Galactic High

"Well at least they haven't been caught yet," Nika smirked as the three girls watched the complex entrance, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

"I just hope it stays that way," Alora replied with obvious worry in her tone. "Honestly, what was she thinking including Jack in her crazy plan! We were talking about a few easy trial runs to get him ready to join us on adventures and now he's in the deep end with no warning!"

"He's already been in the deep end, just not on a mission with the rest of us." Nika shrugged. "He’ll be fine. Chiyo, you found them yet?"

I'm communing with Sephy now. It appears that they've been successful and are currently just getting their ill-gotten gains out.

"Well I guess that's not so bad then." Alora sighed in relief.

"Yeah," Nika agreed. "I'm just glad they didn't get themselves trapped or something. Chiyo? What's wrong?"

Sephy says they may have run into a quote 'very slight issue'

All three of them looked at each other knowingly at that.

"Shit," they all cursed in unison.

*****

"Are you able to turn them off?" Jack asked, trying to do his best to stay calm.

"Well I'm too far away to try at the gate, but just from a cursory glance they're looking out for possible intrusions into the network. I covered our tracks, but if I hop into the network they'll know. This looks like an automated security response to a perceived glitch rather than intruders."

"Alright," Jack reasoned, regulating his breathing and thinking logically. "Then why don't we just wait it out until the alert goes away. We're safe here, right?"

"Maybe not," the Skritta thought. "Part of a security response can include thermal scans. If one of the Zero-Zone droids is activated and comes down here, they could ping you since you're on that side. The alert could last for hours or even days!"

"Damn," Jack muttered, before coming to a realisation. "You said the roof was jumpable, right?"

"The roof? Are you crazy?"

"Makes sense, the longer I sit here the more chance I have of being discovered, but if I move now and sneak up before the guards and droids can fully muster I have a shot of making it out."

"You'd have more chance of being discovered if you leave here!" Sephy hissed at him. She was suddenly feeling very aware that it was her idea that got them in this spot in the first place. "I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

"Don't worry." Jack gave her a cocky smile despite his terror. "So far so good, right? If I get discovered I'll just make a run for it and meet up with you later!"

"Alright," Sephy nodded, nervous herself. "But keep an open call with me via commlink, I can at least see where the droids are via cyber. I'll see you on the other side and you can help me carry this loot!"

"I'll be back before you know it!" Jack smiled before quickly and quietly exiting the manhole.

Sephy gave a breath to steady herself as she kept tabs on the droids that were slowly being activated. If Jack rushed up he might be able to find the ladder to the roof, though they hadn't found it when both of them were up there.

Meh. She was sure Jack would think of something and they would laugh about it afterwards.

A familiar presence probed Sephy's mind as she felt Chiyo wanting to engage in telepathy.

"Crap."

*****

Upon hearing hurried voices approaching, Jack quickly covered the manhole with a crate and dashed towards the stairs, careful to not make any noise as he did. Despite himself, he stayed to listen to what might be going on as the Prefects approached the spot he'd just come from.

"Everything checks out here, no sign of entry and deep scans reveal nothing on our side of the vent," one of the Prefects muttered, holding out a device and waving it along the ground.

"Told you, big crate right on top," another joked. "Besides, anything strong enough to move it won't be fitting down there!"

"We are in consensus on that," the leader, a Korrigan, answered. "However the rule is clear. In the event of a system glitch all points of egress should be checked before system repair."

"Hey guys," a third voice rose in alarm, and Jack's heart skipped a beat in worry.

"What have you found?"

"Well… I haven't found anything, just that wouldn't blocking a manhole with a crate constitute a fire hazard?"

"Yes you would be right," the leader replied in a monotone. "Once we complete our search we will complete paperwork on the subject…."

Jack had heard enough as he turned away and headed upstairs, bounding up several steps at a time, not stopping until he got to the top floor. He couldn't hear the hum of any Zero-Zone droids, but he was still cautious as he peeked round.

Nothing yet….

"Sephy, what's the status on the droids?" Jack spoke into their open comm. "Any idea where the ladder to the roof may be? We explored everywhere we could access, right?"

"Umm…." Sephy started. "Based on where we saw possible access before and on what I can see…"

"Yeah?" Jack prompted.

"It's in the Zero-Zone droid room!" Sephy whispered in horror.

"But you locked it, right?" Jack asked as he quickly rushed to the room against his better judgement. The open window next to the locked door to the special room was nearby, he could possibly climb it…

"Um…. Sephy?" Jack asked upon peering through the glass door of the room. "The door was jammed right?"

"Yeah?" Sephy replied.

"The droids aren't there!"

"What? That's not possible unless they found another route… Oh shit! JACK RU-"

On hearing the familiar buzz close by, Jack immediately lept into action, jumping and kicking off against the corridor wall to fling himself high, using his full height to jam himself in place next to the ceiling as the door to the special room opened, and a Zero-Zone droid hummed forward. Then another. And another.

Jack held on with all of his strength, his muscles shaking like crazy as he pushed as hard as he could against one wall with his hands and the other with his feet, keeping him close to the ceiling as several more droids passed underneath without noticing him.

