__A Time to Leave__

Prologue:

Sinya’ni sat on the floor of the loading bay in shock. The smell of ozone and burning flesh stung her nose. She looked at the three bodies lying around her. Two of them were charred and smoking. “How did it come to this?” The scantily clad Twi’lek stared at her friend’s lifeless eyes…”**Why** did it come to this?”

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Chapter 1:

“This is the stupidest thing I have ever done.” The small Twi’lek girl said to herself as she tied bed sheets together. This wasn’t her first attempt at escape, but was by far the boldest. Tiny beads of sweat had begun to form on her perfect cyan skin as she secured the ‘rope’ to a bedpost.

“Are you sure about this, Siny’aglie?” asked Na’la, another Rutian two years younger than herself.

“Yes...I don’t have any other option. I’m to be placed tomorrow, and you all know what that means.” A shiver ran down her spine. She’d seen it many times in her nine years at the orphanage. Sure, the younger kids found homes amongst their own people, but the older females...they were not so lucky. The diminutive blue Twi’lek had lost many friends to the slave trade. The last of which was Adar’a.

Sinya stopped for a moment...the memory springing unbidden to her mind...

The lashing had been almost unbearable, the leather strap burning across her back over and over, but worse by far, was watching as her friend had been dragged away. She never saw the green Twi’lek again, however, the face of her lost companion and mentor visited her dreams every night. Her friend’s bright turquoise eyes pleading for help that she was unable to give. If only they had succeeded in their getaway….

Sinya’s attention was snapped back to the present by a young girl about 6 years old, who suddenly wrapped her arms around the pensive Rutian. “There, there, *eoh uru*. I have to go. It is my time. I either leave tonight or be taken away tomorrow.” The other girls took over comforting the little one as Sinya threw the makeshift rope out the window.

“*Sahak chir, numa*.” She waved as her lithe form slipped over the edge and into the night.

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Chapter 2:

*The lash bit hard into the soft blue skin leaving purple welts and even bloody grooves, but the young Twi’lek didn’t cry out. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Tears welled up in her eyes though, as the screams of her best friend besieged the moments of silence between the crack of the electrowhip.* ”Sinya” *”I’m never giving up, *Lihsily*. I will never break!” she exclaimed through clenched teeth.*

“Sinya! Wake up! It’s time to go.”

*”What? I don’t understand...” she turned to look at the strange voice*, and suddenly the detention room of the orphanage faded away and disappeared into a darkening mist. Sinya’s ebony eyes snapped open, her hand instinctively clutching the grip of her holdout blaster.

“What do you want, Tom?” She asked as her eyes came into focus on the tauny haired Togorian shaking her shoulder. “You’re lucky I didn’t burn a hole through you.”

“That’d be a trick. Seein’s how that ain’t a blaster,” he growled, amusement written across his feline features. The Twi’lek looked down at the small hubba gourd in her grip. The togorian laughed. “You didn’t think I’d wake ya up without securing your piece, did ya. Not makin that mistake again! Ha Ha! Look alive, we’re here.” The muscular mercenary handed her back the actual sidearm as he exited the room.

Sinya donned her dark grey bodysuit and proceeded to the briefing room. Well, they used it as a briefing room. It was really just the galley. The other members of the mercenary crew were already seated and talking amongst themselves about their roles in the impending heist.

“About time you showed up.” The grizzled human captain sported a full head of grey streaked brown hair and a short unkept beard. He glared at her through his one good eye, the other replaced by a six inch scar. “I hope you got your beauty sleep. You’re gonna need it for this one...You’re also gonna need to change. I’ve got an outfit for you, go put it on.” The captain slid a garment box across the table towards her.

Tom, chuckled. His yellow mane oscillated like grass in the wind. “I wish I could see yer face when you see it. Picked it out meself. Ha ha! Yer gonna love it!”

The third member of their crew was a female Clawdite named Ash. “Knock it off, Tom,” she admonished with a slight punch on his shoulder to reinforce her displeasure. “Captain Blight wants you to pose as a dancer to gain access to the cartel’s private lounge.” She explained to the confused Twi’lek. She was clearly not happy with the arrangement.

“No! Absolutely not! Why can’t we just sneak in like usual?” Sinya blustered.

