The Crytium tanks finally reached the deck and Bassam made sure all was secure before jumping himself. His sacred Orban and Karpaat was with him. His raiding party geared up and assembled near the center of the chamber. There were two main exits from this area and they were blocked by shield generators. It was obvious that having landed aft of the Main Bridge they would have to make it past the forward exit. All moved forward towards it when the two remaining DD-33s opened fire. Everyone ducked for cover but Boman and Kali were hit along with Ligris. All three were safe however. Boman and Kali were struck on their armor while Ligris’ Mangalore fur protected him completely. Bassam and Laral opened up with their Kasamirs, but the droids were protected behind solid blocks of obsidian armor. Laral fired the tremblar but the obsidian blocks were too thick. The ALD-7 would do no good either.

Ligris protected Kailen and moved everyone behind the solid obsidian blocks nearest the forward exit. A firefight was no answer as the DD-33s had them pinned, but then Ligris and Bassam looked at the Crytium tanks on the deck. Ligris ran under heavy fire as Boman, Bassam, and Laral provided covering fire. Grabbing one of the levitating tanks Ligris brought it back to where everyone was gathered. “We’ll have to take them out with this tank but I can’t send it forward manually. I need to link its controls to the auto-sight off one of the rifles. Boman removed his sight off his SH-5 and gave it to Ligris who grabbed his equipment pouch and pulled out a fibre optic link. Grabbing Bassam’s controller he removed the back hinge plate and plugged the line into the guidance control system which operated the levitator cone located on the tank’s tip and control vanes- all courtesy of RSI. Now to see “if” it would work.

Ligris aimed the SH-5 sight at an obsidian block that the DD-33s couldn’t reach. Hitting the activation switch, the Crytium “bomb” (Ligris had mounted a magnetic detonator onto it) moved forward and followed the sight’s designator! The bomb hovered behind the obsidian block until Ligris sighted in on another one above it. The DD-33s had no idea what the intruders were doing. All activity had seemingly ceased. Perhaps they were hiding or devising a plan of action. The DD-33s waited patiently. But they were unaware of the floating endothermic bomb drifting their way one obsidian block at at time. Ligris was carefully aiming the sight block-by-block until the bomb was almost within reach of the concealed DD-33s. Bassam’s artificial left eye could see the droids hiding behind two solid blocks, their thermal emissions clearly visible to him.

Ligris ordered everyone to fire and the DD-33s quickly responded. That was their end. Ligris guided the weapon to a point aimed at the ceiling above the concealed droids and then detonated the tank. The ultra-cold Crytium froze the droids solid as well as the droids near the aft exit and a fair amount of obsidian blocks. Bassam raked his Kasamir over the area and the entire bulk of machinery and obsidian armor just shattered into pieces. The area threat had been eliminated. Now it was time to get moving. Already an hour had passed.

Grabbing his tremblar, Laral blasted the obsidian wall next to the exit repeatedly until it cracked and destroyed the internal shield generator. This cleared their path into the corridors leading to the Levi-trains.

By now, the DD-33s in the Main Bridge had ordered the bomb bay fully secured. The huge 24 foot tall Skeltors weighing 100 tons each moved into action manually moving the mechanical blast doors into place and locking them. Red Sunset was now fully under the control of the Bay Control Bridge.

The DD-33s in the Main Bridge still controlled access to the Levi-trains and all corridors and main systems of the ship. All corridor automated gun posts were active and armed DD-33s were patrolling all sections of the ship, waiting in ambush to strike the intruders. The DD-33s had calculated a zero probability of the intruders actually penetrating the bomb bay or destroying the ship. Nevertheless, the DD-33s continuously monitored the progress of Slayer and now the intruders within.

Although the corridors were now open, making it past the auto-guns and remaining DD-33s would be real trouble, especially with the remaining Crytium tanks in tow. Bassam kept them a safe distance away with Laral now covering the rear. Boman was at Bassam’s side. He asked exactly how Bassam planned to get past the auto-guns round the corner and each subsequent corner. Bassam just smiled and said, “Very easily” after pulling his false imager from his shrouded garments. Bassam ordered Boman and Lady Kaliah to stand next to the wall and pose with their weapons aimed. As they did, the false imager sight-recorded them.

