Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine...
When Ani woke up, she felt extremely disoriented. The main reason behind this was that darkness surrounded her regardless of whether she opened or closed her eyes. Despite the panicking she felt that herself was getting her into, she kept her breathing steady and eyes open from that point on. The first thing besides the darkness she noted was the fact that her body was immobilized except for the neck. Wrists, ankles, and even her waist were encircled by heavy, closed metal shackles, likely durasteel, holding her to a table of, again, likely durasteel. The incline told her the feet were below her head, which was a small comfort. At least she wasn't going to have all the blood rush to her head, she reasoned. The second thing she noticed was that someone else was in the same room with her, potentially either friend or foe. The third thing was that she could not access the Force. Regardless of how much she pushed herself, the Force remained distant and inaccessible with every attempt. Even the bond was muted, with her unable to read anything off her end much less sense Luminara's presence on the other side. That last realization terrified her the most. Her master had been there to protect her, helped her fight back against her former master, and was still the steadying, guiding constant in her life. To not be able to sense her presence was more terrifying and disorienting than the darkness and immobilization combined. To top it all off, a slight buzzing noise had been noticed and now was starting to grate on her nerves.
"I see you have awoken." A light directly overhead turned on to focus on her, temporarily blinding her. The white light was shining on her face directly over her head, beginning a pulsing pain in her forehead that wouldn't quit. The light also made it hard for her to concentrate for long, or could that be whatever was injected into her system? Oh, her brain hurt too much to think on it for long if the headache pounding at her temples was any indication, causing her to rule in favor of an injection.
A couple lights went on to her left, causing her to temporarily shut her eyes again, in protest. Upon reopening them, she saw the same armored person from a night ago (had it been two? How long had she been unconscious?). "You're Mando'a," she said, voice croaking. Whatever she had been drugged with had completely dried out her mouth and throat. She needed a drink of water really bad.
"I am." The figure took off the helmet, revealing a square jawline tapering to form a pointy chin, black hair, and the rest of the facial features shrouded in shadow. Most of the face remained untouched by the lights. She figured it would be played this way, whatever it was that awaited her. Judging by the tone and the build, this was a female Mandalorian, alone and likely hunting solo, which would explain why she was trusted to be alone and unwatched to guard her. Thanks, Marana. She was hoping that her analysis was correct. It would help her in making her escape plan. "Most know us by the term 'Mandalorians.' How do you know the term Mando'a?"
"Lucky guess,"lied the padawan. In truth, she knew something of the language, various words and phrases, from the clones. It had made for some interesting as well as educational moments. Despite her master's voiced disapproval, the various colorful Mando'a terms were as ingrained in her battlefield vocab as they were in her padawan's. It had caused her to occasionally wonder how the clones learned such things in the sterile environment that was Kamino. When she got out, she would make sure ask Skee and Gree about that. Ouch. The headache throbbed even more violently now, disrupting her off-track thoughts. Why did it have to hurt this much?
"I guess it doesn't really matter, in the end," the bounty hunter said, releasing a breath. She turned around, to sit before and start typing something into one of the consoles behind her. Ani watched, taking it all in with a sort of curious fascination. Huge, almost archaic-looking computer systems appeared to be fastened to the wall, given the way the light overhead shone on them. The light also informed her on the source of the constant hum: a force field was in front of her. It had no apparent color, but disturbed the light waves enough to cast some sort of bizarre wavy pattern onto the entire confinement area, occasionally revealing a quick glint before reverting back to being unseen. Ani was starting to feel a tad discombobulated, as well as nervous. Obviously, they had been prepared to hold her, as the drugs running through her system were continually reminding her. Questions were, for how long, and why?
"Where is she?" she asked.
"Who?"
"Marana Kiln." She didn't bother to use the title of her stepmother, and the bounty hunter obviously didn't care to correct her. "I know she brought me down, using you as a distraction. Is she here?" She asked, craning her neck from side to side (slowly), wondering if she missed anyone hiding in the shadows. It would be melodramatic and typical, things she wouldn't put past her stepmother. "And what am I here for? Isn't she going to call, or is that your job, to let her know I'm awake? I'm sure you'd know how to use a comlink, even though you're from Mandalore."
"Well, aren't you're clever for a Jedi Padawan?" the bounty hunter sneered. "Bombarding me with questions, how new! Tell me, do you do that to your master as well, or is it just those who are unfortunate enough to be in your company?"
"At least other beings can tolerate my company. Judging by your tone, no wonder you hunt solo. Surprising considering your people aren't that well mannered to begin with. How long was it before you got kicked off Mandalore?" The typing halted, something that told her that she should probably prepare to stop soon. As her master would attest to, though, once she got started, it would be a miracle if she ever listened to reason and would cease her antics. That seemed so far to be the one thing the drugs were not inhibiting. "If you think I'm smart, wait until you meet my master," Ani continued her retort. "You'll be lucky to see her before you get a 'saber in your back." The bounty hunter swung around to look at her, remaining seated at the console.
