While the battle was getting on, getting closer to bringing the Dominator down, I felt a disturbance in the Force, sensing that it was warning me to focus on our mission.
"Check the northern hemisphere, facing away from the sun!" I said, my voice cutting through the overlapping reports that Adrian was constantly muttering.
"You do know that the planet is pretty big, yes?" he asked, not even looking up. "I need more than just... check the planet! But sure, sure..."
"Just zoom in on the side facing us," I said, already leaning forward, my eyes narrowing as I reached out to the Force, no longer hiding my presence. "On the surface… somewhere on the northern hemisphere... I sensed something. There's movement, try looking for it!"
"I'm already—" Adrian stopped mid-sentence as his fingers froze over the controls. "Oh. Wait… I've got something..."
The projection shifted instantly, abandoning the battlefield and reforming to show the surface of Dromund Kaas. Visibly, active storms were going across its surface, covering most of the dark side of the planet, but... sure enough, his computers did identify what I was sensing.
"There," Adrian said, pointing and sharpening the feed. "That one... Indeed, it is a ship, and it's leaving!"
The image changed again, now showing the ship, looking like it was barely more than a transport, rising through the atmosphere, heading in the opposite direction from where the battle was happening.
"That's an old-looking one," Sareh said, "But it's still modern compared to the rest."
"It's trying to slink away," I agreed, feeling that it had to be stopped from doing so, "The bastard... It's running."
"Running where?" Vila asked, "Do they have another base or...? Should we follow or destroy it?"
"We can find where it wanted to go later," I answered, making my decision at once, "We can't let whoever or whatever that bastard is to escape!"
"I agree," Adrian leaned forward, eyes flicking across the data as it streamed in. "It's keeping low emissions, with minimal power output, no broadcast, no transponder… They think they are stealthy as they are trying to disappear."
[Statement: Cowardly behavior detected. Suggestion: Blast it.]
"He is right," Adrian hummed, already arming the weaponry of the ship, bringing us out of hiding.
As he did so, I watched as the escaping ship climbed higher, breaking through the upper atmosphere, its trajectory already setting towards the edge of the Systm, to enable it to jump to hyperspace. Which meant it would do so the moment the Bellator-class dreadnought was destroyed, using the explosion as a cover for its hyperspace jump. When the generated field that it is holding up is gone, so will they disappear... Sneaky!
"That's our target," I said, glancing at Adrian, "What are you waiting for? Blast it!"
"We are still coming out of cold mode," Adrian countered immediately, snorting, but of course, the Vindicator was already on it, our engines coming alive in a surge as we pulled ourselves out of the blind spot, cutting the fleeing enemy's way off. "Target locked," He said suddenly. "We're closing in fast, hold on!"
The projection was now updated in real time as we accelerated toward the fleeing ship. It had already cleared the upper atmosphere and was pushing outward, increasing speed, about to make enough distance for a jump.
"Luckily, it's not fast enough," Vila said, smiling.
"Not against us," Adrian agreed, a grin forming on his face too.
"Don't get cocky," Sareh warned them, but Adrian was feeling fired up.
"Range?" I asked, watching it get closer.
"Thirty seconds and we will be at firing range."
"We should try and disable it," Vila added, "So we could retrieve where it was trying to escape to."
"Minimal output," Adrian acknowledged. "It is a ferry-like vessel, so it shouldn't have anything major to stand up to us."
Hopefully, but I held my tongue to avoid jinxing us. The Vindicator adjusted its angle as we got close, sliding into position behind the fleeing vessel, and being up this close, the difference in design was stark. True, it was a modern variant, but only compared to what they had. It was still old and crude, especially put beside us, patched together here and there, mostly for carrying cargo, probably those damned Sith artifacts.
"Firing!" Adrian shouted, and a single, controlled burst of green lasers splattered out from our ship, striking the smaller vessel along its rear quarter.
