Best Laid Plans – A Star Wars Serial Adventure
Author's Note: While I have created the characters and the situations, it all resides in the Star Wars Universe conceived by George Lucas.
This story was conceived in an episodic, serial form. To read the previous episodes of this story, please go to:
www fanfiction net/s/8366512/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-I
www fanfiction net/s/8479640/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-II
www fanfiction net/s/8647198/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-III
www fanfiction net/s/8771880/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-IV
www fanfiction net/s/8904872/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-V
(just need to add the missing periods, I apologize for that inconvenience)
This is the final episode of the story!
Episode VI
The pirate ship Queen Valkyrie barely escaped the pursuit of the Imperial Star Destroyer, but the pirates were forced to exit hyperspace before reaching Tatooine and crawl to safety while remaining vulnerable to attack.
Captain Berini had to land her crippled ship on the slave planet Orvax IV in order to make repairs and give the gravely-wounded, including Soraa, much needed medical care.
Soon the Empire also arrived on Orvax IV, and in a desperate attempt to obtain the money needed for repairs, Ja'Ina and Kurloh embark on a dangerous mission that will bring them face to face with the notorious slaver Mehar…
Chapter One
The slave markets of Orvax IV were just starting to open up in the early morning light. The auctions ran as long as there was daylight, rain or shine. Slavers were already leading their slaves to the auction platforms in anticipation of the day's profitable business.
One particular slaver could be seen leading two ragged-looking female slaves at the end of chains connected to binders that held their hands behind their backs. With the slaves in front, they walked along one of the main streets, which was still mostly void of traffic. The scraggly, middle-aged master wore a hooded cloak and the slaves were dressed in baggy utility jumpsuits. One of the females was a petite, honey brown-skinned human with waist-length black hair. The other was an orange-skinned Togruta with the characteristic curved white montrals and trio of head tails that hung down her chest and back. The females looked around in all directions, while the master silently looked straight ahead.
Kurloh saw no sign of Mehar. "Do you sense anything yet, Ina?" she whispered.
Ja'Ina answered quietly, "Nothing yet, Ku. We should probably head toward his compound. It'll be harder to run into him at the market without following him to it."
"Be quiet, slaves!" Spiaré barked from behind the young women, which startled them.
Kurloh turned and glared at the Jedi. He seemed to have too much fun with his role in their charade. Still, they couldn't risk being overheard saying anything that suggested that they were not as they appeared, so his actions weren't completely unwarranted.
Spiaré rattled their chains and Kurloh turned back to face forward. Ja'Ina glanced at the Togruta and gave her a quick, subtle grin and shrug.
Ja'Ina and Kurloh, along with their 'master' Spiaré, continued to walk along the street as traffic and business started to pick up. It was fairly quiet when they first arrived, but now the noise level of machines, animals and conversations quickly rose to fill the air. Ja'Ina continued to reach out with the Force in the hopes of picking up on Mehar's unpleasant presence.
A large reptilian Trandoshan stepped out in front of the women, who immediately stopped short. Spiaré stopped right behind them, ready to step in if necessary.
The Trandoshan spoke Basic with an unpleasantly pronounced hiss. "How much do you want for your girls? I especially like the Togruta here. You don't see many of them for sale; a rare treasure indeed!" He gestured a three-fingered claw towards a scowling Kurloh.
Spiaré stepped up to stand in between the young women and the unwanted buyer. "I assure you, more than you're willing to pay."
The Trandoshan let out a hissing chuckle. "Try me." He produced a bag of credits.
Kurloh had the thought of robbing this bothersome humanoid reptile. Spiaré sensed it and warned her through the Force. No. We must stay focused on what we're here to do. She quickly dropped her thought.
Spiaré stared into the Trandoshan's eyes and said flatly, "They're more than you can afford."
The Trandoshan stood there momentarily with a confused look on his scaly face. "Th-they're more than I can afford…"
"You'd rather spend your money on food and drink than slaves."
"I-I'd rather spend my money on food and drink than slaves…"
"We'll be on our way now."
After a moment, the Trandoshan perked back up. "Well, I'll be on my way too, then. I'm actually feeling hungry right now."
