A/N: Now that we have gotten of Peragus, the interaction between characters and the descriptions of quests shall be much better.
Previously: Peragus went boom.
My head once again slammed against the workbench. The… boredom... was… death… destruction… I had been working on the items we had acquired on Peragus for the past three hours and I had done the same items at least three times already. Hyperspace travel was so boring when you had nobody to talk to. Well, I had Aurali and Atton to talk to, but I didn't want to get in the way of their bonding moments. Well, now that I thought about it, three hours was plenty of bonding time. I took a shaky step to get the feeling back in my legs and when I felt secure enough to walk, I began walking to the cockpit. When I saw the closed door I hadn't noticed before, I paused and wondered what I should do.
"Aw, what the hell…" I murmured to myself as I opened the door. A rusty red droid was sitting there, and I peered at it curiously. It was obviously broken, but I could probably fix it…probably.
"Now let's see if I can do this without blowing myself up." I idly said out loud as I grabbed the piece I had taken from the HK-50. Surprisingly enough, it was a lot easier than I thought. Just a few wires to move around, some work with a hydrospanner and bam! Instant (partially) fixed mysterious droid. So now that I had finished that I finished my walk up to where Aurali and Atton were.
"Hey, what's going on here?" I asked, coming up from behind them.
"Nuffin." Aurali said, piece of toast hanging out of her mouth. Atton leaned over and tried to take a bite out of the piece of toast in Aurali's mouth, but she moved away right as he was about to sink his teeth into it. "Haha. You can't reach it." She grinned, finishing up the toast. I rolled my eyes at the pair. I guess the bonding wasn't over.
"How long until we reach Telos?" I asked, trying to catch his attention.
"Not that much longer. You can check the map and see the exact time." He replied. I walked backwards and started messing with the empty map. Aurali stood up and stretched, walking over to the map as well.
"Soooo. You two were Jedi right? So where are your original lightsabers? I mean aren't you supposed to be married to them?" Atton questioned the both of us. My fingers froze on the map and my thoughts briefly flashed back to the saber that we had found back on the Harbinger. Aurali must have caught my thoughts because she answered for me.
"They were taken from us." She growled angrily. She had really loved her lightsaber. It meant a lot to her.
"Whoa. Calm down. Don't go all psycho on me Aura." He said, throwing up his hands.
"She's not mad at you Atton. Our sabers were very important to us. It was tough giving them up." I commented, thinking back to the day of our trial. They had been a horrible day in more ways than one.
"So, how did you two fight? Were you a single hilt or a double-bladed Jedi?" Atton asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Two single hilts." We replied in unison. Revan, Aurali and I had been the three best two weapon fighters in the Enclave back when we were Padawans. Those had been the days.
"Figures. I saw how you two fought back on Peragus. You seemed to have trouble with just one sword." Atton commented idly. We both sent him small glares.
"So that is how we get thanked for saving you life. I get it." I shot back.
"I can fight with one! I just prefer two! Like you could do any better! About how many shots do you get with your blaster? Two or three a week?" Aurali yelped.
"Hey now, don't bite my head off!" Atton replied. There was an awkward silence and everything was silent before Atton couldn't help but ask another question.
"They didn't happen to be red did they?" I couldn't help but glare at him.
"Do we look like Sith? Of course they weren't red!" I said like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy.
"Mine were cyan and silver." Aurali said wistfully, and I could sense that she desperately wanted her original sabers back.
"What about you Tyla?" Atton asked, and I paused with thought. Well, I could lie and have Aurali bug me about it, or I could tell the truth and have Aurali bug me about it still.
"Mine were yellow and silver." I answered finally, and Aurali shot me a knowing glance. Yep, she was so going to bug me about this later.
"Interesting, they sure would have been nice to have now. Maybe make those Sith think twice before they came after us." Atton smirked, and I turned away.
"It doesn't matter now." I spit. Aurali put a hand on my shoulder and I flinched away from her slightly. She sent me a glance but finished my statement. "I think it would just make them come after us more."
"Fine, forget I said anything. We should be arriving soon." Atton finished, and I put my full attention on the map. The sooner we got there, the better.
Atton gently set us down in the hanger and I got up happily. Aurali stood up beside me and she poked Atton in the side.
"C'mon Atton. We gotta get some new charts." Aurali commanded, and I walked away before the two started bickering again. They acted like an old married couple sometimes. It was kind of annoying, but it was funny to watch.
I sat at the ramp, tapping my foot in annoyance as I waited for them and messing with my lightsaber hilt. I just wanted to get through here and get this entire thing over with. Atton and Aurali showed up and I gave a small sigh of relief.
"Alright, let's do this!" I ordered, and I think Aurali rolled her eyes at me.
"I just want this to be done Aura." I told her, and she seemed to nod in agreement.
"You will need my help if you are to get through this." A voice called. I jumped and turned around. Kreia was standing there in all her one-handed glory.
"Like we need help from an old scowl like her." Atton muttered under his breath, and I couldn't help but agree.
"Really Kreia, it's okay. You can stay on the ship. You can get all the rest you need." Aurali tried, but of course it didn't work.
"No, I must go with you. It is the only way."
"Aura, I have a bad feeling about all of this. Something about her makes me nervous." I commented, but Aurali was too wrapped up in herself to answer. Figures.
