Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Wars. I just own Adali.
Chapter 1
The Technician
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away…
There was no other planet like Coruscant. Most advanced planets had cities with ports and open trade, but Coruscant always took the prize for the sheer fact that the entire planet of one trillion citizens was an ecumenopolis - a city-covered planet. Located in the Coruscant system of the Core Worlds, the ecumenolis had once housed the Calactic Senate, consisting of alien species from all over the galaxy to keep stability and peace among one another, as well as keeping the trade routes function smoothly. However, the Senate had moved off world year ago, leaving the high standards for the planet to quickly slip.
Coruscant was the cosmopolitan cultural center of the modern galaxy. The advances in culture, education, finance, the arts, politics, and technology were unparalleled with the vast diverse population of species, but after the Senate moved, the more seedy types that inhabited the lower levels of the planet started to slither closer to the surface. It wasn't long before the planet fell to the control of the crime syndicates. This had happened once before when the Senate had been taken over by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine (also known as the Sith Lord Darth Sideous) during the Clone War.
But those days were long over, and the galaxy was "technically" in a time of peace. And though war was often good for business, there was no shortage of opportunities for the criminals of Coruscant. Coruscant had its own war waging in the streets as each faction fought to be on top.
But even though the First Order, an autocratic military junction that had formed from the remnants of the Galactic Empire that had fallen more than twenty years before, was present on the planet and technically had it under its jurisdiction, the syndicates still ran everything. It wasn;t the ideal place to take refuge for someone in support of the Resistance, or with a bounty on their head from the First Order, but it was exactly where Adali Vara Zarkot found herself.
For a price of thirty thousand credits on her head, Coruscant was a dangerous place to be. But fortunately, she thought, she wouldn't be there too much longer. The Coruscant Underworld wasn't the first place she'd have thought to hide, but seeing as she hadn't had much choice in the matter upon her escape from the Canto Bight prison on Camino, she was going to make the best of her situation. After all, she'd still be there if it hadn't been for the Resistance spy in booking.
General Leia Organa definitely knew how to keep word out on who to keep an eye out for allies to help. There were no better hands for the movement to be in than those of Leia Skywalker Organa Solo; a name so impressive that it was only outshined by the woman herself. The former Senator was not only a great diplomat, she was a fantastic strategist, unbelievable shot, Force Sensitive, and an incredibly kindhearted woman. It if hadn't been for Leia, Adali would've been rotting away in a prison cell, feebly attempting to come up with an escape plan.
Not only was it because of Leia Organa that Adali had gotten out of such a sticky situation, she was also the reason Adali was standing in Dealer's Den, an underworld cantina on the far corner of the Concourse Lounges section of the Old Galactic market, waiting to meet up with her extraction.
There were far more pleasant places to hide out on Coruscant, but she wasn't allowed to be picky. At least Dealer's Den wasn't infested with insects and other pests. At least it wasn't if you didn't count the bounty hunters, pirates, gangsters, and other criminals that were patrons of the cantina. The underworld police division of the Coruscant Security Force often looked the other way when it came to matters down below level fifteen hundred. The corruption was unreal, the polar opposite of the Coruscant that her grandfather told her stories about from his youth. But it didn't matter what it had been, just what it was now in the moment Adali found herself taking refuge with other illegal immigrants.
Adali sighed and took a sip of the non-alcoholic Jabba Juice in front of her. The orange beverage was cooled with ice, and topped with little purple Worrt eggs. She longed for something stronger, but the young woman of twenty-four couldn't afford her judgement to be impaired. And, as much as she hated to admit it, Adali could not, for the life of her, hold her liquor. Though, a buzz would've made tolerating Dealer's Den far easier.
Returning the ceramic cup back to the coaster on the table took careful, but very practiced movement. The hand that held the glass, beneath the glove that covered her hand, and the long sleeping jacket she adorned top her figure covered a fully metal prosthetic arm. It had taken quite a long time for the woman to get used to controlling her advanced arm. There were many a cup and cutlery that did not survive that period of time, but eventually she learned to accommodate for her new strength.
