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Ties that Bind Ch.9"That should keep the Imps busy while we make our escape." Lando said with grim satisfaction as the alien's body slid down the wall to the ground, twitching. "While they're taking care of junior here-"
"Something's not right." Luke could sense something was wrong and he bent next to the alien's body. Immediately he realized the problem. "Lando he's not breathing!"
Lando frowned and moved closer. "That's not possible it was just a stun bolt…"
Luke pressed his fingers against the alien's neck and felt his pulse still struggling to pump without oxygen. Even unconscious the alien reacted to the touch, his body trying to contort and his mouth opening, trying to gasp for a breath that would not come. It was like watching a man drowning and this close to the dying man Luke could feel a burning sensation in his own chest as though he too, were struggling to breathe.
"Lando help me lie him down flat, we've got to get him breathing again or he'll die!" Luke pulled the alien by his shoulders as Lando grabbed his ankles, pulling the alien away from the wall and flat on his back.
"Luke, the Imperials will be here any moment, we've got to get out of here…"
Luke didn't reply; time was running out for the alien. He remembered from his rebel training basic first aid, including how to get someone to start breathing if they had suddenly stopped. Unfortunately, he also remembered that it took only four minutes without oxygen for the human brain to suffer permanent damage. Could the alien handle more or less? Luke didn't know, but he was hoping time wouldn't run out. He opened the alien's mouth, took a breath and breathed into the other. He broke away to start pumping the alien's chest and was surprised that Lando had already anticipated the move and was ready to pump as soon as Luke broke away. They repeated the actions several times until Luke was ready to give up, when suddenly the alien made a raspy gasping noise. Lando stopped pumping and pulled away but even though the alien had started breathing again he did not regain consciousness.
"Luke, Lando we've got to get moving! I already sent Wes and Tycho to get the ship ready but we've got to hurry, I can hear the Imps marching towards us!" Wedge's voice cut through Luke's short-lived relief. Wedge had positioned himself at the corner of the alley about ten meters away, keeping lookout while Luke and Lando were busy with the alien.
Lando gritted his teeth. "We'll never make it on our own kid, the Imperials are too close now and there's too many. Even if we left junior here to distract them, it'd be seconds before they divided their forces to send some after us."
Luke knew what Lando was thinking and really didn't like the idea. From what he could sense of the alien and from his brief time with him, Luke could tell that he was a genuinely good man. The last thing he wanted to do was drag him into a hostage situation. However, there was little chance the group would be able to escape unless they had some edge over the Imperials, which taking the alien might give them…at least if they were right about his heritage. Luke also wasn't sure if the alien had recovered from the stun shot or if he would stop breathing again. The Imps were close but there was no guarantee that if the alien stopped breathing they would arrive in time to save him.
Luke gave a heavy sigh. "I guess we don't have a choice."
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Captain Pellaeon and Grand Admiral Thrawn marched at the front of a group of stormtroopers, flanked on either side with two of the best and with two more going ahead as scouts. They were following the signal Chimaera had picked up for them. Suddenly Thrawn held up his hand and the procession stopped. He walked calmly to a section of the narrow alley and crouched to the ground, picking something up, studying it, then looking up to stare at the wall intently. Pellaeon moved up beside him, looking down but not crouching.
"Have you found something Admiral?" Pellaeon couldn't read the expression on his superior's face but he did see the tension in his jaw and knew something was very wrong. The admiral continued looking at the wall, his brow furrowing but he raised his fist and Pellaeon reached out to take what Thrawn was handing him. Pellaeon immediately recognized the device as an Imperial communicator and swallowed.
Thrawn stood up suddenly and turned to Pellaeon. "They could not have gotten far, Captain. Send the troops ahead and let the Chimaera know that no ship is allowed to leave the planet. Make sure they know that any ship attempting to escape should be disabled but not destroyed. Make sure they understand that last part, Captain." Thrawn's voice was cold as ice and Pellaeon repressed a shiver at the last words. The captain signaled the troopers and sent word to the Chimaera before turning his attention back to the admiral.
