The shrill blare of the alarm-chrono within the small cockpit of the StealthX jerked Jacen out of sleep back into reality. He groaned as he tried to get his bearings, the events of the previous day catching up to him with alarming speed. His fighter had reverted back into real space automatically over Muunilinst. Jacen's entire body felt like it had gone through a meat grinder and was then glued back together. The fact that he had gone from Chief of State to presumed dead war criminal over night did not lighten his spirits.
There were positive sides to the deal however. For some reason he found himself able to think clearly once more. Like he had been staring at the world through some sort of red haze for almost a year… And it had been lifted. Perhaps the dark side did really turn one into an insane megalomaniac. All that philosophical rhetoric Lumiya had tried to feed him about the Sith being about order and justice in an absolute sense was pure lies. Either that or he wasn't strong enough to wield that kind of power without being corrupted.
A message began to scroll across his in ship computer: The Space Port authorities request the intentions of a Galactic Alliance war vessel in their air space. Do you wish to manually respond or shall I send them a message of your choosing.
"Send them the following code Arnine. Nothing else. "X32-785-50"." Jacen spoke into the cockpit.
The droid gave him an affirmative message over the screen. Now Jacen could do nothing other than wait.
"So do you have any further designation other than R9?" He asked the astromech.
Industrial Automaton preferred to build only one line of R9 droids when they designed us. We are, however, more highly customizable than any previous series. The choices on what kind of accessories we are to be outfitted with lies wholly in the hands of our buyers.
"What upgrades do you have?" Jacen inhaled deeply, trying to focus on anything but the pain wracking his body.
Since I am one of the five droids aboard the Anakin Solo selected for personal use by the Chief of State, yourself, I am outfitted with upgraded navigational modules. I am capable of improvising secure jumps from existing data and I have the fastest possible response time on calculating existing routes. I am outfitted with a personal defense blaster. Anakin Solo's chief mechanic had it installed to please Darth Maniac or so he mumbled as he was attaching it. I am unaware to whom he was referring. Furthermore…
Jacen chuckled despite himself. Apparently his R9 was not equipped with a tact module for his interface. Darth Maniac. That struck a little too close to home for comfort. If that was the way his own staff on board the Anakin Solo had referred to him behind his back… well then he had definitely made the right decision when he decided to abandon that life. Somewhere along the line he had irreparably messed things up. Where and when was something he might devote another session of introspection to. He did not feel like engrossing himself in another "oh woe is me" session.
He looked down at his monitor and realized the astromech was still filling the screen with an ever growing bulk of text regarding its capabilities and upgrades.
"So did I get the narcissist model?" he asked.
The astromech immediately stopped its tirade.
I was merely complying with your request.
"You could try to be more succinct about it." Jacen admonished.
Or you could be more explicit about what you wish to know.
"Sassy! We'll get along quite well I think." Jacen retorted, smirking.
If you say so, Chief. Incoming transmission.
"Patch them through… and refer to me as Jacen. Titles and honorifics are a part of my past now."
As you wish, Jacen. Patching through…
A static crackle came through the speakers, followed by a flicker of the visual interface. The face of an attractive woman in her late twenties or early thirties appeared. Her expression seemed to convey a mixture of surprise and apprehension when she saw him.
"Chief of State Solo… I see the rumors of your death are severely exaggerated." Her voice was pleasant but it had a cold edge to it.
Jacen nodded. "Apparently. I have been in hyperspace for the past few days and am not completely up to date with contemporary news. However I wish to enact my right of confidentiality for the duration of my business with your bank on Muunilinst. My visit is private and I wish to remain outside the public eye. Could you meet me at the designated landing pad and insure that you are the only person I come in contact with?"
"Confidentiality is rule number 1." She said with a smile. "I'd be happy to accommodate your wishes. Landing pad 3-09 has been cleared for your arrival. I will see you there." Her image flickered out.
"Take us in by way of the designated route Arnine."
Affirmative.
As his vessel broke through the lush green planet's atmosphere it made straight for the silvery grey speck which Jacen knew to be Harnaidan, one of the largest cities on the planet and the headquarters of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. The city however was not his destination. Once the StealthX had partially broke through the atmosphere it did not descend further but maintained altitude. His destination was High Port, a massive Sky Hook that served as both the Space Port and business center for the numerous banks that had their headquarters on Muunilinst.
