Within the Borders: Mandalore Part 2
Tantooine: Mos Eisley Warehouse
Swimming in the murky waters under the Warehouse, Vurgo felt relieved and refreshed. The Warehouse and the Secret Bog waters once belonged to Jabba the Hutt, now Vurgo owned it. When he first arrived with his entourage he was tempted to place his headquarters at Jabba's Fortress. But the B'marr Monks scared him, their strange religion that involved removing their brains to be placed in life support jars. Made him shudder. Thankfully Jabba conducted business at the deserted Warehouse as much as he did at the Fortress, so Jabba had put a secret underground Bog Pool to be used to cool and refresh himself in. Now Vurgo used it as much as he could, Tantooine was basically hell for a Hutt. It was dry, dusty and hot. Not like the world of Nal Hutta. Rising out of the water he exhaled and considered submerging back into the water and staying until the deal was conducted. Unfortunately he had other business to conduct. Once he had the Million Credits he could finally hire a Mercenary Army to aid him in retaking what a competitor and fellow Hutt took from him by force. Blinking his big eyes he pulled himself out of the bog water and slide his bulk back onto the Floating Dais so he could return to the main room. Three Twil'eks slave girls soon appeared to towel him off and serve him crunch bugs and other delicacies. Gazing at the barely clothed girls he licked his massive lips. Soon he would be back on Nal Hutta and he would be home.
Fenn Rau leaned against a wall, inside the small room that he was being held in. A Human Guard stood outside the door, making sure Fenn stayed where they put him. Letting it appear that he was resigned in his fate, he searched the room and corridors with his eyes. Seeking a method of escape. He did not want this scum to get their hands on the Darksaber for whatever reason. it was a dangerous weapon and it would hinder his wife politically if she had to trade it for his life.
Knownest: Medical Center of the Wren Clan
The older Medical Droid, Fidget. Ran a sensor over Sabine and its gears and arms squeaked from the movements, Sabine had protested the whole way to her mother that she did not need to go to Medical. The slight ailment was only that she had eaten something that did not agree with her. Even though she could not remember what it was. Fidget scanned her again and then turned and went to the Medical Computer and inputted information into the terminal, spun on its wheeled legs and picked up the scanner. Rechecking her again.
"What is it, Fidget?" Ursa asked impatiently, standing off to one side with concern for her daughter, but secretly she knew what it was already.
"Lady Sabine Wren, appears to be pregnant. Milady. Three weeks to be exact." Fidget stated in its mechanical voice. Wheeling over to a shelf he picked up a vial of pills. Returning to hand them to Sabine. "This will aid in the morning illness. Reducing it."
Sabine stared at the vial or pills then at Fidget in shock. "No, I cannot be pregnant. How did this happen?" She heard her mother laugh out loud. "I know how it happened, I mean we were not planning on having children yet." She almost whispered then smiled broadly.
"That is how it happens, my dear one." Ursa stated smiling widely as she stepped over and hugged Sabine. "I am going to be a Grandmother, oh we have to have a celebration, a party."
"Mother would it not be better if we wait until Ezra knows he is going to be a father? Then have the celebration." Sabine said as she returned the excited hug from her mother.
"We can have two celebrations, this one would be for me and Alrich, along with the rest of the Clan." Ursa replied then hugged her again. "Wait until we tell your father he is going to be so happy."
Sabine first cried as her mother hugged her, then became sullen and angry. "This is wrong, how can Ezra be out on some adventure when he is needed here!" She said angrily.
"I am sure that if he had known he would not have left." Ursa said as she saw the anger in Sabine's eyes and stance. "Perhaps we should contact him."
"No, I want to tell him face to face. Not over some Communication Device." Sabine replied putting her hands on her hips and giving her mother a determined look.
"Lady Sabine Wren it is very important that you return weekly for re-examinations." Fidget stated as he retrieved a direct communication device. "Please utilize this if you experience any problems." Handing Sabine putting it on her wrist. "It will also monitor you and the fetus and provide me with all bio-medical information." Fidget activated the device and Sabine could see two lights blinking at different intervals. "The Blue one is your Heartbeat the Orange is your Fetus's." The droid informed her as she looked at the blinking orange light and smiled.
The Capital of Mandalore: Ruling Chambers
It did not take Ezra long to find the one responsible for betraying Fenn Rau and Bo-Katan. Rau's fellow Protector Keff Randar, the man broke easily after some inquiries about his sudden Credit Account increases. Bo-Katan took over the interrogation at that point.
"Where is Fenn Rau!" Bo-Katan asked the kneeling Keff Randar, glaring down at him while holding the Dark-Saber menacingly.
"I do not know, Milady. All I was paid for was to let Vurgo's men into the Fortress and tell them where Rau was." Randar admitted. Staring up at Bo-Katan seeing her pass the deadly weapon from one hand to another.
"You are lying." Ezra said as he shook his head. Not that he could tell if the man was lying, at a guess he believed that Randar would lie to save himself.
