Chapter 29 Sand and more sand

Before setting down Ty'karus reminded both of his apprentices that Tatooine was disputed territory with a Republic presence.

"We need to be mindful at all times, this place is a hot spot for criminal activity as well as being a bounty hunter haven. We will pick up supplies in the market and then head out. My goal is in and out as quick as possible." The ship locked on to the spaceport beacon and began an automated decent.

"Master can you tell us why we are here?" Akita asked. He nodded.

"I am looking for a Sith with whom I am on sociable terms. He has something I need and I have something he needs. Hopefully this will be a quick and painless transaction and we can be on our way."

The shipped touched down moments later. They passed through customs and Ty'karus checked the imperial news feeds before leaving the spaceport. As they left the spaceport terminal they encountered a number of small market stalls. They sold a number of items including sun goggles, bottled water and surprisingly, tourist items. Ty'karus purchased three sets of sun goggles and handed a set to Akita and Valenya.

To say that Tatooine is hot is to say that the space is cold. It's an understatement. Ty'karus took a deep breath and realized why he hated Tatooine. It was so dry that people actually made a living off of farming water out of the atmosphere. It took complex machinery that ran almost twenty-four by seven.

Sun goggles in place they made their way down the main thoroughfare. Ty'karus checked his chrono then hit his wrist comm unit. There was a momentary crackle followed by a series of beeps. He pulled a small device from one of his belt pouches, he held it up against his comm unit and activated the device. Valenya and Akita looked on curiously. There was a momentary pause and another set of beeps came through his comm unit. Satisfied with the results he deactivated the device and his comm unit.

Tatooine's notoriety came from three key factors. It was a haven for criminal activity, it was hot and at the ass end of space. As they made their way Akita and Valenya both noticed the imperial presence, there were numerous armor clad troopers moving in squads. Next to many of the buildings there were imperial droids and armored transports.

They both noticed what was missing, the standard imperial swagger. Troopers almost always walked with a self-assured swagger, they were considered high up in the order of things, well as far as the empire was concerned. Valenya did a quick scan of the nearby troopers and was surprised to find them all on alert. Their stress levels were much higher than she had expected. It was as if each of them was waiting for the hammer to drop. They were equally surprised to note that the troopers seemed to relax upon seeing a Sith pass by with two apprentices in tow.

"Do you feel that Valenya?" Akita whispered.

Valenya nodded. "It's like they are actually happy to see us. What would make anyone happy to see a Sith?" Ty'karus paused at the comment. Valenya grimaced and offered a silent apology. Akita laughed quietly. They turned right, traveled down and to the right and headed to what looked like a cantina or eating establishment.

"Of course it's a bar, why would we be meeting a Sith in a civilized location." Valenya sighed.

"For your information apprentice we are not meeting anyone here. We are simply making ourselves available to be seen. My contact will have someone inside who will validate my appearance and then provide us with the meeting location. Basic operational security." He said. Ty'karus did a quick scan of the surrounding buildings roof-line then entered the cantina.

It was not overly loud but there was certainly a din coming from the patrons. Some moved as they saw Ty'karus enter others sneered and stood their ground. Ty'karus managed to glide by them without incident. The place was large there were two bar areas and eight raised platforms, half had a single dancer and the others had two dancers. All were in various stages of undress and dancing to music that pulsed through the air.

Ty'karus moved to the closest bar and took a seat. Akita and Valenya took the seats on either side. The bar tender was a large Duros. Ty'karus placed an order and three drinks were placed on the bar in front of him. He passed one to each of his apprentices.

"Be mindful." He gave them a casual smile but they could both tell he was on edge. Ty'karus sipped on his drink and turned in his seat to watch the crowd.

Most of the people were broken into groups some sitting in the darkened booths and others gathered around the dancers on raised platforms. Some could be seen coming and going in pairs through the doors along the back wall. Prostitutes stood against the walls waiting for customers. There was the occasional raised voice but nothing seemed to be getting out of hand. This was probably due to the quality and ready access to intoxicants rather than the bouncers. The bouncers seemed to limit themselves to the exits and doors to the back rooms.

