The Mando led Ania up the stairs and into the main sitting area. This room was much larger and certainly more lavish than Feton's throne room. The crime lord was lounging on a sofa, Tolsa and a few other Twi'leks around him. Ania felt herself stiffen as numerous eyes turned to observe her.
She looked to Tolsa. The purple Twi'lek stood, whispering something to Feton. He turned his gaze to Ania and let it slide along her. She resisted the urge to snap his neck right then and there. Instead, she casually sent a flicker of the Force into his drink, sloshing a little bit of it onto him. Feton muttered a curse and stood. He made his way over to them, Tolsa on his heels.
"Well, well, well. It seems Lord Vader has been hiding your true...potential," Feton murmured, raising a hand as if to touch her. Ania raised an eyebrow, as if daring him to. Feton reached out and touched her lekku. Instantly, Ania grabbed his wrist, wrenching it the wrong way. Feton cried out in pain.
"You may have dressed me up like some petty doll, but do not think for an instant that I can't kill you with my bare hands!" She hissed, releasing him. Feton rubbed his wrist.
"Tolsa, show Ania around. I expect you to be here when it's time for the entertainment," he growled before storming off. The Mando behind Ania hid a chuckle and slunk off.
Tolsa grinned at Ania. "That was incredible. He might not have looked it, but you scared him!"
Ania didn't smile. "I usually have that effect on people. So, how about we show me around?"
Tolsa took her hand, and pulled her out of the crowd. Once released from Tolsa's grip, Ania found that she now held a packet of some sort of powder. "Let's get a drink," she said subtly. Tolsa led the way to the large bowls of punch and wine.
Ania opened the packet and spilled some of the powder into the bowl. She quickly grabbed the dipper and stirred it in, before moving to another bowl. Tolsa was doing the same at another table. After finishing the last bowl, Ania quickly met up with Tolsa.
"My friends, I have some very special entertainment for us today! My star dancer, Tolsa Lee!" Feton's loud voice echoed over the crowd.
"Just follow my lead and be fancy and flirty. Feton loves that," Tolsa whispered. The crowd parted for her and Tolsa performed a series of graceful and acrobatic dance moves towards Feton. She twirled around him, wrapping him in a blue silk scarf she had. Ania looked at her own purple scarf in disgust. At least her outfit had shorts beneath the silk layers, she noted with relief.
"I have a special guest dancing with Tolsa today. She's come from Centax 1 and has seen more of the Galaxy than you and I ever will. I give you the hand to Darth Vader, Ania Tano," Feton said, a hint of a growl in his voice.
The crowd gasped and looked at Ania. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead followed Tolsa's example. She did a few handsprings, a series of dance moves, and ended in a flirtatious pose. Feton clapped, drawing close to her. "Had a change of heart, have we?" He shot a meaningful look at Tolsa.
"You'd be surprised what a few drinks can do," Ania forced herself to say, smiling and fluttering her eyelashes.
Feton laughed. "For all her famed power, she must have a very weak mind to be controlled by you, Tolsa," Feton laughed. "Let's have some entertainment!" He moved back to the sofa and motioned for them to begin.
Tolsa and Ania took their places at opposite ends of the room. As the band began to play, Tolsa began to handspring towards Ania. Ania quickly followed her lead. They met in the middle, Tolsa sweeping under Ania's legs and Ania bringing a leg back over Tolsa's head. They took their scarfs and began to dance around on their toes, twirling and wringing the scarf around with them. Ania drew off towards the crowd, wrapping the scarf around a Zabrak and then twirling away as he leaned towards her.
The golden beads of her headpiece tinkled together as she danced back towards Tolsa. Ania spotted waiters handing out drinks. Just a few more minutes, she promised herself. They continued to dance, swirling and gliding in a series of complex moves. A cup clattered to the floor, then another, and another! Soon, the heads in the crowd began to droop. The band quick playing entirely. Still, they kept dancing.
Feton watched them, a sleepy look in his eyes. Ania moved closer to him, weaving the scarf in and out of her hands like a butterfly. She moved enchantingly and reached out to him with the Force. "You want to go to sleep now," she whispered to him. The Force locked an iron grip on his mind.
