Chapter Text
The sun had gone down about 2 hours ago, leaving the Trandoshan moon to feel the cool breeze of the night. The fire that was lit wasn’t enough to keep warm, but unfortunately, it was all you had.
It was hard to tell how many days have passed since you were kidnapped. Heck, it could’ve been weeks already, maybe even months. It was as if there was no more use of counting the days. So, there you sat by the flame, trying to keep yourself sane in order to come up with a plan.
The only Jedi you knew of escaping this trap was your old friend, Ahsoka Tano. That incident happened many years ago during the clone wars. She escaped with the help of other padawans at the time, tricking the Trandoshans into taking them to their base in the sky. Though the base was destroyed, the Trandoshans made a new one at the ground levels. One might think it was an easier target, but they were smarter than that. Now, the base was guarded by a force field that could only be taken down if another Trandoshan were to approach.
Your brows knit together in worry as you brought your hands to your mouth. After exhaling to keep them warm, you began to hug yourself as you stared into the fire. It was as if your mind had turned into mist as your focus started to dwindle. You only had a certain amount of time before the sun would rise, thus starting the hunt . You could only evade them for so long, plus supplies were being pulled extremely thin. The longer you were stuck here, the more… crazed you became.
You wished this were just some crazy dream, that soon you would wake up back at the temple and go about your duties to the Republic. But the Republic was gone, the Jedi were destroyed, and the Empire was all that remained. Digging your nails into your arms, you snapped yourself out of the downward spiral. Perhaps meditating on this could help me gain some focus, you pondered.
Sitting up right, you placed your hands on your knees and closed your eyes, inhaling deeply. The sounds of wildlife outside the cave began to fade into background noise as you tried to focus solely on the Force. The world went quiet. There were no whistling winds to be heard passing through the trees, no chirps of the crickets as they sang their nightly song. Only your breathing as you used the Force to project yourself.
You imagined yourself outside the cave, hands stretched as you felt the tree trunks you passed. Climbing over the rocks and through the spiked vines, you found yourself standing in front of the force field. Focusing a bit harder, you tried to pull an image of the inside of the base.
There.
At the top of the entrance were two Trandoshans standing guard, guns in hands to fend off those who tried to pass. One seemed to be engaging in conversation with the other.
A weak point perhaps?
Looking further, you saw many more swarming the base. They were boasting about their most recent catch; a Wookie.
“That creature didn’t stand a chance against me! You should have seen the look of fear I alone influenced,” it hissed, cackling as it clashed its cup against someone else’s. You didn’t really know the Wookie; only really seeing him that first morning. He had been tossed from the ship when the sun rose, though he didn’t last very long.
Leaning against the wall, sharpening his claws, was the head of the clan. He had been listening to the other as he boasted, but seemed displeased. He shook his head as he stalked over to the guy, eyes dull as he glared, “You only got him because he was sick to begin with. It was not a real challenge,” he hissed, causing the other to growl in response.
“You’re just jealous because you haven’t caught the Jedi yet, brother,” he glared back as a knowing smirk etched itself onto his face.
Fury had gotten the best of the brother, making him roar at the other as a brawl had begun between them. Tossing him against the wall, he held him up with his arm pressed against the throat. “I would kill you for making such an accusation, but I must save my energy for the morning.” Without haste, he removed his arm as the other fell to the ground, cowering on his knees as he coughed. Turning his back to him, he snarled at the thought of you. You had been evading and holding your ground against them, one by one. They anticipated for you to be weaker, but that was obviously not the case.
“They are growing weaker by the day, I can feel it,” he seethed. Clenching his fists, he stared at the throne. There, your sabers were hung on the side of it, like a trophy. He glared at them in thought, “ I won’t let them slip away any longer once morning arrives,” swinging himself to face the others, he roared, “I’ll catch them this time!” Turning back around, his voice deepened, “I’ll make sure of it.” The others watched as he stalked away from the throne room, beginning to disperse from the room as well to prepare themselves for the morning.