"Tch. I'm a Mandalorian, as you've noted young Jedi. I've faced down several Jedi before. Your kind may have a lot of hype, but you're so overrated, especially when it comes to your skills. Your master might, might make me work up a sweat, but she bleeds just like the others I've taken down."
"Given that your kind has harassed us before, I know you bleed just as much as we do," Ani responded hotly, using her temper to hide her concern for her master. "It's when all that armor gets melted onto your body that it gets hard to see how much unless you're flattened."
"Must not have been true Mando'a that your master faced, if they were that clumsy and easily killed."
"I'm pretty sure they were, and probably leaders of some sort given the amount of armor and markings on their armor. They underestimated my master. Too fast to be seen, and only pain told them their asses were being kicked. Saw a couple limbs fly away before a cleaning machine painted the ground with their insides."
"You're boring me, kid."
"I know the lighting was terrible, but blood is blood. Didn't realize you Mandalorians are just as pathetically destructible as us Jedi. Or that your blood paints better than ours, either. Know I kept a couple pieces of armor just for proof, if you're interested." The bounty hunter immediately rose and took a step forward. Feeling exceedingly childish, but not immediately knowing what else she could throw at the woman, Ani did the only thing she knew how to do.
She stuck her tongue out at the bounty hunter.
"Oh dear, what can I do against such eloquence from one so young?" The sarcasm didn't help her growing anger any, but she struggled to keep a lid on it. Blowing up in captivity, what she had experienced with Pollo, and learned from her new master, would usually make the suffering worse and the captor more ticked off at you, thus being more uncomfortable while waiting for rescue or to escape. A snarky response, though, was a good way to toe that line. Sometimes. Hopefully this captor and the other one weren't also into completely beating the crap out of her. She drew back her tongue in preparation.
"Can't be all that much better if you're responding to my childish move. Now you're just encouraging me to be more childish. You're starting off terrible as my captor, you know that?"
"Enjoy your antics, young one. Know that any further attempts to bait me will be utterly foolish." The bounty hunter turned around, walked back to the console, and continued her work. "My employer will be arriving later than expected. As for why you are here, that will be answered upon her arrival. Until then, you will be unconscious."
"What? Why?" Ani instinctively began to struggle against her restraints, despite her headache increasing in intensity because of that. She hated being unconscious, not knowing what was going on and what was being planned. True, it wasn't like she could do a lot to avoid it given how secured she was, but darn it if she wasn't going to put up a good front!
"Well, I can't have you constantly screaming at me while I get everything set up." The woman got up from her console, and walked over to the front of the chamber that held the padawan.
"Ha! So I am distracting you. Thank you; I'll be your constant companion here." Ani smirked. The woman pressed what sounded like a button, against one of the walls forming the entrance. The hum of the force field immediately died down. She then turned to something in front of and to the left of the entrance, something that was blocked by the wall and kept out of the padawan's view, no matter how hard she craned her head. From the bounty hunter's posture, she was obviously grabbing something. Sure enough, when the bounty hunter entered in, she carried what appeared to look like a hypospray in her hand, except that there were two of them, and Ani knew that she wasn't going to be treated to get better. As the bounty hunter approached, she was able to see the actual face, uncovered by shadow. The face was feminine, and appeared above average in beauty, marred by a few forehead lines. The eyes still remained a mystery to her, however. Ani felt a hand being placed on her breastbone before being held forcibly still against the table. Her head, hitting the table only slightly, inflamed with sudden pain. Ani set her teeth against it, willing her next line to come out steady.
"It doesn't matter what you do to me; my master will find me and break me free from this prison."
"Prison?" The bounty hunter appeared surprised at her statement, before she then began to chuckle, striking hard and quick with the two hypos. The wooziness from the injections fogged the padawan's brain, compounding the previous pain, muffling her own surprise, yet she struggled to keep awake. "Oh, kid, this isn't a prison, despite the restraints we have. You must be really drugged out of your mind. Haven't you ever seen a lab before?"
"Lab?" Ani mustered all she had in that one word, starting to feel horrified before her blurry vision darkened, her body succumbing to the drugs.
Luminara Unduli waited until she heard the speeder pull in to come down. She had specifically informed the clone troopers to wait back in their temporary quarters until she came back. Pacing her steps as she went down the ornate staircase, she accessed the Force, releasing her fear, uncertainty, and worry, and centered herself. She needed to pay attention in order to find her padawan, and in this case that meant she would play along when necessary. If Kiln was behind this like she thought, she would have to tread carefully. Politics would only complicate her search, and to undertake it while being emotionally compromised would help neither her nor her padawan. Upon reaching the foot of the stairs, she saw Kiln and Finara enter, both looking distressed. She sensed at the surface that was true. She wished she could easily sift through their minds like with many other beings; she immediately stamped down that un-Jedi-like thought.
