|
|
Drawing on the Force, Alee leapt onto a higher branch. The kuba leaf strips on her back tickled and she rotated her shoulders. She watched Chale steadily ascending the trunk with his extended claws giving him easy purchase.
She jumped up to another branch and called after him, "Where are you taking me, Chale?"
He stopped and looked down at her. He thrust his chin upwards. "To V-Stat 4."
"Oh, well that explains it. Lead on, Speaker."
He grinned. "I intend to, Jedi."
She followed in silence. The tree was golden and relatively slender, being only ten meters across. The branches sprouted out and up, and were thick with green leaves that grew lighter the higher they climbed. They breached the forest ceiling and continued upwards. Blue sky winked through the foliage.
They climbed onto a platform that circled the trunk. Concealed by the treetop, Alee judged they would be almost impossible to spot. She walked the circumference. At least six other spires rose above the forest. She circled back to Chale, who half sat on the guardrail.
"V-Stat 4?" she asked.
"Viewing station. It is one of nine in this sector. There are more through the pass." He pointed to the rugged peaks to the west.
"Are your people beyond the mountains also under attack?"
"No. They are protected by a border of inhospitable wastelands."
Alee pondered the rocky cliffs. "You have some very warlike traditions and attitudes, Chale." She smiled at his wry look. "Where did they spring from?"
"Your perception is keen, Jedi. We battled our brothers for many generations. The pass is desolate from the poisoned blood of many Keed. We evolved past our enmity, but some traces linger." He glanced sideways at Alee and curled one side of his lip. "In traditions, attitudes."
Her eyes crinkled. "So why did you torture my battered body with this climb?"
Chale huffed. "It is hard to feel sympathy for one who moves with such limber speed." He turned and looked across the forest. "We've had reports of smoke."
She scanned the treetops and opened her senses. "You are worried."
He nodded. "Our climate is very temperate. Fires are a rarity."
"Do you fear arson?"
"It is the most likely explanation," Chale's voice chilled. He pointed. "There."
She looked to the northeast where he indicated. A thin finger of smoke reached for the sky. As they watched it widened. Another vaporous digit appeared a short distance to the south of the first. Chale hissed.
Alee closed her eyes and reached out with through the Force.
Chale grabbed her arm. "Come, Jedi. We must be quick. The dry undergrowth will spread the blaze."
"No, Chale."
His grip tightened. "No?"
"I do not sense danger from that quarter." She hesitated, then pointed east southeast. "There. See that draw. That is where the peril is."
"An attack?" Chale frowned.
Alee nodded. "The fire is a diversion. I'm sure of it."
He looked into her eyes. "I risk much trusting your word, Jedi. I hope you're right. For both our sakes."
Her expression was grim. "I'm right."
The small fire brigade had been dispatched. Alee looked on from a distance as Chale briefed his troops. Fi'Lora approached and stood silently beside her for a moment.
"We are all amazed," she whispered.
Alee turned to her. "At what?"
"A female warrior." Fi'Lora's eyes grew wide. "It is almost beyond believing."
Alee smiled sadly. "Healing is a far nobler art, Fi'Lora."
"How can you say that?"
"All life is worthy. You fight to preserve it."
"You saved that human boy," the Keed said, "at great cost."
Alee nodded. "I was glad to."
"Why do you take him with you to battle?"
A sigh escaped from Alee. "Though your brother thinks it pointless, I hope to give the boy back to his people and win a bargaining chip." Quietly she added, "I have to try."
Alee and the boy moved along the forest floor. The mossy undergrowth crunched softly under foot. Chale and his warriors moved silently through the branches above them. Jonner. Only seventeen. I should be thankful he told me that much. Alee looked at his scruffy blond head, irritated that he refused to take his eyes off the ground.
"What do you fear so much, Jonner?"
He shot a short glance her way. "They will shoot me. I was safer with the Keed."
She frowned. "Why would you think that?"
"Rave said..." he stopped suddenly.
"It's all right. I have met Rave. You reveal nothing by speaking his name."
"He said it is better to die than be captured."
"That doesn't mean he will kill you," she pointed out.
"No. But his master..." Jonner clamped his mouth shut. Though she coaxed, he refused to speak again. Who is this master? What is his goal?
Alee reached out with her senses. Life forms fanned out across the ridge ahead. She knew they were watching her approach.
She held onto Jonner's arm and stopped 30 meters shy of the rise.
