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When Thace had told the Paladins over the coms to leave him behind during the mission, he had known the risk—that he’d likely not be leaving the ship alive—and he had been sure that Kolivan would give the order to not rescue him. Thace wouldn’t fault him for that decision, even if it felt like a knife had been twisted into his gut at the thought… he could hear Ulaz’s heartbroken where’s Thace? in the back of his mind, picturing the way that Ulaz’s ears would pin back against the sides of his head as his eyes widened in horror at the realization that Thace hadn’t returned from the mission.
It had been a necessary sacrifice to draw attention away from the Paladins as they escaped.
When he had been thrown into a cell, he hadn’t been surprised that his captors resorted to torture to try and extract what information he held about either the Paladins or the Blade of Marmora. The former was a far more popular topic of discussion for his interrogators. Thace hadn’t given in, though. He had lost track of the quintants—had it been a week or a month?—but he hadn’t said a word, about the Paladins or the Blade of Marmora.
Instead, he sat in the back corner of his cell, leveling a downright murderous glare at the door, occasionally baring his teeth and hissing whenever the guards got too close. They seemed to be younger soldiers, new to one of the more important ships within the fleet and unused to dealing with ornery prisoners. Since they always backed away whenever he did hiss at them, Thace had already made a mental note to leave them alone if he managed to orchestrate an escape before he was handed over to the Empire. It was unlikely he’d get very far, given the state of his ankle. He was sure that he had quite the bounty on his head, and the commander of this ship had every intention of collecting it.
Today was no different. He stayed in the back of his cell, curled in on himself in the far corner, tracking the movement of the guards with his eyes. They were actually quite talkative today, though Thace hadn’t been bothering to listen to their conversation—most of it wasn’t useful to him, save for one tidbit about how they were nearing an Imperial outpost where he’d be transferred into the custody of a Druid. Thace hadn’t let his terror at the suggestion show, even though a shiver ran up his spine and he fought to keep his ears from pinning back against the sides of his head.
No, going back into the custody of the Druids would not be a pleasant experience for him. They hadn’t killed him last time, but he was sure they would this time.
A explosion came from a far off part of the ship—it was a muted sound, so far off that Thace couldn’t have been sure that he had heard it at all. His gaze lingered on the first guard, who had perked up at the sound, turning his head in the direction of the door to the cell block.
“What in the Void do you suppose that was?”
The second guard shrugged, seeming just as baffled as her companion.
Then, there was a second explosion—and then a third—they were slowly growing louder, as if whoever was causing them was moving towards the cell block. Thace’s ears actually did shift back this time, and he turned his gaze to the door of the cell block, watching it warily. His ears began twitching at the sound of bodies hitting the floor outside of the block, blasters being fired, and metal meeting metal as a fight ensued. The guards in the block with him exchanged a look, growing more and more antsy. He could only assume that they weren’t leaving the cell block to investigate because they had been assigned to watch him, and also protect him because of the bounty on his head.
The altercation abruptly stopped with a strangled grunt and the sound of someone being slammed hard into a wall. Then, there was silence. Thace’s ears perked up again as he sat up straighter, attempting to listen for what was going on outside of the block. It didn’t seem like whoever the intruder was had been apprehended—he couldn’t hear any guards’ voices. Then, the door slid open, almost in slow motion, and a masked figure stepped in through the door.
It took only a moment for Thace to recognize the glowing markings on the mask and the chest piece—then, the masked figure reached for the blade they carried in a sheath on their back. Thace recognized the design of the blade immediately.
Ulaz…
Thace’s eyes widened in surprise, though that wasn’t the only emotion he was feeling. While he highly doubted that anybody had authorized a rescue—and Ulaz had impulsively decided to act on his own—Thace felt a wave of relief at the sight of him. He had been sure he was going to die in Imperial custody, that he’d never see Ulaz again. But whether it was driven out of protectiveness or loyalty or something else entirely, Ulaz was here to rescue him.
The guards still stood in front of his cell, training their blasters on Ulaz.
“You—you don’t have the clearance to be in here—” one said, voice shaking as they seemed to realize that Ulaz had just dealt with all the guards in the hallway singlehandedly, and without the use of his weapon.
Ulaz didn’t say anything in response. His expression was impossible to read because his mask was in place, but he was likely unhappy. His shoulders were tenser than when Thace had last seen him, but he moved with a purpose, slowly approaching the guards as he reversed the grip on his blade. Had he not known that Ulaz was here to break him out, Thace could easily understand why it would be terrifying to be slowly approached by a masked intruder who had fought off some of the highest ranked soldiers on the ship.
One of the guards fired, and Ulaz dodged the attack without a problem, flipping through the air and then pushing off the nearby wall. He landed solidly on his feet, before going low and sweeping one of the guard’s legs out from underneath of them and nailing them upside the head with the grip of his blade. A blaster shot grazed his shoulder pad, and his head snapped in the direction of the other guard. A moment later, that guard was slammed against the far wall, knocked unconscious before he could fire another shot.
“Ulaz, what are you doing here?” Thace questioned as he pushed himself to his feet. The sudden movement caused his head to spin a little bit, but he shook it and righted himself.
Ulaz didn’t respond, turning his attention to decrypting the lock to Thace’s cell. His claws tapped against the screen as he worked.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” Thace said, ears pinning back. “What in the Void to you think you’re doing here? I highly doubt you have the Commander’s permission—”
Ulaz scoffed, and his mask dematerialized so that Thace could actually see his expression. He seemed rather proud of himself, ears held high and lips slightly turned upwards. “I’m here to get you out, of course,” he said. “No need to thank me.”
“Did you have to blow up half the ship?” Thace asked. “You could have done this during the night cycle—and then you wouldn’t have had to waste the explosives.”
“When I envisioning this moment, I had thought you’d be a little more appreciative…” Ulaz said, ears shifting back against the sides of his head as he pouted.
Thace sighed, though he looked less exasperated than he did before. “I do appreciate it,” he said as the cell door opened. He stepped out, wincing as he had to put too much weight on one of his ankles. However, Ulaz was at his side in a moment, putting one of Thace’s arms over his shoulder to help support him as they started making their way out into the hallway to leave. There were six or seven guards lying on the floor—all of them unconscious—and at the end of the hallway was a door that had been blown apart.
“Well,” Thace began, taking in the aftermath of Ulaz’s break-in as they moved past it about as fast as they were able with his sprained ankle. “I have a feeling your bounty is going to increase after this.”
“Maybe they’ll make my wanted poster look decent this time,” Ulaz suggested dryly.
Thace’s lips quirked upwards in amusement. “The last ones didn’t look that bad.”
“They got my facial markings wrong,” Ulaz said, ears drooping as his annoyed frown returned.
Thace laughed this time, trying to stifle it behind a fist. “Come on, then…” he managed to say. “We need to get off this ship before they realized who you came here to get.”