Authors Note
Well, this is my first story, and it feels good to be able to publish it for you on this website. I would like to take the time, however, to note that only some of the characters in this story are mine. And the universe doesn't belong to me. Or the time period. Also, I'd like to note that this will turn into a crossover in part 4 (though there will be a prequel to set that up). Now, parts 1-3 can stand alone, they are just not meant to.
Disclaimer: Once again, I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS!!! Except Dane Kiet, Bartosz Szymon, Derrek Donnard (later in the story), The Terra, and Xim Meckley.
SO, without further a due, I present to you The Dreamer Series Part One: The Boy
CH 1
'Well, this is a nice predicament' thought Jedi Knight Bastila Shan. She was on assignment from the Jedi Counsel to investigate a possible location of the Sith construction yards here on Raxus, a relatively unremarkable system that had a respectably sized spaceport, around a billion denizens (mostly human), a small agricultural economy, a large asteroid belt, and a fairly rich mineral deposit. None of which warranted the four Sith Interdictor cruisers that patrolled the system. So, Republic Intelligence decided to see if this was where Revan had built her fleet in secret, or at least a pipeline that lead there. They spent two months and several hundred thousand credits to set up a small cell on the planet to try to gain information and possibly sabotage the shipyards if it was the place. But, they didn't find a scrap of evidence that pointed to where those yards were. That's where Bastila came in. The Counsel thought that she may be able to use the force to sense if powerful Sith Lords were in the area. If they were, then there might actually be a lead in the system. This would be her first mission as a Jedi Knight, and so it would be a test of both her skills and power.
And so Bastila and her RI "partner", an arrogant, paranoid, micromanager with bad taste in music, had fallen neatly into a trap. Almost as soon they landed on the planet, Sith forces immediately converged on their location. Bastila and Xim Meckley barely managed to escape the initial attack, without exposing Bastila's true nature. Unfortunately, the cell, which cost the Republic so much time and money, was shattered, its leaders' executions broadcasted across the planet, and all traces of its existence whipped clean off the face of planet before they could even get the chance to contact them. That left the duo with two options; try to hide until the Sith forces lightened their search and then make their escape, or try to get off the planet right then. Since the Sith seemed to know where they were half the time, and were usually only a few steps behind them, staying put was NOT an option. That left them with only one course. Try to get transport off this rock as soon as possible.
And here Bastila was, sitting down with a pint of Corellain brandy in one of the seedier bars at the spaceport, watching Xim trying to persuade a Duros smuggler to get them off planet. Sitting only a few tables away, she was able to hear his pitch. And it wasn't going well.
"Listen, I can't tell you who my partner and I work for, just know that if you do this, you'll be paid exactly what your services would deserve" Xim nearly begged, this being the tenth smuggler he had tried to persuade to get them off the planet. The Duros replied in his language in a rather haughty tone, and though Bastila couldn't understand a word he said, it didn't sound good. "I know it's rather dangerous to blindly trust someone in your profession, but I NEED transportation off this mud ball, and I need it soon." The Duros simply turned back to the bar keep, ending the conversation then and there. Just as Xim was about to leave, a bald, young man with lightly tanned skin, bright, green eyes, and wearing a plain, grey shirt, a green canvas jacket, and a pair of green pants, turned to him. "If you really need transport, I might be able to take you aboard my ship to where ever you ask."
Suspicion flashed through Xim's eyes, a feeling that Bastila could feel from her seat a few feet away. "If you could do so, why didn't you speak up earlier? And how do I know you even HAVE your own ship?"
The young man merely shrugged, "First, I do have my own ship, and it's in docking bay 74. Second, I didn't want to take the job away from my compatriot if he decided to change his mind."
"Well, I'll just keep looking and get back to you if I do need your services."
"I would like to hear what your partner has to say" replied the young man, casting a glance Bastila's way. For the first time, she took a closer look at the man's presence in the force. It seemed far more pronounced then most people's presences, possibly enough to be force sensitive, though there were a few that had strong presences that could not touch the force.
