"Lady Obriv! How are you?" A Karkarodon grinned as Cordelia and Oriana were dragged into a large diamond-shaped office.
"Don't you dare, Horne," Cordelia sneered at him. Her usual calm and kind demeanour was nowhere to be seen. It was obvious she felt nothing but contempt for this man.
"So hostile," Horne rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Why are you always like this?"
"You know exactly why, you rulkuw (fuck)." Cordelia stared up at him.
"In fact, I don't. All I've ever done is run my business as per the laws of our dear sector." Horne stated. The slimy smile never left his face.
"All you've ever done is-" Cordelia started to yell. Only to be cut off by a hand in her face.
"Let's not talk shop right now," Horne said, then turned to the bounty hunters who still had a tight grip on Oriana's arms. "Hand me the chip."
The bounty hunters stared at each other in confusion, then back to Horne.
"The betting chip she has on her, you idiots." Horne stressed.
They still didn't seem to know what he was turning about but started searching Oriana's pockets.
"Don't you dare hurt her," Cordelia harshly told them. Moving towards Oriana. Only to be held back by another bounty hunter.
They ignored Cordelia and continued looking. Having no luck.
"What's taking you idiots so long," Horne grumbled. He was visibly losing his patience.
"She doesn't have anything on her," One of them cried.
"The stinking bounty didn't say anything about a chip!"
The Karkarodon towered over them and, by extension, Oriana. Growling at them loudly. Cordelia continued trying to wiggle out of the grip of her captor, but to no avail. She was forced to watch as Oriana tried to keep a brave face. Despite how much the youngling was shaking.
Horne then took a deep breath. Pinching the bridge of where his nose would be if he were human. "I think it's time you three were on your way.
"What about our pay?" The bounty hunter holding Cordelia argued.
"You didn't get the chip. There for no pay." Horne explained as if he was talking to a child.
"No way, man!" The bounty hunter shouted. "One of our crew was killed getting this brat to you. We ain't leaving empty-handed!"
Horne let out a huff. "I'm not in the mood to discuss this."
"Come on, wait, what about this?" The head bounty asked as they pulled out Melinoe's lightsaber. "This has to be worth something, right?"
Horne stared at it for a moment. Quietly running the numbers in his head. "You'll get 18000 for it. And before you try to haggle with me, it wasn't an offer. That's my final price."
Right before Cordelia's eyes, Horne called security on them and had them dragged out of the room with little fanfare. All before they could even get a word in.
"Put this somewhere nice," Horne told one of the guards. "Somewhere in the trophy room, maybe."
A being that must have his secretary did as she was told. Quietly rushing out of the room. Without another word.
"Now then," Horne mused as he turned and grabbed Oriana off the scuff of her clothes. "Where's the chip, kid?"
In a split second, Cordelia's rage turned to concern as Horne carried Oriana over to the window.
"I didn't have any chips!" Oriana lied. "We were just trying to get away from this place!"
"Please! She's telling the truth." Cordelia said. Trying to strengthen Oriana's statement.
"You expect me to believe that! Carnelian and her goons steal from my private files, and then her brats disappear only a few days later. You're telling me there's no connection?!"
Before he could continue, Oriana sank her teeth into his hand. Causing Horne to let out a sharp yell. Oriana was quick to swing from his arm back into the office.
"Really?!" Horne yelled at her. "I should expect nothing less from someone who was raised by those trash slaves!"
Oriana ran into Cordelia's arms. Not wanting to abandon her new ally and knowing that if she tried to run out of the room, she would immediately be caught by the guards.
"You know what? Fine!" Horne shrugged with tense shoulders. "Don't wanna talk now. Maybe you just need some time in the lockup with your sister. Guards!"
Several uniformed men ran into the room. Their helmets disguised their identities. Cordelia tried to put herself between herself and the child, but it didn't do much good when they had them outnumbered by about five guards.
"Lady Cordelia!" Oriana yelped as she tightened her grip around Cordelia's waist.
"It's gonna be okay, Oriana. I swear," Cordelia told her as the child was pulled out of her arms.
"Don't let him get to you. Please," Oriana whispered into Cordelia's ear. The child was then dragged out of the room.
Despite the fact that her attempts to shake the surrounding people off, Cordelia was dragged out of the office as well. Only in the opposite direction.
"Hope you enjoy your stay, Overseer," Horne waved with a fake smile pasted on his face before turning to one of the men. "Oh, and you, find me a new secretary. The current one is starting to bore me."
