LOTF: Collision/Chapter 4

"You realize this is crazy, don't you?" Hans whispered.

Cade looked away from the dimly lit, poorly maintained hallway back into his cell of an even worse quality. The walls separating him from the other members of Antimatter Squadron were molded; the sanitation had obviously been ruined due to lack of maintenance for years, and the entire area smelled of something so foul Cade was almost glad he couldn't identify it. "Do you have a better idea?" Cade asked impatiently.

He leaned against the rusty durasteel bars of his cell, sighing to himself. There was no other way they were getting out of this, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"We could just wait for the Empire to find us and bust us out." Hans retorted.

"Keep it down, or I'll come over there!" A gravelly voice warned. "You don't want me to come over there."

"Who, you?" Cade taunted. "I could beat you with both hands tied behind my back!"

The source of the voice, an unusually brawny Nautolan, made his way over to the cell and looked inside, folding his arms as he took a look at his challenger. "That so?" He asked.

Not really knowing what he was doing, Cade did his best to reach out mentally towards the Nautolan, and as he did so, he slowly raised his right hand and slowly waved it across the Nautolan's field of vision.

"You will release all the prisoners in the cell block." Cade said, slowly and calmly.

The Nautolan stared back at Cade blankly as his anticipation built. After about ten or so seconds, the Nautolan finally cracked and burst out into laughter, doubling over at Cade's attempts to control him. "You...actually..." He wheezed out between bursts of laughter.

Angered, Cade redoubled his efforts, thrusting outwards with his will towards an infinite void. "I said," Cade repeated more angrily, "You will release all the prisoners."

The laughing stopped, and the Nautolan looked at Cade blankly once more. Suddenly, a large boom shook the palace, and with it, the cell door loosened, falling onto the Nautolan's head and knocking him out cold. Hans and Cade both slowly stepped out in surprise, with Cade checking the guard to be sure he was unconscious as Hans took his blaster and keycard. "Who's attacking?" Cade wondered, rather unfazed by the rest of the events that had just unfolded.

"We have a shortcut through the prison block," a nervous voice stated, down the hall and around the corner. Hans tossed the keycard to Cade, who quickly made his way down the block, freeing Praxon and Galen, Asura and Qorbin, and then DX-245, who had been fitted with another restraining bolt. "Praxon, there's-" Asura began.

"I know." Praxon interrupted.

"Quiet down and hurry up back there. We've got company inbound." Hans whispered to the group, taking aim towards the source of the voices as Praxon went to work on removing the bolt.

"Thank goodness. I'd like to see you sit in a cell with Master Inner Cultivation here." Asura chimed, pointing to Qorbin.

"This way!" Esvald yelled as he turned the corner, bringing with him Nova the Hutt on a small repulsorlift and two armed bodyguards. He made eye contact with Hans and froze as his escorts raised their weapons and Nova's face turned to one of fury.

"You let them escape!" The Hutt yelled.

"Not yet," Esvald answered. His escorts raised their weapons towards Antimatter Squadron as Asura put the finishing touches on DX-245, who raised his blasters back at them.

"Now," Hans began, "I'm sure there's no reason why we can't come to an agreement here."

"Kill them." Esvald ordered.

However, before anyone could react or open fire, the ceiling between the two groups suddenly exploded inward, and out of the smoke a squad of five Stormtroopers descended from ropes, firing as they fell. Taking advantage of the chaos as the others ducked for cover and the Jedi activated their lightsabers, Hans quickly fired off two shots at the escorts while they, along with DX, fired back at the troopers, easily dispatching all of them. The following silence was broken only by the five successive clanks of the troopers' bodies hitting the ground.

"All right, Nova." Hans said. "You're taking us to Anarto II with you, or we'll take you down here with us."

"Is that so?" The Hutt countered. "I have seen your brand of determination before. You will do whatever it takes to complete your mission. I have an alternative proposal."

"Umm, great Hutt, I don't know if you've noticed, but Hans here is the only one with a blaster, and it's pointed at you." Asura reminded her.

"And what are you going to do, shoot us?" Esvald sneered.

"I wouldn't mind," Asura muttered.

Nova gazed intently at Praxon. "I've seen what that Rodian of yours can do. If the Nebula Corporation is to become the superpower I have dreamt of, we will need killers like him. Efficient, nigh impossible to trace, harder to kill."

"You're not taking anyone." Hans angrily replied. Above the group, two more Stormtroopers peered into the room from the hole in the ceiling, only to be shot by DX, plummeting to the ground like the group before them had.

"That is our final offer." Nova told him. Hans' finger tightened on his trigger.

