For Your Photoreceptors Only/Chapter 5

For Your Photoreceptors Only

Chapter 5

"So I dug through all the files at CorSec," Bont said, looking over the holo-images. He brought all the important Dr. Noah files back to HQ on Coruscant to share with M and the rest of the agents. They were all standing behind Bont examining the images.

"Most of Noah's known labs were either destroyed or cleaned out and don't even exist anymore," Bont continued. "But I found five that are still standing. They were decommissioned by the authorities, but they were never destroyed or converted into something else."

Bont pulled up holo-images of the five different locations. "Jakku, Ord Mantell, Ilum, Kashyyyk, and Dagobah."

Shasta said, "Five planets. If all five of Noah's labs are active, they could alert each other when we hit 'em. We're better off hitting 'em simultaneously."

Behind her, M said, "Our agents are already spread pretty thin across the galaxy."

"You guys could each pick a planet and I could join you on each one," QUAD suggested. "Since I have Q'u's time travel technology, I could be on all five planets at once."

Bont smiled. "Brilliant." He threw a friendly punch into QUAD's metallic shoulder.

Pandolfo said, "Since my hide can withstand the cold climate, I'll take Ilum."

"Just be careful out there," M said, sternly pointing a finger at him. "Remember what happened with that rescue mission on Hoth."

"Yeah," Pandolfo added. "I almost froze to death. I'll be better prepared this time."

Not wanting to be stuck with a desert, forest or swamp planet, Shasta was the next to pipe up. "I guess I'll take Ord Mantell."

Gruu looked at Acura. "We-sa will be takin' Kashyyyk." Gruu's Gungan body would not sit well on a desert planet, so the more moist forest one was a better choice.

Europa quickly called, "Jakku."

"Then I'm stuck with the swamp planet," Bont said. "Perfect," he added sarcastically.

Within a few minutes, the agents all gathered in the hangar bay. The blast doors on all sides were open revealing the panoramic Coruscant skyline. QUAD stood and watched while each agent boarded their assigned ships and exited the hangar, destined for their respective planets. Then QUAD activated the space/time device and disappeared.

- - - - - - - - - -

After a boring and short travel distance to Ord Mantell, the MI5 vessel named Independence swooped down toward the planet's surface. Shasta could see the mountainous terrain. As she approached her destination, she slowed the ship and found a flat place to land, or at least the flattest place. The mountains didn't really offer much in the way of flat spaces.

The feet touched down on the rocky ground and she exited the ship. The second she stepped off the ramp, QUAD shimmered into view a few yards in front of her.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, drawing her standard-issue blaster.

"It's only me, Agent Moonreaper," QUAD said.

"Yeah, I know," she responded, holstering the weapon. "I just wasn't expecting that. I guess the jump from Coruscant was instantaneous for you, then, right?"

"Indeed it was. Only seconds ago I was standing in the hangar bay watched all the agents depart."

"It's crazy how Q'u's technology works," Shasta said, shaking her head. "So, here we are on Ord Mantell's Jokipakka mountain range."

"Yes, and according to the coordinates Agent Bont provided," QUAD pointed, "Noah's lab should be roughly a half of a mile that way."

It was just before dusk so they were starting to lose some daylight when they reached the location of the lab. All they could spot was a rather large blast door built into the side of a cliff face. The two sliding doors were open ajar, leaving a slit between them.

QUAD and Shasta looked at each other. Shasta drew her blaster as QUAD approached the opening. "I'm not scanning any life-forms," he said. "I'm not sure if there are any droids." The slit between the doors was just wide enough to slip his large frame in. He had to turn his body sideways, but he fit.

Shasta followed.

QUAD's shoulders popped open revealing spotlights. The lights clicked on, turning the darkness into day. "Kinda spooky," Shasta commented. They now found themselves in a rectangular room. The metal walls were rusted and dirty. There were no other doors. But Shasta noticed a small control panel on the opposite side of the room. She walked up to the device and examined it. "I think it's a lift." She hit a down-arrow button on the panel and the floor began vibrating.

Sure enough, the lift took them deeper into the mountain.

After a few moments, the lift stopped and they were looking into a long, thin room. Lining the walls on both sides were large, glass, cylindrical vats. Shasta and QUAD cautiously walked down the center of the large room, QUAD twisting so that they had some light.

Shasta examined one of them by walking completely around it. "These are incubators," she said, running her hand over the inactive control panel.

"What exactly were they incubating?" QUAD said.

"Well, Dr. Noah's a mad scientist," Shasta stated. "It could be just about anything. He had a bunch of mutant creatures when we captured him years ago."

QUAD suddenly turned to shine the light down the elongated room, putting Shasta back into darkness. "I'm picking up a heat signature dead ahead."

Shasta stepped up next to QUAD and they approached the far wall. "There's something electronic that's running beyond this wall," QUAD said.

Shasta found a door control panel and tried open it. "If this wall is actually a door, then it must be locked by some password or encryption. It won't open."

QUAD said, "Allow me, Agent Moonreaper." He stepped in front of her as she moved out of his way. QUAD then threw a punch into the control panel.

"Wouldn't it have been easier for you to just use Q'u's technology to decrypt it?" Shasta asked.

"But this way is faster," QUAD said. If he was able to smile, he probably would have. As the big droid pulled his mechanical fist from the new hole in the wall where the panel used to be, sparks began sputtering out of the remains of the panel.

There was a loud clanking noise and the wall slowly started moving upward. Two lights popped on behind the sliding door casting a dim light on an empty vat. This vat was much larger than the others. The lights on the control panel were blinking and there was condensation on the inside of the glass.

Touching the dry, exterior of the glass, Shasta said, "This one was opened recently. They took something out of it."

"No telling what it was."

Shasta was looking up at the top of the vat. "But whatever it was, it was big."

A more thorough investigation of the room didn't turn up anything else. All they got from this mission was that there was some large creature taken from that incubator. Back topside, Shasta was transmitting their findings to M on Coruscant.

"Thank you, Agents," M responded. I will inform the others to be cautious. We have no idea what they'll encounter out there."

"No need, sir. I can inform each of them in turn. As a matter of fact, I've probably informed them already," QUAD said, referring to the time-travel technology he possessed. "See you soon." Then QUAD shimmered away into thin air.

Shasta looked back at the holo-image of M. "I guess that means he's on to his next mission."

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