[The Exchange]Prime Candidate

[Aaron Corinth]

Mack paced the floor of the room she had procured in the station. The latest mission log had been updated and she had elected to take on an assassination. The target was on Rodia and apparently was standing in the way of the company's business. The target was to be eliminated and another more willing candidate had already stepped up to take his place. She pondered how she would perform the kill and how she would get to the planet. I think a simple sniper shot would work for this guy, she thought glancing at the rifle in the corner. However, blades can never be ruled out, she thought glancing down at the vibroknives stowed on her belt.

She would be venturing alone this time and thus would be taking one of the company fighters. Of course the transponder would be scrambled and nobody would know its origin. She climbed aboard the old Bulbullab, stashing her rifle configured in its sniping form in the storage compartment beside her, and sealed the cockpit. She punched in the coordinates and watched the dots turn into the familiar blur of hyperspace.

After several hours of hyperspace travel, the space diverted back to the dots of stars returning to their locations. She glanced up at the green planet approaching, it looked to be mostly forest. She looked down at her clothes, she had chosen sage green bdu pants with her sage green button up shirt concealing her new prized pistols and vibroknives. A handy feature in the particular shirt was that it had interior pockets which she knew her rifle would fit into, broken down of course, which she planned to do. She did not need to draw unnecessary attention to herself, especially on an alien planet such as the one she was headed to.

She reached the atmosphere and called the spaceport for clearance to land, "Queen B to Equator City Command, requesting clearance to land."

The commlink crackled to life almost immediately. "Equator City Command to Queen B, permission granted, docking bay B3," the voice with a strong rodian accent replied.

She followed the directions, passing through the protective bubble dome, and landed in the requested docking bay. She was met almost immediately with a security detail to inspect the ship and discover her intentions. The group combed through her ship finding nothing illegal on board and they checked her weapons insuring they were legal to use on the planet. After being cleared and paying a "nominal" maintenance and fuel fee she sealed the ship and walked towards the main city.

The architecture was somewhat strange as she passed through the first few blocks of the city's residential area. She hailed a taxi and headed deeper into the city, towards the big government buildings and sights she may have need of later. She found the tallest building, the Rodian Museum of Space History, paid admission and hiked to the very top of the twelve story building. From the location she could see just about the entire protected bubble dome area. She ticked the possible mark as she walked around the exhibits for a short time before heading back out of the building.

She scouted several other buildings in the area, finding locations that would work if the primary site did not. Now, it was time to track down the politician. She approached a terminal just off the street and gathered her datapad and slicing kit and quickly started working on getting access to the planetary database. She managed to access the general white pages of the planet and found the man's home and work street addresses as well as holonet numbers. She attempted to search further and find something, anything else that could help her, but found that the planetary firewall and security force monitored traffic closely. She quickly disconnected, pocketing her equipment as a routine patrol approached the area.

She walked away headed in the direction of what was listed as the man's work address as it happened to be but a few blocks away. The building appeared to be a standard office building, duracrete and plastisteel construction with little security. It looked like maybe a single security guard at the desk. She entered the building glancing around the lobby as she did so. This would be easy to shut down if anything were to be discovered, she thought. She headed upstairs following the plates bearing her target's name. She reached the fourth floor where the man's office was located and found it to be empty. She tried the door and it swung open freely. She couldn't believe her luck. She stepped into the office, close to the window and glanced out. The building she was hoping to use as her primary nest appeared to be about 200 meters away, a piece of cake shot for her to hit. She hoped it would happen that easy.

She quickly exited the office hoping her entrance had not been detected. She reached the lobby again and everyone seemed at ease, but as always she was on edge, looks can be deceiving. She looked up the home address on a nearby map and found it was far into the outskirts. It would be a long shot from her primary nest. The third nest she had scouted, the top of a six story parking structure, though not as well covered would be much closer. She pondered what was to happen as she hailed a taxi and headed towards the home address. She walked the length of the street analyzing the structures and potential weaknesses. It appeared she could cut the power to the structure rather easily and use the local structures to get to the house undetected. It was simply a matter of the house's security she had to be concerned with, which she could not scout at the moment.

