Chapter 9        Siege Perilous

Upper Mandratha was absolutely pristine, clean and beautiful. The sun was shining so brightly that Andromeda was almost inclined to shield her eyes, since they had been in Lower Mandratha’s darkness and shadows. Maharet silently lamented that she would not be able to blend in as easily there as she had earlier. Andromeda gently brought the Redeemer down for a landing and paid the fifty credit fee to the deck officer, who stated that there were to be absolutely no weapons in plain sight at any time whatsoever and that it was grounds for immediate arrest.

Jace gave them very specific instructions as to how to reach Vito’s mansion. The Gammorean guard placed as sentry by the front door was not hard to miss. He knew to expect them and showed them in right away to Vito’s dining room. It was apparent that he was still dining on breakfast. He was an overweight human, richly dressed and had well dressed bodyguards flanking him. No one said a word, waiting for him to speak first.

"My good friend Nagh called me and said that you wanted to see me about a droid I had acquired from him," Vito said between mouthfuls.

"Yes. We’re following up on some information about it," Andromeda said casually. "There’s a possibility that your droid might be of interest to us."

"I’m sorry, but the droid is not for sale," he said just as casually.

"May we at least take a look at it? Maybe we won’t have to discuss selling it," Andromeda tried again.

"What is this droid to you? Maybe you would like to do a job for me in order to get it," Vito replied.

"What kind of job?" Andromeda asked, a tense feeling beginning to creep up her spine.

"It’s about my dear son, Rocko. He gets himself into more trouble than I’d like to prefer and he’s done it again, but this time, he’s landed himself in jail," Vito began to explain. Andromeda had a good hunch where this was going.

"What does this have to do with us?" Zaron asked, getting that same tense feeling.

"I’m so glad you asked!" Vito feigned a smile. "If you want the droid, all you have to is bust him out, see. Just bring him home to me. Once you get him home all safe and sound, then I will handle him from there and you can pursue this droid-thing of yours. If you can do it as soon as possible, that would be nice. And by the way, if you get caught, you don’t know me and I don’t know you, got it?"

"Completely," Andromeda answered and turned to leave. She gave Tolian a look of "What do we do now?" It was apparent to her that he had no good ideas and had nothing to say about it.

"Good luck," Vito called after them as the Gammorean guard escorted them out. As soon as they were out on the street again, they headed over to the bar that was just across the street from the precinct where Rocko was being held.

"Are you curious about what he did to get in there?" Zaron made light conversation.

"As long as we get our hands on that droid, he could have assassinated the governor for all I care," Andromeda replied.

"We’re playing with fire here," Tolian said as they were served drinks. "Didn’t you notice the decadence of Vito’s place? I would guess that he’s some kind of gangster, or mixed up with the local crime family."

"Now that’s something we definitely don’t need to get mixed up in. Is this droid so worth it?" Maharet asked.

"This seems like an awful big price to be asking, just to get a mere look at a droid," Kosh said quietly.

"Normally, I would agree, but this is Mon Mothma we’re talking about," Andromeda said quietly.

"Alright. Now just how do you plan on getting Rocko?" Zaron asked. "You know that we’re weaponless, and you haven’t the first idea as to the fortification of the place. Have you guys noticed too that there are very few aliens wandering the streets, or was it just me?"

"We’ll wait for visiting hours to be over, that way, we won’t be involving any civilians," Tolian said.

"Good idea. They won’t be expecting a break out after closing hours as much as they would during normal times of visiting," Andromeda said. "And this being such a high-society place, there’s bound to be very few guards at the front desk—one, maybe even two." She seemed to perk up at the idea.

"I don’t think I should get very heavily involved in this wrongdoing," Kosh said quietly.

"Then you can stand guard," Maharet said simply. "Once we get past the front desk as assess how many else are there, it should be no problem for me to sneak in there and find out where he is."

"Good thinking," Andromeda praised. "We’ll just take our time now to cruise around town, get any supplies we need, get the Redeemer prepped, and then we can come back, go in, get out, get our info and get the heck out of here. This trip is getting to be a little more than what we bargained for."

It was about nine hours later when they returned to the precinct to carry out their plan. It couldn’t have gone smoother. Andromeda and Tolian took out the front desk personnel, while Maharet used the diversion to sneak inside. She found Rocko, the only prisoner being held, but he was in interrogation. She radioed back to Tolian and Andromeda, who joined her. Zaron changed into the precinct officer’s uniform to hold down the front desk, while Kosh simply stood some kind of watch outside the front door.

