The Trap
(5 Months ABY)
"Not much activity lately!"
Serina looked up at the slightly older woman standing behind her chair. Caaroq was gazing intently at the holoscreen across her friend's shoulder. "Yeah, all they seem to be doing is gathering at their headquarters on Yavin Four. The blockade appears to be pretty useless against that." Serina turned back to the screen and continued to scroll through the various reports most of them reflecting current rebel activities.
Caaroq nodded in agreement. "Have you heard anything from Lord Vader lately?"
Serina shook her head. "No, not since he left again for the shipyards a few weeks ago. But I got this weird feeling that he's up to something. He did mention a plan to catch this student of Obi-Wan Kenobi's that escaped him a month back on Fondor. I tried to find out more about it, but he wouldn't give me any details."
Once finished with the reports on rebel activities, she called up the status reports of various operatives working for her master. Quietly, they skimmed the reports of bounty hunters, undercover agents, and the likes. Most were just short notices of actions completed, not providing any details, just code-names. Suddenly, Serina stopped the scrolling and called the previous record back onto her screen. It had been sent by a surgical team reporting the success of some kind of operation and it came with a picture of the patient treated. "Now this is interesting, don't you think?"
After having read the report one more time, Caaroq looked at her with a quizzical expression on her face. "What's so interesting about an actor? I've heard of others who underwent an operation just to be able to get a specific role they wanted to play."
"But this is not just any role, don't you see?" Serina exclaimed. "He's made to look exactly like Obi-Wan Kenobi! I bet, Lord Vader ordered that operation. And now he's going to trick Kenobi's student to go somewhere to meet this actor. And he will be waiting there for him!" She did not mention to Caaroq, that she knew only too well who that student was. And Vader did, too. It had taken quite some time to torture the rebel pilot the bounty hunters had caught on Centares into revealing it. But finally, the man had told them. When Vader had heard the name, he had gone on a rampage, at least according to one of the troopers that had accompanied him. He had killed all the bounty hunters in the process. Now he knew that the pilot's name was Luke Skywalker. But did he realize that Luke was his son? If he had, he had kept that realization to himself so far.
Caaroq had to agree with Serina's assessment. That sounded just like a plan Lord Vader might have forged. Most likely, it would also be successful.
"And," Serina added after a moment, "it would also explain why he had me stay back here on Imperial Center. No matter how untrained this would-be Jedi is, there would always be a chance that he could sense me through the Force."
The Star Destroyer had left the shipyards of Fondor far behind and was accelerating steadily toward its jump point into hyperspace.
"Lord Vader, the course is set for Aridus and we are ready to make the jump to hyperspace on your command," the captain of the Devastator was pleased to announce to his black-garbed master.
"Very well, Captain. Maintain speed and course until I receive the transmission from Aridus. Inform me immediately when we make contact with my agent there."
"Yes, Lord Vader."
When the image of the captain had faded from the screen, Vader initiated the closing mechanism of his chamber. So far, everything was proceeding as planned. Soon, the actor would have his first contact with Skywalker. The would-be Jedi was still nearly untrained, his powers mere potential, not yet honed in the use of the Force. He would be easy to deceive at first, thanks to the training he had given the actor in addition to all the gadgets that would simulate the effects of someone using the Force. But it was doubtful, that the young man could be fooled for a longer period of time. Once the contact was established, he would have to act quickly to get him into his hands.
A signal from the communications console interrupted Vader's musings.
"Lord Vader, the transmission you've been expecting has just started," the captain's voice announced from the speaker while the lid of the meditation chamber started to rise in response to a wave of Vader's hand.
"Maintain speed, captain, and I don't want to be disturbed!"
"As you wish, Lord Vader."
Many parsecs away from the desolate plains of Aridus, the StarLady was getting ready for its jump to hyperspace. A chime from the navigation computer informed Serina, that her ship had reached the required entry coordinates and speed. Gently she pulled back the lever and watched the stars turn to streaks and finally merge to the blur of hyperspace.
