"Just drop this load of supplies on the planet, he says... For the starving, he says... The mission'll be easy, he says..." the dark skinned man muttered to himself as his fingers worked over the controls, piloting the small freighter between two of the capital ships that made up the blockade for the planet below. His fingers where a blur as he wove through the intermittent blaster fire that would have tore the small ship apart. He dared a brief glance to his scanners frowning a bit. There had been a squadron of fighters out there. Enforcers as the populace of this world called them, the elite, the best of the best, he had lost the entire squad after a few seconds save one, single ship. The small fighter stayed right on his tail firing, he grunted yanking the ship into an awkward turn. The fighter soared past him firing again and again, leading him perfectly. The freighter shook under the heavy fire, finding several vital systems. His shields were long gone beneath the onslaught of this lone fighter and he soon lost his engines. Literally. He watched as they drifted past him in space before bursting into flames as they hit the planet's atmosphere and fell toward the craggy ground below. He frowned a bit as the small fighter dove after them before gravity's grip fell upon the freighter. With a curse the ship began its own tumble toward the rocks, watching them rush up at him.
"Come on... Don't abandon me..." he muttered closing his eyes trying to find some focus. He could feel the familiar warmth wash over him, wrapping about him like a protective cloak, flowing through him. A deep breath escaped him as the ship slammed into the side of a mountain, shattering apart in a gout of flame. A blue light pulsated around him as he felt himself flying through the air, tumbling wildly before crashing to the ground face first. A low groan escaped his lips as he felt the protective warmth leave him, the mental capability to keep up the shield he had had been tremendous, and the toll of the deed was now paid. Blood dripped from his nostrils as his dark brown eyes peered up at the sky watching the fighter zip by overhead.
"Real... easy mission..." he muttered before releasing his hold on the very Force he had commanded to save himself, and surrendered to the darkness of unconsciousness.
The pilot smirked a bit as the freighter exploded, but the smirk was replaced with a frown as the body became apparent... and it was moving! The smuggler was alive!
The way the ship fireballed when it hit the mountain side his survival was nothing short of amazing. The small fighter slowly landed on a rocky clearing, the wings folding down slowly to support the tiny craft. The pilot cracked the canopy sliding out of the cockpit to step onto one of the wings, walking down the ramp it formed. Hands slid up to unhook the helmet pulling upward allowing fiery red hair to flow freely, blowing wildly in the wind that swept the planet regularly. Emerald green eyes stared at the figure on the ground before bright crimson lips broke into a small smile. The young man had been a good pilot, she had to work hard to shoot him down, but she was pleased that her own skill had worked out for her. She moved to the man nudging him over with her boot. She was surprised by his lack of visible injuries, the only sign that he had been hurt at all was the dried blood in his nostrils. Dark brown eyes opened up to look at her, accompanied by a groan, his breath seemed to catch in his throat as he looked up at her. For a moment she thought he had died until he began to breathe again.
"Hi..." he said softly, smiling up at her, "I'm Jolee Bindo , nice to meet you."
"Hi Jolee, welcome to the Ukati system," she said pulling out her blaster to point it at him, "I'm the one who shot you down." Jolee's smile widened just a bit, unnerving the young pilot.
"[i]Nice[/i] shot," he stated simply before dropping his head back down with a thud, his eyes closing again as he passed out once more. The woman raised a brow before slowly putting her weapon away, cute... real cute... she just [i]had[/i] to catch the guy who had a sense of humor, she mused.
Jolee groaned lightly as his eyes slowly opened, staring up at the darkness above. He winced as he moved to sit up slowly scanning over the room he found himself in. A blue field blocked the only exit to the small room. A cold plasteel bed and a refresher bowl in one corner the only two objects in the place. He looked down at his flight suit frowning at the crimson blood that stained his front from the collar to about mid chest. He could smell rusty copper hanging heavily in his nose and knew it to be dried blood. The crash came flooding back like a tsunami on Manaan... He never used the Force like that before, it had taken a lot out of him. His eyes moved lower to his belt and his frown deepened. His blaster and light saber had been removed, then again that was to be expected when one was thrown into prison.
