When You Give a Man Power 
Chapter 16

Weaving around the crimson storm of blasters raining all around us I return fire when I can on the defenses but even with my upgrades the quad-turbo lasers just shrugged it off with the groups of three still firing back nonstop. 

Aurra I would have to give her credit she wasn’t a half-bad pilot. What little attention I could give her currently she was doing rather well avoiding getting hit. She is firing back more often than I am with greater accuracy. Where my shots would scorch the metal of the turbo laser hers in comparison would hit the Achilles heel and cripple if not destroy them.

Flying and weaving around the Lucrehulks massive form as we continued evading its defenses before my ship's scanners notified me of several fast-moving things heading our way. Even without it showing me this I could see the distant dots coming out of one of the other hangars as they drew closer. Looks like they sent their droid starfighters to handle us. Feeling hesitant to engage them considering there are too many.

“Corvo we need to fall back.” Aurra tells me over the comms as I fight over what to do. Leave Jango and Cad Bane to die or stay and drown with them. Before I can think any further a series of rapid beeps draws me out of my thoughts listening to them come from my ship's controls. A grin forms as quickly as I respond to Seven telling them where to go for me to get them, having made up my mind seeing a chance to get out of here with the others alive.

“Corvo, where are you going?” Aurra asks me as she flies away from the swarm of what looks like vulture droids.

“Getting Jango and Bane out of there. I’m not leaving them.” Is all I say as I weave around the vultures moving to engage me with the flip of a switch and press of a button I unload my salvo of rockets into the horde that is quickly bearing down on top of me as they scrap many of them forming blossoms of fire and shrapnel blooming to life across the emptiness of space. 

Still too many but it’s doable.

Having bought myself some time as I see more fighters getting launched from their respective hangars I spot the hangar that I need to get to. Fewer droids coming after me than before gave me some breathing room but not much as they quickly regroup and are in hot pursuit. 

Avoiding the blaster fire sent at me I shoot down any of the droids that move to intercept me as I get closer to the hangar doors. Seeing the blast doors open with a yellow glow like a fire had been set in the hangar is all the indication I would need to know my droids are in there.

Quickly flying through the hangar and seeing the four figures, I quickly landed the ship. Seven stays on lookout as Eight brings Bane to the ship with Jango sticking to the rear keeping his head on a swivel. As Bane and Eight enter the ship followed by Jango and Seven the blast doors leading further into the ship open revealing a large squad of battle droids. But it’s not the battle droids that give me pause.

In the middle of the droids stands a heavily damaged hulking form missing an arm and a large portion of its chest has a gaping hole with fire still burning on portions of its body with sparks of electricity along wires protruding out of it. 

Power armor… how the fuck did the Trade Federation— the gang attack on my apartment. I left the suit and those bastards must have salvaged it.

With everyone on board, I don’t waste any time in aiming and firing my blasters into the suit or droid or whatever they turned it into. The blasts hit the droids instantly destroying them as the shots hit the monster who looked like it crawled right out of whatever fresh grave it was in. Firing numerous blaster bolts until I feel satisfied seeing it fall to pieces in molten scraps and turn around flying out of the hangar.

 The swarms of droids zero in on us faster than I would have liked. Quickly banking the ship down avoiding the shots fired at us as I shoot down any of them that I can. Pulling ahead of the pack as Jango comes up behind me watching the light show. 

Turning a complete 180 degrees before slowing time in my perception as I shoot down starfighter after starfighter gunning it through the sandstorm of droids as I shoot any in the way or just who is more of an immediate threat as I weave through the eye of the storm carving my way out of it. Sweat forms on me using the bullet time almost as long as my training sessions but I push on as a sea of blaster bolts I narrowly avoid each one.

Only a handful manage to hit the ship as there are simply too many to avoid. So I didn’t. Letting them hit parts of the ship as I wince internally feeling like at any time the shots would outright destroy the ship with all of us inside. I make sure that each shot that is guaranteed to hit only hits somewhere it won’t cripple or outright destroy it. The latter was a gamble but what choice is there?

Slowly ever so slowly I manage to see an end to this cyclone of metal and lasers. Jango and even Bane are in slow motion behind me looking comically as they watch with wide eyes mouths agape as they watch me in their eyes toy with and play with death itself like a cat with rat far too big to toy with. 

