Broken Reflection
by Lady Dawson
Chapter One: Escape
Heart racing, he closed his eyes to feign sleep as the Inquisitor entered stealthily, footsteps silent against the cold marble, but he remained still and silent as ever, refusing to let them see just how afraid he was. But they could sense it; he was the failure, the result of too much experimentation. Every time that they entered, every time that he came, they all saw how afraid he was of them.
But he could be useful to them; that was the only reason why he was still alive, he knew. They thought that they could make use of him someday. To what end, he had no idea, but he wasn't planning on sticking around to find out.
They were all very predictable. Like a well-tuned engine, they worked seamlessly together, never faltering from their course. And as soon as they were sure that he was still there, no one would be there to check on him until morning.
He remained on his cot, listening to the footsteps fade away into the distance, and waited a good ten minutes before crawling off, stuffing the blankets with more to give the impression that he was still there. It wouldn't fool them for long, but it might buy him some time.
And he would need time—and luck. If they found him out, if they discovered that he was sneaking out, he might not live until morning. They would kill him right then and there and use him to start anew.
From experience, he knew that there was only two Guards patrolling at night and they changed just after midnight. And the replacements were always more lax, no expecting anything to happen when the charge behind closed doors was sound asleep and would be until the break of day, when their replacements took over. By that time, he planned on being good and far away from here.
But he would have to be careful.
With baited breath, he eased the door open as silently as he could, taking a peek into the hallway to see the stormtroopers standing guard. Both of them, as expected, were relaxed and one of them was even leaning against the wall in obvious tiredness, snoring quietly while his partner was playing solitary sabaac.
Gripping the small rock that he'd plucked when allowed outside nearly two days ago, he threw it as hard as he could in the opposite direction. It hit the wall with a loud clatter, echoing throughout the hallway.
The stormtrooper looked up from his game.
His heart pounded but he remained where he was as he stood up, making his way across the hallway, just past the slightly open door, to see what had caused the noise. The moment that he passed, he slipped out from the door, pressing it closed behind him, and slid across the wall, all the while watching the lone trooper.
But he was too busy checking out the area. Just as his head turned, looking to the left, he pulled out a second rock and chucked it as hard as he could to the right, making the helmet turn again at the noise.
For one, fearful moment, he thought that he would catch onto him, or worse just return to his post figuring it was nothing more than Coruscant rats, but just when he was about to race back to his room, the trooper spoke.
"Base, this is Trooper CW-77. I have a possible intruder in the south wing; I'm checking it out. 81 is still on duty."
If base answered him, he had no way of knowing without a comm., but much to his relief, the trooper walked away from him without even turning around to rouse his partner, who was still snoring away, and rounded the corner.
Exhaling the breath that he hadn't known that he was holding, he stepped away from the wall and, as quietly but as quickly as he could, hurried down the hallway in the opposite direction before rounding the corner and making his way down the passageway, mind racing with every step that he took.
For weeks, for months, he had been planning this route, had keeping track of every passage whenever they led him and the others to training, and this was the only way that he could find that would guarantee escape.
Down the left corridor, he reminded himself, even though he had been going over it in his head like a mantra for weeks, and then turn right at the first hallway. Past the training room and then go right and left again.
Until he reached the garbage chute and chucked himself right in before he could think twice about it.
They only ran the garbage down here twice a month and they had already done it two days ago. It was safe, he told himself, grunting as he clamored on top of all the trash that he had landed on, sliding down to the other side.
Junk and debris clattered down around him as he landed on the other junk, but he ignored it, reaching the doorway on the other side. When the garbage was filled to a certain level, it would open and all of the debris would be shoved through the doorway into the incinerator, but the last place he wanted to be was where he would get burned alive. He just hoped that, once he got through, there would be another way out.
But once they burned everything, they expelled the remains into the lower levels of Coruscant and if he could get there, maybe he had a chance of getting away.
Maybe.
If he made it that far.
Pulling out the mechanics of droid parts that he'd brought with him, he tried to remember how to do this. One of the others had shown him; he was skilled with robotics, so he knew everything about them.
"All about the tumblers," he murmured, twisting the droid arm until he felt it click and, amazingly, the door opened automatically.
Relief surged through him and he hurried through before anyone was alerted to what was happening down here, but all that was on the other side was a small tunnel. He gulped, realizing his folly now, but kept going, all the way to the incinerator.
