DISCLAIMER: All characters are property of LucasFilm, and therefore, this
(and all other stories bearing the name "Jedi Punk") may not be published.
Please do not take credit for this (all-inclusive) with out permission from
the authors.
JEDI PUNKS: PART I: HIDDEN TALENTS
Jacen gazed at the swirling colors of hyperspace. He was sitting alone in the cockpit of his sister's personal ship, the Fizz Hound. A data pad lay in his lap. Why weren't the lyrics coming to him???
Jacen reached up to be sure that his Mohawk had stayed in place. His mother hadn't been pleased when he let his hair grow a full 30 cm, died it blue and used SuperHoldToughGuyGel to spike it up on top of his head. But that wasn't why he left home with his twin sister, younger brother, and friends Tenel Ka and Lowbacca and Zekk.
The familiar presence of Jaina pulled him from his revere. She sank into the pilot's chair to his left. As she lowered herself into the chair, she pulled her tube top up securely, so as not to show too much cleavage. Jaina felt her brother would be more comfortable that way.
Jaina ran a hand through her own hair, which she had grown to .75 meters below her chin, and shot the brown through with purple streaks. "Anything?"
Jacen shook his head. "Not a single word, nor a single note!"
Jaina let out a sigh. "Jace, punk brother of mine," Jacen smiled. "Let the Force guide you. Come to the Grunge Side! Let your head banging urges surface! You can't fight them!
Jacen shrugged, "Yeah, you're right."
"WASSUP!!!!!!" The youngest Solo child entered the room. Jaina looked at him, wondering if it was his long pink hair that made him look so much shorter than her.
"WAZZZZZUUPPPPP!!!!!" Jacen and Jaina answered in unison.
"Dude," Anakin said, looking at Jacen. "Have you thought of something yet?" Jacen shook his head. "Oh, that's okay. "Sides, dinner's ready."
"Who cooked?" Jaina asked.
"Lowie."
"I asked you who COOKED. You know Lowie always under does the meat."
* * *
All of the sudden a tremor ran through the Fizz Hound. The ship shuddered, and a loud noise came from the engine, (though that was quickly drowned out by the Heavy Metal music coming from the overhead speakers).
"What was that, like, noise, dudes?" asked Anakin, nervously running his hand through his pink hair.
Tenet Ka's voice came over the ship's speakers from the cockpit, "Jaina! You and Zekk get your pilot rears up here now! Looks like someone wants autographs!"
"They're on their way," called Tahiri from the galley.
"Wassup!!!" Zekk called as he slid smoothly into the copilot's chair.
Jaina took her own seat, this time to preoccupied to worry about her shirt, and began a preliminary sensor sweep. Her eyes fell and Zekk could feel the fear welling inside his girlfriend.
"Jaina? What's--" He realized what threw her into a panic. "Oh, darn."
Tenel Ka retreated to the galley, long black hair trailing her.
Not long after she left, the young Solo boys came jogging into the cockpit.
Jaina took a deep breath; let it out in a sigh. She keyed up the in-ship intercom, "Sorry, guys. Party's over."
Lowie's unhappy grumble came in reply, with a second from Tahiri. "What? What do you mean it's ov-er."
"Dad's here," Jaina commed. "He's brought Uncle-- er, Master Skywalker with him."
Anakin looked confused, "Why aren't they hailing us?"
Jacen swallowed hard, "They're trying to get our attention."
This time Zekk spoke up, "Well, should we give it to them?" He opened up a comm channel for Jaina.
Jaina's voice shook, despite her greatest efforts. "Uh, h-hi, Dad, Uncle Luke. Uhhh-h, glad you could drop by?"
"WHAAAZZZUP!" blared the com channel. Jaina was taken aback.
"Dad?" she asked tentatively. "Hey there sweetheart" said Han, "I knew you'd be passing through this way. And guess what? I even brought your old uncle Luke!"
Luke took the comm, "Hey kids, it's me. If y'all wanna be a real hep cat with that rock'n'roll thing, stay clear of the Dark side and we'll call it a square!"
Lowie's rumbling laughter was accompanied by his uncle's aboard the Falcon. Tahiri was quick to join them.
Jaina smacked her head down on the console. "Uncle Luke, with all due respect, ACT YOUR AGE!!!!!!!!"
"You groovy cats don't say that stuff?"
Jacen spoke into the pickup, "No."