“Now watch what happens when I project this into the corridor.” Bassam aimed the device and the appearance of Boman and Kali was suddenly in the corridor. The auto-guns erupted in fire as Bassam moved the images forward. The guns swung with them until Bassam could turn the corner and knock out the auto-guns with his Kasamir! The guns had been fooled and so had the DD-33s in the Main Bridge. Alerts sounded all over the ship. Bassam did this trick around every corner they navigated as Artoo told Bassam which direction to go until they reached the first Levi-train conduit tunnel.

To avoid a power shut down, Bassam had programmed the false imager to projects hundreds of targets. The DD-33s in the Main Bridge were overwhelmed. Fire erupted all around from DD-33s that came out of the woodwork. Laral, Boman, Kailen, and Bassam knocked them out with ease. In the confusion, Bassam and Ligris had also attached magnetic timed detonators in the Levi-trains nearest them in the other conduit tunnels. Laral used the tremblar to make huge cracks in the obsidian walls and rupture fuel lines running underneath the inner obsidian armor which was minimal. This caused multiple fires and structural damage that had the Main Bridge swamped with warning flashers. For the first time, the priority of destroying Elysia was superceded by internal safety protocols that dispatched many repair mechanoids and DD-33s away from fighting the intruders which could not be reliably tracked any longer.

Bassam took this opportunity to quickly get everyone aboard the Levi-train as Artoo inter-linked with the operating mechanism which was not coded for security and got them moving with great speed on a direct intercept course for the Main Bridge Station. In the Main Bridge the Levi-train moving towards the Main Bridge Station was viewed with suspicion, so the DD-33s ordered two other Levi-trains filled with DD-33s to intercept that train at a cross point along the route projected. Artoo could no longer control the train as all power to that conduit was being shut down. The train came to a sudden halt two thirds of the way to the station. But to the shock of the DD-33s in the Main Bridge the two other Levi-trains exploded without warning, destroying eighty units, two trains, and both conduit tunnels for some distance. This only left the main tunnel aft of the Main Bridge available for any emergency aft of the bridge. By shutting that one down the entire aft section of the ship was vunerable, especially the crucial reactor cores. The DD-33s had no choice but to restore power to the main line. Artoo then regained control and proceeded in a direct line for the Main Bridge Station.

Bassam knew a trap would be set there, so he instructed Artoo to slow the train while another Crytium bomb was made- this one, a timed detonation. Bassam inquired if the train could be automated once it regained speed. Artoo responded with a series of chirps which BT-LR interpreted as, “Yes, but there will be nothing to stop it at speed.” Bassam smiled and said, “All the better.” Artoo calculated that it would take three minutes to reach the station afte reaching full speed again at distance. Bassam set the bomb for 3:07 before ordering Artoo to set it on auto-pilot and for everyone to quickly exit the train. The train moved up into the tunnel and rapidly gained speed up to full throttle. The DD-33s in the Main Bridge ordered forty armed droids to the Station and with them twenty more heavily armored AM-2 mechanoids with heavy turbo pulsers. There was no way the intruders would make it that far.

But a new warning flasher came on. The approaching Levi-train was on automatic and locked into maximum velocity. Time of arrival 32 seconds. The DD-33s shut the power down on the main line but the Levi-train’s terminal velocity was too fast. As the power diminished the speed drop was slow and the train came barreling down the tracks with 12 seconds left as the AM-2s and droids opened fire. The Crytium bomb was tucked safely under the rear power panel box and as the front of the train started to disintegrate the train hit the entrance ramp and flew into the air, dislodging the flying bomb which detonated over the massed machines and froze everything solid. The Main Bridge returned to chaos as sixty more units were lost and the Levi-train system severely damaged. The intruders were wreaking a path of destruction up the entire way from area EA35 to the Main Bridge Station. It was only a matter of time before they reached the Main Bridge itself. The DD-33s there ordered every available unit not engaged in safety protocols recalled to protect the Main Bridge. An urgent distress call also went out for emergency use of the SD-911s.

