Milisen peered down. Below lay a dim room emitting a foul stench.
For some reason, Milisen felt a surge of revulsion.
"What is this place?"
Kexi jumped down first. "This is where the Dead Hand keeps their prisoners."
"Oh." Milisen followed close behind, jumping down as well.
Surrounding them were cells cast from alloy. The cell doors only had a small opening in the center that could be unlatched to pass things through—the slot used for delivering meals to the prisoners.
After landing, Kexi walked straight toward the interior. Milisen didn't ask why; she simply looked around curiously and followed him.
Finally, Kexi stopped in front of a cell door. He slid open the feeding slot, took several tubes of nutrient paste from his pocket, and shoved them inside.
"Kexi!" As Milisen approached, she heard a voice from inside.
There were three children, just as dirty as Kexi, currently eating the nutrient paste he had passed to them.
"They are my friends: Meike, Little Aris, and Eliz," Kexi said calmly, though the gaze he directed inside was ice-cold. "They were caught by the Dead Hand. I've been trying to find a way to get them out, but..."
Milisen looked at the three children inside. They were even younger than her and emaciated. Even back when she was in the lab, she could at least eat her fill!
"We're getting them out!" Milisen said, her eyes filling with determination.
"Shh! Keep it down. There are Dead Hand guards at the entrance." Kexi hurriedly looked around upon hearing Milisen's outburst.
"We don't have the key. I've tried many times with these doors, but I've never been able to open them!" Kexi whispered to Milisen after confirming they hadn't been spotted.
Milisen revealed a confident smile. "Leave it to me. I have this!"
Kexi watched as Milisen pulled an exquisite cylinder from beneath her robe. It looked incredibly luxurious; in his experience, only the wealthiest people could own such things.
"What is that?" Kexi asked.
"It's a lightsaber. This alloy is nothing to it!" Milisen took a few steps back, preparing to activate the weapon. "Tell your friends to stand back."
Kexi did so immediately, then asked again, "Won't it make a lot of noise?"
Milisen paused; she hadn't considered that problem.
"We'll find out when we try!" Without further hesitation, she activated the blue blade. She thrust the tip, which carried a hint of crimson, directly into the cell door.
The blade emitted a slightly piercing hum as the alloy door melted and was sliced open as easily as butter.
Kexi grew anxious; the sound was definitely loud enough for people outside to hear. If they were discovered, they would have to leave immediately! But if he could get his friends out, it was worth the risk!
Soon, Milisen completed a circular cut. She reached out her right hand and made a pulling motion in the air. The alloy plate fell outward with a clatter.
"The door's open!" the three children inside exclaimed in surprise. However, they were very weak and could only struggle to stand, supporting each other as they shuffled out.
The sound of the cutting hadn't been noticed, but the sound of the steel plate hitting the floor could no longer be concealed.
The loud clang alerted all the surrounding prisoners. They stood up and pressed against the windows of their cell doors to look out. Seeing a jailbreak in progress, they all grew excited.
"Kid, get me out too! I'll give you ten thousand credits!"
"Save me first! I'm..."
But all the commotion came to an abrupt halt as the outermost blast door opened.
Blinding light flooded in from the doorway. Kexi squinted his eyes as he helped the last child, Eliz, out of the cell.
Seeing this, Milisen reactivated her lightsaber and dashed toward the entrance. The moment a corpulent Gamorrean walked in, she sliced through his thick layers of fat with the lightsaber. He only had time to let out a single cry of pain before collapsing to the ground.
Kexi was startled—Milisen was so bold! But there was no time for shock.
Ignoring the shouts from the surrounding cells, his mind focused on only one thing: getting his friends out!
Reaching the opening they had descended from, Kexi skillfully dragged a crate over from nearby and told the three, "Climb up, quick!"
Milisen dared not relax her vigilance and remained guarding the main entrance.
Sure enough, the commotion had been noticed by the Dead Hand members. Another Gamorrean ran to the doorway, the first thing he saw being his companion's corpse.
The Gamorrean raised his pig-like snout and charged straight in, but Milisen had been waiting for him.
This little girl had never been the soft-hearted type. On the contrary, having been tainted by the dark side of the Force, she even enjoyed the thrill of combat.
It was just like her love for lightsabers and her passion for weaponry.
The blue blade sliced through the Gamorrean's body without resistance, easily cleaving him in two. The smell of blood and seared flesh assaulted Milisen's nostrils, but she didn't retreat a single step.
Milisen raised her hand and used the Force to pull the corpse from the doorway into the room. With the obstruction gone, the blast door automatically slid shut.
"Milisen!" Kexi shouted anxiously from behind.
"Yeah!" Responding, Milisen ran lightly toward the back. She hopped onto the crate in two steps, leaped up, grabbed the edge of the hole in the roof, and flipped herself through.
"Run!" The blast door below was opening again. Milisen urged the four children.
"Follow me! If you follow me, we won't be spotted!" A look of joy appeared on Kexi's dirty face.
The group quickly fled the rooftop and reached a secluded corner.
"You take them and go," Milisen said suddenly. "I'm staying here."
Kexi suddenly realized—right, Milisen had intended to come here all along; saving his friends was just something she did along the way.
"But we've been discovered. It'll be very dangerous!" Kexi wanted Milisen to leave with them. He knew the power and cruelty of the Dead Hand too well. Even though Milisen possessed unexpected strength and a powerful weapon, what if something went wrong?
"Can you get them out safely?" Milisen asked in return.
"I... I can." Looking at Milisen's eyes, Kexi knew there was no need to persuade her further.
"Good. Protect them well." With that, Milisen took off the 'Bat Backpack' and handed it to Kexi, quickly explaining how to use it, and also left him her blaster pistol. Once done, she headed back the way they came.
Watching Milisen's retreating figure, Kexi gripped the blaster pistol tightly, then turned and led the three children away.
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