"Stop, Hans!" Praxon yelled. He pushed his way in front of Hans, standing between him and his targets. His cybernetic eye gazed back at DX, and it was evident the two were seriously debating what was happening— something that was very rare for the duo by now. In theory, DX could still take control of Praxon, but would never choose to.

"We have no other option." Praxon stated.

Hans' hand shook on the trigger, until finally, he let out an angry sigh and lowered his weapon. "If you hurt him or any of us, every single member of your 'Corporation' is dead. And I'll make sure of it." Hans warned Nova.

"Lovely." Esvald replied nonchalantly. He and Nova began making their way towards the group once more.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Esvald whispered to Hans.

...

Kerrig Holway sat at his desk, his eyes closed as he scoured the depths of his mind of the keys to the puzzle whose pieces he knew had been laid in front of him. Yet, it felt that no matter how hard he looked, the answer was beyond his capacity. Defeat was a feeling Kerrig had rarely felt, and one he resented. For now, he continued to stave it off with determination, though it had already taken root in his mind, and sooner or later if left unchecked it would prevail. At last, a small alert on Holway's computer disrupted his thought and stole his attention. He opened his eyes, reading with no surprise, a notice that the specialized IT-O interrogation unit assigned to cell M-1417, Barak Dakens' cell, had lost connection. Right on cue came the message from security informing him of the possible breach. "Director—" A woman's voice started.

"I know. I'll handle it myself." Holway pithily responded. He got up from his desk once more and left his office, gesturing for the death trooper outside his door to follow him.

A few minutes later, the two stood outside cell M-1417. "I should be able to handle him, but be ready for anything." Holway told his escort. The cell door slid open, and immediately Barak leapt at the Director, with a lengthy syringe in his right hand, extracted from the interrogation droid. The death trooper raised his weapon but held his fire as Barak drove the syringe closer and closer to Holway's neck as he pushed back. Slowly but surely, Holway began to push it back, finally shoving Barak off him and back into the cell. On the ground, Barak quickly composed himself and grabbed a scalpel that had also been taken from the droid in his left hand, slashing across as Holway entered the room. Holway easily leaned away from the swipe, grabbed Barak's left arm and slammed him against the wall, pinning him and making him drop the syringe. "You don't know when to give up, do you?" Holway asked.

"I'll give up when I'm dead." Barak coldly answered him.

"We'll see. Inject him."

The death trooper grabbed the syringe off the ground, quickly jammed it into Barak's neck, pushed in as far as he could, and pulled it out just as fast. Barak screamed in pain, and Holway eased up on him, allowing him to stumble back across the room, falling to the ground in agony.

"The IT-O Interrogation droid did not gain its reputation for being merciful." Howlay chastised Barak. "You've only made things worse for yourself."

Slowly blocking out the pain, Barak stopped convulsing and looked back at Holway. "You think I'm scared?"

"I think you'll talk, starting with this: what makes Hans Cerrano so important?"

"He knows the truth. He's seen it."

"What truth?"

Barak laughed weakly. "Does it matter which one? You'd deny it anyways. You always have, and now I know you were lying to me all along."

Holway grabbed Barak again, pulling him in face-to-face.

"I never lied to you," Holway whispered, with a barely contained fury, one that had been built over years. "I trusted you more than anyone else. You were all I had left after Cyana—"

"She's not dead!" Barak screamed back. "Hans met her! She tried to kill him on the Reverence, and he knows she escaped!"

Stunned, Holway let go and stepped back. Holway had been informed that Cyana, along with Taran Ragnan, was killed on the Reverence on a mission, the result of deliberate sabotage by a Jedi escaping the purge. Hans would certainly have had motive to kill Ragnan, and Barak wasn't strong enough to lie through his teeth like this under the torture serum. "Cerrano was aboard the Reverence?" He asked, hungry for more information.

"All but two of the 406-P prisoners were. Those other two were Jedi." Barak confirmed.

"How is that possible? Isard himself told me..." Holway's question was cut short by the ringing of his secure hololink.

"Of course." Holway muttered, walking outside to take the call.

"Director, we received an anonymous tip from Nar Shaddaa on the location of Hans Cerrano and his rebel group from Bothawui. We found them, but they escaped, along with Nova, from the Nebula Corporation."

"You're joking... Were you able to track them?"

"We believe so, but their destination is shortly outside charted space."

"Understood." Holway replied. "Send out scouts immediately, and prepare a full armada to attack."

Looking back towards the cell, Holway halted for a moment before relaying a final order. "And take Hans Cerrano alive."