With alarms blaring and blaster fire echoing down the halls, we didn't even make it to the end of the corridor before meeting another group of Imperials, this time four stormtroopers and a small handful of officers in uniform. We almost crashed into each other as we crossed a three-way intersection of halls, sprinting around the corner, trying to find the exit. Ahsoka had her sabers up and cutting before anyone else could fire a shot, while Vaz and Julus were next, pulling their pistols and cutting down the rest. It was another quick fight, but every pause was another second that the Imperials had to form a defense.

  Momentum was our friend here, but that could only carry us so far.

  "We need to pick up the pace, guys," I said, casting Conjure Mage, the construct falling into position in the middle of the group, ready to throw around magic. "We are on a clock, and it's running quick."

  We pushed through the building, doing our best to run and gun rather than stop, seek cover, and return fire every time we spotted someone. It didn't matter that we had been using beskar armor for several months, the instinct to seek cover from blaster fire rather than run right through it, was hard to ignore.

  Still, we managed to at least partially succeed, our charge through the building picking up momentum until we finally reached the front entrance. I quickly took down a pair of turrets with lightning, while the rest of the crew cut down a dozen stormtroopers and the few officers who fired at us rather than run. We barely took time to confirm everyone was there and ready to move before making our way to the doors.

  We stepped outside the building just in time to be greeted by the sound of TIE fighters screaming as they patrolled the skies, looking for incoming threats. Before we could even consider the issue of air support, a pair of rushed at us, dropping off an entire squad of troopers while their weapon turrets spun to target us.

  "Back in the building!" I called out, all of us rushing back into the interior as the high-power turrets blew chunks out of the duracrete building and the ground by our feet.

  We barely managed to make it inside before the entrance door was wrecked, blown off its frame, and scattered along the interior, barely missing Ttania and Vaz in the process.

  Once we were back inside, I reached back around my utility belt, pulling off one of three grenades. I gestured with the explosive, the rest of my crew reaching to their belts as well. Vaz was the only one who didn't, instead unslinging her.

  Rather than just stepping out, most of us ran at the door, boosting through the mangled doorway with our repulsor packs. As we moved, avoiding a barrage of heavy laser fire, we threw our heavy grenades, the handheld explosives rolling and tumbling.

  A cacophony of explosions rocked the vehicles, one of them going up in a massive explosion. The other was heavily damaged, with chunks of its armor torn out. For a moment, I didn't think we had killed it, though, until its repulsors cut out, and it slammed into the ground.

  Meanwhile, Vaz stepped out of the doorway, using our attack as cover. She opened fire with her powerful weapon, laying down a wave of covering fire and killing half of the stormtroopers herself. Any remaining Imperial forces, at least the ones not caught up in the explosions, were quickly taken down as we moved, heading North, hopefully toward building B-34X.

  We rushed across the open ground, eyes on the sky, specifically taking cover and hiding from the half dozen TIE fighters crisscrossing the base's airspace. I did not doubt for a second that they would happily open fire on us no matter what friendly collateral damage it would incur. Staying out of sight of them was the best way to avoid them.

  Our speed was quick, but not quick enough, as we soon ran into another patrol, this one consisting of smaller, thankfully unarmed,. In fact, it looked more like a commandeered officer transport than one meant to be brought into a combat zone, with a simple flat platform making up the majority of the vehicle, with knee-high barriers on each side and a forward sort of bulge in the front. As the dozen or so stormtroopers opened fire, some of them hopping off the vehicles, I called out to my crew.

  "Don't hit the speeders!" I shouted, switching from lightning to ice, hurling a pair of Icy Spears at the stormtroopers.

  Immediately, my crew opened fire, but rather than a barrage of blaster bolts, it was a much more precise volley, each one carefully aimed, with almost every shot slamming into their target. I had enough time to land another double round of Icy Spear, nearly draining my mana completely, before the last stormtrooper fell, a spear of frozen magic jutting from his chest, punching through to the other side.