Tolian and Andromeda joined Maharet, ready to use the blasters they had acquired from the hapless font desk officers, and stormed into the interrogation room. There were four short, grey aliens that none of them had ever seen before. They looked strong and fierce and downright scary. Andromeda wasted no time in opening fire upon them, as did Tolian. Maharet snuck in behind them and freed the prisoner from his chair.

"Wow! I’m so glad you guys are here! Where’d you come from? Did my father send you?" Rocko was full of questions.

"Never mind us," Maharet irritably dismissed his questions as if she were batting away a fly. "Who and what are those guys?"

"Beats me!" Rocko replied as the firefight continued. The aliens were defeated, but no one was betting on the aliens dropping a grenade that didn’t have much effect on the fight except for blasting a hole in the back wall large enough for them to escape through, but Andromeda wasn’t about to let the aliens walk out alive.

Surprisingly, Kosh was at the hole with speeder service. "Jump on!" He indicated the vacant seat behind him. Rocko and Tolian took it, while Zaron took Andromeda and Maharet aboard his and they sped away as fast as they could before anyone could get a chance to realize what was going on and call for help.

Not one word was exchanged as they sped through Vito’s gate and pulled up to the front door. They were immediately ushered in where Vito was having dinner. It was almost as if he had never moved from that spot since this morning.

"Ah, Rocko my boy! So good to have you all safe and sound again. Thank the nice people for bringing you home and get to your room. I’ll want to talk to you later. Right now, I’m trying to conduct a little business," Vito said as he wiped his mouth and paused from eating his meal. "Now about this droid."

They were all standing so close together that Andromeda could tell that they were all holding their breath as well as she.

"I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news," Vito said as he began to eat again.

"What’s the good news?" Zaron asked.

"The good news is that the droid is perfectly alright and still intact," Vito paused again to take a bite of his meal.

"And the bad news?" Andromeda dared.

"The bad news for you is that I no longer have the droid in my possession," he said simply. Andromeda could feel an indescribable anger rise up within her. She suddenly wanted to wring Vito’s fat neck, but with his menacing bodyguards looking as if they would shoot her if she tried, she kept still.

"However," Vito continued. "I had given it as a birthday present to my dear friend Aluma the Hutt, who lives on the far side of Upper Mandratha. If you want this thing badly enough, you can go and see her about it. As a token of my esteem, the least I can do is grant you an audience with her, so that I will do. I shall tell her to expect you tomorrow morning, say, around nine?"

"Fine," was all Tolian said as he placed a hand on Andromeda’s shoulder and directed her out. He knew that if she wasn’t going to let her fist fly, her mouth was sure to shoot off.

"Thanks again for springing my boy. His mother would be having a fit if she only knew what kind of trouble he gets himself into! Just see my guard at the front gate. He’ll give you directions to Aluma’s place and tell you all that you need to know," Vito said as he began to dive into his meal with earnest, since it was getting cold. "Best of luck. You’re going to need it!"

"I wonder what he meant by that?" Maharet said thoughtfully as they headed back to the Redeemer for the night.

"He’s probably got us doing dirty work for this Aluma as well, how much are you willing to bet?" Andromeda said darkly. "Oh, I just wanted to wring that fat mobster’s throat! –Not that it would have done much good."

"You just need to calm yourself, I think," Kosh suggested.

"Calm myself? You want me to calm myself?" Andromeda began to get riled up.

"Just cool the jets! You’re not the only one flying on this mission!" Tolian said sternly, which made Andromeda snap to attention without thinking about it. "That’s better. Now calm down. A good night’s sleep should do the trick—for all of us." Andromeda did as she was told and stayed quiet for the rest of the night.

The following morning found our heroes at the front gates to Aluma the Hutt’s palace. Zaron couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable at the way they were shown right in without questions or interrogation.

Aluma’s palace was full of courtiers of all races and species, all ranging from business people, smugglers, pirates and even Bounty Hunters. But since they were ushered in as guests and for being a friend of Vito’s, no one even gave them a second glance. Despite this, Andromeda was on her guard; Zaron stuck close to her and Tolian. Maharet seemed to be slightly more at ease while Kosh mingled, trying to catch the eye of an attractive female Rodian. If she ever found out what Kosh truly was, their cover would be blown wide open.

Aluma was holding her court, welcoming her guests graciously, and actually slithering her way amongst them. She came up to Tolian and Andromeda and smiled.

"Good morning, Lady Aluma. Thank you for allowing us to visit your court this lovely day," Andromeda said in perfect Huttese, bowing low and remembering her manners.

"And a good morning to you, my child," she replied in basic with a genuine smile. "Who are you and what brings you to my court? It is so refreshing to hear someone else speak my language and so well too!"