"I'm sure Dr. Theeon's alright, sir. The rebels wouldn't dare try to kill him, they're hoping to use him as a ticket to escape. They most likely just stunned him."
Thrawn's posture remained tense, his back to the captain and looking at the wall again. "That is what I am afraid of, Captain."
Pellaeon was a little taken aback. "I don't understand, sir."
The Grand Admiral finally turned to face him and Pellaeon could see the lines of tension and worry in the alien's face. Thrawn's voice became quite low, so only the two of them could hear. "My brother suffers from a dangerous respiratory condition. If triggered it can make his lungs seize up and prevent him from breathing…" Thrawn trailed off but it was clear to Pellaeon that a stun blast would easily be enough to trigger the younger alien's condition.
"Your brother must be alive, sir, there is no other reason for the rebels to take him otherwise…" Pellaeon tried to sound as soothing as he could, repressing his own slowly growing dread.
"Unless they didn't want me to know he was dead…" Thrawn paused, then took a deep breath and his face returned to his usual calm, impossible to read expression. "No Captain, you are right. My brother is not dead. One of the rebels was Skywalker and I know he is not cold blooded enough to let someone die like that, not when he doesn't even know who they are."
"How did you know about Skywalker, sir?" Pellaeon was baffled by the admiral's revelation. Thrawn said nothing but pointed to a blaster a few meters away. Pellaeon moved towards it and realized it was only half a blaster, the other half resting a few centimeters away. Only a lightsaber could make such a clean cut through a blaster.
Before Pellaeon could respond further Thrawn's communicator signaled him. The captain moved closer to hear the trooper's nervous voice. "Admiral, we just saw the rebels enter a class BFF-1 Bulk Freighter, we were unable to fire as two of them were carrying your brother, who appeared unconscious, and the third was too close. We attempted to disable the ship but…"
Thrawn looked at Pellaeon. "Captain, notify the Chimaera about the freighter and remind them that they must only aim to disable the ship. Major, assemble your troops and prepare to meet me back at our shuttle." Thrawn turned off his communicator and Pellaeon could feel him watching as the captain contacted the Chimaera and gave the orders.
"Should I inform the Killisets of our situation before we leave, Admiral?" Pellaeon asked.
"No, Captain, I will tell them myself." He gave a small, grim smile. "If there is one small bright side to this mess, it is that the rebels have no idea the kind of political backlash they have in store for them. The Killisets are not the only people who owe my brother…It is time I start calling on a great many debts."
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Wedge Antilles gritted his teeth and dug his fingers into the material of his chair. They had blasted out of the planet's atmosphere and furiously started preparing for lightspeed while dodging blasts from a star destroyer. He, Wes and Tycho were ready to jump into their X-wings but Luke had pointed out it would be less risky if they stayed in the ship and manned the gun turrets instead. Of course, Luke was absolutely right. If they had any doubts about the alien's connection to the Grand Admiral they were swept away by the almost hesitant way the star destroyer was shooting at them. The X-wings would have had no such protection. Tycho and Wes had both gone to the turrets while Lando had taken the pilot's chair and Wedge the co-pilot's spot. Luke had strapped the unconscious alien into the seat behind Wedge but chose to remain standing himself. The ship shook with a heavy hit that jerked all of them around, Luke grabbing onto the back of Wedge's seat to keep from falling over. A groan sounded behind him and Wedge had to fight to keep his eyes on the destroyer, their blue buddy could wait.
"Another hit like that and this ship will be helpless. Wedge, do you have those lightspeed coordinates yet?" Lando's voice was tense.
"Six seconds, five, four, three, two…they're ready Calrissian, punch it!"
Lando wasted no time and Luke barely had the chance to sit down behind him as the space in front of them was reduced to star lines. Wedge let out a sigh of relief he hadn't known he was holding and caught Lando's eyes. Lando gestured to the alien behind him. "Good thing our little blue buddy was here or that star destroyer would've torn us to pieces."