The effect was immediate, tearing through its shields. Its engines flared violently, sputtered the next moment, then collapsed into an unstable flicker. The moment we hit it, the ship jerked sideways, its trajectory breaking apart as it struggled to maintain control. They were indeed not expecting us or anyone to be here... They had run into our trap without us ever laying it down.
"Direct hit," Adrian laughed, "Their engine is destabilized, they won't go anywhere farther now!"
"Don't let it recover," Vila added.
"I'm not planning to, relax! I know what I'm doing."
Another shot followed right then, this one more precise, targeting what passed for its propulsion control systems. The vessel shuddered again, then, without warning, its vector shifted sharply downward.
"What are they doing?" Vila asked with surprise.
"It's diving!" Sareh snapped, "Heading back towards the planet!"
"Of course it is," Adrian replied, already in pursuit, "It can't outrun us, and they know it. Losing their chance of escaping, now it's heading back to the surface."
"After it!" I said immediately, "We need to make sure whoever is driving it doesn't disappear on the planet either!"
"I hate atmospheric flying..." Adrian groaned, but still, the Vindicator flew forward, adjusting course as we followed the damaged ship back toward Dromund Kaas.
We watched the splutters of ionized gas exploding from its core here and there, inherently jamming us from catching it with a tractor beam. I was kind of hoping it would fall apart in reentry, as the atmosphere swallowed us all. But, of course, it didn't. When we got down, the storm clouds surrounded us, blue and purple-looking lightning flashing through the dense layers as we pursued our target into the surface of the planet. The moment we passed through the clouds, the heavy rain began to fall onto us, splattering against the hull. At the same time, the smaller vessel struggled to keep a stable course, its descent becoming uncontrolled, its hull beginning to tear here and there under the pressure, shedding some of its plating.
"It's not going to land clean," Adrian said, "Let's just hope it doesn't explode because then you won't get your answer where it was going.
"If it happens, that is also good enough," Vila muttered, trying not to smile.
In the end, we lost sight of them in the thick clouds, just as our ship broke through the last and lowest cloud layer, revealing the terrain below: a massive, dark forest and some scattered structures barely visible through the storm and heavy rain. Where was it going...?
"There!" Sareh pointed just as the damaged ship had slammed into the ground moments later.
The impact was violent as it skidded across the terrain, tearing through trees and upturning the rock below it before finally coming to a halt in a twisted, smoking wreck. But... it didn't explode a second time. Upon arrival, we circled above it multiple times, Adrian performing his scans and readings.
"No indications of secondary explosions," He noted loudly, "The hull is compromised but intact, so whoever was inside could have survived. What now? Are you going down? There is no real place to put my ship into parking mode, you know?"
"You don't have to, but we're going down, anyway," I said, already standing up.
"I can take you as low as possible," he replied, shrugging, "But you will have to jump. And I'm not leaving my ship!"
"You don't have to," I smiled, my hand already on my lightsaber hilt.
"Stay sharp," Vila said, as she, Sareh, and I headed to the main ramp, opening it mid-air, looking down into the dark forest.
"I was about to say the same," I replied, scanning the wreck and the fire that broke out from its damaged engines, setting the trees ablaze despite the heavy rain.
[Statement: It will be a good hunt.]
HK joined as all of us were now there... ready to jump. When we did so, for a brief second, there was no sound but the roar of rain and the distant rumble of thunder as we fell through the air, dropping from the Vindicator toward the burning wreck, landing without issue, using the Force to dampen the landing. I bent my knees, letting the impact simply flow through me, my boots digging into mud that gave way beneath my weight. Vila landed beside me in a low crouch, making no noise, Sareh touching down a step behind us, far less gracefully, but the loudest was HK, who didn't bother with subtlety. He hit the ground with a solid metallic thud, barely shifting as the mud splashed up around him, blasters aimed at the downed ship.
Just then, right above us, the Vindicator pulled away, vanishing back into the storm, doing laps above the site, Adrian's voice coming in through our earpieces.
