Chapter 6 of the Fate of the Wandering: Code & Confusion
Atton took a sip of his juma juice, testing it out. It was lacking the richness, the tang you get after one sip. This juma juice tasted like…stale lemonade with fizz. Hmm. Perhaps the quality of juma juice got worse the farther you got away from your own galaxy…
Atton was en route to Deralia, not even that far out into the galaxy yet, and already he was feeling depressed. Maybe he was lonely. Wait. Atton? Lonely? …Nah. Out of all the people in the world, it should be he who was the most used to working alone.
Sighing, he took another sip of his supposed 'juma' juice, winced, and put it back down. There was nothing very pleasing about this cantina so far away from civilization. It was dark here, and the music gave him a headache instead of the usual fiery, hyped up feeling. Nobody was even playing pazaak, which to him, was a crime. Everyone stopping here were just travelers always heading to some other destination, eager to get out, never staying. Maybe there was something keeping them away. Atton didn't know.
"Hey, bartender," he called, slapping ten credits on the counter. "Give me anything other than your juma juice; something strong."
The bartender, a twi'lek who was running out of both supplies and money, nodded. He reached for a new glass ('new,' meaning an old, dusty glass wiped with what resembled an old, musty towel), when another customer patted him on the shoulder, and slid what felt like definitely more than 200 credits in his pocket.
"Give the young man his drink," he said, "with this." Some sort of powder in a packet was placed in his hand. Poison, he realized. Again. The bartender then sensed what felt like a blaster at his back. Fingers trembling, the bartender nodded, meekly fumbled with the glass in his hands, and dropped and broke it, the glass shattering at his feet.
"Fool," the dark figure hissed before moving away. "I'll be watching. And hurry up."
Well, that was polite, the bartender thought, but hurried to make the drink. He could still feel the cold barrel of the gun against his back, and didn't really like the feeling.
The drink was ready. The bartender placed it in front of Atton, the powder already dissolved within it.
"Thanks," said Atton, taking a whiff. Well, at least it smelled better than the juma. In fact, this new drink didn't smell like anything at all. Then Atton froze. And blinked. Uh-oh, he thought, looking down at his glass. He had used a drug like this before, long ago, to knock out his victims for a few hours. He couldn't believe the irony of it; now it was being used on himself.
Atton pretended to be warming his drink in his hands while searching around the room. His eyes swiftly took in his surroundings without seeming to move at all…He was looking for someone watching him.
And he found one: A dark, solitary, hooded figure in the corner, faced towards him. Before he could do anything though, another person stepped behind him.
"Don't move, don't react," said the voice. Atton felt a chill down his spine. Before he could do anything, he found two lightsabers crossed at his throat. Atton thought about Force-pushing this new enemy back.
"If you do that," hissed the mysterious person, "These two lightsabers will slice through your neck and I wouldn't be hurt at all. You would, however. Now, just cooperate, and you won't get hurt."
"Yeah, and I'm Darth Traya," Atton said dryly.
The person ignored him. "Get up," he commanded, and Atton obeyed. The two lightsabers were now at his back instead. Atton would have put up resistance right then, but he then saw four more of those figures, all carrying lightsabers too, step from around the corner. Atton had not had a wink of sleep in seventy-two hours and found, reluctantly, that he didn't have the strength to put up with all of this. Not after all that had happened.
Nobody in the cantina seemed to notice what was going on, and he noted this with great disdain. But he was wrong. There was one person, the hooded figure in the corner, who had been watching it all. This person activated a stealth field generator, and disappeared, following the paths of Atton and his captors. A wisp of white hair was barely visible as the shadow whizzed past.
::.In Coruscant.::
"Ow!" Mission hissed. "Big Z, watch where you step. I don't know if you know it yet, but you have really huge feet, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't go trampling on me like everyone else."
Zaalbar, a strong Wookiee and Mission's best buddy, was very protective of her. He knew she was really talking about Griff, so he tried not to let her comment bother him. Not that Griff had big feet, although that might have been a possibility, but of how Griff was treating her.