"Fine, you can come along." I said grouchily. I turned around and was about to step down the boarding ramp when Aurali stopped me.
"Maybe we should hide the lightsabers for now. We don't know how people will react to the fact that we both have one." Aurali whispered, and I nodded. I tucked my new viridian saber into a large pouch on my uniform before I stepped down the boarding ramp with Aurali at my side.
"Welcome to Citadel Station Dock Module 126. Lieutenant Dol Grenn will meet you shortly. That is all." A voice called out.
"Uh-oh. Here comes the welcoming party. They might now know about the explosion yet, so don't blow it." Atton whispered in hushed tones. Aurali and I nodded as a group of security walked to us.
"I'm Lieutenant Dol Grenn of the Telos Security Force. I am under orders to take you under custody in regards to the destruction of the Peragus mining facility." He said, and all my hopes dropped. Well, there when my plans.
"We had nothing to do with that!" Aurali immediately protested. Grenn shot her a look and continued.
"Be as that may be, the circumstances surrounding your arrival are suspicious at best." Grenn ground out.
"Are we under arrest?"
"You haven't been formally charged, but you will be placed under house arrest pending the results of our investigation. Due to the nature of the investigation, I have no specific timetable to offer you. In the meantime, your ship and any droids will have to be given over for safekeeping." Grenn answered. T3 let out a series of beeps and he moved closer to Aurali. Aurali put a protective hand on his head.
"Yes, you are a droid so you will be detained. In addition, we will have to take your personal arms and armor until the completion of our inquiry."
"This is ridiculous! We are leaving right now, do you understand?" Aurali demanded, inching back to the ship.
"Think about this. Even if you managed to take all of down, dock control could shut down the magcon field and shut you all out into space. So we can do this the hard way, or the easy way." Grenn said with a smug look.
"Fine, but we will remember this." I growled lowly.
"Hold up, is there anyway that we're going to get our gear back?" Atton questioned.
"If you are found to not be guilty of the charges, you will get your possessions back at the end of the inquiry." Grenn explained before he motioned to his team and they surrounded us.
"Tell me I'm not going to jail again." Atton muttered under his breath.
"I'll tell you that you're not, but I'm lying." Aurali said with a cheeky grin. Atton mumbled something that I couldn't hear. After that we fell into silence as we were walked to the prison.
"Aura, this isn't good. We need to find a way off this station fast." I said through the bond. Aurali didn't respond so I stopped trying. She was still involved in herself. Eventually we made it back to wherever he was taking us. At the sight of the numerous force cages lining the walls I groaned in frustration. Seriously, this was ridiculous! Some men came up to all of us and handed us some garments of clothing.
"Drop all of your weapons now." A guard ordered. We all sighed and Atton dropped the two blasters he had and the extra vibroblades he carried in case enemies got too close to him.
"You two as well." The guard ordered. Aurali and I both dropped our lightsabers on the ground and the guard looked at us with surprise and maybe a little bit of fear.
"Everything." Both of us started reaching into random pockets and pulling out small knifes, blasters, and swords.
"Is that all of it?" he asked, and Aurali sighed in frustration.
"Dear Force, what do you want from us?" Aurali exclaimed as we both pulled out the final vibroswords that we had and the small weapons we had hidden in our boots. The pile of stuff we had was pretty high.
"Fine, now go change in there." The guard ordered and handed us our clothes. We all mumbled in distaste as we walked into the changing area. Aura and I went to one area while Atton went to another. We came out a few minutes later and stepped into the force cages.
"Why is everyone out to get us?" Aura grumbled.
"Because life hates us." I explained.
"This is only temporary; quarters will be arranged for you shortly." Grenn stated.
"A force cage? This is ridiculous!" Aura shouted angrily.
"Get out of here." I snarled.
"Let's go." Grenn ordered as his team of security and he walked out. I wanted to bang my head against the force cage, but I preferred to keep my head intact.
"Why is that everywhere we go, I end up in jail?" Atton asked.
"It's because you're a scoundrel." Aurali replied. I took a seat in my cage and tried to calm down. We couldn't stay here to long. If the Sith came looking for us, we were going to be in so much trouble.
"We'll be here for awhile, so might as well get comfortable." Atton said to Aurali, and she took a seat. I couldn't help but zone out. I didn't know how long we had been in there but suddenly Kreia stood up.
"Someone approaches." I scrambled up in my cage as the door opened. A man in a TSF uniform walked in and he inspected us.
"So this is the last of the Jedi. I must admit, I'm a little disappointed." He sneered, and I growled.
"Let me out of this cage and let's see how disappointed your body will be." I spat.
"Doubtful, but at least it appears you have some spirit." He countered, "The Exchange has quite a bounty out for Jedi you know. You're worth quite a bit of money." The assassin said idly, and Atton couldn't help himself.
"The Exchange, huh? I'm pretty sure some two-bit pistol jockey like yourself isn't one of them." Atton snorted, and I mentally slapped my hand against my face. They just had to piss everyone off.
"Eh? I'm more than skilled enough to work for the Exchange." The man said, suddenly on the defensive. Atton, knowing he hit a nerve, continued his rant.
"You bounty hunters couldn't even win a fair fight. You're the cheapest, most worthless mercenary scum in the galaxy. I'd hire a Mandalorian over your filth in a second." Atton finished smugly, and both Aurali and I turned to look at him in amazement. He had some pent up hate in there.
