At Paika's SpeederWorks, Paika, Grunts, Gorin, and the DUM droid souped-up the ComfortRide Passenger Airspeeder Kogo-Leeto acquired from his chauffeur friend, with the help of Jarriss' credits. The Rodian had gone out to find a delivery truck, and to prepare to play his part as a parcel courier.
Elynn worked on her datapad on a nearby workbench, preparing computer spikes, bypass keys, code cylinders, datacards, and number of computer malware. Music pumped from the headphones of her advanced agent interface. One of the Imperial technician's uniforms used during her rescue form the Talon Strike lay folded on the table with its helmet resting on top.
With the help of Ilum, Elynn had taken her things aboard the Outcast the night before. Chak-Chak took surprisingly well to her new home, sniffing around as she explored her surroundings leaving her scent. She then curled into a ball on one of the bunks in Elynn's quarters after kneading the bed's padding.
Elynn couldn't shake off the shock of learning Darth Vader's true identity. Addia, Ilum, and Jarriss knew of the Jedi Knight from his vaunted reputation during the Clone Wars, or from the prophecy attached to him—in the case of Addia. But Elynn had grown up admiring the daring warrior, much like the rest of the younglings in the Jedi Order. Learning of his disgraceful fall, and the appalling things he had perpetuated, shook her to her core.
Elynn looked over at Syrran, sitting across the table from her, busy with the lightsaber rifle. She had convinced the Rodian to hand over the stolen weapon to her friends, and in exchange, Jarriss paid him a handsome reward for his trouble. The price tag was nowhere near the value of the rare item, but it was enough to make Kogo-Leeto ecstatic.
Syrran had modified the weapon to be disassembled in parts for easy concealment. He fitted the sound suppressor, fashioned from a few scrap parts he found lying around the garage. Ever since he returned from his secret meeting, her Master had turned laconic and hyper-focused, as if his thoughts were immersed in what was to come.
Theleema, Addia, and Jarriss had gone shopping for clothes for the ceremony. Syrran had procured a uniform from the Pantoran guard, the security body tasked with the protection of important political figures from the Pantoran Assembly.
Ilum worked on creating a fake bottom on an equipment cart, where those attending the ceremony could hide their weapons and clothes. The crate with the kyber crystal rested a few meters away.
The main door of the garage lifted up and a delivery speeder truck backed up. "Ready to make the delivery." Kogo-Leeto jumped down the cabin. "I even filled the back of the truck with weighted crates to sell the illusion." He opened the cargo hold to show them. "All you need to do is slice me into their schedule and we're clear to jump."
"You know, slicing is hard. I just make it look easy." Elynn glanced up from her datapad.
"Well, excuse me, Miss HoloNet. Where's everyone one else?"
"Shopping for the party. Can't show up looking like a bunch of scruffy-looking nerf herders and expect to blend in. Leema wasn't too thrilled about it."
"Oh, I bet she'll look supernova."
"Keep yapping like that and she's going to make you have nightmares for an entire month."
Having reassembled the lightsaber rifle, Syrran moved to another part of the garage to test it.
"What's with your—?" Kogo-Leeto waved his fingers in the air.
"He's not a wizard, Leeto—Theleema is."
"You know what I mean."
"I don't know. I've never seen him like this."
"You haven't known him for very long."
"I've seen him in battle; he's not like this."
"Gruff?"
"Preoccupied."
Syrran shot straight through a sizeable engine, leaving a smoking hole. He then checked the temperature of the lightsaber hilt and made some adjustments to the weapon.
"I can't believe you were a Jedi all these years and didn't tell me," Kogo-Leeto said.
"I was in hiding to protect my life." Elynn returned to her work.
"I know... I just—I guess you're right. It's like when I told you about the Curator, and then look what happened. What a trip."
Syrran shot again and continued making adjustments.
Elynn said, "What are you going to do with the money you got from the gun?"
"What do you think? Finally get off this rock. Besides, this place is pretty frigid without you. Falsifying chain codes for dull criminals is just not the same."
"Aw, thanks. A little sociopathic, but that's very touching. Where to?"
"Rodia. I think I may have some relatives still living there. Maybe I can start fresh back in the old homeworld. At least it's in the Outer Rim, far away enough from here. You?"
"I guess I'm going to keep being a fugitive—not for long, hopefully."
Syrran fired a third shot. Pleased with the results, he made another with similar results.
"I feel better knowing you're going to be out there, doing your whom-whom thing." Kogo-Leeto aped swinging a lightsaber. "It's kind of funny that we ended up living the other's life: you flying through space as an outlaw, and me trying to keep a low profile on a planet."