"Rave Mundale!" The Force enhanced her call and it boomed across the distance. "I have your man. Let us talk."
"Release him," came the reply. "Then we'll talk."
"Why should I trust you, Rave?"
Rave rose from the bushes along the ridge. "A show of good faith, Jedi," he called.
"Fine. I let him go. We talk." She turned and unfastened the wrist bonds.
"He will not keep his word," whispered Jonner.
"I know. But I will keep mine. We will talk." She smiled and patted his shoulder. "Go."
Alee watched the young man run across the glade and scramble over the ridge. He hadn't disappeared when red hail rained down. She dove behind a tree. She leaned against it and felt the Force hum through its bark. She relaxed into the flow and lit her lightsaber. Alee stepped into the open and parried two bolts, then two more. She ran to a tree in front and to the right. She deflected another bolt before slipping behind the towering shelter. Alee sensed the Keed moving into place. Chale's signal chirp came from somewhere ahead. May the Force be with us.
Alee ran with Force-fed speed. She leapt high in the air, flipping to land on the ridge. Her lightsaber sliced a blaster out of a surprised human's hand. Chale's forces dropped to the ground behind the human line. Cries and shouts filled the air. A number of humans fell. Alee saw a Keed collapse. She cut a swath towards the spot where Rave had last been. Battle sounds dimmed as the Living Force pulsated through her limbs. A shot from behind and she dove. She dodged a flash of red. Parried three quick shots. Thrust forward to impale and melt a blaster. Kicked left to send a man rolling down the incline.
Suddenly, there was Rave. Taking aim. Firing. A Keed fell with a cry. Alee ran and jumped, feet first. She knocked the blaster from his hand. He sprawled in the dirt. She hauled him to his feet and swung him behind a tree, away from the battle. She powered down her blade and tipped his chin up with the handle.
"Now. We talk." Alee stared into eyes brimming with hate.
The two stun blasts hit her a micron apart. Her body seized up like a malfunctioning droid. She slumped to the ground, her senses working, nothing responding. Rave kicked her in the stomach and laughed. "Maybe later, Jedi. Get her back to base."
A prick in her arm. Something foreign surged through her blood. Sounds and light faded. Her last sensation was one of floating through the air.
Alee breathed deeply, feigning sleep. The last time she had awakened, a droid of some sort had drugged her before she could come fully alert. Now, she used the Force to take stock of her surroundings. She was frustrated with how little there was to explore. A ferrocrete block served as her bed. A domed forcefield formed her prison walls. If her captors thought she could not wield the Force outside the field, so much the better. There is a time for patience. This isn't it.
Alee sat up suddenly. Fatigue and dizziness swept over her. She pushed the sensations aside and noticed a momentary hole in the top of the forcefield. A small, round droid dropped through the hole and zipped toward her, injector leading the way. Alee pushed with the Force. The droid flew backwards and erupted in a ball of light when it hit the shimmering wall. It fell to the floor in several pieces, the needle still intact. Alee carefully retrieved the injector and stashed it in her tunic.
She stood and had to fight off another wave of weariness. She stumbled to the block and sat down, head in hands. She probed inwards with the Force. Some bruising. Hunger. That's where the weakness comes from, that and the effects of being drugged. She lay back, arm over her eyes and let the Force restore her strength.
Alee heard someone - several someones - enter the room beyond the forcefield. She ignored them and remained focused inwards. A deep "Ho, ho, ho." started her to full alertness.
[Observe my latest pet. A mighty Jedi warrior. Ho, ho, ho.] Alee's eyes sprang open at the Huttese words. A Hutt? A Hutt is running this operation?
Alee sat up and stared at her captors. A young adult Hutt was flanked by two humans dressed in black and behind them, two Gran body guards. A third Gran stood by the open doorway to the right, his eyestalks and blaster trained at Alee. The slug-like Hutt drooled as he gloated over his prisoner.
"Perhaps even rarer, my lord, it is a female Jedi. Not too old. Passable appearance," said the younger, red-bearded human. "She will fetch a great price."
[No price. I have other plans for this prize. Her foolishness has assured that my takeover of this planet will be smooth. Legal, even. Ho, ho, ho.]
Alee narrowed her eyes. That's a switch - a Hutt concerned about being 'legal'. How can my actions here be used against the Keed? Alee stood up and faced her captors, arms crossed, face stony.