As the eighth and final one passed underneath him, the buzz finally began to subside, and Jack couldn't hold on any longer, his feet thumping on the floor as he made his way down as quietly as he could despite his exhaustion. Seeing the panel of the special room door flash, he sped through on instinct as it shut behind him.

"Jack? Please be alright!" He heard on his comm from the worried Sephy.

"Hey Sephy it's all good, they didn't spot me."

"Oh thank the gods! Where are you now?"

"Can't you see it on your end?"

"No way!" she scoffed in excitement. "You're in the special room?"

"Yep," Jack replied with panting in his voice. "Couldn't have seen it from the glass door but it connects with the droid room.

"And since the droids are no longer there you have a clear route up and out!" Sephy cheered! "Hurry up and get to the roof!"

"Not just yet…" Jack slowly replied with a thought, pulling out one last bag from one of the coat pockets. It was the bright pink girly one he had picked up earlier. "I might as well grab some stuff here and make it a clean sweep!"

He heard nothing from the other side for a few moments as he clearly heard Sephy come to grips with something. "Jack you don't have to put yourself at risk anymore, things went too far already and you're in a bad spot because of me…"

Jack thought about what he was going to say for a moment. It was clear that Sephy regretted getting them both in this situation, but he didn't blame her for it.

"Hey, it was my idea to come along, remember?" Jack replied reassuringly. "Besides, I'm not caught yet and this is the home stretch. Just let me know if the droids are coming back and I'll run." Jack quickly snuck into the droid room as he was talking and found the ladder, confirming that the hatch at the top was indeed open and didn’t have any visible electronic lock. He could leave at any time.

"Alright!” Sephy replied with her usual enthusiasm. "Grab what looks good and I'll meet you outside, the others are on their way to where I am. It would be great if you could get here soon and save me from their nagging!"

Jack snorted as he had a look around for stuff, but had no idea where to start. He just began stuffing anything and everything into his bag and pockets, covering his hands with his coat sleeve just in case there was anything dangerous. A black candle, encrusted with gemstones. A green ring in the shape of a serpent eating its own tail. A grey tome that seemed to give off smoke. Several vials of a dark blue liquid. A teardrop gem that seemed to change colour from one moment to the next. Didn’t matter to Jack what it was, if it fit in a bag or a pocket, it was going in.

Ooooooh! What was this?

Even Jack recognised the curved black objects for what they were. A quick glance inside the magazines showed pointed bullets similar to the ones he knew from Earth. Was there a gun to go with them?

He searched for it even as he stuffed his pockets with more loot out of the bookshelves and the cupboard. Come on! Ammunition but no gun?

Coming to the last cabinet, Jack was disappointed that there weren’t any signs of the long-barreled firearm he was expecting, though he did note a bar of gold as he started rummaging through. A short stick of metal, some kind of walking stick, he barely had room for it. He was just about to pull away and cover his tracks when he saw something interesting. Moving a few dusty papers around, his hand wrapped around the grip of...something.

Pulling it out, Jack's first impression was that it had to be the chunkiest looking revolver he had ever seen. Admittedly he hadn't seen any that wasn't on TV, but he just knew this one was special. It was jet black, with red filaments that seemed to glow brighter with his touch…

He had no idea if it was actually a useful weapon, or even a weapon at all. But it looked cool, and based on that fact alone he zipped it up in a bag already heavy and near to bursting with random shit.

Hearing the low buzz that signified the imminent return of the Zero-Zone droids, Jack quickly rushed to the ladder and climbed up to the roof, really hoping the droids wouldn't be able to potentially follow him.

Swiftly Jack used the outside landmarks to work out where the wall was, cursing both the gap and the height Sephy had thought was doable. Clearly she hadn't thought about any heavy loot burdening him down.

Or the fact that he didn't have wings…

Looking at it logically, the gap wasn't that bad. The main problem is the high drop that had the potential to turn him into concrete-floor pizza if he missed the jump. Taking several deep breaths Jack tested it by throwing the pink bag as far as he could, with it only just making the gap.

He calmed himself as he moved back, getting ready to make a running jump. He had made longer jumps before. When he first arrived and had to survive against the psychos trying to kill him he had been able to leap far and high avoiding gunfire, before coming back down to fight back.

But that was different.

He knew that comfortable gravity was much lower for other species than it was for him, however, Hive Station Bastilla had some kind of artificial balancing field that kept things stable enough for all species. Would that screw things up for him if he was much higher up off the ground? Or would the weight of his clothes bog him down?

Screw it. He was worrying too much.

Jack closed his eyes and mustered his courage before he just went for it.

******

"Just how irresponsible are you?" Alora chastised the ashamed-looking Skritta, as Chiyo and Nika both gave their looks of disapproval.

"Hey it was Jack's idea in the first place! He was the one that asked me about it! I told him and we both just agreed to do it. It was a great plan and would have gone off without a hitch had we made better time!”

“But you didn’t and now he’s trapped on the other side! He could be dead!” Alora continued, genuinely angry. “Have you even checked in with him?”

