Tatooine's Open Terrain

Her mind and body was lost in a sea of pain and azure blue lightning, and when the guard didn't let up, she thought she was going to lose control and eventually pass out, but suddenly it was over, and she could breathe again. To her shock and great relief, she could move, slowly, and pushed herself up, to see Ellie attack the guard with her lightsabers. While she appreciated that the girl called her a friend, her eyes widened in horror as she saw how badly this was going to end. It was too soon, much too soon!

“No, no no no-AIIIIIIGH!” Before she could even think of rushing to the aid of the other girl, she felt twice the amount of pain than she had before, because two guards were now on her, their control devices aimed at her and the built in pain/shock inducers in her clothes were triggered at double intensity. Writhing helplessly on the ground, the guard thrown back by Ellie in the mean time, raised his left arm, covered in saber-resistant alloy, and blocked the dual strike of the girl's sabers, and with his leg, he quickly delivered a hard kick to her abdomen.

“The blazes with this,” said the guard, “I don't care how valuable you are to the Seven Suns' future...”

He aimed the pain inducer at Ellie, when one of the Sun Knights raised a hand to forestall the guards actions, and he stepped forward, “Adept Ordo,” the Knight said, his voice gravelly, “you used the Force without permission, against a Republic Guard. I believe you are familiar with the punishment for such defiance.” He triggered a different punishment that was built into the Force-Sensitive Youngling's clothing, one which triggered intense tickling across the body, since concentration and focus was needed for using the Force, it was a very effective tool to stop them from further action. Meanwhile, he used the Force to pull the girl's lightsabers to his other hand.

Millie in the meantime, was sending out a desperate sensation through the Force, seeking relief and aid from her pain, and found it soon enough in the blissful embrace of unconsciousness.

*A set of black and gold eyes intently watched the security monitor as the situation below unfolded.* "Interesting." *Said the owner of the eyes, as she narrowed her gaze on the two clones being carried away. The Kaminoan turned her gaze from the monitor to the datapad in her slender hands. The two girls data profiles were displayed side by side. One girl in particular raised a question in her mind. Her train of thought was disturbed by the sound of door opening behind her and footsteps entering the room *

*Cade Barkar was head of security for this so called 'outpost', or the dust ball as he called it. Not that he minded it to much, mostly he just ignored or avoided the clones entirely. Right now his job was proving far more interesting then normal, given the circumstances, as he entered the room* "Mam. I apologize for the disturbance, but we have intruder on the surface. It appears he.."

*The Kaminoan cut his sentence short.* "I know captain. One of the Knights has already informed me." *She enlarged one of the profiles before speaking again.* "Tell me captain. What do you think of this one known as Ellie Ordo? Just a minute ago she performed a feat of combat no child her age she have. From my readings, it appears some residual memories of her genetic forebearer may have played a role in that. If that is true, then it could be....problematic in the long run. What do you believe we should do?"

*Cade almost shifted uncomfortably, this wasn't exactly his area of expertise. Both of them seemed trouble in their own way.* "Well..she's a child..a clone, sometimes they act out from free will. So...maybe her memories just need...suppressed? Or maybe it was just a fluke."

*The Kaminoan's eyes looked at the officer when he said child. Her expression was unreadable as she studied him. Finally she looked back at the datapad.* "Very well. I'll schedule to have those memories suppressed by one of our force users. That will be all Captain. Oh, and Captain, remember one thing. They're just clones."

*The door slid shut behind Cade, leaving him staring at his own reflection on the polished wall directly across from him. He was a man in his fifties, with short graying hair and an untrimmed beard which matched his hair.* "Just clones." *He mumbled to himself as he put his helmet back on. As he did, he passed a large group of younglings being led somewhere. Two of which were unconscious. He diverted his gaze as he passed them.* "Clones, just....clones."

When Jaime came to, he was shocked to find himself in the Emerald Star's medical bay, just beside the ship's cockpit. His armour, shirt and coat had been removed, along with most of his belongings, and large wraps of Bacta bandages had been generously applied over his midsection, arms and even parts of his face, if he was feeling it correctly. “What in the blazes happened?” He asked no one in particular, and realized he had a patch over one eye too.

“We barely got to you in time,” said Gina, appearing by the doorway and Jaime looked at her in horror. Part of her face was missing flesh and hair, revealing her mechanical eye and duraplate skull, her entire left forearm was gone right up to the elbow, the haphazardly cut off limb's joints and wiring still sparked and sizzled, burns and revealed mechanics on her midsection, right thigh and shin with cloth and skin fused uncomfortably together suggested she'd taken many shots from high-powered weaponry, possibly even turbolasers, “there were six dark Jedi and at least a dozen armed guards. You never even made it to the blast doors. You were shouting for your niece when Thirteen and I got to you with the Star.”