"You will not get away with this, Hutt," she declared.
[Ho, ho, ho. Thanks to you, I already have. Your great Republic will have already received the formal complaint of Minister Mundale, detailing how a rogue Jedi incited the Keed to genocide. Ho, ho, ho. How fortunate that I was on hand to rescue my human allies.] The Hutt jiggled with silent mirth.
Alee scanned the older human. Steel-grey hair, white beard, and a swarthiness that mirrored Rave's. Father? Older brother? Resigned brown eyes met her own. Not the look of a victor.
"The Council will not believe you," she clipped.
[Ho, ho. By the time the complaint makes its way through your foolish committees and Senate to the mighty Jedi Council it will be too late. My control will be complete, and you will be dead.]
At her silence, the Hutt broke into a rolling laugh and undulated out of the room with his entourage close behind. The Gran at the door wrinkled his snout at her and the door flashed shut.
Alee marched back and forth. Four paces and spin. Four paces and spin. She dropped into a crouch, and tapped her teeth with her thumb. Victory is the Keed's only option. We cannot lose. But I don't even know how the last battle went. How is Chale faring? Thoughts ran circles in her head, always coming back to the same point. I have to get out of here. Quickly.
The door whooshed open. A throat clearing made her look up. Jonner stood before her. He shook his head slightly, then placed a tray on the floor in front of the forcefield.
She raised her eyebrows as the gentle-spoken young man made his voice as gruff as he could manage. "Food, Jedi. No tricks or the entire room will instantly detonate." A booby-trapped room? She nodded imperceptibly at the warning.
He motioned at someone beyond the door. The field lifted enough to slide the tray under then dropped back to the floor. Jonner marched out without looking at her again.
Alee retrieved the tray and wrinkled her nose. Grey-green slime floated in a small bowl. I should be grateful - this is probably some Hutt delicacy. Ugh. A dry chunk of flatbread and a glass of murky water rounded out the meal. She nibbled disinterestedly on the bread and set the water aside for later. The bowl was left untouched.
Alee placed the tray back by the forcefield. She tucked the injector up against the bowl. I hope Jonner is the one who comes for the tray. As she sat cross-legged on the floor and leaned against the block to wait, Alee drew on the Force and stretched her senses beyond the forcefield. The power gird of the field was tightly woven and interfered with her link to the Force. She pushed beyond the door. Perspiration beaded along her hairline. She explored the wall to the right. The control panel. Through the Force a picture of the panel formed in her mind. She extended her senses again to probe it. The connection snapped and she slumped forward, elbows on knees. She sucked air into her lungs hungrily.
The door hissed and she immediately regulated her breathing. Alee kept her gaze pasted to the floor. Out of the corner of her left eye, she saw Jonner squat and retrieve the tray. He fingered the injector and slid it into his pocket. A smile played on Alee's lips as he left.
After a short nap, Alee again used the Force to probe the control panel. It was easier this time, but she stopped when it demanded a passcode. The time slipped by in Jedi meditations. The distorted view she had out the lone window high in one corner told her it was night. She sensed the panel being activated and smiled. Perfect timing.
The door opened at the same moment the forcefield winked out. Alee was in the corridor a micron later. Her appearance startled Jonner. He shoved her cloak and lightsaber into her hands.
"Better hurry," he whispered. "I had to inject the quartermaster to get this stuff. We could be discovered any time."
He turned and she tugged on his sleeve. Their eyes met.
"Thank you."
He nodded.
They rounded a corner and Alee stopped.
"Jonner. How do we trigger the room to explode?"
He frowned. "Messing with the panel will do it, but why..."
"Stay here," she cut in.
Alee slipped back to the prison cell. She looked both ways. All clear. A yank with the Force and the panel was wrenched out of the wall. Alee was already running. She entered the flow and sped around the corner, grabbing Jonner's hand as she flew by. The explosion rocked the building. She planted her foot and lunged through a doorway on their right, pulling Jonner along. They both tumbled to the floor and lay there, panting. Alee flicked her wrist and the door closed.
She searched the deep-space darkness with her senses. Storage room. She relaxed slightly. Clanging alarms resounded through the base.
"Now they know you're gone. What'd you do that for?" asked Jonner, his irritation clear.
"Hopefully they won't search far for a dead Jedi." Alee popped to her feet. "Can you get back to your barracks unnoticed? I don't want you in trouble for this."
