Although losing a head-tail was a severe handicap to Twi'leks, Nolaa
Tarkona had survived. In the twitching stump she had implanted an optical sensor
that could pick up images from behind and relay them to her brain, thus
increasing her deadly mystique. This Twi'lek woman who had overthrown a male-
dominated culture, slaughtered her masters, and launched a powerful political
movement literally had an eye in the back of her head....
"Chevin," Hovrak continued, "a species easily recognized by their
startlingly long faces and huge heads." The display showed a creature whose chin
hung down nearly to its ankles. "Many humans find them unsavory, particularly
ugly, but the Chevin view themselves as opportunistic realists interested in
their own well-being."
Nolaa smiled. "We are interested in the well-being of all alien peoples."
Hovrak pointed to the image on the datapad. "Unfortunately, we still have
no representatives from this species, despite our propaganda campaign."
"Then I believe we ought to work harder to recruit at least one Chevin,"
Nolaa said with a faint frown. "Even if it takes a bribe."
"Yes," Hovrak said, growling deep in his throat. Nolaa Tarkona's
disappointment in his failure to recruit a Chevin came as a personal defeat to
Hovrak. "I believe I shall concentrate my efforts on that species."
A Gamorrean guard strode in and stood snuffling at attention.
Because they were intensely loyal and able to follow orders, so long as
they were simple enough, Nolaa had found the porcine guards to be good henchmen.
She didn't for a minute expect that they might betray her; they were too stupid
to think of such a thing.
"Lunch ready," the Gamorrean said in a phlegm-filled voice.
Hovrak froze the image on the datapad and stood up, his fur bristling.
"Good, I'm ready for food, fresh food... wet food."
He snarled in anticipation, flexing his claws.
Deciding to stretch her legs as well, Nolaa followed the wolffnan out to
the main grotto, where holding cells dotted the walls. "Another newly arrived
prisoner?" she asked.
Saliva had already begun to run in the wolffnan's mouth. "Yes, a fresh one-
-fresh from Concord Dawn, convicted of cheating at Sabacc."
"Cheating at Sabacc, nothing more?"
Nolaa said. "And they sent him to you?"
"On Concord Dawn, cheating is a capital offense." Hovrak's black lips
curled back away from his fangs. "And laws are laws."
Moving with stiff, tensely coiled muscles, as if he were stalking prey,
Hovrak strode toward one of the cell doors. "Besides," he snarled back over his
shoulder, "one of the senior magistrates there, a Devaronian, is sympathetic to
our cause."
He opened the cell door, clenching and unclenching his clawed hands.
From inside the prison chamber a weak voice, a deliciously human voice,
wailed, "Please let me go! I'm innocent. I didn't know cheating was a capital
offense. I'll never do it again!"
Hovrak merely snarled. The voice changed abruptly in tone.
"Wait, what are you doing? Stop. Noooo!"
The human voice ended in a gurgling scream. Then one of the Gamorrean
guards slammed the cell door so that Nolaa didn't have to listen to the wet,
tearing sounds as the wolfman ate his lunch.
Nolaa waited patiently. She decided not to take a meal now. Not yet. She
usually ate alone in her private chambers, dining on food she prepared herself.
It was a habit she had developed... not that she expected any members of the
Diversity Alliance to poison her. No, she knew how fiercely loyal they were. She
just liked it better that way.
More self-sufficient.
Nolaa would have liked to dine with her half-sister... if lovely Oola had
survived to see these glory days. Nolaa Tarkona had brought supreme triumph to
the Twi'leks... and especially to females of the species. But not before her
half-sister had been captured as a slave, her teeth sanded flat, her memories of
stripped, beaten.
Her entire life had become one of servitude-dancing and otherwise pleasing
the whims of those who had paid to own her, body and soul.
Twi'lek dancing girls were highly prized throughout the galaxy.
One of the despicable criminals of their own species, Bib Fortuna, had cast
his lot in with the highest bidder and acted as a simpering henchman to a crime
lord, with no pride in himself or in his people.
Fortuna had purchased Oola and other dancing girls, dragging them against
their will to serve Jabba the Hutt. Oola had served indeed, and served well.
Nolaa had dug deep to find details of her half-sister's time in the Hutt's
palace, even receiving spy-holo images of how well Oola had danced, the grace
with which she moved, her greenish skin glistening with sweat, her head-tails
flying about like the wind in a storm. Oola had given the Hutt everything he
wanted--until one day, on a whim, Jabba had fed her to his pet rancor. The
imprisoned monster had devoured Nolaa's dear half-sister in much the same way
that Hovrak now snacked on the hapless scam artist in the cell. Ah well.
