As Narek walked out of the ship and into the custody of the Jedi Knight Feral, Robert sighed and leaned against the wall of the Wildfire. Drew stood with him as they watched their leader walk out to the Clone troopers and give himself up without a fight. The blue painted commando walked back toward the conference room. Drew grabbed the commando's shoulder as he walked away.
"These troopers will return to look aboard this ship; we need to get out of here."
"What about the ship?" asked Robert, the image of Lenovo appeared next to his face; the program had his hands behind his back with the usual mellow tone in his voice.
"I will keep it locked and protected at all times, now we must follow Drew's lead." When the two walked out of the ship several clones came from the exit where Narek and Feral had left. They held up their hands saying halt and ran after the men, as they approached though Drew lifted his hand and reached out with his mind.
"You are not looking for us, we are not the enemy." The two clones stopped in place and looked at one another.
"We are not looking for them, they are not the enemy." The clones began to back away from Drew and Robert. Connecting to the clones was extremely difficult, they were not weak minded and wouldn't be tricked by the Force; however their genetic materials mad them totally obedient to whoever was in command. The trick was to damage that sector of the mind to make them think you were a commander, natural reaction would kick in and lead them away.
"You should go back to your commander now."
"We should go back to our commander now," stated one of the clones. The white armored troopers then turned around and walked away. Robert looked at Lenovo and smiled. He and Drew turned around and sped out the back exit from the hanger. When they opened the door the two men saw a scarce population of travels inside the star port, the warriors looked around, it was a small rectangular room that on the left side led to another hanger on the right though was the main lobby. There were several desert plants sprouting from the corners for decoration, the floors were white tiles with little carpet. The walls were a mixture of white and advertisements for goods in the town, there was also a large couch in front of the two warriors as they walked to it and sat down. Several aliens with the most outrageous costumes walked by as the two talked silently.
"What now?" asked Robert looking at the aliens who walked by, Lenovo was inside Robert's HUD and did not show himself to the civilians and criminals walking by, that would cause attention to his friends.
"We need to find the Heirloom and the place to Forge it and the key together," answered Drew reaching out with the Force to find Narek, he was being loaded onto a large vehicle as they spoke. "You still have the key correct?"
"Yes, it is in my backpack. We need to find a place only one knows how to reach, how in the blazes are we going to do that?!"
"Perhaps finding someone who knows more about Tatooine than any other person alive, or at least has enough connections to have anyone find the place, who would be powerful enough to know all this about the planet they live on?" Robert looked down at the sand covered tiles; he then popped up and looked at Drew.
"Jabba the Hutt the most powerful person on Tatooine, perhaps he has something that can lead us to the forgery at least." Drew scratched his chin.
"I am sorry I have never heard of this Jabba in my days on Korriban, he is a Hutt?"
"Yes a big fat worm with the biggest crime organization in the galaxy."
"And he lives here on Tatooine?"
"Yes, if we can get his help we could have a much easier time getting the information we need."
"Why would a crime lord like Jabba want to help us?" Robert looked around and bit his lip.
"I knew you were going to say that, no one goes to a Hutt without something to offer, we need someone he wants perhaps someone he wants killed." Robert pressed his com-link on the side of his head. "Lenovo get any large Bounty Jabba wants in Mos Espa." Lenovo scanned through several amounts of data before he returned.
"There is a Bounty for a man name called Deadeye on the other side of the city, a thug leader who has cheated Jabba out of money in the last Podrace two months ago. Apparently every hunter that Jabba has sent has come back to him with one eye shot out."
"Can you get me a picture of this guy?" asked Robert still talking in his com-link. A small picture of a Rodian appeared on his HUD. He had green skin; several skin hairs on his head with extremely large black eyes, his fingers had the suction cup look to them. His mouth was extremely small with practically little teeth. "Oh, hello ugly."
"Deadeye's main hideout is in the poor district on the East side of town, be cautionary reports of armed shooting is frequent in that area," Lenovo returned to the database as Robert stood, Drew followed as they walked out of the star port to see in the distance a large Juggernaut role past the outskirts. Robert looked at the large monstrosity and thought to himself, 'good luck Narek.' As Drew came to Robert's side the commando told him about their target.
