Back at the hangar, B'el Sah arrives at the location Otto relayed to her, and is accompanied by several worker droids carrying their group's bags. Once they've stored it on board, B'el Sah returns to her datapad and types in a release code for the droids. The machines soon return to their intended roles.
She enters the ship, undoing her large bun; allowing her waist long, pure white hair to fall, and immediately gets her bag. She enters the Lambda's refresher room and closes the door. "Finally, I can get out of this tacky, sorry excuse for a uniform," she mutters to herself, finally speaking in her native accent. The first thing she does is pull out a contact lens case and carefully takes out the sky blue colored lenses.
Revealing dull, yellow colored irises with red swirls around her pupils. Lana enters the cockpit, putting her hood down and taking off the half mask and goggles. She hastily preps the shuttle for launch, suspecting Tharan has already taken the girl, and makes sure all systems are moderately functional; the shuttle begins humming back to life. Afterwards, she looks over her shoulder to Otto, who's already taken one of the 12 passenger seats – his rifle bag in an open seat next to him; and gives him a thumbs up.
Otto nods and comms Tharan on low volume, "Ship secured, squad leader." Otto also gives him their current location in the docking bay. It was just then that B'el Sah exited out of the shuttle's refresher dressed in: black hooded robes with a red interior, a white-gray colored imperial uniform with a knee length skirt, black heels, a metallic belt clasped over her robes, a badge with her rank as an Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent pinned onto her uniform's left-center, and jewelry with imperial markings adorned on her; two rings on her left middle and pinkie fingers, and earrings on both lobes.
She also had her makeup and hair done – all of it combed over to her right side. Otto looks her over and blurts out, "Well that was faster than usual." She huffs at him, "Perfection takes as much time as it wants, Agent Mateen."
Tharan cautiously moves throughout the halls making sure he doesn't alert any new republic stooges, but Ki'Wul En doesn't help matters no matter how much he threatens her with death. Just as he goes down a four way hall, two of the rebel troops from 'his squadron' come around the corner and see Tharan.
They stare in shock by the sight of their 'friend' holding Ki'Wul En hostage. One of them immediately goes for his blaster pistol. Tharan recognizes one of them as Gunther, the boy who was talking about imperial spies, and decides to trick them. He changes back to his fake accent, making sure he looks and sounds distraught and hysterical.
"Gunther, my boy! You were right! I should've listened!" Gunther quickly puts a hand on the other rebels shoulder and shakes his head. He inquisitively looks back to Tharan, "Whaddya mean, sir?" Tharan cries out, "There was a spy! It was this Twi'lek! The entire rescue op was a set up! She assassinated the commander, my friend, before my very eyes!" Tharan pretends to be holding back tears and sniffs. "She even had a tracking device on her! The imperials probably know where we are already!"
"Shit," Gunther blurts out with a shocked look. Ki'Wul En wrestles against Tharan once more and shouts as loud as she can, but her words are still muffled by his gloved hand.
The two rebels look at each other with shock and anger on their faces, and then turn their attention back to Tharan. "We gotta warn the others. Officer Tallon, go with Gunther to the cells. I'll warn the others." Tharan nods, "Good thinking trooper. Hurry!" The rebel runs off to the left corridor while Gunther motions Tharan to follow him to the right corridor. "Come on, the cells are this way."
The second the private turned his back on Tharan, the imperial agent tossed Ki'Wul En as hard as he could at him. Tharan turned to the running trooper on the opposite hall and fired through his back. The rebel fell with a sudden cry of pain and a sickening thunk was heard shortly after. Tharan turned back to the Twi'lek and rebel on the floor. He grabbed the girl by her lekku and tossed her against the left wall. Gunther got on one knee, holding his forehead, "Ugh… wh-what happ…," was all he said before Tharan shot him point blank in the back of the head.
Ki'Wul En tries to crawl away in spite of her panicking and hyperventilating. Tharan turns and shoots the floor 10 cm ahead of her. She jerks back and screams. Tharan grabs her by her left lekku again and yanks her up behind him. She screams in pain before Tharan places the still warm blaster barrel underneath her jaw.
Tears begin to stream down her face as she turns her head to glare hatefully at the man she called 'friend.' Tharan mockingly tuts at her, "No, no… this is not where you run." He says in his usual calm and cheerful demeanor; perverted by both his current actions and wicked undertone. It was at this point seven imperial star destroyers began popping out of hyperspace and into the asteroid field. Legions of TIE fighters soon swarmed out of them.
