![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suitably_heroicComplete pandemonium lasted for at least a few seconds; both Mira and Atton were well-versed in the best ways to remain calm and continue on, but the tremors rolling through the complex were something else entirely.
What snapped Atton back to reality was motion -- upward motion.
His eyes widened as he clung to the wall. "Mira!" he called. "It's a ship! It's a karking starship!"
Mira spat out an unprintable curse. "That's what they've been powering?!" she hollered.
"Must be why there's a team staying up top," Atton said, forcing himself to find his bearing. He peeled away from the wall. "The batteries go downstairs, the pilot goes to the cockpit..."
Calculation flashed across Mira's face. "Okay," she said. "So this ship is probably low on juice, right? So we have to cut off the batteries before they can hook them up."
"But we don't know what this thing can do," Atton pointed out. "Or what kind of damage they can do with it. Space, this ship has got to be the size of an asteroid, at least."
"You get the batteries out," Mira said, after a moment's pause. "Alive. I'll head up to the cockpit and take these guys out. Come find me there if you're done?"
"Can I have my lightsabers back, at least?"
"If you promise not to use them."
"Fine," Atton snapped. He held his hands out. The 'sabers shot right into his palms the second Mira unclipped them from her belt. "Let's just move!"
They exchanged quick nods, and then Mira was gone, barreling down the hallway.
"Right," Atton muttered to himself, turning around to head towards the downstairs hatch. "Time to find out if this thing has escape pods--"
"It does. At least, I think it does. Visas and I found some chambers with large airlocks on the south side of the underground complex."
Right. Time for some nerf-herding.
---
For a group of people so obviously jacked up on the Dark Side, the herd of beings walking down the hall looked pretty pathetic. They were led by the black-clad smugglers Atton had seen before, heavily armed and mean-looking.
Atton's fingers strayed over the lightsabers at his sides. A cold voice in the back of his head told him to just do it - barge in, kill everyone, and the threat would be over. Fast. Mira'd be able to land the ship somewhere they could take it apart, and...
No.
He growled something under his breath, ducking behind a large crate. Okay, rethink. What was in the space? What could he use? Tick, tick, tick goes the engine...
He reached out through the Force and found.. another crate, right behind them. He gave a yank. A loud noise echoed through the room as it hit the wall. The smugglers stopped.
"What was that?!"
... and turned towards the rear they'd been so confident had been protected.
Atton saw his chance.
He yanked their blasters away with a pull of the Force, leaping forward to bury his boots in the center of one smuggler's back. He knocked the back of his unlit lightsaber into the head of the second. (That didn't count like using it, right?)
The third had had enough time to turn, but his reflexes weren't as good as Atton's. Atton smashed his fist into the guy's throat, then rammed his knee up, sending him to the ground.
"Okay," he said slowly. "That was easy."
Then he looked up into the blank faces of a dozen beings... and saw the aggression crawling back into their eyes.
"Atton? Atton, they disabled the landing system-- we're hitting orbit soon."
"I'm going to comm you back," Atton told her, backflipping away from the angry hordes. "I gotta run!"
---
Okay, Jedi endurance was better than normal sentient endurance. That was the only thing in Atton's favor as he barreled through the lower end of the ship thing with a bunch of brainwashed dark side civilians hot on his heels.
He whirled through the air, bouncing off the wall to avoid various objects thrown at his head.
"Down south, escape pod," he growled. "Why is the escape pod always on the other side of the karking starship?!"
"Stop-- complaining."
Mira sounded out of breath. He could faintly hear blaster fire in the background. "How close are you?"
"Almost there."
It was almost a shame how no one was there to watch Atton flip around the corner like that. Well-- no one with their wits about them, anyway.
"I figured out what this ship is," Mira said. "It's a weapon. Revan probably started digging it up, but he never finished it. Then these guys came in..."
"At least they're not Sith like we thought going into this," Atton said, dashing down the corridor. "I mean, I'm not currently sure how this is much better, but it's got to be, right?"
"Sure, a massive battlecruiser with the power to turn people crazy with the dark side and no landing gear is much better than having to knock a few Sith in the head."
