Chapter 2 - Patience
Annora drew her legs up against her chest, staring without seeing. Her mind was still roiling, the loss of her friends gnawing at her insides like a festering wound. The faces of Gon Ror and Senti were imprinted in her memory; their laughs, their strangely similar mannerisms. Three lives had been extinguished in a single moment. Each had had his or her own dreams, loves, and wants. She'd barely known Captain Yen, but Annora knew him as a kind and gentle man who could discern more from a flashing navigational switchboard than she ever thought possible. But now he too was gone.
Her throat constricted, her hands bunching into fists.
She couldn't even recall the last conversation she'd had with Gon Ror and Senti. Somehow she felt as though she was dishonouring their legacy already.
"Yousa need to learn to harness your emotions, mesa apprentice. Let yousa anger flow forth." Her master was watching her from the other side of the cell, his golden eyes glowing like beacons in the shadows.
Annora gritted her teeth, hating Katine, hating its people, and especially hating Mo Tatora, the treacherous Clanker. She kneaded her temples with her knuckles, feeling a headache developing. It was as though her mind was on fire, the cinders scolding the far corners of her thinking.
"Yousa body burns for revenge. Mesa can feel the energy coming from your hatred. But yousa know what wesa dealing with now."
"Why did you bring me here?" Annora asked, squeezing her eyes closed against the pain. "I know now you never believed Mo Tatora's invitation to Katine was genuine. You always knew he'd betray you. So why? Why did Gon Ror and Senti and Captain Yen have to die? You could have stopped it."
"Thisa true. Mesa knew senator Mo Tatora would betray mesa. But people like Senator Mo Totora… Theysa always choose death before theysa choose to work together. Yousa needed to understand the reasons why Palpatine and mesa are working toward a Galactic Empire under one leader."
"But my friends… they're dead," Annora whispered, feeling tears on her cheeks again. She could hardly believe this had anything to do with galactic politics.
"Theysa died so that yousa can save more lives by helping mesa destroy people like Mo Tatora," her master said. "Yousa need to decide whether theysa – yousa friends - worth avenging."
Annora opened her eyes and glared at her master. He looked at her blankly, betraying none of his own feelings. But she could sense within him a great power… a rotting anger that run deep within his life-force.
"Yousa feel it, don't yousa?"
"Yes, I feel it." Annora bowed her head, becoming aware of the currents surrounding her, the darkness seeping into the fabric of reality itself.
"Are yousa willing to learn the ways of true power? Are yousa willing to learn the power to avenge yousa friends?"
Annora looked up. "I want to learn."
Her master nodded and smiled, his eyes glowing brighter.
"Then wesa must bide our time and wait to strike."
An indeterminable period passed in the semi-darkness, allowing Annora time to think. Her master was still, his eyes closed as though he were sleeping. She studied him, noting the measured way he breathed and masking the undercurrent of power residing within him. She recognised now the resemblance to her mother's own calming technique, which Annora had learned long ago. This fact alone raised questions Annora was afraid to seek out.
Then there was Chancellor Palpatine, central to the maelstrom of deception and manipulation she'd already witnessed. Inadvertently, it was he who'd caused Gon Ror and Senti's deaths. It was he who these people wanted to hurt.
But she could spend her life cursing Chancellor Palpatine and her master, seeking revenge upon them if she could manage it. They alone could be the fuel for her destructive flame. But the truth was that never before had Annora had never felt so valued, or wanted. All her life she'd been a nobody; a seemingly ethereal spirit no one noticed or cared about. Her cleaning wage was a pittance compared to others, her dorms cramped and noisy, her life miserable and lonely. She hadn't even a friend to confide in.
All this had changed when Chancellor Palpatine offered her more that fateful day in his chambers. He had offered her a chance for a new life, for adventure, and to be finally esteemed by people like Captain Yen. It was far better a life than she could have imagined for herself.
Now Annora was someone. And she could feel a power burning within her, begging for release.
She sighed, standing and began pacing around her enclosed prison. The cell was archaic, little more than two solid benches behind metal bars. Across the room was a solid metal door, which had only been opened once when Mo Tatora had left with his personal guard. Everything else in the room was bare, leaving any way of escape impossible.
