Post 23
Kyp was walking down a hallway in the temple when he reached up to rub his chest unconsciously. He shook his head, pushing the small ache from his mind then stopped in his tracks.
"Kyp?" Jag asked, when he realized his friend had stopped.
The master looked up and Jag knew something had happened. "The apartment." He simply said, then after a moment of hesitation started running down the hall, Jag close on his heels. Thankfully Jag's speeder just happened to be parked out front.
He somehow managed to give Jag directions and thanks to his friend's superior driving skills they were there in mere minutes. Kyp didn't wait until the speeder had stopped before he jumped out and ran up the steps towards Jared's apartment.
The sight of two Intel agents lying dead in the hall stopped him in his tracks and he fought to keep his panic down. Jag came up behind him and swore something in Chiss bringing him back to reality. He stepped over the men and cursed himself when he found Jared just inside the door.
"Jared?" He asked, panic starting to creep into his voice. The young guard's eyes fluttered open at Kyp's voice and he grimaced as he took a shallow breath.
"Hang on buddy. We'll get a medic." Kyp started to rise, when Jared's hand shot out to grab his arm. He felt the man's pain through the force and took a deep breath to keep from being sick.
/____________________________________\
Jag stood behind Kyp, blaster in his hand and pulled his comm off his belt. Before he could even turn it on, it trilled.
"Fel."
"Jag. Is Kyp with you?"
"Yeah, listen Iella, we need a medic at Jared's apartment now."
"Ok. I'll be right there. Don't leave until I get there."
/____________________________________\
"They took Jade." Jared whispered. Kyp swore his heart stopped.
"Who?"
Jared shook his head slightly and clenched his teeth as a wave of pain washed over him. "Don't know." He said, then took another breath as the wave passed. "They took her to a warehouse." Jared finished, then closed his eyes and relaxed his grip on Kyp's arm.
"Jared? Jared, don't you pass out on me, man. Stay with me." Kyp told him, turning back to find Jag's gaze.
"Medic is on it's way. Iella said not to leave until she gets here." He offered and Kyp nodded, realizing there was nothing he could do but wait.
/____________________________________\
"Who are you?" Jade asked the man sitting in the front seat next to the driver. She had been pushed into the back between two men who badly needed a shower. The man simply ignored her and she huffed and looked out the window. They were down in the industrial section and the only thing she knew was that they were taking her to a warehouse. She just hoped that Kyp could find her soon. Spending time with these men was not exactly on her list of things to do.
A few minutes later, they pulled up to a huge building and Jade was jerked out of the backseat and set onto her feet. Before she had completely regained her balance one of the cronies pushed her towards the door, but with her wrists shackled in stun cuffs she couldn't catch herself. Two strong arms caught her and set her back upright. Looking up she saw Edward and gasped.
"Ambassador. It's nice to see you again."
Jade cocked an eyebrow. "Wish I could say the same."
"That's enough. Let's get inside before someone sees." The big man said, waiting for the group to get moving. Someone grabbed her arm and practically dragged her towards the door. She was sure that her arm would be covered in bruises if they kept it up.
The inside of the building was empty except for a table and a few chairs against the far wall. She was let go as they came to the table and she looked around, trying to see if there was a way out.
"You won't get far if you run my dear. Might as well make yourself comfortable." The big man said behind her, then pushed her towards a chair. She sat down and glared at him as he walked around to the other side.
"So you must be in charge of this little party." She told him as he leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the table.
"Why do you think that?" He asked.
"Because Edward is too stupid to do something like this on his own." Without the force, Jade never saw the hand that came up and struck the side of her face. She did however, hear the sound of blasters being drawn over the throbbing in her head. Biting her lip to keep from crying out, she looked up and found the other men had pointed their weapons at Edward, who was now standing completely still next to her.
"Edward, I tolerate you at the moment. Don't make me change my mind." Shaw informed him. The security head glared at Jade then walked over to stand against the wall a few meters away.
Jade moved her jaw a little to make sure nothing was broken. Satisfied it wasn't, she looked back up at the man who hadn't moved and frowned at him.
"Who are you?"
"Shaw."
"Ah."
"I'm assuming you've heard of me."
"Yeah. Can't say it's a pleasure to meet you, since it's anything but." She responded, trying to keep her anger in check.
