Private Chasing Clouds

[Willow & Ivy]

Cloud City, Bespin.

Willow and Ivy enjoyed being allowed to travel with trade entourages. Their loyalty to Broka enabled that. Their proven skills and efforts to let him know of others wanting to trick him or hurt him also enabled that.

Of course their freedom wasn't all encompassing. They still had their armed guards. It wasn't so much to keep them from escaping, but moreso to keep them protected. The siamese twins were an oddity and some knew of their gifts. Some knew who they worked for as well. The number of reasons that someone could cause harm to the twins was high in number.

All of that was in the back of their minds, however. Cloud City was quite literally in the clouds, floating high above the toxic fumes of the planet below. There was a lower risk to them, which had been a deciding factor in allowing them to go.

"Look at that cloud, Willow! It almost looks like a flower."

"It does. It's so dreamy here. Shall we go to one of the atriums?."

"Yes we should. Maybe we can make a friend?"

"And possibly find some new fruity drink. Although...maybe they don't grow fruit here?"

"Probably not. But the planets nearby do. So it'd almost be like being there too."

Willow smiled in agreement. "Yes, you're right. Let's go!"

As the two exited their suite, their four armed guards followed in behind. They were plain clothed, yet carried a blaster rifle each. It was quite a sight to be sure; siamese twins escorted by a quartet of space pirates. But the twins were used to being gawked at. So much so now that they almost paid it no mind.

Almost.

Heath Valhoun Dr. Veinstein
Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy Heath Valhoun

As the twins exited their suite, surrounded by their guards. A man passed them in the hallway. It was a completely innocuous movement, as it was just another sharply dressed person passing by them, and continued on his way. Little did the twins now, however, that this man had much more nefarious intentions, but the man kept on walking past them.

Andreus adjusted his lab coat. When he had passed the twins, he hadn't even tried anything, he had simply walked past them. It was more than a simple coincidence, however. He had been running recon on them, using his doctor attire and general appearance to seem like just another normal person. His mission was simple: to capture those twins. They were... unique, Andreus knew that. They had properties and abilities no other Force sensitive could even dream of. So of course, Andreus wanted to study and experiment on them. People with abilities like these were rare, and generally not even studied because of their rareness, so this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

He turned a corner, and continued walking away from the twins down a different hallway. He raised his commlink.

"The targets are on the move. You know what to do." He said into the comm.

"Yes, Doctor Veinstein." A voice replied.

He put his commlink away and continued walking. This was going to be a good day.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

The twins just loved the idea of being up in the clouds. Their home in the Sky Palace was also up high, but it wasn't in the clouds. Here they felt special and almost untouchable. It was as though it was a secret location and only those here had access.

They hung onto the high emotions that Cloud City offered. The gambling houses, shops and atriums made it an ideal spot for vacations and business deals. For Willow and Ivy it was a bit of both.

The twins almost skipped down the hall, their four guards right alongside them, keeping watch. Dr. Veinstein passed them by, but he gave neither of them any notice, so the guards offered him the same. Instead they kept their eyes on those that did linger their gazes on the twins or showing them any interest. Siamese twins weren't very common, least of all a pair like these.

"I wonder if we'll find Bat here."

"Oh that would be amazing!"

"He'd be rather fitting up here in the clouds with us. He's dreamy....."

"And he'd love our suite!"

Bat Rum Hilt was a new...intimate friend of theirs and one that Willow had a huge crush on. They aided him when it came to an old weapon that he had found and in return they gained his friendship. He treated them like no one ever had. He gave them their first dance, first kiss, as well as other firsts. And it was good to know that they could call him when they needed his help. That was part of why Willow fell for him like she did; she saw that he could be depended upon. And that he was fond of the twins too.

Willow and Ivy both giggled and grinned as they walked into the atrium, arms wrapped around eachother's waists eager to see what awaited them there.

Heath Valhoun

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy Heath Valhoun

Andreus continued walked down the halls, his footsteps echoing within the building. I was almost time... Soon, he would see how those twins functioned. They were most interesting, a once-in-a-liftime opportunity, to see this unique and rarely documented genetic mutation. He needed to see what made them tick...

