Kardek shoved some extra food rations into his bag, then turned around to see how the other two were faring. He took one of the food bars out, peeled back the wrapper, and took a good bite. "Just like mom use to make." He said casually, continuing to observe the abandoned container. Then he caught a glimpse of the lightsaber. "Look at that." He said, walking over to it and picking it up.
ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzttt. The deep orange colored saber lit up the entire container. Kardek admired the blade for a minute, then nodded his head as he came to a decision to keep the saber. "Could probably cut through anything with this." He said as he deactivated the blade and clipped it onto his belt. "Ok, lets go!"
The three of them headed back across the frozen lake, the wind howling eerily all around them.
"Ok..." Kardek sighed as they settled back into the cockpit of The Harbinger, "Lets do what we came here to do. Alpha, take us home." The engines fired up, and shortly they were skimming across the surface of the planet once again.
"We have a base right over that ridge..." Kardek said to Mini, pointing to the landmark. "It use to be an underground gambling ring run by a band of exiles... they gambled on fights... to the death. Kidnapped victims... robots.... slaves... even kids." He shifted his weight in his chair as he recalled the grim details of their enterprise. "But they don't do that anymore." He shrugged, implying that he might have had a hand in the reason why they stopped. "Now we call it home."
The Harbinger skimmed over the top of the ridge and began to slow down. A Large Hanger bay door could be seen just above the surface as they approached, covered in ice and seemingly abandoned. Alpha reached over and hit a separate control pad on his left. Suddenly fire shot out from all four sides of the hanger door, melting the ice that had settled in. After a minute, Alpha hit another button. The fire turned off, and the big doors began to split open. As they opened, The Harbinger descended down into the opening of the planet and finally settled on the large cargo bay floor below. Then the light began to disappear at the doors slowly closed above them. Finally there was a loud booming noise as the doors sealed together, leaving them in pitch black except for the lights in the cockpit. Alpha hit another few controls, and slowly, massive lights began to click on throughout the hanger bay, one at a time, until everything was lit up.
"Welcome to our home!" Kardek said with a smile. It was a massive cargo hold, about four times bigger than The Harbinger. It was definitely not pretty... very industrial and sturdy, built to survive against the severe climate conditions. There appeared to be a lot of communication and satellite equipment in one corner with multiple screens and work stations, as well as some gigantic fuel tanks on the other side, but beyond that there was just cargo. Lots and lots of cargo, and two cargo droids for moving cargo.
They walked back to the port side cargo bay and stood on the lift. Kardek hit the control, and the lift lowered them down onto the floor of the hangar bay. "Sometimes justice comes in the form of cargo..." Kardek said as he walked over to one of the containers and popped open the top, opening it so that Mini could see what was inside. It was packed full of medical supplies. "And sometimes good can only be done through smuggling." He nodded at The Harbinger. "You see, most of these planetary governments are more focused on finances and wars... on keeping their power. Even if they mean well, it's usually the smaller communities that end up suffering and get left behind, forgotten." He said as he closed the container lid. "And you would be surprised at how many planets are under harsh leadership, led by greedy tyrants or syndicates, who try to keep their populations controlled by keeping them in poverty and in horrible conditions." He sat down on the container and crossed his arms. "So I smuggle in what those people need, right under those bastard's noses. And the best part is, they think that i'm working for them." He patted the container with his hand, offering her a seat. "So guess what our next job is?" He said with a smile.
