Chapter 2:
Yaminul touched the freighter down in the landing bay designated as 10-02, and extended the platform. Yaminul straightened, puffed his chest up, doing his best to look Imperial, trying not to laugh at himself as he tried to emulate the arrogant demeanor. Echobe glowered at Yaminul impatiently until his friend finally got his act together.
Trash and forgotten cargo boxes were strewn about the landing bay, a mirror copy of most other starports on Tatooine. Yaminul walked out, and stood at the foot of the platform with his two Imperial officers. Echobe waited just inside the platform out of sight. He had his blaster and Ryyk Blade in hand doing his best to shield his thoughts, suppress his anxiousness and desire for Makaashyya to arrive. He kept the radio on passive, ready to contact the Starscream hovering in low orbit at a seconds notice.
A robed figure, flanked on both sides by two Imperial Stormtroopers, entered the starport from the shadow of the entrance, and then strode towards Yaminul. The fake Trury lifted his chin in mock arrogance. Sweat glistened on his forehead. He hoped it would be attributed to the hot suns in the sky. When Echobe saw the dark, robed figure enter he immediately felt Makaashyya's presence, but then shut himself away from her prying mind. He could sense no kind of alert, but had to be careful not to pry too deeply or risk alerting her to his presence. Makaashyya approached Yaminul without hesitation or fear. The trooper on her right stepped forward.
"Trury Jinard, we are here for prisoner transfer, do you have the proper clearance?"
"I will need to see yours of course," said Yaminul. They exchanged data pads, and confirmed each other's identity. Echobe anxiously gripped his Ryyk Blade, still forcing his mind shut. That's when Makaashyya flinched. Echobe felt her mind flinch, her face hidden within the fold of her hood jerked. The troopers at her side reacted instinctively to Wookiee's reaction. Echobe signaled for L7 in the Starscream as the troopers started to lower their rifles. Then Echobe burst from the freighter not giving the two troopers at Makaashyya's side a chance to fire back, or her an opportunity to save them before he unloaded his blaster killing her Stormtroopers. Echobe then fired at Makaashyya to distract her as Yaminul, who without a firearm, ducked away from the blaster fire. At the same moment that Echobe burst from the darkness with blaster firing, and Ryyk Blade in hand, Makaashyya had already ignited her lightsaber and batted the blaster bolts aimed at her back to Echobe, narrowly missing him, but singeing his fur. Echobe had no time to ponder if it was intentional or not. He paid no attention to the bolts as they scorched the hull of the Imperial freighter behind, him he only focused on Makaashyya. Echobe lunged for her, tossing aside the blaster and bringing the Ryyk Blade down hard on Makaashyya's head, but her lightsaber met his blow.
Hate burned in Makaashyya's eyes accentuating the hard tinge of red-orange that had scarred them. They connected and blocked each other's blows, gaining no ground on each other. It was like a flashback to that fateful day at the cave in the mountains outside of Anchorhead. Echobe had no intention of running from her. They fought each other without restraint. Blood flew from Makaashyya as Echobe cut her leg, fur was singed and skin seared as she thrust at Echobe's neck nearly severing his head from his shoulders.
The Starscream then descended into the adjacent starport kicking up a dust storm that also flowed into port 10-02. Within moments the remaining Alliance soldiers poured out and secured the area. They could not restrain Bilebelch as he dashed out of the cargo-bay towards Echobe ready to tear Makaashyya apart. Yaminul barely escaped the stampeding feet of the rancor.
Saber and Blade locked. The Wookiee's faces nearly touched, close enough to feel each other's breath, when Bilebelch grabbed Makaashyya, ripping the lightsaber from her hands. The rancor squeezed her in his long clawed fingers, ready to crush the life from her. She let out a scream of pain as ribs popped, and the wind was knocked from her. Echobe rushed up to the rancor and with great effort, he calmed Bilebelch down and made the animal drop the Wookiee girl to the ground. Makaashyya was already unconscious and bleeding from several small cuts on her body and from her mouth.
