Chapter 10
Buck waited patiently for the rest of his crew members to show up. Lona had gone out on a supply run for weapons while Zack ad Dyna went... he did not exactly know where Zack and Dyna went, he knew it had something to do with Zack's lightsaber. He watched the orange sky as the sun set and night time quickly approaching. From the horizon he saw a small ship coming closer to the hanger. Initially, he thought that it would pass overhead but to his surprise it landed right in front of the building he was waiting in. His hand drifted to the holster in anticipation of who he may see emerge from the unknown vessel. To his surprise and relief, Lona walked out of the ship.
"Where did you get that?" Buck said mildly bewildered.
"It's just something I picked up." She said smiling, liking stumbling upon a space fairing ship was a common thing to happen. "The weapons I bought are in there."
Buck could not help being impressed. She went out for guns and she brought back a freaking spaceship!
"Now we wait for..."
"Don't bother waiting, Trooper!" Zack said walking in the building hanger. He had bruises and his clothes were dirty, like he had been in a fight. Dyna walked in after him, looking none the better. Buck almost ran to her but stopped in his tracks when Lona ran for her instead.
Lona bent over fussing over the little orange Twi'Lek girl. "What happened to you two?" She said looking at Zack accusingly.
"A little scuffle with a Ramlon," Zack said casually. "To be honest, Dyna got the worst of it."
"So is this what we should expect whenever you two go out together?" Buck said, holding back his anger.
"Hey, we're still alive aren't we?" Zack said, keeping his anger equally in check. "I wanted to carry the kid but she didn't want to seem weak in front of you guys."
"I'm fine!" Dyna said, pushing Lona away from her and walking towards the ship. "Are we going or what?"
Zack smiled as the girl began walking for their ship. Zack, Lona and Dyna noticed something different about the ship the closer they got to it. The ship was still primarily white with purple making some of its exterior but there were two different things about it. It now had a gun mounted to the front and a smaller one at the back. In addition to the guns, it had big, black block Basic letters spelling 'Diversity' on the side.
"Diversity?" Zack questioned.
"I thought it was... fitting, with us being the diverse crew and all." Buck said.
"I like it." Lona said.
"Well I think you shouldn't have named a ship that does not belong to only you." Zack said.
The crew of the newly christened Diversity paid the Engineer what they owed him before leaving ofr space. Buck, Zack and Dyna were in the Diversity while Lona was in the smaller ship which sshe had acquired, which Dyna had named Lona's Room. While out of the atmosphere, they connected the two ships ad blasted off to their next location.
/
Saza was being led to a room in the ship by one of her Stormtroopers. The door opened and the Stormtrooper stepped aside to let her in and stood outside as guard while the door closed behind after Saza had entered. As soon as the door slid close, the hallway light was closed off, leaving the room she had just entered dimly lit. However, that did not last long as a hologram activated from the center of the room which showered the room in a blue light. The hologram was of the Grand Inquisitor with a white bald head with a black suit of armour. His yellow, predatory eyes peered at Saza, as if they could see into her dark soul.
"Grand Inquisitor," Saza said bowing.
The Inquisitor nodded in acknowledgment. "Inquisitor Ripper. I believe congratulations are in order. I've heard that you've shut down a rebel cell on Cirasso."
"Yes, I have captured one of them for questioning." Saza said. "I'm hoping he may know something about the Jedi I'm pursuing. I guess I'll only find out if I question him... harshly."
The Inquisitor was visibly surprised at the news that Saza had left an enemy alive... on purpose. "I believe I may have... someone more qualified to handle the questioning."
Saza was visibly annoyed by the Inquisitors suggestion. "Sir, I can handle the questioning myself."
The Inquisitor looked amused by her claim, if he ever laughed it would have been at that very moment but he settled for a sharp toothed smile. "I think not. You have a habit of getting carried away. This is why your peers are better than you. You lack self-control. If it was any other inquisitor, then I would have left them to their business but because it's you..." The Inquisitor only sneered to complete his sentence.