"You don't have to get sarcastic about i-- did you say no landing gear?!"
"Just get to the escape pod, Atton."
Her end of the line went dead.
"Mira? Mira!" Poodoo.
A large pipe went soaring past Atton's head, flying past him and hitting the back of the escape pod. "At least it's big," he muttered. "Okay! Laserbrains! We're at your stop!"
He hurled himself into the pod, ignoring the pain that shot up his shoulder as he hit the wall at a fraction of the same speed that the pipe had. "Come on, come here..."
He felt something cold and angry pricking at the back of his neck. It made no headway; there was a wall of worry boiling in the center of his gut that kept him nice and warm.
He stood. He waited.
The first being stumbled over the treshold, all teeth and grappling hands, but Atton dodged to the side. (No lightsabers. No weapons. No violence.) It became tougher staying away from their hungry grasp, and the scent of the dark side in the pod kept getting worse. And worse. And worse.
Whatever. He needed to get this done so he could run upstairs and get Mira out of here, and then nuke this thing from... further than orbit.
When the last of them crossed the treshold into the pod, he hurled himself outward, lobbing one of Mira's knock-out grenades behind him. (Whoops. Sorry about stealing that, Mira, but you hadn't let him keep any other toys.)
He slammed the airlock controls a second after the grenade made impact. The door slammed shut, lights whirling, and there was a loud metallic clang as the pod detached from the side of the ship.
"It says here that the pod is clear." Mira's voice crackled over the comms again. She sounded exhausted. "I've commed Mical. He's flying the Hawk in to pick you up."
"Pick us up," Atton said. "I sent the kids off without us. I'm coming up there. You get everyone clear--?"
"You're not on the pod?!"
"Of course not," Atton said, stepping away from the airlock. Poodoo - one of them must have hit his knee. It hurt like hell. "Hold on, okay? I'm going to come bail you out."
A crackling, electronic sigh.
"Atton," Mira said quietly, "It'd be nice if you were just a little less of a good guy just this once, okay?"
Atton frowned.
"What do you--?"
"Hold your breath."
There was a flash of light.
There was a loud metallic noise.
And then it was deeply, icy cold.
[[ establishy. ]]
What snapped Atton back to reality was motion -- upward motion.
His eyes widened as he clung to the wall. "Mira!" he called. "It's a ship! It's a karking starship!"
Mira spat out an unprintable curse. "That's what they've been powering?!" she hollered.
"Must be why there's a team staying up top," Atton said, forcing himself to find his bearing. He peeled away from the wall. "The batteries go downstairs, the pilot goes to the cockpit..."
Calculation flashed across Mira's face. "Okay," she said. "So this ship is probably low on juice, right? So we have to cut off the batteries before they can hook them up."
"But we don't know what this thing can do," Atton pointed out. "Or what kind of damage they can do with it. Space, this ship has got to be the size of an asteroid, at least."
"You get the batteries out," Mira said, after a moment's pause. "Alive. I'll head up to the cockpit and take these guys out. Come find me there if you're done?"
"Can I have my lightsabers back, at least?"
"If you promise not to use them."
"Fine," Atton snapped. He held his hands out. The 'sabers shot right into his palms the second Mira unclipped them from her belt. "Let's just move!"
They exchanged quick nods, and then Mira was gone, barreling down the hallway.
"Right," Atton muttered to himself, turning around to head towards the downstairs hatch. "Time to find out if this thing has escape pods--"
"It does. At least, I think it does. Visas and I found some chambers with large airlocks on the south side of the underground complex."
Right. Time for some nerf-herding.
---
For a group of people so obviously jacked up on the Dark Side, the herd of beings walking down the hall looked pretty pathetic. They were led by the black-clad smugglers Atton had seen before, heavily armed and mean-looking.
Atton's fingers strayed over the lightsabers at his sides. A cold voice in the back of his head told him to just do it - barge in, kill everyone, and the threat would be over. Fast. Mira'd be able to land the ship somewhere they could take it apart, and...
No.
He growled something under his breath, ducking behind a large crate. Okay, rethink. What was in the space? What could he use? Tick, tick, tick goes the engine...