Snapping out of the force, you gasped as your heart rate accelerated. You had to do something before the night was over; your life depends on it.
Standing up, you thought of how to go about this. Your master had taught you quite a few tricks as a padawan, like Jedi mind tricks. Maybe you could do it to control the Trandoshans at the entrance? Raising a knuckle to your chin, you debated on whether you were capable of using it from far ranges. It would have to be worth a shot; you’d probably be dead by tomorrow anyways.
There was another issue besides that; what would you do after getting in? Looking back from your vision, there were only about 10 people inside the base, plus it seemed like everyone was turning in for the night. You had a chance of winning if you picked them off one by one.
Walking about the cave, you put out the fire and stepped outside. Your cloak swished through the late night wind as you swiftly crept through the jungle, making sure to pay extra close attention to your surroundings.
As you breezed through the jungle and climbed over rocks, you crawled up a nearby tree to get a better view. You managed to make it to the far side of the base, less than half a klick away. Looking towards the entrance, those same Trandoshans were keeping guard, seemingly arguing over who was going to take the first watch of the night.
“You went down first yesterday, it’s my turn today,” one barked. The other hissed as he turned towards him, “You need to get your memory checked because YOU were the one first yesterday!”
Shaking your head in annoyance, you climbed down from the tree, quietly making your way closer to the gates. Tucking and rolling yourself to hide out of their eyesight, you held your hand out towards them and spoke in a firm tone, “ You will let him turn in for the night first. ”
The trandoshan straightened up and repeated what you said, “ I will let you turn in for the night first. ” The other smirked, thinking he successfully managed to get him to back down. “Pleasure doing business with ya,” he snickered as he walked down the stairs, heading towards his chamber. The other stayed on the platform, looking over the jungle.
You waited a few minutes until you were sure the other was completely gone. Raising your arm, you spoke in a firm tone once again, “ You will open the force field, and let me in. ”
Eye twitching, he struggled to say the words, “I…I will open…” The connection broke as he shook his head. He sniffed the air as his eyes searched out into the jungle. Holding your breath, you pressed yourself as far away from his eyesight as you could, eyes shut to calm your nerves.
A few minutes passed in tense silence; it was as if the air had grown still in anticipation. Growling, he straightened himself as he gripped the gun tighter. Finally, you took a deep breath, willing yourself to try again. Getting into a better stance, you kept your focus firm as you tried once more, putting more weight to the words, “ You will open the force field, and let me in, ” you growled out, glaring at his side. You fought with his head as he pushed back. His mind was stronger than before since he was distracted the first time. Scratching on his face, he snarled as his eyes closed shut, trying to fight off the command. Taking another breath, you willed your mind to toughen up as you let the Force take over.
Finally, the Trandoshan sagged in defeat. Straightening up once more, he stared into the abyss, mind having lost the battle. “ I will open the force field, and let you in. ” Taking a deep breath, you caught yourself as you staggered onto your knees. “I always hated this trick,” you said to yourself.
After finding your balance, the force field to the base opened up, the gate rising slowly with it. Quickly, you slid underneath when it was a big enough gap, dusting off your cloak as you walked inside. The Trandoshan stood facing forward as you went in, closing the force field behind you once more.
Once it was fully closed however, he had started sniffing the air once again. After finding your scent, he swiftly turned around. “YOU.” Reacting quickly, you used the force to throw him off the platform, making him land on his back. However, he was quick to recover as he went to slash you with his claws. As you blocked his fists, you went to jab him in the side, but the world spun as he grabbed your fist, twisting you to have your back pressed against his chest. With fight or flight taking over your mind, you used his strength against him and flung him to the ground. Before he could try to get up, you grabbed his gun and began jamming it into his skull. It wasn’t until he stopped moving that you let it fall to the ground. Your hands shook as you stared at them, but you didn’t have time to focus on that right now. His comm. device had gone off; it seems the others heard the commotion.