"Still alive I see," came the sound of that sweet voice he had heard when he came to the first time. He looked toward the field and saw the woman he had thought to be an angel at the time. In his mind he wasn't far off, only it was [i]him[/i] who fell from heaven...
"I had a reason to stay alive," he told her, "Where am I?" he asked.
"Aboard the [i]Golden Martyr[/i] en route to Ukati Prime," she said. Ah, the capital world of the Ukati system. Wasn't everyday he got to meet royalty. However he had no wish to meet this particular king. He made the motion of his hand through the air, he hated having to do this but he had to find a way to get off this ship and return to Nar Shadaa so he could get more supplies and try again.
"You'll let me go now," he told her, visualizing his hands on her head, ghostly fingers pushing into her mind. It was then a blue flash snapped his imaginary hands away from her as if shocked.
"No I won't..." she told him, tilting her head to the side curiously, "Need to work on your sales pitch for begging to get out," Jolee simply stared at her in complete disbelief, his particular skill had been the ability to use the Force to manipulate the mind. To convince others to do as he asked... Then there it was, he had missed it at first. The powerful resonance of the Force radiating off of Nayama like a beacon. How the hell did he miss that? Oh right... her beauty... That had been... distracting. Her mind was strong, he could feel her confidence, her immense strength, her fiery temper that could slam into him like an angry bantha at any given moment.
"I'll buy you dinner," he stated, she stared hard at him for a moment before she broke into a peal of laughter.
"That's a little better, but no," she stated moving to open the cell door, "But since you mentioned dinner, here," she said shoving a plate of food into his hands. She then backed out the door and closed the cell up again. He looked down at the meager supply of food, frowning just a bit. The food looked terrible, and that fact alone angered him a bit, this was why he was here.
"Won't feed your people but you have no problem serving more disgusting filth to your prisoners than you do the populace," he said throwing the plate to the ground. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden show of rage coming from the previously charming young man.
"Is that what you think?" she asked him, shaking her head slowly as if trying to comprehend the outsider point of view, "People are indeed starving, we are losing a battle here, we are trying to get them food but someone keeps ambushing our shipments," she told him. For some reason she felt the need to explain to him.
"Your pompous, arrogant, and selfish king I bet, I won't eat as long as the people won't, no need wasting valuable food on me," he told her. She drew her blaster and pointed it at him through the force field.
"Insult the king again, I dare you..." normally Jolee would have goaded her on a bit, but he chose not to. "He has done [i]every[/i]thing in his power to help them, but people like [i]you[/i] keep coming along, trying to supply the damn rebels,"
"You ever been to the lower class sections of Ukati ?" he asked her, her brows furrowed. No, of course not. Only nobles could get the rank of Enforcer for the Ukati squadrons.
"I've no reason to, I trust in my Lord," she told him. He blew out an exasperated sigh.
"I was bringing food and supplies to [i]them[/i] not these rebels you're talking about, please... believe me," he pleaded. She scowled at him, but at least she holstered her blaster.
"I think not, I know better than to believe Republic scum, let alone one who carries a light saber, you Jedi lie better than anyone I know... Don't insult me either," she said pointing accusingly at him before she turned on her heel and stalked out of the cell block. Jolee simply smirked and let out a half chuckle.
"Looks like I struck a nerve," he mused. He sat on the ground in front of the spilled food, his legs crossing as he focused on the task at hand. In his mind he visualized Nayama, fiery red hair, eyes as green as the crystal in his light saber, silky white flesh, long legs... He felt his face turn red and his concentration break for a moment. He shook his head trying to clear it, visualizing her again, trying to picture her hands entering in the code that closed his cell. He smiled slightly picturing his own fingers now falling on the keys she had pressed. Soon the force field flickered and faded. He stood slowly stretching with a soft chuckle making his way for the door.
"I'll have you kno-" came Nayama's voice as she came back into the room to yell at Jolee some more. They both froze staring at each other for a moment. Her prisoner free of his cell, her his captor in more ways than one, just staring at each other. "How-"
"Power outage?" he said as a hopeful means of explanation, "Dunno, the cell seemed a bit... stuffy, seems some food got spilled in there... starting to smell funny... yeah..." she turned her head to the side a bit to regard him before reaching for her blaster, he swore softly.
