Chapter Text
Isabela woke up on her feet. Sort of. She was being dragged along, iron grips on both of her arms and her hands cuffed behind her back. She tried to regain her footing, only to lose it as she was dragged along.
She also couldn’t see. They’d put a hood over her head.
Still, she could tell she was being moved along outside. In the background, she could hear a ship taking off. The Sith base, then, she thought.
Fenris had the hard drive. Someone else could hack it. Dorian had the ship. Someone else could pilot.
Isabela listened to the sound of the ship rising in the air, and cursed herself.
They put her in a force cage: a miserable device too small and narrow to do anything but stand up in. The force fields around her burned to the touch, so if she dozed off and leaned in the wrong direction, she had a lovely little wake up.
She stood, and waited.
It wasn’t long until a helmeted officer came in to interrogate her.
“What were you doing infiltrating headquarters?” he asked.
Luckily, Isabela didn’t have anything worth hiding.
“Well, I was trying to get the access codes,” she said plainly. “I’m sick of being stuck on this miserable rock and I want off.”
“Who are you working for?”
“No one,” she said honestly.
He pulled a lever, and pain shot through her every nerve. She convulsed. Her vision turned white. Then, she came to.
“That,” the interrogator said. “Was one of the lower shock settings.”
Isabela didn’t have any comeback. “Lovely,” she managed.
“Now tell the truth. Who do you work for?”
And that was the thing. They wouldn’t believe the truth, because the truth was terribly disappointing to them. They wanted her to reveal she was somehow in league with the Republic, or the Jedi, and that she could blabber out plan after plan so they could capture Bitchula Khan, or whoever. Too bad for them they’d just caught a regular lone crook.
“No one,” she said.
And so it continued.
“Let’s try something else. Where are your conspirators?”
“Likely off the planet by now,” she said, truthfully.
That got her another heavy shock that rooted her to the ground for a minute. After that one, she swayed dizzily, almost hitting the force field.
And it continued.
“Are you in league with the Jedi Bastila Shan?”
“No.”
And again.
“We’ve heard reports,” the interrogator said, “Of Bastila being sighted running around with a Twi’lek.”
“Well, whaddya know,” Isabela said. “There’s a whole other Twi’lek on Taris.”
And again. It was getting hard to focus her vision. Not to mention hard to remain on her feet.
“Alright, I confess,” Isabela said. “I’ve been taking orders from Bisilia Shunt. In fact the other night I personally licked her--”
And again.
She switched tactics. She told them exactly what they wanted: made up a fake location where she had gone to get orders, a fake contact who was still on Taris. But by then, they didn’t know whether to believe her. Because she had already “lied” so many times after all.
“Give us the location of the Jedi.”
Isabela thought. She could tell them about Anders. Anders would likely be off the planet, anyway. They might not even bother to go after him, a small time runaway who had never even fought in the wars, far as she knew.
“Well, I hear…” she said, licking her lips. “I hear they have a base on Coruscant.”
And so it continued.
Isabela started to doze off when the interrogator left, only to be woken every few minutes when she collided with the force field. Which stung. A lot.
Eventually, she heard the door open and saw a pair of armored feet walk in. The interrogator, followed by another. Maybe it wasn’t the same interrogator, she thought. They all wore the same damn helmet, so it’s not as though she could tell them apart.
Isabela struggled to stand up straight and look him in the eye. How long had it been? Long enough that she could feel the sleep deprivation. She barely managed to keep her eyes open.
“More questions?” she slurred.
“Get rid of her.”
And then, another lever was pulled. This one didn’t bring electricity, though. Instead it brought a smell that crawled right into Isabela’s lungs and burned. She wheezed and coughed and things started to fade from her vision.
Distantly, she heard more footsteps, the sound of blaster fire, and distant cries.
A wookiee’s roar.
She fell forward. This time, though, she didn’t fall into the force field, but into someone’s arms. She gasped, the air returning slowly.
“Isabela.” It was Merrill. “Oh Isabela, say something!”
She felt a familiar warmth under her skin, and the pain went away. Still, she struggled to breathe.
“Give her mouth to mouth!”
Fenris. That was Fenris.
“That’s not how it works, you idiot!” Anders snapped back.
“She needs air!”
“Excuse me, are you the healer? Did you train for eight years? No? Then shut up and let me do my job!”
There were soft hands on her face. Isabela’s eyes opened, and she saw the widest green eyes looking down at her.
