Chapter 5
Dust
The blindfold was taken off again and the implant was fighting off the last of the drug's effect. His hands were cuffed, his legs put in irons, and he was standing in a sea of desert sand in the middle of the night. A few meters away, Jagi leaned on his swoop's cowling.
"I'd just as soon shoot you, but your cowardice is best punished by the desert. No weapons, put in chains, and you haven't a clue where you are. If you're lucky, the Sand People will find you." Jagi stared Canderous in the eye. "I rotted in that Altheri dungeon for two years until Revan's army came for the planet. They freed me, but it was too late by the time to return to the fighting. Now, I live this half-life, my people a shell of what they once were." He spat on the ground. "Betrayed, imprisoned, and denied the chance to face a warrior's death - all because of you!"
"I seized the opportunity of battle, and brought it to a swift end," Canderous argued. "In defying those orders, our forces were able to crush the Altheri at the cost of fewer lives than the battle plan predicted. It was not glory - it was the very code of our clans. You may be willing to blame me, Jagi. But are you willing also to defy the words of Mandalore?"
Jagi looked like he was about to say something, then halted. He tried again. On his third attempt at speech, he said. "You can't use words to escape this, Canderous."
Jumping on his swoop, he sped off.
They contacted Bastila and told her to meet them before daybreak. She hurried to catch up to the gates, showing her license to the guard and being waved through. She stared out onto the vast sea of dunes as the first sun started to rise, concentrating on the Force to find where Kairi was. She hadn't gone far past the gates when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Bastila whirled around.
People did not merely "sneak up" on Force adepts – ordinary people, anyway. She was facing a yellow-skinned Twi'lek of indeterminate age. Bastila gasped from the surprise and the realization of just how he had been able to approach. This man was attuned to the Force. Not quite the way the Jedi were, but still woven tightly within its web.
"Stories are being told of a Jedi who talks to the People of Sand," he said in halting Basic. "Would you happen to be that Jedi?"
"Who are you?" Bastila asked.
"Komad Fortuna," he said.
"I've heard you are a hunter…" Bastila wanted to ask several questions, but Komad was ahead of her.
"I have been hunting here perhaps a decade or two. There is day, there is night. I am not confined by time anymore." He examined Bastila's face for a moment before saying more. "I recognize your features. Your father's line throws true. Shan was a fine hunter, lost to the krayt not far from here. He returns to the land, as hunters should."
"You…you know…then…"
"Must be important things in the desert for the Jedi to send you. Don't tell me what it is because I won't care. I listened to the Jawas. They trade stories like any other treasure. Several of them have been freed from the Sand People, but the Sand People are not dead. I wish to ask how this was possible."
"Well," Bastila answered. "I'm not the Jedi who negotiated with the locals, if that's why you're asking about. But I do know her."
"Bastila!" Carth's voice.
Over the dunes, he walked ahead, Kairi and HK-47 bringing up the rear. They walked up to Komad.
"Mr. Fortuna," Bastila said. "Meet Kairi and Carth. They were the ones who negotiated with the Sand People. How did it go, by the way?"
"We're still alive," Carth said. "And it looks like the Sand People are going to benefit from this deal, too."
Komad was impressed. "You understand the natural ways of things. I like this."
"We're looking for an artifact in the krayt dragon cave." Kairi asked. "From what I was able to gather from the lodge gossip, I take it you are looking for the krayt dragon itself?"
"The krayt feeds on bantha and foolish hunters. It is coming out of hibernation, and it is hungry. I have a plan to destroy it, but cannot act alone." He sighed, "It is a shame to kill such a magnificent beast, but it is too large, and too close to Anchorhead. It is wiping out the herds of bantha. It will starve eventually, but not before damaging the Sand People and settlers who use the bantha."
"We've a map to its lair," Kairi said. "You can tell us the plan on the way."
"Very good. We will set off while it is morning, before the high suns will be worst."
