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| - I had no idea how to even describe what was going on at the moment the three of us trooped through the unknown tunnel systems. Unfortunately, I was stuck with these complete idiots who knew nothing of the Bilbringi system, but what was even more absurd was that I was actually helping the man who caught me and put me here in the first place and then in an even more twisted manner he was actually trying to save me. “So would you care to explain to me how you’re surviving?” Sterlo interrupted my twisted thoughts. “I mean, you look horrible…no offense.” My mouth turned up in a grimace as I glanced back at the Sorrusian who happened to be the only one I actually trusted in this quaint little mission. “You’d be surprised what a determined Tieres is capable of doing.” My words were ironic, but only to me and possibly Piroc, if he even picked up on the slight sarcastic note in my voice. “Anyways, we should be approaching the end of the tunnels in a few moments, so just hang tight.” “Take it easy and save your energy,” Piroc added in an indifferent voice and I whipped around to glance at him. As per usual, his face was hidden by his helmet so it wasn’t like I could read it, but just the strange way he seemed to actually worry about me caught me off guard. “Thanks…” I said hesitantly and waited for the punch line. “I’ve got a promise to keep to your father.” Ah, yep. I knew that one was coming. “Is that all that ever matters to you?” I couldn’t help but inject my voice with some unnecessary venom, but it didn’t really matter. If Piroc heard it he would assume it was because I still resented him for capturing me and bringing me to my near-death. “It’s my job.” “Exactly! That’s all you ever seem to do. It’s like your feelings don’t even matter, and all you’re doing is doing what other people are telling you. You aren’t allowed to be a free, independent thinking individual because of whatever job you get assigned. And the people you hunt down,” I whirled around and looked up into the visor of his helmet, my expression as fierce as ever. “They don’t mean anything to you, do they?” I’m sure underneath that visor of his, Piroc was glaring at me with all the contempt he could possibly possess. His stance hadn’t changed, but that didn’t mean his face was lined with disgust. “I’m as free-thinking as anyone. And not everyone gets the fairytale life you led, princess.” I snorted in surprise and said, “If you’ve been paying attention, Piroc, you’ll realize that my life isn’t full of that fairytale fluff. In fact, for the past several days I’ve been tortured and kept in prison thanks to your lovely capturing skills.” Sarcasm must have been my thing for the day, because it dripped on every word I spat in Piroc’s face. “Note the past tense. Led,” he snapped. “The daughter of a governor has it easy. You know nothing of the real world.” Oh, now he was getting sarcastic; well I’ll be damned. “How dare you—” But before I could finish my accusation, Sterlo rested a hand on my arm and pulled me out of my argument. I looked over at him and he just shook his head at me. “You’re right,” I said, agreeing to Sterlo’s silent request. “We shouldn’t be arguing when we need to focus on getting out of here. Lunais is probably waiting for us somewhere; she can probably pick up on my Force powers.” “Yeah, and we don’t want to have her blowing up the tunnels on us or anything. She might have stolen that idea from Piroc or something,” He jibed while winking at me and I couldn’t help but let out a trickle of laughter at the brazenness. “Keep laughing,” He growled in response as we started moving forward. “When it comes to my head or yours, it’ll be yours.” His words sobered us instantly, and there was an undercurrent of tension flowing from him to Sterlo and back that I tried to figure out, but it was impossible. Whatever feud these two had, it remained between them. “There’s the light ahead,” I breathed as the end of the tunnel started getting brighter and brighter with every step we took. “We’ll come out on a lower landing platform, a secret one that my father used to use for shipments not meant to be seen by Imperial eyes—” Suddenly, the words died on my tongue and my body practically convulsed with pain I never thought I could feel. And then, I remembered that it was possible that Lunais still have influence over me, even from a distance, due to the Force connection we had. I