Star Wars - The Clone Wars - Secret Missions #2 - Curse of the Black Hole Pirates Read online

  Cad Bane was watching a holovid and cleaning his teeth with a small, durasteel ice pick when a warning light flashed on the console in his starship's cockpit. His ship’s computer announced. “Approaching Bogden system. Exiting hyperspace in three minutes.”

  Still picking at his teeth, Bane switched off the holovid. He had been watching The Bounty Hunters' Guild's Greatest Hits: Volume VII, a collected edition of holorecorded assassinations. Even though the holovid was a pirated version, it included the exclusive bonus feature of techniques for killing amphibious targets. Bane had hoped he might learn some new tricks, but he was more than halfway through the holovid, and all he'd gotten out of it was a few laughs. The two Trandoshans were especially entertaining. Cradossk was the Bounty Hunters' Guild's leader and Bossk was his son. They never agreed, and they fought constantly. Bane thought they were a riot.

  Outside the cockpit, the faster-than-light dimension known as hyperspace appeared as a radiant cascade that flowed over and past Bane's ship. He swiveled his seat, turning away from the deactivated holoprojector so he could run a quick check on the propulsion and navigation systems.

  At first, all systems looked fine, but then he noted a negligable fluctuation in the null quantum field generator. As good as he was at creating chaos, Bane's real skill was his ability to gather and organize data that allowed him to control circumstances. He liked everything to operate his way.

  Bane's ship was named the Sleight of Hand. Although it appeared to be a battered freighter, it was actually a heavily modified Telgorn dropship. Bane had done most of the work himself. The hull was military grade armor, and the upgraded hyperdrive could deliver him across the galaxy in a fraction of the time required by most ships. Weaponry included a top-mounted laser turret for ship-to-ship combat and pulverizing obstructive asteroids, a pair of heavy laser cannons to inflict even more lethal damage, and an ion cannon that Bane had used more than a few times to disable merchant cargo ships. A sophisticated sensor jammer rendered the Sleight of Hand invisible to most scanners.

  Bane placed the ice pick lengthwise between his teeth, freeing his hands to push buttons on the engineering console until he corrected the fluctuation. Satisfied that the null quantum field generator now performed at a better than optimum level, he removed the ice pick from his teeth and gave the sharp tool a playful spin between his nimble, blue fingers.

  He got up out of his seat and moved behind the cockpit to inspect his cargo, taking the ice pick with him. He stopped beside a two-meter-long, black plastoid box that rested on a hovering gravsled, which he'd magnetically anchored to the wall. A switch was on the box's side. Bane pressed the switch and the box’s upper lid slid back, revealing a transparisteel coffin. Through the transparisteel, Bane could clearly see the unconscious, motionless form of Master Ring-Sol Ambase.

  The coffin was actually an exotic stasis pod. A life system monitor was embedded into its side, and a thin layer of ice had formed over it. With surgical precision, Bane made a quick jab with the ice pick, shattering the ice without damaging the screen. Bane leaned close to the monitor so he could read the Jedi’s vital signs on a data display.

  Ambase's condition had not changed. He was close to death, just as he had been ever since Bane had sealed his body in the coffin on the planet Kynachi. Whether Ambase lived or died depended entirely on how one was inclined to adjust the coffin's controls. Bane would have gladly killed the Jedi on the spot, but he hadn't been contracted to end Ambase's life, only to transport him from Kynachi to the fifth moon in the Bogden system.

  Bane sealed the plastoid box, then tucked the ice pick into his gun belt as he moved back to the cockpit. Just as he returned to his seat, the hyperdrive engine began to wind down. He squinted his bulbous red eyes, and watched the bright cascade of hyperspace wash away and vanish through the cockpit window.

  The Sleight of Hand dropped out of hyperspace without the slightest shudder. From the cockpit, Bane viewed a large planet that rested against a field of stars. He did not have to consult any data readouts to identify the planet Bogden, an unstable world with numerous moons, but he checked the navigational display anyway to confirm it was working properly. He did this out of habit, part of his ongoing routine to ensure that he would never, ever be a victim of anyone or anything, including faulty technology.