Vader's call had not come completely unexpected, yet his orders had surprised even Serina. "Take the StarLady and get to Aridus as fast as possible!" he had told her. "The Devastator will return to its regular tour of duty once I've gotten dropped off there. And," he had added with an undertone, that Serina could only interpret as strongly guarded excitement, "be prepared to aid me with a new apprentice of mine."
It hadn't taken long to get the StarLady ready for take-off and now she was on her way to pick up her master and - if Vader's plan was successful - young Skywalker. Of course, the Dark Lord would be able to handle the untrained would-be Jedi all by himself, but recent events had made Vader cautious. A few times, Skywalker had already escaped his grasp when he had least expected it, when he had been certain there was no possible chance that he could lose him again. Using the StarLady for the trip to Imperial Center or, what was more likely, to Vjun with the additional benefit of having her as a trained Force-user to help him watch over the young man, was certainly wiser than using the Devastator, at least from Vader's point of view.
For Serina, it opened up a whole bag of problems and moral dilemmas. If Vader's plan succeeded, there would be no chance for her to help Luke escape. On the contrary, she would have to help to prevent him from doing so. Above that, Vader would expect her to do her best to support him with his efforts to lure his son to the dark side. And she would fulfill that expectation, there was no other option available. But, she called herself to order, no plan was foolproof. There was still a possibility, that Luke would escape the trap Vader had set up for him.
Even at top speed, it would take her more than twenty-three hours to get to the hardly known planet in the Narvath sector, at least a half standard day after her master's arrival there. She would use her time in hyperspace to familiarize herself with the world's topography and especially the coordinates Vader had provided her with. And then, she would try to catch some much-needed sleep. It was doubtful, that she would get much if her master's scheme succeded.
The landscape that became visible on her display reminded her strongly of Tatooine: deserts, craggly mountains, and even more deserts. Worse than Tatooine, she concluded after several more pictures, volcanos and lava pits. What a charming place! She quickly scrolled through the additional information: scouted in the early years of the Galactic Empire, various mining companies had tried to exploit the planet's valuable resources. To offset the ionizing effects of the atmosphere on their equipment, a powerful power transformer and signal amplifier had been built, called the Iron Tower. Its crippling effects on the native population, the Chubbits, had caused them to start a guerrilla war on the Empire, supposedly supported by the Rebel Alliance. She pulled up a picture of the imposing structure and compared its location with the coordinates, Vader had given her. They were a match, but that was far from surprising. Just like his castle on Vjun, it certainly was the kind of building her master would find appealing and a perfect location for his scheme.
A tower stood stark and foreboding against the backdrop of a black sky illuminated by two bright orbs, obviously the moons of the desolate planet. Two figures on long-necked riding beasts crossed the rocky plain that encompassed the metal monument and dismounted at its foot.
A wave of dark premonitions washed over Serina as her perception sharpened and more details became visible. A movement on a level close to the top drew her attention. For an instant, a familiar black helmet became visible, then a commotion several levels below caused her to divert her gaze downward. A young man was fighting his way past various defensive measures as he advanced along the emergency stairs to reach the upper levels. Every so often, his blue blade became visible in the open viewports that marked the landings of the stairwell.
Again, Serina's perception shifted and she became aware of a room filled with machinery and large control displays on the walls. A familiar black-robed figure stood in the middle, awaiting the arrival of a turbolift. Moments later, an older man, dressed in the typical outfit once favored by the Jedi knights, stepped out of the cabin. Serina recognized him immediately: the actor, who had been made to look like Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A conversation commenced, but Serina could not hear what was spoken. She felt anger flare brightly within her master, perceived the impending outburst moments before he slammed the actor against the far wall, pelting him with various instruments torn loose by the power of the Force. As the Sith Lord turned away from the fatally injured man, a wave of dread washed over Serina as her vision centered again on the dying actor in the far corner of the control room. She watched him reach for a lever on a nearby terminal. He pulled it down with the last strength his failing body provided.
