Chapter 2: The Set Up

Legend

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EDIT: Five AM in the morning, haha. Went ahead and fixed the errors that were shown to me by Dreamshell(Many thanks btw). In case some of you are wondering, Word processor automatically makes 'Jedi' into 'JedI'. It bugs the crap out of me when I miss one, so sorry about that. The next chapters will be after vacation and I'll be able to slow down and fix so many of those small things I missed in these past two. Sorry for the trouble!

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Sleheyron

Feeling significantly more secure in his pilot clothing, the same tattered attire that he had fixed back together time and time again, Atton found himself waiting yet again in one of the slave quarters that he had been able to acquire for his stay on this Hutt infested world.

It had been three days since the incident in the bar and despite the contact's misgivings Atton felt it had gone extremely well, especially since he and the contact had never met in person before. The Jedi Master had, due to complications, used a weak-minded human female to pass along a message to a man that Atton felt, through the Force, to be…different from the group.

The message was to come see him at the bar from before if he heard anything, if he didn't than he wasn't required to show up, or if he was loyal he'd get himself turned in. As it turned out he did both, both alerting his master and giving Atton the information he wanted, a sort of double agent really. Atton had used his Jedi robes to make it easy for himself to be located, that too worked spectacularly.

Before Master Rand completely removed himself from the bar the other night he noted each of the unknown assailants and had spent the time, while waiting for his reinforcements to come, finding those men and…tweaked their memories so that their recollection would be hazy at best. It was a simple job and wouldn't affect them in the least, save for not knowing why they were at the bar to begin with.

After that the contact was tracked down and, with a bit of persuasion, he agreed to keep silent as well. With the loose ends tied up Atton left his contact with only the option of opportunity, to send him information via a secure commlink, if he felt so inclined.

The door to his room slid open without a beep, obviously from a Force-push, and a woman that Atton knew about all too well. He remembered that he had spent sometime trying to find her during the reign of Malak. Bastila Shan, or Master Shan as she was now titled, crossed the living space and stood on the opposite end of the small round table on which Atton's feet rested.

Leaning back in his chair Atton nodded, "Welcome to the pearl of the Outer Rim! The stink pit known as Sleheyron!"

Bastila didn't seem amused, "Indeed, Master Rand." She sat in an empty chair, looked at Atton, and waved her hand, Force pushing his feet off the table.

"Well, geez princess, you could have asked." Feeling just a bit irritated by Bastila's constant cold demeanor towards him, due to his days as a Sith assassin, had caused a rift between the two.

Not like your once Dark Lord lover was any better than me.

"I'm here to see things go smoothly, any and all negotiations." Bastila remarked.

Negotiations? With a Hutt? She obviously doesn't know what we had to go through to make the Vogga deal. Atton shrugged and looked towards his door, "Where are they?"

"I told Lallia and Lance to stay on the ship, with orders to meditate. I didn't want to drag them along until I was properly informed." Bastila answered.

Again Atton shrugged, "You sure those two are able to take care of themselves?"

Bastila seemed insulted, "I assure you Atton," She put significant bite on his name, "that my two apprentices are more than capable of defending themselves. Lance is especially skilled in combat and I have no doubts he'll make a fine Jedi Weaponmaster one day."

Atton's curiosity was piqued, "And the girl?"

Bastila didn't miss a beat, "We are getting off topic, Master Rand, perhaps you should brief me before you start asking questions into the training of my students."

Ouch, someone is sore. "Alright, alright. I suppose I should start at the beginning…"

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Lance yawned as he fiddled his blaster, a small hold-out that was famously used as a concealed weapon. Sitting on the loading ramp of Bastila's Searching Star, the ship that Bastila Shan used, the Jedi apprentice passed the time by cleaning his blaster.

The ship was a small freighter that could be easily mistaken for a small time cargo ship, and often the three occupants would pretend that it was such, like when they landed on this filthy, stinking planet, or so Lance thought it to be.