"No, I am telling the truth." Randar glanced back at Ezra and felt a chill run down his spine. Randar could tell that there was something odd about the Mandalorian Investigator that stood behind him. Not being able to tell what it was, still the way the Black Haired man stared at him made him shudder.
"I tend to agree with Zare Eando Wren, you are lying." Bo-Katan said flatly. "Perhaps I should activate this and dispatch you now for treason."
"I am not a traitor, you are. You are a High Born Lady, you are not allowed to marry a Low-Born Scum like Rau." Randar glared up at Bo-katan.
Ezra understood immediately as he stepped closer. "You are a High Born, correct? You had designs on perhaps seeking her hand. So when Fenn Rau and Bo-Katan secretly married, all of your plans were destroyed."
"I do not know what you are talking about. Who are you?" Randar said as he looked up at Zare. Shaking his head, he had seen Zare before but could not place it. Then he remembered, Zare was not wearing Mandalorian Armor from the Wren Clan. "Wait you are not who you say you are, I remember you." His hand went to his mouth as he stared wide-eyed at Ezra. "Shit you are Ezra Bridger." Randar almost whispered, fear enveloped him as he stared at Ezra. "I thought you were dead."
"Not yet! Now perhaps you would like to tell us the truth, I would prefer not to use the Force to pull the information out of you." Ezra said as Randar shuddered, then told them everything. Where Vurgo the Hutt was, what he wanted and why he wanted the Dark-Saber. After a few more minutes he was blubbering and not making any sense. Bo-Katan had two guards put Randar into a cell.
"I never heard of a Jedi using the Force to pull information from someone?" Triston asked confused.
"They can't, I lied. But like most the unknown can really have an effect on someone." Ezra smiled and Triston gave a short laugh.
"Now that we know where Rau is, I can put together a rescue party." Bo-Katan reached back to order a large strike force to be assembled.
"No, if Vurgo sees a huge force coming he may kill Rau or use him as a Hostage. I think that Triston and I should go. We might be able to locate him on Tantooine and rescue him." Ezra said crossing his arms.
"Randar said that Vurgo wants the Dark-Saber. Maybe we should just give it to him?" Triston suggested as he pointed at the deadly weapon.
"No, I do not know why. But I think it would be a seriously bad idea for Vurgo or whoever is buying it from Vurgo to have it. There is something sinister about this. I think, no believe this is connected to the Dark Side of the Force." Ezra stared straight ahead and seemed to focus on nothing and everything at once. "There is a larger reason that whoever it is wants the Dark-Saber and it is not to put in a claim to rule Mandalore."
"What else could it be? Though it would do no good to use the Dark-Saber as a means of claiming the leadership. It is just a rallying point, nothing more." Bo-Katan told them.
"Well it is a very dangerous weapon. Not just a symbol." Ezra told her as he thought of his own Lightsaber. To be correct Kanan's Lightsaber. The Jedi did not mass produce the deadly weapons, in the wrong hands they could be used improperly against others. Then a thought came to him. "The Dark-Saber is an older version of the current Lightsabers, if someone was going to mass produce them they would need to reverse engineer a Lightsaber to do it."
"So that might be the reason someone would be willing to pay Vurgo so much for the Dark-Saber. Because it is less advanced then the current models?" Triston asked as he thought of the ramifications. An army carrying Lightsabers into battle would be hard to stop in close combat.
"We will have to discover if that is true, because if it is about that. Then if they do not get the Dark-Saber they might try other ways to get the designs or a functional model to see how it works." Ezra stated, exhaling. They had to first free Fenn Rau, the other would have to wait. They might even be wrong, it could be that someone just wanted the ancient weapon as a collectors item.
Tantooine: The Warehouse
Dropping a tray of food on the floor for Rau, the Human Guard tossed Rau a water bladder then turned and closed the door. Rau drank greedily, they had not given him much water or food in the last two days and he was severely dehydrated. It did not help that Tantooine was extremely hot and dry, even in the Warehouse with the coolant systems working. Leaning back Rau drank some more of the water. Thinking it strange that now not so thirsty, the water actually tasted pretty good. On a world where a person had to almost fight the planet for water, that the water was the best that he ever had.
"You better hope that your Leader believes you have value. If not I get to stake you out on one of the dunes. I like doing that. The last one was a Bothan, he lasted two days and died begging for me to shoot him." The Human Guard said as he laughed at the memory. "I bet you would last three days, Mandalorian." The Guard shut the small door and Rau could hear the Guard laughing.
