Escape from the Dragon's Jaws/Story

Escape from the Dragon's Jaws an MI5 Chronicles story

She bit down on the muja fruit, feeling the juice squirt into her mouth. It was the first thing she had tasted in a few days. She had managed to snatch a few of them from a vendor a few streets over. The stupid vendor didn't even know she was there.

The 17-year-old Twi'lek had been scavenging for food most of her life here in the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa. That was pretty much the only life Froza Klebb knew. Even she herself sometimes wondered how she'd managed to survive on this planet all those years growing up.

All she knows of her family's history is that a slave-owner brought her and her mother here from Ryloth when she was only 2 years old. She never knew her biological father. A few years later, a fight broke out between their owner and one of his enemies. Her mother was caught in the crossfire and killed. Froza, scared, fled the scene and hid from everyone. Ever since then, she had to learn to fend for herself. And on Nar Shaddaa, you had to learn quickly.

Froza took another bite of the fruit. She loved how it tasted. She shoved the other two into the pockets of her jacket, which she stole off of some dead Human she found a few years back.

As she chewed the last bit of the first muja fruit, she turned down an alley between two huge run-down buildings and sat on the ground, leaning up against the garbage dumpster.

She pulled out one of the other two pieces of fruit and bit into it. As she munched on that, she heard footsteps coming from deeper down the alley. She quickly scurried behind the dumpster, out of sight from whoever was approaching.

She waited patiently, listening to the footsteps. Nar Shaddaa was a very dangerous place. You couldn't trust anyone.

The footsteps suddenly stopped.

"It's okay, young one," a male voice said in Basic. "I hate to see a girl like you out on the streets. I can help you, give you a place to live."

Froza didn't move. She stayed silent.

"Don't be afraid. Come on out," the voice said.

There was silence for a moment.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said again. "Please come out."

Froza reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the last muja fruit she had. She slowly crept out toward the edge of the dumpster and saw a shadowed humanoid figure on the other side.

"That's it," he said. "Come on out."

Froza threw the muja fruit at the being's face and sprinted down the alley. She rounded the corner, her boots sliding across the slick duracrete. She had dealt with these crazy lowlife perverts before. She just had to run and hide from them for a while.

After a number of blocks, she stopped to catch her breath. Resting her butt against a wall, she bent down, hands on her knees, and leaned forward. She was exhausted from the non-stop running. As she was sucking in the dirty air, she thought to herself, What is it with these creeps and their teenage girl fantasies?

She cocked her head to look back down the street. She didn't see anyone. It didn't look like he followed her.

She took one last deep breath and sighed in relief. Now she had to find more food. As she stood up, she heard the same male voice again. But it was coming from the other direction.

"Oh, a spunky one," he said.

Froza spun around to see him, but all she saw was a blue stun ring. She felt her body involuntarily give out and she collapsed, unconscious.

- - - - - - - - - -

She tried opening her eyes. Her vision was blurred, so everything looked fuzzy.

Froza rolled over. She found herself laying on a cold, metal floor.

"You're finally awake," a female voice said.

Froza looked up, blinked, and then rubbed her eyes. She looked again and she could make out another female Twi'lek. She was a pink-skinned Twi'lek roughly twice Froza's age. Froza quickly glanced around, finding herself trapped in a small room with three other female Twi'leks. Three walls were metal and one was a reddish-orange ray shield of some kind. "What is this? Where am I?"

"We're being held as prisoners," the pink Twi'lek said. "I'm figuring we're on some slave-trader's ship."

"Slave?!" Froza yelled out. "No no no no no." She scurried up against the wall and balled herself up into a sitting fetal position. She remembers what her mother went through as a slave. She didn't want to suffer the same fate.

"It's alright," the pink Twi'lek said, kneeling down in front of the frightened Froza.

"No, it's not alright," Froza responded, almost in tears.

"Just relax," the pink Twi'lek said again. "We're formulating a plan to escape."

Froza slowly looked up at her, interested and hopeful.

The pink Twi'lek put a hand on her own chest. "My name is Raina Varr." She pointed up at the other two female Twi'leks in the prison cell. They were both young, had green skin and looked identical. "That's Banta and Leena Shi'in, twin sisters." Raina looked back at Froza.

"I'm Froza. Froza Klebb."

"I promise you, Froza," Raina started, "we'll get you out of here, with the help of some Wookiees."

"Wookiees?" Froza questioned.

Raina pointed to the ray shield wall. Through the reddish glow, another prison cell could be seen opposite their own. Sure enough, a Wookiee stood alone in that cell. It gave a soft grunt, acknowledging them.

