This is a rewrite of my story 'Know Your Enemy'. I gave it a major edit and wanted to share the new version too. Sorry this so long. The formatting is off too. Somehow it didn't upload.
Know Your Enemy
Shaa Kyra was waiting in the dark.
For certain death, the irrational part of her mind tried to tell her, but she had suppressed that part for an awfully long time. No one would find her here. Not in this form.
No one was looking for a mouse, after all. They were looking for a human man, middle aged and balding. When they failed to find him, they would leave and look elsewhere.
At least, that's what she was hoping. No one had told them she was a Shi'ido. No one could know here, on this god forsaken rock of a planet.
And even if they did know, she had hidden herself from sight very well, and the datacards. There was no way they would find her.
Even as she was thinking this, four Imperials entered blasters up. Her breathing quickened and she forced her flexible mouse body deeper into the gap between the packing crates. They came closer and closer and then they were beside her…
Despite been very uncomfortable, she tried to wedge herself in tighter and slow her breathing, playing dead. Even over 200 years of acting experience couldn't alleviate the need to breathe, however. Her spine was stiff and it smelt like something had died in here.
All the better for her ruse. She was lucky her face was pointed into the corner, away from the open air, because she kept wrinkling her nose.
She tried to stiffen her body. She had had experience, long and often painful experience, with playing dead, and knew that if they even suspected she was alive, if even the slightest sign betrayed her… she sucked in a huge breath, as much air as her now minuscule body could handle, and squeezed her tiny eyes shut tight.
She felt someone's hot breath on her back, and though screaming for air, she tried to suppress the urge to breathe. It wouldn't do to give up the game now. Eventually he walked away, and she relaxed slightly, allowing herself to take tiny breaths.
When the four left she relaxed completely and crawled out of the hole and found a place more comfortable, taking the strings that tied the datacards together in her teeth and dragging them along as she went to a hole in the wall she had spotted too late to hide in. Still in mouse shape, she curled up around them and watched the entrance warily.
It had been a very long night. She yawned as she uncurled and crept out from her new hiding place, taking a good long sniff before changing to her more familiar and favourite Zabrak form.
She stretched hugely, for she was very stiff after been tightly curled all night, and knelt to pick the datacards up. Tucking them into her breast pocket, she changed again, into the form of a young human woman with flowing brown hair and warm brown eyes. Her skin was creamy and she was slim and fairly short. The datacards appeared to have disappeared.
They hadn't: she had used her species natural and rather remarkable ability to hide small objects under their skin. She had hidden a small hand blaster and vibroblade this way as well.
Shaa Kyra was a Shi'ido, a shape shifter. Her species was incredibly rare in the wider galaxy, as they usually preferred to stay at home on Lao'mon and pursue whatever leisure activity took their fancy. They had a long time to perfect and hone skills. They lived for 500 years. But Shaa had always been different.
As soon as her childhood had ended, she had taken a ship- many things were for free on Lao'mon, since no one had much use for credits- which she had heavily modified and took off for the unknown reaches of space.
She had made blunders, mistakes, and her only limited shape shifting abilities- Shi'ido reached maturity at 61, but could only change their skin colour and certain humanoid forms- caused problems for her until she learned to hide them. But she had learned. And here she was, 200 years later, working for the Rebellion.
The Rebellion was only the last in a long list of employers. She had worked for the Old Republic, as a helper for the Jedi, the Black Sun a few times, the Empire, and now the Rebellion. A few smuggler and pirate groups had ended up in the equation as well.
She admired the Rebellion. Their ideals were inspiring. But they could never win. They were outmatched and out gunned, low on supplies, and always on the run. They had achieved a few startling victories but, as she only expressed to her partner, she didn't believe they could win the war. But it was worth the fight. She truly believed that. However, she never got too attached to a group. She would outlive all rebels and still be in her prime. And she would move on.
But worry about tomorrow, well, tomorrow. For now, she needed to get these cards to Yavin's third moon, along with the intelligence she had gathered. She had to pray hard that her beloved ship hadn't been detained. Though she was a wonderful actress, no amount of acting would get her out of an execution if her cargo had been discovered.
The highly illegal military grade ship upgrades she had stolen were well buried in the bottom of a stack of innocent looking boxes. But she had no doubt Imperials were willing to poke through everything, particularly if they had bothered to scan her ship, the Lucky Break, on entry and discovered the similarly illegal upgrades she sported. And no amount of explaining would cover the fully functional cloaking generator a ship her size wasn't supposed to be able to support.