"I want to go to sleep now," Feton repeated, his eyes drooping down further.
"You will sleep now and when you wake, you will brag about harboring Jedi to everyone you meet," Ania commanded.
"I will sleep now and when I wake, I will tell everyone about harboring Jedi," Feton's cub slid from his grip and he slumped down, fast asleep.
Ania straightened, tugging the headpiece off and throwing it aside. "If I never wear gold again it'll be too soon." She looked at the two gold bands on both of her arms. "Actually, I'll keep these. They'll look good with my outfit."
Tolsa tossed her own headpiece aside and drew a leather wrap out of a pocket. She quickly wrapped it around her lekku and took a turquoise diamond gem off the discarded headpiece. She pinned it in the center of her wrap. "To remember that I danced my way to freedom," she explained. "Let's go. We've got a lot to do and who knows how long they'll stay asleep!"
They ran down the stairs towards Ania's cell. Ania quickly threw on her green shirt, pants, boots, and gauntlets. When she turned back, Ania had also changed. She still had her turquoise shirt on, but had replaced the skirt with a pair of black pants and boots. She clipped a belt on. "Come on. I found out where they put your stuff."
Tolsa led the way through the compound until they arrived at what seemed to be an armory. Sure enough, Ania's blasters, lightsabers, and her bag were on a shelf. Ania grabbed them, returning her blasters and sabers to their proper places. She clipped her comm to her belt and checked her bag, making sure everything was still there. She turned to Tolsa. "Ok, let's go."
Tolsa turned her wrist over, exposing the faint red blinking. "We can't get out of the compound if these are still here."
"Oh, right." Ania looked around and grabbed a blade off a rack. She angled it towards herself.
"Careful!" Tolsa darted forward. "If you cut any of the wires around it, it'll kill you!"
"I know. It's the same thing they use in slaves on Tatooine," Ania said, shrugging.
"You've dealt with them before?"
Ania held up the small implant, still damp with her blood. She quickly took a med patch out of her bag and stuck it on. She grabbed Tolsa's arm, well aware of the Twi'lek's shaking. With a steady hand, Ania made a small incision.
"I was a mercenary. When my master told me to bring in someone alive, I had to get past devices that would kill them," Ania said. She held up Tolsa's implant and stuck a patch on her arm. Ania quickly slipped the implants in her pocket.
"What part of we can't leave here with those did you not understand?" Tolsa groaned, following Ania as she raced out the door.
"I know. Don't worry. They won't leave the compound." Ania ran into a control room and stuck the implants onto the main wiring console. She ran back out and they took off towards the main gate.
Outside the gate, the lower streets of Coruscant hummed with activity. Ania led Tolsa further from the compound. "Now, watch." Ania reached out with the Force, tunneling back into the compound, towards the implant. A small flick and...Ania opened her eyes in time to watch the flare of light burst within. Alarms began to blare and smoke poured out of the compound.
Tolsa covered her mouth with a hand. "You killed them!"
Ania rolled her eyes as she pulled Tolsa away. "Weren't you paying attention? That control room was far enough away front the lounge that it didn't hit anyone in there. The worst it did was make them turn over in their sleep."
"What about the fire?"
"There are droids. Besides, there wasn't enough of that drug in the drinks to keep them asleep much longer." She looked around quickly.
"What is it?"
"My ship is in the Upper City. I'll be able to find it if we follow the maglev near a work yard."
"I can get us on the maglev." Tolsa signaled a hover and soon they were flying towards the maglev station. At the station, dozens of droid cops were rolling around the walkways. Ania spotted a few Mandalorians walking around, blasters drawn.
The maglev pulled into the station, door hissing open. Ania quickly pulled the cowl from her bag and pulled its hood over her face. She swiped a shawl from a passerby and threw it around Tolsa.
"But you stole this!" Tolsa hissed.
"You need it more than they do," Ania replied. They passed onto the train and sat right next to the door. "As soon as we near the work yard, you'll pull the emergency brake," Ania whispered. Tolsa nodded, pulling the shawl around her.