Hearing footsteps behind him the fledgling Guardian turned his head just enough to see Lallia coming down the ramp with two small servings of food. Lance frowned, a sense of concern for the girl. Then again, he was always concerned for her, she was just so small, almost a quarter of a foot shorter then himself and slender as well.

"Stop looking at me like that," Lallia asked as she knelt down and put Lance's portion on the ground next to him, "Just because I'm petite doesn't mean I'm defenseless."

Not in the world I grew up in. "Heh, I was just worried you'd get blown away in a breeze." Lance joked and laughed, or almost laughed. Lallia hit him before he could make the attempt to chuckle.

"Shut up, scoundrel. Are all the people from Taris like you?"

That hurt, not that Lance would admit it. Him and his mother had lived in the Lowercity for a very long time and only got off the planet due to various family members pulling together to get the two of them off planet. Several days later the planet was blasted into craters by Darth Malak. Or so the story was told.

But the truth was that people were scoundrels on Taris, besides the Hidden Beks, who helped as many people as they could. In fact, Lance planned on joining their gang when he was older. The rest was history, he was orphaned during the Jedi Civil war, grew up alone during the Jedi Purge, and was found almost a year later by the new Order. He had been under their supervision ever since.

"Tsk, are people from Coruscant so stuck up?" Lance shot back.

Lallia huffed and turned away from Lance to eat her food in silence. She always got upset when he labeled her as stuck up for being born into a high-middle class family. His words had no real venom to them, other than the knowledge that Lallia hated being called spoiled. The Jedi male sighed to himself but did not apologize for his words.

Never was good at apologizing.


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It had taken a half hour but Atton eventually brought Bastila up to speed. There wasn't much information, other than what Atton had been able to drag from his attackers. It was obvious that the only course of action was to go straight to the source and 'negotiate'.

Atton sighed, "And all the searching I've done regarding these rumors about dissention towards Vogga, they're true, or so everything points to it being as such.

"Who are the suspects?"

"Three Hutts, the ringleader being Gallba. He is something like a King on this world, he simply loans money to the other Hutts to make…deals and--"

"--And they pay Gallba back with interest." Bastila finished.

Slightly deflated, but unwilling to allow it to show Atton replied instantly. "Exactly. We just need to get into the compound and 'negotiate'."

"I see. Well, " Bastila seemed relieved, "the problem doesn't seem as large as I originally thought."

Sighing heavily Atton stood up from his seat and went over to the only window in the entire room, a small sheet of glass that was little larger then a human head. The ex-assassin turned around to Bastila and he saw in her face the recognition.

"There is more isn't there?"

Nodding Atton sat down again, "Yeah, and it smells of something worse then a rancor. After the bar incident where I met my contact I went around repressing the memory of that night, the memory of the attackers, and something was curious about them all." Atton leaned forward, building up the suspense.

"Just spit it out Atton."

Grunting loudly he continued, "I learned that it wasn't Gallba that sent them out to attack me, in fact, I found out that Gallba didn't know anything about me, the contact, or those men that attacked me. Funny thing was, none of the men I tracked down could remember either."

Bastila shook her head, "You can't be saying you believe a Force-user was behind this?"

"I can't think of any other explanation. And believe me sister, no one can hide from me."

"I did."

"…Without the Force." Atton muttered softly.

Bastila seemed about to rebuke Atton's claim when the air took a dramatic shift. Both Jedi Masters jumped out of their seats as the calm of the Force was shattered by a violent upsurge. Murderous intent filled the air, but it seemed faded, strained; meaning it was not in the immediate surroundings. Though Atton was working to pinpoint the general vicinity Bastila already knew the location.

Bastila sprinted, using the Force to slide the door so she wouldn't have to slow down. Instantly understanding the situation Atton quickly followed his fellow Council member. The two of them ran towards the turbo lifts, both of them using the Force to hold the platforms in place until they arrived.