****
They stood in the middle of the Eastern Dune Sea with the map as guide, several dunes away from the cave entrance. The twin suns were getting high and the temperature was like standing in a crematorium.
Fortuna explained as he checked the equipment. "I have tried other hunters, but they lacked skill and patience. When I heard Jedi were here, I did not think much of it. They would not involve themselves with the cycles on Tatooine. But then I heard you walked with the People of the Sand. The story was enough to make me think that I should seek you out."
"So, what's the plan?" Kairi asked.
"We must use unorthodox methods to kill him, for it is the biggest krayt I have seen in my time, bigger than the one my father hunted. I will place mines around the cave entrance, but I will need you to provide the bait. It will require much to rouse the beast from its slumber."
"We're the bait?" Carth asked.
"No, human!" Fortuna laughed. "Take my sack of bantha fodder." He pointed to a herd standing a fair distance away. "To lure him out, we must bring him food to tempt him. Bait the bantha here, and the mines will take care of the rest. Not exactly a glorious hunt, but it will bring balance to this region."
Fortuna set to the cave entrance, and the three of them set out to the herd. The shaggy beasts perked up at the smell of food and started to fall in step. Carth waved his hand in front of his face. "Man, I've smelled three-day corpses better than these! Hope that guy's idea works…"
"Query: If it does not, then may I blast him, Master?"
"We'll have bigger problems to deal with if this fails, HK. Behave yourself until then," Kairi said.
The twin suns were high overhead now, and Canderous's throat was starting to go raw. He silently cursed Jagi as he continued.
A guttral cry echoed through the desert. Standing on a close ridge, a trio of Sand People called a war cry and hurtled towards him. Confined by his chains, Canderous still attempted fighting stance, but was certain that this would be his last stand.
Locking his hands together, he swung and struck one of his attackers. It knocked the creature back, but the other two were not deterred. One swung his gaffi, gashing Canderous across his back and knocking him to the sand. He rolled with the blow, and the implant was starting to work, but this was a nasty wound, and the hot sand was not helping. It stretched even his considerable pain tolerance.
As he looked up, he saw the third raider with the serrated metal point of the gaffi aimed at his heart. It was too late to move! The point plunged to his chest.
And halted millimeters from its target. The demonic face registered shock before Canderous took advantage, grabbing the stick and wrenching it from the hands that were about to slay him. Armed was definitely better than unarmed! A strong blow broke open the chains binding his legs, and he jumped to his feet.
Juhani was a short distance away, her lightsaber dancing as she ducked and dodged the blows of three other attackers. She knocked them back and started heading for Canderous. One of them had resisted her Force Push and closed in on her.
Canderous knocked her out of the way. Carried forward on his own momentum, her would-be killer impaled himself on Canderous's appropriated gaffi stick. He yanked it out, and the warrior fell to the sand.
With a wave of her hand, the iron cuffs fell off Canderous's wrists and ankles. He and Juhani maneuvered so they were back to back, giving no quarter to their attackers. Slashing and blocking, they forced their attackers back, and dropped them to the sands.
When no more came, Canderous doubled over. That last fight added several more wounds to the one on his side, sending his regenerative implant into overdrive.
Juhani walked up to him, grabbed his shoulder, and turned him around to inspect the wound on his back. She muttered something and Canderous felt a flash of pain, like someone was ripping skin from his wounded back. When the pain passed, he looked over his shoulder to find the gash on his back knitting quicker than it would have from his implant alone.
Juhani pulled her hand away. "Next time, you will not be so foolish, or you will be dead. Understood?"
"You were following me?"
"Someone had to," she said.
"I…I…" Damned if he knew what to say at this point. "You fight well."
"Come, I will get you back to the ship."
"No. We need to go further into the desert," Canderous told her. "Calo Nord was behind this, and he's going to get the drop on Kairi's party unless we catch up to him."
She gestured for him to follow, and led him to a parked speeder.
"Where did -"
"Let us just say that the bounty hunter that tried to kill me earlier will not need it anymore."