"My name is Andromeda. My friends and I are acquaintances of Vito," she replied.

"Ah, Vito. I hope his son hasn’t gotten into trouble again," Aluma chuckled.

"Recently for your birthday, Vito had made a present of a droid for you. We were wondering if we may have a look at it," Andromeda said.

"That thing? I’m not sure if he’s even for sale," Aluma seemed thoughtful.

"Not to purchase him, but to only look him over. I believe he has something we need. We would just look him over, maybe ask him a question or two and then we would be on our way, never to bother you again," Andromeda said, discreetly looking about for him, hoping that he would be put to use in translating in court.

"I would be willing to part with the droid for a favor," Aluma said quietly. Andromeda silently cringed at the word "favor". She glanced over at Tolian and Zaron, who also seemed to have a look of "Oh, no!"

"And just what kind of a favor would you require?" Andromeda dared to ask, keeping a smile on her face, so as not to offend.

"Vito told me that you and your friends are the adventurous type," Aluma began. "You all look as if you’ll be perfect for the game. If you win, you could make a lot of money for yourselves and me as well. It’s called Siege Perilous. It’s an event that’s shown on holovid and it’s like a survival of the fittest challenge. The first team to make it through the obstacles win—and they win huge. I was looking for a team to enter and I do bet a lot of money on these games. It would make you very rich. What do you say?" Andromeda was slightly taken aback. Could Vito have found them out? Could this be some kind of trap and they were being sent to their deaths? Looking from Tolian to Zaron to Maharet and back again, she almost didn’t know what to say.

"If I may but confer with my comrades?" Andromeda excused herself.

"But of course. Take your time," Aluma smiled graciously and turned away to give her time to her court. It took a moment to locate Kosh who was busy shmoozing with his lady friend. Maharet brought him up to speed.

"Remind me why this droid is so important," Zaron said.

"Two words," Andromeda quipped. "M and M."

"But are we supposed to die trying to get it?" Maharet asked.

"I don’t see much of a choice. If Aluma is this gracious now, can you imagine what her wrath might be like? Hutts are known to have hot tempers, you know. Look at Jabba the Hutt," Tolian pointed out.

"Does anyone know anything about this game?" Maharet asked.

"Only that it’s more like an obstacle course—and a deadly one at that. Not only are you trying to survive to make it through, but you have to ward off the other teams that are trying to achieve the same goal," Tolian explained.

"Just great," Andromeda muttered as Zaron let out a frustrated sigh.

"There’s Kosh to worry about, too. If this thing’s gonna be broadcasted, then he can’t be helping us with his abilities," Maharet pointed out. "You can’t use your so-called flashlight. We’d all be killed on the spot!"

"Not to worry about me. I can use a gun in the name of self defense, you know," Kosh said with a slight edge to his voice.

"Well! Have you come to a decision? Will you join the game?" Aluma glided up to them.

"We accept," Andromeda said.

"Good! Then I shall get you ready. My assistant will help you any gear you may deem as necessary. I will be betting quite a large amount of money on you, so I wish you the best of luck!" And with a deep chortle of delight she glided away and the assistant appeared. Tolian politely refused the assistant’s help, but was told that they were to report back to the palace no later than noon, since the game was to take place at one. She would escort them to the arena herself. With no further instruction, the assistant left them to prepare.

"Why have I got the sinking feeling that we’re in some kind of big trouble?" Zaron asked as they headed back to the Redeemer to retrieve their armor and gear.

"Do you think Vito found us out and told Aluma?" Andromeda asked.

"You’re starting to sound paranoid," Maharet said with an edge to her voice that suggested Andromeda could be right.

"Just think of this as a real effort for the Rebellion," Kosh said calmly.

"I know that we put our lives down for the Rebellion, but this is ridiculous! I just don’t see the big picture here," Andromeda lamented. "This sounds like one of those Gladiator-Games-thing where Bounty Hunter-types come in to test their strength and cunning. What if we’re recognized? Having our faces plastered all over the holovids is not going to help us."

"True. But this droid is supposed to have information vital to the Rebellion and for Mon Mothma! If we don’t get to this droid first, then there’s a chance that it could deal a real blow to our side," Tolian reminded.

A few hours later, they were assembled once again in Aluma’s court, donned in combat gear, and armed to the teeth. Aluma thankfully didn’t make much of a fuss and she had them taken over to the game arena in her personal transport.

