Baigul Dar considered himself a true Mandalorian, although he himself was not entirely sure what meaning he put into that word. He was born on Mandalore into the family of Tanner and Ilari of the opposition pacifist party of the Dar clan and from an early age learned how to be a Mandalorian – a mighty warrior, respected by enemies and revered by compatriots. Like his parents. Every day of his life began and ended with training, interspersed with lessons on the history and culture of Mandalore. The boy grew up listening to legends of great warriors of the past, of battles that left their mark on the centuries, of leaders whose names are still remembered by every Mandalorian. He trained to exhaustion, trying to meet his father's and mother's expectations, even though he increasingly noticed the difference in strength between himself and his peers. Over the years, this became more and more noticeable.
Unfortunately, Baigul did not demonstrate any special skills during his training, which is why, despite all his dreams of glory and honor, he did not strive to stand out, preparing to leave the planet and take up the profession of a bounty hunter. However, Tanner Dar decided otherwise, swearing allegiance, like most members of the clan, to the leader of Death Watch.
Thus, Baigul had no choice but to follow his parents. He could not live among the New Mandalorians, who advocated pacifism and the rejection of age-old traditions, as he did not wish to part with his beskar'gam and deviate from his father's teachings. And after the clan joined Death Watch, he could not find the strength to go against his family. He still hoped to earn his father's respect.
However, the young warrior had not regretted his decision even once.
Until this day...
When one of his clanmates asked Baigul to help drag away a captured scout droid, Dar had no idea that he would see... this with his own eyes.
Aden ani'la beskar'kyr'am... Or "Ruthless invincible iron death" in the common tongue.
Baigul remembered the description of this droid well, as well as its rare and not-so-high-quality holo-images. He had always liked the legends about Mandalore the Keeper and his successor Mandalore the Reclaimer, which Ilari told him, partly supported by records preserved in archives and diaries. And often in these legends, a droid appeared, received as a gift by the Keeper from someone so... great... and frightening that its very name was erased from the archives. Baigul considered Mandalore the Keeper his idol and tried his best to live up to the image depicted in the ancient legends.
Only he could not imagine that one day he would encounter the "living legend"... or rather, a part of it. A very dark and terrifying part.
No, he understood that this was most likely a skillful forgery, an imitation created for some unknown purpose, similar to the very killer droid that once served two Mandalorians and did not lose to any Mandalorian in combat. The only beskar'ad who was honored to enter the Battle Circle and eventually became its champion. The first and only beskar'ad champion.
A killer who shot without missing, without doubt, without mercy. A harbinger of swift death for the one he was sent after.
Of course, what lay on the floor before him now could not possibly be that very killer droid.
And only some sixth sense literally screamed of danger and urged him to get away from the droid as far as possible. But Baigul could not do that. Not in front of his clanmates.
All he could do was gaze with hidden horror at the predatory sharp edges of the droid's faceplate and its extinguished optical sensors, mentally praying to all the gods that this was not the legendary beskar'kyr'am.
"What are you frozen for?" Maglis Dar, who had called Baigul for help, asked loudly.
"Thinking," the young man grumbled in response, grabbing the droid by the legs.
"Think less, think more," his clanmate chuckled, "Let's drag this junk to the aerocar."
"Why?"
"For the terminal!" Maglis joked again, "Don't ask stupid questions. We'll take it to the base, show it to the technicians. Let them dig into its memory core. Maybe we can find the client."
"Maybe we shouldn't take it to the base?" Baigul asked cautiously, his anxiety growing.
"Why is that?"
"What if it's a trap? What if they're tracking it? Or what if it activates on the way?"
"Have you caught Vren's paranoia? Did Ursa bite you?" Maglis replied with a smirk, "This piece of iron took several ion blaster shots at point-blank range. All its computational core components should have burned out. I even doubt that the geniuses in the technical department will be able to extract anything from its memory blocks."
"Then maybe we shouldn't take it at all? What's the point?"
"The point is that we have an order."
There was nothing to answer to this, and Baigul obediently continued to follow instructions.
