“I’m a Chiss,” Nuru said matter-of-factly. “Chiss are unusual throughout most of the galaxy. But I’ll do my best to stay unnoticed.” He adjusted his cowl to conceal most of his face.
Breaker said, “What if someone asks how we arrived on Kynachi?”
“Trust me, Breaker,” Nuru said. “The way you smell right now, no one will get close enough to ask.”
We don't get strangers here much,” said one of the two young men who suddenly blocked the doorway of the trading post that Nuru and Breaker had been about to enter.
“Yeah,” said the man’s accomplice. “Especially strangers that smell like poodoo.”
Rain had turned to drizzle by the time Nuru and Breaker arrived at the settlement, a cluster of shabby, old buildings with small windows. Most of the buildings were made of baked mud, but some had cheap plastoid additions. Despite the weather, there were a few dozen Kynachi natives outside the settlement’s trading post, where vendors were selling food and other goods from tarpaulin-covered carts.
Nuru and Breaker had hoped to gather information at the trading post before the two men stopped them. The men wore ratty clothes and had foul breath. Nuru also noticed that both men had remarkably golden hair. One man had a gold mustache. The other had a scar across the bridge of his nose.
Breaker had clipped his helmet to the armor plate behind his left shoulder, and it bulged under his robe at his upper back. “I’m a farmer,” Breaker said, hoping that this explanation would be sufficient to explain the stench of his robe. “I mean, I was a farmer. I’m looking for work.”
“Well, mister, you look to me like you’re a hunchback,” said the man with the mustache. “And you just brought your hunchbacked self to the wrong place. Didn’t you see the sign on your way into town? It says, NO POODOO-STINKIN FARMERS ALLOWED.”
The scarred man snickered at the same time as the mustached man reached rot something in his pocket-Breaker was about to make a move that would break the man’s arm and the other’s nose when Nuru said, “We don’t want trouble.”
“We don’t want trouble,” the mustached man echoed with a slack expression as he removed his hand from his pocket.
“No trouble,” the scarred man said. “No trouble at all.” Neither had any idea that the boy was manipulating their minds.
Nuru said, “We have to go now.”
“We have to go,” the men said in unison as they sauntered off.
Breaker said, “That was close.” Nuru looked up to Breaker and said, “You really do stink. Maybe you should wait outside while I go in and ask-”
“Hey!” a woman’s voice called out. “You two!”
Nuru and Breaker turned to see a woman walking toward them from the food vendors. She wore a synthetic leather poncho, and had a set of goggles wrapped tightly around the crown of her black rain hat.
Like the departing men, she also had golden hair, which she had cut short. In her left hand, she clutched a large bag that contained vegetables she’d just bought from a vendor. As she approached, she said, “I noticed Wevil and Namnats hassling you, and was just coming over to see if you needed help. What’d you say to make them back off like that?” She came to a stop in front of Breaker, but then she caught the smell of his robe and cook a step back.
Breaker said, “I beg your pardon, ma’am?”
“Stang!” the woman said, trying not to gag. “No wonder those jerks left you alone. Did you roll in something?”
Breaker shrugged. “I’m a farmer.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “If you say so,” she said. “But if I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were a long, long way from home.”
Nuru said, “What makes you think that?”
“I’ve gotten to know most people around these parts, but I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning a boy with blue skin and red eyes. And I’d wager that if you two pulled your hoods back, I’d see neither one of you has gold hair.”
“Oh,” Nuru said. “Is gold hair common on Kynachi?”
The woman snorted. “Boy, you just said a mouthful. If you don’t know that the food on Kynachi makes most people’s hair turn gold, you must have just arrived, and without a tour guide,”
Nuru turned to Breaker and said, “Did you know about the gold hair?”
Breaker nodded. “I was informed of that detail.
Nuru scowled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
The woman cocked her head as her eyes flicked between Breaker and Num. “You’re an odd pair,” she said, and then she locked her gaze on the boy. “The way you talk to your tall friend here, I get the impression you’re the one in charge.”