Canderous raised his eyebrows. "Good work, Cathar. Let's be off, then. Do you know which way?"
Juhani nodded. "I…I can sense Bastila and Kairi. They are not far."
****
They coaxed the bantha within a few meters of the cave entrance. The ground began to shake and Fortuna's eyes lit up. "Oh, boy! VERY big!"
The dragon was a creature the size of a small battleship, thick leathery hide and teeth a meter long. Kairi gasped in awe at the power in it. It crossed one set of mines. Explosions rattled the ground and deafened the party. The dragon howled in rage and stepped forward to attack, stepping on the second set of mines. With a bellow of pain and the deafening roar of plasma discharge, the dragon crashed to the sands and expired.
Fortuna looked sad as he ran his hand over the beast's head. "It is done. The great beast is dead. To my shame, I denied him a good fight, but I will honor his memory to make amends." He looked up. "I thank you, humans. Perhaps one day, you will view the hunt with the reverence that I do. Wealth fades; the sands remain."
With a large vibroblade, and a muttered prayer, Fortuna slit open the dragon's throat, fishing out four pearls. Two he kept, and two he presented to Kairi.
"I thank you for your help today. I will see you again, I am sure."
With those words, he walked off into the desert, fading into the dunes as though he were a part of them.
The former lair was impressive indeed - and straight from the dream Kairi and Bastila shared. Toppled columns and wind-worn statues with no features, only a vague humanoid shape with an oval head. Like on Dantooine, there was a Star Map, the tripod on tripod design. Kairi walked forward and touched it, watching it flower into a similar pattern as before.
"Okay," Carth said, downloading the information into his datapad. "Two down. Same planets are lit. Guess they've got more pieces." He shook his head as he programmed his datapad. "Anyone else think finding this Star Map in the back of a krayt dragon cave wasn't a coincidence?"
Bastila started searching the rest of the cave. "The Star Map is a powerful artifact of the Dark Side. The krayt dragon may have been drawn here by its power, only to be enslaved by…" Her voice cut off. She knelt by a tattered equipment pack, pulling out an object the size of a handball. She hung her head.
"What is it?" Kairi asked.
She turned and showed them. The object was a data holocron, a dodecahedron object of metal and synthetic crystal. Inside, was a picture of a middle-aged man. His recorded voice played the final entry. "Quannot's Syndrome is what Helena has. She and I know it's just a matter of time. I'm not even certain she's taking her medication as is, but I have to give her hope. I have to try. A single krayt pearl would be enough for her to be in comfort the rest of her days."
Bastila looked up at Kairi and Carth mournfully, tears starting to well in her eyes.
"As for news…The Jedi may forbid it, but I've heard news of Bastila. One of the guys with me on this run is a Republic soldier, just left the fleet. He's heard of her, and tells me she is a powerful Jedi now…looks a lot like her mother, too, if I heard him right. She's given them a lot of hope…Maybe…maybe we'll all be together someday…"
Bastila slumped over. Kairi's own body felt the blow of grief. She tried to go Bastila's side, offer something in the way of comfort, but Bastila knocked her hand away. She was whispering the Code to herself as she stood up rigidly and put the holocron in her pocket.
"Come," she said, her voice on the finest edge before cracking. "There's work to be done."
"Yeah," Carth said. "We should probably be going. I'm guessing there's not much else on this planet."
"EMERGENCY!" shouted HK-47. It was followed by the sickening blast of an ion grenade, which incapacitated the droid, sending it into spasms as it fell.
"Nothing, that is, aside from a few more bodies in the sand." The chilling monotone made their hair stand on edge. Turning around, they found themselves facing none other than Calo Nord, backed up by six armed Rodians, and three more armed humans with Mandalorian tattoos on their arms. Two swoops and two landspeeders also served to block their escape.
"I've got to give you credit…you led me on quite the chase, but in the end, no one gets away from Calo Nord."
"Look, who's paying you?" Kairi asked.