"No Mandalorian could match my skills. No Mandalorian could have been clever enough to infiltrate the station, taken the identity of one of the guards, then -" The guy snarled, but Atton once again interrupted.
"…then what, overloaded our force cages and made it look like an accident? You probably don't even have the guts to fight me. Heh. Pathetic." Atton finished with a smirk. I held him in a new respect. He was brave, stupid maybe, but brave. But the assassin didn't seem to be bothered by it this time.
"Don't think overloading your cages had not occurred to me… you're wanted alive, but I doubt anyone will care as long as I bring them the corpses." He finished calmly.
"Oh come on man. We are in a TSF station. How do you expect to get away with this?" Aurali asked with her hands on her hips.
"Their cameras have mysteriously shorted out. There will be no witnesses to your escape attempt where I will be forced to kill you. By the time the TSF realize I'm not one of them, I'll be far from this place."
"Sorry," I started, "but your body is staying right here." Aurali finished for me. The assassin looked between us and I could tell that he was doubting himself. Aurali and I sometimes called upon our bond without realizing it and we would start to move or think as one person. It could be very intimidating.
"Come, 'Jedi,' it's time to die."
"Hey, leave them alone – you want a fight, then try me, if you've got the guts." Atton interjected, and I couldn't help the annoyed sigh. We could take care of ourselves. Aurali was probably thinking that it was sweet or something. Blech.
"You have goaded me once, and you shall not do so twice. But I shall dispose of all of you eventually. And an old woman, a fool, and two broken Jedi will be no match for my skills." The assassin said triumphantly as he walked over to the console where the cage control was. I stretched in anticipation for the upcoming battle and let the Force wash over me. I was still trying to get used to it after so long of hiding from it, but as much as I didn't want to admit it, it was nice to have the feeling back.
The shimmering cage in front of me disappeared and we all stepped out, facing our opponent. He fired his two blasters and I dodged them easily. For some Exchange assassin, he wasn't a good shot. Atton and I charged forward, attacking him with physical force. Kreia stood back, causing the killer to clutch his head in fear. Aurali summoned a small bolt of lightning and wrapped the killer in the deadly electricity. The Exchange thug fell back with a withering scream and crumbled to the floor, no longer breathing.
"Well, that worked well." Atton commented, and I rolled my eyes. We all turned to face the door as it opened and Grenn came running in with a security team.
"The security cameras ha- what? What's going on here?" he demanded when he saw us all standing around the body of what was supposed to be one of his guards.
"Man down! Quick, call a medic!" the male security officer yelled into the main office.
"All right 'Jedi' – I want you to back up slowly, hands in front of you, into the force cage. Cooperate, and we won't have to gun you down." Grenn ordered.
"Come on, Lieutenant! They've already killed… eh… who is that? Is that Batu Rem?" the other officer asked, wonder in her voice. I gave a slight nod combined with a smirk.
"Impressive. You allowed an assassin to infiltrate your ranks." I said, annoyance laced with sarcasm heavy in my voice.
"Rem's no assassin."
"Batu Rem is on leave – he shouldn't even be on the station. This man isn't him."
"I'm glad someone noticed that only after he tried to kill us." Aurali snorted, and Atton, Aurali and I gave Grenn a look.
"We've arranged for an apartment in Residential Module 082. You'll stay there under house arrest until our investigation of the Peragus matter is complete. You'll be under TSF protection. I'll personally clear any visitors to your quarters, and we will investigate this incident to the best of our ability." Grenn replied, and Aurali and I thought the same thing while she actually said it.
"The best of your ability? That's not very inspiring." Aurali sighed, and everything was silent for a few moments before I shook my head.
"Just take us to our quarters."
"Officer, get Lieutenant Yima a report of this incident. She'll look into this. The rest of you," Grenn turned back to us, "The rest of you, come with me. We'll escort you to the apartment in 082 immediately." Grenn said as his security team surrounded us. We walked through the halls of the Citadel as the Telosian citizens stole glances at us. Apparently nothing ever happened here because the whispers started and people started pointing at us.
"What are you looking at? Go back to your normal lives and stop trying to take a peak at us!" Aurali yelled and her scream was partially backed up by the Force. I knew the power she was using and I smacked her on her arm.
"What?" she asked, but it was too late. The Force she had laced into her words worked its way into the citizen's minds as they felt the cold stab of fear worm its way into their heart. Several people ran away, while other's clutched their head, muttering small words of nonsense. The guards that surrounded us turned to look at us in fear, and Aurali and I smirked at them evilly. They paled visibly and gulped as they turned back to the front. The rest of the journey went normally, but now nobody looked at us as we finished our escorted walk of shame through the halls. We finally arrived at a door and Grenn let us in.
"These will serve as your quarters for the duration of your house arrest. Two officers will be stationed outside at all times. Again, I'll clear any visitors. There won't be another 'incident.'" Grenn said.
"But just to be on the safe side, why don't you leave us a blaster or two?" Atton questioned, but Grenn merely shook his head. Oh well, it was a nice try.
"Just get out." Aurali snapped, and Grenn and his team left. I turned and looked at the rest of our little group. Aurali was looking like she could blow up a small planet by just looking at it, Kreia was… I really don't know, and Atton was tense.
