Nico's Gambit

Jailbreak

They stood across the street from the Justicar detention center, watching its comings and goings.

"For some reason, I though the Justicar jail would be a lot dirtier, and smaller," Coro said, scratching his chin.

"I don't know why," Odette said. "Their checkpoint was in pristine condition. Freshly painted and no rust spots. Even the guard's uniforms looked like they'd been fresh pressed this morning."

Odette kicked a non-existent rock on the immaculately landscaped walkway and planter boxes. "These guys sure don't make things easy. Good thing – guards are droids."

"Bad thing—based on what's been moving in and out of there, there's probably a ton of them," Nico said.

"Maybe we can set up a diversion. We set off an alarm and see if we can get them to all come out," Corso said.

"It's not a half bad idea," Nico said. "If you set off an alarm out here, then you might catch the attention of more than droids. We have enough things to worry about."

"Ok, so not an alarm," Corso said. "How about something weird to get their attention?"

"Like you running down the street naked?" Odette said. She hoped she didn't sound too hopeful.

Corso actually considered it seriously for a moment. He turned beet red and gave Odette a half-grin. "You were just playing, weren't you, Captain?"

"I guess you could still have your blasters," she said, looking away from him. "Ok, so we need something small but interesting to get their attention." She looked around them. She went to take her blazer off.

"What are you doing?" Corso demanded.

"I'll use my jacket to create a fire," Odette said.

"There's hardly anything on underneath it. A piece of cloth," he said. She was sure his eyes would bug out of his head.

"So?"

"So you'll run around the rest of Coruscant half-naked?" he said, eyebrows pinched.

"Um, hi," she said, scowling at him. "My father is behind us and he's not you."

Odette glanced over at Nico. He rolled his eyes, but she spied a small uptick on the side of his mouth. He was finding this whole thing hilarious.

"Well, excuse me for worrying about your decency," Corso said, unfazed.

Odette sighed. "Ok, then you find something light on fire before they notice us, if you're so worried."

Corso gritted his teeth and pulled on a sash from around his waist. "This was supposed to complete my look, but I guess we don't have any choice."

Odette stared at him like he'd grown an extra ear, then shook her head. "Fop."

She bundled the sash over by a sewer drain nearby and ran back over to the little group.

"Corso, you're in charge of getting the droideyes and security panels and Nico and I will take the guards and try to give you as much cover as we can."

He nodded. "I'm looking at two droideyes right there above the entrance. Ready when you are."

"Ok, lighting it up. Get ready to rush the entrance."

She pointed her blaster at it. It burst into flames. At the same time, Corso blasted both droideyes before they focused on their group. The heads of the guards turned to where the blaster bolts had come from, followed the trajectory to the trio standing nearby and headed towards them. Odette ran to the side of the gate and plastered herself against its wall while Nico and Corso took out the human guards before joining her.