Two days after having successfully escaped Halm; the unlikely group of would be bounty hunters are finally resuming their hunt for the Jedi. Once they'd gotten the Rawndeller operational the lead foursome agreed upon Bespin as their destination, taking their cue from Woq'aa who claimed he had friends there that owed him several large favors. They had just barely reached the gas giant before burning through the remainder of their fuel. They set down on a floating fuel depot where the Rodian cashed in all his favors for fuel, food, some new clothes and a few extra weapons.
Once resupplied the group would find that attempting to pick up the homing beacon proved unreliable at best. However Woq'aa was able to get the faintest of signals pointing them down the Nothoiin Corridor, a hyperspace lane that ran from Gerrenthum, not far from Bespin, to Eriadu. Despite their more than adequate resupply that the Rodian was responsible for; Kreeg and the others were starting to become overly frustrated. There was no evidence to support that the Jedi would be found on Eriadu, however they didn't need any. Woq'aa quickly reminded his new business partners of the memories recalled when he first encountered the female human Jedi.
The Jedi had been looking for a young human boy, one fitting the description of just such a boy that had stowed away on his very ship some three years ago. Woq'aa had told the Jedi he'd booted the stow away at either Commenor or Xagobah after discovering the youth. Truth be told, even back then, the Rodian couldn't precisely remember where he'd dropped the boy off. However he clearly recalled telling her it was one of those planets, which led to Woq'aa's claim that he had some educated guesses on where she might have gone.
Commenor had an Imperial presence so that was immediately ruled out, Xagobah was nearly ruled out due to the atmospheric conditions being inhabitable by humans. However as the beacon pinged off the Nothooin Corridor Woq'aa smiled realizing his theory could have just been proven right. Xagobah was located in the neighboring sector to Eriadu, where the hyperspace lane ended. It took some convincing, given the atmospheric conditions on Xagobah but eventually Kreeg and the others decided to check it out. They all knew Jedi were told to be crafty, resourceful beings, plus it wouldn't be difficult to setup air scrubbers to solve the atmospheric issue. Now several hours later the Rawndeller drops out of hyperspace over the purplish jungle world.
"Run a scan for the beacon again." Suggests Kreeg.
The Rodian nods as he initiates the scan. "I got something! Not an exact location but I can narrow it down to the region."
"Why isn't it giving you a precise location?" Asks Vym.
"To prevent detection the beacon only transmits while the droid is active. We could be reading the last signal transmitted before they broke the atmosphere, so the droid may not be activated right now." Explains Woq'aa.
"There's still a lot of ground to cover in this region, even with the ship." Says Kreeg looking at the holomap. "Any idea how we can narrow it down?"
"We go in, see if we pick up another signal." Suggests Woq'aa.
"And if not?"
"This area south of the mountains is heavily populated by the indigenous, if need be we shake them down for information on the Jedi." Replies Woq'aa.
"Hey Kreeg." Says Meel from the co-pilot seat. "I'm picking up two ships coming in fast on our six."
Kreeg sharply trades looks with Vym and Woq'aa, wondering if either of them discreetly called for backup to cut them out of the hunt.
"Don't give me that look, I've been by your side the entire trip." States Vym.
Suddenly Woq'aa realizes the others are all looking to him. "They're not with me, besides who was the one who got us resupplied?"
"Exactly, you might feel like you're owed more than your equal cut!" Kreeg says drawing his blaster.
"Whoa, whoa!" Meel says trying to calm everyone down.
Woq'aa raises his hands seeing the blaster aimed at his chest as Vym also raises his rifle, pointing it in the Rodian's back.
Meel takes a quick look to ensure the cockpit door is closed then says, "Don't forget we have three other hands back there, any one of them could have called those ships in. Not to mention the fact that we don't even know their intentions yet."
"He's gotta point." Vym says having yet to move his rifle from its current position.
"We were all stuck on that dust ball planet for months and we worked together to get off it. Let's not start throwing accusations around." Adds Meel.
Kreeg gives his young co-pilot an admonishing look, given their private conversation shortly before leaving Halm. Yet he soon realizes what Meel's intentions are, none of them will profit from this if they start letting the lasers fly. Slowly he holsters his blaster, the Rodian looks over his shoulder and waits for Vym to lower his weapon before bringing his arms down.
"That's better." Says Meel after the environment inside the cockpit becomes slightly less tense. "Kreeg, take us in and we'll see if these two really are following us or not."
"Good idea spud." He says turning back in his seat to take the controls.
Kreeg brings the Rawndeller into the planet's atmosphere, keeping a close eye on their scanners. As the descend further they notice the ships have yet to move into a pursuit course; meanwhile Woq'aa attempts to lock onto the beacon again but doesn't receive any better results.