"Who will you be sending, sir?" Saza said straining to keep the anger from her voice.
"Lord Vader has a specialist in this subject that may be of use to your cause."
Saza's eyes went wide at the mention of Darth Vader. Only a few individuals in the galaxy knew that he was one of the people who destroyed the Jedi. She had only met him a handful of times and although she did not like being around him, she did love studying him and learning as much as she could from how he acted, how he carried himself and how he used The Force. "Will Lord Vader be coming with?"
"No."
Saza was both disappointed and relieved to hear that Vader was not going to be coming along. She bowed to the hologram transmission of The Inquisitor, "I will be waiting, Grand Inquisitor."
And with that the hologram disappeared, leaving the room in the dim darkness. Saza closed her eyes, thinking about the conversation she had just had with her superior. She stayed a little longer, alone n the dark room.
/
The crew of The Diversity were holding a war meeting on a round dining table. Dyna walked in and saw the three adults assembled.
"What's going on here?" She asked.
"We're having a meeting." Buck told her.
She smiled and pulled out a chair, sitting in between Buck and Lona in the round table. "Great, what are we talking about."
"Nothing that concerns you," Zack said.
"Oh come on!" Dyna whined. "I can understand strategic stuff."
"We know you do." Zack said. "That's why we don't want you here."
"How about you have dinner and leave us to our meeting?" Lona said in a soft voice.
Dyna's face lit up. She tried to replace her happy face with a serious one but it was too late as they had all seen her happy. "Fine, "she said in a serious tone, "but only this one time." She picked out rations that should be too big for a Twi'Lek her age and left the room, with the door sliding shut behind her.
"Let's get down to business." Buck said once Dyna was gone.
"We know that Ru' Bik will be transported to the prison world called, Ekad." Zack said pushing a holo-disk to the center of the table. A hologram of the small prison planet appeared. "Because he is a high level prisoner, they won't be transporting him with the normal prison transport."
Buck raised an eyebrow at this. "What will they be transporting him in?"
"A Star Destroyer," Zack said as the image of the holo-disk changed into a hologram of a triangular Star Destroyer.
Buck involuntarily moaned. He had once served on a Star Destroyer with Canoe. He remembered feeling sorry for whichever idiots would have to go up against it. Turns out that this time, he was the idiot he felt sorry for. "How are we going to rescue Ru' Bik from a Star Destroyer?"
"We'll have to board the ship and free Ru' Bik." Zack said.
"How are we going to get past its defences?" Buck said. "Our little front and rear guns won't be enough to even threaten something like that."
"Well, thanks to the information on this disk, we do have the ship's flight path." Zack said as a space route replaced the Star Destroyer hologram. "In twenty seven standard hours the ship will be passing by this spot," Zack said pointing to a spot on the route. "It will be pretty close to Ekad by that time, so I'm hoping they'll have let their guard down a little. I think we should hyperspace right on top of the ship, detach the smaller cruiser on the Diversity and use it to board the Star Destroyer."
"That sounds like a fairytale plan! The routes highlighted on the map are rough approximations and hyperspacing close to the Star Destroyer needs exact precision. We come out of hyperspace too close, we'll crash into the ship and die. If we come out of hyperspace too far away, then we run the risk of getting immediately shot down and die." Buck said. "Do we have equipment that is capable of such precision?"
"No we don't." Lona said.
"We don't need any equipment. I can use The Force to make our exit out of hyperspace precise." Zack said.
Buck raised his eyebrow at that. "Really? We're going to trust in some hocus pocus to do this. You're joking right? Lona, tell me his joking."
"Uhm..." Lona made a sound with her mouth looking uncertainly at Zack.
"I can do it," Zack told her reassuringly to Lona. "The only way we'll be able to do this is with The Force."
"I can't believe this." Buck said. "Fine, if we get as far as boarding the ship, which I now highly doubt we will, who will be going in to save Ru'Bik and who'll man the Diversity?"
"Well, it's clear that Dyna will be on the ship, so now we need another member to stay in the ship along with her." Lona said.
