Chapter 1: Kairavi
A/N - This first part of this chapter touches on current and past abuse. If you find that subject particularly troubling or triggering, you can skip to the second half of the chapter, which is indicated by the break line. The second half also has dialogue directly from Chapter 12: The Siege that I borrowed.
Kairavi used to remember staring up at the stars with her mother in the cool evenings of her home world. She could even remember how the building where they lived had a metal roof that would collect the sun's warmth throughout the day; then, at night, the warmth was pleasant enough to warm her back when she would lay on it in the evenings to stargaze before bed. Between the warmth of the roof and the cool evening breeze that would blow across her cheeks, Kairavi had, on several occasions, fallen asleep on the metal roof of her apartment. Her mother would come home late from work and find her asleep on the roof, and she would simply pick her up and carry her back down to their tiny apartment, where they shared a bedroom, tucking her soundly into bed. They didn't have much, but it was everything to Kairavi at the time. When she would be out stargazing, she would think of the stories she had heard of others who lived in the building of their travels to different planets - whispers of epic battles that were almost too good to believe.
On the rare times that her mother wasn't working late into the evening, she would join Kai on the roof and stargaze with her. Her mother would pull her into a protective embrace and say, "Just wait until we save up enough to leave Kai," and then would go on to tell Kai of her dreams of moving on to another planet to restart their life.
Kai knew that they were not wealthy by any extent of the imagination. She was very aware that they were the complete opposite of that. But when Kai was younger, and it was just her and her mother, that didn't matter. Just the stories that her mother made up were enough to keep her entertained and fuel her dreams for years.
Kairavi looked at her reflection, staring back at her in the viewport window. When she dreamed about what she would do and all the adventures that would await her when she finally left her decrepit, poor homeworld… she never pictured herself experiencing those moments as a slave.
For the Empire.
Sometimes, she didn't recognize her reflection staring back at her. Kairavi pressed her lips to a thin line as she tossed her long golden hair over her shoulder. She supposed it could be worse, though. She hadn't done manual labor since she was a child and no longer had to offer her body to people she would rather not even look at. Well, unless her current owner temporarily handed her off to someone else for an evening. He would typically extend that to someone of power, someone he was trying to impress. However, he thankfully never demanded intimacy for himself. All he asked of her was to look pretty, keep things tidy, and be at his beck and call. Graven was someone who needed to feel important and to be seen as someone powerful himself. He had clawed his way to earn the respect he had now. Graven didn't settle for anything subpar and expected her to perform her job at that same level of perfectionism. It could be worse.
The familiar sound of an impatient snap from behind her broke her out of her thoughts. She turned around quickly to see General Graven glaring at her from his desk. She gave him a small bow and moved to get a refill of his drink.
"General, when I put you in charge of this operation, I had your assurances that you and Dr. Pershing would find a solution. Quickly."
Kairavi picked up the General's glass and briefly glanced down at the holo-image of Moff Gideon giving her current owner a dressing down. Typically, she would be all for the opportunity to be privy to an event such as a reprimand. Unfortunately, that person just had to be Moff Gideon. Probably the only thing she and General Graven could agree on was their mutual distaste for the Moff.
She sat the glass back on the table and quickly turned to head back to the dining table to finish cleaning up - the less time she had to be in the vicinity of Moff Gideon, the better. Kairavi had met him a handful of times in person. He was one of the few exceptions the General made when it came to loaning her out. Gideon was slimy and usually preferred pain over pleasure. And by pain, she meant inflicting it on her, not him. One particularly terrible evening was a combination of both pain for her and pleasure for himself.
"I can have Dr. Pershing contact you himself, but the message will remain the same. We don't have enough of - "
"You had exactly what you needed!" Moff Gideon yelled back at him, effectively cutting General Graven off.
Kairavi rolled her eyes at Gideon's casual dismissal of her current owner's speech. General Graven was not going to take that well. She tried to busy herself with the nearest thing to her, a pile of dirty dishes, so she could do her best to continue listening in. For Kai, knowledge was the only power she had. Especially when Moff Gideon was concerned, she had no ulterior motives. No one to tell the information to. Sometimes, if she could just know what was happening around her, it would provide her with a small amount of comfort. It was just nice to have something in her pocket, just in case. Not that she foresaw anything happening. But she could dream.