HK-47 heard every word spoken by the Mandalorians, maintaining a minimal level of power, barely enough for the computational unit and audio sensors to function. He could not move, fight, or even see anything around him. However, this was the only way to be sure that his escorts would not realize that the droid was only pretending to be deactivated.
Such a maneuver had once helped deceive the Sith aboard the Leviathan when the Millennium Falcon was captured by Admiral Karat. It worked then, and it works now. Because, judging by the sounds, the droid was being dragged somewhere by two Mandalorians, puffing and complaining about the weight of the iron killer.
Meanwhile, by simply listening to the conversations around him, HK learned several names of Death Watch members, which confirmed the participation of the Dar and Vren clans in this organization. The latter had an interesting story, as, according to Tyra's information, Vren and Vizsla were not on good terms, even though they were related branches. However, the ostentatious enmity in parliament apparently did not prevent the future head of the clan, Ursa Vren, from serving Pre Vizsla.
Fortunately for the droid, his escorts turned out to be quite talkative, and in less than an hour, while HK was pretending to be a pile of iron, they managed to blab out several interesting details.
From the slips of the tongue of the one whom HK identified as Maglis Dar, Death Watch was rapidly gaining popularity and had managed to penetrate most government structures at various levels. The plans involved something like a soft military coup, but with the full support of the people.
But how did such a radical organization plan to win over those who were quite satisfied with the pacifist policies of the New Mandalorians? This would require thoroughly discrediting the current government or creating a significant threat to the civilian population, which would ultimately lead to them turning to Death Watch for protection. However, either the leader of Death Watch did not yet have a clear plan, or the rank-and-file fighters were not privy to the details, which was more likely. The representatives of the Dar clan said nothing substantial.
However, the shuttle pilots who brought HK to the Death Watch base let something slip. According to them, all the "flyers" were already being herded between the main base and two new ones. Active work was underway to build new shelters for the organization. This meant they had funds for development, as well as a reason for expansion. The number of Death Watch members was obviously growing.
Unfortunately, everything heard required confirmation, which HK planned to do upon arrival at his destination.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. In just fifty-three minutes, the shuttle landed safely, and HK was promptly unloaded and dragged to the local technicians. The mechanical killer immediately recognized the sounds of diagnostic terminals and repair tools.
"Hey, Voral!" Maglis called someone, carelessly dropping the "deactivated" droid on the floor.
There was no answer. Only loud sounds of a grinding machine at work.
"Voral!" one of the escorts shouted louder.
The sounds of the grinding disc scraping against metal stopped, and a male voice replied.
"Did someone call me?"
"Yes, get out of your junkyard and help us," Dar called.
A few seconds later, accompanied by the sounds of something metallic and hollow falling inside, scraping, and choice curses in Mandalorian, the one called Voral reached the Dar clan members who had brought HK.
"Maglis? Baigul? It's not often we see you in this part of the base," Voral said with surprise in his voice, "What brings you here?"
"An order from Bo-Katan," Baigul explained first.
"This droid was captured while trying to sabotage Pre Vizsla's office. We subdued it with a couple of ion charges. We need to dig into its memory and find the client," Maglis added.
"Two charges on a protocol unit?!" Voral exclaimed, "Its circuits must have all burned out! These weaklings don't even have primitive protection against ionization."
"He doesn't look like a simple protocol unit," Maglis countered, "Look at the range of motion in his limbs. And the overall construction..."
"Hmm," the local technician mused thoughtfully, "Yes, perhaps. An unusual model. It could replace a full servant if necessary. Do you think it's an infiltrator?"
"Most likely," Maglis agreed.
"He looks more like an assassin," Baigul interjected.
"An assassin?" the technician repeated, "Well, if you want, you can make any droid an assassin. If you have the appropriate protocols. But I don't recall this kind of construction being used in the creation of assassin droids in the last hundred years."
"What about the HK series?" Baigul insisted, "Look, he's very similar to them!"
"HK?" the technician asked, "I don't recall any. Who produced them? In what years?"
