THALIA
Once she was sure she was alone in the control room, Thalia opened her eyes and pushed herself up to a seated position. She looked down at her stomach and placed her hand over the scorched material of her jumper. It was black and sticky, and it stuck to her skin like tree sap, but there was not so much as a mark on her. Somehow, the force had protected her from Maul's lightsabre. All she'd felt was a tingling sensation as the blade passed through her, but by some miracle, she had survived.
Thalia pushed herself to her feet and winced at the pain in her ribs. What had hurt more than being impaled by a lightsabre had been Maul tossing her across the room and then landing on a control desk.
An idea suddenly struck her as she looked at the equipment. This used to be an outpost. If she could get the machinery working, she might be able to send a distress signal.
She hobbled over to the door and drove the bolt home on the latch before turning to the sea of controls in front of her. Power. She needed power first.
In the far corner of the room, a tall, rusted lever stood upright in its base, which seemed to be attached to a kind of pulley system. Thalia placed her foot on the base for leverage and pulled the lever towards her. It groaned under her weight, but it didn't give way. She summoned the force and tried again. This time, it slid towards her, shuddering on its rusty base.
Behind it, a heavy chain appeared from the ceiling, pulled downwards by a large, stone counterweight. A loud clunk echoed from somewhere above it and then the lights in the ceiling flickered to life, bathing the room in a fluorescent yellow. The lights on the control desks blinked to life as the room came alive with electricity.
Thalia marched over to the nearest desk that looked to have some sort of speaker system. She blew dust from the tiny screen and switched it on. It showed a layout of the planet they were on. Dathomir. The screen showed the surface of the planet in different shades of green, and its surrounding airspace in blue. There was a toggle beside the screen and as Thalia twisted it, the view of the planet changed, taking her full circle around the planet's surface. When she tilted the view upwards, she found what she'd hoped to see.
A republic cruiser waiting patiently in Dathomir's airspace.
She tried all the buttons that lined the tiny screen until she found one that would allow her to send a transmission to the ship. Thalia waited until the screen showed that it registered the ship's code and then pushed the tiny lever beside it upwards, to open the line.
"This is Republic Cruiser one-one-eight-nine. State your business and location." Came a voice through the crackly speaker and Thalia almost cried in relief.
"This is the Queen of Troska. Location C-quadrant seven dash four." Thalia replied, reading the location of the communication screen. "Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and I are being held captive by Darth Maul. We need an extraction."
There was a long silence from the cruiser. Thalia hoped they hadn't just passed it off as a hoax.
"This is Commander Cody of the two hundred and twelfth battalion." A new voice began. "I'll need some confirmation of your claim."
Thalia stared at the screen, unable to think of anything. What could she possibly say that would convince him?
"I…" She started. There was only one thing she could think off and she prayed it would work. "…I saved your life, Commander. On Troska. When you first accompanied Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker to investigate the attack on the Republic outpost on Katanine."
Another long pause.
"Apologies, Your Highness." Finally came Commander Cody's reply. "What do you need?"
"We need an extraction." Thalia repeated. "We're in an old base in quadrant C. I'll leave the connection open so you can trace the location. Darth Maul is cunning, so we won't be able to escape with stealth alone. When you arrive, make as much noise as you can."
"That's music to our ears, Your Majesty." Came Cody's cheery reply. "I'll ready the troops immediately."
"Thank you, Commander." Thalia replied before wrapping her hand around the transmission lever, and with the help of the force, tore it from the desk. Now there was no way anyone could shut off the signal.
As quietly as she could, Thalia unbolted the door and peered out into the corridor beyond. It was empty. She turned left and ran silently towards the only door at the end of the passage. It groaned when she pulled at it, but she quickly slipped through and found herself in a small hanger. A single ship sat in the echoing room, not doubt belonging to Maul and Savage. The rest of the room was empty apart from an escape hatch against the far wall and a set of concrete stairs leading up to it.
She made her way over to the stairs, but as she passed by the ship, she felt the force pulling her back to it. Judging by the force's recent track record, Thalia decided to trust the pull and tiptoed up the ramp to emerge into the ship's common area. As her eyes scanned the room, they fell on what had been calling out to her.