"If we had been provided with enough of the sample initially, then maybe we would be able to perform more adequate testing for the initial phase of the trials. We may have enough for one more subject. Maybe. At this point, all nine of our test subjects are dead, and we don't have enough of the original sample to continue researching the best solution to find the results you are looking for."
Dead? Kai stumbled slightly at that statement. She managed to right herself quickly in an attempt not to appear startled by the news as she continued around the living quarters. All of those excited young men that had come through here before they went to whatever trial Graven and Dr. Pershing were doing were dead?
"I don't care for your excuses!" Gideon admonished. An eerie silence fell over the room after that outburst. "General Graven," he continued, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. "I've given you a promotion. I've given you a base. I've allowed you to have your toy," Gideon finished the last word with a bite.
Kai stilled and looked back to see Graven's piercing blue eyes glaring back at her.
Gideon continued, "I expect results. If I don't get results, you and Dr. Pershing will need to inform me of your failure. In person," there was an uncomfortable pause hanging in the air. Just when Kai thought Gideon was done, he surprised her and Graven by continuing with one last statement. "And if you fail, I expect you to turn over everything I have given you. And I mean everything." With that, the communication ended on a rather ominous note.
And by everything, Kai deduced that she was included in Gideon's definition of everything. The sour look on Graven's face only confirmed her suspicions.
An unsettling air fell over the General's cabin after that rather abrupt end to Gideon's call. Kai quickly jolted back to work, not wanting to get in the way of any potential outbursts from her owner after the dressing down he had just received from his superior. She grabbed a few dishes before returning them to the kitchenette area that was out of sight. She released a small breath of relief when she was out of General Graven's intimidating, piercing glare.
Once alone, Kai began her nightly routine of preparing Graven's evening tea. Kairavi set the dirty dishes aside to deal with later. She let her mind wander while watching the hot water begin to bubble.
Graven was so used to being the man in charge. The one that dolled out reprimands and punishment. So when he had to communicate with Moff Gideon, things either went very well or very, very wrong. Kai was at the receiving end either way. If she could take a little longer here, it would give the General time to calm down. If Graven had time alone to process things without Kai in immediate striking distance - maybe, hopefully, she would avoid a new bruise. Wouldn't that be nice?
General Graven had been her owner for the past five years. He was far from her worst owner and yet far from her best owner.
Graven was an older man. The man's hair had been silver since they met, and his eyes were an intense blue that she sometimes felt could read her thoughts. He needed to feel important. He was an elitist. Not every General in the Empire could afford a slave, after all.
The kettle clicked off, and she made short work of getting the General's nightly drink ready. When she turned to leave the small room, she ran directly into General Graven's chest, spilling the hot beverage down his uniform.
"I'm so sorry, sir," she spat out, green eyes going wide at the accident. Quickly, she grabbed a rag to soak up the excess liquid from the floor. "I-I didn't hear you come in. You know how I get in my head sometimes," Kai tried to downplay the unfortunate event that just happened, unable to suppress the nervousness from her voice.
When Kairavi moved to stand, she was almost thrown off balance when the General reached out to grab her arm, flinging her aggressively into the door. Her back dug painfully into the corner of the door, but she did her best to conceal any outward signs of pain.
"Sir," she tried to say but was abruptly interrupted by a spike in the General's fury.
He grabbed at her throat, squeezing it so tightly that it cut off her airflow. Just when she saw stars and thought she would pass out, General Graven released his grip on her slender neck, only to toss her to the ground. Kai did her best to quickly scoot back until her back ran into the General's desk. It was only once her back was flat against the cool metal desk that she was finally able to gasp for air. Graven was crouched, menacing in front of her, still able to tower over her, with such fury in his eyes that Kairavi had never seen before.
"He should have never sent us to this hellhole in the first place!" Graven seethed.
Kairavi was cut off guard by the admission but realized that he was talking about their current station. He wasn't actually upset at her, just their circumstances. She had dealt with this before. Typically, this type of anger dies down rather quickly. Unfortunately, this type of anger also tended to be more aggressive than usual. She just needed to do her best to try and calm him down. And try to brace herself for more physical harm in the process.
"I'm not meant to be babysitting mad scientists! I'm supposed to be leading the Empire to victory in battle!"
"You would be excellent in battle, sir," Kairavi agreed, wincing in pain as she spoke and the subsequent gravelly sound of her voice, grabbing at her throat as she did so. Clearly, the effects of being strangled hadn't worn off that quickly.
General Graven didn't immediately respond. Instead, he had his gaze locked on hers, giving her a concerning look that Kai had never seen before.
