-1The Adventures of Bastila Shan
Chapter 1: With What We Have
Bastila was robed heavily with a long draping coat over the robes. She wore a wide-brim hat that eclipsed her face. No one would see enough of her to recognize, not even a Jedi. And pinpointing her on Coruscant…well it wouldn't be something that the Masters would be able to do.
The streets of Coruscant were dark and shadowy, lit only in the sense that the buildings glowed with ads and signs. Every single oddity of the Universe was walking along with her, so she hardly stood out. She had to admit, though, she looked odd herself.
Her deep pockets in her wine-colored coat were packed with credits, fake id and her saberstaff. All just in case. Her face was covered in make-up, something that she had never done.
She had to make her way off of Coruscant, discreetly. There were simply too many Jedi crawling around, half of them looking for her. Revan had done her one last courtesy, but at what cost? Had he died, or did he pull a disappearing act. She laughed to herself. Of course he didn't die.
Up ahead was a spice dealer. He was a drindrid, a rare enough species. His eyes glowed a teal blue and he had long cat-like whiskers that made him seem supernaturally street wise. He had a close matted mane of brown hair with two slender well-attuned ears poking out. A long slender tail was protruding from under his gray coat. He was handsome in a roguish sense. His right hand was twirling a death stick between his knuckles.
He was eyeing her. Bastila clenched her fist. Something she had never quite gotten used to was being inspected by the opposite sex. Even when Revan would tease her, it absolutely infuriated her and flustered her. For the sake obtaining what she wanted, she let the drindrid continue. She stopped in front of him, gazing at him from under her hat.
"Can I help ya, Miss?"
His accent was a soft licentious purring street Coruscant. It was kind of lilting and pleasing to the ear.
"I'm looking for something…special."
He smiled, showing his large canines.
"No doubt. You deserve it. What'll it be?"
"I need some tactful transportation off world."
He chuckled as he quickly passed the death stick in his hand to a customer, without taking his eyes off Bastila. He then snatched the credits the customer offered.
"Well, I could recommend a few good-hearted fellows, but I'm leaving for Alderaan tomorrow," He smiled, wickedly. "and if the price is right I can clear out my passenger's quarters."
Bastila swallowed what remained of her sizable pride and grabbed his arm and stroked it. She felt nauseous.
"I think I can meet you price."
A look of perverted victory crossed his features. He turned to secure a sale of carsunum. Bastila glanced nervously around her until her eyes caught sight of a robed long-haired blonde male far down the thoroughfare. His eyes were dead-locked on her.
She cursed under her hat, which made the drindrid turn and laugh.
"What a mouth, for such a lovely lady."
She brushed the comment off. She was not above commenting harshly on a poor turn of luck. She backed off slowly in the alleyway behind her. The drindrid followed. He seemed concerned.
"You okay, lady?"
She didn't respond. She just waited. Her heart was beating. If that Jedi was after her, then he wouldn't be shaken. She tightened her hand into a fist and prayed to the force.
He emerged from the crowd, his eyes emotionless. His mind was perfectly clear and focused. His hair was thick and hung back neatly. She knew him. He was a little younger than her by a few years.
The drindrid watched him with anger and confusion, approach Bastila. Bastila knew that if she didn't do something the drindrid might interfere and get killed in the fray.
The Jedi turned his head and acknowledged the drindrid and then returned his gaze to Bastila.
"Bastila Shan."
She bit her lip.
"Yes?"
"I would appreciate it if you would come with me."
"I can't, Belie. Please let me go. I just want to disappear."
He dropped his head and shook it sadly.
"I've known you since we were little. You know that if it were in my power, I would."
The Drindridhad evidently had enough of the sidelines. He stepped up to Belie and crossed his arms defensively.
"Listen pal, she's coming with me. She obviously doesn't want anything to do with you."
Belie pulled his saber from his belt and waved it in front of the drindrid. At the sight of the saber he looked over his shoulder at Bastila with a look of awe. Returning to the Jedi, he shook his head resolvedly.
"Nothing doing. I've killed Jedi before, and I can tell you, that you're not taking her anywhere."
The drindrid palmed a blaster from under his jacket and brandished it.
Bastila appreciated the display, but nudged the drindrid aside, politely. In her hand was her saberstaff.
"Please Belie, make this easy for me."
Belie viewed the saberstaff with doubt and unease, but still shook his head.
"Think of it from my point of view, Bastila. We just want some answers to some questions and to check up on you and make sure that you're okay."
Bastila peeled the hat from her head and let it fall until the drindrid caught it. She ignited her saberstaff to a deadly yellow. She gave it a threatening twirl. Belie looked crestfallen as he produced his saber and ignited it to a bright green.
Bastila clenched her grip on her saberstaff. Belie had all the makings of Jedi Master and had a massive consular-like control of the force. His midichlorian count well surpassed her own. But she recalled how fond he was of Shii-Cho, and how proficient at it he truly was. Around him was an impregnable paradigm of defenses, maintained by his perfect linear parries. All of his blade work was purely geometrical and calculated. Almost any blow from him would be consistent with a cross axis and would be either vertical or horizontal. He wouldn't lower or raise his center of gravity at the risk of depleting his defenses.