She hailed another taxi and headed back into town. She located the local branch of the company and introduced herself. They showed her to a middle of the road hotel room, not terribly far from the nests she had scouted and the window faced the direction of her target's office. The building would be perfect to monitor the situation. However, for the time being, she needed rest for the long days to come. She collapsed on the bed falling asleep almost instantly.

 

[Richter]

Jako Woc paced his home office going over a speech for his next event.

"Many of you have grown tired of the old politics..." he begins reading from his well used data slate, "... Politicians promising to enrich your lives and your family but all the while dipping their hands deeper into your pocket. And why is this, I ask you!" raising his hand, motioning to an invisible crowd. "It is because of the corruption and greed of those in power currently! They pay homage to the ideals of democracy and freedom but all the while taking bribes from those who prey upon your children and livelihoods. It is up to us to send a clear message; with one voice, as one people on election day that we will no longer stand by idly while we are being bled dry by protection fees and rampant crime going on in our fair cities!" finishing this section of the speech with gusto, a smile as he looks over the crowd that is cheering him on in his mind. A slow clap came from the doorway, breaking the silence.

"Brilliant speech dear. But come to dinner. You can't keep your passions up on an empty stomach." his wife admonishes as she takes Jako's hand leading him out of his office.

"I know, I know... But the speech is coming in a few days and its not even finished. I'm just getting nervous. I need to perfect this speech, the people deserve that much at least. Plus, I can't let down all of my supporters who have given their all to my campaign over all these months." replying. They both sat down, eating dinner making conversation that Jako was not truly paying attention to. He was busy going over his coming speech.

My people, the breath in my lungs and the strength in my arm, I beg of you for the time to fulfill your wishes of honesty. To stand up against the Vine beasts at our door, to expose the corruption and avarice of the system as it stands. Only together we can cleanse our city of the filth and muck that threatens to drown us! not entirely happy with how it sounded. Something more is needed, something provocative and stirring. Only then would he really be able to fulfill the mandate given to him by the people and his Ancestors.

---

In his campaign offices staffers worked near tirelessly crafting sounds bytes and holo-messeges that would be spread across the city on the day of the speech. A slight female Rodian bursting into the office, holding a data bad aloft, smiling as broadly as she could.

"We did it!" she shouts, "We did it! We've eclipsed the front runner!" A cheer arose from the staffers, re-energizing them with a vigor that could only be described as a fervor brought on my purity of purpose and passion for change.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

She awoke several hours later feeling well rested, well at least as well as could be expected in a hotel bed. She grabbed her binoculars and scanned over the target's office. It appeared that a large group of people were in the area. They appeared to be...celebrating she gauged based on the reactions of people and the goodies being handed out. She shook her head wondering idly what they were celebrating.

She turned back to her room and walked to the phone. She ordered breakfast from room service and notified the local company the job would be done within the week. Her breakfast arrived and she shoveled down the food before heading back out to scout once again. However, she went by the house first this time. It appeared that it was empty. She followed the plan she had created to get in the day before and sneaked close to one of the other houses and entered into the target's backyard.

The yard was devoid of pets and the large windows provided a rather good view of each of the rooms. She hooked her datapad up to a port she found near the back door. She disabled the security system and coded the back door to open. She entered the residence walking slowly through the rooms. It appeared her target had good taste. She found her target's office near the back door and placed a small listening device hidden inside the light fixture. She insured nothing looked disturbed and left out the backdoor recoding the door to lock and the security system to reactivate.

A short while later she was back at the hotel. Her target was missing from his office and she hadn't heard anything from the home bug. She wondered where the man was. However, there would be time for that. It would be dangerous to re-enter the man's office after visiting the day before. She knew security had seen her, it was time to go get her rifle.

She returned to the landing pad in the spaceport disassembled the rifle and stowed it inside the sage green coat hidden from view. She headed to the parking garage near the man's home to set up. She climbed the stairs to the top of the six story structure. She reassembled the rifle with the lengthened barrel and placed the ten round magazine and loaded a round into the chamber. The maximum range of the rifle was 550 meters and the potential shot was just over 100 meters from the structure to the target's residence, well within range.

