"So why did you change the name?"

"Well after the whole Hutt ordeal I found out that the Buntut part means slave driver in Huttese." Gleim says. "She went nameless for awhile until I crashed on Kashyyyk. Some friends of mine helped me get a gig smuggling death sticks, anyway during one run to the inner rim we were ambushed by bounty hunters. It was a huge shipment so there were three ships, mine and my two friends who helped me get the job. Anyway, two of us crashed on the Wookiee planet, our other friend's ship was destroyed in orbit by the bounty hunters." Gleim explains.

"Where are we going?" Ryaan asks.

"I've got to deliver my goods to the resistance then I'll take you wherever you want."

"Maybe that's where we need to go ourselves. If this resistance is planning a full scale rebellion then we should be apart of it." Ryaan asks.

"I don't think you could classify it as full scale, at least not yet. Besides what about Coruscant, do you still want to go?" Gleim asks.

"I thought you said the council was gone." Ryaan replies.

"Yeah but I figured you'd might want to find out what happened to them?" Gleim adds.

Táj suddenly begins sensing that Gleim is keeping something from him. He begins to touch his mind but then realizes the futility of it.

"Gleim, what's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just that when I said I'm running weapons for the resistance I just meant that . . . . I think they're for the resistance."

"What?" Ryaan says confused.

"Yeah how can you not know who your working for?" Jori adds.

"Hey guys I'm in the smuggling business, it's just the way it works sometimes."

"So what leads you to believe they're for a resistance movement?" Táj asks.

Gleim begins to explain his assumptions that although many people in the galaxy would pay to have weapons smuggled to them. Most do not purchase such high quantities of them.

"That's your theory?" Táj says not convinced.

"They never say much, they just pay for the shipments and me and Xafus leave. Oh and they usually place another order for next time."

"How many runs have you made to these people?" Jori asks.

"This is my fourth." Gleim says as he happens to look back at Ryaan who is staring at him. "What?"

"C'mon Gleim give it to me." "Okay okay, on the last trip two of the guys were wearing uniforms that were almost identical to . . . ."

" . . . what, to what?" Ryaan pressures.

". . . .to Chandrilan security uniforms."

Ryaan sits back pondering the situation. Although still not hard evidence that there is a resistance movement at work in the galaxy Ryaan senses something tangible about it.

"There were no markings on the uniforms though but I'm sure that's what they are. I know it's not much but they're paying big." Gleim adds. "Anyway, chances are that the drop off point is not any kind of base. Each exchange point is on a different world." Gleim explains.

"They're covering their tracks." Jori puts in and Ryaan simply nods.

"Anyway we'll make this exchange and then you can decide where to go from there." Gleim says.

A few moments of silence passes as they watch the star lines pass by.

"So tell me the rest of the story Gleim!" Jori says.

"Oh yeah, anyway we were stuck on Kashyyyk." Gleim says as he spins around in his seat. "The bounty hunters landed and began searching for us. We were injured, out gunned and not at all familiar with the territory. We evaded them for a day but they finally caught up with us. We thought we were dead but then a tribe of Wookiees attacked the bounty hunters and saved us." Gleim continues to tell how the Wookiees healed their injuries and helped him and his friends fix their ships with parts from the bounty hunters' ships. "Xafus found a translator on one of the bounty hunter ships and used it to speak with the Wookiees. We later found out that their tribe leader or chief's name was Arawak."

"Hence the new name for your ship." Ryaan adds.

Gleim smiles at him as he looks at Jori who seems somewhat disappointed.

"What's that have to do with Master Ryaan?"

Gleim gives her a confused look. "Nothing, why?"

"I thought the story was about how you and Master Ryaan met."

Táj looks at his padawan quizzically. "Do I look like a Wookiee?"

Jori smiles then requests to know how the two became friends.

"That's a story maybe your master should tell." Gleim says spinning back around in his seat.

"What did I say?" whispers Jori.

"Nothing, it's just Gleim wasn't too happy with his employer once he realized what he was smuggling for him."

"My employer, I wasn't happy with me! Ryaan . . buddy, if you're gonna tell the story tell it right!" Gleim adds as he presses a switch on the control console.

Before Ryaan can begin the tale a door slides open in the rear of the ship and a shiny protocol droid walks into the cockpit.

"Yes Sir." Says the droid's female voice.

"She's pretty." Jori says somewhat jokingly.

The female droid's coverings are primarily silver with pink coverings on the shoulders, waist, wrists and feet.

"Oh ya this is my droid Ez-6." Gleim says with a smirk.

"Gleim!" Ryaan says in a disapproving tone of the droid's name.

"Hey, it gets lonely in space, sometimes I need a little company." Gleim adds. "Eazee, get Xafus a chunky mudslide. A frothy nebula for me and for you two?"

"Oh just a nice tea blend would be fine." Ryaan says not sharing Gleim's thirst for the odd beverages.

"Would a Sullustan berry tea be acceptable?" Ez-6 asks.

"Sure." Ryaan adds.

Jori asks for the same as she urges Ryaan to begin the story.

Ryaan tells his Padawan that shortly after he was given the rank of Jedi Knight he was sent to Nal Hutta to aid a senator in the search for his daughter. Táj succeeded in his mission with very little opposition from the Hutt who had captured her. Orang the Hutt had sent his minions to acquire new females suitable to be his private dancers. One girl was captured off world and brought to Nal Hutta, of course Orang wasn't aware that she was the daughter of a Republic senator. Within a day of his arrival on Nal Hutta, Táj was able to sneak into the home of Orang to retrieve the girl.

Táj immediately put the girl and her father on a charter back to Coruscant and he stayed behind to make sure the Hutt was not aware of the rescue. After two days he was planning to report back to the Jedi Council in person when he bumped into a little Toydarian who looked very distressed. Táj asked the little being if he was alright. The Toydarian quickly realized the man standing before him was a Jedi and asked for Táj's help.