He reached out through the Force and found.. another crate, right behind them. He gave a yank. A loud noise echoed through the room as it hit the wall. The smugglers stopped.
"What was that?!"
... and turned towards the rear they'd been so confident had been protected.
Atton saw his chance.
He yanked their blasters away with a pull of the Force, leaping forward to bury his boots in the center of one smuggler's back. He knocked the back of his unlit lightsaber into the head of the second. (That didn't count like using it, right?)
The third had had enough time to turn, but his reflexes weren't as good as Atton's. Atton smashed his fist into the guy's throat, then rammed his knee up, sending him to the ground.
"Okay," he said slowly. "That was easy."
Then he looked up into the blank faces of a dozen beings... and saw the aggression crawling back into their eyes.
"Atton? Atton, they disabled the landing system-- we're hitting orbit soon."
"I'm going to comm you back," Atton told her, backflipping away from the angry hordes. "I gotta run!"
---
Okay, Jedi endurance was better than normal sentient endurance. That was the only thing in Atton's favor as he barreled through the lower end of the ship thing with a bunch of brainwashed dark side civilians hot on his heels.
He whirled through the air, bouncing off the wall to avoid various objects thrown at his head.
"Down south, escape pod," he growled. "Why is the escape pod always on the other side of the karking starship?!"
"Stop-- complaining."
Mira sounded out of breath. He could faintly hear blaster fire in the background. "How close are you?"
"Almost there."
It was almost a shame how no one was there to watch Atton flip around the corner like that. Well-- no one with their wits about them, anyway.
"I figured out what this ship is," Mira said. "It's a weapon. Revan probably started digging it up, but he never finished it. Then these guys came in..."
"At least they're not Sith like we thought going into this," Atton said, dashing down the corridor. "I mean, I'm not currently sure how this is much better, but it's got to be, right?"
"Sure, a massive battlecruiser with the power to turn people crazy with the dark side and no landing gear is much better than having to knock a few Sith in the head."
"You don't have to get sarcastic about i-- did you say no landing gear?!"
"Just get to the escape pod, Atton."
Her end of the line went dead.
"Mira? Mira!" Poodoo.
A large pipe went soaring past Atton's head, flying past him and hitting the back of the escape pod. "At least it's big," he muttered. "Okay! Laserbrains! We're at your stop!"
He hurled himself into the pod, ignoring the pain that shot up his shoulder as he hit the wall at a fraction of the same speed that the pipe had. "Come on, come here..."
He felt something cold and angry pricking at the back of his neck. It made no headway; there was a wall of worry boiling in the center of his gut that kept him nice and warm.
He stood. He waited.
The first being stumbled over the treshold, all teeth and grappling hands, but Atton dodged to the side. (No lightsabers. No weapons. No violence.) It became tougher staying away from their hungry grasp, and the scent of the dark side in the pod kept getting worse. And worse. And worse.
Whatever. He needed to get this done so he could run upstairs and get Mira out of here, and then nuke this thing from... further than orbit.
When the last of them crossed the treshold into the pod, he hurled himself outward, lobbing one of Mira's knock-out grenades behind him. (Whoops. Sorry about stealing that, Mira, but you hadn't let him keep any other toys.)
He slammed the airlock controls a second after the grenade made impact. The door slammed shut, lights whirling, and there was a loud metallic clang as the pod detached from the side of the ship.
"It says here that the pod is clear." Mira's voice crackled over the comms again. She sounded exhausted. "I've commed Mical. He's flying the Hawk in to pick you up."
"Pick us up," Atton said. "I sent the kids off without us. I'm coming up there. You get everyone clear--?"
"You're not on the pod?!"
"Of course not," Atton said, stepping away from the airlock. Poodoo - one of them must have hit his knee. It hurt like hell. "Hold on, okay? I'm going to come bail you out."
A crackling, electronic sigh.
"Atton," Mira said quietly, "It'd be nice if you were just a little less of a good guy just this once, okay?"
Atton frowned.
"What do you--?"
"Hold your breath."
There was a flash of light.
There was a loud metallic noise.
And then it was deeply, icy cold.
[[ establishy. ]]