The arm was highly advanced. It was made up of a skeleton structure, with wires and all of the technical business that Adali understood was hidden behind panels that moved and accommodated for normal movements. The shape of the outside panels were shaped just as a normal arm was, not showing joints or screws or wired whatsoever. Whenever she flexed, her bicep would clench and move just as a normal human muscle would react in such a moment. If anybody was to look at her with the attire she had one, they wouldn't have been able to tell she had a prosthetic.
Though the cantina was poorly lit, there were dim purple lights lining the railings of the second level balcony that overlooked the majority of the lower floor. The lower floor, where Adali tucked herself into a corner to keep her eyes on all the exits, contained the bar, seats and tables, and the Twi'lek holo-dancer in the center of the room. She wasn't the only dancer, though. There were several women of all species serving drinks and food to patrons lounging about, as well as entertaining them with the swaying of their hips, and by sensually touching themselves over their exceedingly exposed skin.
A young human girl, younger than Adali walked by her with a tray of drinks, and barely wearing anything at all. Adali shifted her blue eyes away from the feminine figure of the dancer, not because she was uncomfortable with the flaunting of her body, but because of the glowing marks that inked her skin. Slave marks. The beautiful pink glowing swirls around her eyes looked like feathers painted across her pale skin. Her arm was painted with a beautiful display of brightly colored flowers, The marks were gorgeous to anybody that wasn't truly aware of what the marks meant.
Slavery had been outlawed for far longer than Adali had been alive in the core worlds, but the Coruscant Underworld had it's own set of rules. Adali didn't know if the woman was still a slave, or if she was freely working there of her own accord, but the fact that she'd been marked like that in the first place horrified her. After all, Adali's mother Odalla and Aunt Aiya had grown up as slaves on Tatooine.
Adali took a deep breath to calm herself down. She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments as she recited the precepts that helped keep her level headed. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. More times than not, reciting the precepts was an attempt to not let her emotions get the better of her, but it didn't always work. After all, emotions weren't the problem, it was self control.
There was nothing Adali could do if the woman was a slave, and if she wasn't anymore, she was here working of her own free will. There was nothing to be done, and that had to be accepted. Adali could not, after all, save everyone.
The blonde took another sip of her drink as the entrance of the cantina opened and a young man and his droid walked in. The man hesitated in the entrance, taking his sunglasses off, and glanced around. He muttered something to the droid beside him, and made his way to the bar. The small droid rolled it's way over to the corner Adali was sitting, not because she was there, but because the droid charging station was a few feet away.
The unit was a small orange BB-series astromech droid. More commonly called a rollie, or a BB-unit, were a new mass manufactured astromech droid that Republic, Relebs, and First Order pilots were using were using very commonly, but were still relatively unacquirable to the general public. The spherical body allowed the droid to roll in any direction it desired, with a head that was magnetically connected so that it wasn't permanently attached to inhibit the swift movement the spherical body allowed.
The droid connected itself to the charging dock a moment before it's head swivelled to look for his pilot. Once he saw him still at the bar, his gaze drifted to around the room. The one large optic lens pointed at Adali, and she smiled softly at the orange and white droid. Her eyes softened as she noticed it's antenna bent.
The droid beeped at her speaking in the twenty-seventh generation droidspeak. Droidspeak, also known as Binary, was a very difficult language to learn, but it wasn't impossible. Most people that spoke it often had a lot of contact with droids from an early age. Adali had grown up speaking Binary since she could speak Basic. Her father's droid had been a member of the family, not just a tool to be used when needed.
"Hello to you as well," Adali greeted back. "You're uh," she started, pointing to her own head in reference to the position to where his antena would've been on her, "is bent."
The droid whined, its head sliding forward slightly. After a moment, with a few little beeps and boops, it moved its head back up and looked at her.
"I take it that happens a lot?" Adali asked, a small chuckled escaping her. "Would you like me to fix it for you?" A perky chip escaped the vocal processors, and with that response, Adali turned in her seat and shifted off to kneel in front of the sweet little droid.
