The second chapter is here. It's a short one, hopefully the third chapter will be longer :)

I hope you will enjoy it!

Chapter II:
The Belly of the Beast

Mira woke up with fear. She was laying on a table, her arms and legs were bound by metal. She felt dizzy; there was no pain, only dread. She opened her eyes slowly, and looked around in the alien place.

She was surrounded by grey walls, empty beds and droids. It was the medbay of a starship, possibly a star destroyer. At first, she thought it was on the Finalizer, but that ship was a wreckage. Its medbay would be a damaged mess filled with the wounded.

They must have transferred her to another ship. But where? And for what reason?

She found it difficult to concentrate. She reached for the Force to guide her mind. It helped at first, but then she felt a presence, a twisted and dreadful presence. It was similar to Kylo's, although it seemed weaker, burdened with pain, loss and desperation. And he was closing in.

The door opened, Mira turned towards her captor. He was a short, yet well-built man. He had yellow eyes, dark hair, a long beard and a scar that went through his face. He changed much since their last encounter, yet she recognized him within an instant.

"Lord Ezra," she said, locking eyes with him. "I could say I'm flattered, but I'm not."

"Mira, little Mira," he smiled. "I hear you became a Jedi. Isn't it adorable?"

"I'm no more Jedi than you are Sith." Ezra wanted nothing else than the Darth title, she knew that very well. At this point, Snoke was the last remaining Sith, and he didn't give the name easily. Kylo could become a Darth, but Ezra? He had no chance whatsoever.

"You have a mouth on you. Good," he answered with a grin on his face. "And here was I thinking, you would be begging for mercy. It will be a privilege to break you. Perhaps I will let you serve me."

He leaned close to Mira.

"Left leg," she told him.

"What?" he asked.

"I will cut off your left leg first. Then the other one. Your arms will be next. And then your balls. Then I will leave you to rot."

"Oh, I missed these deep conversations," he sighed. "You have no means to escape, darling. I have your lightsaber in a safe location. Even if you get out..."

"I will use yours," she added.

"Keep dreaming, little Mira. Keep dreaming," he said with confidence. Faked confidence, she sensed it. "I have a battle to win now, but I will start our first session as soon as it's finished."

A battle. This caught her attention. Whoever they fought, the chaos should present a chance to escape. Her injury could complicate things, although she had no idea about its severity. There were no pain, and strangely, she felt herself very much in one piece.

"With a hole in my body? That's grand," she said. The answer should give her the information she needed.

"Oh, we fixed that. We put some synthetic parts in you so your body would have less tissue to restore. This way you will be ready for me in no time. And you know me, everything for a good torture," he answered.

Synthetic parts... Mira wasn't a fan of cyborgs, but right now she could live with it. Assuming the battle is fierce enough, with those parts in her, she had a good chance to escape this ship.

"I can't wait then," she answered, curious about the upcoming fight. "I hope you will deal with them fast, so I could show you how pathetic your methods are."

"Don't worry, it will be done soon enough. Thrawn might be smart, but he has nothing against my ship."

"Thrawn?" she frowned.

It made sense why they were going with another ship. They couldn't fight him with the Finalizer, that ship couldn't even defeat a flock of space whales in its current condition. But why would take her here, when Kylo wanted to deal with her personally? Maybe he didn't. He had other plans with the girl, and he wanted to keep her far away from Rey.

It made sense, but she had time to worry about it later. Now she had to escape from the ship.

"This will be the end of the old man. And then you shall witness the end of yourself," Ezra told her, and then he walked out of the room.

The door closed behind him, and Mira started to smile. Ezra was confident in beating Emperor Thrawn, and she was sure about the opposite. This ship will be a wreckage soon, he will make sure of that. And while he deals with the ship, Mira will have everything she needs for a successful escape.

Emperor Thrawn stood at the bridge of the Chimaera. He ran his fingers over his neck, feeling the scar left behind by the latest assassination attempt. Snoke did everything in his power to remove him from the picture. Everything, except going to war with the remains of the once glorious Galactic Empire.

Now that seemed to change. He was sure about that, thus he commanded his flagship to hold defensive position over the mining colony. Anata Prime was rich in minerals, and lain at the verge of imperial space. For the First Order, it was the perfect target; and for Thrawn, it made the perfect place for a trap.

"Our scanners receive nothing so far, your grace," Captain Pellaeon broke the silence. For the most time, he was the one giving the orders on the bridge. Thrawn came rarely, he was either busy with politics or with the restoration of the shattered Imperial Fleet.

"They will come," Thrawn answered. The Captain thought they came here for nothing. The First Order would never attack them, not with the Republic on their doorstep.

Thrawn thought otherwise. He was certain about the assault. The First Order will come, and they well be ready for them. They are ready for them.

"Sir, enemy ship on our sensors!" The frightened voice came from the Captain. The enemy star destroyer arrived right in front of them. As expected. "It's the Pillar of Destruction, your grace, Lord Ezra's personal warship."

It came alone, armed to the teeth, ready to take on the mining colony. It had no escort, and neither did the Chimaera. The mining colony had some defenses, although nothing comparable with the firepower of a modern star destroyer. For better or worse, they could only rely on their own firepower.

"Your grace, we have no chance against that ship!" Pellaeon protested. "We are..."

"Outgunned, outmanned and outmatched," Thrawn continued. "Lord Ezra has every reason to strike us down."

"Our shields can't defend from that kind of firepower. Not for long."

"Two minutes, three at most," he nodded, touching his scar again. "As I said, they have no reason to walk away from this encounter."

And they didn't. The Pillar of Destruction came closer and closer. Cannons pointed at the Chimaera, fighters launching from the hangar by the dozen.

"The enemy star destroyer is on intercept course! Your grace, we have to retreat!" Pellaeon raised his voice in disbelief.

"Quite the contrary. We hold position here, and show our teeth. The Chimaera is old, Captain, yet far from obsolete." He seemed calm, dangerously calm. And deep inside, he was just as relaxed.

He had a plan. And for now, everything went according to it.

Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)