Chapter 9
Storm
Nick had wandered about the ship, minding to keep out of the way of droids. She found her way through the cockpit, around the engine room, and got about fifteen feet from the escape pods before she was found. She would've been fine if that stupid droid hadn't turned around. He had tried to hit her with a stun ray from his gun, but when she dodged it, she slipped, falling face first. It had only taken moments for twenty droids to arrive, along with their fearless leader, Tanny-boy. "What are you doing?" Tanner asked.
Nick rolled her eyes. "Obviously I was exploring. Your droid here tried to stun me! What kind of nonsense is that?!"
"You're a prisoner. You don't get to explore at your leisure. You don't even get to explore."
"Well nobody was stopping me. I figured I would get to look around a bit after I fixed your ship. Again. Now, am I allowed to get up and walk back to my box like a respectable person, or are you going to knock me out again?" she said, defiantly.
"Knocking you out sounds fun," Tanner said, picking up a few nearby pieces of loose metal and droids.
"Whoah!" Nick shouted, standing. "No need for that. How about I just walk back to my box and stay there for a while? Sound like a plan? Just put the metal down Tanny, it'll be okay."
"But I don't get any entertainment out of that. Why would I just let you walk back when I can knock you out instead?"
Nick started walking back toward the brig. "See. I'm going back. No need for the unconsciousness."
"Oh, fine. But if I see you out of that cell again, you're going lights out."
Nick sighed, and walked back to the brig. Two of the droids followed her, and closed the ray shield on her when she sat in her spot on the floor. She sat for a while, thinking about nothing, twiddling her thumbs, and occasionally yelling at the droids. "Are we there yet?" was her favorite. After thirty-seven "Are we there yet?"s, twenty-two "I'm hungry"s and seven "I have to go to the bathroom"s, the droid by the door had finally had enough. He was about to call the captain when she ship shook. It knocked over the standing padawan, causing her to yell, again. "Good god, what now?"
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"I am going to scrap this heap if I can't get it from point A to point B anymore!" Tanner yelled. "Shi noruu sak'obaat!"
A droid ran into the cockpit. "Sir! Sir! We are being boarded!"
"I know that," Tanner growled. "Kill them, don't just tell me about it!"
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Nick sat, waiting for someone to come get her to fix the ship again. As she was pacing, she heard the sound of blasters. Curious, she leaned toward the ray shield, listening. Suddenly, a figure burst into the brig, closing the doors behind it. The person quickly shot the droid guarding her, and turned off the ray shield. The person took off their helmet, and she realized it was Alexa! "Lex! What are you doing here?!"
Alexa grabbed Nick by the arm. "I came to spring ya."
"Great! Now what's the plan? The sith has my lightsaber, so I have no weapon."
Alexa sighed. "I didn't quite get that far."
"And of course you didn't think this through. When have you ever thought anything through."
"Hey we're halfway there!"
"I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but if you don't give me the galaxy's best reason not to end your life now, well, I think you get the picture," Tanner said from the doorway. "And so help me if you did any lasting damage to this ship, your death will be slow, painful, and immensely enjoyable for me."
Nick stepped in front of her friend. "Hey buster, lay off."
"Yeah. I was sent by Master Vaal to retrieve this here padawan and that's what I intend to do," Alexa said, pointing her gun at Tanner.
"Oh really? Well, I just have one question before you do anything else; have you ever heard of the song 'Blackout'?" Tanner asked, holding up his right hand.
Alexa looked confused. "No."
Realization dawned in Nick's eyes. "Lex. Give me the gun."
"What?"
"Give. Me. Ol' Trusty. Now."
"Why would I do that. I wanna know what this…"
"MAHR! NOW!"
"It goes like this," Tanner said, swinging his hand. A pair of small crates lining the walls flew at Nick and Alexa. One hit Alexa in the head, knocking her out. Nick, however, saw it coming. She ducked. "Now why did you have to go and duck?"
Nick reached down and grabbed Alexa's gun off the floor. "I really don't enjoy being unconscious. Now how about you let me and my sleepy friend get on her ship, so I don't have to shoot you."
Tanner raised his hand again and pulled the gun out of Nick's hands. "You see, that would be intimidating if you were, I don't know, intimidating. But, you aren't so it's not. Now take your friend into your holding cell," Tanner ordered.
"Why can't you just let me go?" Nick asked. "All this trouble for one stinking padawan, is it really worth it?"
"Master's orders. Now, back in the cell so we can get a move on, hopefully without any more interruptions."
NIck sighed, and turned to her friend. She then stopped, and smirked. Turning toward the sith, she said, "You do realize who she is, right?"
"Nope, don't care either."
Still smirking, Nick started to drag Alexa toward the cell. "Fine. Have fun when Rhan gets here."
"Who?"
"Rhan Aban. You know, one of the best bounty hunters out there," she gestured toward her unconscious friend. "This is his prized student. She's quite awful, I know, but he has taken a certain liking to her that nobody can understand. Once he finds out, Tanny-boy you are in a world of hurt."
"Aban?" That name not only rang a bell but scared Tanner slightly. Aban was the only bounty hunter to get anyone past his master. He turned on his communicator and sent for a droid. When it arrived, he said, "Get the new girl out of my sight."
The droid advanced toward Nick and her friend, and Nick looked at Tanner confused. "Wait a second. She goes, I go too."
"Yeah, no. I do not want one of the most well-known and understandably feared bounty hunters on my tail because of some extra body that I do not have any reason to care for. However, you are my target, and as such, only get to go where I say," Tanner retorts. "I say you come with me."
The droid grabbed Nick's arm, and pulled her away from Alexa, and threw her into the field of the ray shield. "HEY!" Nick yelled as the cell walls turned back on. She closed her eyes and looked down at the floor. "Fine, but you have to swear you won't go after her later." Nick looked up. "She's my best friend."
"I have no reason to go after her. Why would her being your best friend sway my decision anyway? You are trapped and for all I care, I could kill her in front of you now. The only problem is that Aban would then come after me and I am not going to deal with that."
"Whatever sithy. Put her on her ship and send her back to Endor's forest moon. That way Aban won't come after you."
"I only said I wouldn't kill her, I never said I would send her safely home to repeat this ordeal. She gets to drift in her ship for as long as it takes her to wake up."
Nick shook her head. "I know how to lock the coordinates on her ship. I've pranked her with it a million times. She won't be able to change her destination until she reaches it. I sent her to Tatooine once. She didn't come back for three days. I can lock the coordinates on her ship and send her off. She doesn't have to drift."
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Eh. A girl can try."
Two more droids came in, took Alexa to her ship, and sent it off to drift in space. Nick sat in her cell, staring at the ceiling as Tanner walked out with a smug look on his face. One droid was left to guard the door again. Tanner was sure they weren't going to have any more interruptions. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from the brig. He listened toward the area to hear "Are we there yet?" and a droid scream.
Yo! Seventh time's the charm! Behind the scenes it took me seven freaking times to fix this chapter. I don't know what I did, but it fixed it and it makes me happy! So, enjoy! Thanks for reviewing and reading and stuff! I should be uploading the next chapter in the next few days, but I want to get a good dent in chapter 11 before I upload (and give it a couple days break. uploading every day is a bit to much for me)
Catch y'all on the flip side! TTFN ~Alyss