Ajax's Project Revealed

About an hour later, Dak and IG-67 arrived back into the outpost, the crate strapped to the back of Dak's speeder. As they disembarked and headed for Ajax's hideout, they quickly went over Valeria's plan in their heads., finishing just as they reached the entrance to the hide out.

"I hope this doesn't blow up in our faces," Dak said.

"I agree," IG responded, "That would be most unfortunate considering our current situation."

"I didn't mean literally!"

Dak showed the keycard once again to the peeper droid, they walked in as the door opened, crate in hand. Sure enough, Ajax was waiting for them.

"You finally made it," Ajax said, "I'm pleased to see you're in one piece, and with the crate too."

Dak put the crate down on the desk, then said: "What's in it?"

"The crate?"

"It's a Mandalorian crate. I have a right to know what's inside."

Ajax nodded in understanding: "Very well. Take a look."

Dak slowly opened the crate and pulled out one of the darksaber hilts, Ajax watching in excited anticipation.

Dak ignited the black blade, saying: "I thought only one was ever made."

"Traditionally, yes." Ajax said, "But it was during the Clone Wars that a group known as the Death Watch managed to get their hands on a few black kyber crystals. Unfortunately, they only were able to make a few before the Republic came and destroyed the lab they were being built in and confiscated whatever completed models were there. Somehow, the cruiser carrying them was shot down. It took me years to find it, but I'm a patient man; and patience pays off very well. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose so." Dak agreed.

"Insightful. I like that. Tell you what, as part of my reward, I'll let you keep one of the sabers. Go on, don't be scared. Take the one you're holding right now."

Dak nodded and deactivated the saber, attaching the hilt to his belt. Ajax then brought out a large canister from under his desk.

"And here is the rest of your payment." He said. Dak opened the canister, revealing a stack of currency bars made of Beskar steel next to a stack of credits.

"Looks good." Dak said, "Our business is done then?"

"Indeed it is." Ajax said, "You know, I always was fascinated with your people; I've read the stories. That being said, this was a unique pleasure working with you."

After the two shook hands, Dak closed and took the canister, then turned to leave.

"Let's get back to the ship, IG." He said.

"Affirmative," IG-67 replied, following him out.

On the two bounty hunters had left, Ajax took the box with the remaining two sabers into the next room, where a group of Imperial scientists were busy working on a large droid hanging in the center of the room. Handing the crate to one of the scientists, he said, "Install the sabers in the wrists, then use the metal on the crate to finish the armor."

Within a few minutes his orders were carried out, and the droid was finally activated, its T-visor glowing red.

"Look at you," Ajax said, "A work of art if I ever saw one, but let's see how well you work. Target the Mandalorian with the darksaber, and kill him."

The droid detached from its restraints, then activated the thrusters in its legs, soaring off through the hole in the ceiling.

"Take whatever men you can and follow it." Ajax said to the Deathtrooper in the room, "I want a get an accurate report of what happens."

…

Meanwhile, Valeria and CD-108 were already at the Inception and were waiting for Dak and IG-67 to arrive. Hearing their speeders pull in, Val looked up from the turret she was installing onto the floor in front of the ramp. It was also the first thing Dak noticed as he brought the speeders into the storage area of the ship.

"What did you put on my ship?" he asked.

"It's an E-Web turret. I modified it so it could go on the ship." Valeria casually replied.

"Where did you even get a weapon like that?"

"It's amazing what you find in the scrap heaps around here. It's also how I found CD."

"Val's an expert mechanic," CD-108 said from one of the side turret guns, "She repaired me about a year ago. The turret was only a few months ago."

"I see," Dak said, "Well, just don't install anything else without telling me first, okay? This is still my ship."

"You're the boss man." Valeria said, saluting.

"Good. Now, let's get out of here."

"That may be a problem." IG-67 said.

"Why?" Dak asked, turning around, then he saw what IG was referring to; a large group of stormtroopers stood outside of the ship, all with their guns pointed at the crew.

"Oh boy…" Valeria said.

"Not good." Dak replied.

"Eh, it's just a bunch of bucketheads," CD said, cocking his blaster, "we can take em."

As if on que, a black droid dropped down in front of the troopers. It was black, with the Imperial symbol in white on its shoulder. Its body resembled a Magnaguard's, but the armor and head design resembled that of a Mandalorian. As it looked at the crew of the ship, it locked onto Dak, igniting the darksabers in its wrists.

"You just HAD to say something," Valeria said, smacking CD on the shoulder.

"What is the course of action now?" IG-67 asked.