"So we have a Rodian called Deadeye that Jabba has a Bounty on for the past two months, every hunter he has sent after this guy has a single shot in one of their eyes." Robert paused after saying this, the countless people roaming the streets was beginning to annoy Robert. "And his hideout is on the opposite side of the town on the East side poor district. We are going to go there, get him and bring him back to Jabba."
"Is his Bounty dead or alive?" asked Drew as he walked next to his friend.
"I think whether or not we should do alive, Jabba would want to kill him personally, and it would put that worm in a good mood." As Robert finished the amount of aliens on the streets of Mos Espa began to shrink, its population sank and many shady creatures began to pass the two with cloaks and strange helmets.
"Robert, we have entered the poor district. We have three hundred yards until we find Deadeye," stated Lenovo from the com-link he was watching his two friends as a thug looking creature walked up to him resembling something of a green pig. It spoke with extremely loud noises and snorts, Lenovo translated in Robert's helmet.
"What are you two doing here? This place is no friend to the Republic Clone!" said the creature while raising his ax. Before Robert reacted though Drew reached out with his hand, and the pig began to suffocate. It fell to its knees as three other guards looked on. The district they were in was filled with small one story houses that conjugate into small apartments, larger buildings were much wider and did not increase their height, the complete opposite to civilized planets. Several men came from the apartments along the sides of the street and pulled out their weapons aiming them at the two warriors. Without looking Drew reached out to them and all five of the men who came from the sides were now holding their breath clamping onto their necks. One human was left as Robert and Drew walked forward, a small frail man stood with a pistol aimed at Drew, Robert slapped it out of his hand and it hit the solid ground with a thump. Robert then grabbed the man's shoulder and shook him back into reality. While they did this the men collapsed one by one letting Drew pull his arms back down toward his sides.
"I can help you live if you tell me how many men Deadeye has left, tell me and my friend won't kill you." The man looked at Drew who was cloaked and hooded showing only the bottom part of his face. The man was terrified as Drew approached he looked at Robert and spoke incredibly fast.
"More than twenty!" he exclaimed, Robert dropped the man and continued to walk. The commando then reached around and pulled his carbine from his back and charged his weapon. As he did the constant patter of footsteps came to Robert's attention as several large aliens came from the sides, as they shot Robert ducked and pulled the trigger killing four of the seven without hesitation, Drew shot a bolt of Force Lightning into the three. The aliens fell down to the street and Drew picked them up with the Force and placed them ear the edge. Many people watched in horror as these two men just laid waste to the thugs who came to them. As they continued their walk Lenovo was telling them about the massive amount of movement in Deadeye's warehouse. Drew began a light jog; Robert walked sideways decreasing his area of space and scanned the corners and hide-points covering the Force sensitive in case he missed something. Many civilians cleared the streets and went into their homes making Robert's job extremely easy, anyone with a gun was a target anyone else was a civilian. The street fed into a small ramp that led up a series of crossroads; however a straight shot forward was Deadeye's warehouse, the warehouse unlike the rest of the city which was two stories and stood very tall over the other tan buildings. Its large steel colored garage opened and the rest of Deadeye's forces charged out. Robert managed to shoot down ten of the men as Drew shot a massive force pulse into the crowd sending the aliens crashing back into the warehouse, a large crunch was heard and Robert chunked a knockout grenade into the building. Anyone who wasn't already dead was coughing. As the two came up against the warehouse, the still living thugs stood holding their mouths; the aliens then fell to their knees periodically and collapsed. Drew suppressed the gas and pulled it into a small part of the warehouse in the corner, the heavy knockout smoke then sat in the top corner as Drew and Robert entered the warehouse. Before Robert looked at the aliens who now lay next to a pile of mashed crates Lenovo spoke up.
"Robert, there is one more individual still moving," stated Lenovo. When he did two shots pierced the air. The commando reacted and shot toward the sound. The blue laser went straight into a target's rifle making it explode in a fireball. Robert however closed his eyes as the red shot hit his helmet. The blast bounced off his shields and depleted his energy. Robert sighed greatly as he looked at his armor, the shielding recharged after a brief moment. His life meter on his lower right side of the HUD read green. He felt his face; a small dent was on his helmet from the laser shot. He looked up at the sky and raised his arms.
"I'm ALIVE!" exclaimed Robert as he smiled.
