Chapter 8- Infiltration

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Chapter 8- Infiltration

"Have we heard anything from him?" Tarkin asks one of his intel officers who had come with him to Saleucami.

"No. We've heard nothing from the Third Brother since he hit the streets. We've found all of his troops' bodies, but not the man himself," the officer responds.

Tarkin frowns. "If he's been killed or taken prisoner by this so called 'Crimson Blade', then this figure is clearly more dangerous than we believed," he says aloud. He pauses for a few moments, then says, "I think it best to report to Lord Vader."

(On the ground)

At the Imperial shuttle depot, a small transport craft is preparing to head back up to the Executrix parked above the city. Some stormtroopers are loading some cargo onto the transport.

As the stormtroopers are occupied gathering up the cargo, none of them notice a figure slipping aboard the transport. Shrouded in darkness, Philip quietly slips aboard the transport. He quickly finds a pile of boxes in the back of the transport and he crawls into the gap amidst the boxes and sits to wait. Philip had stuck the Third Brother's head on a pole outside the town in the hopes it would draw attention in that direction while he snuck aboard the transport.

The stormtroopers soon finish loading up the transport. As they all board, the pilot shuts the loading ramp and lifts off, flying the transport up to the Executrix. All the while, Philip is quietly waiting in the back, waiting for his chance. He is staying utterly quiet, listening to any sound from the stormtroopers in the back of the transport with him, listening for any sign they may be onto him.

It takes only a few minutes for the transport to reach the Executrix given how low the Star Destroyer is over the planet's surface. Philip listens as the transport enters the Destroyer's hangar and sets down on the hangar floor. About half a minute passes before the loading ramp finally lowers and the stormtroopers aboard begin offloading the cargo.

Philip takes a deep breath and reaches out with the Force, feeling his surroundings. Thankfully, there aren't a lot of men around, with most of them just those who'd been aboard the transport.

Philip waits carefully, his hand resting on his lightsaber. Thankfully, the pile of crates he's hidden in seems to be one of the last ones on the list to unload.

Finally, as most of the cargo has been unloaded, Philip senses a stormtrooper walking towards the pile he's in, ready to start grabbing crates. Knowing now is the time he has to act, Philip carefully draws his lightsaber and aims it outwards. As the trooper reaches out to grab a crate, Philip activates the saber, the blade springing out, piercing through the crate and right into the trooper's chest.

As the trooper's body falls, Philip springs out of his hiding place, knowing he can't hide anymore. Philip, holding his humming saber, sprints out of the transport.

As Philip leaves the transport, he quickly scans the hangar. There are relatively few people in the hangar, and some don't even realize that Philip is there. However, the stormtroopers unloading the transport are not among those oblivious to Philip's presence.

The stormtroopers reach for their blasters. However, Philip is too quick. Philip sprints at the troopers and Force leaps towards them, slashing his saber through them, cutting down three troopers with a single stroke. A flurry of slashes sees the rest of the stormtroopers around him cut down.

By now, most of the rest of the hangar have noticed that Philip is in the hangar. Those in the hangar begin shouting warnings and reaching for their own weapons. However, Philip doesn't intend to stick around. He throws several thermal detonators he stole from one of the crates, then starts running for one of the entrances into the hangar as the detonators explode. Troopers and officers start firing blasters towards Philip, but he easily blocks the few bolts that come close to him before he makes it out of the hangar.

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