He smiled and raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"It can be."
"Only if you want me to choke on my own vomit."
If anything, Shaw's grin only got wider at her response. She had to keep him talking and give Kyp time to find her.
"You know, if I didn't think you would bring such a high price on the market, I might keep you for myself."
"I won't be here long enough for that to happen."
Shaw laughed. "You really think your precious Jedi is going to be able to find you? I have Ysalamari ambassador. He won't even know where to start looking."
Jade smirked and was pleased to see his smile slip, just a little. "You obviously haven't done your homework on my Jedi then. Ysalimari won't keep him from finding me. And I hate to be you when he does."
/____________________________________\
Jag watched Kyp pace the small apartment and felt helpless to assure him. The medical team had just taken Jared away, not saying anything about his prognosis and now they were waiting for Iella to show up. He swore that there was actually going to be a groove in the cheap carpet by the time his aunt showed up.
"Good, you're both still here." Both men turned at the sound of Iella's voice. Jag chanced a glance at Kyp, but his face was unreadable. That wasn't good.
"They took Jade." Kyp said before she could tell them anything. Her shock was brief, but apparent. Kyp frowned. "You know who it is, don't you?" He asked, walking closer to her and Jag.
"Yes. It's Shaw. Edward is helping him too."
"When I get my hands on that sithing hutt…"
"Can you find her?" Iella asked, trying to keep Kyp focused. He was the only way they had who could find Jade now. They had virtually no idea where she had been taken.
"They have Ysaliamri and they've taken her to a warehouse. Considering how many warehouses there are on planet, the odds of finding her soon are not good." Jag offered.
"The only way we can find her is to go by each warehouse and see if there is a void in the force." Kyp said, resuming his pacing.
"I'll call Jaina and have her round up some of the other masters and knights to see if we can narrow the search a little more. Do you have enough agents to accompany them?" He asked Iella. She nodded and he moved off to the side to make the call.
Iella stood watching Kyp for a moment. Kyp upset was not a good thing. She just hoped he didn't go dark on them if they found Jade too late.
/____________________________________\
Jaina stuck her head in Zekk's classroom and winced. She was afraid of that. He was in the middle of a class, but this couldn't wait. Her friend looked up in the middle of a sentence and frowned at her.
"Class, I'll be right back. Zara, can you please finish leading the discussion?" He asked one of his students, then hurried out of the room to see what was wrong.
"What happened?"
"Jade's been kidnapped and Kyp needs our help finding her."
"Why would Kyp need our help? He can't find her through the force?"
"They have Ysalamari and they've taken her to a warehouse, but we don't know which one. He wants us to fan out and see if we can find anything. I'm going to get Ben and Valin next. Can you ditch your class?"
/____________________________________\
He looked up as the coroner took away the last Intel guard from outside Jared's apartment and ran his hands through his hair. It had been a little over an hour and he needed to get out of here. He was finding it harder to keep his calm when all he wanted to do was rip apart the planet to find her.
Couple that with the fact that he didn't know if Jared would make it, and Kyp was having a bad day to end all bad days. Jag had called Jaina and she was on her way here with reinforcements but every fiber of his being was screaming at him to go now.
"I can't wait." He finally told Jag and Iella and started to walk out the door.
"Kyp wait. You're not going by yourself. I have a team on their way here, just give them a few more minutes." Iella pleaded as she tried to get him to stay.
"She may not have a few minutes!" He yelled back, then instantly regretted his outburst. Leaning back against the wall, he slid down to the floor and put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry."
Iella kneeled down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I know Kyp, but if you go in there alone you're not doing her or yourself any favors. If they didn't have those stupid animals I would tell you to go for it, but you're going to need help."
Kyp nodded absently at her statement and sighed.
"Someone call the cavalry?" The trio looked up to see Zekk standing in the door way with a stupid grin on his face.
"Bout kriffing time." Jag said as he walked over to them.
"Sorry honey, but I had some problems finding Ben." Jaina stepped into the room and gave him an apologetic smile. Jag nodded at her, and pulled her to him to give her a kiss on her head. She looked over at Kyp and bit her lip. He wasn't handling this well.
"Where do we start?" Ben asked as he and Valin finally strode into the room.