"His name is Shookdura," Raina explained.

"You speak Shyriiwook?" Froza asked.

"I understand Shyriiwook," Raina corrected her, "as well as many other languages. Believe it or not, I'm a language instructor on Coruscant."

Froza, not too terribly interested in Raina's backstory, looked back toward the Wookiee. "How do we get outta here?"

As she finished her question, there was the whooshing sound of a door sliding open. Then footsteps, and the door sliding closed.

The four Twi'lek's watched through the ray shield as two Humans dragged a sedated Wookiee between the two cells. One Human keyed in a passcode which lowered the shield in the Wookiee cell. Shookdura roared. The Humans then used some form of energy prod to keep Shookdura back. The two prods hit him and gave him an electric shock. He roared in pain. The Humans then tossed the new Wookiee into the cell, but Shookdura leaped toward them. The Humans prodded him and tried to force him back. Shookdura was in excruciating pain, but managed to take a swipe at one of the Humans with his strong arms. The Human went flying backward and slammed into the ray shield on the Twi'lek cell.

The other Human continued to prod Shookdura. The smell of burning fur filled the room.

Shookdura dropped to the floor, hurt.

"Come on," the standing Human yelled. "Get back in your cell!" He shoved the prod into the Wookiee again.

Shookdura roared in pain.

The twin Twi'leks turned and covered their eyes. They couldn't watch that torture.

The other Human, who was thrown across the hall, began to stand up. He was in pain from the hit he took from the attacking Wookiee.

Shookdura began to crawl back into the cell. As he went, he kicked the legs out from under the Human who prodded him. As the Human fell, he dropped his prod. Now Shookdura had the upper-hand. Neither Human had their weapon.

Using what strength he had left in him, he stood up and grabbed the Human he just kicked. He then looked toward the other Human, who had a frightened look on his face.

Shookdura lunged for him and slammed the Humans' heads together.

There was a loud cracking noise and Froza flinched. She suddenly felt a bit queasy. She had seen dead bodies laying around on Nar Shaddaa, but there was something disturbing about watching it happen.

Now that the fight was over, Shookdura managed to catch his breath. He leaned up against the wall for a moment to get his bearings.

"Are you alright?" Raina asked him.

He grunted something Froza couldn't understand.

Shookdura walked over to the Twi'lek cell and punched the control keypad, smashing it and causing the ray shield to malfunction.

The four Twi'leks came rushing out. Raina made sure Shookdura was okay.

Froza picked up one of the energy prods. "We're probably gonna need to find some better weapons if we're gonna fight our way outta here."

Shookdura pointed at the new Wookiee that was sedated. He grumbled something to Raina.

"What?" she responded. "Do you know him?" She walked over to the prone Wookiee and rolled him over.

Shookdura roared.

Raina translated. "Shookdura says it's his friend. His name is Chewbacca, son of Attichitcuk."

"If he's gonna help us escape, we better wake him up." Froza kneeled down to look at Chewbacca. She put her hands on his big broad shoulders and shook him. "Come on. Wake up."

Chewbacca's eyes rolled around groggily.

Shookdura hobbled over to his fellow Wookiee and began talking to him in the Shyriiwook language Froza didn't understand. Then he picked up the other prod and barely touched it to Chewbacca's skin giving him a light jolt.

Chewbacca's body twitched. He began to roar. It looked to Froza like he was coming out of whatever drug he was given. Chewbacca blinked his eyes and leaped to his feet. He roared angrily at Froza. Shookdura put an arm out to stop him from attacking her.

Amongst the Wookiee noises, Raina translated. "Since he saw you holding the energy prod," she said, looking at Froza, "he thinks you zapped him. But Shookdura is explaining the situation." Raina listened to the conversation some more. "Chewbacca apologizes."

Froza nodded to the Wookiee and said, "It's okay. Let's just get outta here." Froza was determined to not end up as a slave.

- - - - - - - - - -

The door to the prison cell hallway slid open and the two Wookiees stepped through first, each wielding an energy prod. The four Twi'lek's followed. They were now in an unknown territory. First priority: survival.

They found themselves standing in a very small room with another door opposite the one they just came through. Chewie walked up to it. It didn't slide open. He pushed on it. Nothing. He threw a punch into it, causing a loud metal ringing noise to echo through the small room.

"Wait," Raina said, standing next to Chewbacca. "There's a control panel here." She began typing at the keypad attached to the wall to the right of the door. "Damn. It requires a security code to open it. Extra security so the prisoners can't escape, I guess."

"What do we do know?" one of the twins asked.

"We're stuck here for good," her sister added.

