stun.
A lighthearted whistle began to accompany the footsteps just before a uniformed man with utility pouches slung over either shoulder rounded into view. Rex immediately targeted the light skinned human’s chest but refrained from pulling the trigger, something about the man’s approach had changed although he couldn’t identify it. The simple melody the man had been whistling changed both pitch and octave as he turned his head toward the ceiling. Clearly within sight, Rex knew he should have been spotted but the man’s interest was quite obviously taken buy something in the recessed lighting above them.
Within reach, the man’s attention was still drawn skyward, Rex following his movements with a slow turn of his neck, “Mattis, go check the compressors. Mattis go exchange the valves. Now the lights? This is going to be long day.” He heard the man mumble to himself, Rex turning his glance upward somewhat, quite sure the lighting was working fine. He brought his gaze back down as the two woman silently skirted through the doorway and into the corridor behind him. He looked directly at Ahsoka with a shoulder shrug as the man passed right between them and into the chamber they had just left, but not before Nara darted two fingers into his left breast pocket to retrieve a pair of code cylinders. Even ten meters distant from the opening, Rex could hear the man setting his pouches down and retrieving tools with muted clanks.
“That was masterful.” Rex heard Ahsoka whisper as they neared, his own mind still trying to comprehend.
“Just a simple suggestion.” Nara responded with a return whisper eyeing her prize, “I am sure...Mattis... will be looking for these shortly though.” She continued with a quick glance at the label inserted into a small depression within the cylinder, “Level four security clearance.”
Another score of light taps coming from Mattis’ direction suddenly caused them alarm, “There’s our patrol….” Rex mouthed, motioning for them to close the distance to the ladder, ‘I hope you’re there…’ he thought to himself. Careful to conceal his own footfalls, he padded forward the remaining five meters and started pressing his hand to the wall. ‘What?’ His mind was suddenly frantic as he fumbled along the wall horizontally, trying to locate the ladder the display had noted.
With the footsteps cresting the curvature of the wall ahead, he finally felt a small section of the wall give inward from the pressure, spinning the utility as described around for them to ascend.
“Too late…” He said, plastering himself against the wall and raising his DC-17 for a third time, taking aim on a spec of gray armor coming into view. Rex waited patiently for the outermost guard to reveal himself fully as he felt Ahsoka’s hand on the back of his arm.
“Stun?” She asked with a quick whisper.
Rex only nodded in compliance as he pulled the trigger, rocketing a circular blue light toward his target. He quickly lined up another salvo into the second man’s chest before realizing the first had been ineffective. “Options?” He shouted as the guards, gray clad troopers none of them had seen before, began to positively assess the premeditated assault.
“Karabast…” Ahsoka said immediately, knowing any action now would have to remain as silent as possible, unless they were to retrace their steps and silence the maintenance worker as well. She knew any suggestion from Nara would take some time and their sabers would only call more attention. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself from the wall, quickly snapping both hands out before her.
Ahsoka clenched both palms before her, closing her fingers as tight as she could pull them, the troopers responding immediately by releasing their weapons, Nara understanding the unsaid need for silence with quick hands as she pulled for both blasters before they clattered to the flooring. Two sets of arms fumbled precariously at the invisible noose around each of their necks as their bodies lifted slightly from the ground, legs kicking in all directions for some solid purchase. As a sign of some unwarranted mercy, Ahsoka quickly twisted her wrists outward, the heads of the troopers reacting in kind with sharp ninety degree turns to the tune of snapping tendon, rending flesh and smashed bone. The death throes fell silent, their arms dropping without hesitation at their sides as they hung in the air.
‘So much for consequence…’ Nara thought to herself, slinging one of the stolen E-11’s over a shoulder while handing the other to Rex.
“Or it was something that needed to be done, and she felt it worthy to remove the two of you from fate’s decree.” Zannah offered in return, Nara taking a moment to consider the comment. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’
“Judgment rarely considers all facets of a person’s motive.” Zannah replied. Nara, gazing toward the Togruta as she slowly lowered the dead troopers to the ground soundlessly.
“Warranted, I suppose...but what do we do with them?” Rex whispered, nodding toward the Bacta chamber again.