"Yes, Sir," The guard sighed.
Cordelia and Oriana would stay trapped in that head faculty for weeks. Melinoe, Teeseven and Karaay found them eventually. The lot of them hatched a plan. Finding local people who hated Horne as much as they did.
Melinoe ended up using her old skills as an assassin to take that secretary job without a hint of suspicion. Karaay and Teeseven worked with the locals. Getting to know the cracks and weak points of Obani.
A few weeks after this an anonymous SOS signal was sent out. Someone got antsy and inpatient.
It found its way to a certain Jedi master and his padawan, who happened to be heading back to Coruscant at the time.
"What exactly should we be expecting, Master?" The boy asked from the back seat of the Eta-2.
"I don't know, Anakin."
"It could be a trap," Anakin suggested. "Pirates, maybe?"
"Are you saying you can't handle a couple of pirates?"
"Of course, I can!"
"Then there shouldn't be a problem."
"Wasn't saying there was." Anakin mumbled.
Obi-Wan nodded to his padawan. He turned his head back when the radio turned on.
"This is the Obani Moons' protocol tower. Please follow the guidelines to land your ship." The voice on the other end said in a bored tone.
"Obani? I've never heard of this place," Anakin said curiously.
"It's mostly resorts and entertainment, from what I remember," Obi-Wan explained.
"You've been here before?" Anakin asked.
"Briefly... a long time ago,"
The Jedi landed the ship as instructed. The two started looking around the pretty mundane-looking ship dock.
"Where is everyone?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan was wondering the same thing. Where were all the workers? Other ships even?
He got his answer when he sensed a stun bolt heading towards him. "Anakin! Get down!"
The teen did as instructed. Jumping behind some empty storage crates. "Is it too late to say I told you so?"
"Now is not the time," Obi-Wan huffed as he continued deflecting the oncoming bolts with his lightsaber.
"Put your weapons down and come peacefully," One of the gunmen shouted to them. Knowing he wasn't getting anywhere by trying to knock them out.
"He's got to be kidding," Anakin laughed.
"Why attack us?"
"We need to find out whose side you're on," Another replied. Only to make a grunt of pain from being hit in the gut by someone else.
Before Obi-Wan could ask another question, sirens started going off. "Kiff! It's the cops! Forget them!"
Obi-Wan saw a couple of hooded figures running off into the distance. Then turned to see where the sirens were coming from. A couple of men in dark red uniforms and a rather large droid were heading towards them. "You two, show us some identification."
"What kind?"
"No ID, then?"
"I suppose not?"
"In that case, we'll have to take you in for processing."
"We're not going anywhere with you," Anakin scowled.
"Guess we're doing the hard way," The head of the group said as he pulled out a blaster. Causing Anakin to ignite his lightsaber in defence.
"Hold on a moment!" Obi-Wan raised an arm in defence. "There's no need for-"
Obi-Wan stopped when one of them tried to fire a shot at him. It was easy for him to dodge it using the Force, but then the rest of them took aim. The Jedi tried his best to hold them off, but the five men eventually overpowered he and Anakin.
"Master!" Anakin shouted as a stun laser hit Obi-Wan square in the face. Everything went dark, and the concerned yells of his apprentice got quieter as he fell to the ground.
"You swear? If anything happens to me you'll make sure my family is taken care of?"
"I swear. They'll always have a place with us if they need it."
"Thank you, Lady Lanami."
Vana had never been one for strangers. Growing up on a rock like Obani, you learnt quickly to only trust a few people.
So when her sister insisted that she trust these random people she had found during her brief escape... Well Vana was hesitant to do so. If it weren't for Oriana telling her, Vana wouldn't taken the chance.
It felt like ever since they were babies, Oriana's had this spot-on way of knowing who was and wasn't trustworthy. Vana didn't know how to explain it, but it was amazing, to say the least. That was part of the reason she knew it was more important for Oriana to get off of Obani.
It would have taken ages for Vana to find somebody she trusted enough with that chip. Oriana managed to find the right people in a few days. Even better, those people came back to help them. Not just her family but everyone.
"Careful, Oriana," Vana joked to the younger child as the tired-looking human man shook himself awake. "The new roommate's awake."
Vana kept a cautious eye on the man while he looked around the room. It didn't take him long to notice the shock collar around his neck and the force field dividing him and the two of them on opposite sides of the room.