With a slight smile she set off at a brisk walk. The faster she could get off this rock, the faster she could be home. Home been space. She had always considered in the middle of the blackness of space 'home'. She hated Corillia. And it had only gotten worse since the Imperials had moved in. The garrison was a pain in her shape shifting behind.
Her partner, Koryn Merr, was waiting nervously when she arrived at the spaceport. A gorgeous Twi'lek with pale blue skin and huge eyes to match, and petite features, Koryn had been with the Rebellion as long as she had this time around, three years. She was jumpy but competent, good with a blaster and had a way of seeing everything. She just needed a firm hand to quell her active imagination, which tended to jump to the worst case scenario.
"Shifter!" she exclaimed when she saw her. This was the form they had agreed to meet in if the mission was successful. Shifter was her Rebel codename. The Twi'lek's huge eyes were worried, and she was very tense. She was attracting attention. "I've been waiting for you."
"Not for long, I hope." Shaa said with an easy grin, though her own heart was picking up its rhythm. Why wouldn't the girl relax? Attention was bad.
"Relax, kid, I'm fine. I can look after myself." This was a not-so-subtle way of telling her to cool down. "Besides, you're making a scene. People are staring." Koryn jumped guiltily.
"Did you get it?" she asked in a lower voice as Shaa approached. The shape shifter saw peoples interest piqued and silently cursed Koryn, but just answered,
"Yeah, I picked up the package." She knew and understood the curiosity of other spacers. If Koryn was that nervous, it must be good. Probably illegal, and very expensive. Concentrating hard, she sent a clear message to the girl telepathically, like all her kind could: Shut up!
Koryn didn't speak again until they were safely in the Lucky Break. "I'm sorry about out there," she said instantly as soon as the door was sealed. "I just get nervous."
"I know," Shaa sighed. "You're doing a great job, Koryn. Just remember the signals we agree upon." The woman changed into her favourite Zabrak form. Her pale skin was covered in swirly purple tattoos in this form, from her face, to her arms, down her back and shins. The best part of the deal was she didn't even have to go through the pain of having them done.
Shaa entered the cockpit and slid into the pilot's chair. Over the years she had heavily modified the Lucky Break, who had started life as an YT-1300 freighter. Like many owners of YT-1300s she had installed new hardware, upgraded and replaced. The beauty of the ship was it was so upgradeable, so user friendly if you knew what you were doing. She knew what she was doing. She had been doing it for 220 years.
Koryn sat in the co-pilots seat next to her and fidgeted while Shaa ran through the pre-flight checklist and then contacted the landing tower. She smiled while she waited for a response, imagining what the tower was seeing. A battered and rugged freighter, a junk heap in all respects of the word, which no doubt failed half the time. In fact, every single system, modified, newly installed or heavily upgraded, worked perfectly. Most of the time. She had a lot of credits in accounts under various names all over the galaxy, and a fair few of them went into her ship.
"This is cargo freighter Lucky Break requesting permission for lift off," Shaa sent again. This time a response came quickly.
"Lucky Break, please identify your cargo." She heard Koryn's breath quicken but she was well prepared for these sorts of questions. She had dealt with customs officers and control towers for well over a century.
"Technical parts." She replied smoothly. "Sensor upgrades and the like, I think. I'm not paid to open the boxes." She heard the man on the other end laugh.
"I'd open them anyway, were I you. You look like you could use the upgrades." Shaa smiled. Her image always worked.
"Not worth my life to steal from the Imperials." She said in a very convincing tone. The irony was these parts were stolen from the Imperials. There was another laugh on the other end of the comm.
"Too true. Go on, Lucky Break, and good luck." Shaa rather thought she would have liked to meet the man on the other end. He sounded like a nice guy.
"Thanks Control. Have a good shift." She replied.
"I will thanks." The comlink shut off. Koryn was staring at her. She grinned at her friend.
"What were you thinking? Not worth my life to steal from the Imperials?" Koryn mimicked. The Twi'lek frowned at her.
"Relax, Koryn. We've been through that before. And just because I do it doesn't mean its worth my life." She smiled as she took off and jumped into hyperspace. Koryn didn't look any less worried.
Colonel Maximilian Veers watched the Lucky Break taking off from his office window and smiled.
Not so clever are we, Shifter? He asked silently. You think we don't know about your upgrades, but we do. We know about your cargo too. Whoever you are. Whatever you are. You'll lead us to your Rebel friends, and then we will crush you all.