Running towards the nearest hiding area, you crouched as footsteps swarmed about the base. “Spread out and search the area, they couldn’t have gotten far!” They divided into groups, one going going back to their quarters, one going to the throne room, while the last group stayed patrolling the main section. Turning around in your hiding spot, you tried to control your breathing so as to not get caught too quickly. You had to find a way to separate them; you weren’t strong enough to take them all at once. Plus, all you needed was to get into the throne room to grab your sabers.
Turning back around, you looked at the surrounding area for a distraction. Spying a rack of weapons on the wall to the right of you, you narrowed your gaze as you waited for one of them to get closer to that section. When one of them started patrolling across there, you used the force to knock one of the weapons down as it made a clunking noise on the floor. Instantly turning around, he stalked closer to the rack, gun held out in defense. The others seemed to be engrossed in their own patrolling to notice the commotion. As he knelt down to pick up the weapon, you flung yourself onto his back. Encircling your arm around his neck, you effectively put him into a headlock. You fought with his strength, but he was beginning to struggle for air. Soon enough, he slipped into unconsciousness, making it easier to drag his body into the little alley you were hiding in just a moment ago. You quietly made your way to the door of the throne room, but you started hearing voices. One of the others was coming back around. Quickly hiding inside a crate, you held your breath as you waited for him to pass.
“Why couldn’t this have happened in the morning,” he grumbled, seemingly tired of this. Looking around the area, he narrowed his eyes. “Orrsk was supposed to be patrolling here…”
You somehow shrunk in on yourself; of course they would notice if one of them wasn’t around. He started to turn around, about to search for his friend when you took him by surprise, using the force to snag his gun and give him a hard whack on the head. He held his head as he groaned in pain, “Why you little!” he snarled, reaching out to grab you. You ducked underneath his arm before he could, kicking at his ankles, making him tumble to the ground. He quickly got back up, starting to feel vulnerable at his lack of attention. Hissing, he went to punch you in the stomach, but you dodged just in time to give him an uppercut to the face. Spinning around and falling on his stomach, he went out like a light.
Looking around to see if anyone heard it, you sighed in relief. However, you couldn’t bask in the glory as you heard rapid footsteps approach your position. Kriff… They’re about to find their friend. Grabbing the gun off of him, you ran to the corner where you heard the footsteps. As the other was rounding the corner, you hit him as hard as you could, cracking his skull in the process. Suddenly, you felt claws rake down your back, screaming in pain as it felt like you were on fire. You were kicked to the ground, falling to your knees as you tried to crawl away. Your assaulter shoved his foot onto your back, applying pressure to the wound. Sobbing at the new burst of pain, you were flipped onto your back as a gun was planted in front of your face. “I wanted to see your face as I shoot it right off your neck,” he cackled with glee.
Using the last bit of strength you had, you used the force to choke him. He clawed at the invisible hands, trying to break free, but that only pushed you to choke him harder. He spasmed out of control as you lifted him off the ground, your vision turning red with anger. How dare they think they can do this after making you spend an eternity here. How dare they think you’re weak. If anything, they should be fearing YOU-
A crack was heard, echoing through the base.
It seems in your anger, you snapped his neck. His body dangled lifeless with the force being the one to hold him up. Dropping him like he had the plague, your head started spinning. Clawing at your skull, you forced yourself to pay attention to your surroundings as you heard shouts coming from all over the place. The others are coming.
Running to the doors of the throne room, you snuck inside, only to be met with the two brothers.
“You’re finally brave enough to face us, hmm?” The leader hissed out.
Freezing like a deer in headlights, you watched them both circle you, waiting for one of them to pounce. The air in the room was thick enough to slice as the hair on the back of your neck stood on end. The brother was the first to speak, “There’s nowhere for you to run now, the others will be here shortly. Perhaps we should give you mercy and kill you on the spot.” He grinned in pleasure, but the other was not having it. “NO the kill is MINE and MINE alone,” baring his teeth, he tried to intimidate the brother. However, he wasn’t going to back down; they both wanted the glory that came with killing a Jedi. Fueled with adrenaline, you ran underneath their arms before they could fully trap you, jumping onto a table to get to a higher elevation. Spinning around to face them, they growled at themselves, disappointed with their antics. “Where do you think you’re going?!” The brother pounced at you, teeth aiming for the neck, but you ducked in time as he fell onto the table. Scrambling to get up, the brother slashed at your side, more blood being added to your cloak. Hissing in pain, your vision turned red again as you went to kick his face. However, the motion was stopped as you felt a punch to the side of your head. Falling off the table, you rolled onto your feet, fighting the exhaustion you felt.
