Trooper

Dangerous Steps

Unidentified Moon: 12 BBY
Inquisitor Fortress
Jess

    The Purge troopers dispersed as soon as they were inside. Jess cast a nervous look around. There were dozens of droids, stormtroopers, and Purge troopers milling about. He didn't catch sight of any inquisitors. Briefly, he wondered if the two Inquisitors from Bracca might be there.

    That would complicate things, especially with the Second Sister. She would probably recognize me, he thought. Azie rolled closely beside him, whirring.

    "We need to find a databank console for Azie to plug into," Axe whispered. "There's bound to be one in the upper levels near the control center."

    "Now we have to figure out where that is, exactly," Jess replied. They ducked into a lift and selected the upper levels. "Do you have a plan for getting back out of here?"

    "Not yet."

    "Have you ever done an infiltration mission before?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

    "Yeah. Once, Veres, R3, and I were sent to Serenno during the Clone Wars. We had to rescue someone who had agreed to speak out against Count Dooku."

    "How did it go?"

    "Pretty good up until the end. We ended up being captured and held prisoner for a while. Somehow, Irel found out and came with Rigger and Patch to rescue us. If they hadn't gotten there when they did, Lady Hasco would've been executed and Veres and I would've followed shortly."

"That doesn't help my boost my confidence towards our odds," Jess replied. He rubbed the back of his neck briefly. "We can't walk around the facility with a prisoner on our arm or they'll know something's up. It might work on normal stormtroopers, but if we run into an Inquisitor or Purge troopers, we'll be dead."

"What do you suggest?" Axe asked.

Jess furrowed his brows for a moment. "Azie, scan the facility. See if you can find any ventilation shafts." Azie whistled and plugged into the outlet within the lift. Gears clicked, then Azie chirped. "They're all over? Good."

"I think I get what your idea is," Axe said with a smirk.

"Azie will have to lead them through the shafts back to the landing pad. We'll need to steal some pilot disguises so no one questions why two officers are leaving on a cargo shuttle," Jess said. Axe nodded approvingly.

The lift came to a stop and opened up to a large command center. Jess made himself stand taller, suddenly grateful for his height. None of the other officers looked twice at them. "Act like you have something to do," Axe whispered. Azie was already plugging into an outlet.

Let's hope those aren't guarded outlets, Jess thought. He faced a large monitor and scanned the data displayed on it. It was nothing of importance, sadly. After a few minutes, Axe tapped him on the shoulder and they jumped back into the lift.

"What did you find?" Axe asked the droid. Azie chirped excitedly. "What level?"

    Jess leaned over the keypad and pressed the level that Azie said. "I imagine Fulcrum will be well guarded and there's bound to be security cameras around."

    "Azie can disable the alarms and security cameras from the detention level control room," Axe replied. "We can go with him and once he's finished, claim we are supposed to interrogate Fulcrum. They might buy it?"

    "Let's hope so." The lift opened up again and they entered the detention level. The halls were crawling with Purge troopers and stormtroopers. There was still no sign of any Inquisitors.