The Loyalty of the Dark

Chapter 40

Anakin bousted Zilla out of the secret compartment before climbing up himself. She moved with a silent practice over the ship's floor when only hours before her footfalls were as loud as anyone else's and was next to the top of the ramp by the time he was turning back around to help Luke out. Once his son had exited the compartment and was moving to replace the floor panels, Anakin silently moved to Zilla's side.

"I have a favor to ask," the girl whispered as she wrapped the black scarf around her head once more, hiding all but her eyes.

"Shoot," he responded.

"I need you to hack into the ship's main frame and pirate as many data files as you can. I don't know how the Executor is here, but if it is the same ship and not just a replica, we'll find the information there as well as what their next moves may be."

"What will you be doing?"

"Getting that tractor beam out of commission."

"Are you sure it's wise to split up?"

"I know this ship like the back of my hand. It'll be easier for me to go alone....Besides, you leave the Commander alone and the next thing we'll know, he'll have found a princess to rescue."

"Why are my ears burning?" Luke hissed as he walked up.

"Shush. Get ready."

Five seconds later, two men carrying a scanning device tromped up the ramp. The moment they were aboard, Zilla had cut the throat of the leading man while Anakin had choked the second into unconsciousness. The scanner would have dropped to the floor had the girl not already had the Force ready and waiting to catch and lower the device.

And then, she mouthed Follow me before slowly easing down the ramp, hands spread out as her eyes turned gold, chanting in some other language under her breath. The soldiers guarding the ramp seemed to take a death breath and then have their heads tilt forward, as though they were in the process of nodding off on shift. Anakin decided not to question it for the moment and quickly followed Zilla as she dashed to the entrance of a hallway, Luke hot on their heels. They paused just inside, Zilla tucking them into the corner of a deactivated blast door.

"We separate here," she told them. "Rendezvous at the ship in no later than an hour."

"You're sure you can get the tractor beam deactivated and back here in that amount of time?" Anakin asked.

Zilla nodded. "Keep your hoods up, we don't want to leave behind holos. And try not to touch the Force without proper shielding. Someone is here, and I'd rather not let them know two Jedi have come aboard."

"Right."

"Force be with you," the girl stated, turning to leave.

"Hold it," Anakin said, grabbing her by the wrist to keep her from disappearing on him. "You've forgotten something."

Zilla turned back to look at him, confusion clear in her eyes. He only took said forgotten object out of his bag and pressed it into her hand.

"Now you're ready," he stated. The girl looked down at her hand to find herself holding the hilt of a lightsaber. Her lightsaber.

Zilla stared at it for a moment, apparently stricken dumb, before thumbing the activation switch and allowing the unique blade to spring to life.

"....You kept it," she whispered, staring at the saber's black and purple blade as she moved the weapon, studying it's response, blade weight, hight, and weight as though to ensure it was the same old friend she thought it was before allowing it to hiss away into nonexistence, turning her attention back towards him as she returned the weapon to its rightful place on her hip. "....Thank you."

"Hurry back," Anakin told her.

"Yes, Master."

This time he didn't have a chance to stop her, she was already gone.