Muunraker/Chapter 11

Muunraker

Chapter 11 "Welcome to MI5."

The space station rocked again as another explosion was heard. Pandolfo Taproot and Holly Goodlekku rounded the corner and headed for the docking bay. They stopped when they ran into a guard in a yellow jumpsuit. "Hey!"

Pandolfo skidded to a halt directly in front of him. When the guard raised his blaster, Pandolfo quickly opened his mouth wide, causing the phosphorescent lining in his mouth to glow a bright green. The guard was surprised and was blinded by the sudden appearance of light in his face. Catching him off-guard, Pandolfo threw a punch into the man's jaw, knocking him to the floor. Pandolfo then leaped down on top of him, throwing another punch and knocking him out cold.

Holly was intrigued by the Nosaurian flash she just saw. She had never seen a flash of light from any beings mouth before. "That was impressive."

"There will be plenty more times to impress you," he responded, pulling her along. "Come on, we've gotta keep moving."

- - - - - - - - - -

Agents Bont, Moonreaper, Funkistann and Kapanen were running the opposite direction, deeper into the space station. A door at the end of a corridor slid open as they approached, and they found themselves face-to-face with two vornskrs. They all froze. Europa had flashbacks of seeing the vornskrs in Drax's estate back on Dantooine.

Both vornskrs glanced toward Gruu, sensing the strong presence in the Force. Europa, Shasta and Bont all galnced toward Gruu as well, waiting.

Gruu knew what he had to do.

"Dey will follow da Force," the Gungan Jedi said. "Me-sa will lure dem away. Go on wit' da mission."

The others didn't say a word. They were too frightened. Gruu turned and headed through the door to his right. The vornskrs followed.

When the beasts were gone, the three agents continued onward. Unfortunately, they stopped again at the next door. As it slid open, they saw a large man towering over them. It was Jaws. "Fancy meeting you here," Bont said, smiling at him.

Jaws reached out and grabbed Bont by the throat. Shasta and Europa raised their blasters. Bont was choking but managed to spit out the words "Go...get...Drax." He then kicked Jaws in the groin. There was a metal clang as Bont's foot hit something that wasn't flesh. Were other parts of his body made of metal besides his jaw? Jaws then threw Bont across the room. Bont hit the wall and slumped to the ground.

Europa rushed over to him while Shasta loosed a few blaster bolts. The bolts hit Jaws in the chest causing him to stumble backward. He was still standing. Was this guy part machine? Shasta turned to look at Bont. Bont was getting to his feet. He said again, "Go get Drax. I'll handle Jaws."

Europa said, "We can't leave you here alone."

"Go!" Bont ordered. "We can't let Drax escape."

Reluctantly, the female agents left the room. Shasta gave a nod to Bont as she exited. Bont steadied himself and looked at Jaws. "Now I'll get the chance to finish what I started all those years ago," Bont said, and charged at him, expecting to engage in a brutal fight.

- - - - - - - - - -

In the docking bay, Pandolfo was keying commands into a control panel, locking all the doors leading into the bay. He had dispatched the few guards that were there, now he was securing the area, awaiting his fellow agents.

"There," he said. "I think we're good for now."

"How'd you get so good at hacking computer systems?" Holly asked. She knew quite a bit about them, which is why Drax had her in one of the main control rooms. But Pandolfo seemed to be an expert at it.

"I learned a lot during my time at MI5," he responded. "And my hacking skills turned out to be better than my marksmanship skills." He chuckled.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elsewhere in the space station, Gruu continued running with the vornskrs closing in. He remembered on a mission to Cato Neimoidia a few years back, he was attacked by a vornskr. He survived but was injured. He vowed to not let that happen again.

Focusing on the Force, he picked up speed and turned slightly so that he was heading for a blank wall. He then used one foot to launch himself upward off the wall and pulled off a backflip, swiping his lightsaber. The lightsaber arced vertically between him and the floor, chopping directly through one of the vornskrs midsections. The other vornskr turned around when Gruu landed, it's four paws skidding on the slick surface. Gruu Force-Pushed the animal against the way as it was sliding, then plunged the lightsaber into it.