They left the bodies of the Imperial's where they lay, and Echobe carried Makaashyya in his arms, following behind a calming Bilebelch, as they boarded the Starscream and left Tatooine.
Echobe lowered Makaashyya onto the floor and bound her hands behind her back, and her feet together. He put a blindfold over her eyes and searched her for any other weapons. He then lifted her up, and strapped her to a chair in the lounge. Echobe then plopped down in a chair beside her, still breathing heavily from the encounter. Echobe took a reassuring look at the lightsaber now safely in his possession, and wiped at the wound at his neck that had been cauterized on impact, a painful reminder of how close the Wookiee girl had come to killing him.
Yaminul went to Echobe still dressed in his Imperial uniform, dusting himself off.
"What are we going to do with her?" he asked quietly, almost afraid she'd hear him.
"We have to find out what she knows, and then we'll go from there. Not a word of this to command yet, they may want us to bring her back to them." Echobe said trying to catch his breath. "No one is to go near her."
Echobe stood and went to the cockpit.
"Find a place nearby where we can hide for awhile, an asteroid belt or something. We might not be done here yet." Echobe ordered to Yaminul.
"If you says so," Yaminul started to say as he extended the Starscream's landing skids and looked at a chart of the many free-floating asteroids that encircle Tatooine, "but how are you going to get to what she knows?" Yaminul knew that Echobe wouldn't torture someone, but the pressure of time weighed down on all of them, and Echobe had much more to consider than his, Bilebelch and Yaminul's lives.
"I'll get her to talk." Even as Echobe said it, he didn't know how he would get the corrupted Wookiee to tell him what he needed to know. "I'll lock her in my quarters with me. If anything happens, don't let her out. Don't try and engage her if she gets past me. Depressurize the cabin if you have to."
Yaminul shook his head. "I hope you know what you do." Yaminul said, but knew that he wouldn't follow such an order. Then something occurred to him about Echobe's suggestion. Can we even do that?
Echobe had already carried Makaashyya into his cabin by the time Yaminul asked. Echobe grabbed the unconscious Makaashyya in his arms and took her to his cabin locking them both inside. Echobe then set the Wookiee girl on the bed and re-tied her hands together at the front so she could sit up on her own.
Makaashyya woke several minutes later.
As she tried to sit up, her cracked ribs grinded painfully against each other making her wince and reach for her side. She looked up at Echobe after clearing her eyes. Her hood had been pulled away from her head. Her eyes glared at Echobe with murderous rage.
Echobe was standing across from her, leaning against the locked door, his arms crossed in front of him. He gave no appearance of emotion, keeping his mind closed to the manipulative Wookiee. He allowed her baleful stare to wash over and beyond him like a harsh dust storm. They stared at one another fighting, motionlessly. Makaashyya broke her gaze first knowing she could not force Echobe into doing anything. She realized that she had limited, if any options left to her at all. She looked at her bound wrists and ankles and tried to wipe the dried blood from her mouth. She then looked at Echobe without the hate burning in her eyes, though unable to hide the corruption.
"So what do you have in mind, Echobe?" she asked sardonically. "Are you going to hand me over to your superiors? Maybe release me into space?" she taunted, raising her hands in mock supplication, but Echobe felt his jacket being tugged at, desiring to meet Makaashyya's outstretched hands. Echobe gave her threatening use of the force little concern. There were no weapons for her to call out to.
"I need information from you," Echobe said, taking a step towards Makaashyya.
Makaashyya lowered her hands into her lap, her face creased for a moment from the pain in her chest.
"Good luck," she growled.
Echobe continued, ignoring her threatening tone.
"You were there for a prisoner transfer. I need you to take me to this prison, and tell me anything you can about it." Makaashyya remained silent, just looking at Echobe with emptiness, but Echobe could feel her trying to look into his mind.
"Do you have any idea what's happening at these prisons?" Echobe asked rhetorically. Makaashyya remained silent. "They are experimenting on people. My family was taken to one of these prisons. They were mutilated, drugged and murdered. There are many others who have suffered similar fates, many of our own people." Makaashyya's motionless stare bored into Echobe, still trying to probe his mind. He brushed off her efforts with the force.