"No offense, Master Skywalker," Tenel Ka commed, "but that kind of lingo died out, oh, BEFORE THE START OF THE OLD REPUBLIC!!!!!!"
"Sorry, kids," Han said. "I tried to warn him, Chewie tried to explain it to him, but, well… you try to explain something like that to a Jedi Master."
The Wookies' laughter dominated the comm waves.
"Well, hey, Han, I think I heard you try to talk like an idiot!" Luke defended himself.
"Hey, kid, at least I did it right."
"You guys want to come aboard for a few minutes?" Jaina invited, trying to be civil. "We were on our way to Corellia for our first gig, but we left a few days' delay allotment before the concert."
"Would you like to watch it?" Tahiri asked.
The adults seemed to think. An answer finally came, "Okay, kids, tell you what. You go on to Corellia, and we'll follow behind you. I'll send Leia and Mara a message telling them to meet us there. Okay?"
"Cool with us," Zekk answered.
"Alright," Luke said. "See you there."
The trip to Corellia went smoothly enough. A lively holonet game of Pokemon was played, of which one Yodimus Prime (their opponent) was the winner. Lowie's steaks were rare and still dripping blood. No one was too hungry after that except Jacen, who managed to set fire to his data pad while cooking a dewback rib. He was glad his father and uncle weren't there to see it.
Mara and Leia arrived in the Jade Sabre the day before the concert. Before the women had left, Leia sent an invitation to the Hapes Cluster, inviting Tenel Ka's parents, who arrived within an hour of the Sabre.
After hugs, greetings, and the inevitable criticism of new hair and fashion sense, each group retired to the ships they had come in, except for Leia and Luke, who changed places. Naturally.
* * *
The day of the gig finally came. Zekk donned a pair of oversized red pants and a red shirt that had "True Punk" written in black, long black hair in a ponytail. Jaina wore a gold tube top, with similar lettering across the front, and crimson leather pants that fit snuggly around her hips and thighs, then flared out around her shins and ankles; her hair was left to hag nearly to the ground. Jacen had his blue hair spiked in its normal punk style, his black, baggy clothes (his shirt also reading, "True Punk") and spiked "dog collar" necklaces being his trademark. Tenel Ka dressed in a similar manner: hair dyed black and in tiny braids all over, black lipstick and nail polish standing out from her lime green attire of big, balloon- like pants and shirt reading the same thing as everyone else's. Anakin was clad in a ripped-- no, shredded-- flight suite, with "True Punk" written on the front, Tahiri in similar clothes. Lowbacca looked the same, except for the "True Punk" shaved onto his torso.
Lowie took his place at the drum set, back center stage. Anakin and Tahiri shared a microphone to his immediate right: Tahiri with a keyboard around her neck, Anakin holding a bass guitar. Jacen and Tenel Ka shared a mike to Lowie's left, the latter also wielding a bass guitar, Jacen manning a guitar (for back up). Zekk and Jaina- the eldest couple-- took their place at the microphone in front of Lowbacca, both lead singers, both wielding guitars.
The crowd cheered and the giant doors slid back into their recesses, adding a little high-tech flare.
Jaina screamed into her mike, "HELLO CORELLIA!!!!!!" The crowd cheered in response.
Jacen yelled into his own mike, "Are you ready to rock!!!!!!!!!!" The cheers grew louder.
Zekk took the microphone from Jaina, "Then let's roll!!!!"
Lowie held the drum sticks over his head, tapping the beat out for their first song ever in public.
Tenel Ka and Anakin struck a fast moving chord, Tahiri played intervals. Lowie rolled the drum, crashed the cymbal, and Zekk and Jaina took lead on their guitars.
Jaina started the vocal part: "Usin' the Force and fightin' evil warlords."
Zekk continued (with a great deal of "soul"), "Cruising' the galaxy and savin' all the people."
Jacen and Tenel Ka continued in a duet, the former playing a variation of what his sister was playing- Tenel Ka on top, Jacen on bottom. "Bein' a Jedi, it's no easy game-"
In the audience, Chewie howled in delight. Leia, Tenenial Djo and Mara: perplexed (they had never heard the children play before, and thought them quite good), with Han, Luke, and Isolder having made their way to the front row, and started a head banging chain.
The women took some action: stepping beside their husbands, each giving them a backhand to the shoulder, vowing to "deal with them later." Chewie is left alone, and the chaos soon continues, this time, the women have joined the head banging and screaming.