When Griff had come to Coruscant saying he had something urgent to say to Carth, he had completely ignored her, was not acting like himself, and the worse travesty was that he had called Mission a 'kid,' something he knew she hated. That had been the last straw.
But Mission had been sly too. Before she had left the room, she had pinned a listening device under the table and they had heard some of the conversation between Griff and his cronies and Carth. Sometimes the connection had faded out, so the most they could hear was:
"We had made a deal… didn't divulge the last important step like promised…stole one of our most important vials…of the utmost urgency that we find him…"
Mission really couldn't make sense of it. She figured it had something to do with one of Griff's black dealings again (some things just never change), and of how Leo had not held his part of the bargain or something similar to that. But that wasn't an excuse for Griff to act so cold to his sister!
Sighing, Mission finally entered the hall where Bao-Dur, Visas, and Mira were crowded around the table over something. Mission hadn't known the '2nd generation' crew from the Ebon Hawk (as she called them) too well, but she found out that some of them were pretty nifty at pazaak, and after many games together over cups of caffa, she had learned a little more about them. She envied Canderous, or 'Mandalore,' as these newcomers called him. Even T3 and—Force forbid—HK. They had been part of both journeys, and probably knew them better than she did. But that doesn't really matter, she told herself. I can catch up.
"Mission, Zaalbar," said Bao-Dur, ushering them over. "Take a look at this."
Mission had instantly liked Bao-Dur, maybe because of his genuine friendliness, or maybe it was because of his shared interest with gadgets, or probably because sometimes, some people were as prejudiced against him as much as they were to Mission and Big Z, just because they were of different races.
"What's up?" she asked, taking the chair Visas offered her.
Mira pointed at a weird looking, handheld deice on the table, from which an incessant red light was blinking. "Apparently, this is some kind of a tracking device. At least, that's what Bao says."
Mission jumped up. "So you know where Demi and HK are now?"
And Leo and T3, added Zaalbar. He was not one to forget people.
"Not exactly," said Bao-Dur, in his usual mellow voice. "I put the other part of this tracking device on T3 a long time ago because he always liked to wander around and I wouldn't be able to find him. His location should pop up on that screen," he pointed at one, a graph full of lines and planets, "but he isn't showing up."
"Maybe that's because they're already too far out into the solar system," suggested Mission.
"But they would be in Deralia right now," said Visas softly, "and Deralia is on this map."
They all sat in silence, wondering what had happened to their companions and their robotic friends.
::.In Deralia.::
It was morning in Coruscant, however in Deralia it was nighttime. When Demi woke up, it took her a moment to pinpoint exactly where she was and what had happened, and when it all came flooding back she fell back onto her pillow with a groan.
When she was more awake, she pushed back the blankets, stretched, and went to the window to see the scenery of Deralia, Elaine's birthplace, during the night.
There were two full moons nestled in the night sky, and Demi could vaguely see the outlines of hills in the background, and hear waves crashing against the cliffs.
"Pretty, isn't it?" said Dane, coming up beside Demi. "After fighting in the Mandalorian Wars and all, I decided I wanted some peace and quiet, and came here." She gestured at her cabin, a modest but cozy place with a rounded glass ceiling, like a little dome, that displayed the stars of the night sky.
"I can relate," Demi said quietly, looking up and thinking how peaceful it felt. She wondered how such a peaceful place could have produced such an evil Sith Lord…but then she remembered that Revan, or Elaine, had changed. She just had to have faith.
Then duty hit her. "I can't believe I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. "How are Leo and HK and T3? What happened?"
"Leo, I think, is still back at the center reviving in his kolto tank, but the two droids got some heavy damage from the crash. I think we can fix them up, though. We do have some of the best droid repairing workshops around. Meanwhile we'll just have to wait."
"I don't much like waiting," admitted Demi, "but I guess it's the only thing we can do."
They were silent for a few minutes.
"Hey, Dane," said Demi finally. "Thanks for, you know, taking me here and taking care of me personally. You didn't have to, so thanks. It's much better than being in a kolto tank, that's for sure."
Dane smiled back, but turned to look out the window. "I only wish I could have been there for Trask," she muttered to herself. Then she jumped. "Oh, I just remembered. I have to teach you about the Code."