“Security is too tight,” Captain Blight explained. “Getting into the building is too risky. Once in though, you should be able to slip the dagger into the hidden sheath on your thigh. Once you get the dagger, which should be here,” he held out a datapad and pointed to the relevant room on the map. “You can slip out the service exit, here,” he pointed to the next objective highlighted on the screen.

“Fine...but I am **NOT** wearing a collar,” the Twi’lek huffed as she took the box to her room. *I can’t believe they’re making me do this. And for what? A stupid ancient dagger.* She opened the box. **”Kanhi'ihan dan u'a!”** she exclaimed as she stared at the skimpy dancer outfit. Tom’s laughter echoed through the ship.

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Chapter 3:

A few hours later, the YT-2000 ‘Pestilence’ had settled on a landing platform on Nal Hutta. Captain Blight was talking to a Rodian just outside the ship. He gestured towards her as the small cyan Twi’lek was exiting. She blushed purple as she stepped tentatively onto the platform.Tom was waiting by the loading ramp with some cargo crates when he spotted Sinya. His mouth twisted into a grotesque smile; and he looked as though he was about to make some crude joke at her expense.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warned as she slipped past him. “*Nurkeslua*,” the Twi’lek muttered. Sinya nodded to the captain while traversing across the platform to join a group of similarly dressed slaves. *So humiliating,* she thought.

The first part of the plan came together beautifully. Sinya found herself inside the Hutt Cartel’s guarded mansion with other new slave girls. No one seemed to suspect her duplicity. That’s when the first of the complications became evident. The dancers were joined by two guards who ushered them into a dressing room. “*Chakesa du wata*,” one of the guards, a gruff sounding Weequay, instructed in Huttese.

“Ready for what?” Sinya queried as she followed the group into the room.

“Your audition of course. She must be the dumb one of the group,” the guard snickered, turning to his human partner.

“There’s always one,” the man responded. His heavily scarred face twisted into a grotesque smile. “Pretty though, I hope she fails.” His grin became even more repulsive as he licked his lips and made suggestive gestures with his hips.

If Sinya could have turned green, she would have, as she began to understand the nature of the role she was playing. Her stomach twisted as she turned away from the odious human. That’s when she noticed *her*. A green Twi’lek about Sinya’s age had entered with a tray of ration bars and hydration packs. Even though it had been five years, Sinya recognized her presence immediately.

“Adar’a?” she queried as she walked near the familiar Rylothian. A torrent of emotions filled the young blue Twi’lek as her friend turned. When she had last seen her that fateful day at the orphanage, five years ago, Sinya thought she would never see her Addy again, yet...here she was.

“Yes? Is there something I can help you with?” Adar’a asked the new slave girl. She looked at the blue Twi’lek with dull unresponsive turquoise eyes.

“Addy, it’s me, Siny’aglie. But I go by Sinya’ni now” she whispered. Her own ebony eyes boring into her friend’s, looking for even a spark of recognition. Adar’a brightened momentarily as she recognized her childhood bestie, but depression quickly descended on her as all hope fled her spirit.

“I always thought you’d be the one to make it. To escape this life. But here you are, trapped like me. If we are lucky, I’ll be able to see you on my daily rounds when I serve the food,” The older Twi’lek sighed heavily. Sinya attempted to answer in Twi’leki but the head dress restricted her lekku too much.

“No...I’m going to bust you out of here, Addy,”
Sinya whispered emphatically, grabbing her friend’s hands. “It will be like old times, only this time we have help. Find me after dark.”

“Hey! No talking!” the guard growled...

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Chapter 4

“Are you sure about this, Sinya’ni?” Hope and fear playing across verdent Twi’lek emotions like a shock ball match. The younger Rutian always seemed to inspire her. No matter how many times they failed, somehow the tiny little Twi’lek always convinced her to go along with the next ill-fated scheme.

“Yes, I’m part of a mercenary crew. I am just here to steal an artifact. I’m not really a slave.” Sinya’ni took Adar’a’s hand and led her towards the exit.

Two sets of Rylothian bare feet padded silently down the corridor. Pausing by the security office, Sinya peeked in to see two guards watching a holodrama. She reached out with her feelings. Sensing what she needed, she concentrated on a keycard, plucking it off the closest guard’s belt with only her thoughts.

Adar’a was staring at Sinya. A wordless question in her eyes. Sinya grinned as they used the keycard to exit the building and make their way towards the starport.