Once inside Atton grabbed the female by the arm, "I thought you said they could defend themselves! You said the boy was a good duelist!"

"It's not Lance I'm worried about!" Bastila cried, "Lance is strong, tougher, and more willing to fight." Ripping her arm away she began to pace as the Turbolift descended to ground level. "But Lallia…she isn't used to these situations, without me she loses her nerve and becomes fearful."

"But if the boy is able to fight then they should be fine until we arrive!" Atton's attempt to sooth Bastila was quickly shot down as the fiery women turned on her heels towards him. The look in her eye told him everything he needed to know.

It wasn't that Lance wouldn't protect Lallia, it was a question of if he could. It was a common enough problem with the Gaurdian class, they were excellent fighters to be sure but they lacked many of the higher Force abilities which meant that Lance would have to fight one or two enemies at a time, and if one avoided him and went for the girl…

This is why I didn't take an apprentice!

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Finishing his food Lance stood up and stretched. He looked to his fellow student and let out another large sigh. Letting his shoulders drop he walked over to Lallia, "Look I-"

"Don't bother, I'm over it anyway." Lallia looked up at Lance, who was now looking away from her and off into the distance, "Hey! You should look at someone when they are talking to you, especially when they are saying that--"

"Be quiet."

Normally Lallia would have unloaded with all the fury a female could unleash. But the tone he used, the very rare, and serious, tone that she had heard only a few times meant that he was not joking with her. Normally he carried a very mocking, almost uncaring, manner of speaking…so for him to be serious must mean something was wrong.

"What is it?"

Lance shook his head, "I don't know, just a feeling." He walked over to Lallia and took her by the wrist and pulled her up the ramp, "Go inside and close off the hatch, I'll comm you when I feel its safe."

"But--"

"Go! If something happens I don't think I can watch out for both of us, and I'm not going to have you fighting while Master Shan isn't around! Go!" Using the Force he nudged Lallia into the ship, she went grudgingly. Moments later the ramp came up.

Taking a deep breath Lance reached for his lightsaber, "Whoever you are, come on out." When he turned around he found three men clad in black armor, armed with repeating blasters and vibroblades at their hips.

"Surrender, Jedi fledgling, and hand over that saber." The middle man, and leader as far as Lance could tell. His black armor differed by the red streak dragged diagonally across his breastplate, and he had a rather bulky gadget attached to his right forearm. The other two both had a single colored dot on their attire, both of them being red.

"A lightsaber is the life of a Gaurdian." Lance countered. He thumbed his saber to life, an turquoise colored blade springing to from the hilt. The bluish-green blade cast its light on the concrete flooring as Lance brought the blade up in the Form V ready stance.

Form V had two aspects, or philosophies. Djem So was one half of the form, the aggressive philosophy of the form that relied on parrying a blow and instantly retaliating with an attack of their own, using the force of their opponents attack against them to dominate a duel. The other side of Form V was Shien, a more defensive style used mainly to fight several enemies at once, a wait and strike form of combat.

Since Lance was a muscular and rather strong being he had focused on the more offensive Djem So, which also suited his personality. He took the forward stance of Form V, holding his blade tightly with both hands, and waited for his attackers to make a move.

"Humph, the child thinks he has the balls to beat us." The red streaked one laughed. He made a sign with his hands and the other two chuckled before dropping their blasters and reaching for their vibroblades, obviously intent on showing up the Jedi padawan in close combat.

Bad move. Lance sprung forward, leaping several yard forward with the Force, and closed the gap between him and the armed assailants instantly. By the time the two men had pulled their blades Lance was already feet away.

Landing hard on his feet Lance brought his blade around as he spun, his blade rising above his head before crashing down as he completed in spin. The aim of the turquoise was reared towards the leader but found itself blocked by the targets blade.

"Humph, flashy." The leader pushed Lance back as his two accomplices attacked from both sides. Lance sprung into the air as they swung, both blades slicing the air where his chest had been. Once returned to the ground the Gaurdian spun to his right, swinging his blade with him, to attack.

