Aliens v.s Starwars Part one chapter two.
CHAPTER TWO
“Ah, so soon?†I thought we were going to continue our little talks tomorrow?†Tees never bothered to look at him, aware of his presence through the force she had been tracking him since he had left. A sly grin crossing her lips as she recalled their little meeting in the darkness of the force as she imposed herself into his mind. At first it was hard, his complex emotions and way of thinking making it difficult. But once she had cracked his resolve and spread her presence throughout his mind, she was able to use his anger towards her as a bridge and crossed over feeling his mixed fascination and hatred for her. It was odd that he would actually have a small glimmer of hope for her that was genuine. Most Jedi talked the talk of their masters, but never really felt anything other then disappointment and sorrow for her. Nikko though had an actual glimmer of hope rooted deep within him for her, it was sad that he would waste those emotions on her, but at the same time it was touching.
“There has been a change of plans.†Nikko pulled the extra set of clothes and a robe from the small pack he had retrieved before coming to visit. “I’ll expect you to be on your best behavior, but at the same time I will expect you to act according to your beliefs.†With a nod of his head the switch to the stasis field flipped up lowering the energy wall that entrapped her. “You’ll also need some clothes.â€
Tees looked somewhat startled at him as she caught the robes in her delicate hands. The weight and material of the robe felt warm and inviting, an image of her own body pressing up against his as he embraced her in his strong arms flashed through her mind and almost just as fast she fumbled the robes dropping them on the floor. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks as she blushed, her skin turning a slightly darker shade of blue. Difficult to interpret by most spices, but she was almost certain she saw a slight hint of a smile on Nikko’s face as he turned around to give her a modest amount of privacy.
“So what’s so important that it would involve you wanting a Sith prisoner along for the ride?†Tees slipped the clothes on adjusting them to fit her slender athletic figure.
“Not sure, that’s why I want you there. If it has something to deal with the Sith then I’ll want your input. If not then I could use an extra set of senses to help in finding out what is going on.†Nikko listened to the rustle of clothe on the metal grating of the floor, a vague image of Tees wearing baggy clothes and drowned in his robe looking like a little kid in her fathers clothes causing him to snicker a bit.
“What’s so funny?†Tees’ voice because alert when she heard the quiet laughter.
“Nothing, just thinking how odd this will be having a prisoner that I can only trust to do what ever she can to get free as someone I’m supposed to trust in a situation that we know little to nothing about.â€
Tees stopped dressing for a minute, her head tails half buried under the tunic she was pulled over her head. “I see your point. So what guarantee do we have that we wont betray one another when the moment comes?†The answer was there wasn’t one, and she knew that once she got the chance she would kill any one she had too. Including him.
“I guess I’ll just have to hope that you’ll do the right thing. Wont I?†Again with that word, ‘Hope’. And again she felt that tiny little flicker of truth within his words that was becoming annoying. She hated that he could stand there and actually feel for her, even after she had killed several of his men before his eyes with out a second thought.
Frustration caused her to rush through dressing, finishing an adjustment here and an adjustment there. When Nikko turned around, his eyes seemed to freeze for a moment on her, his expectations of what she would look like startlingly wrong. If he had been some other Mandalorian and she some other Twi’lek he was sure that he would have had a hard enough time avoiding her. But as it was his conditioning, though slightly shaken, held firm allowing him to walk towards her and slap the binders on her wrists with a gentle and knowing smile.
Returning his smile with a half grin of her own, Tees looked down at the binders and back into Nikko’s soft brown eyes. “I guess asking you to trust me wont work here, huh?â€
“Not even a little bit.†Nikko stepped aside and waved her towards the door with a grand gesture of one arm.
“Just my luck to have a gentleman as my warden.†Tees mumbled as she exited the holding cells and into the hall where four heavily armed commandos stood ready to take up positions around her.
“And its my luck that I get stuck babysitting a grown woman on a potentially dangerous mission.†Nikko stepped behind the escort and nodded towards the small briefing room.
The team had been briefed as to their actions once they had dropped out of hyper space, most of them were taking it as just another trip around deep space. Lieutenant Venn had just finished briefing his Sergeants as to which team he wanted point and which one he wanted bringing up the rear when Nikko and Tees walked into the small cargo bay wearing their own light armored environmental suits. Of course Tees’ had to be adjusted by several straps of leather cord to hold it in its proper places, her helmet having to be one of the large bowl variations so that she could stuff her leukkes up into the helmet.
“I wish just once that some one would consider having one or two suits made for twi’leks.” Tees grumbled as she still tried to adjust the helmet to a small roar of chuckles from the troopers.
“It’s just until we can confirm the situation on the station. Like I said I don’t like going into anything half assed.” Nikko was glad for the tinted visor of his own helmet as he knew that the large grin he sported would only anger the temper mental Twi’lek.
The ship shuddered under foot as the sub-light drives switched over to the ion drives as they dropped out of hyper space. Both the pilot and the co-pilot started to receive the automated greetings from the space station, the computers and astromech droid going to work on plotting a course through the small asteroid field. Reaching over the pilot flipped the com switch to the strike teams frequency and started to send the updating information to them.
“I’m putting the images on the display screens now, sir.” The screen in the cargo bay suddenly flickered to life, filled with drifting rocks and computer added course lines detailing their current path. “We’ll be in sight of the station within the hour.”
“Good, try to raise the command center. I want to see if this is all just a down transmitter before we go storming some confused miners and researchers.” Nikko started to give a few hand signals to his lieutenant, as he watched the screen.
“You there, Private Vash. I want you to double up on those stun grenades.” The private nodded twice, everything being said was easy enough for Tees to follow, catching the entire conversation on the net she was equally linked too.