As I narrowly avoid a few missiles whizzing past avoiding them at the last second and finally breaking out of the closing hole of the droid swarm shooting the few trying to clog it up and intercepting us as time returns to normal I let out a breath feeling somewhat exhausted but still enough in the tank to do it again. Flying out of there like a bat out of hell they swiftly turn about to give chase. 

My ship is worse for wear after that and I don’t know how much more she can handle. Hearing the ship groan in protest even hearing some faint rattling coming from the engines as I pushed her even harder. 

We need to get to hyperspace. Frantically evading the enemy ships as they slowly close the distance, each shot getting closer than before.

Just as I think we were about to get overwhelmed a sign from the heavens came down to us. Or in this case, a pale-skinned redhead I am going to kiss when this is all said and done. The Slave I comes out of nowhere firing precise shots each one taking out several droid fighters before it turns around staying right beside our ship evading any retaliatory shots as if she sees the future.

Not seeing what she is doing as Jango and Bane both have looks of relief on their faces. Just before I send the ship into hyperspace a loud explosion goes off catching me off guard and making me jump in my seat. It sounded like a techno version of a gong being struck as the ever-present darkness of space is burned away with light briefly taking over before fading away.

With the echoes of whatever that was being our collective farewell with many of the droids now destroyed or heavily damaged our ships enter hyperspace as the stars blur past us in streaks of light. Turning around I see Jango helping Bane to a seat as he is breathing heavily and erratically. The sounds of his breathing don’t sound right and even his smell is off.

Poison. Probably got gassed. “Corvo I need help with Bane--”

“Already on it.” I say getting up and opening a compartment and seeing a box. Quickly opening it, stuffed inside of it were plastic bottles wrapped in plastic with something akin to styrofoam acting as cushioning. Taking out a bottle marked with a capital letter equivalent to A I shred the plastic around it and hand the bottle to Jango.

He looks down at it and then at me with an intense questioning gaze. “It’ll cure the poison in his system. Won’t taste good but it will save him. Unless you want to try your luck without it since I don’t have anything else besides that that can help him.”

With my reassurance and telling him the cold truth he relents and takes the bottle, uncapping it, and hands it to Bane as he stares at it before looking at me for a moment before coming to a decision. Bringing the bottle to his mouth he takes a drink of it with a grimace quickly forming from the taste of it. As soon as he forces himself to swallow it the effect is immediate.

His breathing becomes much easier, the shaking that had started in his hands when he got into the ship and his lethargy has all but vanished. “What the hell was in that drink?”

“Some native plants and fungus that grow in the lower sections of Nar Shaddaa. Tasted bad didn’t it?” I say back to him with a casual grin on my face.

“Yes.” Is all he says before standing up and getting closer to me. He comes to a stop as I lean back against the ship relaxing in my chair. “Thanks.” He says giving me a nod before he sets himself back down.

Jango steps forward with his helmet off held in the crook of his arm. “Corvo, thanks for coming back for us. Most people would have left us for dead. We owe you.”

“I’m not one to leave someone to die. Won’t lie to you about not thinking about leaving you both. Just didn’t feel right leaving you both to die.” I speak honestly to the man still thinking about whether I should have left him to die. 

Well, what’s done is done. Coulda woulda shoulda and all that. If I feel like he needs to die bad enough I can always just do it myself.

Jango hums at my response. “A rare trait in our line of work. Some think it’s bad to have while a handful of others would view it as a good thing. I personally think it’s like anything in life, it has both good and bad that comes with it.”

I nod my head thinking about it and I can see what he means. In some situations, it could be helpful but in others, it could be detrimental. Like with the film Scarface because Tony still had a heart despite how blackened it may have been he refused to kill a man’s wife and kids and it cost him everything.

“So on to other matters, you two ever see Haako’s slimy ass on that ship?” I say already knowing the answer but who knows I could be wrong.

Bane snorts at that before looking up from cleaning his blaster with an assortment of tools and weapons on the box next to him. “Of course not, he wasn’t on that ship. Otherwise, we would have let him know how we felt about his welcoming gift.”

A frown is on my face at knowing that fuck is still out there. “A matter of time. He isn’t walking off in the sunset with a smile on his face. On principle alone, he must suffer. Of course, now we are going to have to deal with a war with the Trade Federation.” I say as I think about what I will need to fight against something that massive.

It’s one thing to hunt down a group on a planet or even a moon but a conglomerate that spans a large chunk of a galaxy is going to take a lot of resources to do. But if I can pull it off, not only will I by that point have the power to not get dragged into others’ petty and stupid disputes but deal with any troublemakers knocking on my door.