Then, as the twins passed into the atrium, Andreus' commlink buzzed. He picked it up.

"Go ahead," He said.

"The targets are in the main atrium." The voice, or voices, said. It shifted to different voices of different people of varying age, gender, and accents. Yep, Andreus had brought in the big guns. He had seen how successful one of his droids, QEMD-15 Echo had been in capturing a criminal for the Eternal Empire, now it was time for them to prove their worth once again. But that wasn't all he had brought... He had brought more than just the Enforcers....

"You have permission to engage the targets." Andreus told them.

"Yes, Doctor Veinstein."

Then, suddenly, in the atrium, a large, robotic hand burst through the wall, and grabbed one of the twins' guards. It pulled the guard out through the wall, and examined what it had just grabbed. The large droid brought the guard it held in its left hand up towards it's head to get a closer look, its scanners examining the man. The droid held on to the complex with its right hand. Then, it threw the man off of the city, the guard screaming as he fell into the bottomless void of the gas giant. Then, it looked into the hole. Willow and Ivy would be shocked to see the large, forty foot droid staring in at them with its large, siren head. Then, the wall to their right burst open, too, as another giant hand ripped open a hole, and another siren headed droid looked in.

Both droids gave a tremendous roar from their sirens, an earth-shattering roar that shook the very ground of the complex that Willow and Ivy were standing on. They would not be able to hear anything other than the roar, the noise seemingly consuming everything.

As he walked down the hallways, he could hear the roars further off, and he smiled. It had begun.

The hunters had found their prey.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

The twins were just about to order their drinks when the unthinkable happened. There was only silence in the atrium as one of their guards was grabbed. Everyone was in shock. Everyone just stared.

And then came the second. It's roar was deafening. Both droids wailing caused everyone to cover their ears and panic.

Willow and Ivy joined in the panic. Wide-eyed they quickly turned to the doors and pushed their way through with everyone else. One of their guards remained behind to open fire on the droids, the same with a few other brave souls. Yet their remaining guards stayed with their charges.

The further they all ran down the halls, the less the wailing was heard. The twins held onto eachother's hands tightly as their guards led them to the landing pads, their hearts pumping madly. They didn't stand a chance with those droids. No one did. It was best to try to get out of Cloud City if they could.

Cloud City was no longer a dream. It was a nightmare.

Dr. Veinstein Heath Valhoun

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy Heath Valhoun

The two droids finished their roars, then, they both started blaring out ear-shattering sirens, engulfing all in their terror and fear. One of the guards and some people stayed behind to try and slow down the droids, opening fire on them, but it was little use. The droids' armor and outer-plating was strong, and was built to be highly resistant to blaster fire. One of the droids quickly reached out and grabbed the guard, then crushed him in its hand, blood flying everywhere. The other used the back of it's hand to smash those that stayed behind to fight against the wall with immense strength; blood and gore splattered over the walls, and their crumbled bodies fell to the floor.

The Enforcers then started running along the outside of the complex. They had managed to lock onto the bio-signatures of Willow and Ivy, as they were the only two people with signatures so closely together and linked. The sirens still wailed at an extreme volume, striking fear into those they were hunting. Their footsteps thudded as they ran, shaking the ground.

As the crowd rushed through the halls to escape the terror droids, at the end of the hallway, two heavily armed people walked out, weapons at the ready. They didn't wear armor, as they had needed to get in looking like normal civilians, but now was the time to strike. Both of them had different colored hair, and eyes, the colors were vibrant, and extensive.

One of them, a woman, held a blaster rifle, and had purple hair, but her eye color was a void black, seemingly endless. She looked like she could kill a person, and not even think about it twice, or even give it any thought or remember it the next day. Her gaze was intense, and stoic, as if she was deciding on how exactly she would kill everyone.