Ty'karus checked his wrist chrono and finished his drink. He signaled to Akita and Valenya and stepped away from the bar. They made their way toward one of the rear exits without incident. As they approached the bouncer located at the exit nodded and opened the door for them. Ty'karus froze, there beyond the door were four people, the first was a large humanoid the look of surprise on his face was clear. Beside him was a muscular green female with long black hair and dark eyes, behind her stood a tall armored droid with six appendages. Valenya did not have time see anything else as Ty'karus had pulled his saber.

The droid in the back reacted with machine efficiency and tossed something into the room between Akita and Valenya. Ty'karus recognized the magnetic claymore, the explosive device was designed to seal to the floor and detonate. The controlled blast would only affect those in front of the device.

Ty'karus force enhanced reflexes allowed him a fraction of a second to react; he chose to protect his apprentices as well as the innocent bystanders by encasing himself in a static field, with the explosive. The fields snapped up just as the shaped charge device detonated. Ty'karus force shield absorbed much of the blast before it fell. As he had been inside the shield with the device he took the brunt of its force. Even depleted the shock wave picked Ty'karus up and punched him into the crowd.

The large humanoid in front wasted no time getting over his surprise, he pulled a wicked looking double barrel blaster and began firing at Ty'karus. He missed cleanly as Ty'karus tumbled through the air thanks to the force of the explosive blast. The green skinned woman pushed past him into the room a pair of blasters flashed as she opened fire at the establishments security. Pandemonium erupted. People pushed and screamed as they ran for cover, others pulled weapons and joined the fray.

To their shock and surprise neither Akita nor Valenya had been targeted in the initial volley. Akita pushed at a group of people nearby sending them sprawling along the floor, it gave her room to move while minimizing damage to the bystanders. Valenya rolled to the right and came up with her saber blazing blue. The droid moved into the room and immediately deployed a set of thin spider like arms that grabbed onto the wall and allowed him to pull himself off the floor. He took up a position on the wall above the door. From this vantage point he began spraying blaster fire at Valenya and a number of other patrons who had likewise pulled weapons and were returning fire.

Moments later the room was full of blaster fire and people dying. Akita bounced around the room turning twisting and flipping. Her saber flashed feverishly trying to block blaster fire while she pushed bystanders out of harm's way with the force. Valenya concentrated on the droid as the others in his group appeared occupied by security and the other combatants.

She reached out and grabbed at debris in the area including chairs and anything solid. She then redirected the mass in a single stream at the droid moving along the wall like a big black spider. The droid was unable to continue firing as all its attention turned to self-preservation. It placed its free appendages over the sensor array on its head. Valenya reached out and picked up the largest object she could lift. She pulled with all her strength and the table broke loose from its moorings. It sailed through the air and landed flush against the droid, it slid from the wall impacting on the floor in a heap.

Having cleared the area of bystanders Akita turned her attention to the green skinned woman, she and her group had taken cover behind fallen tables made of metal and stone. There was now a steady stream of fire between two ends of the club as security and armed patrons at one end fired at the group behind the tables near the rear exit. Akita approached the barricaded group deflecting blaster shots as she went. Valenya aided her from cover, tossing tables and chairs towards the group with the force.

Akita was only a few meters away from them when another explosive device dropped at her feet. She instinctively leapt away from the device, her flight dropped her next to Ty'karus. Akita looked down to check on his condition and was shocked to see bone protruding from his chest. The blast had caught him full and at close range it tore into him with little resistance, his face was burnt and she could see bone and teeth through his torn face. It was clear that one of his arms was broken or worse. Dark blood poured from his mouth and nose. She listened to his breathing it was shallow and quick coming in short bursts. He was dying.

