//------------------------------// // Chapter 29 // Story: Star Wars EQG: Episode 1, Harmony of the Force // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// The Shooting Star was making its way through Hyperspace, flying towards a planet it hadn't been to in a while. Aboard the ship, Flash way laying in his quarters staring up at the ceiling. As he did, he thought back to his days on the planet they were heading to. Shikoya. The planet he had crashed on after escaping from the forest moon. He had spent two years on that planet, barely managing to survive until he met Shining and Twilight. When he left, he prayed he would never have to see that planet again. But the universe had other ideas. When Flash learned Shining was heading back to Shikoya, Flash had wanted to refuse to return. He knew Shining wouldn't have made him come, but Flash realised he couldn't let his hang-ups on the planet stop him from doing his duty. If the Sith were doing business there, Flash needed to help figure out what it was. But it didn't make this any easier. A knock at the door, caught his attention. "We're almost there," Cadance's voice spoke up. "Alright," Flash got up and grabbed his Lightsaber before heading out of the room. Cadance was already heading for the cockpit, Flash following behind her. Springer was at the coms station, plugged in to make sure nothing took them by surprise. As Flash stepped into the cockpit, Cadance sat down besides Shining whilst Thorax was sat behind him. "Coming out of hyperspace," Shining announced. "In three...two...one." The warping of the stars came to a slow stop and eventually returned to normal, as the Shooting Star flew towards a planet in the distance. "There it is." Flash stared at the planet and as he did, he frowned remembering what had happened there. Thorax turned to Flash, "that's the planet you used to live on?" "Yeah," Flash nodded. "Not the best place to spend two years of your life." "I am curious," Cadance turned to him. "You never told us how you survived on that planet. You crashed and headed to an area called Klugetown. But that's all you said. What did you do for food?" "I got a job," Flash replied. "Not exactly the best paying job, but it was enough to pay for food and a power cell for Springer. I learned mechanics from my time on my birth moon. But this was where I learned to master the craft. Fixing droids and other machines that ships brought to be repaired." "Alright," Shining typed something into the navi-com. "Stax sent us a place where we're going to meet up with him. Once there, we'll start searching for information about what the Sith are doing on this planet." "Maybe coming in the Shooting Star wasn't a good idea," Thorax stated. "Didn't you guys get some criminal guy angry? What if he learns the same ship you were on is back on the planet?" The Jedi thought about that and realised he had a point, but it was too late to go back and request a different ship. They dived down into the planet's atmosphere and were soon looking out at a vast ocean of sand. The desert seemed to go on forever. "Geez," Cadance looked out at it, "how can anyone hope to live here?" "Most people don't," Flash replied. "Trust me. When I was living here, there wasn't a single person that didn't want to leave the planet. But unless you can barter your way onto a ship, you'll be stuck here for the rest of your life." Shining nodded. "Guess it's a good thing we were able to get you and your friends off this dump." Flash nodded, as Shining turned to him. "Whatever happened to them, anyway? Your friends from the slums?" Flash smirked. "Most of them got passage to different planets. Not sure which ones, but they seemed happy. Ryduck and his family decided to make their home on the Jedi forest moon. After spending so long on a desert planet, it makes sense they would want to live somewhere surrounded by trees." They all nodded, as they continued to fly through the air. Eventually, they found a circle of large rocks off in the distance. And as they flew towards them, they spotted another ship hidden within it. A smaller ship than theirs, that looked like it could only fit one person. And sitting atop it was the one they had come to see. "Stax," Shining smiled. Flash quickly got up to take a closer look, finally getting to see what Shining's master looked like. The way the Jedi Master was dressed looked familiar to Flash, as The Shooting Star flew down to the ground. It managed to fit inside the ring and land right next to Stax's ship. As they finished landing, the man jumped down off his ship whilst they began to leave the ship. Stepping out onto the desert, the heat of the planet suddenly struck them and they were already starting to sweat. Shining walked over to Stax and the two smiled at one another. "Shining!" He cheered, the pair hugging each other. "Long time, no see." "And whose fault is that, I wonder." Stax laughed as he looked over at the others. "Cadance." He stepped forward and the pair hugged one another, Cadance looking happy to see him. He then turned his attention on the Padawans. "And these must be your students. Thorax, am I right?" "That's right," Thorax shook his hand before Stax turned to Flash. As this had all been going on, Flash got a sense of recognition. Not just with how he was dressed, but also how he spoke. Then, Flash noticed the robotic arm he had and realised where he knew him from. "You're the guy I fought that rock monster with." "The one and only," Stax nodded. "Sorry I bailed on you back then. But I'm not really big on making police reports. I'm not really big on any kind of report, to be honest." "Right." Flash wasn't sure what to make of this guy. "Now," Stax turned to Shining, "let's get down to business. We need to talk about the situation and I think we should