Please don't be working, please don't be working, he prayed, over and over again, to the Force that he could not feel, until he reached the other door.
It opened easily, with only a slight amount of pressure against it and he jumped back, sure that the incinerator would come alive the second that he was out, but miraculously, nothing happened.
He poked his head through the other door, but still nothing happened and cautiously, he slipped out and dropped down into the bottom of the pit, but still nothing. He glanced overhead at the burners that remained closed, wondering why they weren't, but then he took another look at his feet, realization dawning.
They had run the incinerator two days ago and of course it wouldn't come on unless it was filled, but right now, the pit was completely void of any debris. The incinerator wouldn't run until the garbage filled up.
Laughing weakly, he hurried across the pit and pushed against the small hatch in the middle, hoping that it would open.
Like the doorway to the pit, the slightest amount of pressure building against it opened it right up and he didn't hesitate to jump right into it, sliding through the tube as it went this way and that, all the way from the upper levels of the palace until it dropped into the lower levels of the planet itself.
Twisting and winding, the tube slowly began to close in on itself that a much larger man would never get through, but a seventeen-year-old boy could.
Finally, he saw the other end and the hatch opened before he reached it, sensors picking him up, and he fell through open air onto the charred remnants of all the debris that had been chucked out before.
For a moment, he just lay there against all of it, staring up at the open sky before him, taking it all in. This was the first time that he had ever seen it without prying eyes watching, deciphering his movements.
But then that moment passed and he realized just how much danger he was in by remaining; they could figure out where he had gone at any time and if he was still here, there was no chance of escape.
And so he clamored off the burnt debris, stumbling over the gate and disappeared into the underbelly of Coruscant, trying to get far enough underground that no one would be able to find him.
It took them a week to find him.
He managed to get down into the lower levels, even further than he was, but even then, there were stormtroopers crawling everywhere. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be on the lookout but he still ducked his head every time that he passed by one and slipped into the nearest hiding place whenever he could.
But after about the third day, that was when they seemed to be on alert; he kept his head down, stole some clothes, and even found a hat to hide his blond hair, but there was only so many places he could hide.
And he hadn't eaten in two days.
He was digging into the trash outside of a restaurant, hoping to find something still edible, when he heard, "Hey, you!"
Dropping the half-eaten fruit that he'd been eyeing, his head shooting up, he took off, shoving the trashcan into their way as he ran, not caring about where he was going or where he was headed.
They ran after him, one of them even taking a shot, but he missed.
The blue light hit the left side of him, hitting a Twi'lek prostitute, but he couldn't stop. He hoped that she was okay; he didn't want anyone to get hurt on his account, but if he stopped now, there would be no escaping from them.
Running as fast as he could, he managed to get to the nearest spaceport, and got far enough away that he was able to round the corner without them seeing but he still didn't stop even when he reached the ships.
He glanced over his shoulder, to make sure that they weren't behind him, only to collide with some crates that were being loaded onto a transport ship, sending him sprawling onto the mucky ground.
The girl that was loading them nearby whipped around.
Eyes that were a strange mixture of blue and green met his and he gulped at the intensity burning behind them, but there was a strange look in them that he couldn't figure out. Sun streaked brown hair spilled out around her as she abandoned her work to walk over to him, flight suit whispering with every step she took.
"Are you all right?"
Concern, he realized; that's what that emotion was.
"I—" He didn't know how to answer that, but the sound of boots thumping against the platform made his head snap where he had just come and to his growing horror, he saw white armor in the distance.
Looking back to the girl, he saw her looking in the same direction, her mouth set in a grimace as she too saw them. She gazed at them for a fraction of a second before her gaze hardened and she looked at him.
"Get off of the ground, you lazy son of a schutta," she snapped at him with such indignance that he scrambled off his feet before she could yell at him again. Her blue-green eyes were blazing as she continued, "We were supposed to have these crates on board an hour ago! Captain wants us in the air in twenty minutes and you still don't have our cargo stored? If we're late with this delivery, Vizago is going to have both our heads."
It took him a minute to realize what she was talking about but understanding flooded through him when he did.
"I—I'm sorry . . ." he mumbled, dropping his head remorsefully. "I'll get them . . ."
She huffed. "Never mind. Just get those two in the cargo bay; I'll get the rest. I can't wait for Captain to chew your ear off . . ."
