I do not own Kim Possible, or the first 15 chapters of 'I am Jedi.' They belong to Disney and Trombe respectively. This fic has been adopted by me with permission from Trombe.
I am Jedi
Chapter Ten: Looking at the right places
"But all this talk doesn't matter. I'm not qualified to give advice. Besides, when I open my
mouth, I'm usually lying anyway."
Atton Rand, former Jedi hunter (Knights of the old Republic II: The Sith Lords)
Approximately 12 months before the battle of Geonosis
A smile managed to creep its way into Senor Senior Sr. face once more. It had been so long since he had experience something so genuinely interesting that the old man thought that he would never feel excitement surging in his bones ever again. Being a billionaire of the galaxy can do that to you. With the many years and times he has been through, he had seen it all. He has done it all. And where did it all lead him?
Here.
Now.
In Nar Shaddaa.
His riches and influence reached far and wide across the galaxy. Senor Senior Sr. has had his hands in everything from spaceports, to intergalactic transportation, to importing spices. The Senior name and emblem was well known throughout the galaxy as one of the most successful intergalactic corporations, rivaling even that of the Czerka Corporation. What was once a poor space miner's dream while he toiled day and night making ends meet escalated into a success that not many could rival and even fewer could duplicate.
The wealth was nice and retirement had always been a lifetime goal of his but he was not satisfied. All the credits, all the wealth, all of it meant nothing. He felt nothing inside. He felt incomplete.
And so it was that the old man tried his hand at a new venture. Underhanded villainy. What better way to start then to dispose of the Galaxy's most fearsome gangsters? No ladder climbing for him, he would start at the very top.
"Father I think those mercenaries was cutting it a bit close there with those exploding ball things. I think I still see smoke coming out of my hair." Junior annoyingly ranted as he continuously tried to fix the state of his hair.
Senor Senior Sr. sighed. When his son was born he had been the happiest man in the entire cosmos. He would trade all of his fortune to relive that moment again, that moment when all of them were together. Him, his newborn son, and his lovely wife.
He rubbed his temple at the thought. Reliving old memories of her always pained him and buoyed him in equal measure. What did wishful thinking matter now anyway? She was gone and along with her went his youth and his happiest days.
Now it was up to him alone to raise their son, and what a task that was.
" Junior. I told you before you should not have been standing there in the first place." As much as he loved his son he still could not believe some of the things his boy was capable of…or what he was not capable of.
"But if I had moved I would not see myself in the mirror from the hallway."
Narcissism. The old man thought. It was a very bad habit of his son, and one that he had tried so many times to break. Apparently it was a challenge even for a father like himself.
"Junior if you had placed as much time listening and following the plans as you do looking at yourself you would be a very successful man like myself. I am very disappointed my son." He tapped his cane once.
Junior's face clearly showed that he knew he had been scolded. He kept quiet for the time being. He never did like displeasing his father. In fact he had made it a lifelong ambition of his to be able to live up to his father's name and make him proud. Yet sometimes it was hard to do when your father was Senor Senior Sr., intergalactic billionaire and one of the most influential people in the outer rim. It was even harder now that they had made their first step into becoming feared criminal lords. Villainy was something Junior knew nothing about. He personally loved to think of himself as an intergalactic singing sensation, someone who would rival the Oh Boyz sensation someday. He knew next to nothing about contacting smugglers, arranging hits, selling death sticks and the like. But his father had been so eager at this new found prospect that Junior knew it would break his father's heart if he backed out of it.
Waiting patiently for his contacts to arrive Senor Senior Sr. sat himself down into a favored chair of his. Here in one of his many private abodes he had privacy. He would be safe from the eyes and ears of the Hutts and the Republic. He chuckled softly at the success of his recent plan.
It was simple enough. Kidnap the Ambassador of the Republic, blame it on the Hutts, and watch the ensuing chaos. The Republic would blame the Hutts and would be forced to retaliate, the Hutts would claim that it was a scheme of the Republic and would rally the underworld to their cause. If the Republic won then the Hutts would be out of the picture and Senor Senior Sr. would be free to take his place at the top. If the Hutts won then it would leave them shattered and weakened, he could take the leadership from them easily. Either way Senor Senior Sr. would win.
They had executed it perfectly. Senor Senior Sr. was very satisfied with his choice of hired help. He doubted that the Jedi and the Hutts even knew what hit them.
Mandalorian mercenaries. Elite warriors with an unshakeable honor code skilled in every aspect of warfare. Including infiltration and extractions. Fortunately they were more than capable of extracting the ambassador alive. His value alive far outweighed his value as a corpse.
Chance had led him upon the name of Yamanouchi. A little time and a little financial incentive and Senor Senior Sr. managed to find all that he needed to know of this mysterious group. The Yamanouchi clan was a small one by Mandalorian standards. It had also been recently devastated by an ill timed contract with the trade federation that had resulted in the loss of nearly every adult warrior. They were also considered one of the premier clans in hand to hand combat. Something that had come in handy today since he had wanted the ambassador alive.