"Well, I can't stay behind. I know a Star Destroyer better than anyone here. I have to go." Buck said.
"Well, then I guess it will be you and me." Zack said.
"What?" Lona said. "No, I think I should go because we'll need a good pilot to fly the ship. Zack, you're a better pilot than me. So you have to stay, I'll go."
"Come on Lona, it's going to be dangerous." Zack said.
"And I guess I haven't faced danger at all since I've been a Rebel." Lona said.
"That's not what I mean..."
"I can handle myself!" Lona interjected.
"Uhm... this looks like something you both need to talk about, "Buck said standing up, "I'll leave you to it." He quickly left while the two continued arguing.
"If you think I'll mess up then why am I even part of the plan?" Lona asked.
"That's not what I think of you." Zack said.
"Then what do you think of me, Zack?" Lona said. "Cause right now I think you think I'm incompetent."
"I don't!" Zack defended himself. "You're strong, resourceful and smart..."
"If you believed those things then you would have no problem with letting me go." Lona said.
"I don't! I just... I just..."
"What, Zack?" Lona asked.
"I don't want you to be in danger, okay! I want you to be safe."
Lona sighed, "You can't protect me from everything, Zack." She said sitting down on the table beside Zack.
Zack smiled. "I can try, can't I?"
/
Canoe waited on the port for the incoming ship to land. Apparently it had some important personnel that would help them with questioning the rebel prisoner they had captured . He sighed in his helmet. The time spent on Cirasso seemed to drag on to eternity, which did not help ease his hatred of the planet. He just wished that he could be away from the place, away from the squadron and back to his normal duties.
A ship came out of the gathering grey clouds and landed on the port. Saza emerged from behind him with her ginger hair fluttering in the gust caused by the landing ship. She folded her arms and waited as the ship came to a complete stand still. Canoe grasped the gun in his hands more tightly and stood straighter. He could not help discreetly check out her slender figure while she stood there, waiting.
"Something on your mind, Lieutenant Ida?" Saza asked without looking at him.
Canoe's heart quickened its beating. He cleared his throat before trying to sound calm. "Do you know who the Empire is sending over, ma'am?"
"Apparently they're sending over a specialist. Not sure who but I can guaranteed it's someone highly qualified." Saza said, smiling like she knew something he did not.
The ship's door opened into a ramp. Steam rushed forward, shrouding the humanoid figure that stood in the doorway. It began walking forward, down the ramp and out of the white steam. Its movement gave it away as a droid. It was a 3PO unit droid with a silver outer shell and red lit eyes. When it got down the ramp it stood before Saza and Canoe.
"Hello..." The droid said offering it's hand.
"Droid, who do you serve?" Saza asked ignoring its hand. "Where is your master?"
"My master is Darth Vader." The droid said.
"No," Saza said to herself quietly. She looked at the droid with an annoyed look on her face, "Don't tell me that your the interrogation expert they sent."
"Yes I am. I am 0-0-0 or as some call me, Triple Zero. I am a protocol droid, specialising in etiquette, customs, translations and torture." The droid replied, moving its hand closer to Saza in an attempt to urge her to shake hands.
"They sent me a droid!" Saza was visibly seething.
"Oh, I take it you're Inquisitor Ripper." The droid said quickly putting its hand away.
Saza turned her back on the droid as she marched away. "Lieutenant! Take the droid to the prisoner so that it may begin its questioning!"
Triple Zero turned to Canoe. "Follow me, Triple Zero, is it?" Canoe was secretly amused by the whole situation.
"Yes it is, thank you, Lieutenant." The droid said as it followed Canoe. "And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"
"Canoe Ida or as some call me Lieutenant Ida." Canoe said, mocking the droid.
/
Buck and Dyna were in the ship named Lona's Room. Buck was showing Dyna how to fly the ship as she would be the one who will be in it in the early parts of the plan. Zack was in the other room of the ship, double checking all the ship's system.
