Chapter 43: Holding Out For Some Heroes

Songs in order of appearance: Holding Out For A Hero ~ Bonnie Tyler

A/N: It's a big week for us Star Wars fans. We won't be seeing The Force Awakens until Monday, 21 December. If you've ever played the Republic Jedi side of SWTOR, you may recognize one of the NPC's in this chapter. Anyway, there will be some radio silence from me for about a month after this chapter is posted, we're moving from West Coast to East Coast USA. But don't fear, my lovely dark siders. More adventures are brewing for our crew. Have a lovely winter holiday, whatever you celebrate. And may the Force be with you when you go see Episode 7.

I woke up in a room surrounded by strangers. Surrounded by strangers and without my gear. My lightsabers, jacket, GalaxyWave and gear pack were missing. I was honestly surprised I was still mostly clothed.

My body ached, probably from the electro-dart induced spasms. The strangers around me weren't in much better state, some were worse off. I sat up slowly, looking around and realizing there was something on my neck. I reached up and touched metal. My eyes widened in alarm.

"No," I muttered, dropping my hand and looking at my fellow prisoners. Shock collars. We were all equipped with slave shock collars.

"'Fraid so," said a male voice from behind me. I turned my head to see a young, tan-skinned, male Zabrak with a Republic accent. His facial markings were just slightly darker than his skin tone. He was holding a small cup toward me. "Water. You're pro'lly dehydrated."

I reached up and took the cup, looking inside to see clear liquid.

The man sat down, about arms length from me. "Name's Pak Taldine. Welcome to the epicenter of 'New Rattatak.'"

"New Rattatak?" I asked, sniffing the liquid and then trying a sip. It was water.

"Some rattataki prisoners decided to form an army. They want to conquer Belsavis for their own. Originally they were just killing everyone in their way. They got smart; started taking hostages." He gestured around to the people in the room around us. "That's us."

"I see this," I replied with a slight sardonic smile.

"Yeah, suppose you do. Anyway, welcome back to the realm of the conscious. You woke up faster than most do." Pak peered at me with a calculating look. "And you sound very Imperial."

I shook my head in amusement. "I am quite Imperial. I suppose you're Republic."

"Nah. I'm Belsavian... Besalvisite? Whatever you'd call someone from here, now." Pak replied with a wink.

His easy going demeanor was strange, but I found myself liking him. I leaned over to stage whisper, "Criminal?"

"Me?" Pak asked, with a grin. "The Republic thinks so. The Imperials freed me. So... yes and no."

"I see. How scandalous," I said with humor.

He stood and offered me a hand up. I accepted it and we moved back into a corner farther from the force field sealed doorway. The other prisoners nearby shuffled away from us. I gave a puzzled glance around.

"From your outfit... and your unphased attitude, I'm going to guess you're not just an average Imperial soldier." Pak said. He pointed around the room. "They came to that conclusion too."

"Hm," I replied, taking another sip of water and glancing around. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

His eyes widened briefly, then he covered with a small, nervous laugh. "Well, fair enough."

"How long was I unconscious anyway?" I asked.

"About thirty-six hours, give or take," Pak answered. "Like I said, faster than most. They inject us with some knock-out drug. It usually keeps people dead to the world for two or three days."

I'd been here for a day and a half already. My team was probably mounting a rescue any moment. I looked around the cell again and then at my strangely amiable companion. I raised my cup.

"Well then, to New Rattakak. May their plans fail and their bodies fall painfully to the Empire."

Pak stared at me for a moment, then laughed again with gusto. "Well, then, I think I'll drink to that."

###

I had been imprisoned for four days, well five and a half if you count the unconscious bit. While I had every faith in my team, I was getting worried. The last few days had been filled with mostly silent contemplation and really pitiful meals of some kind of gruel the rattataki shoved into the room every twelve hours or so. The partitioned off area for us to relieve ourselves was beginning to smell as well.

My cell mates were a bit less intimidated by me at this point, but they still preferred to keep their distance. Especially when I was meditating, as I was at this moment. Only Pak seemed brave, or stupid, enough to willingly talk with me.

I came out of my trance-like communion with the Force, having tried to reach out to seek Jaesa or Quinn to no known avail on my side. Pak was sitting opposite me, cross-legged with a studious look on his face.

"How do you manage to sit still for so long and not fall asleep?" He asked.

I stretched my arms above my head and looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I tried to poke you to get your attention and you grabbed my hand so fast I thought you were going to snap my wrist. But, you never opened your eyes or even acknowledged anything beyond that. You released my hand and continued to sit there as if nothing happened," he said.

"Oh." I shrugged nonchalantly. He had yet to accuse me of being a Sith, but he seemed to like to dance around the issue.

"Oh," he repeated back at me with another of his smiles. "Quite the explanation there."

I shook my head and stood up. "Curiosity killed the reekcat," I said with amusement.

"Ah, like them, I seem to possess many lives, so I'll risk it." Pak replied as he also stood.

