Chapter 4
The Key
Their escort was Goorwooken, a dour-looking Wookiee who looked upon them with disgust. Leading them through the twisted pathways of the village brought them to a crudely built lift. "Chuundar has commanded that I grant you access to the Shadowlands. Walk with care! Only our bravest warriors return from these lands. Your soft feet are a barely tolerated insult."
The ride down was long and slow, accentuating the change in climate from the forests above to the forbidding depths below.
"May I ask about the Shadowlands, Goorwooken?" said Kairi.
"I doubt you would understand. You must live here to understand them. Bah! I waste my breath on you."
"I only wish to show your people proper respect," Kairi said.
"You ask very respectfully. Outsiders never do that. I suppose I can tell you a few things. As you know, Rorworr was the last of us to go below, and he has not returned in many days. Perhaps he is dead, but he was strong and able. Many have vanished or died recently. Chuundar says a mad-claw lives in the old ruins, killing all. Perhaps he is to blame."
"Is there anyone or anything else I should watch for when I'm down there?"
" The Hairless One lives close. He has earned our respect. He does not disturb our lives or customs. He hunts like a Wookiee - and he gets angry like a Wookiee sometimes. Ugh...his name hurts my tongue."
"Do you know anything about the ruins?"
"No, and I care not to. Besides, Chuundar has also allowed those of the Czerka to penetrate the Shadowlands and kill much."
Carth couldn't understand the Wookiee language, so he kept his attention on rest of the party. Mission was silent and glum - a radical change from her normally sunny and upbeat demeanor. She was scared for Zaalbar, anyone could tell. Canderous stood apart from them all. He understood the least about the situation, but certainly knew what clan and tribal politics could entail. Juhani was as agitated as a Jedi could manage, the Cathar pacing like...well...a caged beast. Bastila was, as usual, unreadable.
This was the only time they'd all been thrown together, Carth realized. Mostly they'd traveled in small groups, or a couple folks would leave the ship while the rest stayed put. Even on the ship, they formed clusters. Well, considering how dangerous the Shadowlands were rumored to be, he was glad they were going in armed.
Carth made the mistake of looking over the rail, down into the inky depths that awaited them, and immediately regretted it. The kilometers-long drop beneath them sent him grabbing the wooden fence around the platform and taking a couple deep breaths to stave off the vertigo.
"You are uncomfortable with heights?"
He heard the thick accent behind him and turned around to see Juhani. She peered over the edge sourly, allowing Carth a good look at her face - downy white fur edged with reddish-gold stripes. He hadn't really thought much about Juhani being of an uncommon species. To be honest, the only thing he really cared to notice about her was that she was a Jedi.
Carth didn't see reason to deny it. "Yeah," he admitted. "When I'm behind the controls, it doesn't bug me, but something like this, out in the open..." He shook his head, itching to change the subject. "How about you? I probably would have rearranged that guy's face up on the walkway. Might have been an improvement to it, though."
"Xor?" Juhani said. "The memory is...painful. You were with Bastila and Kairi during their escape from Taris, yes?"
Carth nodded. "Nothing anyone could do. The Sith were just blasting everything. The place was burning, and I heard the screams." He shuddered. "Nothing I could do but see another planet burn."
"Your world," Juhani whispered, understanding. Juhani tilted her furry head to examine him closer. "I had heard from Kairi that the Sith did to your world what they had done to Taris."
Carth huffed. Damn. Announce it to everyone, does she? "Well, I suppose it is public record. I just don't like to talk about it."
"I see," she said. "And understand. My parents talked little of the Cathar homeworld. I would suppose its loss pained them too much. And now to hear Taris is gone, too..." She sighed. "It is too easy for those who feel pain to forget that others also feel it. So many times in history those who were victims become the attackers...carrying the terrible cycle of vengeance forward." More to herself, she added. "Perhaps that is why Quatra did as she did."
"And sometimes the pain's all your left with," Carth said. He grabbed the railing tighter when he heard the boards beneath his feet groan. Eager to change the subject, he asked. "So, you left Taris to become a Jedi, huh? Why?"