The other one, a man, had frizzled, spiky, and messy yellow hair, his eyes also had a yellow gleam, but there was that look in his eyes that showed something much more manical, a gleeful, dark expression, that this man was broken, something was off inside of him. The yellow-haired man twitched and shuddered, a manical grin was spread across his face, as he hefted a menacing looking flamethrower.

Andreus had brought some Subjects.

Yes, it might be a bit overkill, but it was necessary. He needed to secure these twins. They could help with the genetic experimentation, allowing him to create ever more powerful experiments, thanks to their unique genetic deformity and mutation, their power was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he needed to replicate that. More than that... He craved knowledge, and these twins held secrets yet to be unlocked, and he craved to unlock these secrets so much.

The purple haired woman raised her blaster rifle and quickly shot down one of the guards in the head, but shot the other one in both shoulders, rendering his arms useless, and watched as he fell to the ground in pain. She did all of this quickly and with a blank expression on her face, showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Willow and Ivy," The woman said. "Turn yourselves in, or face the consequences."

Now, Willow and Ivy had to make a choice, if they wanted to face the experiments, the Enforcer droids that were hot behind, or try and escape down an open corridor to their left. Andreus knew that they had not been in so much action before, they were sheltered by their masters, so they would barely know what to do. So he considered this... a learning opportunity for everyone.

And oh, did he crave knowledge so.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

They ran as fast as they could, their legs pumping in a co-ordinated effort so that they didn't stumble. The sirens terrified them and their hearts raced madly as they heard the droids chasing them.

Yet they skidded to a halt as the purple and yellow-haired people came out into the hallway. One by one their guards were gunned down, leaving the twins alone to fend for themselves. "T-t-turn ourselves in?"

"B-b-but we haven't done anything wrong!"

They were shaking now as their fear gripped them nearly as tightly as they held onto eachother. Was this how their vision started? Was this their end? Was Willow going to die?

Ivy wasn't going to allow that. ~We have to run and hide! NOW!~ She urged her sister to move to their left as for the moment it wasn't blocked. And they ran. They ran for their lives.

Dr. Veinstein Heath Valhoun

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy Heath Valhoun

The purple-haired woman tilted her head. "You might not have done anything wrong, but people still want to talk to you. If you haven't done anything wrong, why did you have armed guards?" She asked the twins.

Then, the twins ran down a hallway to their left, and the woman scowled. She turned to the yellow-haired man. "Chase them down! I'll cut them off!" Then she ran down a different hallway.

The yellow-haired man cackled a manical laugh. "I love it when they run!" He laughed gleefully. Then, he took off down the same hallway the twins were running down, chasing after them, hot on their tail.

Another laugh cackled out, echoing through the halls. "You can run, but you can't hide!" The man giggled with glee, his voice echoing down the halls. The sirens could be heard, getting closer and closer, the thuds of the large droids' footfalls growing ever louder.

The twins were running out of options, all that was left was for them to try to get to their ship and risk getting caught, or head deeper into the facility, where the droids couldn't reach them, but the Subjects could still follow them.

Life was unpredictable, one moment you were relaxing and enjoying normal life, the next you were running for your life from hunters.

Not even the twins could have predicted this, or what would happen next.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

Their hearts pounded as the twins ran, both through exertion as well as fear. The cackling laughter and taunting didn't help. Neither did the heavy thuds of the monsterous droids.

But they weren't the only ones running for their lives. Other people were too, and most of them were just as panicked as the twins were. The corridor was starting to get clogged as people made their way to their ships. Willow and Ivy weaved through them as best as they could, hoping to loose their pursuers.

~We need to try to contact Broka! He'll save us!~

~But we're so far away!~

~Doesn't matter! We have to try!~

Instead of going through the hanger, the Ivy pushed open a door button and ran inside once it lifted. Ivy then hit the button on the other side with her fist and then started hitting random buttons. "If I can lock it, we'll be safe. I think that I got it, but I'm not sure."

The twins wandered further into the room. It looked like a storage room with a few isles of boxes and crates. "Maybe there'll be blasters in here..." Not that they really knew how to use them. But at close range, just pulling a trigger should be good enough. That is if they were charged and loaded.

