Broken Codes

A Wrong Turn

Stygeon Prime: 18 BBY
The Spire
Lesia Mirri

Les crept through the hallways, her senses spread around her. She could hear stormtroopers in the levels above and below her, but there were none close by. Les turned down another hall, sensing a powerful presence.

Near the end of the hallway, three stormtroopers guarded a lone cell. Les knit her brows, watching them. Why are there so few guards? I don't like this. Something felt off and it had since she'd arrived. Then again, her own mind had been jumbling her perception of things.

Les raised her hands and called on the Force. With a single thought, all three stormtroopers began to gasp for air. She clenched her fist and came into the open. The stormtroopers were floating a few inches above the ground. Les blinked, shaking her head. Instantly, she released the troopers. They panted for breath as she grabbed her blaster and stunned them.

That was too close. I can't believe I almost did that. Master Unduli, I hope you can help me. Les waved a hand across the cell's locking mechanism. It opened with a hiss. A familiar Mirialan woman looked up.

"Master Luminara!" Les exclaimed. Master Unduli rose from her seat and gave Les a small smile. Les took a hesitant step back. "Master?" Master Unduli walked across the cell towards a strange box. Les gasped as she disappeared from view.

Within the box, sat the partially decomposed remains of Luminara Unduli. Les stumbled backwards, shaking her head. "No, how can this..." she sprinted out of the cell and took off running. Thinking quickly, Les scrambled her comm signal and hoped the prison's command center wouldn't pick it up. "Manon! Manon come in!"

"I read you."

"Luminara is here, but she's dead. We have to get out of here."

"I'll meet you...the landing...we'll...Les can you..."

The comm went silent. "Kriff, they're jamming the transmission," Les spat. That meant she had very little time to lose. She rounded a corner and headed to the ledge she'd entered from.

Already, she could hear the footsteps of stormtroopers closing in on her. Les skidded to a halt as several of them appeared at the end of the corridor. She raised her blaster and shot the nearest door control panel. The blast doors began to close and she whirled back the way she'd come. Alarms blared throughout the prison.

Les glanced around, fear threatening to cloud her mind. Her gaze landed on a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. She holstered her blaster and yanked it open, then crawled into the shaft. Les secured the hatch behind her and started crawling.

She slunk around a corner and fell still again, hearing voices beneath her. "A few of our guards reported seeing a white female Twi'lek, Sir."

"Very good. It seems the late Master Unduli has continued to serve her purpose. Find the Twi'lek and bring her to me. Lord Vader will want to speak with her."

"Yes, Sir."

Les waited until she could no longer hear their voices, before continuing on. Lord Vader? She thought with a tremble of fear. She'd heard the stories about the Emperor's hand. Les had never seen him before and she didn't want that to change. She crawled faster.

She pulled her comm out and switched it on. "Manon, can you hear me?" There was no reply. Les knit her brows. If I can get to a control center, maybe I can unjam our comms. It was worth a try. She closed her eyes and let her senses spread through the hallway beneath her. There didn't seem to be any stormtroopers.

She jumped out of the ventilation shaft at the nearest hatch and sprinted through the hall. A droid came rolling out of a room close by. Les pressed herself against a wall until she could no longer hear the droid. She hurriedly crept into the room.