Another Enemy Revealed
In one of the hangar bays of Prime sat a DeepWater-class light freighter named the Iduna. Inside was the ship's owner, Anna. She was Elsa's younger sister and had joined the Rebellion after reuniting with her after years of separation following the Clone Wars. She was in her quarter's and had on her black body glove. Over it was her gold colored Mandalorian armor.
She had obtained it and the skills to match after being adopted into a Mandalorian clan during her search for her sister. She'd suspended her goal for a time after deeming she lacked the necessary skills to face the dangers of the galaxy. So she trained with them, learning their customs and martial ways all in order to get stronger. After spending some time with them she left to continue her quest to reunite with sister.
She'd obtained her ship in the process, needing a makeshift home for the prolonged lengths of time she was sure to spend scouring every corner of the galaxy, chasing every whisper, and looking for any trace of the Jedi in hopes of finding her. She'd named it after their mother to honor her, and perhaps invoke her spirit to aid her in her travels.
As she finished putting her armor on, save her helmet and jetpack, she looked toward her pair of WESTAR-35 blaster pistols on her cot before reaching a hand out to grab them. She grabbed one and holstered it but before she could grab the other she stopped midway. She cocked her head and decided to try something. She closed her eyes, hand outstretched and took a few deep breaths.
She relaxed her mind and body. Focusing before opening her eyes and focusing her will on her pistol. Her hand trembled in effort as she attempted to call it to her hand. Anna, like her sister, was Force sensitive. Unlike her sibling however, her connection to the Force was somewhat weak.
Anna had never practiced with her power. She'd only discovered it upon reuniting with her sister. At first she was certain she didn't need it, believing her skill set and combat abilities were more than enough to handle whatever threat may come. But recently she'd begun to reconsider. She figured that this could be another weapon in her arsenal. Perhaps one day even save her life.
So she'd asked her sister to give her some pointers and tips on how to use some of the abilities the Jedi could use. Anna's Force powers were primarily used instinctually to enhance her reflexes. She also had a weak sensory ability, able to detect other Force sensitive beings or objects. Though this power was most strongly attuned to sensing her sister, as it had during her search for her. It was what led her to believe she was still alive, despite having not having seen her in years and having no evidence supporting her belief.
She also got bad feelings every now and then which would alert her to dangers that were hidden and beyond her awareness. A sort of precognition the Jedi were known to have.
The skill she'd been practicing at the most was her telekinetic ability. She found it to be the most useful to have, figuring it may one day mean the difference between life and death if she could learn to use it.
But it had so far proven difficult to master.
She grit her teeth, eyes narrowing and hand shaking. "Come on. Come on," she muttered quietly.
The blaster gave an almost imperceptible tremble, and she could swear she saw it move just a tiny bit. But ultimately her most recent attempt proved as unsuccessful as the last as she dropped her arm with a defeated sigh.
"You're trying too hard."
Anna turned her head to see her sister standing there. She'd been so engrossed in what she'd been doing she hadn't noticed her enter.
Anna sighed again and frowned. "You guys make it look so easy," she whined.
Elsa chuckled before turning her attention to the blaster. She focused on it, and a moment later it rose from the bed before drifting through the air and to her. She grabbed it out of the air and walked to her sister, offering it for her to take.
Anna scowled at her. "Show off," she muttered as she took and holstered it.
"You'll get it in time," Elsa assured her.
"But you could already move stuff when you were a kid," Anna pointed out.
"True. But I had an unusually strong connection to the Force for my age," Elsa explained. "And when I joined the Jedi it took me some time to fully master my ability. You just need to have patience."
"I'm trying to."
"Do or-"
"Stop. Just stop," Anna said with a raised hand to cut her off.
Elsa gave a light laugh in amusement. She then commended Anna on her efforts in the previous raid on the Imperial city. Anna not so humbly accepted the praise with a grin. Anna was assigned to no particular squad or unit. Instead, she tended to serve as what they dubbed a "force multiplier" to whatever unit or operation she was attached to, bolstering the offensive capabilities of the group she was assigned and increasing the overall chances for success.
Anna was skilled in a variety of weapons and had extensive training in hand-to-hand combat. She was also skilled in tracking, stealth (most of the time), and explosives. And she had quite the varied arsenal at her disposal. All of these factors made her a valuable asset. Her skills were considered second only to her sister and the other Jedi and matched the upper echelons of even the most elite rebel officers.
She was generally considered a substitute for when a Jedi was needed, such as when facing an Imperial Force adept or other elite imperial forces.
"So what's up Elsa? We got a mission?" Anna asked, sensing her sister hadn't come just to make small talk.
"Indeed," Elsa confirmed as they entered the cockpit. Anna took a seat in the pilot's chair as Elsa took the co-pilot's seat. "Merida asked me to make contact with one of our spies and I could use some transport," she explained.
"Ah. Ok," Anna said. She began hitting the ship's controls and preparing the engines to take off. "I assume we're clear then?" she checked to be sure as the ship rumbled to life.
"Yes," Elsa confirmed.
"Should we get Kristoff?"