“I am not thinking that far ahead Rex.” Ahsoka admitted as she blew out a depressing breath of frustration.
“I can add their disposal to our friend’s chore list…” Nara volunteered, turning her shoulders inward somewhat with a glance of her own in Mattis’ direction.
“Tough on him if someone catches him throwing away bodies…” Rex interjected, “but I’m not carrying em so that’s got my vote.”
Ahsoka couldn’t hide the look of surprise on her face as she turned to Nara, nodding her approval with a slim smile stretching across her face, “not bad, not bad at all..”
“If I may add though, we are going to have to pick up our pace, unless of course this is going to be our determined course of action going forward.” Rex said quickly, his features unreadable through the mask of the old Captain within, “in which case we had better get used to attention.” He added, firing a hand up toward the first rung of the ladder above.
Nara back peddled to the chamber doorway, finishing her suggestions as she added the notable job ahead for the overworked maintenance man. She heard him blow out an exasperated breath as the mind accepted the proposition without hesitation. She could sense the man’s irritations and mounting complaints, this latest addition deserving the most heated internal debate, but the mind quickly circumvented reason and common sense as Nara felt it consider possible locations to hide the bodies. She shook her head in dismay more than anything else as she returned to the bottom rung of the ladder herself, looking up to see Ahsoka pushing through a cover in the ceiling and disappearing into the darkness beyond. She looked back quickly toward the Bacta chamber wondering why the hell someone wouldn’t prioritize body disposal above valve replacement and turned her gaze upward pulling herself from the corridor altogether.
Meeting the other two atop the first level, both Ahsoka and Rex proffered a hushing finger over their lips in unison, Ahsoka continuing her gesture with a finger pointed upward. Nara raised her gaze upward to follow as Rex swiveled the wall panel back into place and closed the access hatch behind her. Corrugated flooring revealed they were between levels, Nara pulling herself closer to the wall as the shadow of feet blotted out the light from above momentarily. They were all looking up into the next level through slats in the flooring, Ahsoka extending her gaze through the crawl space ahead of them at a depression in the flooring before them.
A loud thud caused all three of them to jump slightly as it shook the decking above them momentarily. The feet that paused above Nara’s head walking toward the source of the sound with a hose trailing behind him. Rex tapped at Ahsoka’s shoulder pointing toward a stream of liquid that had begun midway through the crawlspace, a yellowish ooze that took its time in a diligent fight against gravity as it seeped through the slats in the metal above. Ahsoka began pulling her way closer to the streaming fluid just as a loud groan echoed in the chamber above them.
“Stop squirming ya dirty pig. Doc’s gotta see ya all cleaned up. Won’t do to have ya drippin all over em.” The voice was gruff and highly unintelligent, but definitely human.
A strangled yelp defied the throaty comment, sucking sounds punctuating its emphasis as the sound materialized into a hurl of sick that shot through the slats above and into the crawlspace, Ahsoka noticing a slight decant in the flooring under her that led to a central drain midway through the chamber.
“Kill ME!” A strangled voice pleaded, its owner’s mouth sounding as if filled with liquid.
“Not efore the Doc see’s ye reject, ‘e may have use for ya.” The gruff voice countered before lacing into a bellicose laughter that echoed through the chamber. The hose behind the feet grated over the flooring as if being pulled a moment before a flood of icy water blasted from it toward the rooms center, refuse flowing like a waterfall between levels as it drained quickly from the crawlspace amid the thrashing and strangled cries for instant death from whoever was taking the brunt of the deluge. The water ceased as quickly as it had started, Ahsoka still confident enough had been used to wash down a Bantha. Another sound begged for her attention as she looked directly up through the slats to find the unintelligent human gasping for air with large meaty hands around his throat, sputtering out choking sounds. She quickly looked back toward Nara who simply shrugged her shoulders, mouthing ‘not me’ in the process. The gasping ceased followed quickly by the bellicose laughter once again, Ahsoka looking back up to see the man’s arms at his sides.
“Ye ‘ave no power ‘ere cretin...save it for the Doc.” The huge man broke his laughter and walked from their view for a moment before returning with something he tossed toward the creature on the floor. “Towel off then, and we’ll be seein how close you are to gettin your wish.” He boomed once again.