After a few minutes his astromech was guiding the vessel into a private docking bay reserved for customers on one of the outlying hangar spheres of the station. He quickly scanned the surrounding area but noted nothing suspicious or out of place. Arnine gently landed the vessel with all the precision of an automatic pilot. Jacen keyed a button to retract the cockpit and painfully rose out of the cockpit. A small automatic stairway had been rolled against the side of his StealthX. Jacen supported his weight on his left arm grasping the railing of the stairway tightly. He felt strangely and absurdly vulnerable by his injuries. Like he was wounded prey and the carnivores were prowling.
He definitely had to do something about this. When he reached the bottom of the stairway he looked up to see the woman he had spoken to through the com look at him worriedly. He had been focused so much on getting down the stairway without killing himself on accident that he had not sensed her approach. I definitely am going to have to do something about this…
The lady regarded him with a concerned expression. She seemed to wish to assist him in some way but thought it might offend him.
"We have repulsor chairs, if you'd like me to have one brought here Chief…" She said.
Jacen was about to decline when he realized how absurd it would be to have him stumble through the various corridors trying to be inconspicuous.
"I would greatly appreciate that." Jacen said, with a smile.
Moments later he found himself floating alongside the accountant, a hood pulled up around his face.
"As you probably are aware, Chief, the galaxy is in a bit of a chaotic state at the moment. Partially because of the war. Partially because of your supposed death."
He nodded all the while probing his leg for some way to heal his injury. He sensed the shredded fibrous tissue and knew that this was beyond his skills to heal. Healing an injury with the force to save his life was one thing but this was neither life threatening nor done under duress. Besides it was a lot easier to regenerate and knit tissue then creating a square inch of tendon. Usually the force was capable of some remarkable feats of healing but his specialty had never been healing. And trying something this dire when not in a life threatening situation could have extremely negative consequences.
"Chief? My lord?" His escort was saying.
Jacen looked over blinking away his thoughts. "Yes? I apologize. My injuries are distracting me."
They finally reached the lady's office door which she keyed open for him. He hovered through the door. "Do you have a doctor on station somewhere?"
"Of course. We have a medical center that is quite well equipped and staffed. Would you like me to escort you there?" She asked politely.
"No. I was wondering if you had a doctor who caters specifically to the needs of your staff. I wish to remain incognito." He replied.
"Uh, yes. But, uh, Dr. Jorg is for staff emergencies only. I…"
Jacen gave her a pointed look. "Then tell him you feel acute pain or some such."
"That would be a breach of protocol. I could get fired." She retorted, trying to sound stern.
Jacen sighed. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen. Please. I am in agony and I really need a doctor."
It was true that he was in a great deal of pain, yet pain did not show itself in the way he carried himself so he understood the fact that she was not taking him completely serious. Yet his last statement must have stirred something in her for she retreated behind her desk. She keyed a number. After a few moments an image came to life over her desk projector.
"Miss Inalya? What can I do for you?" From what he could tell Dr. Jorg seemed to be an Iridonian Zabrak.
"Dr. Jorg. Could you come to my office with as much medical equipment as you can carry? I have a customer in a great deal of physical pain yet he came here incognito. He refuses to go to the Med Center on station and asked for you explicitly."
"I'll be there as fast as I can." The image immediately vanished.
Jacen leaned his head back in relief. The short trip and movement had exhausted him profusely. He felt himself drifting off when Inalya's voice startled him.
"Chief?" She had walked up to his repulsor chair. "Are you alright? Are you sure I shouldn't contact medical emergency?"
"No!" He exclaimed with force. She seemed startled and backed up a step. "Sorry. I just… I can't be seen."
"A- As you wish." She turned back towards her desk and sat down behind it. "What can the Coruscant United Bank do for one if its most esteemed clients?"
"I'm here to close my accounts." Jacen said, after a moment.
The exhaustion was hampering his ability to think clearly. What is taking that doctor so long?
Inalya nodded. "Of course. I'll need to see some proper identification. And of course I'll need your account number."
Jacen produced an identi-chip and placed it on the desk sliding it towards her with the force. He knew it would reaffirm his identity and make him appear a little less vulnerable seeming to anyone with predatory intentions who might have been watching. She grasped it with seeming calm though he could sense a little surprise.