Quickly, but carefully, Adali plucked the antennae out of the droid's head and ran one of her thrumbles over it, while the other held the base steady along with a forefinger. It only took a few strokes until it was sufficiently straightened. With a gentle smile, Adali returned the wire back into its rightful place into the droid's head. With a soft caress of her hand once it was returned, Adali returned her hands to herself.
"You are very welcome, little one," Adali said.
The droid, what she now was getting accustomed to referring to in the male pronouns, spoke back quickly and chipper in pitch.
"It's nice to meet you, BeeBee-Ate," Adali said. "I'm Adali."
"Come on, man. I'll go to ten thousand credits, and that's my final offer."
It hadn't been her main focus, but it hasn't gone without notice that the man the BB-8 had entered with was walking over to his droid, and her, followed by a Quarren male by the name of Torvak with a Twi'lek woman hanging off his arm. It had been a few days of occupying Coruscant until her extraction would take place, so a few of the regulars' names had started to stick in the woman's mind.
"I told you, he's not for sale."
Brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, strong built. BB-8's owner was a handsome man. He was older than Adali, she suspected, but not too much so. No more than eight years, but most likely less. His strong build was abnormal for a pilot. Typically, though their reflexes were quick, their physique typically left much to be desired. After all, they didn't really need to leave the confines of the cockpit. But this man was rather fit, standing at 5'9" and rather handsome.
She supposed that partially explained one of the reasons he got the title of flirt.
"You must have connections then," Torvak said. "Don't really care which side. But a rich guy like you could hook a pal up, right?"
"I don't know who you think I am, but-"
"Torvak, he already said no." Adali leaned in and lowered her tone, glancing at BB-8 for the briefest of moments before shifting her gaze back up to the Quarren. "Plus, these new models are exceptionally easy to track if you know the precise frequency to pinpoint. It's hardly a model you want to be wasting that much credit on unless you know the right technician to install the required modifications. That alone could cost you ten thousand credits."
There was a horrified sequence of beeps, boops, and whirls from said droid model still in the docking station.
"Perhaps, on second thought," Torvak muttered, leading his dancer way, effectively ending the discussion.
"Sorry, BeeBee," Adali apologized. "I didn't mean it. I was just trying to get him off your back. Trust me, you'd want to work for Torvak as much as you'd want to work for the First Order."
"Well, the help was greatly appreciated. The name's Poe Dameron," he introduced, offering his hand politely, a flirty smile gracing his rather chapped lips. And as much as Adali regretted to admit to herself, he looked exceptionally handsome with that sweet little smirk.
"Dameron," Adali said slowly, as the knowledge of the name swam to the forefront of her mind. She'd remembered hearing stories in her youth from her parents of a Dameron. A man she'd never met, but knew a great deal about. "Son of Kes Dameron and Shara Bey. Former Republic, now Resistance pilot. From what I hear, you're the best. The best might want to be a little more cautious throwing his name around so casually in these parts."
"So you know who I am, but I don't even know your name," Poe said. It was clear he was a tad bit uneasy with just how much she knew about him, but he was fighting to keep his tone even, and a little bit playful. "Has to be a pretty name to go along with such a pretty face."
Adali laughed, shaking her head ever so slightly. "Heard you were a player too. I suppose that's also true."
BB-8 chirped up, rolling off the charging dock to move next to his owner. He looked up, rolling back and forth happily as he communicated his message.
"Adali," Poe said, nodding his head. "Well, Adali, I think I may owe you a drink for helping get that guy off my back."
"You don't owe me anything, Mr. Dameron," Adali insisted. "Though I wouldn't argue against you telling me why a Resistance pilot is skulking around Coruscant's Underworld." She glanced around the room quickly to make sure nobody was listening in on their conversation before she continued. "It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with extracting a particularly talented technician recommended by General Organa herself, would it?"
There was a moment of silence before BB-8 piped up to break it.
"She knows because it's her, buddy," Poe chuckled. "It is you, isn't it?"
Had Adali been in his shoes, she wouldn't have been asking that question. There were too many people out in the galaxy that were sneaky and shady. You never knew who was listening, nor did you know who to trust. It seemed particularly off to Adali that Poe Dameron didn't know who he was looking for, even if not just by name alone. Leia was cautious, but not that cautious. At least, she hadn't been the last time she'd seen the woman. Then again, it had been years since the two had any proper contact with one another.