"That one deserves to be shot." Rau said barely audible. Then thinking that Vurgo also deserved that fate. Pulling on the chain that held his left arm to the nearby wall he exhaled. Now with the door shut he could hear noises from the other rooms thru the vents that ran near the ceiling. The one to the right ran to the Twil'ek Female quarters and he could hear the three chatting and laughing. Once last night he heard one of them having sex with one of the Human Guards. It was disturbing to listen to that but with nothing else to do he did find it entertaining. The one to the Left ran to the kitchen and he could hear the squeals and shrieks from the numerous animals and insects that the servants would prepare for Vurgo to consume. At first when he was placed in the cell he considered pulling the grate of the vent and attempting to escape through it. Then after looking he found that if he was three quarters his size he might fit. Finishing the food, which consisted of Stale Ration Bars he leaned back and sipped some more of the water. Putting the remainder down, he believes that it might be possible that they would not feed him or give him water everyday. So he would have to conserve what he had to make it last. Then without warning the small door on top of the larger door opened and a Light Green Twil'ek girl looked in on him.
"Are you sure Grovak, he is really attractive." The Twil'ek girl asked someone in the hallway outside Rau's door.
"No Sena, you cannot go in there with him. Lord Vurgo would not approve." Grovak replied and Rau knew it was the Human Guard that was stationed outside his Cell door.
"But I am bored with all of you, someone new would break the cycle." Sena said in a whining voice, then another female voice joined her.
"Please Grovak, we just want to play with him." The other voice said in a pleading voice.
"No Yeisa. If you would like I will ask Lord Vurgo and if he approves then perhaps you can play with him." Grovak told the two young Twil'eks who glanced in at Rau and then closed the small door.
Fenn Rau swallowed the dryness in his throat. Exhaling he hoped that the two Twil'ek girls were not asking Grovak for them to come in the small room and do something that Rau only wanted to do with Bo-Katan, his wife. Frowning he heard the small door open.
Laughing slightly with an evil grin, Grovak looked in on Rau. "I guess you heard, Sena and Yeisa want to come in with you and play with you. They are not gentle in that." Grovak pulled his shirt down slightly showing the scars and bite marks. "They like to draw blood." Then with another laugh he closed the small door. Leaving Rau to shudder slightly at the thought of having those two seriously demented Twil'ek's coming in and doing unspeakable things to him.
On the Approach to Tantooine:
Everyone in the Galaxy knew that Luke Skywalker came from Tantooine and now Ezra was approaching that world. He once came to this world searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi, to warn him about Darth Maul. Now once again he was coming to that world for a whole different reason. The hot and dry world was mostly a barren waste with small settlements and Moisture Farms. Ezra wondered what the draw was to settle and live on such a world. He knew that a lot of the fringe types collected on Tantooine for various reasons. Mostly to run spice or other criminal activities. He had already told Triston that they would not have their Identi-Cards visible, it would cause problems if the residents of Mos Eisley saw them as Mandalorian Investigators. As they traveled, Ezra immediately thought of Sabine at home. He missed her and wished he never went on this adventure. When he closed his eyes he saw her beautiful face and golden eyes and felt her lips on his. Leaving her behind was not something he wanted to do, not again. The last time he ended up on the other side of the Galaxy in the Unknown Regions of Space and because of that he became a temporary Imperial Captain. Severing with other Imperials so that they all could survive the journey. The only thing was he missed some of them; Lara was top of the list. At one time he had considered marrying her and starting a life with her. Spending some nights together in his bed, later he found he believed that he betrayed Sabine when he was having sex with Lara. But Sabine set him straight. He also thought of Thrawn, deciding that the Grand Admiral was not the tyrannical Warlord that wanted to doom the Galaxy. Instead of a man that had his own agenda. Not that Ezra knew what it was. Opening his eyes once again he saw Tantooine in the front View Port. "There it is." Ezra said to Triston.
"Yes, this is not going to be easy is it?" Triston said as he shook his head.
"No it is not, at best we are going to stick out like a Wookie at a Formal Dinner. Both of us do not look like Mandalorian Bounty Hunters, for one we are too clean." Ezra stated as he contacted the Approach Control for Tantooine. Waiting for the automated landing directions to come over the Nav-System.
"Perhaps we should roll around in a dun-heap or in the sand." Triston advised giving a short chuckle. "We are procrastinating, right?"
"Yes we are. I have the landing directions. We might want to lock the ship once we land, what Sabine told me Mos Eisley is not a nice place to visit." Ezra said as he flew the ship downward.
"How would she know that?" Triston asked concerned that his sister might have done something that was not considered to be lady like behavior.
"She would not tell me, but knowing her it was something bordering on illegal. Do not worry it was not immoral. I can contest to that." Ezra saw the shocked expression on Triston's face as Ezra gave a short chuckle.
"That is not something I need to know about my sister, thank you. It is hard enough to know what you two are doing at night in your bedroom." Triston replied feeling his cheeks turning red.
"Not just in the Bedroom." Ezra smiled and witnessed Triston's discomfort.
"Enough, that is my sister!" Triston then realized what Ezra was doing. He was taking Triston's mind off what and where they were going, trying to elevate the slight fear of going somewhere that any of the residents of Mos Eisley might shoot them in the back just because they were in Mandalorian Armor. "Thank you, what you said helps." Then with out delay, Ezra landed the ship.