-1Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords
Knights of the old Republic and Starwars are owned by George Lucas (I think he owns them both). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss Whedon. I own nothing here. As said by many wise men..and women…please don't sue me.
The timeline for Buffy takes place about three years after the end of Buffy. No exact date has been decided. KOTOR 2 timeline starts right from the beginning of the game. I apologize now for my lack of grammar etc, etc. I've never posted anything I've written until now. This bug has been floating in my skull since I first read Slayers of the old republic by Michael Weyer. It definitely fed my imagination. Thanks Michael. Anyways on with the show. Please comment. It won't get better in quality or quantity without constructive criticism.
I am currently cleaning up small sections at a time and posting them, and writing the next stop in the adventure at the same time, I do have plans that will seriously send the KOTOR game into AU.
Telos-Restoration Zone
Buffy almost couldn't believe she was standing on another planet, in another Galaxy, correction, she couldn't believe she was sprawled down in mud, on another planet, in another Galaxy.
The fact that several humans were shooting at them however was very believable, the burn on her shoulder hurt enough to attest to the reality of the situation.
She cleared her head enough to look around from behind the cover of the shattered tree she dived for when the strangely dressed people began to shoot, she spotted Willow and Giles a few meters away tucked behind a large boulder, Willow was tending to Giles, he didn't look good and from the way her red headed friend was fussing over her adopted fathers stomach she guessed he'd been hit.
She poked her head up slightly, risking a glance at the battle that waged around her, Riley and Graham had taken position a few meters ahead of her and to the right, both using another toppled tree for cover, they took turns firing their assault rifles at the men who were shooting at them.
God she felt so helpless, she wanted to join in but she knew she wouldn't be of any help here, there was at least a thirty meter distance between her hiding space and the closest assailant, with the amount of firepower being tossed around, both conventional and energy she knew she wouldn't do anything but get killed if she moved.
She dropped down just in time to avoid a bright red energy bolt from taking her head off, it collided with a tree behind her with a snap.
"Riley!" she called out "Giles is hit!".
"Shit!" she heard him respond through the rapport of weapons fire.
Another voice cut through the chaos around them "Switch to Zat's, bullets aren't penetrating their armour!".
She thought it sounded like the new guy O'Neill, a few second later she heard a strange sound, like electricity snapping and zinging.
She risked another look and spotted both Riley and Graham moving across the clearing, a dark shape further forward to the left was barely visible.
She heard a few more zaps from the direction of the shaded figure while the two former Initiative soldiers covered each other as they quickly approached the area the enemy were hiding.
"Clear!" she heard Riley say, her enhanced hearing catching the words like she was standing next to him.
"Clear" she heard O'Neill say calmly, too calmly for an Eighteen year old Air Force Lieutenant.
"Clear" Graham added.
Buffy didn't waste a moment and crossed the distance to Willow and Giles, as soon as she got there she realised her worry was for nothing, Giles shirt was burned but he showed no wounds.
Willow smiled, the exhaustion on her face told Buffy what happened "You healed him?".
Willow nodded and twisted to lean against the same boulder Giles was sleeping against "That was intense, I almost couldn't heal him" she rasped, as if she had just finished running a marathon.
Buffy smiled "It's okay Will, you rest, I'll be right back".
Willow nodded and closed her eyes.
Buffy stood up and crossed the short clearing to where the three soldiers were now disarming their assailants and binding them with plastic ties.
She reached the halfway point when two figures burst into view to her left, both brandishing long swords, Shannon and Caridad looked around with the intensity only Slayers could achieve.
"It's okay guys, everything's under control" she called out.
Shannon reached Buffy's side first "We heard gun fire".
"Yeah, bunch of locals jumped us just after you guys left" she explained as she continued towards the other side of the clearing.
As she neared she saw seven men of various ages dressed in several examples of armour and carrying a variety of weapons all unconscious and bound.
Riley and Graham were piling their weapons and various pieces of equipment silently while Jonathan O'Neill actually did the stripping of gear.
"There not dead.." she observed.
Jon nodded "One shot stuns, two shots kill, three shots disintegrate" he said holding up the strange snake like weapon he showed the group before they actually entered the portal to this planet.
"Right, I remember" she said, remembering the one on her hip "Zat gun right?".
"Yup" was all he said as he found what looked like a small hand recorder.
"What's that?" she asked.