"Merida's pulled him for something else," Elsa revealed.
"Oh yeah? What?" Anna inquired curiously.
"She didn't say."
With a hum and a shrug in acceptance, Anna activated the repulsorlifts for the Iduna. After hovering off the floor of the hangers she activated the engines and directed the ship out of the bay and into space.
Elsa gave her the destination and she inputted the hyperdrive coordinates before sending the ship into hyperspace and shooting off into the void.
In another part of the galaxy two starfighters were flying over a forest. Their pilots were on the lookout for anything amiss. But so far all they'd made out were trees and fields as far as the eyes could see.
In one starfighter was Hiccup in his Delta-7 Interceptor. He flew with his fighter tilted at a slight angle to the side for a better view. He hummed to himself, eyes scanning the forest below. "Sharpshot, do another scan for any communication signals," he said aloud.
His droid co-pilot replied with a series of beeps and complied. A small dish on the droid's head popped out and rotated, scanning for any signs of communication on the planet. After a moment of silence, the droid followed up with another string of beeps.
"Nothing huh?" he said in disappointment. "You getting anything Rapunzel?" he asked his comrade in the other fighter.
Flying a few meters at his side was a starfighter that was also from the Clone Wars era like Hiccup's Delta-7. It was an Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor. It was a bright yellow with a pink undertone to reflect Rapunzel's personal tastes. Adorning its S-foils were golden suns, a reference to Rapunzel's position as leader of Sun Squadron.
It was one of the few within the Alliance's possession and Rapunzel had requested it for use as her personal fighter. She'd named it the Sundrop and had allowed Hiccup and Jack to modify it, granting it light shielding and hyperspace capabilities without the need for a hyperspace ring.
She'd just returned to base from her visit with the younglings and meeting with Eugene's old friend when Merida had assigned them all missions. Merida had told her to go with Hiccup, which she gladly accepted. They'd been informed that they were on a search mission and that their combined powers may be able to find what scanners could not.
An Alliance astromech in the Sundrop's astromech socket was also scanning for any signal or beacons on the planet. She hummed before replying, "No. I'm not getting anything either."
"You feeling anything?" he asked.
"I'm not sensing anything through the Force. You?"
"No. Just the general stuff," Hiccup answered. He hummed before righting his fighter. He thought for a while before opening his communication channel. "Let's let Jack know what we got."
Waiting in orbit sat a Consular-class cruiser with more rebel forces waiting for the Jedi to report their findings. Jack stood in the cockpit behind the pilot and co-pilot awaiting their report. They'd been sent to do some reconnaissance of the planet and look for any survivors after one of the scouting party had been found in space in an escape pod.
"Come in cruiser," came Hiccup over the comm channel.
Jack stepped up to the controls and pressed a button to respond. "Go ahead Hiccup."
"We're not seeing anything down here," Hiccup replied.
"Nothing with the Force either?" Jack inquired.
"No. No signals, no distress beacon, no signs of life save for what's to be expected for a terrestrial planet."
"Yeah, we're not getting anything on our planet wide scans either," Jack added.
"I'm thinking we need to get on the ground," Hiccup proposed.
"Copy that," Jack said in agreement. "Takes us down," Jack said to the pilot. The pilot complied, directing the cruiser down and into orbit.
They found a large field within sight of the crashed Separatist frigate and set the cruiser down. A few moments later Hiccup and Rapunzel landed their fighters in the same field, but at the tree line. The Jedi exited their fighters to join the others after telling their astromechs to continue scanning and to keep the engines prepped in case a quick escape was needed. They gathered at the cruiser as the rebels filed out, bringing out speeder bikes as well.
There were 22 in total. Including the Jedi, Jack, and Toothless who'd come due to his experience navigating and tracking in forest environments. He was also there to find his fellow Wookie so he could report his status to the respective clan. Alongside them were 18 more officers. Six of which were clone troopers from black regiment and another six that were members of Sun Squadron. The rest were an assortment of rebels of different species that'd come to help in the search.
They gathered as Hiccup began giving orders. "Alright, from what we know the scouting party was using that Separatist ship as base camp," he said as he pointed at said ship. "We'll use that as our starting point and spread out from there. Sun Squad, split into two teams and cover the area to the Starboard side. Black, you split into two teams and cover the port. Rapunzel and Toothless go with the rest of the group and cover the stern. Perform sweeping searches within half a mile diameter of the ship and we'll go from there. Understood?" he finished as he looked at everyone.
They all nodded in confirmation. "Alright. Take the bikes to cover more area. Go." With his orders given they broke away and split into their search groups before heading to their bikes.
As they left he raised his wrist comm to talk to the pilot in the cruiser. "Keep the engines warm gentlemen. And keep those scanners on alert for Imperial activity. Last thing we need is to be ambushed and we may need to make a quick escape if we are," he ordered.
"Copy that, General," came the pilot's response in compliance.
Jack remained where he was in confusion. He hadn't been given any orders. "What about us Hiccup?" he asked curiously.
"I want to check out the inside of the ship," Hiccup answered.