They were about halfway there when they heard the alarms. The two unarmed barefoot Twi’lek girls ran for the “Pestulance.” They met some mild resistance as scantily clad women running down the street does tend to attract attention, even in the seedy underbelly of the galaxy; but they managed to avoid the grabbing hands and get to the ship.

“What the hell’re you doing here?” Tom jumped to his feet as the pair of tail heads rushed aboard the ship.

“What does it look like? Escaping. Now let’s get out of here!” Sinya rolled her eyes at the dense Togorian. “We should go before they figure out where we went.” Turning to Adar’a, “We’ll be safe now. Let me get that collar off.”

“What’s going on out here?” The captain grumbled as he stepped into the room. “Why are you back? Did you finish the mission?”

“No, I couldn’t find the artifact; however, I did rescue my friend Adar’a. We should go now.” The Rutian was using some tools to tinker with the shock collar.

“I don’t think so, Sin. I’m not in the business of stealing slaves from the Hutts.” The one eyed captain walked casually into the room behind Adar’a.

“What are you talking about? You let me stay while I was running from the Hutts.” The cyan
Twi’lek was too focused on the collar to realize what was happening until Adar’a gasped, falling into Sinya’s arms. A small dagger protruded from the middle of her back. “Nooo! Why…” she stammered as she cradled her dying friend in confusion. “I am so sorry, Addy.”

Adar’a smiled weakly, bringing her hand up to caress her friend’s cheek and wipe away the tears. “It’s...ok...at least I am with you at...the end...That’s more...than I could...have asked for.” A single tear rolled down the green Twi’lek’s cheek as the light faded from her turquoise eyes. She went limp in Sinya’s arms…

The little blue Twi’lek was silent and still for a long moment, cradling the corpse of her almost lover. Tears flowed unabated now as she looked up at the grizzled, one eyed human that she had once trusted. He had been the only family she had known for the last five years.

The tears stopped and Sinya’s big ebony eyes narrowed and hardened as she stared at him. “Why?” her calm menacing voice broke the silence.

“You see, there was never any artifact. There was a bounty placed on you and I collected,” he explained nonplussed by her cold demeanor.

“Why?” she repeated. A slight yellow glow building behind her eyes from the storm she was holding back.

“Nothing personal, kid. It was just business. And business is good today.” The captain smirked and retrieved his comlink from the pocket of his leather jacket. “Now I need to tell Chub-Chub I’ve intercepted his runaways.”

Sinya could not hold back the flood of anger and grief a moment longer, her consciousness was plunged into darkness...When she came to...she was alone, surrounded by three corpses...and eternal loneliness.

__A Twist of Fate:or maybe just gravity__

The blue streaks of hyperspace shortened into singular points of light. The lights from *The Shelob*’s console softly illuminated the blue face of the lone Twi’leki pilot. Sinya’ni punched in the coordinates for her next jump when her R3 unit twiddled an alarm.

“What is it Sparky? Put it on the heads up display.”
The Rylothian gasped as multiple signals appeared on the screen. “When will the hyperdrive be ready for our next jump?” The droid let out a series of matter of fact tweets. “That’s too long. Maybe they didn’t see us.”

Bright flashes of green suddenly lit up the inky black backdrop as the Revenant Strike-class Tenixir R-20 medium cruiser’s turbo lasers cut through her flight path. Sinya’ni slammed the arm of her chair. “Kark! Well there goes the stealthy option.” A familiar pink visage appeared from the holoprojector. The unmistakable scarred face with lekku wrapping his neck like a scarf made the young Twi’lek cringe.

*”Unidentified spider cruiser, I am Corsair Kro’nk Aeti of the Tenixir Revenant. Identify yourself.”*

“Oh! That is sooo not happening. Sparky how’s that hyperdrive cooldown?” Sinya’ni flipped off the autopilot and transferred power to weapons and forward shields. “And set your maglock. It’s about to get bumpy.” Red lances of laser beamed out of *The Shelob’s* twin heavy lasers, stitching a path across the hull of the much larger craft.

“Here come the TIEs! Keep those shields up!” Sinya’ni juked and jinked as green lasers lashed out at the impertinent little transport. “Quite the aggressive welcome. Imagine if he actually knew who I was!” The novice pilot managed to avoid some of the lasers but many more struck true. The shields flickered under the barrage.