Back in the conduit tunnel the raiders were slowly trudging their way through the main rail line. Darkness enveloped the team as all power had been shut down by the Main Bridge. Bassam was leading the group slowly using his lectrovision feature of his artificial eye, but the progress was slowing. Fatigue was already setting in with all the action and heavy equipment being carried. The noise inside the Slayer was deafening and the length of the ship with its never-ending twisting corridors had worn the team out. But the mission must proceed. It had to proceed… at all cost.

Kali and Boman urged them on. “For generations the battle between light and darkness has raged and yet light has always triumphed in the end. We have made it this far and have almost reached our second objective. We must not give up” Kali implored. Boman also spoke up. “It’s only a small ways away until we reach the Main Bridge and then Artoo can find us the way into the bomb bay. From there we just have to reprogram the bomb without being killed. I have faith in us and in the light. We will all triumph in the end. We just have to believe it.”

Bassam agreed. “I have vowed to fight this holy war until its conclusion and the sacred Orban has led me this far. I will keep fighting.” Laral Utan felt uplifted and nodded with Bura approval. Ligris held Kailen close. She looked up at him and said, “OK, I’m still in… but I want the Falcon’s hyperdrive restored!” That made everyone laugh. For the moment anyway. Bassam wondered how Scaffaw was doing. High above him it remained joined to Slayer like a hovering parasite, the Buras all in prayer right now. They were praying for a swift victory.

As were the Whills on Elysia…

Bassam continued to lead the group forward until the wreckage of the Main Bridge Station came into view. Everything was frozen in place with a surreal feel to it. Bassam was using his thermal vision to see past the frozen debris but the Crytium was still too cold, masking anything behind it. Bassam hesitated. He had a bad feeling about this. Kali could also sense that something was wrong. But Laral had come to the front to investigate the hold-up. “Why have we stopped moving?” Laral inquired sincerely. Bassam replied, “I sense that something is out of place here, we are too close to our objective. The cursed machines must have something planned. It does not feel safe to proceed at the moment. Patience Laral.”

But Laral thought Bassam was just exhausted. Moving ahead, Laral lifted the ALD-7 into the air. Bassam ordered him to lower that weapon as everyone moved away from the anticipated backblast. Laral wasn’t listening and fired the air launched detonator into the solid wreckage. It shattered to pieces, revealing several AM-2s armed with multiple turbo pulsers that fired into the main line. Laral was hit several times in his right arm and staggered back as everyone dropped to the ground. Bassam, Ligris, and Boman returned fire as Laral grabbed the tremblar and weakly held it up with two direct hits on the armed mechanoids. Both cracked to pieces before exploding all over the Station’s remaining lines.

Bassam was extremely angry at Laral who further disobeyed his leader and rushed back to the front of the main line waving the tremblar in a victory salute, blood seeping from the wounds on his right arm. It was then that a strange beeping sound was heard. Laral stopped celebrating and in defiance held the tremblar in place ready for whatever was about to round the corner of the nearest corridor. Artoo picked up the strange transmissions and reported back to the BT-LR immediately. “Sir, Artoo says that we should evacute back into the conduit tunnel, there is an armed droid with a detonating device heading our way!” Bassam yelled at Laral to run for his life, but he remained defiant as the large spherical SD-911 wobbled around the corner on it’s small recoiling suspension legs that upheld a large rotund body and a multidirectional sensor array with antennas protruding everywhere. Laral was about to fire the tremblar when the SD-911 locked him with a target fix and detonated with fury. Laral was blown to pieces as Bassam and the others cried out, “NO!!!”

Everyone was in a state of shock as another  SD-911 rounded the corridor corner, followed by another, and then another. The team was in deep trouble now as the suicide droids approached. Bassam gave the order to run for their lives as the first SD-911 entered the conduit tunnel and set off a massive explosion that sent shrapnel and fire racing along the tunnel walls. The team was barely outrunning the machines which entered the other tunnels and were working a pathway towards an intersection point where the intruders would be trapped and killed.

Ligris suggested the immediate use of the remaining Crytium tanks, but Bassam reminded him that at least two would be required to shatter the bomb bay blast doors or destroy the locking mechanism or Skeltors themselves. “No, the tanks must be preserved. We must find another way to escape this trap. We cannot go up, forward, back, left, nor right.” Ligris stated the obvious, “then we must find a way down.” Bassam was surprised by the Kraal’s logic and instructed everyone to look for any access ways in the floor. The BT-LR found a grating a short distance away as the beeping sounds now were resonating in the tunnels all around them.