"Assassin droids that were created in the image and likeness of Aden ani'la beskar'kyr'am himself!"
At one time, the impressionable Baigul Dar spent a lot of time collecting scraps of information about the legendary droid. And he even managed to dig up the series name, but he never found out who created "that very one."
"Beskar'kyr'am?" Voral chuckled, "That's a legend almost four thousand years old! Do you believe in such fairy tales?"
"That's what I keep telling him, that it's time to grow up," Maglis supported the technician.
"Well, think about it yourself, how old must your beskar'kyr'am be? What droid could last that long? Without core cleaning and full repairs, it would have gone mad and self-destructed within the first hundred years."
Such a remark seemed insulting to HK. The technician had just volunteered to be the first in line for execution. After all, the Master had ordered no traces to be left behind. This meant that everyone involved in capturing the killer droid was subject to liquidation. At least, that's how HK-47 interpreted the order – to act quietly. Quietly – without leaving a trace. The conditions were met. Even if it meant a bloody massacre at this base.
"But he looks exactly the same!" the young Dar clan member insisted.
"I can carve such a faceplate in five minutes," Voral said dismissively, "And the construction is primitive, limited by anthropomorphic structure. Almost no armor, and no external weapons. Not a combat unit, it's obvious. It's unlikely to be particularly effective, otherwise it wouldn't have been caught so easily."
"Yes, we took him down with two shots. He didn't even resist," Maglis smirked.
"Maybe that was his plan!"
Maglis and Voral only laughed at this suggestion. Baigul, seeing the disdain from his older comrades, hissed curses through his teeth.
"Oh, you made me laugh," the technician said, calming down, "Do you think they would have brought a droid here if there was even the slightest possibility that it wasn't completely deactivated? You checked it, right?"
"Yes," the elder of the present Dar clan representatives replied somewhat uncertainly.
"Was there any radiation?"
"Within the margin of error," Maglis said a little more confidently.
"Was he alone?"
"With an astromech, but the scoundrel managed to hide in the service passages. Vren's squad is looking for him," the elder of the Dar clan representatives reported.
"Hmm, better to be safe."
A device beeped. HK assumed he was being scanned again, so he hurried to hide and even disable his audio sensors, depriving himself of his last means of observation.
In this state, the droid spent five minutes and resumed surveillance of his surroundings just in time.
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Maglis asked.
"Thanks, no," Voral waved him off, "You'd better get back to your own business. I can handle it myself."
"Well, as you say."
"Be careful," Baigul said warily.
"Go on now!" the technician growled.
The sounds of receding footsteps and the creak of a door mechanism were heard.
"So, and we'll see what we can use to open your service hatch," Voral said, more to himself.
For a few more minutes, HK listened to his surroundings. Nothing but sounds indicating that the technician was looking for some tool, rummaging through various pieces of metal.
After waiting another forty seconds for good measure, HK began to gradually connect systems and increase power supply. And first of all, he activated his optical sensors.
Lost in some thoughts, Voral didn't notice how the killer droid's crimson optics dimly lit up in the semi-darkness of the technical laboratory.
"Well, a vibroknife should help," the technician, clad in a peculiar variant of Mandalorian armor with many pouches, pockets, and containers, approached HK, clutching a narrow and thin tool in his hand.
The killer droid prepared to act. He had no intention of allowing the Mandalorian mechanic to breach the integrity of his chassis.
Voral, meanwhile, approached the droid closely and directed a beam from one of the lamps at it. HK's plating gleamed with a familiar hue, which caused genuine surprise on the technician's uncovered face. Voral did not wear a helmet, as he often had to remove it to use this or that tool or device for precise manipulation. He never imagined that he would need such protection in his secluded laboratory.
In vain...
"What the..." the technician stammered, "Cortosis? What dinii thought of covering a protocol unit's chassis with a cortosis coating? Unless..."
Voral did not have time to realize his guess. The vibroknife, snatched from his hand by the droid's lightning-fast movement, pierced his temple and went into the skull of one of Death Watch's most talented technicians up to the hilt. The killer droid left its victims no chance of escape.