The HRD's voice crackled and broke, indicating how badly damaged she was herself, and she sounded clearly mechanical now. The R2 unit rolled in, beeping and warbling, saying he was ready to go into battle again if Jaime wanted. The droid's dome-shaped head sported burns and there was a gaping hole on the left plating by his main leg.

“While I appreciate that, I think I'm willing to admit we're quite and well beaten.” Jaime tried to rise from his bed, and fell back dejectedly, feeling weaker than before. He glanced at Gina, “Six Dark Jedi, you say?”

She nodded once, and walked over to sit next to Jaime, the man couldn't help wincing at the damage done to his friend, “What happened to you? I know you're reckless, but that was...it was like you were possessed or went mad. You actually broke through their ranks even as they shot you to bits. You were trying to break the blast doors, but the Dark Jedi kept pulling you back. You might have badly hurt one of them, I think, but it was more luck than anything else.”

“A droid,” said Jaime, “telling me about luck. Bloody hell. Now I know it's real bad.”

“Stop joking, Jaime,” said Gina, “I nearly lost you! I can be fixed but you...!”

She raised her missing left arm at him, the joints sparked for emphasis, “I can't lose you. Do you understand me?!? I can't lose you!”

Jaime reached out and rested his artificial left hand on her right shoulder, “I'm here, Gina...I'm here. I'm sorry, for what I put you through...but I'm here.”

An actual tear streaked down from the HRD's good eye, and she sniffled, wiping at it with her remaining hand, and muttered something about too much accuracy to humanity built in her, and then she looked at him, “At least tell me there's a reason you acted so recklessly. I've called Ruubin, don't look at me like that. Look at us, you know we need help, lots of it.”

Jaime lay his head back against the pillow, sighing, “Maybe it's just as well you called him. He's going to want to be here. I went down there like a madman...because Ami-Lee's down there. I felt her presence.”

“Are you sure it's your niece?” said Gina. She didn't question Jaime's choice of words. She knew that the man had abilities beyond that of normal humans, and she could never possibly understand that, but she knew Jaime long enough to believe him when he told her about these things, “It wasn't just wishful thinking or hope?”

“I'm sure, Gina. She's in there.”

The HRD nodded, and rose unsteadily to her feet, “Then we'd better get you better quick...your niece awaits...hzzk!”

The sight of Gina stumbling and falling gave Jaime a sudden boost of strength that propelled him out of bed and right beside her along with Thirteen, who screeched and warbled in panic, bending over to lend a literaly arm claw and turned the damaged HRD on her back, her body spasming and jerking mechanically, “Gina!”

“*Hzzk!* I'...nnzr...I'm fine...” Gina wasn't even looking at Jaime anymore, her gaze fixed on the ceiling past him. “...nhk! Can...ta-aaake more-fff...have to.”

“Blast it,” said Jaime, “They hit your primary power core...I'm sorry Gina, but I need to shut you down, or you'll go up in flames.”

“-ssss-kay...will...b-fine...”

With a flick of a hidden switch, Gina's head rolled limply to one side, “Thirteen, help me with her, we need to fix her up fast.”

Her flesh would eventually grow back over the mechanical parts, but the mechanical parts themselves needed critical repairs or complete replacements. Fortunately, Gina appeared to have had the foresight to get everything they'd need, even spare parts to fix a HRD or an R2-series astromech droid. Moreover, it seemed that his two droids had been busy after they managed to rescue him and escape with their ship. They'd gone back to ground, with every ECM active, and a camo net to hide them from a visual inspection. Anyone looking for them would see nothing but a massive lump of rock against a rocky hillside. R2-I3 told Jaime all this as they worked feverishly to save Gina's life.

After some exhausting hours, Gina was reactivated, with a new left arm, power core, and a new suit of armour, because if she was going to get shot at, better to protect her vulnerable systems, since she was not nearly as durable as even she believed. “Now we wait,” said Jaime as he laid his head against the bulkhead. Ruubin wouldn't come alone, and maybe, just maybe, they'd all get out of this intact and reunite with their beloved niece.

