Mishap on Aaris III
Chapter 1: Wanted
A lone form ran trough the dense jungle trees. Lyira's breath came in gasps as she pushed her way through the flora. The steady tromp of heavy boots filled the space behind her.
"Whoa!" Lyi tripped over a knarled tree branch and toppled into the middle of a heated battle. The planet of Aaris III was in turmoil.
The Sepratist's had landed a large fleet in order to occupy the neutral planet. The Aaris, a warty reptilian species, had made it clear to both enemies that they planned to stay neutral and out of the war. The only clear area for miles was filled to the bursting point with Clone Troopers and Battle Droids. The occasional Aaris scurried across the mushy field in terror.
Lyi landed with a definite squish on the soggy ground. The man would have her yet, she was wanted by the Republic. She had never done anything against them, okay, maybe she had smuggled ore for the Separatists under their noses, but who cares? A pilot has to make her way in a war torn Galaxy one way or another. It just happens her largest shipment had been shot down on Aaris III and she was now a wanted CIS Pilot.
A nearby Clone Trooper turned from the fighting and yelled, "Halt! In the name of the Republic, I order you to halt!" He advanced towards her, hands outstretched.
"For the Galaxies sake! I'm already on the ground, I can't go anywhere." All the same Lyira propelled herself backwards with her feet, right into the legs of an awaiting Jedi. His strong hands clamped down on her biceps and hauled her to her feet.
"Let go of me! I haven't done anything!" Lyira struggled and pulled against her captor's grip, but it never loosened for one second.
A curtain of her shoulder length dark brown hair fell in front of her face and her light purple eyes squinted as she prepared for hr next attack, if that is what you want to call struggling. Any young woman should always know how to confront a man, Jedi or abuser. She lifted her leg and steeled herself, but before she could get any farther, her Jedi captor dropped her and whipped out his lightsaber. He yanked his hood farther over his face and watched the lime-green blade spring to life. He batted away a stray blaster bolt before running to confront a group of SBD's headed for them.
"Guess I'm wanted alive." Lyi pulled her hands from the muck and picked herself up out of the muck. Her dark blue flight suit was covered in brown gunk and her white vest was torn. She slapped her hand down on her white pistol holster around her hip only to discover her blaster was missing.
"Hah. The Jedi is more clever than I thought." She stealthily slunk back into the shadow of the tropical trees.
"Going somewhere so soon?" A vice said behind her; as if on cue, a tangle of thick green vines cascaded down from the trees and wrapped themselves around Lyira's body.
"You think you can get away? I know you better than that. Your ore runs are over, miss?" A vine slithered around her hips and neck as another passed around her wrist, biceps, and tightened around her ankles and thighs. She gasped as the vines lifted her off the ground and held her horizontal in mid-air.
"Zent." She reluctantly answered.
"Ah, well then. Miss. Zent, you are now in Republic custody and shall be held responsible for aiding the Separatists with battle droid supplies." The Jedi walked out of the shadows and drew nearer to Lyi. He was tall, compared to her small 5'7" form, somewhat stocky, and walked with the manner of a young man. His face was hidden in his hood and she strained to look. With one hand he knocked his hood off his head. It revealed a mop of curly black hair and vibrant green eyes on a young face. He raised one hand and used the Force to move a vine around her stomach.
"You know my name. What's yours." She growled.
"If you must, I am Jedi Knight Len Vo'a. I only know your last name. Let me guess your first. Pilot? Or should I say Traitor?" One hand rested on his lightsaber hilt and the other extended to remove the comlink on her belt. She swiftly turned her body and managed to sink her teeth into the flesh on the backside of his hand. Len pulled away choosing a few select Huttese profanities.
"Let me down, Vo'a." She said slowly, ice dripping from every syllable. Vo'a's saber passed through the vines and she landed on the ground in a heap.
"Why don't you work with me and I can take you back to camp?" He shook his head as he watched her untangle herself. Carefully, he held out a hand to her. Lyi hesitantly took the soft hand and stood up.
"I'll end up in a detention cell no matter what I do!" She jumped away from Len and balled her small hands into fists. Before either could go any farther two troopers burst through the trees firing madly. The pan of blaster fire eventually ceased and they snapped to attention.