He stretched as he rose, intending to make himself a cup of caf. He had heard many stories of the rebel agent Shifter, who charmed his- or her, depending on who told the story- way past any customs. It was said nobody could beat Shifter, that he or she was the very best. He was about to prove them wrong. The homing beacon he had had planted on the hull looked exactly like a part of the ship, and not even the legendry Shifter would be able to detect it.
He glanced at the dot labelled 'Lucky Break' on the screen one last time, watched the ship jump into hyperspace just outside the atmosphere, and nodded, satisfied. Shifter would soon be behind Imperial bars, and he wanted a nice large lunch.
"What if they planted a homing device on the hull?" fretted Koryn, her beautiful eyes disturbed. Shaa shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
"He did." She said. She was tapping her toes to some music that was playing from somewhere in the cockpit and humming. Koryn stared at her, horrified.
"Then why are we leading him straight to the base?" she stuttered. "Are… are you an Imperial?" she looked horrified and curious at the same time.
"No," Shaa said, though I was once, she added to herself, "And we aren't. If you check the navi-comp, we're headed to a small planet called Myrkr."
Koryn frowned at her, confused. "Why are we going there? What's on Myrkr?" she asked.
"Absolutely nothing." Shaa said cheerfully and sang a chorus out loud while Koryn puzzled over her answer.
"Then why are we going there?" her question didn't seem to be entirely genuine, it was asked a few seconds too late, and something had clicked in the girls eyes before she asked it. But Shaa wasn't looking at her. If she had, she might have been suspicious of her friend.
"Try to think like an Imperial officer." She told Koryn. Been there, done that. Koryn wondered at the strange look in her partner's eyes. "They're arrogant. They don't think we're clever enough to know they're onto us." Koryn looked down and mumbled, shamefaced,
"I didn't." she knew where this was going now. She might have known since Shaa had told her they were heading to Myrkr. Maybe even before. But Shaa, still not looking at her, still tapping her foot and humming merrily, didn't see the not-at-all ashamed expression she was wearing.
"So Veers thinks we go straight back to base. When we drop out of hyperspace he calls a fleet and goes to apprehend the 'Rebel base'. He finds this place, maybe catches a band of pirates or smugglers, big black mark on his record, and boom, he's out of the way for a while." She did turn to the Twi'lek now, but she had composed her face into an embarrassed and slightly sheepish look now.
"Koryn, learn to think like your enemy. Then you'll be able to predict everything they'll do." She stood and clapped the girl on the shoulder. "I'm going out back for a bite to eat. Want to join me?"
Koryn shook her head and called after Shaa's retreating back, "Shifter?"
The shape shifter turned. "Yeah?"
"Thanks for helping me and having patience." Koryn shifted her weight in the co-pilot's chair. "Teaching me, I mean. I never thought anyone would bother to take me on and help me do what I want to, fight the Empire." If Shaa saw the shiftiness in Koryn's eyes, she put it down to admitting something embarrassing.
"When I'm finished with you, you'll be an intelligence agent." She said with a smile, and Koryn smiled too. Shaa turned and left, and when she was out of eyesight, Koryn's smile changed. It turned more smug, self-satisfied. "That's all you know," she said with feeling.
A beeping came from the console, indicating the Lucky Break had exited hyperspace. Veers smirked. Gotcha now, Rebels. He crossed to the desk and noted the planet. Myrkr. Hmm. He hadn't heard of it before, but it did seem to be a fair way out. Probably the Rebels chose it because it wasn't known. He commed the control tower.
"Yeah," said the bored voice. It sounded like whoever was on the other end of the line was young, and about to come off his shift. He probably hadn't even checked to see who was calling in. Anger bubbled up in him and he forced himself to speak calmly.
"Colonel Veers here." He said. He could almost see the boys panicked expression as he sat up suddenly, straightened his shirt lifted his chin, forgetting he couldn't see him and the link was audio only.
"Sorry Colonel! I didn't…" his voice trailed off and he swallowed audibly. "Yes sir?" he finished. Better.
"I need my ship ready." He didn't need to say 'or else'. The boy had got the message. "In five minutes I will be there. If it isn't ready by that time…" another audible swallow, then:
"Yes sir. Right away, sir," The boy sounded much more professional now. Much better.
Ending the conversation, Veers summoned his lieutenant. The smart young man marched in briskly. He was clean shaven and looked dashing. Must be a real hit with the ladies, he thought.
"I'll be away on business for a while. You're in charge." He told him. The lieutenant smiled.
"Yes sir. Good luck hunting the Rebels sir." Veers smiled at him. He liked this lieutenant.
