The situation was uncomfortably familiar for Maarani. It had been weeks since she had last been in a hospital bed, but that time at least had just left her with a headache and an awkward conversation. She didn't have the option to crawl onto the floor and hide this time.
It hadn't dampened her bothered mood either. There were still things to be dealt with while she waited to be transferred over to the surgical ward.
"Alright, Dana, go talk to whomever you have to about the incident with the droids and get it cleared up. Izan, go get your stuff packed. Jayden, go with him to make it go faster and in case there's anyone else he's pissed off. Cecile can stay here with me."
Dana was quick to leave with only a shrug in acknowledgement. Izan wasn't far behind, but did make a point of waiting around long enough to see if there was anything else to be said. A glare from Maarani, and Jayden's cold shove past answered that for him.
At the doorway, he couldn't resist getting one last jab in. "Don't shoot any dancers while I'm gone, okay?"
Maarani made an obscene gesture in response.
"I suppose that's a step up from telling me you're not interested for the upteenth…" He waved it off with a sigh. Jayden had gone on ahead to wait outside the medical ward, where he found her tinkering with something inside her helmet. There wasn't any hurry to finish when he did actually arrive on her part, and he wasn't about to tell a Mandalorian of any size to hurry up.
When she did finish, she returned the helmet to its usual position of being held against her left side. "I've never visited this place, so I'm trusting that you won't leading us into more trouble with the law enforcement. It's not easy to determine how much goodwill lingers after thirty years."
Izan gestured towards the section lift, which was across the plaza from them. "Yes yes, I don't need another history lesson on this place. I lived here because it paid well for sitting in a cantina and keeping tabs on people. And people talk in cantinas. A lot. About everything." He looked up to Jayden directly. "I suppose I'm less bothered by all the Surik the Heroic Exile stories now. Luxa really was a bitch."
It caused the Mandalorian to pause in her step and turn to him, her hand clasping on his shoulder. "She was protecting you, like any mother should. Maarani overreacted. End of story." Her hand fell away from his shoulder when she turned back to their destination and continued on.
The point couldn't be argued further. What had been intended as a wisecrack just minutes earlier had gone back to the dark truth. There was a precedent he couldn't ignore.
It was only in the privacy of the lift itself that he spoke up again. "I don't understand what goes on with you Jedi. I mean, obviously you're an exception to the norm, but Dana isn't bothered by all this. And I've seen some of the shady shit that Czerka has done, like what happened on Kashyyyk, I'm not judging. But why are you so strung up every time Maarani opens her mouth?"
Normally, Jayden would have taken offence to what was being so blatantly implied. That was entirely based in what the Mandalorian culture taught her, a need to protect her honour against any subversion. It should have been exactly why she was so disgruntled with Maarani, in her behaviour and her actions. And yet, it was far from that.
"She's too callous with her behaviour. I didn't expect that when I left my husband behind to help in training her." The doors opened before she could continue any further. And it was a welcome excuse. It made closing the conversation on that damning note so much easier. It wasn't nearly as easy to close the door on whatever was going on inside the Twi'lek's deranged mind.
The lower plaza was quite busy, and at times difficult for the two to navigate through. Even the corridors that branched off to each apartment were more populated than normal, which made the task of actually locating his room from a distance harder.
Somewhere in the middle of the plaza, he stopped to scratch his beard. "I'm sure I was covered for two weeks rent…" He went on a bit further. The level was right, but he had somehow forgotten the usual details that helped to discern his room from the other identical residential modules. And he had also forgotten to buy a new locator pad after they had arrived.
"What was the room number?"
"K2… I think?"
"You think?"
"It's been a week and a half, and in that time I've been shot at by HK droids and… well just HK droids." He kept his mouth shut about Aiyek to avoid any further issue with Jayden. It took a while longer to reach the K module, and longer still to find K2 as it was not the second door on their left as expected.
To his immense relief, his access card and code still worked, and the first view of the interior showed no sign that the station crew had been in to pack everything up.
"Good, they haven't found the stash of illegal weapons and drugs."
Jayden glared at him.
"Didn't I just say I've kept myself clean? Or is a lack of humour part of becoming a Jedi?" Again he had to wave off the issue to refocus on the task at hand. Everything was where it had been left when he ran from the block to rescue Maarani. The jacket with the Czerka insignia he had worn in the cantina was still haphazardly spread over his unkempt bed, as was his second blaster pistol.