The concert ended a few hours later, and the audience was left with their ears ringing at the sudden silence. Tahiri, Anakin, Jacen, Jaina, and whoever else was there all left the sage. They changed back into normal (what they considered normal) clothes and met their parents at a bar. They all had Corellian beer and got good and drunk before flying away. Jaina could hardly see straight, let alone fly the ship. They somehow ended up near the outer rim...
Anakin and Jacen took turns dying their hair over again, and this time Jacen settled on neon green and Anakin wore his hair neon pink streaked with neon blue.
They all had a food fight at breakfast, and by then Han and Luke figured out how to talk.
Mara and Leia and Tenel Djo fussed over the kid's appearance, the next show was for the Couscant senate.
Everyone arrived on Coruscant a few weeks before the concert. The band's members decided to mingle with the city to loosen up. On this particular day, they all had gone to a bar Zekk knew about, called "The Endless Tankard". All of them knew that the patrons of the place would talk a bit much after a few drinks.
They did not have long to wait. "Have you got the music cards?" asked a being in the booth who was sitting with his back to Jaina.
Jaina raised her eyebrows at Anakin, implying him to look. "It's a Bothan," he projected through the Force.
The Bothan's partner was talking "Yes Chief, this one's 'The Pain of Victory' by that Barabel group. The other one is 'Hyperspace Road' by Fixer and the Sun Chasers."
"Very well" said the Bothan, here's your credits, and I hope we can do business in the future."
The Bothan's partner exited the booth. A short time later, after downing his glass, the Bothan also left. "Well," said Anakin "We know he likes rock'n'roll. Those bands are like, totally the boss!"
Jaina's face meanwhile had gone rather pale. " Guys," she said hoarsely, "that was Borsk Fey'lya!"
"Fey'lya!!" they said. Jacen nodded. "When did he get into rock and roll?"
Jaina laughed. "Don't ask me." They eventually decided to follow the Bothan. After walking to the lowest level, lower then they dreamed possible, Fey'lya stopped. He handed the chips to someone hidden by the shadows. Tahiri snuck up behind him, using the Force to be quiet, a rare feature now a days.
"Mr. Fey'lya. A pleasure to see you again!" Jacen forced with a smile. The Bothan spun around with a blaster, which Anakin noticed was not set for 'stun'.
Mara snuck up behind the Jedi Punks. She set her blaster for 'stun', not knowing whether or not Fey'lya should be kept alive. She heard the words, "you'll never live through this!" and rounded out of the shadows. The Bothan had a single blaster pointed at the numerous Jedi.
Mara almost laughed. "You don't think they couldn't defend themselves?" she asked. Fey'lya jumped. She took this chance to shoot him.
Jaina laughed and passed a mug of Corellian ale to Jacen.
"Aunt Mara, that was great! He didn't even know you were there!" Jacen said.
"Yes, and neither could you because of this" said Mara. She held out a medium size necklace for all to see. Something dark was encased in lightweight transparisteel.
"Is that a ...ysalamiri?" asked Jacen.
"Yes," said Mara, "we no longer need the whole animal to impair someone's ability to use the Force. This is just a small bit of its skin."
Satisfied with the explanation, all attention turned to the prone figure of Borsk Fey'lya. "Well," said Jaina, "what do you think we ought to do with him?"
Tahiri stepped closer to Mara to examine the necklace. "That's just a piece of skin?" she twisted her face into one of disgust. Mara nodded. "That is, like, DEFINATELY the most REVOLTING thing I have EVER heard of! Ewe!"
It was either all the booze or the sight of raw flesh that brought up Tahiri's lunch.
Mara gestured towards the Bothan at her feet. "So, what do we do with the old carpet anyway?" Lowie was too drunk to protest with anything besides a hiccup.
Jacen looked around. "Well, you hit him with a stun bolt right?"
Mara nodded, "And not very strong. He'll wake up in a few minutes."
Anakin looked around as well. "Hmmmm. How about that dumpster over there?" he said, pointing to a large trash receptacle.
Jaina turned from the dumpster to raise an eyebrow at her brother. "THAT dumpster? That is not a dumpster! THAT is a vaporization unit!"
Anakin shrugged.
Mara nodded, "Yeah, so?"
Zekk raised an eyebrow, "Well are we going to vape the leader of the NR like filthy criminals, or sit around and tell him what we thought about doing?"