While Roberts energy shields protected him Drew redirected the shot, however the shot was unexpected and grazed his hand causing a small burn on his gloves. He then looked up at the position the shot came from. He pulled the crates the individual was hiding behind away. The alien emerged looking like a Rodian.
"Robert is that Deadeye?" asked Drew. Robert who was still looking up at the sky, caught back up with the mission and looked at the green skinned Rodian. The alien raised his hands; his entire top torso was burned from the rifle exploding. He then pulled out two pistols before he surrendered. Robert shot one of the pistols while Drew pulled the black weapon from Deadeye and into his hand. The alien was then pulled off the high conveyer belt he stood on. It was a story drop as the alien fell on his face, busting his small snout. Robert then looked at the pathetic creature and grabbed him pulling him upright. The alien spoke complete basic and was grunting as Robert pulled him up.
"Hey there Deadeye, my name is Robert we need your help," announced Robert as he squatted to be eye level with the Rodian. The alien was dumbfounded as he looked at the commando. "We need to talk to Jabba the Hutt and you are our ticket to get a one trip to his palace."
"Are you mad?! That Hutt will kill me for what I have done to him, please do not take me to that monster I will pay you anything!" plead Deadeye looking up at Drew then back to Robert.
"You must pay for your crimes, stealing is bad and if you can't do the time don't do the crime." Robert looked up in his visor amusing himself with the clever rhyme he had just made. He reached to the com-link and requested Lenovo. The figure appeared in front of Deadeye who looked astonished as the small man appeared centimeters in front of his face and studied him. The program then disappeared and reconstructed next to Robert's head.
"All physical definitions match, well done you have captured Deadeye."
"Contact Jabba the Hutt, we have his much wanted Bounty." Lenovo then disappeared contacting one of Jabba's Crime Lords; Drew reached into Robert's back pack and pulled out a communicator. He ordered Lenovo to make it so the crime organizer would appear before them. The communicator lit up showing a devil looking Twi'lek named Bib Fortuna, the Twi'lek tentacles on his head where wrapped around his shoulders, and the claws on his fingers were not trimmed. His skin was white pink with practically no sun.
"This is Bib Fortuna who dares disturb Jabba's time?" asked the Twi'lek looking at the two figures who appeared in front of him.
"We have captured the criminal Deadeye and wish to seek an audience with Jabba to give him this prisoner." Bib looked up at this and puzzled, he then pressed a few buttons on his communicator
"Take a picture of Deadeye and I will ask Jabba." The Force sensitive then went up to Deadeye, who had been wrapped in rope by Robert while Drew contacted Bib. The Rodian was terrified as the Twi'lek looked over him.
"Yes this is the one Jabba has been wanting for a couple months now, he will be glad to take him alive. Wait while I transfer to Jabba." The image of a large fat worm covered in mucus appeared; he looked at the two with bland facial features.
"Mighty Jabba we have collected a pest for you, the one called Deadeye is now in our custody," announced Robert with an extreme amount of exaggeration. The worm grew restless and his features shifted to something that resembled a small smile. He waved his arms as he spoke to Robert. Lenovo once again translated.
"Ah yes I have wanted that scum for a while now, can you come to my Palace I would like to see him personally," proclaimed Jabba as he saw the image of Deadeye come to his Holoprojector.
"We need transportation, we have a few people who want us killed at the moment," answered Robert looking at the worm that raised his brow and puzzled with an extreme amount of anger. "We will lighten the Bounty on Deadeye that you offered." Robert's voice was very sweet as he said this taunting the slug with money. The worm smiled again and nodded licking his lips like a disgusting worm.
"My representatives in Mos Espa will bring you to my palace; I expect Deadeye alive and well when you come.