"Glad to see you have made it back from the party. A little early, isn't it? Also," she looked from side to side and visibly ended her pretend searching, looking Lady Kiln straight in the eyes, "I don't see my padawan. Is she coming later, perhaps some part of the heir-introduction ceremony that I don't know about?"
"Only if the Force wills it." The woman sighed. "Master Jedi, I'm afraid my heir – your padawan – was captured not less than two hours ago. A Mandalorian was behind it." Luminara's forehead creased, and she felt cold. Sensing the capture had been bad, but being told about it solidified the slivers of fear in her heart. She allowed enough of it to show on her face and in her body language to the two women before her, so they'd see her having an entirely reasonable, yet Jedi-controlled, reaction to the news. She watched them carefully for any out-of-place gesture or emotion.
"I see. Unfortunately the Mandalorians hold a special, vindictive hatred towards the Jedi, making sense that one was the cause of my padawan's disappearance. It seems the two of you made it out safely enough." The heat in her next four words would have melted durasteel. "How did it happen?"
"She accosted us in the woods outside Senator Organa's mansion, while we were taking a respite from the party. Your padawan was able to distract her long enough for us to safely get away, yet sadly she could not. The bounty hunter beat the padawan's lightsabers away before physically roughing her up, then injecting her with some sort of drug. The Mandalorian must have flown off with her, because when she left, no one else was around. We searched and searched, but could not find her. My poor heir!" The lady's voice ended on a choked sob, instinctually raising concern within the Jedi Master, albeit tempered. The performance had been excellently delivered as a grieving relation and desperate governor; she had expected no less. She was curious as to whether it could hold up under further questioning.
"I see," Luminara Unduli replied neutrally. "Have the appropriate authorities been notified?"
"Of course not!" Marana Kiln looked aghast. "No one knows of your presence as Jedi, and no one should know."
"She was presented as your heir!" Luminara responded exasperatedly. "Surely the fact that the hunt is for your missing heir, just now returned," which of course she had to omit in the document, she realized sourly, "garners necessary support and headlines all over!"
"Things have changed," Marana said dismissively. "Last thing I – we – need is for reporters crawling all over and news bulletins everywhere, disturbing and disrupting everything, including them finding out about your mission here. Senator Organa knows, and he has promised to help us. After all, he is a man with considerable resources, and is very knowledgeable. Otherwise, we cannot let anyone else in on our search," the lady exhaled slowly. "I'm afraid we will be on our own."
"As you wish." Luminara inclined her head in cool acknowledgement.
"Thank you for respecting my wishes, Master Jedi. I assume you wish to stay until your padawan has been found?" Marana asked.
"That is my intent. If there is anything I can do to help –"
"No, no, sadly there isn't, unless something drastic crops up. Until then, I will keep you informed. In the meantime, if you wouldn't mind, I need some time to process this…" she gestured towards Luminara, obviously hoping that the Jedi would notice it.
"Of course," Luminara said, bowing her head.
"Thank you again. And, I meant what I said about updating you on the progress. The senator said it would be at least a few hours until he could fully reach all his hidden contacts on the planet, and then another few hours after that before anything concrete would be had."
"Given that time frame, I do not begrudge you your time alone to ponder and absorb all that has happened," Luminara assured her.
"Thank you. Of course, I'm sure you need some as well, Master Jedi," here a tired, sad smile was revealed slowly, while Luminara kept her face expressionless. "If you need me, just call upon one of the servants. Come, Finara." The politician made a nod of finality toward the Jedi, who responded with a bow, and the two Alderaanian women swept up the ornate staircase and disappeared to the right. Luminara watched them disappear, a look of concern etched into her features even as her right hand moved just above her belt. Her thumb pressed once, a small 'beep' was muffled by her layers of clothing, and only after double checking that she was indeed alone did she withdraw a recorder, previously hidden between her top belt and her stomach. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially with politicians. Her hand stowed it away securely within her belt as her left hand, suddenly holding a communicator in it, went to her lips.
"Commander Gree, Captain Skee," she said. "You may return to 'at ease,' and double check your clean up of the tech area. Please remember to keep an eye on each other this time, alright?" She infused those last couple words with humor, making them sound more a lighthearted request than the secret command they actually were.
In reality, her own search for her apprentice had begun. Dealing with the stepmother directly would have to wait apparently until after Ani Laminara had been found. Her padawan could have been mistaken about the identification she had made, unlikely but still a possibility to consider. That could only be resolved upon finding and rescuing her. Retracing the steps her padawan had taken both here and at the Organa estate previous to the capture, while being discreet and not triggering their host's suspicions, was the challenge she now had to endure, but endure it willingly and wholeheartedly she would.
After what they had gone through to become a team, Luminara refused to believe that this would be how their team was going to end.