CT-312 reached into the back pouch of her belt. Gloved fingers brushing of the cold metal
sphere. A capture device from a prior job. The instructions had been simple enough: Weaken the target, throw the sphere, and let it do the rest. “
Simple”. It couldn’t be that easy. Could it? That kind of thought never survived long in her line of work. Hurling the sphere toward the Spice Spider that was pinned between two battle droids.
Dink. It bounced off the creature’s carapace. Dropped, rolled twice, and came to a pitiful stop near her boot. The spider twitched once and went still.
A small sigh escaped her helmet. CT-312’s voice came low, more breath than sound.
"Of fucking course." Crouching down, she picked up the sphere, and shook her head faintly.
Nothing’s ever that simple. The comm crackled in her ear.
"Enough for a shabla lifetime, I hope," he responded before raising
CT-312
on comms,
"Got about eight angry bugs for you, that enough?"
"That's plenty." The Scout was right to have Ruus on this mission. He and his team were fast and efficient. Just like she expected.
"Think you still got some space to grab some eggs? Once we've got them and the containers, we're done. I'll be checking the depot, going to load up the spice containers." At this rate they’d be done with the mission in no time.
CT-312 gripped the capture device tighter in her hand. Jaw tightening. Annoyance grew. With a short growl under her breath, she hurled it again. Harder this time with enough
force. It struck the spider square in the thorax. This time, the device flared open. A vacuum pulse snapped the air around it. Pulling the thrashing spider inward before the casing sealed shut with a sharp
clack. The ball hit the ground. Rocking back and forth before falling still. CT-312 exhaled, a brief flicker of relief.
The battle droids fell in line beside her as she walked over to retrieve the capture sphere. Placing it away in the back pouch. She’d make a mental note, mentioning to the Princess (
Quinn Varanin
) that the spheres given were perhaps defective. A shriek tore through the air. CT-312’s attention snapped to the sound.
Another spider pinned by the two Pred-X. Without hesitation, she pulled out a second sphere. Throwing it with the same cold precision and feeling. Another burst of light. Another spider gone. The ball hitting the ground with a dull bounce, rocking before settling.
As she crouched to collect the sphere, something caught her eye. A glimmer off to the side. Visor turned towards the direction. Rows of metallic barrels that were scattered by the wall. A mound of eggs pulsed faintly, covered in slime and spice silk. One stood out. Larger. Glossy. The color was deeper than the rest, tinged with a black-blue sheen. CT-312 scanned it with her visor.
[ BARCA ]
[ Analysis: Broodmother Egg ]
Of course it was.
The second pack of battle droids tore through the lingering spiders nearby. Servos whining as metal claws and jaws ripped carapaces apart. Acid hissed against their armor as CT-312 advanced towards the cluster. Her boots squelched in the slime. Crouching by the Broodmother Egg. Carefully, she lifted it. Carrying it back to the massive War-X droid that stood patiently. Securing it in a containment pod strapped to its flank.
She began making her way to the depot storage. To speed things along, CT-312 took out a small
splicer droid. Placing it on one of the Pred-X’s chassis.
“Go.” she ordered.
“Find the control HUB.” The two Pred-X’s followed the command. Pivoting away towards the main factory. Tearing through any spiders that tried to stop them. The comm cackled again.
activated the nets.
Almost. Of the four spiders, only two twitched, stunned. The other two weren't moving, positively identified by their battlenet fused sensors as being quite dead. Oh well, six had to be enough,
right? "Make that six," he quickly corrected over comms to
CT-312
.
Pausing mid-stride. A brow raised beneath the visor. Slightly wondering what happened to the
one. No matter.
“Perfect.” Replying back,
“That evens things out. Makes eight total.”
CT-312’s rifle came up as she continued her advancement toward the depot. Muzzle sweeping from shadow to shadow. Each burst she fired found a mark. Spice Spiders lurched and collapsed as their legs were blown out. The War-X loomed beside her. Using its claws to crush the wounded creatures or its jaws, snapping through chitin and limb with a wet crunch. Finishing it off.
Between the rhythm of her rifle bursts and the War-X's heavy footfalls, the storm and shrieking began to blur into one constant roar. CT-312 adjusted her grip, scanning for targets. Muttering to herself,
“Almost there.”