"The Force works in funny ways sometimes," Elynn said.
Jarriss, Theleema, and Addia returned from shopping. Gorin, Ilum, and Syrran came over to greet them.
"So? How'd it go?"
"Going shopping when you have money is the best thing." Addia beamed.
"What you got?"
"I'll show it to you."
"How about you, Leema?"
Addia chortled.
"What?" said Theleema bothered by the reaction.
"Let's just say, 'keeping a low profile' was not your criteria."
"You're just jealous you don't have the confidence to wear something like that," Theleema said.
"Oh, I have to see that," Elynn said.
"How are we doing?" Jarriss said.
"The ComfortRide is almost ready," Gorin said.
"And the equipment cart is done," Ilum said. "I covered the secret compartment with agrinium to avoid scanners, and created foamplas fittings to house the lightsabers safely inside."
"What about the rifle?"
"Working like the day it was built." Syrran handed the weapon to the Kyuzo. "I modified it, so you can break it down in four parts: stock, chamber, barrel, and gas magazine. All you need to do is fit them together and they'll click in place."
Gorin took it apart and assembled it back with ease.
"As Addia pointed out, you're only going to have a few shots. The chamber heats up to dangerous levels after the fourth shot. Anything after that, you're looking at meltdown."
"That's three more than I need." Gorin separated the gun. "What about the scanner drones?"
"They're calibrated for blasters," Elynn said. "A lightsaber signal is too weak for them to pick up. Still, I suggest you carry the second lightsaber unassembled to avoid creating a stronger signal."
"One you're done, we're counting on your lance to help with the last Sith," Theleema said. "Elynn and Ilum will pick us up on the rooftop terrace, so we can escape."
"What about our friend inside?" Jarriss said.
"She's coming with, right?" Addia said. "We can't leave her behind. Even with the Sith dead, the other Inquisitors are still around."
"Virra is as much a part of this as we are," Syrran said. "We'll take her with us."
"That brings up the one thing about this plan that worries me, the Inquisitors," Ilum said. "We know Darth Sidious called them all back for the ceremony, and Virra aside, they remain unaccounted for."
"Most of them are thugs," Jarriss said. "Trained to hunt down Padawans and Initiates, using overwhelming force, not to face experienced Knights or Masters."
"But they still pose a danger. And as you pointed out, most of them, not all of them, are thugs."
"We didn't have time to account for every possibility," Syrran said. "We knew we had to be flexible. Our success is predicated on surprise, speed, and creating confusion. Our toughest challenge is dealing with Darth Vader. The faster we dispose of him, the greater our chance to make a clean escape."
"And if the six of us can't kill him, we won't have to worry about that," Theleema said.
"That's a good point," Gorin said.
"The speeder's ready," Paika said. "We increased the power to the side repulsors, but it will still swerve, so go easy on those high-speed turns."
"Got it," Elynn said.
"So, everything's set." Jarriss felt the finality of the moment. "The time has come. Once the statue is delivered, we're on. There's no turning back."
"No fancy quotes?" Theleema said.
"A poem from Janyor of Bith comes to mind:
"I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brethren!
I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the code cylinder of my door
–and I give you all claims to my home.
We were neighbors for so long,
but I received more than I could give.
Now the day has dawned
and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come and I am ready for my journey."
"Well, Paik," Elynn said. "I don't know how to thank you... for everything. You've always been there for me. I'm going to miss you." She hugged the Talpini.
"Don't be silly," Paika whispered in a hoarse voice. "Watching you grow up into the smart, beautiful, strong woman you are, has been the greatest gift of my life." Tears ran down his wrinkled face. When Elynn let go, he wiped his face and cleared his throat. "If ya ever see that old Cosian, Sinube, tell 'im we're even."
"I hope I can one day."
"And you, take care of my girl. Ya hear?" Paika jabbed a finger in Syrran's direction.
"Yes, sir." Syrran accented with his head.
"Grunts?" Elynn hugged the sobbing Ugnaught, who grumbled something. "I will too. Thank you for the toolbox. I love it."
"Wrench?" Elynn said to the DUM droid, staring at the floor. She knelt by him and rubbed its head. "I'm going to miss you too. Don't let the old man smoke, okay?"
The droid nodded.
"Leeto?"
The Rodian had begun weeping well before his turn. When they hugged, both kids sobbed together, unable to speak.
"I'm going to miss you, so much," Kogo-Leeto managed to say. "Please, don't ever forget me."
"Don't be dull. You're like a brother to me."
"Thank you for everything," Syrran said.
"If ya wanna thank me,"Paika said, "just make sure ya don't fail."