"Ain't in it for the credits, especially you, lady. You and Canderous tried to leave me rotting on Taris. You two are the only ones who've ever gotten away from me, and I've a reputation to protect. The Sith won't be saving you this time…" He turned to his thugs. "C'mon, boys – show time!"
Before they could start firing, the battle cries rang out from behind them.
"For the Order!"
"For Mandalore!"
The landspeeder blasted through Calo Nord's forces, sending them diving for cover. Standing on top of the fast-moving hovercraft were Juhani and Canderous.
Canderous cut the power. While the craft was under its own momentum, he and Juhani leaped off in the middle of the melee. The gaffi stick was crude, but wonderfully effective in sending the enemy scattering.
In the middle of the brawl was Jagi. Canderous broke from them, rushing for his kinsman.
Jagi's jaw was almost scraping sand. "You? How did you escape?"
"I had some help."
Jagi pulled a vibrosword. "We settle this our way."
They chased each other a fair distance from the rest. The short blades forced them to circle one another, swiping and slashing, then backing off only to circle and repeat the pattern. Canderous cracked his gaffi stick hard against Jagi's side, hearing the snap of ribs. Another strike managed to gash open Jagi's arm.
Jagi started backing up and took another swipe at him before scrambling towards the landspeeders. That dog was about to flee a battle he started! Canderous went to follow when there was an explosion and a cry from the main part of the brawl. Canderous knocked Jagi back and saw what had happened out the corner of his eye. They'd managed to divide the party, and they were still badly outnumbered.
They needed his help. Vengeance would have to wait.
"I'll be back for you later," Canderous grumbled before heading into the fracas.
The odds were a little better then he thought – but still bad. One of the Mandalorians was dead, as were three of the Rodians. Calo Nord had tossed a concussion grenade. They didn't do anything in the way of damage, aside from bewilder and stun the opposition, leaving them easy prey. Already. Carth and Juhani had been hit with the brunt of it while Kairi and Bastila were also trying to fight through the effects.
Canderous took another thug Calo had hired. Jumping on him from behind, he impaled him on the gaffi stick, then yanked it out and started looking for Calo Nord.
Calo Nord's armor was damaged, and his favored heavy pistols ran out of ammunition. Sensing that that this ambush had turned decidedly against his favor, he hopped on the swoop. The small, dark-haired Jedi – Kairi - called to the others and jumped onto Jagi's swoop. Off they went into the desert.
Calo cursed and reloaded his blasters as he tried to navigate. Of course, he'd raced swoops, but it had been years since he had to. He let off a couple shots, but missed due to the bad angles.
He hit the gears up to third, the desert starting to become a blur. At least the Jedi would have trouble using a lightsaber on a moving target. He turned the speeder and started heading for Anchorhead. Hopefully, the desert or the Sand People could thin their numbers while he regrouped and put together another trap.
What the - ?
That woman was gaining on him. He swore furiously as he remembered she was also the champion swoop racer of Taris. She was coming at him from the side and trying to ram him. Was she crazy? He headed for a narrow canyon, veering off sharply. Her swoop passed his at a perpendicular angle and kept going. He laughed and shifted up to put more distance between his swoop and hers.
Right after he up-shifted, he stopped laughing. He was headed right for a cliff! Calo tried to turn, but the swoop was faster than his reflexes. At top speed, it slammed into the cliff several meters from the ground. The explosion could be heard in Anchorhead. Fire belched from the scene, and there was nary a trace of Calo Nord or his swoop afterward.
A gigantic, black crater persists to this day in the middle of the cliff, a landmark for the locals who refer to it only as "Fool's Pass."
Kairi applied the brakes to her swoop and swung it around to see HK-47 leaning on the shoulders of two Sand People. Unfortunately, it appeared as though the entire tribe was behind them, surrounding the party.
