Episode 4 :: Freedom

Instructions

With a grunt, Alera slammed her handcuffs against the metal rods surrounding her and the nine other Pantoran women. Her teeth gritted, she pried at the cold metal wrapped around her blue wrists. “It’s useless,” one murmured, yellow eyes dim with defeat. “You can’t get out.” “She can if she’s a Jedi,” another interrupted, her tatt00s running through her eyes and over her nose. “Use your power to free us!” Pressing her forehead against the bars, Alera muttered, “I’m not a Jedi.” She turned and faced the others. “If I was, I would be on Coruscant, but I’ve never been.” The faint hope in several of the women’s eyes faded away as Alera began to pace, adding to herself, “And I’m not likely to ever go.” She paced back and forth, her boots crossing the floor countless times. Down the hall, two droids on a patrol walked towards them, heavy feet clanking on the floor to alert the women of their approaching presence. Alera stopped, peering out through the bars with narrowed yellow eyes. “About to enter hyperspace,” a droid voice crackled through one of their comms. “Roger that.” The pair crossed the length of the cell and were nearly halfway when the ship lurched, blaster fire echoing outside. While the others screamed and rocked at the sudden shift, Alera knelt beside the bars, blue hands stretching out from between them. The droids tumbled over, one sliding towards the girl. As soon as her fingers grazed the droid’s blaster, she gripped it and pulled it towards her. “Hey!” She turned, calling out to the young woman with more tatt00s than the rest. She crawled over to Alera. “Sh00t my handcuffs,” Alera commanded and placed the w3apon in her hands. “Okay.” She nodded and steadied her hands before pulling the trigg3r, the bolt snapping Alera’s cuffs. The girl smiled for the first time. “Thank you. What was your name?” “Nali.” “Alera.” Another blast shook the ship, and the few who were standing crashed to the ground, except Nali, who held onto the cell bars. “We need to get out of here before the Jedi blast out of the sky!” Alera announced after they all stood again. “The Jedi? Are you sure they’re coming?” “Yes. I heard the clone commander call for a master. That’ll be a Jedi. Now, Nali, let’s get them out.” The ten Pantoran women stood in a circle watching Alera reach and fiddle with the keypad keeping the door shut. She grunted, her fingers slipping. “She’s almost there,” Nali informed the others in a whisper. They nodded, murmuring in excitement, when the ship rumbled, a sh0t blasting through the cell’s wall. Screams filled the room as the vacuum of space pulled at them from the gaping hole. Several of the women disappeared into the black abyss, their screams silenced in an instant. Alera’s fingers burned while she gripped the bars to stay inside, the strong current pulling at her legs while her hair whipped about her. Groaning, she turned to watch the others follow her suit, though already five had gone out, never to come back in. “Alera!” Nali cried, her voice high with desperation. Her hands held the bars a foot away from Alera, but one by one they slipped off until only her left hand kept her inside. “Nali, hold on! I’ll think of something!” As she bit her lip in frustration, Alera glanced around, searching for anything in the plain room, but it was empty, everything sucked out into space. With a cry of agony, Nali’s hand slipped away, and her body rushed out into the cold. “Nali!” Alera’s chest tightened, and she readjusted her grip on the bars. The cold air wrapped around her legs, threatening to pull her away to the same fate as Nali. Holding in the churning in her stomach at the stiff bodies floating just outside, Alera let go of one bar to reach for the keypad, her fingertips unable to press the buttons that could free those who had survived. “There’s a cell in here!” a man shouted, and the door slid open, revealing the clone commander and his general, his brown robes swirling at the sudden introduction to the wind. Acting at once, he reached out and held down his clone commander, whose boots slid across the floor. “What do we do, sir?” he asked, using the doorframe for support. “I’ll take care of it. Go help the others!” With a nod, the clone commander disappeared back through the doorway while the master stood his ground. He extended his hand and stepped back, the door sliding out from its frame inch by inch. Alera watched, yellow eyes full of curiosity, when the door slipped between the bars and slammed into the gaping hole, instantly cutting off the vacuum. Her body dropped to the ground with a thud, and the other three women who were left stayed on their knees, sobbing while she stood and approached the bars. “Thank you,” she whispered, and the master stepped to the door, pressing the keypad to release them. “You are most welcome, child.” He bowed, eyes narrowed in curiosity. “What is your name?” “I’m Alera Danta,” she replied and stepped through to freedom, his eyes trained on her.