LordDarthYoda - It certainly looks like Teff sold them out. Has he though? Tyra certainly got the Sascha treatment in that last chapter...a welcome change! Tyra's certainly a much different character than she once was. Always looking for an exit...
SpeechBubbleme - Whoops, I knew that spelling looked wrong, but I eyeballed it and it seemed right. This chapter coming up will not be an action chapter, but they'll be some coming up soon...
A/N - Short chapter this time, thanks to Canadian Thanksgiving.
As always, Please enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 31: Problems
Sascha Whitestar woke up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat. He'd been having a series of strange nightmares that featured Tyra. None of his dreams had made anything resembling sense, and the only thing he remembered now was a sense of foreboding and pain coming from Tyra. While his connection with his childhood best friend was not as strong as it had been when he was younger, it was still very strong.
When Sascha got his senses back fully he opened himself up to the Force and searched for Tyra. He found her easily enough, but Tyra's presence was rather weak, which indicated that she had either been hurt, or she was asleep. Or maybe both.
The only unfortunate thing was...there was nothing he could do. He was aware of what Tyra had been doing yesterday, she had been trying to break into Dooku's estate and steal information. So, the logical conclusion was that Tyra's mission had gone wrong in some way that he couldn't even comprehend yet. The mere thought of Tyra in Dooku's hands was enough to make has stomach turn.
The hardest part of being a Jedi was the knowledge that you could do nothing. All he could do was play his part.
Sascha opened up his connection in the Force to Tyra. It was a weak connection, given the distance between them. But into that connection he poured all the confidence and reassurance that he could muster.
Hang on Tyra, we'll make this right. Whatever went wrong, we'll fix it.
Tyra Harker had a long unpleasant night. She had been fading in and out of sleep the whole night, as if her mind couldn't believe where she now was.
Tyra Harker was not a person of faith. It wasn't in her heart to believe in something beyond what she could sense. So she had no faith that she was going to be rescued, so she simply knew that it was up to her to get out of this predicament.
How she was going to manage to do that was currently beyond her understanding.
She hadn't seen anyone since that Ventress had attacked her last night, and she was still beating herself up over how she had let someone sneak up on her. She should have been paying more attention. Now she was in a situation that she had not planned to be in, a captive of Dooku after breaking into his house. It seemed unlikely that Dooku would just let her go...and there was no way that she was going to escape, not from a ray-shielded room and with a bum knee.
Tyra stretched out her leg. Her knee was really borked. Maybe she had torn an ACL or an MCL during the fight, but that meant that she was going to have limited mobility for awhile. Tyra gritted her teeth as she pulled up her pants, just rolling the fabric over her knee. Her knee looked a bit swollen, but otherwise looked normal. The problem when she tried to put weight on it, it would just about collapse under her.
Tyra heard footsteps in the distance and quickly rolled her pant leg back down. She remained seated on the floor though, because there was nowhere for her to sit, not even a chair.
After a few moments, Dooku appeared. He was dressed in a long dark robe and looked particularly foreboding. Her lightsaber was clasped to his hip and it pained Tyra dearly to see it there.
"Usually you stand and bow to your elders," said Dooku.
Tyra was usually defiant, and she would usually just say nothing. Today, her defiance was gone. "I'm not sure I can stand," Tyra said sadly. "Your...apprentice really messed up my knee."
"I will send you a medical droid after we are done here."
"Thank you," she said.
Dooku smiled, "A polite young Padawan now. I think you were much different last night. Let us not beat around the bush, you were caught sneaking around my property yesterday. You are now a common thief. What do you have to say for yourself."
Tyra looked at the floor, "I was only doing as I was told."
"Your Master told you to spy on me?"
"He was supposed to be distracting you," Tyra said, deliberately shading the truth, slightly.
"I see," said Dooku. "What specifically did he tell you to do?"
"He told me to find out whatever I could about you and what your intentions are. Where your money is going, who you are making connections with."
Dooku chortled lightly, "Yoda and Mace Windu must really be desperate if they are sending 4th rate Jedi Knights and 8th rate Padawans after me."
Tyra said nothing.
"Silence is probably what Yoda would tell you to do at the moment. It will not serve you here," said Dooku. "I control your fate, and I want answers. Should you answer the questions I give you honestly, I may find it in my heart to just release you."
Tyra found a little courage, "If I thought you were capable of honesty, I might give you the answers you want. You have a choice, Dooku. A Jedi would turn me over to the proper authorities. A cruel man would keep me here in this cell and let me rot. Your choice." Tyra shrugged, "Though, you know that my Master knows where I am. I don't think the Jedi will just let you hold me captive here forever."