Ensuring that the Mandalorian showed no signs of life, HK pulled out the knife, allowing the dead body to fall at his feet.
"Irritated: You should have worn a helmet, incompetent idiot," the droid said, stepping over Voral's corpse.
First, the killer blocked the doors leading to the technical laboratory... if it could be called that. The place looked more like a junkyard, cluttered with containers of spare parts, electronic components, and various junk, from droid parts to a piece of plating from some clearly outdated walker model. The walls were made of stone and showed signs of heavy mining equipment use, which led HK to assume that he was in one of Concordia's numerous mines. Presumably, abandoned.
In the corner, he found a workbench, and next to it a table and a terminal. Proceeding to it, HK was about to activate the holodisplay and delve into the local network, if one was found, when the terminal came to life on its own.
"Woo-dit! Doo-dee-dit!" the joyful chirp of R2D2 sounded, whose image appeared on the holodisplay.
"Surprised: You're still functioning, bucket of bolts," HK said, without the expected notes of condescension in his synthesized voice, which could be considered an indication that he was also glad to see the astromech... in his own way.
R2 let out an indignant trill and reinforced it with a proud and drawn-out whistle, letting the killer know what titanic efforts it had taken him to find his captured partner.
"Clarifying comment: So, you hid in the service tunnels where the Mandalorians couldn't squeeze through, then made your way to the hangar and attached yourself to the hull of the transport shuttle?" HK deciphered the astromech's stream of information, "Restrained praise: Not bad, trash can."
"Bee-dit!"
"Indignant: Old psycho?
"Dit!"
"Threatening: Which of us is due for decommissioning, runt!"
"Dee-dit! Doo-oo!"
HK's circuits almost short-circuited from indignation, but he found the strength to restart his emotion simulation protocols and return to a calm state.
"Focused: I'm not going to argue with a trash can that thinks it's my savior," HK-47 said with a barely discernible threat in his voice, "Proposal: if you want to help, then tell me, do you have access to the internal surveillance systems and base schematics."
R2D2 was somewhat surprised by the sharp change in his interlocutor's mood. But he already understood that HK was far from an ordinary droid and hastened to boast that he not only gained access to the surveillance systems but also took control of them. This is how he found the killer droid in the technical laboratory and even covered for the forty-seventh and his murder. It became clear why, with surveillance systems in place, security was not in a hurry to react. HK was preparing for a confrontation with the base defenders, but apparently, this would not be necessary.
"Request: Who among the senior staff is present at the base?"
On the holo-screen, a few seconds later, several photos appeared with brief information about the beings depicted. Most were of no interest, being representatives of the lower echelons of command and responsible only for a couple of rapid response squads, but there were those who attracted HK's attention.
These were two members of Parliament, who apparently secretly supported the Death Watch, making them targets for capture and interrogation. Someone named Pasli Zen, according to the records, was responsible for the supply and armament of this complex. Unfortunately, getting to him was quite difficult, due to the location of his room, in which he was currently entertaining someone from his personal guard.
And the last, but not least, subject of interest to him was Bo-Katan Kryze. Besides the fact that the girl was the sister of Duchess Satine Kryze, according to the files that R2 managed to extract from the complex's coded archives, the Mandalorian was effectively the deputy head of the entire organization. Her capture became a priority task. Especially since the target herself was moving in his direction with minimal security.
HK had to admit that R2D2 turned out to be a valuable partner. Not everyone could hack into a secure network in such a short time without triggering an alarm. He was useful. Previously, only T3M4 had received such praise from HK.
"Order: Copy all information regarding the organization's composition, designated shelters, resources, and plans that you managed to discover, and show me a map of the complex where we are."
The astromech carried out the instructions without unnecessary quibbling, earning him a little more respect from the mechanical maniac.
Meanwhile, HK-47 began preparations for the meeting with the "important guest," while simultaneously developing an escape plan, taking into account the newly appeared hologram with the complex's map.