do it inside." They nodded and headed back into the ship, the lot moving over to the common area where the holo-table was located. The four sat down, as Stax connected to the table and started making it create the hologram. "This is our target." The hologram appeared, Flash and Shining frowning when they saw him. Flash was suddenly flashing back to when they escaped the mines, as this individual tried to blast him. "This is Voltus. Also known as the Storm Prince. He's the son of a notorious crime boss that goes by the name of the Storm King." "He runs the Storm Brigade," Flash stated. "Capturing people to use as slaves in his mines." "Exactly," Stax nodded. "You managed to damage his operation on this planet, but not cripple it. The Storm Brigade have been opening up their mines again, using freshly captured slaves and a few droids to do the work." Flash felt his blood begin to boil. He had hoped that freeing those slaves would stop this. Clearly, he was a fool to think that. "I get that's a problem," Cadance nodded. "But what does this have to do with the Sith?" Stax replied by changing the hologram, to instead show an image of Voltus along with someone they all recognised. "Armalum." "Exactly," Stax nodded. "It seems The Sith are the ones funding their mining operation. Or buying whatever the heck they're mining on this planet." "What are they mining?" Springer asked, but Stax shrugged. "No idea. This planet might not be the best to live on, but it's rich with multiple different resources. If I'm to hazard a guess, they're getting materials to build their ships and droid armies." "That's possible," Shining nodded. "But why come to this planet? There are plenty of other places that are rich in materials. Why risk coming to a planet in the Republic's sector, even if it's a planet that's not really given much focus? No, this isn't just about building ships and droids. They're after something. Something specific." "Like what?" Thorax asked, Shining clearly having no idea. "We're not gonna figure it out standing around here." Stax changed the image to a hologram of a large mountain, with a mine directly beneath it. Flash and Shining were once again reminded of the day they had met, when they escaped from a similar mine. "This is where Voltus is located. There are a bunch of slaves that are being used to mine the place." "So we need to save these people," Flash nodded. "I'm with that. We free them and cut off the supply of whatever the Sith want." The others agreed, whilst Stax nodded. "Yes. But it's more than that. These aren't just any slaves. They're slaves the Sith gave to Voltus and the Storm Brigade." That statement shocked them. "That was how the Storm Brigade were able to get their operations back up so fast. These slaves have been worked tirelessly, to mine whatever's inside that mountain. "Then we definitely need to free them," Springer stated. "Not just because they deserve to be free. But because they might have information about The Sith that could be vital." "So what's the plan?" Shining asked, as Stax scratched his head. "I haven't got one yet. But with you all here, I'm sure we can find a way to save them. What we need is more information. We need a way to get inside of the mansion, where they'll be keeping all the plans and schedules." Cadance smiled. "I think I might be able to help with that." The others turned to her, as she got up and headed towards her room. They all wondered what she had planned, until someone else stepped out of her room. "Celestia?" Flash asked, seeing the Jedi Grand Master walking towards them. But as she got closer, they realised something wasn't right. Celestia seemed shorter than she normally was. "Wait...what?" Celestia chuckled, as she reached up to touch the side of her neck. When she did, her entire form glitched and flashed for a moment before transforming into Cadance. "Pretty cool, huh?" Cadance was wearing a black collar, which she took off and handed to them. "Little something Celestia gave me. Thought it might come in handy. Hard light hologram collar. It'll transform anyone who's wearing it into anyone in its database." "Cool," Flash picked it up, "so we use this to sneak it." "I've only got two," Cadance explained. "And they're experimental, so I don't know if they'll glitch or not." "I see," Stax nodded. "And I'm guessing it keeps you at your normal height, so we'll need to take that into consideration when we decide who wears them." "Those ape things that are in the Storm Brigade are pretty tall," Flash pointed out. "How are we gonna trick them, if we go in looking shorter than all the others?" They frowned, realising Flash was right. "Let's go do some recon on the place," Shining stated. "That might help us come up with a plan." They nodded and began to head out, grabbing some speeders from out of the ship's storage and using them to fly along the desert. Flash and Thorax shared one bike, whilst Shining and Cadance shared the other. Stax got one for himself, as he led them towards the place they would be infiltrating. After a while, they arrived at a sandbank they could hide their bikes behind before climbing up the side. Once they reached the top, the mountain came into view and they checked the place out. The mountain had a bunch of ships and vehicles flying around. "Looks pretty well guarded," Thorax stated. "No way we're getting in there without them noticing us." "Even more reason we'll need to use the holo-collars," Cadance agreed. "We just need to find someone we can imitate. Those apes can't be the only beings working under him." Flash turned to Stax. "You've been close to this guy. You must have some idea who works around him. Isn't there anyone we can imitate?" Stax thought for a moment before frowning. "I do have an idea. But I'm not sure if it's