She dialed the optic in to the desired zero range and laid down for increased accuracy aimed in the direction of the target's house. She looked through the optic, carefully watching the comings and goings. The man had apparently not made it home yet. She spotted his wife preparing dinner in the kitchen. Where the hell is this guy, she thought. Several hours passed and the man finally arrived back at his residence. She followed his motions exiting the car and headed towards the front door. The door opened and he was dragged inside. She placed the earpiece monitoring the bug inside the house back in her ear in time to hear the yelling, "...don't care what you have to do. I've had your dinner prepared for hours, and now its cold. You march yourself in there and eat with me."

She could just barely make out the dining room but did not have a clear shot at the target. She watched for quite some time as the night went on. The light in the office remained on and she was about sick of hearing the same campaign speech over and over. Just the speech was beginning to make her want to walk up and stab the guy tonight whether she got caught or not. She sighed, that would not be good for business. She stood, dismantled the rifle once again and headed down the stairs. She wound her way towards the man's residence, spotting the care he had used to get home. She was thankful the company had arranged for the electronic devices she had. She bent down and stuck a tracking beacon under the trim of the repulsor lift well. Unless scanned, the tracker would not be found.

She made her way back to the hotel and insured the tracking beacon was picking up, which it was. She ordered her room service once again shoveling down a quick meal before going to sleep.

 

[Richter]

Days later Jako Woc paced the waiting area inside listening to the crowd outside as they reached a fever pitch. Over the past three days he refined his speech and worked on it tirelessly. Tomorrow was the election and there was no time to work on it more.

"Jako, you're up. Take a deep breath and relax. You'll be fine." his Chief of Staff said to him as he entered the small waiting area. Nodding and smiling Jako replied.

"Thank you. Tomorrow we shall hear the voice of the people." Patting his long time friend on the shoulder before heading out into the clear Rodian day. Waving to the crowd as he walked up to the podium. Upon reaching it he looks down at the top of the podium, placing his hands on the outside corners before speaking. Just another speech. That's all it is, just another speech Jako. he calmed himself as he looked out into the crowd. The sea of his fellow Rodians filled him with pride, all of them cheering for him and the change he represented. The change he represented because of the will of the people demanded it. Letting his eyes adjust to the brightness of the outdoor before he began speaking created a small bit of tension in the crowd, quieting him.

"My people..." he began. "... the breath in my lungs, the strength in my arm." he said raising a fist high above his head. "My people, you those who I have begged for the time to enact your will, your desires, your righteous demands! My people... Our people are a glorious one, driven to succeed and thrive, with the passion and vigor to overcome any obstacle this galaxy puts in our way. We are bound by not only blood but our demand for the betterment of our lives, but not just our lives. The lives of our children, and our children's children we demand better." his eyes narrow as his voice changes from a hopeful inflection to a darker, more serious one, "But what have we received for all of our demands and raised voices?!" he asks rhetorically, hands spread wide out to the crowd in front of him. "I will tell you what you already know. We have been given corrupt politicians, a security force that has been bought and paid for, and an administration that has been set on grinding you down, set on grinding my people down! Now we have a change to cry out 'NO!' with one clear voice, louder than those in the halls and towers of power can possibly imagine! Together we shall cry out in such righteous fury and passion that those very people-" he points to the tall building behind him that was the primary building for the current administration, "-who have sought to destroy us will cry out in such terror and agony that generations just unborn will cry out in anguish!" Taking a deep breath in, running a hand over his scalp. Flicking his hand downward quickly he throws off the excess oil on his hand that transferred from this scalp.

"Those same people that you today stand in defiance of, standing here making them terrified in their gilded prisons and golden shackles rattling like small children, wish to destroy you! They wish to destroy you, my people. My people who I willingly throw myself upon the alter of sacrifice. Sons and Daughters of Rodia, do not let them-" pointing against the tower behind him. "-divide you as they sought to do! Do not let them frighten you with the politics of fear! Be strong my people, my glorious people. Now, do not illuisions my people, the fight has just begun! But be confidant that this battle will be won. They will attempt to break us, throw us back into the mud and gutter where they wish to keep us. Those who have tried to oppress us will learn the painful lesson that Rodia and her Rodian children teach all those who seek to destroy us!" The crowd was silent, waiting for Jako to continue with a smile, "And that lesson is that the Sons of Daughters of Rodia will never be conquered, will never be shunt and oppressed on their own planet! Our people will stand strong and free. All those who will seek to deny us will destroyed by our righteous fury! A fury that will not be denied, will not be stopped, and is blessed by the blessed light of our ancestors!" he finished his statement both hands balled into fists, slamming onto the podium.

