Star Wars: Rebels of the Stars (COMPLETED/BEING EDITED)

Chapter 20: Old Friends

"Wake up!" I heard Qoy hit our connecting wall, and jolted awake, hitting my head on the bunk above me.

I winced and rubbed it, as I heard the cell door open, and was forced to my feet.

The guards forced me and Qoy down the hall and stairs, and saw the other prisoners working. 

They shoved a mining tool into my hands, and shoved me, telling me to work. 

"Stay close to me." Qoy whispered, "Not many girls are here, and trust me, you are gonna wish you weren't here."

"I can handle myself." I whispered back, "Don't you remember what I was put in here for?"

"In case you didn't know, your collar prohibits you from using the force. And you have no lightsaber." 

"Just trust me." I groaned. 

"Fine. If trouble comes, tell them with you're with me. I got some respect around here." He sighed, and got to work. I looked around the working prisoners, and saw two older men that were very similar. 

One of them had a splint on his leg, looking like it had been on there a long time and that he wouldn't be able to walk without it. He had many blast wound scars dotting his arms, shown clearly from the rolled up sleeves. 

The other with badly buzzed grey hair on his head was working next to him, and looked at the other, a faint tattoo of a fading red 'X' on his forehead and small black lines faint, as he said something illegible. Like his brother in arms, he had his sleeves rolled up, showing many battle wounds, as well as burns from what might have been the acid rain. 

I felt a shock from my collar and gasped in pain, falling to my knees, dropping the pickaxe.

"Get back to work!" The guard shouted at me, ringing in my ears.

Dang it Wen, why couldn't you disable the shocks as well, or at least make them weaker? 

I struggled to get to my feet, and grabbed the tool again, and began to mine at the near black dirt and search for the alloy. Nearby, I heard of the guards talking.

"Apparently the newest addition, the Jedi over there, has been taken interest in by Lord Vader and the Emperor."

"Lord Vader is coming here?" 

"Yes. He's arriving any hour now, after he deals with some meddlesome rebels. Two Jedi, a master and a padawan. Newly taught, as I heard."

"But the old Jedi ways are gone, forgetting a select few. The Order 66 took nearly all of them out, and the Great Jedi Purge even more."

"So that's what they're calling those now?"

"Yes. It was a dangerous time for anyone."

"We best get the prisoners working harder, or Lord Vader will not be pleased."

"Got it. HURRY IT UP YOU SLACKERS OR IT'LL BE NO FOOD FOR YOU!" He shouted, and the sound of metal hitting the earth and some other metal suddenly increased speed.

Apparently, they were only allowed food based on how well they worked, and only one meal a day, after  the work day was over.

After I worked twelve exhausting hours, my hands had more blisters than what I thought was humanly possible. I went to the guard, who weighed the metal I had, and gave my a slip for how much food I got. I went into the line, and soon was given the slop that I could choose to eat as slop, or add water to make it soup. 

I grabbed a spoon and looked around for a seat. Qoy was right. There were very few females. But there was a large variety of species, though most were human. 

Noticing the two men I spotted when we began working, I walked over and slid into the chair on the other side of them.

Both of them looked up confused.

"Climber? Trace?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, you're the new kid. We don't know your name. How do you know ours?" Trace asked confused.

"You know my name. Think for a good long time." I blinked and began to eat silently, as they inspected me, before Climber's eyes widened quickly.

"No." He muttered.

I nodded slightly.

"Who is she?" Trace whispered to him.

"Swoth." Was all Climber said and nodded.

"You've gotta be f..." Trace looked back at me, before Climber covered his mouth, to make him shut up.

"Mira, what are you doing here? How the heck are you alive?" The Ion Team's old leader leaned forward and whispered to me soft enough that I could barely hear.

"It's a long story. I'll explain later. But I'm busting you out."

"How? There's no way out." Trace muttered.

"My friends are helping. Z and Wen are hidi..." 

"Wen!? Wen's alive?!" Climber nearly shouted, before Trace quickly covered his mouth. 

"Yes. Yes he is. He tried to get you out before. The commotion and the addition of more stormtroopers was the result of that." I sighed.

"So he's here?"

I nodded, and took a bite, as a guard walked past. "This isn't the safest place to talk. Here." I slid a pair of coms under the table, as they took them and hid them in their prison uniform.

They nodded, and finished eating and drinking their water, before getting up and the guards escorting them to their cells as Qoy slid onto the bench next to me. 

"What was that about?" He whispered.

"It's nothing. Just catching up." 

"You said old friends, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So why did they looked so surprised to see you?"

"They thought I was dead. But now they know I'm not. But I have no idea for how much longer..."