The Sith's Heir

Chapter 4 - Rescue Gone Awry

            "How could she have gotten out of the med bay?" Skywalker paced around the bridge, his shoulders tense and his hands clenched so tight the machinery in his mechanical hand could be heard creaking.

            "I don't know," General Kenobi admitted, "All I know is that Trice called me saying that she was gone, and I immediately told you. You know as much as I do, Anakin."

            "Should we have really gone into hyperspace with the girl loose in the ship?" Master Jyran asked, "Who knows what she can do?"

            "I don't like it either, but we had to get underway," Kenobi said, "We need to get back to Coruscant as quickly as possible, but also this way, we know she won't try to leave the ship via escape pod. It wouldn't survive leaving the cruiser while in hyperspace, even if she knows how to operate one. We'll find her soon enough... hopefully."

            "Blast it," Skywalker muttered, slowing to a stop, "None of the troopers have found her yet. This ship is too big and has too many places to hide. She could be anywhere."

            "She couldn't have gotten far," Kenobi said calmly, "Strange and unfamiliar ship. One could get lost easily."

            "Maybe we can narrow down the search," General Jyran interjected, "What is near the med bay that she might naturally gravitate to where she can easily hide?" At that the three Jedi went silent, deep in thought, and Rex understood their hesitation. If they got this wrong then they might never find this girl. General Skywalker began pacing again, Kenobi stroked his beard, staring blankly at the ground, and Master Jyran leaned against the holotable, her hands clasped in front of her.

            Rex took a second to study the Jedi Master. She seemed to be between General Skywalker and General Kenobi in age, but sometimes it was hard to tell with Mirialans. However, Rex was fairly confident in his guess, her light, yellow-green skin was free of any age lines, her purple eyes were bright, and the diamond tattoos that were painted across her cheeks gave her an image of being younger than she actually was. She was dressed in the typical Jedi clothing with a black vest and dark leggings with a short black skirt over them, and her head was wrapped in a black scarf, completely covering her hair, except for one lock of dark brown hair that managed to fall into her eyes. On the brown belt that hung loosely on her waist were two lightsabers, and while it wasn't uncommon for some Jedi to have two, the handles were entirely different, leading Rex to believe that one of them wasn't hers.

            "It must be her Padawan's," Rex thought to himself. He had heard that in the Separatist attack she had lost her Padawan to Dooku's new assassin, Asajj Ventress, and Rex's hand curled into a fist. "How many more people have to die before this is over?"

            "The hyperdrive room," Skywalker realized, and Kenobi and Jyran gave him looks of shock, "It makes perfect sense. It's vulnerable, easy to access, and if she went straight from the medical bay to the lifts, she would have a straight shot to it."

            "Rex," Skywalker said, turning to the clone captain, "Has there been any communication from the soldiers from hyperdrive control?"

            "No, sir," Rex admitted, "But that isn't necessarily irregular seeing as there typically isn't any reason to keep in touch with them."

            "Well, we might as well now," Kenobi said, "Because if this girl is indeed there than we need to warn the patrol."

            "Wedge, Kelly," Rex immediately called the two clones, "have either of you seen anything strange on your rounds?"

            "This is Wedge, sir," Wedge responded, "Everything is pretty quiet in here and nothing out of place. If we see anything then we'll—What the hell?"