"The Code?" asked Demi, puzzled. She pushed back a stray of white-blondish hair from her cheek. "What code?"
"Well," said Dane, "there's been some strange goings on in the galaxy, if you haven't noticed. People are disappearing, and coming back all changed and strange, not like their usual selves, like they're under a spell. This has only happened a few times, but enough for some people to get suspicious, especially as these disappearances were something we didn't really understand or know the cause for.
"Turns out there's this company behind it all, but I'll tell you more about that later. Anyway," Dane continued, "you broke the Code when you crash landed here, as you weren't able to respond to our watchtower's message, 'cause well, you weren't at that current moment, and understandably, none of us blame you. You were excused, but I was instructed by my boss to relate the Code to you, just so you don't get into any further trouble here when you are all healed and ready to explore Deralia."
Demi nodded, listening intently.
"Where was I?" murmured Dane. "Oh, yes. Deralia is made up of small communities, but we all have strong moral ties to the family and community, and to duty and obligation. And here, we don't want to betray the trust given to us, so before we talk or communicate with anyone here, we always do the Code. We want to make sure that whoever we're talking to isn't with that weird company who kidnaps people and…." Her voice trailed off.
"Anyway, it just makes us feel more secure. We call it the 'Acquaintance Code' here. Every citizen or visitor here, after doing a thorough background check on that person, receives a silver bracelet made of links. Each link contains a number or letter on it, as well as the Deralia emblem." Dane pulled up her sleeve to show a shiny, silver bracelet with D26041 engraved on it. "These numbers are entered in on Deralia's databases, so any faulty people trying to pass for an authentic Deralia-safe citizen, would be recognized immediately by security in the border, and dealt with accordingly."
Dane shrugged. "It's useful for security, you see, for many things, not just kidnappers. You can enter their code anywhere on our databases and do a thorough background check on that person, say if you want to use them as a babysitter for your child, or whatever. It's convenient."
Demi shuddered. She didn't like having people knowing so much about her like that, just at a touch of the button.
"And so," said Dane with a flourish, "what it all comes down to is the fact that I need to get you sized up for your own linked bracelet, but first I need to ask you some questions."
Demi tensed.
"The first question, what is your purpose in your visit to Deralia? Are you visiting somebody? Touring around?"
"Um…well…It's complicated…" Demi was looking around for some clever words on her tongue, but was failing rapidly, and so was almost relieved when a resounding knock came on the door.
Dane stood up. "Who can be visiting so late at night? Don't they have any manners?" She swept past Demi to look through the peephole, then immediately swung the door open. A figure fell on the carpet before her. "Oh my God," Dane said. Her voice was overwhelmingly anxious, alarmed, and scared. "Mars!" The figure was now bleeding on the carpet.
Mars looked up at Dane, cradling, his side, still on the floor. "Dane," he winced. "Close the door—be careful—they're coming—they hit me—lightsabers—I asked them for Code—and they—Oh, Force…"
He faltered and shuddered for breath witheringly. Dane immediately swung her old comrade's arm over her shoulder, as she had often had to do in the Mandalorian Wars, and dragged him to the couch. Demi closed the door, and locked it for her.
"Dane," she said, apprehensively and fearful. "What's going on?"
Dane shook her head. "I…I don't know. Mars just…And I can't…"
"Do you have any weapons?" Demi cut in, suddenly feeling like the General she used to be. "Or bandages of any kind?"
Dane shook her head. "No bandages. But I do have my Mandalorian blaster in the closet. I got it during the Mandy Wars."
Demi knelt down beside Mars who now lay back on the couch, breathing hard, staring at the ceiling. She passed a hand over his side. Healing light transferred from her palm to him, and the bleeding seemed to slow down.
Mars was staring at her. "Who—?"
"You," said Dane, her eyes widening, looking at Demi also with a sort of awe. "You're a Jedi. Do you have your lightsaber? I have a feeling we're going to need it."
