A lone Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser drifted in space, it's bulky exterior dark. Scans showed no signs of life. An enormous hole ravaged the vessel, jagged metal and the inner workings of the electrical system protruded from its underside.
Commander Douth observed the aftermath of the Dreadnaught's encounter with the Imperator-class Star Destroyer, named the Torment. He walked up to one of the holograms projecting the destruction of the stolen ship. His pale, sinewy hand stretched up and broadened the image; bony digits manipulating the screen enlarging the starship until it focused on a yellow trajectory line shooting out from the port side.
His eyes narrowed. Experience from his many years enlisted in the Imperial Navy provided the knowledge as to what it was. Douth inhaled a breath of quiet anger.
Focusing on the line, he spoke above the incessant chatter that droned across the bridge. "What is this?"
An officer hurried over, his young face hinted at signs of exhaustion — something that was prevalent in many of the crew. They had spent over a half a month in the maddening monotony of hyperspace on their journey from Coruscant, on a sleepless pursuit of a flagrant band of rebels. The rebels had been festering on Coruscant for weeks; committing minor infringements of the law yet never getting caught. Their minor crimes escalated dramatically when they orchestrated a bombing on the Senate Building, killing five Senators. The tragic event caused an uproar and as the rebels stole a ship and fled off-world they were closely followed by the Imperial Navy.
The officer, a lanky vicenarian man with a mop of sepia hair tucked under his dirt-colored cap, scrutinized the hologram. Douth waited impatiently, folding his arms behind his back and watched the officer go through a range of emotions.
"Sir–" The man snapped up, peering down at him with a tight face. He cleared his throat, "it's an escape pod."
At the declaration of it Douth's dark eyes flared with noticeable rage. The officer leaned back, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard and stared into his Commander's unrelenting glare. Douth adjusted his footing, rounding on the man. He asked in a clipped voice, "How in the galaxy did an escape module manage to sneak away without raising an alert?"
The officer pressed his thin lips together. "It might have been able to sneak away amidst the chaos."
Douth hiked a single brow. "Might have?" The surrounding crew had grown silent, straining to hear the heated exchange between the two. "Find me the time the pod launched. Officer…" He paused, raising a pale brow.
"Breeks, sir." Breeks' blanched, his skin paling and a weakness appearing in his voice. Douth nodded then sent the man away.
Douth approached another officer seated in front of a large screen depicting coordinates and calculations for hyperspace. He requested for the officer to scan space for any straying debris that could be the size of an escape pod, if that turned up empty, to set course for the nearest planet.
He promptly left the bridge and maneuvered through the confines of the tedious ship. He had hoped after the excessive chase through space that the eradication of the rebels would allow the Torment to return to Coruscant; now with one of the instigators eluding him Douth wouldn't be able to file his report until he had the last member either captured or dead.
"Sir." Officer Breeks saluted behind the Commander.
Douth pivoted, turning on his heel to face the man. "What do you have for me?"
"Recordings show the pod launched seconds before we breached the hull, preliminary scans show no signs of it. And coordinates are being locked in for Ryloth."
Ryloth, home to the Twi'lek, was less than a jump away. Hyperdrive wasn't needed. It's inhabitants were tall, civilized, humanoids whose planet was a mix of thick jungle and desert.
"Good." Douth's sourness was evident. "Send a pair of shuttles ahead for reconnaissance. Keep scanning for the pod as we land." He fell silent, ruminating if there was anything else he needed of Officer Breeks. He met the timid man's gaze and said curtly, "Dismissed."
Breeks brought his hand to his forehead in a stiff gesture, then hurried off toward the bridge.
The Torment's course was set for Ryloth and they arrived within the hour.
Commander Douth was among the troops descending with the first shuttle. It contained ten men plated in a shining white. Each trooper exited the suffocating chamber and breathed in the warm, refreshing air of Ryloth.
They had landed in the jungle to avoid unwanted attention. Douth stood on the landing pad; a large clearing of dirt that used to be overgrown in thick trees and wild undergrowth. He scanned the sky above the line of the circle of dense woodland that surrounded them. It was clear, no trails of smoke dotted the vibrant blue.