collapsed onto the ground and started writhing against Sterlo’s arms. “She’s here.” I looked up into his eyes as they widened, and then I felt him lift me up. “What? Damn it,” Piroc said, assessing the situation immediately as they continued forward, me in Sterlo’s arms. “Sterlo, at all costs, we have to get Naelah out of here alive. We don’t matter. She’s what Lunais wants.” “You can’t have a go at a Dark Sider alone,” Sterlo muttered as though he didn’t want me to hear. “If she’s doing this to Naelah from however far away, think of what she could do to you in close combat? And Naelah has the Force.” His words were valid, but Piroc didn’t seem to consider them. “Listen, I’ve dealt with Dark Jedi before. It’s nothing new to me.” “No,” I whimpered while turning to look at his helmet. “You can’t do this by yourself.” Slowly, I began to latch onto what comforting thoughts I had to stop the pain that was racking through my body. “Put me down, Sterlo.” That Tieres pride was washing over me once again, and I felt the Force surging through me as it battled back whatever the hell Lunais did to me. “I’m helping.” “No,” Sterlo gasped and stared at me. “You’re practically falling apart.” “I have no intention of getting you killed, Princess.” “I’m not letting you do this.” “You aren’t going to do this. End of discussion.” “Sorry guys,” I laughed blackly and looked at the light ahead of us. “She’s coming,” I winced as a particular powerful surge of pain swept through me. “Get ready; I can only hold her for—” “Absolutely not,” Piroc interrupted and started pulling out his gun. “The witch is mine. Sterlo, I want you to get her to the shuttle on the main platform while I hold her off. She wants Naelah, and if Naelah is captured again, it’s over.” “You have no idea,” I muttered more to myself than anybody, and then I looked at him fiercely once more. “I’m not going to watch you die. As much as I hate you, the fate you would get by going out there is far crueler than anything I would ever wish upon you.” “You’re not doing anything. You are going to the shuttle. Sterlo is going with you. I will handle Lunais. It’s final.” “I’m going out there and using whatever I can to help you. We’ll only defeat her if the three of us work together; she’ll kill us if we work alone…or worse.” My plea was passionate, and I could see Sterlo giving into my words but I had no clue what Piroc was going to say. “No.” Oh, right, I knew that one was coming. “But—” “Stop acting like a child and get on the kriffing shuttle.” His words were like a slap in the face, but I pulled back my shoulders and looked up at him indignantly. “Stop being a stubborn child,” he repeated chillingly which hardly made me shrink. “I’m not a damned child and I’ve had more experience with this witch than you have,” I retorted just as callously. “You can’t honestly expect me to sit by while you get yourself killed.” “I’m not going to get any of us killed today.” “What do I have to do to make you see that having me out there is what you need to beat her?” I practically shouted at him, but Sterlo’s reassuring presence kept my tone down to an audible hiss of fury. “Sterlo, you had better listen to me. You are taking her to the shuttle as soon as I have Lunais occupied. Understand?” He was fiddling with some things on his belt and I saw a gun and some other weapons shifting around. “You’re serious,” I breathed in shock, thinking he was just being as stubborn as I was. “Are we waiting for you?” Sterlo said, talking over my hushed whisper. He was obviously with Piroc on this one, and it pissed me off to no end. He hesitated, and it was for a moment too long. “Get her on the shuttle. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” “I—” But before I could finish my argument he was gone. “You can’t be serious,” I said as I whirled on Sterlo. “You’re letting him get himself killed? He’s my best chance at getting out of here alive, do you think I’m going to sit around and let him take blow after blow from that witch?” Trembling in fury, I looked up at the Sorrusian and waited for him to give me a decent answer. “You wouldn’t make it.” I recoiled and narrowed my eyes. “What?” “You go out there, you’re dead. Piroc is right, as much as you and I hate to admit that. You can’t die, and neither of us is letting that happen.” He was certain in his decision, and I knew that there was no way I could try and maneuver around it. “Damn it,” I muttered sullenly and turned back around. “Well