Dr. Veinstein Heath Valhoun

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy Heath Valhoun

The yellow-haired man continued chasing down the twins through the crowd, navigating after them. The hallways were starting to clog up with all of the people running for their lives from the large droids, trying to reach their ships. The man wanted to clear them out, but Dr. Veinstein had been specific that they should try keeping civilian casualties to a minimum, at least for now. So, the man shoved his way through the crowd, chasing down the twins.

Then, the twins ran into a door, and it closed behind them. The yellow-haired man stopped in front of the door and hit the button to open it, and nothing happened. So... they were barricading themselves inside of the room? They had locked the door from the inside. They might have bought themselves some spare time, but they were trapped in there.

The man hefted his flamethrower, and activated it. The roar of the flames sounded out, and the intense heat started burning away at the door. He kept up the continuous stream of fire, the door mechanism slowly melting. Soon, he would melt away the lock mechanism, and he would be able to enter the room, and the twins would have nowhere to run.

The yellow-haired man liked it when his prey gave him a run for his money. Now, he would see if the twins would live up to expectations.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

The sound coming from the outside of the door as their pursuer used the flamethrower against the lock was a strange one. They hadn't encountered anything like it before. Yet both had chills running down their spine as they discovered that there wasn't much that they could use. The twins weren't geniuses, nor were they fighters. One look upwards revealed a vent in the ceiling, but given their attachment, they couldn't climb in there.

"There's only one of him that was chasing us. But we're two."

"Yes! We could hit him and kick him!"

"Even bite him if we need to, Willow."

"But what if he opens fire on us?"

"Then we die together." Ivy took hold of her sister's hand, interlocking their fingers. They both sat down in the back of the room and waited. Maybe if it was just a chat that was wanted, then they'd be released straight away. Yet both knew that that wasn't the case. Neither of them wanted to look and see what was in store for them. They didn't need confirmation of their old visions coming to pass. Hopefully something else would happen for them instead.

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy

Then, to the twins, the roar of the flamethrower would stop. For a long moment of silence, save for the sirens still going on outside, still coming ever closer and closer. To them, it would probably seem like their pursuer had given up for the time being. And that they were, for the moment, safe...

Then, suddenly, a loud explosion occured on the other side of the door. Then, with a final, rasping creak, the door fell to the floor with a THUD. The light from outside the room filtered in, being blocked by a figure standing in the doorway. A manical chuckle erupted from the figure. He stepped into the room, a wide grin plastered across his face, and a murderous gleam in his eyes.

"You couldn't hide from me forever!" The yellow-haired man giggled.

"And now, there is no one to save you now!"

Then, he leveled his flamethrower, and activated it. The flames roared, billowing out, illuminating the room in a fiery glow. The flames inched towards the twins, trapping them by the intense heat of the encroaching flames. Over the roar of the flames, the twins would be able to hear the man laughing hysterically, as if this was all some sort of game to him.

As if their lives were only meant for him to play with. Like he was having the time of his life.

Behind him, the purple-haired woman run up behind him, but she stopped silently and watched what was going on. Even she knew better to interrupt the yellow-haired man when he was having his fun.

For now, the laugh and the flames battled against each other in the room, and the intense heat drawing ever closer to the twins.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

Each sound caused the twins to jump and tighten their grip on eachother. And the silence was even worse. Their imaginations ran wild with eachother, each anticipating different things that could happen to them, while still not wanting to use the Force to see for themselves.

And then he appeared. The flamethrower was activated and the twins got to their feet, backing and pressing themselves hard against the wall. It was cool compared to the heat of the flames, yet not enough to stop beads of sweat pouring from their faces mixed with their own tears.

"Leave us alone!!!"

"Or we'll have to use the Force against you!" They didn't have any offensive capabilities, but perhaps the yellow haired man didn't know that. At least that was what she was hoping.