"Sorry..." he said raising her hand. The Force exploded from him violently, crashing into her and throwing her back against the bulkhead. Causing her to crumple to the deck, he winced at the impact throwing out another apology as he moved to run past her. Something struck his feet, however, his eyes scanning down to his feet to see a pair of legs... nice, long legs, cracking into his shins sending him sprawling onto the deck. He groaned rolling onto his back to see the business end of a blaster. The barrel of the blaster wasn't nearly as worrisome as the dark look behind the bright green eyes. Nayama growled loud before kicking him hard in the side, Jolee let out a grunt of surprise and pain as she leaned down to hoist him to his feet. She winced at the movement, another growl escaping her, this time he expected the strike as she slapped him in the back of the head.
"Next time you do that I'll kill you!" she shouted at him throwing him back into another cell, she reached down to pull out her communicator, "Give me a guard down here now!" she barked staring at Jolee.
Nayama rubbed her back gingerly, the bulk head wasn't exactly the softest thing to be thrown into. That coupled with the fact that she had been caught off guard just ticked her off even more. The guard came and stood there waiting for her orders.
"Stay on your toes, this guy is a Jedi, watch out for his tricks-" she said before looking at Jolee hatefully, "And his lies!" she shouted the last bit. The guard snapped to attention and gave her a salute.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. Nayama glared at Jolee for a bit longer before moving out of the cell block again. She needed to recover.
[i]He said he was sorry.[/i]
"Bah... I don't care if he didn't mean it, and he's a criminal anyway," she said to her inner voice. She often heard the call in her mind, but she chalked it up to her own thoughts taking wing.
[i]You should go to the lower sectors.[/i]
"Yeah, how 'bout no?"
[i]What if he's right?[/i]
That caused her to falter. What if Jolee was right? What if her king, the same man she was sworn to protect, was in fact betraying his people? But for what gain? She scowled deeply pushing the thoughts away. She wouldn't believe such a thing. She couldn't. She was sworn to protect the Ukati system as an Enforcer, an Enforcer! The King's elites, the best that the Ukati had to offer. She had her oath, she couldn't afford to believe that her oath was worthless to the very ruler she idolized...
This time it worked. Good thing all the soldiers on this ship weren't Force sensitive like Nayama... Then he would have been screwed.
"I'm harmless, unarmed, Nayama was just over reacting, you can let me out to stretch my legs a bit," he told the guard waving his hand before him. This time his imagined fingers rooted about his target's mind.
"Eh, the Captain probably was just over reacting," the guard said, "You seem harmless enough, heck, you're unarmed!" he exclaimed, "Here, I think I can let you out to stretch your legs," Jolee smiled and nodded.
"That's awfully nice of you," he said as he stepped out of the cell as the guard opened it for him. Jolee paused for a moment, mocking a gasp as he pointed at the man.
"But what would the Captain think?" he asked the man, his "fingers" deep inside the man's head, "Oh, this is bad... really bad, you should lock yourself up," he told him.
"Wait... what would the Captain think? I shouldn't have let you out, I'll lock myself up," said the guard moving to put a ten second delay on the force field as he entered. The field flashing on between them. Jolee pulled his mind away from the man smiling a bit.
"What? How did I get in here?" the man asked before looking toward Jolee. His eyes widened in surprise. "How did you-?"
"You think you Ukati would have heard of a Jedi mind trick.." Jolee muttered before making his way away from the cell block.
She couldn't sleep. Her mind was a jumble as she thought back to the handsome, charming Jedi she had captured. The man frustrated her to no end. At least her back and head felt better after she had gone to see the healer droid. Maybe Bindo hadn't really meant to hurt her, but that didn't change the fact that he had. She shrugged lightly, she just needed to go out with her squad mates again. A nice little patrol perhaps, she felt at her best either fighting or flying, if she could do both? Even better. She strode silently across the fighter bay staring at the silver ships gathered there, smiling slightly at the sight of what she considered her oldest friends. Her eyes fell on her own ship... then paused. The cockpit was open and a figure was climbing inside. A figure she recognized readily.