Akita snapped. Valenya saw it but was not close enough to do anything. He had saved them rather than himself. He had told Valenya how much she and Akita meant to him. For the first time she realized just how much he was willing to sacrifice to keep them safe, now he was going to die. Valenya was yelling at Akita but it was clear she was not listening. The rage built faster than Akita had imagined possible, she did nothing to stop it. She turned and screamed. The tables that they had been using for cover a moment ago slammed them into the wall. Metal bars from the raised dance platforms pulled away like paper and flew through the air, transformed into deadly projectiles. The first one skewered the green skinned woman and she died pinned to the wall.

Akita shot her hand outward and lightning ran down the length of her red saber and flashed through the air, the blue skinned man who had come in last, exploded as the heat from the lightning engulfed his body. Akita let go of the lightning for a moment, took a deep breath and strode forward. By this time the armed patrons and security had retreated and were exiting through the front doors. Valenya lept forward and grabbed at Akita's wrist. Akita turned on her, as she did Valenya reflexively raised her saber, it deflected a glancing blow from Akita's blue saber.

"I'm going to make them pay!" She screamed at Valenya.

"He wouldn't want this you know that." Valenya screamed back. The large man moved under one of the tables he was reaching in vain for his blaster. Akita picked him up with the force and pulled him to her. He was clutching at his throat with one hand, the other arm hung limp at his side. She screamed at him and lighting ran through him causing him to spasm and thrash in her grip. Valenya slapped her hard, it had no visible affect. Not willing to take her attempt to the next level she leapt back to her fallen master to see if he was truly dead. 'Please don't be dead, you can't leave us alone like this, we need you, I need you.' She prayed silently.

His condition was critical but she could feel that there was still life in him. If her skills were greater perhaps she could heal him fully but as he was she could only hope to keep him from dying. She clipped her saber back on her belt and put both hands on his chest. She pulled on the force and reached into him looking for his wounds.

There were so many, broken bones, lacerated organs, he was a mess. Desperately she pulled harder and harder at the force pushing it into him. Fear crept into her mind and she fought it back. True to her new path she let her need drive her, a sense of growing loss filled her as she thought of going on without him. She let that mix into her strength and pulled harder on the force. A moment before she feared her body would explode with the force, she felt it, his heart beat stabilized and he took a deep ragged breath.

"Akita He's alive, I need your help!" she screamed. Akita heard her, she slammed the man into the wall and he hit the ground alive but unconscious. Akita was at Valenya's side in an instant. Valenya looked at her while she continued to work. There were tiny purple veins running in all directions from Akita's eyes. She was still burning with the dark side.

Akita's breathing was almost as ragged as their master's, her lungs burned with power and she was shaking from the force that coursed through her. Ty'karus eyes flickered open, he smiled at Valenya, deep red blood trickled from his mouth. He turned to look at Akita, he attempted to reach out and touch her face but he did not have the strength. Akita took his hand and held it to her face.

"Shssh my love let go your hate, please." He passed back into unconsciousness'. Akita shot a look at Valenya.

"He's going to live, I promise, I just need him to sleep." Desperate to give Akita time to calm down she told her to stay with their master.

"I am going to see if I can get anything out of the one you left alive." Akita made a move to stand and Valenya put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm serious, stay with him!" she barked at Akita. Satisfied that Akita was going to do as she asked, Valenya walked over to the broken man lying on the floor.

Valenya knelt next to the man and checked on his wounds. She felt confident that he would live but without additional treatment, it would be weeks before he was in any shape to do much of anything. She looked at the blaster lying beside him and sent it skittering across the floor all the same.

She rolled him over and searched him. She took three credit sticks his identity card and an access keycard. She also found another chip tucked into a hidden pocket next to his heart. 'Makes sense, if someone puts a blaster or knife through the chip into your heart, you won't need to worry about it anymore.' She thought. She needed to heal him enough for Akita to question him then trade places with her so that she could continue working on their master. Valenya had asked Akita to watch Ty'karus to prevent her from killing the only person who could provide answers.

Valenya centered herself as best she could, her anger faded as did her fear, something else lingered. It was a new feeling one she was not familiar with it kept her looking back at Ty'karus. 'You doubted him and yet look he what risked for you.' The feeling was shame.