Jaina finished for him, "Cuz he's wakin' up."
Jacen motioned for everyone to step back out of sight. Striding quietly over to Fey'lya, Jacen used the Force to alter the way he perceived Jacen: slightly taller, gangly, and with a few day's worth of beard stubble growing on his chin.
Jacen knelt beside Borsk. "Whoa, man, that was some fall." As he said it, Jacen made his voice appear deeper-- much deeper-- than it actually was through the Force.
"Fall?"
Jacen helped Fey'lya to his feet. "Yeah, you came down pretty hard. I saw you go down as you turned the corner. Gotta cut back a bit on that hard stuff you Bothans like to drink. Lucky you're not human, a drop woulda knocked ya' dead cold!"
By now, the Bothan was standing, albeit unsteadily. "Uh, thank you."
Jacen dismissed it with a wave of his head. "Shoot, don't worry! It wasn't any trouble! You need some help gettin' home?"
"Huh? Uh, no, I don't think so."
Jacen projected uncertainty into Fey'lya's mind. "Do you know where you live?"
Borsk didn't move. He couldn't remember who he was, where he was, or where he lived. But of course, dignity demanded that he not say so. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout me. I know what I'm doin'."
"Okay." Jacen gave the Bothan a shove in the wrong direction to the Palace-- on purpose (duh). "Take care now, bye bye then."
Jacen laughed, and the rest of the party came back into view. Jaina jabbed an elbow into her brother's stomach. "Are you crazy?!?!" She demanded loudly.
Jacen went to answer, but Zekk cut him off, "That was a rhetorical question, stupid!"
Try as he might, Jacen (and most of the group) could not recall what all these big words meant, on account of their drunkenness. Zekk, Jaina, and Mara, obviously, had had enough to drink in their lives to have built up a resistance to certain effects. Jacen could have, but he wasn't that sober anymore.
Jacen laughed. "Oh, well. Too bad for Fey'lya. Who should lead the NR now?"
Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Not any of us, cuz we're suppose to be on Tatooine right now," she said.
Jacen stuck out his bottom lip. "Can we skip one concert? Pretty please Jaya?" he asked.
Jaina looked doubtful. "Sure, why not. Who would want to go to Tatooine willingly, anyway?" she replied.
Tahiri giggled. "Hey! That's not funny!" she said.
JEDI PUNKS: PART I: HIDDEN TALENTS
Jacen gazed at the swirling colors of hyperspace. He was sitting alone in the cockpit of his sister's personal ship, the Fizz Hound. A data pad lay in his lap. Why weren't the lyrics coming to him???
Jacen reached up to be sure that his Mohawk had stayed in place. His mother hadn't been pleased when he let his hair grow a full 30 cm, died it blue and used SuperHoldToughGuyGel to spike it up on top of his head. But that wasn't why he left home with his twin sister, younger brother, and friends Tenel Ka and Lowbacca and Zekk.
The familiar presence of Jaina pulled him from his revere. She sank into the pilot's chair to his left. As she lowered herself into the chair, she pulled her tube top up securely, so as not to show too much cleavage. Jaina felt her brother would be more comfortable that way.
Jaina ran a hand through her own hair, which she had grown to .75 meters below her chin, and shot the brown through with purple streaks. "Anything?"
Jacen shook his head. "Not a single word, nor a single note!"
Jaina let out a sigh. "Jace, punk brother of mine," Jacen smiled. "Let the Force guide you. Come to the Grunge Side! Let your head banging urges surface! You can't fight them!
Jacen shrugged, "Yeah, you're right."
"WASSUP!!!!!!" The youngest Solo child entered the room. Jaina looked at him, wondering if it was his long pink hair that made him look so much shorter than her.
"WAZZZZZUUPPPPP!!!!!" Jacen and Jaina answered in unison.
"Dude," Anakin said, looking at Jacen. "Have you thought of something yet?" Jacen shook his head. "Oh, that's okay. "Sides, dinner's ready."
"Who cooked?" Jaina asked.
"Lowie."
"I asked you who COOKED. You know Lowie always under does the meat."
* * *
All of the sudden a tremor ran through the Fizz Hound. The ship shuddered, and a loud noise came from the engine, (though that was quickly drowned out by the Heavy Metal music coming from the overhead speakers).
"What was that, like, noise, dudes?" asked Anakin, nervously running his hand through his pink hair.