She wanted to call out to her master and warn him of the doom that action would unleash. But she was frozen in place, forced to watch, unable to prevent the inevitable. Then a brilliant blast engulfed the whole scene and flung her backward, out of the control room, away from the tower, past the forsaken deserts …
… and back into her own body. She jerked awake and sat up in the pilot's seat, trenched in sweat, her heart beating worse than after the most vigorous lightsaber practice with her master. It took her several moments to compose herself, to calm her mind and body with the methods once taught her by Tantra, the old hermit on Taanab.
She quickly checked the readings on the navigational display. Her next orientation stop was still several hours away. She sank back into her chair and recapitulated the vision. A shiver ran down her spine and a feeling of dread grabbed her heart. Sometimes, her visions were vague and open to interpretation, but, more often than not, they were quite precise and left little room for changing the outcome. And there was no doubt in her mind that this one belonged to the latter group.
Oftentimes, she had no idea as to the "where" and "when" of the events she became privy to through the Force. But this time, she knew exactly where her vision had taken her: to the Iron Tower on Aridus, the planet she was traveling toward at top speed, the site of Vader's trap for the unaware young Skywalker. But would she get a chance to warn her master? If he was already down on the planet when she dropped back to realspace, there would be no way of contacting him. A dread grabbed her heart as she recalculated the remaining time until her arrival. Would she get there in time, if not to warn her master, then at least to rescue him?
Passing the smoldering hills of a mining operation, an Imperial shuttle made its way toward an iron tower, menacing symbol for the oppression of the people of Aridus. Nearby, two men had come to the help of a small group of Aridians, attacking a patrolspeeder.
"Should we take any action, Lord Vader?" the commander of the shuttle inquired of the dark looming figure behind him.
"No, commander, once you have dropped me off, return to the Devastator." Nobody noticed the unrest that had taken hold of the Sith Lord. Too long, he had been waiting to meet young Skywalker, to confront him, to draw him to the dark side. Soon, his waiting would be over. "And contact the outpost. They will not approach the tower until I tell them otherwise."
Waves of dark premonition washed over Serina as she dropped back to realspace as close to the gravity well of the arid planet as she dared and slightly above its ecliptic plane. Darkness graciously concealed the hideous landscape facing her as she steared her ship toward the terminator barely visible along the upper and rightside curvature. The location of the towering metal construction - if the explosion, her vision had shown her, hadn't already reduced it to a large pile of rubble - had rotated into daylight several hours prior to her arrival, adding precious minutes to her approach as she rounded the mid-sized planet just above the stratosphere.
Her sensors showed hardly any space traffic in the vicinity: just two freighters, one of them a good distance behind her getting ready to jump to hyperspace, and the other on its approach to Aridus Trade City visible far below her as a fuzzy spot of light in the prevailing darkness. There was some air traffic as well, but, from what she had studied in the records, the Imperial mining operation used mainly hover-trains and other ground-bound vehicles. And the natives were usually limited to much more primitive means of transportation, foremost their indigenous reptilian Droffi steeds, and some so-called wind-runners.
Her sense of foreboding grew stronger as she left the nightside behind and started her descent toward the planet surface. Suddenly, a flashing signal appeared on her sensor display. Seconds later, more information became available: a small vessel, just a central oblong body with two large wing-engines on either side. It apparently sported two laser cannons and comparatively weak shields. Certainly, no match for the StarLady.
But, although it would pass by her fairly close, there was no indication of an impending attack. Playing a sudden hunch, she reached out through the Force for the pilot of the quickly approaching vessel. She would have recognized the strong presence she encounted anywhere in the galaxy: Luke, the young would-be Jedi, Vader's own son. He had escaped unharmed! Relief flooded her, due rather to her anticipated moral conflicts vanishing into thin air with his successful getaway than because of his physical well-being. But it was quickly replaced by a heart-wrenching dread: what had the price of his escape been? How badly had her master been hurt if he hadn't been able to prevent that from happening?
As the other vessel passed her only a few clicks away and disappeared into the depth of open space, she pushed the acceleration lever forward another notch until the increasing air friction caused her shields to flare up into a bright ball of fire around her. So far, her link to her master had not been torn. He was still alive down there, somewhere. But the question was: how much longer?
