Happy 50th Birthday to Star Trek. I'm glad to bring this piece on such a happy occasion. Though it may be more Star Wars at the moment, there is still the spirit of Star Trek in this piece (I hope). I hope you enjoy it and that this will be up at the exact anniversary moment of 8:30 PM EDT. Live Long and Prosper.
Twilight Warrior 627: Thank you. There will be a few more iconic scenes in this chapter. This is set right after the Empire's formation, so it would be different than if they had these conversations in A New Hope. Jade's support is fueled by family feelings and her guilt about what happened with Carly, so she's going to be protective of him.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Jade is protective of Freddie as they are family and she sees it as her duty to Carly's memory. She's not necessarily opposed to Freddie moving on, it's just that she doesn't know Tori and sees that she has a definite agenda that could cloud such feelings to use him in the future.
Oh, if those visions are right, her romantic pursuit of Freddie is the least of her worries.
Rating: High T, Violence
Chapter 13: Who's Afraid of the Sith Lord
"We would be delighted to have dinner with you…"
Freddie smiled as he led Tori to have a seat on his cattycorner right and pulled out the chair for her as he knew he needed to be able to face the mechanically housed individual at the other end of the table. He had been in tougher spots than this one and had the assuring confidence that all starship captains had to possess if they really could it in the center seat.
He turned to his left and pulled out the chair to his cattycorner left and motioned for Jade to take it.
The doctor smiled to him, showing her obvious concern about their situation then took the seat. Shapiro followed by taking the seat next to Jade on her left and Beck followed to have a seat next to the science officer while Dusty and Sinjin took the same side as Tori.
As the group got situated in their seats and the servers walked behind the seats on either side lengthwise of the table to pour drinks for the guests and lay out the plates of food, four of the six armored troopers broke off into pairs to stand against the walls behind the ones sitting on the sides of the table, leaving two to flank behind Vega.
Freddie took a seat at the end of the table, getting comfortable in his seat then looked to Vega with a disarming smile. "So… as I was saying, I'm delighted to have dinner with you. We can discuss terms for your withdraw from Federation space and reparations for the damage you've caused with your invasion."
The obvious disadvantage of engaging in a verbal contest with someone wearing a mask was that one couldn't see any facial indications of a person's subconscious mind and in this case, nor see the person's eyes, but that didn't deter Freddie in the least.
Several tense seconds filled the room as they waited for Vega's response. Freddie remained calmed as he took a sniff from his drink and asked, "I assumed that this isn't poisoned. It would kind of defeat the purpose of us having a nice dinner."
Vega calmly answered, "The food has not been touched I can assure you, but Captain Benson, you certainly are a presumptuous one."
Freddie took the sip of his drink, reminding him of the flavored fruit drinks that his late wife enjoyed then answered, "I wouldn't describe my action as being presumptuous. I was just stating the situation: I'm the one with all the power in the room."
Tori turned a look to Freddie as if he had lost his mind.
Dusty had to crack a smile in admiration of the sheer balls the Star Fleet captain possessed talking to the Sith Lord in such a manner.
Vega's mask obviously hid the Sith Lord's expression, but there was a slight shift in the breathing that indicated he was perhaps amused and curious, "Why would you say that?"
Freddie looked down at his meal, appearing to be some form of bird and instantly wondering if it tasted like chicken. He picked up his fork and knife and cut a peace of the meat. He placed the morsel in his mouth, lazily taking his time to taste it. "Mmm, it does taste like chicken…" He picked up his glass again and took another sip then answered, "We're your chance for the Empire to peacefully conclude this conflict with the Federation without breaking itself. You have to give us reasonable terms of course or we'll simply bleed your empire dry of blood and treasure even if you conquer every planet in the Federation."
"You overestimate your position Captain and that of your Federation."
The starship captain smiled, took another bite from his meal, this time looking something like potatoes then answered, "I'm quite well aware of the population differences between our star nations. I don't hesitate to acknowledge that you have a number of advantages over us, but we're scattered across space and there are the Klingons, the Gorn, the Romulans, the Cardassians… then the Tholians… that's not even considering the minor powers scattered across tens of thousands of light-years that will fight you. Even if we don't coordinate our efforts, you'll be pulled every which way and even with your superior FTL drive, you'll be in a quagmire for decades."
"Or we could go to your homeworld and bombard it to a molten ball? That would certainly dissuade you from any further resistance."
The option visibly unsettled Jade and Robbie while Tori felt sympathy for the pair. There had been a few heavy bombardments during the Clone Wars, but nothing to that extend, but wasn't out the capabilities of the Empire.
Freddie didn't look disturbed at all and calmly replied, "Oh, how will that play out for your media? Billions of innocent people—especially fellow humans—wiped out by fire, especially since the party line is that you're helping free us from 'alien' influence. Butchering billions certainly isn't helping that case. They'd realize they have a madman running their Empire. Your Emperor's closest advisors would have to assassinate him for the Senate not to remove him and them. They'd have to do it just to make sure something like that wouldn't happen to one of their own planets."
Vega remained impassive, the heavy breathing filling the room.
The captain took another sip from his drink then added, "Your empire is based on fear and that fear will turn on you internally and whatever fear that we would feel from your actions would turn into hatred and you understand the power of hate, being a Sith and all… and we'd strike you down with it."
The armored figure apparently just stared at Freddie, his heaving breathing the only thing indicating that he wasn't a statue.
The others cautiously started on their meals with the lull in the discussion except for Dusty as he was fascinated with the exchange.
Vega finally spoke, "You'd make a fine Sith if the Force was with you."
Dusty relaxed in his seat and lazily remarked, "I wouldn't be so sure… someone has to be looking out for him to have gotten this far. It's far more subtle with him."
Freddie reasserted himself into the conversation and answered in a dismissive tone, "You'll pardon me if I don't take that as a compliment, but what do you say to my proposal? Cease your advancement and waging war against the Federation and pay us reparations… you've certainly caused enough death and destruction to satisfy whatever bloodlust you have."
Vega answered with a booming voice, "You hate me, don't you?"
"I'm justifiably angry at you and your empire for what you've done to us."
"The Empire wants order and the only way that is to happen is under its banner—"
Freddie was quick to interrupt, "You don't want order… The Federation is an orderly society where we have peace and justice… and one where we have freedom that allows for things to get a little messy and disorderly. We don't always get it right, but we strive to make it better every day since its foundation. You want slavery and I won't be a slave… I won't be your slave."
The armored figure visibly flinched as if he had been struck.
The shift in posture wasn't missed by anyone, seeing that he had hit a sore spot and Freddie saw it as a possible opening to press his point. "You don't like that accusation do you? You truly believe what you're doing is right."
