Unexpected

chapter twenty-three: distress

The days seem to never end in this pit of a cell. With no light or heat, Elara has resorted to sleep as her mental escape from this prison.

These so-called pirates have been kind enough to not lay a hand on her so long as she behaves. After trying to escape the first time, they laughed about it. Once she followed up with another attempted escape, they retaliated by giving her restraints that cut into the skin around her wrists, cutting deeper every time she struggles to free herself.

She'd only been in the containment field once, which she actually didn't mind. It was a nice relief from the cold metal restraints she'd grown accustomed to.

Elara has no idea what day it is, or even what time it is. If she'd listened to the conversations of the few pirates passing by she'd surely be able to figure it out, but her mind is too weak to focus on such distant words.

A loud clank echoes through the prison and she sighs. That noise used to startle her, the loud clashing of metal on metal, but now she hears it every so often as the guards switch shifts.

"Look alive Senator. You've got a visitor." The man speaks as he opens the heavy door, allowing light in along with said visitor.

Elara squints as the man approaches her, the harsh contrast of the light temporarily blinding her. More noise floods her ears as the chains around her wrists fall to the ground.

Once her eyes adjust to the light, she looks up to find an officer of the Republic crouching beside her.

"Are you okay?" He asks quietly, wrapping an arm around her to help her up.

Elara blinks a few more times as she looks at the man and her eyebrows furrow. "Fives?" She asks softly, as if speaking any louder would rupture the walls around them.

"Alright Officer Hevy. You saw the girl, now let's see the spice." The pirate ushers them out of the cell.

Elara's head spins as she stands. "Hevy?" She asks nobody in particular, leaning against Fives for support as they make their way back to the shuttle.

"Commander, show these fine men the cargo." Fives speaks up as they approach the familiar ship.

Elara's eyes catch a glimpse of the familiar helmet as the man unloads the crates from the shuttle. The pirates watch as Rex opens one of the crates and smile at the sight of the red powder. Before they can get too close, Rex firmly replaces the lid before turning to Fives.

"I'll make sure the boss knows you kept up your end of the bargain." One of the pirates states.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." Fives nods, quickly closing the ramp once they're all onboard.

As soon as the ramp is closed, Fives sits Elara down and throws the grey hat onto the floor. "El.. Ellie, can you hear me?" He asks. He'd noticed how weak she was in the hologram, but he never expected it to be this bad. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"Fives." She breathes. "I knew it was you. Why'd they-?"

"We had to use codenames." Rex pulls his helmet off as he crouches in front of her.

"Mm, is that so Commander?" She smiles weakly.

"El, what'd they do to you?" Rex asks, brushing her loose hair out of her face.

"Captain, are we taking off?" Echo asks, unsure of if they still want to recover the carbonate.

"Yes. Go, before they figure out it's not spice." Rex says, abandoning his previous plan now that Elara is with them. Echo nods before fleeing the planet's atmosphere.