She typed some things into her computer and shortly after returned her attention to him placing the identi-chip half way towards him on the desk, deliberately out of reach. "Thank you. And your account number?"
Jacen smiled pleasantly glancing at the identi-chip. Either she likes a show or she is the doubting type. He grasped the chip with the force and floated it into his open palm. Her eyes followed the chip with curious interest. Most people never saw a Jedi's powers in action and he realized this was probably a story she would tell her grandchildren. He gave her his account number.
He watched her type the number into the console with interest. He doubted that the government had already seized his assets but it would not be the first time in recent years he found his expectations disappointed.
A moment later she looked back up. "Twenty-two million credits?" He nodded, the relief he felt imperceptible on his features. "And you would like the entirety of the amount in hard currency?"
Jacen gave her a lop-sided grin he had copied off his father. "I wish to retire into private life."
She nodded, a smile of her own gracing her features. "Well this amount should go a long way into making that a comfortable endeavor."
"How soon would I be able to be presented with this sum?" He asked.
"Within an hour or two... There are of course some datapads that you have to fill out. Nothing too time consuming however." Inalya replied.
At that moment the door opened and a Zabrak of medium height entered the room with quick steps. Without breaking stride he immediately steered in the direction of Jacen and came to a halt in front of the former Dark Lord's repulsor chair. He looked him up and down, his eyes settling momentarily on the raw reddish skin of his recently healed stomach transfixion. His eyes actually widened when his gaze came to rest on his right foot hanging at an odd angle. He quickly scanned the numerous little gashes in various places on Jacen's body.
Then he turned to Inalya. "What did you expect me to do here?"
Jacen didn't give her time to respond. "I expected you to do what you can."
Dr. Jorg turned back to Jacen and gave him a once over. "You look familiar. No matter. You realize of course that you have a severed calcaneus tendon. I can't fix that without staff. Perhaps a med droid... Strong narcotics will of course be necessary." The doctor was illustrating his point with wild gesturing.
Jacen grew tired of the Zeltron's exasperation quickly. He reached out and grasped the Iridonian's arm. "You will not need narcotics. You'll find that I have an unnaturally high tolerance for pain. You can get a med droid so long as I can perform a memory wipe on him after we are done. And if you manage this here, without the aid of any staff you will find yourself one hundred thousand credits richer."
Jorg stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and surprise, glancing at his arm held in a vice like grip by Jacen and then back at the former dark lord's unwavering gaze. "You're serious…?"
"Deadly serious…" Jacen retorted with just a hint of threat in his tone.
Dr. Jorg looked back at Inalya who just shrugged her shoulders. Then he returned his attention to Jacen who was now smiling pleasantly. Then he straightened and proceeded back towards the door. "Well there are a few things I need to get."
"Of course you do…" Jacen said, more to himself than to the doctor.
The moment the door swooshed closed behind the Zabrak, Inalya came back around her desk and sat on the edge of it facing him. Jacen, in a moment of appreciation realized just how good the green dress looked on her. When his eyes came to rest on hers she raised her eye brow. "You realize this is all very… unethical?"
"So are the limits of my generosity." He replied.
"I see. Well I guess I'll just return to settling your accounts." She returned to her previous position and delved into her work. Jacen was strangely soothed by the sound of the gentle typing and felt like he was drifting off. After a few moments of painless semi-consciousness he was once again crudely jerked out of his reverie. The doctor had returned with a state of the art med droid and a hover cart with an assortment of appliances and something soaking in bacta. Jacen took this all in with a glance.
Dr. Jorg gave him a quizzical look. "You're sure about this sir? Without narcotics the pain will be nearly unbearable. I'm almost certain you will be knocked unconscious by it. I know a Wookie would be."
"Would you be willing to smuggle some narcotics and hide me in this office until their effect wears off?" he asked glancing from Dr. Jorg to Inalya. Inalya shook her head energetically mouthing the word "no".
"I am a professional and I take my profession seriously. Besides if I was caught I would lose my license." The Zabrak replied.
"Then it's all a moot point. And I'd refuse the narcotics if they miraculously showed up anyway." Jacen shot back.
The Iridonian shock his head, muttering something about false bravado. Then he produced some sort of device that looked an upside down Y with two half circular padded ends.
