Our last trip into the base met some resistance. Right now, I’m recovering from a nasty gash on my arm. This medical bay in the Nightraptor is nice, so any scarring shouldn’t be too bad. I think I’ll write down what’s happened while I’m waiting for it to heal.
With Kira waiting on the surface for the Jedi, and 10-CH and Khadim accompanying him, the rest of us decided to return to the base. Ben had plans to test the codes on one of the long-sunken ships, and Lazlo was going to scavenge the crashed fighters. I just wanted to explore the base further. Everything was going fine until we heard explosions outside. Lazlo was fine. When I radioed Ben, I didn’t get anything. He was aboard a Sith ship . . . underwater. That was enough for me to organize a rescue.
Telera was the only person who really wanted to come with me, and she was reluctant to leave the padawans with Garyan. I convinced her by stating, “Look at it this way, he wants to use his explosives on the ship outside, not ours.” She agreed to come with me then. Handel got us closer to the Sith ship, and we set out. Unfortunately for us, the explosions from the torpedoes (a likely result of Ben’s testing) had attracted numerous jellyfish. I got us under the partial cover of the warehouse. We had jellyfish poison, but I was afraid it would dissipate too quickly to be of any use. Then a quick thought came to me. Couldn’t Telera use her Force Manipulation to hold the poison on our position? She seemed shocked until I reminded her that it wouldn’t affect us.
The poison was helpful. It (and Lazlo’s fine shooting; maybe I should ask him to train me in mounted weapons) held them back long enough for us to return to the Nightraptor. I spotted something in the water. It appeared to be a massive jellyfish. Wait a minute, was that Ben in its tentacle? I groaned. This was becoming a regular event for him! Then I moved to what was becoming my familiar heavy repeating blaster position. Between my covering fire, Telera’s particularly deft use of the Force, and Lazlo’s quick reflexes, we were able to save him. He was surprisingly intact for the circumstances.
Ben had managed to get control of the Sith ship-which he’d learned was the Shard of Devastation. He was also in contact with Kira. That still left the issue of the jellyfish hordes outside the Nightraptor’s hull. Handel was able to get us away from them with some deft flying. Then Kira contacted us.
The Jedi had arrested him and weren’t sure what he was. Unfortunately, the Jedi’s fleet was now fighting its Sith counterpart. Worse, and not surprisingly, the Sith had them outgunned. Ben maneuvered the Shard of Destruction to where he thought it would be needed, and I disguised it with local foliage and jellyfish. Then Kira managed to convince one of the Jedi ships to be bait. Apparently Ben wanted to slam the Shard of Destruction into their main ship, the Winter Victory.
As it turned out, the plan worked. What an explosion! Even better, the Jedi had decided not to get involved with us(a double-bladed lightsaber). That was definitely cause to party and enjoy the local alcohol. Once we’d nursed our hangovers the next morning, we returned to the underwater base.
We found many startling things there: weapons, evidence of research into Force enhancement, and a most bothersome form of life. I had no idea silicon-based life could exist, much less restructure itself for concealment. That ability to eat rocks and energy was also bothersome. I was actually glad Garyan bought his missile launcher. It detonated the crystalline creature before it could do that much damage to us.
And that is why we all got to try out the medical bay. Apparently these things detonate into crystal shards when they get destroyed, and Kira’s shield and lightsaber could only block so much of it. Ben suffered the worst of us (as usual). I’m just glad to get off as lightly as I did. Good thing I now have a pistol to use against these things. Bad thing that I’m not much better with them than I am with mounted weapons.
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