Project Boussh: In The Grasps of The Enemy
by Alison Sky

When the smoke cleared, the door reopened, and the Boussh team ran 
in. They found Mike lying against the wall, his body covered in 
searing burns, and hundreds of little cuts, where shrapnel from the 
generator had hit him.

Emily knelt beside him, and checked for a pulse.

"Is he..." Alison began, her voice trailing off.

Emily said nothing.

"Emily, is he... did he make it?" Face asked.

The sound of footsteps and yelling of stormtroopers outside the only 
standing door cut off her reply. Quickly, Emily pulled out her sword 
to defend Mike, while Sharon knelt down and hid the lightsaber in the 
fabric of her boot. 

Alison placed her hand to draw her sword as well, but Face laid a 
hand on her shoulder.  "Put the weapons away," he stated.

"What?" Alison shouted, turning.  

"You can't be serious," Emily added, working herself to stand on one 
leg.  "We can take them."

Face shook his head.  "There are times in which the battle comes down 
to two choices: surrender or death.  If we fight now, we will most 
likely not survive."

"But..."

"No Twelve," Face said, stopping Emily's comment.  "You're injured, 
and Mike..."  he shook his head.  "We're still shook up from the 
explosion.  In this case, it would be better to surrender and survive 
to fight again."

Face and Alison locked eyes.  Sighing, Alison nodded and put the 
sword back in her sheath.  "Put the sword away, Em."

Emily growled.  "You're both crazy."

The stormtroopers entered the room, blasters raised at the group.  
Face, Sharon, Alison and Emily slowly raised their hands as their 
weapons were confiscated.  For some reason, no one bothered to check 
Sharon's shoe.

Stun cuffs were placed on the captives, then the troopers turned to 
Mike.  "Pick him up," the squad leader said to two of his mates.

They exchanged glances.  "And what will we... clothe.. him in."

The squad leader looked around the room, then pointed to a black coat 
that lay a few feet away.  "Wrap him in that and carry him.  Atner 
wants his body most of all."

As they rest of the group was pushed out of the room, Sharon looked 
back at the coat.  "How the hell did that survive all this?" she 
whispered to Emily.

"I dunno," Emily replied.  "But I might not make fun of it anymore."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group came out of the turbolift and walked into Atner's ready 
room.  When the doors shut behind them, Atner appraoched from the 
opposite side of the room.

"So these are my would be assailants," he spoke, looking the group 
over.  "What a sorry lot you are."

"We look a lot better than your cloning facility," Alison spoke up.

Atner threw her a glance, then walked past them to stare at Mike's 
limp form.  He lifted Mike's chin, then released it and watched 
Mike's head fall back down.

"Take this Terran to the med center.  If there is any life left in 
his burnt out body, I want them to bring it back.  He will feel death 
at my hands if he already hasn't."

The troopers nodded and took Mike away.  Sharon watched him leave 
with scared eyes while she held Emily up with her shoulder.

Alison made a motion to chase after them, but a group of troopers 
came to stand near her, blocking her and Face from Emily and Sharon.

Atner saw Emily's injuries and stood beside her.  "A blaster bolt to 
the leg, and yet you walk," he smiled.  "Such spirit in such a young 
girl."

"It'll take more than bad aim to keep me from making sure you don't 
win," Emily spat.

"Arrogance too," Atner nodded.  "I shall enjoy watching you break."

Atner waved two more guards forward, and they both grabbed Emily by 
an arm.  "See that her leg is healed.  When she is broken and fights 
on our side, I want her to stand on both legs."

"Over my dead body!" Emily shouted as the troops dragged her away.

He examined Sharon next.  Looking into her eyes, he smiled.  "You, my 
dear, seem worried?  What is it?"  Sharon didn't answer, but turned 
her head away to look out the door that Mike and Emily had been 
taken.  "Oh... you worry for your friends, do you.  Well, my dear, 
trust me.  I won't harm them anymore than they have harmed me 
already."

"That I don't believe," Sharon stated.

"You wish to observe?  Be my guest."  He waved another trooper 
forward.  "See this one to med bay as well, and let her observe her 
friends' recoveries."

The trooper nodded and led Sharon away.  With her gone, Atner then 
turned to see Alison and Face.  "And that leaves just the three of 
us.  It's a pity, Captain Loran.  I would have thought all your time 
under Antilles would have taught you that surrender is sometimes NOT 
an option."

"Surrender is always an option," Face stated.  "It leaves a soldier 
to fight another day.  But yourself and your Imperial friends never 
really cared about your side's survival rate."