"What's that?" Jacen asked.
"It's for emergency child births for humanoid species. Put your right leg on the right leg rest." The Iridonian said.
Jacen complied. "I feel like I've just been emasculated." Pain shot up his leg as his foot, hanging at an awkward angle brushed against a severed nerve cluster. He did not flinch, however.
Inalya chuckled. "Miss Inalya. I'll need you to serve as an assistant in this procedure." Dr. Jorg's statement spooked away her mirth.
"Me? I get nauseous at the sight of blood!" She exclaimed aghast.
"Just think of the credit chips." Jacen interjected.
Inalya seemed disgruntled by the implication of his statement yet, nevertheless, came around the desk and placed herself next to the hover cart.
The doctor handed him some bunched up blood absorbent cloth. "You might want to bite on this."
"Nonsense..." Jacen declined with an accompanying gesture.
Dr. Jorg shook his head. "I don't know whether or not you are insane or I am." Jacen gave him an annoyed look. "Alright let me walk you through the procedure. The stuff you see floating in the bacta is a tendon substitute. I will need you to stretch your leg while Inalya holds your foot. Once we have found the correct position I will have to use a medical adhesive to attach the tendon filament to the severed ends of the tendon. Once that is accomplished I will need to put your foot in a bacta cast which you will have to have removed in five days. Now are you absolutely—"
"Yes!" Jacen interrupted.
"Alright." The Zabrak pointed at the foot while kneeling on the floor next to Jacen's outstretched leg. "Inalya I need you to gently grasp his leg and rotate it in the direction that I tell you to. From my point of view of course."
She took up position in front of Jacen and gently grasped his foot. Yet gentle as she was Jacen still felt the pain.
Over the next half hour the doctor and the glorified accountant began an agonizing steering of his foot into just the right position which, even though it involved the most minute movements, felt like they were twisting Jacen's foot right off. When they finally found the right position Dr. Jorg brought his hover cart to floor level and laid down on the floor beneath Jacen's outstretched foot. "I'm going have to cut away some of this cauterized flesh and replace it with some skin substitute."
"Whatever you have to do doctor..." Jacen hissed through his teeth.
As the Zabrak began cutting away pieces of his skin Jacen felt as though he was back in the embrace of pain. The white was closing in. And strangely he felt like it was returning him to a better time. He became dimly aware of, after a few agonizing minutes of cutting and scraping away flesh, that the Zabrak was inserting something above his foot. He was amazed that his nerves were still transmitting after all they had been through. The white merely became starker when the Iridonian poured some sort of stinging liquid on the open wound. He felt his fingers digging into the armrests of his repulsor chair but he made sure not to cry out. That could catch someone's attention outside the office and that was an unaffordable possibility. After several minutes of seeming idleness he felt some sort of moldable material covering his wound shortly followed by heat.
He opened his eyes to see what was going on. "What are you doing now?" He asked, leaning his head to the side to see what was going on. He saw the doctor holding some sort of orange glowing lamp to the wound.
"My god, you're still conscious." The Iridonian nearly dropped the lamp in surprise. "That's unnatural."
Jacen gave him a pained grimace that barely passed as a smile. "I did try to tell you. Well what is the lamp for?"
"It's a specialized light frequency that dries the skin supplement I had to insert to replace the cauterized skin I cut away."
Jacen nodded and leaned back. Shortly thereafter the doctor turned off his light and soaked some absorbent cloth in bacta that he then placed over the skin supplement. With some more cloth he began to wrap half of Jacen's foot and a good portion of his shin in a mummy like cocoon. Jacen only just realized that at some point during the procedure they had removed his shoe. Once that task had been completed Dr. Jorg spent the next thirty minutes placing Jacen's foot in a cast. Since this relieved Inalya of her job she retreated behind her desk with a relieved expression and returned to arduously devoting her full attention to her computer.
"Well… I think I'm done." Jorg pronounced finally.
"You did a good job, doctor." Jacen replied sincerely.
"It's a little disconcerting to have a non-comatose patient congratulate me after a difficult surgery." He said, stretching. After an audible crack he sighed in relief. "I must say, you're the most extraordinary patient I've ever had."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Can I take my leg off of that… thing now?" He asked.