A few minutes later Hiccup and Jack were walking through the corridors of the ship. They'd found the entrance in the ship's outer hull and were exploring with glowrods in hand. The lights in the ceiling were dim and flickering as they went.
"Guess they were able to restore some power to the ship," Jack commented as he noted the lights.
"Guess so. Remind me why these guys were here again?" Hiccup asked.
"Looking for a potential ground base from what I understand. Somewhere the fleet can fall back to and regroup if everything went to poodoo," Jack explained.
"Ah," Hiccup replied in understanding.
"You think Imperials got them?" Jack asked.
"The survivor didn't say?" Hiccup inquired.
"Nah, he wasn't doing so hot when we found him. All he managed to get out was that they'd been attacked. Then he blacked out and hasn't woken up since."
Hiccup hummed thoughtfully. "Hard to say. Nothing to go on yet. Could be the Empire. Or maybe Mandalorians. Maybe pirates or scrappers," Hiccup said to answer Jack's earlier question.
As they walked through the ship they passed by a hole in the ship's hull. Hiccup examined it closely. Running fingers over the scorch marks along the walls and picking up fragments of metal on the floor.
"This isn't old, is it?" Jack asked.
"No. Definitely recent," Hiccup confirmed.
They kept going, following a trail of dried blood until they reached a set of blast doors with a large opening cut into it. On the other side of the doors was a body. They stepped through the opening and kneeled down to examine the body. Hiccup turned the man over to get a better look and let out a breath.
"Damn," Jack muttered quietly. He reached a hand out and searched the body before recovering his ID tag. He pocketed it, intent on returning it to whatever loved one he might have had.
Hiccup inspected the body before homing in on a hole in the man's shirt. He examined it closely alongside the exit wound. He grabbed the corpse by the shoulder and turned him over to look for the entry wound. After a brief examination he stood up before looking at the opening in the blast doors.
He took a step toward the doors before running a hand along the cut.
"What's up Hiccup?" Jack asked, noting his intense expression.
"This door was cut open," Hiccup said.
"You thinking fusioncutter?" Jack offered.
"No," Hiccup replied. He stayed silent for a few moments in thought. "I'm pretty sure a lightsaber did this," he revealed.
Jack's eyes widened in surprise. "You sure?"
"I know a lightsaber wound when I see one," Hiccup said as he motioned toward the dead man. Jack looked down and inspected the stab wound. "And this door was definitely cut by a lightsaber blade," Hiccup confidently added.
"That's…" Jack trailed off as he stood. "So we thinking Empire then? An Inquisitor or other Force user on their side."
Hiccup looked down in thought. "Could be. But there was that bounty hunter we ran into a while back, he had a lightsaber," Hiccup pointed out.
"Oh yeah. That guy," Jack recalled. "Still, Empire seems more likely," he reiterated.
"It does...but…" Hiccup began.
"But?" Jack pressed.
"I don't know. Just got a feeling it's not," Hiccup said with a shrug.
"Alright. We'll leave it open for now," Jack said in acceptance. He was still leaning toward the Empire, but he trusted Hiccup's instincts and could wait till they had more evidence.
"Come in Master," came a voice from Hiccup's wrist comm.
Hiccup raised his wrist up and pressed on his comm link to reply. "Go ahead."
"Found something off the port side. You should take a look," Rapunzel answered.
"On the way," Hiccup said back. "Shall we?" he said to his comrade so they could leave.
Jack paused, looking down at their fallen comrade sadly. He didn't know the man personally, but he still grieved for him as a comrade in arms fighting for a greater cause.
"We should bury him," Jack decided.
Hiccup looked to the corps as well. "Yeah. It's the least we can do for him," he said in completed agreement.
After leaving the ship and burying their fallen comrade the pair met up with Rapunzel and Toothless' group. They were greeted by the area of what had definitely been the sight of a battle. There was broken and trampled flora everywhere. Blaster bolt scorch marks riddled the trees around them. Wood spikes were poking from the ground and log traps were hanging from rope and vines.
But the most telling evidence of all was the sight of a dead Wookie lying flat on the forest floor. The Jedi, Jack, and Toothless were gathered around their fallen comrade and did a brief inspection of the body to find the cause of death. When they had it they took a step back to allow Toothless to say a prayer for his dead brethren.
"His neck was broken," Hiccup said. The others nodded in agreement.
"How'd it happen though?" Jack asked.
Hiccup glanced back as he spied Toothless picking up his fallen kinsmen before walking into the brush to bury him. With him gone he walked back over to the sight of his death and kneeled down to take a closer look.
"Come here Jack," Hiccup said to his friend.
Jack arched a brow but obeyed as he walked over to him. When he reached him, Hiccup reached a hand out to his shoulder before gently coaxing him to turn around and put his back to him. He did so and waited.
"Can you get on your knees for me Jack?" Hiccup requested.
"Sure," Jack complied. He lowered himself to his knees and after a beat he heard Hiccup move behind him. Then Hiccup's arms came around to encircle his neck in a light choke hold.