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy

The yellow haired man listened to their "threat", if it could even be called that. Pitiful, absolutely pitiful. They were literally at his mercy, and they were trying to threaten him. Like the twins, the man had the Force. He could feel the fear and uncertainty they held within. They had nothing to offer, so they tried to threaten him with empty claims and lies. Oh, couldn't he just get a target for once that would actually fight back? All these targets were easy pickings, he enjoyed it when they fought back, when they struggled, the look in their eyes as they realized there was no hope, and their screams as he plunged a cool, blade into their fragile flesh, feeling the satisfying feeling of muscle being ripped apart. There was nothing like it! And these two imbeciles truly thought he could be bargained with! As if they could make him afraid. If anything, the thought of being harmed sort of made him even more excited, as if he wanted to be hurt. He wanted to feel the feeling that only the sharp, stinging feeling that pain brought. There was almost nothing like it!

The man giggled even more. "Oh, yes! Threaten me! HURT ME! I want to feel pain! Make me hurt oh-so-badly! I want to feel it! Nothing you can do will stop me, little girlies!" He laughed in delight, taking extreme pleasure in what he was doing.

Then, he started walking forward, the flames still billowing out, getting even closer to the twins. The heat would be rising, both physically by the encroaching flames, and metaphorically as the twins were rapidly running out of time.

The sirens could still be heard, except this time they were very close. They would soon be almost on top of them at this rate.

Then, the purple-haired woman ordered, "Alright, Gauss, that's enough!"

The yellow-haired man, seemingly named Gauss, deactivated the flamethrower, and turned to the purple-haired woman. A look of disappointment spread across his face. "Aww, you never let me have any fun! Really, you never have any fun! Have you ever once enjoyed yourself?" He asked her.

The purple-haired woman ignored Gauss, and approached the twins, stepping through the still smoking doorway. "Willow and Ivy, last chance to turn yourselves in. Otherwise... well, we only need to bring one of you back alive. Only one of you will suffice. We don't need both of you. Don't make this any harder than it has to be." She told them, the look on her face dead serious.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

The flamethrower kept them at bay. They couldn't get around it or stop it. And instead of the yellow haired man turning it off to let them try to hurt him as he seemed to have wanted, he merely stepped further forward. Both Willow and Ivy held their breath as the flames almost licked at their clothes, eyes shut tight as they held onto eachother, awaiting the pain that was sure to come to them....

But then it stopped. The voice of the purple haired one seemed to have stopped it all. Yet she wasn't exactly their saviour. She was no better than the warlord Nartuk that held them before, until they were rescued by Broka, giving them an ultimatum that was sure to give their pursuers exactly what they wanted.

"We haven't done anything wrong!"

"I don't think they care, Ivy...I don't think they care."

~I won't let them kill you, Willow. If this is part of what we saw...I won't let them kill you.~ Her words were spoken in her sister's mind. Ivy wasn't sure of how, but she was determined to not let them be destroyed.

~We have to go with them, Ivy. For now there is no other way.~

Neither of them liked the choice that was laid before them. Yet it wasn't much of a choice at all. Still clutching onto eachother, their hands intertwined, they took a step forward in unison. "We will go with you..." Willow spoke softly, while Ivy clenched her jaw tightly, as sure as ever that their nightmare was about to continue.

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy

The purple haired woman tilted her head at the twins' response. She couldn't understand why they felt the way they did for each other. She had a disorder that prevented her from feeling empathy, so she couldn't even understand the bond that the twins' shared for each other.

"You serve a Hutt crime lord, correct? You aid and abide a known criminal organization for organized crime. So yes, you have done something, you work for an organized crime syndicate." The woman told the two.

Then, they seemingly gave in, saying that they would go with them.

"See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" She asked.

Then, another figure entered through the doorway. The purple-haired woman sensed the figure and turned around. A man strode through the doorway. His hair color was a fiery red, and his eyes were the same color. He wore normal civilian clothes, but they seemed in the wrong place on him. Unlike the yellow-haired man, this one's Force presence felt calmer and more organized, and unlike the woman he actually seemed to be able to feel emotion.

The woman nodded to the new man. "Red, I thought you were locating the other targets?"