"Sir?" Kai asked nervously, starting to shrink slightly away from the imposing General. She was used to receiving rough treatment from the man over their time together. However, this manic, feral look was one she had not experienced before and hoped that she would never encounter again.
"He won't take anything from me," Graven murmured calmly. Calm, like the eye of a storm. "I'll burn everything down before I let him strip me of anything."
Kai felt her pulse quicken. She did not like where this was going.
A quick hand roughly shot out to slap her across the face, and she was briefly knocked completely to the floor. Before she could even right herself, the General grabbed a fist full of her hair and dragged her across the floor of his quarters to the door leading to the rest of the base.
Kai tried to get her feet under her to lessen the pressure of her hair pulling painfully on her head from Graven yanking her behind him. Graven's pace made it difficult to do, but that task was infinitely more complicated when he kicked her back down whenever she got close to righting herself. Kai was beginning to panic the further down the hall they made it. The large, looming, black door where she knew the testing was going on was getting incrementally closer. A couple of stormtroopers guarding the entrance tilted their heads at the sight before them.
General Graven stopped in front of the door and pulled painfully at her hair to make her stand, only to shove her into the door.
Kai wasn't exactly a stranger to the base. She was seen from time to time around General Graven. Most of the officers and a few of the troopers had minor interactions with her. So, she was thankful that one of the troopers guarding the door knelt down to help her.
"Did I say you could touch her!" Graven screamed at the unsuspecting stormtrooper.
The trooper froze, "No, sir," he replied but remained knelt as if waiting for the order to help Kai.
Kai looked from the trooper to Graven, and her head sank when his fuming eyes were still narrowed angrily on her.
"Then step aside," Graven ordered quietly, but the anger behind his words was still there.
The trooper did as ordered.
"Open the door," Graven ordered, yanking Kai up painfully by her arm.
The trooper looked briefly at Kai as if to say he was sorry or confused over the situation but did as ordered.
"Sir, General Graven, what is going on?" Kai tried to ask. Somehow, her voice sounded calmer than she felt. Inside, she was pretty sure her heart was about to pound out of her chest.
The only answer she got was a shove into the rail of the entrance to the lab.
Kai looked around the room with wide eyes. She'd never been allowed in the room before. Even when she would accompany Graven around the base, he would make sure she returned to their quarters before he came here alone.
There was a central station equipped with monitoring equipment, a small rolling bed just behind the station, with menacing black straps adorning the sides. The rest of the room was like most of the base, with metal flooring and metal siding intermingled with rock from the cliff they were encased in. However, the striking difference separating this room from the rest of the base was the tanks lining the opposite wall. All of them were filled with green liquid with people suspended inside them. It dawned on her that those were the now deceased volunteers for whatever experiment General Graven and Doctor Pershing had been stationed here for.
"General Graven," Pershing spun from his spot at the station in the middle of the room, clearly surprised to have visitors at this hour. "Am I to assume that your meeting with Moff Gideon did not go well?" he asked. She watched his face become even more confused when he realized she was there. "Kairavi?"
General Graven grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her down the stairs towards the station where Doctor Pershing had stepped out of to meet them. Kai winced at the pressure the man's fingers dug into her upper arm.
"As usual, your assumption is correct," Graven growled, flinging Kai into Pershing as soon as he stepped around to meet them.
Pershing reached out and grabbed Kai, holding onto her with a much more delicate, concerning hand.
"He is extremely displeased with your progress," Graven added.
Pershing frowned. Out of everyone on the base, Pershing was the one she had the most interactions with, other than Graven. She knew that he took his work seriously. His whole life had been about his studies and work, making him slightly more socially awkward than she considered normal. But Pershing had never treated her with anything but respect.
"I was very transparent about the research process," Pershing stood up for himself. "Gideon knew that we did not have enough of our sample to do the most thorough trial. I've made some modifications that I hope will result in a more positive outcome, but I've decided to make that our next phase."
"But we have enough for one more, correct?" Graven asked. He spoke with such confidence that Kairavi knew that the man already knew the answer.
Pershing looked back and forth at Kai and Graven with a confused look. "Yes?"
"Then you have your last test subject," Graven said flatly, going to grab the rolling medical table closer to them.
Kai felt her heart drop out of her chest when she realized what Graven was implying. "No," she whispered, looking frantically at Pershing. "Please, no."