What had once been a stark and foreboding symbol of the Empire's ruthless rule over the native population was now reduced to a huge pile of metal girders, ragged sheets of plastoid, broken pipes and torn cables, mixed with larger and smaller parts of destroyed machinery. The rubble had spread out across most of the open space around the foundation of the obliterated construction right up to the encircling lava pits, leaving no unlittered space large enough for the StarLady to settle down.
Frustration welled up within Serina as she headed for the area beyond the pits in search for a suitable landing spot. She had to find her master. This detour was the last thing she needed. And she had noticed some movement among the ruins. Who was digging through the rubble? Where they aware that one of the most powerful men in the galaxy laid buried underneath the debris?
As she skimmed across the bubbling pools of lava, one of the few narrow passages leading away from the tower to the desert beyond the rings of open pits came into view. She followed its winding path and discovered a rocky outcropping at the edge of the desert, just large enough for her sleek vessel. It would be quite a hike back to the scene of devastation but looking for a better spot would only cost her additional time. And time was a commodity she was currently rather short in supply.
Not my best shot at parking, she thought wryly as she regarded the awkward position the StarLady had settled down in on the unlevel ground. The rear end with the propulsion units was visibly higher than the rest of the ship and it also listed toward its right side. But it would have to do. With her remote, she had the exit ramp retract. Moments later, the hatch resealed, and a barely visible shimmer engulfed the whole vessel. If anybody tried to reopen it without the proper access codes they would be in for a nasty surprise.
She slipped the remote into one of the sidepockets of her satchel and swung it onto her shoulder. It contained some medical supplies, a water bottle, and several military grade food rations. After checking the proper attachment of her lightsaber and a small blaster to her belt, she climbed across the rocks that separated the outcropping from the narrow trail.
Had she not seen it from above, the winding, rock strewn path would have been close to impossible to discern from the ground. Cragly cliffs of solidified volcanite separated the various smaller and larger bubbling lava pits arrayed in rising circles around the location of the crumbled tower. Streams of slowly moving magma spilled from higher pools into lower ones. Poisonous smoke was continually rising from the boiling pits and merged into large plumes obstructing her view.
Picking her way carefully around larger bolders and across smaller rocks, she started out toward the center of the formation. The sun was now close to its zenith, adding its warmth to the radiating heat from the lava pits. Soon, rivulets of sweat were running down the young woman's face, seeping into her clothes, running down her spine and collecting at the small of her back. Several times, the path would fork at the foot of one of the pits, but, time and again, she relied on the Force to show her which way to turn. Finally, after an hourlong hike, she rounded the last pit and the large piles of rubble, that had once been an impressive and oppressive iron tower, became visible directly ahead of her.
But the site of destruction was far from deserted. Several droffi steeds were tethered together in a narrow rubble-free area at the mouth of the path. Large brown splotches marked their green skin from their long necks to the tips of their powerful tails. A short stocky creature - its skin a much lighter shade of green than that of the riding beasts - was sitting on a nearby rock, keeping a weary watch over the small herd. At first sight, it appeared rather primitive: a broad flat head with a blunt snout and small eyes placed far apart on each side of it, baggy coarse trousers and a cloak that blended in with the surrounding rocks.
But the blaster that became visible in its hands as it turned toward her quickly set that impression straight. The surprised expression on its face turned instantly into alarm as it jumped to its feet and leveled the blaster at her. A short, hissed call and, only a few moments later, more of the Chubbits, the native sentient species of this barren world, emerged from behind the piles of rubble.
Serina lifted her hands to indicate that she meant no harm and continued to slowly edge toward them. She could only hope that at least one of them understood basic. After all, she was not here to challenge them for anything to be found in the remains of the tower. Except, that was, of course, the body of her master. She could sense his presence nearby, but he was obviously still unconscious since he didn't react to her call through the Force. But she would not allow them to hinder her in finding him, either. And if she had to eliminate them all, she was prepared to do that as well.
"Schzzzrt frzsch!" the tallest of the natives called out to her.