"I finished that, the Doctor sent me here to make sure you had your targets captured." The man named Red responded. Then, he looked at the twins. "I see you have the situation under control. Good work."

"They just agreed to come with us."

"Good, the Doctor wants them as soon as possible, the Bespin Security Forces can only be bribed for so long." Then, he approached Willow and Ivy. "Willow, Ivy, come forward. Let's get moving, let's not keep the Doctor waiting."

 

[Willow & Ivy]

"But the Hutts are under Jedi jurisdiction! They made a pact. Their criminal activity is not allowed! Even slavery was abolished. You can't arrest us by association!" Ivy was saying anything that she could to save them from their predicament.

And then Red showed up. While Ivy was starting to look desperate, Willow remained calm and quiet. They were twins, connected in nearly every way, but they still had individuality"You all have such colourful hair. It's very pretty..."

They stepped forward as they were instructed, clutching onto eachother and glad that they couldn't be seperated. "Doctor? Why a Doctor? Who is this Doctor? Who do they work for?"

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy

Red looked at Ivy as she tried to say anything to escape their predicament. She was desperate, very desperate. But desperate about what, Red had no idea. Though Red did know which one twin was Willow and which one was Ivy, because they were always recorded on the same side of each other, since they were conjoined. "Not all Hutts bow to the Jedi. I should know, I'm a Jedi." Red told her.

Then he looked back at Willow, who complimented his hair. "Thank you, Miss Willow," Red nodded to her. "Sorry if I'm not very presentable, I don't really make myself look good to impress anyone." He told Willow. "Though I must say, you have very fine hair too. It's long and well-kept." Red said assuringly. To what would most likely be the twins' surprise, Red was the one person that was being nice to them.

Then, they stepped forward, and Ivy began talking and asking questions once again. "Miss Ivy, most people, when they're being taken hostage, they don't ask so much questions. Don't worry, all questions will be answered in time." He assured her.

Then, Red stepped back, and motioned to the doorway. "Please follow me. Oh, and I would reccommend not trying any funny business. We are authorized to use force, even lethal if that is what it comes to." Red warned them. The yellow-haired man gave them a grin, as if he wanted them to try it. He was just itching for some fun.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

Willow appreciated the compliment, though it didn't really do much to put them at ease. Especially with Ivy. "Thank you....We are taken care of very well." And by that she was referring to the finest products and materials to keep them pretty and presentable. They did have to make good impressions, afterall.

Ivy was taken aback that Red was a Jedi. And even moreso once he claimed that they were being taken hostage. "The Jedi are taking us hostage? Why?" The story kept changing. First they were being arrested and now they were being taken hostage. Which one was it? And the fact that lethal force was authorized didn't make them any less frightened.

They walked out of the room, giving the yellow haired man a glance. He had nearly burned them after he had chased them down. And the look that he gave them was disturbing to say the least.

"Broka's not going to like this...."

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Willow & Ivy

Red nodded to Willow when she said that they were well taken care of. "Yes, yes, I know. We've had eyes on you for some time now, we know quite a lot about your day-to-day lives." He told them.

Then Ivy began again, asking why the Jedi were taking them hostage. Red sighed. "No, the Jedi have nothing to do with this, they have no affiliation with this operation. I am a Jedi, but this is not a Jedi sponsored mission. You are being taken by a company that has quite an interest in your powers and abilities. Specifically, your genetics." He told them.

Red lead them out the hall, and started walking them down the hall. The purple haired woman and yellow haired man followed close behind Willow and Ivy, ensuring they couldn't escape. Outside, through the window, they would be able to see one of the droids that had attacked them at the start, standing outside, watching them.

Red lead them down the hallways toward a landing pad. "As for Broka not liking this, as far as he knows, you both died in a tragic accident in three... two... one... now." He said, counting down. Then, suddenly, multiple large explosions echoed out, and could be seen through the window. Buildings were blown up and torn apart, smoke and fire flying into the air. Cloud City was burning.

"So, yeah, as far as he knows, you're dead." He told them, continuing to lead them down the hallways.