At least the scam artist was a mere human.
Nolaa felt a twinge of sadness at the memory of her half-sister, imagining
how, together, they could have proven themselves to the galaxy at large. But
soon she let the grief turn to anger. Nolaa had always found anger to be a more
productive emotion anyway.
Finally, the wolfman emerged from the cell, wiping blood spatters from his
muzzle and his fur with a self-moistened napkin.
Then he tossed it away, along with the stained apron he had worn to protect
his Diversity Alliance uniform. He meticulously combed his black-brown hair and,
using a long claw to pick a shred of food from between his sharp teeth,
straightened his Adjutant Advisor uniform again. "Now then, Esteemed Tarkona,
shall we return to work?"
"Yes," Nolaa said, stroking her single head-tail and walking back to the
private meeting chambers. "We have only a standard hour until I must depart for
the grand campaign on Chroma Zed. If we do our work properly there, we can gain
converts throughout that system."
"Let's hope so," the wolfman said. "I don't believe the Chromans are on our
list yet."
They returned to the private chamber, and Hovrak punched his electronic
data-pad again. "Now then, let's see..." Another alien appeared in the
holographic projector, a blue-skinned goatlike creature with a trio of eyes on
stalks protruding from its forehead.
"The Grans, easily distinguishable by their three eyes.
Traditionally unreliable, easily bribed, and quickly addicted to drugs or
liquors... but shrewd and often underestimated.
If we could recruit several, they could infiltrate the seediest cantinas in
the galaxy.... " The Adjutant Advisor continued through the alphabet.
RAABA SPRINTED AHEAD on her long Wookiee legs, leading the way to safety as
they fled up broken ramps and half-collapsed staircases in the honeycombed
warrens of the cliffside stadium. A network of sagging chains draped across the
dust-filled crater, connecting to weathered build-ingtops in a sinister high-
wire network.
Raaba cinched her ragged headband, once bright red but now faded to a dusty
carmine, more tightly around her forehead.
She chuffed at them to hurry and continued to lope through alternating
islands of sunlight and barricades of shadows.
"Dear me, all this running is beginning to jiggle my circuits loose," Em
Teedee said. "I do wish we could pause so that Raabakyysh could explain a few
things. I'm most curious to know why she would allow poor Master Lowbacca to
believe she was dead all this time."
Just then, a series of clattering, rustling noises came from several
cliffside tunnels, like the ghostly echoes of long-departed spectators at the
great gladiatorial games....
No. Like marching insectile feet with sharp claws and hard body armor.
"Then again, explanations can wait," the little translating droid said. "I
propose that we make getting to safety our highest priority!, "Sounds like more
combat arachnids," Jacen said, panting and puffing as he ran.
"Lots and lots of them. This place must be infested."
"I thought you said they were rare creatures," Jaina snorted.
"They're a bit too common for me right now."
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Jacen said. "They are rare. But combat arachnids
were bred for showcase battles in arenas like this one. So I'm guessing that a
bunch of them were brought here for exhibition fights.
These're probably feral descendants of the victorious ones left by the
Mandalorians when they abandoned this world."
"Survival of the fittest?" Tenel Ka said, her granite-gray eyes flashing at
Jacen.
"They seem fit enough to hunt for their own food!"
"Don't worry, Tenel Ka. I won't let any of them get you again," he said.
She raised an eyebrow at the very suggestion that she would require anyone to
protect her now, and kept running.
Lowie turned around and snarled when he heard something else approach.
Something threatening. He pressed a paw against the bleeding gash in his side,
ignoring the pain of the wound as he sniffed the air.
As Jacen turned to look, three combat arachnids scurried out of the
shadows' in front of them, mandibles clacking, deadly spines extended,
positioned to fight as a predatory team.
"They're in front of us! We're doomed!" Em Teedee said.
A moment later, two more combat arachnids boiled out of the chambers behind
them, trapping the companions along the walkway precipice that looked out upon
the sprawling crater.
"Oh, no! We're double-doomed," the little droid wailed.
Raaba held her battered blaster in front of her. Jacen and Jaina, Tenel Ka,
and Lowie each powered up their lightsabers again.
Raaba growled and looked meaningfully, almost apologetically, at Lowbacca,
as if she hoped to live long enough to give him all the explanations he desired.
She gestured across the bowl of the crater to the broken building tops where her
ship, a small inter-stellar skimmer, waited on one flat rooftop.