"Did Leia not tell you who you were looking for?" Adali asked.
"She mentioned something about someone missing an arm," Poe stated.
Adali nodded, and as uncomfortable with the fact that that happened to be the distinguishing feature Leia went with, she rolled up her sleeve to show the metal extremity beneath. At least it was one feature that most people didn't have. If Leia had to go with one physical feature, that was the best one to go with. "I'm your gal, Mr. Dameron. And I don't mean to rush you, but the sooner off this rock we get, the better."
"Only if you stop calling me that. It's just Poe," he grimaced.
Adali downed the rest of her Jabba Juice and grinned at the man across from her. With the sweet citrus taste lingering in her mouth and lips, Adali laced her voice as sweet as the drink she'd just finished to address the man before her. "Alright, Poe," she said, grabbing her bag off the floor next to her. "Let's get out of this cesspool."
"So," Poe muttered, his hands worming their way into the pockets of his leather jacket. The brown leather was worm significantly, with a few oil stains that were starting to disappear with age. The right shoulder was patched red, with an equally worn red stripe across the opposite breast. It looks extremely comfortable. Leather, after all, was rather restrictive until it was worn down enough. "Does Adali have a last name?"
Nodding instinctively, Adali's blue eyes gazed up from the path before them to the dark eyed man beside her. She shifted the backpack over her shoulders, as well as the attached metal staff. "Adali Vara Zarkot. Leia wants me as one of your technicians and mechanics."
"No offense when I say this, but this was a lot of effort for just one technician," Poe said.
Adali knew exactly what Poe was getting at. Recruitment was important and all, and gaining the best in their respective fields was hard enough without the enemy poaching them, but retrieving one person in the heart of such a dangerous place was risky, even for the Resistance. Typically actions such as this were only reserved for seriously important assets, or retrieving someone that had crucial information valuable to both sides.
Poe and Adali rounded the corner with BB-8 pulling ahead of the two humans. He didn't necessarily seem too invested in the conversation, but he was clearly listening. He found Adali a kind human, after all, if she wasn't she wouldn't have fixed his antennae for him. But as they rounded the corner, Adali's eyes caught sight of two figures following a short distance behind them. Two people that had left Dealer's Den when they had.
"I may or may not have a broader skill set than that," Adali clarified. "But I'm really only coming along to help, and to work on tech."
"Broader skill set? Like what?"
"Like being able to tell when we're being followed," Adali said softly. When Poe started to turn to look behind them, Adali took hold of his arm and intertwined her own with it as if they were a normal couple taking an evening stroll. It was best to not give suspicion to their followers, nor anybody else around. "Don't look back. The key to blending in on the run is to walk, not run. I don't suppose they teach you how to lose a tail on foot when you're a pilot, do they?"
"No, never seemed to need it," Poe answered. "You got any ideas?"
"Plenty," Adali replied. "Is BeeBee-Ate safe to make his way back to the ship by himself?"
"It's not far. He should be fine. Wouldn't it be faster to just go there with him?"
Adali shook her head, her blonde hair sway just slightly over her shoulder. "No, we don't know if they're after the bounty on me, after you - famous Resistance pilot, or if they're trying to steal BeeBee-Ate. If we have BeeBee-Ate go ahead now and get the ship ready, we can have him track us and extract us once we get away from them. I don't think they'd notice if he slips away. And if we went straight there the chances of them shooting and damaging something important is far greater than I'm willing to risk."
"Okay, yeah, he should be able to make it," Poe said. "You heard the lady, BeeBee-Ate. Just be careful, Buddy." BB-8 whirled around and sped off almost nervously. "What about us?"
"We can try and shake them, or hold out until BeeBee-Ate get back to us with the ship, but I'd prefer to get away from them first," Adali answered. "There is a Weequay, and a human. If we don't manage to slip away, we should be able to-"
"Move!" Poe yelled, grabbing her and throwing himself behind her, pulling her down to the ground as a blast hit him on the back.
