Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Aftermath

17: Zarli

Rey and her teams newest member waved frantically at the ship lowering itself towards them. The ramp extended while the craft was still midair and Cass motioned for them to come on-board. Zarli hopped onto the transport from the uneven side of the structure they were clinging to and Rey followed closely behind.
"How about all the slaves you freed? Aren't there still some of those Trandoshan's left? And where's Amaliea?" Cass drilled the older girl.
"Don't worry about her, she'll be along," Rey grinned.
-3 hours earlier-
Amaliea lay flat on her stomach with her helmet on, examining the plaza below them. Rey sat cross-legged not too far away, watching for any approaching Trandoshan slavers.
"There! Found me a way in," Amaliea exclaimed. Rey crouched beside her.
"Whatcha got?"
"See that landing platform down there?" Amaliea pointed. Rey squinted and nodded.
"That shipment that's coming in? They aren't all Twi'leks! There's at least fifteen of them- I can easily get lost in there. Cmon!" Amaliea pulled herself to her feet, but Rey paused.
"What do I do?" she asked. Amaliea gestured to the Trandoshan escorts.
"Distract 'em," Amaliea grinned with a wink.
——
They approached the group quietly. The slaves were huddled together, fear painted across each of their faces. Rey motioned for Amaliea to join the others. Hidden by a dark grey cloak they had taken from Tam's ship, Amaliea slipped in with the them easily, just as she had hoped. She gave Rey a thumbs up, who crouched in the shadows and levitated a cargo container off of the side of the platform. She dropped it noisily, making sure it bumped off of the stabilizers on its way down.
One of the Trandoshan slavers's head shot up like a cannon and he gestured for two others to come examine what had happened.
"Thisss is unussssual," one of them said to another as they peered over the side of the platform into the gaping abyss.
"Just a little farther.. come on.. there!" Rey said under her breath. she Force-pushed the three Trandoshans off of the platform. The remaining four whirled around at the sound of their screams.
"What wasss that?"
He inched closer to the edge, then raised his reptilian snout to sniff the air. Rey held her breath and flattened herself across the metal wall, hoping he wouldn't smell her.
A moment passed, then he moved back to the other Trandoshans.
"Idiotsss. They fell off of the platform." he said. "Get the fressssh meat insssside."
The remaining Trandoshans nodded and led the group of people holding Amaliea into the compound, whipping the ones that walked too slow. Amaliea stayed near the middle of the huddle, keeping her face down as to not attract attention to herself.
Once they had all left, Rey exhaled deeply.
"Now to find my own way in," she whispered.
——
Inside the structure it was hot. Very hot. Amaliea reached out a hand from under her cloak and attempted to sense the child they were here for. The presence leaned in on her, and thankfully it was centred around where her group was headed. Despite her vicious sweating, Amaliea stayed alert, waiting to meet the child.
They walked for a while longer and Amaliea kept her senses open as they reached a large room with a tight ceiling. Dozens of piles of ore was waiting to be mined by the hundreds of people already stationed inside of the smoking plaza. Farthest from her, a fat Trandoshan male sat on a gold throne, beside him two young Twi'lek girls dressed in brasseries and skin-tight skirts. Amaliea locked eyes with the one on his right. She was a soft yellow colour with warm brown markings, no older than thirteen, with wide dark pink eyes. They stared at each other for a second and Amaliea nodded shallowly, mostly to herself. She knew this was the girl they were here for.
Who are you? a quiet female voice spoke inside of her head, making her brain rattle. Amaliea jumped and looked around frantically. She realized the Twi'lek girl with pink eyes was still watching her intently from her place at the managers side.
I knew some could read thoughts, but I never learned that some could send them, too. Amaliea thought at her. The Twi'lek inclined her head.
You are a Jedi, she stated. Her voice displayed interest, perhaps wonder? Amaliea narrowed her eyes despite the girls display of innocent curiosity.
You know of my kind?
I always heard stories of people with extraordinary abilities who protected the galaxy, long ago, the girl replied.
We are here to rescue you, Amaliea told her. What are you called?
My name is Zarli Datta. And what about you and your companion?
Amaliea hesitated, unsure how she knew about Rey.
Rey, huh? Pretty name. Zarli smirked at Amaliea and tapped her temple lightly with small shackled hands, reminding her of the fact that she could intercept her thoughts.
"Why you little.." Amaliea said out loud under her breath, to which Zarli gave a small bow.