"Why?" Juhani looked at him strangely. "Many times the question is 'how,' but I will answer. The Jedi freed me from what would have been a terrible life - a slave's life. When I looked into the eyes of their leader, it was as if I had seen my own future. And she was so beautiful." She smiled wistfully. "I remember wondering if she were a goddess, a vision, and not flesh and blood." She sheepishly looked to the floor of the lift. "But she was...because she is gone now, fallen in the fight with the Mandalorians."
"I'd watch your back with Jedi Council," Carth admitted. "They don't deal straight - not to us with the Mandalorians, and not now with this mission they've got us on. What I don't get is the blind faith you Jedi put in them."
Juhani shrugged. "My faith in them..." She tried to speak several times then admitted. "In Basic, I have trouble finding words, so I am sorry if I am clumsy with them. How to explain my faith in the Council? Well, they are not infallible. Had Revan not rebelled, I would have been among those crushed to death on Taris - if I had survived so long. Yet, I know I am young, and foolish. They have seen - and made - much history. I would trust them as you would a...commanding officer or beloved teacher."
Carth laughed mirthlessly. "My commanding officer and teacher stabbed me in the back - and one day I'm returning the favor."
Juhani scowled slightly. "Your mentor fell...fell to the Dark Side?"
"Dark Side is for you Jedi. He just turned traitor - the Sith offered him power, and he..." Carth couldn't finish the statement. "Want someone to blame for the destruction of Taris? Well, his flagship was at the head of that bombardment. Thing is, I know I'll be the one to kill him. Don't ask me how I know, I just do."
Juhani touched his shoulder. "It is not only Jedi who must fear the darkness of their souls. The perils are only more obvious. Quatra told me that she had felt that void when her mate perished. That even after many years, the knowledge he had joined the Force was indeed bitter comfort."
"Her mate?" Carth was confused. "From what I understood, Jedi aren't allowed to get married."
Juhani thought about her words before speaking. "They are not encouraged, but they are not forbidden, either. In time, that may change. Most Jedi choose not to, however. The life is hard. Most would rather not face the complications that a family would bring," Juhani said simply.
Carth nodded with understanding. He and Morgana had their share of fights, especially when he got his deployment orders, and he didn't want to think about how much he only got to see Dustil by holonet transmission. If the military life was harsh on families, he didn't want to think of how crazy a Jedi would have to be to have a family - all that traveling the galaxy, all that training...
Juhani stretched her shoulders and shifted her balance, sending another unsettling creak from the boards below. "There are the perils that come with a mate - the dangers of passion, the temptations, and the fact that the galaxy and the Order must come first. To many, it would not be...fair...to ask another into that life or subject them to that danger. And what one has never had, one does not miss."
Carth nodded. "I think I understand the point." The band around his finger felt far too tight. But it was their future that he fought for, wasn't it? Well, now there was no future to fight for - only the past to avenge. Again, Carth peered into the darkness beneath their feet.
"For someone who dislikes heights, you spend much of your time looking into the abyss," Juhani said. "What is it that looks back at you from it?"
"Death," Carth replied, not really thinking about his words. He wondered if the Cathar Jedi used a mind trick on him, but knew she was not the type. "My death."
"You see visions of it, do you not?" Juhani's words were so quiet that Carth wasn't certain if she was actually speaking or if he were imagining it. "Images behind your eyes, and a certainty that is not dreaming..."
Carth snapped his head up and turned around to tell Juhani that it was none of her business what he dreamed or not. However, she had walked clear to the other side of the lift - impossible for her voice to carry like that.
Walking away from the railing, Carth joined Mission in the center. Staring over the edge lost all appeal.
The elevator touched down on the Shadowland floor. It was a dark and dismal place cloaked in perpetual fog and thick with the smells of rich soil and decaying matter. Goorwooken tossed them a signal device. Once they had brought back proof that they'd destroyed Chuundar's enemy, they were free to return - but not before.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Mission muttered as the lift started back up into the trees. "Chuundar's hoping we get killed down here so that he can do what he likes to Big Z."