a good one." Everyone raised an eyebrow at this, as Stax got up to return to the bike. "There's a town a few clicks east of here. The person we're after will be around there." They nodded and followed him, wondering who he was talking about. Thirty minutes later, they were in that town. A small settlement similar to Klugetown, built atop a large rock where a water source could be found. Once they arrived at the town, Stax led them to a bar where their target could be found. "There he is." They spotted the guy at the bar, where a borneck was sitting. The guy sipped on his drink as he looked around, eyeing several females as they either busted the tables or were sitting down drinking. "Who is that guy?" Thorax asked, the group being careful not to look suspicious. "Nano. He does business with Voltus regularly. He...finds girls for Voltus to have fun with, if you know what I mean." They did and they didn't like the looks he was giving some of the ladies. Luckily, he hadn't spotted Cadance yet and the Jedi got out of sight before he could. "Every now and then, he showed up at the mine with a new girl to take to Voltus. Sometimes, he left with the girl. Others..." "So he can get us into the mansion," Flash realised. "But why would he help us?" "He wouldn't," Stax agreed. "But he's the perfect size for one of us to impersonate. We just need to get him alone, so we can knock him out and grab whatever we need from him. I'm pretty sure Voltus requires some kind of pass key that he'll have on him." "So we get him alone, make sure nobody's watching, take him down and swipe his stuff." Thorax frowned. "That doesn't sound like the kind of thing a Jedi would do." "It's not," Flash frowned. "And since this'll be the second time I'm doing this, I'm starting to think we need a new idea." "Leave getting him alone to me," Cadance replied. She walked into a nearby alleyway and as the males stood guard outside it, she put on the collar. She typed at her gauntlet, as the collar activated. The next thing the boys knew, Cadance's skin tone changed to that of Luna's. Her hair turned blond and her clothing changed. Instead of her normal Jedi robes, she was wearing a leather top that kept her stomach visible, along with tight leather pants and knee high boots. She also had a belt around her waist with a bag, which was hiding her Lightsaber from sight. Her horn also vanished, leaving her looking like a standard avian. Once the transformation was complete, she turned to them. "What do you think?" Stax nodded whilst Flash and Thorax seemed unable to look away, the Master snapping his fingers in front of their eyes to make them blink and break the spell. Shining didn't look happy, especially when Cadance left the alleyway and caught the attention of several individuals. "I'm going to open a channel to you guys, but shut off my speaker. You'll be able to hear me, but I won't hear you. Once we leave the bar, track our location and be ready to act once we're alone." "I don't like this," Shining frowned. "There's no telling what this guy might try." "Relax," Cadance told him. "I'll be fine. If worse comes to worst, I'll fly away. By the looks of things, this guy isn't much of a fighter." With that, she started walking towards the bar. The others kept their distance, Shining the last to let her leave his sight. Thorax opened the channel to her gauntlet and they heard several noises coming from all around her. People talking beside her, or a random glass breaking. Eventually, she spoke up. "Hey, handsome." The boys wished this came with video, so they weren't forced to imagine how the pair were interacting. "Hey, beautiful. What's a sweet thing like you, doing in a place like this?" "I was working on a ship that just arrived. Captain got a bit handsy and didn't appreciate it when I gave him a warning slap. Now I'm stuck here." "That's too bad. Although, it does mean I got to meet you." Cadance giggles at this, Shining's jaw getting stiff at the sound. "So, you don't like people getting handsy?" "Depends on who it is," Cadance told him. "I don't let old hairy guys get a feel. But handsome gents like you might get to feel some of the goods, so long as you behave." "How about I buy you a drink?" Cadance accepted and the pair continued to drink and talk, Cadance laughing every time he made a joke. They kept this up for an hour, Flash and Thorax fearing Cadance might end up getting drunk if she had too much. Then, the guy spoke up. "You know. My room isn't too far from here. If you need a place to stay..." "I'd like that," Cadance nodded. "Lead the way." They brought up Cadance's tracking signal, as it began to move away from the bar. "Let's get up to the roofs and follow." They nodded, Stax taking the lead and jumping up the sides of a building until he was on top of it. The others followed behind and they watched Cadance's signal, as it moved further and further away from the area. They caught up and spotted the two, walking side by side. When Shining saw the guy put his arm around Cadance's waist, he seemed to have had enough and was about to go down there. But Stax stopped him before he could. "Calm down. Trust her to keep the situation under control." Shining frowned, as they finally reached a building Nano lived in. They headed inside, The Jedi leaping over the gap between the streets and landing on his roof. They looked down, to make sure there wasn't anybody to spot them moving down towards the window. Once they were sure of it, Thorax spread his wings and flew down to check through the windows. He found the one Nano and Cadance were in, using The Force to open it whilst Nano was distracted. "You are a pretty little thing," Nano told her. "Why don't we take this to the bedroom?" He moved in to kiss her, but Cadance pulled back. And before Nano