"Jolee Bindo !" she cried, the young man jumped, startled, his eyes moving to take in Nayama for a second before falling into the seat, closing the canopy hard with a click. "Oh no you don't!" she shouted over the ship as it began firing up. She rushed to a nearby terminal watching the open blast doors. Her fingers moved rapidly over the controls at the flickering force field. The thing was thin enough to fly through, but thick enough to keep the air inside where it belonged rather than become sucked out into the vacuum of space. The small fighter began lifting off flying fast toward the open bay door. With a curse she slammed her hands down, then winced as the ship hit the, suddenly much more solid, force field. There was an echoing crunch followed by a plume of smoke and pieces of the fighter as it bounced off the energy wall, sending it crashing across the ground. Nayama stood there for a few seconds watching her ship become a twisted piece of metal right before her eyes, bounce and come skidding right at her. She couldn't move, didn't feel the need to, nor did she have the power at the shock of watching her greatest friend practically dissolve. Luckily it stopped right in front of the console, resting on its side. She blinked once and the cockpit canopy fell off with a clunk. Her eyes slowly moved upward to take in the sight of Jolee, rubbing his shoulders where the safety harness had protected him by holding him in place. Of course...
"You throw me into a wall, wreck my fighter... The least you can do is die, dammit!" she exclaimed as she moved to haul him out of the wreckage to take him back to his cell.
"So this is the capital? Can't say I'm impressed," Jolee said as he stared out the small window that looked out from his cell. He could immediately see a major design flaw. Why on Ukati would a king build his palace right next door to his proverbial dungeon?
"Silence, Jedi," said one of the guards. A captain, Jolee had noted. He shrugged looking at the other guards for a long moment. Two sat in one corner playing paazak, another two paced the corridor, the Captain stood by the force field, and another two watched the card game. Seven total. Had it been one or two, maybe even three with some heavy work, he could have tried the whole mind trick thing again. He was pretty sure Nayama had accounted for that. He sat down heavily, propping his feet up on the small chair that was placed in this new cell. Where his old one had been devoid of anything but a bed and a pot, this one came with a chair. Must have been out of the regular rooms, he thought wryly, he actually got the suite. Wasn't that bad. Then again, it wasn't that good. Through his musings he scanned over the men there, thinking to himself as a new means to escape this place. Security wound up a bit tighter than he preferred.
"How's he doing?" came the same familiar voice he had grown to long for... wait... was that right? He blanched at the thought that he didn't just think she was attractive, but that he actually longed for her to return? To torture him with her mere presence. Could his attraction for her be so much more? If that was the case it wasn't returned, and he was fast realizing that there were fates worst than death. Unrequited love was on the top of the list so far. She came into view for a moment, his eyes scanning over her body as she did so.
"He's unimpressed by our capital," said the Captain with a small smirk. She dared a glance at Jolee for a moment, his wandering eyes catching a source of light on her hip. A silver reflection... Off of his light saber. He allowed a small smirk to cross his face, for one so damn determined to keep him under lock and key she so very often left him great openings. Her eyes met his for just a second and he felt his heart skip a beat even as he held his hand out. Her deep green eyes widened in realization her hand snapping down defensively toward her blaster. In Jolee's mind he could picture himself standing behind her gripping his old friend, his light saber. He paused for a moment, thinking how it was wrong to use the Force in this manner, but when on Ukati... Nayama jumped, startled as she whirled around holding her behind with one hand, the light saber flying from her belt and activating flying for the force field controls. Again she turned, blaster up in a flash, and she fired. The red bolt struck its mark dead on, knocking the glowing green projectile out of the air. It skittered harmlessly along the ground as Jolee felt it yank free of his Force pull. He blinked for a moment as Nayama's eyes narrowed at him, several of the guards who had been sitting stood swiftly, weapons trained on the young man. His dark brown hair dropped over his eyes as he took a step back.
"What the hell was that?" asked Nayama , still rubbing her bottom.
"I dunno, you tell me, I was going to make a daring escape, something seemed to distract you..." he thought for a moment, "What distracted you?" Jolee asked feigning innocence. Nayama growled low in her throat stalking toward the cell.
"You [i]know[/i] what!" she screamed, Jolee raised his hands defensively.
"Easy, girl, I just wanted my glow stick back," he stated.
"And the grab to my a-" she began, it was then another voice echoed throughout the cell block.