“I did just before you got here!” Sephy argued, staying calm and trusting that Jack was fine. “He’d just dodged some Zero-Zone droids-”

“Zero-Zone droids?” Nika spoke up in horror. “Holy shit Sephy, you know not to fuck with them without backup! Does Jack?”

“Yeah it was fine, we nearly had an encounter with one in the weapons room but he shoved us both into a locker to avoid it! Shit was hot!”

“And that’s when you immediately called it off and tried to leave right?” Alora asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well…not exactly!” Sephy gave an embarrassed smile. “After that we hit up the weapon and magic rooms!”

“So where is Jack now?” Nika asked with narrowed eyes. Though she knew Sephy wouldn’t drag her feet like this if she knew Jack was in serious danger, that didn’t mean he wasn’t.

“Well after Jack dodged the Zero-Zone droids he last said he was in the special room that was previously locked on a closed network! He’s basically grabbing as much as he can!”

He’s just grabbing random items without any idea of what they even do? Chiyo alerted them all, eyes wide in a panic and covering her mouth. Some of that’s got to be cursed!

“Okay.” Alora tried to calm down, taking a deep breath before asking Sephy. “How is Jack trying to escape?”

“Oh that’s easy!” Sephy grinned. “He’s just gonna jump from the roof over to the other side of the wall!”

“THE ROOF?!” they all yelled, only for them to then jump as someone else spoke up close by.

“Hello there!” Jack smiled as he stopped to catch his breath. “You’ll never guess what we just did!”

The others just stood there for a while not knowing how to react to Jack’s nonchalant entrance. Eventually Alora just hugged him in relief, while Nike playfully flicked his forehead with her tail for being an idiot.

“Told you it was fine!” Sephy grinned at Chiyo, who was just staring with a shocked expression. “Got anything good, Jack?”

“Probably! No idea what it does though…”

“How could you be so reckless?” Alora started, looking visibly pissed at Jack. “You could have died in there!”

Jack raised a placating hand, while gently returning the hug with the other. “It’s fine, we’re all good now. I’m just glad it was me trapped on the other side and not Sephy. I got out fine enough!”

Alora calmed down a bit, unable to be more mad at him for that sentiment. “Look. We’re all glad you’re alright but you had us terrified.”

“I understand that,” Jack replied, trying to calm everyone down with his tone. “But Sephy really did her homework on this place and I helped with the planning before we hit it. Apart from the lasers at the end it went down almost flawlessly.”

Alora sighed at that before giving Sephy a quick glance.

“You guys really need to have more faith in me sometimes!” Sephy chipped in, moving up to Jack. “Yes I’ve screwed up before, but I know we’re low on funds and despite the bad luck we’ve been having I really wanted to help out!”

“Yeah,” Jack added. “It was my idea to go for it. I asked Sephy about it since she kept mentioning it and you guys kept shooting it down, and it sounded like it was worth checking out. All of you have welcomed me and done so much for me already, not to mention offering to come with me to see this Oracle. I just couldn’t bear not returning the favour somehow, despite the risk.

There was silence from the others as they all gave nods of understanding. Jack decided this was too serious however so quickly added, “Plus those prefects helping the drow were assholes, only fair we get them back for it, right?” He smiled as the others chuckled in agreement, dissolving the tension.

“Speaking of…” Nika added with raised eyebrows at Alora.

“Yeah….” Alora added, shaking out of her thoughts. “That wasn’t even why we came here. We need to get back to the house as quickly and quietly as possible.” She put a hand on Jack’s shoulder and chanted a few things before muttering, “Cloaking field, try not to bump anyone.” Before turning and starting down the alleyway

“Hey!” Sephy called out after the others who followed her. “Aren’t you gonna help with the bags?”

“Don’t push your luck!” Alora chipped in, turning around and playfully sticking her tongue out at both of them.

“Well…” Sephy shrugged to Jack as they both scooped up all the bags, with most of them being dumped on Jack

“That could have gone worse…”

*******

“So…like… could I turn myself in and receive the reward for the bounty?” Jack asked thoughtfully.

“You’ve just been told that you have a bounty on your head and that’s your first thought?” Alora asked, shaking her head in exasperation as she handed him a mug of tea. “How are you not dead already? And no, it doesn’t work like that! Most of the larger amounts require you to be dead anyway!”

They had gotten back to the house without any trouble. Jack's arms were only minorly tired from carrying the lion’s share of the bags, mainly because Chiyo and Nika had eventually taken pity on him and took some of the weight off, with Alora eventually following. They had yet to go through the loot though, and Jack was really hoping they had some good shit they could use. He fully understood why Alora was disappointed in the both of them for being so reckless though, she cared for both of them and in time she’d calm down.

Given that Jack in particular had a growing bounty on him, the group had decided to spend some time at the house to plan the trip before getting an early night and leaving the city districts by dawn the next day to avoid attention. Alora had apparently gotten bounties placed on her before, and she assured Jack that once the initial excitement went down hunters would stop actively looking for them, and the ones that posted the bounties for trivial reasons would likely withdraw their posts. Jack wasn’t really convinced by that, but he decided not to argue for now. The only thing he needed to focus on was getting to the oracle, and to do that he needed to prepare for the trip.

But first they had some loot to check out!