A thought crossed her mind as she watched the men go through last minute checks. These republic troopers, though tough as nails as she had found out first hand, seemed to always worry to much about collateral damage. Something she would have to file within her steal trap of a mind for a later time when she would need to work on her escape. As she mused over the troopers actions, she felt that warm friendly presence in the force grow a bit more and closer, distracting her from what she was doing. She could feel the excitement flow from him as if the warmth of his presence in the force were a thermal heater in a cold room, slowly spreading that calm comfy heat that most Jedi used to give their soldiers an edge in battle. A cool thoughtful head survived longer then a quick heated reaction that could get men killed, again an exact opposite of the Empires techniques that used more bloodlust and mind numbing frenzy. Nikko’s hand on her shoulder suddenly brought her to a brick wall. Her eyes shooting towards his tinted visor.
“Remember, play by my rules and we’ll see about giving you a few more commodities while your in our care.” The promise of hot showers, softer bedding, blankets and even clothes had been enough to get Tees to agree to at lest restrain herself from killing any one if she tried to escape. They both knew she would try it, but at lest they had agreed to minimize the damage if when she did. He knew that she would hold up her end of the bargain if only because she had allowed him to feel her emotion through the force when they made the arrangements as had he allowed her to feel him as well.
“But you do realize that we are allowed to change those rules if things don’t go as planned.” She wanted badly to see his reaction as he had some how managed to cloak himself through the force. For all she knew he was scowling at her or smiling or what ever it was she wanted to know. It was how she had managed to dominate most of her opponents in every situation she had ever been in. Reading them through the force as well as through their body language. Humans made it easier with facial expressions.
“Sir, I’ve got visual on the station. And it looks like we’re not the first ones to the party.” Looking to the image, Nikko noticed the small vessel at once.
“Sith.” Nikko felt Tees’ sudden flare of excitement at his mention of the vessel, but that emotion suddenly flared to a darker more fearful coldness. “What is it?”
“Its… Its nothing. I thought I recognized the ship for a minute.” Tees stepped back another step facing the cargo bay doors like the other troopers who were more concerned about what would be on the other side of them once they dropped rather then what was up on the screen.
“I see. So your going to be changing our deal already are you?” Nikko stepped up to doors, his back against the heavy grey metal, facing her through his tinted visor.
“It’s not like that, its just.” She bit her lip before she talked faster then her thoughts could control. “There are only maybe twenty of those ships still in use after the Mandalorian wars, if you can’t tell we’ve sort of come up with our own designs.”
The image on the screen wavered a moment only to sharpen in a close up view of the hammer headed silhouette of an old Republic battle cruiser that had been painted black and red with a large imperial insignia emblazoned on the side of the ship. After the fleets went won the war those ships that stayed in the fleet with the fallen jedi had been changed either with a new paint job or a couple of major augmentations to easily identify themselves when they went into battle with Republic cruisers of the same make and model. Though there have been a few known cases when the sith would use those ships to try to mix things up in a battle and spread panic and confusion. For Tees this particular ship only meant one thing to her. Some one she would rather have seen gutted on his own tremor sword was on that station and she was about to join him. The sharp image of a bloated pale boil covered figure laying out on a hover pad, his lower half covered by thin layers of Corellian silks in a skirt like fashion. His head rested in a lumpy roll of thick stretch marked covered neck. Thin dark purple lips pealed back from a set of thin razor tipped teeth that had been stained yellow from unknown years of eating rotted animal flesh. Small pin point yellow eyes would look out from sunken red circled sockets. The memory of his flabby pudgy fingers caressing her bare shoulders as he would drag her to him by the chain that would be hooked to her collar and anchored to a ring on his hover pad.
She shivered despite the warmth her suit provided her, catching Nikko’s attention, but she couldn’t help it. If he was on that station then she would have to break every rule and kill every and anyone who tried to stop her from escaping. A solid lump of cold sore muscle formed in her stomach as she remembered that she no longer had her sword or her lightsaber, both had been taken by Nikko once he had captured her.
Watching the screen for another moment, Nikko flashed a casual hand signal to his troopers as he watched Tees and her obvious inner battle of despair and turmoil. The lies were easy enough to catch, but it was the truth that he had trouble finding in her words. Nothing about this was looking like it was going to go to anyone’s plans. Looking to Lieutenant Venn, the trooper giving him a half nod to the left signaling that they had made the necessary changes to their first plan as ordered.
“Okay boys, we are Ten, Nine, Eight…†The pilots voice counted down to their touch down, the lights in the cargo bay turning off and the red tactical lights flashing into life.
Nikko quickly grabbed Tees by the arm and pulled her close to him. “This is change one.†He spoke as the Pilot nearly shouted out the last number with a cheer. The cargo bay doors suddenly popped open, the pressure in the small bay causing them to shoot out into space twenty meters from the open docking bay. Tees hadn’t realized that their small cruiser had changed its plain of relativity so that when the cargo bay doors opened they would be facing directly into the docking bay. The suction of space threw them towards the bay like buck shot from a slug thrower. She felt strange within the weightlessness of space, hugged tightly to Nikko the way she was, almost like they had taken time out of everything to simply dance through the vastness of space. She almost felt safe and protected out here with him holding her like he did. The troopers, who had obviously known about this change of plan, angled themselves into the act using small gusts of air from their suits to steer into the bay. Once they had crossed the fields and the stations gravity took hold they quickly fell to the floor, rolling to their knees and quickly getting up to position themselves in a defensive perimeter. Nikko still had a hold of her with one arm as he maneuvered them through the field. He was able to use the force enough to allow for them to land gently on their feet. His arm withdrawing and with it the sense of safety and warmth.
(to be continued…)