"Not yet. Let it harden a little longer." The doctor explained. "Additionally… how will you forward me the credits?"
"I assume you have a bank account with Coruscant United?" Jacen asked.
"Yes." He answered, retrieving a datapad from his pocket.
The Iridonian typed a few successive numbers on it. Jacen held out his hand but made a point to keep his hand close to his chest. When the doctor approached, Jacen's hand shot out and grasped the man's neck. Dr. Jorg resisted for a moment but once force energy poured into him he stopped struggling. Inalya had risen out of her chair but Jacen shoved her back down.
"Don't worry, I'm not harming him." He said soothingly.
The mixture of the force push and his tone placated her. He touched the doctor's mind and rubbed away the memories of the last hour or so. He knew that no matter how hard the man tried he would not be able to keep this unique and excellent job to himself. If nothing more, he would brag to a relative who would in turn brag to another relative and so forth. As soon as he had finished he released his hold on the man's neck. Dr. Jorg just stood there swaying a little.
Jacen wove his hand. "You want to return to your medical praxis and continue your work."
The man repeated the statement and left the office in a daze. Jacen settled his gaze on the frightened lady behind the desk. "Are you going to do the same thing to me?" she asked.
He sensed her hand hovering over a button below her desk that would call security. He shook his head. "You can remove your hand from the security button. And I very much intend to pay the doctor the credits I promised. I am, believe it or not, very grateful. I just cannot risk him telling anyone about today's occurrences. He is after all not bound by contract to respect a patient's confidentiality in the same way you are."
She seemed slightly relieved by his statement. "So do you want me to forward the one hundred thousand credits to his account before I finalize our business?" she asked.
"Yes. And treat yourself to the same sum." He added.
"I cannot. That would arouse suspicion since I'm the one who closed your account." She interjected.
"Then you will just have to accompany me to my fighter and I will give you the credits in hard currency." Inalya handed him a couple of datapads and turned towards the door. "Where are you going?"
"To get the suitcases with your money…" She said, spinning on her heel.
"Wait!" Jacen exclaimed. "Did you say cases?"
"You did not expect me to fit twenty two million into a single case did you?" she asked, amused.
"I'm going to need a bigger ship." Jacen said, sighing. "Is there some place on the station that I can buy a Freighter or a Yacht that can be crewed by me and an astromech droid, which also has a hangar large enough to fit a StealthX?"
"Well I'm no expert but there is a Starship lot in the cargo ship dock sphere. Would you like me to show you the way?" Inalya said.
"Why not?" He responded after a moment.
"Well then you can fill out the datapads while I guide us to the vault where they should have the suitcases with the credits for you now."
"Sounds good," he agreed, while pulling the hood of his robe back over his face.
A couple of hours later they were in the cargo ship dock sphere. Jacen was animatedly discussing matters with the sales man, a hovering Toydarian.
"You're telling me the only vessel that you have that meets my specification is the Horizon-class star yacht?"
Jacen looked behind him to see Inalya idling by the hover cart laden with five heavy metal cases. He definitely would have preferred flying something other than the very vessel Mara Jade had used up to the day of her death. Yet he was not the sentimental type and he was not going to cause an unnecessary delay merely because the type of vessel reminded him of one of his many misdeeds.
"Does it have any upgrades?" he asked.
"Other than the modules that allow you to crew it with only an astromech droid, no, it's with factory specifications." The toydarian replied. "Brand new too. Doesn't even have a lightyear on it."
"And the price?" Jacen queried.
"Three hundred thousand credits." The toydarian said with finality.
"Miss Inalya." Jacen called the lady to his side. "Could you be so kind as to count out three hundred thousand to this… gentleman?"
She nodded and opened one of the suitcases. The toydarian's eyes glimmered at the sight of all the money. "Is there anything else—"
"No thank you." Jacen replied immediately. "Just have the vessel flown outside the station and brought outside the planet's atmosphere. Have your staff leave the hangar open so I can bring my X-wing into the berth."
"As you wish sir," the toydarian replied. "I'll have the customizable encrypted ID pad left in the cockpit of the ship for you. You can name the ship with that."
"Thank you." Jacen replied.
Once the business had be concluded Jacen returned to his StealthX and, after parting ways with a happy and richer Inalya, left High Port, relieved that all had gone according to plan.