Back in the docking bay, the alarms start flaring up, and a voice shouts over comms, "We are under attack!" I repeat, we are under attack! All personnel, to your stations!" Through the cockpit's window, Lana could see republic pilots rushing towards their ships. The bounty hunter picks up her comm-link and says, "Sir, we need to go, now." She then sees a blue skinned figure in the distance, amongst the current panic. Everyone is so preoccupied in getting to their battle stations that no one seems to notice Tharan shoving a poor Twi'lek girl ahead at gunpoint.
The asteroid then takes its first hit, shaking throughout the entire foundation; objects start falling over, panels loosen, some people lose their footing, and the room's lights turn red. "Emergency procedures on floors six and seven commencing. Re-pressurizing," a robotic voice announces over the station's main comms.
Otto goes to his comm-link and says while getting up and moving towards the shuttle's entry ramp, "Squad leader, I'm gonna need your location." Tharan chuckles and uses his right thumb on his comm-link to answer, "Oh, I'm on my way." Otto asks, "Do you need assistance, sir?" Tharan replies, "Nothing a little" – he tightens his grip and tugs on Ki'Wul En's lekku, causing her to hiss in pain – "'persuasion' couldn't handle." Otto is halfway down the ramp at this point and replies, "Understood."
Before he can reenter the shuttle three troopers from the squad they were in come up to their location. Instead of black and gray camouflage, they're suited up in orange flight suits. Otto stays where he is, looking at them expressionless, and Lana gets out of the pilot's seat to assist him. She walks over to B'el Sah in the passenger area and sternly says in low a voice, "Don't go out; keep yourself hidden."
B'el Sah crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at her, "And when were you allowed to give orders, 'bounty hunter'?" She softly asks, putting emphasis he last two words; as if reminding Lana where her place was. Lana ignores her and hurries towards the entry ramp. In spite of the hunter's insolence, B'el Sah makes sure she isn't spotted by the rebels.
One of the troopers says to Otto, "Lieutenant, there's a ship for you." He gestures back to an unmanned Y-wing, "We're probably gonna need you in the battle, sir." The trooper shakes his head in disbelief, "I don't know how they could've found us." Otto looks around to see how many troopers there are, and if anyone else is watching. He answers back, "I've got my ship here. Maybe one of you should take that one."
This catches the troopers by surprise; they look at each other and then at the shuttle with confusion, and a hint of suspicion. "But why would you…," the trooper says before Lana shows up at the ship's entrance. She kneels down, making sure she's visible, and shouts, "Because he can't fly for shit. I'm his pilot, he's my gunner. Now, if you don't mind, we have a battle to get to." Otto looks up at her, she winks, and he turns his head back at the rebels to see if they bought it.
The troopers look at each other and nod. The one who was talking to Otto walks up the ramp and puts a hand on his shoulder. "May the Force be with you, sir."
Otto's cool demeanor cracks a bit; his neck tenses on the words and his hands form into fists. He reluctantly nods and quickly says, "M-ma-may the… may the Force be with you as well." The trooper nods and motions the others to the remaining ships. Lana sees the situation is under control and returns to the cockpit.
Otto turns around and deeply sighs with the angriest look on his face. He storms up the entry ramp and goes to the gunnery station to prepare. B'el Sah emerges from the shadows and callously says, "You're getting soft, sergeant." Otto keeps his gaze on the gunnery controls, but growls at B'el Sah's words.
Lana gets back in the pilot's seat and sees Tharan and their hostage coming closer to their position. She turns her head towards the gunnery. "Pssst," she says to get Otto's attention. He turns his head and she motions to the window. He walks over and sees Tharan; he hurriedly turns around and heads for the entry ramp.
As Tharan and Ki'Wul En get closer to the Lambda, the Twi'lek makes a desperate decision to elbow the imperial agent in the ribs as hard as she can. 'If timed right I can run into the crowd of republic troops before he can shoot me,' she thinks. The Twi'lek commences her plan and quickly jabs him in the chest. The imperial agent is winded by the sudden motion, and loses his grip on her.
Before she can go into a sprint, he lets go of his blaster pistol and uses his right hand to grab her by her shirt collar. She chokes and stumbles back; she tries pulling her shirt collar down to breathe. Tharan roughly pulls her back up just as Otto approaches them.