Pounding feet ran past the door. Shouts. Alee searched for a doorlock. Nothing.
"I'm not going back." His voice was firm.
"Oh. Where are you going?" She found a light panel and triggered it. Dim yellow light cast a pall over the grey room. She scanned the walls. No window.
"I'm going with you." Alee raised her eyebrows. Jonner stood and continued, "Rumor is: some of the men captured when you released me have gone over to the Keed. I'm joining them."
Alee squatted and tapped her teeth. "Why?"
"This setup is starting to stink like a Hutt's dinner. The Keed are the main course." Jonner paused. "I think we'll be dessert."
Alee looked up and smiled. "You are a very perceptive young man. Any ideas what the Hutt's interest in Keed is to begin with?"
He made a wry face. "Think about it, Jedi."
Alee continued tapping and frowned. Her eyes widened. "Of course. How blind of me. The drugs. What the Keed mean for healing, the Hutt wants for profit."
Jonner nodded.
Voices in the corridor made Alee turn. She switched off the light and pulled Jonner into the far corner.
"There's a vent directly above us," she whispered. "I'll lift you up. You get it open."
"But, how..." His query was cut off as she raised him with the Force. He muttered, "Whoa."
She sensed him fiddling with the cover. A metal clip dropped on her head. "Got it." came the whisper. No kidding. She pushed him through the opening and jumped straight up. Her head thumped into the top of the shaft and she fell to the side.
"It's a little cramped in here," whispered Jonner.
"Thanks for the warning." She rubbed a bump that was already forming.
Alee took the cover and replaced it as best she could. One corner dipped open.
"Hey," said Jonner, "this goes directly outside."
"What luck," answered Alee.
"Blast," added Jonner. "It opens to the training compound."
Alee sighed. "Mine hasn't changed."
"Huh?"
"My luck. It hasn't changed. Good thing a Jedi doesn't believe in luck." She heard the door open below. "Let's go."
Jonner dropped to the ground with a muffled thud. Alee landed silently beside him. The square yard was lit up brighter than day by a ring of floodlights on the rooftops. The sirens blared louder than inside.
"That explosion was not my brightest idea," mumbled Alee. Jonner snorted. She asked, "How do we get out of here?"
Jonner pointed straight across the compound to a gate nestled between two buildings.
A shout from high above spurred them into action. They took off like proton torpedoes honing in on a target. They were a third of the way across the yard when the firing began. Lasers snapped at their heels. The guards at the gate opened fire. Alee drew her lightsaber and used it as a shield. She kept a step ahead of Jonner, deflecting shots. One rebounded perfectly. A guard fell. The other guard dropped and took potshots from his cover.
Alee sensed life forms moving up behind them. With a burst of speed, she charged the lone guard and leapt over his head, turning and striking him down as she landed. Jonner was zigzagging towards her. She saw two soldiers taking aim at his back. Alee ran at him. She somersaulted over his head and came down as they opened fire. She twirled the lightsaber in a figure eight and parried the two shots. Then peddled backwards, warding off several more. A flip backwards avoided lasers streaking from the roof.
Durasteel pressed cold against her back, stopping her retreat. As she deflected three more shots, Jonner frantically punched codes into the guardstation terminal. I feel like a womprat in a box canyon. A laser struck the gate near her ear. She sidestepped - into the path of another bolt. It pierced her left shoulder blade. She hissed and parried another shot.
The gates retracted into the walls. Alee fell back, rolled and came to her feet. Jonner dashed past her. The lightsaber winked out and she followed. They were running down a wide avenue. Away from the base. Away from the lights. Shouts echoed after them. Alee's shoulder throbbed in time to the sound of their boots slapping loudly against the ferrocrete. Jonner veered right into a narrow side street. Alee trailed a step behind. They both spilled into a recessed doorway. Alee closed her eyes and drew on the Force to shunt aside the pain in her shoulder.
"You okay?" panted Jonner.
"Fine. You?"
"Thanks to you. What a great fight!" He slugged her affectionately - on her left shoulder. She sucked in air loudly. His voice cracked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just a scratch." She let the Force cool the burning ache. "Let's go. They'll be hunting."
Jonner led them away from the main avenue and into a warren of narrow alleys and crowded blocky buildings. So different from the spacious, organic buildings of the Keed. They moved through the shadows silently, freezing at a cough, a child's cry. Gradually the streets became wider, the buildings higher.