The group pushed onwards, putting a pause on Zarli and Amaliea's silent conversation. They made their way closer to where Zarli was stationed, much to the Twi'lek girls delight. Amaliea was finally given a shovel and was shoved onto the ground. She would have bruised her knee if not for the Mandolorian armour she wore under her cloak.
Why didn't they search us? she asked Zarli mentally, thinking about the two loaded blasters that hung from her hips that she longed to use.
Most of the people here are taken young, younger than me, and if not, they're from poor villages on nearby moons, Zarli explained.
And which category do you fall in? Amaliea quizzed the girl. She didn't reply for a moment, then Amaliea noticed a long rise and fall of her chest- a sigh.
My father and aunt sold me, was her cold reply.
A couple moments passed where neither one said anything. The only light in the large cavern came from the minerals that the slaves were being forced to mine, so Amaliea couldn't make out the expression painted on Zarli's face. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long to continue their conversation.
Red lights began flashing overhead and the Trandoshans nearby sprung to attention immediately.
"That came from the generalssss quarterssss!" one cried.
"Protect the general!" another screeched. Multiple slavers fell into messy lines as more started shouting as they tried to be the first ones out of the stuffy cavern. One brave soul attempted to wrestle a whip away from a Trandoshan, and he was dead before anyone could even blink.
I'm assuming this is the work of your friend, Rey? Zarli thought to Amaliea. She beamed. "Yep, that'll be her," she replied fondly, not even bothering to say it quietly. Once all the chaos had begun, it was easy for Amaliea to sneak towards the large chair while the manager attempted to restore order. She walked up behind the chair and unlocked the chains binding Zarli easily using the Force.
"Thanks," Zarli said, rubbing her wrists. Her voice was surprisingly deep for her age, however it was still soft like a child's usually was. Her sunken cheeks and skinny appearance made her look years older as well.
Amaliea grabbed her arm. "Can you run?" she asked, glancing at her bruised sandalled feet. Zarli nodded confidently. She glanced nearby and tapped another Twi'lek on the shoulder. She said something in what Amaliea assumed was Ryl, the native Twi'lek language. The other prisoner paused, then nodded and removed her boots, handing them to the younger girl. In return, Zarli passed her the bejeweled sandals.
"Let's go find Rey," she smiled after adorning the black shoes.
"Stay low, unless you want to be dead," Amaliea advised as she led the way. Zarli obeyed without comment and they snuck out using one of the back exits that wasn't guarded.
"Do you know the way to the generals quarters?" Amaliea asked the girl as they made their way through the dimly lit hallways carefully. Zarli pointed down one of the corridors.
The two didn't meet anyone until they reached the entrance of the generals room. Twenty or so Trandoshan guards were closing in around a brown-haired figure twirling a yellow lightsaber. Amaliea sat Zarli down in one of the dark corners.
"Stay here," she told her sternly, clutching the Twi'lek's shoulders. Another nod from the younger one and Amaliea rushed into the fray roaring a battle cry while drawing her blasters.
She shot four Trandoshan's down easily and cleared a path to reach Rey, who had a tall Trandoshan wearing a commanders hat locked down under one arm while defending herself against the approaching others.
"Nice of you to join the party," she huffed as Amaliea slammed against her back, shooting more enemies square in the forehead.
"You seemed to be handling it just fine!" the other girl joked, throwing another Trandoshan into the glass pane of the window without touching him, where he fell to the ground with his reptilian tongue lolling out.
"Oh, very funny! Where's the kid we got into this mess for?" Rey hurtled another guard after the first one and snapped another's leg and arm, making him roll onto the ground in agony.
"Why doesn't your buddy the Force tell you?" Amaliea replied with a mocking smile while landing a roundhouse kick in a Trandoshans lower area. He crumpled to the ground while his whip deactivated and rolled away. Rey closed her eyes for two second before peering over at the doors, where Zarli was watching the battle in awe. She winked and spun around, impaling two last Trandoshans at the same time.
There were only four left, plus the general, who was inching away from the two women. The remaining Trandoshan guards raised their arms in surrender and fell to their knees. Amaliea called for Zarli to get in and blasted the control pad and the doors shut, making sure none of their prisoners could scamper away.
Zarli stepped inside and watched with large eyes as she surveyed the scene in front of her. Amaliea turned to the other girl who she assumed was Rey and laughed. Rey gave her a high-five with a large smile.
Then Zarli realized that the Trandoshan general was raising a blaster dropped by one of his defeated men at Amaliea's lower back. She and Rey both began to turn, but they weren't fast enough.