"Statement: We are not ones who will be destroyed easily, Miss Mission. All members of this party are apt combatants. We may prove that hairy meat-bag an utter fool."
Kairi held up her hand to hush the conversation. "Listen...Can you hear that?"
The sound of a lightsaber! Dark Jedi? Weapons at the ready, they charged towards the sound, only to have katarn swarm out from the shadows and surround them. They were quadrupeds with greenish, thick hide and powerful builds. There were a dozen or so in the pack, the alpha bull was almost as tall as Kairi! The alpha bellowed and charged.
The whole pack started to barrel towards them. The fight was on! Blasters took care of the ones on the edge of the group while lightsabers took down those in melee range. They'd taken down about half the pack when Kairi saw the blur of a green lightsaber and the rest of the beasts hissed and squealed, scattering.
Emerging from the fog was a human man. He was dark-skinned and his head was shaven. His mustache and beard were gray, and he had deep lines in his face, the only hints of his advanced age. Otherwise, he moved like a man in his prime.
Kairi scowled. Why did this man seem oddly familiar? She tried to peer into the void that carried her pre-Taris memories. A moment of intense vertigo and bone-deep dread was her only reward.
"Ah, the damnable racket of battle! Watch yourself, even more of these crawling beasts are hiding in the underbrush..." He brushed off his plain-spun tunic and hide vest as he walked up to them. "I'm Jolee. Jolee Bindo."
"A Jedi Master? Here?" Bastila asked.
He huffed with contempt. "Don't coddle me, child. I'm no damn Jedi - not anymore, and I'm certainly not your master. My days of glory are behind me. I'm just the crazy old man in the dangerous woods, and I like it that way. What brings a bunch like you into the...?" He looked at Kairi and stopped. "Well now..."
Kairi pulled herself to the present and looked up at the old man. She wanted to speak, but could not seem to get her voice to work. He was looking at her in a curious fashion, examining her closely. When Kairi tried to read Jolee, she was pushed out of his mind with a vague suggestion of laughter.
Do I know you? She wanted to ask.
"I'm not sure," Jolee said quietly. He had obviously read her thoughts. "But more important is whether you know you…"
"What are you doing here?" Juhani asked before Kairi could question the man's words.
He looked up from Kairi, clearing his throat with an annoyed sound. "Why am I here? Well, it's not because I like the smell. Let's move this talk to where the air is better."
Bastila stepped in front. "We've come in search of an ancient artifact that is on the forest floor. A Star Map."
The old man shook his head. "Of course, you did. Why else would the Council send a pack of Jedi to this planet? Certainly not to help the Wookiees. Oh definitely not!" He gave a growl of frustration. "Well, you are here, it's starting to be dark, and the predators get worse. I might as well invite you to my house. Come on, it's nearby, under a log. Yeah, I live like some burrowing rodent. I fought the Sith...Now look at me. Hah!"
The party followed Jolee to his home, a large and well-equipped cabin. Like the Enclave on Dantooine, it had been built in harmony with the natural settings, the walls made of salvaged stone, and half of it hollowed out from the roots of a now-dead wroshyr. A fire pit in the middle provided for warmth and cooking.
"Well, well..." he said. Seeing them hesitate at the door, he laughed richly. "Welcome to my home - such as it is. Don't just stand there. Come inside, pull up a stump and be comfortable."
They filed into the cabin. It was larger than it looked, the ceiling high, and the fire pit was certainly inviting, especially since they had been dropped in these lands at sundown and the chill of evening was starting to set in. Jolee flung open cabinets he had carved in the walls and pulled out mugs of carved wood.
He sighed and opened up his other senses. There were three Jedi...or was that four? He dismissed that. The fourth reading was dormant. Jolee watched them out the corner of his eye. They were certainly an attention-getting bunch.
The party was a lot larger than the last set of visitors - seven people and that droid. Fortunately, for the universe, that droid was an uncommon model. He couldn't imagine who would be nuts enough to produce it in large quantities. The red-plated droid stayed by the door, and Jolee noticed the little dark-haired woman give him instructions to stay on guard. While she attended to the droid, the aristocratic-looking woman started herding the rest of the party towards the fire pit and keeping a sharp, suspicious eye on Jolee.
