At what point did Anders become a lackey?
Was it the moment he became a part of the Taldryan Republic, or was it when he accepted the position as Spymaster?
He didn't know for certain, but what he did know was that he would have rather been doing anything other than being Cassandra's errand boy.
At least he had BUDD-E with him, that counted for something. The little droid peered over his shoulder, watching as Anders flicked through dossier after dossier on his datapad from his seat on the Upsilon Shuttle.
"No, Buddy. They are unimportant."
They were a bunch of no-names that he had never heard of before. Well… all except one. She was the sole reason he was assigned to this farce of a mission in the first place. Anders' eyes glanced over her dossier for the third time.
Zuza Lottson.
Young, human, and, most importantly, Arconan.
Anders spared her a curious glance. She was part of a diplomatic envoy from the First Clan of the Brotherhood, and offered her services.
Their eyes locked, with Zuza's lips curving into what appeared to be a genuine smile. She raised her hand and waved at him.
"Hi! How are you?" She then spotted BUDD-E. "Oh my gods, it's adorable! Please tell me you look after it and give it all the oil baths it could ever want?"
The little droid chirped happily as Anders scoffed and turned away. He didn't need to dignify that question with a response. Of course he looked after BUDD-E. What did she take him for? A Nemoidian?
Absolutely not. Anders had standards, thank you very much, and only the best care for BUDD-E would suffice.
The sudden tapping of lithe footsteps drew his attention back to her.
'Oh, here we go…' Anders thought to himself.
"You know, if you have questions, all you have to do is ask instead of reading my page on a datapad."
"Very well. If you insist," Anders placed the datapad down on the empty seat beside him. "What business does the leader of the Selen Training Corps have in interfering with Taldryan affairs? Are you looking to take some prospective recruits?"
"What? No! I just wanted to help, that's all. No hidden motives here," Zuza placed a hand over her heart and raised her other in the air.
Anders rolled his eyes. "I find that hard to believe."
"Wow. Aren't you a ray of sunshine…" Zuza deadpanned him. "What crawled up your ass and died today? Need some help getting it out?"
Anders sighed, resisting the urge to use the Force on her. Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Young lady, you are Arconan, a long-standing rival of Clan Taldryan."
"Again, I want to help. What part of that don't you understand? I'm not the enemy."
"And you think they will care?" Anders snorted at her. "You can have the best intentions in the galaxy, and it will mean nothing if they gun you down the moment they find out who you are, and where you came from."
Zuza shook her head. "That was in the past. What happened, happened. We can't change that. We need to be looking to the future, not living in old history that can't be rewritten no matter what we do."
"Again, do you think they will care?" Anders asked again, this time slowly, and more pronounced. "That's the problem with people like you; You are far too naive. You may not have any ill will, but I'm sure your Shadow Lord and Scion would be more than interested in the events here and will probe you for information the second you step foot back on Selen. Do yourself a service and keep your Arcona Invictus nonsense to yourself, and you might make it out in one piece."
The shuttle suddenly shuddered violently, like a landspeeder shaking from side to side. Zuza fell back into her seat as bright red lights began flashing throughout the ship, ear-splitting klaxons warning of imminent danger.
Through the noise, the pilot could barely be heard over the intercom system. "WE'VE BEEN HIT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!"
Anders dug his fingers into his seat as the ship tore through the foliage of the Ostara jungle. Nothing could have braced him for the sudden weightless feeling as the ship lost all feeling of gravity until the ship rocketed into the ground, scraping along the hard dirt and mud. In all his years, the Chiss had never been involved in a ship crash. The rumbling was deafening, with personnel on the ship careening towards the front of the shuttle when it came to an abrupt stop, including Anders' droid, which screeched and landed on top of a pile of bodies dazed, but otherwise undamaged.
Thankfully, Anders got lucky, remaining in his seat. As did Zuza, who shot to her feet as soon as everything stopped shaking.
"Is everyone OK?" She asked, helping the closest people to her onto their feet.
It wasn't long until the ship was pelted with blaster fire. Again, and again, the sound of lasers pelting durasteel echoed in their ears as those inside ducked their heads for cover.
Mercifully, it soon stopped.
"Whoever is in that ship, we have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up, or you will be destroyed!"
Anders rose to his feet, straightening out his clothes. If he was going to walk out into certain danger, he was going to look presentable doing it. He retrieved his lightsaber hilt.
Snap-Hiss!
He plunged the crimson blade of his lightsaber through the durasteel of the ship, carving an adequate-sized opening for himself. He reached out with the palm of his hand, concentrating a small blast of energy towards the steel, making it topple over into the jungle grass with a loud thud. The heat immediately warmed the lower half of his body as sunlight pierced through the gap in the ship.
"Come along, Buddy."
The little droid hopped between seats, activating its jet thrusters before landing comfortably on Anders' shoulder. He stepped through the opening, much to the chagrin of those behind him.
"The fracker is going to get himself shot…"
Anders heard Zuza's comment back in the opening, but was more focused on the sudden rise in temperature from the outside jungle. The birds whistled in the air, and the sound of distant roars shook the ground.
Sweat began to form on his brow. This was one of those rare occasions where Anders felt overdressed. The humidity was near unbearable.
Once again, he heard footsteps behind him, spotting Zuza approaching in a light jog. Did she have a death wish? It mattered not to Anders, but it made matters more complicated.
"What are you doing?" He hissed at her.
"Making sure you don't get your sorry behind killed."
This woman was either crazy, brave, stupid, or all three mixed together.
"They've got weapons!"
"Blast them!"
Anders never got the chance to reprimand her as red streaks of blaster bolts soared towards them. He carefully positioned himself, deflecting the shots to the side with his crimson blade.
The militia appeared out of the jungle, geared in full camouflage as they stalked closer. Anders spotted one that appeared to be responsible for their ship crashing, the culprit sporting a rocket launcher strapped to their back.
They inched closer, the blaster fire swarming them like angry hornets. Zuza peered from behind Anders, firing shots from her blaster rifle, but it didn't matter. The militia closed in on the pair, and their shots increased in pace and accuracy.
"Wait! I'm Arconan!" Zuza exclaimed.
To her credit the blaster fire stopped, the members of the militia looking between themselves.
"What do you think you are doing!?" Anders snapped at her.
"Saving our skins. You can thank me later," Zuza rounded on him before addressing the militia. She pointed at them dramatically. "Now, I must be valuable, right? Old Taldryan enemy and all. Take us to your leader!"