"No we're not," Froza commented. "Gimme that," she said, pointing to the prod in Shookdura's furry hands. The Wookiee reluctantly handed the girl the weapon. Froza thrusted the energy prod into the control panel, frying it. Everyone shielded their eyes from the sparks and the door suddenly slid open.

The Wookiees grunted.

Raina turned to Froza and said, "Nice work."

Froza handed the prod back to Shookdura. "You learn a thing or two about survival growing up on Nar Shaddaa."

They walked through the doorway and on to a lift. As the six of them piled into it, Chewie grunted something.

"He says to be prepared," Raina translated. "There's no telling what we may find on the next level."

Chewie hit the "UP" button and the lift slowly moved upward.

The lift came to a halt and the door slid open...revealing five armed Humans.

Looking down the barrel of five different blasters, Froza said, "Maybe destroying that panel wasn't the best idea."

"It seemed to alert them that we were coming," Raina added.

"Shut up and don't move a muscle!" one of the Humans yelled.

The two Wookiees glanced at each other, almost as if they were communicating just by the look in their eyes. They then turned back to the Humans and roared. The Twi'lek twins covered their ears.

With the energy prods at the ready, Chewbacca and Shookdura lunged out at the Humans who outnumbered them. Blaster fire erupted and Raina huddled in the corner of the lift protecting the three young Twi'leks.

Chewbacca tackled one of the Humans while Shookdura took a shot in the shoulder before hitting the ground. On the cold metal floor, Chewie rolled over on his back, pulling the Human with him and using him as a shield against the other blaster bolts. As he finished the roll, he tossed the Human into one of the other blaster-toting enemies.

In excruciating pain, Shookdura managed to subdue the Human that shot him.

A stray blaster bolt hit the durasteel directly over Froza's head. "Frak!"

Another bolt slipped past Raina and caught Banta Shi'in in the side of the head. As her head was thrown back from the force of the shot, her twin sister Leena screamed. Raina reached out and put her hands on Banta's head. "No!" The young Twi'lek was dead. Her eyes lifeless.

Suddenly, a hand reached down and grabbed Leena by the arm. She screamed again. The Human yanked her away from the other Twi'leks and headed for the exit door. "At least I'll get out of here with something to sell," he said. As the door slid open, he looked back at the fight only to see a giant hairy Wookiee rushing toward him. The Human stepped through the door and fired at him. Shookdura took two more blaster bolts to the chest. He dropped to the floor as the door closed in front of him.

Chewie rushed over to aid his fallen comrade.

Froza looked around. Four Humans lay dead, as well as the young Twi'lek next to her. Raina, holding the dead Twi'lek girl in her arms, looked up at the Wookiees. Through the tears she could see Shookdura was severely injured.

The two Wookiees spoke to each other in their native language. Raina understood it but Froza couldn't.

Shookdura was on his back, wheezing...dying. Chewbacca was bent over him, trying to tell him to hang in there. They conversed for a few moments about life-debts and other emotional things before Shookdura took his last breath. Chewbacca watching his friend's eyes roll back as the life left him. Chewie took a few quick breaths and then let out a great roar of anger.

Raina cried some more.

But Froza, who was examining the room they were currently in, picked up one of the blasters the Humans had been carrying. She glanced back at Raina, then to Chewie. "Who's up for some revenge?" Being taken prisoner and watching her new friends get killed was a major turning point for her. She could feel the bloodlust begin to bubble up inside her.

She would never be the same again.

The room looked as though it was some kind of control room. Different computer consoles lined the walls, complete with vid-screens. Froza walked up to one of the consoles. "Maybe we can find a way out of here."

Raina, wiping the tears from her eyes, stepped up next to Froza. "I can-- I can go through the database." She began typing away at the machine. Chewie also made his way over.

Words in Basic popped up on the screen. "We are on a slave ship," Raina stated. "It's called the Dragon's Jaws. And we're currently docked on Kashyyyk."

"Slave ship," Froza repeated. Images of her mother suddenly flashed through her mind, adding to that bloodlust.

"Wait," Raina said. Reading the words on the screen, "A small two-seater space craft just left the Dragon's Jaws cargo bay." She was able to pull up a security image of the cargo bay. A Human and a Twi'lek could be seen in the ship before it departed. "Leena..."

Raina hung her head. "She'll no doubt be sold into slavery now."

Chewie pointed at the screen and grunted.

Raina and Froza looked up at it. The image showed another two-seater ship in the cargo bay. Chewie spoke again.

Raina translated. "Right. If we can get down to that ship, the two of us can get away from this place."

"But what about Chewbacca?" Froza questioned. "Oh, wait. This is his home planet," she corrected herself.