"Take this pilot scum back to the base. I'll deal with her later." Len ignited his green blade and jumped back into the hurried fighting. The troopers silently looked at Lyi. The one with the yellow stripes completed a number of swift hand motions before they disappeared back into the flora. Suddenly a heavy, armor-clad body pushed Lyi to the ground and crushed her. The trooper weighed a ton, and the armor didn't help as he rolled her over on her stomach and pressed a knee into her back, pinning her. The armor plate dug into her skin and she bit her lip as her hands were secured behind her with a pair of cuffs.
"Come on." He pulled her to her feet and checked the locking mechanism. Unwillingly, she let the Clone drag her away.
Detention Cell 98:
Lyi rested her back against the cold durasteel of her cell. She lazily watched the orange force-field door flicker. The base was a bunch of small buildings nestled in a protected hillside. She was located in one of the six detention cells. The trooper, who she now knew as CT-9599 or Snake, had cuffed her hands in front of her, so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. Lyira had never chosen sides. Nor had she meant to make it her fulltime job running errands for either group. She just needed what everyone did…credits.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Lyira?" She sighed and rested her head against the wall above her seat on the bench.
"Yes, what have you gotten yourself into, Zent?" Len Vo'a walked into her cell and the field-door ignited behind him.
"I wasn't talking to you. Jedi." She grouched and glared at the young Knight.
"So? It doesn't make a difference either way." He tried to focus on her face, but his eyes were always drawn to her bright purple ones. He had never seen such exotic eyes before.
"What?" Lyira straightened up and crossed her arms. "You made such a big deal about me making runs for the CIS. Get to the point already." Not liking his height advantage over her, she got to her feet and tried to look him in the eyes. Damn it she was short. Even the clones were taller than the Jedi, and he was taller than her.
"You will be confined here until a small clone force can be dispatched to deliver you to Coruscant-"
"I'm just one of the thousands of pilots who work for the Seps! What makes me so important!" she interrupted.
"You once served the Republic, by defecting to the enemy, that makes you more important." Len explained. "As I was saying. you will be confined here until a small clone force can be dispatched to deliver you to Coruscant. There you will stand trial for your war crimes against the Republic. I suggest you use this time to think over your actions." Lyira got into Len's face and stood on tip-toe so her eyes were even with his.
"I think I'm glad I defected. I wouldn't want to work for you, no matter what the situation." She jabbed a finger in his face.
"Huh. I'm so happy for you. Now I recommend you tell me all the ore sites you have made runs to. Trust me, it'll be good for both of us." Lyi stuck her tongue out at him.
"No." Len lost his patience. He grabbed Lyi by her arm and dragged her inches from his face. Her composure fell and she began to look lost and scared.
"Enough!" He roared. "I don't care how proud you might be! Tell me where the Ore sites are! NOW!" He commanded. He let go of her and she toppled to the ground in shock. When she didn't answer him, he used the Force.
Lyira could feel his mind trying to push into hers. She tried to block him out, but he was too powerful. She yelped as he pushed past her mental barrier and started unearthing her most recent memories. She shook as she tried to pull him out of her head.
"No…get…o-out." She managed. Len finally noticed her limp form and immediately pulled back.
His jaw dropped as soon as he realized how close to the Dark Side he had gone. He had used more power than Lyira could handle mentally. She laid on the floor, unmoving. He replayed the memories he had seen. He saw a couple of the Ore sites, and some angry Sep Warlords. But then he saw something a little more disturbing, maybe the reason Lyi had been working for the Separatists for so long. It was a still memory of a man and Count Dooku. The man had salt-and-pepper hair and he was laying at the Count's feet, bloodied. In the far corner of the room he saw a slightly younger Lyira Zent. She was being held by Ventress and tears were streaming down her face. He guessed the dead man was her father. Then it clicked. Dooku killed her father so she wouldn't go back to the Republic and tell of all their droid building secrets. She wasn't a faithful Sep pilot, but more of a girl forced to work for her enemy so her family doesn't end up dead.
He knelt down next to Lyi and helped her sit up. A few stray tears were rolling down her face.
"Why! Why did you have to bring those memories back!" She yelled hysterically. The death of her father had really scared her into immediate submission. "I worked so hard to get by them! Why! I hate you! I hate every person who can wield a Jedi's weapon. Why did they have to take him? Why my father! I never did anything!" Len watched as the stubborn pilot fell apart in front of him.
"I'm sorry. It'll be alright." He tried to comfort her by pulling her into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest. Instead of pulling away, she leaned into him and let her moment of hysteria pass.
"It'll never be alright. He took my family away from me. Get away from me." She once again became the stubborn pilot he had taken into custody. She straightened up and smoothed out her dark blue flight suit and vest.