While he rummaged through containers of spare parts and junk, looking for valuable equipment such as an ion discharger, a portable power cell, and something that looked very much like a concentration chamber from a DXR-5 disintegrator, which was illegal in this part of the galaxy, HK also considered options for eliminating traces of his presence at the base, as well as returning to Mandalore.
As the assassin droid had initially assumed, he found himself in one of the abandoned mines of Concordia, which greatly simplified the cleanup task. The structure of the tunnels where the Death Watch base was hidden was inherently unstable, which the radical Mandalorians tried to rectify by installing additional supports and reinforced ceilings. And this would have had an effect if they hadn't decided to place a real weapons manufacturing plant in one of the large caves, apparently formed during ore extraction.
The vibration from the heavy machinery nullified the effect of reinforcing the tunnel and cave ceilings, not to mention the presence of warehouses with tanks filled with highly explosive compressed Tibanna gas, in dangerous proximity to the power unit that powered the conveyor.
"With anticipation: Oh, such a gift, and all for me?" HK said, giving free rein to the less stable part of his personality matrix, which, with the support of his logic blocks and assassin protocols, had already developed a plan for "eliminating witnesses."
But first, the primary task set by the Master had to be completed. To obtain as much information as possible. And the Mandalorian approaching the technical laboratory was supposed to be a source of a significant portion of the information about the Death Watch's activities.
Rummaging through the technician's belongings, HK discovered a decent blaster, clearly custom-made. Perhaps the slain Mandalorian was a talented weaponsmith. Well, all the better that the probable enemy would not have such a specialist on their side.
HK did not take his own weapon on the mission, fearing the rather sensitive scanners and detailed checks at the spaceports of Mandalore and Concordia. Even without blasters and grenades, HK remained a deadly opponent, capable of killing a target with bare manipulators, a datapad... or simple writing instruments.
Among the junk and debris in the laboratory, several useful devices and components were also found, which the assassin droid decided to use to create a medium-power explosive device... Medium by HK's standards.
The logic blocks of his processor matrix had just completed the development of a detailed escape plan, combined with the complete destruction of the mine and the secret base hidden within its depths. HK-47 missed such assignments and allowed himself to expand the task slightly within the framework of the Master's original order. After all, he had specifically clarified the Death Watch's status in relation to the Master and the Eagle team. The answer was – a probable enemy. Therefore, the droid's actions could be considered a preemptive strike. This is how the assassin protocols managed to bypass the restrictions and even enlist the support of most of HK's computational blocks.
Meanwhile, the target had almost reached the doors of the technical laboratory, and the assassin droid prepared for a "warm" reception.
"Bu-dit, vuu-oo!"
"Confirmation: Received. Three. Two guards in full armor. Target in the center, without a helmet," the mechanical maniac responded to the warning from R2.
Bo-Katan Kryze, left by Vizsla to oversee the transfer of part of the production facilities and supplies to two newly built support points, was unpleasantly surprised when two members of Ursa Wren's squad returned to base with a captured droid that had attempted sabotage in the Concordia governor's office. The situation was not new. Not a month went by without someone from the New Mandalorians or senatorial lackeys sticking their nose into Concordia. But a protocol droid was used for the first time. And the point of entry... the governor's office. The target was clearly Pre Vizsla, but until now, Bo-Katan was sure that no one knew the true identity of the Death Watch leader. At least, her sister sincerely considered Vizsla her loyal supporter, not suspecting whom she was letting within striking distance.
Bo-Katan snorted, remembering her sister. Satine had always been weak. The Hutt idealist had been given such a chance to restore Mandalore's greatness... and had ruined everything, blinded by her dreams of a "utopia of a peaceful galaxy." Pacifism only works when everyone adheres to that ideology. When there are many warlike neighbors, not to mention bandits and pirates of all kinds, a pacifist becomes just a victim. And Mandalorians were never victims!
Bo-Katan Kryze frowned and irritably pushed a strand of red hair that had fallen into her eyes from her quick pace off her forehead. She rarely wore a helmet within the base, preferring not to hide her face from her subordinates. Comrades should see confidence and determination in the leader's eyes – that's what her mentors taught her.