"Right, so he doesn't need to get off-world," Raina confirmed.

"Can you figure out how to get down there?" Froza asked, pointing to the image of the cargo bay.

"Yes I can," Raina answered, getting to work on the console.

- - - - - - - - - -

The door slid open revealing the ships cargo bay. One of the two-seater ships was still there. Raina recognized it as a Ventnor-class passenger transport. Created by Kuat Drive Yards, it was a small two-passenger ship designed to look like a starfighter, but it in fact was only used for transport. It did not contain any weapons. Next to it was an empty space. Clamps were on the floor that held the two ships in place. The side walls of the cargo bay were lined with crates. They had no idea what was in them.

Froza, Raina and Chewie all hurried into the cargo bay.

There was a slight rumble and the whole ship jolted a bit. The Dragon's Jaws had lifted off the ground. "We've got to hurry," Raina suggested.

Froza examined the two-seater craft and noticed the clamps locking it in place. "How do we unlatch it?"

Chewie grunted and pointed at a computer console next to the door they had just passed through.

Raina rushed over to it. "Let me see..." She typed away, giving the computer different commands. "Here we go."

Froza suddenly saw the clamps open up. "Perfect," she said, smiling.

"And now the bay doors," Raina said.

There was a loud clanking noise, then a burst of cool air. Daylight shined in as the large cargo bay door slowly began to open. Wind began whipping through the cargo bay, pulling at Chewie's fur and the Twi'leks' lekku. The light shined through the horizontal slit as it widened. The top of the door was positioned upward toward the sky, while the bottom part of the door folded down into a ramp. The three of them took a peak outside.

The Dragon's Jaws was still on Kashyyyk, floating high above the treetops. It was a long way down. Froza swallowed hard.

Suddenly, a blaster bolt slammed Chewbacca in the back of the shoulder, causing him to drop his blaster. As he roared in pain, Raina and Froza spun around aiming their weapons. It was another Human. This one was tall, thin and had short dark hair. He also pointed a blaster back at the Twi'leks.

"Drop your weapons," he said calmly. "Now."

That voice... Froza recognized it almost immediately. That was the man that had been chasing her back on Nar Shaddaa. "You!" she exclaimed. "Who are you?!"

Before answering, the Human noticed Chewie's hand reaching for the blaster he dropped. "Ah, ah! Don't do it, furball."

Chewie glared at the man. The Wookiee slowly got to his feet holding his injured shoulder and leaving the blaster on the floor.

"My name is Krayt Brisker," the dark-haired Human said. "But you can call me Master."

"Krayt?" Froza questioned. "As in...dragon?"

"Hence the ship's name," Raina deduced.

Brisker continued, "No slave has ever escaped from my ship. And I don't intend to let that happen now. If you will all march back down to your holding cells, we can all get through this alive."

Chewbacca roared something.

Raina responded, "You're right, Chewbacca." She turned back to Brisker. "We have two blasters where you only have one."

"This isn't gonna turn out well for you," Froza added. Froza and Raina held their blasters, while Chewbacca waited for an opening to pounce on the Human. Brisker just stood there, also aiming his blaster, stonefaced.

It was a stand-off. Neither Froza nor Raina had ever killed anyone, so pulling the trigger would be difficult. They had no idea what Brisker might do. He just might be a killer. After all, the rest of his crew members were involved in that deadly battle. He probably has no qualms about killing people. Did the Twi'leks want to take that risk?

Brisker suddenly cracked a smile. "You're probably wondering if I'm a killer, right? Will I actually shoot you? Is it worth the money I'd lose from selling you?" He pulled the trigger and a blaster bolt hit Raina squarely in the chest.

"No!" Froza screamed as Chewbacca roared. Raina's body fell backward from the bolts impact and she hit the ramp of the cargo bay, rolling down and off the edge. Her body fell all the way down to the wroshyr trees.

Chewie and Froza spun back around to Brisker.

The Human said, "No one escapes my ship. Not alive, that is. Now, back to your cells."

Froza swore at him. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. Her hands were shaking, which disrupted her aim with the blaster. All she had to do was pull that trigger. She had to force herself to do it. She wanted to, but something inside her was preventing it.

"Consider yourself lucky, young Twi'lek," Brisker told her. "Your friend was a bit older. The younger ones, such as yourself, fetch more money. And it doesn't matter if the Wookiee dies. All I need is his pelt."

Inside, Chewie was fuming. Froza could almost sense it.

"Back to your cells," Brisker ordered again.

Chewie looked down at Froza. He put a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at him. Chewie gave a quick nod indicating they head back into the ship.