Tenet Ka's voice came over the ship's speakers from the cockpit, "Jaina! You and Zekk get your pilot rears up here now! Looks like someone wants autographs!"
"They're on their way," called Tahiri from the galley.
"Wassup!!!" Zekk called as he slid smoothly into the copilot's chair.
Jaina took her own seat, this time to preoccupied to worry about her shirt, and began a preliminary sensor sweep. Her eyes fell and Zekk could feel the fear welling inside his girlfriend.
"Jaina? What's--" He realized what threw her into a panic. "Oh, darn."
Tenel Ka retreated to the galley, long black hair trailing her.
Not long after she left, the young Solo boys came jogging into the cockpit.
Jaina took a deep breath; let it out in a sigh. She keyed up the in-ship intercom, "Sorry, guys. Party's over."
Lowie's unhappy grumble came in reply, with a second from Tahiri. "What? What do you mean it's ov-er."
"Dad's here," Jaina commed. "He's brought Uncle-- er, Master Skywalker with him."
Anakin looked confused, "Why aren't they hailing us?"
Jacen swallowed hard, "They're trying to get our attention."
This time Zekk spoke up, "Well, should we give it to them?" He opened up a comm channel for Jaina.
Jaina's voice shook, despite her greatest efforts. "Uh, h-hi, Dad, Uncle Luke. Uhhh-h, glad you could drop by?"
"WHAAAZZZUP!" blared the com channel. Jaina was taken aback.
"Dad?" she asked tentatively. "Hey there sweetheart" said Han, "I knew you'd be passing through this way. And guess what? I even brought your old uncle Luke!"
Luke took the comm, "Hey kids, it's me. If y'all wanna be a real hep cat with that rock'n'roll thing, stay clear of the Dark side and we'll call it a square!"
Lowie's rumbling laughter was accompanied by his uncle's aboard the Falcon. Tahiri was quick to join them.
Jaina smacked her head down on the console. "Uncle Luke, with all due respect, ACT YOUR AGE!!!!!!!!"
"You groovy cats don't say that stuff?"
Jacen spoke into the pickup, "No."
"No offense, Master Skywalker," Tenel Ka commed, "but that kind of lingo died out, oh, BEFORE THE START OF THE OLD REPUBLIC!!!!!!"
"Sorry, kids," Han said. "I tried to warn him, Chewie tried to explain it to him, but, well… you try to explain something like that to a Jedi Master."
The Wookies' laughter dominated the comm waves.
"Well, hey, Han, I think I heard you try to talk like an idiot!" Luke defended himself.
"Hey, kid, at least I did it right."
"You guys want to come aboard for a few minutes?" Jaina invited, trying to be civil. "We were on our way to Corellia for our first gig, but we left a few days' delay allotment before the concert."
"Would you like to watch it?" Tahiri asked.
The adults seemed to think. An answer finally came, "Okay, kids, tell you what. You go on to Corellia, and we'll follow behind you. I'll send Leia and Mara a message telling them to meet us there. Okay?"
"Cool with us," Zekk answered.
"Alright," Luke said. "See you there."
The trip to Corellia went smoothly enough. A lively holonet game of Pokemon was played, of which one Yodimus Prime (their opponent) was the winner. Lowie's steaks were rare and still dripping blood. No one was too hungry after that except Jacen, who managed to set fire to his data pad while cooking a dewback rib. He was glad his father and uncle weren't there to see it.
Mara and Leia arrived in the Jade Sabre the day before the concert. Before the women had left, Leia sent an invitation to the Hapes Cluster, inviting Tenel Ka's parents, who arrived within an hour of the Sabre.
After hugs, greetings, and the inevitable criticism of new hair and fashion sense, each group retired to the ships they had come in, except for Leia and Luke, who changed places. Naturally.
* * *
The day of the gig finally came. Zekk donned a pair of oversized red pants and a red shirt that had "True Punk" written in black, long black hair in a ponytail. Jaina wore a gold tube top, with similar lettering across the front, and crimson leather pants that fit snuggly around her hips and thighs, then flared out around her shins and ankles; her hair was left to hag nearly to the ground. Jacen had his blue hair spiked in its normal punk style, his black, baggy clothes (his shirt also reading, "True Punk") and spiked "dog collar" necklaces being his trademark. Tenel Ka dressed in a similar manner: hair dyed black and in tiny braids all over, black lipstick and nail polish standing out from her lime green attire of big, balloon- like pants and shirt reading the same thing as everyone else's. Anakin was clad in a ripped-- no, shredded-- flight suite, with "True Punk" written on the front, Tahiri in similar clothes. Lowbacca looked the same, except for the "True Punk" shaved onto his torso.