could ask what was happening, she waved her hand in front of his face. "Sleep." The man let out a yawn, as she repeated the process. "Sleep." He grew more and more tired and after she did it a third time, he fell forward and Thorax caught him before he hit the ground. Shining and the others arrived at that moment, spotting the guy was completely out of it. "Nice work," Flash told her. Cadance smirked. "I knew he'd be unable to resist Force Sleep. Especially with how many drinks he had." "Are you okay?" Shining asked. "You had just as many drinks. And he could have slipped something into one. We should probably give you a check up, to make sure you're alright." "I'm fine," Cadance assured him. "I can handle my drink better than this guy. Now go put him in bed and start looking around for anything we might need." Flash and Thorax carried the man into his bedroom, Cadance following with the other collar. Once he was down, she scanned him and inputted his physical appearance into the database. "There. Now whoever wears this can look just like him." Flash looked him over and started using his hands to measure him. "He's about six foot two." "I'm only five feet," Thorax stated. "So I guess I'm out. You?" "Five foot nine," Flash replied. "But I'll be six feet soon. Just need to keep eating my greens." "Right," Cadance rolled his eyes. "Shining, you're about six one, right?" "Six three," Shining replied. "Close enough," she tossed him the collar. "Looks like you'll be playing my escort into Voltus' mansion." "You can't be serious," Shining frowned. "You want me to take you into that place? There's no telling what could happen in there." "Then it's a good thing you'll be there to keep an eye on me. Find what we need?" "Not yet," Stax replies. "Boys, check his pockets." Flash and Thorax dug through his shirt and pants, eventually pulling out some keys and a card. "Got em." Flash threw them at Shining, who had just put the collar around his neck. As he caught the keys and card, Cadance activated the collar. In the blink of an eye, Shining was transformed into Nano. Nobody could tell he was an inch taller. The perfect impersonation. "How do I look?" Shining asked, looking himself over whilst the others nodded. "You look like him," Stax agreed. "But you'll need to try and impersonate his voice. Think you can?" The disguised Shining frowned as he tried to speak, shifting his voice. "How about this?" His voice was kinda croaky, but it was closer than his normal voice. "That'll have to do," Cadance nodded. "Let's head over to Voltus." "Are we sure this is a good idea?" Thorax asked. "How do we know Nano doesn't call ahead, to tell Voltus he's on his way?" They knew he was right, but they didn't have any better options. "We'll just have to make an excuse for us randomly showing up." Shining gestured to the window. "You three head back out the way you came. Cadance and I will go look for his speeder." Stax nodded. "It's a salmon coloured hover car. You can't miss it." They nodded and after Thorax made sure nobody was watching, the three snuck out the window. "Alright," Shining turned to Cadance, "we just need a name for you. Don't wanna give this guy any info if things go sour." "Good point," Cadance nodded before thinking for a moment. "Call me...Bianca." Shining raised Nano's eyebrow. "What, you don't like it?" "No. Just curious why you picked it." Cadance shrugged. "First good name that came into my head. Think you can come up with a better one?" Shining shook his head and made his way towards the door, glancing back at the real Nano before they left. "How long do you think he'll be out for?" "At least a day. Maybe longer. Who knows how many drinks he had before I got to him. So long as we don't mess around, we should hopefully be done before he comes back." Shining nodded before they left, the two heading out into the street. He glanced up at the roof and spotted the other three, who nodded before heading off to where they hid their speeders. They found Nano's ride parked not too far away, the pair getting in and finding it was full of empty drinks cans and a few other things they wished weren't there. Even his radio was set to a channel that didn't sound great, though they figured most music played on this planet were like that. They raced off towards the desert, heading towards the mine Voltus was running. As they did, they went over the plan. "I get you inside," Shining stated. "And as soon as you're clear, we look around for any info that might help us free the slaves and figure out what The Sith are up to." "Alright," Cadance nodded. "We need to be careful, though. One wrong move and we could be joining the slaves down in the mines." Shining nodded, as the mountain came into view. As they approached, Shining locked onto the other's location. They weren't far, likely behind the sand dune. Hopefully, if things went south, they would be ready to jump in and help. An ape was standing near the small mountain, spotting them as the speeder pulled up to it. "Nano?" He stepped over to him, staring at him and Cadance. "This is a surprise. Voltus wasn't expecting you here until tomorrow." Shining felt himself panic. "Yeah...well...I couldn't wait to introduce him to this great find I found." The ape looked at him confused, Shining and Cadance trying to keep their worry down. "Your voice sounds different. Do you have a cold?" "Oh, yeah." Shining coughed into his hand, "just a small one. I can still supply Voltus with some girls to have fun with." "Well I hope this one's better than the last one. Voltus wasn't happy with her. I mean, how do you step on the toes of someone with cloves for feet?" Shining shrugged. "Hope you made sure this one can dance." Cadance looked shocked by this. "Anyway, info card." Shining reached into his pocket