The girl didn't have time to think about the fact that it could be dangerous even within the Death Watch's sanctuary.
Immersed in her thoughts about the origin of the droid that the deputy commander of the Death Watch intended to examine in the technical laboratory, Bo-Katan didn't have time to react.
As soon as the laboratory doors opened, Kryze received a powerful kick to the chest, sending her flying to the nearest wall. It was then that she deeply regretted not wearing her helmet.
While the girl was recovering, she didn't see one of her guards take a blaster charge directly to the visor of his helmet, and the other was felled by a vibroknife to the neck.
To the Mandalorian's credit, she recovered in just two or three seconds and tried to reach for her weapon first. However, she wasn't given a chance to use it. The droid was very fast and in an instant was beside her. The blaster was knocked out of her hands, and she barely dodged a blow to the head. Relying on pure reflexes, she tried to engage in hand-to-hand combat, successfully evading an attempt to grapple her. However, the mechanical soldier's speed and strength far exceeded the capabilities of the disoriented Mandalorian. The droid caught her as she tried to create distance, grabbed her arm, and using the warrior's own momentum, slammed her head against the wall.
HK-47, having ensured that the target had lost consciousness and was not planning to regain it anytime soon, disarmed her and removed her armor, leaving her in her underwear. The droid knew all too well how many surprises Mandalorians could hide in their beskar'gam.
"Satisfied: Target captured," HK informed his partner, securely tying Kryze's hands and feet with several long straps found in the laboratory.
The astromech concisely congratulated the killer and inquired about the next course of action.
"Task assignment: Go to the hangar and prepare a shuttle capable of interplanetary flight for launch."
"Wu-du-dit?!" R2 responded indignantly.
"Mockingly: You're a smart junk collector, you'll figure out how to distract the guards."
In response, the astromech unleashed a new stream of inexpressible binary expressions, which only amused HK.
"Condescendingly: Alright, I'll help," the assassin droid finally decided, deciding that moving through the base to the next target through empty corridors would be boring.
"Dit?" R2 asked uncertainly.
"Explanation: The guard presence in your sector will sharply decrease now. Order: return control of the surveillance system in the corridor adjacent to the laboratory to the Mandalorians, but disable all other cameras."
The next moment, HK removed a fragmentation grenade from the belt of one of the slain Mandalorians and threw it down the far end of the corridor, hurrying to take cover with the unconscious target in the laboratory.
The explosion in the narrow corridors was monstrously loud, which could not go unnoticed by the guards.
"Joyful remark: Now it's going to be fun!"
All subsequent events that occurred at the Death Watch base could be described as controlled chaos.
While the astromech stealthily made his way to the shuttle in the hangar, whose guards had rushed to respond to the alarm signal and the request for reinforcements in sector 4, where his crazy partner, the aforementioned maniac, better known as HK-47, was supposed to be, the latter was having a great time, turning the base corridors into a real labyrinth of death.
Having finished preparing the shuttle, R2 hurried to reconnect to the surveillance systems to find out if HK needed his help... And was amazed by the efficiency and bloodthirstiness of the merciless assassin droid.
HK-47 moved towards the assembly shop, destroying everyone who stood in his way. He masterfully used the environment, blocking doors, blasting power conduits or fuel lines remaining in the mines from mining enterprises with precise shots, causing small explosions and fires that threw the guards into chaos. The small cave-ins he provoked only worsened the defenders' situation.
HK struck without missing, hiding in smoky sections of corridors, in dark alcoves, or among corpses, turning brief skirmishes with the guards into a real hunt. The droid prudently tried to keep the prisoner away from shootouts, hiding her away from the scene of the upcoming firefight seconds before encountering the enemy. At one point, the mechanical maniac simply didn't manage to do this, but got out of the situation quite... effectively.
When a squad of guards rushed out from around another corner at the assassin droid, HK simply used Bo-Katan Kryze's body as a shield, grabbing her by the hair and holding her in front of him, facing the Mandalorians. They couldn't fail to recognize their commander, and the momentary confusion was just enough for HK to shoot down most of the squad. It was also easy to finish off the few lucky ones who managed to take cover. The realization that Kryze was a hostage severely restricted the Mandalorians' use of weapons, especially grenades.