Dooku seemed unperturbed by her threat, "I will make the decisions here, young one."
Tyra nodded. Trying to manipulate Dooku was probably a waste of time. It had been worth a try, however.
"I will ask one question for now, Padawan Harker. Where is your Master?"
"Probably figuring out a way to get me out of here," she said. "We had a room rented nearby. If you want the address...good luck."
"Loyalty to your Master is a fine trait," said Dooku. "Misguided but fine."
Tyra didn't rise to the bait.
Dooku gave her another once over before shrugging imperceptibly, "Not much of a conversationalist, I suppose. Well, we will have plenty more time to chat later. I will send the medical droid to you. Don't try to escape or Ventress will be upset with you."
"Well we wouldn't want that," she said sarcastically.
Dooku left her alone.
Tyra sighed. This sucked. Dooku hadn't even brought her breakfast. She should have asked for a bed. Or a pillow.
Aurine Brynar was not very happy about the way this mission was turning out. The four Jedi had gathered together for a brief meeting to discuss their next moves, interrupting the Padawans usual schedule of attending the Summit. Sascha had already seemed to have known that something had gone wrong last night, probably because he and Tyra were still very close. He had no idea of what exactly had gone wrong though and the depth of the problem that faced them at the moment.
As the two Padawans entered the little apartment that she and Tiplee were renting, both young Jedi looked very sober and downcast, neither of them exhibited their usual enthusiasm.
The Jedi Knights got right to the point. After explaining what she had observed last night, Tiplee fell silent.
"So we have Teff inside with Dooku, which is good, and Tyra inside with Dooku, which is extremely bad," Aurine summarized. "What do we do?"
Sascha shook his head, "I'm not in any position to offer advice. My friendship with Tyra compromises my ability to offer rational options."
Nara nodded her head as well, "I'm in the same boat as Sascha. My heart tells me to do whatever it takes to rescue Dooku. But that's not a realistic option."
It was unlike both Padawans to simply pass the buck when presented with options, but Aurine applauded their maturity to come right out and say that they could not be trusted. "Thank you, Padawans. Tiplee, what do you think?"
Tiplee looked at the floor for a moment, "I think that we should do the irrational. We've been trying to out think Dooku, but he knows how we think. So lets not act like Jedi. Let's act like desperate parents trying to get their kid back. Let's just storm his compound and get Tyra out of there."
The normally placid Tiplee suggesting the most direct course of action took everyone in the room aback.
"We can't fight Dooku," said Nara, perhaps stating the obvious. "It's his home and he won't take kindly to being attacked."
"Then we don't fight him," said Tiplee. "He's still due to speak the the Summit tomorrow. So we know he'll be away from his home. That gives us a window to strike."
"But...it'll be the middle of the day," said Sascha. "People will see us."
"Does it really matter?" asked Tiplee. "We must think of the central fact. We cannot leave Tyra Harker in the hands of Count Dooku. For one, she threatens the cover of Teff Nal'ma. Second, we cannot leave a Jedi in the hands of Dooku. Three, Tyra may have important information for us to recover. And lastly," Tiplee paused, "We cannot let Dooku win. We must send a message that he Jedi Order is aware of what he is doing and will not stand for it."
"For all we know we are playing into Dooku's hands," Aurine pointed out
"We cannot be paralyzed because Dooku is smart," said Tiplee.
"We should contact the Temple and ask for instructions," she said, feeling lame even as she suggested the option.
"It will take us an hour to even explain our situation," repeated Tiplee. "Plus, Master Yoda warned us that we cannot trust anyone. We could contact the Temple and then put our whole mission in peril."
Aurine had to admit that Tiplee was right.
"Any objections to this plan?" Aurine asked.
Neither Padawan so much as twitched.
"So how do we do this smart?" she asked.
Sascha rubbed the back of his head, "Well, first thing is first, we need to make sure that Dooku doesn't get involved."
"So that means one of us will be assigned to keep him away from his home," Tiplee said. "Nara?"
"No," Nara said quickly. "Sascha is a better choice."
"I don't mind being a distraction," Sascha said with a small smile. "I'm also the best choice to go and get the Emerald Dream ready for an immediate liftoff."
Aurine nodded at her apprentice. While she never liked to coddle Sascha, he was wise enough to know his limitations. Plus, he was the best pilot out of the four remaining Jedi.