  He turned his attention to a sensor scope, and focused the long-range sensors on Bogden's fifth moon, Bogg 5. The scope displayed a stream of data, including multiple layers of transmissions. Bane quickly learned that five ships were traveling to the moon and three were leaving. None of the ships were moving at excessive speed, listed as “stolen,” or betrayed any awareness of the Sleight of Hand’s arrival in the Bogden system.

  Filtering the transmissions, Bane intercepted a unique one, a signal that came from a small, artificial satellite in Bogg 5’s orbit. The signal appeared as a flashing green dot on his scope, and a tiny readout indicated that the signal was broadcast on a secure frequency. The satellite was spherical, barely half a meter in diameter.

  Bane knew the signal was for him, and him alone. He turned his subspace transceiver to the signal, and tapped in a preset pass code. Had he entered the wrong code, the satellite would have exploded. Because he entered the correct code, he immediately received a set of coordinates for his next destination. The coordinates were for an unpopulated are on Bogg 5, a wide stretch of land eighty kilometers north of Mong'tar City.

  Bane made a series of adjustments to his sensor controls, bounced a transmission off a triangulation of satellites over Bogg 5's far side, and zeroed in on the just-received coordinates. His sensors revealed a single starship had already landed there, and was waiting for him. The starship was a Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop, a solar sailer.

  Bane widened his scan beyond the edges of the Bogden system. More ships, more transmissions, many asteroids, and various radiation trails popped and flittered across his scopes. The sensors did not reveal any unusual traffic or gravitational anomalies, but Bane did not let that stop him from being extra cautious. As far as he was concerned, anyone who put all his trust in sensors was not just a fool, but a fool who got what he deserved.

  He plotted his own roundabout course to Bogg 5’s surface. He believed there was always a chance that someone was after him. For this reason, he had developed another special skill, which was staying ahead of everyone else. Until he was absolutely certain that he was not being monitored or followed, he wouldn't go anywhere near the solar sailer that awaited him at the designated coordinates.

  Nearly two hours later, Bane circled the landing area, a broad expanse of barren black rock, and then landed the Sleight of Hand ten meters from the solar sailer. Exiting his ship, he stepped out onto the hard ground, looked to the solar sailor, and saw a lone, hooded figure approaching. As the figure neared, Bane saw it was a humanoid female, her face partially lost in the shadow of her cloak. She had chalk white skin and eyes so pale that had she not been walking, Bane might have assumed she was dead.

  “You're late,” said Asajj Ventress.

  “I had to be sure I wasn't followed,” Bane said, “and that you didn’t bring any friends. ”

  “Friends?” Ventress said with a sneer.

  Bane grinned. “I brought something for you. Do you want it or not? ”

  Asajj Ventress nodded and Bane led her into the Sleight of Hand. He showed her the black plastoid box, and opened it to reveal the transparisteel coffin that contained Ring-Sol Ambase’s motionless body. He pointed to the fresh layer of ice
over the life system monitor and said, “The ice buildup is normal for this unit. Means everything's working right.”

  “It means your stasis pod is an antique,” Ventress said disdainfully.

  Ignoring her comment, Bane continued, “To view the monitor and access the controls, you just break off the ice. Like this.” He removed the ice pick from his gun belt and jabbed it expertly into the ice. The ice cracked and fell free.

  Ventress examined the controls, then leaned over the coffin and studied Jedi Master Ring-Sol Ambase’s face. Not a trace of air escaped his nostrils. He was completely inert.

  Cad Bane said, “I was told I’d be getting more instructions.”

  Rising away from the coffin, Ventress turned to face Bane. “You're going to Bilbringii. But first, move the pod to my ship,” she said. “I'll take the ice pick, too,”

  “Get your own ice pick,” Bane said as he returned the tool to his belt. “This one’s mine.”

  ”

  After the stasis pod was transferred to the solar sailer, Ventress watched the bounty hunter's ship rise away from Bogg 5’s surface. When the ship had vanished into the sky, she took a seat beside the droid pilot in the solar sailer's bubble cockpit and instructed the droid to lift off.