"I have a team that is on its way here. We're going to divide them up amongst all of you and then try to cover as much ground as possible. I don't want anyone engaging Shaw and Edward unless Jade's life is in danger. Just get back to me and we'll all take them on together if we can. I want both of them alive if we can manage it too." She added, looking in Kyp's direction. He just stared at her, not making any promises.
/____________________________________\
She had been sitting in the uncomfortable chair for so long that she couldn't feel her butt anymore. For the last 20 minutes, she had been fidgeting and now she had to go to the bathroom. Could this day get any better? Jade waited a few minutes, then couldn't take it anymore.
"I don't suppose I get to use the fresher." She called out to one of the men that was still in the room with her. He looked up from the datapad he was using and snorted.
"Course not." She mumbled to herself, trying to shift to get comfortable again. Shaw and Edward had gone into the small office a few yards away and hadn't been out in a while. Jade wasn't sure she wanted to know what they were doing. Probably finalizing her sale. There was a pleasant thought.
Trying to keep her mind off her full bladder, Jade looked over at the furry little creature that had been placed close to her. It's beady eyes stared back at her and she laughed.
"Don't look at me like that, you're definitely going to die. I can't help you there." She told the creature. The man across the room snorted at her again, but she didn't care.
Kyp, where are you?
/____________________________________\
Jag went with Kyp, mainly to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. He was a little worried about his friend and didn't think anyone else would be able to handle him right now, outside of Jaina. They had two Intel agents with them, which helped, but the longer they went without finding anything, the more he worried.
They had searched ten buildings in the last hour with no success. The others hadn't done any better. The driver pulled up to the final warehouse and Jag went to get out when Kyp grabbed his arm in a painful grip.
"This is it." He said, staring at the building.
"You sure?" Jag asked catiously.
"Positive. There's a void in there and I can feel about seven life forms."
Jag made eye contact with the driver via the rear view mirror and got out of the speeder. The other man would contact the teams to let them know they had found it while he and Kyp, along with the remaining agent would scope the building out.
The trio made their way around the building silently, trying to find an alternate way in that wouldn't attract attention. Towards the back they found what they were looking for. A big window was completely out about 30 meters above the ground. Kyp looked over at Jag, who nodded then over to the agent. Agent Kelvin looked at him with a question in his gaze. The master simply pointed up to the grate and waved his hand upward. Kelvin nodded and Kyp took a deep breath before reaching deeply into the force.
He easily lifted the other two men up into the opening and waited until Jag waved his arm out to go up himself. Thankfully the hole was covered so that anyone from the inside couldn't see them. They stood on a durasteel walkway, that thankfully had already been making noise before they arrived. Kyp had been able to hear it creaking from the wind earlier. The walkway was only covered for about 20 meters either direction. Jag and Kyp went left while Kelvin went right.
When they came to the end of the wall, Kyp looked over and Jag raised his scarred eyebrow in question. He projected that he felt the lifeforms just below them to Jag and was glad when his friend nodded in understanding. Slowly, the former Chiss comander looked around the end of the wall to take in the scene below him.
Jade was sitting in a straight-back chair, hands stun-cuffed behind her and the only other occupant of the room was a man sitting about 10 feet from her, looking bored out of his mind. She was turned away from him, so he couldn't get her attention and the other man was turned half-way. Jag flicked his glance to the small box that sat next to Jade and grimaced. Ysalamari. He wasn't even a jedi and he hated those things.
Kyp watched his friend take in the scene and almost shouted at him to hurry up. Suddenly, Jag shifted his gaze to Kyp and smiled. Disappearing back behind the wall, Jag leaned close.
"There's only one other person in the room with her and he looks easy to take care of. Small blaster that I can see."
"Can you take the stupid animal out?" Kyp asked quietly, then rolled his eyes when Jag smirked. "Just do it Fel and I'll take care of the rest."
"We should wait for Iella."
"We don't have time. There are six other life forms not too far from the void. We need the element of surprise now. If we can take this guy without them knowing it, then it will make things a lot easier."
Jag looked reluctant to do what Kyp was suggesting, but he wasn't feeling patient right now.
"Fine. We'll wait two minutes, then we're going with my plan." Jag nodded his agreement and looked over to see Kelvin coming their way slowly.
/____________________________________\
"I really have to use the fresher." Jade finally said, twenty minutes later. The man just glared at her. "Fine, you can explain to your boss why I stink when he comes back out here."
