I stood there, watching the debris fall as somebody touched my side and I looked down to find my XO at my side.
"Captain... I'm getting a signal from one of Skies escape pods." She said while checking her hand comm.
I frowned and then looked at my own, not getting a signal. "You sure? I'm not getting anything..."
She nodded, handing her's over before taking mine in return.
She looked it over as I contacted the escape pod, getting it's landing coordinates. It was on the way back to the landing pad.
Samantha shook her head. She asked, "I'm not getting anything on this. When did you last use it?"
I shrugged and answered, "Don't know. A couple of weeks ago?"
She shook her head. "Well, this receiver is burned out."
I growled and started to make my way towards the platform. "Which explained why none of the drones signaled me."
She frowned and hurried to keep up with me. "Then why didn't they comm me or one of the other drones? They had internal comms.���
I shook my head as we made our way towards the landing pad. "I told them to comm 'me' via the ship if there was a problem. When it comes to their tasks, they are smart, but they are still Expert Systems. VI's, not proper AI's... and the drones DO have internal comms to use between themselves... Very short-range ones, max range about a hundred meters. I had to pick between a proper comm or a shield system when we built them. I thought that would be enough."
We reached it moments after the pod touch down to see the hatch open to reveal Dooku.
"You..." I growled and I PUSHED at him, slamming him back into the pod before I reached in and pulled him out by the neck.
"C-captain." He choked out as I took his lightsaber from him before I tossed him to the side.
"Explain, Jedi Dooku." I ordered him while igniting his lightsaber, aiming it at his throat.
He swallowed deeply. "I-I needed an armed ship at very short notice. They were getting away."
"They?" I growled and he nodded quickly as Jinn came running onto the pad, stopping and drawing his lightsaber when he saw the sight.
"Yes... the ship was a bulk freighter refitted to be a mobile drug lab. They were making an experimental drug... extremely addictive and providing most beings with bliss like feeling. That's normally not Jedi business, but in force sensitives, it had the opposite effect. It caused rage."
I frowned down at him. "I see. And why did you feel the need to steal my ship?"
He shook his head. "I needed an armed ship to stop them. I tried to contact you but I couldn't get through so I ran to the ship, hoping you were there."
I nodded. "And then you stole it? How did you defeat the defenses?"
He inched slightly away from the lightsaber and I moved it closer again so he stopped. "I cut my way into the airlock. The inner door wasn't locked so I could still keep the ship sealed to vacuum. I admit the defense droids were a challenge but I managed to defeat them. I could fly the ship, the controls weren't locked but I couldn't access the weapons or fighter droids. I had no choice but to set a ramming course. Luckily, the bulk freighter was too slow to evade."
I growled softly down at him. "Luckily?! That was my 'Ship'. It was our home. It contained possessions, memories, collections and even a few pets. That ship was Mine and you took it away from us. You destroyed it to stop some drug-producing scum?"
I shook my head and shut down the lightsaber. "Want to feel what it feels like? This is what it feels like."
I threw his lightsaber off the side of the multi-kilometer drop from the landing pad.
"No!" He cried out and pulled at it with the force and I countered it by giving it a push in the other direction until it fell out of sight.
"Jedi Dooku. We are finished. In the future, the Jedi can handle their own rescues." I said before I turned and walked off the landing pad.
Samantha stayed behind for a moment, looking down at him.
"I would have simply have thrown you off as well." She said before following me.
Qui-Gon Jinn slowly stepped to the side to stay out of my reach and I stopped to eye him.
"Padawan, if I were you, I would request a Masterless likely to get you killed in your sleep." I said before I continued on my way.
We stopped when we reached the shopping district again and I sighed, looking down at my XO.
She looked up at me and shook her head. "We need to contact the rest of the crew and then the insurance company."
I nodded. "And I have a bone to pick with Cormac. He landed her, he should have locked the controls as protocol said. If he did, this wouldn't have happened."
Samantha nodded. "Yes, it will also make it harder to get the money from the insurance company as well. Even if we do, it will take months."
I shook my head.
"Sam, do you mind contacting the crew and explaining what happened?" I asked and she frowned before nodding.
"I can do that, Captain." She frowned.
"What are you going to do? Contact the insurance company?" She asked and I shook my head and started to make my way back to the cantina
"No, I plan to get drunk off my wings. I'll handle the financial matters tomorrow when I am less likely to rip someone's limbs off." I answered with a small growl.
She frowned and then nodded, glancing up at my security drone. "Keep an eye on him?"
"Affirmative, Commander." The drone bobbed in the air before it floated after me.
I sighed as I entered the cantina. The holocron, the lightsabers, the other various loot. My armor.
I frowned slightly. Oscar, Padme's pet rat. She loved that thing.
As I sighed, I returned to my previous pillowed platform and ordered the biggest, strongest drink they had, my hand in one of the pouches of my carry-harness.
At the very least, I still had my data crystal. All the data I have on the ship I also have a backup of that I always take with me when I leave the ship.
I like redundant redundancies. My next ship will have more of them.
I grabbed my drink and downed it before handing the glass back to the droid. "Another."