Isabela coughed, her throat still on fire. “Hey, kitten,” she managed.
“Isabela!” Merrill cried. “Oh, she’s awake!”
Isabela lolled her head up. It seemed she was resting in Ander’s arms as he healed her while Merrill was kneeling close. Then, in an instant, she saw everyone’s faces crowding around her, every single one of them looking worried sick.
Well, except Dorian that is. He still had his helmet on.
She felt her throat and lungs sting for another moment, and then the pain melted away.
“What’re all you idiots doing here?” she croaked.
“Saving your life,” Fenris said.
“Damn foolish.” Isabela struggled to get up, leaning on Anders as she did so. “You’re all terrible pirates, you know that? Y’re all in the wrong business. Pirates n’ smugglers don’t go around saving lives.”
Fenris’s lips quirked a bit.
“I mean,” she wheezed. “Sith bases don’t even have any good loot! All they got is--”
Before she could finish, she was silenced by too many hugs.
Isabela was still sleep deprived, and wanted to simply drift away into oblivion. But there was a base to escape, so instead the group stuck a stimulant into her thigh. Aveline propped her up. Aveline, who had a grip like death.
“What are you even doing, charging into a base after me,” Isabela grumbled. “Stubborn bitch.”
In response, Aveline showed her that wookiees could give the middle finger.
“Okay,” Isabela said, still hoarse. “How many people did you kill on the way in?”
“A lot,” Fenris said.
“So the other guards are alerted, then.”
“Well, no. We uh….”
“There isn’t really anyone left to call for help in the places we came through,” Anders said. “And we killed the guys watching the security feed first.”
“Apparently the base was broken into right before you got taken there,” Merrill said. “They were still restaffing and rebuilding all the security systems.”
“Well, damn,” Isabela said. “So there’s a chance we can just walk back out?”
They walked back over a lot of corpses. It was eerily quiet, yes. But luckily devoid of blasters pointed their direction. There were also a number of computer terminals that were smashed up.
“Geez guys,” Isabela said. “Overkill much?”
“It was already like that when we got here, actually,” Fenris said.
“Previous break in. Right.”
Before they could simply walk out the front door, they heard armored footsteps. Isabela looked around the corner to the hallway, and saw more Sith troopers, looking down and inspecting all the bodies and damage. She turned back.
“Shit,” she whispered. “Back up has already been called. Okay, new plan--”
Before she could say anything, Dorian ran past her and threw a grenade into the hall, which promptly exploded.
“What the fuck, Dorian?” Isabela shouted.
But it was too late. The troopers in the hall had been taken out, but their position had been discovered. Isabela drew her blaster, Fenris and Aveline charged out. They fought, ran into the front room--
--and promptly ran back out when they saw twenty men there.
“This way!” Isabela thought fast.
She had been hooded when they had taken her through the hangar. But she knew it was there. Anders threw up a barrier, deflecting dozens of blaster bolts aimed at them as they ran. Isabela closed her eyes and tried to remember.
Miraculously, she found it. And there was one ship docked currently, with a Sith pilot walking up the ramp.
“Into the ship!” she cried.
They charged in. There was a crew of three getting ready for takeoff, all unarmed, all easily shot down. Isabela kept the captain alive, and held a gun to his head.
“Get rid of the bodies!” she barked, keeping the gun to the man’s head. “What kind of ship is this?”
“Uh-ah-um--a bomber!” the man said quickly.
“Hyperdrive?”
“Uh-uh-yes? Yes there is a hyperdrive.”
“Access codes?” Isabela asked.
“Already plugged into the mainframe,” he stammered. “Please don’t kill me.”
She threw him out of the ship, unharmed, along with the bodies. Outside, the Sith troopers were bursting out of the building and surrounding them. Isabela shut the hatch, and made for the captain’s seat. She flipped the lever to start up the ship.
“It’s going to take a minute to get off the ground!” Isabela shouted. “I need a co-pilot. Someone--Fenris, come here.”
Before Fenris could move, however, Aveline rushed forward and took the co-pilot’s seat, and started to gingerly press all the right buttons to put in coordinates.
“Oh!” Isabela said. “Oh, that’s how it’s going to be. Alright then.”
Outside, she saw more troopers arrive with heavier artillery.
“They’re going to manage to keep us grounded if we don’t get them now!” she said. “Someone, get in the turret!”
Dorian, Merrill, Anders, and Fenris all looked at each other.
“Figure it out between you!” Isabela said, struggling to give orders as she focused on getting the ship going.
