What Happens On Florrum... Will Probably Have Wide Reaching Galaxy Implications... Force Help Us All
Sequel to Conversations:
Welcome to Florrum! (Keep a hand on your credits at all times)
You're just in time for the wake and funeral of the Legendary Hondo Ohnaka, which he will be attending prior to his death since what's the fun in dying if you can't enjoy the festivities?
The Resistance is trying to forge alliances with the smugglers, traders and pirates.
And Luke Skywalker is just looking for a quiet place to meditate.
Author's Note: Additional warnings will be added as they come up, and I did waffled about the major character death warning, since it's a death after a long life, but still a death.
J'mee shares the fashion-sense with the Cat from Red Dwarf and possibly through inter-dimensional nonsense the wardrobe. (He's also alittle sh*t)
I'm playing around with some of the characters that are now part of Star Wars Legends, I hope no one will mind.
Chapter One: Welcome Friends, One And All
On board the Falcon things were going as well as they could. The Fett boys settled themselves in the main common area in the extra jump seats, and Rey, Finn, General Organa, and Chewbacca were in its cockpit. Rey double-checked the coordinates and then made the jump to hyperspace.
Once they were traveling in hyperspace, they discussed the need to be on guard, then they started to get up and stretch and moved towards the Falcon'scommon area to be more comfortable. They moved rather a bit faster when they heard yelling and commotion and bloody murder going on amongst the Fett brothers.
It wasn't as dire as it had sounded.
"Out of all the things to salvage, you salvaged that?!" Jaster shrieked.
The that in question was a long coat, being worn by J'mee, and was well-tailored and made of sturdy Correllian linen with a subtle chevron weave. It had matching trousers. However they were also an almost eye-bleeding shade of electric teal. And he was wearing it with light green shirt, also well-tailored with a slight satin sheen. Rey heard Chewie mumble something about the color clash hurting his eyes, and the Wookie darted back into the Falcon's cockpit. Truth be told J'mee would have been very fashionable on a few of the Republic's more metropolitan planets.
Jaster and Jango had also changed their clothing from the matching outfits the brother had been wearing. But Jango had changed into a relatively dull olive green tunic with dark gray trousers, and Jaster was wearing a light blue shirt, dark charcoal leather vest and black trousers.
J'mee rolled his eyes and took a moment to run his hand through his hair to spike it up a bit.
"Just because you two like to faded into the crowd doesn't mean I have to go with you," he said sharply, but good-naturedly.
Finn coughed and brought their attention to their unintentional audience.
The three looked at one another, then looked at the Resistance members with puzzled countenances.
"What?" Jaster finally asked.
"We thought your Father had a hand in how you dressed," Leia diplomatically said, and sent a quelling glance to Rey and Finn, "to protectively camouflage how many there are of you."
"Dad? 'If it's clean, has no holes, and it fits it's wearable' Dad? Tell me how to dress?" J'mee's nose wrinkled like he just bitten into something very sour.
"We're almost fifteen," Jango indignantly yowled.
"When we were still small enough that Dad was dressing us, he had us wearing very different outfits from one another every day," Jaster said drily, "he wanted us to know very clearly that we might be clones, but we're different people," he looked at Jango and J'mee and dead-panned one word: "Bells"
They both howled with laughter.
"Remember the stripy overalls?" Jango cackled.
That made Jaster crack up.
J'mee caught his breath and with a few trailing chuckles spoke.
"We were dressing alike to see how closely you all were paying attention to us, and Dad had nothing to do with it," he explained, with a shark-like grin, "we wanted to see which people would pay enough attention to see us as individuals, and which ones just thought we were 'clones' and that we had no separate personalities. The majority I'm afraid."
He took a deep breath and sat down folding his hands behind his head on the back of the curved bench, propping his feet up on the table, crossed at the ankles.
"Here's the thing though," J'mee looked directly at General Organa, "we've been on our best behavior. That's probably going to go out the window when Gramps dies; Dad's gonna need distraction," he looked at his two brothers currently bickering over who would play holo-chess with Rey and who would be on Finn's side, "I'm not saying we're going to misbehave and cause trouble. We know how serious all this is. But we are going to act up. I just thought you should have a warning."
Leia regarded the boy with a raised eyebrow; he was deliberately baiting her. There were a number of vicious things just tripping over themselves to escape from her tongue. Then she smirked, she hadn't overthrown the Empire by playing into her adversary's expectations. She sat down next J'mee.
"Hondo Ohnaka was an known Jedi-sympathizer. He even helped the Rebellion from time to time," she said, "he doesn't sound like someone your father would be friends with."
J'mee grinned, and removed his feet from the table.
"Yeah, well, Gramps was the pirate who attacked the spice freighter that Grandpa was on after the Jedi sold him as slave."
The eyebrow was raised again.
"Okay, so the Jedi didn't directly sell him, but they didn't stop it either. They didn't need him inconveniently popping up and telling people how they massacred innocent men after they were duped by a corrupt planetary governor," J'mee explained, "Dad didn't meet Hondo until after Grandpa died," he paused, momentarily sobered, then he grinned again, "probably didn't want Hondo influencing Dad when he was still young and mallable."