"She's gotta be somewhere out here." Says the Rodian.
"We could scan the region zone by zone for signs of life but that might give us away." Suggests Vym.
"He's right, we'll do it your way Woq'aa, kick over a few of those mushrooms and see what the indigenous have to say." Says Kreeg.
Kreeg takes them in and sets down the ship on the eastern edge of the sprawling cluster of mushrooms. As they gear up he discreetly gestures to Meel to keep his eyes peeled, especially on Woq'aa. As much as he might want to, Kreeg didn't trust any of them except his longtime copilot. Making a pact to take the Jedi alive, knowing the bounty would be much higher that way, the seven of them step off the ship and head for the nearest village atop the mushrooms.
After being back on Xagobah for a few days Jori was finally beginning to relax and feel at peace once more. Upon their arrival she and Rhyse promptly reactivated and cleaned the air purifiers scattered around her homestead. Once the air was breathable again she set to work teaching Rhyse to connect with the Malvil trees so he could begin shaping an extension of the homestead as a room for himself. She knew the skill would serve him and his training well; while the Malvil trees were unique to this world all Jedi learned to connect with the world around them. However when it came to her skills with the Malvil trees themselves, she was still a learner too and didn't have quite the experience to teach Rhyse as well as Khava had her. Thus Rhyse's progress was slow, so for the time being he slept out under the stars by her communal campfire.
Today as Rhyse trained with his new lightsaber against a trio of remotes as Jori sat nearby in quite observation. The boy's powers had grown drastically as a result of their visit to Halm and she delighted in seeing his confidence building. As Rhyse dodges and blocks the remote's stun beams Jori notices how much his fighting style was like that of his uncle's.
"You'd be so proud of him Ryaan." Jori says as she continues watching Rhyse's purple blade flash through the air.
Suddenly the boy takes a hit in the leg from one of the remotes, he grunts from the sting but keeps his attention on the other remotes. As his leg begins to buckle from the stun blast Rhyse rolls forwards into a somersault and comes up on one knee blocking the next two strikes. However with no feeling in his other leg he's unable to move in time to avoid the strike blast that comes from his flank. Rhyse feels his right side go numb as he falls back, his lightsaber deactivating as he hits the ground. With his blade extinguished the remotes immediately shut down per their programming. Once the feeling returns in his leg Rhyse gets to his feet and walks back towards his master.
"That was a good move." Says Jori.
"What, getting hit?" Rhyse says sitting down beside her.
"No, the roll. You didn't give up even though you were injured, you adapted and stayed in the fight."
"I still got taken down."
"True but with each lesson learned comes experience." Replies Jori.
"Yes Master." Rhyse says as he rises to start again.
"Enough saber practice for today, meditate on what you've accomplished. Win or lose a Jedi can learn from previous battles, so you can learn what you could have done better as well as what not to do next time."
Rhyse simply nods in response as he retakes his seat in a meditative pose, within moments he joins together with his master. As he concentrates on his saber matches with the remotes he senses Jori's mind is elsewhere, yet their connection remains intact.
After a few moments though Jori suddenly senses a disturbance in the Force! Upon determining the source of the tremor her eyes shoot open as she rises looking to the south.
Khava . . . . . the village.
Realizing there's some kind of trouble there she turns to Rhyse and says, "Stay here."
"What is it Master?"
Without answering him Jori grabs a rebreather mask fitting it into place as she mounts the Swoop bike.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"A friend is in trouble, stay here and be on your guard!" She doesn't hear him respond as she races off to the south on the Swoop.
Jori sticks close to the river, knowing it led straight into the village with the easiest terrain. She couldn't help but wonder if she should have taken the Arrow instead, obviously it would get her there faster but she didn't know the situation. As she raced along the riverbank at max speed Jori hoped she would get there in time before something terrible happened.
Meanwhile the crew of the Rawndeller began tearing through the mushroom villages demanding information on the Jedi. Seeing the unknown marauders were armed most of the Xamsters become frightened and run into their huts, however this proves futile as Kreeg and the others begin kicking or blasting their way through. Some of the small bipeds attempt to fight back using their native martial arts of Tal-Gun.
Kreeg takes notice of Woq'aa, Barrck and the others wasting no time in dispatching those that attempt to hinder their progress. The Rodian himself shoots and kills two Xamsters at point blank range after their attempt to fight back.
"What are you doing?" asks Vym as he watches the Rodian push his way into a small hut and grab a grayish Xamster by the throat.
"What we agreed to." Woq'aa says turning his blaster on the Xamster. "Tell me what you know about the Jedi!"
"Kreeg, we never said we were gonna kill the indigenous." Vym says.