"Now this is the throttle," Buck said, "by nudging it forward, you'll make the ship accelerate." Buck kept talking and pointing at the parts of the controls he was talking about. He looked and saw that Dyna was not really focusing on what he was saying. Instead she held her hand out at a biscuit ration and was focusing on it, intensely. "Dyna, concentrate here!" He said startling her out of her focused state. "What I'm teaching you is important! The Force won't help you fly this ship."
Dyna looked angry and looked at the controls.
"Will you focus, please." Buck said in a serious tone.
Zack popped out of the room he had been in. "Geez Buck, take it easy on the kid."
"I can't take it easy. This is a matter of life and death ."
"Take a break kid." Zack said patting her on the back. Dyna got up and took her biscuit before she walked out of the room into the bigger ship.
"We don't have much time left, Zack. She can't be taking breaks." Buck said turning a few switches off.
"This is not about Dyna. You're worried, Trooper. The whole 'The Force won't help you fly this ship' thing was aimed at me, wasn't it?" Zack said leaning on the wall behind him. He was currently standing behind Buck, who was busy with the controls in front of him... or at least pretending to be.
"You don't think I can exit hyperspace at the right time."
"No, I don't. I think we'll be killed immediately if we leave this up to you and The Force."
"But you're still going along with it."
"Because I don't have a choice. I have to do this."
"No, Buck, you do have a choice. You can stay here with Dyna while I do the men's work." Zack said turning around to leave. "I don't want your lack of faith jinxing me."
"Your mistaken, Zack. You and Lona are the ones who have a choice" Buck said causing Zack to stop. Buck turned around in the chair to look at Zack with a side glance. "You and Lona didn't kill Ru' Bik's wife; you didn't help get him arrested. You don't have anything on your conscience and you don't owe him anything. You both can leave now, with Dyna and The Diversity and... I don't know, live a normal life or train her to be a Jedi or a Rebel. You don't have to risk your lives. You can leave me to do it alone now, and I won't judge or think any less of you."
"Your wrong, Buck. We do owe Ru' Bik a lot. He helped us, all the Rebels, and yet we left him and his family for dead. We need to correct that." Zack said. "As for you, you're a Stormtrooper, arresting and harassing people for their faith in freedom is what we expect of you. You were just doing your job, as despicable as it may be. So you don't have to do this. You can leave now and we won't think any less of you, well that's partly because at this point it would be impossible for any of us to think any less of you but you get the idea."
Buck gave a short humourless laugh. "How does me offering you a way out turn to you offering me a way out?"
Zack shrugged. "I guess we're all in this till the end." Zack said offering his hand.
Buck smiled and took it in his, "Till the end."
/
The Stormtroopers had forcefully commandeered a building for which they would conduct the remainder of their affairs. The clouds that had gathered during the day had broken, showering the town of Tanik in light constant rain accompanied with the occasional lightening. Canoe was lying in his bed in one of the rooms. The rain pelted the window outside while he tossed and turned.
"I really hate this place." He whispered to himself with his eyes shut, trying to get to sleep before his guarding shift began. He suddenly felt like he was being watched. He opened his eyes and saw a figure in his room. Lightning struck, briefly showering his room in white light and illuminating Saza. "Inquisitor Ripper?" Canoe said sitting up and exposing his chest to the cool air. "Can I help you?"
"Maybe you can." She said approaching his bed. "We seem to be having the same problem," Saza said crawling on the bed and over his body forcing him to lie back, "we both can't seem to sleep." Her face was now inches away from his. "Why can't you sleep?"
"I don't know." Canoe said, drinking in her beautiful face with his eyes. His head was trapped in between her ginger hair, which was of a more intense shade than his. He saw the nearly microscopic freckles, that could only be seen if one was this close to her which contrasted to his own, easily noticeably freckled face. His hazel eyes met her blue ones and he suddenly felt compelled to answer her question in greater detail. "I guess I'm uncomfortable."
"Hmm... really. I guess we don't have the same reason."
"What's your reason?" Canoe heard the words tumble out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"My victims. They haunt me from beyond the grave. I guess their vengeance is robbing me of sleep on the occasional night like tonight." She said before she began leaning in closer and her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. "But think I may have a way to remedy both our problems."