"This isn't good. We have to get off this station." Atton muttered, and I agreed. We were too vulnerable here.
"Why do we need to leave?" Aurali asked, and Atton gave her a look.
"What do you think the TSF is going to find at Peragus? They could bring the S- You know what, forget it. As long as we're trapped here, it doesn't matter." Atton sighed.
"Anybody else have any thoughts?"
"We cannot stay in any one place or too long. But our path has brought us here for a reason. I must meditate on this. In the meantime, we should rest." Kreia stated, and for the first time we all looked over at the beds. Hmm, three beds, four people. This wasn't going to work.
"Umm guys, somebody is either sleeping on the floor or someone is sharing a bed." I said, giving a pointed look to Aurali and Atton. "And I am not sharing a bed." I finished.
"Well, this makes things… interesting." Atton said hesitantly, glancing over at Aurali. Kreia sat on a bed and went into a meditative pose, and I smirked as an idea formed in my head. I went over to the other bed and sat on it, claiming it as my own. I too started to meditate and let Aurali and Atton solve it out on their own.
I 'awoke' sometime later as the communication console started to beep. I stretched lightly and glanced around. Kreia was still meditating and Atton and Aurali were curled up on the other bed. I let out a snort of laughter and got up, letting my muscles get feeling back. Aurali shifted in her sleep and when she did, she ended falling off the bed. Atton shot up and helped her up. It struck me how similar their situation was to one of my own a long time ago, and my mind wondered. They might just innocently flirt, but I had a feeling it was going to grow into something more. The console beeped again and I glared in its direction. I shook my head and pressed the button to take the call.
"Excuse me, you have a caller. Moza, representing the Ithorians and their restoration project for Telos. Lt. Grenn has cleared him if you wish to speak to him." A woman explained. I looked back at the room and saw that everyone was up. I turned back to the console and smiled.
"Sure, send him in." I answered, and the console clicked off. We all turned to the door as the Ithorian walked in.
"Thank you for seeing me. I am Moza, and I come here on behalf of Chodo Habat, our leader." He stated, and Aurali stepped up beside me.
"What's this about?" she asked, her head tilted slightly to the side.
"Have you heard about our restoration project and its issues?" he asked, and he continued when I nodded. "Then you know that we are running to project and how much trouble we are having with a corporation known as 'Czerka?' They have pushed themselves into Telos and are currently working on getting our restoration contracts. Their efforts hinder us greatly, and are a great cause of harm to the planet's surface." Moza explained.
"So you want us to help you stop Czerka? Alright, we will meet with you after we get released." Aurali stated distractedly, and Moza seemed surprised.
"Then thank you and I'm sure Chodo will be very happy to meet with you two." He finished. He turned around and left our room, leaving us alone once again. I really wanted to get released right about now. At lest they were letting people contact us.
"Well that was one quick meeting." I thought as I sat back down on the bed.
"Maybe now we will be able to rest uninterrupted." Kreia said as she took a seat on her own bed.
I was awakened again when the kriffing console went off for a second time. I groaned in frustration and got off the bed and walked over to it. Czerka was calling us huh? Well, they could stuff it. I shut the computer and went back to bed. Right as I sat down though we were all awoken by Lt. Grenn.
"I have come to inform you all that the Telosian government has finished their investigation of what's left of the Peragus mining facility. They have found that the Harbinger was indeed present when the facility was destroyed, although it was gone when we arrived. It also seems that all of you were either incapacitated or incarcerated at the time when the miners were killed by what looks like a high amount of sabotage."
"Although you are no longer under house arrest, the Republic is sending it's on cruiser to investigate and they strongly recommend that you stay on the station until they are done." Grenn started, giving both Aurali and I a pointed look.
"Great, how long does that mean we have to stay now?"
"Just until the Sojourn arrives and finishes its investigation. It won't be more that a few standard days."
"What about my ship?"
"And my T3 droid?" Aurali chimed in.
"If you come to the TSF station in Entertainment Module 081 and fill out the necessary paperwork, your ship, droid, and all of your personal possessions will be transferred to the impound dock." And after that he left.
"Okay look, even if we do stay to explore Telos, we have to get our ship. Let's find the Ebon Hawk." I said before anyone else. Aura nodded and Atton agreed, so we left our room and started exploring the apartments around us. As we opened a footlocker and took what was inside, Aurali looked at me with a laugh.
"Isn't it funny that we can just break into random apartments and steal all of the person's stuff and nobody says anything about it?" she asked, and I laughed as well.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Looks like you spoke to soon Aura." I said as we stood up and turned to face the angry Telosian.
"Sorry, we were just looking around." Aurali said innocently, and I choked back a snort.
"Yeah, well it looked like you were doing more than just looking." He stated angrily, and I smiled at the man.
"We were doing nothing wrong. You never saw us and you will forget that this ever happened." I ordered with a small wave. The man repeated back what I said and the four of us hurriedly left the apartment.
"You know Ty, you seem a lot more willing to use that power now than back at the Enclave." Aurali said with an eyebrow raised, and I shrugged at her.
"Well, being in exile with no Force powers at all kind of opens your eyes to what you had." I replied. "Oh, Aura, can you go download the map of the area? I'll be right over there. Atton," I said, turning to the scoundrel, "Go help her. She might blow up the computer." I teased, and Aurali glared at me before she walked off, Atton trailing after her. I opened the next door and was greeted by a green Twi'lek.