He shoved the weapon down the side of his pants in a manner that made Jayden shake her head. "What now? I was in a hurry, so I forgot to hide the spare weapon okay? I don't keep all my blasters on me."
"Shoving it down your pants is the fastest way to burn a hole through your thigh. Or other parts." She yanked the pistol from his pants and tossed it back onto the bed. "Leave it there until we've packed everything else. Didn't Czerka teach you basic gun handling?"
Izan shrugged the question off at first while he began grabbing what clothes he had and tossed them in the general direction of his carry bag. "I was originally going to be trained as a trade negotiator, but when that fell apart I got to be an observer. Observers don't get full training. So I guess not shoving weapons down my pants isn't actually basic gun handling after all."
"You're right. It's actually common sense."
"Now you're cracking Maarani's style of jokes. That wasn't what I meant by getting a sense of humour!"
"It wasn't a joke. You're just taking on more of her callous nature. Like I said."
He grumbled to himself while tossing some empty food containers across the bed into another pile. "I'm not callous! You're a literal giant with a hardass for playing by the book. It's not like I carry my blasters in my pants anyway, I do have holsters for both!"
Jayden glanced around briefly, then knelt down to pick up what at first looked like the other missing blaster holster. Holding it closer to the light proved otherwise. Izan's shocked expression punctuated the answer for her.
"I'm going to assume these aren't yours…"
"Just burn it when we leave. You've got a flamethrower wrist thingy right?"
She tossed it aside with a light flick of her wrist and wiped the fingers of her gauntlet on the bedsheet. "Remind me not to shake anyone's left hand."
Now that she was further into the room itself, she had a better view of the conditions he lived in. The Distant Star was cluttered with junk that Maarani refused to throw out certainly, but at least had a semblance of decency. Izan's room had an awful mixture of alcoholic stenches to it, and the lack of a window made the already small space feel even more cramped.
On the solitary table in the room, that bore a handful of burn marks and food stains, she noticed a small holoprojector. She carefully picked it up, this time with her right hand, and turned back to Izan. "Anyone on here? Mother, father, previous love interest?"
He looked up from the other side of the bed only to give a bemused shrug. "I suppose Garizan is on there somewhere. That's where Izan came from if it's not obvious. Maybe there's others, who knows."
Jayden took a cautious look over the bed before turning and sitting on the very edge. The holoprojector was easy enough to activate, but actually trying to bring up any of the stored images was a challenge in itself. Even the portable communicators she had to rely on weren't nearly as confounded.
After further frustrated attempts to cycle through, she finally brought up one of the stored files. It was of a young woman, a bit plain in appearance, but still somehow bearing a vague resemblance to Izan. "Do you have a half-sister or something?"
"That'd be Chaser, a third cousin through Garizan. She's a mechanic in the Republic military I think. We don't really speak. Ever."
She noted the fact that he was quick to remember her before moving onto the next file, given how disinterested he appeared to be. That one was of an older man who looked much more like Izan. What she took from it was a notable sadness in his eyes before moving onto the next.
The one presented was of a Mirialan woman with a stern look on her face. She again turned to him. "Who's this? For some reason she looks familiar."
Izan was done with cleaning up the other side of the bed, his last act being to lift a heavy metal case up and place it down in view for him to open up. "Jana Lorso. She's been trying to get a foothold here ever since she got booted off. My instructor and offworld contact, among other things. She's a bit like Dana in that business get-up, only green and slightly less cold."
Jayden shrugged that jab off while moving onto the fourth. This time it was a young Zabrak man with a small, but charming smile. "Another business associate?"
"We went out a few times, but there wasn't enough of a connection. Something to be said for trying new things though."
The next image she expected to see was another woman given the apparent pattern he had left. To her surprise it was another man, who bore some notable scars on his wizened face. It was much harder for her to determine the species. "And what about this one?"
Izan took a long look at the projection with puzzlement. "I don't have a clue. Might be leftover from the previous owner for all I know." By then he had opened the case, confirmed that the contents were intact, and locked it back down. "I'm just about done here. If you can carry this, I'll grab the rest of my stuff and let the station know I'm leaving for good."
Jayden placed the projector down to pick up the case instead. It was heavy indeed, which only concerned her further. "I expect you'll be telling us what it contains when we're in hyperspace. This feels suspiciously like a lot of cases I've handled over the past seven years."