In excitement, Canoe involuntarily raised his hand and it brushed against something hanging from the side of Saza's hip, something that reminded him of a few nights ago when he was running away from a psycho with a red lightsaber, a psycho whose lips were now centimeters from his. He leaned back which caused her to stop her advancing lips. "Do you carry that everywhere you go?" His eyes glanced down at her lightsaber.
She followed his line of sight down to her own lightsaber, hanging from her hip. She smiled at the ruined moment and withdrew from him and got off the bed. "My lightsaber is my life," she said grasping her lightsaber to assure herself. "It will be on me as long as I'm breathing and if I want to remain that way."
Saza's wrist communicator lit up and a voice came from it. "Inquisitor Ripper, this is Cadet Winslow, I as looking for you in you're..."
"I'm in Lieutenant Ida's sleeping quarters." She said looking mischievously at Canoe.
Canoe's eyes went wide with shock. He didn't expect her to tell anyone about this encounter. Although, Saza was still well dressed, he was still only in his underwear, under the sheets. He got out of bed and quickly tried to put on his uniform. Saza did not look worried as he hopped around trying to put his pants on. She switched on the light source of the room. Winslow came in and saw Canoe only half dressed. He cleared his throat before addressing Saza.
"Ma'am, Triple Zero has broken down the prisoner and has gotten him to talk." Winslow said.
"Good, lead the way." Saza said. She looked back at Canoe one last time and smiled before she left his room.
/
Saza stopped by Triple Zero who was standing at the entrance of the torture room that it had used to interrogate the Vultan Rebel prisoner.
"Inquisitor Ripper, I was able to retrieve important information from the prisoner." Triple Zero said.
"Good," Saza said. "Give me your report."
"This Vultan was working directly under this Rebel cell's leader called Kisto." Triple Zero said. "They helped a Rebel with the following physical features: long black hair, green eyes, fair skin and human. They helped the human by giving him a holo-disk with prisoner transport information on one Ru' Bik."
"Really?" Saza said. "And what are they going to do with this information?"
"They plan to spring him out." Triple Zero said. "Oh dear, I so love speaking the street lingo."
Saza remained silent as she thought about the new information. "I guess your job is done, Triple Zero. You may return to your master first thing tomorrow."
"Well, ma'am, I was hoping that you would allow me to finish the prisoner off." Triple Zero said sounding excited.
Saza looked at the droid as its red lit eyes gleamed evilly. She gave it an equally ,if not more so, evil smile. "I guess you've earned it. Just make the rebel's death... interesting."
"I always do, ma'am." Triple Zero said before walking into the holding area of the prisoner. Screams of the prisoner erupted from the room as Triple Zero finished the prisoner off.
/
"Lona." Zack softly called out from outside of Lona's room.
The door slid open, to reveal Lona with all her braids down. "Oh, hey." She said as she moved her braids out of her face.
"Getting ready?"
"Yeah, uhm... do you want to come in?"
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Zack said as he walked past Lona into her room. He sat on her bed and she sat beside him.
"What's wrong? You look worried." She asked.
"Buck's talk of seriousness has made me a little off-balanced." He said. "I think the only way to fix that is to fix things between us."
Lona's eyebrow shot up. "I didn't know there was anything that needed to be fixed between us."
"Well our relationship is not broken but... it is poorly defined. What are we exactly? Are we just friends, business partners? Are we more? I mean, it seems that there is no reason for you stay by my side."
"When we first met, I thought we could be more than friends and for a while, I think we were. Then this whole, Empire-Rebellion thing fell on us and either I or you drew away from the relationship."
"I think it was me." Zack said. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't be. Things just happened so fast." Lona said shifting closer to him and putting her hand on his. "You asked why I stay by your side? Because ever since I met you, it's been you and me vs. the galaxy, no matter how our relationship changes."
"Well, I'm thinking of changing it now." Zack said bringing his face closer to hers.
She leaned forward and they kissed.