Clan of Three

Part Thirty-One

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Rael was crammed in between Din and Greef in the back of a speeder, while Cara sat in the front with the Mythrol. "The whole base is powered by a reactor." Greef explained as they entered a canyon. "We sneak in, overload the reactor, and get the hell outta there." Cara called over her shoulder. "Let's be fast. And keep the speeder running." Din said. Greef pointed ahead of them and said, "There it is right there. You see it?".

There was the facility, built into the cliffside. "How close do you want me to drop you off?", The Mythrol asked. "How 'bout the front door?", Greef asked but his tone left no room for argument, so he took them to, quite literally, the front door. The group of four clambered out of the speeder and hurried to the entrance. Din went straight to the control panel and tried to open the door.

"The controls are useless. They're melted.", He told them. "Well, it's probably not rated for lava." Greef sighed as they started to look for other options. "Alright. I'm headed back. Hit me on the comm, we can set up a rendezvous time.", The Mythrol called as he started up the speeder. "You park your gills right there until I say otherwise.", Greef snapped at him. "But I'm startin' to dehydrate, boss.", The male replied with a shrug.

Greef groaned as he offered, "Okay, how does 30 years off your debt sound?". The Mythrol thought on it before saying, "Can you at least be quick about?". This made Greef get even more annoyed as he retorted, "You wanna be quick? Grab the flange cutter and help us out." The male huffed as he climbed out of the speeder, muttering, "Fine, but I don't like leaving my speeder like this, just so you know."

Rael shook her head as she hissed to Din, "He had to have been way more annoying than me." "I don't know. I was pretty close to freezing you too." The Mandalorian replied as he looked up at the landing pad above them. Rael rolled her eyes as she watched the Mythrol hurrying towards the door. "Got an idea. Up for another lift?", Din asked as he drew a blaster.

Rael cut her eyes at him, not happy about the idea, but nodded. "Hold tight." He called to the other three as he wrapped an arm tightly around Rael's waist. The girl's eyes widened in shock, but didn't have a second to question his choice of grip before they were shooting up into the sky. All she could do was hold onto his shoulder and summon her saber to her free hand as they leveled with the pad.

Immediately, the squad patrolling the lading pad began firing at them. "Drop me!", Rael shouted as Din hovered above the metal platform. The Mandalorian loosened his grip as let her fall and she landed with her sabers ignited. The duo went to work and had cleared the entire platform before the others even arrived. "For the record, you told me to drop you. You can't use that against me later.", Din said as she hooked her sabers to her belt. "We'll see.", She said with a wink as the lift's door slid open.

Greef, Cara, and the Mythrol stepped out and surveyed the scene in front of them. "Empty base, huh?", Rael questioned as she motioned to the troopers scattered on the floor. They joined them on the pad and Cara looked dover the edge as the wind whipped her hair around. "The reactor should be set in the heat shaft. If we drain the cooling lines, this whole base will go up in a matter of minutes." Greef explained.

"Look. It's a mint Trexler Marauder. You know how much we can get for this on the black market?" The mythrol explained as he motioned towards the machine. "And it's gonna get vaporized like the rest of this base. Now, let's go." Din said firmly as he opened the hanger door that lead inside. "Such a waste...", the Mythrol sighed as he followed.

As Greef and Din led the way in, the Mythrol and Cara follow behind them . But, something made Rael stop before she even crossed the threshold. Din glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was following and saw Rael frozen, with a dazed look. "Stop at the end on the corridor and wait.", Din ordered Greef before hurrying back to the young woman.