It was waved off in a nonchalant manner when Izan went to retrieve his carry bag and fill it with the gathered belongings.
"Izan, I'm trying to establish trust here. I know Maarani doesn't like my attitude, and Dana seems ready to disagree with me already. The droid will do whatever she's told by anyone anyway, which leaves you as a confidant."
"What, we're becoming a pair of spies now? Or, you're recruiting me as one I guess. You seemed to know what was going on back on Twa'janii pretty quickly." After slinging the full pack over his shoulder, and lightly kicking the rubbish out of the way, he waited in the doorway to finish his point. "Maarani is just a tricky sort to figure out. I think we get along well because I don't have any rules to follow but my own. And my rules say that I should do what the situation demands."
He looked around the room again, smelling the alcohol for one last time. "Sometimes it demands drinking, and sometimes…" His gaze had returned to Jayden, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh forget it. Just ease up and she'll come around. In the meantime, we can talk over card games. So long as you don't call me a dick we'll be fine."
"What?"
"Tal'kan, as the Twi'leks say." He grumbled again while turning to leave the room. "Or shout across the room. Let's go."
Answer the question! Who planted the bomb?
I don't know! I don't know! I don't-
"Know!"
Molbe's forehead and nose was throbbing in dull pain when she was startled awake by the echoing voices. Even before the haze had cleared, she recognized the two figures of the Jedi she had yelled at before. The little man was watching the door, while the Mirialan was already returning to her side.
"Molbe, do you still not remember me?"
Venu gestured to the chair she had been sitting at once Molbe sat up. It slid across the floor with a few soft rattles until it was ready for her to sit in. "The bounty hunters that attacked us were deported an hour ago. Utan and I will stay only as long as you want us to."
"I want you both to leave, now."
For the briefest of moments, Venu was ready to strike her again. Under these circumstances however, it would not be justified in any way.
"Let me rephrase then. When I'm convinced it's not a brainwashed shallow reflection of my friend talking, I will respect your wishes."
"Get out."
At that moment, Venu's left hand lashed out, the effect being to hurl Molbe against the wall with a hard thud in a manner that drew Utan's attention. By every passing moment, she was holding less and less back.
"I don't want to force my way into your mind. But if you won't try to break through whatever it is you've been hit with-"
"Venu stop!"
"No."
Her right hand moved up to cover Molbe's entire face, spreading over it without actually making physical contact. The terror in her eyes was all too obvious, as was her struggle to breathe. Venu ignored all of that.
"Venu, I did not bring you here to demonstrate the methods of a Sith!"
The fingertips began to close in one by one. Her own ears were rumbling as the blood rushed through her head at a greater pace. The same would be happening to Molbe on a louder level. Precision was needed to open the path into her mind, or a vessel could potentially burst.
"Shut up Utan. I would not be surprised if the Sith put this block in place to begin with."
Her index made contact with Molbe's skin, below the right eye. An all-too familiar scream of hers echoed back in response.
The thumb was next on her right cheek, bringing with it a plethora of mumbled pleading and begging for respite.
When her middle finger made contact directly between her eyebrows, Molbe's pupils dilated, and a trail of blood began to run from her nose. It brought up the distant voice of what could only be an interrogator.
There were dark green marks underneath the three contact points, nothing that wouldn't fade in a day. Her own head was starting to throb from the strain she had put herself under to remain controlled. And while Molbe looked worse, she was at least free of the block now.
Venu eventually stepped back down off the bed and pulled Utan aside. "That block was chemical, a Force based one wouldn't break as easily. It's miraculous for the both of us." She didn't need to look at him to know he was glaring at her with every bit of disapproval. For the time being, it was of no concern to her. "I did what I had to, Utan. She's a close friend, I wasn't going to let her continue living under a lie."
"She might not have been living at all if things had progressed further."
"Spare it. If you wanted Jedi methods, you should have brought a Mirialan who never had to go through what I did."
Molbe's pain had subsided enough by then for her to notice the pair again. This time, she recognized Venu immediately. "Ven… You came back."
Venu was back at her side almost immediately, her hand reaching to her shoulder to finally show the support she wanted to give. "I had no idea what was going on. This damned war has gone on far too long already."