After a moment Hiccup released him and stepped back. "Lay down for me Jack," Hiccup asked. Jack complied as he let his upper body fall forward to lie on the ground on his stomach.
"I think we know how it happened," Hiccup revealed.
Jack stood up and Rapunzel walked over as Hiccup pointed out indentations on the ground where footprints and knee prints could be seen upon a closer inspection.
"So you think they broke his neck like that?" Jack asked skeptically.
"It seems to fit."
"Well I'm thinking pirates then," Jack proposed. "No way a human could do that to a Wookie, which eliminates the Empire or Mandalorians."
"One of my people could," Hiccup chimed in.
"Well I doubt it was a Berkian," Jack retorted flatly.
"Agreed," Rapunzel chimed in. "It would have to be something bigger and stronger than a human. What about a Trandoshan?" she proposed.
"They didn't take his pelt though," Hiccup countered.
"That's true," Rapunzel said as she reconsidered.
They were offering alternative theories and suggestions when they heard a rustling. Everyone was on alert and grabbed their weapons. The Jedi drew their lightsabers and Jack drew his blaster, a white handled X-8 Night Sniper. The other rebels also drew their weapons, pointing them at a rustling bush tensely.
The group kept their gaze fixed on it, waiting as the rustling continued and came closer. The Jedi furrowed their brows as they attempted to sense what was coming their way, but they could feel nothing in the noise's direction.
They waited until something small stepped out of the brush. Something bipedal and a vibrant green color. It peaked out at them and then retreated before peeking out once more, debating whether to fully step into the open.
Rapunzel blinked and lowered her weapon. "It's a droid," she said in realization. The others relaxed, lowering their weapons as they continued to watch the small droid looking at them from the cover of the brush.
With their weapons down the small droid felt it safe to step out into the open. As it did it dragged its left leg slightly in effort.
"It's hurt," Rapunzel said in concern as she walked toward it. It froze before taking a few steps back and then shrinking in on itself as Rapunzel stood over it.
"It's ok little guy," she said softly. She lowered herself and sat down before reaching a hand out. "See, we're friends," she said. The droid's optical sensor looked at her, zooming in and likely scanning her as it assessed her intent.
But seemingly sensing no danger it stepped toward her hand before nuzzling it and then continued to climb into her lap. "Aww. There you go," Rapunzel cooed softly as she rubbed its head.
"It's a BD unit," Jack commented aloud.
"Yeah," Hiccup agreed.
"Those are used in exploration and research. It must be one of ours," Jack surmised.
"Guess so," Hiccup said in agreement. They walked toward it and Rapunzel. It leveled them with a stare as it shook nervously.
"Hello little friend," Hiccup said as gently as he could. "Are you the only one?" he asked. The droid responded with a nod and followed up with a string of binary. "I see," Hiccup said dejectedly.
"You know, BD units come with holorecorders and projectors," Jack reminded everyone.
"True," Hiccup said before looking back to the droid. "You think you can show us what happened to your friends?"
The droid nodded before starting its holoprojector. It displayed a small hologram in the air. It was a recording of the scouting party as they explored a new area. They would have the small droid record landmarks they could use for navigation and building references. They would show him flora to scan and document fauna of interest they happened to come across.
It was peaceful until the sounds of blaster firing began to play out in the background. Things went rapidly downhill as they were ambushed. The group shouted and yelled before grabbing their weapons and putting up a fight.
Then the holo changed to an image of one of their attackers.
"Mandalorians," Hiccup muttered in disdain. They watched as a small party descended on the group. Firing blasters and missiles.
Then a louder metallic shriek overshadowed every other noise on the recording. It switched to one of the rebels speaking directly to the droid and telling it to hide itself when something large pounced on it. They watched in horror as the man was ripped apart by something they could barely comprehend. Soon the sound of the man's screams filled the quiet of the forest and everyone suppressed a shudder at the noise.
"That's enough," Hiccup said.
The BD unit shut off the recording and gave a sad beep before leaning into Rapunzel. She looked down at it ruefully as she stroked its head. The poor thing looked so sad. It must have been awful for it to witness the death of its friends.
"What the hell was that with them?" Jack asked in bewilderment. "Some kind of animal?"
Hiccup shook his head. He looked to him and opened his mouth to answer when his wrist comm went off. "One sec," he said before answering it. "Go ahead."
"General, we've found bodies and signs of battle about one klick northeast of the frigate," came the response from one of his men.
"Survivors?" Hiccup asked.
"Negative sir."
"Anything else?" Hiccup asked.
"It's hard to say sir. It looks like a tank bulldozed its way through the forest. But instead of treads we're finding claw marks. Got some prints too. It's as if we're tracking an animal," the trooper said in bafflement.
"Got it. We know the situation. Found one of our droids. Looks like Mandalorians did this, and they had a bas-" Hiccup was about to explain before stopping.
He suddenly turned and stared out into the distance with narrowed eyes. Everyone stared at him in confusion and watched as Rapunzel turned in that same direction. She stood up with the droid in her arms as she kept staring in the same direction of Hiccup.
"Hicc?" Jack inquired.