At the shuttle, Lana looks over to B'el Sah who's just sitting and working on her nails. "Are you gonna do anything," she asks, slightly irritated. The imperial keeps her gaze on her nails as she coolly says, "No." When Otto is close enough he punches Ki'Wul En in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
She passes out and he takes her from Tharan's grip, slinging her over his shoulder. "Sir, the ship is ready. It's the Lambda class not too far from us," Otto impassively says. Tharan picks up and holsters his blaster pistol, "Well gee, thanks," he snides before going on ahead of him. The fellow agent soon follows suit.
Once everyone's on board, Lana prepares launching procedures: the entry ramp closes, the landing gear starts retracting into the shuttle, and the ship's wings begin to unfold. If she had it her way she'd use the hyperdrive the second they were out of the hanger. Unfortunately, the legions of star destroyers invading are interdictor classes. Otto places Ki'Wul En in one of the passenger seats and rummages through his bags.
He pulls out cuffs for her ankles with enough space between them for walking, and specially made handcuffs that enclose the girl's forearms and hands. He types in a code on the connecting middle of the cuffs. They seal her arms and emit a humming sound. Lana turns her head back and shouts to Otto, "Otto, man the guns!" Otto walks over to the gunnery station while sternly saying, "You do not give me orders, Kiffar. Remember that for your sake." Lana just sighs, rolling her eyes once more, and redirects her focus back to the hanger.
B'el Sah blows her nails one more time before beginning her meditation: she puts her hands down on her knees, clasping them into fists; closes her eyes, and hangs her head low. She hears Otto and Lana speak, but it all sounds like muffled echoes to her. Her sharpened nails dig into her palms, drawing out blood as they do. Her jaw clenches and her teeth grit against each other. The imperial agent reaches out to her rage, and draws out power from everyone else's anger and fear.
But as she searches for the answers she seeks, she begins to feel a disturbing calm and sense of serenity within her mind. The vision she's seeking starts to fade away from her grasp. B'el Sah focuses harder: biting down on the inside of her bottom lip till it bleeds, tightening her fists so the nails cut deeper, ignoring the nauseating tranquil up swell she feels.
An inhuman, otherworldly growl emanates from her as she forces herself to concentrate. And finally, she sees it. A vision of their shuttle flying away from the battlefield but is pursued. Not by republic ships, but by two TIE interceptors. They destroy the Lambda and the vision fades out. B'el Sah opens her eyes, breathing heavily from overexertion, before getting up and walking towards the cockpit.
"Sergeant Mateen. Once we're out of the battlefield, two TIE interceptors will pursue us. Be ready," she says affirmed whilst still a bit out of breath. Otto nods towards her direction, and says while readying the guns, "Rodger. Will I have a clear sight?" "Yes," she answers.
Tharan, standing behind Lana's right side and carefully taking off his gloves; speaks up with agitation in his voice. "Shut up! Get us out of here; kill whoever you have to kill; it doesn't matter. We have our quarry, let's go." "Understood," everyone answers simultaneously.
Once their way is clear, Lana guns the thrusters and they leave the hanger straight into a complete cluster of: asteroids, imperial and republic ships, medium and heavy blaster bolts, as well as hot slag and debris from said ships. As the Lambda flies through the massacre of ships, its shields take several hits from all sides. Lana reactively ducks the ship and has it narrowly dodge any potential threats and hazards.
A TIE fighter that's been blasted spins out of control and nearly clips the shuttle's right wing. She has the ship sore over one of the star destroyers, just barely escaping its cannon fire. She breathes a sigh of relief and checks the shuttle's vitals to see that their back shields are no longer functioning.
Otto spins the guns on the shuttle's wings to prepare for any incoming threats. "Two TIE interceptors in bound," he coolly says. Lana curses under her breath and tries thinking of something. Tharan remains fixed on his position, completely calm and collected. The shuttle's comms system lights up, meaning the interceptors are only scanning them, for now.
Lana realizes what she can do, and tries remembering the ISB signal codes Tharan gave her. Once she has it, the bounty hunter punches them in and begins broadcasting. Seconds after, the shuttle's comms flare up with a message. Lana looks to Tharan for what to do; he gives an exasperated sigh, still facing the plasteel window. "Don't be rude, Miss Jori."