Vega gathered himself and answered, "I believe that order brings peace, justice, stability and safety that the Empire offers. Your side of the galaxy is chaotic with powers jostling for position and threatening to go to war and wipe out each other at a moment's notice."
"I won't deny that the galaxy is a dangerous place and there are plenty of people out there that don't want peace, but subjugation—as your Empire being a prime example. However, you make some of the same mistakes as another group of powerful beings that want order: that they have the right to impose that order and that there is somehow a moral equivalence between the various powers as to why we bicker and fight. As violent and as messy as it could be in the meantime, we can solve our problems all on our own and not at the point of your gun… under your yoke of oppression. Our ideals… well some of them are damn well right and others are damn well wrong… Freedom is right and tyranny is wrong."
The boogeyman of the Rebel Alliance sat ramrod straight and perhaps staring coldly at the Star Fleet captain.
Captain Benson returned the stare, completely confident in his belief in the ideals of the Federation and without a hint of fear facing the monster of the Galactic Empire.
The others in the dinning room waited with apprehension to see what would happen next, how the pair's standoff would end as it just wasn't a matter of personalities, but one of primal ideology.
The standoff was interrupted with a grey dressed officer approached Vega's left from the back entrance of the room and whispered to him. He turned his masked face to the officer and instructed loud enough for the others to hear, "Allow it to land."
He turned his attention back to the group and announced, "It would appear that one of your friends is here to rescue you. I assume it's Trina Vega. The Emperor will be pleased to see her…"
Tori stiffened in her chair then shouted, "Don't you dare do anything to her!"
Vega motioned to the guards on either side of him walked around his left and behind the table to stand behind Tori. He commented with a hint of pleasure in his voice, "I think it's time for us to leave before anyone tries any silly heroics. I don't want you or Trina harmed."
Jade began to stand up and object, despite how reckless the motion was standing between two pairs of armed shock troops, "You're not taking her—"
Vega lifted his right hand brought his thumb and pointer finger together and the next moment, Jade's words were instantly cut off.
Jade began to cough then her airway was completely closed. She grabbed her throat and her eyes started dilating with her lips starting to turn blue.
One trooper grabbed Tori by the elbow and yanked her onto her feet as the door at the end of the room opened up. The second trooper grabbed her other arm to help drag her long as she was twisting and turning with all her might to get out of their grip. "Let me go! Let me go!"
Freddie's attention was split between the troopers pulling Tori away and Jade being choked by an unknown force. His indecision lasted for a fraction of a second that it took him to realize that Vega was behind it. He jumped to his feet, throwing the chair back and shouted, "Let her go!"
The black armored individual hissed in a menacing tone that suggested he took pleasure in the doctor's pain, "No."
The sheer indifference if not the pleasure in Vega's voice as he hurt Jade sent off a primal instinct in the starship captain, causing him to lift his left foot up onto the table and practically leap onto it then charge down the center of it towards the armored figure.
The pair of armored troopers standing on either side of the table raised their weapons ready to fire on him, but Dusty raised his right hand and flung back his left one over his shoulder, telekinetically striking the Skynauts in front of him and behind, sending them flying back and striking the wall at considerable force.
Vega threw out his hand to Force push Freddie away, but the starship captain unexpectedly just powered through the wall of will and charged him. The armored Sith was shocked that the young man somehow simply ignored the will of the Force, but didn't have time to respond as Freddie leapt from the end of the table and shoulder collided with Vega in the center of his chest, sending them tumbling backwards.
Vega's distraction released his grip on Jade, causing her to fall forward, her forearms thankfully preventing her from colliding face first against the table. Her burning lungs were immediately filled with air as she desperately sucked in some breath. Robbie reached around her shoulder blades to grab her right shoulder and pull her down from her seat to take cover as he saw from the corner of his eye Dusty throwing back his seat as he mirrored Freddie's initial move.
The excommunicated Jedi cleared his seat then turned, drawing his blaster from his holster in a smooth motion to train it on one of the downed Skynauts behind him. He fired a shot directly into the chest plate, putting down the trooper before he could get back up then turned on the other one to put a shot in his chest.
Sinjin pulled his blaster at the same time and fired on one trooper across from him and behind the Star Fleet officers that was climbing back onto his feet, striking him squarely in the chest and causing him to collapse backwards against the wall.
The second trooper began pulling himself onto his hands and knees and lifted his head to see Robbie and Jade huddled together under the table. He raised his blaster rifle with one hand, readying to fire, but Robbie kicked out with the heel of his boot, striking the trooper in the face. He reeled back and fell back onto his right thigh. He tried raising his weapon again just as Robbie was reaching into his jacket to pull out his phaser.
The Star Fleet officer was faster, striking the trooper in the chest, but the phaser was on stun. The shot jolted the trooper, but he quickly recovered due to the trooper's armor and he was raising his weapon again. Robbie attempted to adjust the setting on his phaser, but it was unnecessary as Jade slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the palm phaser and thumbed rolled over the setting dial. She didn't pay attention to how high she set the phaser before pressing the trigger. A blue beam left the emitter and blasted a hole completely through the chest plate, through the trooper and out the back armor plate.
Jade flinched at the sight of killing the trooper in such a gruesome manner.
Robbie reached for the other fallen trooper's weapon and grabbed it while his other hand gripped around Jade's left bicep to pull her up onto her feet.
At the end of the table, Vega and Freddie's tumble turned into a roll with the heavier combatant until Vega was on his back and their hands were at each other's throats. Vega was able to get his right hand around Freddie's throat and began to squeeze. He may have had a mechanical hand to give him a greater advantage, but Freddie was pissed and he had a bionic right hand after an accident when he was a teenager. He grabbed and squeezed Vega's right and overrode the safeguards and began to crush it.
The Sith Lord growled as there were sensors in the hand to register sensation, including pain.
Freddie roared out a primal yell as he pressed his left palm against the underside of the chin of the helmet, either to push it off or snap the Sith Lord's neck in the process.
Vega used his free hand to grab Freddie's shirt and jacket collar then jerk with the use of his bionic hand to his left to force him to roll off of him. He quickly got back on top of Freddie and tried to reach for his throat, but Freddie kept his hand under the armored figure's chin to push up, allowing him to get his left leg up. He pressed it against the control panel to the environmental controls to his suit and unknown to Vega, was bionically enhanced from the same accident that damaged his hand, and was able to push and fling him back. Vega soared through the air for a second before crashed against the back wall in a heap.
The starship captain rolled onto his feet and shouted, "Another time Vega!"
He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out his phaser. He cranked the setting up on it then pointed to the ceiling to fire. The yellowish-orange beam struck the ceiling and carved a line from the disintegrated material as he swept his arm across.