Pershing looked at her with an equal look of concern. He held her arms for a moment before turning to General Graven, "You aren't honestly suggesting, Kairavi?"
"Are you second-guessing my orders?"
"Yes," Pershing stated flatly with no evidence of emotion. Ever the scientist. "To begin, she doesn't meet any of Moff Gideon's qualifications for the procedure. Then there are the medical ramifications. She's had no prior workup done. She's not been prepared in any way for this!" Pershing argued, moving Kai just slightly out of Graven's reach. "Even with my calculated adjustments, we don't even know if she will survive!"
"We didn't know if the others would survive," Graven countered.
"And they didn't!" Kai screamed, earning her another strong slap across the face from the General. "Why are you doing this?" she questioned her owner, unable to stop the desperate, pleading tone her voice had taken on.
"Because if Moff Gideon is going to treat us like idiots, then we're just going to tank his trial. I'll show him who is really in charge," Graven ended with a maniacal-looking smile. "With no sample left, he'll just have to accept defeat. Or, at the very least, send us back out on the hunt. That would be more productive than just sitting here twiddling our thumbs."
"That isn't an acceptable answer," Pershing argued. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime! If we are able to succeed, imagine the future that will lay in front of the Empire. Of the universe! I won't waste what is, potentially, our last sample on your revenge agenda. If they are unable to track the donor again, this trial will be dead in its tracks. Then, we really will go down as failures. Your name will be on that list of failures!"
"I guess we'll just have to track that beast down again." Graven leveled a blaster at Pershing's face, and Kai could feel tears tracking down her face. "We would have to anyway if you want to continue your trials. Would we not?"
Normally, she was able to keep her emotions in check. She normally tried her best to refrain from showing any sign of emotion. Unfortunately, at the moment, she couldn't find it in herself to care that she was crying in front of someone.
"You can, and you will do this," Graven threatened, his voice dropping to a deep level, leaving no room for argument.
"Kairavi, I - I," Pershing stuttered, unable to come up with any comfort for her.
Graven came around and grabbed Kai from Doctor Pershing's grasp, pulling her with him to the bed he had brought around.
"No, please!" Kai cried, doing her best to pull herself from Graven's hands.
The man quickly hit her in the neck with the butt of his blaster, effectively knocking her off of her feet. That made it easy enough for Graven to pick her up and get her on the black-padded rolling bed. Kai did her best to struggle, but the older man easily overpowered her hands and feet into the straps.
Doctor Pershing came into view over her with a mournful expression.
"Please!" she begged the scientist. "Please don't do this," Kai cried to him as he placed the tourniquet on her upper arm.
Graven dug the blaster back into Pershing's neck, not giving him an alternative option.
"I'm so sorry, Kairavi," Pershing apologized. "May your next life treat you better than this one."
Kai felt tears fall rapidly down her cheeks. She didn't necessarily believe in the next life. This life had been full of disappointments. If there were a next life, she would just ask for a quiet life, a good family, and never to be owned by someone ever again.
With that last thought, she felt Pershing inject the needle into her arm. Kai closed her eyes in anticipation of what was to come. She could feel warm tears streak down her face, leaving her face feeling oddly cool when they fell.
She could feel the instant the liquid entered her veins. Initially, it was warm, almost pleasant. Unfortunately, that pleasant feeling quickly changed to a burning sensation, to a pain that was bordering on unbearable. Her whole body felt like fire was ripping through her body, burning her from the inside out.
The last thing Kairavi remembered was her scream as she faded to unconsciousness.
Din Djarin looked at the row of tanks in front of him.
He found himself standing in the middle of the Empire's last base on Nevarro, with Greef Karga, Cara Dune, and a begrudging Mythrol. They had just finished draining the cooling lines, meaning that in minutes, the reactor would lose its battle with the intense volcanic heat of the planet. Which meant they had ten minutes before the base would be blown to pieces. There was no time for distractions.
Naturally, the group seemed to have stumbled upon a distraction, deterring their immediate escape from the base that was on its way to overheating.
"I thought you said this was a forward operating base?"
"I thought it was!"
The Mandalorian tapped a couple of commands on his vambrace, setting a timer so they would not get too distracted. They only had ten minutes until this place would eventually blow. It didn't leave much time for exploring whatever they had just stumbled on.