Keeping his eyes locked on the reptilian's, Spiaré slightly nodded. The Trandoshan walked away, muttering to himself.
Keeping up the ruse, Spiaré yelled at his 'slave girls' again. "Go on! Get moving!"
Ja'Ina had an easier time playing the role of a timid, submissive slave than Kurloh did. The Togruta struggled to not get annoyed. She couldn't imagine actually being a slave to anyone. She couldn't get past the fact that she found the whole practice foul and twisted.
It was finally Soraa's turn in the bacta tank. Yifu and Fenn, the other badly-wounded crewmembers, had completed their therapy and were back on board the Queen Valkyrie. Berini was there with Soraa, as was Rann and Juun.
Soraa was prepared to go in. She wore only a small white bikini that exposed the still-open deep lacerations and contusions that covered her body. She also had a breath mask with a microphone to speak through and a small earpiece to hear the others while submerged in the fluid. While she was happy to finally be healed once and for all, Soraa was still nervous about being put into such a helpless, defenseless position on a planet of slavery. She and Ja'Ina's encounter with Mehar back in Jum Katar still burned strongly in her memory; Soraa did not want to come that close to becoming a slave again. She would rather kill herself before she'd let someone take her as their property.
As Soraa was slowly being lowered into the tank, Rann called up to her. "Don't worry about a thing! In a little while you'll be ready to shoot the ears off a gundark!" She patted her own cybernetic leg. "Spent some time in a tank for this thing and was good-as-new after!" She gave Soraa a smiling thumbs-up.
Soraa nodded her head in response just as her chin touched the surface of the fluid. She settled into a position in the middle of the tank and the bacta started to work on her wounds immediately, which felt very strange to her. There was a tingling sensation mixed with a hint of pain and itchiness, and the temperature was slightly lower than her body's. Her ears were filled with the constant, soft low-frequency hum. Even within the breathing mask Soraa could smell the sickly-sweet odor of the fluid that enveloped her. She felt completely weightless, which she found comforting.
Berini was at the control console next to the tank. She spoke into a microphone. "Soraa, can you hear me okay?"
Soraa turned her head towards Berini. Through the console's speaker, Soraa's muffled voice could be heard. "Y-yeah, I can h-hear you." She had a hard time controlling her nervousness.
"Just breathe normally and everything will be fine."
"O-okay."
The facility was little more than a small underground room behind a shop which was owned by an acquaintance of Berini's. She had known him since her days in the Imperial Navy. He had also left the military and took up a new life on Orvax IV. He was not in the slavery business; he simply wanted to get away from Imperial influence to start a modest yet profitable business. He had obtained the bacta tank in a high-stakes dejarik game and maintained it for a secret business on the side. The subterranean room was well-reinforced with high-grade duracrete and the security system was tight.
Berini was one of only a few who knew its existence. Those few had to swear to secrecy and pay a hefty fee for use to cover the high costs of tank maintenance and the black market value of the bacta solution itself. It was believed to be the only tank on the planet, if not the entire sector.
The light that bathed Soraa from within the tank provided the majority of the lighting in the windowless room. Berini stayed at the controls monitoring the tank's systems and Soraa's vitals while Rann and Juun sat down in chairs in front of the tank.
Rann shook her pointed thumb at Berini. "Get a load of that strange-looking med-droid over there."
Juun chuckled as the Captain gave the jokester a glaring eye that could burn a hole through the duracrete walls of the room.
Through the solution, Soraa could just make out the others just outside of the tank. She was relieved to see that she really wasn't going to be left alone. She let out a relaxed sigh and settled more inside the tank. Berini could hear her patient's relief through the console speaker and saw her vitals settle into a relaxed state on the monitor. She looked up at Soraa and smiled a motherly smile.
As the market opened for the official business of the day, the platforms were surrounded by numerous beings waiting for the first slaves to go up for sale. Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Spiaré simply walked past the platforms to avoid any other encounters that could slow them down.
Without looking like it, the young women led Spiaré down the streets towards Mehar's compound. The Jedi made sure to bark out commands and pull the chains to match their changes in direction.
