Private I Need a Hero (Complete)

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

Deep within the maze-like structure, the walls covered by crates stacked high each overflowing with trinkets, paraphernalia, and all manner of valuables, a single wall-mounted statue stood in cold silence. The paths through the lower sections were practically clogged with the boxes and containers, a hazard to traverse. Some of the contents had been carelessly stuffed into these crates, while others were protected and padded as if they were of more value than anything else. Yet all had been untouched for what might easily have been years.

Although guards had been hired, and security systems installed, the primary measure for protection had been its remoteness. Those few who wandered the upper hallways were little more than mercenaries, likely bored out of their minds, paid handsomely for their presence. Protectors of treasures they had never seen or heard of, the individuals might be spoiling for a fight, or readily accepting of overtures to peace. Those security measures that existed may have been in various states of functionality, indeed it had probably been quite some time since they had last been serviced by a trained engineer.

Nonetheless, the arriving group may have heard the alarm echoing through the relatively empty upper halls, the sounds carrying through open front doors. Some guards scrambled to respond to the unexpected, and suspicious arrival, while others remained as they were. The entrance to the facility stood ajar, some mechanism no doubt damaged.

The statue, not the most valuable object within the collection, was perhaps the most esoteric. Some manifest, if one existed, may have contained only a minor note on the subject. A mere statement of price, suspected value, and some descriptor that might not have fit the truth. The being trapped within, frozen under a layer of carbonite, felt nothing. Unaware of the surrounding, Onith was bound in the last memories of battle, of defending the ship before being trapped by pirates. A flash of pain repeating as the mind recalled that momentary agony of freezing. Beside the figure, draped carefully over a mannequin, the prisoner's armor has been carefully draped, protected behind a transparisteel pane.

Katarine Ryiah Maestus Pyrrah Tae

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

Like a great beast awakening from a deep slumber, so was the security of the base similarly lethargic in its reaction, yet inexorable in its steady realization. Coordination developed as those few guards in the security centres distributed order and intel to the various individual guards and systems. Unaware of the nature of the invaders, but all too aware of the severity of the incursion. Even as the alarms turned off, and havoc fell upon the digital systems, those few sentinels closest to the hallway Katarine and her team had sealed themselves in began to converge.

"Do you think they're commandos or something?"

"Clearly they know what they want, this must be a professional hit. I heard the big guy was mixed up in a lot of shady business, maybe this is payback."

"What do you think they're looking for?"

"How should I know, clearly they really want it."

"Did they get anybody? Tilihan was supposed to be on this section today."

"Only droids. Guess Til was on break or something..."

"Hope so, still owes me a drink."

Banging on the door one guard yelled for the occupants to surrender. But no response evidenced itself and so the slowly growing group steeled themselves for a confrontation.

Katarine Ryiah Maestus

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

It took a moment, but the combination and settings finally reached the deactivation point. In a collection of small flashes, the Onith was methodically defrosted and, as expected, fell forwards into the waiting arms. The scarlet skinned woman tried to look around but found her eyes unseeing. As she tried to orient herself, the thawing still affecting her brain, a fragment of a memory returned to her.

-----
She stepped from the meditation chamber, her attempts to contact Xre-Kroth frustrated and sensing that the ship had been boarded. "More rebels... Good, perhaps they will know what has happened to our master and will answer for their crimes." Nonetheless, she berated herself, "I should have seen it before. I shall avenge the fallen. Until then, you remain here." Onith's Force saber lifted from her belt and floated back to a small latched contained that sealed as the lightsaber gently locked into place within.

Outside of the room stood the bridge, a ostentatious affair with aurodium and all manner of valuable materials used to ornament every conceivable surface. The pilot crew was no different, a handful of the finest slave races captained by the only person Onith had come to rely upon among the slaves she had overseen for the years of construction. They wore fine raiment, glittering as gems and fine metal reflected the artificial lights. Yet not was all as it should be, the walls had seemed less grand, the uniforms more threadbare. Though this seemed strange, the Force Hound did not allow herself to be distracted as of yet, such questions could be asked later. For now, she addressed the captain, a warm spirited fellow with a respectful attitude towards the Builders. "Captain, the ship has been boarded. The rebels must have called for reinforcements, this revolution must have more resources than my initial assessment. Order what remains of Aurek Group, I will lead them in repulsing these invaders and then I shall carve a path to the rear command deck. It's time to find the Predor."

The captain's smile, ever present, became somewhat strained as he glanced to the rest of the crew present. Signalling for them to return to their work, he quickly began, following Onith as she strode swiftly towards the lift, "Commander, may I be the first in welcoming you back, we were uncertain how much longer we might be able to maintain the ship without you. There has been something of a development since you were in your chambers. It has been quite some time. I am afraid there is a lot to fill you in on."

