Chapter 7: Complexities

It was funny, in a way, that four thousand years later, Nar Shaddaa really hadn't changed. Sure she didn't recognize any one specific building, and the refugee sector probably didn't exist anymore, but... the aged structures were all the same. Remade and rebuilt at some point, only to be decaying once more. Like a miniature Coruscant, only smelling worse. Hell, she could probably find an aged Jedi Master hiding out here too if she had to guess. Hopefully the Exchange had died out at some point, though, some other criminal enterprise probably stepped in if they did.

Either way, she didn't want to be here long. Come in, pick up a job or two, and get out. To that end, she had switched out of her robes and into a more casual tunic the Naboo had placed within the ship's supplies. Her lightsaber hidden under a coat she wore over it all. She had learned long ago announcing aloud to all the world that one was a Jedi didn't always lead to favorable results.

She walked down the Ebon Hawk's ramp onto a junk filled landing pad with Anakin at her side. She could see a few of the docking authorities talking in the distance. While she waited for them to come...

She turned and knelt down. "Anakin. While we are on Nar Shaddaa, you are to stay at my side at all times. Crime was rampant here in my time, I severely doubt this has changed, and a child all by themselves..."

"Would probably get nabbed and resold into slavery or worse," said Anakin quietly.

She nodded solemnly. "As much as I don't want to say it, yes."

Anakin moved away and looked over the edge of the landing pad, down far below. "This place feels... weird."

"Weird?" asked Meetra, moving to stand beside him.

"I... couldn't really feel things like this before you had me do all that meditation stuff on the way here," he admitted, "But, I feel things around me, in the air. This place is... there's so much going on here. It's like everything is moving so fast, it feels so alive, but so tense and desperate and frantic at the same time."

Meetra stared at him silently. She remembered, so clearly, what she had felt the first time she came here, what Anakin now echoed.

She closed her eyes, called up a memory, a lesson Kreia had given her, and spoke, "What you feel is Nar Shaddaa itself, the true Nar Shaddaa. Strip away all the metal and machines, lay the currents of the Force bear, and what is left?"

Anakin thought for a moment. "The... people?"

Meetra tilted her head. "Perhaps, but, it is their struggle to live I refer to. Listen to it closer, and tell me what you feel."

Anakin sat down and let his legs dangle over the edge, closing his eyes, slowly, he raise a finger and began to point at different buildings in a distance. "Greed. Someone just scammed someone, badly. Pain, I think someone got mugged down there. Happiness, desperate happiness, someone had been riding on something panning out, a trade deal I think, and it did, it really just made their day."

He frowned. "Death... I think someone just got killed... but there was nothing... personal about it?"

"Probably a bounty hunter," she mused in response, "Keep on going."

And he did.

Slowly, as Anakin continued to pick one emotion or action off at a distance after another, Meetra found herself growing more and more astounded. How in the world could a nine year old boy, who had barely started his training, be able to delve into and maintain such a deep connection to the Force? She had expected it when he was trained, but... this was something else.

That he had the concentration to do this was perhaps one of the more surprising facts. She wouldn't have expected him to be able to sit still and focus on meditation nor communing with the Force. He wasn't ancy as a young boy should be. She had picked up on a change in him shortly after they had left Naboo, an inner peace and determination that he hadn't had before. Did his mother's upcoming freedom, following his dream to free slaves, really have such a huge effect on him?

"...and there's this weird feeling I really don't get in one of those upper rooms," said Anakin, pointing towards a skyscrapper, "It kind of feels like love, only different, more urgent and..."

"Erm, that's enough observations," said Meetra, a bit embarrassed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'll explain when your older," said Meetra, "Or maybe your Mother will. Anyway, what does all of this tell you?"

Anakin frowned. "That I really wouldn't want to live here?"

Meetra laughed. "I don't think I would either, but still, not what I'm looking for."

Anakin looked a little frustrated. "I don't get it."

She sat down next to him. "Think Anakin. What does what you feel tell you about this world?"

"Oh. Um. That it's dangerous here?" he said.

Meetra nodded. "Go on."

"That... the way people struggle, it's kind of like Tatooine, only different," he said, "Back home, it was a slow kind of fight, where people struggled over time to make ends meet and slowly withered away. This? This is fast."