"Have you always been like this Makaashyya? What turned you against your own people? Why would you help the oppressors who have destroyed our way of life and killed so many of us and others?" Echobe used the common term for the Empire, one she and her family had used themselves; oppressors, as the Empire were nefariously known on Kashyyyk. Echobe took another step towards Makaashyya and spoke as if to throw his words at the defiant Wookiee. She remained still.
"What happened to your family, Makaashyya?" Makaashyya's probing mind hesitated like a skipped heartbeat. Echobe then knew he had found the right line of attack on her darkened soul. She pushed harder at his mind, but he resisted.
"The Empire did something to your family as well, didn't they? They hurt all of us in one way or another. None of us escaped it. What did they do to you? Why have you let them use you against their own? To betray our people? To betray me?" Echobe asked question after question and exerted all the will he could through the force to penetrate her mind.
Makaashyya then made a fatal error. She opened her mind for a moment and allowed Echobe to see quick glimpses of her dreams and her memories. The hundreds upon hundreds of different incarnations of the nightmare she had had since the day Syymbacca was killed, since she fled into the jungle to escape, the constant repetition of the horrible nightmares, like some nocturnal predator that fed on her compassion and hope and left behind hate and fear. Echobe latched onto the memories, he closed his eyes and tried connecting to some part of her former self that still lived.
What happened to your brother? Echobe's mind asked Makaashyya's, as he knelt before her. Echobe felt a wave of anger, like heat off of a sand dune, flow over him and swirl around the small room. Did they kill him too? Echobe asked, pleading for her to open up to him. Her mind shut away again, but the wall she had built around her feelings was cracked and failing quickly. Makaashyya still looked at him with hateful burning eyes, he saw his death in them. Echobe looked at her, trying to meet his soul with hers, trying to regain the feelings they had begun to feel for one another. Realizing what Echobe was trying to do, she quickly closed her eyes in desperation to once more shut Echobe out. She turned away from him, but Echobe put his face inches away from hers, and she could feel his breath on her face, her fur gently swayed. Echobe let his words spoken and not spoken, seep into the darkness within her to reach the part that was gasping for light.
"Tell me what happened Makaashyya?" Echobe plead further. "They killed him didn't they?"
Her mind was quickly losing grip, her heart was softening like the parched earth that drinks the water after a downpour. Memories started to escaped one after the other.
"You were imprisoned. They took you from your family." Echobe began retelling her memories like a storybook. He himself began to relive her experience through her escaping memories. "They took you from your home after killing the rest of your village, your mother and grandfather. They took you and Syymbacca and the Wookiee children from the village away in a ship like cattle and sent you to a prison."
Echobe looked for the answer to her pain, to what ultimately turned her against herself. Makaashyya's mind could no longer remain closed while Echobe chipped at the wall separating the two of them.
"They took you to Dathomir where they made you build your own prison." Makaashyya kept her face turned away from Echobe, but tears welled up in her eyes. She clasped her eyes shut and covered her face with her bound hands, not able to keep her mind locked away any longer.
"You were laughing with your brother when you dropped a tool from the tower and they beat him for your mistake. And then came the day that you were late and didn't realize. They shot him and you ran away into the jungle." Echobe recalled in quick, blurred glimpses as the images came to him. Makaashyya choked back her cries, but tears escaped her tightly closed eyes and ran down the red and blonde fur on her face. She squeezed her eyes tighter to stop any more traitorous tears, but Echobe knew that he had found the true Wookiee girl, the deadened part of her that the darkside had tried to bury.
The witches of Dathomir found you and took you in as one of them. That's when the corruption began. Echobe spoke to her mind as he continued to look deeper. The tentacles of the darkside that had wormed their way into her soul were shriveling and dying, but he could still feel the anger and hate, but backed into a darkened corner like a desperate animal.