Bastila recalled her study of Juyo. In secret, she had experimented with ordering it and organizing it to a degree past what she had learned from Zez-Kai Ell and Kavar. A series of circular motions and parries that twisted and switched from curves to stabs and from there to what she had dubbed saber shoves all with confusing foot work and jumps.
The two stared down each other. They were fighting already, if only tactically in their head. Belie was a dangerous opponent, because if he were bested by saber he could easily switch to force techniques and overpower her instantly. She had to give him no reason to resort to that.
All of a sudden, it was as if someone had said "begin."
Belie raised spun his saber vertically on line with Bastila and attacked high. She brought a corner of her saberstaff up and dropped low under it, like a shield. Belie's attack deflected. He brought his right foot up and came down with a slash. Bastila spun her blade around his attack and circled closer in a doubling attack.
The fight ceased after four repeating shots from a blaster slammed Belie against a wall. Belie fell to his knees and slumped over. Bastila looked over in surprise to see the drindrid holding out his Aratech repeating carbine.
He shrugged. They had gotten too caught up in their battle to remember him.
"He was my friend!" She protested.
The drindrid rolled his eyes.
"That's why he was shaking his Jedi weapon at you."
Bastila looked down at Belie. Somewhere a fine line had been crossed. Belie was a friend, almost a little brother. She met him her first time at Coruscant. He followed the code to near perfection. He had a prowess in every aspect. Here he was, gunned down by a punk on the street.
She kneeled beside him. He was still alive…or at least still drawing breath. She cradled his head to her chest. He tried to speak but no sounds came. He simply opened and closed his mouth like a fish. His watering eyes looked up to see her and a smile spread over his face.
"You're going to live." She said. It sounded more like a prophecy handed down by a messiah than a mere reassurance. She pulled him to his feet. She glanced over to the drindrid.
"You, what's your name?"
His gorgeous electric blue eyes looked at her dubiously.
"Hideo Khan."
"You've just gained another passenger, Hideo."
"Now look, I'm not a transit. I have an itinerary, besides, he's done for."
Bastila hauled Belie's form onto her back.
"Let's just get to your rig before more come."
Hideo laughed. Kind of a proud rhetorical "why me?" But it felt good to take on something so spontaneous. Something about Coruscant had never settled well with him anyway. It was too surreal to be a home. Too many wayward Jedi's and ravenous politicians. In truth, he needed something interesting to do. Hideo stared vacantly at the unconscious Jedi before him. He smacked his lips.
"Awright. Give him here." Hideo roped his arms under the Jedi. "I've got my rig stowed on an abandoned platform here in the slums."
Trying to look inconspicuous while towing a Jedi with blaster wounds was a chore. Bastila ran out of the alleyway and then signaled to Hideo, who leaped and sprinted with a spooky grace. But by hook and by crook they made it to the projects and found Hideo's…rig.
To call it a ship was to be generous and to assume that it's could travel through outer space was being optimistic. In all fairness, Bastila was used to the Hawk and it was quite a transition. But by any and all standards the freighter was a dump. Hideo set the Jedi down near the rig.
"This is Hideo's rig." He said, catily.
To Bastila's amazement, Hideo reached up into the hull and pulled it down. Seeing her look, Hideo blushed and shrugged.
"The controls were blasted. It only works on manual. Meant to get it fixed before we left, but uh…" He looked at the Jedi. "Time issues an' all."
Hideo picked the Jedi up and toted him inside. Bastila followed cautiously. Inside were untidy coils of wire and scrapped circuit boards. Pieces and bits that looked vitally important were littered about the floor. The center piece to all this dishevelment was a table stocked with test tubes and chemicals of various colors and odors.
Hideo picked a vial off the table, absently, and poured some of it's faint orange contents over Belie's blaster wounds. Noticing Bastila's confused expression Hideo began to explain.
"I used to be a top rate chemist. This stuff," He waved the test tube. "Is my version of a synthetic kolto. Bacta. Great huh? It's got an infusion of Ryll, several pain killers and blastimatic regenerative tissue meristem genes from the phoenixwart on Mon Calimari and a messy empirical formula. But here, you have to be careful with the dosage,"
Bastila deposited herself in a nearby chair. Noting that the chair did not look trustworthy, she grabbed the table to steady herself.
Hideo quickly cleared away the litter and put it all into one corner. There was an uncomfortable silence, so Hideo took it upon himself to speak out.
"Any particular reason you are being dogged by Jedi? Mrs?"
"My name is Bastila and my business is just that, my business."
Hideo smiled and nodded..
"As you say, beautiful."
Hideo edged by all of the clutter to what Bastila hoped was the cockpit. It was a few moments before the entire ship emitted a dreadful roaring sound. She felt it lift off and rocket away. She winced, the ship was in such bad disrepair that the gravitational neutralizer was obviously broken. She knew this because she felt the G-force of the ship rocketing away from Coruscant. The sensation died as they broke through the atmosphere.