"Thanks you. Keep this lot under control." He told him. The young man seemed slightly alarmed to see him smile.
"That shouldn't be too hard, sir," the lieutenant said and saluted Veers. Veers saluted him back.
"Good man," he said, and marched out.
The boy looked around nervously, letting his military poise drop, and swallowed.
A few hours later a ship dropped out of hyperspace near Myrkr. Shaa frowned when she saw it and checked the sensors again. Yep, that was it. One Imperial shuttle. Don't underestimate your enemy, Shaa, haven't you learned that already? She scolded herself. Her advice to Koryn floated back to her. 'Learn to think like your enemy. Then you'll be able to predict everything they'll do.' Take your own lessons, Kyra.
She had already landed once and removed the tracking device, having already traced its position using extremely precise sensors placed at certain positions and disguised on the hull for just that task. She could tell any foreign object on her hull, no matter where it had been placed. She had to laugh, for Veers had put the homing device right on top of one of the sensors.
As intended, Veers passed right by the cloaked freighter. Beside Shaa, Koryn hardly dared breathe. She shook her head as the Twi'lek hunched into her chair, eyes fixed on the shuttle. There was something strange in her eyes, the shape shifter thought. Something strangely purposeful. Maybe I missed something in the girl. Or maybe I'm just teaching her well. She dismissed it.
"They can't hear us, Koryn," she pointed out, and Koryn looked at her and blushed faintly. She seemed to be clutching something in her fist…
"I know," the girl said. "I still feel nervous. I'll be ok but." She seemed to relax slightly for she unclenched her fist. Shaa was still staring at the suddenly revealed syringe when Koryn emptied the contents into one of the shape shifter's veins and she began to feel dizzy. Completely in shock at this betrayal, she sat bolt upright and cried out,
"Koryn! What is this?" the world began to blur as the sedative took effect. It was strong, she'd give her that. She must have been planning this for some time. The real question was, why?
Koryn smiled coldly and shoved her out of the pilot's seat to the floor. "Sorry, Shifter. Or should I say Shaa?" Shaa blinked blearily as she fought to remain conscious. Koryn sat in the seat she had just forcibly vacated and deactivated the cloak.
"Colonel Veers, I have her," she sent to the shuttle, and Colonel Veers' face appeared on the screen. He smiled.
"Good, good." He said. "Very well done. I assume you will do the interrogation?" he asked. Shaa was, despite her best efforts, losing her battle to reman conscious. Koryn turned to her.
"The datacards," she said. She shook her head. The world was slipping into darkness. She didn't see any point fighting it anymore. As she slumped she murmured over and over,
"No. No, won't give to you. Traitor." The last thing she heard was:
"Yes sir, I'll do the interrogation."
Shaa woke to find herself, as she had expected, in a force cage. Wondering how many volts they were pouring into keeping her locked in, she probed forward with a hand. She yelped when her hand went numb, and looked to stay that way for quite some time. Curiosity killed the nerf, Kyra. A particularly obscene word slipped through her gritted teeth, and a cold laugh sounded in response to her escape attempt.
"Hello, Koryn. Surely all the volts you're pouring into keeping me here are spiking your power bill dramatically. It'd be a pleasure to escape and waste your money." she said coldly without turning around. She lay back and looked the other way from the traitorous Twi'lek. She had tried to move but found that her muscles were heavy, far too heavy.
"No, I'd just pay from your account. Don't even bother, unless you'd like another zap like that." She advised. "That force shield won't go down until I tell it to." She waved a remote in the air. "And when I deactivate the cage, you'll regret it." She watched the Shi'ido with lazy interest. "Oh, and we injected a muscle relaxant so you can't run anyway." she told her.
"I already figured that out." she said. "What next? Do we trade barbs for the next conceivable while before you actually torture me?" her voice was heavy with sarcasm.
"As tempting as that is, Colonel Veers wants those datacards rather badly. So I'm afraid I have to speed up the process." There was regret in the Twi'lek's tone.
"My heart bleeds for you." Shaa said rather icily. Koryn laughed and stroked her lekku.
"Your heart won't be the only thing to bleed unless you give me those datacards." she looked ruthless, and that scared Shaa more than anything. Not the torture, but seeing that expression on one she had called 'friend' not so long ago.
"Not a chance. Intelligence, right?" she asked. She remembered a conversation they had had only hours ago. Or at least she thought it was only hours. 'You'll be an Intelligence agent by the time I'm finished with you…' "What was it like to pretend to struggle like that anyway?"
