A Gift and a Chance

“Master Wes, I was not informed we would have a guest!” the protocol droid cried out as it saw Wes carry the unconscious Alema onto the ship. He walked over to a seat in the main hall and placed her in it. He then made his way to the cockpit of the starship.

“Since when do I need to inform you of anything, droid?” Wes asked 2V as it examined the padawan. “And put some Force restraints on her, she’s a padawan,” he ordered 2V.

“Of course, master,” 2V remarked as it complied with the Sith’s orders. The droid made its way to a cabinet in the cargo hold that held various different restraints. “Let’s see, let’s see...Force restraints...Force restraints...” The droid’s eyes scanned the cabinet as it processed what restraints were which. “Ah ha!” it exclaimed as it found the cuffs in question as 2V grabbed them and scurried away towards the unconscious padawan.

“Is it done?” Wes asked as 2V made its way to the cockpit to assist in returning to their ship.

“Of course, master! Will we make it back to the Valtricous?” the droid asked as Wes brought the starship out of the Republic ship’s hanger.

“Of course, desolation squad kept their word and cleared a path for us once the captain radioed our intent to leave. We should be home free back to the Valtricous and my master,” Wes said as he followed the path that desolation squad had left for him.

“Our master,” the droid corrected.

“No, my master. You are nothing more than a tool to be used by my master or anyone that works for her. Understood?” the annoyed Sith told the droid.

“Of course, my master. My mistake!” 2V said, its robotic voice trembled as it replied to Wes.

“Excellent! Right on time, apprentice!” Lady Mutaria spoke to her apprentice. “We were just about to jump out of the system,” she told Wes in a rather cheerful voice.

“With or without me?” Wes asked, somewhat afraid of the answer.

“Of course with you, my dear! Afterall, that artifact is the whole reason I even stayed this long in this silly blockade!” she said as a matter of factly. “And get that feeling that I’d abandon you out of your head, apprentice. You are far more useful to me alive, not dead,” she said reassuringly.

“My apologies, master. We are nearly at the ship,” Wes told Lady Mutaria.

“Excellent. Private, the moment that ship is in the hanger and the doors are closed JUMP TO HYPERSPACE!” ordered Captain Rashel.

“Aye aye, ma’am!” acknowledged the private as her hand rested on the throttle for the hyperdrive. Wes saw the Valtricous out his window of his ship.

“Let’s see if I can speed this up,” Wes said to himself as he throttled up the speed. As he was closing in on the open hanger, blaster fire rained down on the ship.

“Master, master, we’re under attack!” cried out 2V as it threw its hands up in fright.

“Really?! What gave you that idea?!” Wes snapped back as he continued towards the hanger. “Hanger base, we are coming in hot. Prepare for a rough landing!” Wes told the crew deck as he went even faster.

The ship passed through the magnetic shield and slammed into the ground hard. Pieces of metal flew off and crashed into nearby docked fighters. The deckhands dropped to the ground or jumped out of the way as the deadly shrapnel flew through the air in every direction. As soon as the hanger doors closed, the Valtricous jumped away to hyperspace.

Wes awoke to a bright light in his face. The strange surroundings caused Wes to immediately jerk up only he was not able to. He glanced at his arms and legs to see them bound to the bed he was on.

“What?! Where am I?!” Wes yelled as the Force expanded out from around him to knock over various equipment. Sparks flew around the young Sith as he struggled to free himself. It wasn’t until he heard the doors open that he stopped his struggle to look at who had just entered the room.

“Now now, apprentice, no need to strike out. Let me remove those binds from you,” Lady Mutaria said as she pressed a few buttons on a nearby panel. Wes watched as the bindings unlinked and slid back into the bed. Finally free, Wes sat up and faced his master.

“I’m sorry, master. I failed you,” Wes said, who knew full well that she would accost him for failing to receive the artifact.

“Ah yes, you did not find the artifact,” she said, but there wasn’t that much anger in her voice. “I figured this was a possibility. But I must say, I do enjoy your consolation prize,” she said with a wicked smile on her face. “After we patched her up, Rashel and I began our interrogation of her. She’s quite a tough one. I hope she didn’t give you much trouble,” Lady Mutaria said, her smile plastered across her face.

“Not really, no. She just knew how to stall long enough for me to just barely miss the scientists as they used an escape pod,” Wes told his master. Her eyes lit up when she heard those words escape his mouth.

“Escape pod you say? Perhaps...just perhaps...” Lady Mutaria said as she began to pace back and forth. “We still may be able to get the artifact, my young apprentice,” she said to Wes as she continued her pacing. “If we can break the twi’lek’s mental resistance, we can get her to tell us some Republic pass codes. We could use that to send a shuttle in and attempt to find the escape pod with the scientists in it!” she said in triumph as her plan seemingly could be salvaged. She turned to Wes before she continued. “When you are fully recovered, come to the detention block. The captain and I need to discuss how we can break the girl and get those codes,” and with that thought finished, Lady Mutaria turned and left the medical bay.

“Well, guess I know what my next assignment is,” Wes said as he got off the bed. He felt a singe of pain race across his chest. He gasped loudly as his left arm raced to his chest and grab the right side of his chest where the pain was focused.

“Back on the bed, young man,” said an elderly looking old human with a white coat on as he came through the door.

“I have a mission my master needs me to do,” Wes told the man as he attempted to leave. After a few steps the pain once again raced through his body and nearly caused him to collapse to the ground.

“You are not going anywhere with your broken ribs and one lung collapsed,” said the man as he motioned Wes back to the bed. “Now, lie back down so I can finish your treatment. Then you can go attempt to kill yourself for the lady,” the doctor said as he punched a few buttons on the control panel as a bunch of machines buzzed to life and made their way to the now laying down Wes.