When the dark-haired woman was through with the droid, she then turned her attentions to the other party members, making sure they had settled in comfortably. She took off her cape and wrapped it around the young Twi'lek, who wasn't dressed warmly. The girl accepted the cloak, but seemed very distracted – worried – as she tried to hide it by teasing the Mandalorian with some off-color comment.
Jolee was particularly intrigued by the young Twi'lek. The youngling had some brains and nerves - most Twi'lek women he'd seen tried to hide what was left of theirs. Settling in next to the girl was the auburn-haired human man. He was probably military – all those drills and fighting left a certain precision in someone's movement. He joined in the teasing match between the Twi'lek and the Mandalorian, all three of them bouncing good-natured insults at one another.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to know how a Mandalorian came to be thrown in with the lot. And for a group that included Jedi and a Republic soldier, the crew was at ease with his presence, and he was equally comfortable with theirs. The Mandalorian sat against the wall, a bit apart from the others, returning the teasing. It was probably old habit to make sure no one snuck up on him. In front of him, closest to the fire, was a Cathar woman, the third Jedi. Jolee knew the species well enough. Exar Kun's War had a goodly share of Cathar heroes, and at least one villain. The Jedi ways could be pretty tough on a species with such a ferocious temper.
The aristocratic one interrupted the banter. She was sitting cross-legged between the Twi'lek girl and the Cathar Jedi. Her topic of conversation revolved around their current mission and the obstacles they might encounter along the way. She also questioned her Cathar companion on her state of mind in a tone that reminded Jolee of the worst aspects of the Jedi Council - polite enough words, even enough tone, but undercurrents of accusation and disappointment.
Odd, odd group...Maybe his guess was wrong.
"I volunteer to be another set of hands."
Jolee had been so busy concentrating on the others that he hadn't seen the petite woman sneaking up on him. She looked at him with large dark eyes that seemed strangely guileless. She waited, hands behind her back, like a protocol droid awaiting instruction.
"Now, now, you're a guest. You don't need to be doing this." He glanced back at the crowd now camped about the fire pit and caved. "Oh, all right. Saves me a trip anyway," he muttered. "Moss flower tea can warm up the dead," he said. "And yes, I'll have a mug with the same thing as everyone else. What? You think I'll poison you?"
Kairi shrugged. "I don't know. Will you?"
Jolee shook his head. "Just take those mugs, lass. I'm not that stupid. I try anything to your party and that droid you have by the door would probably use a blaster to voice his disagreement. I'm not ready to join the Force yet. Shoo!"
He hustled the small woman towards the others, passed out the remaining mugs, and then filled a pot with water from the pump he had against the wall. He put the pot to boil above the fire pit and plopped down with mug in one hand, a container with the dried herbs in the other. Introductions were made, and the party settled in. It didn't take long for the water to start boiling, and even less time for the questions to start.
"You fought the Sith?" Carth asked. "And you live down here?"
"Did I say something about the Sith? You have annoyingly good ears, but those days are long gone. Leave them in their grave. As for me..." He shook his head and chortled. "Ah, what is there to tell?"
"But why here of all places?" Kairi asked. She sat between Carth and Jolee, hands folded in her lap as she looked up at him.
"Why? Don't you like what I've done with the place? The creatures here aren't any more treacherous than elsewhere." Jolee got up and put the herb container in the pot, checking the water temperature. "I've seen my share of both the dark and the light, and both extremes annoy the hell out of me." He sighed wistfully. "Of course, I have felt the rumblings of change."
"I do not sense the taint of the Dark Side within you, old man," Juhani said. "I sense you are a servant of the Light, whether you admit it or not."
"I can assure you, madam, that I see more gray than dark or light. I'm just a stubborn old man, tired of the foolishness of others."
"You are difficult to deal with, and that worries me," Bastila admitted. Kairi was polite, and Bastila was formal. The former, he could stand, the latter he took as a challenge.