Lowie took his place at the drum set, back center stage. Anakin and Tahiri shared a microphone to his immediate right: Tahiri with a keyboard around her neck, Anakin holding a bass guitar. Jacen and Tenel Ka shared a mike to Lowie's left, the latter also wielding a bass guitar, Jacen manning a guitar (for back up). Zekk and Jaina- the eldest couple-- took their place at the microphone in front of Lowbacca, both lead singers, both wielding guitars.
The crowd cheered and the giant doors slid back into their recesses, adding a little high-tech flare.
Jaina screamed into her mike, "HELLO CORELLIA!!!!!!" The crowd cheered in response.
Jacen yelled into his own mike, "Are you ready to rock!!!!!!!!!!" The cheers grew louder.
Zekk took the microphone from Jaina, "Then let's roll!!!!"
Lowie held the drum sticks over his head, tapping the beat out for their first song ever in public.
Tenel Ka and Anakin struck a fast moving chord, Tahiri played intervals. Lowie rolled the drum, crashed the cymbal, and Zekk and Jaina took lead on their guitars.
Jaina started the vocal part: "Usin' the Force and fightin' evil warlords."
Zekk continued (with a great deal of "soul"), "Cruising' the galaxy and savin' all the people."
Jacen and Tenel Ka continued in a duet, the former playing a variation of what his sister was playing- Tenel Ka on top, Jacen on bottom. "Bein' a Jedi, it's no easy game-"
In the audience, Chewie howled in delight. Leia, Tenenial Djo and Mara: perplexed (they had never heard the children play before, and thought them quite good), with Han, Luke, and Isolder having made their way to the front row, and started a head banging chain.
The women took some action: stepping beside their husbands, each giving them a backhand to the shoulder, vowing to "deal with them later." Chewie is left alone, and the chaos soon continues, this time, the women have joined the head banging and screaming.
The concert ended a few hours later, and the audience was left with their ears ringing at the sudden silence. Tahiri, Anakin, Jacen, Jaina, and whoever else was there all left the sage. They changed back into normal (what they considered normal) clothes and met their parents at a bar. They all had Corellian beer and got good and drunk before flying away. Jaina could hardly see straight, let alone fly the ship. They somehow ended up near the outer rim...
Anakin and Jacen took turns dying their hair over again, and this time Jacen settled on neon green and Anakin wore his hair neon pink streaked with neon blue.
They all had a food fight at breakfast, and by then Han and Luke figured out how to talk.
Mara and Leia and Tenel Djo fussed over the kid's appearance, the next show was for the Couscant senate.
Everyone arrived on Coruscant a few weeks before the concert. The band's members decided to mingle with the city to loosen up. On this particular day, they all had gone to a bar Zekk knew about, called "The Endless Tankard". All of them knew that the patrons of the place would talk a bit much after a few drinks.
They did not have long to wait. "Have you got the music cards?" asked a being in the booth who was sitting with his back to Jaina.
Jaina raised her eyebrows at Anakin, implying him to look. "It's a Bothan," he projected through the Force.
The Bothan's partner was talking "Yes Chief, this one's 'The Pain of Victory' by that Barabel group. The other one is 'Hyperspace Road' by Fixer and the Sun Chasers."
"Very well" said the Bothan, here's your credits, and I hope we can do business in the future."
The Bothan's partner exited the booth. A short time later, after downing his glass, the Bothan also left. "Well," said Anakin "We know he likes rock'n'roll. Those bands are like, totally the boss!"
Jaina's face meanwhile had gone rather pale. " Guys," she said hoarsely, "that was Borsk Fey'lya!"
"Fey'lya!!" they said. Jacen nodded. "When did he get into rock and roll?"
Jaina laughed. "Don't ask me." They eventually decided to follow the Bothan. After walking to the lowest level, lower then they dreamed possible, Fey'lya stopped. He handed the chips to someone hidden by the shadows. Tahiri snuck up behind him, using the Force to be quiet, a rare feature now a days.
"Mr. Fey'lya. A pleasure to see you again!" Jacen forced with a smile. The Bothan spun around with a blaster, which Anakin noticed was not set for 'stun'.
