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Two days later on Cato Neimoidia,
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The Jedi knight Nouk Kii arrives to meet with Viceroy Gunray to discuss the mission.
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Nouk Kii says “I bring greetings from the Jedi temple. I was expecting to meet Viceroy Gunray here?”
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A Neimoidian welcomes Nouk and says “The Viceroy will be along shortly Master Jedi,”
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“I am Mart Zurke, I will be joining you on the mission as I represent the Wutandi Corporation’s interests in this matter.”
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Taken aback, Nouk replies “I wasn’t told that a civilian would be…”
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Zurke interrupts him and says “Master Jedi, may I introduce Lieutenant Bormyn of the Naboo Marine Corps.”
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Bormyn then says “It’s an honor to meet you Master Jedi. You have nothing to worry about, there’s nothing my men can’t handle.”
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Again taken aback, Nouk says “I was under the impression that I was to lead this…”
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Nouk is interrupted again, this time by Viceroy Gunray entering the room with his entourage.
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“Viceroy,” Nouk Kii begins, “it’s good to see you again. Perhaps you can clarify some…”
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Viceroy Gunray interrupts and says “It is good to see you again, Master Kii. Whence last we met you were but a padawan.”
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“Yes, I understand you asked for me specifically, but this mission should be run by the Jedi temple since…”
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“No Master Jedi, we prefer to have Lieutenant Bormyn’s specially trained marines from Naboo, graciously sent by Her Majesty, handle the investigation.”
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As his personal bodyguard droid keeps his attention set on Nouk, Gunray continues “However, your presence as an adviser honors us, and we are most appreciative.”
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Once again taken aback, Nouk says “That was not my understanding of the arrangement, perhaps we should contact the Chancellor and…”
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“Thank you for your cooperation Master Jedi, I’m sure you understand that business interests are also at stake here.”
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Nouk asserts himself and says “Look, first and foremost here is the rescue of the one hundred fifty eight resident staff on board and…”
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Zurke interrupts and says “Yes yes of course Master Jedi, that is our top priority.”
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Bormyn adds “Don’t worry about a thing Master Jedi, we’ll get everything under control.”
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“Excellent,” Gunray says, “and I know that I can count on your discretion with regards to whatever proprietary technologies you see on the station, Master Jedi.”
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“Yes of course Viceroy,” the frustrated Jedi knight says, “but I really think that we need to…”
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“May the Force be with you Master Jedi.” Gunray says, once again interrupting Nouk, “And now if you’ll excuse me, I must retire.”
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Bormyn then says “We’ll be ready to leave in one hour Master Jedi.”
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Later on, the landing platform is teeming with activity in preparation for the rescue team’s departure.
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Nouk Kii boards the ship…
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and is greeted by Lieutenant Bormyn “Ah, Master Kii, welcome aboard. May I present Sergeant Reeze, my field commander.”
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Sergeant Reeze says “It’s an honor to meet you Master Jedi, rest assured my team can handle any situation we may encounter.”
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With Zurke by his side Bormyn then says “Well then, we’re ready to get underway.”
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The ship’s flight crew gets the ship airborne…
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and as the ship leaves Cato Neimoidia,
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Lieutenant Bormyn prepares to address his team.
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He begins “I’m sorry we didn’t have time to brief you people before we left Naboo, here is the situation.”
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As he looks upon Reeze and his men Bormyn continues “We still don’t have contact with the staff of the Wutandi station.”
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“A Neimoidian team sent in five days ago failed to report back after arriving on site. We believe that…”
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One of Reeze’s marines rudely interrupts and says “Sir, I have a question.”
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As Nouk notices the team’s lack of discipline and respect, Bormyn answers “What is it Vaz?”
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The marine responds “I’m Paxon sir. He’s Vaz.”
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Annoyed, Bormyn asks “What’s the question, Private?”
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Paxon then asks “Is this gonna be a stand-up fight, or another tea party?”
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Reeze barks at his insolent marine “You secure that bunk Paxon!”
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Bormyn then says “Right. Okay. Now listen up. I want this thing to go smooth, and by the numbers. Any more questions?”
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Vaz asks “Sir, what’s the assumption going in here?”
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Bormyn responds “It’s a droid research and manufacturing station, a lot of heavy equipment, maybe an engineering disaster… We just don’t know, Corporal.”
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Reeze then rallies his team “So marines, can we handle it?” prompting them to respond in unison with various expressions of machismo.
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After a few hours the fast ship drops out of hyperspace.
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As they make their approach, the crew find the station eerily dark.
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Nouk remarks “Looks like the main power is out, though they should still have life support.”
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After landing in an empty hangar, the ship powers down its engines while the hangar doors automatically close.
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From the ship’s mission control area Bormyn instructs Reeze “Okay Sergeant, go to operations and get the power back on.”
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Reeze then turns to Vaz, his deputy, and says “Alright Vaz, you got the point.”
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The team then disembarks and begins the mission.
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Inside the ship Bormyn logs in to the mission control console and establishes a connection to the marines’ field cameras while also bringing up a schematic of the station.
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Vaz and the marines make their way into the station through the pitch-black corridors.
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With the aid of their motion trackers the marines find that the area is deserted.
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Bormyn cycles through his men’s camera feeds and instructs “Make a left at the next intersection.”
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Vaz alerts “Movement, one signal.”
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Reeze asks “What’s the position?”