Their remaining minutes also appeared to equal the number of bodies they had discovered on their way out. The room they had stumbled upon was apparently important enough to be guarded by several Storm Troopers. After taking out the guards, it was then the group made their discovery. Ten tanks that each held someone, or something rather, that were suspended inside each vestibule. The bodies were completely submerged and attached to various tubes. He walked down the row, taking it all in. This wasn't typical of the Empire. This was something else.
"This isn't a military operation," Cara Dune stated skeptically, "this is a lab."
Her comment echoed Din's thoughts. Although, after learning that the Empire was willing to perform tests on innocent children or rather one innocent child in particular, Din wasn't all that surprised. However, the realization that if this lab did, in fact, involve the Kid, the speed with which the Empire acted was not only concerning but left him with a level of anger that made his blood pressure rise.
With that information in mind, he walked down the line of test tube victims with an eagle-eyed focus in an attempt to glean any information he could. If it involved the Child, it now involved him. The subjects didn't appear to be any particular species he recognized. He tapped his helmet, switching it to thermal sensors, and found that the first few tanks in front of him registered cold. He looked above the strange tanks and saw a display that showed the vitals over the tank, confirming they were deceased. However, the further he walked, the more humanoid the test subjects became. The thought came to him that they were possibly all human, just the unfortunate victims of the Empire's tests that caused them to turn into something… else. It left the veteran Mandalorian with a sinking feeling starting to settle in his gut.
"We need to get in the system and figure out what is happening."
"But what about the reactor!" Mythrol stressed, making no move to go to the console.
"Just do it!" Greef Karga ordered, clearly annoyed by the blue alien's continued anxiety.
"I don't like this," Din voiced quietly, continuing his slow walk, scanning each of the tanks looking for any potential clues.
After a bit of grumbling and a couple of minutes, Mythrol was able to find something. The scratching sound that was associated with the white noise of a recording filled the room, and Din turned back to see the face of a familiar translucent figure of Doctor Pershing standing on the control panel. It made his blood instantly boil. He paused his investigation of the bodies and stepped towards the recording, leaving the tanks of test subjects for now. If the doctor who was in charge of the testing on the Kid was involved, then this operation needed to be terminated. Immediately.
"-Replicated the results of subsequent trials, which also resulted in catastrophic failure," the recording said. They had apparently come in halfway through the message, possibly what the Storm Troopers had been trying to wipe before they had shot them down. "There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but sadly, the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt that we'll find a donor with a higher M-count, though. We began tests on the last… volunteer," Pershing hesitated slightly at the last word but regained his composure quickly. "However, it is my recommendation that we suspend all experimentation. I fear that the volunteer will eventually meet the same regrettable outcome. Unfortunately, we have exhausted our initial supply of blood. The Child is small, and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him."
Din swiveled back towards the tanks. This is what they wanted the Kid's blood for? To create what? Some kind of super-soldier for the Empire?
"If these experiments are to continue as requested, we would again require access to the donor," he listened to the recording of Dr. Pershing continuing.
They were going to keep going after the kid until they had a successful subject.
When he arrived at the last tank, red came into view on the thermal scope, and he had to pause to do a double-take. He walked closer to the tank to confirm the faint heat signature and looked up to see weak vitals registering on the tank, confirming his findings.
"This one is still alive," he pointed to the last tank when the end of the message made him pause his investigation.
"I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon," Pershing concluded with a bow of his head, and the message cut off.
The ending made Din relax. That recording had to be at least a month old. "That must be an old recording," Din informed them, turning from the subject in the tank back to the group. "Moff Gideon is dead."
Mythrol looked down at the station and, after several taps to the console, looked up at the group with a nervous face, "That recording is only three days old."
Din steeled himself at the words. Only three days old? How the man survived the crash in the first place was unbelievable to the Mandalorian. But if that was true, and Moff Gideon was, in fact, alive, then he had a far worse problem on his hands. He needed to get the Kid and get him to the safety of the Jedi. The Child needed to be as far away from the Empire as possible. Din's chest clenched at the thought, but there was no other option. It is what was best for his Foundling. This is the way.
"Wait," Karga's voice interrupted him from his thoughts. "Did you say one of them is alive?" he asked with an astonished look on his face. Apparently, he is not as surprised as the Mandalorian was after learning that Gideon is still alive.
Cara joined them, and the three stood in front of the last tank, inspecting it with apprehension.
The last tank held a woman who appeared to be the most humanoid of all of the other subjects. She is suspended weightlessly in the tank, with her long hair drifting around her, reflecting the green hue of the viscous fluid she had been placed in. It doesn't take any specialized vision to see the angry marks where the tubes have been attached for an unknown period of time, but otherwise, she doesn't appear to be harmed, at least from what is immediately visible on the outside at least. There is no telling what the experiments have done to her on the inside.