She did not have to understand their language to get the meaning of the snarled command. Raising her hands even higher, she stopped dead in her tracks. "I mean you no harm," she called out to them softly, gauging their reaction to her words. "But I need to find something in that rubble."
"Frrr schrzzzt?"
Obviously, they couldn't understand her. But the Force was not limited to verbal communication. Allowing the anger over the situation to rise in her and combining it with the desperate urgency she felt for finding and rescuing her master, she opened herself for the living energy around her, preparing to project a powerful suggestion into the minds of the primitive natives in front of her.
"What's going on? Who are you?" A sharp command disrupted her concentration. Her anger surged instantly, but she ruled it in promptly at the sight of the figure emerging from behind the remains of the central structure. The man was in his mid-thirties, his well-trained, muscular upper body only marginally covered by a black vest. Wavy, long dark-blond hair bound at his neck into a ponytail and two heavy blasters girded to his hips, he strode toward them, slipping around the larger pieces of debris with the fluid movements of a trained fighter. At his appearance, the Chubbits that had stopped her relaxed visibly. It was obvious that he had their respect and was apparently even some sort of leader for them.
Good, Serina thought as she watched his approach, somebody that speaks Basic. I hope he's open for some cooperation. If not… Wait a moment, do I know that guy? She raked her brain for several long seconds. This was not the first time that she had met this man. But where had she seen him before? At Prefsbelt? He looked military enough to have been an instructor at the academy. But, no, that's wasn't it. It hadn't been that long ago. Where then? She tried to picture him with a typical naval haircut and a clean uniform.
Suddenly, a scene leaped at her from the depths of her mind: a large exercise room aboard the Exactor, several groups of recruits fresh from the academy training under the strict command of a strikingly handsome combat instructor. Yes, that had to be it. That had to have been the same man! But would he remember her as well? As head of Vader's team of aides, she had accompanied her master on many of his inspection tours aboard his flagship, sometimes in uniform, more often, however, wearing her black outfit and hooded cloak. And she had stayed in the imposing Sith Lord's shadow, hardly noticed by those who had found themselves under her master's unwelcomed scrutiny. Therefore, she doubted it seriously that he would remember her face.
Now, if she could just come up with a name to go with the face! But no, the rank would just have to do. She slowly lowered her hands and faced the man, who had planted himself just a few feet away from her, arms crossed in a challenging gesture, scrutinizing her with blazing blue eyes. "Well, well. What a coincidence, meeting you here, Gunnery Sergeant! What brought you to this out of the way place? Imperial mining operations? And you seem to have made friends with the natives as well?"
No, Imperial mining hadn't brought him here, that was certain. She had felt his anger flare when she had suggested it. And yes, he had befriended the natives, that much was sure, had earned their respect possibly in the same way Vader's agent, the actor who had been made to look like Ben Kenobi, had achieved it as well. He was much likely supporting them in fighting off the Imperial occupational forces. She had also felt him tense at the mention of his military rank. His appearance was proof enough that he no longer held that position. What had happened? There had been a moment of regret and anger, mingled with much resentfulness. She would have to discover the reason for those feelings and that quickly. An inner voice was telling her that it would be crucial for her mission to be successful.
"That rank doesn't mean anything to me any longer," he barked at her. "I'll ask you only one more time: who are you? And why are you here?" He allowed his hands to drop to his sides and to come to rest on his holstered blasters. The threat was obvious and, following his lead even without understanding the words of their exchange, the stocky natives tensed as well.
"My name is Serina," she explained, trying to defuse the situation. "And there is something or, to be exact, someone buried in that rubble. And I am here to rescue him." There was no sense in beating around the bush. She carefully watched his expression as he pondered her words.
"Whom are you talking about?" He put some effort into feigning ignorance, but although he was probably good at a lot of things: lying was certainly not among them.