The ceiling began to collapse overhead and between him and Vega. He turned in an instant and ran to catch up with the others as they chased down the troopers that had taken Tori.
Trina had approached the planet without incident, not even running into the patrol craft that had molested the Falcon, and made an unmolested landing onto the floating complex. She opened the canopy and glanced around, trying to confirm with her eyes what her sensors told her was a lack of lifeforms in the immediate area.
She climbed out of the cockpit and cautiously climbed down as the relatively easy landing that set her nerves to a heightened alert. She drew her blaster from her thigh holster then cautiously walked down the causeway and approached the door.
Artoo lifted out of his control slot and rolled off the end of the fighter, using his hidden thrusters to make a soft landing on the platform. He rolled around the ship and quickly joined Trina as she made her way down the causeway.
The fighter pilot had no idea where Tori could be in such a massive complex, so she closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. Nug Nug said she could see her friends through the Force, so she attempted to feel her friend's presence and hope to be drawn to her. She picked up the panicked fear of her friend and zoomed onto her general location like a flare in the night.
She took off like a shot toward the door, opened it then turned down a white hallway into the general direction of her senses. She had ran down about a hundred meters when she heard the distinctive sound of blaster and some unfamiliar high pitch whirling sound, unknown to her to be phaser fire. She picked up the pace to run towards it, assuming that it was Tori and the others she saw in her vision were fighting skynauts and needed her help.
Trina stopped just at the entrance way to the dinning room, her hearing the sound of the blaster fire in the distance and the sound of rolling debris on her right. She turned to see the saw a pile of rubble being pushed aside then the tall black armored figure that had haunted most Rebels.
Vega lifted his uninjured hand and pulled away parts of the debris at the time then stood up.
Once he got his bearings, he spotted the prize that he had been scurrying the galaxy. He reached for his belt and pulled out his lightsaber, but didn't activate it. He slowly stepped back towards the back entrance of the room.
Trina's first instinct was to go at him, but the sound of the running blaster fight was behind her, thus that was the most likely direction of Tori and the point was to get her away from him. She turned and started dashing away from him towards the distance blaster fire.
However, after taking only a few dozen steps a giant metal door came down, cutting off not only her, but Artoo rolling down the hallway to catch up with his mistress just before he could reach the edge of the foyer.
She turned to see that the way she had come was cut off then she heard several more echoes of doors slamming shut. She turned to look back at Vega, but he was gone. She grimaced in anger and started into the room and towards the only visible exit, making the obvious choice of which way to go to catch up with Vega.
On the other side of the slammed door, Artoo came to a stop and whistled out what could be considered by humanoid life as a cry of worry and distress. The sound was followed by one that sounded like a long sigh then he turned and started rolling away from the door. He extended his periscope sensor and started tracking down the blaster fire, assuming Tori and the strangers would be involved with them.
After following a practical maze of corridors, sensing Vega's dark presence while being one step behind, she found herself in the lower level of the building on the facility. The surroundings switched from the white floor and walls to a dull grey metal with the lights switching over to a red color. She could see various steam pipes traveling up and down the wall with the occasional bursts of hissing white steam.
She continued down the hallway for a dozen more meters until she saw an overhead beam of light from an opening to the ceiling. She cautiously walked towards it then stopped in the circle, looking up to see if she could spot anything. The next moment there was a slight jarring under her feet and she began to rise, realizing that it was a lift.
Once the lift reached the next level, she whipped around with her blaster, ready to fire on anything hostile. She quickly gathered her bearings, realizing she was inside some large room with a few staircases leading to catwalks. The room was dark like the causeway, illuminated with an eerie red shade of lighting and littered with a few more vertical pipes that let out the occasional puff of steam.
She continued pushing forward, heading to one of the stairways, still hoping to catch up with Vega because if she could get him, she could use him to get her and the others out of here. As she made her way through the room, the steam from the various pipes began to puff out more often and last longer, causing with moisture in the air to build up and start obscuring her vision.
However, the steam could not hide the dark imposing figure standing on the landing at the top of a stairway that split off into two separate ways. She paused momentarily, eyeing the figure that she knew had to spot her, but waited for her. She passed a quick glance at her blaster then holstered it then reached for her lightsaber hanging from her utility belt. She rolled the cylinder in her hand, getting a comfortable feel of it in her hand and letting out some nervous energy.
Vega calmly stated, "The Force is with you, young Vega…" His voice dropped to a mix of contempt and disappointment, "…but you are not a Jedi yet."
Anger flared up in Trina at hearing the armored figure mock her family name, a reminder that after the Emperor's enforcer had murdered her father, he had took on the name as a way of mocking his victim and claim total victory over him and his family.
Trina's nostrils flared as walked up the steps to meet him on equal footing then raised her weapon and ignited it, the blue beam extending about a meter long.
Darth Vega replied by activating his saber, the crimson beam shining off his polish armor and giving him a more ominous look.
The starfighter pilot lunged at him with the blade, but he easily swatted it away to his right and took a step to his left to sidestep his opponent's momentum. Trina recovered and strikes out again and swept out to her right in a horizontal cut, but Vega moved the end of his blade down to the floor and blocked the strike.
The group of Star Fleet officers and freighter crew and Beck were about a dozen meters behind the troopers desperately trying to get the princess away from them. They reached a doorway and as soon as they passed, the doors slammed shut behind them.
Freddie stopped at the door and looked at the control panel, intuitively understanding the layout and attempted to open the door. After a few key strokes, the panel beeped in what sounded like a negative reaction and the door failed to open.
"Damn," he swore then glanced to the others, realizing that Beck had followed them. He took two steps then grabbed him by the collar and demanded, "Where are they going?!"
Beck hesitated to answer, a very foolish thing to do at the moment with Freddie's worked up temper.
The Star Fleet captain switched the phaser to his left hand and reached out and grabbed him by the throat with his artificial enhanced hand and lifted him straight up as for as his arm extended, letting the city administrator's feet helplessly dangle around Freddie's knees. He screamed out, "I said where!"
Beck choked out and clawed, "Landing platform twenty-three… that's where they landed their shuttle…"
Freddie let go of him and the administrator dropped like a heap onto the floor. He growled down and pressed his foot on the businessman's chest, "Which way?!"
Beck rubbed his throat, greatly shocked that he could be so strong. He figured he most have some kind of enhancements after that squeeze. He motioned to his right. "That way, we can get around any security doors and catch up with them."
The starship captain let his foot up and dashed in the direction that Beck had pointed. The others stared after the Captain and Robbie passed a sympathetic gaze to the sprawled out host. He called out over his shoulder, "Sorry about that… he can get a little angry at times."