Deciding to help HK, who was observing the action through the security cameras, the astromech connected to the communication system.
All channels were literally bursting with messages like: Hutt, what's going on there!? The third platoon has stopped responding! They're dead! There are only corpses here! Spirits of the ancestors, who is this?! We need help! Aaaah! They have incendiaries! Take off your armor, don't let the composition burn through your armor! How many of them are there?!
Judging by the negotiations, seasoned with a good portion of Mandalorian curses, the Death Watch fighters were in complete confusion, which only made HK's job easier.
Having managed to establish an encrypted communication channel with the assassin droid, who had used one of the downed guards' transmitters, R2 began transmitting valuable information to his partner about the movements of the base defenders and the countermeasures being prepared, which elevated the forty-seventh's effectiveness to a completely new level. Now his opponents didn't even have time to notice the approach of their iron death, as the droid began using ventilation and fragile partitions between adjacent corridors, information about which the astromech promptly transmitted.
The Mandalorians tried to set ambushes, blocked corridors, and sought to attack from the flanks or rear, but HK inevitably bypassed all traps and struck before he was detected. They also failed to regain control of the surveillance system, which put the Mandalorian "ice cutters" in a deadlock. They should have known that trying to outsmart an AI with enough power to plot dozens of hyperspace routes in a fraction of a second, in an attempt to bypass its blocks, was simply futile. But no one suspected R2D2's presence at the base.
Meanwhile, HK reached the secondary objective. Namely, he entered the assembly shop and had already dealt with most of the fighters who were supposed to guard this room.
"Who are you, hut'uunla werda!" one of the Mandalorians shouted with a hint of panic, crawling backward and clutching a wound in his side.
This was the last of the squad that HK encountered on his approach to the assembly shop.
"Arrogantly: I am the avenging hand of Mandalore, come to repay you, who have turned away from the precepts of the ancestors," HK-47 declared, deciding to pay tribute to his temporary masters from the Ordo clan.
After all, the mechanical maniac admitted that the years of service to Mandalore the Keeper and his successor were not the "most boring." There was always enough favorite work during power struggles. And the unification of clans under the leadership of Canderous Ordo was no exception. So HK respected the Mandalorians of the Ordo clan. They both even died without HK's involvement, unlike his other "temporary owners"!
"Aden ani'la beskar'kyr'am..." the wounded Mandalorian whispered in amazement.
"With contempt: You have lost your honor," HK rumbled and finished off the fighter with a precise blaster shot.
Sensors detected movement in the doorway at the far end of the room. However, when HK aimed his weapon in that direction, no one was visible. Whoever was watching the droid hurried to escape.
"Mockingly: Coward."
Having finished with the guards, the assassin droid prepared his parting gift. The explosive device he had assembled, placed near the tanks of compressed tibanna gas, was supposed to trigger a chain reaction, causing secondary explosions of the compressed gas. According to HK's estimates, the explosion would be equal in power to the detonation of a proton torpedo, and given the confined space and the instability of the corridors, little would remain of the base.
Having picked up the prisoner, previously hidden in one of the storage rooms, HK hurried to the hangar, where R2 was already waiting for him. After all, it was not worth lingering near the homemade bomb assembled from junk found at the local technician's. The timer on the bomb was counting down the last minutes of the Death Watch's secret base's existence.
The "droid saboteurs" watched the explosion of the mine from the air. Thanks to the astromech's instructions, HK managed to reach the shuttle without encountering serious resistance.
"Satisfied: The Master will be pleased," HK said.
"Bi-dit... du-uuu-uu."
"Dismissively: You understand little. Confidently: I know the Master better. He will be pleased."
The shuttle began to rapidly move away from Concordia, heading back towards Mandalore.
And Baigul Dar, whose charred remains would one day be found under the rubble in the old mine, would never know how right he was when he warned his brethren about the droid that so strongly resembled the "merciless iron death" from ancient legends.