Two T'surr enforcers were walking down the street toward the trio, and the sight of them made Kurloh and Ja'Ina very nervous.
The hulking T'surr stared at the shackled women as they passed each other. The enforcers displayed large evil grins and chuckled with overtones of disgusting pleasure at the sight of the young 'slaves'. When the T'surr were about a dozen meters behind him, Spiaré glanced back and subtly waved his hand. Without warning, one of the T'surr stumbled and fell over as if he tripped on something. His partner guffawed and pointed at the unwitting victim of the Jedi's mischief.
Angry, and thinking his partner tripped him, the first T'surr stood up and punched the second in the center of his ugly face. The second T'surr shook it off and stood staring at the first for a moment. Then they both broke into roaring laughter and continued on their way.
Kurloh muttered to the air, voicing her annoyance at Spiaré. "I hope you're quite finished."
He responded by rattling the chains like he was ordering a pair of burdened nerfs forward.
Raelin's soothing voice sang within Soraa's mind. It had been a long time since she had seen him and the band or actually listened to his music, but the memory of his voice was forever recorded in her mind.
One of Soraa's favorite songs of his was playing in her head. But unlike the actual version of the song, she heard Raelin's voice a cappella. She focused on his voice and a strong sense of peace washed over her.
Soraa missed Raelin dearly and hoped that she'd be able to see him and the rest of the Sea of Lights again someday. She had so many stories to tell him about the adventures she and Ja'Ina have had since leaving Galathu.
Soraa opened her eyes and looked around. She was still floating within the bacta tank, but the bright light that had shone beneath her had gone dark and the fluid felt icy cold. Trying to focus her eyes through the fluid and the tank's transparent cylindrical wall, she looked for Berini, Rann and Juun. She could not see them.
An intense panic raced through Soraa's mind. She was completely vulnerable on a slave planet and didn't know what happened to her friends. She was all alone and didn't know what to do.
Soraa pushed herself through the viscous fluid up to the side of the tank to get a better view outside. There was no one visible to her in the small room. She could barely see the chairs, and the only reason she could see the tank's control console was that it was right next to the tank. The console was also dark, as if the tank's system was deactivated.
Frightened out of her mind, Soraa pushed back to the center of the tank, feeling more protected farther away from the wall. She quickly turned her head around, scanning around her with fearfully wide-open eyes.
"Rann? Juun? B-Berini?" Her voice was trapped inside her mask as the microphone was not active.
Soraa was on the verge of hyperventilating. "P-please… Anybody…" She held herself and tucked up into a ball.
Soraa felt a tug on her shoulder harness, as if someone was pulling her out of the tank. She thought that the power must have gone out and that Rann, Juun and Berini were up top working on getting her out. She felt great relief.
A hand clamped down on Soraa's shoulder and pulled her up. She tried to look up to see who it was, but couldn't make out any more than a vague outline of the person. She looked over at the hand on her shoulder. She saw the hand with its long, slender fingers tipped with suction cups wrapped all the way around her shoulder – a Rodian's hand! Soraa shrieked and struggled to break free, but it was useless. She grabbed at the hand, pulling at the fingers, but their grip only tightened as she was pulled up out of the fluid.
As Soraa's head emerged from the surface, another hand grabbed her breathing mask and ripped it off her face. She screamed and flailed at her assailant.
"Soraa! Soraa! Wake up!"
Within the tank, Soraa shuddered and regained consciousness. She screamed again.
Through her earpiece, Soraa could hear Rann's voice. "Soraa, it's okay! It's me, Rann! You're okay, you're safe!"
Soraa jerked her head over towards the console and saw Rann, Berini and Juun crowded around it. Once she realized what had happened, she relaxed. Still, she felt unease with her vulnerable position. "Let me out! Please let me out!"
Berini's soothing voice came through the earpiece. "No, my dear. You're not quite done yet. Just take it easy. Trust me, you're safe. We're not going anywhere without you."
Rann put her hand on the tank for Soraa to see. "No more sleeping for you." She smiled.
Soraa returned the smile underneath her breathing mask and placed her hand against Rann's on her side of the tank.