Onith replied with a clipped tone, "Then it shall have to wait. I have already allowed one rebellion to start aboard this ship, I will not allow it to continue with renewed forces. Once we have finished this definitively, I will return and we will discuss these 'developments' as you put it."

The man bowed as he submitted, "Of course Commander. I will order Aurek group to meet you by the Marke- I mean Living Section Five. We have had to supplement it with some of the other races, only a few of the Raiders have survived."

"Very well, Captain. I shall see you shortly." The life closed with a resounding thud.

-----
Her mind returned to the moment and Onith founder herself still blind. She spoke slowly, uncertainly, her voice speaking in an ancient tongue, that of the Builders, all she had ever known. "Captain, what happened? Why... why can I not see? Where am I?" The words, though perhaps unintelligible to her rescuers, were supported with some of her movements, at least giving a suggestion as the gibberish's meaning. She seemed incapable at this point of effecting any coordination, but her hands reached out inquisitively, trying to develop some idea of her surroundings.

She heard a voice, it was not the captain's and it spoke in a strange tongue. "Who are you? Are you an enemy of the Builders?" Her voice seemed somewhat more strained.

-----
Outside the guards were becoming agitated. A few had heard the threat and soon a divide within the group grew.

"Look, we didn't know there was somebody trapped in there. How could we? This bloody place is a maze, I don't even remember going down this hallway before! They can't arrest us for this can they?"

A more controlled voice responded gruffly, in a failed attempt at reassurment, "No, they can't. If we deal with them here and now, we won't have to worry about lawyers, lawsuits, and all that. The Concord surely doesn't know we are here, they would have-"

"They would have sent a strike team in to see the degree of threat our little bunker poses! A strike team like the one currently on the other side of these doors. They know, I bet they've already sent a message out and now its just a matter of time before help arrived for them. Then we're toast... Unless. Are there any ships left in the private hangar?"

"Firstly, even if there were, they probably wouldn't work. That whole place is full of antiques and models. I bet the only one that might work is the rust bucket in the corner leaking cooling fluid. Secondly, pull yourself together. They couldn't have gotten a message out, the walls are too thick for transmissions. Now focus up. Once we open these doors, we deal with the people inside and dump the bodies."

"What add murder to the list of crimes?! No thanks, I'm out of here. The pay is good, but I am not going to jail for some rich snob who can't even be bothered to check on his own stuff once in a while." A few followed this one's lead as he walked away, quickly running for what exits existed.

"Bah, who needs a bunch of cowards like them?" About half a dozen guards remained, the hardened ones who had probably already experienced time in prison before. "Now, how are you doing on that door?"

"I think someone on the inside is messing with me, I almost open it and it relocks itself. They probably have a droid or something working it over. Tell security-"

"No can do, channel is full of chatter, seems everyone thinks it's a false alarm," a third voice chimed in.

"Blast it all. Literally. Bring me one of those charges. If they won't come out, we'll blow our way in."

"But what about the goods?"

"Eh, he would prefer damaged goods to losing everything I'd wager. We can always say it was a botched thievery anyways."

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

Still blind, Onith grew suspicious as the voice from before asked some question. Perhaps this was a trap of sorts aimed at eliciting information out of her. But what would the rebels need from her that they could not already have known? Predor Xre-Kroth was beyond her reckoning, in fact, the rebels likely knew where he was better than she did; the layout of the ship was no secret, any of the rebels on the vessel could direct their attacks to vital areas. What was their plan?

As the voice finished, there was a dull sensation in the back of her mind, followed by an explosion and the sounds of blaster fire. Disoriented, Onith was certain this was a rescue attempt, yet she could not tell where they were coming from. To further add confusion, the sound of not a few sabers igniting threw into doubt her assertions. Other Force Hounds? Why would they be here? Had Xre-Kroth called for reinforcements? Did he not trust her abilities to handle these rebels... Although, that seemed to be necessary given her current situation. But who might have responded to such a call so quickly? Perhaps Predor Kran'thes sent his Hound, the two Predors had been on amicable terms last she recalled. Testing, she called out, "Usk! I'm here. Watch yourself!" Which other Force Hound may have been called, Onith knew not. There were not that many friends

Onith closed her unseeing eyes, and funnelled her anger and frustration to the Force. Yet even as she prepared to lash out, to sense her comrade, and clear her body of whatever poison she had been subjected to, the Sith discovered the Force did not respond. Indeed, it felt strange, alien. Perhaps this contributed to her ongoing disorientation, what had they managed to accomplish? How could they have separated her from the Builder's gift? However, Onith was not one to simply allow a singular complication to stop her goals. With what little coordination she could muster, the Hound struggled. Flailing arms and legs, attempting to hook or otherwise latch onto whatever might be in the environment. Though likely ineffectual, it was exhausting for her and though initially, she was able to effect a great deal of movement, it soon petered out to a few repeated actions.