"Unbelievable difficult." Koryn said conversationally. "But I have to admit, on several occasions you nearly caught on. I was surprised. You're very good, you know."
"I've had a few hundred years of practise. It's your skill that really surprises me, Koryn. You must have been born to the job." Shaa remembered times when Koryn had seen something that had surprised her, and she had had her suspicions about the new partner she had taken on. And then in the cockpit of the Lucky Break when she had watched the ship far too closely...
"So you've said. How's that going for you? And thank you. I do take pride in a job well done." Shaa cocked her head and pretended to think.
"This, I take it is a job well done. Not so well, now you mention it, actually." She indicated the force cage surrounding her with a heavy hand. Koryn grinned. It was almost like old times in the hold, arguing in a comradely way. "But if you cared to release the shield and let me escape I think it might go better."
"Yes, that is a job well done. I managed to catch Shaa Kyra. With the legends told about you, I really am very surprised. I must have really earned your trust, Kyra. Yeah, it would, wouldn't it?" Koryn said. "Unfortunately, life isn't always like that. We don't always get what's best for us."
"Yes, you did earn my trust, Koryn. How, I have no idea. You've certainly lost it now. No, I guess not." Shaa agreed.
"Maybe one day I'll figure it out. I'll be sure to pop into the afterlife to tell you." Koryn returned.
"Death keeps what he claims, Koryn my dear. You'll pay dearly to run your errand." Shaa retorted.
The two watched each other for a minute in silence before she spoke again.
"Well? You going to get on with the actual torture?" there was something almost like regret in Koryn's eyes as she nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that's what happens now." After a small pause, she sighed. "Are you sure you won't just let me have the datacards?" she asked.
"Not a chance in the nine Corillian hells." Shaa confirmed. There was a challenge in her tone. Koryn, picking up on this, smiled.
"Well then, let's get started."
Several hours later, even though she was covered in cuts and blood and higher than she had been in several decades, all Shaa had said was, "Try harder and maybe you'll even get me to say something." She had even giggled once or twice. "Oops, I just said something! Sure you don't want to take that to your pet Imp?"
Frustrated, Koryn stepped out of the cage and before she was able to put the force shield up again, Shaa had changed into a fly and flown right out. By this time the accursed muscle relaxant had worn off.
Cursing, Koryn tried to catch the annoying shape shifter she had come to regard as a friend, but she zoomed right through her fingers. They say depth perception is the second thing to go, though. She missed the door and hit the wall with a smack. Koryn allowed herself to smile. So all those drugs weren't wasted after all. Veers wouldn't make her front the bill. She strode after her and knelt, picking the fly up by one wing.
"Give them to me, or I'll tear it off." She hissed at her. With a buzzing that was very like a groan, the Shi'ido changed form to a Zabrak.
"Bite… me…" she groaned, and Koryn couldn't keep a smile off her face. She had always admired her friend's spirit and strength. Even tortured and with what was no doubt a headache that felt like her head had been split in two with a lightsabre, she had kept her sense of humour.
"Datacards first." Koryn said, wrenching the arm she held out of its socket. The much older woman's agonised yelp tore at her heart but she forced herself to ignore it. She let the arm drop and Shaa hissed her breath in to keep from screaming. Then Koryn moved to the other one.
"Shall I break the other one?" she asked quietly. "Then move onto the legs?" The Shi'ido wasn't laughing now. No doubt the drugs pumped into her to make her experience every sensory sensation tenfold were making her hurt like her hell now.
"No," groaned Shaa, "No…"
"Then give them to me." Koryn said. "And I'll get you to a bacta tank." She knelt by the others head and whispered something into her ear. Shaa lay there, shaking, and then finally nodded.
"Fine," she whispered. "You win. But…" she winced as a fresh burst of pain from her head split it open all over again, "You better not be bullshitting me."
"I'm not," Koryn said. Shaa glared at her.
As she dropped the datacards onto the floor Koryn called two guards in, and they took the Shi'ido to the medical bay to be immersed in a bacta tank, looking confused. Koryn didn't explain as she tucked the datacards into her pocket and walked to Colonel Veers' quarters.
Partway there she passed a computer terminal and inserted one out of curiosity. Laughing, she removed it again and replaced it in the bundle as she continued on her way. The Colonel would have a very interesting read ahead.
Veers smiled widely when Koryn handed him the stack of datacards. She was smiling too, and seemed to be suppressing laughter about something. He didn't worry himself about it. It was probably a private joke.
