Chereads / STAR WARS: The Jaeger Saga / Chapter 22 - The Retrieval

Chapter 22 - The Retrieval

The Emperor's Conviction arrived in the Mygeeto system along with two of Kha's Supply ships to collect the wreckage. Hundreds of ships carrying scrappers poured out from the Supply ships, and the Emperor's Conviction deployed every available drop ship it had to start collecting the newest crew members. Draxacon was on one of these drop ships, the hull filled with Stormtroopers. He was heading for the Cannon to get William and bring him back to the med bay. Draxacon wore portions of his armor, leaving his arms and head exposed. He was already getting choked by this cheap Imperial trash as it was.

He felt the ship beginning to slow down as they approached their destination. Pulling the override for the ramp, Draxacon was shown the massive base, seeing that an AT-ST was waiting for them next to an open hangar, as well as a large number of droids holding their hands up. The drop ship lowered its landing gear and the Stormtroopers stormed out and secured the area, quickly forming a perimeter around the entrance. Draxacon walked down, seeing that there were two Red Death troopers standing near one of the legs of the AT-ST. He approached the two, who turned to face the Stormtrooper commander directly. Draxacon stopped a few paces away. He knew what these guys were. "Hey, where is William?

The Red Death pointed up, Draxacon following it to the large spire that was the command center. He nodded, moving into the base followed by two of his own Stormtroopers. As he walked into the open hangar, he could hear the droids banter.

"Oh man, I remember when you guys had cooler armor. Those helmets look weird." One of the droids said, its annoying high pitched voice. Draxacon heard that same droid yelp as a Stormtrooper smacked it with his blaster, causing other droids to murmur in fear.

And they wonder why they were so easily overpowered. Their main battle units were nothing more than a bunch of babbling babies.

Draxacon walked through the halls, his troopers that had gone in ahead holding some other droids hostage. Some droids were lying on the ground, black smoldering holes in the heads of droids that were too stupid to surrender, or too annoying to keep operational. Draxacon looked to the trooper that was holding this selection of droid prisoners. "Try not to shut down too many of them. They might be on our side." The trooper glanced at his commanding officer, his expression hidden under that bucket, but Draxacon knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing he himself was thinking.

These clankers working for us. For William? Ridiculous.

Draxacon turned a corner and saw what he believed was the tactical droid walking towards them. He raised his hand, the troops following him stopping behind him, their hands holding their weapons tightly. These people remembered the Separatists and the atrocities they committed during the Clone Wars. The tactical droid stopped in front of Draxacon, raising its hand.

"Greetings, I am TS-15. Am I to presume you might be Draxacon?" The droid said, focusing on the brutish man.

"That I am. What's it to you?" Draxacon barked back, his hands balling into fists.

"Drekar spoke well of you and your plan. I assume you are the one who led him on this path?" The droid said, turning around and walking back the way it came. Draxacon and the two troopers began following the droid, moving at the same slow pace as the boxy droid.

"Actually, no. This was of his own volition. He was sent on a mission to collect some stolen data and ran into someone who triggered some suppressed memories." Draxacon explained, his muscles loosening up and relaxing following this droid. "We had planned on using this 'Project Stardust' I was reading into to destroy our home world. But when William ran into a rebel that was related to his past, he began to go, well..." He looked to the side, trying to find the words. "Well, let's just say it made him a little mental." The droid looked back to Draxacon, still moving forward at the same pace. It turned, revealing the lift to the command center.

"Ah, I see, so I assume Commander Drekar never intended to come down here had your plan gone as intended." The droid commented, its head facing forward once more. It reached the lift and opened the doors, allowing Draxacon and the troopers to enter first. "I assume you will want Drekar's body as well?" The droid asked as he stepped in, the doors closing and the lift beginning its ascension.

"Yeah, but more for the armor. I have a feeling William would jettison the corpse if he saw it on board his ship. Would it be possible for you to take the body but give us the armor?" Draxacon crossed his arms, turning his head to look at the still droid.

"Yes. I will send two droids to do so now. No need to worry about your men blasting them, they won't even see them." TS-15 said as the lift began to slow down. The doors opened, and the four entered the command center, TS-14 looking back to the group. Without saying a word, it pressed some buttons at its terminal, and a door slid open, revealing a hidden room. TS-15 and Draxacon entered, Draxacon seeing an unconscious William being attended to by a strange droid that looked more like a torture droid.

This droid that was apparently taking care of William had a strange oval shaped head with a magnifying enhancer over its right eye. It had six strange arms attached to its torso; two on its back, folded up as they were not in use, two that made the droid almost look normal, and two smaller arms extending from the torso itself. The droid was using these smaller arms and its primary arms to stabilize William; the smaller arms making sure to stitch up any minor wounds it could while the right arm was working on the missing limb. The droid was making modifications to William's limb, connecting cybernetics to him. Next to William would be his next arm, which was a strange white slender arm with a peculiar four fingered hand. Draxacon shook his head, walking past TS-15 and up to this droid. "Hey, the command was to stabilize him, not operate on him."

The droid looked up, its arms still moving about. "Ah, my apologies. I got a bit carried away." The droid focused back on William while one of the arms on its back extended and grabbed the white robotic limb and took it away. It quickly finished the connections and retracted its smaller arms and stepped back. Looking at the rest of this droid, Draxacon was beginning to wonder why anyone would design a droid with such a strange bottom half. Its legs were protected by what he could only describe as a metal skirt.

"Thank you A4-C. you may leave now." TS-15 said, the strange droid nodding to the tactical droid before scurrying off out of the room. The two Stormtroopers holstered their blasters and moved to a nearby gurney, activating it and moving it next to William. Draxacon watched as the two troopers gingerly lifted William up from the table and onto the gurney, securing him onto the floating device.

"I suppose since William is a bit unconscious at the moment, I'll give you orders until we leave. Is that alright with you?" Draxacon turned to TS-15, who simply nodded. "Good. Now first things first: I want you to reactivate that cannon and shoot down any Imperial vessel that gets too close to the surface." The droid nodded, watching Draxacon as he began walking out, following him soon after. The two troopers began moving William as well, not seeming all that shocked at the order their commander just gave. "We don't want any other Imperials to find this place. Next, consolidate power and shut down any units that aren't immediately required."

"If it's power you are concerned with, don't be. We have a geothermal generator underground." TS-15 commented, its counterpart not turning to watch the group re enter the lift. The door slid shut and they began their descent.

"Alright. Now take me to Drekar's body." Draxacon said, the lift doors opening. The two troopers moved William out first and began to take him out of the base while TS-15 moved to a hole in the hall, revealing a ruined hangar. Draxacon looked upon the damage that had occurred due to Drekar and William's fight. Draxacon walked through the hole and saw the broken mandalorian helmet. Moving deeper, he saw the mandalorian himself, lifeless and still. He sighed, kneeling down and placing a hand on Drekar's shoulder. "I'll lead him back on the right path, father. I promise you that." Draxacon then wrapped his hand around a necklace, ripping it off of the corpse and pocketing it. He then stood up, climbing back up to TS-15. "Take the armor off and give him a proper burial. Once the armor is off, bring it to my ship." Draxacon did not wait for an answer as he left the base, returning to the drop ship.