It had taken the rest of the day and night to get to Jabba's palace. In the early morning Tatooine sun Drew and Robert stood still as the large doors opened. It had a massive rust color to it along with the most uncivilized look. The door was pulled up extremely slow showing the aliens that guarded an extremely wide and long hallway. This hall was covered in sand and was guarded mainly by green pig like people with large axes. As they walked many of the pig guards surrounded them and walked with them for security. Drew could hear music being played in the background with laughing at the end of the hallway. Large spider droids walked around, with well covered guards patrolling every corner. As they reached the end hallway one individual stood out from the rest, a small Jawa. He had the causal brown colored robe with a black face and glowing yellow eyes, the small creature had a blaster pistol on its left thigh and a rocket launcher that was the size of the wielder on its back. The Jawa walked next to the Force sensitive as they continued their walk, his talk was incredibly fast and had a lot of gibberish mixed in that Drew couldn't translate. Lenovo though appeared from Robert's HUD and aided the warrior. When he appeared though many guards became weary and held their weapons closer. The Jawa however looked closer and said 'oooooooooo.' Lenovo looked up at Drew and spoke.
"What are you doing here, you look like a Jedi." Drew looked back at the Jawa and smiled.
"No I am no Jedi; I am here for information from your master."
"What kind of information maybe Thatin can help!" The Jawa was very cheerful and charming, something that most of his kind were not. Most Jawas were extremely shy and recluse to others and never held weapons that could kill.
"Who is Thatin?" asked Drew looking down at the creature; they were nearing a bright light. The hallway curved near the end and eventually led to the main room where Jabba could be heard.
"I am Thatin!" exclaimed the Jawa reaching his hand up to Drew, the Force user smiled and shook the Jawa's hand pleased. "It is very good to meet you, can I help?"
"No I believe we will be fine, thank you Thatin, it was nice to meet you," answered Drew as the group entered the room where Jabba was, it was a rectangle long room with numerous creatures lying around drunk to sleep and laughing at the show, a young Twi'lek who was dancing. Jabba looked at the group that walked in and let out a pleased sound. As they walked in Thatin stayed at the entrance to the chambers leaving the Commando and Dark Jedi to walk before Jabba with Deadeye being pulled up by the pigs who had taken him at the entrance to the palace. The hunted was placed on his knees as he was shoved to the ground looking up at the Hutt. The worm looked very pleased as he talked to Deadeye. Robert and Drew whispered while everyone else turned quiet and watched Jabba talk to his prey.
"I think you should let me do the talking," whispered Robert.
"Why is that?" asked Drew not looking at his friend.
"Because you have to be delicate with the Hutts or we will be fed to this guy's personal Rancor." Drew knew what a Rancor was; these massive creatures were bred from the Dark side of the Force many eons ago. They had two long arms with three massive talons on each hand. They had short stubby legs with a hunched back and no neck. These creatures gave Jedi problems during the years when the Jedi Order first came into existence, that was what the Sith spirits had told him on Korriban. Deadeye was carried away by his feet by the pig guards and was screaming as they took him deeper into the palace. Robert slowly walked forward along with Drew and stood before the worm.
"Thank you for getting rid of that pest for me, I will transfer twenty thousand credits into your account," announced Jabba. Robert and Drew bowed, however afterward Robert stepped past his friend and looked at the worm.
"In exchange for bringing Deadeye back alive I would want to ask a humble question that will give us much needed information," pleased Robert. The commando was incredibly sincere in his voice trying to sound humble.
"Ask young hunter and I might answer."
"There is no one more powerful than you on Tatooine, you know more than anyone else. There is a place my friend and I are searching for; some place that only one being on Tatooine knows of, a place that seems out of place here on Tatooine. Do you get my placement? Perhaps a large temple, or a massive armory, or maybe an unknown structure, or maybe just a place that looks like a place?" Jabba scratched his chin and let out a few sighs while thinking. He then looked at the two hunters and shook his head.
"My secrets are only for me to know, I will not tell a secret that only I know to you, now if you please I have different matters to attend to." Robert stepped back with a slight shake in his head. Angered Drew stepped forward removing his hood and showing his lightsaber bud to Jabba by pulling his cloak back.
"Is this how you treat people who kill people you cannot?" asked Drew stepping forward. A few pigs tried to grab him but Jabba waved them off. Robert stood stunned by this disrespectful approach. "We have brought back someone you have been wanting for months and no one that you have sent could get him, yet we, by ourselves, and recently stripped of our leader take down this criminal and bring him before you in less than a day, where is your sense of honor?" There was a long pause as the crowd looked from Drew to Jabba back to Drew and back to Jabba. The fat worm scratched his chin again then began to laugh; his demeanor was deep and powerful. The laugh was a set large exclamation that could stop a raging Bantha, this laugh was also famous in the galaxy everyone knew it and feared it.