"So that leaves myself, Tiplee and Nara to free Tyra," she said. "We will be going up against this...Ventress you talked about, I suppose?"
Sascha nodded, "She's a Force user, probably a which from Dathomir, which is odd because they don't tend to leave their planet very often. She's pretty dangerous, I would say."
"But no match for two Jedi Knights," said Tiplee.
"Yes, I suppose," he said. "But she is not to be underestimated. She's confident...and she's probably been trained by Dooku.
"We won't take her lightly," promised Aurine. "We understand that anyone who is with Dooku is dangerous."
"So what do you want me to do?" asked Nara.
"You'll be with us," Tiplee said.
Nara nodded, and was silent again.
Aurine looked over at Tiplee, "Do you just want to do this the most direct way possible?"
Tiplee paused for a moment, scratching at her chin with a long, red, finger, "The quickest route is the most direct route. And we will need to be quick."
"Storming the gates of Dooku's estate seems a bit too direct," said Sascha.
"But it's something he won't expect," Aurine pointed out.
"I agree with that," said Sascha, smiling a little. At least his sense of humour was still in tact.
"So Sascha, your job will be to keep an eye on Dooku and keep him away from his estate. Inform us when he leaves the Summit and then make for the Emerald Dream and wait for instructions," said Tiplee.
"Understood," said Sascha.
"As for the three of us women, we'll invade the compound, taking my speeder as transportation," said the Rishati. "Our primary goal will be the rescue of Tyra Harker. Secondary goals would include potential rescue of Teff Nal'ma, though I admit that it may be impossible to know if he is planning to remain undercover or not."
"That will be the toughest part," grimaced Aurine. "If Teff is truly committed to his ruse, and he is nothing if not committed, then he may oppose the rescue of his apprentice."
"We'll have to improvise," said Tiplee.
"Fun," muttered Nara.
"Everyone in agreement?" asked Tiplee.
The assembled Jedi nodded.
"Sascha, you'll go back to the Summit. If they ask about Nara, just say she is ill,"
Sascha nodded, "Good luck, Masters," he bowed slightly to Nara, "Good luck, Nara."
"There is no such thing as luck," replied Nara.
"Then I've done nothing wrong," Sascha quipped. "I'll be going now." She and Sascha shared one last look before her Padawan made his way out of their little apartment and back to the Summit.
Aurine looked at the other two Jedi, "Well, we have planning to do. And not much time to do it in."
After their discussion, Nara pulled her Master aside. "Master can I speak with you?"
"Always, Padawan," replied her Master, smiling a little at her. The two Jedi went to her tiny bedroom to talk.
Nara gathered her composure, took a deep breath and then spoke. "I've been having...thoughts...about Sascha," she admitted feeling really silly to be having this conversation.
"Is this really the time to be discussing this?" Tiplee asked, her eyes showing off a bit of amusement.
"I'm just...a bit confused," she admitted. "I think I have feelings for Sascha. And I think he has feelings for me. I'm just...not sure what to do."
"Do you want my advice as a Jedi Knight or my advice as a mentor?"
Nara stood there, a bit confused at what was happening in this conversation. "Can't I get both?"
"It is my advice as a Jedi that having feelings for a specific boy is difficult and confusing. As your mentor, I think that you and Sascha are an excellent pair and that you should pursue him."
"I...what?"
Tiplee smiled again, "Sascha Whitestar is a nice young man, one that would make an excellent boyfriend for you. I feel like you've had feelings for him for a long time, adding a little physical intimacy probably won't lead to any more attachment. You two are a good fit, you have my blessing to move forward."
"...move forward?"
Tiplee glanced at her fingernails, examining them for hidden dirt. Obviously she wasn't surprised to be having this conversation and considered it to be no big deal, "Discuss with Sascha first, of course. And after the mission too, this is no time for distractions."
Her Master started to walk away, but Nara put out her hand to stop her from leaving, "Wait, you are saying that you are okay with me...and Sascha?"
"I'm saying that you have already been emotionally involved with Sascha since...oh, about the time you became friends. I fail to see how adding a little kissing and cuddling could push you into attachment. You two have remained unattached despite your strong emotional bond. Just be careful, okay?"
Tiplee gave her a quick pat on the back and left her alone in her room, probably more confused than she had been just a minute ago.
But her heart seemed to leap at the idea that she and Sascha could..well...be something.
"Okay idiot, you can think about that once Tyra's safe, okay?" she muttered to herself.
Nothing mattered until the mission was over, Nara told herself.