Ahsoka crept silently forward, only wanting to observe who was receiving so much of the big man’s ire. She almost gasped in surprise when she spotted a pair of eyes staring down through the slats, watching her every move. A young male Pantoran, yellow eyes wide as they locked with her own, eliciting the same dread and terror his choked plea had gargled through her montral earlier.
“Help me.” The young man had presence enough to whisper, Ahsoka doing her best to conceal how powerless she truly was to do so with a simple nod of her head. She raised a finger to her lips, a simple effort to reassure the young man she had heard him, hoping it would be enough to stifle the panic he so clearly conveyed. Heavy footsteps above caused Ahsoka to break their gaze, the big man reaching a hand down to pick the boy up by his neck from behind. “HELP ME!!!” The boy screamed with an effort Ahsoka couldn’t imagine just as a brutish fist slammed into the side of his head.
“There be no help fer you reject.” The gruff voice was more convincing than the vicious beating, the boy nothing more than a sack of unconsciousness as he was pulled from Ahsoka’s view entirely, the footsteps returning as they carried both from the room above. She sat there, unmoving, for a few moments, trying to comprehend what she had just witnessed, glancing back to see both Rex and Nara just as dumbstricken as she felt.
Ahsoka knew she shouldn’t be surprised, forcing herself to comply with the urgency that had been suggested. She shook her head free of contemplation and looked up once again into the vacant chamber above them, pushing a hand on the underside of the grate, finding it stuck fast. She crawled over the wash out of the flooring between levels to the wall adjacent and to a small opening they could all squeeze through to the room above. With a wave of her hand, she motioned for Rex and Nara to follow before slowly poking her head up into the chamber.
An open pod of sorts stood against the wall to her left, a metallic claw locked seamlessly around its spherical top. Multiple black hoses and tubes ran along its sides, connecting to the pod at various, seemingly random, positions. Racks of cloth littered the far wall from her position, white sheets stained with assorted colors of neglect and detritus, causing an involuntary spasm of gags she found quite annoying. Ahsoka pulled herself up into the room, the others right after.
“Incubation pod.” Rex said immediately, Ahsoka turning to him with a finger to her lips again.
“Maybe you remember them that way...here, it’s a nest.” Nara replied, Ahsoka rolling her eyes through a shoulder shrug, tossing the notion of silence aside entirely. “Although I don’t remember the awakening being this harsh…”
“Because you weren’t a reject.” Ahsoka offered, averting her eyes from the putrid rack of what she hoped weren’t towels.
A loud clang sounded through the room from a mechanism above the ceiling they couldn’t see, followed quickly by a cadence of chirping servo’s setting their specific motors into gear. A second later, the pod was pulled quickly from the room, disappearing into the ceiling above. The whirring continued through several seconds of whining components before another pod began descending through the same opening above. All three stood in place as it slowly decanted into the same position the one previous had occupied, filled with sickly yellow liquid, motes of light green and burnt orange floating into and out of view. Ahsoka wasn’t quite certain if the present sight was an upgrade over the rack of putrid cloth as a face slowly materialized through the brackish liquid and pressed a pair of lifeless eyes against the translucent housing of the pod’s top.
“This is disgusting.” Rex was the first to comment, neither Nara or Ahsoka finding any reason to argue.
Ahsoka felt compelled to assist whoever was inside the pod, despite the wavering ripples of nausea that fought to contradict the impulse. She could not identify the individual within through the rancid looking oils, only the eyes that remained wide open, staring directly into her own. She raised a hand to wave before the eyes but pulled back suddenly as a loud buzz sounded through the chamber. A quick measure of three high pitched chirps followed and the black tubes that ran astride the pod began popping from their moorings with a decompressing hiss. All notion of salvation vanished in the second that followed as the translucent covering dividing them from the contents of the pod disappeared. A deluge of foul-smelling oils rushed forward, Ahsoka quick enough to skirt to the side alerted Nara to do the same in the opposing direction, leaving Rex the sole beneficiary of flooding rot. He time enough only to close his eyes and mouth before he was taken from his feet and dropped under the pressure of the rushing liquid, feeling something solid slam into his foot.
