Anya slipped quietly down the dark hallway. She felt vindicated in her actions, knowing that if she just held strong to her beliefs that the Force would take care of her. Had she not fought the Jedi at every turn, she never would have come into contact with that little T1 astromech. From there it had been a simple matter to trick the little droid into getting close enough to short it out, then reprogram it.
As she came to the door at the end, she flattened herself against the wall and the little black and white droid wheeled to a stop behind her. She leaned out just far enough to see through the window in the door. The corridor beyond seemed deserted. Not strange since she wasn't at the main entrance to the detention level yet. She looked around and spotted a data port just below the door controls. "Tee One, plug in and see if you can shut down the alarm systems and unlock all doors. Also check the security cams and see where the guards are posted," she instructed the little droid.
The droid rolled forward and it's data arm extended out from a compartment on the front of it's round, can-shaped body and inserted it into the computer port. It whirred as it spun for a few moments, then suddenly began chirping and beeping.
Anya frantically gestured for the droid to be quiet. "Shhh, TeeOne, not so loud or you'll get us caught before we ever have a chance!"
The droid chirped and beeped again, but this time at a lower volume.
"Good work," the blonde woman replied. "Now here's what you're going to do when we get to the guard station." Anya laid out her plan for the astromech.
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Rik was sitting at the terminal of the guard station, just surfing the holonet looking for anything interesting when the battered old astromech came wheeling through the door. He glanced at the chrono. The dang thing had been in there for quite some time, but that was becoming more and more the norm. The Sith girl had taken to droning on and on to the little droid about how misunderstood and mistreated she was, playing the victim card to the only thing that would listen to her. Rik thought it was amusing. Her, a victim, and not the many innocent people she had hurt and killed.
"She still babbling away to you?" he asked the droid.
The flat-topped dome swiveled his direction so it's visual sensor could view him. It started to beep, but then made a strange groaning noise and slumped forward slightly and it's lights began blinking.
"Hey, you okay?" the Jedi asked. When it didn't reply, he got up and walked around the terminal. He stood looking at the droid, then banged a couple of times on it's dome with his fist. "Piece of junk anyway." Rik squatted down in front of the robot. He didn't know the first thing about droids, but he looked at it's knobs and buttons anyway in case something obvious stood out.
He was about give up when it suddenly sprang to life. Relieved he wasn't going to have to do the security checks in person, he began to stand up. "You gave me a little scare..." he began, then looked back down as a forked appendage extended from the droid's body and touched his leg. "What the?"
Rik crumpled into a heap as the forks crackled to life, jolting him with a heavy dose of electricity.
The smell of ionization and burned flesh hung in the air as Anya walked through the doors and picked up the Jedi's lightsaber. She snapped it on and the yellow blade hummed to life. She looked at it for a moment in disgust. Of course it had to be yellow, she hated yellow. Things could be worse, she decided. It could have been green. How she detested those colors. Nevertheless, it would have to do until she could get a red synth-crystal or maybe build herself a new weapon.
She plunged the blade into the heart of the unconsious Jedi. His body twitched for the briefest moment, then held still. Anya sneered slightly as she let blade sizzle for a moment before flicking the switch off, and breathing in the stench as if it were a delightful aroma. "I love the smell of burnt Jedi in the morning," she said to no one in particular.
She clipped the weapon to her belt as she stepped around to the terminal and, with a few quick finger taps on the keyboard, found a map of the facility and the quickest way to the landing area. Hopefully she could steal a ship here. If not, things might get a bit hairy as she'd have to hoof it to the nearest town... Khoonda, according to the computer. She'd have to move fast. It wouldn't take long for them to discover the dead Jedi. She glanced at the chrono. Most likely she had two hours before the day shift guard came on duty. She only hoped no one checked on him before that.
Quickly she slipped through the rest of the Jedi base. Thankfully, everyone was asleep. She paused at the door to the landing pad and had TeeOne check the security cams once again. Still no guards. The Jedi clearly trusted the security systems to alert them to any danger from outside.
The Sith opened the door and stared in disbelief. In addition to a shuttle and a couple star-fighters she recognized as belonging to those damn Nautolan and Chiss freaks, there sat the Wasted Rancor and the Nefarion Wraith. She couldn't believe her luck.
For a moment, seeing Tyr's ship made her think of her former lover, and for the briefest of moments she considered going back to rescue him, but it occurred to her that not only would that increase the likelihood of her getting caught, but that if he were strong enough, he could rescue himself.
She felt smug. She was finally proving that she was the the stronger of the two Sith. Besides, if Trychon and Raezyr cared, they could come rescue him themselves. First, though, she'd have to think of some story to tell those two, but that shouldn't be hard. They were easy enough to control.
She quickly boarded the Wasted Rancor, as it was the one she was a bit more comfortable with and she would have access to what she understood of Trychon's programs. Behind her, she could hear the little droid obediently rolling up the ramp behind her, not beeping to question her at all.
She sprinted to the cockpit and pulled up Trychon's security protocols. A quick diagnostic showed that there was no tracking devices added to the outer hull or anywhere detectable inside the ship. No programs had been run other than standard data dumps and checks that the computer was protected against. No malicious programs added.
Excellent. They're as foolish as they are arrogant. She thought to herself, not wanting to admit that she had been worried that the ease of her escape was due to some trap. She started the engine warmup and grinned, feeling the best she had in months. She'd personally bested an entire Jedi enclave, and she couldn't wait to boast to the others. They'd have to respect her now.
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Val sat with his legs crossed in front of the crackle of the fire and took in its heat as he meditated on his brief mission with Nal. He was a simple Jedi Knight himself, just as she was... but he did feel like a bit of a mentor to the younger Jedi. She had handled herself better than even he had hoped for, and now she was rewarding herself with well deserved rest.
He wasn't sure he'd ever accept a Master rank from the council, as happy as he was with his assignment of teaching combat at the temple. It'd been hinted at him before that he could make the transition to Master soon, and at a rather young age considering when he'd joined... if only he was a bit more ambitious. He found that a bit ironic, given that ambition was frowned upon by their very tenets.
Still, he felt that his place was best served teaching the younglings to protect the galaxy. He'd have a much greater impact in that role than he ever could on front lines with a padawan. He may never have a padawan, given his choices. Yet here he was, away from the temple and teaching a youth of sorts in a one on one basis as he had been for months now.
He was very proud of her, and even in his meditative state the irony of his position now mixed with the pride caused him to smile.
His introspection was cut short as it often was, when a small freighter flew overhead in a vector that indicated it had come from the base. He'd been expecting that this might happen.
He stood and brushed himself off, following with his eyes the trajectory of the ship. He stared into the fire for just a moment, as though it maybe held answers to their future, but it never did. He turned to wake Nal from her slumber, to find her already sitting up.
She rubbed her eyes. "Time to go?"
"Yes." Val nodded as he began gathering his own things and stuffing them into his pack. "I believe that Anya has just escaped. We need to report back to the temple."
"You don't seem surprised at all." She watched his body language carefully as she followed his lead and began packing. He was hard to read nearly all the time, but she was sure she was getting better at it. "You knew she'd escape?"
"I do not pretend to know the future, Nal."
"You knew."
"A wise Jedi prepares for all possibilities."
"You knew." She said, finally looking away to pick up everything she'd packed.
Val began the march back to the Temple, and smiled.
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