"Captain Nayama ," she spun around, and even from his point of view Jolee could see the fire in her eyes as she stared at the person who called her. It took her about a second to snap to attention and throw off her salute which the man returned.
"General Norik," she said in way of greetings, the other soldiers snapped to and offered a salute as well but didn't move to lower their hands as Nayama did.
"How's our prisoner doing?" Norik asked her. She wrinkled her nose at his question for a second.
"Escaped twice, tried again mere seconds ago, sir..." she told him standing with her hands at her side.
"Impressive, and you foiled all three of his attempts?" the General asked walking toward the cell, pausing to pick up the fallen light saber. It was then Jolee felt it. The dark, pervading sense of doom that surrounded the General in a dark, dark cloak. Norik was a tall man, his head clean shaved, a black tattoo marring half of his face. Crimson eyes pierced into Jolee's very soul as he studied him, his flesh a bright blue. Jolee immediately recognized the race. Chiss. Since when did the Ukati king start employing outsiders? The General's uniform consisted of black armor and an equally black cape, the image of a broken sword clasping the cape about his neck. Jolee swallowed hard, ignoring the fear that threatened to well up inside of him. He could barely make out Nayama's affirmative over the brief struggle he had. He could feel the Chiss's fingers inside his skull and forcibly ejected him. The Chiss staggered back for a moment, narrowing his eyes slowly.
"Good, good... The king wishes to see him," he told Nayama before clipping Jolee's light saber to his belt. "You, Captain Nayama , will be his escort," he stated before stalking out of the room. His cape fluttering behind him like a pair of wings as he stalked out into the courtyard. The guards seemed to give off a sigh of relief as Norik left, and Jolee was rather surprised when he found he had done the same. Nayama stalked to the cell opening it, she held a pair of cuffs before her.
"We can do this one of two ways, Jedi, you put them on, or I do it for you," she said. Jolee stepped forward holding his hands out.
"I'd rather this had been on better terms," he said playfully, then grinned at the sight of her flushed face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jolee made his move. There was no way he'd go before the king. One hand snatched out grabbing her blaster in its holster, her eyes narrowed before she grabbed his wrist and twisted. Anyone else would have been sprawled flat on their backs, but Jolee had seen her next move before she had done it. Not through the Force, but through her very eyes. They betrayed her. He flipped through the air with the momentum she gave him, ripping the blaster from her holster and fired rapidly. Two guards dropped before he hit the ground, and when he did, it was on his feet. He turned quickly to drop another soldier as he moved for him. Nayama took that moment to spin about, kicking out for her stolen weapon. Jolee smirked, reading her move even as she did it. Retracting the blaster and catching her ankle with his free hand, then pulled hard. She collided with him, one leg draped about his waist in surprised. Again she flushed, and despite himself doing the same, Jolee grinned at the closeness. The blaster, however, soon found a spot right under her chin. The remaining guards moved for him.
"Stop! Stop now or I blow her brains out!" he shouted to the men. They hesitated. Four men, he could probably kill them, but he would have rather not. He could of course only wound them like the other three, but they'd overwhelm him before long, and of course Nayama would be a factor.
"You plan to just walk out of here with me?" asked Nayama in a low growl, her breath was hot against his cheek, and for a second he almost closed his eyes to the sensation. Her sweet fragrance washed over him, stealing his very breath.
"Good guess," he managed before lowering her leg and turning her about so her back pressed into his chest, the weapon resting against her temple, "And I'd advise you men not to follow," he added moving backwards, he could feel a grate beneath his feet... his out. One of the guards however seemed to pause, it was the Captain, his brows furrowed before looking at the escaping pair.
"General Norik says take the shot," he said. Jolee's eyes went wide at that as the guards all leveled there weapons at him. Nayama held her head high, ready to die for her kingdom. Not today. He fired into the floor, then shoved her hard. She let out a shriek as she fell through the broken grate and hit the disgusting slide. The prison cells had a series of connecting run off tubes used to drain water, blood, sweat and various waste from the ground. So naturally it stank to high heaven. Jolee soon regretted following her, watching as red blaster fire perforated the ground around the hole above.
"Real. Easy. Mission..." muttered Jolee as he tumbled after Nayama.