"What's going on here?" The man asked. Totally bewildered by the situation he found himself in.
"You annoyed the guards," Vana told him.
"And that was enough to throw me in prison?" He asked. "Along with children?"
Vana went about her business. Connecting the links she needed to finish for the collars she was being forced to make.
"It's not a prison," Oriana quoted. "It's a correctional lockup."
"That doesn't sound-" Before he could continue, the sound of the door sliding open made him pause.
"I managed to get some extra food for you today," A familiar dark-haired woman said as she walked in. Only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight of the newcomer.
"Lady Vi!" The children gleamed at the sight of her. The man didn't share their glee.
Melinoe was wearing a high-collared grey dress. Something that one would see many office workers wearing. It was very sensible and classy. In one arm, Melinoe was holding a silver tray of various leftovers, and in the other datapads of some kind.
"You," Melinoe said with an angry look. "Why, of all the beings in the galaxy, did you have to be you, Kenobi?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Kenobi frowned.
Vana and Oriana's eyes widened in surprise. Melinoe had told them a few stories over the past couple of weeks to help them relax. One of which was about how she was trapped for days on a ship with someone named Kenobi.
"Answer the question, Kenobi," Melinoe told them as she placed a tray on a table on the girls' side of the room with a loud clang.
"We were answering a distress signal," Kenobi answered.
"We?" Melinoe questioned.
"Anakin and I,"
"The boy?" Some of the rage in her eyes turned to surprise. "Where is he?"
"I don't know. We got separated."
"Lovely," Melinoe muttered. She then turned to the younger beings in the room. "I can't stay today. I've got to sort some stuff out."
"We'll be okay," Oriana assured her.
"Keep an eye on that troublemaker for me," Melinoe jested. "Make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
The two of them smiled and nodded to her. They grabbed some food before hopping back to their workbenches. Melinoe nodded to them as a silent goodbye before walking out of the room without another word.
"So you're the one who tricked Lady Vi?" Vana stared at Kenobi.
"I didn't trick anyone," Kenobi told them.
"You used your magic mind tricks to mess with her head." Oriana added.
"I did no such thing," Kenobi shook his head. "I never did anything to her."
"She's talked about you before," Vana rolled her eyes.
"Every time she says your name, she looks so sad," Oriana sighed.
Kenobi seemed to have heard enough from the two of them. He started pacing around the room. Trying to find a way out. Running his hands up and down the grey walls to try and find any kind of weakness in them.
Vana wasn't surprised by Kenobi's attitude towards them. She found it easy to annoy grown-ups when she wanted to. It was part of the reason she ended up in the lockup in the first place.
Eventually, Kenobi tried to slide open the door. Surprised to see that it was unlocked but was put in his place when he got shocked trying to walk through it. "So the collars are stopping you from leaving?"
"They said it gives us 'levels of clearance'," Oriana explained. "Don't have clearance to leave this room."
"I see," Kenobi nodded.
"You'll be out of here soon. Once the higher-ups find you a job," Vana told him as she kept connecting wires to each other.
"Well, I'm not really interested in a job," Kenobi said as he kept looking around the room.
"I don't think they really give you a choice," Oriana said to Vana. "Nobody I know has ever been given a choice around here."
Kenobi turned back to them. His eyebrow furrowed with concern. "Melinoe... Is she behind all this?"
The girls give each other confused looks for a moment. Soon following what Kenobi was trying to say.
"Lady Vi?"
"No!" They said at the same time.
"It's all Horne's fault!" Vana grumbled.
The Twi'lek could tell by the look on his face that Kenobi was starting to put the pieces together.
Drax Horne had been CEO of the Horne Company for years. Inheriting it from his father. From the outside, he had been a totally replicable being. Running his business as per the laws of the sector. Every now and again was accused of something, but nothing had ever been proven.
This is all you would know if you were an outsider, but as someone who had grown up on Obani, Vana knew better. She had seen all the ways people had been forced to say here. Everything was made to look nice on the surface, but in reality, life was a nightmare for the workers of the Obani Moons.
Although all this, Vana found comfort in knowing this could all change soon. If their parents and their new friends played their cards right, they would finally be free.
Before Kenobi could ask them any more questions, the door once again opened. One of the many faceless guards marched in and gestured to Kenobi. "You, follow me."
Nothing too interesting to report. Other than a plan to delete the current version of Heads Will Roll, and do I similar writing thing to this story where I write a section of the story and post a chapter every week.