His dark lips curled in a wicked smile. "Ah, and it makes you think that I may have the 'taint of the Dark Side' within me, doesn't it? Ooh, is that what you're wondering, huh? Ooh."
"Nice to see a Jedi who's not hung up on all this Dark Side/Light Side stuff," Mission said. "Gets pretty tiring."
"You certainly don't act like any Jedi I've met. Then again, I've met very few that I didn't have to kill," Canderous said.
Blunt, and old enough to know how the universe really worked. Jolee decided this fellow wasn't all bad. "And you are quite unlike any Mandalorian I've run across, so that makes us even. For all you and I know, I may have had to fend off a few of your relatives."
"Then I hope they put up a worthy battle."
Jolee snickered, taking the boiling tea off the fire pit and making the rounds pouring it into everyone's mug. "Ah, yes. Well, no mistaking you for anything other than an old war beast, is there?"
Jolee was delighted to see that Canderous gave as good as he got. "Who are you to talk old war beast, Jedi?"
"What business of the Order brought you to this place?" Bastila asked when he came to fill her cup.
"The Order?" Jolee harrumphed. "The Order and I parted ways before you were born."
"Then you're not a Jedi?" Mission asked. "Not sure I get it."
Jolee filled his own mug with the last of the pot and sat back down. "I follow the Jedi Way and defend myself with a lightsaber and the Force. I guess that makes me a Jedi in most people's eyes. The Council, however, would argue with that estimation, and so would I."
Jolee kept his attention on Kairi. She made no comments of her own, just watching, listening, and passively scanning. The party watched her take the first sip. After she drank, she nodded to the others, and they drank from their own mugs.
So, Bastila may give the orders, but the rest of them - the non-Jedi, especially - respect this one's judgment. Interesting...maybe this Kairi isn't so different from -
Mission distracted his line of thought. Damn, he was old and out of practice. "Well, you've lived here, you've seen a lot. What do you know about the stuff going on here? Czerka, the Wookiees...all of it."
"Ah. The Wookiees. Intriguing creatures. I like the fact they've little patience for bureaucrats." He took another gulp from his mug. "But, of course, even here, there are hidden things to manipulate."
"I still can't believe that Chuundar guy, though," Mission said angrily, staring glumly into her cup. Carth patted her back.
"Czerka was smart to put him in power. He's as good at destroying Wookiee culture as dropping corpses full of Ardroxian flu. Do you work for him, I wonder?"
"Well, he sent us down here," Mission said, her blue color deepening with her scowl. "But he's got Zaalbar hostage and -"
"Zaalbar, huh?" Jolee stroked his beard. "So you've got a Wookiee with you?" Well, this batch just keeps getting more interesting. And if my guess is correct... He covered up his contemplation with a resigned shrug. "Well, I'm afraid I won't be any help there. I don't care for politics, and I'm big on letting people figure things out for themselves. The Wookiees have prophesies of deliverance, but for now, they follow without hesitation. That's what they wish."
"Prophesies?" Mission asked, leaning in. "Like Bacca's sword?"
Jolee smiled wide and looked over at Mission. "I could like you, young lady. You've a good head on those shoulders."
"Well, I wanted to learn about the Wookiees. Zaalbar taught me the language, and told me what he could about his people, but..." She looked over to Kairi. "We don't have to follow that guy's orders, do we? There's got to be another way to save Zaalbar, right?"
"Orders?" Jolee asked.
"There's a rumor of a crazed Wookiee in the Shadowlands," said Kairi. "According to Chuundar, he's been killing other hunters."
"Mad with grief, perhaps, but not insane, and certainly no threat to his own kind." Wish I could say the same for that rug Czerka put in power. " I helped him pass to the lower forests where only a Wookiee could follow. Now, I could take you there, but there's a barrier that...Well, you'll know it when you see it."
Kairi nodded. The gears were turning in her head, trying to gather enough fragments to put together the puzzle. "Is this related in any fashion to Rorworr?"
"That," Jolee said gravely, "is a matter that can only end in shame and sorrow. No, it isn't directly related. I see a lot down here, but I leave it to others to sort them out."