Doing as she ordered, he hastily grasped the handle on the two crates that she had indicated, pushing them towards the ship and hurrying up the boarding ramp, out of sight just as the stormtroopers came by.
"You there!"
He tensed as he heard the clipped tone of the stormtrooper coming through his comm. frequency that made all troopers sound the same, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them from shaking.
"You seen anybody run through here?"
"Yes, and thank goodness you showed up," the girl said impatiently. "He came tearing through here, paying no mind to anyone, knocked over one of our crew without so much as an apology, and went running off in that direction! He stole my brother's jacket—of course, it's his fault for leaving it lying around, but still!"
"Where did he go?"
"That way," the girl replied, "and I hope you catch him. If we weren't already running late with this shipment, I'd help you track him down myself, but the captain wants us in the air."
Almost as though by command, someone shouted from further within the ship, "Lara! Have you got those crates stored yet?"
"Almost!" she yelled at him. "Keep your pants on!"
He stole a glance overhead but there was no one there. Heart pounding, he remained where he was until the girl came on board, pressing a button on the side to close the door.
Only then did she look at him.
"Don't worry, they're gone."
Relief flooded through him. "Thank you," he whispered, meaning it. Never had anyone done something like that for him before, not even the others when they were in training and he was struggling to keep up.
She smiled. "No worries; it's fun to mess with troopers. What'd they get you for anyway?"
"I—" He trailed off. "It's complicated."
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment and he thought for sure that she would press him for answers or demand that he tell her, but she didn't. All she said was, "Well, we're headed to Nar Shaddaa. I'll talk to the captain once we're in the air, but as long as you pull your weight around here, he won't care about giving you a ride. I have to warn you, though; it's not safe to be in our company."
"I could say the same thing."
"We're wanted in five systems."
"I'm wanted by the Emperor himself."
His claim actually made her eyebrows shoot up so high that they were in danger of disappearing into her hair; she looked impressed.
"How'd you manage that?"
He swallowed, looking away.
"Look," she said quietly, "I don't care if you're a thief or a murdered, but are you loyal to the Empire?"
"No," he said quickly, leaving no room for argument. This girl, this ship, whoever they were, they had no love for the Empire, he could tell. And that was fine with him because he didn't either. "I promise you that I'm not."
Her gaze met his and held it for a long moment.
"All right then," she said, dropping the matter entirely. "Where you headed?"
"I . . . anywhere but here."
Laughing, she told him, "Well, there's certainly places enough on Nar Shaddaa to disappear, if that's what you're after."
"Disappearing sounds perfect."
"Well, whatever you're running from, it must be bad if disappearing into the bowels of Nar Shaddaa sounds better than the underground of Coruscant," she said lightly. "I'm Solara. You got a name?"
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. How he could he tell her that he never had a name? That he was just a number that was used as a backup, in case the worst should happen? How did he even explain that?
But she said, "You don't have to give me your real one, if you don't want to. But I need something to call you."
Oh.
His cheeks burned at this realization and he ducked his head, embarrassed she had figured him out even though what she thought was probably a very different scenario than what had actually happened.
"I . . . I don't know many names."
She looked at him for a long moment, eyes thoughtful.
"How about Jacen?" she suggested. "I had a friend named Jacen; he was one of the bravest people I ever met."
Although he didn't know how he felt about using a name for someone that was brave, which he definitely didn't feel like most of the time, it was better than nothing. "Okay," he said, "Jacen sounds good."
"Okay. Well, Jacen, why don't you help me get this crates loaded up?"
As he helped her get the crates into some hidden compartments underneath the floorboards, making him suspect that whatever was in them was not legal, she made a call to the cockpit, to tell the mysterious captain that they were ready.
And the ship lifted into the air and began heading out of Coruscant's atmosphere and Jacen felt the coolness of space for the first time in his life before the ship started to move faster as it made the jump to hyperspace.
Author's Note: Hey, guys, I know it's been awhile and I'm sure some of you would rather me work on my old stuff, but truth be told, I'm usually spending more time working on my own novel than fanfiction these days, but this little fic would not leave my head and I decided to just go with it for awhile. We'll see how long I last. LOL. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed chapter one and I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think! I'm curious as to who figures out who Jacen is. Go ahead, I dare you, guess away!