Zinea

Part 4 - The Cavern

When I came to, I was still in the pod and mostly unharmed. A headache, accompanied by a small amount of blood, occupied my forehead. As my ears adjusted, I heard Kallus screaming in pain.
"Shut up!" I yelled, clasping my hands over my ears.
"Piss off!" was all Kallus managed to get out before screaming again. I looked over and saw that his leg was through the window of the pod, cut with shards of glass and at a very awkward angle. I climbed out of the pod and took in our surroundings.
We were in a cave under ice, from the looks of the ceiling. There was a hole in it left behind by the pod, but so far I saw nothing living. I reached back behind me and grabbed my saber from Kallus' belt, then lifted him by the armpits.
"What are you doing?" he cried out in pain.
"I'm getting you out of the pod, Idiot. I want you where I can see you," I panted as I dragged him to the opening. "Why are you so damn heavy?" I dropped him on the ground outside the door of the pod and he cried out. Before he could recover, I pointed the saber at him.
"I'm just thinking about how easy I could cut off your head. Right here, right now." I watched as Kallus pulled himself away from me. "But, I'd rather wait for you to heal so I can show you what a fair fight is."
Kallus' groan turned into a low chuckle. "You're expecting your rebel friends to come to your rescue?" He breathed heavily. "Your friends fled. If anyone finds us, it'll be the Empire, and you will be captured once again."
"Not gonna happen."
He pulled out his bo-rifle and pointed it at me, but threw it out of reach with the force.
"That's not gonna happen, either."
Kallus scowled in frustration. "It'll be night soon."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark," I teased while going to the pod to look for survival supplies. There was a heat lamp lodged underneath a seat.
"It's not just going to get dark, it's going to get colder." Colder? I could already see my breath, how could it get colder than this? I turned on the heat lamp for us and Kallus scooted closer. "Too cold for this to keep us warm."
"Where are we even?"
"Well that," Kallus pointed at the sky, which was obscured by a planet, "is Geonosis. We are on one of its moons."
"We could always cuddle for warmth," I suggested, sitting back from fiddling with the lamp. Kallus looked at me with repulsion.
"Oh, get a sense of humor, Agent. What, did they train that out of you along with the rest of your emotions?" Jumping up, I went back over to the pod to look for spare supplies. A transponder was left connected to the controls, so I grabbed it and climbed back out.
"The transponder, probably damaged in the crash," Kallus remarked from his place on the ground. "If you can repair it, reactivate its signal, maybe the Empire will find us before we freeze." The sound of a creature waking up and crying out filled the cavern, and I saw a shiver go down Kallus' spine. "Or worse."
"I'll take my chances with the cold, and with whatever we're sharing this place with. I already know what the Empire wants to do with me." I patted my belt to make sure that my saber was still there.
"Cooperate, and I'll vouch for you." The creature roared again. "You'd better decide, soon."
I shot him a glare before sitting down next to him and getting to work on the transponder. It seemed most of the damage was cosmetic, so I just reconnected a few torn wires and adjusted the settings a bit before it squawked back to life.
"There. I fixed it. And I adjusted its frequency. Now, anyone can pick up its signal."
Kallus shivered. "So? Maybe you won't die today, but the Empire will win." He was out of breath and his voice was wavering. I could feel his fear. "Everyday we recruit more informers. Everyday we persuade rebel sympathizers to reconsider their allegiances."
I pulled the lantern closer to me. "And every day more beings get fed up with the Empire and join us." He just looked at me, wavering. The lantern's light suddenly flickered, then went out.
"Its power cell," he shivered, "is frozen." Another wave of fear from him hit me. "And we'll be next." He clutched his arms to himself.
"Why are you so afraid of dying?" I got closer, trying to combine body heat.
"I'm not."
"Banthashit. I can feel your emotions, it's a Nautolan thing."
"Death isn't what I'm afraid of."
"Then what is?" I tucked my lekku into my jacket to try to keep them warmer.
"You're feeling my emotions wrong."
"Again, banthashit. You know, you really are a piece of work. First, you're taking me to be killed, and now you're playing nice enough just because I could easily kill you. You're afraid, but you refuse to believe it. The whole Empire is ordered by fear, you can't just pretend that you're not afraid of anything! That'd be undermining the whole system."
"The Empire is not run by fear, it's run by respect!" His voice raised, though it was still breathy and broken by shivers.
Mine followed suit. "So, you're not afraid of the emperor?"
"No, I respect him!" he shouted.
"What did the emperor ever do to be respected?"
"He stopped the war!"
"The clones stopped the war by sending all the Jedi into hiding. He just stepped into power when it was convenient. What did he do to be respected?"
"He has run the galaxy with-"
"No, what did he do to become respected? To become the emperor in the first place? He instilled fear!"
"I'm not afraid!"
"Yes, you are. What kind of childhood did you have that fear and respect are so confusing?" I stood up and started to walk back to the pod to make sure that I had the final word in the argument.
"I'm afraid no one will care that I die!" I turned around, and Kallus was scowling at me. He felt shocked. Apparently, he hadn't expected to say anything.
"A pretty messed up childhood, then," I murmured under my breath.
His eyes were locked on me the whole time that I walked back toward him. I'd caught sight of a glowing light behind him. Glow meant heat, right? I walked straight past Kallus. He tried to turn to watch me, but cried out in pain. I could hear panic in his voice when he said, "What- Where are you going?"
Steam rose from a glowing stone in the cave. "What are you doing over there?" Kallus asked from behind me. I ignored him, picking up the stone. Weird, it's warm. I turned around to walk back. "What did you find? What is that?"
"I don't know, but it's warm. And it throws light." I sat down by Kallus again.
He shivered. "Probably some kind of meteorite."
"Yeah. Here, warm yourself up. I'm a little more tolerant to cold." I passed the meteorite to him, accidentally touching his hand. It was ice-cold. Another roar came through the tunnels, nearer this time. My saber was already in my hand and lit by the time I was fully standing up.
Kallus didn't even try to hide the anxiety on his face this time. "You really think we'll survive, with whatever that is in there? Plus, the temperature's dropping, and our only heat source is this thing. And who knows how long it'll last?"
"I try to have a bit more hope, you know. The transponder's working. My friends will find us."
"The transponder's signal will never get through the ice."
"Huh. Yeah, you're probably right. But I don't know when to give up. We'll just find a way up to the surface. Simple." I looked around at the columns around us. If I hit them in just the right way...
Sprinting toward one, I jumped off of it and launched higher onto another. I jumped to yet another one, catching the ice in my frozen hands. My arms propelled me off again, getting even more height, but when I tried to catch the pillar I slid down to the bottom of it, landing hard.
"You're going to hurt yourself!" Kallus warned, standing up on his good leg to see clearer.
"Will you shut up?"
I tried again, much to the same result. Kallus chuckled with a stupid smile on his face.
"How'd you like me to knee you between your legs again?" I threatened, stomping toward him. Footsteps echoed loud through the chamber. A roar stopped me in my tracks. Those weren't my footsteps making that much noise. Kallus' face twisted from one of smugness into terror.