"Whereas your father did think it a good idea," Leia chuckled.
"Believe me, everyone's life would have been very different if Grandpa had let Dad meet Hondo while he was still alive," J'mee shrugged, "Uncle Connor thinks Gramps was the only person who actually consoled Dad over Grandpa's death. He doesn't talk about it. Dad that is. Plus Hondo rebuilt Slave I after a Jedi wrecked it. Kinda important."
"Uncle Connor?"
"Yep!," J'mee looked like a lothcat that gotten in the proverbial bantha cream, "Dad told me to tell you all that on Florrum, we are Freeman, not Fett, and you should call Dad, Bo."
Leia closed her eyes for a moment. On one level she was amused and on another she was wondering if she had the strength to be dragged in to this madness. If she hadn't been worried that Luke might disappear again, she might have said no to this little trip.
"Are you actually related to Connor Freeman?"
"Yep."
"He's actually your uncle?" Leia asked in surprise.
"More or less," J'mee's grin was beginning to remind of Han and Lando's grins when they had been ready to spring something on her; it only hurt a little.
"And that means?"
"Well, half-brothers covers it best. At least Dad and Uncle Connor think so."
Shaking her head, Leia got up and walked back to the cockpit. She'd get a better answer out of Fett when they arrived.
J'mee, for his part, just kept grinning.
"When we get to Florrum," Boba said as he checked the flight course one last time, "you'll need to call me Bo. Most people don't know I'm alive. Oh they heard rumors, but only my clients knew for sure, and they also knew I wouldn't be happy if they went around letting people know I'm alive. So, to Galaxy at large Boba Fett is sarlacc chow, and Bo Freeman is Connor Freeman's older half-brother, the farmer. I just hope the First Order hasn't made that connection."
"Slave I is something of a give-away," Luke pointed out with a small smile.
"No, actually the First Order never saw what ship we took off in, I made sure of that," Fett turned and grinned, "Slave I was bought at auction by and is registered to Hondo Ohnaka, and Hondo adores the Freeman family," he sobered a moment, "I suppose he's probably willed it to one of my boys."
"Why not to..."
"Because it keeps the spotlight off of me," Boba cut Luke off, "I should warn you there's a conspiracy regarding me; trying to protect me. I didn't ask for it. I don't want it. And I wasn't pleased when they roped my boys into it. But I know my family well enough that if I fight it, it will only make them more determined. It's annoying," he looked back again at Luke with a weary sigh, "Unfortunately, Connor blames Captain Solo for some of the mess."
"Han? Oh, yes, I see," Luke nodded equally weary.
"Yeah, just be glad that Captain Solo never had need to land on Florrum," Fett snorted, "Preparing to make the jump to hyperspace."
And that was that, apart from Luke learning the Fett knitted while in hyperspace.
Florrum, beautiful Florrum. A great place to visit if you're fascinated by deserts, sulfurous geysers, and an historic space port with a tourist board that suggests that whatever type of container you keep your credits in make sure it's securely attached to your person, and even sells a variety of chains for that very purpose. The Florrum Space Port and Stronghold was a relative newcomer to the galactic wretched hives of scum and villainy having grown from one small pirate base under the careful guidance of Connor Freeman and Sintas Vel, all the while letting Hondo Ohnaka take the credit, in the thirty or so years since the Empire fell. It liked to boast that it had standards, and then point to various flags when asked what they were. Still, many a trader and smuggler felt comfortable enough to stash their families on Florrum feeling there are a measure of safety there that didn't exist elsewhere.
The Falcon landed with a minimum of fussing from the Controller, even if they had to repeat their call sign and ship designation five times. There was a man waiting for them when they disembarked.
He was roughly Finn's height and build, had short steel gray hair, very dark brown eyes, and was wearing a somewhat ornate red leather long coat over a dark gray worksuit. He was handsome, Leia had to give him that. The look he gave her and Chewabacca was anything but pleasant, but his entire face lit up when J'mee, Jango and Jaster came barreling down the ramp and swarmed him, calling out:
"UncleConnor!UncleConnor!UncleConnor!" until he laughed and pulled them all into a hug. Then he went back to giving the rest of them and the Falcon the evil eye.
Jaster rolled his eyes.
"Uncle Connor, they're not going to bite," he said with exasperation.
"People say that about your father," Connor Freeman snorted, and oh yes, Leia could believe they were related, but given what she knew of Fett's origins she wasn't entirely certain how, "and we both know that's not true."
"Dad says he only bit you once," Jaster parried back, "and anyway Dad wants them here."
Freeman closed eyes, turned his head as he were about to let out a yell, and then let out a gusty sigh before opening his eyes. He studied Leia, Chewbacca, Finn and Rey again.
"All right, follow me, we'll talk when my brother gets here," he growled, then in a slightly mischievous tone added, "Welcome to Florrum, let's hope you survive the experience."