  Ventress went to the main hold to inspect her cargo. The stasis pod that contained Ambase rested beside a second stasis pod that was contemporary in design. On top of the second pod was a Republic Army-issued white helmet with a T-visor, which until recently had been worn by the pod’s unconscious occupant. Ventress confirmed both pods were operating efficiently before returning to the cockpit.

  The solar sailer flew directly to another Bogden moon, the ancient tombworld named Kohlma. Shortly after the sleek vessel began its descent through Kohlma’s atmosphere, it passed through gray clouds and angled toward a high mountain. The mountain was topped by a dark castle with a central dome, surrounded by spined spires that appeared to be growing up from their rocky perch. Rain pelted the solar sailer as it landed on a pad that jutted out from the base of the castle’s dome.

  The solar sailer’s landing ramp extended and Ventress walked down it. She pulled back her cowl and turned her ghastly face up to the sky, squeezing her eyes shut as the rain spattered against her head.

  “You're late,” said a deep voice from the castle's nearby entrance.

  Ventress opened her eyes as she turned to face the tall, well-groomed, immaculately attired man who stood in the vaulted doorway. He was Count Dooku, the former Jedi Master who was now the leader of the Separatist Alliance.

  “Blame the bounty hunter," Ventress said. “He was late first.”

  Dooku lifted one eyebrow. “I trust he remains unaware of your own mission to Kynachi?”

  Ventress nodded. “I obtained a ... companion for Ambase. As you wished.”

  Dooku stepped away from the doorway, his dark cape flowing behind him. A disc-shaped repulsorlift device hovered in the air above his head. The device moved along with him, projecting a thin energy shield around his body to deflect the rain and keep him dry as he approached Ventress. He gestured to the nearby light freighter and said, “Prepare that ship for a crash landing.”

  “A crash landing? But why?”

  “Do as I say,“ Dooku commanded.

  Ventress stared hard at her Master for a moment, then slunk away from him, heading for the light freighter.

  Duoku left his rain-repelling device hovering above the landing ramp as he entered the solar sailer. Inside the main hold, he found the two stasis pods. Ignoring, the newer pod and the white helmet that rested on it, he stepped beside the black plastoid box and slid back its lid. He gazed at the unconscious Jedi Master who lay in the transparisteel coffin.

  Brushing his fingers across the coffin‘s freezing surface, Dooku smiled and said, “It's been a long time, old friend.”

  Nuru Kungurama had a lot on his mind.

  By an incredible series of circumstances, the Padawan was on a smuggler's freighter, traveling across the galaxy with a squad of four Republic clone troopers and a reprogrammed droid commando. They were on a secret mission, heading, for a space station in orbit of Nuru’s distant homeworld, the planet Csilla, in Chiss space. This was especially incredible because Nuru was only a Jedi apprentice, and his assignment had come from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself.

  Events are moving too fast.

  Chiss space was in the Unknown Regions, far beyond the galaxy’s Outer Rim. Even though Nuru and his allies were traveling at faster-than-light speed through hyperspace, their destination was so remote that the journey required several layovers and detours through real space, and nearly ten days. If Nuru had ever been to Chiss space before, he had no memory of it.

  Except for my own reflection, I've never even seen another Chiss.

  Since infancy, he had been raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Although Coruscant was home to countless alien immigrants, some of whom had blue skin and red eyes, Chiss had been among the planet‘s greatest minorities. As for Jedi Archives, it had more information about the rare energy spiders of Kessel than it had for all of Chiss space.

  I've never been so far from the Temple.

  Just a few days earlier, on Coruscant, Jedi Master Ring-Sol Ambase had been preparing to leave on a mission when Nuru had a premonition that Ambase would not return. Nuru’s previous Master, Lanchu Skaa, had died at the Battle of Geonosis, the historic conflict that launched the civil war between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance. Nuru still felt the immense loss of Master Skaa, and it pained him that Skaa had left him on Coruscant without saying good-bye. He knew it was not Skaa's fault. Nuru believed Skaa would have said good-bye if he had had the opportunity, as well as the foresight that he would never see his apprentice again.