She gingerly nods downward and opens comms. They hear a male's voice, "Apologies, sir. Thought you were one of theirs. Do you need an escort?" The interceptors form alongside the Lambda. Lana prepares the comms channel on their end. Once set, Tharan presses the button and says into the speaker, "An escort to the edge of the battlefield would be lovely."
The interceptors fly in formation with the Lambda until they reach safe space and peel off. Shortly after, the crew hears the imperial star destroyers making their bombardment run. Indicating that the republic station's fleet have been fully dealt with. Otto disengages from the gunnery station and moves back to his seat, which sits across from Ki'Wul En.
B'el Sah mended her injured palms once she heard the interceptors were giving them an escort instead of blaster fire. Afterwards, she sits back down and breathes a sigh of relief that this timeline ended with them living. Lana types in the coordinates Tharan had told her preemptively before they had even set foot on the rebel station. Tharan gently pats Lana's right shoulder and brightly says, "Wonderful flying as always, Miss Jori."
"Th-thank y…" Lana wasn't able to finish her sentence as Tharan moves his hand to her head, and slams the left side of her face on the control console. She gasped in both surprise and pain. The shuttle buckles a bit before stabilizing itself. He leans in and yells into her ear, "If you ever" – he places great emphasis on 'ever' and deliberately pauses.
"… Act without my say so again, or give orders to my" – he stresses on the word 'my' as well. "… Subordinates without my approval, I will end you. Do I make myself clear?" Lana avoids looking at the imperial agent and slowly nods while still planted against the console. She desperately tries to pull back her hatred and fear towards this man, as well as the tears swell up in her eyes.
Tharan lets go of her head and changes his tone back to a lighter one, "Good. It would be a shame if your son grew up without a mother. Or that I would be forced to make an 'example' out of him." Lana hands clench into fists on the console momentarily before she releases them. She also tries to keep her breathing steady. A red mark with imprints and lines has already formed on her left cheek. She hurriedly wipes her eyes before returning to her duties.
Ki'Wul En stirs back into consciousness, mumbling to herself. As she becomes more aware, she feels the stinging pain around her abdomen and tries holding it. When she doesn't feel her hands connecting, she tries regaining her vision. After several blinks, she looks down at her hands and sees them cuffed in a strange device.
Otto instinctively pulls out his blaster pistol and points it at her, watching for any sudden moves. She looks up to see Otto and B'el Sah sitting across. The look of utter betrayal and anger forms on her features. B'el Sah smiles when feeling the girl's hatred flowing within her. 'Good,' she thinks. Otto tilts his head at the Twi'lek and asks, "How long have you known?" She glares at him, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Don't play dumb," he sternly replies.
She tries spitting towards his feet and only makes it halfway, "I know what you people did to the Jedi! Nothing that happened to me in that prison is as bad as that." "We'll see, little one," B'el Sah patronizingly says to her. Otto glares at the girl, his index finger sliding towards the trigger, "And how do you know?"
Tharan enters in on the conversation and strides over to Ki'Wul En. The Twi'lek visibly tenses and scrunches herself up in her seat. He grabs her right lekku and callously pulls her back on her feet. She shouts in pain but her cries fall onto deaf ears once again. He drags her over to the cockpit, "Lana, turn the shuttle around; keep it idle."
Lana does this without hesitation, her hands shaking a bit as she does. The three of them soon have a view of the devastation of the republic base and the star destroyers. Tharan shoves the Twi'lek's face against the plasteel and whispers to her, "Look at the price your rebel friends paid in 'saving' you. Force user or not, no one escapes from the Empire, my dear. We'll get what we need out of you, and should you be compliant, we may even let you live."
He carelessly tosses her to the floor shortly after, and repositions himself back at Lana's side. Otto walks in and picks her up gently. This surprises Ki'Wul En but she decides to stay quiet about it. Fearing that it's either a trick or he'll stop being, somewhat, considerate if it's mentioned. The sergeant walks her back to her seat and he returns to sitting across from her, blaster pistol in hand.
Lana turns the shuttle away from the asteroid belt, and has the thrusters return to full throttle. She turns her head further away from where Tharan is as she readies the hyperdrive, anger prevalent on her face. She mumbles to him, "Sir, are you ready?" Tharan doesn't even bother acknowledging the bounty hunter as he grabs the system's handle and eases it forward. The Lambda shuttle soon vanishes into hyperspace.