"No kidding…" Her attempt to get up was stopped by Venu, who instead went to retrieve water. She took the offered glass graciously, taking a few trembling sips while she waited for the pain to ease further. "Thank you."
In the meantime, Utan had made his way over to a nearby office desk that contained a computer terminal for him to use. "When you are ready, I'd ask for your access code."
"Bit risky to access the archives so soon surely." Venu was too preoccupied with tending to Molbe to notice his small smirk that resulted from her question.
"While I trained Karada-Lazu and some of his friends, they taught me a few things about slicing. And it is not the archives that I am looking into from here." He glanced at Molbe again, the brief smile fading in light of what had happened. "Let's not repeat what happened just now. If there are other victims, we can help them with proper medical treatment."
By then, Molbe had recovered enough for her to feel confident in sitting up properly on the edge of the bed. Her hand was still trying to rub the throbbing pain away, but it was no longer a full distraction.
"All I remember is two different rooms. A furnished cell, and…" A sharp ringing sound bounced between her ears, causing her to wince. "The other room, where they beat answers out of me. They kept me blindfolded the whole time. Most of the time they shouted in Basic, and spoke in some other language I didn't understand."
She licked at her dried lips. The pause was taken to reflect on the past months, walking around in a daze as an entirely different person. Someone had gone to great lengths to put her in that new life.
"I uh, can only recall a few words." Her head slowly turned to Venu, finding the solace she desperately needed. "Udeen twa, szu'tak…"
Venu's jaw had already started to tremble. The few words were enough for her to recognize the language. "Twi'lek. They spoke Twi'lek to each other." In a pained moment, she looked to Utan. "That spacestation Dana and Maarani went to, the one Torbut mentioned in his last message to us? Some sort of Twi'lek cult?"
Utan nodded with a solemn grunt. He had also noted the words spoken, and come to a similar realization. "Those bounty hunters wanted information about Maarani, days after that incident. The arrival on the station might not have been her first encounter with them, if this cult was involved in the riots."
He left the chair to approach Molbe, reaching up a hand to her knee. "These Twi'lek have proven themselves to be dangerous. If they were looking to incite rebellion throughout the Republic, we need to act fast. What else did they say?"
It required deeper thought before Molbe had anything further to add. So many of the words had been rambled in a manner she could barely even comprehend. "Uh, one of them said, chir oola fita, towards the end of the last interrogation, when they were leaving. Next thing I remember was waking up in the new apartment I was apparently given."
Both Jedi looked to each other, but the significance of what had been said had been lost on Venu.
It pained Utan to translate it for her. "Kill Blue Six. That was Maarani's designation in Blue Squadron, I saw the flight patch myself." He stroked at his chin in troubled thought. Molbe was in danger. In fact, she had been from the moment Venu recognized her. And he had no idea on who could be trusted on Mirial.
His counterpart did, but her dubious actions were still on his mind. "I will ask the Council for further assistance. I would prefer if you remain under the protection of Jedi until we know the whole situation, Molbe. And I do still need that access code, and further use of your computer terminal."
"Of course, whatever you need…" Molbe grabbed onto Venu's shoulder in an attempt to stand. There was weakness in her legs, but nothing she wasn't able to overcome. Once able to move on her own, she slowly walked over to the nearby closet to retrieve her things.
"I haven't been living my life for the past few months anyway. I'd rather start over on my own terms." She had just a few things to pack, the rest was left behind to make her departure less conspicuous. Little details that she had learned well so many years ago. "One other thing, Venu…" Her eyes went down immediately. The thought in her mind was difficult to contemplate.
Venu's lip tightened at the tone used. It had already given her a fair idea of what was about to be said.
"Hodechi was in that building when it blew. I haven't seen her since, so I'd say she was also taken. She was already getting worse by then, I can't imagine what she'd have become under the same treatment."
"Won't have to. If I see her, I'll kill her and be done with it." Venu looked back to Utan one last time. In this case, her qualms were non-existent. "The White Terror has a semblance of sanity. Hodechi was our Sith leader, and she fell so far into the dark side I doubt anyone could save her if she's still alive. Keep that in mind if she finds you first."
"How the hell did they come to that conclusion?"
Aruga could only shrug. He was just as dumbfounded as Seradan by what had come through the communicator. "Seeing as we were not involved, I don't see how it couldn't be anything other than an incredible coincidence."
