A Caged Songbird

A Little Closer

    Escape, that word repeated in Novari's head to the point she felt like the word was stabbing her in the head like an arrow through a krayt dragon during a hunt. She looked at the marks in the accumulated filth on the floor of her cell. 181 rotations since she'd been thrown in that cell, a day shy of six months. Days filled with unknowing, agony, and being made to perform for someone who was just waiting on her death. In all of this she also wondered why, of all people, the great Moff Gideon would be kept as some kind of personal pet to be shown to his friends? She was the thing he hated and had sought to destroy in the name of the empire, he hadn't counted on someone surviving. Novari had heard whispers before her capture of others like her in the galaxy; it was the small hope she'd be able to find her people is what kept her going. There was also a growing fear: ' what if they didn't accept her because she had broken the creed ? What if it was a faction of death watch she ran into? What if..' those are thoughts she was currently having as she was formulating an escape attempt for the next night.
    Planning her escape probably would have been going better if she wasn't actually feeling the physical effects of living in the cell she was in. What she felt was the icy chill and dampness, even with her beaker on her flight suit was in need of repairs. There were tears all over from various attacks she'd suffered at the hands of guards or punishments given by the man himself; they left her skin exposed and caused her to feel every chill and water droplet that landed on her. It had been that way the whole time she had been shoved in that cell, the only time she felt warmth was when she was forced to be up performing for the 'king' and his 'subjects'. With all that dampness that seeped into her bones, it was a breeding ground for black mold. The mold was something she'd coexisted with for those 181 days, and she was starting to feel it weaving away into her weakened body and it burned. Every breath right now was a struggle, her lungs ached, her back and stomach hurt from the force of the coughing, and the little appetite she had left was gone.
    Like clockwork she heard those familiar boots on the floor, it was chow time. She hated the food; it was dry expired ration packs, and lukewarm blue milk. Even when she had an appetite it was better to go hungry than to choke down a ration bar that looked to be growing fuzzy little friends at times. Her only solace came in the form of a death stick that would be snuck to her when the guard left by a sympathetic cleaning lady from upstairs. Smoking while being a trained singer and having the lung issues she had, wasn't a great idea; but for those moments she could feel warm, sucking in the warmly lit, nicotine fueled air. She had been curled up in the corner she called a bed, shivering under the thin sheet given to her as a blanket when the guard dropped her food in. Today was different though there was a second set of footsteps, there was a second unfamiliar officer there with him though he appeared to be ISB not the same trooper that berated,beaten, and actively took part in her torment.
    She looked that young agent in the eye expecting him to look at her with disgust as others did but she wasn't greeted with that. The man's blue eyes looked at her with sympathy, something she hadn't seen in so long. The man looked at the trooper and sent him away and waited for the trooper to be gone before his gaze was back on her. " What is your name?" The man asked her while crouching down to meet her eyes better as he was a tall man. Novari thought for a moment, she knew this man was different as people would call her mandalorian or hate filled nicknames she didn't know if she could trust him but at that point she had no choice. " Novari" she said before coughing into the thin sheet, the man looked concerned when he heard it which to him gauged the severity of the situation. He quickly looked around before back to her, "well Novari, my name is Sunny. I'm going to get you out of here.." he said gently.
    That response alone garnered a snort and chuckle from Novari, "ya and i'm the queen of Mandalore nice try buddy i'm not gonna fall for that." She said with a weak bite to her tone. Why would someone in an ISB uniform help her? Sunny had the answer, " because I'm not like those assholes, I've seen how you're being treated. I'm not an ISB agent, I work for Senator Organa helping those who need it." He said before sliding something into the cell. " I've seen how your culture has been destroyed and disregarded by the people here, you clearly need help. Tomorrow night there will be a window for you to run and I suggest you take it. I left you something that will get you a little closer to your freedom." He said before standing up." May the force be with you Novari." He said before departing, his boots clicking against the floor as he did.
    She waited for the door to shut with the all too familiar whoosh before she got up. Weakly she crawled over to what had been left, which to her surprise was a burlap little sac that looked like it contained many things. She sat on her knees and carefully opened it and dumped it on the floor and what fell out shocked her. A small blaster, some credits, a hypo syringe labeled as antibiotics, a second one labeled Midazolam, a non expired ration pack, and a card that contained a insignia on it she didn't recognize. She acted quickly and gave herself the shot of medicine, and was fast to eat the ration pack before she picked up the blaster. She was quick to hide it and the hypo syringes, between the wall and what could be considered a mattress. She didn't know if she could trust sunny but there was one thing she knew, she was a little closer to freedom whether it killed her or not