Breaker said, “Don’t he ridiculous. He’s just a boy.”
“That he is,” the woman said. “And a most unusual looking one at that.” Turning her gaze to Breaker, she said, “Tell me, what’s your business on Kynachi”
“I already told you,” Breaker said. “I’m a farmer.”
“Yeah? Most farmers prefer less unusual footwear.”
Nuru glanced at the mud-spattered white armor that covered Breaker’s lower legs and feet. Breaker said, “I guess I’m just unusual.”
“But not entirely,” the woman said. “You’re dressed just like your two shadows.”
“Shadows?” Breaker said. “I don’t know what you’re talking-”
“I’ve been stuck on Kynachi for almost three years now,” the woman interrupted, “and I’ve kept my eyes open. Also my nose. I couldn’t see the faces of the two men who followed you into town, but their robes smell just as bad as yours. I lost sight of one of them, but the other is lurking in the alley to the left of the trading post.” Then she looked to Nuru and said,” Your farmer friend isn’t a very good liar. How about you?”
Nuru considered his options, then said, “We are indeed a long way from home. We’re looking for friends of ours, but our comms don’t work.”
“Of course, they don’t work,” the woman said, “on account of frequency-jamming tower at the spaceport. I guess you didn’t know about that either?”
Nuru shook his head. “We really could use some help. Maybe there’s some way we could help you, too?“
“I’m willing to listen,” she said. “But as for helping you … Well, that depends on whether you can get me off this planet.” Then she turned and said, “Get your two friends. My landspeeder is around the corner. Well go to my place.”
Breaker raised his hand and slowly rolled has fingertips to his palm, signaling to the other troopers to come forward. Chatterbox and Knuckles cautiously emerged from their hiding spots and headed after the others.
As the woman led Nuru and the disguised troopers to her landspeeder, one of the food vendors reached into his pocket and removed a small comm unit. Holding the comm close to his mouth, he said in a low whisper, “Can you hear me?”
The voice on the other end said, “I’m all ears.”
Examining the comm, the vendor said, “Hey, you were right! This special comm of yours, it works in spite of the frequency jammer!”
“Just like I said it would,” the voice said impatiently.
“You wanted to know if I saw any strangers in town?
“Tell me who you saw.”
“Three robed men and a boy,” the vendor sad. “Two of the men, I couldn’t see their faces, but they’re carrying blaster rifles. They’re leaving with a woman who runs a diner at the spaceport, not far from your hotel.”
“Give me directions to the diner,” said Cad Bane.
“May I ask your name?” Nuru said from the rear seat as the landspeeder accelerated away from the settlement and zoomed over an open plain.
“What?” the woman said from behind her speeder’s controls. She had lowered the speeder’s canopy to diminish the noxious odor of her passengers, and the repulsorlift’s engine made it difficult to hear.
“Your name!”
“Lalo Gunn!”
Breake
r sat in the front passenger seat beside Gunn, holding her bag of vegetables on his lap, while Nuru was scrunched in back between Knuckles and Chatterbox, who still wore their helmets. Nuru said, “I’m Nuru Kungurama. This is Breaker.”
“And your masked buddies?” Gunn said over her shoulder.
“The one on my left is Chatterbox, and the other is Knuckles.”
The trooper to Nuru’s left responded. “Actually, I’m Knuckles.”
“Sorry,” Nuru said.
As Gunn guided the landspeeder around a wide hill, she said, “Those are the dopiest names I ever heard.”
Deciding to change the subject, Nuru said, “You’ve been on Kynachi almost three years? Why did you come to a world where visitors arent welcome?”
“I was in the import and export business,” she said. “I thought there was money to be made here. Boy, was I wrong. The Trade Federation controls everything here, including who comes and goes.”
“We only just learned that ourselves,” Breaker said, “We were under the impression that Kynachi chose to cut themselves off from the Republic.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Gunn said. “It’s what the Trade Federation wants everyone to believe. They conquered this world ten years ago, and because Kynachi is so remote, no one in the Republic even noticed.”
