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Chapter Fourteen
The city of Mos Eisley was just beginning to stir in the early hours before dawn. Nikita had propped herself against the back wall of a shop, sipping on her morning cup of caf and speaking to the Twi'leck stall owner she had discovered when she first escaped into the city. It had become her routine over the years to stop at the stall every morning on her way to work and she and the stall owner, Ooma, had become good friends.
"So," the red Twi'leck said after filling a bleary-eyed Rodian's order. "Any more exciting adventures as of late?"
Nikita laughed. "Not for a year now, and I'm not sure 'exciting' is the word I would use."
Ooma laughed as she took a very hung over human male's order.
"Oito thinks it's exciting. He still goes on about how you must've had to fight your way out with your bare hands," she said with an amused twinkle in her green eyes.
Oh if only he knew, Nikita thought to herself. Oito was Ooma's young son and the knight still remembered how he had grilled her with questions for hours after he had heard about her run-in with the Tusken Raiders. The seven year old had wanted to know every last detail. She hadn't told the whole story though. Just about everyone who knew her had heard about her being kidnapped by the Sand People a little over a year ago. As far as the public story went she had managed to escape with the help of some Jawas. She had left out the parts about her being captured and tortured by pirates first, then forced to work with the most infamous bounty hunter in the galaxy.
She had laid low for months after escaping Fett this most recent encounter, worried he was actually going to chase her down. He didn't and a few weeks later she heard why. Imperial authorities had discovered the drifting remains of a ship belonging to a Captain Toto Bratro. The bodies of the captain and his crew had all been found aboard what was left of the ship, but no evidence of the killer had turned up. It wasn't until they announced that the captain's credit accounts had all been drained that she knew exactly who the responsible party was. A part of her worried that the bounty hunter would return to finish things with her after he had taken care of the pirates, but it had been a little over a year with no sign of him. She had allowed herself to relax just the slightest bit, knowing she was still on Fett's list but deciding she would deal with him when he next appeared.
The Jedi surfaced from her thoughts and groaned when she realized who she had been idly thinking about. She lifted her cup to take another sip of caf only to find it empty.
"Are you okay, Nikita," Ooma asked having heard the younger woman's groan of dismay.
"Fine," Nikita answered, shooting her empty cup a dirty look. "Just had some annoying thoughts crop up." She glanced up to see pink streaks beginning to decorate the sky and turned back to Ooma. "I've got to get to work. Can I get another cup to go, please?"
"Two in one hour," Ooma remarked with a smile. "That's not like you at all."
"Well today I think I'm going to need all the caffeine I can get," Nikita answered with a grin as she raised her new cup in farewell. The grin was wiped from her face in an instant, however, when the force gave a sudden pulse of warning around her. The Jedi froze, scanning the area, but didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. She picked up her pace to get to Chalmun's, hoping the warning was nothing serious but knowing otherwise in her gut.
The minute she stepped foot in the bar area the force pulsed another warning, stronger this time. The knight cast a quick glance around the room for any sign of bounty hunters hiding in the corners, or rather one particular bounty hunter, before scolding herself.
"I'm getting too paranoid," she muttered as she walked behind the bar. Wuher stepped out of one of the back rooms, greeting her with his usual morning grunt when he spotted her. She busied herself filling the ice bin and organizing the glasses, but her mind was still trying to puzzle out the warnings she had felt. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the footsteps at the entrance at first. When she did she stiffened until she saw that it was only Calo, looking way too cheerful for so early in the morning.
"Hey baby," he said as he slid onto a bar stool. "You look frazzled. Have a rough night last night?"
Nikita glared at him. She was not in the mood to deal with the obnoxious teen this morning.
"Isn't it a bit early for you," she asked, hoping he would take the hint and leave. He didn't.
"I'm just tryin' to get a piece o' the action, honey," Calo said with a cheeky grin. "Speakin' o' action, you doin' anythin' tonight?"
Before Nikita could tell the boy off Wuher stepped up beside her and leaned across the bar, getting in the boy's face.
"Why don't you go home and come back when we're awake enough to deal with you."
Calo let out a nervous laugh and leaned away from the older man, almost falling off his stool when he tried to get up and run out the door.
"Thank you," Nikita sighed as she rubbed her now aching head. Wuher let out a grunt as he went back to cleaning glasses.
"I don't see why you don't kick that obnoxious shit out on his ass," he said in a gruff, irritated voice.
"He might like it too much," she replied flatly. "And despite the fact that he's annoying and seems to have no tact whatsoever he doesn't do any real damage."
Another grunt was all she got in response and the two finished prepping the bar in silence.
Nikita sat behind the bar about ready to beat her head against the countertop. This had to be the slowest day she had ever seen in the cantina since she had been working there. The knight took a sip of her caf, making a face when she realized it had gotten cold, and propped her chin on her hand. They had seen maybe ten customers since opening and it was almost double noon. She had tried turning on the holonews but had shut it off immediately when she saw that the Empire was broadcasting about the remaining bounties on Jedi's heads.
