Captain Corliss stood on the bridge of his Imperial-class star destroyer and watched as the star lines appeared and formed themselves into the small white dots of distant systems, not all of which were controlled by the Empire. This was disturbing. He had been called off his normal duty near the comfortable Core worlds to the decidedly rustic Rim to pick up a prisoner for the Lord Darth Vader, He missed the Core Worlds - the very heart of order and respectability - already. Being even this close to the Outer Rim unsettled him. Too many aliens with twists visions of reality and justice, and he would soon have one of them befouling his ship. What did I do to deserve this? His eyes fell onto the back of the sensor officer who was trying to look unimportant down in the crew pit. "Well? Report!"
"Sir, there is nothing on the passive scanners. Going active....wait I have a signal. Looks like a message pod."
"Scan it for explosives then bring it on board." He sighed heavily, expressing his disgust in having to deal with lowly scum like bounty hunters in the first place." Make sure that the thing has no explosive devices on it before you bring it aboard my ship. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll go advise Lady Vader of the situation." He tugged lightly on his uniform and curtly turned, snapping his heels and walking off the bridge. He traveled the pristine companionways of his Destroyer, the bulkheads painted spotless Imperial white, the black deck plates polished to a high shine. At Rage's door he hesitated, clearing his voice then tapping the com." Lady Vader? We've arrived." On the other side of the door, Rage groaned and leaned over one of the two stormtroopers she was nestled between. She hit the com button." Is Fett here?"
"No m'Lady, you see..."
"Then why are you bothering me?" The voice was deep and slipped from her tongue seductively. It also held enough threat to make his skin crawl.
"He seems to have left a message pod." Corliss replied.
She sighed and let her head fall on the chest of the man laying beneath her. "Understood. I'll be out shortly." She snapped off the com and growled lightly as she sat up cracking her back. One of the men rolled over and she kicked him out of the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thud. "Get up, you're going to be late for patrol." All she heard was a low moan as she slipped off the bed and headed towards the refresher. After a quick shower she stepped out to find the stormtroopers gone and Reg, her long suffering guardian and friend, leaning against the food unit. He held up an empty vile that used to contain glitterstim spice. "I thought you were going to lay off this stuff."
"Yeah and I thought I was vacation on Cardia, strange, eh?" Rage Vader, Darth Vader's adopted daughter, replied smartly. Reg sighed and threw the vile away. She smiled at him and poured herself a stiff liquid breakfast. "You really have to stop trying to mother me. It'll put you in an early grave." She swallowed the drink and putting either hand on the counter and lowering her head. Ever so gently she stretched out with that special part of her mind and touched the Force gently, if she was stroking a small bird. The reaction was immediate and the spice drained from her system and her body felt renewed. She sucked in a deep breath of air and allowed the gently hum of life throughout the ship to enter her senses. Reg watched in silence. "Shall we go see if Fett left me a love letter?"
Fett was not about to deal with the Imperials on their terms and had left jump coordinates for an alternate exchange site. Corliss hadn't been impressed, but in Lady Vader's presence, had kept his opinions on bending to the bounty hunters wishes to himself. The captain was even less happy when Fett's ship was given clearance to take up space on his Star Destroyer.
Rage and Corliss stepped out into the docking bay as Fett walked down the ramp of his ship, weapon drawn and resting across his arms. The hunter nodded in greeting to the Sith "Rage. If they would have told me you were in charge of the exchange I would of been a little more cooperative." Fett voice was cool and filtered through his helmet.
Rage smiled approached the bounty hunter. "Oh knock it off Fett, otherwise I'm going to get all mushy and cry. Where is she?" He nodded his head and they stepped into his ship, a medic close behind them. Rage looked down at the restrained prisoner, who appeared to be drugged. "Fett, I'm impressed." she stood aside to allow the medic into the cell.
The med tech knelt uneasily near Gade and examined her briefly, then got up and stepped away. The young Thalcein hadn't moved, her breathing relaxed. "She's in good health though a little on the dehydrated side." Two stormtroopers stepped in and grunted as they pulled the heavy, compact Thalcein out onto the docking bay floor and Rage watched with growing interest. Something was nagging at her, just beyond her reach- a Force clue, but it wasn't in warning of danger...for her at least. She handed Fett his payment chip, not taking her eyes off the blindfolded captive. Corliss stepped up to Gade and knelt down on one knee to get a closer look at her face. "What an ugly species." he muttered.
Rage snorted. "Actually Captain, the Thalcein are thought to be one of the more beautiful and graceful species in the known galaxy, not that I'm suggesting you take her into your bed or anything. She'd break you in half." The strike came quick as lightening, and Rage was only a second ahead of her, sparing the Captain his life but not a great deal of pain. Rage felt a Force tug and reached out yanking Corliss away from the short, muscular alien. Gade's head snapped out and would of gotten hold of his throat had he not been pulled away, but caught the man's ankle instead. Despite the Captain's heavy leather boot, the sound of grinding bone was almost as gut wrenching as Corliss's scream of pain as Rehn's teeth crushed his ankle, her jaw locking. Fett stood watching as Rage sat the screaming Imperial officer on his behind and slammed her knee in the space between Gade's eyes. The filly gave a pain filled groan, but did not let go of the bleeding officer.
"I'm sorry to do this to you. I know he really, really had that coming but seasoned destroyer captains don't just fall out of the stars." Rage's voice was low and quiet, almost sounding apologetic. She slipped a gloved hand in the small space between the Thalcein's molars and front teeth, squeezing the pressure point within her mouth. Gade's mouth opened in pain and she shook her head as Corliss jerked his mutilated ankle out of reach. Rage backed away with Force driven speed as Gade lunged for her as well. She stood looking down at the growling prisoner until Fett finally got her attention.
"Well you seem to know what you're doing. The binders are a gift." he intoned, his dead voice betraying no emotion.
"Okay, thanks Fett. I'll call you some time." Rage replied, not even looking at him as he walked back to his ship.
"Don't bother. I'm working." was the cold reply. The ramp closed behind him and Slave1 powered up, gliding from the docking bay and into the vacuum of space beyond, jumping to hyperspace the moment he cleared the ship's shield.
Rage paid no attention to Corliss's screams and the medic and stormtrooper helped him to the medical wing as four Imperial Guards stepped into the docking bay. They stood nearby waiting for orders, dressed in the innocuous crimson commando uniforms that they wore when on special duty. Rage knelt down once more, touching the exhausted Gade with the force, feeling fear and hate radiate off the young soldier like heat from a plasma fire.
"Easy there, rebel. Those are some pretty strong emotions." Rage was just out of her reach, and the Sith's voice was quiet, almost thoughtful. She stood and motioned for the Imperial Guards to bring Rehn to the ship's detention centre. This was turning out to be quite interesting.
-Kelly Black-