"Shit!" Adali grabbed Poe and dragged him to the side behind a crate in the alley they were just about to pass. There were no visible wounds on his back, so they had to have had their blasters set to stun. But the slight fear and panic that bubbled into her chest did not go unnoticed by her. The last thing she wanted, and needed, was to lose Poe. She felt for a pulse; it was steady. "Poe? Poe? Can you hear me?" There was no answer. "Well, this is perfect."
Okay, step one: remove the blasters. Digging into the side pocket of her she dug out a small cylindrical device with a singular button on it. This is gonna hurt me a lot more than it's gonna hurt you, she thought. Gritting her teeth to prepare herself for what was about to happen next, Adali pressed the button and felt the shock run through the metal of her arm and through the rest of her body. The arm went limp, but over the pounding of blood in her ears, Adali could hear the two men perplexed as to why their blasters had suddenly stopped working.
As painful as it was to have it happen to her with her arm, having miniature EMPs was extremely useful in situations such as the one she'd currently found herself in. Blasters were an incredible pain in the ass when the target didn't have possession of one themself - not that she particularly liked blasters to begin with. But, now that the uncultured weapons were disengaged, and her arm quickly regained use, she was ready to take them out.
The Weequay went to slash Adali, high to low, but she stepped backwards. Next was left to right. Adali just kept moving to the side, steering them away from Poe's unconscious body. Weequay went to kick her, but she blocked it with her own leg. She then grabbed the hand with the knife. The hum was making his way over to Adali and went to slash her, high to low, but Adali used her leg to kick him in the stomach, sending him backwards.
Adali then twisted Weequa's hand and shoved him up against the wall, face first. Once she knew he felt the pain in his head from the impact, she twisted his arm again and flipped him onto the ground, causing him to drop the knife. Before she could do anything else to him, the human got back up and slashed high.
The blonde ducked and quickly had to step back from a chest swipe. He went to do another high to low, but Adali grabbed his hand with both of her's and twisted it until she was behind him, his arm pulled backwards with the threat of dislocation. Because of the position the human was forced into, he noticed the discarded knife on the ground. He kicked it over to the Weequay, which resulted in an annoyed Adali. She straightened the Weequay back up and kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground.
Weequay got back up with his knife and made a quick stab towards the girl with his right hand. Adali used her left hand to redirect his with his own momentum by hitting his hand with her hand. The human recovered quickly and slashed high. Adali ducked easily. He went to stab once more, but this time instead of just redirecting him, Adali grabbed onto his hand, pulled him around in a one hundred-eighty degree before pulling him very closely and ducking. When she ducked, Weequay kept going, trimming over the guys. He was flipped over onto his back.
The human charged the girl. She moved to the left, back, then left again before getting kicked in the stomach. She was forced back several steps.
This gave Adali and both the two thugs time to regroup. The two bounty hunters were annoyed with the resistance and angered because they were getting shown up by the young woman. Adali was just annoyed that when the guy kicked her, he left a muddy footprint on her stomach.
Both men moved quickly and slashed at the same time. Adali stepped back, dodging. The human went to kick her, but she blocked with her arm. He went to stab, but she redirected him, pushing him to the side giving her just enough time to deal with Weequay, who had tried to attack her from behind. She kicked her foot out, hitting him in the stomach.
The human was ready to attack again by that point. She blocked two of his kicks with her own legs, and then jumped up, roundhouse kicking him in the head. She followed through with the momentum that her roundhouse gave her and lowered herself to the ground, spinning out to swipe the man's feet out from under him. He dropped the knife when he went down.
Adali was about to kick the knife up when Weequay got up and attacked. After two failed stabs, she grabbed his arm, twisted his behind his back, taking the knife out of his hand and pressed it against his neck. In the corner of her eye she could see the human starting to get up with his knife, but Adali forced the Weequay on the ground with the knife pressed to his neck. Adali pinched a pressure point in his neck, knocking him out, this left her free to point the knife at the other hunter.
"I'd drop that if I were you," she said in a very even voice. The calmness made it all the more frightening.
The human hesitated but dropped the knife. Adali went to pick it up. Poe, who had remained unconscious during the entirety of the fight, groaned and rolled to his side on the ground. Adali made her way over to him, knelt, and placed her hand on his shoulder as he sat up. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a blaster," he stated dryly.