and took out the card they had swiped from Nano, handing it to the guard. "Not gonna make a fuss this time. Good. Always annoying when you keep telling us you're who you are." "Yeah," Shining nodded, "I...I realised it was quicker to give you the card than argue." "Exactly." The ape placed the card into the scanner and after a few moments, it beeped before he removed it. "Alright, you're all clear." He handed the card back to Shining and pointed in a direction. "You know the way." "Yes," Shining nodded, "yes I do." He drove in the direction he was sent, having no idea where to go. But as he drove, Cadance spotted something and pointed at it. It was a stone ramp, going up the side of the mountain. Shining wasn't sure if it was a natural phenomenon, or had been somehow carved into the side of the rock. Either way, it allowed them to drive up to the top without issue. When they reached the top, they saw a large mansion sitting on top of it looking like something one would see on Canterlot or on Naboo. They pulled up to it and as they did, the doors opened and several girls stepped out. Cadance's eyes went wide, when she saw how they were dressed. She was suddenly feeling very nervous about this plan, as one woman bowed to them. "The master will see you soon. If you will please follow me." They nodded and headed inside, Cadance keeping the channel on her Gauntlet so the others could hear them. "They're in," Stax nodded as he heard the servant ask them to follow. But suddenly, the gauntlet's channel broke. "What?" "What happened?" Thorax asked, as Stax tried to get the channel back. But he couldn't connect to Cadance or Shining Armor. "Were they caught?" "I don't think so," Stax shook his head and thought about it. "Best guess, there's some kind of jamming signal keeping communications from working inside. This isn't good. Even if those two find info on how to get into the mine without being spotted, they won't be able to communicate it to us without leaving the mansion. I doubt they'll be allowed to go in and out as they please." "So what do we do?" Flash asked, as Stax looked around. He then spotted one of the droids and an idea formed in his head. "New plan. We send one of our own into the mine and see how things work from within." The two look confused, as Stax gets up. "Flash, you're with me. Thorax, you stay and keep an eye on things. If anything bad happens, let us know." The insectoid Jedi nodded, as the two headed back to their speeders and raced back to The Shooting Star. As soon as Shining and Cadance were inside, they suddenly felt very uncomfortable. It was clear that Voltus, only had one interest outside of his work. Beautiful woman, barely wearing anything. And he clearly didn't have a particular preference, as the walls were decorated with images of different girls posing seductively. Shining spotted a Hutt woman and had to fight not to throw up, as the servants led them through the mansion. "Master Nano." One servant pointed to some stairs, "Master Voltus will meet you upstairs. Your friend should follow us to get dressed." Cadance frowned, really not wanting to have to wear anything like what these girls were going to wear. She and Shining shared a look, both nodding before they split up and headed off in the directions they had been shown. As Cadance followed the servant, Shining headed upstairs and quickly went into stealth mode. He started looking around, listening at doors to see if anyone was behind it before checking if it was locked. When he found ones that weren't locked and occupied, he headed in to see what was waiting on the other side. But they were mostly bedrooms and a bathroom. But eventually, he found a room that was acting like an office. He carefully made sure nobody was around before heading inside, stepping up to the desk and looking through the documents. There were multiple invoices, some in languages he couldn't read, but one in common had his attention. "Vack Stone?" He had never heard of such a stone, but the order was asking for a ton of it. "What are you after?" He quickly raised his gauntlet and used it to scan the invoices, even the ones he couldn't read. One of them had to give some kind of info about the Sith. Once the last one was scanned into the gauntlet, he put everything back where he got it from and headed for the door. He couldn't risk spending too long in there, since it could mean getting caught. He stepped out of the room and kept moving, until he heard voices coming from a room at the end of the corridor. He stepped up to it and decided to take a chance and knock, someone calling out from the other side to say come in. Shining stepped inside and there, sitting on a long couch with a few girls around him, was the satyr-like alien named Voltus. "Nano!" He laughed, as he rubbed his large hand up the back of the girl sitting beside him on the couch. "This is a surprise. Didn't expect to see you here today. This girl must be rather impressive, if you couldn't wait to show her to me." "Yes," Shining nodded. "She's...very impressive." Voltus gestured to an empty armchair. "But if you were in the middle of something, we could come back tomorrow." "No, no. You're not interrupting anything. Just been trying to locate more Vack Stone before a client shows up." Shining wasn't sure if Nano should know about Vack Stone or not. "Never heard of it?" "Sounds familiar," Shining shrugged. "What do they want it for?" "The heck if I know," Voltus stated. "They want it and my father promised it to them, so of course I get stuck trying to find it. This is one strange customer, let me tell you. Won't let us make any deliveries, which is fine by me since it saves us the shipping and handling costs. Whoever they are, they obviously don't want us to know where to find them." "They must be