The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

The Interlude: Sabotage

Shan motioned silence as she, Cody, Null, and the rest of the men slunk into the engine room. She had silently taken down the two sentries at the door before they made their way in. Hiding behind a large mechanism that connected to an even larger mechanism, Sahrea poked her head around to get a view of the intruders.

There was a variety of droids mulling around, attaching explosives to the cruiser's core. Four clones, three troopers and one mechanic, were handcuffed on the ground. Behind them, Tal Rhona. Shan narrowed her eyes.

Rhona was one of the Confederacy's top generals. She had only seen him once via hologram, above the planet of Canarath.

The general wore a long, dark trench coat that fell around his knees. It had metal chains looping around his waist to the front of the coat. A thick grey stripe went from his neck to the bottom of his jacket. A hood covered his head. From this angle, Shan could see he was tall and broad. Intimidating. She bit the inside of her cheek. Rhona turned around.

He was just as creepy the second time. His trench coat buttoned up all the way up to his neck. It split into a V at the bottom, revealing olive grey pants and shiny black boots that covered his shins. There were pockets sewn into the jacket that were lined with silver metal. The emblem of the CIS was printed in red on his shoulder. This was pretty standard. What made him creepy was his face. Well, lack of face.

Tal Rhona was from the planet of Kubindi. The Kubaz were very sensitive to light, so on his face, he wore a dark mask with red markings. The goggles protecting his eyes were bright red. A long, hook like appendage came out of the mouth area to protect Rhona's long snout. He looked quite menacing to say the least.

Shan had heard that his appointment had caused some issues with the Geonosians. Geonosians and other insect-like species did not get along with the Kubaz due to their diet, which was primarily bugs, hence the long snout.

Rhona, however, was an incredible strategist, so Dooku would be hurting himself if he didn't accept his offer to join the Separatist military. The Count also hoped that Rhona's position could sway the Kubaz and their incredible technology to the CIS. Kubindi was still on the fence and it didn't look like they would make a decision anytime soon.

Rhona had another skill besides being good with strategy. He was a general who liked to be in the field. He had incredible hand-to-hand combat skills. He had stood up against some of the best fighters in the Republic and won, including Master Plo. He was not to be trifled with.

Rhona spat a command in the clicks and whistles of his native language at his soldiers. A few droids saluted their general and walked off towards the final fuel cell. Shan's brows pulled together. They needed to destroy those droids and deactivate those bombs before they blew the Ro-Ti-Mundi skyhigh. Or space high, in this instance. Shan turned back around and leaned close to Cody and Null.

"We need to play this really carefully." she whispered. "They are attaching explosives to the fuel cells. If we hit one by accident, bye bye next battle." Cody readjusted his rifle as he picked up where Shan had left off.

"I suggest we split up and do a covert take over of each cell." he said. "There aren't a lot of droids because the others were just a distraction. This is a strike team. Too many clankers here could draw attention, so a few clones should be able to take them down." Shan peeked over shoulder. The Sepys hadn't noticed them yet.

"Once we deactivate the explosives, we can go for Rhona." Null added. Shan nodded. "I approve. I'll wait here and keep an eye on the general while you guys take out the extraneous droids and the bombs." she said. The clones all dispersed.

Shan squatted down, watching Rhona. It was nerve wracking. She kept expecting him to pull out a detonator and turn this cruiser into spare parts with push of a button. He surely wouldn't do that while he was on board, would he? No, the Kubaz was too smart for that. He certainly would have a plan b.