(Sorry, feeling like shit this weekend. This is the only chapter for now. I'll try to get another one out later this week.)
-Noon, the next day-
The sun was at the zenith, beating down indiscriminately. From high in the sky, the rays of light pierced through the window of the room Galen and I were resting in.
It took us until the sun began to rise to reach the side of the city opposite our hideout. Since moving during the day wasn't a good idea, we had to stay put.
While we were sitting here in the past few hours, we started fleshing out our plans for the future. Since I was level 10, and probably one of the only players at that level, we decided that we should found a guild.
After learning about it from my dad, I had decided that I should use the capital wealth I have accrued to invest in a guild. In addition, I would have my dad to help me promote the guild. Despite his years of inactivity and starting out his streaming career for this game with a meager 500 viewers, he was now comfortably within the top 10 in the entire gaming space. Well, about 30% of all viewers in the gaming space were watching streams for this game.
Unfortunately, the top few streamers were impassable giants. Names like xQc, Myth, Auronplay, and Sodapoppin were titans in the streaming industry. All of them were playing the game and racked up over a million concurrent viewers between them.
My dad usually fluctuated between 8th and 6th on the leaderboards, having a typical stream pull concurrent viewership numbers of over 80k people. His record so far, which was on the second or third day after release, was 485k viewers. I keep joking with him, telling him that he peaked and is now washed up.
To found a guild, one had to go to the senate building and register with the Republic. That was the only method I knew of at this time. I was sure that there were other methods but I haven't heard of many high level players that have switched sides to the Empire.
Galen and I decided that we were going to choose a latin name for the guild. It would make it so that even the most casual mention of our guild carried an air of class.
The credits from selling the coaxium would be more than enough to found the guild, some real estate, and a small fleet. We'd be miles ahead of any other guild that could possibly exist for the next few weeks. This would give us enough time to recruit a lot of members before the famous guilds get up to speed.
After discussing all of this, I glanced at the bag that Galen had been holding in his arms. "So, I've been meaning to ask you, what's in the bag?"
He had been carrying this around since we shipped out from Coruscant. Every time I saw him, he had it strapped to his back. He didn't have it before we shipped out. It's like it appeared out of thin air.
Galen shook his head. "You'll see eventually."
I sighed. "Come on dude, what's in there?"
Galen pulled the bag closer to him. "It's-"
Suddenly my comm lit up. "SORYN COME IN!"
I quickly reacted and pressed the button. "Satele?"
Heavy breathing could be heard from the other side of the line. "Oh, thank the force you're there. We have a problem."
I tilted my head in confusion before a frown formed on my face. If this had anything to do with what her and my dad's task was, it would be troublesome. "What is it?"
Satele didn't waste any time. "We found where the royals were being held but then overheard something quite concerning. Malgus isn't dead and he plans on executing them within the hour."
[Quest Completed]
[Saving the Royal Family - II]
[+5k exp]
[Quest Received]
[Saving the Royal Family - III]
[Epic Chain Quest]
[The Royal Family has been located. Get them to safety as fast as possible. Time is of the essence as the time of their execution is fast approaching.]
[+20k exp, +10k credits, +200 reputation with Alderaan, +40 reputation with Old Republic, Epic Holocron]
My head fell back against the wall I was sitting against as I rolled my eyes. "Fucking hell. Swap to squad channel."
I pressed a button on my comm. "Squad, it's time. Satele and Viktor found the royals. We need to exfil them yesterday. They're going to be publicly executed within the hour."
I thought for a moment before continuing. It was time to call an audible. "I want Santos, Leia, and Tomer to circle around to the South of the palace. Find some shit and blow it up on Satele's signal. Satele and Viktor, hold your positions. Khedira, find the best view of the palace you can and get ready to cover the extraction team. Move, NOW!"
"Yes, sir."
I then followed up. "Tomas, how far are you from Satele?"
Tomas took a few seconds to reply. He was probably looking at a map. "About 25 minutes if we run."
I nodded. "Good. Get over there. The four of you will be the extraction team."
Satele cut back in. "There's still a problem with that. I don't think that just one diversion team will be enough. We're up against Malgus who holds a seat on the Dark Council."
I grumbled. "Ughh, I'll figure it out. Just get ready."
I then cut the comm link and looked at Galen. "Do you have any ideas?"
Galen grabbed the bag he was holding tighter and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do."
I glared at the bag, trying to get even the slightest idea of what might be inside. "Still won't tell me?"
Galen shrugged. "You'll find out soon."
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Fine. Whatever it is, it had better work."
-20 minutes later-
After that conversation, some of my observations started making sense. The patrols were much more crowded than yesterday. On top of that, every single patrol squad was larger than usual. Rather than the usual 3-4, the smallest we had seen today was 6.
The house we were hiding in had windows on both sides. Thus, we were able to see when we would be able to move. We had to get into a position where we could attract a lot of attention. It had to be something like a city square.
Basically, the idea was to expose ourselves as much as possible. We wanted to pull as many patrols as possible.
Thus, we decided to hide in some bushes that were right outside of a city square. It was complete with fountains, statues, trees, flowers, benches, and everything else one would expect to find in a city square. In my eyes, there was plenty of cover. Little did I know, cover would be irrelevant in what was to come.
I tapped on my comm, opening the channel. "Is everyone in position?"
"Exfil squad is a go."
"Demo squad is a go."
"Overwatch is armed and ready."
I nodded, wearing a wry smile. "Satele, give the signal as soon as the royals are brought out. That's when all of us will move. Khedira, do you have eyes on the palace?"
Khedira replied. "Clear as glass."