  "Everyone, hop on!" I called out, quickly climbing up into the closest speeder.

  It took a second for everyone to pile on, Julus and Vaz both straddling over the front end to make more room. It took us another few seconds to realize there were no flight controls, as the vehicle was controlled by a droid, and we did not have the proper access commands.

  Thankfully, Racer was up to the challenge, quickly gaining access to the speeder's systems. After rather brutally frying the pilot droid with some sort of power surge, he took control of the craft. With a loud whistle of excitement, he punched it, and we were suddenly making a lot more progress.

  Despite our new speed, we still ran into four more patrols, all hunting for us. With our new ride, however, we blew past the ones on foot, and since the speeder was relatively solid ground, I could cast magic from the back like a turret. Unbound Freezing took a moment to cast, but the thick beam of frozen energy smashed the viewports of any chasing speeders, filling their speeders with ice, causing their repulsors to fail or for their pilots to steer them off into nearby buildings.

  I even managed to get one speeder to explode in a fireball with the high-level ice spell. The spell punched through the front cabin viewport, getting deep inside the vehicle, but I must have frozen something important because moments later, it detonated. The explosion threw chunks of armor and stormtroopers left and right, the wreck slamming into the ground and tumbling. The crew cheered, and Racer whistled, continuing to pilot the speeder, pushing it to its limit.

  At that speed, it did not take long to reach our destination, even if we accidentally passed it the first time. The Imperial building naming convention was confusing, but thankfully, Nal noticed and directed us back. As we climbed off, Racer spent a few seconds extra on the speeder, programming it to fly off and crash into the next group of stormtroopers it saw, before using his repulsors to float off the back just before it zipped away.

  Now at the right location, we hurried to the door, ignoring the several technicians who pointed at us and pulled out their comms to report us. We no doubt had the attention of internal security by this point. There was no way they weren't tracking what building we entered.

  "Racer? Can you get us in?" I asked, taking cover along a pillar that ran up the building's exterior, peaking around it to study the door keeping us out.

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  Racer did a quick scan of the security system before letting out a sullen warble, instantly recognizable as defeat.

  "Says it would take too long," Nal translated. "Need plan B."

  "Alright, you heard him, Ahsoka," I said, stepping out of my girlfriend's way so she could step up to the door. "We need a way in. Keep it small, so it's easier to cover."

  She nodded, and with a series of cuts and marks, the security door into the building collapsed inwards, a small Force push helping it along. Immediately, a barrage of laser bolts sliced through the opening, forcing Ahsoka to block a handful before she could dive out of the way. While most of the bolts appeared to be handheld weapons, we could hear and see at least a few heavier weapons sending much thicker, more lethal bolts out as well.

  "Okay, unsurprisingly, they saw us coming. Ordinarily, I would say we walk around and find another entrance. But right now, we don't have that kind of time," I explained, biting my lip inside my helmet. "I'm going in first to draw their fire, then the rest of you can clear out as many as you can before coming in after me."

  "Boss, that's a hell of a risk," Tatnia said, sounding skeptical. "Are you sure-"

  "I'm the team's tank, which means this is my job," I said, cutting her off and shaking my head. "I can take the hits, just don't leave me hanging."

  They nodded, and I spent a few seconds casting Conjurer Armor and filling it to its max, before quickly casting Superior Ward. I took a couple of deep breaths, holding the barrier out in front of myself, before running and diving through the hole. Almost immediately, my ward was smashed to pieces by dozens of well-placed shots, the final nail being a shot from a high-powered blaster cannon that was hanging from the ceiling. Still, I was in, and my dive got me within rolling distance of the support pillar. My Conjured Armor took three more hits before I managed to roll and crawl to it, quickly standing behind the duracrete cylinder.

  By now, my team was returning fire, whittling down the entrenched forces that were stationed deeper in the lobby-esque area by the front entrance. With their attention split, I could also launch a few Fireballs and Chain Lighting spells into the larger groups, further knocking their hold loose. Finally, I managed to take down both of the heavy cannons with a pair of Thunderbolts, which allowed my people to come in without fear of our armor being overwhelmed.