He turned to one of his men. "Have any of the shuttles we sent out reported back?" The soldier negated. Douth rolled his eyes, throwing up a hand in an irate gesture. He prompted, "Well?" his tone indicated the man should already be in action.
The soldier's mouth drifted open dumbly. He rushed out, "I'll get on it, sir." Douth watched, his lips pressed into a thin line, as the man hurried into the transport to contact the other shuttles.
Douth sighed heavily. A tightness between his eyebrows accompanied by a dull ache snuck in unwarranted. He pinched the bridge of his hooked nose with the soft pads of his fingers, simultaneously closing his eyes to calm his mind. He wondered at times if his men were purposefully incompetent.
"Sir!" Douth snapped his head toward the sharp call that demanded his attention. His eyes narrowed, looking toward a soldier who'd exited the woods and was crossing the clearing with a hand escorting a Twi'lek along.
Douth straightened his back, regarding the female Twi'lek with mild interest. He addressed the soldier, "Who is this?"
"She was found inside the perimeter, sir."
"Can she understand us?"
"Yes, I can." A craven, tremulous voice spoke. The Twi'lek dragged her amber orbs up from the dirt. She met his cold stare and quickly averted her eyes to her fidgeting hands.
"We are here on official Imperial business," Douth began, fixating his intense stare on the Twi'lek. "we were pursuing criminals when one of them jettisoned in an escape pod, crashing somewhere on this planet. Have you seen anything?"
She hesitated before supplying a wordless reply: a shake of the head.
He asked, "What is your name?"
"Gal'rai." She spoke toward the ground. After a moment, like it occurred to her it could benefit to show an ounce of respect; she extended a dirty, deep blue hand with hesitation. It remained suspended in the air as Douth regarded it with distaste before shaking it reluctantly.
"Gal'rai," Douth began, "what were you doing out there?"
She inhaled deeply, her eyes wandering around the clearing. "I was foraging for fruit and medicinal herbs."
Douth once again ran his eyes over the girl, taking note of her attire this time. Her camisole secured itself to her small figure, a pair of loose pants hung around her waist; her clothing was decorated in a mottled design in the color of the jungle. Nowhere on her were gathering tools or food to signal that she was being true to her word.
He inclined his head. "As you say." Douth paused, looking over to the man who was standing guard beside Gal'rai. He gestured for him to step closer. "Go and get a status report on the soldier in the shuttle. I want to know if there's been any updates." Minutes later the man came back to report that the officers in charge of the shuttles had found nothing and decided to move onto another sector to continue their search. The news was disappointing, but as Ryloth was a vast planet with many places to hide, Douth's tenacity wasn't deterred in the slightest.
Douth turned his attention to Gal'rai, deciding to continue to pursue the same angle. "Would you mind escorting us to your village?"
She paled, even if it was marginally her skin turning a shade lighter was noticed. She gave Douth a thin smile. "Of course, I wouldn't mind."
He nodded in satisfaction and notified his men they were to prepare to move out. The soldier in the shuttle was to stay behind in case they received any communications from the other shuttles. The information would then be relayed to Douth via comlink.
They marched down the pathway leading into the heart of the wilderness; thick vines and clusters of weeds crept over the edges of the unkept route. Gal'rai led flanked by two soldiers. Douth held a lingering suspicion he and his men were being led into a trap; the Twi'lek never gave a clear explanation as to why she was wandering so close to their shuttle — and they didn't have time for a proper interrogation or the chances of the criminal finding a ride off of Ryloth increased.
Gal'rai glanced over her shoulder. "This way," She made a sudden sharp left turn into the forest, her vibrant blue skin visible as she moved steadily forward through the brush gave confirmation she hadn't run yet.
Douth called out to his men, "Be alert!" At the command, the nine men raised their blasters and followed the Twi'lek.
His first step off the road sunk abnormally into the ground; a pocket of mud that encased his foot swathed it in a soft warmth and moisture. The amount of insects in the air had increased in abundance, Douth felt a surge of annoyance as he waved away a swarm of them.
He pressed the com link activating the communication channel shared between him and his men. "Is someone close to Twi'lek?"
"I am, sir."
"Put her on."