Beck picked himself up on his feet and started running after them, thinking that it would be best to stick with them to get off the station and away from the Imperials. He did notice from the corner of his eye that Dusty dashed off into another direction. He knew Dusty wasn't one to cut and run, but had some other plan to get them out of this mess.
Inside the industrial room, Trina and Vega were locked in combat on the platform that overlooked the chamber down below. The Rebel fighter was fueled by her anger from the harm he was intending to inflict on her friend, lashing out with powerful strikes in thinking she could overpower him.
Vega responded to her aggressive drive with expert defensive blocks and tactical back steps, giving her ground. He answered one of her downward swipes with a deflection to his left then a shoulder drive to her chest, sending her tumbling backwards onto her back and knocking the wind out of her.
Vega chuckles in a raspy voice, "You have learned much, young one."
Trina jumped back on her feet and held her lightsaber steady in a defensive posture to counter any strike he might take. She grinned and answered, "You'll find I'm full of surprises."
The dark armored figure made two quick strikes, forcing the blade aside then hooking it with a few sweeps to send it out of her hand. He swung down to literally cut her off at the legs, but Trina jumped backwards.
The young in-training Jedi lost her footing and tumbled backwards to roll down the steps back down to the main level of the circular chamber. She rolled onto her side and shook her head, trying to shake off the shock and mild pain from the landing. She looked up just in time to see Vega jump down at her, his cape opening up to make him look like a giant bird-of-prey coming down on top of her.
Trina's eyes went wide and she rolled away just as the Sith Lord landed with a hard thud of his boots on the metal floor. She finished rolling to a crouched position and directed a defiant gaze at Vega.
Vega hissed out towards the young warrior as he slowly approached her, "Your destiny lies with me, Vega. Sikowitz knew this to be true."
Trina matched his steps in walking backwards and shook her head and shouted back, "No!"
As Vega had been distracting her, a hydraulic elevator cover quietly opened behind her. He lunged at her, causing her to take a step back and slipped back, letting out a cry of surprise as she fell into the opening.
There was a rumble in the chamber and the next moment, freezing steam filled the tube in which Trina fell and rose up and obscured Vega's sight. He Vega turned to the side and deactivated his saber, commenting disappointedly, "All too easy. Perhaps you are not as strong as the Emperor thought."
As the billowing steam continued to rise to the ceiling and billow over the edge of the opening and onto the floor, a blur soared through it and to the ceiling. Vega turns to watch as liquid metal began to pour into the pit, but noticed something swinging above him. He looked up and saw that Trina had leapt fifteen feet straight up and was hanging from various hoses above the chamber.
One could imagine Vega smiling under his mask as he remarked, "Impressive...most impressive."
Trina let go of the hose and dropped to the other side of the circular pit from the armored figure. She reached out to her side and her fallen lightsaber that had fallen somewhere after being disarmed lifted off the floor and flew to her hand. She activated it as soon as she felt it in her palm and swung it at Vega, but he reactivated his blade and blocked the strike.
Vega praised the young woman with a hint of pride in his voice, "Sikowitz has taught you well. You have controlled your fear... now release your anger."
The young fighter pilot had felt it earlier, letting it fuel her initial attack, but she reined it in, not wanting to give into it and let him have an edge on her with him already having experience and power in his favor. She surprised him by taking a step backwards, carefully keeping her guard up as she moved in a corkscrew manner towards the edge of the circular platform.
Once Vega got close enough, Trina lashed out with a series of thrusts, forcing Vega to counter and parry them, but giving up ground towards the center of the room as it continued to be filled with steam.
Vega hissed out, "Only your hatred can destroy me!" He followed up with a wide horizontal strike, but instead of parrying it away, Trina somersaulted over it and gracefully landed behind him. She lashed out with a series of swipes and lunges at him, putting him on the defensive and losing ground until he reached the edge of the platform and tumbled backwards into the dark caldron of pipes and industrial fixtures.
Trina took a few moments to catch her breath as she realized she poured a lot of her energy into the aggressive attack then walked to the edge and looked down, seeing if she could spot her opponent. She knotted her sweating brow, bits of her loose brown hair she had put in a pony tail matting to it, when she failed to see any sign of him. She deactivated her lightsaber and reattached the end of it to her belt then had a seat on the edge of the platform before carefully lowering herself down the pit.
Trina walked around the circumference of the lower level of the platform, keeping her eyes pealed for any sign of the Emperor's right hand man. She stopped with a circular grate parted in the middle, one half rising and the other half lowering to reveal a lighted tube about two meters high. She took a deep breath then cautiously made her way inside and started down the tube and approached a reactor room that controlled one of the many powerplants for the floating facility.
She stepped out of the tube and reached for her lightsaber to pull it off her belt. As soon as she cleared the tube to step inside the control room, identical grated covering to the one at the other end of the tube closed. She passed a quick glance over her shoulder then proceeded deeper into the room. There were a few circular control consoles and at the side of the room, a large circular window with a metal structure mesh over it similar to the ones on TIE Fighters.
She heard the familiar deep raspy breathing that had given many Rebel troopers nightmares in the shadows. She turned to the source and activated her blade. She side stepped to her right, turning the main access triangular shaped hallway to the room to her back, giving her an avenue of escape if she needed it.
She took the initiative and moved forward for an attack, but a piece of machinery was ripped from the wall by an unseen force and went soaring towards her. She turned just in time and sliced it in half, but quickly turned back to Vega as he lunged at her with a downward stoke. She parries it and sidesteps to her left, turning her side to the window on her left.
Vega takes a step back and motioned with his lightsaber towards a loose piece of equipment that went sailing at the young Jedi in training. She was able to cut that down with her saber, but missed another piece hitting her right side.
Trina gnashed and turned to what she expected was the main source of her attack, but was soon struck again by something on her left shoulder. She turned back again and charged at Vega, engaging in a quick duel of the blades, but soon he pushed back, forcing her to give ground. He whipped his blade down and a small carrying case flew up, striking across the back of her head and sending her stumbling.
She tried to shake her head and clear the pounding and stars from her vision. However, Vega wouldn't give her a chance and started sending other small objects at her, some she was able to cut down, others hitting her in various places until she was bruised and stumbling backwards.
A larger piece of machinery went at her and glanced off her shoulder, sending a wrecking pain through her so sharp that she momentarily thinks her shoulder blade was broken, and went through the large window. The pressure differential between the room and the hollowed bowl of the facility caused the air to blow out the window, taking with it anything lose and out the window.