  Once we finished clearing the foyer of the security building and had a few moments to think, it was clear that the troopers we were fighting were not standard stormtroopers. Their armor was black, not white, while their helmets were modified, and they weren't armed with standard Stormtrooper weapons.

  "Well, looks like the hung around," I said, kicking over one of them to get a better look. "We just took down... What, twelve of them? How many more do you think are waiting for us further in?"

  "No idea, but we need to keep our eyes peeled," Ahsoka said, concern evident in her voice. "These guys are tricky. They aren't above setting traps and using explosives."

  "Everyone got that?" I asked, looking around at everyone, getting various nods in response. "Alright, let's start looking for a way down. I'm not taking the elevator. No doubt it's a death trap."

  We explored the building's first floor, fighting and killing anyone who shot at us but generally letting the people who just ran go. I knew it was soft, but I didn't have blood cold enough to shoot someone in the back as they ran, even if they were Imperial bastards. Eventually, we found a terminal for Racer to hack into, which, after a few minutes of work, led us to a maintenance access hatch in the far corner of the building. Ahsoka had to slice through the door to get us into the access room, then cut through the lock of the hatch, but once it was open, we quickly dropped down, crawling into the maintenance shaft.

  It was tight, just tall enough for Racer to wheel through, while the rest of us had to crouch or even walk on our hands and knees. Still, with Racer leading us, we quickly found another shaft down, and then another… and then another. We dropped a total of five floors before we finally busted open another maintenance shaft and dropped out into an empty corridor. It was significantly smaller than the hallways on the first floor, these ones clearly built with a more utilitarian mindset, a crazy concept considering the "normal" corridors were something like eighty percent grey.

  "Which way?" Nal asked, and I quickly cast Clairvoyance, the version that created a path along the ground.

  "Follow me," I responded, leading the charge down the hall, everyone following behind.

  We crossed three more hallways before skidding to a stop and jumping backward just as a pair of tore up the next one, blowing chunks and slagging panels along the wall, floor, and ceiling.

  "Jesus, these things are annoying," I said, shaking my head. "I dive past, Nal, Tatnia, you take a follow-up shot?"

  Both of them nodded, and after quickly casting my extra armor and creating a Superior Ward, I dove out from behind the corner. Immediately, just as before, the Storm commandos opened fire, quickly dropping my ward. I rolled and crawled to the other side of the hall, behind some meager cover, as my team opened fire around their corner, dropping three troopers at once. I turned, absorbing a few more hits from normal blasters to fire a Chain Lighting, causing one of the E-webs to explode. The returning blaster fire faltered, meaning we could lean out further and pick off the rest, managing to clear the hall completely in only a few more seconds.

  Once the smoke had died down and the twisted wreck of the E-web was done sparking, we pushed to the hallway they had been guarding. A quick look around the area they were holding told us exactly why they were. This was the entrance into the detention center proper, and they no doubt predicted what we were after.

  The interior of the detention center filled me with a deep sense of deja vu, looking very similar to the where Princess Leia was held and later rescued from.

  "Vaz, Julus, and Nal set up a defensive position just inside the room. We are going to have company at some point," I said, shaking my head. "Ahsoka, Tatnia, head down those two corridors. Make sure the next few rooms are clear and that no one is waiting to catch us off guard. Be careful of traps."

  My crew moved with just a few nods, three of them dragging bodies and getting ready to repel engagements while the other two headed into the detention center, weapons up and ready for trouble. I took a moment to admire how badass they were before turning to Racer.

  "Alright, buddy, I need you to slice into their systems and tell me where our pilots are," I said, gesturing to the center consoles. "Think you can do that for me?"

  Racer let out a whistle and rolled forward, quickly getting into position and sliding his scomp connection toll into the receiver. While he worked, I turned to the rest of my group, helping them prepare for trouble.