------

The guards had been reinforced, the arrival of the necessary demolitions coincided with several more hardened individuals. The door blew open and the first group surged forward, blasters blazing and fierce determination in their eyes. Yet as the invaders began stiff resistance, the next round was less certain of their assault. Yet, even as some began to retreat or surrender, the ones behind were quick to incapacitate them. Though they outnumbered the 'thieves,' these defenders were not well trained. They fought with ferocity, but not efficiency as they endeavoured to clear out the attackers.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

Strapped to a chair, how humiliating. The woman certainly felt indignant when her senses returned enough to realize she was held captive by the restraints of some evidently outdated seat. Despite its apparent antiquity, the safety webbing held against her feeble attempts to tear or otherwise break their hold on Onith. Her eyesight was beginning to return, blobs where people were stood out and the changes in light and darkness became evident. Believing this was a sign her strength was returning, the scarlet-skinned being attempted once more to call upon the Builders' Gift, the Force. She could break the restraints with more power, but as before her calls for that power remained unanswered. Eventually, she realized there was no escape from this, not yet and settled herself in right as a most amusing sight came to her. A droid, but not one of the Builders' no, this was a robot designed in the likeliness of sentients, with a bipedal construction and the general arrangement of limbs that conformed to a generic slave race.

Although it may have seemed akin to one of the slaves in its overall appearance, that is where the similarities faltered. Its skin was shiny, clearly metallic, and the stiff mechanical movements, so obvious even in her bleary sight, might have been found in only a scant few natural species. As if to further add to the rescued person's insult, it began to spout nonsense and noise to her. Is this some new form of torture? To they think to drive me insane with this peculiar treatment. There seemed little else to do, so she sat and waited as the droid cycled through various languages. She was beginning to wonder how long it could keep it up, how many languages it might be able to throw at her, before it became comprehensible. It was an uncouth dialect of some slave race she had once overseen. Which it was, or what world it might have been on, was something Onith neither remembered or cared to recall. Nonetheless, this was progress. The droid introduced itself and explained her situation.

After it had concluded, Onith decided it was time for her to ask questions calling upon the language the droid had used she began, "What is this Galactic Alliance, have the slaves finally formed their own union? Carbon-freezing, what is that? What sort of medical attention do you hope to give me? Poisons to loosen my lips? Usk is here no doubt, it would do well for you to be on the Builders' side when he arrives."

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

The droid conveyed the information well, though Onith seemed perturbed by the knowledge. Suspended animation for hundreds of years, it sounded preposterous. Yet, the voice of the one speaking to the droid seemed serious enough. Did those pirates really take her prisoner for so long? Why didn't the Captain or one of the Predors attempt to at least reacquire her body? The Infinite Empire fell? Is that even possible? And this Galactic Alliance, if it was not of the Builders then it most certainly was of the slave races. But if the Empire had collapsed, were they slaves anymore? Likely not.

She did not feel in any position to resist these captors, yet they did not take advantage of their position. Then again, the Hound imagined that they could be helping her as a way of obtaining another loyal subject for their Alliance. It was a reasonable course of action, certainly, it was not the way the Infinite Empire would have handled such a situation, but it was cunning and quite effective. But she saw through the imaginary scheme. Her emotions ranged from that of anger and rage at her predicament, to uncertainty and even sadness at the loss of those she once knew. Though many of her associates had been merely situational allies, they were the extent of what she had known and there was a distinct loss in their absence. Retaining these emotions, she focused on the present. Grief could come later, if ever.

As it was though, her mind was addled and sight still returning. She felt exhausted just raising her neck to look at the droid, forcing what strength she had to put on a stern demeanour. "I shall take up your offer for now. But, I have questions and I would have answers. First though, who attacked you and how do you intend to escape? Has technology regressed so far that this vessel, so decrepit, is our means of exfiltration?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

At first Onith remained sitting, uncertain if she wanted to trust her legs to hold and not wanting to lose any more face before these strangers. Nonetheless, it seemed her sight was returning, at least now she could observe the difference between the prisoners being brought back and her rescuers. Seeing the enemy captured reminded her and she turned to Katarine, glancing to the droid in the hopes it would continue its translating efforts, "These are the people who held me captive, yes?" She long enough for the answer before continuing after the indicated person.