"What do we do?" Greef asked, looking between Din and Cara.
The two gave each other a look. This survivor could be a chance, an opportunity, to get the jump on Gideon finally. Clearly, the woman had been left for dead. If Pershing had thought she had or would survive, there was no way that Gideon would have allowed Pershing to leave her on an abandoned base.
"I can only imagine Gideon's face when he finds out Pershing abandoned a viable test subject," Karga doesn't say to anyone in particular.
He would be livid, Din thought to himself. But that didn't mean that they necessarily needed to save her. This woman could bring untold danger to them. Then again… if they saved her, there was always the possibility that they could potentially use her for information or more to help bring Gideon down. There was a chance, albeit small, that the test subjects, like the Kid, were not willing participants. Knowing that this was quite possibly a very stupid decision, he turned to look at Dune.
Cara doesn't need to see Din's face to know what he is thinking.
"Let's grab her," she ordered, and the trio went to work, deactivating the tank.
"You can't be serious!" Mythrol exclaimed, running over to them. His panicked arm-waving makes the group pause. "You don't know who she is or what has even been done to her! If she's survived this, there is no telling how powerful she could be or what kind of destruction she's been programmed to inflict."
That argument brought Karga to a halt. "He makes a point," Greef took his hands off the buttons of the tank, seemingly rethinking their plan. "She obviously isn't weak to have survived this."
Din turned back to look at the woman, which only strengthened his resolve. "If Gideon is alive, there is a chance she knows where he is. We could use her to save the Kid. To put an end to Gideon and whatever insane testing he is doing once and for all."
"Mando, think this through," Karga held his hands up, trying to slow him down. "If Moff Gideon knows she is alive, do you really not think that he'll come looking for her? Besides, you heard the doctor. This girl volunteered for this. Do you really think we can trust her?"
That did make him hesitate momentarily. He couldn't put the Kid at any more of an added risk than he already was on a day-to-day basis. But if there was a chance, even a small one, that this could finally give him the one-up on Gideon, then it was a risk he was willing to take.
The Kid would be safe. He would have fulfilled his mission.
"How much time is left till this place blows?" Cara asked, looking back at Mythrol.
"Six minutes!" the alien answered, becoming increasingly distressed as time passed.
"Then, in six minutes, all Moff Gideon is going to know is that all of his experiments have been terminated," she told Karga and shrugged before returning her attention back to the tank and then to Din. "But we don't have time to debate this. It's up to you," she nodded to Din. "It's up to you, and whatever happens is on you," she added with an air of seriousness.
He looked back at the woman. She had the potential to be his biggest asset if she was willing to help him bring Moff Gideon down. Or, she could be his biggest regret if this blew up in his face. The what-ifs swarmed his mind, but when it came down to it, he found himself hating the possibility that he let something that could be such a huge asset to him slip through his fingers.
Mind decided, Din reached over and hit the emergency eject button, causing the tank to open and flood the surrounding area with the green, viscous liquid that had been suspending the woman.
The woman rushed out along with the liquid, crumpling to the floor now that she was no longer supported by the water in the tank. The tubing attached to her face and body doesn't allow her to go further than the base of the tank and pulls at her skin uncomfortably when they cannot provide any more slack. Din crouched down to begin to disconnect her. He pulled the mask off and quickly moved to the other tubes, letting Dune untangle the mask's wraps from her long hair. The mystery woman is covered in a green slime that makes it difficult to detach her from the tubes, but finally, after another precious minute, she is detached completely. Cara checked her pulse and made sure she was breathing. Her sores from the tubules at the base of her neck and spine were obviously inflamed and angry-looking, the bright red welts contrasting the pale green she was currently encased in. She's petite, but her ribs are too visible for a normal, healthy human.
"Take the girl with your pack," Karga instructed Din, nodding to the jet pack that was strapped to his back. His voice brought Din back to the present, breaking him from his initial inspection. "She'll just slow us down." Din nodded. He couldn't argue with the man. There was no more time left to waste here.
Without hesitation, he whips his cloak off to wrap the small woman up and takes off without a look back. The woman was light in his arms. So light that the extra weight doesn't slow them down in the slightest as they fly over the barren terrain of Nevarro. The woman doesn't so much as stir as they fly across the trenches, hurtling toward his ship, the Razor Crest. Din wondered how much time the woman had left if they hadn't rescued her. Even if they hadn't blown up the base, she had been left for dead in.