"You have fight in you young Jedi; you cannot threaten me with pity spokes of honor." Drew then raised his hand and pulled out sparks of lightning from his fingertips. He then shot a nearby guard pig with a massive bolt of electricity. The power however did not kill the pig, but drained him, the green skin turned slightly brown and his skin began to wrinkle. This power was called force drain a powerful set that sucked the life out of an opponent. He held the spark of life in his right hand and glared at Jabba.
"I am no Jedi and I will not hesitate to kill you Jabba, though I do not wish to, I will if need be to get what we want." The pig then fell to the floor gasping for breath, Drew then returned the life to the pig, his skin returned to normal, and the wrinkles disappeared. The crowd turned to Drew in fear, however Jabba laughed again as he looked down at the Dark Jedi. With no hesitation the worm continued.
"I see that you are my kind of scum Jedi, I will remember you a long time from now, but as I said my secrets are not to be known, even if I did know of this place you describe I would not tell you. Be on your way Jedi before this turns violent. Drew and Robert turned and walked out the door. A while later the duo was walking out of the palace, there were no guards to see them out and nothing to keep them company.
"Wow Drew I've never heard of anyone who could stand up to Jabba like that, I was really impressed with what happened back there," exclaimed Robert as they came into view of the massive door, it was still a while away though.
"Crime Lords are especially troublesome I wish Narek was there, he probably could have brought Jabba back down to earth."
"Well we have some newly earned credits along with some self-esteem by standing up to the man, or worm in this case. We should go buy a speeder see if we can find some other people who can help us…." A massive blast was heard from the back of the hallway, after this the sound of metal hitting soft ground echoed into the hallway. Drew pulled out his lightsaber and Robert held up his carbine. They looked in shock as the Jawa Thatin popped around the corner; he walked right up with a small orb in his hands and came close to Drew and Robert. The warriors let their guard down and looked at the droid that was in Thatin's hands, it was a large recon droid deployed to scout cities and deserts without being seen or detected. Drew knelt down and took the droid from Thatin; it had the Republic insignia on it. Startled he looked at Robert.
"This thing is from the Republic," Drew paused while looking around "How did I not sense this droid?" After the Dark Jedi said this he looked at Lenovo who appeared right in front of his face, the program explained the situation.
"I have accessed this droid's records, it has been following us since we left the Star Port in Mos Espa, in its data records it shows that the Republic knows where we are. Strange I was not able to sense it with all the equipment I can use." Robert grabbed Drew's shoulder as he knelt down as well.
"It doesn't matter now, we need to get as far away from here as possible," Robert paused to look at Thatin "Thank you, we will not forget your kind deed."
"Wait!" exclaimed the Jawa, Lenovo was translating for him. The Jawa put his famous Ion blaster in its holster near his back and looked up at Robert and Drew. "I know what you are looking for!" The two warriors looked back at each other.
"You do!?" they said in unison.
"Yes, I found this large facility many years ago, I told Jabba about it after I took a job for him but no one believes me!"
"What is it? Where is it?" asked Robert.
"It is far North East from here in the Northern Mountains, it is through a small passage way that you would have to crawl through to get to, and the passage leads to a grass meadow that is cold and has grass growing on it. This small meadow leads to a large opening in the ground; this opening in the ground has several large machines in it that look extremely old. I have told everyone but no one believes me."
"Can you take us there, we will be in debt to you young Jawa." Thatin held up his hand and lifting his index finger in the air before continuing.
"On one condition, after I help you, I get to come with you off this planet." Drew and Robert looked at each other and then back to Thatin.
"If this is what we have been looking for than yes we will help you," answered Drew bowing slightly.
"There is one problem though," stated Thatin looking down.
"And what is that?"
"We need a Sandcrawler to get to the mountains where the passage is."
"And why do we need that?" asked Robert with a questioning look on his face.
"Because the area cannot be flown over with any star craft because of a massive amount of repulse coming from the station, and a Sandcrawler is the only transport that can withstand blows from Krayt Dragons, it is past one of the Krayt Dragon Graveyard in the Northeast." Drew and Robert puzzled and looked at each other, they were winching their faces. It was going to be a hard fight for this place but at least they had hoped that this was the structure Revan talked about.
