Woman without a Country

Ludmilla raced across the hangar to the shuttle. "Come on, before that lieutenant figures out what we're doing!"
They boarded, and Atton headed the shuttle down to the shattered surface. "I still think that droid stole the ship. He's probably out joyriding, somewhere. What's the droid equivalent of hookers and spice?"
"It is more likely that Czerka made off with our ship after someone's poorly-concealed display of bad temper."
"There wasn't any record of our ship being moved in the mainframe," Ludmilla said calmly, refusing to let Kreia bait her. "There's some other group involved here."
The sensors started beeping an alarm. "However, I would like to point out that Czerka is still running the ground security on the planet. And we're in an unauthorized, unarmored shuttle. Ludmilla, could you please convince her not to talk for the next five minutes so I can do my best to keep everyone from dying?"
Kreia tightened her lips, and Ludmilla grinned. She sat back and watched Atton dodge the planetside defenses, trying to get to the landing zone the Ithorians had mentioned. She still couldn't believe someone had stolen T3 and the Ebon Hawk, and she had learned a long time ago that true coincidences are few and far between.
Atton swore as a blast ripped a hole in the starboard wing of the tiny shuttle. "Okay, you can talk again now. I can crash this thing with my eyes closed."
"I pray for the day when she tires of you, fool, and yet your constant ability to shock and surprise means that day moves farther away every time you speak."
Atton chuckled as he maneuvered the shuttle for a crash landing. "That was a good one, old woman."
The shuttle landed hard, and the next thing Ludmilla felt was soft grass on her face. She sat up, slowly, checking for injuries.
"Good to have you back, General."
She looked up, pleased but after decades of experience with the Force, not surprised. "Bao-Dur." She stood, and gave the Iridonian a welcoming hug. "Did you pull us out of the crash?"
He nodded, his tiny horns glinting in the sunlight. "It's only fair, General. I owe you one. More than one, I think."
Ludmilla smiled at the memories. "No one kept count, old man." She looked him over, surprised by the cybernetic arm. "Did you build that yourself?"
"The old one kept dropping things," he smiled gently. "Besides, I like this one better." He flexed his artificial fingers to prove that all the parts worked.
Ludmilla smiled back at him, and turned to see how her companions were.
Atton staggered to his feet. "Wow, this reminds me of the last time I was on Telos."
"Did you crash a shuttle then too?" asked Bao-Dur.
"No, I got mixed up in a strike pazaak game." Atton cradled his aching head in his hands. "Is the old woman all right?"
"She's tougher than she looks," said Bao-Dur. "She'll be fine."
"Dammit. Is there any chance of you taking off your shirt, then? I need something to look forward to."
"Still screwing the crew, General?"
Ludmilla grinned. "When the crew looks like that, yes."
Atton blushed. "I didn't get the horny alien's name."
"Bao-Dur. He's an Iridonian, and that's the last time you will make a joke about the horns." Ludmilla said sternly.
"Go easy, General," said Bao-Dur gently. "I'm not offended."
"General? You know him?"
"We served together," said Ludmilla shortly. "What's the situation here, old man? Have you seen any ships land recently – a low-stock freighter, red marks on a white hull?"
"What are the chances that you would survive a crash landing and run into someone you know on the surface of a dead planet and actually have them know where your stolen ship is?"
"When you're dealing with the Force, nothing is more likely," said Kreia as she slowly stood up.
"Yes! You're awake, at last my misery is complete. Shot at, yelled at – "
"I didn't mean to yell," Ludmilla said humbly. "Don't take it to heart."
Atton looked at her in surprise. "You're ruining my self-pity moment. Stop."
Ludmilla laughed, and turned back to Bao-Dur. "Help me out, old man. Tell me you have something for me."
"Well, I wouldn't want you to crash land on my party for nothing, General. There's a Czerka compound just north of here, with a really good scanning system. If your ship is anywhere on the planet, once I hit that terminal, I can find it. Of course," Bao-Dur pointed out, "there are Czerka mercs everywhere, and that sentry droid has probably already reported your crash. We could possibly sweep wide the western perimeter and avoid being spotted." Bao-Dur looked at her, and she looked back at him. "I didn't think you'd be interested, General. Straight up the center, as usual?"
"You do know her," grinned Atton.
Bao-Dur looked curiously at him. "Has she ever told you about the minefield on Cormyhlu?"
"Bao-Dur! Let's get going. Weapons up, ranged support."
"Yes, General," he said with a slight smile.

