The Empire of the Hand | Guardian of the Galaxy

[JavinTye]

Hyperspace

5 Standard Years Prior to the Battle of Yavin



Perennis slowly regained consciousness but was afraid to open her eyes.  She felt the vibration of the ship underneath her, and a blanket covering her.  She rolled to her side and pulled some of the covers toward her face sleepily to cover her snapping her eyes open briefly and shutting them.  Mild nausea rolled over her but it seemed minor and she tried to see anything in the image but the room was dark. 

Let's see where I am.

She rolled off the bed and fought the weakness in her body to land in a crouch.  She shook off some cobwebs but it didn't appear there was any movement in response to her roll.  Puzzled she glanced around.  Her night vision wasn't excellent but the room appeared empty. 

Perennis got to her feet and walked over to the doorway and turned on the lights.  There was a desk in the corner and she ran over to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon, but the desk was empty. 

She walked back to the door and extended her hand to touch the door release.  Centimeters away she paused and considered the potential outcomes.  That's when the events of the cave hit her.

Eddy ... Lavi ...

Everyone was gone.  She fell to her knees and began sobbing softly.  Her body hadn't recovered from the shock of the stun bolt and the rapid movement caused her stomach to turn, but she collapsed anyways. 

Then she remembered the concussion grenade, the shrapnel, and the Rodian that had grabbed her.  Her tears turned to rage, but she fought the urge to scream.  She unsteadily climbed to her feet and hit the release and heard voices.

These bastards are going to pay for keeping me alive.

*         *         *

Bahkhor was still a bit uneasy around the two prisoners.  Though the youth wouldn't let on, he subconsciously stayed away from the cells, standing closest to the hallway away from the room.  He nervously kept looking around, forcing himself to not focus on the Twi'lek woman.

"Look, I said it before, me and Nona were hired to figure out where who took files from SoroSuub, where they were, and where they were going.  We didn't know it was going to track like this."  The shaggy human was clearly frustrated behind the purple field.  He was sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out facing Dror who was leaning back in a chair in the corner.

The Twi'lek had been reticent to join the conversation, but had begun throwing in words as the human had begun speaking.  She was on her cot, lekku lying on each side, eyes closed with her hands on her chest.  "That crinking bug-face and his puppets," she turned her head and glared in the direction of Bahkhor before continuing, "got the drop on Z.  I tried to save him."

Dror heard the whoosh of a door from down the hall and knew it had to be Perennis but he remained seated.  Bahkhor was frightened enough as it was and he felt certain if he left the poor boy with that Twi'lek woman she'd find a way to kill him through the field.  He glanced over at the boy in time to see a blur of blonde hair bring what appeared to be a broken piece of a bulkhead down on the boy's head. 

Dror cringed inwardly realizing how little Perennis knew of how events had played out.  He raised a hand in a half greeting as she drew her makeshift weapon up and caught sight of the two prisoners.  It was clear she hadn't expected to run into prisoners and she paused.  It was also clear from their expressions that neither of them had expected this strange turn of events.  They glanced over toward Dror, who broke the silence, "Spes?"

She jumped at the sound of the voice and turned toward it before practically shrieking, "Adir?  What's going on?"

Dror cringed at hearing his name and sighed.  In the few years they had been working together, it had been his only rule, to not use his name in front of others.  They had tried code names but it had been a wasted effort, since Dror didn't like strangers anyways. 

Dror rubbed his forehand with the hand he had been greeting the woman with, while she walked over to him and sat down in one of the other chairs. 

"That, was Bahkhor.  He's one of the pirates..." Dror began.

"Privateers might be the correct word."  The human chimed in.

"Privateers," Dror acknowledged under his hood, "who helped me take this ship."

"Wait, how did we escape?  I was stunned, and ... " Perennis' eyes welled up as her mind drifted to Fortiter and Achava again.  She fought back the tears again and focused on her rage.  "And who are these two?"

Dror glanced down at his comlink and saw the chrono.  "He," Dror gestured to the shaggy human who waved, "Is Tam Zakkai, or Z."  He gestured toward the Twi'lek, "And she is Nona Parcae."  The woman did not move in response.

Perennis looked confused, as Dror stood and walked over to the unconscious Bahkhor.  He bent over and grabbed the young boy around his chest and lifted him up.  "I'll explain the rest in the med station."

*         *         *

The door to the med station whooshed open and Perennis bound through the doorway and saw the figure in the first bed.  She rushed over and practically slid to a stop next to Fortiter's form sitting up with a droid checking the bandages on his leg.

"I'm fine babe, don't worry."  He had a warm smile on his face, but he knew how close it had been to them being separated forever.

She wound up and punched him in the arm and he faked it hurting, though it probably did hurt a bit, and she instantly regretted it.  "Don't you ever go do something that stupid again." 

Fortiter knew she was talking about the mine but faked a look of confusion before chuckling.  "I knew it had to be a stun grenade, or at worst a concussion grenade.  They had been trying too hard to take our friend in."  Fortiter gestured to the second bed where Nom was unconscious and sedated.  He had a mild concussion from being dropped, and apparently had been suffering a bit from the trauma of their firefight.

Fortiter saw Dror had dropped the unconscious youth in the third bed and noticed Dror smirking under his hood.  Fortiter hadn't known it was a stun grenade at the time, but it did make sense.  He gazed deeply into his wife's beautiful blue eyes and smiled, "Now let me tell you what your amazing husband did to save your life." 