Setting several claw detonators, Bassam blew the grating and ordered everyone to jump in. Bassam set the false imager for maximum projection at the nearest intersection and then returned back to the hole and jumped in only to discover that this was a waste disposal tube filled with conveyors that carried damaged units and machinery to the core dumpers. Right now, no lines were operating as the power had been cut, but the way was obstructed by lines of junk that probably stretched for a long distance. Bassam asked the BT-LR to ask Artoo if he could navigate them through this area and where it would likely take them. Artoo responded in a long series of beeps, chirps, and clicks that the BT-LR translated. “Sir, Artoo says that if he could find an interlink coupler then he could determine our precise location and proximitity to the Main Bridge. Following the waste line to its origin may well lead us beyond the Main Bridge to what Artoo suspects to be a Central Processing Plant where the droids and mechanoids are maintained and repaired. It might prove to be a costly detour.” At that moment powerful explosions rocked the tunnel as the SD-911s had been fooled by Bassam’s false projector. At least five separate explosions went off meaning the conduit tunnel system was wrecked beyond repair. The group could no longer return to them.

The death of Laral had discourage the group, but Bassam instructed them not to mourn the dead right now. “We must fight for the living. Let us proceed forward along the conveyor lines until we can find a solution” Bassam said with authority. The team then moved ahead passing stacks of disassembled droids, parts of mechanoids, and other industrial scrap. The sight was disturbing to the BT-LR who was thinking to himself if he would soon look like one of those dismembered machines. It would have been far better to have been melted down…

Back on the Main Bridge the warning flashers were slowly shutting down and alarms ceased. With the explosions of the SD-911s no sign of the intruders was evident and at least one SD-911 had reported that one humanoid had been killed initially. The conduit tunnels aft of the Main Bridge were, however, damaged beyond immediate repair. But it was of no consequence as Slayer was precisely on target for Elysia with only six more hours to go until launch of Red Sunset. The Bay Control Bridge reported no problems, all was secure. The DD-33s went back to prioritizing the launch of th R-Bomb over safety protocols which were minimal at this point. The repair mechanoids had extinguished the fuel line fires and replaced the armor plating, cleared area EA35 of debris and re-set portable shield generators to prevent re-entry back into that section of the ship. The Main Bridge Station and conduit tunnel network were still severely damaged, but worker mechanoids would soon be on the spot by the hundreds to repair the main line as soon as possible. Bassam and the team could hear their movement above them as they walked for almost an hour until Artoo came upon an interlink coupling.

“Thank the Maker!” exclaimed the BT-LR. Artoo did a quick read-out of their present location and discovered a way to by pass the Main bridge and get into the bomb bay without blowing the mechanical blast doors. However, to avoid the Bay Control Bridge from being alerted, the Main Bridge still had to be destroyed by all means. This way great news, but now only five hours remained until zero hour. Artoo revealed that by entering the ventilation shafts at a point not to far from their present location it should be possible to reach a point above the Main Bridge to drop down onto it. Ligris and Kailen came up with a brilliant idea. Kailen said, “Why not then use the remaining two Crytium tanks to take out the Main Bridge? “Yes” Ligris agreed, we could fix timed detonators to them and then Artoo could determine the route the bombs would travel before detonating over the Main Bridge.” Bassam was impressed. “Then by all means, make this happen.”

It took another forty-five minutes to reach the ventilation shaft. Ligris and Kailen volunteered to go first with the Crytium tanks and make their way up to a high point far enough to make the sequenced drop work. The levitating tanks were pushed in first and then Ligris and Kailen were on their way. Boman and Kali, along with Bassam would make their way to the Bay Control Center while Artoo and BT-LR remained in the waste disposal tunnel directing their paths while probing the Slayer’s defenses. All co-ordination efforts would be maintained by com link and if trouble arose, then the alert coms would be activated. The team had now split up and timing was everything.