Meetra nodded. "In this place, lives can be made or lost in an instant."

"Yeah, it's a good warning I guess," said Anakin.

Meetra smiled and poked his nose with a finger. "And that was the lesson. To tap into the Force like that, find that feeling, it takes but a split second to take it in, and it can prepare you, warn you of what's to come. It lets you get a read on the place your walking into before anything even happens. So, feeling this sensation, what do you think we should do, or shouldn't do?"

"Umm... we should keep our heads down and not draw attention?" he guessed.

"You learn quickly," she complimented, "We're just two unknown people in a crime infested world. Trying to fight that and drawing attention to ourselves is by doing so is asking for trouble."

"But... shouldn't Jedi try to stop bad guys?" asked Anakin.

Meetra smiled sadly. "We'll, I'm not exactly a Jedi. Regardless, we can't fix everyone's problems Anakin, my... teacher... taught me that. Trying to do so can leave them weaker, or even get them hurt for all our efforts."

Anakin gave her a bewildered look. "How?"

Meetra smiled sadly and fished out a credit out of her pocket. "The first time I came here, a man down on his luck asked for a few credits from me. I gave it to him, and do you know what happened?"

"What?" asked Anakin.

"Just down the street, he was mugged and beaten for the few credits I gave him," said Meetra sadly.

"But... that's not your fault!" said Anakin.

"Isn't it?" she asked, "I gave him something for free, that he did not earn. I elevated him above others with such an act. I made him a target by doing so."

Anakin's eyes furrowed, a crease across his forehead, confusion mixed with disbelief and apprehension crossed his face. "I... never thought helping someone could hurt them..."

She held up a finger. "That's not to say that you shouldn't help people. If someone's about to get murdered in cold blood in front of me, you better believe I'll intervene. The point is, we can't focus on every little need people have, and sometimes, we can't even make big drastic changes with severe risk. Let's say we could wipe out whatever major crime group controls this moon, what would happen?"

Anakin crossed his arms. "I'm not even gonna guess, just tell me."

Meetra wagged a finger. "That's lazy Anakin. Think."

Anakin said nothing, tilting his head in thought.

Meetra glanced away briefly. "Docking authorities are heading this way. Think on it, after I get back from dealing with them, tell me what you come up with."

Meetra stood up and walked over, a bit amused to find that her second time on Nar Shaddaa she was once again greeted by a Toydarian. Though, unlike last time this one had a bodyguard, a Trandoshan.

The Todarian spoke in Huttese. "Hey! What's with landing on my busy pad all the sudden like this! You're not scheduled."

Meetra raised an eyebrow. "Busy?"

"Yeah, busy," said the Todarian, pointing a finger at her. "You're taking up valuable time and space, you want to stay you gotta pay extra."

Meetra scoffed. "Right. I'm not unwilling to pay, but I'm not going to be swindled. This pad is a dump, worse than the last one I landed on coming here. I'm surprised you can afford enough to pay a bodyguard off income from the money you make here. I doubt you get more than a ship a week."

The Todarian stared at her for a moment before laughing and turning to his bodyguard. "Ah! I like this one eh? Actually got a spine unlike most of the deadbeats I have to deal with!"

The bodyguard grunted, eyes briefly sizing Meetra up, but said nothing.

The Todarian turned back to her. "Pad isn't my only income, I rent out a few houses. Tell you what, I got a few deadbeats who won't pay up this months rent..."

"I'm not roughing anyone up. I'm willing to pay in Republic Credits, or do some work on your pad, it needs it," she mused.

The Todarian considered it. "Eh, a bit of a sprucing up might make it more attractive I suppose. Yeah, clean the place up and I'll let your ship stay for a few days."

"Deal," said Meetra before changing the subject, "Do you know a place I could look for work for those few days? I'm looking to get out of Republic Credits."

The Todarian laughed. "Want to stay out of Republic space for awhile eh? Got some trouble following you?"

Meetra merely smiled. "Not quite."

"Eh, aside from the cleanup here, I have a few jobs you could do for some Wupiupi, you any good with repairs?" asked the Todarian.