Kreeg knew Vym was right and was about to put a stop to the senseless killing, he didn't want himself, Meel or even Vym to wind up with a death sentence on their heads. More importantly though he knew they wouldn't get what they needed by slaughtering the Xamsters. However as he steps forward to restrain his Rodian business partner he hears the Xamster in question mention a female human visitor.
"What was that?" Woq'aa asks nearly squeezing the life out of the little being.
"Woq'aa ease off him." Says Kreeg.
"Shut up." Replies Woq'aa without taking his eyes off the Xamster. "Talk!"
"I said ease off, you can't question a corpse!" Kreeg says pulling on his shoulder.
"He's gotta point." States Barrck.
The Rodian looks to the Nikto and back then finally releases his prey, shoving him back onto the ground. "Talk!"
"One of my neighbors has twice received a human female visitor but it's been two years or more since she was last here."
"Where did she go?" asks Woq'aa.
"I don't know but the last time she was here they accompanied her on board her ship and flew north. They returned a few days later." Explains the Xamster.
"What's north of here?" asks Vym."
"Nothing, the fungal forests until you reach the mountains."
"He's telling the truth, the scanners didn't pick up anything cities north of here on our way in." states Meel.
"Who's this neighbor of yours?" Kreeg asks.
The Xamster hesitates for a moment before answering. "Khava of Clan Nee."
"Unuki, no!" exclaims the Xamster's spouse.
"Quiet!" snaps Woq'aa.
"Where can we find him?" asks Kreeg, remaining focused on their task.
The Xamster hesitantly points to the next village. "Four communities over, it won't take you long to get there."
"You're gonna take us there!" demands Woq'aa.
With their weapons at the ready Woq'aa and Barrck stay close to the grayish Xamster as he leads them into the fourth village. With his patience waning the Rodian prods his would be guide for the location of Clan Nee, as the Xamster points towards one of the huts Kreeg suddenly notices his copilot is trying to get his attention.
"About time." Woq'aa says as he walks towards the hut.
With the others temporarily distracted Kreeg walks over towards his counterpart, Vym following.
"What's up?" he asks.
Meel looks up from his datapad spotting Vym standing there besides him, he holds his tongue for just a second until he receives a subtle nod from Kreeg to proceed.
"You know those two ships that we picked up in orbit?"
"Yeah."
"Well they're not in orbit anymore." Adds Meel. "They're in the atmosphere, headed north."
"North, just like where that Xamster said the Jedi went two years ago?" Suggests Kreeg.
"To be fair we don't know for sure the woman he's talking about was the Jedi." States Vym.
"Doesn't matter, one of them . . . " Meel says nodding towards Woq'aa and the others. ". . . somehow contacted their friends to search the area north of here. You're suspicions were right."
"My money's on Woq'aa." Says Vym. "What do you guys wanna do?"
Kreeg thinks for a moment then decides on sending Meel back to the ship. "Secure the Rawndeller and stay in contact, they might not notice you're gone."
"What if they do?" asks Meel.
"We'll worry about that when it happens, get going while they're distracted."
As Meel retreats back into the village Kreeg and Vym walk towards the hut where Woq'aa and the others are interrogating its inhabitants for information.
"I hope this means you trust me now." Asks Vym.
Kreeg exhales deeply and says, "I want to Vym but trusting the wrong person could get me killed, Meel too."
"What can I do to convince you?"
Kreeg stops and looks at him pondering his question, after a long moment he decides to take a shot. "Give me the power cell from your blaster?"
He didn't think the Feeorin would go for it and by the shocked expression on his face he knew it wasn't happening. However the Feeorin said nothing for a moment as he considered the prospect. A moment later he removes the cell from his rifle and tossed it to Kreeg, ensuring the others didn't witness the exchange.
"I hope that if things go south you'll be giving that back."
"We'll see, besides you still have your vibroblade." Replies Kreeg as they walk up to the hut. "What do we got."
"Nothing, this Nee claims he doesn't know what our guide is talking about." States Woq'aa.
"I'm not your guide." States Unuki. "And Khava does know a human woman, you spoke of her many times and claimed she was a powerful Jeedai."
Hearing that Woq'aa points his blaster at Unuki's head. "Tell me where she is or your friend will be a puddle gray ooze!"
Kreeg and Vym exchange a quick glance, wondering if they should attempt to restrain their trigger happy Rodian partner but given that they're on the verge of learning the Jedi's location they let the scene play out.
Khava exhales deeply and looks at his friend scornfully. "Oh Unuki, what has happened to your principles. She came to us for shelter and I happily provided it to her, in return all she sought was solitude."
"Where is she!?" Woq'aa asks again.