"Why does she call you 'old man' anyway? You don't look much older than her."
"I'm an Iridonian. I've seen at least as twice as many Standard years as she has."
"Okay, you're old."
"Thanks."
Atton grinned. "Last question, I promise."
"How can you tell when a Corellian is lying? His lips are moving."
"That's totally originist. I'm offended."
"And yet, your lips are moving. What's your question, Atton?"
"What happened to your arm?"
"A planet hit the ship I was in."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"A planet. Not a very big one, but you know, mass." Bao-Dur's face never changed as he spoke. "Crushed the ship to bits, and I was caught inside. Everyone was evacuating, and I couldn't get out in time. No one could reach me. Then a crazy Jedi with a silver lightsaber dropped down next to me and cut the wreckage away. Nearly caused a hull breach. I kept yelling at her to go, because she shouldn't be risking her life for a stupid half-dead weapons tech."
"She didn't listen to you, did she?"
"It's like you know her." He looked over at the General, who was busy cutting down Czerka mercenaries. "Did you know you can survive at least sixty seconds in complete vacuum?"
"What? No, I don't even want to think about that. Why do you know that?"
Bao-Dur looked at him. "Because that's how she reached the last escape pod so she could get me off the ship before it was completely destroyed. She jumped to it." He held up his artificial arm for a moment. "Not much of a loss, when you think about it."
"Wow."
"Everyone falls in love with her. It's just her nature. But in all the years I've known her," said Bao-Dur, "I've never seen her apologize to someone like that. What makes you so special to her, Atton?"
"I don't know," said Atton slowly. "I didn't realize I was."
Bao-Dur checked his weapon again. "You are, Atton. If you hurt her, I'll kill you." The last Czerka mercenary fell, and the Iridonian walked up to the terminal and started working.

"Okay," Ludmilla put her vibroblade away. "Shuttle's ready, base is empty. Let's head to the pole and investigate this anomaly in the shields."
Behind her, the giant combat droid dropped to its knees and collapsed for the final time. Atton and Bao-Dur tried not to stare, and she helped Kreia back to her feet.
"Thank you, child, that was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated." Kreia frowned at the combat droid. "It's almost as if that droid had been designed to cripple a Jedi."
Ludmilla nodded. "I think it was. Well, it's done with now, so let's get going." She headed to the shuttle door.
"The only thing that would have made that fight better would have been if she had been half-naked."
"You can't fight droids half-naked, Atton. Not even the General."
Atton grinned, and Kreia made a noise of irritation.
"This is no time for your games, fool. Get on the shuttle, now."
"Wait, General, why were you fighting droids half-naked?"
Ludmilla glared at Atton. "I'll explain later. Atton, if he knows what's good for him, will not."
Atton smiled without answering, and started the shuttle. Bao-Dur gave him the coordinates, and they headed for the polar anomaly. "You know, for a spot that is supposed to an empty polar mesa, that seems pretty… I don't know… sculpted." Atton circled the strange structure to come in for a landing.
"It's…" Ludmilla leaned forward to look more carefully. "It's a Jedi Temple."
"What?" said Atton and Bao-Dur at the same time.
"You have good eyes," said Kreia slowly. "Indeed, it is a smaller, simpler version of the Temple on Coruscant."
"Well, at least there are no anti-aircraft guns," said Atton. "I've had it with being shot down today."
There was a loud explosion. The shuttle rocked, and started to lose altitude.
"What?"
"Surface to air missiles. Someone just shot us down," said Bao-Dur.
"Dammit!" Atton wrestled the ship down, trying to land as best as he could.
This time Ludmilla awoke to snow on her face, and knew that she hadn't been out long. She stood up, and tripped over Kreia. She looked around, and realized that she had carried her from the wreckage before collapsing briefly in the snow. She looked around, then rushed back in to pull Atton and Bao-Dur to safety. If freezing cold counted as safety.
Once she had pulled everyone from the wreckage, she looked around again, hoping for some sign of who or what had shot them down this time. Instead, she heard footsteps on the snow, and saw a trio of Echani warmaidens approaching. Ludmilla swore violently, and slowly raised her hands. She heard Atton scramble to his feet behind her.
"Don't," she said warningly, and forced herself not to turn to face him.
"There are only three of them," said Atton quickly.
"We only see three of them."
The leader of the warmaidens smiled. "You are skilled indeed. Lay down your weapons, and you will not be harmed."
"My companions are wounded," Ludmilla said flatly. "They need to be taken to shelter."
"We do not leave innocents to die," said the warmaiden. "Lay down your weapons."
Ludmilla growled in frustration, carefully fell to one knee, and laid down her sword. She stood slowly, and covered Atton while he did the same.
"Follow us," said the warmaiden.
"Please tell me we're not being put in force cages again."
The Echani didn't answer, and Kreia came to before they reached the entrance to the secret Jedi Temple. Two of the warmaidens carried Bao-Dur away, and three split off to lead Atton and Kreia to holding cells.
"Hey! Where are you taking her?" he demanded as the remaining warmaiden led Ludmilla away.
"Don't worry," said Ludmilla gently. "We'll be fine." The building was a smaller but exact copy of the true Temple. She knew where she was going.