Is Sylvana prepped to go?" Sci pointedly glanced at Nick's black speeder.
Nick nodded sourly, "Yup. Just got to pick up her spar-mate and we'll be off. I already called ahead to my R4."
"I hope you have a bit of extra room. We've got a couple of stowaways that we need shipped." He smiled unpleasantly, "Got any room in the trunk?"
"'Fraid not. You know, due to the. . . ah. . . miscellaneous defensive systems."
"Oh well. It's your job to fit them in. And take that cat," Sci pointed at the three-legged Roguie who was currently rubbing up against his leg.
"You expect us to fit in there?" Eti quailed. "But we'll be curled up like hedgehogs!" She pointed past where Sylvana's unconscious form was strapped on a backboard across the back seat. "We'll be cramped beyond belief!"
"Our other passenger is wounded, he can't roll up at all." Nick nodded at Sylvana, "Also, she's the last person who annoyed him." He grinned at the sisters, "He'd be very upset if he found someone was making him stretch his wounds."
Naira gulped and ventured, "I believe we should show our quills, sister."
The Atlantic ocean spooled past below the speeder. The vehicle's interior was silent, save for Sylvana's monitors and an occasional muffled curse from a Neris.
Finally, Nick spoke. "Found a silver lining yet?"
"Fuck, no," Josh replied flatly, absently rubbing at a bacta patch on his leg as he tried to keep from kicking the small black cat curled up in his footwell.
Silence returned, the Atlantic continuing its relentless gentle rolling beneath them.
=They're here! They're back!= Fate whistled excitedly as he darted down the halls.
=Should we hide?= Dis blatted in reply, slowly rolling towards the new bunker, his dataprobe seeking out the concealed port.
=I don't know! Probably!= Fate squealed. =The Destroyer is with my mistress, and she looks dead!=
=Wow, that's a surprise,= Dis tootled sardonically. =Maybe she looked at him funny.= The hidden hatch hissed open, =Are you coming?=
=Yeah. I... I'm coming!= the 'younger' droid followed... directly behind the other droid.
=How far away were they?=
=Palace grounds. Speeder.= BWEEE!!!
=Right. Shut the door. I'll hook into the surveillance nets. Need a feed?=
Fate tweetled an affirmative, jacking in and shutting the door. =Ghost! Come watch! Your master's bringing home the Destroyer, and mine!= Fate didn't care about the other two humans, and zooped over to Ghost, tweetling insistantly, running back and forth like a puppy wanting one to follow.
=I'm already watching, Fate. Oh, and Dis, stop overreacting. Your human isn't much healthier than Fate's biological. He isn't going to be destroying anything.=
=Well, thank the Emergent Algorithm,= buzzed Dis. =But the information sources I can access have only just let me know that.= He disengaged from the network and rolled back out into clear space. =What you describe as overreacting was a measure of caution. You know how he reacts to things. Fate, you can let us out.=
Fate twittered nervously, but did as he was told before scuttling safely away from the bunker door.
=So, Ghost= beeped Dis. =What sort of damage does he have? How badly is he impaired?= A hopeful tone entered Dis's transmission.
=He's upright, but not going to be winning any athletics competitions anytime soon. Doesn't seem to be anything bacta can't fix.=
Dis blatted. =Can't have everything, I suppose.=
=Indeed. On the plus side, we'll have an opportunity to visit somewhere more closely resembling civilisation.=
=Oh? We're going on a trip? Can I come too?!=
=Excellent. Where are we going?=
=I'm currently working on a nav plot for the nearest NRI neuropsych base.=
=Better than here, I suppose.=
=We get to see crazy people!=
=We have to leave this orifice of a planet to see that?=
=You should be happy, Dis. Your human is one of the ones slated for treatment.=
=He's got the hardware to treat?=
=What about mine?! Is mine alive?!=
=She's alive= Ghost paused. =Interesting. She's down for medical treatment as well as psychological.=
=Why is that interesting? You've already said she was dysfunctional.=
=No she's not!=
=They're not treating her here. The only reason to do that is if the auto docs can't handle the job.=
=What, does bacta fry her circuits?=
=Fry? No no no, that's bad. Don't wanna do that, no... Wait. Without Bacta she's gonna be shut down permanent!= BWEEE!!! Fate squealed as he ran in circles.
Ghost disconnected from his dataport and rolled out of the hidden bunker. =Time to go, they're looking for a quick turnaround. If you two are coming, you better get moving.=
=Don't leave me behind!= Fate zoomed out of the bunker, then stopped and turned. =Where are we going, again?=
=Off this rock,= trumpeted Dis. =That's all I'm worried about.= Dis affixed Fate with his sensor. =Follow me.=
Nick and Josh paced along the cellblock, behind two blaster-toting Palace Guards. The guards presented themselves to the guardstation oustide the high security section, showing their IDs to more guards behind bulletproof glass.
One guard in the station surveyed the IDs, then nodded gravely to her partner. Her partner returned the nod, then buzzed the entrance open.
The prisoners began to stir immediately, some grabbing the bars and jeering. The Palace Guards looked a little discomfited at the sight of the more obvious nonhumans.
"So," Mr. Star observed from his cell, "The catamites have finally come to see their captives, have they?" He moved up to the bars and chuckled at his captors.
"It's time for you lot to move," Nick said blandly, ignoring the insult.
"And chuckle like that one more time, you'll have trouble moving at all," added Josh darkly.
"The puppy has teeth," observed a female Devaronian in a different cell. "But I don't think you'll bite, puppy."
"Oh yes, Nova, just ask Bowb," snarled a Shistavanen from another cell. "If your 'puppy' hadn't killed him, he'd say 'Ayup'. Keep underestimating them and you'll get us all killed!"
"Why don't you have more like him, Chuckles?" asked Josh, hooking a thumb at the wolfman. "I like him."
"Machismo aside," interjected Nick. "The point is, we're moving you lot. You can make it hard, or you can make it easy."
"Why do you expect us to co-operate?" asked Star. "you obviously need us alive, or we would not be having this conversation." Star spread his hands and chuckled, "To continue this conversation would be poi-"
The stunbolt struck Star between the eyes. He convulsed, banging his head against the bars, and crumpled.
"Damn," Josh said ostentatiously as he checked the selector lever on his blaster. "Set on stun." He flicked the selector with a clearly audible click, then raised the weapon. "Anyone else feel like not co-operating?"
Nick's grin was malicious, as he gestured for the guards to cuff the somewhat sobered prisoners. As he turned away, the malice turned to relief as he surreptitiously reholstered the holdout blaster he'd drawn.