*Things hadn't exactly been fun since they got here...well, technically things hadn't been fun even before they got here. Now they were just getting worse. Between the semi isolation, constant physical and mental strain, this place felt more like a prison then anything. Today was exceptionally bad, they had forced her to fight another youngling to the point where they almost made her cross a very bad line. The whole thing made Ellie's stomach knot up as she remembered the other youngling being taken to the infirmary.*

*She was rubbing her sore ribs from a strong hit she had taken, when she felt a tug in the force. This made her stop and focus intently.
Then, a voice, Millie's voice to be exact. This caught Ellie momentarily off guard as she expected to immediately be shocked. When the shock never came, she tentatively reached out to the source of the voice.* Millie? How are you...never mind, are you okay? Where are you? *She stood up and moved to the edge of her cell. Millie was close, she could feel that, but she couldn't see a lot from where she was at.*

*Ellie didn't attempt to even look in that direction in fear of alerting the guards. She was impressed with Millie's ability to make the guard fall asleep. Out, that was something Ellie couldn't agree more on, the needed out of this nightmare. Getting out was the problem, and Millie was right about the clothes, that needed solved first. She did have an idea.* Okay, I think I have an idea. Just keep the guard asleep. *She could see him from her cell, and what she was after. Very carefully, she reached out with the force and grabbed the pain inducer. With a quick tug, it shot off the mans belt and launched her way. Ellie held her breath as the object hit the ground and slid into her cell. To her relief, none of the guards seemed to notice.*

*She grabbed the device and retreated to the corner of her cell. There she began to scan it over, careful not to hit the wrong button.
After several minutes, she found she was looking for. With one click of a button, the electronics in everyone's clothes turned off along with the cells. Sure it was only a temporary fix that could be turned back on, if they were caught anyway. Peeking out of her cell, Ellie took one very cautious step once the coast was clear. Then she darted past the guard to Millie's cell. Once there, she about knocked the girl down with a hug.* "Millie! Come on, we have to go. I'm not sure how long this will last." *She was excited, but managed to keep her voice down as she showed the other girl the device she stole.*

*Ellie stepped back from Millie and gave a nod at her question. Then it was her turn to be surprised as Millie began to pull off her clothes. Ellie's face turned red and she turned around to face the other way. She gave half a glance back when then girl asked what she was waiting for.* "W..well..I was just....surprised..I.." *Reluctantly, she did the same as Millie and tossed her clothes into a pile. She felt a little self conscious for a minute, but told herself it was better than getting shocked.*

*While Millie worked on making clothes. Ellie busied herself with pulling the laces from her boots. She then took boot lace and carefully tied the guards wrists together. This wasn't the best idea, but it kept her distracted. At least until she heard a voice behind her.*

"If you're trying to escape. Then I can help."

*Ellie spun around so fast that she almost fell over. There, standing behind them, was another youngling, an Arkanian boy about her age. He had snow white hair and white eyes. Around he had also pulled off his clothes, except around his waist was the sheet from his cot being held up by a yellow sash. Ellie came close to giving a loud squeak of surprise, as her brain screamed boy. She grabbed a piece of clothe Millie had already  cut and held it up in front of herself. Her voice was almost lost as she stammered out a question.* "W..who are you?"

*The boy tilted his head to the side some as if confused by her actions.* "My name is Hyrim. I'm part of the engineer group, and I think I have a way to help us get out of here. Once you're done here, then I'll explain on the way to the generator room." *Without waiting for an answer, he turned his back to them and walked further down the hall. Ellie turned to Millie and gave her a look that said 'work faster'. Then she heard it,  a female voice humming and heading their direction. Ellie froze at the sound before carefully peeking around the corner of the cell. Walking towards them, with face burried in a datapad, was one of the resident scientists. She appeared to be completely oblivious to her surroundings, but that wouldn't last long.*

*They were going to get caught, unless Ellie acted quickly. She fidgeted with the cloth for a second before turning to Millie and handing her the fabric. What she was about to do was dumb, but at least one of them needed to be free of their cells.* "Millie, you and Hyrim get to that generator. I'll distract them for as long as I can. Don't worry, I'll find you, I promise." 

*Ellie snuck out of Millie's cell and got as close as she could to the approaching woman. Then she saw it, a key card hanging from the womans waist. It was a good of a target as any. Once the woman was close enough, Ellie darted forward and snagged the key card before darting off down the hall away from Millie. The scientist froze in shock at what just happened, but recovered enough to chase after Ellie while yelling in a panicked and confused voice. Now it was up to Millie.*

*Hyrim barely glanced at Millie when she asked him what they were going to do. He was mainly focused on getting to said room.* "First thing we need to do, is get to the generator room. Once inside, I can cause the generator to overload. Which, in theory, should knock out most of their power and equipment. And if I read through the schematics correctly, it should force the main door open. Then we just need to get out."