Mara snuck up behind the Jedi Punks. She set her blaster for 'stun', not knowing whether or not Fey'lya should be kept alive. She heard the words, "you'll never live through this!" and rounded out of the shadows. The Bothan had a single blaster pointed at the numerous Jedi.
Mara almost laughed. "You don't think they couldn't defend themselves?" she asked. Fey'lya jumped. She took this chance to shoot him.
Jaina laughed and passed a mug of Corellian ale to Jacen.
"Aunt Mara, that was great! He didn't even know you were there!" Jacen said.
"Yes, and neither could you because of this" said Mara. She held out a medium size necklace for all to see. Something dark was encased in lightweight transparisteel.
"Is that a ...ysalamiri?" asked Jacen.
"Yes," said Mara, "we no longer need the whole animal to impair someone's ability to use the Force. This is just a small bit of its skin."
Satisfied with the explanation, all attention turned to the prone figure of Borsk Fey'lya. "Well," said Jaina, "what do you think we ought to do with him?"
Tahiri stepped closer to Mara to examine the necklace. "That's just a piece of skin?" she twisted her face into one of disgust. Mara nodded. "That is, like, DEFINATELY the most REVOLTING thing I have EVER heard of! Ewe!"
It was either all the booze or the sight of raw flesh that brought up Tahiri's lunch.
Mara gestured towards the Bothan at her feet. "So, what do we do with the old carpet anyway?" Lowie was too drunk to protest with anything besides a hiccup.
Jacen looked around. "Well, you hit him with a stun bolt right?"
Mara nodded, "And not very strong. He'll wake up in a few minutes."
Anakin looked around as well. "Hmmmm. How about that dumpster over there?" he said, pointing to a large trash receptacle.
Jaina turned from the dumpster to raise an eyebrow at her brother. "THAT dumpster? That is not a dumpster! THAT is a vaporization unit!"
Anakin shrugged.
Mara nodded, "Yeah, so?"
Zekk raised an eyebrow, "Well are we going to vape the leader of the NR like filthy criminals, or sit around and tell him what we thought about doing?"
Jaina finished for him, "Cuz he's wakin' up."
Jacen motioned for everyone to step back out of sight. Striding quietly over to Fey'lya, Jacen used the Force to alter the way he perceived Jacen: slightly taller, gangly, and with a few day's worth of beard stubble growing on his chin.
Jacen knelt beside Borsk. "Whoa, man, that was some fall." As he said it, Jacen made his voice appear deeper-- much deeper-- than it actually was through the Force.
"Fall?"
Jacen helped Fey'lya to his feet. "Yeah, you came down pretty hard. I saw you go down as you turned the corner. Gotta cut back a bit on that hard stuff you Bothans like to drink. Lucky you're not human, a drop woulda knocked ya' dead cold!"
By now, the Bothan was standing, albeit unsteadily. "Uh, thank you."
Jacen dismissed it with a wave of his head. "Shoot, don't worry! It wasn't any trouble! You need some help gettin' home?"
"Huh? Uh, no, I don't think so."
Jacen projected uncertainty into Fey'lya's mind. "Do you know where you live?"
Borsk didn't move. He couldn't remember who he was, where he was, or where he lived. But of course, dignity demanded that he not say so. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout me. I know what I'm doin'."
"Okay." Jacen gave the Bothan a shove in the wrong direction to the Palace-- on purpose (duh). "Take care now, bye bye then."
Jacen laughed, and the rest of the party came back into view. Jaina jabbed an elbow into her brother's stomach. "Are you crazy?!?!" She demanded loudly.
Jacen went to answer, but Zekk cut him off, "That was a rhetorical question, stupid!"
Try as he might, Jacen (and most of the group) could not recall what all these big words meant, on account of their drunkenness. Zekk, Jaina, and Mara, obviously, had had enough to drink in their lives to have built up a resistance to certain effects. Jacen could have, but he wasn't that sober anymore.
Jacen laughed. "Oh, well. Too bad for Fey'lya. Who should lead the NR now?"
Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Not any of us, cuz we're suppose to be on Tatooine right now," she said.
Jacen stuck out his bottom lip. "Can we skip one concert? Pretty please Jaya?" he asked.
Jaina looked doubtful. "Sure, why not. Who would want to go to Tatooine willingly, anyway?" she replied.
Tahiri giggled. "Hey! That's not funny!" she said.