A/N: The tale continues.
So, the funny thing about being Sidious' hidden weapon. I had to hide from everyone. Republic, Separatist, it really didn't matter to him. In fact, if he knew I'd bunked out in a ship belonging to the CIS-much less one actively crewed-above Christophsis for almost a week he'd have tanned my hide with lightning.
Lots of lightning.
But that wasn't here nor there. What was here was my dumb ass, clinging for dear life to the bottom of a train speeding at god-only-knows-how-fast inside the Malevolent. And what was there was the angry sounds of a stomping General Grievous above me, shouting orders and pacing back and forth across the mid-ship vehicle's durasteel top.
I may or may not have sabotaged a few systems on "accident" when he was cutting down ships, without him knowing. Now, however, either he or Dooku had caught on because the walking ego-machine had been looking for me with a vengeance.
Thank the force I knew the vent systems thanks to Sidious' brilliant plan to give me the layout of the ship to keep hidden, or he might well have had me.
My current nest was made in a melding vent, where several air-paths met up, causing a large, roughly circular area big enough to make a small house in, constantly at a comfortable temperature.
A work in progress, but Casa de Vent was serving its purpose well thusfar.
The stomping faded up and to my right
'Which means Grievous is facing the front of the train!' Opportunism wasn't something Sidious had really doubled down on me learning, but, well, gift horses and all that.
I let go.
The air snapped to try and slow me, very much disliking my sudden existence ripping through it as I tumbled out of sight from my previous ride, putting my feet between my face and the floor rushing up to meet me. I cast out with the force, dragging the partly stale ship air in a bubble before me, meeting even more air resistance, and slowing at the cost of increased friction.
I was, again, envious that the Jedi learned how to slow falls by tugging themselves up with the force. I wasn't eager to experiment with that one without supervision, for fear of my spine no longer taking residence inside my back.
Paranoid? Maybe. Possible? Definitely.
All I knew how to do was Force...Push…
'Wow, I'm a top-tier moron.'
I threw out a hand, Pushing against the ship's artificial gravity until I was barely moving at a crawl, and my feet tapped gently against the dark, grimy, wire-ridden floor of the Malevolent's positively cavernous interior.
"I wonder what all of these even do." I mused, looking at what could only be several cities worth of wiring and electrical tubes. "Oh well, time to find out!"
Ah, how both freeing and terrifying impulsiveness can be.
My lightsaber arced out, slicing a red-hot swath through the extensive cords, and quickly darted away, slipping into a nearby ventilation shaft as alarm bells rung and the ship rocked like she was under fire. I crawled, slowly but surely, through the tight, damp tunnels, only occasionally uncomfortable at the twisting cold and hot air that exploded through every now and again.
It took nearly ten minutes of climbing, sliding, and avoiding really big fans, but I eventually returned to my little campsite, brushing off what dust I could with my hands before clearing myself with a roiling tug of the force across my skin. Dinner sounded nice. So I cracked my neck and sat on my bed-my cloak and a mildly soft bag of old, yet thankfully odorless fruit I'd found in the ship's disposal system.
It was midway through eating a Ration bar when I felt the Tug.
The Tug was what Ahsoka and I used to contact one another. Or, well, what she did to catch my attention. Turns out repeated "force calls" was enough to make a Bond, despite your average Jedi needing prolonged actual contact with someone to feel them-and the things happening to them-more prominently, and from a distance.
Like Anakin did with literally everyone he mildly liked. Seriously, that man has some creepy force potential.
Anyways, since only I could open the "channel" for us to talk, she needed a way to catch my attention. Now, let it never be said I didn't have my own methods, but Ahsoka, clever thing she was, thought up the Tug.
One thing the Jedi did to meditate and keep calm was to release their feelings into the force itself. Which sounds a lot more hippie-stoner than it really is. In doing so, however, they lit up like a small beacon to any Force Users nearby the more they let off. By letting off a particularly strong emotion-fear, anger, etc-Ahsoka's presence in our bond would spike, and caused me to feel a Tug that brought my awareness to her.
Again, her idea, and infinitely clever, because anyone non-Jedi would assume it a Jedi thing and not bug her, while any actual Jedi would give her some privacy to 'calm herself' and 'let it all flow into the living Force.'
Two birds, one cleverly disguised stone.
'Exposition to yourself later, talk to Ahsoka now.' I hopped up...and promptly collapsed back down. "Ow. Okay, sitting it is." I groaned, trying to shove down my sudden nausea as I forged the connection, eyes screwed shut.
Sound drifting away.
The thrum and distant shake falling into naught but whispers.
My eyes fluttered open, and there she was, smiling softly as she removed herself from a meditative pose. "Hey, Red!" She exclaimed, cheery as always.
"Evening, 'Soka." I returned, waving faintly. She hopped up and meandered closer, leaning against something that wasn't there.
"I'm out a window, aren't I?"
Her giggle spoke a thousand words.
"Couresanti airspace currently running through me?"
"Nope!" She snorted, and cracked her neck, readjusting her stance. "At the moment you're drifting through space."
"Ah." I hummed knowingly, nodding like the sage I absolutely wasn't. "How fitting." She didn't question why it was fitting, simply shifted again, her emerald eyes darting to the side before dragging themselves back to me slowly.
I sighed and put the ration bar down. "Speak." I ordered.
"What?" Ahsoka asked, blinking quickly.
"Somethings up, so tell me." I explained, stretching out one arm, then the other, slowly drifting to my feet, fighting the steadily climbing nausea.
Ahsoka sighed, slumping. "You've gotta teach me to read people."
"I will, promise, now what's bugging you."
"I'm off to join the effort on Christophsis. I...I'm not sure I'm-" My hands smacked against her cheeks, and I was suddenly partway through a viewport, squeezing her face.
"What did we say?"
"I'm worf the universe."
"And?"
"I'll on'y ge' be'er."
"Good girl." I teased, patting twice on her head between her horns, dancing away before her fist could catch my chin. A sudden rocking shook my legs, and everything started to spin. "Oh...That's not good." The connection snapped and I fell on my butt, blinking hard and slow. "Ow…" I groaned, hand finding my forehead with a half-hearted slap.
The world spun, but the ship was still.
This was confusing. I'd never been sick before, and I'd been on the ship for almost a week so whatever it was would've taken root earlier if it was a natural affliction. Which meant something less so. It couldn't be the vents, cause I'd found this little hideaway on day two and had been traveling through them this whole time. Whatever had done this was new, maybe a day or two old, something that I wouldn't think twice about. What the bloody hell could have caused that on a ship where I was alone with naught but my own gear bar...
Bar the fruit.
The only living being on the ship was Grievous, who didn't need to eat. Which means when I found this in the trash compactor-
I had just barely thrown myself into one of the closer vents, cloak flying to my outstretched hand when the southwest Maintenance port exploded. I was slipping away through the maze of cramped airways with the speed of an Olympic sprinter when the first blaster bolts struck the vent I had vanished into. I crawled and lept and sped away for almost ten minutes straight before my limbs gave out and I collapsed in the middle of a tight vent. Consciousness slipped away as the vague tang of blood slid itself into my mouth.
Ahsoka was going to be livid.
If I woke up, anyway.
Especially if I didn't.
A/N: What's with me and cliffhangers right now? Kinda short, I know, but I have a holiday surprise inbound.