"Hello. My name is Harra. Who are you?" he asked politely, and I smiled slightly.
"The name is Tyla. What do you do here?" I asked, recognizing the Czerka uniform.
"I work for Czerka as a data processor. It's a thankless job with little pay, but I have to save up my money." He said sadly, and I tilted my head at him slightly, trying to figure him out.
"Trying to get off the station?"
"No, I…have a debt to pay off." I nodded my head in recognition.
"What happened?" I asked, and he proceeded to tell me about how he used a girl, Ramana, as part of a pazaak game and that when he lost, she became a dancer for this Doton Het. I agreed to help him and meet with Aurali and Atton outside.
"So, what did you do?"
"I agreed to help this guy get the girl of his dreams back. She's a dancer in the local cantina." I explained, and Atton brightened up at the mention of a cantina. "And no Atton, you can't get drunk. We kinda need you." I said, and Atton gave me a look.
"Before we all try to kill each other, how about we go get our ship?" Aurali interjected, and I nodded. We explored Citadel more as we made our way to the entertainment module, downloading maps the entire way. We stopped when we saw two mercenaries picking on a Sullustan.
"Hey now, what's going on?" I asked, stepping forward. The two mercenaries turned to glare at us.
"Nothing you need to see. Me and my friend were just having a discussion with this Sullustan." He said, pointing at the cowering Sullustan.
"Please help me!" he pleaded, and Aurali stepped next to me.
"We would like to hear his side of the story thank you very much." She shot back, turning to the man. He told us about how the other two men had dragged him out there after he had accidentally spilt his drink on them.
"Sorry, but we aren't going to let you touch him." I said, stepping between the Sullustan and the two men.
"Oh great, someone who wants to be a hero. Look, why don't you and your friends go inside and have a drink in the cantina." One of them said, and Aurali shook her head no.
"Sorry, but I don't think so." She countered, and the men took out their two guns. Atton muttered something about light siders always getting themselves into trouble, but he charged the men at the same time we did. After they were dealt with, the Sullustan turned to us.
"I can't thank you enough! I need to return home, but please take these credits as a sign of my gratitude!" he exclaimed, holding out a credits.
"No, you keep them. We were just glad to help." Aurali responded, and the Sullustan gave even more stumbled thanks as he ran off.
"Hey, we could have used those!" Atton exclaimed as he glared at Aurali.
"Oh shut up you greedy scoundrel. He needed them more than we do." Aurali commented, and I laughed lightly.
"All right guys, stop it. Aura, tell me where we're going." She grabbed her datapad and we continued on.
"And here we are." Aurali said, looking up from her datapad.
"Finally! I want out of here so bad!" I exclaimed as we walked in. Aurali went up and talked to the droid while we listened.
"I regret to inform you that the Ebon Hawk is missing. The TSF believes it was stolen and is currently investigating." The droid stated, and I gave it a mixture of a shocked and pissed off look.
"What? Does that mean T3 is gone too?" I demanded, and the droid told us that our ship and T3 were gone, although no ships had left the system.
"What about our stuff?" Aurali asked, and the droid opened the door behind us. Several lockers lined the wall, and we all sighed in relief. Well, everyone besides Kreia who hadn't said anything to any of us. We went into the small room and dug through all of the lockers, even the ones that weren't labeled 'detainee.' Yes, we're little thieves but we needed the weapons and armor. Kreia went off to go change somewhere while I claimed a small spot surrounded by empty lockers.
"Hey look, I found some Jedi robes!" Aurali called out triumphantly as she opened the last locker. I turned to face her as pulled the robes out of the locker and held them up. Why did a TSF officer have Jedi robes in their locker?
"Do you want them?" I asked. She looked them and instantly shook my head no. I wanted nothing that would identify me as a Jedi. Well, besides the lightsaber. I could at least hide that though.
"No. I say we just sell them. Anything that has to do with the Jedi – or Sith – is bound to be worth quite a lot these days since they are practically non-existent anymore. Besides, I don't think Atton wants you wearing something like robes." I replied, my voice teasing with my last words. I stepped away into a corner trying to find another locker.
"Depends on the type of robe." He responded, and I rolled my eyes. Oh great, here they go again. I guess it's my fault though.
"Then what do you suggest?" she smirked suggestively, and I held in a laugh. That girl never lost her flirtatiousness.
"You, me, some juma juice, and a small dark closet." He replied, scooting closer to the blue haired girl.
"How did we get from robes to your secret pleasures?" Aurali laughed, hitting him lightly. By now I had given up the locker search and I came back out to where Aurali and Atton were.
"Alright, that is enough. Here's the plan. Kreia, you take our stuff back to our room and make sure nobody gets in. Aura and Atton, I want you to go meet with the Ithorians. Aura, keep me updated on what's going on." I said, laying out the plan.
"What about you? You going to sit around and be lazy?" Aurali asked, and I rolled my eyes at her.
"No, I'm going to find some ways to get paid. Everyone agreed?" I asked, and everyone stated their agreement. We all broke apart, going in our separate directions.
I went into the next room and spoke to Grenn. After he finished blaming me for Peragus then asked my help about Peragus, he told me that there were three bounties I could collect on. After he explained them to me, I logged everything into my datapad and went off.