"Possibly, what do you need?" she asked.

"Cameras are on the frits, think someone messed with them. I swear someone's been using my pad at night without paying," said the Todarian.

"I could take a look at them," said Meetra.

If she couldn't figure it out, she was sure Anakin might be able to.

"Have a few dysfunctional turrets too," said the Todarian, turning to point to two crusty looking turrets at the end of the pad, "Might as well be decorations at the moment."

"Could fix those," mused Meetra.

"Do that for me and I'll give you a good chunk of Druggat," said the Todarian, "Afterwards I suppose I could direct you to a few places that could get you work. The Bounty Hunter's guild if your looking for a thrill, the Black Sun crime syndicate is always looking for members if you're willing to get your hands dirty, or just a general employment office, people post odds and ends jobs all the time there."

"Third option would be good," said Meetra, storing the name 'Black Sun' away in the back of her mind as something to watch out for.

"Alright I'll check back in a few hours, make the place look nice for me, eh?" said the Todarian.

Meetra nodded, turned, and walked back over to Anakin. "So? What have you come up with?"

Anakin had an unhappy look on his face. "Well, I thought back to Tatooine. I always hated the Hutts, but, if you were to kill them all, it would be a mess. There would be all sorts of people trying to take over after them."

Meetra nodded. "Wipe out crime, and it merely creates a power vacuum. There will always be someone looking to move up and take control, and that someone who comes up after the Hutts could be far worse. Not to mention it would cause a huge disruption to the way of life on that particular planet, enough to potential cause some real harm to those merely trying to survive."

Anakin sighed. "But... it's all wrong... slavery, big crime, it's all bad."

"I'm not saying it isn't," said Meetra, "But changing such things takes more than brute force, more than raw power."

She worked over in her mind how to say it, thinking back to words Kreia had spoken to her long ago. "Changing a system like this would require heavy manipulation. Propelling selected events into motion. Through teaching, through example and conviction, showing a better path and convincing people of it. Beyond that, as my teacher once said to me, 'the greatest of victories are not manipulations at all, but simply awakening others to the truth of what you believe in.' Simply put, getting others to believe in what you believe in."

Anakin thought for a moment. "Well, slaves don't like being enslaved, they all believe it's wrong."

"But are they all willing to act on that belief?" she questioned.

Anakin glanced down. "No, most are happy just to survive. They don't want to risk dying. Having a slave chip activated is a horrible way to go."

Meetra nodded sadly. "Even beyond that, convincing the Hutts to change their way of life would be a colossal effort all in it's own."

"Are you saying it's hopeless?" asked Anakin quietly.

"No, just that it would be a lifelong commitment, and might even be a problem that you couldn't fix even in your lifespan," said Meetra, "But, clear the path for others to follow, make enough of a difference for people to want it, and other's may take up your mantle long after you're gone."

Anakin rubbed his forehead. "You're making my head hurt."

Meetra laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. It took me months of traveling with my teacher to get a grasp of what I'm saying now. Come on, I got us a few little jobs to do."

For the next few hours, the two of them worked on the landing pad. Clearing away junk, and at Anakin's suggestion taking any spare parts from the scrap that might be remotely useful onto the Ebon Hawk instead of throwing it away. The next part, Meetra became the learner, watching Anakin make a quick pass over the turrets and cameras. Meetra herself had skill in repairs and computer use, just a few thousand years out of date. She hoped by watching Anakin she could bridge the gap and bridge her experience into use. He fixed the first turret, she managed to fix the second following his example, and they both tackled the camera system. Unfortunately, while they could replace wires and parts, neither of them knew how to program, had to end up dragging R2-D2 out to apply the finishing touches.

Within the hour, the trio had their pay, locked the Hawk, and were off to the employment office. Meetra kept her eyes open as they moved, having both Anakin and R2 infront of her where she could keep her eyes on her. This place really hadn't changed, at all, in four thousand years. Spice dealers with twitching addicts craving their fixes. Prostitutes trying to lure in customers. She kept a hand firmly on Anakin's shoulder when they came across their first beat-down, a poor soul taking a baton to his knees for refusing to pay up a 'protection fee'. Had it been soon after Peragus, she would have interfered without question, but Kreia's teachings, and that it was just a 'lesson' instead of a killing, held her back.