Jon shrugged his shoulders "Either this guy was recording his auto-biography or he was using it to communicate with others, either way, we should strip them of their armour, haul one with us and clear the area".
Buffy nodded "Sounds good" and immediately moved to the closest soldier, it took a second to figure out how to take his armour off.
Shannon also moved to help with de-armouring the soldiers, she smiled to herself, was de-armouring even a word?.
A few minutes later all seven soldiers were left with only their clothes, everything else was bagged to go, she looked towards the large boulder Willow and Giles were resting by and was relieved to see Caridad helping the two of them stand.
Buffy looked to her three professional soldiers "Which one do you think is their leader?".
Riley nudged a short bald man with tattoo's on his face with his boot "This guy, he was the first to speak when they showed up".
"Okay, Tribal Reject it is" she said and hoisted the man over her shoulder.
She caught the look on Jon's face and smiled "Comes with the package".
"Yeah, I remember the briefing" he smiled, referring to Buffy bending a lead pipe as a demonstration of a Slayers strength.
Shannon stopped, her head tilted to the side "Company, we need top get moving".
Buffy nodded "Shannon, lead us away from them".
The younger slayer immediately took point and moved towards Caridad as she waited with Giles and Willow, Buffy fell in behind her, Riley, Graham and Jon took up the rear.
Citadel Station
Shayla felt uneasy as the group left the Ithorian compound, the promises made by their leader Chodo Habat seemed rather convenient and left her with thoughts that she found disturbing.
"Off to rescue a droid before Czerka steals it out from under them" Faith muttered "Anyone else feel like a freakin puppet?" she snorted.
Kreia stopped her with a light touch with her good hand "The Ithorian's request however menial it may seem to us may yet lead us closer to the Ebon Hawk, If nothing else it may prove our good intentions in Habat's eyes, enough to procure a shuttle that we can use to search the planet for the vessel".
Faith sighed "Yeah, the droid is needed, I can see that, I just don't like feeling like a tool".
"Perhaps you should accept it, I fear we shall face many such requests before we reach the end of our journey" Kreia said coldly.
Faith looked into the older woman's eyes for a long moment before walking away, Xander and Dawn stood there quietly, unsure of what exactly transpired between the two.
"At least we got the location of Batono" Atton interjected, trying to change the subject.
Xander stepped up "Yeah" he looked to Shayla "You want us to join you with this droid thing or should we split up, see if we can get Batono to take Grenn's offer of protection?".
Shayla looked to Kreia, the woman was as impossible to read, as always, "We shall split up, two groups, Xander you can see if Batono will accept Grenn's offer, the rest of us will see to the retrieval of the Intelligence Droid Chodo Habat needs to get the restoraton project going again".
"Cool, mind if I take Dawn?" he asked.
Shayla nodded, she understood his reasoning, the young woman was precious to him, even though she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
"I have no objections, perhaps you should take Atton as well, if he has no objections" she suggested, figuring the scoundrel would like the opportunity to be no where near Kreia for awhile.
"No objections here" Atton said.
Shayla turned to Faith "I for one would like the opportunity to spend some time with Faith, if she doesn't mind?" she smiled, knowing the Slayer could hear her even though she was nearly ten meters ahead of the group.
Everyone noticed the brunette shake her head, she turned around and approached the group again "No, I don't mind, some girl time might be good" she tried to smile.
Shayla took it as an encouraging sign "It's settled then, I'll lead the group to retrieve the droid" she turned to Xander "Be careful, we know Lorso is after Batono, I just pray you get to him first".
Xander nodded "You too, Czerka probably stole their first droid, I wouldn't be surprised if they try for this one".
Shayla saw the worry in his eye, she smiled as she instinctively looked away "Yes" she said "That's a possibility".
Dawn moved passed Xander and hugged her before she could react "We'll see you in a bit" she smiled and turned to Atton "You coming?".
Atton nodded "Yeah, right behind you".
Shayla watched the two walk away, then turned to witness Faith touching Xander's arm lightly as he moved to join them, the silent communication lasted only a second but it was enough for the two displaced warriors.
Xander dispelled the moment with a simple look towards Shayla "You guys take care, and good luck".
Shayla smiled "May the force be with you".
"Hmm, I'll have to remember that, I like it" he smirked, and with a glance towards Dawn and Atton the three walked away.
Faith seemed to have lightened up a bit from the brief moment with her friends "So, we gonna go body guard this droid or what?".
Shayla smirked "Yes, let's go be body guards".