My first stop was the docks. After I bribed the dock manager for information on the fake Batu, I went over to the Twi'lek.
"Questions about former Czerka employees should be directed to Jana Lorso." The stubborn man said, and I groaned in frustration. I left there and went to talk to Lorso.
The first thing that I noticed was that two people that matched Grenn's description of two criminals were talking to Lorso. The second thing I heard was that she was smuggling them to one of the restoration zones. I said something, but they ignored me of course and ran off. I let out a frustrated noise and went up to Lorso.
She was happy to see me even though I kept telling her that I did not want to work with her. Guess she didn't know that no meant no. After she told me that she had fired Batono and that he was often with the Ithorians, I turned around and opened the door. I had just gotten to the right module when Aurali and Atton stepped out.
"Hey guys, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing much. The Ithorians just want us to help them get their droid safely to them from the docks and after we help them with Czerka they will give us a shuttle to the planet to help us find our ship." Aurali explained casually, and I sighed. "What about you?"
"Just working on some bounties Grenn wants me to do. Oh, and we also agreed to help him find a new fuel source since we made Peragus go boom." I replied.
"You know that wasn't our fault! Anyway, we need to go. I want off of here as soon as possible." Aurali said and then her and Atton left. I passed her and talked to Chodo, who told me where Batono was. I thanked him and was walking off when I heard a mental Aurali.
"Why is that everywhere we go, we get attacked?" she exclaimed, and I was instantly alert.
"Aura, what's going on?"
"Just being attacked by some random thugs. It's okay though, me and Atton took care of them. Now, what is this?" she thought, and it was silent for a moment. "Ty, you might want to take a look at this." She muttered.
"Well, what is it?"
"It's a blaster."
"There happens to be a lot of those around."
"Leave the sarcasm to me Ty. It's been heavily modified, but you've worked on blasters more than I have." She snapped, and I sighed. Well, she was right about that. I had worked on a lot of weapons back in the war.
"All right, meet me back in the apartment. I need to go that way anyway." I responded, and ran back to our temporary home. Aurali and Atton were in sitting on a bed as she healed some of his wounds.
"All right, let me see it." I said, holding out my hand. Aurali threw it at me with the Force and I caught it. I inspected it and after a few moments Aurali looked up.
"Well, what do you know?" she asked, and I put the blaster down.
"It's been heavily modified with several illegal, black market goods. I'll show it to Grenn and see what he knows." I evaluated the blaster and then took my first real look at the pair. They were both pretty beat up. "Why don't you two rest?" I added.
"No can do. We still have to much work to do. We can rest tonight." Aurali said, standing up.
"What's with you Jedi always having a death wish?" Atton questioned out loud, though he stood up with Aurali. I jerked slightly at his words. Some death wishes were worse than others.
"Where are you going next?"
"The cantina. I need to talk to Doton about freeing Ramana." I explained. "Why?"
"All right, we'll go with you. I need to talk to Luxa anyway." Aurali shuddered, and I peered at her.
"Luxa?"
"Creepy chick who keeps hitting on me." I laughed at Aurali's explanation, but we went to the cantina right after that. While those two talked to her, I approached Doton.
"I've come on behalf of Harra."
"I've told him, and I'll tell you the same thing. 2000 credits or nothing." He countered, and I thought for a second.
"How about you wager her in a pazaak game?" I suggested, and he brightened at the prospect.
"Ah, the irony of the situation. I like the way you think. I'll agree to that, but what about when you lose?"
"If I lose, and 500 credits." I replied smugly, and he shook his head.
"1500 credits."
"700 credits."
"1000 credits."
"Deal!" I said quickly, and he seemed to curse himself silently.
"All right then, shall we play?" he asked, and I shook my head. "Fine, just make sure you come back." He called as I left that area.
"Hey Atton, care for a game of pazaak?" I asked as I came up behind him. Aurali must have gone somewhere else for the moment.
"Against you?"
"Nope, against the Twi'lek over there." I said, pointing to Doton. Atton looked at him and then back over at me.
"What do I get if I win?"
"You free the girl and I don't have to hurt you for not helping?" I tried.
"Sorry, you'll have to do better than that." He responded.
"All right then. If your skill in pazaak isn't as good as I thought it was, then I guess I will have to go persuade him to let her go." I sighed, turning around to hide my grin.
"Hey, my skill in pazaak is not in question here! Where is he?" Atton protested, and I pointed to Doton. Atton marched over there and I laughed as I took his seat. Aurali came back and sat beside me.
"What did you do?"
"Made Atton play a game of pazaak for me." I replied, and then Atton called us over.
"Your friend plays quite well. Ramana, your period of servitude for me is over. It has been transferred over to these humans." He said, and I waved Atton and Aurali off.
"I can take care of things here. Go finish whatever you need to do." I told the two, and the walked off. Ramana turned to look at me and bowed her head slightly.
"I'm yours to command." She told me sadly, and I reached out my hand to her reluctantly. Right now was not the time for my personal issues. She looked at me strangely but she took it as I helped her off the stage.
"Come on, we're going back to Harra." I told her, and she gave me a disgusted look.
"I don't want to go back to him; not after the horrors he has submitted me too. But it is your wish." She snapped, but her eyes widened and she looked down.