“Ten years ago,” Nuru mused. “That would have been around the time of the Battle of Naboo. But why didn’t anyone here call for help?”
“Remember the frequency-jammer tower I mentioned? The Federation set it up at the KynachTech factory to prevent transmissions to or from Kynachi.”
Nuru said, “So, the Federation took over the factory?”
“That’s right,” Gunn said. “They use it to make droids and weapons.”
“And circuit boards,” Breaker muttered, recalling the device that had launched the troopers secret mission.
“What?” Gunn said, then quickly added, “Never mind. It’s too noisy with the canopy down. We’ll talk more when we get to my place.”
Twenty mutes later, Gunn’s landspeeder approached the outskirts of Kynachi’s only spaceport. Nuru could see the open-domed rooftops of the larger docking bays, which appeared to be surrounded by a wide sprawl of older buildings, similar to the ones he’d seen at the settlement. Except for a few ragged pedestrians, there was practically no one on the street.
Nuru said, “Where are all the people?”
“Most stay indoors,” Gunn said. “It’s the best way to avoid the droid patrols.”
Gunn guided the speeder past a row of deserted, empty buildings. She brought the vehicle to a stop beside a shabby-looking, snub-nosed Corellian transport that rested on its landing legs.
On the ground beneath the elevated transport’s lower hull were some spindly tables and chairs. A humanoid navigation droid with a single large central sensor node for a head was cleaning cheap drinking cups beside a hovering dining cart.
“Welcome to Gunn’s Diner,” Gunn said as she climbed out of her speeder, taking her bag of vegetables with her. “My ship used to be named the Hasty Harpy, but that was before we were grounded.”
Noticing the transport’s oversized thrusters and barely concealed laser cannon, Nuru said, “It looks like a smuggler’s ship.” He quickly added, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Gunn said. “Like I said: import and export.”
“Oh.”
Breaker said, “Is your ship operational?”
Gunn grinned. “She’s ready for liftoff any rime, but she wouldn’t get far so long as that blockade’s in orbit.” She walked over to the droid beside the dining cart and handed the bag of vegetables to him. “The blinroots are for today’s special, Teejay.”
The droid took the bag and looked at the troopers and Nuru. Speaking in a bright, happy voice, the droid said, “How delightful! Shall I prepare a table for four?”
“Just rustle up some grub, nothing fancy,” Gunn said. “We’ll be in the main cabin.”
The droid surveyed the empty seats and tables, and said sadly, “No one ever wants to eat outside.”
Then he looked up and down the street, confirmed that there wasn’t anyone else in sight, and added, “It’s a wonder that we’re still in business at all.”
Gunn rolled her eyes. “You’re getting too emotional, Teejay. Keep it up, and I’ll wipe your memory.”
Breaker looked at Gunn and said, “That’s a Genetech 2JTJ personal navigation droid, isn’t it?”
“Used to be,” Gunn said. “Now Teejay’s a very frustrated waiter.”
She lowered the transport’s Landing ramp and led Nuru and the three hooded men up through the hatch into the transport’s main cabin, a spacious, low-ceilinged chamber with a cushioned bench and three seats.
“Dump your robes here,” Gunn said at the top of the ramp. “I don’t want you stinking up the whole place.”
Breaker glanced at Nuru. Nuru said, “Go ahead.”
The three troopers shrugged out of their robes and let them fall to the deck, revealing their white armor and weapons. Knuckles and Chatterbox still had their helmets on. Gunn looked the troopers up and down, then said, “Are you soldiers or something?”
Nuru said, “Don’t you know about the Republic’s clone troopers? Or the Republic’s war against the Separatists?”
“War?!” Gunn shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Thanks to the Trade Federation’s frequency jammer, we don’t get HoloNet News on Kynachi. I don’t know anything about Separatists, but if you’re Fighting the Trade Federation, then I’m with you.” She looked at the troopers. “Clones, huh? Do you all look alike?”
