THALIA

Thalia waited and waited. The next morning came and went and there was no sign of either the Jedi or Dooku. She had received no communications either, and that told her something was definitely wrong.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" C6 asked as Thalia sat in the pilot's seat of the Falcon. The sun had just begun to set.

"I…I don't know." Thalia sighed. "I'll go in and find them."

"You can not be serious." C6 said doubtfully as Thalia stood up.

"Stay here. Stay on the comms in case I need you." She replied determinedly and lowered the ramp to the ground.

Thalia stepped off the ship and made her way towards the stronghold. There seemed to be a small garage off to the side, so she decided to go in that way. The garage was filled with speeder bikes and the walls were dirty and covered in posters of Weequayan women. She was almost at the door, when it suddenly burst open and two pirates walked out.

Thalia had no time to hide and made to run back the way she'd come, but the pirates barely glanced at her before going on their way. She frowned but decided not to wait on it and pushed open the door, continuing inside.

She crept down a hallway, not sure where she was heading, but hearing the sound of many voices coming from a doorway at the end of the hall, decided to head in that direction.

Suddenly, a side door opened up ahead and two pirates stepped out. This time, Thalia was ready and pressed her back against one of the side doors that were set into the wall.

The pirates were getting closer and they'd be sure to see her when they went past. As she tried to think of some way to get out of the impossible situation, she got the fright of her life when the door she was leaning against, suddenly opened, and she tumbled inside. The door shut immediately in front of her and she watched from between the openings as the pirates walked past.

Thalia got to her feet and looked around the room. It was someone's quarters. A woman's by the looks of it. She looked down at her purple gown, which had torn when she'd fallen into the room and realised that what she was wearing, didn't exactly help her blend in.

So, after rifling through the cupboards and drawers in the room, she abandoned the purple gown and opted for a plain, white shirt tucked into a pair of dark green pants and brown boots. She pulled her hair back into a bun and used a piece of material to tie around her head so it covered her nose and mouth.

It wasn't perfect, but it'd have to do. She certainly didn't look Weequayan, but the disguise was better than what she'd had on earlier. Thalia walked out of the room and continued down the hallway until she reached the doorway with the voices on the other side. She poked her head around the corner to see a dark room, with a bar in one corner, long tables across the floor and pirates everywhere; drinking, watching dancers, or staring up at two men who were hanging by their wrists above the floor by some sort of electricity field. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, Thalia realised that the two men were her Jedi protectors, Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan.

"I don't want to have to kill you, but you give me no choice." A pirate with a big, red coat said to the pair as more pirates gathered round to watch.

"Give it to em, Hondo." One cheered.

Hondo pulled out a small remote and pressed one of the buttons. Power surged through the electricity field, lighting up the room and Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan yelled in pain as the current jolted their bodies violently.

Suddenly, the light faded and the only thing that remained was smoke from the extreme volts.

"Again!" The pirates chanted and Thalia decided to make her move.

She edged inside the room, and other than getting a few glances from the pirates around her, received no attention. On the side wall sat a power box, and she slowly moved through the crowd towards it, looking up at the two Jedi every so often, hoping that they would see her and know that she had a plan.

'Come on, Obi-Wan. Look up.' She thought and to her relief, the Padawan's brow furrowed and he craned his neck to look back and as their eyes met, his widened in surprise.

Thalia stopped suddenly as a pirate pushed past her, wobbling drunkenly over to a nearby table, where he slumped into a seat, a full drink in his hand. He grumbled to himself and pulled out two lightsabers, tossing them onto the table as he watched the show. Thalia recognised them as the Jedi's, and while the pirate watched the show, she quickly grabbed them and tucked them behind her back.

"Alright. If you insist." Hondo cried at the chants of his men, and set the electricity going once again. Thalia flipped one of the lightsabers over in her hand, and used the end to smash the glass of the power box. Suddenly all the lights went out and the electricity field holding the Jedi failed, causing the pair to fall to the ground.

A moment later, the back up power came on, dousing the room in red light.

"What happened to the power, I was having fun?" Hondo asked, as Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan looked up from the ground. Hondo's pirates aimed their guns at the Jedi. Thalia pushed her way through the crowd until she was close enough.

"Obi-Wan!" She yelled and as he looked up, she threw his lightsaber over the heads of the pirates. He caught it deftly, and leapt to his feet, igniting the blade, and Qui-Gonn caught his own.

"You're no match for two Jedi, Hondo." Qui-Gonn said to the pirate. "Surrender and we will go quietly."

"I don't think so." A gruff voice said from behind Thalia and she cried out as a pirate, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her back as a gun was pressed into her temple.

In one swift move, Qui-Gonn leapt forward and grabbed Hondo, holding his lightsaber up to his neck.

"Let her go." He said calmly, and Hondo gasped at the position he found himself in.

"Let the girl go." Hondo nodded quickly, and the man holding Thalia released her.

"Approach us, an he dies." Qui-Gonn said, as he pushed Hondo towards the door. Obi-Wan followed him and Thalia stood behind the padawan, who had his lightsaber ready as the group backed down the hallway.

As they backed out into the sunlight, the sound of a ship's engines met their ears and everyone looked up to see a starship pulling away from the planet.

"Well, there goes Dooku." Obi-Wan said, and Qui-Gonn sighed before defusing his lightsaber. "Master, what are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The Captain has nothing we want, and since we're not prisoners anymore, he has no bargaining power." Qui-Gonn said. "Let's leave on even terms."

Obi-Wan defused his lightsaber and Hondo turned towards the pair. "Jedi, after everything, you're just going to walk away?"

"We have no quarrel with you, and we seek no revenge." Qui-Gonn replied.

"Very honorable, master Jedi." Hondo nodded as the group turned away and headed for the Falcon.

"What happened?" C6 asked once they were safely away from Florrum.

"I rescued them. Just as I told you I would." Thalia replied.

"I don't know about "rescued" necessarily." Obi-Wan said slowly.

"Then what would you call it?" Thalia asked astounded.

"More like…assisted in our escape." He replied and Thalia scoffed.

"Just accept it. If I hadn't come you'd still be hanging in that room. I saved you." She said.

"Which begs the question; how did you get through without being captured?" Qui-Gonn asked the bickering pair.

"I don't know. They didn't seem to pay me any attention. It was like I just blended in." She shrugged and walked over to C6, who was tampering with the computers.

"It's strange." Qui-Gonn said quietly to his apprentice. "How could she have moved through there undetected. They could clearly see her, and yet they didn't pay the slightest attention to her."

"It's not just that, Master." Obi-Wan said. "I heard her. In my head. She wanted me to look up and I did. I heard her thoughts."

"Telepathy. Only someone who is force sensitive has that ability." Qui-Gonn nodded slowly, as if thinking it all over in his head.

"But to not know you're doing it. What does it mean?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't know." Qui-Gon replied. "I don't know."