She could feel Anakin's frustration, anger, and a bit of fear at the sight, but she nudged him to keep on moving. The employment office wasn't as filled as she expected it. Then again, in a crime ridden moon, how many would actually work and made an honest living? She was half expecting people to try to scam them out of pay when they finished a job. She walked up to a board filled with sticky notes and browsed them briefly. She figured they'd stick to repair jobs, it was a safe bet. Deliveries risked delivering something illegal, or getting someone after them to steal a package. She wasn't interested in escort or bodyguard jobs. The objective was to make money and get out without causing a scene.

"Oh! There's a podracer fix and tuneup request," said Anakin with glee, "Look at that pay! We could free a few people with that pay alone! I built my own racer for the Bonta, so this should be easy."

"Looks fine," she said, a bit surprised to find that kind of payout this quickly.

Meetra fished out her comlink, tuned to the listed frequency, and picked up the job. They waited ten minutes for their contact to come, some alien in a breathing mask.

A garbled voice came out. "A woman and a kid? This a joke, you expect me to believe you can work a pod..."

The alien paused and took a closer look at Anakin. "Wait a sec, ain't you the kid that won the Boonta's Eve?"

Anakin grinned. "Yep!"

The alien nodded. "Huh, fancy meeting you here. Alright, let's go."

Meetra frowned, feeling a wave of greed emanating from the man. She followed silently into the man's speeder, not quite sure they should have taken the job, but confident she could keep things civil if something happened. She helped Anakin and R2 in, and they were off. They flew to their destination, a private garage, and were led to a racer lamenting over a pile of junk... er... a 'podracer'.

"Heya boss, got us the Boonta Eve kid to look over our pod," said the masked alien.

"Eh, that slave kid?" said the racer.

Anakin scowled at him. "I'm a person and my name is Anakin."

The racer rolled his eyes. "Don't care what your name is brat, ain't paying you for it, get to work."

Anakin shot him a dirty look before starting towards the pod.

"One sec Anakin," said Meetra before turning to the racer, "Half up front."

The racer glared at her. "Up front? What you think I'm a swindlin Hutt or somethin?"

Meetra simply crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow and waited. "I've had enough people try to back out after the fact over a job. Half up front or we leave."

The racer scowled and waved a hand at the masked alien. "Go get the pay."

Once Meetra had that pocketed, she, Anakin, and R2 moved over to the pod to inspect it.

"He crash this into a wall or something?" muttered Anakin, "This things a mess."

"Well, I assume that's why the pays good, it's going to take a bit of elbow grease," said Meetra.

"You have replacement parts here?" Anakin asked the racer.

"Yeah yeah yeah, tell me what you need and I'll have it here in a jiffy," said the racer.

With that, they got to work. The first hour was mostly inspecting the damage and removing anything broken. Then, they cleaned the bike up. Then, Meetra stood back and watched a nine-year-old master go to work on the bike. Hot-wiring different parts together, adjusting settings, modifying the engine and the thrusters, and doing half a dozen more things that Meetra had no clue about. She had raced a swoop bike once or twice, but a podracer was quite a bit different. Meetra half paid attention to a growing crowd of people watching them work, content to watch Anakin work his magic. After roughly four hours of work, Anakin was finished, oil, grease, and soot all over his clothes, a grin on his face, enjoyment radiating off him in the Force. The boy definitely had a love for all things mechanical.

"Alright should be good," said Anakin, "Take a look."

The racer and a few of his buddies walked over and inspected the podracer, whistling coming out of their mouths and impressed looks on their faces.

"Damn, looks better than she ever did before, earned your keep kid," said the racer.

The racer walked over to Meetra and paid her the other half. "Say lady, you willing to let us race your slave in the next circuit?"

Anakin stiffened and glared at the man, Meetra following suit, "The boy isn't a slave."

"What, you free him? Pah, whatever, doesn't matter, we still want to have him race," said the racer.

"We're not interested," she said, motioning Anakin over to her side.

"We insist," said the racer, followed by the sound of several cocking blasters.

