STAR WARS: HERALD OF FURY

Chapter 9

And then the alien fell, death transforming what had once been a subject into an object, a body into a corpse. The two guards yelled out in surprise, one checking his escort’s life, while the other looked around for the source of the attack.

The sentient weapon jerked in IG-68’s hands and sprayed the fallen Ithorian and his guards with volleys of blaster fire. Ax warbled jingles of satisfied pleasure.

“Desist, Ax!”

IG-68 wrenched the weapon upwards, as it continued to launch blaster bolts into the air. Unfortunately, this served like a flare, highlighting his location to all alerted guards. He smacked Ax with his hand and shook the weapon.

“I don’t care how excited you were! If anyone catches wind of this, I’ll be an embarrassment to the whole droid community. Prognosis: your choice was asinine.”

IG-68 turned to flee, as Ax bent her joints, shrunk and shuffled her appendages, and climbed like a womprat around his back. She hung from the assassin droid’s neck and then beeped a colorful expletive.

"You wouldn’t care about my reputation, would you? You heartless machine! Oh shut up, of course I know you actually are heartless. Just help me get out of here!”

IG-68 ran across the top of the building and performed a scan to help him select the best of his three planned escape routes. The northwest path looked the most promising, so he darted to his left and jumped off the building to reach a series of adjoining rooftops on a lower level. Cement broke around his feet upon his landing, but he sprinted onwards.

Guards from below fired at him with blaster rifles. One shot took him in the shoulder, significantly damaging his duraplate armor. Sparks crackled from the impact point where wires were severed or melted.

“Ax! Work on that injury, will you?”

Ax chortled an insult about how clumsy her maker was, but she swung over to work on repairing the open wound.

IG-68 chucked a thermal detonator towards the source of the gunfire. He waited for the howl of the explosion to disorient his enemies before he hopped down to the streets and sprinted towards an alley. It was only a bit further to his vehicle and safety.

A guard came around the corner in front of him and pulled up her blaster, but she couldn’t take a shot at him before Ax lept off IG-68’s back and landed on her head. Knocked off balance, the guard fell to the ground. A knife extended from one of Ax’s legs and she buried it in the guard’s windpipe. Then her other appendages snaked around the sentry’s head and with a jerk, the neck snapped.

IG-68 scooped up the tiny droid and kept heading for the alley. He sent a wireless signal to his vehicle to prep its engines.

“Why do you keep doing that to the protein bars?" he asked his partner.

Ax made a low, electronic grumble.

"You know what I'm talking about. The double killing!"

She whistled.

“Really? For good measure?”

Then the droid hummed a series of high-pitched notes.

“You just didn’t like the way her face looked? I need to adjust your programming.”

They slipped into the alley where IG-68 had prepared an airspeeder. He wirelessly unlocked the vehicle with a security code and hopped inside.

Within moments the vessel was flying through the air amongst a shower of blaster bolts, and then it departed from the scene away into darkness.

IG-68 sent word to Republic command that his mission was accomplished. He had time  to kill while waiting for confirmation, so he turned on his sound recorder to record a poem. When he felt his muse’s inspiration, he had to respond to her call. His loyal fans on the Holonet were hungering for his latest poems, and who was he to deny them? His eight fans?

Or was it really six, since he had followed himself twice with different avatars? That aside, it was his duty to show them the heights, the apex, of droid art. With a glowing voice, IG-68 began:

“‘Twas a night, most gloriously bright,

And yet despite the light, it was still night.

Night! An hour of gloom for scum,

A pox, a shadow upon vile scum!

This mainframe! This robotic knight!

This metal made flesh afright!

The Dark, monstrous clouds haughtily laughed

And rain--”

Ax produced a mocking chirp, and turned away from her master.

“Of course I know it actually didn’t rain! It just adds to the presence and majesty of the scene. But fine, have it your way.”

IG-68 plodded onward, supplementing his verse with expressive gestures:

“If there’d been rain, it would’ve been aghast

By a music of righteous smiting forever now unsurpassed.

For joyous joy! With delight I say!

Many meatbags’ lives were taken away!

Villains reviled! Fiends beguiled!

Degenerates were--”

“Rancor's Leash?” a voice from Republic command broke in on the airspeeder’s comm speaker with his code name. “Are you there?”

“Aye aye,” replied IG-68, very irritated that a masterpiece had been ruined by the interruption. “Silver Bugle, what's the news?”

“We received your update. Do not head home. We’ve got another mission for you. Priority 1."

Ax chortled in delight. My, how she hungered.

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