trying to keep a low profile." "What do you expect. With those Jedi after them, there's no telling where they're safe." "Jedi?" Shining frowned. "So this client's the enemy of the Jedi?" "Yeah, though that's hardly a small list. Who doesn't hate the Jedi. But this client has a serious hatred for the Jedi. I don't know what they want to do with all that Vack Stone. But if it causes problems for the Jedi, I'm happy to give it to them." Shining nodded. He was sure The Sith were the ones that had wanted the Vack Stone. But why? Back at The Shooting Star, Flash and Stax were working on Springer's operating software. "I don't know if this is such a good idea," the droid stated. "What's the problem?" Flash finished connecting something to Springer's chest. "This is no different from taking control of those ships. We connect you to this override circuit, place the other circuit on one of the droids and you'll be able to take control of them." "Those ships didn't have artificial intelligence," Springer stated. "If I try to take it over and it's A.I is smarter than mine, my mind could end up getting overridden. Then what'll you do?" "You'll be fine," Stax told him. "Flash will stay here and if anything goes wrong, he can rip the circuit off of you before you get overridden." "All it could take is five seconds," Springer announced. "Flash won't be able to get it off me that quickly. I really don't think this is a smart idea." "We might not have any other choice," Flash told him. "If Shining and Cadance can't get us the info we need about the mine, we need someone to get in there and tell us what's waiting for us. This is the only way we can save the slaves." Springer thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. But you be ready to pull that thing off me the moment something goes wrong." Flash nodded as they finished connecting the two circuits. The moment the other was placed on another droid, Springer would be able to override its programming. Stax took it and headed out of the ship, whilst Flash made sure the circuit could be quickly removed. Flash wanted to help the slaves, but he refused to lose his friend to do it. He just hoped Shining and Cadance wouldn't need saving. Cadance could hardly believe what she was seeing. The room she had been brought to was full of different costumes, all scantly clad and coming in a range of sizes for the girls who would be wearing it. Several servants were there, making sure the costumes were ready whenever the master requested them. The servant that had led her to the room, came in carrying a bunch of see-through silk scarves. They were all different colours, ranging from red, to blue, green, yellow pink and more. "Here you go." "What am I supposed to do with these?" "Did Nano not explain this to you?" She shook her head, making her sigh. "You wrap them around your body, covering you up until nobody can see through them. Then, when you and master Voltus are alone, you dance and slowly take them off." "I see," Cadance definitely was not going to do that. "Can you give me a moment?" The servant nodded, as Cadance took the scarves and moved them over to a screen she could hide behind. "So...why did you girls choose to come here?" "It was better than being out in the towns and cities," another servant stated. "At least here, we only have to entertain one master. And with so many of us, we don't have to do it so often. And if we do a good enough job, he'll eventually pay for us to go to any planet we want. But only after he gets bored of us." Cadance nodded. "What happens if we don't do a good job?" The girls all went quiet, making Cadance wonder if something bad happened. "You don't want to do a bad job," a servant announced. "If you do, Master Voltus will send you to his father. The Storm King. And trust me, he's not a pleasant individual." "I've heard," Cadance sighed. She started using her collar to scan the scarves, placing them within the holographic system. "What does he do to the girls under his control?" "I don't know," the servant announced. "And hopefully, I'll never find out." Cadance finished scanning them all and quickly changed what she was wearing. In a flash, she was dressed in what appeared to be a skintight dress made up of several layers of silk cloth. The dress went all the way down to just below her knees and was so tight, she wouldn't have been able to move her legs more than a few inches had she been wearing the real thing. Cadance had to do several test moves of her legs, so she knew how far apart she could move them before she broke the holographic illusion. And as she did, she noticed a problem. She was no longer wearing the fanny pack, so her Lightsaber was sticking out the back of her dress. She took it off and realised she would need to hide it somewhere else. Somewhere that it wouldn't draw attention. And after a few moments, she had a plan and grabbed one of the actual scarves. After removing her sword's power cell, she placed the weapon inside the scarf before tying it around her chest. Once the hologram adapted, she looked like she was simply bustier than she really was. Something she was sure Voltus wouldn't complain about. Hopefully, Shining had gotten the info they were after. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep this charade up. Back outside the mine, Stax and Thorax stared at the many machines going in and out of the mine. They needed to get close to one, in order to place the control circuit onto it. But that was easier said than gone. "Too bad we don't have one of those hologram collars," Thorax frowned. "Then we could disguise ourselves as a droid until we're done." "I doubt they wouldn't notice some random droid, moving towards the mine out of nowhere." Stax hummed. "Never focus on what you don't have. Always focus on what you do have. What do we have?" "A pair of Lightsabers and a butt load of sand." Thorax's statement had been meant to be sarcastic. But it ended up giving Stax an idea, the Jedi smirking as he reached into his pocket and took something out. "Put these on." Thorax looked down at them and saw they were a pair of goggles. He didn't argue and put them on, as Stax started moving his hands around. As he did, the sand near the mine began to move around. It was just the top layer of sand, which soon flowed from left to right. The guards and droids around the mine, quickly took notice and started moving to escape the sudden sandstorm. "Go!" Stax cried, as the cloud of sand grew larger and larger. Thorax nodded and spread his wings, taking off and flying into the sandstorm. Thanks to the goggles, even his large eyes were untouched by the sand. He was able to fly towards one of the mining droids and once he was close enough, he attached the circuit to its back before flying back towards Stax. As he did, Thorax opened a channel to the ship. "Alright, Flash. The circuit's in place. Let her rip." "Got it," Flash turned to Springer. "You ready, bud?" "No. But let's do this anyway." Flash activated the control chip and used the ship's antenna to send out the signal, getting ready to remove it the moment something bad happened. Springer let his programming be sent through the signal and lock onto the other circuit, which caused his own body to go dead. When Springer's programming reached the other chip, he felt himself being uploaded into the droid's systems. And to his relief, this droid's A.I was rather limited. All it could do was follow whatever orders it was given, meaning Springer could easily take it over. "I'm uploaded," Springer stated. The droid didn't have any speech systems, which made him wonder how they were supposed to report problems. His body was a white orb with simple arms, along with a waist that was connected to a pair of caterpillar tracks. He was holding an empty box, which he was careful not to drop. He looked around and found the sandstorm that was going on all around him. This gave him an idea. Thorax returned to Stax and the Jedi was about to stop the sandstorm. But before he could, Flash spoke up through the Gauntlet. "Don't stop yet. If you can keep going, do it. Springer's gonna use this cover to sneak into the mine, so nobody can see him." "Understood." Stax kept up as long as he could, Thorax beginning to help by taking control of some of the sand. The two continued to swirl the sand around and around, all the while trying to keep themselves from being discovered if someone happened to leave the mine. Back with Springer, he was rolling along the sand towards the entrance of the mine. Luckily, nobody was around that entrance and as soon as Springer reached it, he hit the button on the side that opened the elevator currently acting as the only way in or out of the mine. He rolled inside along with half a pound of sand, Springer managing to hit the close button before any more sand got on. As the elevator began to travel downwards, Springer felt parts of the droid beginning to seize up. "Whoever made this droid, clearly never heard of a sand proof design." "I just thought of something," Flash's voice told his real body. "What happens if that mine has the same shielding as the mansion? Will your signal be able to go through it?" "No." Springer gulped. "And if I lose connection, my programming will be cut in half." He began to panic, as the elevator dove deeper and deeper into the mine. But then he reached the bottom and the elevator began to open, Springer checking him systems and finding there wasn't any issue. "Guess they don't have a shield down here." "Good," Flash nodded, "be careful. Get ready to transfer out of there as soon as something goes wrong." Springer nodded and once the doors were open, he rolled into the mine and found it was just like the one they had saved Ryduck and the others from a while back. "I'm sending my visual data to the ship." "Alright," Flash activated the monitor and Springer's footage was being broadcast onto it. "Stax, I'm sending the footage to your gauntlet." "Confirmed." As he made the connection between the ship and the gauntlet, Flash watched as Springer's new body made its way down the corridor. Whilst the robot didn't have a way to speak, it could hear and so could they. The sound of working was coming from one of the tunnels and Springer chose to follow it. "I hope the captives are the only ones down there," Thorax hoped. Flash was also hoping that, but was also being realistic. There was no way they wouldn't have at least a few guards down there. And since Springer's robotic body didn't have any weapons, the droid wasn't going to be able to free the prisoners. Right now, this was just a fact finding mission. Back in the mansion, Shining and Voltus continued to speak. One of Voltus' servant girls had stepped over to Shining and was sitting on his lap, trying to get Shining to show her some appreciation. Shining was starting to think that coming there was a bad idea, even though they had learned a lot during their time there. Voltus laughed at something a girl did, as a knock caught their attention. "Enter." The door opened and a servant girl stepped in. "Master. The new girl is ready for you." "Of course," Voltus smiled. "The rest of you, return to your quarters. Once she's ready, send her in." The servant nodded and they all left, Shining taking a deep breath as Voltus pulled out a remote. There was another knock and Voltus called for her to enter, Cadance stepping into the room wearing the dress of scarves. The sight made Shining's eyes widen, a part of him wondering what Cadance looked like wearing that in her normal appearance. "Very nice," Voltus smiled