"Do I know you from somewhere? You seem insanely familiar." I asked, and she shook her head at me. "You don't have to look down." I added, and she hesitantly looked up. Yup, she was insanely familiar. I just couldn't figure out where from.
"Come on, let's go." I said distractedly, and she followed after me as we went back to the apartments. Harra and Ramana had their unhappy reunion, and after I released Ramana, he chased after her.
"Well, that was that. I'm still curious as to where I knew her from though." I thought out loud idly, but shook my head. I still needed to talk to Batono and show Grenn the blaster.
I left that apartment and opened Batono's. After some persuasion he agreed to testify against Czerka. I had just gotten out the door when I was greeted my two mercenaries.
"Batono is it? You've been a hard man to find." The first one said, and Batono backed away slightly.
"Who are you?"
"Who I am is not your concern. Executive Lorso has been quite interested in finding you." The man said.
"Sorry, but she isn't taking him anywhere." I replied, my hand already over my hidden lightsaber.
"Yeah, well I'm stubborn, so we're going to try anyway." He said and they both pulled out vibroblades. I activated my lightsaber and the battle was soon over.
"That was close. We better keep going." Batono stated, and I shook my head no.
"Not yet. These guys might have had something useful on them." I explained as I bent down and searched the bodies. "Why is that we find things on dead bodies and then we use them?"
"I have no idea why." Aurali said, and I looked up. She and Atton were standing beside me. She offered a hand to help me up but I ignored her, standing up on my own.
"You know, we really should wash this stuff." I said as we stuffed the blaster rifle in my pack. By the time we got to the TSF office we were deep in a discussion about how one could make a lightsaber waterproof. How we got there? I have no clue.
After we got paid for finding Batono, getting the information about the assassin Batu Rem, and killing the two criminals (what can I say?), we showed Grenn the blaster. After he basically told us the same thing I already knew about the modifications on it, he told us that there was a source of black market goods on the station. We walked out if the office and Aurali and I looked at each other.
"The merchant." We said in unison, and Atton looked in between us.
"That's creepy you know." Aurali and I looked at him and grinned.
"We know!"
"Stop that!"
"No!"
"Guys, we're here." I interrupted the two and they looked up. They looked around and continued arguing. I rolled my eyes at the two of them and went up to Samhan. He told me about the gun, and I lied to him about wanting to help him. After he gave me the list of things he needed, I dragged Aurali and Atton back to Grenn. I explained to him what Samhan wanted, and he ordered some people to get what we needed. Meanwhile, we had to wait.
"So, what have you done today?" I asked, and they told me about their adventures. I listened, and after they were finished, I told them what I did.
"So you basically did sit around and be lazy all day." Aurali teased, and I gave her an indignant look.
"Hey, I was running around all day!" I protested. "Anyway, why did you come back when you did?"
"Luxa wants us to go into the Exchange suites and kill her boss, but I thought that we should do it in the morning after we have had some rest and then when we get to the planet's surface, it will still be early. I don't want to explore Telos in the dark." Aurali explained, and I nodded at her reasoning. Aurali pointed up and I turned around to see Grenn.
"Okay it's all here. You give this to Samhan and then come back and tell me. I'll have my men go and arrest him. If he won't let you leave though, I'll have one of my men posted at the docks and he'll contact me whenever he sees one of you." Grenn explained, and Aurali looked at him skeptically.
"Sounds dangerous."
"It is."
"Well you better remember that when you pay us." She responded as we stood up, grabbed the box and left. We went down to the merchant again, and he did indeed make us go with him. We went down to the Czerka dock and the Czerka employee and Samhan were loading cargo when Grenn arrived. Of course this caused another fight which ended up with us back in the TSF station and Samhan in a force cage.
"Thank you for your help. This should cripple the black market for some time. I promised to pay you handsomely, so here you are. If that is all…" he trailed off, and we took the hint and left.
"Let's head back to the apartment. We have all had a long day." I said, and we all agreed. The walk back was silent, but when we got back we all collapsed on our beds. No meditating tonight. I was going to sleep!
We woke up bright and early the next morning (or at least I thought it was bright and early) and we stretched painfully.
"All right, what's the plan today Tyla?" Aurali yawned.
"We burst into the Exchange suites, take down Lopak Slusk, talk to the Ithorians, hop a shuttle, get to the planet, find our ship and get the hell off Telos." I said bluntly. Aurali snorted and I glanced at her.
"What?"
"That a lot to do in one day."
"Yeah, but how hard could it be?" I asked, and Aurali just raised her eyebrows at me.
"Good point. When has life ever been easy for us?" I thought out loud, and we each changed into our gear. Well, Kreia didn't but that was because she was staying in the room. We headed out, nice and refreshed. It was amazing what one night of rest could do. We stopped outside the Exchange door that a Rodian was guarding.
"You have no business here. Leave." The guard ordered, and Aurali stepped forward calmly.
"Luxa sent us."
"I hope you know what you're getting into humans." He said as he turned and spoke into the computer terminal. The door opened, he ran off and we walked inside. The receptionists turned to look at us as we came in.
"I'm sorry, there must be a mistake. Are you sure that your appointment was for today?" she asked, and I replied without thinking.