“A war they have fully brought upon themselves. You don’t go back on an agreement or deal with the Hutts especially when you were caught doing something under their gaze. I am going to bring my other weapons out of storage. They will be needed.” Jango says as he thinks about what he would need.

A beep comes from the front of the ship seeing it’s a call from Aurra. Letting it through with a push of a button Aurra’s voice is heard by all of us. “Corvo you must be suicidal to do what you did.” 

“Maybe. But no one ever said I was a coward either.” I say back to her.

She chuckles at that. “Careful to whom you say that to. I prefer the term self-preservation.” She says to me in a warm tone but I can tell it’s anything but that. She must be thinking I was calling her a coward. 

To be honest I wasn’t considering her coming back and helping us when we could have died at that last moment. I was talking more about myself but if I try to explain that now it’s going to make me look weak and like I am coming up with excuses.

Aurra continues, “Putting that aside, what type of opposition did you face in that Lucrehulk?” She says back as Jango responds without any heat behind it.

Rather surprised he isn’t angry about her bailing in his ship but I guess her coming back to save us even things out.

 “Mostly what you would expect from the Trade Federation. Save for two things. One was a poison gas used in the vents on me and Bane. We will fix that issue when we get back.” He says turning to look at Bane who nods his head in agreement.

“The second was… I think it was a droid.” Jango says as he thinks over whatever it was he had seen.

Before he can elaborate or Aurra can interject I cut in. “It more than likely was even if that was not its original purpose.” Jango and Bane both slowly turn their heads to look at me as Aurra goes silent.

“And how would you know?” Bane asks in that almost nasally yet deep tone of voice he has.

“Because from what I saw of it before shooting it with my ship, it looks like it was based on my power armor. The same armor I used to slaughter my way through the army Haako was trying to create back in that apartment complex.” I say staring at the two of them.

“I had heard about that. Since it wasn’t seen after you escaped I assume they took what was left of it?” Jango asks me.

“From the looks of it, yeah they did. Had to abandon it because it ran out of power and I needed to get out of there. Left it in an alley after shooting down several speeders. They must have salvaged it. Looks like they just repurposed it into a droid because that gaping hole in its chest would have killed someone piloting it.”

“I shot it with my anti-vehicle missile. It was able to still function after that and had a grenade used on it. I am going to need better equipment to deal with that.” Jango states as I stare back impassively at him and Bane.

“From the looks of it the only upgrade,” I say this with air quotes, “was them making it a droid.”

“Any weaknesses we can exploit?” Aurra cuts in sounding interested in what Jango and Bane had to fight on that ship. 

“Besides focusing on a specific part like the head or legs with blasters there is a portion of its body I doubt the Federation has changed if they are as greedy and lazy as everyone makes them out to be. In the middle of the back is where you open it up but also where the power source is for it. Now I could be wrong but they may not have changed that. Besides that and high yield explosives, ion blasters should both be rather effective against it.”

“Alright, good to know. Could have used that information before but we had no idea that would be waiting for us.” Jango says being rather fair all things considered. I would be livid if it was me before using the key and having the extra memories shoved into my head.

One could argue that telling Jango and company its weaknesses is a bad idea if I ever use it to kill them but in the end, it doesn’t matter. I can always adjust where the power source was for it if they ever think to target it and if being better equipped gets me closer to Haako then it is a good idea as far as I am concerned.

“Aurra you already contacted them?” Jango asks her.

“Already did. The Trade Federation has made one hell of a mistake.” I can tell from how she sounds that she has a sadistic smirk on her face. Well that makes two of us that are interested in being a part of the ass-kicking they are about to get.

A dark chuckle escapes Bane. “No, I think it’s beyond that now. Can’t blame them since the Federation decided to spit in their faces after they were willing to cut them a deal. Corvo when we get back you’re owed a drink.” 

Collecting all of his equipment before he gets up and walks out waving over his shoulder at me before moving further into the ship. Jango himself heads further back into the ship probably to check on Bane. The trip back to Nar Shaddaa was rather uneventful compared to the firefight we just dealt with prior but I will take a moment to relax.

Using some of the time spent in hyperspace to think of various ideas for spells and weapons to use against the Federation to give myself some kind of edge. Even if it's a minimal one I will take all I can get. One such spell was coming along swimmingly as its development progressed. When it was finished it would help in making sure no more time would be wasted on training fresh recruits.