"I can't say it's one I hoped for." Seradan muttered a few things to himself, becoming lost in thought and contemplation. It had created a very bad situation for them to navigate. Getting the Jedi involved well before time was bad enough, and there was now even more unwanted attention being thrown on them.
One thing eventually stood out as an advantage to be exploited. "They still seem to be assuming that we make up the majority of the Hidden Hand. Move our agents to ready stance, they will be under less suspicion now. Keep close eye on the little man in particular."
Once more, Aruga waited for the projection to be terminated from Seradan's end before returning to relay the next set of orders. "Establish observation on Mirialan law enforcement buildings and Republic Army stationed posts. Resume efforts to bypass security lockouts on the archives, but don't access files before the Jedi Utan has. Until then, watch for information relating to an explosion at the time of the riots, in particular who was declared missing in said attack. That is all."
The cantina was surprisingly empty at that hour when Izan and Jayden wandered in. He could tell Soogo was in a worse mood than usual from the fact he was actually bothering to clean the glasses surrounding him. Even the infamous dancer was sitting on the edge of her platform to talk with the only customer in that area.
He approached the bar first anyway, nodding to a seat for Jayden. "Soogo! How have you been old man? We need a holdover shot until we're ready to leave, think you can rustle something up?"
Soogo snorted into one of the glasses upon seeing him, as a display of ironic disgust. "Didn't you get shot up thinpig?"
Izan's stomach was too busy churning at the awful display.
"Speak up boy! You've got a lot to answer for here. The tab for one, and getting friendly with that rat who upset the slut over there!"
The dancer across the room looked up from her conversation after hearing the all-too familiar yell. Upon laying eyes on Izan, she hissed and spat in his direction.
"This place is awful. Mucus and saliva flying everywhere. I bet there's other bodily fluids just waiting to be found too." Jayden by then had elected to get back off the seat, and avoided touching anything further. Even by the standards of backwater crime nests it was too much. "I'm leaving, and I suggest you join me."
That flared up Soogo's already bad mood further. He shoved Izan off the stool and reached to grab Jayden's arm in the same time. "Say that to my face you oversized tinhead! Only thing the Jedi failed at was wiping your kind out!"
She looked down at the hand at her arm with the coldest of expressions, then back at him. "Well, there's more irony for you."
Her hand twisted around to grasp his. In one motion, she channeled her power into hauling his heavy body over the bar and onto the floor beside Izan. Once he had scurried out of the way, she drew her lightsaber and activated it right over his face.
"Mandalore the Preserver should have waited longer before saving your gluttonous ass. But you don't see me complaining about it, do you?"
"Get off me!" His attempt to push her foot off his chest was as fruitless as expected. "Rija! Help me you stupid bitch!"
"Lyl schutta!"
Jayden's hand was out and ready to catch Rija before she made it halfway across the room. She only had to close it enough to keep the Twi'lek from squeezing out to keep her contained. The slapping and beating against her arm was too pathetic for her to bear.
"Izan, mind explaining to these two that they should apologize if they want me to leave them alone?"
"Uh, well… Rija is it? I did technically save your life a month ago, unless you happen to be on the same bitch-level as my mother which apparently lets you survive massive stomach wounds, not to imply anything…"
His mouth had lost all ability to move by that point. The sight of Dana standing in the doorway, expressing an actual emotion for once, was beyond what he could comprehend after everything else that had just happened.
She backwaved at the dancer, who immediately went to sleep, then looked up to Jayden. "I just spent two hours clearing up the previous mess, and you've already caused another?" The only thing to shock her further was the blatant lack of attention they had gathered. Even the patron by the now empty dance platform was showing disinterest.
Jayden reluctantly lifted her boot off Soogo's chest, but not before she took the time to wipe it thoroughly on his jacket. Rija she dropped on top of him in the most non-chalant of ways. "Izan wanted to show me around while we waited on Maarani, and this man decided to be a terrible host. That's all."
Dana shook her head down in disbelief, her hand clasping over her forehead. "Tour's over. Teegs will be out by now." She looked at the Twi'lek on the floor as she was rudely shoved aside by her employer. "Go back to the ship, make sure Zariba is alright. We've got too many upset Twi'lek already."
This time it was Jayden's turn to leave with a shrug, while Izan sulked on behind her.
Dana gave Soogo one last look of bemusement before leaving to retrieve Maarani. "One of these days, we will get to leave a place without anything terrible happening…"