"What were you so afraid of Gleim?" Jori asks.

"Orang, I'd been working for the Hutt as one of his smugglers. And like many smugglers I didn't much look at or care about the cargo I was hauling. When you're dealing with a Hutt the last thing you want to do is push his buttons." Gleim adds.

Jori turns back to Ryaan to continue. The little Toydarian began telling the Jedi that he was working for a Hutt. At first Táj didn't think they would be speaking of the same Hutt seeing as they were on the Hutt homeworld. Gleim told the Jedi that although he never opened the cargo he was forced to check the contents of one cargo pod for fear that some of the goods may had been damaged during loading. When he opened the pod he found six people of all different species. Only one was conscious though; he quickly realized what the rest of his cargo must contain and he opened every pod to reveal over twenty beings. The odd thing was that the all of the people were elderly.

The little toydarian was appalled, he could not believe he was shipping slaves. His stomach became upset at the thought that all of his shipments may have contained slaves for Orang. He began questioning the one who was knocking against the inside of the cargo pod. The old Ithorian explained how he was abducted from his home on Ithor and was given a sedative. Gleim quickly figured that the doses had to be great, however something in the Ithorian's chemical makeup must have prevented him from being under as long as the others. That's when he realized something, based of the Ithorian's story he wasn't a slave at all! However until the others awoke and he could compare their stories he had no idea if the rest of them were slaves or not.

Gleim immediately changed the course of his ship named the Orang Buntut. Assuming the worst he took the unconscious slaves to another planet where he left them at a medical station.

"To this day Gleim has never told anyone, even me, where he freed those slaves." Ryaan says.

"So that's why you were freaking out. You knew Orang would most likely kill you." Jori says.

"Kill me, hah! If it hadn't been for Ryaan Orang killing me would've been the best I could have hoped for." Gleim adds.

"Orang had an appetite for torture." Ryaan says to Jori.

"So what happened, Master Ryaan helped you escape?" Jori asks.

"Are you kidding!" Gleim says as Ryaan continues on.

"I can't just run and hide! Orang will have bounty hunters looking for me for the rest of my life!" Gleim says as he and Táj occupy a secluded table in a cantina.

"Orang? Orang the Hutt!" Ryaan says realizing there's more to Orang the Hutt than abducting women for private dancers.

Táj began to assure Gleim that he had nothing to worry about. He led Gleim to the two man ship he had been issued for the mission to Nal Hutta. There he contacted the Jedi Council and while he had good news to report concerning the senator's daughter; Táj also informed them about the larger picture.

"Orang the Hutt is shipping elderly slaves by way of smugglers; for what purpose I have no clue yet. I request assistance so that we may take custody of the Hutt."

Táj received word from Jedi Master Mace Windu that two Jedi Knights would be sent to aid in Orang's arrest. Once the two Jedi arrived on Nal Hutta and met with Táj they left Gleim to wait in their ship. Táj and the other two Jedi boarded the Orang Buntut and headed back to the Hutt's palace. When they arrived at Orang's home they were greeted by his lackeys. Seeing that Gleim was not present the Jedi were immediately attacked but the effort was useless. Táj and the other Jedi easily strolled into Orang's private quarters to arrest him. The Hutt resisted and unleashed a pack of Nexu on the trio. As Orang attempted to make his escape on a skiff Táj hurled his lightsaber at the Hutt. The spinning blade sliced through the slimy flesh of the Hutt separating his head from the body. After the Hutt's accomplices were rounded up by local security the Jedi found several dozen more elderly sentients locked away in a lower chamber. After questioning all of them it was confirmed that not a single one of Orang's prisoners were slaves! Ryaan and the other Jedi saw to it that they were cared for and eventually returned home. What was still uncertain was the Hutt's purpose for having them.

"After that, I always trusted the Jedi." Gleim says.

"And you went back to smuggling." Jori says joking.

"Hey, it's a living but I always check my cargo now."

"It's a rule." Xafus adds.

"So how do you fit in to all this Xafus?" Jori asks.

"Oh Gleim and I have been friends forever, after the Hutt thing went down he offered me forty percent of all his spoils." Xafus says.

"Xafus wasn't doing to well at that time and I figured I could use someone with a little more muscle on my ship." Gleim says flexing his little arms.

"Anyway to this day we never knew what Orang had kept the slaves for." Ryaan adds.

"I have a few theories though but I cringe just thinking about them." Gleim adds as he turns back to the controls.


As the last ship boards the Jedi Hunter I the crew begins to plot a new course. Through the holoprojector the commanding officer of the ship, Admiral Jafan, is reporting to Coruscant. Behind him Major Garan stands at attention waiting for the Admiral's next order. The holoprojector lights up as it shows the hooded face of Emperor Palpatine.

"Your highness, we tracked the two Jedi found on Rhen Var to the Vergesso asteroids. After engaging the Jedi in the asteroid field we finally destroyed them in the stolen Jedi interceptors." Jafan says. "We are continuing our original route through the outer rim in search of any further stragglers."

"You are mistaken Admiral, those Jedi have not been killed. Their fire has not burned out just yet." Palpatine replies.

"My lord we saw their ships destroyed . . . . they . . .they must have escaped in another ship then. The astromech droids could have been flying the fighters." Jafan realizes.

"Find them!" Palpatine scowls.

"Where shall I look your highness, they could be anywhere by now." Jafan states.

"If that is your position I shall send someone to assist you in the search." Palpatine says.

". . . .someone?" Jafan says uneasy.

"Prepare your ship Admiral, you will be receiving Lord Vader within a few hours!"