Chapter Three – The Gorgon
A splitting headache was what woke her from her not-quite restful sleep. Of course, just about anything could wake her these days. Like dreaming of what Face would say if he found out she hadn't been 100% truthful with him about the twins...or about this really being a mission, not a capture. With a sigh, she worked out the kinks in her neck, not really believing it would do anything to aid the removal of her headache.
Her suspicions had been correct, in that. Across the room, she saw a durasteel cage. Wonderful, she thought dryly. Ysalamiri. My favorite. With a grimace, she straightened against the wall, noting she was not actually attached to it in any way. Well, at least they didn't think she'd be that hard to contain. Their mistake meant their lives.
As a yawn escaped past her lips, a sharp pain seared across the underside of her jaw. Grimacing, she turned her head to touch the point to her shoulder. After a second, she removed her chin and looked at the material, only to find it red with blood. Kriffing wonderful, really. Her expression darkening still further, she suddenly remembered her lightsaber. Her hands were totally useless to aid in the search for it as they were 'politely' stuncuffed behind her. Using her right foot, she tapped around the calf of her boot, frowning annoyedly as it hit nothing other than her boot itself.
Before she could so much as utter a curse, the lighting in the room blared to a much higher setting, momentarily blinding her, just as the door released. As her vision readjusted once more, she was met with the smirking face of Admiral Daala, two stormtrooper guards with her. Her headache seemed to redouble upon itself, making it seem to her as if she had been hit full on by a crashing TIE fighter.
Abruptly, two hands grabbed her arms, 'helping' her to her feet and out the door. Dimly, Adra was pleased to note that there were no ysalamiri on either Daala or the stormtroopers. She only hoped there wouldn't be wherever she was going. Using the time she had in connection with the web of life to connect with her unborn children, she quickly soothed their ruffled nerves, assuring and explaining to them as best she could.
Not having paid any attention to where they were going, Adra blinked, a bit surprised, as she realized they were in front of her new door. Daala was dutifully punching in the access code, but even before she had completed the process, Adra knew who was inside that room. Gut wrenching, she allowed herself a low grumble as she was pushed into the room.
Across from the doorway, staring into the viewport and space beyond, stood an all too familiar person, his back to the door. And then, off to the right, standing by a viewscreen, were two more very, very familiar figures. The stormtroopers stopped Adra from taking another step into the room, though she wouldn't have even wanted to. Being in the same vicinity of two Sith Lords was worse than being surrounded by ysalamiri. To top it off, having your 'favorite' Imperial General there, the same Imperial General who amusedly passed judgment on first your friend and then unwittingly you, as well was a bit much. Besides, in his opinion, she "deserved what she got, for hacking into the Admiral's files."
Her disgust at the prospect of seeing her 'father', along with spending 'quality time' with Jori Daragon and Darth Maul must've shown on her face because when Admiral Daala looked at her, she laughed softly. The Imperial Admiral walked a few paces forward, seeming to forget that Adra could use the Force. She smirked slightly, a hard steel behind her eyes.
"I suppose we'll rethink our ideas next time we want to hack into my files, won't we?" she spoke with a voice that suggested she were speaking to a three year old, or someone who couldn't speak Basic.
No longer to keep her desire to murder the woman under control, Adra reached out to the Force, using it to place something like invisible hands around Daala's neck. The Admiral's eyes remained locked on Adra's, though she could see the pupils begin to dilate from lack of oxygen.
A feral smile evolved on Adra's face abruptly as Daala's eyes became unfocused...only to have it wiped off her face again as a sudden searing pain began to move over the right side of her neck. Abruptly losing concentration on the Admiral as the burning sensation that continued from behind her ear down towards her esophagus, she wrenched herself free from the stormtroopers' grips and away from the blood red lightsaber. Of the two stormtroopers, one managed to regain a hold on her arm even as she matched glares with the Sith Mother.
The woman had a feral smirk of her own firmly bolted in place. Immediately, Adra stiffened, recognizing what the woman was doing in the Force. Cringing in spite of herself, she focused on counteracting what the Sith was trying to do, all the while working on using the Force to pry the double ended lightsaber from the Sith Lord's grip.