The crowd cheered as they never cheered before. One moment... before I continue. he thought catching his breath, watching the crowd respond to his rhetoric.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

The cheering was what had awoken her. The sheer noise from the city square not two blocks away. She sat straight up both pistols raised in front of her. Her brow covered in sweat and hair beginning to mat to her head, she shook her head. It had been a dream and the noise was not in the room. The cold sweat covered her entire body as she stood. She jumped in the refresher letting the water run over her head and down her body. It was one of the few times of release the woman had. She felt the knots in her shoulder. She couldn't believe events from so long ago still bothered her. She stepped out of the refresher staring into the mirror. The reflection was not what she had envisioned. Her eyes were sunken, her cheekbones protruded angrily from the skin, and her face overall was quite thin. She needed something but what it was did not seem to come to mind as she remembered the mission at hand.

She gathered her equipment and a fresh set of the BDU clothing. She armed quickly stashing the rifle inside the coat and headed off. Every holoscreen she had seen was reporting the same news, a massive rally in support of the man Jako. She knew that it was happening near the campaign office and her nest would hopefully have a perfect view. She passed through the museum ticket booth and security without issue and climbed to the top floor. She made her way far into the non-public section and up to the balcony she had decided would be her sniping nest.

She barred the door, utilizing a single seam weld with an ultrahot handheld welder. The door was welded shut and she reassembled her rifle. She took care piecing together the rifle and insuring everything was in the proper position. She used the handheld welder to slice through a large piece of the rails that would ordinarily contain the people and placed it to the side. She tied her escape rope to the balcony section beside the one she had cut and prepared her harness to slide down. She laid down with the new open section giving her an excellent view of the proceedings below. The rally was about 180 M from her location and her target was standing at the podium.

She clicked the ear plugs into her ears as the somewhat enclosed balcony would cause the shot to echo being a slug thrower. The flash could not be seen however and she figured it would be a piece of cake mission. She looked through the optic at her target speaking. He flung what she figured to be sweat from his head as she watched. She zeroed in on the main body of her target and checked the range meter. It showed 184.3M, Wind 2 KMH West, Elevation 500M. She carefully aligned her shot to account for elevation and bullet drop as well as wind speed. The crowd had burst into cheering again and from her location she pulled the trigger. CLICK!

The firing pin fired into the empty chamber. She put her head down breathing heavily, she had forgotten to load a cartridge into the weapon. She placed the ammunition into the receiver and worked the action. She insured there was a cartridge within the chamber and she refocused on her target. The man would be hers this time.

 

[Richter]

"But, do not think I am advocating for violence!" Jako began again, the bluster and passion in his voice only growing stronger, "That is what they want, they want us to make true their opinions of us. That we are nothing more than the rabble that must be lead by the ear like children. No no, we are something far greater than that brothers and sisters. As we stand together, united and invincible for the common good they see what we want. They also see our strength!" Jako pauses looking up at the sky. His voice grows quieter.

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but we fear that we are all powerful. Let me tell you brothers and sisters, that is nothing to fear. As your light has shown on me it granted me the strength to give voice to your whispered dreams and righteous demands. As your light, as it grows ever brighter, reaches more of our home the shadows that the criminal scum cling to evaporate leaving nothing but a clean and safe world for you and your's!"

