Operation: Slave Ruse, a Star Wars Fanfic

Operation: Slave Ruse Part 5. A Jedi Among Slaves

Slave Quarters. Location, Ja-hutta Night Club, lower level. Time: 0635 Nar Shaddaa time.

In the stillness of that darkened room where Nika laid quietly upon her bunk, the sly bounty hunter opened her eyes after pretending to be asleep like all the others and was once again greeted by the same darkness that had engulfed the room just an hour and a half earlier. She laid still and silent for a moment upon her comfortable bunk, her body at rest beneath the soft blankets provided to her, and allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There were shapes all across the room that were in monochrome, of course the rising of the chamber lights could fully restore what Nika had seen previously, but for now the room appeared to be like a scene from a black and white holo-film. The silhouettes were already more discernible than they were only a short while before, and Nika knew that within a few hours everything around her would be illuminated once more.

Time to make a call. The bounty hunter thought to herself knowing that now would be the best time to contact Ri. Under the cover of darkness she slowly rose from where she laid upon the comfortable bunk and gently maneuvered her legs and feet from underneath the soothing, soft covers. Careful as not to make any noise as she moved, Nika slowly placed her bare feet upon the smooth tiled floor and rose to stand. She looked around the room and saw no other humanoid silhouettes standing in the distance. No one is awake. Just you. She held back a stifled sigh of relief knowing that no one else from the harem was awake. They had all just gone to bed not even a full two hours ago. It was now or never. As quietly as she could, Nika grabbed the small comlink from within her brown hair and held it close.

Light on her feet, swift as she was nimble, Nika made her move towards the refresher unit from her bunk. Like an assassin sneaking up on a target, she moved about the slave chamber with the slightest of ease until she reached the durasteel door of the refreshers. Nika paused as she glanced at the faintly lit blue button on the control panel, knowing that once pressed the door would slide open with a low-sounding hiss and flood the chamber with a faint glow of light. She weighed her options and knew that anywhere else within the chamber would be too much of a risk. If I get caught then I can just play it off as needing to go to he head in the middle of the night. Nika had no choice but to slip into the refresher unit to make the call. Without a second thought she pressed the button and watched as the door slid open and listened as it hissed. The light from beyond the door was faint, not as bright as she had anticipated it to be in a dark room, but it was still bright enough to stir someone from their slumber.

Quickly she darted in and closed the door behind her. Once the door had slid shut, Nika jogged to the farthest corner she could find to make the call. Thankfully the storage lockers within the locker room of the refresher unit hadn't been integrated into the walls of the room like the bunk beds had been. As best she could, Nika crouched down low in the farthest corner of the locker room and held the comlink close. Ri, you better answer. Before activating the comlink, Nika peaked her head around the storage locker and saw no one else around. She took a deep breath and activated the transmission signal.

"Ri, this is Nika. Are you there? I got your comlink from the droid." Nika said, hoping to receive a response from Ri.

There was no response, only silence on the other end before the voice of the clone spoke with a hushed tone. "Nika? I'm glad to hear your voice and that you received the comlink. Since we went undercover with no means of communication I had to rig something up for us. What's the situation like on your end? Are you ok?"

Nika smiled and nodded, although she knew her ally couldn't physically see her reaction. "I've successfully mingled with the slaves of Jawuk's harem and have met our quarry. No one suspects a thing. The slave quarters is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's like a hotel on Coruscant. What's the situation like on your end? I thought you were being sent to the gladiator pits."