It was not difficult to contact and hire the Yamanouchi. They needed the money he was offering to help rebuild their clan. He knew they felt contempt for him because he was not a warrior himself. But the Mando always kept their word he knew they would succeed or die trying. And his faith had proven justified.
It was poetry in motion. Everything went according to plan and the Jedi were left in the dark.
"Sir. Your visitors have arrived as you expected." A protocol droid stated matter-of-factly.
"Excellent. Show them in." And with a grin Senor Senior Sr. got up, standing triumphantly.
Kim was fuming. She obviously was not pleased with what she had found. The moment they had dispersed the cloud of smoke completely she and Katz had taken off from the room, hot on the trail of the masked intruders. Both padawan and Master did not need to communicate with each other. They resonated well enough. Kim took the higher path, going up to the roof, and Katz went towards the main entrance and the only other exit in the building.
Kim's intuition told her that the high ground would be much more advantageous for the attackers. An airship or speeder might be nearby and the height of the building meant they could zip line across other buildings.
But she had lost them. She could feel the last flickering sign of a presence as she opened the door. Soon after that only the cold harsh air of Nar Shaddaa greeted her.
Kim stood there, looking down from the tall building. She looked around hoping to find a small trace of where they might have gone. She found none.
"Kimberly, they didn't go through the main hall. Did you find anything?" Katz's exasperated voice crackled from her comlink.
She unhooked the device from her belt. " Yeah they were here alright. Emphasize on the word were, Master. I can't find a trace of where they might have gone to."
"Well whoever they were they obviously came for one of the participants of the negotiation." Katz replied.
Forget the Jedi! We got what we came for! She remembered.
"You think they came for Jos- I mean Lt. Mankey?" Kim folded her hands together as she spoke to the miniature device.
"Possibly."
"What about the Seniors?" If they were after Josh what incentive would an old man and his son have on the kidnappers? Kim pondered on that.
"They might be part of the kidnappers' goals or they might have simply been a target of opportunity. I've heard of the Senior name, Kimberly. Very wealthy."
Kim zoned in on that. "How wealthy?"
The comlink paused for a minute before Katz responded back. "He could buy a planet wealthy."
Kim and Katz were narrowing the possibilities down. "You think they were kidnapped for ransom Master?" Kim stated what was on both of their minds.
" I wouldn't rule it out that's for sure."
Kim's face was grim. This was supposed to be an easy escort mission. Kidnapping by strange assailants definitely took it up a level. One thing was for certain she was not going to let her guard down ever again.
"Did you hear from Ronald yet?" Katz questioned.
"Not yet Master." Kim was beginning to worry. She had alerted Ron's comlink the moment the masked attackers had made their presence known. So far he had not responded.
"That boy sometimes…" Katz sighed through the other line. "Come down here then. I assume you found out all that you can."
Katz ended the communication line there.
Kim looked down for the last time. Her bird's eye view of Nar Shaddaa gave her a clear picture of the Smuggler's Moon and its decaying urban environment. Yet no sign of a blue eyed blond padawan anywhere.
"You better not be goofing off Ron."
"I've been goofing off!" Ron ran with all the energy his legs could muster.
"Where's the fire?" Zita was not far behind him. His sudden sprint sure surprised her. One minute they were talking the next thing she knew he bolted out of there quick as a podracer. Her first instinct told her to follow.
"I don't know but someone's gonna be pretty steamed when they find I'm not there!" The blond padawan did not even slow down to make sure she heard him.
"Hey! Slow down! Where are we going?" she jumped over a couple of Jawas as she tried to match his pace with her own.
"I need to get back to where my Master is!"
"Well do you even know where he is?" Ron suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Looking around none of the buildings or landscape looked familiar to him at all, he found he had no idea where he was.
"Uh…hehehe…awkward." He nervously laughed as he turned around to face an amused Zita.
"You describe where he is and I can get you there faster then you can say Womprat." She grinned. Ron rattled off a jumbled description, which Zita somehow made sense of.
Smiling at Ron she took off at a dead run with Ron right behind her.
"There you are! Where have you been? Why haven't you answered your comlink?" Kim spotted Ron a mile away. She stalked angrily towards him before she noticed that someone was tagging along side the blond padawan.
"Sorry about that KP I was jus-"
"Who's she?" Kim was quick to cut him off.
"Oh, this is my friend-"
"Zita. Zita Flores." Zita was even faster to do the same. "Ron here did me a favor back there with some aqualish thugs so I figured I owe him one. He couldn't remember how to get back here so I offered my help." She eyed Kim. She did not like the way she was being looked at. What's your damage? Zita thought.
"And you are?" Zita's eyes narrowed as she asked the question.
Ron looked at Kim. Then he looked at Zita. Somehow it did not seem right to interfere, the force agreed with him.
"Kim Possible." Kim paused. She then looked at Ron, who had a nervous expression on his face. "I thought you said you'd wait right here." She said coolly.