"We need to leave," Hiccup suddenly said.
"What?" Jack asked, perplexed by the sudden change in demeanor.
"We should leave. Now," Hiccup said more firmly. He pressed down on his wrist comm. "All units return to the cruiser. We're pulling out. Now," he ordered. Everyone could see and hear he was serious as they made their way to their bikes.
"What's up Hiccup? Are we in danger?" Jack asked as he looked in the direction his friend was. He couldn't make out anything amiss.
"Not sure," Hiccup admitted. "Don't want to find out," he added.
"Alright. Good enough for me," Jack said in acceptance as he turned to get to his bike.
The Jedi remained on the spot for a moment, trying to assess what they were feeling.
"Rapunzel. You feel it too?" Hiccup asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. It feels like we're being watched."
A few miles away on a distant ridge five individuals were watching the group from afar. They had the scanners in their helmets zoomed in on them. Taking particular note of the two Jedi in the company.
The five individuals were Mandalorians. They were clad in dark, almost black, armor and well-armed. Littered around them were six dead bodies belonging to others of their kind. They'd stripped off their armor and taken their weapons so as to not let their cherished metal fall into the hands of outsiders.
The leader of the group standing closest to the ridge's edge had the only survivor at his feet. The man was hogtied and gagged, struggling uselessly as a foot pressed against the side of head to keep him pinned. He and his group had been lying in wait to ambush more rebels when they'd been pounced upon themselves.
The leader received a transmission. He raised a finger up and pressed a button on the side of his helmet to respond.
"Report," he heard in his ear.
"Got the jump on a group of traitors lying in wait for an ambush," he relayed.
"Any survivors?"
"One," he answered, pressing down on the head of his foe beneath him in contempt. "Also got my eyes on a small company. Looks like a search party. I'm guessing it's the rebels," he added.
"How should we proceed?" he asked.
"Let them leave," he was ordered.
"They have two Jedi with them," he added.
There was a brief pause from the other end before he got his response. "Your orders are to let them go. We're not at war with the Jedi or Rebel Alliance...yet. First we have to deal with the blasphemer and his forces."
"Acknowledged," the Mandalorian said in acceptance.
He dropped a hand to watch the rebels retreat and go to their ships. One of his comrades came up behind him.
"What are our orders?" he asked.
"Leave them be," he relayed. "We've got bigger gorg to fry at the moment. Get ready to move out once they leave the sector."
"Got it," his comrade said before going back to the others.
The Mandalorian watched the cruiser rise alongside the two Jedi fighters, climbing higher and higher before leaving the planet's orbit. He silently wished he had a chance to face the Jedi. For he wanted to test his mettle against one of his people's longest and greatest foes.
But, as their leader had made clear, their priority was overthrowing this fake Mandalore leading his people astray. Forcing them from the true way.
They had to destroy him and his forces before he permanently defiled the very heart and soul of their people.
Located in the Outer Rim Territories was the humid rainforest-covered planet of Elerion. It was infamously known to be a haven for gamblers. And to accommodate its most frequent and loyal visitors several major cities dotted the planet's surface, hosting many large and small casinos where fortunes could be won, or lost, depending on one's skill or luck.
Making their way through the planet's capital city of Kushal Vogh were Anna and Elsa. They'd come to meet their contact, slipping under the notice of the Empire as it tended to turn a blind eye to the people who frequented the world for its dubious attractions.
Elsa had the hood of her cloak up so as to not draw attention to herself. Anna wore a brown hooded cloak as well as to not draw attention to her highly valuable beskar, which would make for quite the collateral in this gambler's paradise.
As they walked through the dark city they skimmed the building signs on the lookout for their meeting location. They had the name but weren't told what kind of establishment they were meeting. They hoped for a diner or cantina. Anything but a nightclub and especially not a-
"A casino," Elsa said in exasperation as they stood outside the entrances to a medium sized casino named the Veda Pearl. Just the type of place she hadn't wanted to step one foot into.
"Come on sis, lighten up," Anna said in good humor.
With a sigh she and Anna walked in and their senses were immediately bombarded. They could smell alcohol and the faint scent of spice. Various distinct incense aromas also permeated the air. All around they were surrounded by shady and rugged looking individuals of numerous species that drank and gambled, barely paying any mind to the two of them as they went.
They walked up to the bar and were greeted by a male Xexto serving as the bartender. The short, pale skinned, spindly, four-armed alien with large black eyes smiled at Elsa and spread his arms out to gesture to the bar's selections.
"Greeting new customers. What's your poison?" he asked in a friendly tone.
Elsa paused before glancing to her left and right. There were several individuals at the bar. One of which should have been their contact. She'd been given a few phrases to discreetly signal them. Deciding to proceed she looked to the bartender and offered a friendly smile.
"I'll have one Moognan Tea," Elsa requested politely.
"One Moognan Tea coming up," the Xexto said in confirmation. With a peppy whistle the Xexto's hands reached out, grasping all the ingredients and a glass. With the length of his arms and his six fingered hands he barely had to move to grab everything.