It appeared even as a recently released prisoner, Onith was given the company of a captain. When she looked in the captain's face, the woman almost imagined her own captain instead. As she followed the soldier, the once Force Hound began to wonder what the galaxy was like. So much must have changed in those centuries, if indeed it had been centuries. There was also a growing concern, though she attempted again and again, Onith found herself somehow distanced from the Force. Though she focused as best she could, still recovering as it was, Onith seemed incapable of tapping into the Force in even a most rudimentary format. At length, she decided to distract herself for a moment, speaking to her guide, "Captain... Dregs. Why are you here? How did you know I was here?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

The red-skinned female remained silent after the droid relayed the information, internalizing this little revelation. Her discovery had been a fluke? Had she truly been lost to the ravages of time, such that her existence had been unrecalled and even unknown for several centuries at least? What had happened? Onith had never expected her name to be remembered, she had been merely a tool in the Predor's collection. Nonetheless, it still stung somewhat to learn that her works and accomplishments were so utterly forgotten.

The trip may have been short, though it felt like an eternity as Onith forced her legs to trudge onwards despite the growing pain and complaining nerves. When at last she reached the chair, she fell back with a deep sigh and did not resist Dregs went on to properly apply the restraints. The medic arrived and began speaking to her. The still recovering woman grew yet more uncertain, bacta was not something she knew of, but assumed it was effective based on the way Tril spoke, or more correctly the way the droid translated what she spoke.

In response to the query by the droid, she spoke carefully, as if she might upset some master or person of power by sharing, "I am Onith, like the letter on me," she proceeded to point to a couple of the cases of the onith aurebesh symbol branded on her head and arms. Continuing she switched to her 'native' tongue, the Rakatan base language of the Infinite Empire and asked, "Do you speak this? It is more appropriate where I am from."

Some foreign thought prodded her mind and the rescued individual spoke slowly, thoughtfully to Dregs, "I owe your master my gratitude and you my thanks for saving me.... Is there any method by which I may return the favour?"

Pushing further, Onith queried, "If none of the people I once knew yet live, then I assume there were no other individuals found in that place like me? And are you Force Hounds within your civilization?" She pointed to the lightsabers they carried.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

As the medic proceeded to administer the bacta, Onith remained still, as if the shot had never happened. She gave a thin smile and commented, "My appreciation. Do you know how long before I am fully improved?"

The recovering person took a moment to consider what had been explained. Onith found it difficult to comprehend that her friends and allies had fallen centuries ago. She had been somewhat prepared for Xre'Kroth's death, it was a saddening but anticipated blow. The death of everyone else, however. That struck deeper. The Captain, Turmeant, Usk, Leth, Sli-Nath, the names of those she had known continued. The patient nodded silently in thanks, her gaze stony as she wrestled with those emotions. Usually, the hunter would funnel the emotions and feelings into the Builder's Gift, drawing upon the reserves of the Force she might call into action in times of need. Yet the Force continued to shun her, so it seemed. Rather than the vibrant and roiling waves of a dishevelled ocean, the waters remained still, dead, and it seemed to her like the world around her had nothing of the Force.

In a moment of uncertainty, she reached out with a hand and tentatively touched the interior hull of the ship. It thrummed in time with the engine, ungiving and cold. It was real. Looking at the hand and the metal, she finally allowed herself to speak, her voice betraying only the slightest indication of her internal turmoil, "I would most appreciate that, I must know what happened." As if dwelling on the past reminded her she continued, "However, I must repay in like kind. If not today, then in the future..." A voice in her mind asked if she intended to offer an Oath, and Onith cautiously agreed, though that depended on what these people were like. "I take it then, that this is an uncommon event. Yet you seem well prepared for it. Happenstance?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[KRR]

N/A

 

[Onith]

Accepting the ration Onith gave it a rather long an odd look before the medic explained further. She took a short whiff, but found no aroma. With a single bite she began to chew on the hard substance. With no small amount of surprise she practically spat the pieces out, coughing as her dried throat tried to swallow some particles that had managed through luck to reach the back of her mouth. It took a moment before the spasms ceased and she was able to indignantly cry, "This is food? The food we gave to the slaves Resh'van was a feast in comparison!"

Then as if remembering some modicum of decorum she hastily spoke to the droid, "Don't translate that." Better prepared for the flavor, Onith cracked another bite of the bar and began to quickly munch on it, barely allowing herself time before she swallowed. The medic's assessment of the flavour was most certainly apt.

----

Leaning as little as she could upon the medic assistant, Onith hobbled off of the vessel as the Jedi arrived. His introduction was certainly polite, fitting of the status she had... Once had, she reminded herself. An attendant? A luxury usually held only for the Builder's themselves. This would prove to be an interesting period for her, the woman was sure of that. Adjusting to a new life. "Thank you Dravia. I shall take this bacta tank you offer. If it can help me to regather my strength, I shall have it. I look forward to asking many questions and gaining an equal number of answers. Lead the way."

For a moment she forced herself to stand to her full height as she spoke, trying to remember what it had been like to stand in the colosseums of old, in places of honour. A new age, a new people, but she was not changed yet. Onith promised herself not to surrender her roots, not yet. There was a long road ahead, one of recovery, discovery, and perhaps comprehension.