Her and Obi-Wan's lightsabres sat on the table, as if waiting to be taken. She swiped them up and hooked them onto her belt before leaving the ship and climbing the stairs to the escape hatch.
The air was fresh and cool outside, the fruity air was a stark contrast to the musty, dirty smell of the outpost. Thalia let the hatch fall closed behind her and surveyed her surroundings. She was standing on top of the bay with the corrugated iron roller door, the rest of the outpost stretching out behind her. It was going to be far easier finding Obi-Wan up here than sneaking through the base and it's never-ending corridors.
Thalia cleared her mind and focused the force on Obi-Wan's light amongst Maul and Savage's darkness. She started forwards before turning to her left and climbing a short ladder up to a higher part of the base. This section of the outpost was a large square of concrete, with a sunken section in the centre. Thalia dropped down onto it and turned to her right.
He was close, she could sense it.
Suddenly, she stopped and looked down at the ground beneath her feet. This was it. She didn't know how far down he was, but she unhooked her lightsabre from her belt and ignited it, the bright, white light creating ghostly shadows against the four walls that surrounded her. With all her might, Thalia drove the blade into the concrete. The tip pierced the solid ground with ease, and she began moving in a slow circle, cutting a hole just big enough for her to fit through.
With a sudden sinking feeling, Thalia realised the mistake her sleep deprived mind had made, when she stood in the centre of the hole she'd cut. As soon as her cut lined up, the concrete gave way beneath her and she fell with it, into the room below. Her ankles gave way when she landed on the thick disk and she tumbled off the side of it, landing in a graceless heap beside it.
"Another happy landing." She muttered to herself as she pushed off the ground. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she looked around the room.
Thalia looked over her shoulder, her lightsabre at her side, when she heard a gasp. She rounded on Obi-Wan who was slumped against the far wall, his wrists back in chains. Thalia beamed with relief but the look on his face seemed to be more of horror.
"Thalia?" He asked.
Thalia ran over to him and as she knelt before him, she felt her heart shatter. His face was streaked with tears, and he looked at her like he didn't want to hope that she was truly still alive.
"It's alright." She whispered. "It's me."
She took his hands and held them up to her face.
"How?" Was all he could ask.
"I don't know." She admitted, her hands dropping to his wrists. "The force is something we will never truly be able to grasp."
Obi-Wan swept both of his rough thumbs over her smooth cheeks. "I thought you were dead."
Thalia lifted one of his hands from her face and pressed her lips against his palm. "You should know it'll take more than a lightsabre to get rid of me." She smiled and to her relief, a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"You are quite pesky." He teased and Thalia laughed despite herself.
"Let's get out of here. Your troopers should be here any minute." She said and used her lightsabre to break the chains between his wrists.
"You contacted them?" Obi-Wan asked as she pulled him to his feet.
"Of course. I've had quite enough of this planet." Thalia replied.
"You never cease to amaze me." He said, a teasing smile on his lips but she could hear his sincerity.
They quickly made their way over to the hole Thalia had cut in the ceiling, and with a carefully positioned leap, Obi-Wan soared into the sky above, landing beside the hole with ease. He reached his hand out, and Thalia felt her feet lift off the ground as the force carried her upwards. She grasped his outstretched hand and he pulled her onto solid ground.
Suddenly, the sound of a metal clanking met their ears and they spun around in unison to look up at the raised walls of the base. Darth Maul stalked onto the ledge on their right and a low growl heralded the arrival of Savage on their left.
"What…are you, Kyber Queen?" Maul asked, as if Thalia were some type of fascinating new insect he'd never seen before. "It does not matter, for I will ensure that this time you stay dead."
On either side of them, the Sith ignited their blazing red lightsabres and leapt down to the sunken middle of the base where Thalia and Obi-Wan stood. Unclipping his lightsabre from her belt, Thalia handed Obi-Wan his weapon and drew her own.
He took it from her with a slight nod of his head. White and blue sabres met red as the Jedi and the Queen stood back-to-back.
"Ready?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Always." Was Thalia's reply.