The attack was parried and Lance was again pushed back, but the outcome changed, the Form V user used the backwards momentum to spin towards the man now at his back to parry his vertical strike. Lance's blade flashed back and forth between his two enemies, parrying one blow and turning to strike at the other.

"Back up!"

Lance barely had the ability to parry the attack from the leader, who seemed to have grown impatient. His blade came low towards his midsection and to counter Lance drove his blade downward towards the ground. Not missing a beat the padawan immediately turned towards the confused man to his right and brought his blade strike, feinted, and sprung up over the mans head. The Jedi landed with his back to the man, spun, and sliced him in two.

"Huttspawn!" The other red dotted assailant barked as he watched his partner fall to the ground. He made to move forward but found himself cut off as his leader stepped in front of him.

"Don't bother, we're running out of time. Get the girl from the ship and leave this one to me." He pointed towards the ship and made another hand signal to him.

"No!" Moving quickly Lance sprinted to intercept the attacker only to feel a wave through the Force, an obvious warning for danger. Turning towards the leader he found himself being pointed at by the gadget on the leader's forearm. Lance realized what it was the moment before it fired.

Rocket launcher!

Instantly Lance knew he had to do something, just dodging the rocket would collide with the ship, that wasn't an option. Getting stranded on this planet would not do at all. Cutting it wouldn't do any good either.

With only one option left Lance struck out with his left hand he focused all of his mind on the missile that was heading towards him, urging it to veer off course just enough to avoid the Searching Star. The projectile came out of its launcher and began its course towards Lance.

Everything slowed down, he could feel the Force wrapping around the explosive, pushing it away from its intended course. He felt the strain on his body as he pushed his mind to work faster than he had even thought possible. He had less than a second to throw it off.

Lance closed his eyes, pushing harder, felt a gust of wind, and sighed. Safe. The missile, instead of slamming directly into the Searching Star, grazed the top of the ship, rolled out of control and exploded.

"The hell?" The leader looked to his arm, "You moved my arm you damn freak."

It was true, the only way he felt he could move the rocket in time was to first move the leader's arm as far as he could and then focus on the rocket as it fired. Doing both of those things gave him the edge he needed to him and Lallia…at least for now.

Red Streak seemed fairly upset by his next word, "….Time to die, Jedi."

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"Was that an explosion!"

"Do you always ask obvious question?!"

"Only when it suits me, princess."

The two had been bickering the whole time they were speeding through the streets towards the landing bays. The distance wasn't great in actuality but seemed much longer with the dire need to get from point A to B.

As Bastila rounded the last corner to the landing bay, leaving only a straightaway, she turned to find Atton had stopped. "We don't have time to take in the scenery!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew why he had stopped.

They were being followed.

"Don't worry about me, you go tend to your kids, I'll deal with these guys."

Bastila only nodded, knowing full well the abilities of Master Rand. The Exile's companions had often stated that Atton was one of their strongest in fighting, both in lightsaber combat and in Force abilities. It was probably due to Rand's prior affiliation with the Sith and his training with the Exile.

Once the female Master had left Atton turned to their followers, two men dressed in black armor with red streaks on their breast plates. The had repeating blasters in their hands and aimed towards the Jedi Master.

"You guys picked the wrong man to mess with. I'm not like the other Jedi," Atton reached for his lightsaber, "I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty…I'll give you one chance to go back the way you came."

They didn't move an inch and Atton sighed.

Always the hard way.

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A/N: First, off sorry about this chapter. It's a Raw chapter without a lot of editing. Why? It's basically because I'm going off on vacation and I wanted to put out the next chapter before I left, I just got done with it moments ago and am leaving within the hour, thus I must use that time to get ready.

So I apologize for some of the sketchy points, I'll be fixing them ASAP when I return. I hope it is still worth reading! Read and Review!

-Arc

PS: You can tell how much I hate the Hutts by the name I used:P