Vega remained steady, grabbing a nook in the bulkhead and holding on for added stability. Trina wasn't so lucky as she couldn't reach for anything and a piece of debris hit her, knocking her off her feet and out the window. Fortunately, she landed on an under gantry, but rolls and catches herself at the last moment onto the ledge with one hand. She quickly attaches her deactivated saber to her belt then pulled herself back up. She rolls onto the causeway and sucked in breath, relived that she just didn't fall to her death and fighting back the pain from all the objects that hit her in various places.
Trina finally pulled herself onto her feet and started heading down the catwalk, trying not to look down at what looked like a bottomless pit down below. After a dozen yards or so, she reached the foot of a staircase that led up along the back of what looked like a giant vertical tailfin. She soon reached the top and followed the surrounding catwalk to her right, carefully keeping an eye out for her enemy.
She stopped at the end of the fin and took a glance to the open door to presumably a control room. In a blink of an eye, Vega lunged out of the room and Trina lifted her ignited blade to meet his strike. The humming intensified as their blades locked then sparks flew as they disengaged and struck the outer wall of the structure.
Vega turns back onto Trina with a series of strikes that forced her back along another gantry towards the end with an instrument complex of vertical grey tubing sticking out. She defended herself well in deflecting his blows, forcing his blade to strike on either side of her against the guard railings, cutting them in half wherever the blade hit. Soon however, his powerful strikes caused her to tumble backwards and look at the crimson blade inches from her face.
Vega growled, "You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Sikowitz did."
Trina responded by raising her blade and swatting his away then rolling in the opposite direction and back onto her feet. She thrust her energy blade at him while he recovered and struck him in the right shoulder. Fortunately, it was armored, causing sparks and smoke to emanate from it, but he growled anyway in presumable pain of the sudden heat in the armor. He quickly recovered and struck back, forcing her once again to give ground to him.
The young fighter pilot reached the end of the catwalk where there was the curved guard rail and a thin metal beam the led out to the main instrument housing. She made the quick decision to climb around the railing and onto the beam. She held onto the guard rail with her left hand underneath several white tubes that were presumably some kind of sensors, carefully balanced her footing on the beam and defending herself with her blade.
He struck out at her several times and they parry one another until he sliced through the sensors, sending half of them flying away, causing Trina to turn her head away to protect her eyes from the sparks and over extend her arm. He recovered from his downward diagonal strike that sliced through the instruments and swept back up along the same path, catching her wrist and slicing through it. Her severed hand and lightsaber went flying away to fall down to the bottom of the complex.
She shouted in shock more than pain as her nerve endings were destroyed in an instant. She tucked her forearm under her left armpit and slumped down onto her bottom on the narrow beam, still holding onto the guardrail now for dear life.
Vega impatiently stated, "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you."
Trina carefully turned herself around and crawled down to the extreme end with the jutting out instrument complex.
"You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
Trina pulled herself onto her feet, finding her footing on an attached ring at the bottom and holding onto one of the various vertical poles with her left hand. She defiantly shouted back through the pain, "I'll never join you!"
The armored figure verbally pressed on with a near booming voice a clenched fist, "If you only knew the power of the dark side." He lowered his hand and tried a different tactic as he saw the expression on Trina's face was indicating she was figuratively digging her heels into her position. "Sikowitz never told you what happened to your father."
Trina shook her head and shouted over the wind, "He told me enough! He told me you killed him! He took our name after all!"
Vega slightly shook his head and answered, "No… I am your father."
Trina blinked, initially not believing what she heard then the realization dawned on her that she heard him correctly. She shook her head and answered, "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
The black clad enforcer's voice dropped to a near pleading tone, "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
Trina shook her head and screamed, unable to accept his words, "No! No! No!"
Vega pressed on, "Trina… You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and daughter. Come with me. It's the only way." He put his saber away onto his belt and reached out with his hand towards her.
A raging debate took place in her mind, reeling for the fact that in her heart, the Force was telling her that he was telling her the truth, that he was her father and whether or not she should join her by his side. She would be reunited with him and the possibility of ending the war that would save countless lives, including her friends was mighty tempting, but what would she lose in the process? Her soul?
She looked to him with a surprisingly serine expression, but before she could reach any decision, Dusty's voice called out from behind Vega, "Are you sure about that?"
The armored figure turned just in time to see Dusty raise his hand. He was hit with the telekinetic wave and was lifted off his feet and flung over the railing. He went tumbling down the expansive and near bottomless bowel of the underside of the floating complex.
Dusty leaned over the side of the railing and saw the dark figure tumbling as he fell, the wind causing his cape to flutter all about around him. Several seconds later, he witness the Vega be sucked into one of the many red it circular exhaust pipes in the side of the shaft. He dismissively snorted out, hoping Vega would be blown out the bottom of the complex to his death, being crushed by the atmospheric pressure before he ever made it to the core of the planet.
He turned his attention to Trina still hanging on the end of the gantry, shocked at what she just witness, including Vega's fall and being sucked into an exhaust pipe. He grabbed one end of the railing and carefully stepped out on the thin beam to the instrument housing and offered his right hand to her. "Now, you come with me and help me save Tori. That's why you're here aren't you?"
Trina took a moment to recognize that he was one of the people she had seen in her vision, noticed a lightsaber hanging on his belt then realized what he had said. She swallowed her fear and answered, "I don't think I can reach you."
He reassuringly smiled to her and answered, "You won't have to." He turned his palm over and raised it to her. He closed it into a fist and pulled his arm towards his body.
Trina felt a tug over her whole body then was suddenly propelled to him, losing her grip in an instant. She cried out in surprise and fear, but the next moment, she felt his arm around her and they were turning back to the gantry. They fell over with Dusty landing on his left shoulder and protectively holding her in his right arm. They were face to face, just inches apart and Trina huffed out an embarrassing laugh, "Thanks."
He chuckled and pulled them back onto their feet, "Don't mention it. Now let's get to my ship and save that stuck up Princess."
The Star Fleeters, Sinjin and Beck caught up with the troopers dragging Tori to a landing pad and a half a dozen of their fellow soldiers guarding the large open exit out to the platform. They took up what cover they could at the end of the hallway and started firing on the troopers that were standing arrogantly out in the open with the assumption that no one would be foolish to attack them. The arrogant position cost four of them their lives in mere seconds from the blaster and phaser fire of the motley band of heroes.
The other two fired and dove for whatever cover they could find while the others on the landing platform and around the Lambda-shuttle heard the blaster fire and came running. The problem for the two troopers that had survived the initial fire was that there was no cover and Freddie and Sinjin were mighty fine shots, putting them down fairly quickly.
The ones standing guard on the platform arrived and took up positions on either side of the door for cover and opened a hail of fire onto the group.
