The roaring engines of the Malevolence quickly faded into the background as Adam initiated the jump to hyperspace. The shields surrounding it quickly repaired itself, and the plasma energy released by the turrets and fifty missiles flickered into the void of space until they completely dispersed. It easily pierced the shield, only for it to regenerate shortly after. But there was enough of a window that allowed one to launch a devastating strike, if one needed to. And that was the data I wanted to collect. It could be pierced, and could be taken down.
And now, we were already in hyperspace again before General Grievous could even strike back at us, haha! Having a cloaking mechanism really works wonders, doesn't it? If you know how to prepare yourself, you can flee from the battlefield in a blink of an eye, and that's exactly what happened here. Everything lined up, allowing me to do that. I don't think General Grievous was expecting for his flagship to fall under attack by a sole spaceship with unknown origins. I'm pretty sure he's going to launch a full investigation on my whereabouts from this. You see, similar to the tracking fobs the Toydarian King provided me to secure some bounties, they can also be deployed by shooting them onto spaceships, which can track its location. I took safety measures to ensure that didn't happen so General Grievous will have a very hard time trying to locate me.
But if the Republic does start spreading my name because I managed to rescue not one, but two Jedi Masters, I'm sure it'll reach the Separatists' ears eventually, even if I opt to remain anonymous. They'll learn that a bounty hunter clad in orange is assisting them. My Power Suit will definitely be an eye-opener to some. Its armor is reminiscent of that of Mandalorians for sure, but I'm not a Mando. I'm sure I'll easily be mistaken as one here and there. Oh, and by the way I had deactivated my Gravity Suit, switching back to the Varia Suit, becoming orange again. Turns out I really do have the ability to equip whatever type of suit I want!
Since the attack was over, silence spread around the gunship. Not from the lack of sound per se, I could still hear my own gunship's engines whine while we're in the middle of hyperspace. The console blinked. This silence was a breath of relief, and that we had survived. A smile crept on my lips as I saw Adam's face appear again on the control panel.
"Good work, Adam.", I said.
[I was not expecting to see such a magnitude of a spacecraft, but the galaxy is a wide place. I have collected the data you requested for and already compiled everything into an encrypted file. All that is left now is to extract it.] Adam answered me. Hearing that, Master Plo nodded his head.
"We also managed to secure some datapads from my destroyed fleet, this should be enough to present General Skywalker a way forward to launch a counterattack on General Grievous. Thank you for your cooperation, Samus. Your assistance will be repaid in full. On behalf of the Republic, I will guarantee you that.", Master Plo said, causing me to spin my seat around to look at him. Now that I think about it, this might be the last time I encounter this guy, huh?
Master Plo unfortunately succumbs to Order 66 at the end of the Clone Wars. I quite like this guy amongst the Jedi. He's much more amicable and enjoyable to be around. I've started an initial list of potential figures to save once Order 66 happens, and I might add Master Plo to that list. If I recall, he gets shot down by his fellow clones while inside his personal craft? Sheesh, talk about unlucky. But after I heard Master Plo say that to me, the smile remained on my lips.
"Haha, it was nothing. If anything it should be her you should be directing your thanks to. I just complied with the mission.", I suddenly said, pointing my finger in the opposite direction, toward the door of the cockpit. It hissed open, and I soon saw a Togruta girl sporting reddish-orange skin suddenly appear before us. A big smile was on her face as she quite literally tackled Master Plo.
"I knew you wouldn't die out there, Master Plo. It is unfortunate seeing your fleet destroyed, but we were able to walk away from that with a ray of hope. I will report this to Master right away once we arrive at his fleet.", Ahsoka happily said, greeting Master Plo. Since we were no longer in imminent danger, she felt a big wave of emotion swell up inside her. I saw this nearby, and I grinned.
"I thought Jedi like yourselves aren't supposed to form attachments.", I said, half-jokingly.
"I've known Little 'Soka since she was a small child. You needn't worry about that part, Samus. I've been impartial to Ahsoka's training ever since she became an initiate back at the Temple.", Master Plo answered with confidence. I can see that happening. He brought Ahsoka to the Jedi Temple to become a Jedi, but not once did he show favoritism to her. She was treated the same as all the other younglings. It's still a gray area in my opinion. All of that will crumble into tiny bits and pieces once the Jedi Temple and its beliefs fall apart during the Empire's reign.
Seeing this heartfelt reunion, I saw Ahsoka stick her tongue out at me, catching me off-guard.
"Can't I feel happy seeing Master Plo still alive?", Ahsoka retorted. After that, she parted from her hug.
"It is during times like these you let your emotions cloud you, Ahsoka. You might have become a Padawan, but you are still far from becoming a Jedi Master. I fear General Skywalker will have quite the road ahead of him while he continues to teach you.", Master Plo replied, gently shaking his head back and forth.
"Yeah well, Master hasn't exactly been the best teacher, seeing as he often likes to do his own thing to get the results he wants. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy his combat teachings. He always knows how to identify my weak points in a blink of an eye. But that's beside the point.", Ahsoka said, only to rummage through her clothing. "Here, this is for you, Samus. It sounds like we'll be parting ways after you deliver us back to the Republic. This is my personal holopad. In case you ever feel like landing another job with us, this will give you a direct line to speak with Master.", Ahsoka said, tossing a holopad my way.
"Are you sure you should be giving this to me? When we first met, it sounded like you hated my guts.", I replied, surprised to see Ahsoka do this.
"I told you. I don't trust people so easily. Giving you one of my holopads is a sign of that trust. Do not misuse it, Samus.", Ahsoka said, sporting a serious look in her eyes now.
"Are you sure you don't want to return with us back to the Republic after you've collected your reward? Someone of your caliber will land work rather easily, plus we could always use instructors from a third person perspective. We have our own military drills in place, but we leave the window of opportunity open for those who want to expand on that.", Master Plo suggested.
"Master Plo is right. You've shown your skill. I'm sure the Republic will welcome you with warm arms, Samus.", Ahsoka also said, chiming in. A look of anticipation appeared in her eyes.
A tempting offer. It really was. But to that, I shook my helmet back and forth.
"I do appreciate the offer, I really do. You're just another client to me. We'll see if our paths cross again after this. I have a more pressing matter to attend to.", I said, denying their offer to join the Republic.
Perhaps it will happen in the future, but not now. I know the Republic is on a ticking time clock. The Empire will sweep them under a rug and right underneath their noses. I do know the plot, and could intervene at certain points, but am I that gung-ho to change the plot? I'm just trying to live my life here, and potentially form some connections with related characters.
"That's a shame. I'm sure General Skywalker will give you a similar proposal.", Master Plo said.
"Well that's good, as I don't plan to meet him. Tell him I give my regards, oh and take this.", I said, tossing a datapad toward Ahsoka. "That has all the data you need. Hopefully you all can take that flagship down.", I continued, passing the datapad that was hooked into Adam's console. Turns out the wiring setup was similar, and Adam could extract and encrypt it onto the datapad I just tossed to Ahsoka. I saw her blink her eyes at me.
"You're not going to report to Master? Don't you need your payment?", Ahsoka questioned, confused. Well, it might end up me meeting Anakin Skywalker again either way, since we are returning to his fleet.
"I'll leave the reporting part to you guys. Of course, I'll still be there to collect that payment. I don't need to provide a full-blown report.", I said, shrugging my shoulders. It was then the door to the cockpit hissed again, showing three figures in our view. It was Commander Wolffe and the two clones who came out of the healing pods. They healed up quite nicely during the operation. I could see gratitude in their eyes.