Only time would tell if they had done the right thing. If the woman was indeed on the Empire's side, he may have doomed them all rather than saved them. But it was too late now. He just hoped that he didn't make a fatal error, and with any luck, this woman would be just what he needed to pinpoint Moff Gideon and end whatever he had planned before it started. With the Razor Crest in view, he tried to push his doubts from his mind. For now, he needed to save the others.
He landed next to his recently repaired Razor Crest and didn't stop to admire the fact that Karga's workers were able to perform a miracle in such a short amount of time. The others were depending on him to go back and save them. There would be time for appreciating the almost rebuilt ship later. He placed the girl on the metal floor of the cargo hold next to his sleeping chamber, leaving her wrapped in his cloak before heading to the top deck to start the ship.
Without waiting for any kind of clearance, he set off toward the Empire outpost he had just left. Plumes of smoke extend towards the atmosphere in the distance, indicating that they had been successful in destroying the base. He shifted the controls, pulling the Crest down a ravine, looking for any signs of the rest of his party when some nearby blaster fire grabbed his attention. He spun the ship to aim, shooting down the Tie Fighters that were chasing down the others with ease.
Greef Karga's voice came over the communications of his ship with a shout of excitement. Din sighed in relief that the group below made it out unharmed and escorted the transport for the remainder of the trek back to the town, slowing the Razor Crest down to match the speed of the shuttle the group below had. One hurdle was over. He supposed it was time for the next hurdle, Din thought, landing his ship back at the town's entrance.
Once back at the town's entrance and safely on the ground, he jumped into the cargo area and glanced at the still unconscious woman wrapped in his cloak, unmoved from where he had left her. She was still lying there, precisely where he had left her, and Din was impressed at the strength of the internal dampeners that Karga's people had no doubt replaced.
Din walked over and hit the button that released the ramp to open up the cargo hold to the outside. Karga and Dune were jogging over to the ship, and Din suddenly felt anxious about what would happen next with the girl. He was ready to get her up and talking. He is eager to rip the bandage off to see what new demons he has potentially released.
"Now that is what I call some fancy flying!" Greef Karga exclaimed excitedly, jumping in the cargo hold before the door properly landed on the dirt, slapping Din's shoulder pauldron with too much exuberance.
Din was about to reply when movement from the floor distracted him from answering.
The group looked down to see the woman begin to stir. Din turned from Karga to head towards the woman, kneeling slowly in front of the small sleeping alcove she was pressed against. It took her another minute to come around, and eventually, her eyes fluttered open, trying to look around at her surroundings. Finally, her eyes focused on Din. Even looking through the digitized view of his helmet visor, he is surprised by the bright emerald-green color that is staring back at him. The woman does a few slow blinks, still processing her new surroundings. Her eyes focused back on him, and they were bright and scared.
"It's okay," Din whispered slowly, holding his hands up submissively. He wanted to do his best not to frighten her. If he is going to get any information on Gideon, he will need her on his side. "You're okay," he told her softly, keeping his hands up where the woman could see them.
Unfortunately, his words don't seem to help calm her. The woman clutched his cloak desperately to her chest, which was still wrapped around her while trying to scramble away from Din. It was an unsuccessful, clumsy attempt. She was still covered in the slime from the tank, preventing her from gaining traction on the metal flooring without slipping. Every slip and struggle only seemed to increase her anxiety.
"Calm down," Din reached towards her in an attempt to help her but was stopped suddenly. It took Din by surprise because it wasn't him that's stopped moving forward. He looked at the woman and found that her previously bright, emerald eyes had darkened to the point of almost being black. The sensation of immobility only lasted a second before the woman's eyes fluttered closed once more, and she slipped back into unconsciousness, allowing the strange feeling to lift as quickly as it descended.
Din wiggled his fingers and was relieved to find that he could move them again. He looked over his gloved hands and gave the now unconscious woman a skeptical glance, unsure what just happened. He looked back to the others and saw them hovering nearby with equal looks of concern.
"Come on. We've got a medical droid. I'll take you to it," Cara offered. Her hand is relaxed, yet hovering over her blaster just in case the strange woman were to shoot up to go after them.
Din looked back down at the woman in question and found himself hoping again that he'd made the right decision. He readjusted the cloak to keep her covered and picked her up, ready to follow Cara.