There was a moment of silence then Gal'rai's voice asked, "Yes?"
Douth spoke, irritation masked behind cool exterior. "Why are you leading us further into your jungle? There is a clear path that is suitable for traveling, is there not?"
"To reach the other villages, yes. But ours is hidden in the jungle," Gal'rai added on, "it's not far."
He sighed. Trudging through the jungle exposing his men as an easy target was not something he wanted to do. There were too many unknowns; the draping vines and the clustering undergrowth, the high trees with thick canopies; an attacker could even camouflage themselves with the mud and lay in wait for them to fall into a trap. Despite all that, there was no time to waste time debating over if Gal'rai was leading them into an ambush.
Begrudgingly, Douth agreed and gave the order for his troops to move on.
He worked cumbersomely to keep his balance, dragging his feet out of the wet mud that seemed to desperately want to devour him. He wondered how much farther to the Twi'lek's village, the tiresome advance combined with the heat and throng of insects made him wish to be there immediately.
The arduous traipse continued for another ten minutes, then they were faced with a border of towering trees with vines intertwined between them creating a wall of vegetation. A large boulder rested on one of the trees, half sunken into the mud. Gal'rai approached it and glided through.
A knot of confusion twisted Douth's insides. After a moment it occurred to him that the boulder was an expertly crafted hologram, it was perfected to replicate a real rock and hide whatever was inside. The troops began to trickle through the boulder in pairs with their blasters raised. Douth was last, his own weapon out in apprehension as to what was beyond the wall.
When he passed through the other side the only sound that reached his ears was the buzz of a quiet chatter. Douth straightened his back, trying to grasp the situation.
His men were unharmed, although they were surrounded by Twi'lek villagers — who looked unarmed. Gal'rai conversed quietly with her people. As he approached a young Twi'lek engaged with her casually backed away and strolled toward the buildings.
As Douth was watching the youngling disappear, his attention was suddenly diverted to the sight of the comlink on his wrist flashing. He pointed to a soldier and gestured to the comlink. They received the message while he tried to glimpse another sight of the retreating figure, yet the road was empty when he looked back up.
Douth sighed, turning to ask Gal'rai, "What's going on?"
"I just informed my people that you are our guests." Douth didn't necessarily believe her, he was almost certain that she was hiding something, possibly the escapee.
"Sir," The soldier approached him. Douth pulled him aside and had him speak. "A shuttle reported near our area, they've spotted the crashed escape pod. They landed and the other shuttles are converging on their position."
Douth's brows furrowed. "How close to our area?"
"More than two hundred meters."
Alarms rang inside his mind. That was extremely close. Now, there was no doubt in his mind that this village was harboring the culprit responsible for the bombing.
They were wasting his time, putting up a facade to hinder his investigations. That would not stand.
Douth marched out of the jumble of Twi'lek and his men to stand in front of everyone. He began in speaking tautly, "Gal'rai, translate every word I say." She nodded, her fear had begun to blatantly show. Douth continued, his voice raised, "I came to your planet in search of a criminal. I know for a fact that you have decided — for whatever reason — to hide them in your village. Now, my men are going to thoroughly search your homes. Any information you provide will be rewarded, while any resistance will be met with force." He paused, the drone of Gal'rai came to a stop a few paces after him.
The Twi'lek were silent, their eyes glued to the dirt. Douth held the silence to see if any of them spoke up. When nothing happened he gestured for his men to move out and eight of them took to the village, one of them staying behind to guard the villagers.
Douth suddenly remembered the stray Twi'lek who'd wandered into the village before the revelation that the criminal was here. He vaguely saw what direction they had gone and drew his blaster, starting down the large path dividing the houses.
The village itself was sizable. One story mud brick houses were erected in rows, tied over the roofs were enormous leaves from tall growing trees that provided substantial shelter from the rain and sun. The village had twenty-four huts in their cluster secluded within their barrier of trees. If one trooper takes three houses, the searching process shouldn't be especially long. That is of course, if they don't run into any interference.
Douth had yet to find the Twi'lek. He considered turning back to the group at the entrance to see if anyone had come while he was gone when a reflection caught his eye.
