A Father's Blade: Chapter Eleven

Rand settles into one of the chairs as the large brown-furred Wookiee sits in the one across the table from him. They both swivel in their seats, to face the holoprojector situated on one wall. After a moment, the face of Jerod Pollit resolves into existence. His smiles for them both, and nods in greeting.

Without further preamble, he begins the meeting. "I have a favor to ask you both."

Waroo growls a question, asking what the favor is.

"I want you both to go to Kashyyk and try to bring the Wookiees into the war on the side of the Corellians."

Rand nods his head in acceptance, already planning the trip there in the back of his mind. Waroo scratches at his fur for a moment, and then asks Pollit why believes that the Wookiees will join them and leave the alliance.

Pollit's jaw clenches as he looks at the Wookiee, and finally answers, "Because you're the one doing the asking. We know who you are Lumpawaroo, and more importantly, we know who your father was. Your family still has worth on Kashyyk and we're banking on that worth."

Waroo rocks back in his seat slightly, his blue eyes growing larger and his mouth opening, instinctively baring his fangs at the realization that these humans know who he is, who his family are. Finally he regains control of himself, and growls that he might not be accepted by the Wookiees, that he is supposed to be watching over Han Solo, continuing his father's Life Debt to the human.

Rand turns to the Wookiee. "We'll tell them that you're doing this for Han Solo. That he asked you to come there and bring the Wookiees into the war. It's fairly well known that he's siding with Corellia."

The Wookiee scratches at his fur for a moment longer, and then barks a short affirmative.

Pollit grins widely. "Great! We'll be sending a transport out to you, and it should be there in a day or two. You both are doing great jobs for Corellia."

Rand nods his head, and the Wookiee woofs a thanks as the hologram flickers into nothingness.

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Noelani slowly regains consciousness, her broken arm still screaming in pain, and the lesser aches from her scraped knees and elbows a dull throb in the back of her mind. She opens her eyes, feeling the cold press of metal against her cheek. Struggling to get up, she eventually manages to kneel, swaying slightly in the dark. Her eyes are opened wide and for the most part useless as she twists her head around, trying to find some escape, but only managing to see thin shafts of light seeping in from loose joins where the walls, floor and ceiling meet. The scent of musty air and dust clogs her nose, and a sudden lurching to the side almost sends her falling back down.

She regains her balance, and realizes that she is in the back of a transport, a wheeled ground-truck judging from the occasional bounce and jar.

She exhales slowly and tries to pry her arms out from the jelly, and growls in frustration as she is unable to release herself. She wonders for a moment, just how long she was unconscious for, but decides that in the end it probably doesn't matter.

The transport suddenly bounces hard and with a short yelp Noelani falls over. Her scream is cut short as she lands on her broken arm and the sudden flare of pain drives her back into the arms of oblivion.

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Tahiri opens her eyes. The dream of pain and the adrenalin of a fight surge through her system. She closes her eyes again, and exhales strongly, pulling the Force to her through the haze of drugs which clouds her mind.

She reaches out with the Force, touching her apprentice through their training bond – and feels that the girl is not conscious. Unfortunately the drugs in her system make it where she is unable to tell if Noelani is sleeping normally or if the girl has been rendered unconscious through other means.

Somehow, it doesn't seem to matter - but she thinks that might be because of the drugs in her system.

Growling softly, she reaches for the Force again, struggling against the lethargy which envelops her and then reopens her eyes. Slowly, she sits up in the bed and looks around the room, which is really more of a cell than anything else. The big one-way window taking up most of one wall, another wall with its energy door to keep her locked in. A vent in the ceiling which makes a small hissing noise - Tahiri figures that is where they are pumping in the drugs which are keeping her sedated and groggy.

The one-way mirror flickers and loses its opaqueness. Tahiri can make out two figures standing on the far side watching her - a human woman around Leia's age, wearing a BioTech jumpsuit and a Yuuzhan Vong Shaper. For a moment, nightmarish images of her time in the vivarium on Yavin IV flicker through her mind, but she brusquely pushes those thoughts away, along with the realization that there will be no Anakin to rescue her this time.

The human flicks another switch on her side of the wall, and a hidden speaker crackles for a second.

"I just wanted to say thank you. A lot of our research is based on your own shaping, and to have you delivered this way to us will assist us greatly as we continue on."

Tahiri waits a moment before saying anything, trying her best to keep her thoughts focused on what she's trying to do – mainly escape this cell. "Do you think I could get some clothes?"

The woman shakes her head, almost sadly. "Unfortunately no. You Jedi are too unpredictable, so we're not giving you anything that could be used as a weapon. Which includes clothes."

Tahiri mutters a curse under her breath, and lays herself back down; pulling the sheet up over her head. Once her head is covered, she starts grinning as she tightly clutches the strong fabric in her hand.

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Chase struggles through the ducts to the end of the building, and glances out of the vent to see the entrance to the ground transport loading bay - slanted ramp, which allows vehicles to pull right up to a large rolling door, keeping the floor of the building level with the floor within the transport.

He glances around the exterior, and fails to see any transports, no way for him to escape the perimeter of the complex. Sighing in frustration he begins working his way back through the building, searching for another vent which leads to the exterior.