Ligris was pushing Kailen upwards through the cramped ventilation shafts as Artoo opened vent port after vent port. The Crytium tanks ascended with ease but the steep clinb in full gear had Kailen exhausted. “Ligris, I’ve got to rest,” pleaded Kailen as she wiped the pouring sweat from her forehead. Ligris paused and relaxed too. He was burning up inside his Mangalore suit and his 300 lb weight and 6 foot 6 height didn’t help, especially with the jagged Lightning Horns of his helmet scaping the shafts. Kailen reached for a hydro container and started to drink it down when Ligris snatched it from her hands. “Honey, you need to slow down and sip at it or else there will be none left for later.” Ligris lifted his facemask and took a small sip himself before lifting the container back up to Kailen. Kailen took the opportunity to remind Ligris that if she survived this ordeal she expected Ligris to marry her. That lightened the atmosphere and Ligris responded with his heart, “Kailen I love you more than my own life and I will marry you when all of this is over- I promise.” Kailen was overjoyed and just hearing those words gave her news strength. “Then let’s get going, there’s no time to waste!” They continued their ascent.

Meanwhile, Boman and Kali were discussing the force and if Kali had any visions of the coming fight in the bomb bay. Although Kali wore no Halo-chron, her mind was pre-occupied with troubling thoughts concerning of all people-Tirahn. “I cannot foresee our future, but there will be a conflict with Tirahn.” Boman was becoming angered again, “You mean we will have to fight her after all? I TOLD you the Sith cannot be trusted. They are evil to the core of their being.” “No, Kali responded, I only said there would be a conflict involving Tirahn. I sense something inside of her that I do not yet understand. But I have faith that she will do what is right. I do not know how, but something is telling me this.” The conflict would not be with Tirahn, but within Tirahn. The living life force was strong in her… and yet she is Sith.

Bassam did not say a word as he crawled along the ventilator shaft with his good eye closed and his artificial eye active. He was meditating and clutching the sacred Orban. He, too, had an inner conflict and he was being urged to resolve it somehow. Perhaps he would die fighting in the bomb bay or to protect his team, but he had vowed to redeem himself at all cost. It had seemed that the sacred Orban’s mysterious ways had centered on him and that he must travel a path to his own redemption. Laral’s death must not be in vain.

Back in the Main Bridge the DD-33s were following Slayer’s progress when a warning flasher came on once the power was restored to the main line of the Main Bridge Station. Something was running a series of scans from a waste disposal terminal located directly under the main line. The intruders had not been killed after all. The DD-33s ordered the repair and maintenance mechanoids and all others along the waste disposal line to dump as much debris as possible into the conveyors and set them at maximum speed. Artoo and BT-LR were alerted when the waste tunnel suddenly lit up with power generation. Then the conveyor lines started moving and accelerated. Huge chunks of debris were passing the droid and cyborg until large oversized materials started to scratch and scrape the two machines. Artoo quickly passed on the remaining route to follow via the BT-LR for Ligris and Kailen before being knocked down by a heavy piece of broken armor plating. BT-LR was not so fortunate and was snared by the scrap and pulled onto the rushing conveyor belt. He activated the alert com, but there was nothing the rest of the team could do as they were deep into the ventilation shafts.

Ligris and Kailen made it to the top of the ventilation shaft at the point Artoo gave them, but they could not set the detonators as Artoo was not operating the vent ports anymore. Likewise, Bassam and his team were trapped as well.

The speed of the conveyor belt was dizzying, but BT-LR tried to sit up and then climb back over the debris in hopes of reaching a spot where he could jump free. But the way was blocked by heavy obsidian armor chunks and piles of discarded mechanoids. Artoo had been knocked down, but used his third leg track ball with grippers to regain his balance, his rollers struggled to get the unit upright again. Side compartments on the support legs opened to reveal stiltors that pushed Artoo back into place. He had to rescue BT-LR which was the only one in their group that could translate. Using a com channel, Artoo linked with BT-LR. Artoo inquired where the cyborg was at the moment. BT-LR was in shocked dismay, “WHAT do you MEAN where am I? I am about to cast into a massive waste disposal dumper and either ejected into space or into a smelting re-processor you stupid bucket of bolts! Has you primary motivator rusted or something?”
Artoo chirped and beeped back to remain calm- that he was coming to rescue him. The BT-LR scoffed at the idea. That droid has surely experienced a complete malfunction of its primary logic processor.