"We have grown tired of the old politics, he politics of fear and bribery. Politicians promising to enrich your lives and your family but all the while dipping their hands deeper into your pocket. And why is this, I ask you! It is because of the very people in the building behind me! They pay homage to the ideals of democracy and freedom but all the while taking bribes from those who prey upon your children and livelihoods. No more! I say no more fear for our children and loved ones. No more bought and paid for 'representatives' of the public. It is up to us to send a clear message; with one voice, as one people with one voice. Tomorrow, on election day cast a vote for freedom! Cast a vote for hope! Cast a vote for honesty and accountability! But most of all, cast a vote for our future. Because there is no future while the slime runs freely in our streets stealing our children's birth right!"

After finishing his speech Jako stepped out from behind the podium, dotted with drops of what passes for sweat from a Rodian, and walks to the front and center of the stage. Waving to the crowd as they cheered.

This will be the start of something wonderful. he thought as he took a bow.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Mack watched the man speak. He certainly had a way with the masses, she thought as the crowd erupted into cheers once again. The man had concluded his speech and walked to the middle of the stage. Her eye still focused on the optic, she directed the crosshair to center mass. The man bowed and returned to stand tall. Her finger gently squeezed the trigger. The slug arced off on the path in which she had directed. The flash and report of her rifle would give her position away.

The bullet away, it would be time to escape. She could hear the screams coming from the courtyard which she took as a positive hit. She leaped to her feet and quickly dismantled the rifle shoving it into the applicable pockets. She grabbed the rope and tied it in to the harness she had placed on her body earlier. She rappelled quickly down the side of the building headed for the ground. Two meters off the ground she cut the rope and landed lightly on her feet.

She ran, full blown sprint away from the building and the direction of the target. After making several blocks she slowed into a walk. She passed holoscreen after holoscreen that was flashing "BREAKING NEWS" and had only a picture of her target and the words "politician shot." She walked quickly back in the direction of the hotel. The spaceport would have too much activity to get out right now, especially with the rifle she had stashed in her coat. The hotel was somewhat devoid of activity, most of the patrons were gathered around holoscreens crying and hugging each other as she passed by. The man was apparently loved by a great deal of people, she thought as she returned to a different room with a different alias provided by the company. She entered and turned the holoscreen on to monitor how things were progressing and sat on the couch. The window faced opposite of the other room giving her a good view of the spaceport and trees beyond. She stared off into space listening to the holoscreen.

 

[Richter]

Jako's body was on the ground before the crowd hear the shot. The moments after were chaotic, punctuated with screams. The crowd that was just moments before full of passion and fervor turned into what could only described as a terrified mob. The streets that converged on the square were full of panicking civilians. Signs, posters, and the other various paraphernalia discarded as the civilians fled from the shooting. Jako clutched at his wound, bleeding out onto the stage behind him. His support staff swarmed onto the stage in an attempt to save the populist politician.

Breathing his last Jako reached out, clutching at the shirt of his chief of staff that kneelled over him. This staff was standing around looking down at Jako or each other in silence, crying.

"We win." Jako croaked, holding his Chief of Staff's shirt with a bloody hand. "We've won... don't you see? Don't be... sad..." he finally whispered, blood trickling out of his mouth. Finally his hand falls to the stage. Soon after news crews arrived on the scene, making a mad dash to the stage were the body and the shocked staff stood motionless and silent. Jako's former Chief of Staff sat on the stage, bloody hand print clearly visible. Quickly the first of many news crews set up in front of the stunned silent man.

"This is Lolo Kri reporting to you live from were populist candidate Jako Woc was just shot. Behind me you can see his Chief of Staff with a bloody hand print, presumably from Woc. It is unknown at this time if Jako Woc is dead or not." she moves to the Chief of Staff, shoving the microphone into his face. "Is Woc still alive? Why do you think this was done?" she asks seemingly without remorse. The Chief of Staff tilts his head slightly staring at the woman. After blinking a few times be took a sharp breath in.

"He's dead..." he murmurs. Directly after he buries his head into his hands, weeping openly. Without missing a beat Lolo Kri takes back the microphone and looks straight into the camera.

"Citizens of Rodia... It is official. Jako Woc is dead. The populist candidate that was known for taking a hard stance against organized crime and corruption is dead. He was fourty-three. He leaves behind a wife and two children." she says mournfully. In that moment when the news spread across the city, silence reigned. Just for a moment. Next it was shattered the only way silence can be.

