Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 15

Hunter only got part of the warning before the jamming signal took full effect. Enough of the warning was heard for Hunter to get the picture, even though Rhodes never answered his request to repeat the message. Nevertheless, Hunter figured it was time to act. Despite the droid's growing feelings of being replaced by Lena, he was still loyal to Rhodes. He was determined to save his captain, master, and friend.

Hunter was still waiting in the dimly lit corner of the motor pool of the palace. All around him were various ships, most of them fairly luxurious. On one wall of the room was a massive durasteel door, wide enough to get most medium sized ships through. Across from the hangar door was the door to the rest of the palace. It was guarded by a particularly burly Pantoran who seemed far more interested in guarding the ships than watching the droids. Hunter was amongst a few other astromechs as well as an LEP servant droid.

He waited until the guard had his head turned away before he drove over to one of the ships, ducking behind it before being noticed. The ship was a fang-class fighter, a ship commonly used by Mandalorians. It had a yellow paint job and appeared to be in great condition.

If Hunter had any semblance of remorse programmed into him, it wasn't showing now. Hunter made his way over to the front landing gear. He extended one of his manipulators from the dome of his head and placed a small detonator on the landing gear. It wasn't enough to destroy the ship completely but would serve as a good distraction.

Rhodes had spent close to six years tinkering on Hunter who was already a military model. It was one of the various pastimes Rhodes had to pass the time on long journeys. One such upgrade was the addition of a sleeve of detonators that Rhodes had managed to squeeze into his chassis. That modification was going to come in handy here.

After arming the single charge, Hunter wheeled back over to the other droids, taking care not to be seen by the guard. The other astromech droids seemed not to notice or care about Hunter's brief absence.

The LEP servant droid, on the other hand, was watching the entire time. "What are you doing?" The droid asked once Hunter returned.

"Keep it down over there!" The guard yelled once the silence of the motor pool was broken.

The LEP paid no attention to the warning, still staring at Hunter for a response. Not wanting to risk an unnecessary complication, Hunter extended another tool from his chassis. He quickly jabbed the droid with the tool, sending a shock of electricity through the little droid, overloading its circuits. The other droids took notice, but none moved, not wanting to suffer the same fate.

Before the guard could notice anything out of place, Hunter sent a remote signal to the detonator setting it to explode in 20 seconds. Once the timer was set, the device began to emit a high pitched beep that drew the attention of the guard. After a few confused glances around the room, the guard went to investigate.

He eventually made his way to the front of the fang-class fighter, immediately spotting the flashing device. The guard was quick to react, lunging at the detonator. He ripped the device off of the landing gear and flung it away from the ship. The device detonated against the hangar door, partially damaging the door controls. The door's fail safe activated, reverting it to an open state.

The guard was panting, the larger man worn out from the quick burst of activity. His actions had left the ships unscathed. The act was quite brave, although the destruction of ships was never the objective of the explosive.

By the time the detonator had gone off, Hunter was through the door and the guard was none the wiser.

The hallways were empty, which was normal for this late hour. The blast from the small detonator seemed to be contained within the thick walls of the motor pool. A few guards ran past, probably getting a call from the burly guard from before. They passed by without taking notice of Hunter who was casually making his way down the hall. He had already downloaded palace schematics so navigating through the building was easy for him.