"We are in complete agreement on the matter, so, if you don't mind, we'll be leaving" countered Xim. Turning his back to the man, who in turn returned to his drink, he made his way toward where Bastila was sitting. With a sigh, Bastila placed a few credits on the table and got up from her seat, preparing for another night of running. But the force seemed to have other plans that night.
At that moment, three Sith troopers walked into the bar and looked around. The center soldier of the group turned in their direction and spotted them. "Halt, you two are under arrest! Demona, contact HQ and tell them we have the spies." The soldiers began making their way toward Bastila and Xim, raising their weapons and bringing them to bear on the two fugitives. Bastila slipped her hand into her pocket, where her lightsaber rested. It looked like she was going to have to use it.
As the soldiers neared, the young man got up from his chair in what appeared to be a drunken stupor, knocking into the lead trooper.
"Watch where you going you're going………. SPAST!" The soldier was spun around from the momentum of the man to face his companions, swinging his rifle around where it fired two shots into each of their chests. The two stricken soldiers fell backward into some bystanders and lay in a heap on the floor. Removing his hand from the lead soldier's trigger, the young man shoved the trooper forward into the bar, drew his blaster pistol, and fired a shot into the back of the trooper's head. The trooper slumped forward and slid to the floor, spilling the young man's drink in the process.
And that was the end of it. Holstering his pistol, the young man turned to Bastila and the stunned Xim and calmly stated, "You don't have much of a choice anymore, and neither do I. So, shall we go, or do you want a whole battalion to show up first?"
Before Xim could say something stupid, Bastila replied, "Lead the way, but I would like to know the name of the man who's risking his life for what seems to be no reason at all."
The young man grinned and motioned them out the door. "The name's Dane Kiet, and if you stick with me, you'll get out of this alive yet."
They had been running down alleyways for over an hour now, and it seemed as if letting Dane guide them was a good idea. He had successfully led them past several squads of troopers on their trek through the spaceport, and they seemed to have not attracted too much attention in the process. Though Bastila could sense the unease that disturbed Xim, he remained silent through the entire trip, letting someone else take the lead for once. After navigating down a particularly narrow alley, Dane motioned them to halt and peered out across the street. After a quick check, he turned back to his two companions.
"Alright, my docking bay is dead ahead and the coast is clear, so it looks like we're home free. B…." Dane began before Xim interjected, "I thought you said your ship was in docking bay 74, not 39." Dane rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded rather like "Why do I get the amateur?" Glaring at Xim, he continued, "I lied just in case someone at the bar sold us out later. If they knew where we were going, they could just wait for us there. I said 74 since I knew it was closed do to structural damage; that way no one else is arrested and they still don't know where my ship is. So, as I was saying, there is one problem. There are security cameras covering the entrance on the interior, and I don't want them spying you. But, if we cut out the circuit, security will be alerted anyways and they'll still know where we are. I do know how to get around this, however. I'll cut the circuit for twenty seconds, in which you will run inside, broad my ship and wait for me to get onboard. All they will see me calmly walking up to my ship and boarding it, and will hopefully think the blackout was a glitch. I'll knock out the entire docking block, just incase."
"Any passwords or security systems we should know about?" inquired Bastila. "It would be a pity if we were to reach the ship, only to be shut out and eventually caught."
"Thank you, I almost forgot. The pass code is thirty-four thirty-four, and there will be another man inside. He's my copilot and his name is Bartosz Szymon; just tell him I sent you inside and that he should get clearance to leave NOW. I'll be right behind you." Leaving the shadows of the alley, Dane motioned them to follow him across the street and casually walked up to a panel on the side of the docking bay. He pulled a vibroblade from his pocket and proceeded to remove the cover with it. Quickly scanning the myriad of wires, he followed one cyan trail to its roots, where he grabbed the end and held it between his fingers. "Alright, on three. One. Two. Three, GO!" Bastila and Xim rushed inside the docking bay and toward the ship within.