Suddenly Woq'aa and the others notice a small group of Xamsters returning to the village. Khava suddenly realizes his loyalty to Jori is about to be tested as he spots his nephew leading the group of youngsters. As long as Khrata was away from the village, Khava planned to sacrifice himself if need be to protect his Jedi friend..
"Uncle, what's going on?" Khrata says seeing the blaster aimed at his relative.
"These beings are looking for the Jedi." Khava says giving him the subtlest shake of his head.
Khrata studies his uncle's features carefully, taking into account the number of assailants as well as the children nearby and says, "What, what Jedi?"
Suddenly Unuki, Khava's neighbor, exchanges a look with him remembering that his nephew was privy to the information regarding the female Jedi. Before he can blow the whistles though Khava interrupts him.
"I will take you to her, my nephew doesn't know anything." Says Khava getting the Rodian's attention once more. "Just leave my people alone."
Sensing deception of some kind Woq'aa looks from the Khava to the neighbor and says, "You have something to say?"
Unuki looks at Khava, realizing he just bargained for all their lives with his own the gray Xamster turns to the Rodian. "No, I just want you gone from here."
With something still seemingly off Woq'aa comes up with a plan.
"Alright you'll take us . . ." he says to Khava. "Barrck, you and the others stay here and watch the village."
Hearing the change in plans Kreeg exchanges a curious look with Vym; more suspicious now than ever that Woq'aa is behind the two ships that seem to be on the hunt. However what surprises him is the look the two Devaronians exchange at hearing their new assignment, even Woq'aa picks up on it.
"What, is that a problem?" asks Woq'aa.
"No but you'll be minus three when you take on the Jedi." One of them replies.
"I think we can handle it" replies Woq'aa grabbing Khava by the arm.
"Let's go." As he approaches the others with his guide in tow he notices Meel is nowhere to be found. "Where's the kid?"
"He went back to the ship, said he felt sick." Explains Kreeg. "Thought the atmosphere might not agree with a Nautolan respiratory system."
"Fine, well since he's already there have him come get us."
With just a few klicks to go before reaching Khava's village Jori hears the sound of a starship flying low overheard. She slows her speed just momentarily to try and spot the craft but finds nothing, assuming it already flew out of range. She increases her speed suddenly spotting the first of many giant mushrooms ahead.
A moment later in the village, Barrck and the two Devaronians suddenly hear the sound of a rapidly approaching speeder. One of the Devaronians turns spotting the front air foil of the bike but nothing else as the others watch a flash of yellow light separating his head from his body!.
Spotting the armed sentients holding Khrata and his village people hostage Jori rides the Swoop straight up behind the Devaronian with his back to her. Calling her hilt to her hand with the Force she decapitates the first target as she jumps, somersaulting over the other two. She lands in front of the Nikto slashing the barrel off his blaster rifle before impaling him through the chest. She extracts the weapon just as the other Devaronian opens fire on her. Jori harmlessly deflects the first two blasts into the sky then sends the third back to him, hitting his forearm. The assailant drops his weapon and reaches for his comlink.
"Krathen's Horn come in! The Jedi is here at the village, send help!" the Devaronian says frantically as Jori leaps forward slashing him across his chest.
"Did you hear that?" says Kreeg having picked up the Devaronian's transmission in flight.
"Should we turn back?" asks Meel.
"No, he wasn't contacting us." Woq'aa states getting a suspicious look from the others. "That was one of the Devaronian's and he said Krathen's Horn, those have gotta be their buddies in those ships that were following us. I thought they were acting funny when I told them to stay behind."
While Kreeg and the others see his point none of them are ready to openly trust the Rodian.
"You still think I'm behind this?" asks Woq'aa incredulously.
"You have been giving quite a lot of orders since we landed." states Vym.
"I don't remember any of us agreeing that you could be in charge." Adds Kreeg.
"That's cause I have a lot riding on this, I need the credits."
"Yeah we know." Vym says.
"Okay so I feel I'm owed a slightly bigger cut than you guys but I haven't been plotting to rub you out of the deal!" exclaims Woq'aa.
After a long awkward silence Kreeg is the one to finally break the silence. "Alright I guess I believe you but stop giving us orders, understand? We're all in this together."
"Fine. So . . . . do we turn back?"
"No." suggests Vym. "If she took out Barrck and the others then the village people will tell her what's going on which means she'll head to the same place we're going to rescue her friend."
"If he's not yanking our chain." Kreeg says. "Where'd you stow the little thing anyway?"
"He's locked in the spare cabin." replies Woq'aa.
"I doubt that he's trying to pull one over on us, he probably thinks that the Jedi will take us out and rescue him." Adds Vym.
"Yeah." Kreeg says sarcastically.
"Alright, keep an eye on the scanners just the same." suggests Kreeg.