She got off the swoop, fearing the worst. "HK…"
"Assurance: I am not permanently damaged, Master, though I will require some work when we get back to the ship to regain full functionality. In the meantime, the Sand People are astonished with your skill and bravery. It would seem that Calo Nord's deceased assistance were Czerka bounty hunters that have attacked and killed many of their warriors and sacred animals. They also witnessed the help you gave Komad Fortuna with the krayt dragon."
Out of the crowd came the Chieftain, walking right up to Kairi. He addressed her and his people.
"Translation: You have destroyed Czerka's hunters, successfully killed a krayt dragon, and brought them a gift of water. They believe you must be some kind of benevolent desert spirit in the guise of an Outsider. Query: Shall I encourage this belief, Master?"
"Uh…no, thanks."
The chieftain made another announcement to her.
"Translation: Because of your actions, you will be presented their highest honor – an audience with their Storyteller."
Under the cloudless, starry sky of the Tatooine night, and the torches of the Sand People's enclave, they were presented to the Storyteller. Compared to the others, the Storyteller appeared to be a calm, quiet man. Flanked by two warriors, he nodded for Kairi and her party to sit (HK-47 sitting next to her).
The Storyteller began to speak, making the grinding and harsh sounds of the tribal language sound almost beautiful.
"Translation: There is only one accepted history, passed orally to each generation. To record it as an Outsider would - on paper or machine - it to cheapen its value, for objects can always be taken away. To commit it to memory it to keep it with the people."
"I understand."
"Translation: In the ancient times, there were no Sand People, for there was not sand. The land was green with life and they walked without wrappings. Though the land was beautiful, they lived apart from it. They built their walls high and saw beyond the horizon. They dared to reach the stars. There are no words for how long ago this was. Before the Outsiders, before the abduction, before the cities fell, before the Builders…"
Builders, Kairi thought. The same as the ones in the Dantooine ruins. Of course, the Star Map proved they were here, but what was their connection to the Sand People?
"Translation: the arrogant people touched the stars, and this sin drew the attention of the Builders. The Builders did not touch the stars; they lashed them to millstones. Great demons of metal stripped the world of its riches until all that was left was the green of the ground. The great cities were lifted away. Those who had used the wealth were taken along with it; transgressors abducted to serve past the sky, seeding the stars with penitent, adaptable slaves."
The Star Forge, perhaps? And could this be tied to the lost origins of this galaxy's humans?
"Translation: there came a time when the Builders were also judged for their crimes. After generations, a plague weakened them, and the time of the Great War began. The Builders faltered, and his people realized why they had been punished: so that they understood the crime, and would now strike down the greater offender. They worked chaos into the machines so they destroyed themselves."
Kairi repeated the words to herself silently. So, this HAD been more than a desert. The people were just discovering hyperspace travel. Then the Builders came and stripped the planet while enslaving the people, only to find themselves stricken with plague. The slaves took their revenge and revolted.
"Translation: the Builders fought back, laying waste to the green that had been misused with fire from above. Soil became glass, grinding to sand, but the fight was long-planned and his people were safe. Deep in cave-homes carved from valley wall, they were free. The tribes spread far, distant from each other, but all as Sand People, and all cherished the land that remained. The sand would not be misused."
"Interesting," Juhani said. "But it seems the way of slavers to eventually find the chain about their own necks."
"Translation: Then, machines fell from the stars again. Outsiders, like you, that brazenly walked apart from the land. And greater still was the insult to come. These outsiders reminded them of their past transgressions; of the time when they too walked apart from the land. The Outsiders - your kind - look like their ancient abducted."
"Kandosii!" Canderous gasped. "And he has no idea what he is saying."
"Oh, he does," Carth answered. "No one really knows where humans came from in this galaxy. No history, no evolutionary records, practically zilch from before the Republic's founding. Then there are the near-humans, and plenty of evidence that someone tampered with the gene pool."
"Translation: so it is, to the current suns, that the Sand People hate all Outsiders and give them no footing. You come again, time after time, adaptable slaves to the machine."
That confirms the theory of a great Empire pre-dating the Republic, Kairi thought. What else will we learn about the Builders, I wonder…