Cadet Captured

14. Acting the Part

It's nearly night, and I'm already in my bunk with Hotshot. It seems so empty without Lucky and Leadhead with us. I'm almost in a fitful sleep when I hear my name.

"Blitz, we have a new assignment with the generals," Captain Rex tells me.

"Want me to assemble the troops?" I groan, sitting up and running a hand down my face.

"No," Rex says. "This one's... just for us." He smiles sheepishly, and I get the strange feeling I'm not going to like this mission. I get up and follow him out of the bunk area.

"Ok..." I trail, crossing my arms. "And why do I feel like you don't want to tell me about it?"

Rex sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "See, we're going undercover, and you have to pretend to..."

"Just spit it out," I smile. "How bad could it be?"

"Fine," Rex relents. "You have to pretend to be a slave. My slave."

I freeze. "What?" I ask. I can feel my airways closing up as memories of my time with King Katuunko flood back in. Tears come to my eyes, and I try to hold them in. "Rex, I- I can't do that. I'm sorry-"

Rex takes my shoulders. "Blitz, breath," he says softly. "It's not real, I swear. It's just for the mission. It's just pretend. I swear. I'm not going to force you to do this, ok. But the entire population of Kiros depends on this mission. Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about slavery, and I don't think I can play the part very well without you to guide me."

I force my breathing back to normal and look up at the captain I'm sworn to follow.

"Just for the mission?" I ask. At his nod, I release the breath I was holding. "Ok, I'll do it. For the people of Kiros."

"Thank you," Rex sighs. "Go find Commander Tano. She will brief you and help you get ready. Go... do each other's hair and makeup."

I give a small, half-hearted grin. He sounds so awkward talking about girly things.

I find Ahsoka, as she doesn't want me calling her Commander all the time, and we dress in slave outfits with gold accents. Her's is a blue dress, and mine the red bikini I wore when with King Katuunko. We place each others' head dresses and she fixes my hair in two long braids. The hair is different from my past time wearing this outfit, and it reminds me that this isn't real. However, unlike me, Ahsoka gets to wear a covering robe to hide herself until she is handed over to the queen. As I am playing the part of an already purchased slave, I don't get to hide.

We board the transport with General Skywalker, General Kenobi, and Captain Rex. Or, for the mission, Lars Quell, Aston Kolzaar, and Tarth Brolen. In minutes, we're headed to Zygerria.

"It looks like Zygerria is a popular place these days," General Skywalker comments.

"Whatever is happening is attracting plenty of high-class scum," General Kenobi agrees.

Only once we've landed does Captain Rex actually glance over at me, and he immediately looks overcome with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Blitz," he says quietly. "I know this is hard for you."

"I'm fine," I lie. "It's just another mission. Right, Tarth?"

Rex snorts. "Ok, so it's not my best codename," he admits.

"Let's just hope the information our spies gave us about the queen is accurate," General Skywalker says, bringing us back to the current matter. "Remember, I'll keep her occupied while you locate the missing people of Kiros."

"How do you plan on keeping the queen occupied?" General Kenobi asks.

"Well," General Skywalker chuckles as the men put their Zygerrian helmets on, "with my magnetic charm, of course."