"You've finished eating. So you'll take me to get the spice, now!" The Rodian, watching Amir slowly finish the last piece of fruit, finally lost his patience.
"I think we should wait for Hondo to return."
The Rodian's brow furrowed; he was clearly wary of Hondo. It was only because Hondo was gone that he dared to overstep his bounds and threaten Amir to hand over the spice.
Why is he so afraid of an old man? Amir wondered. What kind of leverage does Hondo have?
With no clues, any guess was groundless. Amir could only follow Hondo's lead for now.
"Relax," Amir said, looking at the tense Rodian. "I made a promise. I won't go back on my word. Follow me."
With that, Amir stood up and walked outside. He preferred to be in an open environment when facing unknown situations.
The Rodian turned to look at his surroundings, then followed Amir outside with slight confusion. Several other pirates trailed behind them.
As Amir stood up, the spider droid finally returned to him, latching onto his gear.
He didn't check the data using a holographic projection; that would be a dead giveaway. Instead, Amir viewed the feed on the small 2D display of his wristguard.
It was enough.
Pretending to casually check the time, Amir quickly browsed the base's layout, memorizing the terrain, weapon emplacements, and potential cover.
Walking out of the base's main hall, they approached the Traveler. BD-4 leaped ahead to the ship, waiting for Amir to unlock the airlock.
Pressing the controller on his wrist, the sealed ramp hissed and slowly lowered until it touched the deck.
At this moment, Amir couldn't help but look back into the distance. Hondo wasn't playing him, was he? It had been a long time, and there was still no sign of movement.
Stepping onto the ship's ramp, Amir swiped the display on his wristguard, checking the final scanned area of the base—the deep interior.
"What is this?" Amir's pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw a massive object on the display. It wasn't geological, as it was distinct from the surrounding rock; nor was it a building, because the density was wrong.
From its external appearance, it looked like a giant, soft-bodied creature—just like the slug that had been hanging from the ship when Charles first burst up through the ice rift.
"Could it be...?" Amir's heart pounded with shock.
If this was really a living being, just how big was it?
This thing alone was half the size of the entire asteroid base. In front of it, the Traveler wasn't even as big as one of its tentacles!
He quickly forced himself to calm down. Amir told himself that even if it was a living creature, it showed no signs of activity. Whether it was dormant or dead, it posed no immediate threat.
Picking up the case of refined spice that had been left in the main hold, Amir walked back down the ramp.
It was hard to imagine that this small box alone could sell for an amount that an ordinary person could never earn in a lifetime.
The Rodian was waiting right at the bottom. Amir walked over and handed the box directly to him.
The moment he took the box, the Rodian couldn't help but gulp, greed dripping from his large eyes.
In Amir's Force perception, the aura of the Rodian was steadily darkening.
At that moment, Amir suddenly had an idea. The Force he was probing outward began to extend under his control, creeping toward the back of the base. His target was the very colossus he had scanned.
If it had life, Amir would definitely be able to sense the Force within it!
Having already constructed an image of the colossus in his mind, his chances of successfully connecting were high.
In just a few seconds, a turbid, vast, and primal presence squeezed into Amir's consciousness. Complex and profound emotions flooded his mind.
Hunger, anger, rage, and a fading sense of longing.
It was alive!!
The moment Amir touched it with the Force, the creature's entire being seemed to awaken from a harsh winter, revitalized by a spring breeze.
Life exploded with vitality, hunger drove its instincts, and anger vibrated through its consciousness!
It had noticed Amir's "gaze." It was awake!
Licking his lips, Amir realized his curiosity might have led to severe consequences.
It was time to run again.
Just then, several blaster shots rang out from inside the base. A repulsor crate was kicked out violently, sliding onto the platform.
A dark head peeked out from behind the doorway, looking at Amir, who was standing in front of the Rodian.
"Amir! Do it!!!"
The Rodian, seeing Hondo appear, frantically threw the spice box aside and pulled a remote-control device from his clothes!
Just as he was about to press the button, a green blade of light flashed in his vision. Along with the light flew a familiar hand and the crucial remote.
"That controls the weapons system here!!" Hondo shouted.
Hiding behind cover, the Weequay quickly fired two shots, dropping a sniper on a higher walkway, then leaped onto the moving crate.
Under his impact, the repulsor crate, carrying Hondo, slid rapidly toward the Traveler.
The crate served as both a vehicle and a shield.
The pirates, realizing their acting captain had betrayed them, immediately split up. Some turned their guns on Hondo, while the others continued to suppress Amir, who was near the spice.
But such blaster fire was no longer a threat to Amir.
He dropped into a classic Form III stance, his lightsaber weaving a tight defensive web. He easily deflected the incoming bolts, reflecting them back at the pirates closest to him. This action stunned the attackers. Guided by fear, they began to scramble for cover, causing the gunfire to falter.
BD-4 was still struggling to drag the heavy spice box into the ship.
Seeing Hondo pinned down by a dozen men, cowering behind the crate, Amir drew the blaster pistol from his belt with his free hand.
Raise, shoot.
With mechanical precision, he fired ten consecutive rounds, shooting seven weapons directly out of their owners' hands and forcing the other three pirates deep into cover.
Hondo seized the opportunity, pushing off the ground as if he were on a skiff board, and slid quickly toward the Traveler.
But just as he was halfway there, the ground began to shake violently.
Amir stumbled and nearly fell. Hondo was thrown directly off the crate, rolling several times across the deck.
The pirates didn't fare any better, grabbing onto walls to steady themselves against the massive tremors.
The Rodian, clutching his severed wrist, lay on the ground, desperately craning his neck to look into the distance. His already huge eyeballs looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"No, no, no no, NO!! NO!!!" His muttering suddenly turned into a hysterical scream.
"Ship! I need a ship! Get to the ship! It's going berserk again!!!"
The Rodian, finding strength from panic, struggled to his feet. Letting his wrist gush blood, he ran madly toward the distant hangar bays. Behind him, almost all the pirates followed desperately, as if a demon were chasing them.
Hondo also scrambled up from the ground and sprinted toward the Traveler, shouting to Amir, who had already grabbed the handle of the repulsor crate:
"Prep the ship!"
Amir knew exactly what was about to happen. Without any hesitation, he kicked the crate up the ramp and ran straight for the cockpit.
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