Ithorian Docks, #2
It took very little time to reach the docking bay unfortunately one human and a Twi'lek stepped in their way before they took ten steps from the Module Shuttles.
"So, Your Habat's errand girl, yes?" asked the twi'lek, his distain evident even as he spoke in his native language.
Shayla eyed him carefully, he wasn't armed, neither was his friend "We're helping the Ithorian's yes".
"So I heard. You should reconsider Czerka'z offer, if you return the droid to executive Lorso, she'll pay you far better than the Ithorian's".
"This has nothing to do with money Tail Head" Faith spat.
The twi'lek ignored her insult "The planet then?. You don't think the Ithorian's could do better than Czerka, do you?".
Shayla nodded "Actually, I do".
He sneered at the three of them "You're fools then. I can tell our too thick headed to see through the lies you've told yourself, but, if you have any doubts, take the droid to Lorso" he looked to his companion "Let's go".
The three watched the two messengers as they headed calmly towards the module shuttle, none of them took their eyes off of them until the shuttle doors had closed.
"Well, that made me feel all warm and tingly" Faith laughed.
Kreia muttered something and turned towards the Ithorian docking bay, Shayla smiled but said nothing, simply following her new mentor.
It took almost no time to get access to the docking bay, and spotted the droid in question as soon as they passed through the second airlock pressure door, along with it's Ithorian keeper and a lone TSF officer.
"Man, am I glad you're here. I'm the only man the TSF could spare and frankly, I've got a bad feeling about this" the young man said quickly.
The Ithorian stepped forward "Yes, we are all pleased to see you. Chodo Habat had said that another would arrive to help us…" he began to say.
The droid however cut him off "Excuse me master. But it seems we have some additional visitors".
Everyone turned to see five people approaching the group, in the center was a woman n a skin tight blue body suit, all five were heavily armed.
"Who are you?. How did you get in here?" demanded the Ithorian.
The five intruders didn't respond with words, their weapons however decided to do the talking.
Shayla moved straight for the woman in the center, her vibro blade and light saber quickly springing from their resting places.
She was vaguely aware of Faith and Kreia moving to cover her flanks as she charged the obvious leader of the group.
The woman managed to fire one shot from her small blaster pistol, a hold out blaster from the looks of it, before Shayla reached her, the single blast deflected easily by her yellow blade.
Shayla swung with her vibro blade first, the woman managed to avoid the blow by ducking, pulling a stun baton from behind her back as she did so.
She followed her first attack with a diagonal swing from her light saber as she pivoted and somersaulted over the woman, barely avoiding a direct thrust from the woman's weapon, her own strike barely grazing her opponents hair, it was enough though, a large chunk of hair hit the ground.
The blue clad woman rolled forward and came back with two swings, both barely missed Shayla's face, she retaliated with a simple foot to the woman's stomach that doubled her over.
The moment was short lived however as her assailant rolled with the blow, trying to manoeuvre behind her, Shayla realized the woman was more than your typical mercenary and rolled forward as well, the two women rested on their feet a few meters from each other.
Shayla however didn't hesitate and returned to the melee, swinging her blade high and saber low, the woman stepped back to avoid the dual strikes, intending to step in as the two weapons parted on their return swing.
Shayla however wasn't about to let this woman land a blow and somersaulted over the woman again, bringing her blades back across in mid flip.
She new the fight was over, the woman's head rolled from her body and hit the ground a few seconds before the rest of her did.
She landed and took in the scene before her, two more assailants were down, Kreia and Faith were just finishing off the last two.
By the time she turned to see if the officer, Ithorian and droid were alright the entire encounter was finished, judging from the unmarred metal of Faith's blades, both of the mercenaries she felled were likely still alive.
The Ithorian quickly crossed the distance "I am grateful for you assistance, that was most terrible. I wonder who could have ordered such a thing".
"Czerka, who else" Faith snapped.
The Ithorian nodded "That would make sense".
"Master" the droid interrupted again "One of the assailants was carrying this".
Shayla spied the woman's holdout blaster as the Ithorian took it "An assassin's tool, it is no surprise that hired killers would carry weapons such as this".
Shayla held out her hand for the weapon, which the Ithorian relinquished quickly enough "It looks as though this blaster has been heavily modified" she said to her two friends.
"Interesting" the ithorian replied "I believe you are correct, though I am by no means an expert. Such modifications are illegal on citadel station. Lieutenant Grenn should be informed so that he might conduct and investigation. But more importantly, you must take the droid to Chodo Habat as quickly as possible, I fear more attacks if we delay".