"Gethzerion used you, she channeled her hate into you and sacrificed her own people to try and escape that place. She was willing to leave you behind as well." That's when Echobe saw the turning point, and the vulnerability that the darkside had latched onto in Makaashyya's heart. Echobe saw what happened through her eyes.
Two Wookiees approached Makaashyya and her dark master Gethzerion, holding Imperial issue blasters. Makaashyya became confused and assumed that they were prisoners trying to escape in the chaos. She asked them to escape with them, but they turned on her. The Empire had employed them, the two Wookiees explained. Makaashyya couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Wookiees, a male and a female, tried to take Gethzerion and Makaashyya back to the prison yard. That's when the anger and corruption and fear instilled in her by the Empire and everything else, surfaced. The male and female Wookiee fell to Makaashyya, to her claws. She rended their flesh, and let them crumple to the ground to choke on their own blood.
Echobe could search no longer after seeing those images in Makaashyya's mind. She was a Madclaw. She had done the unthinkable to her own kind. She ran not just from Dathomir, but also from her own people. She had committed the unforgivable act. Afraid to go back, to even come into contact with any other Wookiees, she fled. That hate and anger and fear she felt about herself turned inward and turned her to the darkside.
Makaashyya opened her glistening eyes and faced Echobe. His face mirrored the sorrow and compassion he felt, but he looked upon the confused Wookiee without judgment. Makaashyya's corneas were like a bloated dying star, the red veins irritated by the tears she had held back for so long. Echobe looked closer and could see spidery darkened veins running in her eyes and around the thinly furred surrounding them. The darkside had done its damage to her body. Echobe saw the memory of the iridescent emerald glow of her eyes when she was young on Kashyyyk, before fate had destroyed the young Wookiee girl, before life had come down crushing down on her. How different they were now.
Makaashyya dropped off the bed and sank hard to her knees and collapsed in front of Echobe as if kneeling in humility to a god in prayer. She doubled over, holding her head in her hands. Her tears fell into the metallic embrace of the Starscream. She then began to sob, and beg. She begged for forgiveness from Echobe as if he were her dead mother or grandfather, or brother, or the nameless Wookiees she killed in the prison, or all the others she had killed; the Alliance soldiers in the tavern, the prisoners she had sent to the laboratories, the Imperials she slaughtered in the shuttle when she first arrived on Tatooine, she begged and pled and repeated 'I'm sorry,' over and over, echoing herself as her mind throbbed in pain and grievance.
Echobe pushed aside his own anger and rage that was building inside of him over the whimpering, confused Wookiee sobbing at his feet. It was a byproduct of being so close to her deranged mind. The darkside ebbed from her tortured soul. Echobe held her and let her cry. Her body wracked with sobbing just as the day when her brother Syymbacca was killed when she collapsed in the muck of the jungle. Makaashyya cried until sleep claimed her again, her body exhausted from everything she relived and released to the Wookiee before her. Echobe lifted her up in his arms and set her onto the bed, covered her with blankets, and removed the restraints on her wrists and legs and he exited the room locking it behind him.
Echobe leaned against his cabin door exhausted by the trip he had just undertook with Makaashyya. Yaminul approached Echobe and was a little taken back by the expression of great and overwhelming sorrow on Echobe's face. Echobe had no idea that such turmoil could exist in someone. Yaminul hesitated and then put his hand on Echobe's shoulder, and waited a few moments before informing him.
"We have latched onto a nearby asteroid, we should be invisible to radar. The only way they could find if they stumbled on us," Yaminul said, mutedly.
Echobe nodded and said, "We will remain here until Makaashyya wakes up. She has to lead us to the prison, she knows where it is, the prisoners she was supposed to pick up were headed there."
"She told you that then?"
"Not in so many words," admitted Echobe, rubbing his forehead in weariness.
"Do you think it good idea to let her have any kind of freedom? Many have died because of her. She's a murderous betrayer."
Echobe knew that to be true, and he questioned his own decision in removing Makaashyya's restraints but his resolve to help her did not sway.