get your slippery ass up here then.” “You got it, Princess,” he replied mockingly, and luckily for him that I was stewing in my own foul temper to really do anything about it. I walked out into the dim light of the Bilbringi morning, out onto a smaller landing platform jutting out over a steep cliff. I held my blast cannon in my right hand, while opening and closing my left. I could almost taste the Force witch on the light breeze. It made me uneasy. I blinked for a moment, and as my eyes opened again, she was there, robes flapping in the breeze. In her right hand, she held a compact metal cylinder: a lightsaber, the traditional weapon of many Force-using groups across the galaxy. She cast aside her maroon cloak and stood there, garbed in a tight red bodysuit. Her lightsaber flared to light, glowing a blood red. I dropped my rifle at my feet and drew the two WESTAR blasters belted at my side. She spun the lightsaber in an elaborate pattern in front of her, the blade creating sheets of red flame in the air. I brought my blasters up into a ready position. My fingers tightened on the triggers, ready to begin pouring fire at the Inquisitor. “I didn’t realize you were involved in this, Mandalorian.” She smiled tightly, her yellow eyes mocking me. “I should have known. The break-in was too calculated for a typical Rebel group. Imagine my surprise when I found out I’d finally have the honor of meeting one of your kind in combat.” My blasters didn’t waver. “That’s a shame. It's not the first time I've fought your kind.” She cocked an eyebrow in amusement. “Oh? And how did that go for you?” “I’m the one that’s still breathing.” “Of course.” Her lightsaber hand fell to her side, and her other arm came up, almost dramatically. “It’s a shame you won’t walk away from this.” And with that, her hand flashed, and lightning leapt from her fingertips toward me. I dove to my right and rolled. I came up on my feet with both blasters blazing. Her lightsaber carved red flame through the air, intercepting every shot I sent her way into the durasteel platform. I kept the fire on with my left hand weapon, and I brought up my right arm and launched a whipcord cable at her feet. She leapt to the side, the cable missing by a mere yard, but she was flying into the fire I was pouring into that direction with my left blaster. It was almost child’s play to her. Even before she hit the ground, her lightsaber was flashing side to side, deflecting shots left and right. I added more fire with my right hand weapon, in addition to several darts fired from my knee pads. A few of the darts slipped through, as well as a few shots from my blasters. Lunais started to advance forward, which I responded to by activating my jetpack with a flick of my eyes toward the corner of my HUD. Now I had the high ground. I continued to fire at Lunais from above, which she started to counter with more acrobatics than lightsaber deflection. She launched another barrage of lightning at me. I easily avoided the blast by leaning to my right, launching me out of the path of her blasts. I saw her pull back her arm and, shockingly to me, hurled her lightsaber at me. I cut off my jetpack and dropped thirty feet to land on the landing platform. I held out my left arm, and with my right hand, I activated my flamethrower at the nearing Lunais. She leapt backwards, but not before being caught in the center of the blast of flame. Her bodysuit was apparently flameproof, but I could see, as I fired more at her from my WESTAR blasters, that the fire had taken her by surprise. I activated my jetpack again, and as I rocketed toward the leaping witch, I again fired my whipcord launcher. This time it caught her around her ankles. The witch was yanked to the metal of the platform at a high speed and bounced twice as she hit and was dragged at a high speed across the durasteel. I flew toward the edge of the platform, and the massive cliff. She wasn’t going that easily. Lunais called her lightsaber back to her hand. Again, the weapon flared into a demonic existence. She swung, haphazardly cutting the cable. And, with horror, I could see out of my rear vision in my helmet the lightsaber again flying toward me. As the lightsaber hit my jetpack, it ignited what fuel was left in the tanks. The jetpack exploded violently, blasting me forward and off the side of the platform. Thinking quickly, I flicked my eyes to the corner of my HUD, activating my wrist blades. I dug the