Shayla nodded "Yes, I agree".
She looked to Kreia and Faith, noticing the younger woman already carrying a few of their assailants personal belongings, the salvageable items at least.
"I'll stay here and wait for a TSF team to arrive to see to the two living prisoners, we might be able to get some information from them about this" the TSF officer said, holding his blaster rifle tightly.
Shayla nodded and turned towards the droid "Follow us and stay close".
"As you command" the droid replied.
Residential 082, Suite C1
Atton's gaze kept sliding towards Dawn as they slowly crossed the Residential module, and it was serious driving him crazy.
For starters he was nearly thirty and the girl was eighteen, maybe nineteen, 'Sure atton, she's all force connected and can kick ass nearly as good as a wookie, but get a grip man, she's only a kid!'.
He sighed as they neared the Residential Apartments, he already spotted suite C1 as they entered the small area, it only had three suites.
This was it 'Focus man, get your head in the game before you get yourself or someone else killed!' he mentally berated himself.
"All right this is it" Xander said holding up the passkey Chodo Habat gave them "Let's hope he's willing to reason".
"You mean listen and not shoot" Dawn corrected him.
Xander sighed and opened the door, a red light instantly appeared on Xanders chest.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded a haggard voice from within the dark room.
"My name is Xander Harris" he narrowed his only good eye, aware of the likely weapon Mr. Batono likely had pointed at him "Chodo Habat told us where to find you".
"Chodo wouldn't have betrayed me" the voice hissed.
Dawn slowly stepped beside Xander "Lieutenant Grenn asked us to find you".
Batono didn't respond at first "Dol sent you?" he said finally "Can't say I'm not surprised".
The light from his weapon winked out, the lights in the room came on a moment later, revealing a dishevelled looking man in his late thirties, his rough appearance was more from stress than from a lack of hygiene, that much was obvious.
The man moved from behind a make shift barrier, constructed from various pieces of furniture to the only table left standing, several empty bottles littered it's surface, one however was only half full.
"Dol was the one who wanted me to come forward in the first place" he said as he poured a half a glass of the light green liquid.
"It's the right thing to do" Dawn said calmly.
"Ha, easy to say, but your not the one Czerka will send it's assassins after" he smirked and slammed back the drink.
"If it's safety you're worried about, you shouldn't be, After Czerka is exposed they wouldn't dare move against you" Xander said.
"Sure, but everything takes time, testifying before the council, the council's deliberation" he began to say, waving his blaster pistol around lazily "Time Czerka could use to rub me out" he chuckled, the man's intoxication was now definitely evident.
Atton watched the scene play out nervously, the man was nearly at the end of his rope, the slightest thing could send him off the edge.
"The TSF could put you under it's protection" Dawn said calmly.
Did her hand move slightly?. Atton wasn't sure.
Batono stopped waving his pistol around, his face twisted in thought for a moment "You might be right…I…I don't think Czerka has gone so far that it would clash with the TSF so openly…but Czerka has eyes everywhere.." he said, making eye contact with the both Xander and Dawn.
"We can protect you" Xander told him, trying to keep his voice as non-threatening as he could.
"You?. Look, I'm sure you can handle yourself, but I think this might be a little out of your league" Batono said, his voice gaining a little strength.
Atton sighed "They're JedI.".
"JedI?…okay, fine. Grenn wouldn't have sent you if he didn't think you could get the job done. All right, but we need to get moving" he said, tossing the bottle away.
"Glad to hear it" Xander said.
"Hm, what do we have here?. Batono, if I'm not mistaken, you've been a hard man to find" said a strange accented voice behind them.
Atton turned first, both mining lasers up and ready, he rolled his eyes 'You really need some better weapons' he thought as he spotted five heavily armed mercenaries standing only a few meters away.
Xander and Dawn moved fluidly, taking positions to the side of him and slightly forward "Who are you?" Dawn asked.
The closest merc smiled "It doesn't matter who we are, It's him we've been looking for. Executive Lorso sent us to take care of some unfinished business".
Xander smirked "Sorry guys, we're really busy at the moment, dinner date, can we take a rain check?".
The merc smiled "Funny, very funny, but I must apologize, you see we can be rather stubborn, so I'm going to insist".