Cries erupted from across the city, echoing off of the buildings. People huddled around holoscreens, shocked and angry in equal measure. Without a place to turn to, people slowly trickled back into the square they just fled from. Without a real purpose they just looked at each other. Jako's Chief of Staff looked up, tears still falling from his face.

"What?" he asked himself, wiping his face off. He stands to get a better view of the square. As more people shuffle in he stands behind the podium. Their eyes turn upwards to him, looking out over the crowd he sees mixture of sadness and anger.

"I'm not as eloquent of a speaker as Jako. I don't know if anyone is." he began, wish a shaky voice. "But we all know who did this and why, don't we? It was the criminals that Jako spoke out against. Apparently too loudly..." he wiped his face again. "You know what he said to me right before he joined his ancestors? 'We've won.' He said we won. And you know... I think we have. All this proves is that he was right about everything! And I think the only way to honor his memory and message is to make the change that he was talking about tomorrow on election day."

"Frack that!" a voice from the crowd yells. "You see what they are willing to do! We have to beat them at their own game! For Jako!" a round of cheers and 'For Jako!'s rise from the crowd as loud as ever. At the moment no one knew what was going to happen, but something would soon. And it would not be good.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Mack was watching the holoscreen in the room when the news reporter announced and confirmed the man's death. However, she realized that she had stabbed the hornet's nest and stomped on it based on what she could see from the room. There were crowds of angry people tearing through the city. Fires were started and the local police had joined the fray. Any non-rodians were being strung up as the group refused to believe a fellow rodian could have done such a thing. It would be terribly important for her not to be found. The hotel was a poor choice for that objective, but what choice did she have.

The power in the hotel went out as the holoscreen died with a buzz. Fear started to grip her as she knew the mobs were going to start combing every hotel and street near where the offense had happened. She should have headed straight to the spaceport when she had the chance. NO, she thought, this crowd will not get the best of me. I'm better equipped than any of these aliens. Unfortunately the barrel to convert the rifle into an assault rifle or close combat rifle were in the ship. I wish Kl'aal would have fixed my damn gun, she thought thinking back to the modifications she had asked him to make.

She left the rifle in place and drew the twin pistols from their holsters. She exited the room into the hallway. It appeared empty and she made her way to the stairs. They appeared mostly empty as well and she started the slow trek down 28 flights of stairs to the ground. She didn't have near enough rope to make it down the tall hotel. She would have to fight her way out if they had managed to find her location. She reached the ground floor, managing not to have run into anyone. The streets would be suicide, but what chance did she have. She had grabbed a black cloak from the hotel coat rack and headed off into the streets. Her general direction was the spaceport and she had to get there.

 

[Richter]

The security forces were doing their best to prevent the growing mobs from lynching non Rodians and destroying public property. The largest of the angry mobs were outside of the government's tower. The crowd was calling for blood; and more Rodians were joining in. Security forces were trying to keep the crowd back from storming the tower, but as more Rodians joined the mob it became harder and harder. This was only compounded by the fact that many of the Security Officers holding the line sympathized with Jako Woc, believing in his message and feeling much the way as the mob. While the situation was rapidly deteriorating around the tower, across the city was not fairing much better.

The space port was being swarmed but a much different sort of mob. Desperate non-Rodians were flocking there trying to escape the growing rabid mobs of Woc supporters. Checkpoints and other crowd control measures were forgotten or disregarded as the space port grew fuller and fuller with those fleeing the mobs. But, much to their dismay, an almost total lockdown of outbound ships was in effect. This was started to hopefully prevent whomever assassinated Jako Woc from leaving the planet. While most of the security forces have been called to most pressing areas of the city; government tower, hospitals, mass transit systems, and other more vital civil services, those who had remained posted outside the control tower and security office. This prevents the swarms of fearful people from forcing their way into the control tower to undo the lockdown. The shouts and cries echoed throughout the space port to almost deafening levels.

"We just need to hold out until the mobs subside! We'll make it, just hold the areas around the Control Tower entrance and the Security Office." The Security Chief shouted into the Comm network relaying his orders to the handful of remaining officers still at the space port. He paced the Security Office, nervously chewing on a small piece of plastic. He opens the door looking out over a sea of fearful aliens.