blades into the hard metal of the platform’s side, quickly halting my fall, but nearly yanking my arm clear out of my sockets. Damn it, I cursed to myself. With great pain, I pulled my left arm free and started to pull myself up and over the lip of the platform’s side. I grabbed my WESTAR from the ground and brought it up in time to hold off Lunais as she sprinted in for what she must have thought would be an easy kill. I was sorry to disappoint her. I dodged to the side as her lightsaber slashed through the space I just occupied. I swung my fist up, still with vibroblades drawn, into her stomach. She gasped, clearly as shocked as I was at how well that worked. I pulled it out, stained with her blood, and slashed across into her arm. The lightsaber dropped from her hand, clanking on the metal deck of the platform. And with one final blow, I knocked her over the side. I stood at the edge of the platform and watched her fall over the side and hit the rocks below. To my grim satisfaction, she didn’t move. Not that I had expected her to. No one, not even a Force user, could survive a fall from that height. I holstered both blasters and stumbled as one of my legs caved under my weight. The explosion hadn’t been all that friendly to me. I limped across the platform towards the ladder up to the main platform, and the waiting shuttle. Well, I couldn’t argue that Piroc’s skills were undoubtedly some of the swiftest, cleanest and sharpest skills I had ever seen. Though I was half-dragging Naelah to the shuttle, I could still see the heated battle perfectly. A flash of blood red here, a spark of light there and two blurring shapes darting around the landing platform, never resting in one space for a long amount of time; I was absolutely amazed by the speed and dexterity at which they moved. “I can’t believe he’s actually doing this,” Naelah said, amazement lacing her voice. “I thought he would be dead by the first minute.” She paused and watched him slide across the platform. “Well, that’s Piroc for you,” I replied stiffly and tried to mask my own amazement. It was one thing to have Naelah be openly dumbfounded by Piroc’s skill, but I wasn’t going to show her that I was shocked too. “No, nobody can just fend off that witch,” She used the word with such a surge of venom that I shrank back involuntarily. “He’s going to bloody get himself killed.” Fire was springing up in her eyes and I knew that whatever was going to come out of her mouth next was going to be bad. “We’re going in there.” “No we’re not!” I looked down at the small, immovable girl and was happy not to have to meet her eyes, which were probably flaming in stubbornness. “You heard what Piroc said, and as much as I might despise the Mandalorian, I’m loathed to admit he’s right. You are the most valuable thing on this planet, and that witch would go to Mustafar and back just to have you. I don’t know why you’re so important, other than that you’re talented with the Force, but Lunais obviously wants something.” She turned her eyes on me and I was surprised to see that they were wide. “So the witch has a name,” She said sourly and traces of pure contempt flitted across her eyes. “I’m surprised.” “It’s a name…” I ventured hesitantly and waited to figure out what on earth Naelah was talking about. “She’s a Dark Sider, they aren’t supposed to have names.” Her response was so deliberately baleful I could hear the cold, hard ice chipping off every word. Someone so warm and so young should not have that tone in her voice, and it was almost impossible for me to stand next to Naelah without shaking the undisguised maliciousness out of her. But then, things began to click. “Jedi are supposed to be everything good,” I started slowly, amazed by my own thoughts. “And aren’t the Sith everything opposite?” I didn’t wait for her answer and just kept on going, “But there are so few Jedi in the galaxy right now because of the last purge…do you think that Lunais is trying to recruit you? It would seem logical, wouldn’t it? Your Force powers are unstable at this point, as is your emotional level; perhaps she’s hoping that she’d be able to harness you in based on all this instability you’re suffering right now.” Naelah’s mouth fell open as she stared at me with wide, shocked eyes. She tried several times to argue my point, I could just see it in the way she held her mouth and the way her head moved against what I was saying, but she couldn’t find the words. She knew I was