=Elsewhere=
*Ellie slid across the smooth floor and almost lost her footing as she rounded a corner. The surprised scientist and guards weren't to far behind her, and Ellie was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. She rounded another corner into a hallway that had several doors either side. With stolen key card in hand, she unlocked the first door she came to and darted inside. The door hissed shut a split second before the guards rounded the corner. Ellie pressed herself up against the wall and held her breath as she heard them go by. She let out a slow breath and realized that she was safe for the moment.*

*Her eyes turned to the room she had taken refuge in. The first thing she noticed was the large shelves that filled the room. Supplies of all manner lay tucked away neatly in containers. Ellie slowly walked down the isle, peering into each contact. Tools, spare parts and electronics filled the boxes, and even....clothes! Ellie pulled the container off the shelf in her excitement and began to dig through her find. She pulled out what looked like a leotard with shorts and sleeves, made of what felt like armorweave. Ellie then began to dig through the box till she found a size that fit her. She pulled on the clothes and felt satisfied with her find. After several minutes of searching, she found more clothes. A pair of black combat pants with matching boots. An olive green clothe belt with a blaster holster attached to it. Another box she found black fingerless gloves and elbow and knee pads. Wearing her new attire, and a duffle bag in one hand and a backpack in the other, she wondered the isles grabbing various supplies. *

*Something at the end of the room caught her attention. A machine of some sort, like a large sowing machine. Ellie examined the machine closely and the pile of clothes nearby. She picked up a shirt and scanned it over, nothing about it seemed unusual. Her eyes moved from the shirt to the conveyor that moved into the next room. On it was an identical shirt, except this one had small metal fibers weaved into it. The realization of what this machine was for caused Ellie to drop the shirt and take a step back.* "So this thing is what puts all the shocking devices in our clothes, huh? Guess that makes sense, especially if they don't want to draw attention with some very curious orders."

*She left the terrible machine behind and continued her supply gathering. Including a matching set of clothes that she hoped fit Millie and Hyrim. Finally she grabbed some weapons, her second favorite discovery in this room. She grabbed three Hattmark derringers, a few vibro blades and a shoto saber for Mille. Instead of grabbing a set of shoto sabers for herself, Ellie grabbed a pair of guard shoto sabers. Now she was ready, and with supplies in hand, all she had to do was find Millie and Hyrim.*

"Same. They took us there once for a test of some sort." *Said Hyrim as he followed after Millie.* "I give it a sixty percent chance of minimal damage. Thirty percent for extended damage, and the rest...well...don't think to much on it." *Her next question made him think for a moment.* "I know of quite a few who don't want to be her that want to escape. The rest, like me, want out, but..we have nowhere to go."

*Fourtune favored the two as the made their way to the generator room without running into any guards. Hyrim bypassed the control panel with little effort, allowing the two swift entrance into the room. Without out hesitating, he set to work. "Okay. This may take a few minutes."

=Ellie=
*Ellie darted down the hall from one hiding spot to the next. She had to find the generator room, wherever that was. There seemed to be more guards than usual, luckily for her, they all seemed to be heading towards the cells. Unfortunately they also seemed to be heading towards the entrance. She came to an ubrubt stop when she heard Millie's voice in her head.* Millie? I'm okay, just not sure where I'm at. Where are you?

=Hyrim=
*Carefully, Hyrim, adjusted the power output to hit the desired level he required to cause an overloaded. One that wouldn't either be to little or kill them in the process. With one final stroke of a key, he stepped back away from the terminal. * "There! The generator should overload just enough to kick off the power for a time." *He hesitated for a moment before grabbing Millie by the hand and dragging her out of the room.* "Running. I forgot that part. We definitely shouldn't be close to this thing." *The two barely made it to the next hallway when a loud humming filled the air, followed by a loud boom. The ground beneath their feet shook and the hallway went dark. Several alarms began to go off as emergency lights kicked on, bathing the hallway in a dim red glow. They had done it, they had shutdown the main power. Now all they had to do was...*

"Stop right there!" *Hyrim's heart nearly stopped in his chest as he looked up to see a guard with his blaster trained on them. Before either one of them could speak, a duffle bag slid between the guards legs. The man looked down in surprise before turning around. He only had a split second to see Ellie in mid leap as she brought down the butt end of her shoto into the side of his head. The guard hit the ground hard, while Ellie gracefully landed by the duffle bag. She looked between the two before finally speaking.* "It's a lot easier to find this room if you tail a guard. Also, good work on getting the power down."