Thick, dangling chains stretched out from the wall across the yawning gulf,
connecting to the distant tower. The chocolate-furred Wookiee bellowed and
pointed urgently.
"You want us to climb... out there?" Jacen said.
Tenel Ka strode to the thick corroded chain and grasped it with her one
arm.
"You can use the Force to help you balance, my friend Jacen," she said. "If
you concentrate, it will be no worse than walking on a forest path."
"Forest path, huh?" Jacen asked with a gulp. "Sure.
No problem."
Raaba bounded onto the chain as the combat arachnids stuttered forward from
both directions, their pointed limbs flailing, multiple eyes blazing with
hunger.
Lowie bellowed and lunged back at the creatures, sweeping his molten bronze
light saber in a broad arc. He lopped off three limbs from the nearest creature
as if they were stalks of grain.
The combat arachnid shrieked and staggered backward into one of its
companions.
The second, already-enraged monster struck out at the stumbling, wounded
arachnid and the two creatures began to rip at each other.
Greenish clots of blood flew through the air.
The other arachnids ignored the distraction, however, and drove in for the
kill, focused on their intended victims.
Tenel Ka stood easily on the rusty chain, legs spread, perfectly balanced
in her glittering lizard-hide armor. She reached down and grabbed hold of Jacen.
"Come, my friend, I will assist you."
"Hey, thanks!" he gasped. "To show my appreciation, I'll tell you a joke
when all this is over, okay?"
"That will not be necessary," the warrior girl answered quickly.
"Please--I require no such expression of gratitude."
With fluid Wookiee grace, Raaba began to sprint across the incredible drop
as if the sagging chain were a rope bridge. Her heavy footsteps sent jolting
vibrations along the links, and even with the Force, it was all Jacen could do
to maintain his balance.
He crept along one tiny step at a time.
Jaina climbed up after him.
Lowbacca, agile from climbing trees and vines for most of his life on
Kashyyyk, easily brought up the rear. He moved backward along the chain, still
pressing one hand against his wound and holding his lightsaber with the other.
Unfortunately, the thick chains and the perilous height did not deter the
combat arachnids. The spined carnivorous creatures clambered onto the chain as
if it were a web they had spun.
When the companions had scrambled about halfway to where Raaba's ship had
landed, Lowie bellowed an order. Em Teedee called to the others, "Master
Lowbacca urges you to increase your speed, although I myself would suggest that
you also exercise extreme caution."
"We're being careful, Em Teedee. Don't worry," Jacen said, easing forward a
couple of steps.
"That is most reassuring, Master Jacen: However, I still reserve the right
to express concern about your well-being."
As if to make Em Teedee's point, a cold, dry breeze picked up, howling in
the open air. Jacen wobbled. "Blaster bolts!" he said, windmilling his arms to
stabilize himself.
The chains creaked and swayed beneath him. "I'm not sure this is such a
good idea."
"Maybe not," Jaina answered, glancing at the chasm below them, "but falling
down there is an even worse idea. So what are we waiting for?"
Although the combat arachnids moved more slowly along the chains than the
agile Wookiees, they might still be able to catch up with the humans before they
reached safety. Realizing this, Lowie held his ground, wrapping his Wookiee feet
around the links of the chain, bending his hairy knees, and holding his
lightsaber up to defend his friends from attack. He gestured with his claws
extended, urging them to go on ahead without him.
Raaba grunted encouragement to him and increased her speed, leading the
way.
Tenel Ka followed, keeping her careful balance, but Jacen had trouble
following as quickly. Jain
a held both of her hands out to steady herself.
They crept forward as quickly as they dared, desperately making their way
toward Raaba's ship, and possible rescue.
One of the horrible creatures finally reached Lowbacca, and he met it with
his lightsaber. The combat arachnid reared up, using several legs to maintain
its balance.
Its crimson body core glinted menacingly under the hazy sun of Kuar.
Lowie slashed with his lightsaber, but the arachnid dodged sideways,
eluding the beam, In a counterstrike, it swept out a segmented leg and caught
the ginger-furred Wookiee with the tip of one footpad. The blow knocked him
backward--and Lowie toppled off the thick chain. Jacen and Jaina both screamed.
At the last instant, though, LoWie reached out with his free arm and
grabbed one of the heavy metal links of chain. He swung beneath it, using 'his
momentum to bring him up and around to the 'other side of the combat arachnid.
As the creature stretched down to snatch at him, like a fisher trying to scoop a
meal from a stream, Lowie grasped one of the arachnid's stable rear legs and
used it to haul himself back up onto the chain.