"You know exactly whom I am talking about!" Serina told him, keeping her voice even but with a slight ironic edge to it. "And I think you know exactly where we have to dig for him. If I'm not mistaken, you were just busy doing that, weren't you?" She couldn't prevent a certain sharpness to creep in as anxiety welled up within her. She didn't have time for this conversation. Vader didn't have time for it. She had to get to him, had to find out how badly he was hurt. With an effort of will, she forced her hands that had clenched into fists to relax again. "Instead of standing here and wasting precious moments, we should be digging him out of that rubble. As long as he is still alive!"
She barked the last words at him as the despair still rooted in her from her most recent vision flared up into bright anger. Unconsciously, her hands came to rest on her weapons. She would get to her master, one way or another. And if she had to go straight through this former Imperial officer, so be it.
For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, the man just stared at her, scrutinizing her from top to bottom, obviously gauging her words and her physical appearance in search for some hint at the level of danger she might pose to him. Suddenly, his gaze locked onto the unique weapon attached to her belt. When recognition hit home, his assessment of her changed drastically. Had his whole presence in the Force portrayed a certain amount of dismissiveness toward her, considering her more of a nuisance than a threat to him and his Chubbit followers, it now shifted to the type of alertness sensed before an imminent military engagement. His hands tightened around the grips of his blasters, but he hadn't drawn them yet.
Again, he sized her up. Then he let his gaze wander over his small group of followers, obviously calculating his chances against a lightsaber-wielding Force-user who was apparently in league with the buried Sith Lord. Seconds later, he ostensibly slowly removed his hands from his weapons and barked a short command to the green-skinned natives. "Tschkrrr!"
The stocky Chubbits cast questioning glances at their leader, but when he nodded to them in confirmation of his previous order they lowered their blasters as well. Moments later, they had disappeared again behind the large piles of rubble, leaving the two humans standing alone at the mouth of the path.
Serina allowed herself a silent sigh of relief, but she was not about to show the man across from her how glad she was that he hadn't chosen a violent solution to their situation. When he gestured her to lead the way toward the far side of the ruins, she accepted graciously and walked past him without hesitation. After all, if he knew anything about Force-users at all, he certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to try to shoot her in the back.
Combining their forces - the physical strength of the Chubbits, born of their harsh environment, the keen sense of the former gunnery sergeant as to which pieces of the wreckage could safely be moved, and Serina's ability to sense exactly where her master was buried as well as her use of the Force to move aside whatever debris resisted the efforts of the stocky natives - it didn't take them more than another half an hour to free the still unconscious Sith Lord. His robes were in shreds and his body suit sported several cuts and tears. Together they carried him to the narrow, unobstructed space where the droffi steeds were tethered together.
"He is still alive, isn't he?"
Serina nodded in confirmation. "But I have no idea why he is still unconscious." She kneeled beside the unmoving figure and started to check the various controls on the main chest control box as well as on the additional units attached to his belt. Several of the indicators had switched from their usual green to red, indicating some sort of malfunction. The thick material of the suit didn't allow her to check for broken bones, but, in any case, there was no chance to treat any injuries of that kind until they returned to Imperial Center. The same was true for any internal bleeding. But if she could somehow manage to wake him up, he would be able to put himself into a healing trance until their arrival there if there was any physical damage of that sort.
With swift, practiced movements, she reset those components that had indicated a malfunction, hoping that restarting those particular systems would solve most of the problems. One of them was the repiratory unit. Apparently, the precentage of oxygen inside the helmet had dropped to a critical level. A likely explanation for his continued unconsciousness as far as she was concerned and certainly the reason for his labored breathing. "That's all I can do for now," she informed the former Imperial officer. "Now I need to get him to my ship." She gazed up at the man leaning against one of the larger pieces of debris, watching her with weary curiosity. Obviously, he still wasn't sure what sense to make of the young woman.
At least, she finally had a name to go with the face: Wrenga Jixton, or just Jix, which he preferred…
"So, your name is Serina?" he asked her as they climbed across the piles of rubble to where Vader lay buried.
"Yep," she replied, "and you are?"
"I'm Jix, but I thought you knew that already. Why'd you call me gunnery sergeant?"