"You're not a terribly helpful sort, I see," Bastila said dryly, sighing and shifting into a cross-legged position.
"I wasn't aware I had to be." He stared at Bastila over the rim of his mug. "Look, events like these reveal much about the people involved. I'm well past that introspective tripe."
"Wise of you," Canderous said, raising his mug in salute. "Some things are best solved with your blade."
"Kashyyyk is an interesting place, more so than anyone suspects. If Czerka knew the half of it, they'd turn the place into a strip mine. The Wookiees have their legends that they were not always here, but it's more than that. The trees themselves are strangers."
"Hmmm," Canderous said. "You have to speak in riddles, old man?"
"What I'm saying is that there are literally walls in your path, and that you won't find what you need without my help, and that help's got a price. You must do a task for me, and allow me to come with you. Do that, and I can remove certain barriers in your path."
"Come with us? As in just for this or...?" Kairi asked, again trying to see the whole picture behind Jolee's words.
Jolee shook his head. "How many kilometer-high trees can one see before one has seen enough? It's time for me to go, and I assume you got here with a starship." He sat up, draining the mug and wiping his face with his shirtsleeve, eliciting a disgusted look from Bastila. "I've missed the vibration of deckplates under my feet and engine noise in my ears."
Looks passed among the crew. Carth shrugged. Mission's eyes lit up. Juhani regarded him with curiosity. Canderous kept a stern Pazaak face - so did Bastila. The droid's head swiveled to look at Kairi.
Just as he was betting, Kairi was the one to speak. "We'll discuss it," she said. "If that's all right with you."
"Fine, then," Jolee said. "I'll have the task for you in the morning. Take that time to make your decision if you'd like."
The night wore on and the party started to fall asleep. Canderous propped himself up in a corner and dozed. Juhani slept close to the fire, but one hand was on her lightsaber, even as she slept. HK-47, not in need of sleep, was put on alert.
Bastila struggled for sleep, but found it would not come. Across the fire pit, she saw Kairi sleeping between Mission and Carth. The Twi'lek girl and Kairi were face-to-face, Mission's blue hand clasping Kairi's. Poor girl. Bastila knew she was deeply hurt by the loss of her constant companion, and there was little doubt that being alone and asleep in Taris's Lower City was a gamble at best. As for Carth, he had fallen asleep on his stomach, one arm flung around Kairi's shoulders. With a muffled grumble, he shifted to his side and used one arm as a pillow. He wasn't spooning with Kairi...yet…but his hand sleepily groped around until he found Kairi's and Mission's, and topped their hands with his.
As much as he claimed he trusted no one during the day, he could hold no secrets in sleep. He already had bonded to them, perhaps irrecoverably. What else could go wrong with this assignment?
Taking her saber, she opened the cabin door and tried to suck in a few deep breaths of the cool air, clearing her mind.
"Not a place for a midnight walk, Bastila."
He was half in shadow, kneeling next to a bush, gathering some leaves and some of the night-blooming flowers into a clay jar at his feet.
"Is that why you are taking one as well, Mister Bindo?" she asked primly.
"I've lived down here the better part of two decades - alone. I just happen to be tending the moon-bushes. Did you know that the leaves can be used in a poultice? Clears infection right up."
"And that's why you're out here in the middle of the night?"
"Well, they ARE most effective when harvested at full bloom," he said. "But now that you're out here, I wanted to ask you a few questions when the others weren't listening."
"Such as?"
"It's about your friend - the dark-haired one," Jolee said.
"Kairi? Well, yes...what about her?"
His eyes narrowed. "I told you I've seen a lot down here. Don't bother lying to me."
Bastila shuddered. "Then...you..."
"I will keep my silence - for now. There's no need to cause trouble. Hell, I might be completely wrong and out of my mind. I'm half-senile, you know." He brushed his slim, dark hands on his rough-spun tunic and stood up, capping the jars. "She considers you her friend."
"You should know that getting emotionally involved on any level is dangerous, especially..."
"Especially when you want not to reveal how you're using someone," he said, putting the jar on a smoothed stump.