Demi thought backward. "No. I think my lightsaber was taken from me before I was put in the kolto tank…or maybe it got damaged in the crash…" The thought sunk her spirits low. She had put her life and soul and spirit into making that lightsaber, with its beautiful silver crystals and the way their shadows played on the walls. She and her lightsaber had moved as one graceful being.
"Try to find another blaster for yourself, then. I don't know what happened to Mars, but it obviously wasn't an accident." Dane looked down at Mars, his forehead bleeding also, and sadly touched his hair and smoothed it down. "Oh Mars, you idiot…" She looked like she was going to cry. Her hands were now covered in Mars' rich red blood.
Demi felt suddenly very faint, like she was going to puke. Hurriedly, she found the closet and found a powerful looking Mandalorian blaster, and two smaller blaster pistols.
Dane had tucked Mars under the covers meanwhile, and had put ice on his head and was giving him something to drink, but he wasn't responding. Dane put her tears away and took the Mandalorian blaster, her eyes now full of anger.
"I don't know who did this," she said slowly, "or why they did this, but whoever did is going to pay."
And that's when the door to the house banged open, its hinges broken. The door fell flat onto the bloodstain left by Mars. It crashed with such a loud force, and from the open doorway, about ten dark clothed figures leapt into the house and lighted their lightsabers. The lightsabers were blood red.
::.Back in Coruscant.::
Carth was sitting on his twirling chair looking through the large glass window that was more like a large glass wall. He was watching the small space shuttle take off, with Griff inside of it. Carth had had to send a search party after Leo, which made two search parties in all…One after Elaine; and the second one after one person who had been been in the first search party looking for Elaine. Carth sighed and tugged his orange jacket closer to himself.
Am I going crazy? he wondered.
"Sir?" A tentative voice opened the door. "I brought you a drink. You looked like you needed it."
Carth looked up to see Ian Pace at the door. "Oh, hey Ian. Come to join the party?" He gestured around the empty room.
Ian raised his eyebrows, decided not to ask, and left a warm mug of caffa on the table. Suddenly, before he could withdraw, Carth grabbed his wrist with a firm soldier's grip, and pushed back his sleeve. "What's this?" he questioned, seeing a silver link bracelet wrapped around Ian's bony wrist. "I haven't seen anything like this before."
"It's nothing," Ian muttered, taking his hand back, and pulling the sleeve over it. "Just a token."
Carth let it drop. "Six years," he said now, staring back out the window.
"Excuse me, sir?" (Obviously, Ian was having a hard time not calling Carth 'sir.')
"Six years," he said again. "Six long years I've been waiting for her. Who knows where she is now? She might be…" Carth had been about to say dead, but couldn't bring himself to say it. Besides, he would know if she was dead, right? He should be able to feel something.
Carth half-laughed, suddenly feeling very drunk even though he had not had anything to drink in days.
Ian looked uncomfortable and was starting to edge towards the door. "Anyway, Admiral, I just thought I'd check up on you."
"My son's coming to visit me tomorrow," Carth said.
"Your son?"
"Yes, my son, Dustil. I'd like you two to meet. You'd be like brothers."
"Like brothers," Ian repeated, suddenly wishing he had never come. A strange look was on his face. He looked forlorn. "I've got to go, sir."
"Of course," Carth said, his eyes dark. "Of course."
Without saying goodbye, Ian Pace left, and Carth was left to look into his cup of caffa Ian had brought him. It tasted bittersweet.
::.Somewhere…Out there.::
Atton spat into the darkness, finding himself tied up to some sort of pole, and not enjoying himself one bit. I knew cantinas this far out weren't safe, he muttered to himself. But then, he couldn't resist a cup of juma.
"Anyone else here?" he called out. He thought he heard someone moan a little to his left, but from his right came another noise…Soft footsteps.
Suddenly the figure was right in front of him. Atton's felt his heart beating faster. He felt the breeze as the person leaned forward.
"I don't have much time," the voice said, and Atton received a shock when he recognized it as a female voice. "I believe we've met before. My name is Brianna, or the Handmaiden. I've come to help you."
A/N: Cliffhanger! I think I'm going to go and play the game as a Male Exile (for the first time) just so I can get to know Brianna better. Ttyl!