The ship had a narrow profile and was painted all shades green. The bow narrowed to a point where the bridge was situated, the view ports on top and extended some distance back, giving the bridge a wide view around it. Placed on the stern were two large engines that looked far more powerful than a ship owned by some random smuggler would have. The fact that it could probably escape from most threats a smuggler would face obliviously didn't detract from Dane's need to protect his ship, however. With two capital ship-class stationary turbolaser cannons, a turreted heavy laser cannon on top, and what looked like a pair of proton torpedo launchers, it was an open invitation to any pirate with a death wish. All of it seemed to flow, almost as if it was an organism, reminding Bastila of Mon Calamari designs.
Taking all this in during the few seconds she was running toward it, Bastila and Xim finally arrived at the boarding ramp on the side of the vessel. Bastila quickly typed in the code and they rushed aboard. They entered the ship and continued up the ramp until they reached the main living area. Small, it merely had a table, five chairs, a small holo-projector, and a small compartment to hold personal items. And sitting at the table was another young man. He was well muscled with a tan darker than Dane's and pale grey eyes. Jet black hair fell out from under his bandana, and he was wearing a plain short-sleeved shirt, a sleeve-less jacket, and black, leather pants. He also seemed to be particularly hostile, considering the blaster that he had pulled on them.
"Two questions; one, who are you? And two, how did you get in here? Oh, and if you thought you could steal this ship, just turn around now before I open fire." He said matter-of-factly, with his feet propped up on the table and the hand not holding the blaster gripped around a drink.
"Well, you muscle bound meat head, we…….." Xim began, but Bastila interrupted, hoping to prevent a gunfight, "Listen, Dane sent us ahead and wants you to get clearance to leave right now, before the authorities show up. WE are your new cargo."
"What, do you expect me to believe you? Once I get clearance, you could try to steal the ship. I need proof that Dane really sent you."
"Maybe I should tell you myself." Dane practically ran aboard, stopping himself right before hitting the table. "We need to get air-borne FAST. Get clearance, I'll get the ship moving. If they want to keep us here, then we'll make a bolt for it. But try to get them to think we're just moving on. No need to start the chase quite yet."
Moving toward the bridge, Dane motioned his two passengers to follow him. Out of the corner of her eye, Bastila saw Bartosz key the comm.-system. "Raxus Spaceport Control Tower, this is the Terra, requesting clearance to lift-off from docking bay 39." "Terra, this is RSCT, what's the big hurry, you said you would be poking around for a new job for a bi……."
Down the corridor and up a flight of stairs was the bridge. Small, like the main living area, the bridge only had four seats arranged in a square. Sitting down at the forward, left hand seat, Dane started the preflight checklist, leaving Bastila and Xim to sit down and wait for launch.
"Alright, they bought it" Bartosz entered the cabin and sat down next to Dane. "We're cleared to leave as soon as we want. Now, we need to have a talk about taking jobs without telling me."
"Later" Dane replied. "There's more to the story than that, and I feel there is even more then they are telling me at the moment, so let's save the questions until after we enter hyperspace. Alright, we are lifting off now. We'll take it nice and easy, but strap yourselves in, just in case." With barely a thud, the ship lifted off the ground and started its accent.
They made it to the upper atmosphere before the entire house of cards started to collapse. The comm.-system started chirping. Glancing at his passengers, warning them non-verbally to stay quiet, Dane answered the signal. "RSCT, this is the Terra, what can I do for you?" "Terra, return to docking bay 39 immediately to be searched for fugitives. Failure to comply will result in your destruction." The voice that made the statement was definitely NOT the one that Bartosz was talking to earlier. Swallowing, Dane replied, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline your polite offer, I have important business to conclude elsewhere. Goodbye." Closing the line, Dane pushed the ship to a higher acceleration and drove for the stars. "Now, all we have to do is run and we are home fr…. SHIT!" The mass shadow detector blazed a warning and a Sith Interdictor cruiser appeared from the asteroid ring dead ahead.