Jonner signalled Alee to stop. He pointed out a patrol down the next block. Alee crouched and tapped her teeth. Jonner squatted beside her. The four soldiers were situated in an intersection, each facing a different direction, each looking very alert.
"Can we go around?" asked Alee.
"Not much point," whispered Jonner. "This will be one of two perimeters they will have staked out. We have to go through somewhere."
Alee looked up. "How about over?"
"You maybe. I could never jump between those buildings." He hesitated. "You should just leave me. You'll have a better chance on your own."
"No. I don't leave partners behind." She caught his eye. "Understood?"
He clasped her left shoulder tightly. "Thanks."
She winced and carefully removed his hand.
"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly. "That must be some scratch."
They watched the roadblock a moment more. Alee stared at the two speeder bikes in the center of the guards' outward-facing circle.
"Got any Corellian in your blood, Jonner?" Alee asked.
"Ah, I don't think so. Why?"
"If you're willing to gamble a little - buck the odds - we might be able to get past them."
He shrugged okay. Alee pointed at an alley across the way and explained her plan.
Alee considered the soldier facing their way. She pushed his helmet back with the Force. While he was readjusting the headgear, she slipped unnoticed into the alley. Jonner took off at a run, shouting and waving his arms. Four blasters swung towards him.
"She's down the alley! Got my blaster!" He stopped just short of them and bent over, breathing hard. Good thinking, kid. Can't see your face. He blurted, "I barely got away." He fell to his knees, feigning pain. Alee smiled when one motioned two others to follow him. They trotted towards her hiding spot. She retreated deeper into the passageway.
The dark brown of her cloak helped her melt into the shadows. She unclipped her lightsaber and kept it concealed. A figure darted across the mouth of the alley, then eased around the corner, back pressed to the wall. The other two followed suit on the close side. The three advanced slowly, blasters ready, searching every shadow, every shape. They were two meters away when Alee jumped and kicked at the closest soldier. His head cracked against the wall and he slumped down. She spun. A blue arc sliced the blaster out of the second soldier's hand. He pitched the glowing weapon away. She whacked his temple with the lightsaber's handle. He dropped. Red flashed past her face. She pivoted and deflected the next shot back at the last man. He grunted as it speared his side. She dashed over, grabbed his blaster from him and shrugged.
"Sorry," she whispered and knocked him out. Three alive and out of commission. Perfect.
She jogged up to the intersection. Jonner stood, blaster trained at the lone soldier. The grizzled face bore an expression of reluctant respect. Jonner smiled at Alee.
"What took you so long?" he teased.
"One of them decided to fight back."
The soldier shot her a look of alarm. Jonner looked at her askance.
"Don't worry. They're unconscious, not dead," she explained. She pulled out her lightsaber and left it dark. "One bike or two?"
A grin. "Two. I've always dreamed of racing a Jedi."
The lightsaber came down on the back of the soldier's head. He fell to the ground.
"You enjoy doing that?" asked Jonner.
"Not really. The thud always turns my stomach. Better that than kill, though."
Alee swung onto a bike. She grabbed the handlebars and shuddered. Jonner watched as she slowly rotated her left shoulder. The Force flowed through her motion and soothed the spasms of heat. She startled at Jonner's touch. He pushed the cloak aside and peered at her injury in the dim light. He frowned.
"Your scratch looks suspiciously like a hole."
She curled her lip. "If you want to race, you'll have to catch me." She flipped the ignition switch and pulled away.
His shout of "Hey!" was cut off by the second bike leaping to life. She sensed it gaining and opened the throttle a little more. He pulled along side and fired a scowl at her, then grinned and shot ahead. She let him lead, but soon realized she had to push herself to keep up. He's done this before, I'd wager.
Buildings and streets flashed past as they fled the growing light in the east. Jonner banked sharply to the left. Alee slowed down slightly for the corner then opened the throttle to catch up. He swung right onto a wide boulevard, Alee on his tail. She pulled even with him. He glanced at her and jerked his head forward. She looked. The second perimeter. Not just a patrol. A roadblock. He motioned a jump and goosed the throttle. She shook her head and followed suit.