"Patience, mesa apprentice." Her master had not moved, his eyes still closed. "It won't be long now."
Annora sat down on the bench again, massaging her legs, thinking of Gon Ror, Senti, and Captain Yen. Someone was going to pay for their deaths, and Annora would be the one to collect. This she promised.
The metal door crashed open and a uniformed guard entered, his blaster trained on their cell. A squat alien followed in his wake, its blue eyes staring fixedly on her master. Its face was round and pudgy like a bloated toad and it waddled as it walked. But its odd appearance and shabby dress did little to dispel the hungry look upon its face.
Her master stood slowly, turning to face the newcomers.
The alien walked up to the metal bars and paused, fat hands clasped together behind its back. It looked Annora's master up and down, lifting one hand to scratch idly at the stubble on its chin. The armed guard stood to one side, his blaster sure and steady.
"Igu is disappointed," the alien croaked. "When Mo Tatora told Igu you was dangerous, Igu expected… well… something more than a skinny runt like you. He said you was a job worthy of Igu's skills."
"Mesa don't want to disappoint yousa," her master said, the sides of his muzzle raising into a small smile.
The alien – Igu she suspected – chuckled. "Igu likes the confident ones. It is so much more satisfying when Igu breaks them."
Igu turned his frosty gaze to Annora. "Igu has plans for you too. Igu knows many who would be willing to pay for a slave, even one without feet." He grinned, revealing several rows of nasty, rotted teeth. Annora screwed her nose up at Igu's putrid breath. Uncertainty trickled down her spine, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Yousa will not touch her," her master said, raising his hands.
The guard snapped into action, the sound of his blaster powering up, its tip glowing red. "Hands down, prisoner."
Igu's chuckle rumbled deep within his throat and he wrapped his fat hands around the metal bars to their cell. He spoke directly to Annora's mater.
"Igu will enjoy making you watch as Igu pries her toes off, one-by-one."
"Yousa can let mesa out now," her master said, his fingers waving in the air. Annora felt a wisp of power pass through the bars like smoke in the night.
Igu stood motionless, his swollen face stretching into another hideous grin.
Her master grunted, confused.
Igu gave another rumbling chuckle. "It's true, then. Mo Tatora suspected you knew the filth of the force, like a Jedi. But Igu has broken many Jedi and you are no Jedi. A Jedi would know better than to try to use sullied mind tricks on this planet. Mo Tatora will be very pleased to know his suspicions was right."
Annora's heart sank. She had hoped her master had a plan to break free, but it seemed to have failed. Whatever he had tried to do had had no effect on Igu or the guard.
"Igu will enjoy cutting you. Igu's instructions was to send pieces of you back to Coruscant. But first, Igu will eat the flesh of your friend. Igu will feast tonight! Open the cell!" Igu shook the bars and roared with laughter, tendrils of spittle dangling from his mouth.
Annora backed up against the cell's walls, her legs buckling beneath her.
"Yousa die now," her master told Igu.
His tongue whipped, latching onto the guard's blaster, ripping it from his grasp. The guard scrambled to reclaim the weapon, but her master recoiled his tongue and seized the blaster. There was a deafening blast and Annora shielded her face as a splattering of blood hit her.
She heard Igu squeal before another thundering blast sounded. Silence followed.
Annora sat shaking, droplets of blood running down her face and dripping onto the floor. She slowly lowered her arms and saw Igu's corpse on the floor, smoke streaming from a crater in its skill.
Her master was rustling around in the headless guard's pockets, producing a green keycard. He turned and showed it to Annora. His own face was covered in blood, both red and green, but he grinned at her anyway.
"If yousa have patience, yousa rewarded in the end."
He stood and tapped the keycard against the bars, which vanished into the floor with a hiss. He stepped over Igu's corpse and walked through the doorway, leaving the room.
He poked his head back through.
"Yousa want revenge or not?" He asked Annora.
She didn't even need to consider the answer, climbing to her feet instead and making a point of crunching down upon Igu's hand as she followed her master through the doorway.
Afterward: Thank you once again for taking time to read this story. Each and every view pushes me to write, and each review - good or bad - is much appreciated. I'm currently working on chapter 3, but it may be a few days before I can draft, edit, and complete it. I hope you stick around. PJW.