"She's been corrupted by the darkside, but there is still something of her old self in there, you must trust me my friend, I have to do this." Echobe placed his hand on his comrade's shoulder.
"I hope you know what you do." Yaminul shook his head.
Echobe walked away, his head lowered, and deep in thought as he went to the cockpit. L7 was interfacing with the Starscream's computer, and beeped in welcome when Echobe entered to sit down in the pilot's seat. Echobe looked out into space, unsure of what to do with Makaashyya, unsure if he was ignoring the danger she presented to them and their mission all because of his feelings and sorrow he felt for her.
How easily he could have been like her he realized. They had both suffered and seen atrocities. Both had their lives torn apart by the Empire. Echobe could not stop thinking of his parents when he saw them hanging in that putrid fluid, and what they must have endured in their final days. Echobe's revenge was the destruction and annihilation of any other laboratory prisons that existed. Anything else was a bonus for him, it never occurred to him to inflict pain on those who were guilty, only to stop them from inflicting more on others.
Echobe sat up that almost entire night pondering on all that had happened in the very short time since he left Mon Calamari. He finally dozed for a short time only to wake after a few hours of restless sleep. His dreams were tormented with everything he had seen and was forced to relive in his mind, with Makaashyya in his thoughts, hiding in the shadows with her head hung low. When he woke, he went to the room Makaashyya was locked in. She was sitting up in the bed, her hands sitting in her lap, her head lowered. She had bandaged her chest in the night with a medical kit on the cabinet. She did not sense Echobe when he approached and he did not sense her usual prying mind. It was silent. Echobe entered and Makaashyya raised her head, but was scared to make eye contact with Echobe again, so she hid her eyes in shame. The fur on her face was streaked with dried tears. Echobe walked to her and sat down beside her on the bed. Makaashyya spoke before Echobe could think of anything meaningful to say.
"What am I to do now? I have done horrible things, I have changed so much." She looked down at the floor. Echobe thought of the only thing that could make some difference.
"Help me Makaashyya. Help me right the wrongs that are being done to our people. Help me find the rest of the prisons, and destroy them before they kill anyone else."
She paused and looked at her hands.
"I can never go back to Kashyyyk, can I?" she asked, on the verge of crying again, her voice shuddered.
"If we make it through this, I will take you there myself and be with you no matter what happens," Echobe promised.
For a moment, Makaashyya forgot the blight that had been done to her eyes by the corruption of the darkside. She looked into Echobe's pale, gray-blue eyes. There was no hate or fear in them.
"I will do anything I can. Please give me a chance to make things right."
"You'll get a chance," said Echobe. He stood and walked out, not locking the door behind him. Yaminul approached Echobe just as he closed the door.
"Do you really trust her? Are you sure you not making a huge mistake."
"If I am, don't hesitate to shoot her down, even if I am in the way. I'll ensure that I will be the only one to pay for it this time."
Another order Yaminul had no intention of following.
Echobe went to the ship's condenser and took some food out and brought it to Makaashyya. When he entered, she looked up at him with anxious eyes. A caring in them he had never seen before. Her mind had stopped wandering, stopped scheming and prying. She was calm, but not yet at rest. Echobe handed her the food, which she hungrily ate. When she had finished, she thanked Echobe with a nod and a smile, and set the tray aside on the counter next to the bed. She didn't wait for Echobe to ask. She already knew what he needed to know.
"There's a prison in the desert of Tatooine. I know the coordinates. But now that I am missing, it may be a problem getting in. They may even have moved the facility, but I doubt they would be able to do it that quickly. Chances are that they reinforced the place before considering a new one to move to."
"Well, you know their tactics better than any one of us. What are our options?"
"I can go back to the prison and say I escaped capture, that my guards were killed and that the prisoners had escaped. Not too far from the truth. I will need to go back to my superior first and clear things up with him to make it believable."
Makaashyya paused for a moment to think and then continued.
"You can plant a beacon on me so you can track me, and when you arrive I will do my best to cause some confusion. There may be some information about the others you're looking for as well."