Atner's smile faltered.  "In my case, I feel the exact opposite.  
And there are many deaths that I will avenge."

He walked over to where the swords lay, along with blasters and 
equipment bags.  "I see that you have had the pleasure of Retsim's 
company before his untimely death."

"Yes," Alison said.  "He was a very rude host."

Atner gripped the handle of the green stoned sword: Alison's.  He 
turned and walked towards the two friends, then lifted the blade to 
Face's ear.  He flinched as Atner used the blade to lift the hair 
that covered the bacta patch.  "Your implant is gone.  Pity.  You 
were a fine soldier."

"He still is," Alison said, ignoring Face's "shut up" looks.  "Just 
now he's fighting on the right side again."

A backhand came at Alison's face faster than she could avoid and she 
winced, tears coming to her eyes from the stinging sensation on her 
cheek.

"Terra Eleven," Atner stated.  "It is amazing to see that the 
reports on you have held their worth.  Your anger and sharp tongue 
have been well noted."

"What reports?"

Atner laughed.  "You don't think that you weren't followed?  That I 
didn't have spies watching all of you?  I'm not stupid, Lady Sky.  I 
make sure I learn my opponents, as so I know the right triggers to 
push to make them crumble to their knees.

"You, for instance.  A trained swordswoman, with a fiery temper and a 
lack of leadership skills.  Someone not to cross, yet once confidence 
is gained, will remain true until that trust is broken."  Atner 
sighed.  "Sound at all familiar?"

"Maybe," Alison replied.  "You forgot the cute dimple on the right 
cheek."

"She has no respect for authority, does she?" Atner asked Face, who 
stifled a laugh.

"You wanna fight me?" Alison challenged.  She held her stun cuffed 
hands out.  "Take these things off and I'll give you a fight."

"Alison!"

Alison shot Face a look.  He sighed, shaking his head.  Atner smiled 
at the exchange, and motioned a guard forward to take Alison's cuffs 
off.

Face, meanwhile, was taken back into a corner, being guarded by the 
three remaining guards.  Atner shrugged out of his jacket, picking up 
Emily's sword.  When Alison's hands were released, he tossed her back 
her sword.

"The first to three hits wins.  You win, you and your friends go 
free.  I win, and they are mine."

Alison didn't respond, but instead lunged forward with a quick swipe 
at Atner's right knee.  He quickly blocked it, beating the blade away 
and bringing the blade around in a quick backslash to her stomach.  
Alison jumped back, then spun, the swords clashing as she blocked a 
swipe at her left shoulder.  

Fast and furious blows were exchanged, Alison and Atner moving too 
quick for Face to follow.  Many times, both seemed to just escape the 
swipe of another's blade.  At one point, Face saw Alison's blade 
swipe along Atner's arm, leaving a tear in the fabric.

Then she swung again, and Atner made his move.  He blocked her swipe 
and proceeded to spin her around, offbalance.  One hand went up and 
grabbed the length of her hair.  Instantly, Alison's free hand went 
to her scalp as her head was pulled backwards.

Atner raised the sword to the back of her neck, and Face gasped.  
Atner looked over at Face, a smile coming to his face.  Quickly, he 
swiped the sword up, cutting off the length of Alison's hair.  
Suddenly released, Alison fell forward.  Atner kicked her back, 
slamming her face into the floor.  Then, in one final stab, he 
brought the sword down along her ribs.

Alison winced as she felt the sword cut her side.  She tried to move, 
but the sword had also pierced her clothing, pinning her to the 
floor.  She cried out as Atner stepped on her hand, crushing the 
bones until she released the grip on her sword.  He kicked it away, 
then knelt down in front of her face.

"Pity.  I was expecting more of a fight from the woman who killed 
Retsim."

Unable to come up with a remark, Alison just spat at him.  Atner 
laughed, playing with her hair.  "You know, in your planet's older 
days, warriors would take the braids of women they conquered.  They 
wore them as badges.  I'm going to find a place to keep this as a 
reminder of your defeat."

Atner stood, pulling the sword from the floor.  "Take these two away, 
and lock them up."

Two guards rushed forward and pulled Alison to her feet.  Her hair 
fell to uneven lengths around her ears now, but the fire in her eyes 
still remained.  "Next time we fight, I'll make you eat your words."

Atner barked a single laugh.  "We shall see."

"Sir, should we take her to med bay to treat her wounds?" one of the 
soldiers asked.

"No," Atner replied.  "Lady Sky is a warrior.  They have no need for 
bacta.  And her pain will remind her of her failure."

The trooper nodded, and Face and Alison were dragged away.