"Darling, I don't think he's gonna care if you smell like a bantha. He's gonna be that much richer when he gets rid of your pretty little ass."
"Wow. Bet you get all the girls with that attitude." Jade snarked, wanting to take her frustration out on someone. She started when the man suddenly stood up and made his way over to her. He leaned down into her face and she had to hold her breath at the stench. "Do any of you take showers?" She asked flippantly.
The man grabbed her jaw painfully, then put his lips to hers.
/____________________________________\
Jag didn't even wait for Kyp to move before he went to restrain him. Kelvin just stood there, not sure if he wanted to get between a Jedi master and Jag Fel.
"Kyp. Stop." Jag whispered.
/____________________________________\
Jade clenched her mouth shut, but the man was having none of it. Squeezing her jaw tighter, he managed to weaken her hold long enough to get his tongue in her mouth. The next second he jumped away from her, yelling in pain as blood trickled down his chin. For a moment he was stunned, then he reached over and smacked her. Hard. Without thinking, she brought one of her legs up and kicked him in the groin.
"Asshole. Might want to move further back next time." She told him, as she turned her head to spit out the blood and taste of him.
/____________________________________\
Jag stifled a laugh as he watched Jade disable the man. Glad she's putting all that training to use, he thought to himself. He looked over to Kyp and saw the barely controlled fury he was wrestling with. Time was almost up and he wasn't looking forward to taking these guys with just the three of them.
/____________________________________\
The door opened to Jade's right but she was too concerned with the idiot that had just attacked her to care. Looking up she met Shaw's questioning gaze as he looked from her to his man.
"He thought he would sample the goods." She threw at him and the man just laughed. Walking over, Shaw hoisted the man up and set him back in his chair. Jade held her breath when he put his blaster to the man's head.
"You know the rules. Don't touch." The man nodded stiffly and Shaw reholstered his weapon and walked back into the office.
/____________________________________\
Jaina jumped out of the speeder as it pulled up beside Jag's. While Iella talked to the remaining agent from the boy's group, she reached out and found her friends and the other agent. Kyp was extremely agitated right now and she brushed his presence to reassure him. Jag wasn't quite so upset, but she could sense his apprehension.
Turning she found Iella finished with her agent and waiting.
"They're in there already, but I don't think they've made a move. Kyp's upset though."
"Barker, take three men and a Jedi and see how hard it is to get in the front, but don't move until I say so. The rest of us will go around."
/____________________________________\
"Backup's here." Jag whispered, but Kyp didn't acknowledge him.
"Take the thing out." Kyp told him.
Jag nodded and took the sniper rifle off his shoulder, quietly lowering himself to the ground. It had been a while since he had done this, but it shouldn't be that difficult. The stupid animal was well within his sights. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he looked through the scope and waited for Kyp to give him the ok.
He felt his friend nudge his leg, then Jag fired.
/____________________________________\
Jade heard the woosh go by her, but wasn't sure if she was actually hearing it. Her first instinct was to shift her eyes over to the man who was guarding her, but he apparently hadn't heard it, still lost in his pain. Without moving her head she looked down into the cage next to her and smiled. The force flooded back to her and she gasped, closing her eyes tightly. Her headache intensified, but before she could soothe it she felt Kyp doing it for her.
The need to cry almost overwhelmed her when she felt his touch. She hadn't been joking when she had told Shaw he would find her, but she hadn't suffered any delusions that it would be in time. The odds had been stacked against her and her only hope had been to keep herself alive as long as possible.
She heard a noise and looked over to see the man slumped in his chair, his head down against his chest. A touch on her arm made her jump and she looked up into Kyp's eyes and finally let the tears fall.
/____________________________________\
Shaw listened to his client drone on, almost wishing he could tell the man to shut up. But the money was too good, so he refrained from his impulse.
"So you can deliver her soon, yes?" The client asked and Shaw could almost picture him rubbing his hands together in manic gleefulness.
"Yes. Two days at the most."
"Good. Very good."
Shaw frowned, turning his head slightly toward the doorway. He heard Edward close the call, but didn't say anything to him.
"What? You don't think that idiot tried anything again, do you?" Edward asked, leaning against the small desk that took up most of the room.
"No. I think we have company."
/____________________________________\