"Well, good luck," he said, "I will keep an eye on the... everything and radio you if something happens.
"I hate this place," Vila muttered, twitching her lekku as we rushed towards the ship, lightsabers at hand.
"You're not alone," Sareh replied, her voice surprisingly tight. "We have to stay close, and we shouldn't wander around alone."
"Who would have wanted to?" Vila snorted, her face illuminated by the burning trees nearby. It had a strong, yellowish tint to it, with some flashes of green coming from the engine block... Hopefully, it wasn't poisonous or anything.
"Any movement?" Vila asked, "I can't sense anything."
"Nothing on my end either," I said, and Sareh also shook her head.
"They could be dead," she offered, though she didn't sound convinced.
"If there was anything organic piloting it in the first place," I added quietly.
[Statement: No meatbag signatures on my scanners. Suggestion: Enter and confirm their termination.]
"Patience," I muttered.
We advanced slowly, spreading out as we approached the wreck. Vila moved to my right, while Sareh took the left, her eyes scanning every nook and cranny, every broken edge of metal, looking for signs of... anything. HK stayed slightly behind, weapon raised, covering the angles we couldn't.
But... The closer we got, the worse it looked. The ship didn't survive the landing intact because it had hit rocks and trees so hard that it had been gutted on impact. Sections of its interior were exposed, hundreds of sparking wires hanging loose. Ouch. That had to hurt, because I could smell, even through the rain, all that burnt circuitry, scorched metal… ew.
"Careful," I said, taking the lead, reaching a hull breach. "Tsk..." I clicked my tongue, seeing something I didn't expect, "Bodies!"
Three of them, in fact. They were sprawled near the opening, their bodies half-buried in mud and debris. From what remained, I could tell that their clothing was civilian, dressed like transport crew.
"Sareh?" I asked quietly, and she simply shrugged, not really taken aback by what she saw.
"Yeah, they are part of those who split from us. These two were acoylates, and that one was a technician... Hm... They look emptier than I remember... Even for a dead person."
I knew what she meant, because their eyes were open, and pretty empty.
[Statement: Meatbags converted into inefficient hosts, probably for interfacing with others after the escape.]
"Yeah," Sareh muttered, looking around the hole now, ignoring the bodies, "That tracks with everything else we know."
A metallic sound echoed from deeper inside the wreck just then, and we all activated our lightsabers at that.
"Well! They're alive," Vila said, her two orange blades hissing as rain kept falling on it.
"Do we go in?" Sareh asked, her face half-lit by her red saber, "Or what?"
"They don't seem to want to get out," I muttered, trying to get a feel and finally taking the first step, "Stay together!"
The interior was worse than the outside, if that was even possible. The narrow corridors got twisted and now stood at unnatural angles; some sections collapsed or partially fused together from the impact. The only light inside came from our sabers as we went deeper, hearing water drip from above, mixing with sparks from exposed wiring, creating a constant hiss as droplets struck the live circuits. Damn it... This was giving me the creeps!
We reached what must have once been the central compartment, and then, out of nowhere, a red saber hissed to life, coming straight for me, its owner's droid-made arm already in mid-thrusting motion. Raising my own, I met it head-on, our sabers clashing in a burst of light and sparks, the force of the impact traveling up my cortosis-made arm before I could deflect it. Just as strong as before, huh?
"Careful!" Vila called as she engaged another, also being ambushed by a droid, which was using the narrow space to try to suffocate Vila's Ataru form.
"Damn it!" Sareh scolded, also fighting with one of her own, because apparently, they surrounded us without us ever noticing.
HK, who was coming in last, had opened fire from behind us, his shots tearing into the one Sareh was facing, forcing it back, but it didn't fall, despite its chestplate now glowing from the impact.
"Just take them down!" I yelled, letting the Force guide my hands, "There's nothing else to do but to finish this!"