"I resent the implication!"
He whirled around and marched up to her. "Implication my foot!" He threw out his hand towards the cabin. "Has the Jedi Council really done what I think they have?" He let out a frustrated grumble as his hands dropped to his side and shook his head in dismay. "I suppose they did. The Jedi Council never did want someone with their own opinions..."
"Your lack of due reverence is appalling."
Jolee folded his arms. "You aren't old enough to be lecturing me about reverence. Go on, spout your codes and sermonize about the Dark Side's evils. It will make both of us feel better."
"You must have gone mad!"
"Maybe, but this is a crazy universe." He laughed and shook his head. "Great Stars, and to think I'd once been a Padawan, spouting the same codes and boring lectures. I didn't understand what they all meant at the time...same as you don't understand them now."
Bastila sighed in exasperation.
"Was that convincing? It's been a while since I've talked to someone who needed that kind of babysitting."
"And I suppose you think age alone grants you wisdom?"
He shrugged and walked back to his jars. Walking over to what used to be a starship footlocker, he opened it and pulled out a bottle of potent liquor and poured a measure of it in with the plants before capping and replacing it. "Not so much age as having a long time to think things through." He inspected it by the moon's light and nodded with approval before sealing the jar and giving it a good shake.
"You're not going to tell me what I fail to understand, then?"
"A good teacher - and I'm not saying I am one, doesn't mash the book in the student's face shouting 'learn this bit here,'" he said sternly. "I'm big on thinking for one's self, something the Jedi don't seem to encourage if you're any example. If you can't look at the situation for yourself and see the logic behind my 'madness,' then you're not likely to understand me anyway." He put the jar on the windowsill. "Besides, aren't you a bit old for that master/student fuss? I know I am."
"I can see you'll fit in perfectly with the party Kairi seems to have collected, then," Bastila said mordantly.
"Oh, they've decided, then?"
"Yes, we've a single bunk left on ship, and it's open. The fact that you are a healer tipped Canderous in your favor. Of course, the debate was over once Kairi voiced her support," she added.
"Really now?"
Bastila sighed. "Her charisma is still legendary, apparently. The Jedi Council put me in charge of the Star Map mission, but she holds the banner that they have flocked to."
Jolee smiled broadly. "Jealous, my dear?"
"Of...of course not!" Bastila protested. "But none of them know, aside from you and me. That woman is a terrible danger, and I've spent my efforts trying to protect them from her - in vain." She sighed. "If this mission had gone to plan, she never would have left the place that was best for her. Neither would they."
"Maybe it's not always our call about where someone's place is. This was mine for a bit over twenty years, after all. Taught me more than a dozen masters ever could about the Living Force." Sitting on the stump, he looked up with reverence, closing his eyes peacefully. "One can get to the heart of it; to feel the bonds between the soil and the plants - the rocks and the air, the cycles of life...and there truly is no chaos, only harmony."
"You just quoted part of the Jedi Code."
"Not hard to do." Jolee got up and patted Bastila on the shoulder. "But one day, I hope you understand what it means."
He opened the door and walked back inside. Resigned, Bastila did the same.
****
In the morning, Jolee cheerfully loaded them up with tea again and gave them their task.
"The Czerka Corporate hunters come down here, but they've mostly left me alone...until recently. A group of them set up camp northeast of here. Poachers is all they are. I'd like them removed. The captain of the lot is the one who's earned my ire. Mishandle my garden, will he?"
"Oh," Carth drawled, trying not to laugh. "The aged semi-Jedi wants us to chase the kids off his lawn."
"Why haven't you taken care of them yourself, old man?" said Canderous, inspecting that gigantic canon he carried into battle. "I'm certain you could have them fleeing for their miserable lives."
HK-47 agreed with that assessment. "Agreement: Perhaps some well-applied grenades and a liberal amount of firepower will teach the meat-bags a lesson."
"Oh, I could, but we all know the deal Czerka has. Besides, they know who I am and will be expecting me to cause them trouble. I know this sounds absurd, but I'm old and entitled to work you around for a bit, as per the deal. And well, you could call it a test."