Dak ignited his own saber: "Looks like we'll have to fight our way out." He said before charging the black droid. Using his thruster boots to leap into the air, he brought his blade down on the droid's head, but it simply parried with one of its own blades and knocked him aside. The stormtroopers stayed back and didn't attack, but their guns were still raised. Dak recovered in time and stood up to deflect a massive flurry of attacks from the droid, which wasn't easy as it was faster and had two blades instead of Dak's having only one.

Valeria and the two droids watched from the ship.

"That thing's gonna kill him," Valeria said, "We gotta help."

"How?" CD-108 asked, "We can't do much with those stormtroopers pointing their guns at us."

"You're right." Val said, when an idea suddenly popped into her head as she saw the darksabers the droid wielded.

"Maybe we don't even have to pull out our guns." She said.

"What do you mean?" CD asked. Valeria didn't answer, instead pulling out a remote detonator from her pocket.

"I put the explosive on one of the sabers," she said, "Let's see if they saw it or not."

Meanwhile, Dak was getting tossed around like a ragdoll; this droid seemed to know every fighting style he did, and it countered and struck with its own attacks. Many of the strikes deflected off his armor, but it was only a matter of time before the droid found a weak spot, something the droid didn't seem to have; and Dak was beginning to tire out quick. Eventually, the droid knocked him back once more, only this time, Dak struggled to get back up. Looking up, he could see the droid slowly approach, its sabers raised for the killing blow.

"Great…" he said to himself. Suddenly, a small red light began beeping on one of the droid's wrists. The droid looked over, then made a surprised whirring noise as the bomb inside its wrist exploded, taking the droid's arm with it. As it stumbled around, dazed, Dak took the opportunity, waited until the severed side was in his line of fire, then raised his arm and fired a rocket into the damaged hole, effectively destroying the rest of the droid in a massive explosion that knocked everyone around it backwards. Slowly regaining their senses, the crew, as well as the stormtroopers, slowly got back up and looked to see a blackened crater where the droid last stood; random parts were scattered everywhere.

Dak slowly stood up, his ears ringing from the blast, but he could faintly make out someone yelling at him. As his hearing cleared, he could see it was Valeria running up to him and trying to pull him to the ship.

"Come on!" she shouted, "We gotta go!"

Dak said nothing, but stumbled after the Togruta, just as the stormtroopers opened fire on the crew. Valeria began firing back with her pistol, and the droids were firing with their own weapons, but there were far more stormtroopers. Once Valeria and Dak got onto the ship, Dak grabbed one of his rifles and began firing at the stormtroopers as well, but it was clear that they would eventually be overwhelmed. One bolt hit Valeria in the arm and she dropped her pistol, clutching her arm in pain. Dak stood in front of her to shield her as the stormtroopers slowly pushed forward.

"Close the ramp!" he shouted.

"We can't!" CD replied, "They hit the ship with some kind of EMP!"

Dak sighed as he looked at the approaching mass of stormtroopers that kept coming no matter how many he and the droids gunned down.

"Not again…" he said to himself. Suddenly, an explosion erupted in the middle of the troopers, sending dozens flying back. Then, a second one did the same.

"That wasn't me." CD said.

"Me neither." Val said.

"Then who did?" Dak asked. Answering his question, a figure dropped down in front of the ramp, deactivating his jetpack. As he stood up, Dak watched in relief as he recognized the green armored figure in front of him.

"It's Boba Fett!" he said. Boba turned back to Dak.

"I told you I'd have your back." Fett said. Dak nodded. Then, a bolt glanced off of Fett's armor, and he whipped around, firing his EE-3 rifle at the remaining stormtroopers. As he did, he raised his leg, firing the small rockets in his knee and taking down two other troopers. The lead deathtrooper ran at Boba, raising a stun baton in the air, but Fett simply leaned to the side, grabbed the trooper's arm, punched him across the face, and attached a rocket to his torso, sending the trooper flying backwards. The other stormtroopers turned tail and ran after that, and Fett turned to face the rest of the crew.

"You alright?" he asked.

"We've been better," Valeria replied.

"These are some new crewmates," Dak said, introducing Val and CD-108.

"So, what are you doing here?" Dak asked.

"Was in this neck of the woods on another job. Figured I should help out once I saw the explosions."

"Well, thank you for that."

Boba nodded: "The device that's disabling your ship is on the side of the ramp frame. The ship should work once you get it off."

Val got out a cutting tool: "On it."

As she left, Boba questioned Dak: "So, what happened?"

"We got a crate of darksabers for an Imperial officer. Apparently he then decided to turn the project he finished on us."

"Darksabers, huh? Interesting."

"Yeah. He let me keep one though," Dak said, igniting the blade for Fett to see.

"Impressive."