They ducked for cover and were moderately protected from the fire. Freddie aimed his phaser at one side of the blast door and fired, clipping one in the shoulder at the black body suit and just under his armored shoulder, basically blowing his arm off. The trooper cried out in pain and dropped to his left as Freddie ducked back behind cover. He shouted over to Robbie, "How many are there?"
Robbie remained ducking behind the reached into his pocket and pulled out his mini-tricorder and took a quick reading. He answered in a hasty voice, "I'm reading eight… two carrying away the princess and six at the door in front of us… okay, five at the door.
The Captain fired off another shot, causing the group on his left to duck from the fire. "Any way around them?"
The science officer shook his head and answered, "No."
"Any ideas how to dislodge them?"
Beck leveled the captured rifle at group one on side of the door and fired off a few bolts, clipping one of the troopers in the arm and spinning him to crash onto his back, then shouted, "Anyone have any grenades?"
An idea sprang to Freddie's mind and he turned to Jade. "Jade! I need that phaser I gave you!"
The doctor nodded her head and reached into her pocket, finding the weapon she had used against the skynaut. She made sure the safety was on and set to the lowest setting before tossing it to him.
Freddie caught it then fiddled with the controls in a manner that one was never supposed to set then shouted to the others, "Give me some cover fire!"
The others heeded his advice and fired at once on either side of the opposite door to keep the trooper's heads down.
The troopers responded accordingly, giving Freddie the opportunity to step out in front of the doorway and toss the palm size at one side of the door. The black palm weapon bounced on the floor near their feet, catching the troopers unaware as moments later, the phaser finished building up to overload and exploded as would a considerable grenade.
The explosion took out part of the wall and killed the troopers on that side of the door instantly while the others were laid out, the concussion blast probably killing them.
Freddie led the charge after the retreating skynauts, jumping over the remains of the troopers and burning debris to his left.
The troopers carrying away the princes by this time had an arm looped to hold Tori's arms back and holding onto her feet as they walked to the shuttle.
Tori was kicking and struggling to roll out of their grip, giving the troopers a hard time.
Freddie caught up with them halfway down the causeway and turned his phaser down to maximum stun then aimed towards the trooper with his back turn. He wasn't sure if the stunned phaser shot would penetrate the armor, but he couldn't risk firing a higher setting shot and hitting Tori. He squeezed the trigger and the blue beam left the barrel and struck the trooper in the back, causing him to stumble forward and releasing her legs.
Tori's feet dropped and nearly pulled the trooper holding her down with her. He steadied his feet and continued struggling to pull her along, but she wasn't making it easy for him.
The Imperial shuttle parked at the landing platform lowered its gantry and a half a dozen more troopers exited the vehicle, showing that they overloaded the ship with more troopers than it was designed to handle. They started running to the Star Fleeters and the others, passing the trooper still struggling with the princess, ready to cut them down.
Fortunately, it was an even fight as neither had cover. Each side raised their weapons, hoping their quick drawing a bead on the other would save their lives.
Another source of fire stopped both sides, fire from the lower quad turret of the Millennium Falcon swing around into view overhead of the platform. The cannons opened up on the line of troopers between the Star Fleeters and the Princess, ending most of them in hellish fire that left little chard remains.
The remain sides covered their eyes from the light show and Freddie was the first to recover. He ran through the charged remains of some of the skynauts and took aim at one of the last remaining troopers by Tori and the shuttle. He fired again, striking one in the face and temporarily blinding him.
The three remaining troopers raised their weapons to fire at Freddie, but several blaster bolts soared past him from the others and struck them before they could get a shot off.
One trooper remained, holding Tori with an arm under her armpit and across her upper chest while he held the barrel of the blaster carbine under her neck.
Freddie stopped several yards away and steadied his phaser, aiming for the trooper's face. "Let her go."
"No, drop your weapon!"
They only had their standoff for a few seconds before Tori slipped her foot behind his right calve and threw her body weight backwards. They tumbled backwards with a thud and Tori rolled away to her left.
Freddie ran up to the trooper, placed his foot on his right hand to keep the blaster down and fired into the trooper's face. The shot shorted out all the electronics in the helmet and rattled the trooper as if he had just stood beside a concussion grenade going off.
Tori pulled herself back onto her feet, scuffing the end of the sundress with her heels.
The freighter rotated to bring the starboard side of the ship towards the landing pad and dropped in altitude as if to land, but just hovered partially over the landing pad. The ramp lowered and they didn't need an invitation to start rushing towards the ship.
Freddie dipped his arm under Tori's legs behind her knees then lifted her up into a bridal cradle. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and over his chest. They shared a brief look then he shouted towards Jade and Robbie, motioning his head towards the ship, "Get up there."
Jade and Robbie were the first ones up, followed by Sinjin and Beck. Freddie jogged up the ramp and onto the ship. Sinjin slammed his fist against the ramp control, brining it up and sealing up the ship.
Freddie sat Tori sat her down on her feet, allowing Jade and Robbie to catch her and him to rush towards the cockpit with Sinjin. They found Dusty behind the controls, steering the vessel like a madman. Sinjin slipped into the copilot's seat. The first mate demanded, "So where are we heading?"
Dusty shouted as he steered the ship away from the platform and opened up the throttle to soar away from the floating city, "Anywhere but here!"
Sinjin typed away at the console and answered, "Plotting a course to get us out of the system…"
Dusty nodded, glad they were on the same wavelength, and continued for him, "…then we'll plot a real destination… somewhere with some decent medical facilities."
Jade, Tori and Robbie joined them at the cockpit entrance. The doctor's ears perked up when he mentioned a medical facility.
Dusty called out over his shoulder, "Doctor, I have a patient back there that needs you."
"What?"
"Trina, the girl that Vega talked about, she's pretty banged up and missing her right hand."
Tori covered her mouth with a hand and eyes went as wide as saucers.
Robbie noticed that they were on a pretty linear flight path, remaining in the atmosphere. He called out, "Shouldn't we be trying to break orbit and get out of here?"
The freighter captain shook his head and answered, "I'm reading several large contacts about a planetary diameter out with a dozen smaller contacts leaving them. I'm trying to round the planet enough to get away from them so we can safely jump. Just like we pulled on one of your planets."
Freddie was seated behind Dusty and asked, "Can you get round the planet that fast in the atmosphere?"
"Even with the shields up and the thrust we have, I don't know, but it'll buy us time for those calculations with them entering the atmosphere to chase us."
"Got it!" Sinjin yelled out with a plastered smile.
"Or not…"
Dusty pulled up on the control stick and the bow of the ship rose. A dozen seconds later, the freighter broke from the atmosphere like a bat out of Hell.
A dozen T.I.E. fighters turned from their original heading for Cloud City and towards the Falcon, but they were several thousand kilometers away and had no hope of interception before the ship elongated and jumped into hyperspace.