right, or at least mostly right to cause her worry. “Dark Siders’ll prey on instability,” I repeated vaguely while letting my eyes follow Piroc again. “It only makes sense.” I was beginning to realize just how valuable Naelah was to the Dark Side, and it scared me to think of her joining them—yellow eyes gleaming sickeningly in the hazy dark shadow she would construct around her, the pleasant color of her face going wan with abusing those powers that meant so dear to some…it was all too much. As if she could see her reflection in my blank eyes, she swallowed hard and grabbed my arm. “I have to get out of here,” She whispered in a childishly frightened voice. “If I stay I’m going to become one of them and that’s something I can’t do.” Tears welled up in her brown eyes, and I was surprised at how much emotion was coming from these simple statements. “We won’t let them get you,” I reminded her, soothing her like a father would do to his child. “You don’t have to worry Naelah, we’re going to protect you.” Her lips trembled as she continued to stare into my eyes with her wide, tortured ones. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” I blanched at her for a moment, but what she said next stopped me: “I’m afraid you’ll get hurt protecting me, I’m afraid you’ll die. Look at Piroc; because of me he’s probably going to end up dying out there—I’ll never be able to live another day if I caused his death or yours.” “You can’t be worried about that Naelah,” I reminded her quickly and a tense feeling coiled up in my gut, warning me that all hell was about to break loose. “You just can’t be alright? Right now I have to worry about getting you on that damned shuttle and getting you off this forsaken planet.” My words were tight and I saw a flash of recognition in Naelah’s eyes, she knew what was coming. “We’re leaving,” She said bluntly and turned on her heel. “We’re leaving, now.” “I know,” I acquiesced easily and looked back at the landing platform, expecting to see a heavy battle raging. I was wrong. Only one person was on that platform now. It looked like Sterlo and Naelah both were as shocked as I was as I limped over to them. Sterlo may have been too excited and naïve, but we didn’t have time to sit around. Lunais may have been gone, but she was bound to have a lot of friends that’d line up to see me and anyone around me dead. “Let’s go,” I commanded through my helmet’s voice filter. Even through the almost-electronic filtering, I sounded tired and pained. I wonder if either of the two could hear the weariness in my voice. Naelah stared up at me wide-eyed. “You’re injured!” I didn’t even know what to say to the blatantly obvious statement. “Get the fierfek on your feet and to the shuttle.” I limped past the two dumbfounded teenagers towards the Lambda-class shuttle parked on the main platform. Damn, Imperial hardware had never looked so welcoming. Sterlo got up and pulled Naelah to her feet. “What in the hell just happened? Where did Lunais—” “She’s over the side,” I muttered. “But she’s bound to have friends. We’re getting offworld and to Nar Shaddaa.” I had reached the boarding ramp, and accessing the governor’s data one final time, opened the hatch into the shuttle. “Nar Shaddaa? Why? The Rebellion wouldn’t be on the Smuggler’s Moon.” “Of course they wouldn’t. But I’m not going to the Rebellion in an Imperial shuttle. That’s bound to attract a lot of attention and probably get us shot at.” “We’re ditching the shuttle?” Sterlo asked, his voice flat with surprise. “Yes.” I got into the cockpit of the shuttle and threw my bag down on the deck as I seated myself in the pilot’s chair. “I have an associate there. He’ll get rid of the shuttle and hopefully divert attention from us for a while.” I powered the shuttle on with a flick of a couple of switches, and I felt the engines hum to life. Naelah sat down in the copilot’s seat, and Sterlo took a spot at one of the side consoles. “Sterlo, that console controls weaponry. We’re not off this rock yet, and I’m expecting trouble. Look it over and figure out how to shoot things.” “Got it.” The Sorrusian began looking over the controls in earnest as I eased the shuttle off the deck, just as a contingent of Imperial stormtroopers stormed out onto the platform, firing uselessly at the rising shuttle. As we took off and banked out and over the second platform, I looked out the cockpit canopy at the cliffs below. Something there caught my attention. Or, rather, something