"I think I'll let you think about what I said." Len turned and Snake let him out of her cell. She sighed and slid down the wall into a crouch.
"That Jedi can't be trusted. He probably had too many titles for his pompous mind to remember. General, Commander, Jedi, Knight, Master, Apprentice, Hey what's his name!, that guy. The list could go on and on." Lyi thought.
She knew the code of the Jedi. He had slipped close to the Dark Side by trying to slip invade her mind when she was unwilling, and then he had become a softy and tried to comfort her after his mistake. The kriffing Jedi would never make any sense to her. Then she noticed the person watching her. The trooper, Snake, was standing behind the force-door watching her while he fingered the trigger on his blaster.
"Whatcha' lookin' at, Clone?" She snapped.
"Nothin', ma'am." He responded. He pulled his helmet over his head with a slight hiss and he keyed in the shield code. He set his helmet and blaster down on the floor and walked into Lyira's cell unarmed.
"You don't think I can kill you do you? That why you set your weapon aside." She sneered at the advancing trooper.
"No. I just don't think you need those cuffs anymore. I recognize you. You once made a med run on Utapau. My squad had to bang out and you helped us." She held out her bound wrists.
"Yeah, I remember that. Then I went along to prove my allegiance to the Seps by making a stealth run and freighting 3 tones of ore and fuel from Naboo to Geonosis." She rubbed her wrists to get the circulation moving again.
"If you explain that to General Vo'a, he might understand. He has a lot on his shoulders these days and the last thing he wants to deal with is a pretty Seppie pilot." He clipped the cuffs to his belt. Lyira blushed at his last comment, she hoped he didn't see.
"At least someone on this slime ball understands my situation. I'm Lyira, call me Lyi." She held out her small hand to the Clone.
"Commander Snake. You won't try to runaway will you, Lyi?" He asked.
"Not yet at least, Snake." She gripped his larger hand and shook it.
"I'll send a trooper in in a few hours to bring you some food. I don't think the General will go as far as starving you." And he left.
When she was alone again, she smiled. She liked that trooper, He had potential and she could tell he had a sense of humor because his eyes kept laughing at her through their whole ordeal. If only that damned Jedi Len would be a considerate as Snake.
18:00 standard hours:
Lyira rolled over and immediately opened her eyes. Someone was in the cell. She sat up and a strong hand slapped over her mouth. Her eyes widened and she let out a muffled shriek.
"Thought you could get away from us, girl?" A hard voice asked behind her. She recognized the cold accent of Dooku's assassin, Asajj Ventress. She was almost thankful it wasn't Grievous. She felt one pale arm snake around her body and grip her upper arm. Lyi tried to say a smart mouth comment back, but her statement was muffled by Ventress's cold, pale hand. Curiously, she noticed that the bald woman had gathered a few more tattoos since their last encounter two years ago. She bound Lyira's wrists and upper arms behind her with cord and tied a piece a fabric across her mouth.
"Ahh, I remember you. You were that nosey pilot who threatened to tell the Republic of our new secret droid factory. You were that crying mess when the Count killed the old man." Her hand slid under Lyi's chin and forced her to look up at Asajj's pale, bald, lifeless face.
"Just be a good little girl and my lightsaber might not accidently cut something off." She used to Force to deactivate the shield and hauled Lyira out after her.
A tear and a muffled sob escaped her as she reliezed she was going back to the life she had worked at to escape. Passing by a hidden security camera, a small red light flickered and a loud alarm blared to life. The assassin moved faster and Lyi thought quickly. This was it! Her only chance to stop her kidnapping! She let her feet fall out from under her and as she fell she brought her feet up into Asajj's ribs. The pale woman grunted and swung for her and grabbed the cord around her arms. Hauling Lyira back to her feet, Ventress whipped around at the sound of hurried footsteps and blasters charging. A group of four Clones entered the tight hallway and leveled their rifles with Ventress. With a horrible laugh, she pulled Lyi in front of her and ignited her blood red saber.
"Let the prisoner go, assassin." Snake ordered; lining his sights up with Ventress's exposed head. A green blade ignited behind Snake's squad and Len moved forward. He stood in front of the troopers and addressed Ventress.
"Let her go and maybe I'll spare you." He had discarded his cloak and now he stood in his brown jedi's robes facing Ventress.
"You'll be lucky if I let anyone live." She cackled. Lyira let out a stifled scream and struggled as she felt the blood red lightsaber bite into her neck and begin to sear away her skin.