as Cadance closed the door. "Now, show me how you dance." He used the remote to play some music, which Cadance started swaying her hips to. She moved around, but didn't take off any of the scarves she was wearing. Shining realised she was probably using the holo-collar to imitate the scarves, as Voltus watched her dance. She got in close and leaned over him, Shining's jaw clenching as she placed her hand on the side of his head. She then whispered something into his ear, Voltus appearing to grow calm at the sound of it. She then pulled back and spun on the spot, shaking her hips as she waved her hands in front of him. "Sleep." Voltus kept growing more and more calm, "sleep. Sleep. Sleep." Finally, Voltus' head fell and he slumped in his chair. Snores soon followed and Cadance sighed in relief, whilst Shining stood up. "Nice," he nodded. "what do we do now?" "Now, we get out of here. I don't suppose you uncovered anything, did you?" Shining smirked, indicating that he had. "What did you find out?" "Tell you when we get out of here. Come on. Let's try and sneak out before anyone comes in and sees what happened." They headed for the door but just as they were about to open it, a buzzing sound filled the air. They spun around and to their shock, Voltus was sitting in his chair wide awake. In his hand was a stun blaster, which he quickly fired before either could try and grab their Lightsabers. The first blast struck Shining and knocked him backwards, causing him to be slammed into the door. Cadance gasped as Voltus fired again, the Knight barely managing to avoid it. She was about to reach into the scarf around her chest and pull out her weapon, only to remember she had removed the power cell. This moment gave Voltus the opening he needed to hit her with his weapon. "Augh!" She fell back and crashed into the ground, her body going numb as Voltus stood up. "Nice try," he told her. "But my species is immune to mind tricks." As he said that, the collars around the two's neck started glitching. The stun blaster had likely damaged them, causing their real forms to be revealed. "Oh. What do we have here? You're clearly not the real Nano." He then looked over Cadance's appearance. "And you look much better like this. Can't wait to see more of you." Cadance glared at him, but couldn't do a thing with her body going numb. She and Shining shared a worried expression, both fearing they might have gotten in over their heads. Hopefully, Stax and the others would be able to help them. Down below in the mine, Springer continued to roll through the tunnel. The sounds of work grew louder and as the droid approached, he started hearing cries of pain combined with those work sounds. Flash, Stax and Thorax frowned, hating those cries. They didn't care what was happening down there. They were going to find a way to save whoever was feeling that horrible pain. Finally, Springer arrived at a large chamber. There, a bunch of different aliens were working there. They were using old fashioned pickaxes, to cut away at the rock walls. Those bigger rocks were being broken apart by other slaves, then carried to metal carts by another bunch of slaves. It was a depressing sight. Springer spotted several droids that were the same as the one he was controlling, some of which appeared to be armed with lasers. He thought they might be the guards, but then spotted one rolling up to part of the wall. It appeared to be scanning said wall, then raised the laser it had for an arm before firing at it. The laser hit the wall and melted the rock away, the molten earth falling to the ground in a puddle. Once it stopped, it rolled away and the slaves used shovels to move the melted rock to another mine cart. Springer wondered why the droid had done that, but then noticed the rock it had uncovered was a different colour to the melted rock. This was the rock the slaves were working to extract. "What's so special about that rock?" "I'm not sure," Flash frowned. "But they must need it for something." Flash kept watching and as Springer turned his head, Flash saw something that made his eyes go wide. "Springer, stop!" "What?" "Go back. Turn your head back a few degrees." Springer did so, "stop." The camera stopped and it showed a caphex that was working to break more rocks away from the wall. Flash couldn't believe what he was seeing, with Springer catching on. "Is that who I think it is?" Flash stared at the alien slaves for what felt like hours, even though it was only moment, with Stax finally speaking up. "Hey, what's going on? Why are you guys so focused on that guy?" "I know him," Flash replied. "He was one of the people stuck on the forest moon with me. I grew up with him living right next to my hut." He could barely believe it. He had thought he had died when the bug troopers had attacked. But if he was alive. "Springer, check the other slaves." Springer's head started turning, Flash taking a closer look at the multiple different people working there. "There!" "Yeah," Springer nodded. "And another one. And another. Loads of these slaves must have been captured on the forest moon." Flash was absolutely stunned. He had spent years wondering, what had happened to those he had grown up around. He knew a good many of them were dead, since Grand couldn't have been the only casualty, but now he had a chance to save the others. "I've got to get them out of there." "We will, Flash. We will." Stax's words gave Flash a moment to calm down, as he remembered he wasn't alone. He had Springer, Stax and Thorax with him. Cadance and Shining as well, despite whatever they were doing at this moment. Flash made a vow to The Force, that he would free these slaves and make sure Voltus never harmed another person ever again. No matter what it took, he would find a way to free them.