Ron hated it when she did that. It usually meant he was in deep trouble with her. "I…I got bored okay?" Ron confessed. "I figure I'd be able to get some info about this place. You know… like actually doing something." His eyes went down at the ground.
Kim could not help but be content with her best friend. Try and bumble as he might, Ron was a good friend.
A good person.
"You could have answered your comlink right away though. You had me worried."
"I know but I panicked and thought that it was urgent so the first thing that came to my mind was go where you were."
Kim's cheeks betrayed her feelings as she found herself embarrassed by his words. Ron's often simplistic and clear-cut way of expressing himself often surprised and amazed her.
"Excuse me but are you like his girlfriend or something?" Zita interrupted.
"N-no! Jedi are not supposed to have such emotional attachments." Kim folded her hands together.
"Ah… So you're a padawan learner too right?" Zita caught on as she spotted Kim's own braid that matched Ron's.
"What else did you think I was?" Kim asked defensively.
"Oh nothing important. So your Master is here as well?"
"Long story short Kim and I share the same Master." Ron answered for her, placing himself between the two girls.
Zita looked at Kim and Ron before giving out her reply. "Cool."
"So anyway what was the problem?" Ron was not about to forget the reason why he was so out of breath.
"Kidnappers. Took the lieutenant and some bystanders as well. Negotiations went completely bust." Kim grimaced.
"Ouch." Ron winced. If a Jedi Master and his most promising padawan could be taken by surprise by these guys he sure knew he would have been no help at all. But it did not take away his guilt for leaving his post when he was needed. Ron had never liked the clean cut and handsome lieutenant but he never wished any harm to fall upon Josh.
The doors to the building opened and out came Gerald Katz, his stride fast and his mood grimmer then usual.
"Ronald."
Ron gulped. Katz definitely did not sound please at the moment.
"Oh. Hi Master…hehehe…Listen I just wanted to let you know…"
"I will gladly hear the full explanation LATER. We have some pressing matters to attend to right now." Katz then took notice of a pretty young tanned girl beside Ron.
Zita extended her hand and shook the Jedi Master's hand as she introduced herself.
"Pleased to meet you my dear. But I fear our conversation much like Ronald's well thought out excuse is going to have to wait at the moment."
Kim took the initiative to ask. "Any luck Master?"
"No. Bargo said he had nothing to do with this. And for once the more I think about it the more I agree with him. The Hutts have no motivation to kidnapp young Joshua Mankey. They're gangsters. This whole mess is not their style. It just doesn't make sense." The Jedi Master scratched his beard, deep in thought.
"If only I had been there sooner. I might have been able to pick up a small trace or something." Kim's eyes went back up to the rooftop of the central building.
"So who were they?" Ron felt he needed to be in the loop.
"That's the problem Ron. We don't know. These guys move so fast and so silently you would think they were shadows or something." Kim interjected.
"That actually narrows it down." Zita stated calmly.
"Excuse me?" Katz looked at the raven-haired girl.
"Quick, silent, and very organized right? There's only a few groups around like that. And the hutts control most of them."
Katz closed his eyes for a moment to think upon the girls conclusion. "That does it narrow it down. And there are only a very few places such a group could hide. But where to begin?" He said thinking out loud.
Zita grinned. " Only one way to find out Master Jedi."
She looked around her and spread her arms wide. "You listen to Nar Shaddaa."
The Jedi Master and the two padawans were left amazed as they continued to watch the Corellian girl work her magic. Two solid hours of backtracking and roaming around Nar Shaddaa and it seemed like Zita knew everybody. With her knowledge of so many different languages and the way she carried herself it was difficult to believe she was just an average girl and not a trained ambassador.
She laughed a bit while talking to some Biths; She then had a pleasant conversation with a toydarian, and the next thing you knew she was talking to some gamorrean pigs in huttese.
"Alright. Yeah Al, I got the money. I'll see ya next week so don't chicken out ya hear?" Zita had just finished her recent conversation as she made her way back to the three Jedi party.
Her eyes gave a feint gleam, her lips slowly curling into a smile.
"Master Jedi… and padawans. I do believe I know where your missing ambassador is." She said, in a high class mocking tone.
Katz and Ron turned to one another, boggled and awed. "Impressive. Most impressive." They stated out in unison as both of them stroked their chins.
Kim placed one hand on her hips before giving in. "Okay…I admit it. You did a good job." She smiled as she extended her hand out to Zita. Maybe I was being a little too harsh with her.
Zita smiled back and took the offered hand and shook it strong and hard. "Glad you see it my way padawan Possible."
Their sudden camaraderie was not lost on the two men.
"Alright. Lead the way. We've got an Ambassador to save." Kim had never been more determined in her entire life.
oOo
AN. As I stated before I have adopted this fic from Trombe. I will be uploading new chapters in blocks of five as I make small changes to suit my own writing style. Thanks for reading and a giant Thank You to Trombe for allowing me to adopt this fic.