*         *         *

The reunion had been brief.  Fortiter had regaled his wife with how he had woken after Achava's heroic sacrifice, and fought off the effects in time to save her.  He had pushed the large Barabel off him, but with his leg he had been struggling to try to save Perennis when Bahkhor had come into the cave.  Once again the boy was almost a target, but he had in the end helped get Perennis, Nom, and Fortiter all onboard.  It had been difficult through the trees, but Dror had used a wench to pull them up one by one.

Dror had heard the story already once, and been involved for half of it, so he had set the droid to checking out Bahkhor.  A few stitche and it hadn't taken long to check out Bahkhor.  The med droid had patched him up, while Fortiter had explained about his leg. 

"It's going to need a real doctor, so on Sluis Van, we'll take the time to patch it up."  His voice sounded more optimistic than his face, but Dror had known that already.  The crash had hurt him badly, and while modern medicine was impressive, there were limits.  Then again prostheses were common and their payoff for this job would cover it.

The four of them were leaving the medbay.  Fortiter and Perennis were leading, with Dror third and Bahkhor rubbing his temple in the rear.  They reached the holding cell area and Dror stepped ahead before turning his back to the two captives. 

"So now we have a choice to make, and Educo is still captain."  He nodded to the older man on the crutch. 

Fortiter pursed his lips before speaking.  "We'll drop you two off at the next stop."

It was the Twi'lek woman who spoke first, still laying on her cot, "Z's ship is at Abregado-Rae."  The black market world was in the opposite direction.

Fortiter nodded, "Then we'll pay for your trip."

It was Zakkai who spoke next, "Fine by me, but can we please get out of here, this is obnoxious!"  The exasperation in his voice was real.  The thin scruffy male was sitting with his back to one of the cell walls. 

Fortiter tilted his head down and scratched the back of his head with the hand not on the crutch.  He lifted his head and his eyes stared into the darkness under Dror's hood.  The younger man nodded slightly.  Fortiter looked at Bahkhor and nodded his head toward the cells.  The young man look frightened as if asking why Fortiter didn't do it himself.  Fortiter just glared, glanced at his crutch, and back at the boy.

The boy walked slowly to the cells and punched in a combination.  The woman responded in a blur, rolling out of her cot and pivoting quickly.  She reached an arm out of the cell and slammed Bahkhor's head into the wall.  Using the head as a pivot, she pushed her weight on the unconscious boy's head and swung her legs out into a kick aimed at the back of Dror. 

The thud of the boy hitting the wall though had Dror moving, he pivoted on his foot and spun to face the cells seeing the Twi'lek in midair coming toward his previous position.  His cloak fluttered slightly behind him.  He quickly jammed his palm into her breastbone with enough force to drive her sideways through the air.  She crashed downward but quickly scrambled into a crouch facing Dror.

Perennis had already drawn her weapon and shot in the direction of Z who hadn't moved from the cell, instead content to sigh at the actions of his partner.  Dror waved his left hand toward Perennis in a signal of dismissal.  She was about to ignore his comment, but Fortiter put his hand on top of her blaster and gently applied force to lower the weapon.

The Twi'lek woman watched the display and her eyes narrowed.  A small smirk appeared on her lips.  Dror lifted the cloak over his head without taking his eyes off the woman.  He tossed it in the direction of Fortiter who caught it with his free arm and threw it over his shoulder. 

The red-skinned Twi'lek stood to her feet, eyes shifting from Dror to the married couple.  Her stance was loose and she circled around to face Dror trying to put his body in between her and Perennis' weapon, but Dror just merely backed into the corridor away from his support. 

*         *         *

Perennis and Fortiter walked away from the corner and out into the middle of the area before peering down the corridor.  The lithe red-skinned Twi'lek was a blur of movement, running up a wall and jumping away to bring a punch down on Dror, who slid toward the wall she had run up and clear of the punch.  Once she crashed down, Dror aimed a kick for the back of her leg, but she rolled forward.  Perennis was now in no position to shoot at her. 

"Why didn't you let me shoot her?"  Perennis demanded of her husband who was now struggling to check on the unconscious Bahkhor.  Perennis walked over to the boy and saw Zakkai poke his head out from the cell.  She raised her blaster immediately, but the scruffy man raised his hands in surrender.

"Please don't shoot.  Look I'm a hacker.  I don't use guns, I don't fight.  Nona's been cooped up for days, she's just antsy.  You should shoot her.  She'll probably kill your friend."  The human thought about what he just said and saw the panic in Perennis' eyes.  "Or not.  Or maybe just stun her.  She's a good person."  He added in. 

Fortiter gestured to the boy and Zakkai grabbed some of Bahkhor to help drag him toward the medbay.  He wasn't strong enough to lift him, and Perennis was too busy holding her weapon to help.  "My friend has killed a lot of people," he looked over at Perennis and added, "and he needs this after losing Lavi."  Dror had been closer with Achava than any other member of the crew. 

Zakkai chuckled and asked, "But how many by hand?" 

Fortiter released an exaggerated sigh and glanced at him, "I don't know, we were apart for maybe an hour and he managed to kill most of the men who captured you guys, plus steal this ship, and blow up their other ship.  I think he can hold his own."  Zakkai paused a moment and a brief glimpse of worry appeared on his face.