A Galaxy Freed (Book 4)

Chapter 3: A Horrifying Discovery

          Rex was studying the coordinates he copied down from the terminal back on Anaxes. He had a view of Raxus on the Holo-table and was mapping the coordinates onto it. "Having any luck narrowing down the location, Rex?", I asked as I sat down beside him.

"I think I've got it, General," he replied. He pointed to a dot on the planet that was the point of the coordinates. "Press that button beside ya to zoom it in so we can have a better look."

I did as he asked. The view of the planet changed from its spherical shape to a rectangle that laid out the land that was in close proximity to the point. It was inside a building. "Is this the capital city?" I wouldn't have known. I've only heard of this planet a couple times from talking with Fives about the battles he was a part of before I came to the Temple.

"Yes, sir. That is Raxulon. And this extraction mission just got a helluva lot harder. If these coordinates really are correct, then Echo is inside the Senate Building in the center of the city. That place will be heavily fortified and protected." It looked like a gigantic castle in comparison to the other buildings around it. It towered over them, its spires extending above the holographic clouds.

"We could always call for reinforcements," I mentioned.

"True. But let's see what we're heading into first. If the need arises, I'm sure the Jedi Generals back on Coruscant can find a battalion or two to send us."

           Fives came to join us. "What about defenses. What will be waiting for us besides droids?" He looked determined, like he could take all of those droids on at once.

"I'm relying on outdated intel, but there's a chance it could still hold up. According to this old holomap, there are turrets mounted near each main entrance. Those entrances are also blocked by a ray shield. Both the turrets and the shields can only be powered down from the inside."

"That's not true," interrupted Rig, who was standing behind Rex and Fives, overlooking the map.

Fives immediately became irritated. He looked straight at me; his eyebrows furrowed. "How the hell would you know?", he asked him, refusing to make eye contact.

"There are Knights occupying the building. How would they have gotten in if they could only power down the ray shields and turrets from the inside. There must be a generator that controls them on the outside."

"You've got a point," said Rex who was staring intently at the holomap, his hand placed on his chin as he was thinking. "There's no intel on where a generator could be. We'll have to figure that out once we get there."

"My droid can sense energy readings. It'll find it for us," Rig responded.

Fives rolled his eyes and talked as if Rig was never there. "So, Rex. What's the plan of attack? Where are we gonna land?"

           As they formed up a plan together, I took a seat further down the ship to think. Rig saw me alone and sat across from me. This seemed to grab Fives's attention. He glared at Rig and then at me. I patted my hand on the seat beside me and he got up and walked to me. He took a seat next to me, not letting his eyes off of Rig. He didn't say a word. He just tapped his finger on his holster. I had a couple questions for the Knight. "I was just thinking. This signal was being transmitted on Anaxes; however, Vinera was using that signal to overpower us across different planets. I never knew of a signal with that much strength."

"You'll have to thank Zakuulian technology for that," Rig responded.

"Excuse me?"

"Zakuul. It's where Vinera and all of us Knights are from. It's a highly advanced society. The scientists there have created devices to make the signal, like the one found on Anaxes, to stretch across an entire galaxy."