At first, Froza was stunned. They had come this far and now he just wanted to give up? But wait... There was a certain look in the Wookiee's eyes. Chewbacca had something planned.

Froza tried to calm herself and set the blaster on the floor of the cargo bay.

"That's a smart girl," Brisker commented.

Chewbacca and Froza began to head toward Brisker, who was standing by the door.

"There," Brisker said, "see how easy that was?" He took a few steps back to allow his slaves to reach the door.

The door slid open when Chewie approached it and Brisker reached over toward the control panel to shut the cargo bay doors. Brisker took his eyes off of the Wookiee only for a second and that was Chewie's opening. He leaped out at the Human, smacking the blaster out of his hand and taking him to the floor.

Froza rushed over to pick up the blaster.

Chewie tried to pin Brisker down but the pain from the blaster bolt he took in the shoulder was hurting badly. With Chewie in a weakened state, Brisker kneed the Wookiee in the gut. Chewie let out a yelp and that gave Brisker a moment to pull a knife from inside his coat. He pulled his arm back and began to stab Chewie in the side of the ribcage.

Froza aimed the blaster and watched in horror. All the new friends she just met were all dying. The fight she witnessed in the holding cells, the fatal battle inside the ship with dead bodies strewn everywhere, Raina falling to her doom, and now Chewbacca was getting killed right in front of her eyes. The light gleened off a small stream of blood that was running down the Wookiee's fur and on to the metal floor of the cargo bay. Seeing all this death and horrific images, something snapped inside her mind. A slaver was the reason Froza had grown up alone on the streets of Nar Shaddaa. And slavers were responsible for all these new friends she just lost. Raina had treated her in a mothering way. Shookdura gave his life to save her and the other Twi'leks. She couldn't stand by and let a slaver kill her only remaining friend...

Froza's eyes snapped shut for only a moment. When she opened them, she focused on Brisker's head and fired the blaster.

The Human's head jerked backward as his now lifeless body fell limp next to Chewbacca. The Wookiee, moaning from the pain, got up and looked at Froza. He placed a hand over the knife wounds and applied pressure.

The young teenage Twi'lek was quivering. She let the blaster slip through her hands and land on the floor of the cargo bay. Chewie slowly walked over to her and grunted something.

"I killed him...I killed him..." Froza muttered.

Chewie could see the emotional state in which she was in. He just stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. They just stood there, and after a few moments, Froza stopped quivering and Chewie could feel her heart-rate and breathing come back to normal.

Chewie said something but Froza couldn't understand him.

"The bastard had it coming," Froza managed to say.

Chewie released his grip on the little Twi'lek and spoke again. And again, Froza couldn't understand what he was saying.

Chewie then pointed to her, then the two-seater ship, then motioned toward the opened bay doors.

Froza understood that. He wanted her to make the escape. "But what about you? You're bleeding."

Chewie grunted and shook his head. He again motioned for her to go.

She climbed into the front seat of the small ship and looked at the controls. "Uh..." She had to think back to when she found that old burnt-out starfighter on Nar Shaddaa a few years ago. The thing was inoperable, but she studied it closely just in case she had the opportunity to fly one and get off that planet.

Froza began hitting a few buttons and switches. The ship started up. "I've got it."

Chewie walked around to see her in the cockpit. Froza reached a hand out to him. Chewie shook it. "Thanks, Chewbacca," she said to him sincerely, "for everything you've done. I was a total stranger and you and your friend risked your lives to save me. I'll never forget you."

Chewie responded with a noise that Froza guessed was some form of "good-bye".

"Take care of yourself," Froza said, releasing the Wookiee's big, furry hand. She strapped herself in and closed the glass lid of the cockpit. Chewie stepped back and watched Froza mess with the controls of the ship. After a few moments, the ship slowly crept out of the cargo bay and sailed out into the open sky over Kashyyyk.

Chewie watched the ship until it got so far out that it disappeared from sight. He then hobbled over to the control panel on the wall by the door and began keying in controls.

"Course plotted," a mechanical voice said.

He continued giving the slave ship commands.

"Auto-pilot initiated," the mechanical voice said again.

Chewbacca felt the ship slowly lurch forward and slightly downward.

He moved to the open cargo doors and looked down at the trees passing by underneath him. The ship was descending, getting closer to the trees. The ship made a soft landing on a nearby beach and Chewie sat down in the sand to rest his injured body. He would eventually dismantle the ship and give Shookdura a proper send off. But first, he had to rest.

He looked up at the sky, not knowing if he would ever see Froza Klebb again. What kind of person would she turn out to be, he wondered.

The End