"Well, you're not wrong," Adali muttered, but as her attention had been on him, her eyes shifted off of the human male. He finally figured out that the technology was back online, and reached for his blaster. "Okay, naptime is over. We gotta go!"
"Wasn't that what we were already doing?" Poe asked as he was pulled to his feet and dragged quickly out of the alley. A few shots missed, hitting the ground and buildings around them as they ran. "Dammit! We need to get a ride if we're going to outrun these guys!"
He had a point. They weren't losing the human, and the Queeruay male wouldn't be out much longer. He'd join in, and if they had other buddies, they'd be calling in for reinforcements. Poe and Adali were both very fit, but Poe had just been hit and was still coming out of the effects of the stunning. As much as they liked to believe they would outrun their pursuers, chances are they were far more unlikely to do so.
"There should be a taxi transport coming up," Adali suggested. "We can commandeer a spacer and rendezvous with BeeBee-Ate."
"Commandeer? You mean steal," Poe said, but there was no challenge of the plan.
Adali skidded to a halt as another spacer pulled up. Jumping ahead of the queue, Poe tried to hop into the driver's seat, but Adali beat him to it. "I prefer commandeer," Adali said. "I'm sorry, but we're going to need to take this." Forcibly, Adali grabbed ahold of the drive, not even paying much mind to what they were yelling, or what species they were. "Get in. I'm driving!"
Reluctantly, Poe got into the passenger seat muttering, "I'm supposed to be the pilot!"
Shifting the spacer into gear, Adali floored it. "Well, you were just hit with a stunning blast," Adali called back. "In my books, that's the same as being under the influence! Just keep your eyes behind us, please!"
"Watch the back," Poe muttered, shifting in his seat to do as instructed. "You know, I'm a Commander, so I technically outrank y-ah, shit. The guy did the same thing. They're coming after us!"
Adali, though hearing this news, still seemed relatively calm despite their situation, and all the fighting that they'd been through.
"Slow down, slow down, slow down!"
"We can't slow down if we're going to outrun them!" She glanced over her shoulder to see how close they were, simultaneously turning the ship to miss another vehicle to their right while not looking. "Honestly, the bounty on my head isn't that high," Adali said. "They're sure going to a lot of effort for thirty thousand credits." Maneuvering as best as she could through the traffic at the sheer speed they were traveling, Adali made sure to glance in the mirrors to catch a glimpse of their tail.
"Credits are credits to these guys," Poe answered. "Sometimes they just like the chase."
"And what about you, Commander Dameron? Do you like the chase?" Adali shot back playfully, quickly cutting off a poor, unsuspecting fellow driver.
"Depends on the chase."
Adali smirked and chuckled. But the seriousness of the situation was still in the forefront of her mind. The bounty hunters had the better ship. If there was any chance for Poe and Adali to get away, it wasn't going to be by outrunning or even out maneuvering them though the Coruscant skyways. They needed to get rid of them completely. There were a few options to make that happen, but they only had one shot at it. It had to be right.
Adali closed her eyes, the spacer still shooting past all traffic around them.
"What are you doing?! Don't close your eyes! Look where you're flying! We're headed straight for a building!"
Adali didn't even seem to hear the man beside her. Her blue eyes remained shielded for a few more moments as if she were letting everything going on slip away, her features calming and slacking of all stress. Then, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped overtop her head, her eyes shot open and her body went into action. "Hold on!" she demanded, the most serious Poe had ever seen her.
Poe's hands shot to the door and the center console of the spacer. Adali twisted the steering wheel, and the ship quickly responded to her action. The ship turned upside down, but it didn't last long at all. She hit the break, causing the heavy weight of the back end of the vehicle to lurch forward, righting them parallel to the building they had just managed to avoid hitting. When the back of the ship tipped to the top, the bottom propulsors pushed against the solid surface and stopped it in its tracks.
Again, they didn't remain in that position for long. Adali bunched it, and flew them forward, rightside up this time, and drove against the traffic straight toward the other ship.
"What the heck was that?"