I shook my head and wandered over to the doorway, peering out at the bustling rattataki in the main room. They had set up some large items on one of the opposite walls.

"Is this what you were going to show me?" I asked as I pointed to the activity across the way.

"Yeah. They've brought out the interrogation equipment again. I haven't seen them have it out since a few days before you were brought in."

"Interrogation? What for?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not sure. Basic Republic and Imperial movements I would think. The last one to go on the table was Raskah," he pointed to a corner of our room where a light-furred Cathar female sat, despondent. "Hard to see it from her fur, but she was bruised up something awful when they threw her back in here."

I gazed across the room at the table, realizing it looked similar to the one I rescued Draahg from. I gave an involuntary shiver.

A little while later, some of our keepers came to the doorway, dropping the force field.

"You, Imperial," one of them called, pointing at me. "Get up and come here."

I stood, frowning, but didn't move closer.

"Come here, girl. Don't make me use this," he pulled out a remote from his pocket.

I stayed where I was, narrowing my eyes at the threat. The rattataki stared back at me and pressed his thumb to the button. A painful, prickling, burning sensation suddenly took hold at the base of my neck and my eyes widened, back going rigid. I could feel my shoulder and neck muscles spasm from the current. It was like my entire back had fallen into a charlie horse domino effect. I wanted to scream and curl to the floor; I refused to yell out, grinding my teeth together and clenching my hands into fists. The electric torrent only lasted a few seconds, but I could feel blood running down my palms.

He released the button and I took in a large gulp of air, still silent and staring at him.

"I'll turn the voltage up next time. Come forward."

I let out a long breath and walked forward, head held high, eyes staring ahead. They grabbed my arms from either side and led me out into the main chamber, sealing the room again. We moved toward the upright interrogation table.

I took this time to look around without appearing to look around. There were dozens of rattataki moving about, some carrying datapads or equipment. All were armed.

They turned me around and pushed me against the table, pulling the straps across my chest, legs, arms and ankles. Then, they reclined it slightly, so that I was at about a one hundred and twenty degree angle from the floor.

One of them, a female, set up a recorder device on the edge of the table near my face and lifted my head to remove my collar. Another stood over to the side with an imaging device held in my direction. One of the males came up to me and I continued to look straight ahead, ignoring them.

"Alright girl, we want to know about the Imperials. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." He stated while picking up a couple of nasty looking instruments from a rolling cart. "What is your name and position in the Imperial forces?"

I stayed quiet, staring at a poster on the opposite wall that someone had artfully drawn up of some rattataki in military formation.

"Alright, the hard way. Figured as much." The man said, taking up a particularly sharp and thin looking metal rod and grasping one of my hands in his own.

I closed my eyes and willed a tiny amount of Force around myself. I heard gasps of surprise and opened my eyes to see the instrument had bent when he tried to use it on my hand. Yay, Force shield.

The man narrowed his eyes at me, putting the ruined instrument back on the rolling table.

"I see. We have something just for Force users," he said with a bit of venomous glee.

He waved his hand and a young, robed, rattataki male came over.

"It seems we may need some Force persuasion, Jhannik."

Jhannik bowed his head and came to stand next to me. His eyes were blood shot and a brilliant yellow, spidering veins of Dark Side corruption gave his chalk-white skin an even more morbid look.

He lifted his hands and held them above me for a moment, probably feeling me out. I had dampened my power, as was habit when not in friendly company. He nodded to himself and placed his hands at my temples.

I felt a jolt against my sustained Force shield and Jhannik grimaced, a throbbing began in my head and I widened my eyes in shock. A small trickle of fear raced through me. I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to counter his Force fear attempt without giving away my own strength.

I became aware of a beat coming from above us and opened my eyes. Jhannik was also looking up, as were the other Rattataki. Music was coming over their intercom system, the 1MC if we were on a ship.

"Doo doo doo doo. Doo doo doo doo. Doo doo doo doo. Ah! Ah!" Voices sang to the music.

"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?" Sang a lone female voice.

I looked around, blinking. Jhannik had stopped trying to penetrate my mind, dropping his hands and looking to the male rattataki who seemed to be in charge. My brain was still trying to process what was going on.

"Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need."

"Oh..." I finally whispered, realizing what was playing.

And then I heard the blaster fire from one of the adjoining corridors.

"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight."

My captors heard the commotion as well and most of them drew weapons, dashing over to the other side of the room. I looked around, casually straining against my bonds, but not making much progress. I sighed and turned my head to watch.

"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light. He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life. Larger than life."

I heard some melee combat nearby and lots of painful cries. I looked over to the holding cell and met Pak's curious expression.

"Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy, somewhere just beyond my reach there's someone reaching back for me. Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat, it's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet."

I saw a lone red lightsaber tip briefly from around the corridor corner and many blaster bolts. Many voices were shouting and screaming, but I thought I heard some strange hissing as well. Hissing?

"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light. He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life. I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night."