Nuru gave a nod to Knuckles and Chatterbox, prompting them to remove their helmets.
“Whoa,” Gunn said as she looked at their faces. She glanced at Breaker, just to confirm that the three men were identical, then looked back to Nuru. “Now, that’s something I’ve never seen before. How do you tell them apart?”
“Well, Knuckles has slightly broader shoulders.”
Knuckles aimed a thumb at his chest and said, “I can do the most push-ups.”
“That’s nice,” Gunn said without enthusiasm.
“And Chatterbox,” Nuru continued, “well, he hardly ever says anything.”
“Even nicer,” Gunn said as she appraised the silent trooper. “I like men who keep their mouths shut.”
Breaker and Knuckles were baffled by Gunn’s comment. They looked at Chatterbox to see if he could offer an explanation, but he just, shrugged.
Gunn faced Nuru and said, “So, if they’re Republic soldiers, what exactly are you to them?”
Nuru blushed. “Well, I’m a Jedi. That is, I'm a Jedi apprentice, and my Master was-”
Nuru was interrupted by the distinctive sound of a rapid exchange of blaster fire. The noise came from outside the grounded transport. Startled, Nuru spun fast to look at the three troopers.
Knuckles said, “Doesn’t sound good. Stay here, Commander!” Then Knuckles ran for the open hatch that led to the landing platform. He was only halfway down when he turned and came running back into the cabin. “Enemy droids!” he shouted as he readied his blaster rifle. “They spotted me!”
A moment later, there came a much louder blast from outside, and then a hunk of metal sailed up through the transport’s open hatch and bounced off the main cabin’s wall. The flying debris landed on the deck and rolled to a stop in front of Gunn’s feet.
Everyone recognized the debris. It was the head of Gunn’s navigation droid.
And then footsteps clanged against the landing platform. Nuru looked to the hatch and saw two pairs of lean, gunmetal gray droids coming in fast.
The four droids resembled Separatist battle droids but had truncated heads with white, glowing photoreceptors. The first pair tarried black E-5 blaster rifles, and the second pair wielded shock-sticks.
Without hesitation, Nuru drew his lightsaber and ignited it.
What happened
next happened very quickly.
Knuckles and Chatterbox stepped in front of Lalo Gunn to shield her from the droids that had just entered the grounded transport’s cabin. Gunn gasped as Nuru’s lightsaber swept through the air at the same moment that the two blaster-wielding droids took aim at him and opened fire.
Nuru angled his blade fast, batting the speeding energy bolts back at all the droids. The droids staggered at the impact as their own blaster fire struck their torsos, but none of the droids lost their footing.
Nuru dodged another fired bolt after rapidly calculating that its trajectory would slam into the cabin wall without striking Gunn or the troopers, and leaped forward to swing his lightsaber through the neck of the nearest droid.
Nuru’s lightsaber swept through his first target and then chopped off the gun-arm of the second. He flicked his wrist and his lightsaber cleaved up through another droid’s body and head, cutting it in half. The first two droids were still collapsing to the deck as the other pair raised the sharp, energized tips of their shock-sticks.
Nuru was about to attack the remaining droids when he suddenly felt a strong grip around his wrist. Breaker had grabbed him, and Nuru reflexively switched off his lightsaber as Breaker said, “Down!”
Breaker threw himself to the deck, pulling Nuru with him as he used his own armored body to shield the boy. They’d landed between the shock-stick wielding droids and the two other troopers.
Knuckles and Chatterbox instinctively selected their own targets and opened fire, sending energy bolts across the cabin, over the prone forms of their allies and straight at the two droids.
They fired at the droids’ weapon-arms before shifting their aim to shoot at the droids’ necks. The droids’ bodies jerked and sparked and shattered before they fell to the deck like marionettes whose strings had been cut.
Star Wars - The Clone Wars - Secret Missions #1 - Breakout Squad Page 5