In the house to his right, a breeze had picked up and sun-bleached curtains flapped gently in the wind. Something shined brightly behind those curtains.
His interest piqued and suspicions raised, Douth strode closer to the buildings so he was no longer in the middle of the street. Cautiously he inched toward the house until he was at its door, he nudged it gently with his foot to see it was blocked. Douth continued on to the window that was just a hole cut into the side of a wall.
The curtains still billowed in the breeze, obstructing his line of sight. Douth steeled himself then slid his blaster behind the curtains to peek inside.
The tightness in his chest released. It was just a mirror. He went to retract his hand when his eyes fleetingly passed over the mirror again and his body froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. There was a dark figure crouched in the corner of the room, barely visible. They apparently hadn't realized there was a mirror revealing their location. Douth couldn't tell if it was a Twi'lek, it was too dark.
Once again Douth began to slowly draw his arm back. A flashing light reflecting off the mirror jolted him with panic. He was receiving a message on his comlink. Douth didn't wait around to see if the stranger had taken notice of the light and jerked his arm back to himself reaching to activate the channel to alert his men of a possible suspect when — he was suddenly knocked to the ground.
Douth only saw what happened from the corner of an eye. A streak of darkness had vaulted itself through the window colliding with him. The commander grunted as he hit the ground, his vision blurry and a pain blossoming on his cheekbone. He registered that he'd been hit as two arms gripped him, dragged him to his feet and brought him inside the house from before.
The arms deposited him on the floor. Douth, still recovering from being dazed, was incapacitated as his comlink was stolen and smashed beneath a boot; reduced to a useless pile of crushed circuits.
Douth's clouded mind was gradually filling with clarity. He was able to push himself to his feet, a hand drifting up to brush his face drawing back with his fingertips coated in blood. He felt for his blaster and found it gone. Douth's mouth twisted into a deep frown and finally he looked up to his attacker, and it was not a Twi'lek.
Dried blood and black mud were caked onto the man's face like warpaint. His striking green eyes popped out from the filth, a wild storm raged within them; the fierce emotion drawing Douth's attention more than the blaster that was aimed directly at his face.
This was the man who had participated in the bombing that led to a prolonged chase through the confines of space. This was the man who'd eluded him and instead of a swift victory Douth was faced with the barrel of his own blaster. His tone was acidic, "What now? I don't suppose you'll turn yourself in."
The man's jaw clenched. "Why should I?"
"Why should you?!" Douth exclaimed incredulously. "Did you acquire amnesia when you crashed to Ryloth or are you so audacious you would lie when I have been tracking your ship — every single move — for three weeks!"
The criminal rounded on Douth, spitting out his words in a low growl, "I am not lying! Why would we bomb the Senate building — we aren't that stupid!"
Douth chuckled darkly, narrowing his eyes. "You rebels are all the same. Who are you anyway?"
The man hesitated. "It's not important."
Outside Douth was positive he heard the sound of a door being kicked in and knew one of his men was close by. He looked at the criminal, saw his finger shift to the trigger, the subtle alarm in his eyes, and knew he had heard it too.
There was a tense moment of silence. No one moved, their bodies rigid and alert, waiting for the other to make the first move. And it was Douth who decided to strike first.
Douth pushed himself sideways, out of the blaster's line of fire and swept a leg out to knock the man off balance while simultaneously reaching for the arm holding the weapon to try and force it from his hand. Douth's leg connected with the man's ankles and he stumbled but did not fall; his plan to reacquire his blaster failed as the criminal saw Douth stretching for it and backpedaled until there was space between them.
They were back where they started from; the criminal aiming the blaster at Douth.
Douth hardened his glare. "My men will find you."
Another door was kicked in, this time it sounded relatively close. The criminal's finger hovered above the trigger, shaking the slightest. The anger in the man's eyes had been replaced with what looked like reluctance and guilt. The man's lips moved, whispering words unheard to Douth's ears and the blaster fired, a streak of luminous yellow; a deadly bolt blinking out of the barrel and hitting Douth in the chest. The commander collapsed, a smoking hole in his thorax while the man dragged his body to a shadowy corner of the room to await the soldier that would inevitably arrive after the commotion.