As soon as they had arrived they were escorted to a holding room where four other teams were waiting. There were Bounty Hunters, Imperial Storm Troopers and even a team of the Emperor’s own elite guard. There was no map, no information given, only that the teams would be staring from different ends of the complex. The object of the game was simple—to reach the control room first—whatever that was, Andromeda thought bitterly as she secured her helmet and glanced about them one last time.

One by one, the teams were taken out, and they were the last ones left. There was tense, electrical feeling to the air. According to the chronometer on the wall, game time was happening in a matter of moments.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the main event! It’s time once again for Siege Perilous! We have four new teams for you to bet upon, and betting will be closing in five minutes, so hurry and get those wagers in!" a voice blared over a public address system.

"I feel like some animal in a race," Andromeda commented.

"In a race against time," Zaron reminded. Andromeda threw him a sour look, but it was lost beneath her helmet.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen! For your wagering pleasure, let the games begin!"

A door snapped open at the far side of the room, indicating that they were to go through it. They entered a circular room, which was empty. There were two flights of stairs to either side of them that led upwards. Wordlessly, Tolian took the lead and went up to the right.

Cautiously, they came up to the second level, which was looking very much the same as the room they were just in except for the fact that there was four foot tall barrier in the middle. As soon as they were all in the room, five men popped up from behind it and began to open fire.

Tolian returned fire, nailing one and dove out of the way. Maharet fired of a shot and wounded another as she too dove out of the way, trying to make it to the flight of stairs that led upward. Andromeda wasn’t so lucky. She fired off her shot, but it went wide. She tried to dodge out of the way, but felt two shots hit her armor. The force of the blows sent her back into the wall and the force she hit the wall with knocked her silly. Zaron only wanted to find cover, but was hit with an unlucky stun shot that knocked him cold as well. It was now up to Tolian, Maharet and Kosh to take out the "obstacle", which they did with no problem. With that done and with no one else coming to hinder them further, they waited for Andromeda and Zaron to come around.

Andromeda came out of it first.

"Llellandra, don’t you ever scare me like that again!" Tolian scolded as he took a breath of relief.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to," she murmured as she readjusted her helmet and tried to stand up. She glanced over at Zaron, who was also just coming around.

"You waited? Why didn’t you go on without us?" Zaron said a little groggy. "You’re going to lose valuable time that way."

"Have we not taught you anything? Hello! Never leave your wing man!" Andromeda helped him to stand. "Besides that, we only win if the entire team shows up, and there’s no points for second place."

"Does this mean we can go now?" Maharet was already half way up the stairs, ready to go. Zaron gave Maharet a helpless look but said nothing.

The third level was very much like before, with a barrier in the middle and a flight of stairs headed upwards. But this time, there were no humans with guns. They suddenly found themselves face to face with a room full of assassin droids. There were about four of them by Andromeda’s count.

With combined efforts, they managed to take out three with the help of grenades. However, Zaron had that bad luck streak running with him as the fourth one exploded and caught him in the blast. His leg was injured, but it wasn’t life threatening.

"I’m alright," he gritted his teeth and tried his best to ignore the pain as he dragged himself up the stairs.

As they reached the top, a door slammed shut behind them, locking them in. Here in the fourth level, it was clear that this was last level of the tower, since there were no more stairs leading upward. There was no barrier in here, and the only other way out was a door on the far side of the room that appeared to be locked. There were no widows or other portals. In the quiet of the room, Andromeda strained the sound sensors of her helmet trying to listen for anything unusual. All that met her ears was a hissing noise.

"We’ve got to get out of here," Andromeda said as she headed for the door. Maharet stopped short, sniffing the air. There was a tense expression on her face.

"Poisonous gas!" she said. "The door! We have to open the door!" Andromeda looked over to Zaron, who was known to have the technical expertise of the group. With the enviro-filter in her helmet, Andromeda was not experiencing the effect of the gas that was beginning to pour into the room.

Zaron headed for the door, trying to focus on the controls, but the gas was affecting his vision and he was finding it hard to breathe already. He was barely aware of the fact that he had slumped to the floor before losing consciousness.

Maharet gently moved Zaron away so Tolian could have a crack at opening the door next, but the gas was beginning to overtake him as well and before he knew what was happening, he too, had slumped down to the floor.

Maharet was beginning to panic. "I don’t know anything about opening locked doors!" Kosh was leaning against the wall, the gas ready to overtake him as well.

"I guess I’ll have to give it a shot," Andromeda carefully stood over Tolian and examined the door lock. "I’m no technical wizard, either. I could most likely hot-wire an X-Wing fighter better than I could a door!" She was busy messing with the controls, pushing buttons, crossing wires when suddenly the door came open with the sound of a rifle report, letting the gas out and the fresh air in. It only took a few minutes for Tolian and Zaron to be revived.