At the same time another hand gripped her, the lightsaber flew from Jori's grip. It turned off as it passed over her own head, then one end flicked back on to sever the stuncuffs down the center. Hands now somewhat free, Adra grabbed the lightsaber from the air and used the Force to flip backwards, out of both stormtroopers' reach, both ends of the lightsaber now ignited.
By now, the General at the viewport had turned around to see the happenings behind him. Adra saw his gaze lock on her movements, but didn't have time to comprehend much else.
At this point, Darth Maul had sent Jori another lightsaber via the Force, and also ignited his own. The two stormtroopers who had been so kind to 'escort' her to the room were now lying dead on the floor. The Imperial Admiral and General were both standing near the viewport, arms crossed over their chests, watching the scene.
Seconds later, Jori's new lightsaber hissed down with a crash against the end of Adra's that was occupied with blocking. Darth Maul had moved in next to Jori, his own lightsaber seeming to be eager with anticipation for attack. Grumbling to herself that she should never agree to suicide missions again, Adra watched both Sith Lords with baited breath.
Maul was the first to make a move. He brought his lightsaber in to attack her, moving the blood red blade in an arch. While Adra blocked off his attack, Jori's lightsaber flicked off. Her attention reverted once more by the sudden disappearance of it, she didn't realize she'd left her entire left side open to attack from Jori's counterpart.
In Jori's place stood a tusk-cat, it's fur rippling as the muscles underneath the tight hide shivered. Adra raised the blade to swipe at Jori in her new form, cursing herself for forgetting the Sith Mother was a changeling. She cursed herself again as a sharp jolt drove through her left shoulder blade.
Whether being stabbed in the back by Darth Maul was worth cutting off the tusk-cat's lower front right leg, she couldn't tell because at the same moment she did so, the lightsaber began moving across her back, still slightly embedded.
Resisting the urge to scream at the kriffing Sith Lord, Adra swung her lightsaber around her side and towards whatever stood behind her. The pain in her back immediately stopped recreating itself, only leaving the burn from what it had already done. Disconnecting the lightsaber into two, she silently thanked Master Windu for showing her how to use two lightsabers.
One blade in either hand, Adra whipped one around to form a frontline of attacks against Maul, the other doing its duty to keep a one and a half armed Jori Daragon at bay. The Sith Mother had returned to human form following the cut limb, refusing to be a maimed tusk-cat.
Adra opened herself to the Force once more, mentally smiling at the protected forms of her unborn twins, and then allowing it to dictate her defenses. A warning prickle told her to leave Jori alone for half a second to deflect the stun bolt sent at the side of her head, which she blocked, and then told her to cut from the left at Maul.
The Sith Lord let loose a howl of disguised pain as the lightsaber sliced through his left hip, causing him to drop his lightsaber and curl in a curled position on the durasteel floor, hissing as he struggled to collect the Force and bend it to healing and removing the stinging pain. Payback, Adra thought dimly to herself.
A sudden word from General Tallon stopped Jori from driving an attack to Adra's head. Begrudgingly, she thanked the man for his putting a halt to it; however, she continued to keep one eye on Jori, the other on Daala.
The Admiral returned the glare, something odd flickering behind her eyes. General Tallon looked between Adra herself and the Sith Mother, his gaze hard and calculating. Adra remembered it all too well from her days at the Imperial Academy when he had come for an inspection visit.
As suddenly as Jori had stopped her attack, a stormtrooper stepped forward and jerked the lightsabers from Adra's hands. Adra didn't even notice as her hands were stuncuffed behind her back once more, foregoing her use of them. Her eyes remained in constant contact with Daala's until the Admiral jerked her gaze down every so slightly.
"Come now, Tallon. Surely, you know that using the Force to kill someone is the mark of a Dark Jedi. I'm equally as certain you wouldn't want to become one of those...especially since your husband and children would be so heartbroken," Daala sneered at her as she walked closer. "Oh wait, did I say 'Tallon'? Excuse the error. That was quite a show you just put on for us, Loran. I hope you don't mind that we're not going to give you time to use that precious Force of yours to heal the burns."
A hand turned her around and shoved her forward, the palm that commanded the movement resting right across where Darth Maul's lightsaber had cut. With a curse, she heard Daala order they set the Gorgon's course for Cloud City.