"I'll say it again! Stand down assassin!" His voice sounded rushed and worried. With a rigorous shake of her head, the binding around her mouth fell and burned up on the lightsaber at her neck. In the same manner she bit Len, she sank her teeth into the taunt skin on the back of Ventress's hand. Ventress shook Lyi off and brought her blade down on Lyi's stomach. She shrieked as the blade seared the skin around her ribs. Then in an a last attempt she began to bite kick and scratch wherever she could get at Asajj.
"Hurt her one more time and you won't make it out of this compound alive!" Len threatened.
"Really? Let's see." She slashed at Lyi's stomach again and added a second burn line next to the first. Lyira's face twisted in pain and she made another attempt to free herself. Len launched himself at Ventress and in order to protect herself, she had o push Lyira aside and raise her saber to stop his. Lyria landed on the floor, but wasn't able to throw her hands out to stop herself because they were tied behind her back. One of the nearby troopers caught her and dragged her out of the way of Len and Asajj's flying lightsabers.
"Those are some pretty deep burn you got there, Lyi." Snake crouched over her as his squad fired at the assassin.
"I guess that's what happens when you betray one side for another." She managed. Len's green blade collided with Ventress's red in a shower of Force sparks.
"If you back down now, I'll let you leave." Vo'a pushed harder and fought with all his strength. Eventually he had Ventress on her knees, barely able to block his powerful blows.
With an angry snarl, the enraged woman threw all her weight behind her attack. Len blocked quickly and shielded his face as the locked lightsabers drew close.
"There is no chance of getting the girl now. I will be of no use dead." Ventress thought. "You've one this round, Jedi." She dodged his next blow and deactivated her lightsaber before attaching it to her belt.
Swiftly she escaped down the corridor and he watched her ship leave the system through the sky port in the ceiling. Finally he disengaged his saber and replaced it to his belt.
Crouching next to Snake he asked, "How is she?"
By this time Snake had given her painkiller and a sedative. The empty syringes where sitting on the floor next to Snake's knee.
General Vo'a pulled back the piece of ripped fabric that covered her burns. They were a dark shade of red in the middle that moved out to red then pink and then the tan skin of her stomach.
Len brushed her dark brown bangs out of her face and looked at her closed lids. He could remember how much pain and fear he had seen in those purple eyes Ventress had attacked her with her lightsaber. If he was right, it looked more like the fear of a past injury. With stiff fingers, Len undid the mid-section of her flight suit until her whole stomach was revealed. Thin white lines crisscrossed her belly.
Identical to the new burns, she had been attacked with a lightsaber before. He stood up and let Snake bandage her wounds before he attended to himself. He had a couple of nicks on his fingers and arms from her blade. A little bacta could clear them up in a few weeks.
"Trooper!" He called to one of the many clones who had reported to the break out. "I want you to gather a small attack force and follow that assassin!"
"Yes, sir!" The trooper saluted and then ran from the corridor, followed by seven of his brothers.
"Why would Dooku send his best assassin to kidnap a pilot who had been caught by the Republic? Maybe she knows more and is more vital to the Separatist cause than she lest on. She was just one of the millions of pilots who roamed the Galaxy, why was she so important that Commander Ventress had to come?" Len pondered.
"General?" Snake laid a hand on Len's shoulder. "I have sent all the men back to their daily duties. Do I have permission to take Lyi-I mean Zent back to her cell?" Snake asked, his voice echoing in the now empty hall.
"Wait. What did you call her? Lyi?" Len questioned.
"No, no, no, sir. I called her Zent. Not this Lyi name." Snake rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable.
"You're not telling me the truth, Snake. You know her name. Tell me, what is it?" He asked.
"It's Lyira, sir. She goes by Lyi though." Snake admitted.
"Lyira. Pretty name. Sounds off world. Lyira…Lyira…Lyira." Len ran the name over in his head.
"No, Commander. I'll take care of her. I thought you had an E-Web to finish assembling, why don't you go finish that." He dismissed Snake.
"If you say so, General. The sedative should be wearing off by now, she might be a little confused and angry when she wakes up." Snake replaced his helmet and left the two in the hall.
"Alright, time to go, Lyira." Len stooped down to pick her up.
Her eyes where moving under her lids, so he guessed she would be waking up soon. He slid one arm under her thighs and the other under her shoulders. He straightened up and walked down the corridor back to her cell. He stopped at the door and looked in at the cell. Then he turned around and walked in the direction of the medbay, Lyira still resting in his arms.