Echobe thought for a moment. He was anxious, desperate to be done with his mission, but he didn't want to send Makaashyya into harms way.
"Do you think your superior will know the location if it's been moved?"
"It is possible, but getting it out of him could be a problem."
"And if we assault the prison, we probably won't get another chance to get near him. So we need to capture him at the same time, or forget it entirely."
"I will do whatever you want me to." Makaashyya said again, pleading with Echobe. She reached out to him with her mind, he could feel her desire for him to be closer, but he ignored it. He was still not completely convinced of her loyalty, but one way to find out for sure was for Makaashyya to capture her superior and bring him to Echobe.
He decided.
"You will need to capture your superior. It must be done quietly or all is lost," said Echobe, making the mistake of not guarding his thoughts. Makaashyya stood and looked Echobe in the eyes. She was much shorter than he was, and had to arch her head back to look up at him.
"I will prove my loyalty to you by bringing my superior before you, Echobe," she then said with finality. "I won't fail you."
"I will inform the crew." Echobe pushed aside his reemerging feelings for Makaashyya, and his desire to embrace her. He instead turned, and exited the room again not locking the door behind him.
Echobe's small crew all felt uneasy about Makaashyya's being on board the ship, but they trusted Echobe and that was enough. They all agreed. The plan was set for the following day. Makaashyya would go back to her superior as if she had escaped, and capture him, and then she would lead them to the prison.
After the brief discussion of their plans, Echobe went to the cargo bay where Bilebelch was laying down, facing the wall, almost pouting, until he noticed Echobe enter. The rancor jumped from the floor and trotted over to Echobe, nudging his nose into him.
"You're going to have to stay on the ship for the most part tomorrow. If things go bad, if she betrays us, we will need to make a quick getaway. This is our last chance to make things right," Echobe said to the beast, who seemed to understand.
Echobe lazily petted the rancor on the top of his head, and lost himself in thought when he felt Makaashyya approaching. The rancor opened its black, void-like eyes and saw one who was once his enemy, someone who tried to harm Echobe. A growl grew in his throat, and he reared up ready to attack, or to defend, depending on what Makaashyya did next. She did nothing but stand there looking at the two of them. Echobe immediately calmed the beast down. Echobe did his best to explain to the rancor that she was a friend, for now. Bilebelch's growling died down, but he glared at the Wookiee girl and bared his teeth.
Without fear, Makaashyya approached, like she was anxious to be judged by Bilebelch. Bilebelch growled ferociously at her as she stepped towards him, but she didn't stop. Her eyes never left the rancor. Her eyes were full of sorrow. She knelt down, and found the place where she had scarred the beast in their violent first encounter. She put her hands on the scar on his leg. The wound had already healed and looked like the rest of his craggy hide. Makaashyya channeled her thoughts towards the rancor, ignoring the snarling protests. She repeated that she was sorry over and over in her mind until the rancor stopped growling, bent and took in Makaashyya's scent. Grudgingly, it then stomped off into the corner of the cargo bay, but still glared at the Wookiee with mistrust.
"He really is quite intelligent. He'll come around eventually," Echobe said, as much to himself as to Makaashyya, hoping to convince them both.
"I know you don't really trust me, Echobe. No one probably ever will again, I can't blame anyone but myself." Makaashyya paused for a moment, hesitant as always to reveal her blighted eyes.
"After we destroy these prisons and free the prisoners, I'll go with you to Kashyyyk to face our people, or wherever you wish to take me. I have a lot to answer for. I'll accept whatever fate I am given."
This time Echobe avoided looking into her eyes. He wanted so very badly to believe her and to tell her everything would be ok, that she wasn't evil, but the memories were quick to remind the Wookiee of what wrongs Makaashyya had committed. Echobe forced the doubt out of him, hoping what she said was true, believing it as much as he could allow himself to believe.
"Everything's going to be ok." Echobe then looked back to Bilebelch one last time, and walked out of the cargo bay leaving Makaashyya behind in the dark with the rancor staring back at her as if in warning.