The quiet and caffeine had done nothing to help her figure out what the force was trying to warn her about and she closed her eyes in an attempt to sense anything that would give her a clue. The very air felt tense around her, like a bowstring about to snap. Whatever was about to happen was going to be drastic, but all she could tell from the way the force buzzed around her was that she was going to be at the center of it.
That was not a comforting thought.
The sound of someone calling her name out in panic snapped Nikita from her thoughts and she looked up to see Ooma come running into the cantina. The poor Twi'leck ran up to the knight, looking as though she'd seen a ghost. Tears streamed down her face and she was shaking uncontrollably. The woman's distraught appearance set the Jedi's senses on high alert and she vaulted over the bar to reach Ooma faster. The poor Twi'leck tried to tell Nikita what was wrong but she couldn't get any words out past her sobs. Nikita grabbed Ooma's shoulders, steering her to sit on one of the stools and shouting at Wuher to bring her a glass of water.
"Okay Ooma," Nikita said after the woman had taken several swallows of water. "Try and tell me what's wrong."
"I-its Oito," the Twi'leck responded, taking a shaky breath. "I went home to check on him a-and the house had been broken into and—," she broke off with a sob.
"It's okay," Nikita said in a soft voice as she urged the woman to drink more water. "The house was broken into, so where was Oito?"
"Gone," Ooma sobbed. "It looked like he fought but they still took him!" She reached into her purse and pulled out a datapad, her hands shaking so bad she almost dropped it. "T-this was o-on the table."
Nikita took the datapad from her. It was one of the disposable models, making it impossible to trace. The screen was locked to display a short message.
[If you ever want to see the boy alive again come to these coordinates alone, Jedi.]
She sat and stared at the datapad, feeling the force weigh down on her shoulders as it echoed in warning around her. She read the message several times over. Someone was stooping awfully low to get at her, knowing Ooma would come to her for help. She immediately thought of Fett, but this didn't feel like his style. If he hadn't agreed with Toto torturing her she couldn't see him kidnapping a child to lure her out of hiding.
"How long ago did you find Oito gone," she asked, looking back up at Ooma.
"O-only a little bit ago. Maybe ten minutes… Oh Nikita! What am I going to do? I don't know any Jedi! I'm never going to see Oito again!" She broke down sobbing once more and Nikita felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. This was her fault. She placed her hands on Ooma's shoulders causing the older woman to look up at her.
"I swear to you, Ooma, I will do everything in my power to get Oito back safe."
"You mean you're going out there to meet them? Alone? But… you're not a Jedi! I've never even seen you carry a blaster!"
"Please, Ooma, you have to trust me on this," Nikita replied in a calm voice. "Now, do you have a vehicle I can borrow?"
She sped through the desert, pushing the speeder bike Ooma had lent her to well beyond its recommended limit. Safety was the least of her concerns right now. Her only objective was getting Oito back alive and in one piece.
The coordinates provided led her out to the middle of the Jundland Wastes, near Hanter's Gorge. She knew the area well enough to know there was nothing of note out there. It was far from any of Tatooine's cities making it a perfect ambush site. She arrived at the meeting location to find it was on top of a large, barren plateau. There was only one way in and out of the area and she slowed the speeder bike to a crawl, keeping an eye out for any traps or surprise attacks. None came and she continued to the top of the plateau, stopping when she spotted three figures standing out in the open waiting for her. She shut down the speeder and made her way toward them at a cautious pace, her lightsaber in hand. They were bounty hunters; that much she could tell. The one on the left she recognized from her days during the war: Cad Bane, dressed in his trademark brown duster and wide brimmed hat. The other was an assassin droid who had Oito in a headlock and a blaster pressed to the boy's head. Nikita's eyes flicked past them, scanning the area for any signs of a ship. She didn't see any and she glanced up at a cliff that rose above where they were standing on the opposite end of the plateau. It was possible they had hidden their ship up there, but she didn't have time to dwell on it.
"That's close enough, Jedi," Bane said when she was within hearing distance. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."
"I'm here for the boy."
"Don't worry, Jedi. My friend has been taking good care of him," Bane responded.
Nikita looked over at Oito and smiled, attempting to reassure him. "Are you okay, Oito? They haven't hurt you, have they?"
"No," the young red Twi'leck shook his head as much as the droids arm would let him. "I'm scared, Nikita."
"It's going to be okay. You'll be back with your mom in no time. Just trust me, okay?" The boy nodded and she turned back to Bane, her smile hardening into a glare. "You've got what you wanted, bounty hunter. Now let him go."
Bane let out a chuckle. "Oh I don't think so, Jedi. First get rid of that lightsaber."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I feel obliged to advise you that IG-97 here tends to have an itchy trigger finger."