Meetra blinked a few times and glanced around, annoyed to realize that the people who had gathered weren't just there to watch. Lovely, they were probably working on some gang-member's bike.

"Now, you can come willingly, let us race him a few times, and then be on your way, or we can fill you fill of bolts and just take him from you," said the racer greedily.

A wave of fear emanated from Anakin, and he scooted behind Meetra.

Meetra narrowed her eyes. "I suggest you rethink that offer and allow us to leave unharmed, this wont end well for you otherwise."

"Hah, there's ten of us, one of you," said the racer.

Meetra scoffed, drawing and igniting her lightsaber. "I've had worse odds."

Immediately the man and his lackeys backed off. "It's a kriffing Jedi!"

Meetra gripped her lightsaber tightly, ready to spring into action if need be. "Here's how this is going to go. You're going to peacefully let us go and give us a ride out of here on the speeder we came in on..."

She threw out a bluff. "...otherwise, this gets messy. Killing you all won't be hard, and taking and selling your speeder will fetch a nice profit afterwards."

"The hell kind of Jedi is this?" one of the men said fearfully.

The racer gave her an uneasy look. "Uh... yeah sure, you're free to go..."

He turned to the masked alien. "Get that kriffing Jedi the hell out of here!"

Meetra didn't deactivate her lightsaber until they were in the speeder and out of sight of the garage.

"Would you really have killed them all and taken the podracer?" Anakin asked quietly.

"I didn't care for it. Threaten their lives and their prized possession and they were more inclined to not take the risk," whispered Meetra, "I could have fought them, but, I don't think I would have been able to keep both you and R2 safe at the same time. That's a lesson, bluff, and bluff hard if need be. Either way, the moment we've landed, we're heading back to the Hawk and getting out of here. No need to risk them coming after us with more people."

Anakin nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm not interested in being enslaved again... how long do you think we have?"

"Hmm, about thirty minutes or so before they come after us if they are going to do so," she answered casually.

Anakin gulped. "Oh."

Ten minutes later, they were on the ground. Meetra picked Anakin up and swiftly walked through the streets, R2 wheeling after them as quickly as he could. They reached the landing pad, blew past the Todarian before he could say a word, and were on the Ebon Hawk. They both scrambled to the cockpit and took off without another word.

"So... that went okay," said Meetra.

Anakin grinned. "I can't wait for my own lasersword! I get to threaten the bad guys next time!"

Meetra rolled her eyes. "You Anakin, are not getting your own lightsaber until you are at least thirteen."

"Aww why not?" he whined.

"For that exact reason," she said pointedly, "We threaten if we need to, but we shouldn't look forward to it nor try to make a habit out of it. We're not brutes."

Anakin scowled. "That's no fun."

"Not to mention you're missing about five years of saber practice," she mused.

"Yeah I get it," he pouted.

"So... ready to go to Tatooine and free your mother?" she asked, diverting the subject

Anakin smiled a wide smile. "Yeah!"

Darth Sideous made himself comfortable in the chancellor's office, HIS office. He smiled smugly, looking over his new domain. It had taken time to finish entertaining the Queen and get back here, but now it was time to finally begin. From here, he would begin shaping the Republic into his Sith Empire. One bribe, one law or amendment, one manipulation, one assassination, at a time.

First though, it was time to leave the breadcrumb trail straight to his Master for the Jedi to pick up. Once Plagueis was dead, the Jedi would grow even more complacent then they already were.

He drew up a hood, used the desk, set it to a private frequency, and contacted his hired hacker, a hologram of him appearing above the desk. "It's time. Begin leaking the information."

The hacker didn't move or say anything in response.

Sideous narrowed his eyes. "Did you hear me?"

He frowned, noting a terrified look in the man's eyes, yet, Sideous did not feel it was directed at him, curious...

He froze when a lightsaber erupted through hacker's chest and dropped him to the ground out of the hologram. A moment later, Darth Plagueis stepped into the hologram and glared at him.

"You've overstepped your bounds apprentice," said Darth Plagueis ominously, "Did you not think I would not notice someone tampering with my files and accounts? How long have you been plotting behind my back?"

Oh... this could be a problem.