Millennium Falcon
In Route to Rebel Rendezvous Point
After the ship had jumped outside the Bespin System then plotted a course to the Rebel rendezvous point that Trina gave them after filling them in on the Rebel base having to be abandoned, the crew and passengers (becoming a packed ship in the process) had the opportunity to take a breath.
Freddie walked to the game table where the others had laid their blaster carbines they had procured from the dead skynauts. He picked one up and turned to Josh, the eager skynaut that wanted to join the Rebellion and had done some surprising good shooting from the quad turret. He curtly asked him in a command voice, "You want to prove your loyalty?"
Josh eagerly nodded his head and answered, "Yeah."
He pushed the blaster into Josh's hands and ordered with a glance towards Beck, "If he tries anything, you blast his damn head off."
Josh had seen that cold and unwavering look in other officers' eyes that he had served under and like them, wasn't eager to disobey such an order even it was a pretty brutal one.
Beck got up from the seat he had taken at the engineering station and began to object, "Hey, just a seco—"
He didn't get to finish as Freddie slugged him in the face, sending him spiraling towards the floor. He rolled onto his right elbow to prop himself up and rubbed his jaw with his other hand, throwing a glare up at the angry starship captain.
Freddie spat down at him, "You nearly got my officers and the rest them killed by double crossing us."
The businessman pushed himself back on his feet and met Freddie's glare, taking advantage of a slight greater height to try to stare him down. He muttered in disgust, "I didn't have a choice."
Freddie took a step forward and snapped, "You could have found a way to let us know."
"I told you where they were taking her and helped you get her back!"
"You were saving your own ass. I'll leave it up to the Rebels what they should do with you when they found out you sold out their princess. In the meantime, behave or he'll shoot you."
He turned to Josh and asked, "Where's the other one?"
"Oh ah, Dusty kicked him off with he came back with Trina. He didn't see the point of having an Imperial sympathizer."
Freddie nodded along then asked, "Why did he let you stay?"
The taller young man shrugged a shoulder and answered, "He needed someone to take Trina to the medical bay and man the cannons."
"Right… just watch him."
Freddie turned and headed down the circular pathway to Dusty's quarters.
After Jade had done the best she could in examining Tori with her medical tricorder and the instruments in the surprisingly well stocked small medical bay, she and Tori moved Trina to the Dusty's quarters, allowing her to rest on a far more comfortable bed. Once she was settled, Tori slightly tugged Jade by the elbow and walked to the other side of the quarters. She lowered her voice and asked, "Is she going to be alright?"
"She's just a little banged up, nothing a bit of rest won't fix and what I assumed medical facilities can do for her when we reach them to accelerate her healing."
"What about her hand?"
The sarcastic side of her wanted to point out the obvious that Trina didn't have one anymore, but the professional and compassionate side understood what the princess meant by the question. She quietly answered, "Whatever cut it off, it cauterized the wound so I'm not concerned about her bleeding, but we've bandaged it well and I've given her something to prevent an infection."
Trina's head was turned away from them, but she sarcastically remarked, "You know I can hear you." She rolled her head to look at the other two and stated, "You can just talk to me."
Jade took a breath then looked to her in a professional manner and answer her in a blunt manner, "Okay, obviously you'll need a replacement for your hand. I don't know your level of medical technology, but if we get you back to my ship, we can either give you an artificial one that no one would know the difference, including you or we could clone you one as good as new, but it'll take some time."
Tori asked in a stunned manner, "You can clone her one and reattach it?"
"Yes. It'll be a little tricky with the damage to the end of her arm and her arm might not be the exact length down to the millimeter, but she'll be as good as new."
Trina muttered, "Since the war, there's been a stigma to all things regarding cloning."
"Well, I'll respect your objections about going that route, but it is an option for you."
The Princess was quick to interrupt, "Forget what people might think. We have plenty of clones fighting in the rebellion, so if she can give you a real hand back that really belongs to you, then do it."
Trina turned a surprised gaze to her, clearly shocked about the tenacity of arguing her point of making her whole and not artificial.
Freddie knocked on the outside bulkhead and called out, "I hope I'm not distur—"
He was interrupted when Tori walked to him and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. She desperately whispered into his ear, "Thank you."
Freddie bashfully smiled and glanced to Jade over Tori's shoulder.
The doctor rolled her eyes and glanced away.
The former science officer smiled and patted her on the back. "You're welcome." He pulled away and politely continued, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay and…" He looked past her to see Trina sitting up, tucking her right hand under her left arm. "…see how your friend was doing."
The Jedi-in-Training put on a coy smile, perhaps a little flirtatious, and teasingly commented, "So I take you're the Captain she was so hung up in meeting?"
Tori turned a sharp gaze to her friend, telling her with just a look that it wasn't the time for her teasing.
Freddie politely smiled, taking it all in stride and answered, "Yes, I'm Captain Benson, the Federation contact in hopes of making an alliance with the Rebel Alliance and you are…"
The fighter pilot lulled her head to the side and answered, "I'm Trina… Vega."
The name raised the Star Fleeter's eyebrows, but she ignored their curious gazes to glance to Tori and teased, "He's cute. No wonder you were so eager to meet him."
Freddie embarrassingly smiled and dipped his head down. Tori shared an equally awkward expression and Jade rolled her eyes and barely held back a sigh while remarking, "Yes, yes, the captain is quite the attractive man…"
The flippant comment rubbed Tori the wrong way with a knotted brow and disapproving gaze to Jade, but she ignored it and looked to her captain to follow up, "I'd tell you how she's doing, but I'd be breaking doctor/patient confidentiality."
Freddie raised an eyebrow, seriously questioning her pulling that card on him during this crazy mission.
Trina answered with a flippant tone while raising her metal capped stub, "I lost my hand. What is there to be held in confidence?"
Jade crossed her arms over her stomach and shook her head.
Freddie raised his right hand and wiggled his fingers. "Didn't exactly lose mine, but mangled it pretty bad a few years ago. The doctors made it as good as new. I went with the cybernetics to replace some bones, but the rest is mine, so you'll be alright." He looked to Jade and asked, "I assume you told her what we could do for her?"
"Yeah, I told her the options if we got her back to the ship, but they have artificial limbs."
"Okay… Dusty said we should be there in a few hours."
Jade tightened her arms over her stomach and looked to the fighter pilot. "Good and in the meantime, you should take that opportunity to rest—doctor's orders."
Trina cocked an eyebrow, looking as if she was about to argue with her, but Tori walked over and took a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pleading with her, "Just listen to her please."
The older brunette sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine… I could use a good night sleep that wasn't in a mud hole."