"There is no mistake. You will open the door. You will also tell nobody that we were here." I commanded, and the lady looked down and pressed a button as she spoke into it. The next door opened and my hand flew to my lightsaber when I saw the Gamorreans standing around. Aurali put a hand on my shoulder and I moved my hand away when I saw that they weren't attacking us. We walked inside and turned around, exploring the area. We walked down the next hall and several people turned to look at us when we opened the door.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming in here Jedi, with the bounty we have on your heads." The Quarren threatened, and Aurali stepped in front of me.
"One, I would like to see you try to collect on that bounty. Two, we just want you to leave the Ithorians alone." She spit, and Slusk looked around.
"Who let these Jedi in here? I want them in my office now! Benok, dust these foolish Jedi." He ordered, and as he left Benok sneered at us.
"With pleasure." And the battle began. We took them down fast and I looked around.
"Anybody hurt?" I asked, and Aurali shook her head as she patched up a wound on her leg. "All right then, let's keep going." I said as we opened the next door. We weren't attacked then, and I went up and talked to the Gamorrean boss. He opened the door as he ran off, and Slusk stood there, looking confused. When he saw us, he sent droids after us.
"Oh, come on!" Aurali complained as she smoked them with lightning. We opened the door again and we stalked inside. Slusk backed himself up, asking what we wanted.
"We just want you to leave the Ithorians alone." I said with eerie calm, and Slusk gave us a look. I think. I really can't tell with all those tentacles.
"Really? All of this just for something like that? Ah, Luxa. I wondered when you would show up." He said, and we all turned to look at the door. Luxa was indeed standing there with Gamorreans at her side.
"Slusk."
"I suppose this was your doing."
"I may have had a hand in it, yes."
"Okay, so how about we discuss a new deal." Slusk stated, turning back to us. "Kill Luxa."
"Hey, we were trying to do this with the least amount of bloodshed possible." Aurali said, and Luxa sighed.
"I guess what they say is true. If you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself." She growled as she attacked us. The battle ended soon enough, and I had the injuries to prove it. Damn Gamorreans were strong!
"Now that we took care of that, stop messing with the Ithorians." Aurali demanded.
"Why should I? They are messing with my profits?"
"Because we asked you too?" I said voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Surely you can do better than that."
"Better? Look around you squid-head." Aurali shot back, and there was a moment's pause before Slusk spoke again.
"Fine, but know this. The Exchange is not bullied. If you push, expect to be pushed back." He threatened, but we ignored him.
"Aura, raid the stuff. I'll check the computer." I said. I found the cameras and released the captured Ithorian, and then turned back to Aurali and Atton.
"Okay guys, let's go back to Chodo." Aurali said, and we left the room.
We then went and talked to Chodo again, who thanked us and told us that there was one more thing he needed us to do. I sighed in frustration and asked him what it was.
After he told us that he needed us to get a droid, we trotted back to the cantina and I persuaded the guy to help us. We all ran off to get the credentials from the Opo Chano guy. After we talked to him and gave up a large amount of our credits, he gave us what we needed. Aurali and I got the droid while Atton went back to the room. After we returned the droid back to the Ithorian, he thanked us and we got to wait even longer for the droid to finish his business and get back to us. After that, he helped restore some of our connection to the Force, and sent us on our way to a shuttle in his docking bay. A tech named Bao-Dur would be waiting for us at the planet's surface.
"Wait, Bao-Dur as in the Zabrak Bao-Dur? I remember him!" I cried, and Aurali looked at me excitedly.
"I do too! He was like my big bro!" Aurali commented, and we hurriedly went to the dock. When we got there however, Moza contacted us.
"Aurali, Tyla, help us! Armed men have invaded the compound and they are threatening to kill Chodo! You must help us!" he pleaded, and Aurali and I took off back to the compound. When we got inside, we were instantly attacked by mercenaries.
"Aura, Atton, take care of these guys!" I called out as I opened the next door to see even more mercenaries. I charged them when Aurali appeared beside me. The battle ended and there were several Ithorians lying dead or dying.
"You help the Ithorians. Atton and I can help Moza and Chodo." Aurali commanded as she ran off. I went to each Ithorian, healing them the best I could. More blasters went off and soon they were back.
"You coming?" Aurali asked, and I nodded as I finished healing the last Ithorian. My Force energy was exhausted, but I could still fight. Aurali used the passcard to open the door to Chodo and we were once again attacked by more mercenaries. When the final one was dead, Chodo approached us.
"Thank you for coming when you did. We were afraid that you had perhaps already boarded the shuttle and that we would be left to defend ourselves. Please take this." He said, looking for something.
"No Chodo, you keep it. Consider it our investment in Telos." I responded, and Chodo once again thanked us. We safely retreated to the docks, where we boarded the shuttle. Kreia was already there somehow and Atton took off. As we were flying above the planets surface though, we got shot by an AD tower.
"What the…? I thought this was a restoration project, not a military installation!" Aurali called out as she reached out and grabbed the back of Atton's chair to stabilize herself.
"Can't you stabilize the shuttle or something?" Atton yelled, desperately trying to keep us from crashing into the shield wall or the cliffs.
"The Force doesn't work like that Atton! Everybody hold on! This is going to hurt!" I shouted as the shuttle hit the ground and everything went dark.
Anything familiar belongs to LucasArts/Obsidian/Bioware. Tyla Moore belongs to Shadows of the Storm. Aurali Adrics belongs to Aurali Adrics.
Choices for the Right Reasons © Shadows of the Storm/Aurali Adrics