The assassin droid tightened its grip around Oito's neck and pressed its blaster harder against his head, causing the boy to let out a whimper. Nikita's eyes narrowed as she watched the droid before turning her attention back to Bane. The Duros crossed his arms and stared back in challenge.
"If you kill the boy you lose all your leverage against me," the knight said in an even tone.
"Are you willing to bet the boy's life on that, Jedi," Bane asked.
"No, but I'm willing to bet my own," she answered, bursting into motion. In an instant she ripped the blaster from the droid's grip with a vicious force pull, actually tearing the droids arm off with it and flinging it at Bane, causing him to duck. She raised her other hand and balled it into a fist. The assassin droid began to spark and shake as its chassis caved in; its other arm loosening enough that Oito was able to wriggle free.
"Get behind me, Oito," Nikita shouted as she saw Bane draw his blaster pistols. With another swift twist of her wrist the Jedi picked up the offline droids frame and threw it into Bane, knocking him to the ground. She cast a quick glance behind her to check on where Oito was when the force echoed in sudden warning around her. The knight whipped back around, attempting to ready her lightsaber, but the warning had come too late.
Something slammed into her right shoulder, the force of the blow knocking her off her feet and spinning her around. She landed several feet back from where she had been standing, just barely managing to keep her face from smashing into the ground. Pain shot through her shoulder, arm, and neck like lightning, causing her arms to collapse under her weight. She became vaguely aware of someone screaming her name but before she could attempt to look she felt a boot kick under her ribs and roll her onto her back. The knight sucked in a sharp breath as pain coursed through her body at the sudden motion and looked up to see Bane standing over her with one of his pistols aimed at her head.
"That was a very stupid move, Jedi," he ground out through clenched teeth. "You're lucky you're worth more alive."
Nikita watched as he looked past her and motioned with his free hand.
"Come here, boy, and bring me the Jedi's lightsaber!"
She heard the sound of footsteps and Oito came into view. The boy hesitantly held her lightsaber out to Bane who snatched it from his hands.
"Good boy. Now help the Jedi to her feet."
To Nikita's surprise Bane walked away from her, but when she lifted her head to get a better look she saw that he had only walked a few feet away and still had his blaster trained on her.
"Aurra, get down here," he said into his wrist comm. Nikita let her head fall back to the ground. So there had been a third bounty hunter. Why had the warning come so late? A sniffle to her right caught her attention and she glanced over to see Oito with tears streaming down his face.
"You're bleeding," he whimpered.
Nikita pushed herself up to a sitting position with Oito's help and began examining the damage to her shoulder. The hit had gone clean through and since what she could see of the exit wound was almost twice as big as the entry she knew whatever had hit her wasn't an ordinary blaster bolt. Blood had already soaked through her vest across most of her shoulder area and was running down her arm.
"I'm okay, Oito. It's not as bad as it looks," she said, trying to calm the boy. She placed her good hand over the wound and closed her eyes in an attempt to sense the extent of the damage. The bullet had managed to miss both bone and arteries somehow, but she wasn't going to be able to use that arm any time soon. She began trying to heal her wound enough to stem the bleeding but the crack of a blaster shattered her concentration. She opened her eyes to see a smoking hole in the sand next to her leg and looked over at Bane.
"Don't even think about it, Jedi," he said. "Unless you want me to add to that hole in your shoulder."
Nikita glared at him and lowered her hand, wiping it on her pants to try and get the blood off. The sudden thrum of an engine caused her to look past Bane to see a small silver freighter appear over the ridge of the cliff in the distance and maneuver down to land several yards from where he was standing. No sooner had it landed than the ramp dropped down and a tall woman with pale white skin in an orange jumpsuit walked off the ship and over to them. As she neared Nikita noticed the wicked looking slugthrower rifle slung across her back and her eyes narrowed. So that was what she had been shot with, but why had the warning come so late? The woman reached Bane and looked over in her direction and she felt the faintest echo of the force. So that was how. She was force sensitive and had hidden her presence.
"What took you so long earlier," Bane asked.
"I would've shot sooner but the Jedi kept moving," the woman, whom Nikita assumed to be Aurra, shot her a dirty look before turning back to Bane. "What about 97?"
"Dead," he answered motioning to the offline assassin droid a few feet away.
"Oh well, more for us. Let's cuff her and get off this rock."
"Here," Bane said as he tossed a pair of stasis cuffs to her. "I'll cover you. Leave the boy."
Oito let out another whimper and clung to Nikita as Aurra started toward them. She had only taken a few steps when Nikita saw her pause and glance up at the sky with a frown. It was then the Jedi heard the low rumble of another ship approaching.
"Well, well," Aurra remarked. "Looks like we have company." As soon as the words had left her mouth her eyes narrowed and she yelled at Bane to move as the ground between them and Nikita was bombarded with blaster cannon fire.