"Please refrain from calling me your 'little blue buddy'. I am neither little or your buddy." The alien's eyes were still closed but his voice managed to have an edge of wry humor despite still sounding a little groggy.
"Sorry, junior, didn't mean to offend you." Lando said dryly.
The alien's eyes slowly opened and he raised a hand to his head, rubbing his temple. Luke watched him with concern. "How are you feeling?"
The alien turned to look at him and for a moment their eyes locked, each man trying to read the other. "My lungs feel like they're on fire and my head is pounding but I've had worse." He paused and a small smirk touched his lips. "I can handle the pain but if your friend keeps calling me those ridiculous nicknames I may snap."
Luke smiled. "If it makes you feel better I get it all the time too. Of course if we knew your name…"
"Dr. Mitth'eeo'nuruodo." The alien cut him off smoothly.
Lando raised an eyebrow. "I think I'll stick to 'junior'."
Wedge knew he couldn't repeat that name without a lot of practice first but that wasn't the only thing he realized. "Did you say doctor?"
Mitt'eeo'something-or-other turned his red gaze to Wedge. "Indeed I did. I trust you expected I follow in the Grand Admiral's footsteps? Never mind that you simply assumed my connection to him…"
At that Lando piped up. "Oh come on kiddo, that part wasn't exactly tough to figure out. You look just like him and you're obviously younger, not to mention no one dared to take a shot at us while we were carrying you. If superiors kill troopers for not shining their armor enough, I'm pretty sure everyone would be terrified at what would happen for accidentally shooting Daddy's little boy."
The alien raised an eyebrow. "Most humans tend to believe all members of our species look the same because we all have red eyes, blue skin and dark hair. The subtle differences in color shades and physical features are usually lost on your kind. Still, I suppose Thrawn and I do look remarkably alike…However, you are wrong. He is not my father."
Luke leaned forward studying the alien's face. "You're telling the truth but you're also trying to hide something…"
"Get out of my head Jedi!" The doctor hissed with icy anger. "You have no right to invade my mind. By the laws of your own Republic you had no right to imprison me. You have no proof that I am an Imperial, no proof that I have done anything to harm you or your government…and you of all people cannot hold it against me if I do have family ties to the Empire!"
Wedge winced as he watched Luke flinch at the alien's words and he spoke up for his friend. "Luke fought against Vader's evil and brought him to the good side. You're helping the bad guys. I saw the blaster cut in half, that's proof enough for me that you tried to hurt Luke!"
The alien's breathing was becoming ragged as his anger and excitement started to take its' toll. "What a simplistic view of the galaxy you rebels have…everything is either good or evil…you take everything at face value…never thinking to look beyond it…never…" The alien stopped unable to continue through his ragged breathing. He bent over in his seat as the restraints held him up. Luke quickly bent over to undo the restraints, allowing the alien to breathe more freely. After a few tense moments the alien sat up again, looking paler but breathing almost normally again.
Luke sighed and looked up at the others. "Given the circumstances I can't blame the doctor for pulling a weapon, anyone would have in his situation. This whole mission has turned into a mess but we may still be able to salvage it." Luke looked down at the alien. "Do you need something for the pain?"
The alien shook his head dazedly. "I can't…risk it…might make worse…just have to …suffer through it." The alien looked up at Luke. "I do need…to lie down…please…" He reached a hand up weakly and Luke helped him to his feet, letting the alien lean on him for support. Wedge felt a pang of guilt that he had triggered the other man's suffering and went to the other side of the alien, ducking under his arm to help support him further. Together he and Luke half dragged and half carried the alien to the medical bunker. Wedge realized once they got their that the alien had passed out and they laid him down gently.
"What do you think, Luke?" This whole mission had gone so badly and Wedge felt a strange mixture of guilt, confusion and worry.
Luke shook his head and looked down at their prisoner. "I think things are a lot more complicated then they seem and I hate to say it but I'm sure things will get a lot worse before they get better."