Rex counted the seconds in his head before thinking about opening his eyes, taken completely off guard by the frigid rush of water that was slamming into this side. He maintained enough composure to remember to keep his eyes and mouth shut as they were pummeled by intense pressure. Just as quickly as it had started, it had stopped, and Rex opened his mouth wide to release the contents of the nausea that would not be denied. He lay there on his side for a moment before trusting the situation enough to open his eyes. “This place is disgusting….” He said meekly, coughing up the remnants before wiping his mouth with the back of a cold wet hand.
“Are you ok Rex?” Ahsoka was at his side immediately, Rex opening an eye to find Nara replacing a hose to its mount on the wall.
“I have seen things in my life that make my stomach wretch Ahsoka, I have witnessed atrocities that no one should, but this place is a new low for me.”
“Well, hopefully that’s the last of it…” Nara responded, “what about hi..her...that.” She continued pointing to the lifeless body at Rex’s feet.
Rex lifted his gaze somewhat to look where directed, noting a humanoid form lying face down on the grated flooring, Nara having had the presence of mind to wash the scum from the body left him some form of ease.
Ahsoka skirted over to the naked body and rolled it over carefully, the face hidden by a sheen veil of the oily substance, “there is a heartbeat, but it is diminishing. Definitely male.”
“He is in torment Ahsoka, his lifeforce begging for release.” Nara added, Rex turning his head to see Nara approaching with an outstretched hand.
“Give it to him.” Rex said, turning back toward the still form at his feet, both women turning their attention to the clone in response. Rex’s gaze bouncing between the two of them in a desperate plea through his expression to not have to explain his reasoning. “At least by our hand it would save him from whatever that oaf has planned.”
Ahsoka turned back to the strained expression frozen in the dying boys’ eyes as they stared up at the ceiling above, a torment conveyed through them that provided all the reasoning Rex would ever need. She leaned over the boy’s body, closing her own eyes in the process as she placed a hand on either side of his neck. With a jerking twist, she finished what nature had seemingly abandoned with an almost inaudible pop and fervent grind of severed vertebrae. She let go with reservation, returning the boy’s neck to a more natural state and stood up from her knees, Rex already scooping up the body and setting it carefully into the crawl space they had emerged from.
“The only act of mercy that boy may have ever received.” The old clone said, pulling his arm clear of the opening and wiping his hands on his pant legs.
“We need to get out of here, before that idiot returns…” Rex said as he passed by both women who hadn’t moved, quite positive that neither had processed what had just occurred either. “Hey!” He chirped quickly, “there is always time to mourn when the job is done, right now we need to leave.” He continued over his shoulder, proceeding to the doorway the large man had left through. A simple green button, the size of Rex’s palm sat just to the right of the doorway, recessed into the wall just below two circular terminals.
Rex turned to Ahsoka quickly as he motioned toward the button, “give it a try.” She said quietly. A second away from pressing the large button, he could hear heavy footsteps from the other side. “Not that way…” He said quietly but distinctly in return.
Ahsoka backed up slowly as she considered the only other option she could, “going back won’t get us anywher…..” the loud buzz echoed through the chamber again, cutting her off from her thoughts.
“Now what?” Nara said what they were all thinking, a frantic expression racing through her features to the whirring of the servos above them again.
“Into the pod!” Rex shouted eagerly, knowing they truly had little time to act. Ahsoka reacted quickly, grabbing Nara by the arm, and shoving her up and into the slippery plastoid vessel, leaving just enough room for Rex to squeeze in front of them. He wretched his displeasure silently as his face pressed against the side of the pod, leaving him no choice but to breathe the rancid oily residue deeply into his nose. They could all feel the pod lift from its resting place slowly as the door to the room began to open, each of them willing the mechanism to carry them upward faster.
“We’re clear.” Ahsoka whispered, the only one of them with a clear view downward.
“And into complete darkness.” Nara responded sullenly, noting a staggering change of direction to their left, shifting them uncomfortably through the residue in the pod.
“This place is disgusting.” Rex repeated for the third time.