A huge bridge was spanned before them. It was at least a hundred meters across to the other side. It was probably twenty feet wide, with a three-foot high retaining wall/rail on the sides. Looking down, it was probably a three hundred-foot drop.

"An ideal place for combat," Kosh commented.

"Sure. All that’s missing is the lake of lava beneath us," Andromeda tried to make light.

"And we need to get to the tower that’s on the other side, of course," Zaron said, trying to assess what was on the other side.

"So let’s go," Maharet began to run across, but stopped short as a laser bolt shattered the ground at her feet. Looking up, she could see that there was a web gun stationed in a turret just above the door to the other tower, along with two other people firing blasters at them.

"We have no choice!" Tolian began to run forward, but Zaron hung back, firing off his blaster for cover, trying to make a path. Andromeda ran forward with a yell, blaster firing as she went. She was trying to pick off the web-gun operators, but wasn’t wounding them at all. In fact, all she accomplished was getting them mad at her, so they began firing the gun at her. Despite her being a moving target, she couldn’t get out of the way fast enough and the shot managed to hit her in the leg. With a last ditch effort, she dove for the safety of the wall, where Tolian joined her, trying to help her out. Moments later, through all the fire fighting, Kosh, Zaron and Maharet made it over as well, but the firing wasn’t stopping. Looking back to the other side of the bridge, there was the Imperial team behind them, getting the worst of the fight.

With no warning, the door to the tower opened and they practically spilled inside, bolting it behind them. They all paused to catch their breath, trying to decide which way to go next, since there was yet another stairway leading up and a door leading in. Andromeda was suggesting that they go up, but the choice to go through the door was made for them as a thermal detonator came clanking down the stairs. Tolian, Zaron, and Kosh opened the door and leaped back outside onto the bridge. Andromeda and Maharet darted forward into the room beyond and the door slammed shut behind them. With this, Andromeda began to feel a surge of panic begin to overtake her.

Two, huge, hulking things came out from behind a barrier by the wall and began to make their way towards them, not saying a word, but their actions were making it very clear that they were intending to do some serious bodily harm.

Maharet wasted no time in whipping out that vibro-ax and taking out the one closest to her. Andromeda whipped out her blaster and fired, leaving a perfectly round hole in the second one’s head. With that, the door opened again and in spilled Tolian, Kosh and Zaron.

"Are you guys alright?" Zaron asked as Kosh began to search the room.

"I’ll be alright," Andromeda grimaced as she leaned against the doorpost for support.

"I’ve found a stairway that leads down," Kosh called.

"I vote for going up, myself," Zaron said.

"Me too," Andromeda said weakly. "We’ve been going up this entire time, why not?"

"Fine. We go up," Tolian began to lead up the stairs. They were genuinely surprised at what they had found next. It wasn’t a combat scene at all. In fact, there were a bunch of people, a bunch of cameras, bright lights and a voice that was saying

"Congratulations! You are the winning team! You’ve just run the course in record time, setting a new course record! Here’s the promised prize money of one thousand credits each! Congratulations!"

Andromeda felt a wave of relief wash over her and she finally let the pain of her wound take over. Thankfully, there were medics on the scene to tend to all the wounds, so by the time they left the arena in Aluma’s transport, they were completely healed. They were taken back to Aluma’s palace as guests of honor and Aluma held a great feast for them. She was the most pleased of all of them because she had made a fortune with her bets, and didn’t mind sharing the wealth. And as promised, she let them have the coveted droid plus and extra two thousand credits for all of their efforts. She bid them farewell, telling them that they were free to stop by her place anytime for anything. Andromeda was happy to be finally leaving for the Rebel base, as were they all.

"Now lets see what this droid has," Zaron activated it. It came to life with a start, talking excitedly about who it was and what it was capable of doing. It even mentioned that it was on a mission with a message for an important Rebel agent. Everyone seemed to sigh with relief for a moment, but the joy was short lived when it began skipping and rambling and making no sense whatsoever. When Zaron had asked it how far back it could remember, it replied that it must have recently had its memory erased, because he couldn’t remember much further back than maybe a week or so.

"That’s what I was afraid of," Zaron sighed heavily. "Most owners will make it a habit to have a newly acquired droid’s memory erased. We were kind of hoping she hadn’t done that before we got our hands on him. Let’s just hope that the message was never recovered. We’ll just donate this droid to the Rebellion. I’m sure the base would be happy to have another on board."

It was a loss, but not a serious one. Kosh said to look at the bright side—things could have been much worse. They were thankful that they had come away with their lives once again.

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