"Its going to be a long day Boss." a young Officer shouts to the Commanding Officer standing his post, blaster rifle armed.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

She passed scores of protestors as she headed in the direction of the spaceport. Most did not give her a second look as they assumed she was simply part of the group. Those that did give closer inspection met her gloved fist and she quickly headed away before anyone could suspect an issue. She reached the spaceport and to her dismay it was swarming with groups of people trying to get off planet. The majority were non-humans and the security guarding the spaceport looked disinterested.

She glanced around noting the control tower as well as the security around its perimeter. It appeared that the key to getting off the planet would be there, but first she would try to get to her ship to see if she could get things rolling. She sneaked through the crowd ending up near the small group of three security officers keeping the massive crowd at bay. She yelled, "Rodians," and pointed backwards as a few of the rioters started to head their direction. The non-humans pushed into the security and the Rodian security officers were trying to push back to stop the incoming rioters.

She used the opportunity to snake by and headed directly for her ship. She powered the ship up which started instantaneously and she scoured over the systems to see what exactly would keep her on this planet. She found the problem almost immediately. They had locked the Nav Computer with an 8 digit random passcode. She thought for a moment, so do I go break down the control tower and reset it remotely or try to slice it. Slicing would be the safest way, but it would take time. Based on the Rodians headed this way its time I don't necessarily have. However, that control tower involves taking more lives and then having to fight through the crowd to get back. She grabbed her datapad and hooked it into the port to begin the slicing process. Worse came to worse she would shoot her way out.

Time was ticking away as the datapad started to chirp signaling numbers were being discovered. The datapad had managed to find seven of the numbers when she heard the pad's error code. It appeared the rodians were scrambling the numbers over a certain period of time. Thus, her efforts here would be wasted. She would have to fight. She re-sealed the ship and headed back towards the mob of non-aliens surrounding the control tower. She unholstered her weapons and fired several times into the air. The non-humans screaming, parted the way between herself and the door headed anywhere away from the shooting. The guards fired the blaster rifles in her direction taking down several of the beings trying to escape. She fired accurately and dispatched the two guards by the door easily with several shots. She sighed as the expressionless faces looked up at her. She fired into the locking mechanism and the door shot open. She glanced back before entering and saw one of the Rodian mobs was rapidly approaching.

She scaled the stairs two at a time as she rushed into the tower. She burst into the control room, both pistols raised. It appeared to be civilian population members who ran the control tower. She locked the door behind her as the four rodians rushed towards her. She holstered her pistols, raising her fists, she punched one of them in the throat sending him sprawling away from her. She rolled away from the others incoming just as they reached her last position. She regained her footing and swept her leg aimed for the nearest Rodian. He went down with a smack as his head hit the durasteel. The other two seeing the ease their friends had been knocked down ran to the door, attempting to escape. Mack approached and place two well placed chops into each of their necks sending them into unconsciousness. The four civilians dealt with she approached the controls. All the controls appeared to be in Rodian. Dread started to fill her as she saw the first of the rioters begin to enter the spaceport.

She started clicking buttons and trying to find anything that looked like lockdown. One switch had reactivated the dome and she finally hit what she thought was the lockdown switch as an artificial voice spoke, LOCKDOWN LIFTED. She turned, unlocking the door and bolting down the stairs for the spaceport. The rioters had almost all reached the spaceport now. It would be a race against time as she burst through one of the doors closest to her ship. Bolts clanged against the door as she rolled inside. She had just managed to climb inside the cockpit when she heard screams. The rioters has eliminated the security and were starting to tear apart the spaceport.

She punched in the commands and managed to get off the ground as an explosion rocked the spaceport. One entire side, ships, people, and all had disappeared, someone had struck the fuel depository. She pulled the stick up and pushed the throttle forward, sending the ship up and rocketing away from the spaceport. The dome opened automatically as she reached the hole and headed into the atmosphere. She managed to reach space as she punched in the coordinates for the station. She pulled the lever for hyperspace as she looked back one more time at the green planet she hoped to never return to.