Enkindle: Best laid plans

The mouse droids had been pre-programmed not act but Lana had a set of them she kept for assaults... they looked just like the ones the rebels would have seen and recognized, but these ones exploded. The charge was meant to disrupt, not defeat or kill, but they were effective. She was delighted to hear the series of pops she recognized as them going off in the distance.

While Aurora had been out, a medical droid had snuck into her cell and inserted a tracking chip in her. She knew the risks of this - reserve engineering it - but this one degraded the second it met oxygen. She hoped her plan would work, that creature would kill some troopers to get to her master, but would upset the rebel cause all the same.

She caught the direction from Luando. She'd had a tone she was unfamiliar with... was that fear? Concern? Something didn't set right...

~ ~ ~

Niko had collected enough to set himself up with a nice return but when a blaster bolt singed his shoulder, he reacted. Out came a ion grenade and it was loosed, blasting the trooper. He stood to throw and saw the carnage. He also saw how fearless Aegon and Inna were being. Money's not everything...

He leapt from his place tossing a grenade from each hand, gathered up a heavy blaster from a fallen trooper and began cutting down the heavier droids. "The droids are the ones you have to watch out for," he hollered to Aegon and Inna, "I'll focus in on them. Get on with your mission!"

~ ~ ~

A squad of Ulaan's men were tracking her position. Clearly, they'd expected she'd be captured and used it as an opportunity, should it happen, to know the way to whomever would take her. Ulann was too important to just be killed or sent to a cell. Someone important would have her. Someone worth killing.

Using some very non-traditional tactics and sneaking around and not using regular blasters, they managed to get up to the floor where Ulaan was and barge into Abalam's office. The guards at the door had been neutralized but at the cost of the whole squad but two. Two was still enough to either save Ulaan or kill whoever kept her.

Lana felt a strange urge, felt like something awful was about to happen. She knew where Luando was went to her. Seeing the bodies of troopers along the way, she'd tripled her speed. She caught the one at a distance, the one whom had their blaster trained on Abalam, and she killed him. The other turned away from Luando and began firing on her, but she managed to tumble and roll, avoiding the shots and rolled into a perfect firing position, hitting that one too.

"Commander!" she shouted, exasperated, "Are you okay?"

She didn't even see the rebel groaning and aiming his blaster at her. The shot was off before anyone could notice and she took it in the shoulder, falling hard but getting a shot off and killing the rebel.

Lana though was out and her future uncertain.

~ ~ ~

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