>>5519669>>5519670>>5519700>>5519716>>5519749>>5519757>>5519776>>5519788>>5519835>>5519845>>5519852>>5519874>>5519889>>5519916>>5519968>>5519950>>5520026>>5520083>>5520536Telling them that Vader is Skywalker would only complicate things. Ma’kis and Sia-Lan wouldn’t know him, but they would know enough about him to be caught off-guard. And the last thing that you need complicating your escape is that niggling distraction burning a hole in the back of their minds.
“…Sia-Lan’s right,” you say firmly, resolutely, and match their expectant gazes. “We owe it to our brothers and sisters to warn them about Potkin’s folly.”
Ma’kis doesn’t look too conflicted. He merely sighs, and nods firmly. “Very well. What’s the plan?”
“Get to the mines as quick and fast as possible. Grab whoever’s willing to listen and make a break for my ship-”
“Wait a moment,” interjects Sia-Lan, paling as if she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. “Swan and Master Choi will only be arriving tomorrow! Same as Vader and the Empire!”
The Nikto curses. “Dammit, she’s right. We don’t have any way to warn them…no, we do! Potkin has all of the conclave’s comm info. We could send them a warning to stay away from Kessel!”
…oh, this is going to be cutting it very, very close…
“…we’ll burn that bridge when we get there,” you reassure her in a tone that you don’t nearly believe yourself. “But we’ll deal with the assembled first. Here’s the plan…”
The speeder bike out of the <span class="mu-i">Albatross</span> can nominally seat two riders. There are three of you, thus requiring the purchase of a landspeeder. Something relatively inexpensive, but not so cheap that it’ll fall apart within a handful of hours.
Your Republic Credits are still good enough to rent one modestly priced, a four-seater vehicle that’ll come very close to matching the top speed of the bike. At the bare minimum, you’ll be able to evacuate three Jedi – two in the speeder with Sia-Lan and Ma’kis, one hanging on your back. The fact that there are four Jedi already assembled goes unspoken, with the grim acceptance that it would take a miracle to dissuade Potkin from her crusade.
“It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had to drive one of these,” grouses Sia-Lan as she settles into the cockpit. Her hands move slowly, but surely as she gets a feel for the vehicle and its capabilities. “My usual pilot didn’t trust anyone in our group to drive.”
Ma’kis grunts, settling in the adjacent seat. “It should just be a straight line, according to the map.”
“You might have to make a few turns,” you answer, gesturing vaguely to the walls of Kessendra. “There’s a bunch of landfills or depleted quarries that stretch on for kilometers at a time. I wouldn't recommend taking the speeder into them, even if it meant shaving minutes off our travel time."
(cont.)
