Hey guys, here with chapter 1, as promised. Here we get to meet the Ghost crew. Also, don't ask how she escapes the prison. I honestly have no clue myself. Perhaps a vision? Anyway, here are your warnings.
WARNING: PTSD, reference to torture, strong emotional angst
Skyress' uniform white shoes pounded down the hallways of the Imperial detention facility. She had to escape! Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She had to escape! Her breathing was heavy, and her still-achy joints screamed at her to stop. She had to escape! Suddenly she heard heavy clanking footsteps that could only be made by stormtroopers. She had to hide!
She looked around in desperation, then saw it. A hatch that led to the garbage compactor. Without even thinking, she activated her lightsaber and slashed through the mesh, then dove right in. She slid down the metal chute, and landed in a heap of trash.
The smell was atrocious, filling her lungs with the putrid oder of all that was decomposing and rotting around her, but she ignored it for now. She trudged through and over piles upon piles of debris and slime, the disgusting liquid washing over her ankles. She slowly but surely made her way over to the access hatch on the wall and pulled out her saber. She had cursed at herself when she decided to go back for the laser sword, but now was grateful she had. She activated it and plunged the silver blade into the metal, carving a neat circle around the hatch.
She crawled through the hatch and out into the hallway beyond it. Now that she was out of security reach, escape was going to be easy.
And it was. Skyress made it out of the facility, but just as she stepped outside, she heard escape alarms blaring all around. She dashed off into the city, she had to get away before guards came.
She finally made it out of Capital and out to the prairies beyond. Her legs ached and she was exhausted, but she knew that if she stopped now, she would wake up in the detention cell again.
Then she saw it. A diamond shaped corellion freighter. The hatch was down, and no one was around. A half-baked plan formed in her head as she half ran, half stumbled towards the ship.
Once aboard, she hurried through the ship until she heard voices. She gasped and scanned her surroundings, only seeing a small closet. She pressed the button to open it and hurried inside before the door closed again.
She pressed her back against the wall behind her and sank to the floor, burying her face in her hands. This was not what she thought freedom would feel like. After a solid two months in Imperial captivity, she felt no happiness, no hope, nothing. Her mind was still foggy thanks to the Empire's methods. Now she couldn't even reach out with the Force. She had to rely on her deceptive eyes and ears.
Maybe her eyes and ears weren't quite as deceptive as she thought, because she heard footsteps enter the room she was just in. Her head snapped up, panic began to set in. She had completely forgotten about the ship crew. Her panic melted into despair. Fear was unnecessary, since she already knew her fate. These people would simply ransom her to the Empire, or just give her back altogether. There was no hope of help from these people. A few months ago, she would've believed they'd help, but after seeing the people in city square turn their backs on her as she was taken away, she knew no one in their right mind was ever going to help. This was what the galaxy had become.
"Blast it, where are those power cells?" A low voice growled.
Skyress pressed her back even harder against the wall. She looked up at the thin crack between the doors, the only light source in the closet. Then the light from the crack was cut off, and the door sharply slid open, causing her to flinch. She found herself looking up at a purple-skinned, muscle-bound monster. A Lasat.
The creature stared down at her for a few moments, taking her in with it's green eyes. "Karabast." He muttered under his breath. "Uh, Kanan?" It scratched the back of it's neck in confusion.
A male voice answered from outside the door. "Did you find those power cells?"
"Uh, no." The Lasat said, still staring down at her. "I found something... else."
A human male, a man with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a goatee, entered the room, but froze when he saw her. "Woah." He said in surprise. "Who..." He grabbed a commlink from his belt. "Spectre 2, spectre 3, spectre 5, spectre 6, report to the Common room immediately."
Skyress wasn't sure why, but there was something different about this man. She just couldn't place her finger on it, but she knew it was strong.
The Lasat grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet, sending a fresh jolt of fear through her. A moment later, three people, and a droid ran into the room. A green Twi'lek woman, an old C1 model astromech, a teenage girl with short hair dyed an ombre aqua, and a teenage boy with chin length raven hair and two thin parallel scars across his cheek. They stared at her, and she suddenly felt self-conscious as well as angry. Hadn't they ever seen a woman before?!
The Twi'lek was the first to speak. "Who is she?"
The teenage girl was next. "I've never seen her before."
"Who are you?" The boy asked.
"I-I..." Skyress stuttered. Then she steeled herself, gaining a newfound confidence in her anger. "Why should I tell you people anything?" She asked, testing the fates. "What are you gonna do? Sic another droid on me?"
The Twi'lek's eyes lit in realization, then sympathy. "We're not gonna hurt you." She said.
Skyress almost let herself believe it, but quickly retained at least a shred of sanity. "Prove it!"
The Twi'lek hesitated, thinking, then grabbed her blaster out of a holster on her boot. This made Skyress flinch, but the Twi'lek did not shoot. Instead she took the battery out of blaster, deactivating it. The others were soon to follow, if a little hesitant.
"Now," The Twi'lek said. "Who are you?"
"Well, who are you?" Skyress asked.
"We asked you first." The boy interjected. "Twice."
She sighed in frustration, then pointed the number tag on her prisoner uniform. "Isn't it obvious?"
The Lasat narrowed his eyes at the tag. "Zero-two-one-five-six," He read. "What does that mean?"
The Twi'lek answered him. "An Imperial prisoner."
All was silent for a long, long moment.
"So she snuck on board and she came from the Imperials?" The girl asked, face lit by contempt. "Anyone else feel like we should be throwing her out an airlock rather than sympathizing?"
The Twi'lek sharply glared at the girl. "Sabine!"
"Hey!" She put up her hands in defence. "I've seen Imperial spies before. They sneak into places undercover. They use their appearances to draw sympathy and trust."
"Appearances?" Skyress' voice cracked. She looked down at herself. Her ankles and feet were still stained with slime from the trash compactor. Her uniform had been freshly changed, but she still remembered the last one. It had been tattered and sliced, like the flesh beneath it. But the new one was unscathed. Her hands went instinctively up to her face. The skin was cold, her cheeks were sunken, then she felt her hair. The once-neat bun had come down. Her hair was full of grease and dried blood.
She finally realized why everyone was staring at her. She looked up to see they were still doing so, as if unable to take their gaze away. She must look like a wild animal.
"I..." Her voice cracked again. Then she finally broke. She closed her eyes, feeling tears stream down her face. She heaved long, ragged sobs, finally breaking down, finally giving in. The Imperials had been working at her for months, slowly beating down her resolve and strength, trying to wring any information out of her. They had gotten nothing. But it had been this crew that finally broke her, in only two minutes. Two minutes compared to two months...
She felt her knees buckle. "Please!" She sobbed. "I'll tell you anything, just don't send me back!"
Before she fell, a strong arm caught her, steadying her. "Hey," It was the man. "We won't send you anywhere."
"You're safe with us." The Twi'lek's soothing tone came, comforting her.
She blinked back the blinding tears. The Twi'lek and the man's expressions softened. The Lasat and the boy were also sympathetic.
But the girl - Sabine - had her arms crossed, her face set in an unfeeling frown, eyes half closed, head tilted up slightly. It was clear she didn't trust Skyress. You didn't have to be a Jedi to know that.
Ooh, Sabine doesn't like her. Ok, hope you all loved this. I did. I'm still sick. Wish me betters ^-^