"How about I go get the Kid and meet you there," Karga offered, giving the sleeping woman in Din's arms a look of distrust. He nodded at Karga in agreement and stepped out of the Razor Crest to follow Cara to the medical droid.
It was a short walk from the outskirts of town. Two lefts and a right, and twenty paces until they reached the alley's end, and they arrived.
Din doesn't allow himself to overthink matters. It wouldn't do him any good right now. They needed to get the girl up long enough to have her talk without passing out to determine what kind of threat she could potentially be. Then, he could overthink his decisions.
The town's medical bay was small. It had three beds and a smaller, private room in the back that appeared to be used for minor procedures. Din laid the girl on the closest bed to the door and watched as the medical droid walked over. It wasn't the first time he was glad for the helmet, especially when it was convenient to hide his sour expression at the droid.
The droid went to work, oblivious to Din's feelings towards it. It stripped the woman of his cloak, letting it fall unceremoniously to the floor. He turned to give her some privacy while the droid performed its initial scans. Cara turned with him, keeping her hands looped around her holster. She appeared relaxed, but Din knew she was wound tight, ready to defend if the girl ended up popping up to try and kill them all. Given her frightened reaction earlier, he doubted it, but he'd learned long ago not to underestimate anyone. The second you did, you became injured, or worse.
Karga walked in, and Din felt his shoulders relax slightly at the sight of the smiling green toddler in the older man's arms. Karga passed the Kid off to Din with an easy smile.
"Hey, buddy," Din greeted and positioned the kid in the safety of his arms.
The Child was wiggly and adamant about seeing the girl behind them. Din kept having to reposition the kid so that he could try and respect the girl's privacy. The Child was naturally curious but not normally this excited over something or someone unless there was food involved.
The medical droid began to give its report, stopping Din from exploring the reasons for the Kid's excitement.
"Other than being dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition, the patient is fine," the droid reported, breaking the stifled silence of the small med bay. When the group turned around, the droid covered the mystery woman with a blanket.
"She's fine?" Dune asked skeptically, staring at the woman in question with a raised brow.
The three of them looked down at the green slime-covered woman, all with doubts about that statement.
"She is not in immediate danger of termination," the droid stated flatly, and Din rolled his eyes at the impersonal, droid-like response. "Her malnutrition and dehydration can be corrected with a balanced diet and fluids. The skin where the bio-connectors had been attached is infected. I've applied a bacta spray to them, which should treat them," the droid informed them.
The kid made some exciting chirping noises and reached his hands toward the unconscious woman.
"Calm down, kid," Din instructed. The responding noises the Kid returned sounded suspiciously like he was being talked back to. Din was about to comment on it when the woman began to stir.
Everyone was on edge, preparing themselves for the worst. The woman groaned and moved her hands to her head, pressing down on her temples, pain evident across her face. She struggled to open her eyes under the harsh lights of the medical bay and covered them with her hands. Another long minute passed, and she was finally able to focus on the room. She let her hands fall and took in her new surroundings. She was clearly startled when she realized where she was and that she now had an audience in front of her. The woman sat up abruptly, holding the flimsy blanket across her chest. She stared at them wide-eyed and terrified.
"Hey, it's okay," Greef Karga reassured her, "we rescued you! You can trust us."
The man's naturally booming voice made the woman flinch in fear. Judging by the terrified expression that is plastered on her face, Din can see that she doesn't quite believe him.
"He's right," Din said quietly, keeping his voice low and calm. "These are good people," he tried to keep his voice quiet and even, hoping that it would help her relax and, with any luck, trust him.
The girl swiveled her head to look at him. The kid reached toward the girl and spouted a series of soft cooing noises. The girl changed her focus from himself to the kid. Din watched in apprehension as her formerly green eyes turned so black that they completely engulfed the white of her eyes. He took a cautious step back, bringing the Kid slightly closer to him. Dune's hands went to her blaster, and the room held a collective breath.
The woman stood up, dropping the feeble medical bay blanket as she rose from the bed. She appeared to be in a trance of some kind. She was calm, composed, and apparently unconcerned about modesty when the blanket dropped, revealing her entire naked body to the group.
She walked towards Din, keeping her eyes locked on the kid. Din's other hand slowly inched towards his blaster when her voice stopped him.
The woman's gaze went from the Kid to him, and her look made him feel as if she could see straight through his helmet.
"He says I can trust you."