"Where can we find a Sandcrawler?" asked Drew looking at Thatin.
"In the desert there is a massive gathering of Jawas every day for trading goods to local droid collectors, it is called the Jawa trading outpost, no matter what time of day it is we can find a Sandcrawler there."
"And how are we going to get there?" asked Robert looking at the Jawa "Do we need to buy a speeder?"
"Just take the shuttle port in the city, every town has one." Robert looked up and stood along with Drew. They needed to leave fast and get away from Jabba's palace it wouldn't be long before more recon droids would find them.
Drew, Robert, and their newest ally Thatin walked into a small camp. The outpost was two hundred square yards of pure sales. The droids were polished, the Jawas were selling, and Sandcrawlers towered over the small outpost. As they trio entered many small Jawas began to yell out in their language about several different prices, stocks, and advertisements. These small hooded creatures were selling droids of every size ranging from small square low tech droids, to massive assault droids with high technology. Everything that was forgotten, left behind, or captured somehow ended up in the hands of the Jawas. Though they piloted massive Sandcrawlers and had large small droid armies the Jawas were extremely shy and cowards when it came to fighting, usually the only Jawa to interact with Humans were the Jawa chiefs that basically ran the families that control the Sandcrawlers. Each family had one chief and each chief had a Sandcrawler. It was custom for people on Tatooine to know the Jawa's language because of the constant need of droids on the desert planet. Thatin led the two larger humans right and left from one Jawa to another, he was looking everywhere for something, or someone. It took the three almost an hour of constant search as Thatin looked around the outpost, though the entire outpost was small there were also massive trades going on near the Sandcrawlers all over the small dune sea they were in, this place was a refueling station for travelers and practically the entire Jawa population was either traveling looking for droids or here at this outpost. There was a small population on the planet Tatooine by galactic standards but it had high trading from off world travelers, Crime Lords that come and go with their business and high concentrations of beings in a single area. Thatin though finally stopped as he approached a Sandcrawler that was surrounded by droids with buyers all around them, Thatin stopped and froze when he saw this vehicle and walked cautiously up to the Jawa chief who had just finished a sale. The customer took the droid away leaving the chief staring at Thatin and the two much taller warriors who stood behind him. Lenovo translated for Drew and Robert.
"What are you doing back here Thatin?" asked the Chief. The Jawas behind him ran behind the Sandcrawler when they saw their chief talking to Thatin. The Jawas seemed increasingly weary and the chief looked up at the two warriors who stood with Thatin.
"I have returned for help, my friends here want to see the large meadow I found many years ago." The chief face-palmed his forehead and looked at Thatin.
"Thatin you have always been a good storyteller we enjoyed that but you were exiled from our clan two years ago and we will not help you anymore. You were foolish to come here."
"Just because I wanted a better life than savaging things that were already built, I wanted to fix the metals, repair the droids, improve them and sell them for higher profits?"
"We have been over this Thatin, you were banished because you are not like us, we do not kill, and we do not hunt. You have thrown away our traditions and even insulted the shamans who watch over our tribes!"
"The Shamans do not know what they are talking about, the Jawa's future shouldn't be limited to Tatooine we should travel make ourselves known throughout the galaxy not confine ourselves to a single standard of living by getting the scraps that the aliens give us." The chief shook his head and looked at his old friend.
"The shamans are our leaders, you questioned their judgment, and my judgment over and over as you grew up, your exploration gave you the most ridiculous stories I have ever heard." Thatin looked at Robert, who pulled out the key Narek had obtained on Korriban. Thatin took it and held it in front of the chief's face, he looked at it strangely.
"My new friends here need to return to that meadow I found many years ago and forge this pyramid with a special Heirloom to get closer to the greatest discovery in the history of our galaxy; will you not take them and help them find what they want?"
"We made that path years ago because we saw that spaceship crash into the graveyard; little did I know that I would get the biggest problem of my life from traveling into that Krayt Dragon's Graveyard. Why is this key so important Thatin?" The Jawa looked back at his friends; Drew stepped forward and knelled to be eye-to-eye with the chief. He grabbed the pyramid and looked at the Jawa.