Soon enough the frothy orange beverage was before her, smelling of spices and a sweet scent. Elsa smiled as she grabbed it and slid it to her. "Thank you sir," she said as she reached into the pockets of her robes. She found a few credits before placing them on the counter.
The Xexto smiled as he secured them and thanked her for her patronage. He glanced behind her to Anna, asking for her request. She shook her head in rejection and he moved down the bar to serve another customer.
"Moognan Tea huh?" someone chimed in.
Elsa turned to her right and looked down to meet the eyes of a vulpine being. He was male Amaran and bipedal, holding a drink in hand with an easy going and relaxed expression.
"I like Arkanian sweet milk myself," he continued.
Elsa kept her facial features smooth. His choice of drink was the code word to signal their identity. To verify, she added a confirmation phrase, "Not a bad choice. But I don't believe anything can beat-"
"Tsiraki," he and Elsa finished in unison. With that they'd each confirmed who they were.
"Follow me," he said as he motioned away from the bar.
They followed him close as they weaved through the crowd. The Amaran was wearing a light green jacket with loose grey pants. He seemed quite comfortable here. The women assumed he must have frequented the place.
"Good to meet you Mister-" Elsa started.
"Wilde. Just call me Wilde," he responded evenly.
"Good to meet you Mr. Wilde. I'm-" Elsa started.
"I know who you are," he interrupted. He led them to a corner of the room so they could talk in private. "Alright. Let's chat."
"I believe you know why we're here," Elsa said quietly, just loud enough for them to hear. Anna stood on guard, making sure no one got too close to them. "You had some valuable intel to pass onto us."
"That I do. You gonna drink that?" he asked as he pointed to the drink she'd ordered earlier and had taken with her on impulse.
"Oh...not really," Elsa said. She offered it to him.
He happily took it before taking a hardy swallow. "Thanks, you're a peach," he said in gratitude.
"So...I believe you have something for us?" Elsa continued.
"Yeah. Been in contact with the Governor of Balmorra. He was able to pass on some valuable info on the Empire. Convoy and shipment schedules, clearance codes, all that," he explained.
"Excellent. We'll take it and be on our way," Elsa said happily.
"Woah, hold your blurggs lady," Wilde said. "I don't have it on me," he revealed.
"Ok, where is it?" Elsa asked.
"Back at my place."
"Ok. Shall we go get it then?"
He sucked in air through his teeth with a wince. "Yeah, you see there's a small hitch," he said with a weak chuckle. "You see while I was waiting for the meeting time I did a bit of gambling. Had a bit of a streak. Might have gone in too deep. I kind of owe the casino some money," he explained.
He paused to point at the exits. She and Anna looked and saw that the exits were being guarded by several Nikto. They were glancing around the room and looking for signs of unrest, but Elsa didn't miss how their gazes passed over them and Wilde and lingered a second too long before resuming their scan.
"They're not just going to let me walk out unless I can turn things around," Wilde explained. "And that's where you come in," he said looking to Elsa with a cheeky grin.
"I doubt we have the credits on us to pay your debts," Elsa said, annoyed.
"No. But I bet you could win it all back and then some," he said with waggling brows.
"We did not come here to gamble," Elsa said with a scowl.
"Yeah well we don't have much choice," Wilde argued.
Elsa frowned down at him. She didn't come to gamble. She didn't want to gamble. But the guards wanted Wilde and weren't likely to let him go.
"C'mon sis," Anna said to her. Elsa glanced back at her. "You just play a few games and we're out of here. Worst come to worst we blast our way out. Not that we'll need to," Anna said with complete confidence.
Elsa held her sister's gaze before looking back toward Wilde. He held his grin and kept waggling his brows. With a sigh and a shake of her head she agreed.
"Fine. But I'm only doing enough to pay your debts," Elsa said firmly.
"Oh for sure," Wilde said with a nod. With that he stepped around her before heading toward the floor. He looked back and held his hand out toward the floor. "Shall we?"
With a breath Elsa followed after him with Anna in tow as they went to find a game to play. The patrons of the casino and the establishment itself would soon understand the veracity of the old wisdom.
One should never gamble against a Jedi.
Within an hour the trio were walking down the streets of the city. Wilde laughed loudly in triumph, having won back what he'd lost thanks to Elsa. Elsa only needed to play a few games, winning all of them and earning enough to pay back his debts.
Wilde tried encouraging her to play more. To earn him more credits. But Elsa was firm on her earlier statement to only play until they'd earned back what he owed. So to his disappointment they ended her winning streak and left the casino.
"Woo man pale skin, that was some streak you had. I guess it really is true what they used to say. Never make a bet with a-"
"Wilde!" Elsa cut in sharply before he could finish his statement. He was so high off his win he wasn't controlling himself.
"Oh yeah. Sorry," he apologized. "Got a little carried away," he said with a laugh.
"Now we're heading to your place. Correct?" Elsa asked.
"For sure. A deal is a deal," Wilde confirmed. "This way," he said as he waved them along.
They continued on, eventually coming to an apartment building. A run down looking one at that. The halls were lit by flickering lights and insects scurried about the floor of the hall. They proceeded up to the 11th floor and came to a door to Wilde's apartment.