But Artoo was on his way. Concealed on the back of his stocky body was a flight panel that opened and exposed a small military aero-propulser with a burn time of 20 seconds. Artoo lit the burners and was propelled forward with great speed lifting above the conveyor and visually tracking for the BT-LR which was approaching the drop point into the waste disposal dumper. Resigned to be smashed into oblivion or melted down the BT-LR sighed and said, “I do hope that at least some part of me will be reprocessed into another working mechanism… useful to someone.” But then a strange impact hit the BT-LR’s head from behind. “Oh, WHAT indignity is it now?” But he didn’t have long to find out. As the drop point reached his legs the BT-LR was suddenly pulled from the conveyor with force, Artoo’s grappling line having yanked the snobbish cyborg off the line at the last minute. Artoo landed right next to the stunned cyborg who looked up and saw the image of his dear friend Artoo. He wondered if there actually was a cyborg heaven. But Artoo chirped at him to stop lazing about and get up, time was wasting! The BT-LR was brought back to reality once again, but was glad to see Artoo. He thanked him even as his stubby friend yanked the grappler line mag-lock from BT-LR’s head and retracted it into one of many sub compartments the recon and intel droid possessed.

Artoo’s aero-propulsion was shut down, out of fuel. They would have to walk and roll the entire length back to the interlink coupler or find an alternate one. It was a long walk. But BT-LR com linked to Bassam and told him that they were alright and heading back to the interlink. A little bit worse for the wear…

The DD-33s in the Main Bridge saw that the interlink was broken and the waste disposal unit filled to capacity. The DD-33s ordered it to dump the material into the floor airlock and then the tons of scrap along with the intruders were jettisoned into space. The DD-33s had finally disposed of the intruders, there should be no more interruptions with their monitoring of the vessel’s progress towards its objective.

However, Artoo and BT-LR were quickly racing along the empty conveyor line now that the DD-33s had shut it down. The walk took twenty minutes, but the Artoo quickly re-linked to the coupler and BT-LR told Ligris to set the detonators for 22 seconds and turn off the levitators. As soon as the vent port opened the tanks would become free-fall bombs plummeting down from port-to-port until it detonated over the Main Bridge. The port opened and Ligris shoved tank one down while Kailen shoved tank two down. The rumbling of the bombs could be heard through the entire ventilation system.

Warning flashes again lit up in the Main Bridge as the DD-33s soon discovered that the waste disposal interlink was active again and that several foreign objects were in the ventilation shafts heading in their direction. The DD-33s tried to manually shut the ports down, but Artoo countermanded each order. The bombs slid down from one open port through each declining vent shaft and into the next port. They were gaining speed and the timer was counting down to mere seconds. Groups of armed DD-33s and AM-2s gathered at the Main Bridge and looked upwards at the multiple ventilation ports, any one of which was about to produce something.

At last, the final port opened with 03 seconds left and the Crytium bombs exploded before any of the droids or mechanoids could get a lock on the weapons. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway as they were bombs. The twin explosions showered the entire Main Bridge area with liquid cold Crytium. The DD-33s in the bridge tried in vain to warn the Bay Control Bridge but they watched as the console cracked and blew itself apart. The droids themselves froze and dropped over into shattered pieces. The entire Main Bridge was destroyed and now all critical systems and sub-systems automatically passed over to the Bay Control Bridge.

The DD-33s there had no idea what was happening but a critical failure with the Main Bridge meant that all control of Slayer had passed to the internal bomb bay. There, all systems were green lighted and the ship was still on course for Elysia with only less than four hours to go.

Artoo’s job now was to co-ordinate a route that would connect Ligris and Kailen back with Bassam and the rest of the team. BT-LR told them to trust Artoo and jump into the nearest vent port. Ligris went first and then Kailen. They slid and dropped through several shafts and ports along the route of the Crytium bombs until about half-way where they were diverted back to the teams location, not far from the actual bomb bay itself but leading to an area below the deck structure. They could not very well fly from the ceiling down to the circular deck. The approach would have to be made from below one of the Bay Control Bridge consoles.

With a crashing thud Ligris landed in the nearest port next to Bassam and the others. Kailen soon tumbled down too landing on Ligris’ tough Mangalore fur. The group was back together; however, Artoo and BT-LR were still stuck in the waste disposal tunnel.