for_everyone | (no subject)

For a few seconds, Hera had been sure the shouting and blasterfire they had heard echoing through the base were her crew trying to find her. Reckless, single-minded, fighting their way through these unfamiliar beings. The girls had held close to her, asking what was happening, and Hera hadn't dared answer. But then as the blastefire died down, as the voices grew quieter, she heard something else. Smooth, steady paces, the tap of boots. It was just before the cell door opened that Hera knew what was going to be on the other side of it.

And there was no escape. Three Stormtoopers stepped into the cell at once, moving to surround Hera and the two Chiss girls. The girls didn't keep asking questions, though they followed the Troopers with their eyes, and huddled behind Hera, trying to use her as a shield. The troopers were followed by an officer. Hera kept her eyes on the floor at first, but she looked up in surprise as the officer knelt down, and slowly approached her and the girls.

Hera realized then that the Empire knew what they'd find here. Or at least, they'd known part of it. When the girl closest to the officer flinched back, burying her face in Hera's shoulder, the officer looked at her.

"Who are you?"

She was wearing a rough-woven skirt and tunic, boots and a simple cap. Yet for a few seconds, Hera had forgotten that she might look different. That more likely than not, the Imps weren't going to recognize her. She closed her eyes, and took a moment to be grateful that the officer had spoken first. And then, to come up with a story.

A name. Nyn. A story. Captured by pirates, who traveled out into the far reaches, bordering the Unknown Regions, and sold her to these beings – the Grysk, the Imperials called them – who used her to watch over their stolen children. She used her Ryloth accent, spoke in halting sentences, kept her eyes on the floor, only stealing quick, frightened glances at her questioner. The girls wouldn't leave her, so the Imps had taken them all together, first into a shuttle from which Hera and the girls watched as it flew up into a Star Destroyer, then within that, an empty room that looked like it might be used as low-ranking officers' quarters. That surprised her, as did the fact that they brought water for her and the girls to drink, and even a few protein bars.

But whatever the Empire wants with these girls, she can't imagine it's anything better than the Grysk did. Sooner or later, she'll have to act. Even as she's far from her crew, with two children to take with her, and no hope of fighting an entire Star Destroyer alone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Of course," Thrawn says smoothly, covering over any surprise he may or may not be feeling.

"A difficult loss for my ship, but hardly insurmountable."

And it's not one of the shuttles Lord Vader is prone to use, which means one less explosion to have to endure.

"It carries emergency rations, as well, should extraction take longer than you might wish."

I just hope it stays in one piece is something Hera might say. If not for the girls.

"Then it looks like this is it." She nods to the girls. "Go ahead."

Thrawn turns to the children, reaching out to take each of their hands in his.

In Sy Bisti --

"You may use my name for safe passage if need be. They will ask you questions about this place, about the Empire, about what we know. Tell them the truth."

And, back in Basic --

"Verisimilitude likely requires that you shoot me, as I assume we are both aware."

All right.

Hera wasn't expecting that.

She stays still a moment, then turns to the girls, and says a little more firmly, "Go ahead, get on the shuttle."

The girls look between them, quickly, but then the older girl takes the other's hand, and the run off through the docking bay.

Thrawn's smile is thin.

"Stun will also be less than convincing."

Chances are high that Vader will still know something is afoot, but Thrawn has his own leverage in these particular circumstances. He'd rather not spend it so, but --

"I would appreciate if you did not actively try to kill me at this particular juncture."

But all blaster wounds are potentially dangerous. He is well aware.

The truth is, Hera doesn't know what she's going to when she slips the blaster out from her skirt. She doesn't say anything to him as she levels her weapon, but then waits. Perhaps waiting for him to move after all.

And then suddenly, the blaster flicks, and Hera fires. She turns, and runs, as though she really were escaping.

The blaster bolt will hit close to his left shoulder.

Thrawn hisses in pain, immediately reaching up to put his hand over the wound -- perhaps to gauge the extent of the damage, perhaps just to better sell the story.

There's really not much time, but he does unhook his comms and smash them against the side of a neighboring shuttle, knocking over a few crates and firing his own blaster twice.

Hopefully by this point Hera has gotten the engines fired up and is poised to leave the hangar.

The girls are already strapped in when Hera runs into the shuttle. It doesn't seem like it's meant to hold too many passengers, probably high-value cargo, but there are two chairs in the cockpit behind the pilot's seat that the girls are already comfortably situated in.

Hera jumps into the pilot's seat and the ship lights up around her. She doesn't say anything to the girls as the shuttle rises up from the bay floor, and proceeds toward the opening into space.

Just as she reaches it, Suc'asaw'earmemm speaks. "Wait."

Hera almost ignores it, but there's a familiar tug to the girl's words, and Hera slows the shuttle just as the reach the edge of the bay. Just a few seconds later, a patrol of TIEs passes, flashing through the space beyond them.

Hera glances back to the younger girl, who gives her a small nod. And with that, she lifts the shuttle out of the bay, testing how quickly it can dart away from both the passing ties, and the looming Destroyer.

Thrawn just barely refrains from activating the alarm as he stumbles toward the wall, sagging against it for a moment while the shuttle hesitates. This would be very poor timing on his part, and that is not to be borne.

Once the shuttle is fully away, however, he gives it a count of thirty before he activates the alarm. Then, expression composed (if a little strained) he moves to find replacement comm gear and begin giving out instructions on how to entirely fail to capture Hera Syndulla. It will be an interesting challenge, and he finds himself wondering how much, exactly, Vader will understand.

Not that it matters. Not this time.