Shaking your head from the pounding behind your eyes, you dodged another fist, but found yourself being pushed back against the throne. Using the force once more, you flung them both towards the doors.
They shook the dull ache of their backs as they stood up again, but froze as they saw you take your sabers off the chair. Shakily standing up, you shoved off your cloak, getting in a wide stance. As you ignited the sabers, the room lit up in a brilliant green. You taunted as you motioned for them to come over here with your fingers. They growled at you in anger, only to be interrupted when the doors were flung open. The others filled the room behind the brothers. Turning back towards you, they smirked. “You’re outnumbered Jedi ,” rolling his neck, the leader shook out his shoulders, “Let’s get this over with.”
Two of them ran towards you on all fours, growling fiercely as one began to pounce, claws extended.
Adrenaline coursed through your veins at the sight of them, lending you that little bit of strength to push through.
Bringing one of your sabers up, you slashed the first, effectively cutting off their forearms. Jumping onto the throne to dodge the other, you quickly flipped backwards to avoid him slashing you. Before he could turn around, you used both sabers to slice him in two.
The others drew their blasters at you, shooting as you swiftly blocked their shots. Sprinting towards them as you dodged the blaster fire, you ducked, jumping onto one of them, making them aim at the guy instead. He hissed in pain as he fell to the ground, lifeless.
You used this as an opportunity to flip behind another to use as a human shield, but they were smarter this time. As he went to turn around, you slid between his legs, slicing him in half with your blade as you stood up.
Suddenly, however, you felt a mighty kick to your side before you could sense it. Falling on your knees, you coughed up a little blood. “Shit,” you hissed as you used one arm to hug your side. Hearing cackling, you looked up as you saw the remaining three towering over you.
“Looks like your time has come to an end, Jedi scum. Make this easier for us and stop squirming will ya?” One of them licked their chomps, letting themselves indulge in the thought of sinking their teeth into you. Claws reached outwards, attempting to snatch you from the ground.
Then the unspeakable happened.
They felt weightless, floating to the ceiling. They were too stunned to realize what was happening. Then they felt it. The pressure against their ribs, gasping as though they were about to collapse. They squirmed trying to escape from the invisible hold on them, but it was no use. From below, you used what little strength you had left from the adrenaline to hold them there, squeezing as your fists shook. You didn’t care that you punctured your palms, you didn’t care that there was blood trickling down your arms.
All that mattered was the sweet sweet victory you were about to accomplish. The taste of freedom on the tip of your tongue.
The symphony of screams only lasted for a little while, you wanted to make sure that they felt all the pain they put onto you throughout your time being held captive.
Then a crack, lungs being punctured. It was the end of their song.
Dropping them to the ground, you stood up shakily, fighting off the dizziness you felt. You couldn’t stay here, otherwise this would all be for nothing.
Limping around the complex, you found yourself at the landing bay where a few ships were docked. Choosing the one with the least amount of dents on the outside, you stumbled inside. Your vision was swimming with spots as you made your way to the cockpit.
“Kriff,” shaking your head to clear the spots only seemed to make it worse. You were about to go down.
Knowing you were about to collapse helped to keep your head straight though. Quickly getting the ship up and running, you soared into the sky and set coordinates to any planet that looked safe.
“This will have to do for now,” you said to yourself as you pushed in the coordinates and went into hyperspace. Your sight started blackening at the edges, body feeling like a ton of bricks as the day's events caught up to you. You tried to keep your balance, but felt yourself tilting. Hitting the floor, your ears rang as you fell unconscious.
Nothing seemed to keep you awake, not even the beeps of a nearby droid.