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Vaz responds “Coming straight for us, directly ahead.”
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Vaz yells out “We’re here to rescue you, reveal yourself.”
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Suddenly they see an astromech droid rolling slowly towards them.
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Vaz approaches the droid and says “Let’s see if this thing can tell us anything.”
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Suddenly the astromech droid sends Vaz a static discharge, stunning him momentarily.
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Angry, Vaz blasts the offensive droid.
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As Paxon looks on with amusement Vaz says “Take that you punk bucket of bolts!”
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Paxon then picks up the destroyed droid’s dome and says “Hey this would make a great lampshade for my girl’s flat!”
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In mission control Zurke seethes “Lieutenant, that particular model astromech is very expensive!”
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Bormyn speaks into his microphone and says “Reeze, have your men refrain from damaging any more droids.”
He continues “The operations center should be at the end of the corridor, on the right.”
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As the team proceeds in the darkness,
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they come across a pile of miscellaneous equipment and debris, stacked to the ceiling and welded.
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They make their way through a breach and proceed.
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Reeze reports back to Bormyn “Sir, we’ve reached the operations center. Nobody’s home.”
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As the marines search the area,
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Reeze orders “Alright let’s get the power back on.”
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The marines continue their search of the station…
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when the power is restored, easing the mission.
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Bormyn orders “Have some of your men meet us back at the hangar, we’re coming in.”
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Upon hearing this, Paxon sneers “He’s coming in… I feel safer already!”
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Vaz loses his patience and scolds him “Shut up Paxon!”
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Bormyn, Zurke, and Nouk Kii disembark and proceed toward the operations center.
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As they reach the pile of debris Nouk says “A crudely assembled barricade… looks like it didn’t hold.”
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Upon arriving at operations Bormyn receives a briefing on the state of the station’s systems.
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“Sir, the CPU is online. Communications are down, not sure why yet. All the cargo ships and crew shuttles are in their hangars, intact. No sign of the staff.”
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Nouk speaks to Bormyn “Looks like they made their last stand here…”
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Paxon then interrupts “Sir, looks like more funny droids are scurrying about.”
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Private Wierz jokes “Maybe you can collect a coat stand this time Paxon.”
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Paxon follows the signal and arrives at a securely sealed door, prompting Bormyn to order them to run a bypass to get it open.
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The group enters the secure area and arrive in a bio-laboratory. Paxon approaches his motion tracker to a twitching amani in a bacta tank but determines that it is not the source of the signal.
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As Nouk takes in the grotesque sight of various sentient species connected to wires, he turns to the corporate representative “Mister Zurke, is the Wutandi corporation not aware of the Republic’s laws against experimentation on live sentients?”
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Zurke calmly responds “I assure you Master Jedi, I know nothing about this. You assume too much.”
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Nouk replies “These creatures are in pain, let’s see if we can safely free them. There must be a…”
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Vaz then says “Movement, in the next room.”
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As he confirms Vaz’s signal, Paxon jokes “Yea man I want that coat rack!”
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The team then enters an odd chamber, one with a powerful reactor connected to a surgical rack.
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Nouk confronts Zurke again “I suppose you don’t know what this is all about either?”
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Zurke curtly denies knowing what the room is for when he is interrupted by a voice…
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Nomi Taw emerges from the ducts under the floor with Jif and her droid and says “Well it’s about time!”
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She approaches Nouk and his party and says “Well are you going to help me up or should I levitate up there?”
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After helping the feisty woman up Nouk says “Are you alright Miss? What’s happened here, where are the others?”
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Nomi responds “We’re pretty much all that’s left Mister, we had two more with us this morning but they were taken away when they ventured out too far to a hangar.”
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After introductions are made, and more questions are answered, Jif chimes in “The droids come and take people away, down into the tunnels under the tramways between station sections!”
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Nouk asks “How have you managed to evade capture for so long?”
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Nomi responds “It’s thanks to my trusty little droid here, R2-D2, his receiver happened to be broken when all heck broke loose so whatever took control of all the other droids couldn’t take control of him.”
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She continues “I was able to rig him to act as a motion detector with this antenna and terminal, works pretty well. The lamp we mounted on him has been pretty useful too.”
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Bormyn says “Very well, then we’ll go into the tramway tunnels and rescue your colleagues.”
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As the survivors follow the team back to operations, Paxon tells Nomi “Don’t worry Miss, me and my team of ultimate baddies will protect you.”
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Nomi responds saying “Yea… how bout you stay away from me, okay?”
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As the group arrives back in the operations center,
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Bormyn says “Saddle up Reeze, we know where the staff is.”
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Reeze receives the full details and then addresses his men:
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“Alright marines, let’s go, they ain’t paying us by the hour.”
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The marines all enthusiastically rejoice “Heck yea baby!”
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“Gonna rip it up!”
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Paxon says “About time we saw some action up in here!”
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Nouk then turns to Bormyn and says “Lieutenant, the situation is more dangerous than you realize, I should…”
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Bormyn interrupts him “No, please Master Jedi, I have my orders. Please, join me at mission control.”
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Nomi smiles and says “Well Mister Jedi, I guess you’ll be keeping us company?”
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Jif then says “I hope you have something good to eat on your ship Mister Jedi, I’m tired of all the freeze-dried rations we’ve been having for a week!”
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Nouk sighs and mutters “I have a bad feeling about this.”
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