"Got it! And with one hand too!" Val, shouted walking back in and proudly holding a disk shaped device. Then, the ship gave a deep hum as it powered back to life.

"Well," Dak said, "we should be leaving. Thank you again for your help."

"Anytime," Fett said.

"Don't feel scared to give us a call should you get in a tight spot."

"Not a likely scenario with me, but I'll keep it in mind. Good luck." Feet said, walking off the ship.

"You too," Dak replied. Once Boba had left, Valeria closed the ship's ramp while Dak went into the cockpit and fired up the engines. Within a few minutes, Inception lifted off and blasted back into the sky and out into space.

Valeria came into the cockpit, relaxing on one of the other seats.

"Good bye, endless desert." She said.

"How long were you on that planet?" Dak asked.

"I've lost track."

"How'd you even end up there?"

Val sighed; it wasn't a story she enjoyed telling.

"I wasn't always a scavenger," she said, "I once had a nice home with a good family and a good life ahead of me. But then, the Empire came; they took over our towns, publicly executed those who resisted, and even sent the more able bodied few off planet for labor. I was one of those few."

"They brought you to Jakku?"

"No, we were supposed to go to Geonosis, but I was able to get out of my restraints and make it to an escape pod. I didn't care where I went, I just hit the launch button and got as far away from that ship as I could. My pod crashed on Jakku, where I took a job as an engineer's apprentice; anything to get a safe home. About a year later, my mentor was killed in a shootout, and I was forced to try and make it on my own, until I found CD-108 and put him back together. The two of us have been on our own ever since, until we met you guys."

"So, why guard the crate?"

"I knew Ajax was a commander in the Empire, and I wanted to stop whatever he was planning, just as I want to stop everything the Empire's planning."

There was a few moments of silence before Dak spoke up: "I know how you feel. To lose someone you care about, then end up trying to make it on your own."

"You do?"

Dak nodded, then removed his helmet, putting on the floor next to his seat as he spoke: "I had a home too on Mandalore. I had a family, even a best friend; you two would actually get along well. We were against the Empire from the beginning, but then an accident happened and I got separated from my group during a mission. Boba Fett helped me get back."

"That's why you two are so friendly to each other."

"Exactly. When I got there, however, I saw that my entire home was razed to the ground by the Empire. My parents were killed in the attack, and my friend, Sabine, was taken with a few other Mandalorians to the Imperial Academy to be brainwashed."

Valeria listened in shock; Dak really DID know how she felt: "What did you do?"

"I wanted to strike the Empire right there, but I realized I wasn't prepared enough to do anything of the sort, so I vowed to return once I got stronger, and help free my fellow Mandalorians from the Empire's grip. Boba Fett trained me in the art of bounty hunting, and I've been working as one alongside IG-67 ever since. I had no idea my client was Imperial when I took the job on Jakku."

"And do you think you're strong enough yet? To face them?"

"No. That fight with Ajax's droid made me see I may never be ready. Not on my own, at least. For this to work, I'll need more help; people who are just like us, those who want to fight back against the Empire."

"So, we need more rebels?" Valeria asked, "I might know just the place we might be able to find some."

"How do you know?"

"You hear a lot working in a repair shop. I can give you the coordinates."

Dak nodded, and Valeria listed the coordinates off for him to put into the nav computer.

"I hope your right about this," he said.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Val said.

Dak gripped the lever to engage the hyperdrive: "Let's go find us some rebels." He said, and he pushed the lever forward, sending the Inception blasting through hyperspace towards its next adventure.

…

Back on Jakku, Ajax sat at his desk, a grim look on his face as he silently went over the report that he was given earlier concerning the attack. Suddenly, his com beeped, indicating someone was calling him. He hit a button on his console, and the holographic image of an Imperial commander with blue skin and red eyes, appeared. Ajax started back in shock, but quickly regained his compsure.

"Ah!, uhh, Grand Admiral Thrawn." He said, "what a surprise."

"Captain Ajax," Thrawn said, "I received word of your unfortunate…accident."

"I assure you; I had no idea there was an explosive. The scavenger concealed it too well."

"So it would seem."

"Please, I can redeem myself if you give me the chance."

"No need to worry. You will have your chance. Consider this encounter as a learning opportunity, because your new assignment will be to hunt down this Mandalorian and his new friends."

"I will, sir. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. Moff Gideon was apparently impressed with your droid creation and advised me to let you continue your work. I suggest you take this seriously, and begin as soon as you can."

Ajax saluted: "I can pull back my men immediately."

"Good, see to it you do." Thrawn said, and the hologram dissipated. Once it did, Ajax looked at the charred remains of one of the droid's arms on his desk and got a fierce look in his eyes; he was going to find this group, and he was going to make them pay dearly…