"I remembered seeing you aboard the Exactor quite a few years back. You were a combat trainer for new recruits from the academy, weren't you? But I don't think I ever heard your name or I would have remembered it."
"You were aboard the Exactor?" His voice reflected his incredulity. "I don't remember ever meeting you there. And I have a pretty good memory for faces. What were you doing there?"
They had just stopped at the large pile of debris at the far side of the tower ruins and Serina turned to face the slightly older man. "That's hardly surprising that you never noticed me. I was and still am head of Lord Vader's staff of aides. My official rank is captain, but I seldom use it. And it is part of my task to stay inconspicuous most of the time. But that's not really difficult as long as Lord Vader is around. After all, when he shows up anywhere on the ship, he draws all the attention. Nobody will notice an unobtrusive young woman standing in his shadow, don't you think?" She turned back to the wreckage from the exploded structure. "Why don't you tell me what brought you to this forsaken place? With your abilities, you should be some high-ranking officer by now, not a leader of a group of primitive natives. What happened?"
… and, while they had started to dig through the pile of torn sheets of metal and pieces of machinery, he had given her a brief recap of the end of his military career in the aftermath of the sterilization of Falleen, his court-martial and short stint in the spice mines of Kessel, his escape from there that had been nothing short of miraculous and how he had been stranded on Aridus in the course thereof. The Chubbits had rescued him out of his destroyed vessel and had become his friends.
He was willing to do anything to keep the Empire off their backs. That's why he had come looking for the Sith Lord who had once been the cause of his court-martial, why he had started to search for him among the debris and why he had been willing to help her complete that task. If Vader was in his debt for saving his life, perhaps he would be willing to strike a deal with him, a deal, that would cause the Imperials to leave Aridus and the local Chubbits alone.
Serina had not commented on the likelihood of Vader striking any kind of deal with the former gunnery sergeant, but she had decided to do her part to support him in his endeavor. Nobody should suffer the kind of crippling oppression the stocky natives had been under for nearly two decades already.
Jix nodded and called to one of the green-skinned natives who had returned to their digging in the rubble. "Chrkzzz kzrk shrzrrr tzk tzk." Moments later, one of them approached the small herd of droffi steeds and selected two of them. He picked up their reins and led them toward the two waiting humans. "Where is your ship?" Jix inquired.
Serina pointed to the other side of the rings of lava pits. "Back over there at the end of that path. It took me about an hour to get here. But I won't be able to land. This space is just not big enough."
"That shouldn't be a problem. Just hover as close as possible and lower the ramp. We'll get him inside," the former officer assured her. Then he gestured to the waiting riding beasts. "He will take you to your ship. It'll be much faster than on foot." He turned to the Chubbit. "Chrkzzz tshk zsh shp."
After Jix had shown him the spot Serina had pointed out only moments earlier, the stocky native swung himself on the reptilian mount. Serina quickly followed suit. What had been arduous on foot, turned into a jolting ride on the four-legged beasts. Weaving in between the boulders too high to jump over, they covered the distance to her vessel in barely fifteen minutes. She dismounted and handed the reins over to her guide, who turned the animals around and returned the same way they had just come.
Her ship was quickly readied and, just a few minutes later, she had steered the StarLady past the rings of bubbling lava. She kept it hovering several feet above the surface at the mouth of the path, extending the boarding ramp downward until it barely touched the ground. Jix was already waiting for her. He had grabbed Vader's heavy body under the armpits, while two of the Chubbits had grabbed the legs. Together, they dragged the battered, still unconscious Sith Lord up the steep incline into the ship and placed him in the middle of the common room.
After the two natives had returned to the ground below, Jix joined the young woman in the cockpit. Once the hatch had resealed, the sleek vessel lifted past the ruins of what had once been a stark symbol of the Imperial rule over Aridus and headed toward open space. Far below them, a cloud of dust heralded the approach of an Imperial patrol speeder from the direction of the nearest outpost. Serina had no idea why it had taken them such a long time to seek out the reason for the lacking signal amplification, but one thing she knew for sure: if Vader bothered to check into it, they would be sorry indeed.