When he is about a dozen meters from the vent, he hears a horn. The shrill sound he remembers from when he was returned to the complex from his last escape attempt. He quickly rushes back to the grating, to see a wheeled ground transport swinging around to back down the ramp.

From beneath him he can hear the sound of the ramp rolling upwards, a metallic rumbling sound, and the voices of two different people talking. He grins and drops to his butt, placing his feet on the grate in front of him, and then pulls his legs back and slams them against it, knocking it out and sending it flying towards the transport.

He hears one of the people beneath him yell something in confusion and grabs the edge of the vent, swinging down through the opening beneath him. Landing on the platform, he grabs the first BioTech security guard and flings him hard out the doorway. The man slams against the transport with a bang, and the driver suddenly brakes, but not quick enough to not run the guard over with the transport's large wheels.

Chase spins towards the second security guard, noticing that he is pulling out a stun baton, and Chase dives at him, knocking him to the ground. He grabs the handle of the baton, and twists savagely, enjoying the sounds of bones breaking in the man's wrist, and the accompanying screams. Chase flips the baton around and shoves it against the man's chest, flicking the switch and sending a strong jolt of energy through him.

He stands and takes a few steps backwards and then runs towards the opening and jumps, landing on the roof of the transport with a bang. Scampering forward he drops down onto the hood of the truck and slams the baton against the windscreen, shattering it. Then he jabs both the driver and the passenger with the stun baton. For a moment the smell of ozone hangs heavy on the air, as he clambers through the broken window and pushes the driver out of the seat. Then he drives the transport up out of the bay. As soon as he has cleared the walls, and can open the door he drags the two out of the transport and rockets away, laughing at his escape.

The transport bounces as it drives over the uneven earth, and Chase sees the perimeter gate – a large mesh of metal which is currently closed. He guns the engine and the transport jumps forward, and the guard assigned to the gate steps out, waving his hands at Chase, trying to get him to slow down.

Chase doesn't hesitate, just slams into the gate, which breaks with a resounding crash. The transport bounces a couple more times, and Chase winches the steering column to the right, nearly flipping the top-heavy machine with the savage turn. He continues driving, getting further and further away from BioTech. As he drives, he reaches over to the small computer mounted to the dash; he grasps it and pulls hard, snapping the mount. Once it is removed, he casually tosses it out the front window, hoping to run it over with his tires.

Half an hour later, he pulls into the garage of an abandoned building, jumping out of the transport and closing the rusted metal door of the building. He leans against that door for a moment, breathing hard, the adrenaline leaving his body tired and his knees weak. Finally after he catches his breath, he walks back to the transport and opens up the cargo bay to see what he has stolen.

His mouth drops open and he just stares, having never expected the transport to contain what it does.

It is a young girl around his own age, with long blonde hair arrayed around her. Se is either sleeping or unconscious. His eyes travel her body, noticing how her arms and legs are bound by the blorash jelly.

His own features narrow, as he wonders if he should help her or not. It won't be long before BioTech finds their truck, and he believes she would probably slow him down.

The girl moans slightly, shifting her head and he realizes that she's starting to wake up. Frowning he turns and steps close to the edge, just about ready to jump off, and hangs his head.

I can't leave her to BioTech.

He sighs and turns back to her, as she raises her head, and stares at him with the clearest blue eyes that he has ever seen. His breath catches in his throat and he's lost in their depths.

"Who are you?" Her voice is musical, with an odd lilt to it, as if she was raised on a Rim world.

Chase shakes his head to clear it, and replies, "I'm Chase. I guess I kind of rescued you from BioTech."

Her eyes fill with suspicion, and Chase takes a step backwards as he says, "Hey, if you don't want my help I can always leave. BioTech will be here in a little bit to get their truck."

The girl lowers her eyes, "No, I'm sorry. Please get me out of here."

Chase nods his head and grabs a bag hanging by the door, reaching into it and pulling out a handful of the stuff he has seen the guards use to remove the jelly. Leaning over, he sprinkles the salt on the blorash jelly binding her. Within moments, Noelani is able to move her arms, and she stands.

She smiles brightly for him, and he feels his heart begin to beat faster.

"Thank you, I'm Noelani."

Chase makes a noncommittal noise deep in his throat, one that is utterly at odds with the interest he finds in the girl. Turning from her he jumps down out of the transport, landing in a slight crouch, and then walking towards the broken human-sized door next to the one designed for transports. He glances out, and turns back towards Noelani, noticing how bedraggled she looks – mused hair, torn and bloody clothes, and she seems to be cradling one arm as if it hurts. He nods towards it. "Is something wrong with your arm?"

She glances down, her eyes glazing over slightly for a moment, before focusing on him once again. "Yeah, it's broken. I broke it while running from the warriors."

Chase frowns slightly, trying to figure out how to get help for her without alerting the authorities and by extension BioTech. He sighs, unable to come up with a solution. "Well, come on, we got to find a better hiding place, and hopefully a way off this dirtball."

He darts out of the building, some part of his mind noting that Noelani follows him, her movements nearly as quiet as his own. What he doesn't see, is the look of fear and concern that flashes across her face at the news that they'll be trying to get off world.