[i]Curse that man![/i] She thought bitterly as she finally found the end of the wild ride. First her boots sloshed into disgusting smelling... liquid... then she lost her balance. The entire front of her pants where covered in the filth of the surrounding sewers. Granted Jolee had saved her from being shot by her own squad, but in so doing, he himself would be able to escape. A grunt caused her head to snap upward in time to see the form of the Jedi in question. Another shriek escaped her as she hopped to the side and watched Jolee stop above the filth. Her eyes narrowed a bit before he lowered himself beside her. if only she could have done that.
"Heh, yeah, watch that first step," he told her, "It's a doozy." Nayama growled moving forward, meaning to throttle him then and there, the bastard first threw her into a wall, then he destroyed her ship, then he Force groped her, now this! She'd kill him! He promptly raised her blaster to point it at her, "No, no, none of that now," he told her shaking his head. She paused for a second then sighed, turning her head to the side as if to turn and storm off. However she came right back with what Jolee would later refer to as 'one hell of a right hook'. Jolee's head snapped back and he tumbled onto his back with a disgusting 'splunk'. She was seething, she wanted to kill him still, but seeing him spluttering in the filth, she couldn't help but snicker. Jolee finally recovered and rubbed his jaw gingerly. His eyes staring at her approvingly. She hated those deep brown eyes of his, the warmth they brought to her face, she really wished he'd stop doing that.
"Now that that's out of the way-" he said standing, he looked at her again with what she thought was admiration, "-we need to get out of here," he told her.
"Like that'll happen, Jedi," she said, "I think I'll stay here and wait for the guards to pick me up, then I'll get another blaster and we'll hunt you down, you won't get far..." she told him, "This time, I think I'll kill you," she promised. Jolee smirked a bit at that.
"You're coming with me," he said as if she had no choice. She scowled at him, the only thing keeping her from attacking him was the blaster and his ability to use the Force. Right now she figured he had her at a disadvantage, but she also felt he wouldn't shoot her.
"There is no way I'll go with [i]you[/i]," she said crossing her arms over her chest.
[i]Moments later...[/i]
She hated being wrong like that, at least she was right about her not being able to shoot her.
"Put me down right now dammit!" she screamed, kicking futilely against his arms. He held her tightly, slung over one shoulder. A small chuckle escaping him as they moved.
"Won't walk on your own, figured you needed some help," he told her. She simply fumed and screamed at him the whole way.
"General Norik, you promised me the Jedi," said the imposing figure standing before a great hovering throne, in one hand he held a long black staff with an odd eyelet at its apex. This was the king of the Ukati. Norik knelt before his king as the man strode down the steps slowly.
"I have, milord, and he will be brought before you soon," promised Norik. The king didn't smile, hell, he didn't even seem angry.
"I trust you speak truly, the price of failure is death," the king told Norik. The man bowed his head low, the thought didn't hold any great appeal to the Chiss. He faced death every single day just for being what he was, but the king, he wouldn't stand long against [i]him[/i] for a moment at all. The man had a way for torturing the most powerful of minds, and enjoyed torturing people to death.
"I will not fail, milord," he told him. The king nodded once.
"Then be out of my sight, find him, bring him to me, or do not bother to return at all,"
"As you will, it is done," the Chiss said before standing and sweeping out of the room. The king watched him go after a moment then scowled.
"Do we really need that fool?" he asked. A deep voice spoke from behind the throne, his voice shaking the palace's very foundation.
"Not really, no, but he will serve a purpose, we shall see how powerful this Jolee Bindo is," the king looked toward his throne as a young, handsome man, with his jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail, stepped into view, the only thing marring his face was the scar of what appeared to be a four legged spider, right upon his forehead and three more scar on the side of his face from his sideburn to the edge of his cheek, like claw marks.
"You don't think Norik will survive, do you?" the king asked the imposing figure.
"He may, that has not been written yet," the young man told him, then shrugged, "I sense that there will indeed be death, it surrounds us on all sides," the king stared at the man in deep intrigue, he still knew so little about the man.
"Come, let us meditate, perhaps we can watch this Jedi and the young captain, and see where they go," the king simply nodded, then bowed before the man.
"As you wish, Master Kun," he said...