"Because it holds the where about of an ancient burial place of an untold amount of HK assassin droids that would make whoever owned them the most powerful person in the galaxy." The chief scratched his chin and looked at the device; he sighed heavily and looked at the Sandcrawler then back at Thatin.
"I know that I will never get you to leave when you get your mind on something, though the shaman banished you for defying them and insulting our traditions you are still family and family sticks together no matter what. We will help you get to the meadows but after I want you to leave this planet and make a better life for yourself." The chief probably smiled when he said this, his face was covered up and they couldn't see his face. The chief placed his arm on Thatin and looked at the Dark Jedi who smiled at this hearing. "I also expect some payment for using our Sandcrawler; you will be paying for the fuel there."
The Sandcrawler made little movement as it drove through the sand dunes. It had taken the Sandcrawler a few hours to make it to the northern side of the planet. The Jawas were extremely fearful so Drew and Robert sat with the chief in the cockpit of the Sandcrawler. The chief Jawa never told Drew and Robert his name, everyone referred to him as chief. Thatin had been in the depths of the Sandcrawler as the large vehicle moved. It was now the dawn of the second day since the team landed on Tatooine and Narek was captured. In the few hours they had Drew and Robert slept in the rust colored Sandcrawler for the night, the chief was able to keep driving the Sandcrawler and was extremely friendly as they woke. The small cockpit was a long rectangle that had various droid parts in it, the entire transport had droid parts laying in it as Robert thought about it. He was on one end sleeping and Drew was on the other. Lenovo was running through data as Robert woke. His helmet was off and lay on next to his side. The chief Jawa looked over and was delighted to have someone to talk to. Lenovo still translated but now he could appear before everyone seeing as he wouldn't startle the Jawa.
"How long have you two known Thatin?" asked the chief.
"A day now, he helped us get rid of some people who were trying to track us," answered Robert.
"He is fine boy, I have known him since he was first born, and that young lad can fix anything and make it better."
"Why does he have a rocket launcher on his back?" asked Drew looking up.
"He got it when he was about fifteen years old; we found it from a wrecked transport that apparently was transporting goods to Jabba the Hutt."
"How old is Thatin now?"
"He should be twenty two now; I wonder how his two years of exile affected him."
"He was working at Jabba's palace when we met him."
"He has been trying to get off Tatooine ever since I told him about the stars when he was four years old."
"Are you his father?" asked Robert.
"Jawas are communal, we share kin and a tribe makes up an entire family, but I do see him as a son."
"Did it hurt to send him away?" asked Drew. The chief lowered his head after hearing this.
"Yes it did, I never wanted to banish him but the shamans made me when he defied them."
"What did he defy them about?" asked Robert.
"Three years ago the Tuskens Raiders were planning on Raiding Mos Espa, Thatin wanted to fight against them and help to outsiders in exchange for off world transport, he gathered many clans during our yearly meet, the shamans stopped him and put order back into the people Thatin had stirred. They tried to banish him then but they had to wait until the next yearly meet because I took Thatin away before anyone tried to exile him. The flames of the shaman though lasted more than a year, they would probably banish me if they found out we were helping him."
"What are shamans?"
"The leaders of all the Jawas that reside in our fortress in the desert, they have mystic powers and we call upon them to resolve matters of importance along with telling the future, blessing the tribes, and keeping the peace between families. They are all female and have been in our society since the beginning of time."
"So they are practicing witchcraft?"
"They are not much different from what the so called Jedi do every day, tell the future, help keep the peace, and blessing people by saying May the Force be with you."
"I did not think that the Jawas knew about such things, about Jedi and the Force."
"When you talk to as many traders as I do you pick up a lot of things, the other Jawas in my tribe would have no idea what we are talking about, and Thatin now though probably has the idea as well." There was a long pause as the Sandcrawler went up a large hill and came down over the opposite side of the dune. "Did you promise Thatin to take him off world if he helps you?" asked the chief looking at Drew for a brief moment.
"Yes we will take him off world, he will travel with us and our leader Narek Pride," replied Drew with an assured look.
"Good, Tatooine has nothing for that boy anymore and I know that he will be a great asset to whoever was going to pick him up, I'm glad it was people like you."
"What do you mean people like us?"
"You are unique and obviously much more higher goal setting than the crime lords and spacers who come here to Tatooine, I was always afraid that Thatin would end up with a strange group that would only get him into galactic trouble."