Atton spotted the lead merc raise his rifle, he let two blasts fly, both connected with his head, the lasers were enough to burn him but not enough to kill him, he dropped his rifle before he even got it up to shoulder level, his screaming was drowned out by blaster fire and the zinging echo of Xander and Dawn's Lightsabers.
He swung his pistols left for another target, just over Dawn's shoulder and snapped off two more shots, those two connected with the man's face, he dropped clutching the wounds as Dawn cut down the Mercenary in front of her.
Rotating slightly he moved to target the mercenary beyond Xander, only to find the dark haired warrior had leaped over the first merc and cut them both down in the time Dawn took to drop the first.
"I'm getting tired f this shit" Xander hissed.
Dawn nodded slowly "Same, but suck it up princess, we got a job to do remember".
Xander smirked, the haunted look on his face eased a little "Princess?. Now your starting to scare me".
Dawn smiled weakly "Good".
Atton rolled his eyes and without a word moved to strip the bodies "Batono, get over here, we're sticking you in some armour just in case" he thundered to be heard.
He then glanced to Dawn and spotted her staring at the mercenary she killed, the woman was almost cold as she stared at his body, at that moment Atton realised he had fallen for the young woman.
He knew he was going to regret it.
Telos
Buffy pushed their captive to the ground, the bound and gagged man had woken up shortly after they departed the ambush site, forcing her to let him walk for the last three hours.
"We should rest" she said looking down at the man, his eyes full of hate "And, you and I are gonna have a little chat".
Riley stepped up next to her "First things first, I think we should see if that armour we salvaged can fit us all".
"There's eight of us, only seven suits" he pointed out.
"You guys try it on, I'm good" she said.
Riley shook his head "You were already wounded".
"And it's healing, next time I'll be more aware, it won't happen again" she stated.
Riley shook his head and walked away, obviously giving up on the subject.
She spotted Willow not far away, leaning against a tree, her eyes closed as she tried to meditate, Giles was only a few feet from her, apparently attempting to do the same.
"Cari, Shannon, check the trail for any tails" she ordered, both women nodded and slipped through the sparse tree line, making nearly no sounds.
Graham slipped up to Buffy holding two swords, "Jon thought you'd like to check these out" he smiled.
Buffy looked at the swords, gently taking them into her grasp, both weapons were very well crafted "Not bad, but I'm rather partial to my own" she smiled.
Graham nodded as he took one of the swords back and then turned quickly, slicing a thick branch from a tree, it landed at the feet of their prisoner.
Buffy looked to the weapon in his hand, then the one she still held, "Okay, I stand corrected".
Graham smiled and handed the weapon back "Thought you'd like it".
Buffy nodded as she replaced her own long sword with one of the new ones, then turned towards Jon only to find him standing there holding two sheaths "Looking for these?" he asked cooly.
"Yeah, thanks" she said and quickly adjusted her gear.
Willow gasped from the edge of the clearing "Buffy!…There not here!".
The blonde slayer was instantly at her best friends side "Will?. What do you mean there not here?".
Willow was lost in thought for a moment "The spell…it should have dropped us off on the same world that they we're on..I don't understand it..".
Jon stepped up "If their not on the planet, where the hell are they?".
Giles sighed "Maybe they left while we were evading our pursuers?".
Buffy didn't like that idea "Will, can you sense the Slayer link again?".
The redheaded magus looked at her and smiled "I think so, it'll take me a few minutes to gain the focus".
Buffy sat down in front of her best friend and took her hands "I think we can spare a few minutes".
Everything around buffy slowly came to a stop as Willow's presence invaded the very core of her being, she felt her friend probing inside her, not her mind but her soul.
It would have been a rather horrifying experience normally but her closest friend was gentle, simply feeling the flow of the slayers energies that were forever apart of her.
"I found them" she heard Willow say, snapping her back to reality.
Buffy shook her head to clear her mind of the strange after affects "Will..".
"It doesn't make sense…they're above us.." she said quietly.
Jon laughed "Actually that does make sense".
Buffy looked up at him "It does?".
Jon nodded "Hello, we're in a Galaxy with space ships..who says their not on a ship, or a space station?".
Buffy let the thought creep into her mind before the smile floated across her features "Okay, that I can deal with".
She turned to their bound captive "Time we had that talk".
Citadel Station, TSF Office
"Batono?" Grenn asked as the group entered the large office.
"Dol" he simply nodded.
"As we agreed Lieutenant, Batono, alive and unharmed" Xander smiled.