“Rock paper scissors!” Anders said. “Except no one explain the rules to Dorian, so he has to do it.”
Fenris opened his mouth as though to object, before he turned a squint to Dorian for a second. Then, quietly, he looked back to Anders and nodded.
In about thirty seconds the other three had shoved Dorian into the turret.
“Okay okay okay,” Isabela mumbled. “Thirty more seconds. Dammit, we need to fire that turret!”
The ship rumbled as a turret finally fired at their foes. Isabela sighed.
“We have the access codes,” Fenris pointed out. “But if any of those men down there call the commander and inform them of a stolen ship, it won’t matter. They’ll have their armada shoot us down regardless.”
“Well,” Isabela said, and then turned back and pulled a lever. “If we move fast enough--”
“Bomb them.”
Merrill and Fenris both turned to look at Anders.
“They can’t call base if they’re all dead,” Anders pointed out. “And they are vile members of a violent invading force. They deserve no mercy.”
Isabela had to stop at that, and look at Anders for a minute. Not in judgment so much as shock. He said it placidly, his voice leveling into a level monotone, to opposite of the vocal pattern Isabela was used to hearing from him. Anders, who had dug in his heels about fighting in any wars himself and who hated to use his lightsaber for anything more than parlour tricks.
“...Does this vessel have any bombs?” Fenris asked cautiously.
“What if we miss and hit a civilian building, though?” Merrill asked.
“The turret might have to be enough,” Isabela said.
Aveline turned to Anders, calling something out to him.
“She says that this model should be outfitted with some bombs,” Anders said. “She knows how to fire them. Or, I think she said she knows how to fire them. But there are definitely bombs.”
Isabela turned to Aveline. She was definitely going to have to ply the wookiee with the strongest vodka in the galaxy and get her to explain how on earth she knew the vessel so well. But that would be for later.
“Alright, big girl,” Isabela said. “I’ll get into position. You deploy them when they’re ready. Now hang on, everyone.
Isabela lifted off, and sure enough, the three standing behind them fell to the ground. She had no mind to pay them, though. She flew high, and looped right over to hover over the base. She held her breath, and felt her heart hammer in her chest. Next to her, Aveline pulled a lever.
Isabela heard the blast first. Then, as she turned to fly away, she got to see the building go up in smoke.
In a few minutes they were at the blockade. Isabela fumbled for the radio, only for an automated voice to come over it.
Access code accepted.
They soared into the stars.
Isabela leaned back in her seat, and allowed herself a breath. Then, without wasting another moment, she started charging the hyperdrive.
“Punch in the coordinates for the nearest system, Aveline,” Isabela said. “Let’s not stick around for them to figure out we’re fakes. Or that we blew up their base.”
Aveline started to push the buttons. Two minutes to charge the hyperdrive. Isabela took another breath. Her heart was still pounding. In the corner of her eye, she saw Dorian climb out of the turret, and promptly shout something at Fenris.
She turned back around, and closed her eyes.
A shrill scream made her eyes flash open. She turned to see Merrill crumpling to the floor.
“What is it?” Isabela asked.
Merril reached out to one of the back windows. Dorian threw up his arms in a gesture of disbelief, before his hands went to his head. Anders covered his mouth like he was about to vomit, and supported himself against the wall. Only Fenris stood straight, mouth falling open.
She heard an explosion. And then another. And another after that, followed by the sound of blasters.
“They’re--they’re attacking?” Merrill said. “I don’t understand!”
“They can’t--” Anders swallowed. “The whole planet? They can’t!”
Isabela turned the ship around, just for a moment. The entire Sith armada had turned on Taris, and began to raze its surface with every weapon they had.
“But it’s their planet now!” Merrill said. “It’s under their control! Why…?”
“Maybe because… they found one of their bases destroyed?” Fenris asked. “To punish perceived rebellion.”
“But their own men!” Anders said. “They have their own soldiers stationed there!”
Dorian rasped out something. Fenris shook his head, and said nothing else.
Isabela watched. Buildings went up in walls of fire, turning everything to dust. Others crumbled from the force of the blasts. Fighters flew over and shot down anything left standing.
Isabela grit her teeth, and turned the ship away.
“Hyperdrive’s charged,” she said. “Everyone get ready.”
The stars turned into streams of light. In seconds, Taris and whole Sith fleet were behind them. Nothing but a tiny spec in the mass of space.
They had survived, Isabela thought. That was all that mattered.