Tori knotted her brow and was about to ask about that, but Trina interrupted, "I'll explain later."
The princess wanted an explanation as she was supposed to be on an ice planet or the rendezvous point, not in a 'mud hole', but she let it slide. She didn't want to upset her after everything that happened.
Jade pulled off her jacket and walked over to Tori to pull it around her back and over her shoulders. "It's a little chilly on a ship for a dress like that…"
Tori looked up with a tired smile and replied, "Thanks."
The darkest hair young woman looked to Freddie and suggested, "I think we should give them some privacy and let Trina get that rest Captain."
"Of course Doctor. Call us if you need anything," Freddie politely offered to them.
"We will. Thank you Freddie."
He politely bowed his head and answered, "Princess."
Tori kept a bashful smile while watching the officers stepping out of the quarters.
Trina nudged her in the side after the door closed and teased, "Wow, you have it bad from him."
The Star Fleet officers stepped out of the quarters and after a few paces, Freddie gently took her by the elbow to bring them to a stop and asked, "Are you alright?"
The doctor slightly smiled and nodded her head then answered in a bit of a harsh voice, "I'm okay."
He reached up and carefully touched the side of her neck. He didn't see any physically bruising, but he knew there had to be something wrong since there was a slight shift in her voice. "Are you sure?
She smiled and reached up to cup the back of his hand that was on her neck. "I took a scan… whatever he was doing… he was trying to crush my throat, but I'm just going to have a sore throat for a few days or I get somewhere that has the medical facility to treat the soreness."
Freddie took several harsh breaths through his nose as he pulled his hand away.
"I have a few painkillers; I'll be fine…" She gave a little smile and added, "You know how I like a little pain."
He tried to keep with her levity she was trying to provide to the situation, but his voice cracked when he replied, "Thought you outgrew that?"
"Most of it…"
"Yeah, well… I'm going to introduce him to a lot of pain the next time I see him."
Jade puckered her lips and cocked her head to the side. She teased him with a playful look in her eyes, "Oh? You're going to avenge me?"
He answered in a clipped tone, "You're damn right I am."
Jade's teasing expression turned into one of a little worry as she asked, "You don't have to do that… you saved me after all. A roomful of people with guns and you jumped on the table like some trivideo star and charged him."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, allowing her to relax in his embrace and answered, "Of course I did. I had to save you… I'm always going to save you."
She felt a pain in her heart, knowing the reason why he would say such a thing, his inability to save Carly.
He followed up, "Are you okay, I don't mean just physically?"
She lifted her head off his shoulder and assuredly smiled to him. "Yes, I'm okay."
"Jade, we've been in our share of scraps, but… these last few days have been rougher than anything I can remember us going through and… you were forced to kill a few people… I'm sorry that I put you into that position."
She took a deep breath and met his gaze, trying to put up her emotional walls before answering, "You didn't do that. I insisted in coming with you and I did what I had to do to protect myself and the rest of us. I'll be okay."
"You don't have to be okay. You're a doctor. You shouldn't have to take a life."
Jade nodded her head and answered, "You're right… but it's better than to lose you or Robbie."
Freddie kissed her forehead and whispered, "Okay, but when we get back… take some time to process it all."
She cocked her pierced eyebrow for the mission and asked, "Are you going to take some time? Even you're not invincible."
He sadly smiled and answered while raising his right hand, "You're right. I have this to prove it." He lowered it to rest it on her left hip and added, "We're at war for our survival and I'm a starship captain; I can't take time off."
She cockily grinned and teased, "Depends if your chief medical officer says otherwise…"
He half smirked and replied, "Oh? As much as I would appreciate such concern from her, the needs of the service could overrule her."
The doctor rested her head back on his right shoulder and sighed, "I hate that you're probably right."
They relaxed in each others embrace for several moments before the astrometric droid rolled up to the pair, slightly bumping the back of Jade's legs and behind.
"Whoa," Jade let out a surprised squeak and jolted in his embrace. She turned out of Freddie's grip and looked at the white and blue droid, curiously looking at the automaton.
Freddie politely greeted the little droid, a little awe struck by him and introduced himself, "Hi. I guess you were with Trina?"
Artoo chirped twice in what he guessed was an affirmative manner.
The captain glanced to Jade, receiving a shrug of her shoulders, then looked back down to the droid. He shook his head and apologized, "I don't understand what you're saying. It's going to take a little while of you 'talking' for the universal translator to understand enough for use to communicate both ways. You should be hearing me in Basic. Is that true?"
Artoo whistled once in a chirpy manner.
Freddie nodded his head and answered, "I'll take one whistle as a confirmation and two as a negative."
The droid whistled once.
Jade eyed the droid, snorted out and half grinned, "Oh, he understands you." She smiled and teased Freddie with a pat on his chest, "I think you just made a new friend."
Freddie cocked a curious eyebrow and a half questioning gaze to the doctor.
"What? If you weren't in a science lab, you were in an engineering lab and you have a real working robot that might actually be sapient."
Freddie shook his head then looked at the droid, who turned and rolled to the door then rolled back to them, chirping wildly. He passed a look to Jade and remarked, "I'm taking a stab at it, but I'm going to assume he's asking about Trina."
Jade looked to Artoo and answered, still a little apprehensive about the little machine, "Ah, yeah, she's going to be alright. She has a few bumps and bruises and I've given her something for the pain. I can't do anything about her hand right now, but we're heading to the Rebel rendezvous point. They should be able to take care of her when we reach them."
The droid let out a soft whistle that sound like a depressed tone.
The pale doctor rested her hand on the dome of the droid and tried assure him with a comforting bedside manner, "She's going to be alright. She's just going to need a little rest. Tori's with her."
The explanation didn't seem to make him feel any better, so Freddie suggested, "While we wait to get there, you could help me get the universal translator enough sounds to start piecing together your language."
Artoo whistled out a short high pitch sound.
Freddie tightened his smile, seeing that the droid wasn't thrilled with the idea.
Jade didn't know for sure what the little droid was saying, but she guessed with her response, "Yes, he's just trying to keep you busy to keep your mind off the fact the only thing you can do is wait. That's what we have to do sometimes, just wait."
Artoo whistled in a low and somber tone, accepting the doctor's explanation. He started rolling past them to the main hold, happily whistling to get them to follow him.
Freddie looked to the doctor and suggested, "You should apply for command school."
Jade raised a cocky eyebrow and replied, "Hey, I could get me command of a hospital ship one day."
He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her to follow the little droid.
Author's Note: Wow, that was an unexpected ending to this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that once again, Happy 50th Birthday to Star Trek and as Captain Kirk said in Star Trek VI: 'Boldly going where no man… where no one… has gone before…"