Sideous showed no panic nor fear. "Long enough."

Plagueis growled. "Foolish apprentice. I trusted in you, taught you everything I knew, shared my holocrons. I was willing to share the galaxy with you, to abolish the Rule of Two and rule forever with you, Master and apprentice. This treachery is how you return my favor?"

"Treachery IS the way of the Sith," mused Sideous nonchalantly.

"Do you think this is a game apprentice?" demanded Plagueis.

"Yes, yes it is," said Sideous, "It's a game you lost the very first day you chose to train me to rule by your side, or better still, under your thumb. I am no one's slave nor servant. You were my teacher yes, and for that I will be eternally grateful after I grind your skull under my boot, but my master? Never."

Plagueis clenched his fists tightly. "You fool, you would jeopardize the Grand Plan, jeopardize the Sith ruling the galaxy for your own lust for power?"

Sideous scoffed. "A true Sith does not share power. He takes it for their own, you taught me this, Plagueis. The Grand Plan will continue as scheduled, the Jedi will die, as will you, and I alone will rule the galaxy."

"We shall see then apprentice, who is more worthy of enacting the Grand Plan," said Plagueis before warning, "Reveal me to the Jedi, and I reveal you in turn."

With that, the hologram cut out.

Sideous made a bridge with his hands and placed them under his chin. "Hmm. An unforeseen and most unwanted complication. He was complacent, why did he even check his files?"

He pondered briefly before scowling. "Of course, the Exile. She made him grow alarmed and watchful. Tsk."

He should have kept his initial plan of personally killing his Plagueis. Damn. This was going to be a problem. He was going to be cut off from all of Plagueis's money, contacts, allies, and servants, along with having to outmaneuver Plagueis in a galactic power struggle. All of that on top of having to rule the Republic, begin working against the Jedi, and manipulate Surik. This was going to get complicated...

Review Responses:

HK-47 Questions: I see a bit of desire from people to have him in this. He could legitimately end up in this fanfic and it wouldn't even be bullshit (though his survival kind of is). I read up on the wiki, and apparently he does have a 'legends cannon' appearance during the Clone Wars funny enough (in Star Wars Galaxies...?). So, there is a likely chance that HK-47 will have an appearance and instead of becoming an AI in the hammerhead-class cruiser, will link up with either Surik or Revan. Won't be for awhile though. Have to actually get to the Clone Wars. Thanks given to Zekariah C.L. Schron for pointing HK-47's survival out to me, won't need a vision to get him involved.

Blazenite104: Fair enough, but against a full-power 'Wound in the Force' Meetra (Who trounced an entire Sith Academy, Sion, and then Treya with relative ease), he didn't stand a chance. When she lost that power, he did beat her, badly, in less than a minute. Revan will most likely be somewhere between Yoda and Mace in terms of strength (He won't be Sideous level), but that doesn't include his tactical brilliance, which will be a major source of strength for him when the Clone Wars come around. As for Meetra... well, where she ends up in the power scale I'm keeping quiet on, as there's a story aspect involved with her and Anakin that I don't want to spoil.

Pauljaquet21: I'm a bit lost in what you mean by 'Yoda's debris troop'.

Jedi Alex Colbent: T3 is gone and not coming back. :sadface:

Steamrick: I dunno, Tatooine is in Hutt Space, same as Nar Shadda, and they don't want credits. It might still be possible in the grand scheme of things, it's a fair point, but, chapter's already written. :shrug:

Cmedina1: Haven't decided what's going to happen with Ashoka. Could end up with Revan perhaps as a potential Padawan, dunno.

Tahkaullus01: Revan and Meetra's... 'relations'... aren't quite little sister/big brother-ey. There's some serious issues between the two of them that were NEVER acknowledged in the book when they met when it really should have been, though perhaps they just didn't have time to. (I.E. Revan sending Meetra off to activate the Mass Shadow Generator and die being a rather large one. HK-47 makes a rather large point of Malachor V being used to wipe out Jedi/troops that wouldn't be loyal to Revan and corrupt/convert the rest) Actually, ALL of the things HK-47 told Meetra about Revan in regards to what he said and thought about her should have been brought up, and they will be in in this.