With a rumble, they were off, cruising through the Lower City. Ania kept her senses tuned, waiting for the first sign of trouble. "So, how did you wind up serving Darth Vader?" Tolsa asked.
"A mistake. Ahso...my mother told me that Vader tried to capture me soon after I was born. He killed my father while my mother and I escaped. 10 years later, he found us and succeeded in taking me. He did and still does believe that he killed my mother that day."
"Why did you serve him if you knew what had happened?"
"I didn't know. Vader used the Force to block every memory I had before my time with him. I only learned the truth a year ago, but I still didn't want to believe it," Ania explained.
"What changed your mind?"
"Do you know where the Emperor's palace is?" Tolsa nodded. "He built it atop the ruins of the Jedi Temple. Vader took me there and showed me. He told me about the treachery of the Jedi, and what he did to eradicate them. He told me what I did to them." Ania looked away, biting her lip.
"If you didn't know, then you're not responsible for it."
Ania laughed cruelly. "I killed them, Tolsa. I was a mercenary. Every single one of my targets were Jedi or Jedi associates. I blindly killed them, not knowing who they were or what they could have done for me."
"What will you do when we get off world?"
"Find my mother and ask for her forgiveness. Beg her to teach me and join the Rebellion. It's the only way I can make things right." Ania glanced out the window. "Tolsa, now!"
Tolsa jumped to her feet and began to move towards the emergency break. A metal arm grabbed her wrist. "Ticket please," it said in its monotone voice. Tolsa struggled in its grip.
Ania hissed with exasperation. She reached out with the Force, pulling the emergency brake. Instantly, the maglev jolted to a halt. Ania fell from her seat. The droid released Tolsa and turned towards the brake. "Who pulled that?" He asked.
Ania grabbed Tolsa's arm and pulled her up. She threw the maglev doors open with the Force and jumped from the rail to the walkway beneath. Tolsa screamed as they plummeted 60 feet. Ania reached out with the Force as they neared the walkway, slowing their descent. Tolsa ran on shaking legs behind Ania.
"Come on. There's the work yard!" Ania exclaimed.
The large metal doors were wide open. Ania slowed and then stopped all together. The Ravager was gone. She bellowed with anger, punching her fist into the cement wall. The wall cracked beneath her fist. Ania didn't even notice. "Carabast!" She growled. "I knew it."
"What's wrong?"
"The Ravager is gone."
An Ugnaught in the work yard came waddling out to them. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"There was a ship here," Ania said. "Where is it?"
"Why do you want to know?" The Ugnaught raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"I was hired to track down the ship and return it to Lord Vader. It is now his property," Ania said swiftly and coldly. "This is my partner," she gestured to Tolsa.
"She looks like a scrap of nothing to me," the Ugnaught laughed.
Ania opened her mouth, but Tolsa raised a hand. She stalked towards the Ugnaught, leaning down and shoving a finger on his face. "Do you have any idea what we could do to you right here? No one in there would come to help. They'd be too busy running away from fear! If you don't want to tell us, fine. Don't. But don't say we didn't warn you when Imperial Death Troopers have a warrant with your face on it!" A flick of her wrist and a hidden knife slid free from her gauntlets.
Ania smirked. The Ugnaught looked between the two of them. "All right! Imperials took the ship somewhere." Tolsa pressed the blade of her knife on the Ugnaught's cheek. "I don't know where! I swear!"
Tolsa straightened, sliding the knife back in its spot. "Thank you. You've been no help at all." They turned and walked away, leaving the sniveling Ugnaught behind.
"Well, this certainly complicates things. Without a ship, I can't get back to Lothal," Ania grumbled.
"We can buy a new one."
"We could, but there are some things on the Ravager that I need. That the Rebels will need," she corrected herself. "My money will be safe. I have it in secure places where Vader can't reach. The people will watch it until I have need for it. Until then, we find the Ravager." Ania took her datapad from her bag and began to sift through its contents.
"What are you doing?"
"Tracking my ship."
"And?"
"It's just down the street," Ania held up the datapad with a smirk. Inside the blue coordinates grid, a red dot blinked at them.