"Stop!" Zarli shouted. She jumped towards them and thrust both her arms out in front of her, shutting her eyes tightly. Blaster fire rang out at the same time as the sound of breaking glass filled the room.
When she opened her eyes again, the generals screams could still be heard as he hurtled down the abyss below them. Amaliea was sitting up and groaning in Reys arms, her hand covering her abdomen. Zarli bolted to her side.
"Are you okay?! Are you hurt? Are you- oh,"
The dark haired Mandolorian lifted her gloved hand to reveal now scratched orange and blue armour below her cloak.
"Tam is gonna murder me," she stated, squinting at the hole in the fabric with a sigh. Zarli threw her arms around the other girls neck, toppling her to the ground.
"Woah there, what's with all the worry?" Amaliea asked with a small chuckle.
"I don't really know," Zarli admitted, but squeezed her eyes shut as she enveloped the older one. Rey gave her a smile as the Twi'lek and the Mandolorian broke apart.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Rey." the Jedi extended a hand warmly. Zarli shook it, returning her smile. "I'm Zarli."
The four Trandoshan's on their knees were gaping in horror and the large hole in the splintered glass.
"General!" one moaned. Another dialed something on the commlink attached to his arm.
"Help! Help! The basssse hassss been infiltrated! Ssssend reinforcementssss!"
Rey severed the comm from his arm swiftly. "We should probably get out of here," she said, turning to Amaliea.
The Mandolorian nodded and was helped to her feet by Zarli. She pressed down on her own comm.
"Spectre seven, come in," Amaliea said urgently. There was a beep and Jacen's voice replied.
"Talk to me, Spectre eight,"
Banging from the other side of the doors started to make the metal objects rattle.
"We're gonna need a pickup from the-" Amaliea paused and checked the sign. "-East wing of the compound. We just threw the big boss out of a window, so some of these guys are a little mad!"
Zarli shot a quick worried look at the doors.
"Only you would come for one person and liberate an entire compound!" Jacen's voice laughed. Amaliea heard the whirl of the ships engines.
"Did you get the kid at least?" her brothers voice crackled through. Zarli lifted Amaliea's arm to her mouth.
"Hello, sir! My name is Zarli." she chirped into the device.
"I'll see you in a second, Zarli!" Jacen exclaimed.
"There's one more thing we need to do," the Twi'lek said after Amaliea had shut off the comm. "Do you have any explosives on you?"
"I like the way you think, kid," Amaliea grinned wickedly. They both turned to Rey expectedly.
"Oh no, absolutely not!" Rey waved her hands in front of her face.
——
"I cannot believe I agreed to this." Rey groaned as the three women scaled the wall of the compound downwards, loading explosives every few feet. Zarli kicked out her boot to smash a window, but found it frozen midair. Amaliea lowered her hand and released the Twi'leks limb and gestured below them further.
"I thought you said not to look down?" Zarli frowned. Amaliea sighed.
"A few more levels down is the slaves quarters, right?"
Zarli shrugged. "Quarters is a little generous of a term, but more or less, yes."
"Then I will lead them all out while you and Rey load on the rest of the explosives. Jacen is almost here, so the rest of our crew can help you guys out." Amaliea reminded her.
Zarli sighed. "Alright, whatever ya say,"
Amaliea lowered herself farther down and created a large hole in the side of the structure with the Darksaber.
"Can I get one of those black lightsabers?" Zarli asked with staring at the Mandolorian girl in awe. Rey chuckled.
"Trust me. Even holding the Darksaber is a lot of pressure. Hundreds, maybe more, have died on that blade. War is it's very embodiment."
"How did Amaliea manage to get it?"
"Like any other Mandolorian weapon. In a duel."
Zarli's eyes widened. "With who?!"
"Well, her mom." Rey laughed.
Zarli huffed in disappointment.
"Buuuut her mom won it in a super cool duel against a really bad dude!" Rey exclaimed as they planted more deadly explosives. Zarli could no longer see the hole Amaliea had created with her saber, but she did begin to notice the colourful skin tones of other Twi'leks emerging from the wall below her and jumping onto the soil.
"Which bad dude?" Zarli asked brightly.
"Uhh.. I can't remember his name." Rey answered sheepishly, glancing away. Zarli gave her a look and noticed a spray-painted ship lower itself in front of them. The two waved as the ramp lowered and a blue skinned teenager came into view..