The balding officer shook his head in amasement "I have to hand it to you, I'm damned impressed".
"We also got some intel on the fake Batu Rem" Dawn smiled.
Grenn was stunned.
"Though we lost the fugitives, apparently they made a deal with Lorso, they're heading planet side to do some security work" She added.
Batono smiled "I don't think I've ever seen him so speechless".
Grenn quickly recovered "Okay, I guess the first thing to do is make arrangements for your safety".
Batono nodded "And inform the Telosian Authorities that I'm willing to testify against Czerka".
Again he was speechless.
"He does an impressive fish impression" Xander commented to Dawn.
She winked back "Not as good as you Xander".
"Well, in light of your services, I should sign off on your bounty" Grenn snapped back to reality.
Xander nodded, remaining silent, not wanting to humiliate the officer further.
"You can inform Officer Linu at the front desk what you discovered about the fake Batu Rem, I really need to make sure Batono here is securely relocated before Czerka get's wind of this" he said.
Dawn looked to the floor for a moment "I'm afraid they already know, we encountered five mercenaries in their employ in residential 082".
Grenn wasn't smiling "I see" he took a deep breath "A detachment arrived on the scene a few moments ago, I was waiting for their initial report, however" he trailed off.
"We would be more than happy to go over the events of the encounter Lieutenant" Xander bowed slightly.
Grenn nodded "Very well, I'll have Officer Linu come and take all statements, under the circumstances, you were acting on TSF authority, therefore you will not be detained".
Everyone got the distinct impression that he was stretching his own authority on the matter, it was written all over him.
Xander nodded "We'll wait here Lieutenant".
Batono stepped forward "I don't have anything for you, but thanks for saving my life, I'll try to return the favor some day".
Xander nodded and the trio watched Grenn lead the man towards the cells, without a word the three of them got comfortable, to await a likely long process of making an official statement.
Ithorian Compound, Residential 082 West
Chodo Habat straightened several inches upon seeing Shayla, Faith and Kreia enter the office with a bronze droid in tow "Ah, I am gladdened by your safe return. My people sent word of what happened at the docks".
"I am yours to command Master" the Droid interrupted, Faith smiled, for some reason she seemed to rather like droids over people, they were much simpler creatures to deal with.
Habat nodded "Good, good. Our computer system has been prepared for your arrival. You may begin transferring your data into it immediately".
The droid nodded "I shall do so now master Habat, farewell" it turned to the group "And farewell to you as well" it then ambled over to the corner of the room where a large computer terminal waited.
Chodo bobbed as he addressed the three travelers "I am grateful for your help in this matter. Please accept this as a gift from my people" he said, offering a small bag
Shayla took it but didn't open it quite yet "Thank you, but what now?".
Chodo hesitated a moment, Faith got the familiar feeling that he wanted yet another favour.
"This incident at the dock's confirmed one of my fears. The gunmen were from the Exchange…Czerka has hired the Criminal syndicate to work against us. Long have I suspected that Czerka and the exchange work together, the former supplying manufactured arms to be sold via the latter's black market channels. But now with the TSF keeping a closer eye on Czerka activities, the corporation has turned to the Exchange to be it's fist on the Station" he said as quickly but as clearly as he could, the situation was obviously very distressing to him.
Faith nodded, an acceptance of the situation gripped her mind, she reached out, lightly touching Shayla's shoulder "We should have a word with the Exchange" she stated rather coldly.
Shayla looked into her eyes for only a moment before turning to Chodo "What would you have us do?".
Chodo bowed slightly, "I have tried several times to meet with the leader of the Exchange here, a Quarren called Loppak Slusk. He has refused my every invitation, and allows no one inside the Exchange suites. I fear he does not take us seriously. The JedI though are renowned as warriors and as diplomats. Perhaps you might speak with Loppak, show him the value of a restored Telos?".
Faith doubted the man or alien would listen, from the look on Shayla's face she guessed the blonde expected as much success, Shayla nodded however "We shall try to speak with him".
"I am most grateful for your assistance, I will guide my thoughts towards your safety…and Loppaks as well, I wish harm upon no living creature" Chodo said.
Faith truly wished she could believe that the outcome would be so easy, she knew it would end badly, she just hoped the killing could be kept to a minimum.
None of them spoke until they nearly reached the Module Shuttles, "We need the others that's for sure, we might want to stop by that merchant by the Cantina, see if he's got better equipment".