"Here she is, home sweet home," Wilde said as she fished around his pant pockets for before finding his keycard. "There we go," he said before sliding it through the reader. It beeped and the door opened a moment later.
They all entered the apartment. Wilde hit the lights and they were greeted by an apartment of modest size, though rather shabby. It had a large window in the living room and there was a desk in the corner of the room with equipment and a dish. The women figured it was for monitoring Imperial chatter and communicating with the Alliance.
"Can I get you ladies a drink?" Wilde offered.
"Just the disk please," Elsa rejected politely.
"I'm good," Anna added as well.
Wilde shrugged good-naturedly before walking up to his table and equipment. He reached out and pushed against the table. It slid a few inches across the floor with a loud creak before Wilde knelt down. He smacked his hand against a floor tile, causing it to jut up at a corner.
Wilde grabbed it by the corner and then pulled it up, revealing a hidden space beneath the floor. Under it sat a few items. A blaster, an ID card, and most importantly the data disk. He picked it up before standing and turning to present it to Elsa.
"One data disk. As promised," he said with a sly grin.
"Thank you Wilde," Elsa said gratefully before reaching out to take it.
She suddenly stopped. Her senses were immediately on alert. She sensed danger from something she couldn't explain.
Wilde arched a brow in confusion at her sudden hesitance to take the disk. "Something wrong?" he asked.
Suddenly he felt a sharp sting on his shoulder. He flinched before looking at it. He found something small protruding from it. It was some kind of orb. He reached out and pulled at it, finding it was attached to a needle.
"Wilde!" Elsa yelped in shock. Wilde's eyes glazed over and drooped as he fell sideways and to the floor.
Elsa whirled around on alert. Anna too.
"We're not alone," Elsa said as her eyes scanned the room. Now that she was aware she could sense a presence. Someone was here.
"Yeah. I'm starting to feel it too," Anna said as her senses also detected something amiss.
Elsa was still looking for their attacker when her eyes were drawn to a spot in the corner of the ceiling. They stayed there peering at something almost imperceptible hiding in the shadows of the dimly lit room.
Her eyes suddenly caught a glint of something in the air. On instinct she twisted her body to the side as another small projectile, a dart of some kind, sailed through the air her torso had just been. It hit the floor and bounced away.
Another glint alerted them to another dart coming at them. This time it was aimed towards Anna. Anna quickly raised her vambrace up and deflected it. The needle of the dart broke against her beskar before hitting the ground.
Following the trajectory it'd come Anna drew a blaster and began firing at the corner. Before her shots could land, something moved from its spot and fell to the floor. The women's eyes fell on what could only be described as a being of living smoke or mist.
It danced around the room as Anna fired on it. It used furniture as cover that was blasted apart before it leapt through the air at them. They saw a flash metal above it and broke away from each other as a blade swung through the spot Anna had just been.
Anna backed up and raised a vambrace as the blade swung through the air at her. There was a clang of metal and sparks flew as she blocked the strike from whatever was attacking her. Before she could counter the thing leapt and she felt something collide with the front of her helmet that caused her to stagger back.
The thing was definitely a person and had thrown a kick right at her head. It then turned on Elsa. It spun to gain momentum before slashing at her. Elsa intercepted the attack, throwing up her forearm and blocking her attacker's wrist before grabbing it.
Before she could apply any kind of hold the blade fell before being caught. Elsa twisted away from a stab at her stomach. The thing then proceeded to dive for Wilde. Elsa realized what it was going for and extended a hand out. The data disk flew from Wilde's still hands before the being could pounce on it.
Elsa secured it in her left hand and watched as the thing lunged at her with its weapon poised to attack. Elsa held out her right hand, using the Force to catch the thing before it could reach her. It floated in the air, struggling wildly at the force holding it off the ground before she thrust her hand forward.
The thing was sent hurtling away in a violent push before colliding with the wall next to the window. A split second after crashing against the wall the smoke evaporated away, revealing a person. Elsa and Anna saw a woman garbed in red, hiding her face behind a mask and cowl.
Anna had her blaster trained on the mysterious woman while Elsa held the data disk firmly in hand and awaited her next action. The woman glared spitefully at the two of them, eyes flicking to the data disk and the women, assessing the situation.
The woman tensed and Anna opened fire. Her blaster bolts hit the wall behind her head as she spun away and dove out the window. The glass shattered with a crash and the two women rushed to it and looked out to see the woman falling several stories.
Anna was almost certain the woman had just leapt to her death. But Elsa felt otherwise.
The woman fell before landing in the street below in a crouch. A few passersbys were startled at the sight of the woman literally falling out of the sky and stared dumbfounded as she looked back up at Elsa and Anna.
Elsa narrowed her eyes at her as the woman tensed before running away.
"Check on Wilde," Elsa said as she tossed the data disk to her sister. She vaulted out the window and fell, cloak and robes flapping in the wind before landing on the street with graceful poise.