Streaks of red blinked around them as they bore down on the barricade. Jonner juiced it just before the wall and the nose of the bike bounced up. He sailed over the heads of diving soldiers. His laugh reached her ears as she copied his maneuver. The speeder bike came down hard. The repulsors flickered and the belly of the bike scraped the ferrocrete, spraying Alee's feet with sparks. It wobbled. She struggled with the machine for a micron, then it levelled out and shot forward again.
They broke free of the city and headed across the open plain. Alee's danger sense sprang to life as she heard a gentle whoosh. The ground in front of her erupted. She veered left as clods of dirt rained down on her. Another blast threw Jonner off course. She saw him fight to right his speeder before it went over. She pulled up beside him as he regained control. A ridge ahead indicated a valley. Shelter? An explosion behind them pushed the bikes forward. Noses dipped down. The two riders opened their throttles to avoid flipping. The bikes straightened out and shot over the ridge at full speed.
Jonner never had the chance to turn. Alee saw him plow into the military landspeeder. As she swerved to avoid a second vehicle, she saw his body catapult through the air and crumple against a pile of crates. The broadside impact launched her and she tried to turn it into a controlled fall. The landspeeder became a fireball. The heat blasted Alee into the ground. She bounced. Flames licked over her as she skidded down the incline.
Alee clawed at the singed grass until, at last, she stopped moving. But the world wouldn't stop spinning. She fought for breath, her lungs burning. Her throat was Tatooine on a hot day. Must have inhaled a whiff of fire. Her shoulder wailed. She tried to move it and a void rippled across her mind. She fought off the impending blackness and probed inward with the Force. Crushed bone. Twisted sinew. Glad it's my left shoulder. She held the useless arm tight against her body, grimaced and scanned the rest of her body. Her right hip was numb. Must be where I hit. Below the hip her leg had turned to molten lava. She risked a glance. Her stomach turned. A large sliver of durasteel had impaled her leg above the knee. She could feel it quivering in her bone.
Another explosion billowed upwards and Alee ducked instinctively. She glanced up the hill. The vehicles and crates were all aflame. Jonner! Alee struggled to stand on her left foot. She slowly shifted some weight to the right. She grabbed onto the Force and pushed the waves of nausea aside. With each step, blood trickled into her boot and she had to stop to fight off the void. She cycled the Force through her body, quashing the swirling agony, focusing on the moment, the step, Jonner. She reached the crates and crumpled. Alee dragged herself forward with her right arm, scrapping her speared leg over the rough ground. Spasms of white-hot needles ran up her body. She focused on letting them pass through her to be absorbed by the Force. Her gasps rose above the crackle of the flames.
Alee reached a body and turned it over. Not Jonner. She pushed herself to a reclining position and scanned the area. Boots poked past the end of the burning crates. She fought to her feet again and took a deep breath. The Force surged through her and she strode forward. "Ahhh!" Her pain grew louder as she neared the end of the crates. Her strength gave out and she tripped over the boots, collapsing beside the body. The sliver twanged, sending vibrations of pain up through her hip and spine. She twitched and clung tenaciously to the Force.
Alee rolled onto her right side and stared into Jonner's blistered face. She inched backwards and tugged his body away from the hungry flames. She pressed her forehead gently against his cheek and pushed her senses outwards. His lifeforce was fading.
Alee sobbed, "Please don't do this, Jonner." Her whisper was raw. "Hang on, partner."
She blanketed him in the Force and let the soothing hum envelope them both. She could feel her own energy draining. Heedless, she pumped it into Jonner's body.
"Hey, kid," she said, "you won. You beat a Jedi on a speeder bike."
Alee felt his lifeforce stop its downward slide. It remained feeble, but it remained. She smiled weakly and laid back. Show-off.
A silhouette appeared above her and she squinted against the rising sun. Chale stood, frowning, hands on hips.
"What have you done to yourself this time, Alee?" he asked gruffly.
"'Bout time you found me," she said, and waved at the rising smoke. "Didn't you see my signal?"
He huffed. "Me and every human within 20 kilometers." He motioned to someone. "We better get you back to camp."
"Jonner first." Alee winced as she shifted. "He rescued me. Good soldier. Deadly on a speeder bike."
Chale raised an eyebrow. "So I see."
"He's come to join us."
"He'll make a fine addition to our troops," Chale soothed.
"I think I'll rest now. Take me back to this camp of yours." Alee pushed at the crushing void.
"Who's in charge here, Jedi?" he prodded gently.
"Why, you, of course." Alee groaned as the void collapsed in on her.