"Excellent!" he cried, "Truly excellent!" he slipped them securely in his pocket. He would wait until he was in hyperspace to read them. The alien shrugged and flicked her lekku. He wasn't fond of aliens, but he knew when they were useful. And she was very good at her job.
"I had her by the wing, literally. But she isn't broken yet. She won't tell us anything until we break her. That won't be easy, sir," He smiled at her, somewhat vaguely. He just wanted her to go now.
"I have every confidence in you Captain." He told her. "You will break her. And she'll tell us everything she knows." Koryn smiled back as she saluted. She had a strange look in her eyes.
Don't count on it, big shot, she thought with contempt, she's coming with me. "Yes sir," she said instead of these rather truer thoughts.
"Dismissed." As the alien woman marched out, he wondered at what he'd seen in her eyes. It certainly wasn't blind obedience. He'd even go so far as to call it contempt.
But there was no need to be worried. She wasn't fool enough to try anything. No one, save those pesky Rebels, was fool enough to go up against the Empire. And they would be wiped out anyway soon enough. The Emperor's new project assured that.
Secure in his assumptions he didn't bother to read the message his agent was requesting be sent to Coruscant. He just approved it. Then he headed out to work out and have a rest. Then, he thought, he'd take a peek at their prisoner and maybe do a little interrogating of his own. He smiled. Yes it was a fine plan.
Or maybe it would have been had it worked out.
One thing Shaa couldn't stand was inaction. She had been returned to her cage after a few hours in the bacta tank, which had baffled the guards. At least Koryn had kept up that end of the deal, though the rest of it she wasn't so sure she'd keep. Now was in good enough spirits to wonder what Veers was thinking right now if he'd read the datacards. She had to hide a smirk at the thought.
Though, if he had read the datacards, she wouldn't be sitting here bored. He'd have come in, majorly pissed off, and proceeded to beat her to a pulp.
She was pacing the small cage, changing forms rapidly. She wished Koryn would come back to trade barbs with, since her guard didn't seem to be too talkative. He was nervous to talk to her at all, let alone bicker. She sighed. The room was offering no change of scenery. Though the reactions of the guard to her various forms were rather amusing, if only a petty amusement. It was better than nothing.
Saucy Twi'lek, plain Zabrak, plain Twi'lek, saucy Zabrak, big, angry Wookie- she quickly changed when the top of her already sore head brushed the force cage roof- chattering Ewok, gangly Gungan, many human forms, male and female, young and old- his lip twitched with annoyance. She had been told it was incredibly disconcerting to watch. He obviously felt the same way, for he barked, "Stop that, you!"
She smirked as she stopped on saucy Twi'lek, and he looked away uncomfortably. She heard him muttering, "Not looking… not looking… the missus would kill me if I looked…" she laughed merrily, and he twitched. She could tell he wanted to look. She moved to the front of the bars.
"Aren't you supposed to be watching me, guard?" she asked in a throaty, sensuous voice. "So I don't escape?" Bile rose from her stomach to her throat but she forced it down. She needed to escape… by any means possible.
"You're in a force cage. You can't get out." He mumbled. She smirked again as he twitched, more violently. He wanted to look very much. She caught herself just in time before a snort of disgust escaped. Men!
"Is it worth risking your job for that assumption?" she asked sweetly. He didn't reply. But he did turn slowly, clenching his hands into fists and stuffing them into his pocket. He was so young, she saw in surprise. Young and scared. Hmm. She could definitely use that to her advantage. She leaned forwards as far as she could without touching the shield.
"Are you so scared of me?" she asked, "After all, I am, as you say, in a force cage. I can't hurt you." He went even pinker but didn't reply. "Are you scared of an alien woman?" his pride was finally aroused. She smirked inwardly as he raised his fist. She couldn't lower the shield herself, but if she could goad him into doing it for her…
"I'm not afraid!" he snapped. "They warned me you'd do this. They warned me you'd try to goad me into lowering the shield. I won't!" But during his speech, he was staring at her chest longingly.
"Of course you won't," she said soothingly. This new angle seemed to throw him off balance.
"No, of course I won't, that's right!" he said, puffing his chest out. He leaned forwards almost unconsciously as she puffed her chest out further. Men, she thought again in disgust.
"You're too much of a big man, and I like big men…" he suddenly appeared to be in a trance. The reason he had been fighting so hard to keep died.
"You do?" he asked eagerly, "Really?" all thoughts of the missus seemed to have flown away.
"Oh yes," she purred, working twice as hard to keep the bile down. He almost scrambled to get the remote out and stared at it.