She looked at the woman's retreating form before sprinting after her. Elsa was fast. Faster than any normal human woman should have been thanks to the Force empowering her body. But she could sense the woman wielding the Force as well as she too moved at remarkable speed.
The woman pushed through throngs of people and vaulted over speeders and obstacles as she fled. But Elsa managed to close the distance and keep her in her sights. The woman darted down an alley and Elsa rounded the corner to follow.
The alley was narrow and coming to a dead end. Elsa was almost sure she had her. But she watched in amazement as the woman leapt at the wall at the end and clung to it like some kind of insect. Elsa's jaw dropped as the woman clambered up it with little effort.
But overcoming her surprise Elsa narrowed her eyes in focus. She leapt to her right and planted a foot against the wall before pushing off to the opposite. She ran a few steps to keep momentum before jumping back to the other wall. She repeated the process, gaining more and more height until she finally reached the top of the building.
The woman was still a good few yards ahead of her as Elsa continued her pursuit. They came to a building bordering a street. Not slowing down, she sped up before leaping. She leapt a distance only possible by a few creatures in the galaxy before landing on a distant rooftop, rolling before getting her feet under her, and then continuing on.
Elsa did the same, making a Force enhanced jump as she cleared the streets below to land on the same building and also rolling to her feet and continuing the chase. The woman suddenly grabbed something from her back before spinning around and activating it.
Elsa flinched as the woman revealed an energy bow. A string of pinkish plasma connected to form a string at a grip. The woman pulled on the grip and quickly fired a few plasma bolts at her. Elsa quickly grabbed for her saberstaff and ignited both blades. She spun her weapon in both hands as she continued on, creating a wall of fast spinning plasma blades that knocked the plasma bolts away.
The woman continued to retreat whilst firing. Leaping over vents and ac units while trying to stop the pursuing Jedi. But Elsa nimbly dodged while deflecting and batting away her shots and closing the distance until finally the woman was forced to stop her retreat as she'd come to a dead end.
There was no other building close enough to leap to. She glanced around, debating as to whether she should jump back down to street level or try and finish off her pursuer. Elsa capitalized on her moment of hesitation and closed the distance. As the woman raised her bow to fire she swung with a horizontal arc that cut through the middle.
As it fell away she reached down to her waist and started hurling knives at her. Elsa spun and weaved her way through the flying projectiles before thrusting out her hand. The woman was pushed back, rolling across the rooftop until she hit the edge of the building.
She stood up and faced Elsa. As she reached down for her bladed weapon a plasma bolt came down, nearly hitting her feet. She froze and looked up to see Anna descending on them from the sky, her jetpack's thrusters roaring and keeping her aloft.
She circled around to her back and cut off her escape.
"Surrender," Elsa demanded as she pointed one of her blades at her. "You're trapped."
The woman glared hatefully as she glanced over her shoulder at Anna. What the Jedi said was true. She was trapped and she was sure she couldn't fight her way out of this either. She could sense the Jedi was stronger than her, maybe as strong as her sister. The Mandalorian only made the matter more difficult.
She'd failed her mission and now the wise move would be to surrender and let herself be captured.
But she couldn't allow that to happen.
Elsa watched the woman deliberate. As she did, she inched closer slowly. She kept her eyes fixed to the woman the entire time before flicking them to Anna. She made a subtle gesture with her head toward the woman. Her sister nodded in understanding as she switched her blasters to stun so they could take her alive.
But when Elsa looked back to meet the woman's gaze she was met with a mischievous glint. The woman tensed and Elsa readied to rush her. But before she could the woman turned and leapt off the roof. Anna fired a shot but the nerve pulse met the roof.
They watched as the woman reached the height of her jump but before gravity could take hold there was a bright flash of green fire and in an instant, she was gone.
Both women blanched as they looked around for her. Anna landed and lowered her rangefinder on her helmet to scan the area. But she found no signs of anything but them close by. Likewise, Elsa's senses couldn't detect the woman anywhere nearby.
It was as if she'd truly vanished.
"What the hell? She's gone?!" Anna said in astonishment.
"Indeed," Elsa said as she deactivated her saberstaff and clipped it to her belt. "How's Wilde?" she asked.
"Alive, thankfully," Anna revealed. "Guess she'd planned to bring him in alive or get some info out of him. We must've been unexpected," Anna surmised.
"A good a theory as any," Elsa said with a shrug. She looked down before picking up the woman's destroyed weapon.
"What the hell was that sis?" Anna asked. "I could sense she was Force sensitive. Was that an Inquisitor?"
"No," Elsa answered as she inspected the weapon. "She was of the dark side, no doubt. But it was different than anything I've ever felt before," Elsa said, perplexed.
"So not an Inquisitor then."
"Definitely not," Elsa reiterated. She looked to her sister. "You have the disk?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Let's return to Wilde quickly and then leave," Elsa suggested. Her sister nodded in agreement.
Elsa took the weapon with her, intent on showing it to her fellow Jedi and the Alliance. She would regrettably have bad news to report. But they needed to know the full extent of what they were facing.
Not just Sith nor Mandalorians.
Now they had witches to worry about.