"A spin? I just turned us around!"
"What kind of maneuver did you think you were trying to pull? You almost crashed us into that building!"
"But I didn't!" Adali pointed out. "It's just a little trick I picked up from my grandfather!"
"Your grandfather should have his licence revoked."
Adali couldn't contain her laughter at that. "I'll be sure to tell him." Jamming the controls so that once she moved, they'd remain in the proper place, Adali unbuckled herself. She quickly glanced over the side of her door before turning back to instruct Poe further. "When I tell you to jump, do it."
"Jump?" Poe gaped, grabbing her arm, which she quickly shrugged off.
"Now!"
"Are you insane? I'm not gonna ju-and she's gone. And I'm talking to myself. Charming." Poe unbuckled, took a deep breath, and jumped. "This woman is going to get me killed. Damnit!"
Free Falling wasn't like doing stunts in a spacecraft. There were no butterflies, no stomach dips from the adrenalin or the excitement. There was no weightless inevitable drop. Instead, there was the feeling of the wind pushing up against the jumper to smooth the descent. If done right, it was able to be done with the feeling of stability, security. The cushioning air could help relax the individual.
Without the buildings or the other vehicles zipping by, the sheer speed of the fall would've been lost on them. The familiar feeling of having utterly no control washed over Adali, making bile rise in her mouth, threatening to bring up the Jabba juice she'd consumed not too long before the exciting events that the extraction had turned into. A scream threatened to escape, but this was not the same as her past experience, she reminded herself. She was in control.
Adali landed hard on top of the left wing of the shuttlecraft below them. She rolled, distributing the impact so to not shatter any bones. Once she knew she was savely planted on her own two feet. Her blue eyes gazed up just in time to see the abandoned ship crash into their pursuing bounty hunter, causing the two to explode on impact. Just as planned, Adali thought, smirking to herself triumphantly.
The playful smirk fell off her face though. When Adali's eyes shifted to the approaching figure. Narrowing her eyes, Adali clenched her fists and calculated the speed and their positions. "Son of a bitch," she mumbled, lunging forward as the body of the man fell past the wing he was supposed to land on.
Adali grabbed ahold of Poe's arm with a death grip, while her left hand dragged dents into the wing before finally catching hold and stopping their fall over the side. Adali let out a painful, piercing scream as the metal implanted into her shoulder threatened to break off, and reopen the old scar from the amputation. Taking quick breaths in and out to attempt to fight through the pain, Adali hung there holding onto Poe.
"Don't drop me!" Poe yelled frantically.
"I wasn't planning on it, Flyboy," Adali grumbled. Eventually, Adali managed to help Poe climb his way up her like a ladder, and he pulled her up painfully by her metal arm, her good hand clutching overtop his own attached to her prosthetic.
"I can't believe we're not dead," Poe stated, resting on his knees, hands grasping the metal as if afraid he'd go over again. His voice came out breathy, and almost like an astonished laugh.
"Did you really think I'd tell you to jump without having a plan?" Adali asked, her real hand clutching the sensitive skin where the metal and flesh met. There was going to be some severe bruising littering her pale skin before they arrived at the Resistance base. "If you'd jumped when I told you to, you would've landed on the wing like me."
Poe cautiously got to his feet, but didn't stand upright. He crouched to keep his center of gravity low as he made his way to the hatch to go inside the ship. Adali followed behind, walking casually. There were so many things he wanted to say in response to her comment, but he chose to rephrase. After all, he was alive and that was thanks to her grabbing him before he really did fall to his death. "Noted. Thanks."
"Don't thank me. Thank BeeBee-Ate for coming as quickly as he did, and Rabek Mecho," Adali said, closing the hatch once inside.
"Who?" Poe asked.
"The Technician that built my arm."
Poe nodded. "I'll have to remember that if I ever meet them. Now, come on. Strap in. We're getting out of here."
So there we have it! The first chapter for Adali's journey. I do hope you all enjoyed this. I know I really loved writing it. Next chapter you'll get a lot of answers to Adali's background, as well as some reunions, character appearances, and perspectives you may not have expected. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated. And, as always, may the Force be with you.