Shayla nodded "That's a good idea, I am surprised we have managed to do so much with the basic equipment we currently have".
"Yeah, I wonder if Atton would like some real blasters?" she asked, patting the bag hanging over her shoulder "I for one think another shorter blade would be good, we have no idea if the Exchange suites are large enough for my double blade".
Shayla turned to her as they entered the shuttle, the door closed a second later "Your assuming this will come to a fight".
Faith didn't try to act smug, the woman had gained enough of her respect for her to be honest and straight with her "The black market is the black market, doesn't matter what world or dimension your from I'd imagine. They are all about money, and we likely don't have enough of that to keep them off of the Ithorians back".
Shayla nodded "True".
Faith sighed "There's also a chance that they might collect on your bounty".
Shayla closed her eyes "Your right, this will not end well".
Faith decided some good old Scooby humour was in order "Cheer up Shay!. You've still got us watching your back" she leaned back slightly "And I must say, the backside is pretty nice to watch too".
Shayla smiled and made eye contact "Thank you".
The door to the shuttle opened and the blonde JedI stepped off "Your backside is rather nice as well" she said without looking.
Faith stood there for a moment, wondering exactly happened, She actually caught a glimpse of Kreia smirking at the back fired attempt to catch the blonde off guard, she shook her head as she trailed along behind the two women "Your loosing your touch girl" she said to herself.
Entertainment Module, Dobo Brothers Merchant Bazar
Shayla watched as her friends flitted about both sides of the divided merchant shop, checking various items with an excitement only children normally contained.
Kreia was the exception however, leaning against a wall to watch everything transpire.
"Oh. My. God" Faith said as she turned from a shelf holding a suit of black and grey armour "I'm in love".
Shayla smiled "Echani battle armour, en excellent example of decent armour with excellent movement capability".
"How much is this?" she asked turning to one of the Dobo brothers.
"Three thousand credits" he said.
"Damn, that's too much" Faith said, putting it back on the rack.
Dawn and Xander were a few feet from the brunette slayer, examining several different suits of armour, Xander turned to the brother "Mind if we try a few things on, see if they fit right?".
The merchant thought about it for a moment "Twenty five credits".
Dawn rolled her eyes and tossed a few chips onto his counter and then turned back to the armour, removing the medium armour they had taken from the first mercs they encountered on the station, and then began to slip into a suit of light combat armour.
Shayla nodded and oved to the rack as well, selecting a standard suit of light combat armour, she quickly fastened it correctly and adjusted the clips enough that the suit fit her like a glove.
"Sixty five credits" she said, checking the price tag, the merchant was definitely trying to make a profit, she remembered several other places where the same suits sold for half that.
"A bargain in this sector" the Dobo brother said.
"Hmm" was all she said.
Atton was on the other side of the room, checking various odds and ends, most of it she could barely recognize as blaster parts and optional armour mods.
"Hey, how much are you selling these Bio-underlays for?" he called out.
"One hundred a piece" Dobo yelled back.
Atton smiled wryly "What do you think?" he called to her.
Shayla nodded "Always a good thing to invest in".
Atton grabbed an arm load of the underlays and headed for the counter, then grabbed the bag from Faith's shoulder and began going through everything inside it.
The pile of odd's and ends, blasters, grenades, and other bits of various equipment both useful and not so useful prompted the Alien merchants eyes to bulge out.
"I'll give you five thousand for the lot" he smiled.
Atton shook his head "The underlays, four light combat armours, the Echani suit and access to your work bench over there, plus three thousand credits".
Dobo shook his head, his hands flew up as if he was insulted "No, no no, that is totally unreasonable".
Atton smiled and put several items back in the bag.
"Okay okay, the gear and two thousand credits for the original pile on the counter" Dobo hissed.
"Sounds good" he smiled and pulled out a few items and handed the bag back to Faith.
The merchant shook his head and mumbled something unintelligible as he pulled the cash from the till and handed it to him.
"Nice doing business with you" Atton smiled and grabbed the underlays, then headed towards the workbench.
Faith touched Shayla on the shoulder "Does that mean I get the wicked looking suit of armour?'.
"Yes, I suppose it does" she smiled and moved to see what Atton was doing with the Merchants tools.
Faith did a quiet and subtle happy dance as she grabbed the Echani armour and jogged to the workbench.
Xander and Dawn smiled and followed.
I hoped to have Citadel station done in this chapter, however it appears I was wrong. Chapter thirteen will see several unexpected developments.