I chuckled. "Good. Support Satele. Malgus might be injured but he's still a Sith Lord. Any last words, everyone?"
Santos laughed. "I'll buy the first round!"
Everyone laughed on comms. I then closed out the call. "Alright everyone. Stay frosty and keep your ears open. Timing is everything with this. Good luck."
Not even a second after I closed the comm channel, Galen tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to him. "What's up?"
He scratched his arm and looked quite nervous. "I-"
I firmly grasped his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Dude, we got this. No pressure."
Galen shook his head. "That's not what I'm nervous about."
I tilted my head after releasing his shoulder. "Then what are you nervous about?"
Galen glanced at the bag around his shoulder and then back at me. "My plan… There's a reason I haven't told you what it is yet."
My expression became firm as I stared him down. "What is that reason?"
Galen sighed. "For it to work, I need you to run around and grab the attention of as many patrols as possible."
I held up my hand for him to stop speaking. "I'm not even going to ask. Well, I will ask one thing. If I die, please grab my lightsabers."
Galen nodded. "I can do that as long as you reach the square. Well, if you reach the square, I think you'll live."
I shrugged. "Alright, good enough for me. I'll get going now?"
Galen nodded. "Best of luck."
I just smiled before getting up and sneaking out of the bush.
I had less than 10 minutes to find a high concentration of patrols. It turned out to be pretty easy. The patrols would slow down when they got near each other and socialize. I scoffed at this realization but was thankful for it nonetheless.
Moving constantly, I found a good position. It had a lot of visibility and a solid exit that led towards the square. The most useful thing, however, was the comm that I had stolen off of the first patrol we encountered.
It gave me some insider knowledge. For example, about 15 minutes ago, an order went out that backup should be called for anything suspicious.
This would play right into my goal. The more the merrier, as the saying goes. Whatever was in that bag, I was confident that it had to be what Galen got from the Epic Holocron.
Suddenly, my comm sounded in my ear. "The package is visible."
I nodded and replied. "All teams, move now."
This was also my queue. There were three patrol squads in front of me so there was no such thing as excessive force. I grabbed a grenade that was attached to my belt with a magnet and pressed the button.
*Piiiing*
With the grenade primed, I decided to have some fun with it. "HEY DIPSHIT! CATCH!"
All 23 of them turned towards me before their eyes locked onto the grenade in my hand. With their attention stolen, I threw the grenade.
Time seemed to slow down as it soared through the air. Some of them reacted by grabbing their blasters and raising them while others started to scatter.
As I turned to start running, I shook my head. "Damn it, I was really hoping one of them would catch it. I'll have to try that again some other time."
Mid turn, I pushed off with my back foot in the direction of my choosing. This launched me down the alleyway.
I heard a scream from behind me. "CHASE THE FUCKER!"
This was when I realized just how easy it would be to escape. These guys are completely-
*BOOOM*
Oh yeah, there was that grenade. Anyways, I decided to wait for a few seconds until they rounded the corner. Then I would drop into the adjacent alleyway I was at the entrance of before continuing my escape.
As soon as one of them rounded the corner, I noticed his blaster was raised. In that split second I was looking down the barrel of the blaster, I felt something prodding at my mind.
That thing gave off the feeling of urgency despite its under-bearing presence. However, I was instinctively able to tell that it wanted me to do something.
Without even thinking about it, I shifted my head and shoulders to the right by a few inches.
*BYUM*
A blaster bolt flew by my head. I felt the heat it radiated as it passed mere fractions of an inch away from my ear left ear.
I was slightly stunned but quickly recovered and started running. My eyes swept over the alleyway in front of me.
To either side, tall buildings towered over me. The ground was littered with trash and overturned garbage cans.
With great haste, I made my way forwards. My heart was a stallion, racing at high speeds.
Suddenly, I felt the prodding again. With that hint, I took action.
A few feet in front of me was one of the overturned garbage cans. I leapt from the ground, my right foot planting on the flat side. I then pushed as hard as I could, sending myself further off the ground.
*BYUM*
I spread my legs while I was in the air and watched as another blaster bolt passed way too close to my crotch.
I was shocked how close I was to getting shot in the ass. "HOLY SHIT!"
Landing on the ground in stride, I kept my pace. Up ahead was another alleyway I could turn into on my left.
I started running towards the right wall. Once I was close enough, I jumped into the air, planting my right foot on the wall. Pushing off with my foot, I shot towards the next alleyway.
*BYUM*
As I landed on the ground, I rolled, narrowly dodging another blaster bolt that flew over my head. It singed the wall behind me.
It was just another half mile to the square. I was so close!
I kept on sprinting, dodging blaster fire as best I could. A few shots even grazed my arms. I could only be thankful that I wasn't hit on my legs.
The end of this final alleyway was coming up. After this, it would open up into a street. I had to turn left onto the street and the square would be straight ahead, just a few hundred feet away.
*BYUM*
Once again, I shifted my head to the side, narrowly dodging another shot. With this final dodge, I exited the alley and took a sharp left onto the street.
A voice quickly yelled behind me. "LOOK! THERE HE IS!"
While still running, I glanced backwards. What I saw made me grimace. There were about 30 imperial troopers armed to the teeth. This must be the backup.
As I ran, I activated my wrist comm. "GALEN, ANYTIME NOW!"
Probably 50 feet past the entrance of the square was a large statue. If I made it there, I could probably take cover and start shooting back.
While thinking about this, I suddenly saw someone emerging from behind the statue. It was Galen!
He was holding his bag, which was still zipped up. He reached down and began unzipping it as he walked towards me at a leisurely pace.
Once the bag was open, I understood. This would not end well.