She tried one more time to clear her mind and then let the force flow through her into this man lying at her feet. Valenya knitted his wounds but prevented him from regaining consciousness. She picked him up and carried him closer to Akita and Ty'karus.

With the exception of some moaning and crying the club was quiet. Valenya knew it would not last.

"Akita I'll wager we will have imperials in here any moment, you need to deal with them. I will watch him now." She pointed to the unconscious man Akita had attacked. "He won't be waking up any time soon so don't worry about him." As if on cue the doors opened and a squad of troopers entered in combat formation.

Akita took a deep breath wrapped herself in her robe and pulled up the hood, she activated her red saber and stepped out from behind cover. The trooper in charge straightened and approached her. He stopped before her and gave a curt bow. "Sargent Yanar, my lord." He saluted; Akita pulled back the hood of her robe. The trooper took in her appearance, seeing the dark side markings on her face he stiffened slightly.

"I am Akita'Ty slave and apprentice to the Inquisitor Ty'karus, she put on her best Sith smile as she identified herself as a slave, her yellow eyes threatened to burn a hole through the sergeant. "My master requires a medical droid, you will summon one and then ensure we are undisturbed. We have his attacker in custody and I need time to question him." She imitated her master's chuckle.

"I will have a med droid sent right away my lord. My men and I will secure the perimeter, nobody will enter without your permission." He saluted again turned and beat a hasty retreat. Akita stepped out into the light so that the rest of the squad could see her, she threw back her cloak and let them see her slaves clothing as well as her curves. She put her hand on her hip.

"Sergeant Yanar. If anyone learns my master's name from you or your men, I will find you and make you wish for death. She let a smile crawl across her face slowly. The sergeant and his men exited the building and slammed the doors shut behind them.

Akita let out a breath and turned quickly back to Valenya and her master. Valenya was looking at her with a look of shock on her face. Akita fell down beside the man she loved, Valenya could feel the rage and fear build in her. It did not require her force sense to see it, it was clear on her face.

"Akita focus, you need to be Sith until we are out of here." Valenya grabbed Akita's hand and squeezed. "I will not let our master die; I can keep him alive until the droid gets here I know I can." Valenya assured Akita.

Akita's body was shaking, her eyes glowed with the dark side and pain. She began rocking back and forth while wrapping her arms around her chest. Valenya touched Akita's mind and recoiled, her emotions were more than she could bare.

"Akita sing for me." Valenya begged her. Akita shot her a look of disgust.

"What? He is dying and you want me to sing?" Akita's voice did not even sound like her. Valenya was crying on the inside, everything was falling apart. They had all suffered and yet they wanted to hope that there was another way and now it looked like their dream would die here. Their master was dying and Akita was slipping away out of the shadow into the darkness.

"Please Akita, you told me you sang for him, it may help. Please sing for him." Valenya clung to hope, it was all she had.

Akita turned her back on Valenya and stood silently in the dark. Minutes ticked away and then Valenya heard it, barely audible at first, then it grew. Akita was signing, Valenya recognized it, she had heard it many times on Coruscant. It was a popular song among the youth, she recalled that a number of the apprentices had been cautioned against singing it due to its emotional impact. It was a painful love song, unrequited love and it ended with a young lover letting the woman he loved go so that she would be happy with another.

Valenya had always thought such songs were childish and simple. As she listened to Akita sing, an ache formed in her stomach that she could not contain. The pain moved to her throat, she had no idea that Akita could sing like that.

Akita's emotions fought a war in her soul. The pain was unbearable, rage fought with love, vengeance battled sacrifice, as she sang. The main door opened and light poured in, the droid slid along on tracks, passed Akita ignoring her. Its scanners looking side to side, it came to a halt next to Valenya.

"Hello mistress, please move back I need room to assess the patient." Valenya moved to the other side of her master. The droid began immediately probing Ty'karus, it pulled a box of tools from the platform between its tracks. Valenya looked back to Akita, she was still singing only there were objects floating in the air near her, it looked as if the gravity in the area had failed, except that they were planet side and there was no artificial gravity.