He put the lightsaber away and flopped his ears back over his shoulders. Catching his breath, he glanced down at the two dead vornskrs. He said, "You-sa didn't know any better. Please forgive me-sa."

- - - - - - - - - -

Another explosion rocked the space station. A pipe burst just as Europa and Shasta passed by it. The hissing steam was blown into their faces as they went.

"According to the map Pandolfo brought up in the control room, the escape pods should be up ahead," Shasta said, pointing forward. The door ahead of them slid open as they approached. Drax was entering the escape pod's airlock and there were two yellow-clad guards with him. The three turned to see the MI5 operatives. Shasta and Europa picked off the guards before they could even aim their blasters. Shasta then fired at Drax, but the airlock door had already slid closed.

Shasta and Europa ran over to the door. Through the small window, they could see Drax smiling back at them. He was standing in the airlock, which was only a couple meters long, with the escape pod behind him. The pod's hatch was open and awaiting his entry.

Shasta's eyes met Drax's through the glass. She could hear Drax's muffled voice say, "You may have ruined my plans, but I'll be back."

Noticing Drax was still standing in the small airlock and not the actual escape pod, Shasta shook her head and responded, "No. I don't think you will." She moved her hand toward the airlock control panel.

Drax's eyes grew wide as he realized what was happening. As he spun around to scramble to climb into the pod, Shasta hit the button, causing the pod to launch. As the pod pulled away from the airlock, the vacuum of space rushed in, sucking Drax out into space behind the drifting escape pod. Through the glass window in the airlock door, Shasta and Europa watched as Drax's lifeless body floated out among the stars.

The door behind them slid open and they turned to see Jace Bont saunter in. His jumpsuit was torn in different places and there were large blood stains on the front of it.

Europa gasped. "What happened?! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Bont said. He lifted his hand for the women to see it. He was holding the metal jaw that Jaws had attached to his face. Cords and nodes dangled from it, blood dripping from them where they had been ripped from Jaws' flesh and tissue. "You should have seen the other guy."

Europa made a face showing she was disgusted by the thought of it.

Bont asked, "Where's Drax?"

Shasta pointed her thumb to the airlock. "He decided he was gonna float home."

The space station rocked again. More explosions were heard. Pandolfo's voice came over the communicator, "This place is falling apart. You guys need to get back to the docking bay whether you have Drax or not."

- - - - - - - - - -

Within minutes, Bont, Shasta and Europa had reached the docking bay. As they headed for the ship, an explosion in a neighboring docking bay rocked the space station, jolting it slightly at an angle. The three ran up the ramp.

"Where's Gruu?" Shasta asked.

Bont said into the comlink, "Gruu! Where the hell are you? We're getting out of here!"

Just as he finished the sentence, the Gungan emerged on the opposite side of the docking bay. An explosion blew out a wall in the bay, causing fire to shoot out toward the ship, the flames lapping around it. In the cockpit, Pandolfo lifted the ship off the floor of the bay. "Come on, Gruu! Hurry!"

Gruu could see the ship hovering above the raging flames. The ramp was still down and Europa was there waving him in. Gruu sprinted across the docking bay, hopped up and Force-Jumped off a crate. He flew up over the flames, reached out toward the ramp and grasped Europa's hand. For a split-second, Gruu was dangling there over the flames. Bont then came down the ramp and helped Europa pull Gruu into the ship.

The ramp closed just as the ship passed through the magnetic shield and out into space. The ship picked up speed as the space station behind it imploded, finally breaking apart.

"Sithspit! I can't believe we made it," Shasta commented.

Pandolfo set the ship on autopilot and joined the rest of the group. They all looked pretty tattered and in need of rest.

"Are your missions always this exciting?" Bont asked, out of breath.

Shasta smiled, "You have no idea."

"Welcome to MI5," Pandolfo added.

Chapters: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Epilogue