But it still has a ways to go. Jango and Bane found a section of the ship to sit and relax while looking over their equipment. I even saw Bane eyeing the black boxes of Seven and Eight. “Never seen that model of droid before. They were somewhat effective at getting us out of there. Where did you get them?”

“It’s a model from my homeworld. They were called Assaultrons. These two along with their siblings I had made myself.” I say bumping my foot against one of them.

“Your homeworld? What was it like?” Jango cuts in sounding interested.

I pause thinking how best to describe it. Like hell, I am telling them about the Earth I first originated from. Having gotten an idea I ran with it. 

“Incredibly dangerous but also beautiful. Wide open with so much to see and do but also lots of danger that comes with it. Wild animals and mutated beasts across the wastelands and old cities from the old world housing all kinds of horrors and marvels. Bandits and Raiders with ancient ruins from past civilizations waiting to be rediscovered.” 

My description got both of their attention now as they gazed intensely at me. Bane asks what was on his mind. “Mutated beasts? Sounds like a story there.”

“I take it you two never heard of a Deathclaw?”

“What is a Deathclaw?” Jango asks, sounding more interested by the second.

“A giant bipedal reptile that can run on all fours if necessary with scales strong enough to shrug off blaster fire. Claws sharp and strong enough to cut through durasteel like it’s paper. Intelligent, fast, and incredibly lethal. If you ask most people from my homeworld would tell you the Deathclaw is the most dangerous creature you could encounter. Of course that’s up for debate with the other animals.”

“Now that sounds like a sight to behold. Have you ever encountered one?” Bane asks me.

“A few times.” Memories fly past of encountering them and besides the first one with the crashed Vertibird the others I ultimately ran away from because they were not worth the bullets being wasted when I was on a mission to find Shawn. “Besides one that I was forced to fight the rest I just ran from.”

That gets a snort out of Bane. “Care to share?” I say a small smile on my face with a raised brow.

“For someone willing to fly back to that ship to get us something like that Deathclaw scaring you is hard to believe.” 

A tinge of annoyance bubbles up but unlike before when I hadn’t used the key I let it wash off of me like water off a duck's back. “Wasn’t necessarily fear that made me run. Simply didn’t want to waste what resources I had to kill them and that’s if it would be enough. The first I was forced to fight damn near took every bit of ammo I had just to kill it. And it wasn’t the strongest compared to the others.”

“So what about the droids? Any other types your people had?” Bane says satisfied with my response as he gets back to the topic that had started this conversation.

“Several. Most of them were more for utility or civilian usage. Not that they couldn’t be modified into something capable of large-scale destruction.” Remembering all the people that Codsworth just annihilated when he was given the body of a Sentry Bot comes to mind.

“How much would it cost to get a combat-focused droid made?” He asks me and I think it over. 

“Surprised you of all people would want to get a battle droid, Bane.” Jango says to him.

“It’s another tool after all. Not like I am going to let it do all the fighting now am I?” He counters.

Once settled on a base price I talk shop with Bane as I ask what he would like to have built for specifically, weapons, and the base model of it. At that, he asked what models and I gave some examples. Even going so far as to show him rough outlines of each one so far as he thinks things over while Jango watches the back and forth between the two of us with a blank face.

After some time of deciding on all of the details, we all settled down before reaching Nar Shaddaa before long. As soon as the ship exited hyperspace we immediately saw how things on the moon had changed. Normally the space around the system had its fair share of ships. It is a trading outpost after all and in the outer rim, it draws quite the crowd to it for trading and other purposes.

But this was vastly different. Many of the ships I saw were armed to the teeth with weapons of all kinds from various turbo lasers across the ship's hulls to rocket batteries along with many other weapons. Some of the ships even had their fighter compliments as they flew around the bigger ships, some leaving or coming back.

“Looks like the Hutts are taking off the kid gloves.” I state the obvious as Jango and Bane both look around but not in awe as I am watching what amounted to a pirate armada ready to march off to war. Now that’s something I would pay to watch a ship battle of these guys against some Trade Federation ships simply because of how cool space battles were. I mean can anyone blame me? It’s a battle. In space!

Crossing his arms Bane looks down at me in the pilot's seat as I stare slack-jawed at all the ships. “Of course they would.” 

A simple statement that when one thinks about it makes a lot of sense. We soon head down to the moon and to one of the palaces to get our payment.