Sergeant Yanar stepped inside and stood watching Akita, his fear at her reaction overwhelmed by his need to listen. Valenya could see at least one other armored body near the door. Akita repeated the song and her voice turned ragged, when she reached the part where the young man watched as the woman he loved walked out of his life forever, there was a sudden burst of laughter from Akita and lightning lit the room. Her hands outstretched as blasts of white hot energy crawled along the walls, stone cracked, fixtures and mirrors shattered. The sergeant pulled back and slammed the door shut again.

Akita fell to her knees and changed the song, Valenya had not heard this song before, it was a song celebrating new life and the harvest. It had the sound of a song from Akita's home Ryloth. As she sang this song from her home something changed in her, Valenya could feel the anger break like a wave on the rocks. A moment later her consular's training let her feel as Akita sat there drained, her anger finally spent. Valenya smiled a small joyful smile.

"I am sorry mistress he needs to be moved to a medical facility, there is little I can do for him here." The droid moved back from his patient. Valenya looked at him in disbelief, Akita walked over and dropped down beside Valenya.

"You must fix him." Her voice was empty. The droid repeated its warning dispassionately. "Is there a facility here?" Valenya asked the droid.

"No mistress this planet's field hospital does not have the required facilities." It delivered its verdict and sat in silence.

Valenya clutched at ideas, she wanted to scream and then a small voice begged her for attention. It was moving forward and she listened. Her eyes grew wide. Akita had cried herself empty.

"Akita, I know what to do!" She grabbed at Akita and shook her. Akita turned to face her with blank eyes.

"Akita the ceremony, we can use it to work together to heal him" Akita blinked.

"I'm not a healer." She whispered. Valenya smiled at her.

"But I am, and you can channel your power through me, you just have to trust me, don't fight me. Akita I trust you, trust me and we can do this." She pleaded. Akita wiped at her face, she slid herself next to Valenya and took her hand. Valenya helped her stand.

"Remember, all your energy and trust, above everything else trust me." Akita blinked and nodded understanding. Valenya reached into Akita and looked searched for her power, it was the first time they had tried this and they were nowhere near the skill level that was suggested in the book that described the ritual. She let her mind float around for a moment then she gently called out searching for Akita's power. She found it, she could sense the pain in Akita as she touched her power. It made her heart ache. A moment later she wrapped herself around Akita's power, it sent a shiver through her body.

The power flowed into her threatening to overwhelm her. She opened her eyes and looked at Ty'karus. Her eyes lingered on him for only a moment, she let herself sink into his body, changing the ritual to fit her healing needs was not mentioned in the book and there was a part of her that knew there was a real chance this would kill them all.

"It's ok, I trust you." Akita's mind told her. There was a flow of warmth and Valenya took hold of the power between them. She took a moment to calm herself then swam through his body. She paused at his arm, she wanted to start with the least of his injuries. Their joined power flowed through her knowledge of healing and his bones healed as she watched. The muscles and bones popped back into place. Her confidence building Valenya plotted a course through his wounds leaving his face to the last. She smiled as each wound closed, she could feel something else in his body.

"Akita I need you to pull on the force take in as much as you can without hurting yourself. I need to concentrate on the binding of his tissues." Valenya did not wait for an answer she forged ahead. Something swam past her mind as she moved towards his heart. A moment later she moved through his shoulders and it was there again nearby something watching her floating past her in his body, she could feel its energy growing but could not see it.

Moments passed, Valenya summoned her courage and moved, at last, to his face and head.

"Hurry Valenya I won't be able to hold this power long" Akita warned her. Valenya began in silence, she concentrated and moved power into his face and head. Something floated past her, it was powerful and watching her. Valenya could not let herself be distracted no matter the cost. She ignored it. A warm shadow swam up behind her mind. She could feel Akita's mind and power next to her inside Ty'karus body. She could also feel as the warm shadow reached out toward her. 'I won't move, will not stop no matter what. So close almost done just another moment' she thought. It fell on her wrapping itself around her, the warm shadow kissed her mind for just an instant. Valenya let go of the force and she and Akita fell to the floor.