that wasn’t there caught my attention. Lunais’ body was gone. “We’re gonna have one hell of a time getting out of here, Piroc,” I snapped impatiently as his attention refocused elsewhere. “You do realize that that witch has probably got a freaking Star Destroyer just waiting for us to escape.” Glancing around the corner from my little pocket by the defense controls, I watched him slide mechanically into his seat and start flicking on controls. Grumbling underneath my breath, I turned toward the confusing, and not-so confusing controllers of the weapons system. Piece of cake, I deduced after a minute of scanning. “As much as I hate to say this, Sterlo’s probably right.” I whipped around in my seat and saw Naelah looking at Piroc through weary eyes. Since when did she look so drained? I found myself wondering as I looked over her features. Ever the Bilbringi princess of sorts, she still maintained her composure and regal air, but there was an underlying current of exhaustion and depression perhaps? I couldn’t tell for sure, but the lines of stress and worry glared from the usual smooth skin on her face. “I’m well aware of the situation,” Piroc snapped back. “Well it looked like—” “Shut up for one damn minute.” Naelah quieted, instantly admonished by Piroc’s brutal tones. Her gaze fell onto her hands, which were interlocked and resting in the expanse of her lap. She looked like she was about to cry. “That was completely unnecessary, Piroc,” I practically yelled. “She’s a child; she doesn’t need to be treated like vermin. She’s done nothing wrong!” “When you’re done being sensitive, get your shebs back to the controls and memorize them back to front. You control the guns and you need to be focused. I’m not going to have your head drowned out with sympathy.” “Naelah may take that bantha crap, but I’m not going to stand for it,” I growled in response and threw myself away from the controls. “You have no idea what the fierfek is going on, do you?” “Stop it,” Naelah commanded as she stood up. “We have bigger fish to fry than your issues.” She glared pointedly at me for a moment, and then switched her gaze to Piroc. “We have to get out of here alive, right?” Turning back to me, she waved her hand briefly and started heading my way. “What?” I sputtered, not getting the idea. “If you’re not going to sit your ass back down I’m taking over. Someone has to operate the defense systems around here.” I gaped, still unsure if she was joking or not. “Sterlo, I’m serious.” Resting her hands on the back of the chair’s headrest, she stared up at me and I caught a flicker of that Tieres determination in her eyes. “Are you going to move or not?” “You,” I started while pulling her away from the controls, “need to get into the back and rest. You’ve been tortured, beaten and awake for far too long. It’s time you get some sleep.” Frowning, Naelah shook her head at me. “I’m not—” “You are,” came Piroc’s gruff intonation. Her features hardened at once, but she didn’t argue anymore. “Fine,” She snapped wearily. “I’ll go into the back and lie down like a kriffing damsel in distress.” She wasn’t pleased, that much was obvious. Tearing herself away from me, Naelah moved around me and headed toward the back of the shuttle, frustration in every step she took. “Glad she didn’t put up too much of a fight,” I muttered, mostly to myself than anyone else. “Yeah,” Piroc answered. “Now, do what the girl ordered and sit your ass down.” There was an undercurrent of sarcasm in his voice, but for the most part he was sobering up. “We have a battle to win.” “Abso-bloody-lutely,” I whooped in response and whirled back into the control pocket. “Now I’m pretty sure we can kick some serious ass with these guns.” My fingers ran deftly over the metal pieces and flashing lights, and finally they clutched around the trigger positions. “We’re off, and so far we’re clear,” Piroc informed from the pilot’s chair. “I just want to get to lightspeed and away from this forsaken hellhole.” “Right-o.” I twisted in my seat and saw him staring intently out the front windows, and when I twisted the other way I saw Naelah’s curled up form on a bench in the back. I nodded to myself and looked back down at the screen in front of me, wiggling my fingers around the handles I had my hand wrapped around. “Exactly what I thought,” Piroc muttered. “Get ready Sterlo, this is going to be one hell of a fight.”
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