BALANCE | A Star Wars story

XVIII

     I glance at my reflection in the mirror assessing this new and unfamiliar outfit that the Hutt found for me. It's a stolen uniform from a commander serving on Iokath, the Hutt just happened to have a spare women's uniform. I haven't questioned where it's from, I don't want to know.

     The trousers are tight fitting and I struggled to get them over my naturally thick thighs, then I there are shiny knee length boots which are a bit to tight for comfort but I can manage. A gaberwool tunic rests over the top of my shirt and there is a small golden symbol that sits above my heart. It is a circle with three spikes emanating from each corner, the middle spike in each corner is longer than the other two. The symbol of the Sith.

     A silver plated belt is secured around my middle and my charcoal hair is pulled into a slick bun at the back of my head with cap fitted firmly on my head. I'm shrouded in black.

     My face is pale from lack of sleep which gives me the impression of a ghost, the only colour comes from my eyes which are still a magnificent green that massively stands out against the darkness. My only light.

I wonder back to my room and take my lightsaber off my belt, I'm going to have to leave it behind for the first time on a mission. It's safe to say I don't exactly feel comfortable going without it.

When the Hutt told me his plan I refused to leave it at first but saw that it would only blow our cover if I was wondering about with a lightsaber. Instead I'll have a small pistol attached to my belt just like the rest and hope that we don't run into any trouble.

There's a knock at the door and the Hutt pokes his head round slowly with his eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm decent, you're okay." I smile slightly before catching myself and erasing it, the Hutt opens his eyes.

"Good cause we've landed."

○ ○ ○

I follow the Hutt off of the ship, he is dressed identically to me except his is more loose and I envy that as I tug on the tunic trying to allow myself to breath properly in the crushing material.

"You didn't have a looser tunic?" I whisper angrily in his ear as we descend onto the landing pad.

"I told you, it was either that or a monks outfit and you didn't seem very interested in becoming a monk," he whispers back. I open my mouth to speak again but he interrupts me, "stop talking, follow the plan and you'll be fine."

Right. The plan.

     We enter the landing pad which is thankfully -however surprisingly- empty. It's a small space just wide enough for the Libertas to fit in and not very tall either. A walkway runs around the outside with several doors leading gods know where, almost straight in-front of us there is a staircase leading up to this runway and that's where the Hutt leads me.

     The force whispers angrily to me, surrounding me in a darkness I have only felt in my nightmares. I shiver trying to shake this bad feeling away. My hand grips the banister of the stairs tightly as we ascend, me following a step behind the Hutt just as commanded.

     "The women are often seen as lesser to the men here," he said earlier. I wanted to put up a fight but my lack of sleep had drained me of my energy.

     We cross the walkway, our steps echoing loudly in this silent place, the Hutt walks past two doors before stopping in front of one and pressing the button to the side so it slides open.