Star Wars: Fragile Threads

Fragile Threads

"Nikaede was going to spike her Jawa beer," Tiaja recalled. "I wasn't sure if I could win that fight."

"But you didn't let Nik drug her, and you did win."

Her smile faded, and she stared into her glass. "You think I've judged Geerd too harshly?"

"I know you have. Just like I made judgments about you the first time I laid eyes on you." Drake set his glass down on the counter. "Give him a chance to redeem himself. We're going to need all the help we can get in the tunnels. Besides, I've got the perfect job for an old bilge rat like him."

~ ~ ~

Sheltering beneath a camouflage tarp, Drake peered over a rocky escarpment into the entrance of the Nightspider Clan's mountain stronghold. "Comm check," he whispered.

Nikaede responded with a low growl over the channel. Hidden in the darkness, the Wookiee and Geerd were waiting on the opposite side of the cave mouth. Her job was to trigger a distraction, drawing the majority of the Nightsisters out of their stronghold. The distraction would lead them on a reckless chase, while Drake and Tiaja spearheaded an assault to the bottom of the caves.

"Standing by, Drake," Densin said from the safety of the Steadfast. Smaller and more maneuverable than the YZ-900, he held the modified freighter in position behind a cloud bank in the atmosphere to monitor the operation. When the explosives were in place, he would trigger them remotely, burying the tunnels for all time.

"Alright, it's now or never," Drake said. "Nik, light it up."

Positioned twenty meters away from the entrance to the cave, an explosion shattered the night's silence. As the Nightsisters rallied to defend their home, a second blast sent violent tremors through the ground. The detonation launched rocks and debris into the air. Jagged shrapnel rained back down on them as they searched for the source of the assault. A third blast brought them out of the cave in droves. They mounted up on dilapidated swoops, the glow of their energy bows and lances casting a bizarre orange haze in the night air.

Engines revving, two speederbikes took off and sped in opposite directions: one to the west toward a Science Outpost and the other south toward an abandoned Imperial Prison. Drake watched the Nightsisters give chase, swarming from the cave like infuriated shear mites.

The figures at the controls were actually reprogrammed mining droids, wearing cloaks to mask their identities. As the decoys sped off, Drake counted thirty Nightsisters in pursuit, leaving a score behind to guard the caves.

Popping the restraint over his blaster, he pulled the heavy weapon from its holster and turned to Tiaja with a grin. "Just like we did at the Tusken Fort."

She ignited her lightsaber, and together, they sprinted into the mouth of the cave.

There was one way to deal with Nightsisters: hard and fast, hit-and-then-run, or so the old timers in the Black Bha'lir advised. Though he was fast with a blaster and accurate, Tiaja was faster, and more lethal with her lightsaber. The cave entrance was nestled at the bottom of a slope that spiraled downward in a continuous 45-degree incline. Drake kept his weight over his heels and slid down into the yawning stony mouth.

Six Nightsisters were waiting for them. Tiaja somersaulted through the air, dropping down on them with her lightsaber before they could fire a single arrow. The remaining four turned on her. Drake took aim and fired, blasting two of them to give the mercenary the space she needed to maneuver.

One of the white-painted warriors scored a hit with an energy lance. Grazing Tiaja's shoulder, the polearm crackled with an electrical field and left her momentarily stunned. She cried out, the hiss of the lightsaber covering her gasp of surprise and pain. Drake shot the assailant in the chest.