"So if I let the shield down…" she met his eyes with a hint of teasing, and that made his decision for him. He tapped the button, and she instantly turned into a fly, getting out before he changed his mind, and then a Wookie in midair, landing on his head. He was knocked out cold. She made a derisive face and exclaimed,
"Men!"
Koryn ran to the Lucky Break to make sure she was ready for flight. She had disabled weapons systems, shields, cloaking generator and hyperdrive when they first captured her; on the orders of Colonel Veers, of course- she twisted the name in her mind. That man was such a fool! - And she had taken the liberty of reactivating them so she could make a quick getaway when the modifications she had made to the shuttle were discovered.
After capturing Shifter, Veers had called for a larger ship. They were on that now, the Lucky Break in the hangar and Shifter in the detention level. She was on her way there next, to make good on her promise to the Shi'ido that she had whispered in her ear: "This ship is going to blow. I'm getting out of here and I'll take you with me."
When she left, the ship ready, she ran for the detention level.
Shaa retrieved the boy's gun and identification and took his form while in the room, locking him in the force cage in her stead and reactivated the shield. Hopefully they would think he was here for a while. Her stomach twisted at the thought of anyone torturing him in her place, but she had no choice. There was only one way out of here, and that was in the Lucky Break.
She hoped Koryn was telling the truth about her willingness to take her with her. If the ship was rigged to blow- and she had no doubt it was, because she clearly wasn't an Imperial- she didn't want to be here when it did.
She left the room, locking the door behind her, and ran for the hangar bay.
When Veers entered the detention room, he was shocked to find the prisoner unguarded. Didn't that guard know how dangerous it was? Frowning, he told himself he would tell the guard off later. For now he had and interrogation to conduct.
The shape shifter in the cage had taken the form of the guard. Clever, he thought, to make me think you escaped and left the guard in your place. But I know that's impossible. Not clever enough, Shifter.
"Colonel!" Shifter gasped from in the cage, running into the shield in its haste to get close to him, "Oww! Colonel, I'm so sorry, she got away!"
"Stop it, Shifter," he said coldly. "I know who you are. Now, let's discuss the location of your Rebel base."
Both Koryn and Shaa were preoccupied in their individual thoughts as they ran; so preoccupied they didn't notice each other and ran straight into each other.
Koryn leapt back and was startled to see the guard from the prison level as she climbed to her feet. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. He was holding his head and groaning. She heard him muttering,
"After 320 years you'd have thought I'd have learned to keep a lookout…" Reeling, Koryn asked uncertainly:
"Shifter?" the young man looked up at her sourly, still holding his head. His uniform was perfect, but she had seen Shifter change clothes in her morphs, and the way he was glaring at her…
Suddenly he punched her, hard, sending her reeling and holding her now bleeding nose. Definitely Shifter.
"What do you think?" She scowled.
"I deserved that," Koryn admitted in reply. "Feel better now you've got that out of your system?"
"A little," she said. "But you've still got a lot to pay for, girl. I swear, I haven't been that high in decades. If you get me addicted to interrogation drugs I will kill you." A startled laugh broke free from Koryn.
"Oh, I believe you." She said. They were silent for a moment before Shifter spoke.
"So, Koryn, if you aren't a Rebel or an Imperial, who exactly are you?" For a moment Koryn debated not answering. But Shifter's gun was out, and its aim was perfect. She sighed.
"Guess." She said. "After all, you got this far out. You can go all the rest of the way." The blaster shifted its aim from her heart to her temple.
"Fine. I work for Black Sun." she said. There was no point pretending otherwise. She was going to offer her a job anyway. With her shape shifting abilities, she'd be a great asset. And there was no beating her experience. Besides, she was just fond of her. Shifter blinked several times, clearly startled.
"I didn't know they were recruiting." The Shi'ido said. She cocked her head to the side with a slight smile. Koryn couldn't imagine what she was smiling at. "How's Xixor these days?"
"We are. I'm offering you a job, Shifter. And he's fine, last time I checked. I never speak to him, you know." Shifter's laugh sounded strange coming from a young man's body.
"Gee, thought you'd have been on a first name basis with him. I accept." She said, and holstered the blaster in one swift movement.
Veer's comlink crackled as he started to leave the sobbing shape shifter in the cage. He was bleeding, his body convulsing, and pumped with truth telling drugs- but still maintained his innocence, that he was an Imperial Cadet on work experience called Tom Tyler… that he had a girlfriend and didn't mean to… it wasn't making any sense anymore. Maybe it was very resistant to torture. After all, the alien agent had said drugs had little effect on it.