  Will I ever return to Coruscant?

  Determined not to lose his second Master, Nuru had stealthily boarded the ship that would transport Ambase and three squads of clone troopers to the planet Kynachi. He had only wanted to help.

  The mission was a disaster. The Techno Union’s Separatist forces, led by the Skakoan Overseer Umbrag, ambushed the Republic ship in orbit of Kynachi. The ship's escape pods had been sabotaged. Several clone troopers died. And Ambase vanished.

  Did one of the troopers sabotage the escape pods? Or was it someone else?

  Fortunately, Nuru and a group of clone troopers survived. They found new allies, including the pilot Lalo Gunn, captain of the Hasty Harpy, and the droid commando that they refurbished and named Cleaver. Working together, they rescued captive clone troopers from a Kynachi prison and liberated Kynachi from the Techno Union. They became the Breakout Squad.

  I was never trained to command a squad of troopers.

  Despite the victory over the Techno Union, Nuru had expected to be expelled from the Jedi Order because he had left Coruscant without permission. Instead, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine convinced Master Yoda to allow the troopers of the Breakout Squad to escort Nuru to Csilla for a diplomatic assignment in Chiss space.

  The Chancellor himself had provided the instructions for Nuru, along with navigational coordinates for the series of hyperspace jumps that were required to reach the Chiss homeworld. The Chancellor had also transmitted a small amount of data about Chiss culture, including a concise interactive guide to the Chiss language, Cheunh, and an allegedly easier trade language, Minnisiat. Now could barely comprehend either language.

  We should have brought a protocol droid.

  Nuru took some consolation in that the Chancellor’s instructions were extremely brief. He was to meet a Chiss named Sev'eere'nuruodo at a space station, and find out if the Chiss had a specific interest in opening diplomatic relations with the Galactic Republic.

  Could it be a trap?

  Nuru couldn’t imagine that the Chancellor would knowingly send him into a dangerous situation. But as he considered the possibility, he realized he'd moved his hand to brush his fingers against the two lightsabers that were clipped to his belt. He ha
d built one of the lightsabers himself, and received the second from a mysterious Duros bounty hunter, who claimed he had found it on Kynachi. The second lightsaber had been Master Ambase’s weapon.

  My Master is alive. I know he is!

  The last time Nuru had seen his silver-haired Master was on a small viewscreen, a moment before Ambase's escape pod jettisoned from the doomed freighter to Kynachi. Nuru wondered if Ambase had been abducted by Overseer Umbrag, who’d fled Kynachi in his Metalorn yacht before the arrival of Republic reinforcements.

  Even though Nuru was not by himself as he traveled through hyperspace, he felt terribly alone.

  I have to clear my mind.

  He took a deep breath and began to meditate. He was still meditating almost an hour later, when he became aware of loud noises behind him. He knew who was responsible.

  The Breakout Squad.

  Lalo Gunn was seated in the cockpit of her freighter, the Hasty Harpy, when she heard a loud crash from behind in the main cabin. The Harpy was hurtling through hyperspace, and Gunn was afraid that the noise was a malfunction in the hyperdrive engine. A moment later, she heard a second crash, louder than the first. She glanced at a diagnostic display, searching for any sign of technical failure or damage.

  Then came two more crashes in quick succession, followed by a rapid hammering noise.

  Gunn grabbed a hydrospanner that dangled from a hook on the side of her seat as she scrambled out of the cockpit. Ducking through a short passage tube, she held the hydrospanner out like a weapon as she moved fast into the main cabin, but what she found there made her come to an abrupt stop.

  One fully-armored clone trooper was engaged in a fight with a droid commando. Both opponents were using long durasteel rods to strike each other, producing loud clashing noises.

  Two more troopers were prone on the deck, side by side, doing incredibly fast push-ups. As they bent their elbows and lowered their armored torsos, their Chins touched the cabin’s metal deck.

  A fourth trooper was partially stretched out upon an acceleration couch with his fingers interlocked behind his head. Wearing a black body glove, he had both legs braced under a neighboring worktable, which gave him traction while he performed vigorous sit-ups.