*”I don’t know what you think you’re doing, little spider…”* The mutilated pink Twi’lek smirked, *“…but you stand no chance against us. You should surrender before we destroy your ship.”*

The shield stabilized as the secondary circuits engaged. She flew straight at the cruiser firing her pitiful lasers at the menacing warship. The TIE/LINs were in hot pursuit, firing at the aft of the arachnid styled ship. Each time Sinya avoided them, the green bolt would impact the carrier. The holographic face turned to the side. *”RECALL THOSE FIGHTERS! Those ekeosur are going–“* the transmission was abruptly terminated.

“That’ll only buy us a few seconds…what was that?” The ship lurched suddenly. “TRACTOR BEAM! Get us out of it. There’s no way I’m letting that bigoted freak get a hold of me!.” Sinya’ni hit the accelerator to no avail. “Get the hyperdrive ready!” The droid made a disgruntled reply. “I know we can’t make hyperspace while in a tractor beam. I’m working on it.”

Sparky let out a low whistle. “I know what I’m doing! I read about it once…granted it was a legend…I hope I know what I’m doing.” The Twi’lek took a deep breath. “Hit hyper as soon as we’re free.” Tightening her crash webbing, she silently mouthed…”3…2…1…” She switched the poles on the inertial compensator.

A loud “CRACK” reverberated through the ship as gravity seemed to twist and reverse. In moments, the blue streaks of hyperspace travel replaced the small Revenant fleet in the viewport. They had made it…now to get the inertial compensator replaced.

GJW XVI Phase I] Fiction - Strange New Worlds
“Entrenched”

Now what?

Ethereal Realm
The Shattered Plains
ABY 41

The bleak sky of the Ethereal Realm turned from haze to black. As the light failed across the plain,a small blue Twi’lek sat cross legged in the bottom of a ravine.

“Now what?” she queried out loud to herself. The events of the day had not gone to plan and the diminutive Rutian was out of ideas. Here she was on an enemy world in a strange dimension, out of food, low on water, and even lower on hope.
“How did it come to this…”
_________________________________________

16 hours earlier….

Ethereal Realm
Reflection of Eos
ABY 41

“Well, guess this is the place,” the diminutive Twi’lek said to her astomech as they exited the wormhole. A distorted version of the city of Eos lay before her, with its massive skyscrapers shimmering then momentarily blinking out, like a Holoprojection with an intermittent short circuit. The sensors showed a huge field stretching from the portal’s exit in all directions with a disorganized jumble of trenches criss-crossing the surface and floating land masses of various sizes hanging in the sky. In the distance was a fortress made of the same crystal infecting the Children of Mortise, and beyond that, the Chain.

The droid tweedled nervously as they continued to monitor the ship’s systems. The energy fluctuations and gravimetric anomalies already caused the droid distress while they worked fervently to make adjustments. “Don’t worry, R3. I’m sure you can handle it.” And handle it they did until the ship passed near a sky island. Suddenly the ship was plummeting…up? The ship and the droid were having a problem figuring out the orientation as gravitational forces shifted towards the massive rock that defied physics.

R3 screamed as they frantically readjusted to the changing conditions. The engine roared as it suddenly accelerated beyond its own capabilities, jettisoning the spider cruiser out of the floating isle’s gravity. This time, the droid couldn’t compensate, especially when the engine completely cut out–.

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Ethereal Realm
The Shattered Plains
ABY 41

Having calmed her mind, the stranded Twi’lek Nightsister stood. “It can’t get worse, so it has to get better,” she said aloud to herself. “But nothing will get better sitting in this Force forsaken ditch.” She donned her climbing claws and started climbing out of the ravine…

It had taken her two hours to climb up to the crest. She collapsed in sheer exhaustion as she wasn’t conditioned for that level of exercise. The shattered plains stretched out before her in the fading light. Her rendezvous point was somewhere between her and the fortress, but that left a possibility of several miles to go. She didn’t know if she could manage it. Especially without the Force as her ally. She scanned the horizon with her macrobinoculars– THERE! She spotted another Brotherhood ship, as it settled on a steep not five miles out.

Gathering her gear and what strength she had left, she began to walk. As she reached the next crevasse, she could feel the Force returning. She leapt across the twenty foot trench like it was nothing. Sinya’ni reveled in the revitalizing energy coursing through her. The start of her journey had been perilous; however, with the Force as her ally, the remaining distance to the rally point went smoothly.