The first of the assailants finally appeared. Trandoshans. Lots of them. And a Sith among them, followed by more lightsabers and what looked like Mandalorians. My angle was quite poor and I was having a difficult time identifying anyone properly in the chaos. Jhannik had joined the fray, but his attempts at Force lightning were shrugged off by most of the opposing team. I heard a loud trumpeting.

"Up where the mountains meet the heavens above, out where the lightning splits the sea, I would swear that there's someone, somewhere watching me. Through the wind, and the chill, and the rain, and the storm, and the flood, I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood."

A swath of rattataki flew away from the lead Sith in an impressive Force push. I recognized the Sith as Quinn and my stomach did a little flip flop. I could feel the stupid grin spread over my face.

"Like the fire in my blood. Like the fire in my blood. Like the fire in my blood. Like the fire in my blood!" Sang the back-up singers.

Slowly I was able to recognize more of my crew as they pushed their way fully into the large room. Broonmark's tall, shaggy form appeared behind the rattataki, causing more panic. Jaesa was next to another large, male Sith; Pierce and another woman in a helmet, who was too tall to be Vette, were leading another squad of trandoshans.

"I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light. He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life."

Quinn shouted something and broke away from the melee at a sprint, coming across the room toward me, his lightsaber and blaster still brandished. He slid to a stop in front of me, looking disheveled and fierce. He extinguished his saber, snapping it onto his belt and holstered his blaster; untying me in a tense silence. He helped me off the table and gazed down at me, briefly running his right hand down the side of my face and then giving me a once-over look for injuries.

The fighting had been pushed out of the room into another hallway, the trandoshans and Broonmark now seemingly chasing the rattataki.

"What took you so long?" I asked in a playful manner.

I saw his eyebrows raise and he removed his mask, a smile playing on his lips. "Apologies. It took some chance encounters and coordination to stage a rescue."

"Some chance," called Pierce as he meandered over to us. The woman had disappeared down the passageway with the trandoshans. Another large figure came up behind Pierce and I opened my mouth in surprise. Quinn grinned and nodded to the man.

"We just happened to be in the neighborhood when we ran into... Lord Cynn and company." Sarith said.

"Indeed. Lord Sarith and Captain Yulia have been invaluable assets." Quinn added.

I glanced back over to the corridor the fighting had disappeared through. "Well, now I know why she stayed with the trandoshans."

Sarith shrugged. "You know her. The battle flows in her veins. She'll be back when it's done."

I heard a sound like someone clearing their throat and glanced behind everyone to the holding cell. Pak was looking at us, the other prisoners had gathered behind him.

"Little assistance, if you please," Pak called out, jovially.

###

The prisoners were released, all items recovered. The rattataki – what was left of them – scattered into the wilds of Belsavis, and Yulia, Vette and Broonmark rejoined us up at the top of the complex. The platoon of trandoshans lurking nearby.

"Heya boss," Vette called to me as she skipped up. "Did you like our dramatic entrance?"

"Ah, I forgot to mention that the musical accompaniment was Vette's idea." Quinn said.

"It was brilliant, I couldn't have done better," I replied, causing Vette to grin widely.

Broonmark scooped me up in a gentle hug and set me back on the ground.

Yulia sauntered up, helmet under her arm and a wide grin on her face. "That was fun. Maybe you should get kidnapped more often, Wilde."

I laughed and shook my head. "Yeah, I don't want to make this any kind of habit. But, I am glad you and Lord Sarith were able to assist. Thank you."

She shrugged, switching her helmet to her other arm so she could wrap her left arm around Sarith's waist.

"We were happy to assist," Sarith said. "However, we only came in at the tail end. Apprentice Willsaam and Captain Quinn had already done all the hard work with convincing the trandoshans to work for the Empire."

"Getting them to help us was easy, once we figured out that we could persuade Ssevrek with many honorable kills for their Scorekeeper," Jaesa said. She waved at a scarred trandoshan near the front of the gathered lizard-men.

The trandoshan nodded at her, looking grim.

"We just came along for the entertainment," Yulia added.

"We have our own business to return to, if you feel you've been satisfactorily rescued, Wrath." Sarith said with a smirk.

"Quite satisfied," I agreed. "We've got a full plate still, if I recall correctly. Dread Masters to free and a Darth to eliminate."

"Oh, the Dread Masters? I wouldn't worry about that mission. Nearly every spare non-military Imperial on planet has been recruited to do that. I'd focus on Ekkage." Yulia said with a wink. "You should leave us a little chaos and carnage to claim."

Sarith chuckled and gave me a waist bow. "Then we take our leave of you. Perhaps the next time we meet, it will be for the downfall of a certain shared enemy. Honor for the Empire."

"Indeed. Honor for the Empire, Lord and Captain."

They turned as one unit, Yulia's arm still around his waist and disappeared around the building. That was interesting.

"Ah, there is one more thing I think you require for this to be a fully successful rescue," Quinn said.

"Oh?" I asked, looking up at him.

He smiled and leaned down, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Um," I said, pushing away slightly embarrassed. "I haven't had any proper hygiene for a few days."

His smile shifted to an amused lopsided grin and kissed me until we had to come up for air.