"I cannot guarantee his safety, the Separatist army, a Rogue Jedi, and possibly a mislead Jedi council…"
"Basically everyone with a lightsaber is after us with an army on their expense report." Robert cut in, "We live a very dangerous life, if you don't want us to take him we won't"
"Danger is something that Thatin has always enjoyed, I don't want him to be put in harm's way but as long as I know that you are capable of protecting him I will let him go."
"I assure you sir that no one is better than kicking butt and taking names than us, we beat creatures on Korriban that could slay Jedi, and an entire droid army on Alderaan," assured Robert slightly puffing out his chest. Drew looked at Robert with a puzzled face.
"We came straight to Tatooine from Korriban."
"Oh you were drunk and Narek and I went to Alderaan and killed some battle droids then basically came back to the ship before you woke up," smiled Robert as the chief chuckled slightly. As the conversation went on the sun shifted into afternoon and with great joy Lenovo burst from the HUD of Robert's helmet illuminating his blue holographic body.
"I sense Narek on the Wildfire's sensors; he is back in Mos Espa!" yelled Lenovo as he looked at his two friends. Robert and Drew stood as the program jumped to Narek's gauntlets Drew pulled out the communicator that he had taken from Roberts backpack yesterday and held it out. After a short moment Narek appeared with his glorious Mandalorian armor in view, he his helmet was off showing the joy in his face.
"Drew! Robert! It is good to see that you are both alright, Lenovo told me that you are on a Sandcrawler?" asked Narek.
"Likewise boss, yeah we are heading this place a Jawa named Thatin told us about he said that it is unlike anything we have ever seen, it is in the North east part of Tatooine," answered Robert with a large smile on his face, Narek's face dropped as he heard this.
"Don't go any farther Feral and Edvir are up in the Northern regions of Tatooine they have been rounding up all the Tuskens there and have a massive presence in the region!" The Sandcrawler stopped slowly to a halt as the chief turned around. "We have friends though coming to aid us, Jedi Knight Sateal Karan has agreed to help us, and she is meeting Feral for a surprise visit with her army and will negotiate alongside us and the Tusken Raiders for getting Feral off this planet, what is your location?"
"Sending the coordinates now," replied Drew pressing on the communicator. Narek let out a pleased sigh as he looked at the coordinates.
"You aren't near the Tusken camps, these are the coordinates for the meeting, and by the time you get there we should have Feral and Edvir off planet when you arrive." The chief then turned back around and began to start the Sandcrawler again. "I'm sending you the coordinates now, I have met another friend that will help us find the Heirloom and after that we can go to this forgery to put the key and Heirloom together."
"Sounds like a plan boss we will be there ASAP," assured Robert as the Sandcrawler went up the dune and onto the more stable plains of Northern Tatooine.
Narek put the communication away and looked at Sliven who was in a happy mood; Lenovo appeared in front of Narek as they waited for Sateal to reconnect.
"Master, it is good to be home again, I have missed you sir," noted Lenovo with a smile on his face.
"It is good to see you again Lenovo, by the way this is my new friend and our new ally Sliven Hett, and he saved me from Edvir and Feral when the rogue Republic took me." The program looked at the Tusken who was amazed by the small holographic projection.
"Then I will thank you for saving my master good Tusken," announced Lenovo bowing to the Raider. The Tusken followed and bowed as well.
"And Kav Goldor who helped us contact the Republic." Kav turned to Lenovo and they both bowed to each other. After the pleasantries were finished Lenovo turned around and looked up at his master, who put his helmet back on.
"Master what is the plan?" asked the program waiting impatiently for an answer. He had a large grin on his face and his hands were still behind his back. Narek smiled and looked at the Holoprojector in the center of the police chief's table.
"We are waiting for Jedi Knight Sateal to reconnect with us, and then we will go from there." No sooner than Narek had said this, the picture of Sateal came back to the Holoprojector on Kav's desk. She stood with her hands at her sides in a casual stand.
"I have been cleared by the Jedi Council to land and ascertain what Feral has been doing, I will send a send a gunship to come pick you three up for our meeting with Feral, he is at the coordinates I gave you. The gunship will be there shortly I will be at the base waiting for your arrival."