Sprocket A Star Wars Story

Chapter 12: Final Round 3: The Boss

A dark cloud formed over the Vespaara sky as Sprocket, Imara Vex, and Utooni made their way to Balada's office. They headed down the hallway, and Sprocket could hear that something was going on.

From the clanking of metal that Sprocket could make out, it seemed like Hale had brought some droids and perhaps additional allies.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sprocket could hear Balada's strained voice.

"I'll be the one who will control the entire game now," Hale told the Hutt.

Sprocket could hear the guards seize Balada, and shortly after, he and the others watched as the guards dragged Balada the Hutt through the hall. The guards made their way towards Sprocket and the others, who were waiting for them at the corners. Once the guards reached their position, Sprocket signaled to Utooni, and the Jawas dropped a grenade in front of some of the guards, taking them out. Imara Vex handled the rest of them.

"We need you to help us access the security room," Imara said to Balada.

Balada agreed to help the team gain access to the security room at the bottom floor of the building. Sprocket and his companions followed the Hutt closely, and Sprocket found himself constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following them.

The team finally reached the security room and they entered momentarily. Sprocket found himself marveling at all the cameras and archives—and the secret armory. The room was gloomy and dark though, giving out an eerie vibe. The place seemed abandoned as well. Sprocket and others looked around and inspected the room hesitantly.

Utooni located the armory room and eagerly went inside. Meanwhile, Sprocket grabbed the wires from the machine that sat in the center of the room and connected them to J-3DI's memory drive. He used his programming skills to look for a timeline of the last thing his droid saw. The memory drive replayed the event between J-3DI and Hale, and Sprocket displayed it on the big screen.

The video showed J-3DI hearing something in the hall and deciding to investigate it. It showed that J-3DI had found Hale and followed him back to his office. Sprocket noticed that it was nighttime and everyone was likely asleep when this occurred. He hacked into the system near Hale's office to use the camera to see who Hale was talking to. It appeared to be an Imperial Officer with a white coat.

"Seems like our secret project is doing well. A game disguised as a testing ground for us... Gathering species around the galaxy to compete in intense matches. This time, we will put them into a death match to prove our hypotheses and to test the weaknesses of each Hunter," the Imperial Officer said.

"Will do. After all, Balada trusted me... and that Mon Calamari child didn't see it coming either," Hale replied. "Luckily, I have some plans for the final game."

"The Mon Calamari have proven that he has something dangerous," the officer interjected.

"Which is?" Hale questioned, seeming to grow impatient.

"Ideas... To create and invent something that no one can. A child who can outsmart a warrior in the game seems very interesting to me," the officer responded.

"What do you want me to do with him?" Hale asked.

"If he finds out our plan... destroy him."

Suddenly, J-3DI was discovered by a guard, who found out that he was hacking into the systems. The guard zapped him and J-3DI fell to the ground.

Hale shut off the communication and stepped out of the office to see J-3DI lying on the ground in front of him. J-3DI looked up at Hale, still somewhat conscious.

Hale glanced down at him. "Oh? How rude to listen to a private conversation."

Then everything on the screen went black.

That was the last thing that J-3DI remembered, according to the memory drive.

Sprocket felt devastated to hear the truth. He couldn't believe what he had listened to. Suddenly, Imara Vex, who was digging through the security recordings on the other computer, stopped. She had seemingly found a piece of footage that was of interest to them.