The possibility that it wasn't the shape shifter had never even occurred to him. It was impossible for anyone to escape a force cage. After this he would be having a nice long chat with the guard who deserted his post. He answered it.
"Veers here," he said crisply. A female voice answered him, full of laughter.
"This is Shifter. Veers, having fun with the guard? Don't be too hard on him, he's just a baby." Veers looked with dawning horror at the sobbing boy in the cage. His dismay showed on his face. "Oh, sorry by the way. Tore at my heartstrings to leave you like that but couldn't hang around."
"Where are you?" he demanded, sounding like a toddler cheated of a lolly. The sound of Koryn's laugher echoed over the comm.
"Koryn? What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. The Twi'lek's taunting voice responded.
"I'll pay your respects to Prince Xizor, Veers. Unless you have a last message you'd like me to pass on?" His face drained of all colour and he spluttered and angry, incoherent reply.
"Would you repeat that?" asked Shaa mockingly. "We couldn't understand you."
"The Emperor will hear of this!" he cried. The two girls' laugher combined and crackled over the comm.
"Oh, I'm sure he will." That was Koryn. "But I doubt very much that he'll care." There was truth in that, Veers reflected bitterly, he wouldn't care in the slightest.
"Oh, and to answer your question, we're in the cockpit of the Lucky Break some ten metres above your ship, cloaked," added Shaa.
He set off at a dead run for the hangar, a horrible, sinking feeling in his gut as Koryn continued. There was only one reason they would have told him that.
"I took the liberty of reactivating certain systems. Oh yes, and I made a few improvements to some of yours." The ship was going to blow.
If it was possible, Veers turned even whiter. "Pilot!" he snapped over a separate comm. "The moment I give you the signal, jump into hyperspace."
"Yes sir," said the surprised voice of the pilot. He thought he'd made the right choice. The boy was a good pilot. Followed orders well. If he could save him, he would.
"Shifter!" he barked over the first link, "You haven't seen the last of us!"
"I would be most disappointed if I had." Shifter said with a laugh. "Though I don't know about the 'us' part of your statement. Unless you meant your Empire?"
He clenched his fists as he ran to the cockpit of the shuttle and took off, hovering, unknowingly, about five metres away from the Lucky Break.
"Pilot, hyperspace," he ordered, and the engines powered up. But no power reached them. All the enormous amounts of energy required to open a hyperspace window raced into a very cleverly designed buffer between it and its destination, one that formed a shunt to the self destruct system…
Seconds after both ships raced to clear distance the ship ceased to be, a blossoming fireball taking its place in the skies above Myrkr. Maniac laughter from the cockpit of the Lucky Break was the last thing he heard of the ship before it jumped to hyperspace. He jumped to hyperspace a minute later, watching the fireball spread, thinking of the pilot who was now scattered atoms in Myrkr's upper atmosphere. Like he almost was.
He was thankful he hadn't called a fleet out. That would have been very embarrassing. As it was, no one would know about this. Except him, Shifter and that alien triple agent. He clenched his fists. Now he had a score to settle. No one beat Colonel Maximilan Veers and got away with it. A slow smile spread a cross his face. They would pay.
"Nice, Koryn," laughed Shaa, leaning back in the pilots chair casually as hyperspace rushed around them. "What was it? A buffer?"
"Yes," Koryn, looking very satisfied, said. "Between the self destruct and hyperdrive."
"I'm impressed," Shaa said. "So, where to? Coruscant?" she looked expectantly at the other, and Koryn gloried in the feeling of finally been an equal partner.
"After you give the datacards and intel to Yavin," she said, "Yes," Shaa nodded, showing no surprise she knew the datacards were fakes.
"Righto. So. Lunch?" Shaa asked. The Black Sunner stood and stretched leisurely.
"You're cooking." Koryn said, poking her tongue out.
"Lunch sounds good. And I am so not cooking. You've got to make up for pain. Though I'm not sure whether that'd be punishing me or you more." Koryn laughed.
"It's not worth it. Do you really want food poisoning when you've only just escaped certain death?"
"Not really. But my immune system could handle it. Not sure about yours, though." Shaa poked her tongue out at Koryn.
The two women walked out to the hold together, chatting.
Veers sat in his office on Corillia, steaming and trying to expel the mocking laughter from his mind. He had read the datacards, and couldn't believe the cheek that shape shifter had put in there, mocking him, taunting him. Those… women... aliens... had made a fool of him. It would never happen again, he promised himself darkly. Never again would anyone make a fool of Maximilian Veers.