Mission laughed, patting Jolee on the back. A impish smile lit her face. "Hey, if I can pull a good prank on Czerka, you won't catch me objecting, especially if there's a creative way to turn tables on those slimes."
"I am more in agreement with Mission," Juhani said, smoothing out her scarlet robes. "Use of cunning may yield better results, and if we should fail in that, then we must resort to battle."
Bastila folded her arms. "Let us go then."
Kairi motioned to the party, and she took point. Jolee watched them leave. He had no doubt the poachers would soon be gone, but he was very interested to see what method they'd use.
The poacher camp wasn't far. Five Czerka guards and one patrol officer were in the encampment, deep in a valley and surrounded by hills. The party split up. Canderous and HK-47 would hide nearby; ready to attack should things go sour. Juhani and Carth took the opposite ridge.
Kairi, Bastila, and Mission were the ones who were sent to approach. The leader of the bunch, a sour-faced, haughty man sneered at them.
"Who are you, another civil merchant like that coro-slime up on the docking ring? This is my territory. I don't make deals and I don't persuade easy, so go back topside. Mess with my profits, and I'll see you dead."
"I'm here at Chuundar's request," Kairi explained.
"He's got no authority with me. I'm with Czerka Corporation, and he's just some pet we keep so that the locals stay in line. As long as you don't get in my way, you can wander where you like. I've a job to do."
"Oh," said Bastila dryly. "So, you're with the slaving operation?"
"What? No, I don't do much of that. It's too much of a headache. I'm in the business of harvesting animals. Some of the more exotic species have organs that can be removed and put to some surprising applications."
"Have you seen anything odd down here?"
"Aside from you? Besides any number of predators that can kill you in seconds? We've got a repulsor field to the east so not much passes through this valley now. We've set up those sonic emitters to keep the larger predators away. It's worked so far and makes the harvesting a lot easier. Permanent placing, too. We'll be fine for years."
While Kairi and Bastila were still arguing with Dern, Mission took more...direct measures. Sneaking up behind the half-asleep guards, she started to tinker with the sonic generators. "The power converter connected to the overload, the overload reconnected to the power source..."
Carth was watching from his position, blaster ready to rain hell on them if they even thought about harming the crew. Currently, Kairi was chatting up the commander and the guards didn't seem to notice Mission as she sabotaged the machines.
He heard Juhani's voice from behind the next stump. "Elements!"
He turned away and ran over to her. She was kneeling by a furry corpse - a dead Wookiee. Carth picked up what looked like bolt casings.
"Bowcaster casings. I've seen Zaalbar fire off a few, but these are marked strangely. He wasn't killed by those Czerka guys - bowcasters aren't designed for humans." He held the casing up to the light. "Maybe it is true what Chuundar said - that there's a crazy Wookiee down here killing his people."
"It is more likely that Chuundar's 'madman' is nothing more than one who successfully resists him." Juhani rifled through the discarded backpack and pulled out a datapad. "A slaving contract. This dead man was a traitor to his kind. I doubt his death would be overly-mourned."
"For a Jedi, you've sure got some fire in your blood," Carth said.
Juhani scowled. "I do know slavery, cruelty, hatreds...I do not expect you to understand it. Yes, it does make my blood burn. It is terrible to say, but I curse those who prey on others. I wish them to suffer the pain they inflict."
Carth blew out a breath. "I'm the wrong guy to condemn the attitude, Juhani. But, I think the Holder of the Laws back in the Wookiee village will know what to make of it."
"You're not safe with blasters?" Kairi asked, still distracting Dern. Bastila was having a hard enough time with the four guards, and Mission was just about finished fiddling with the generators.
"Not worth it. You're fighting the plants as well as the beasts. Ksyy vines are as tough as metal and grow back fast. We've not gone deeper in the forest to the east for that reason - too dangerous to be profitable."
"And what if I'd like you to leave?" said Kairi.
Mission signaled her work was finished. She ran off towards Canderous and HK-47's position. Bastila lat out a deep breath and stopped her efforts on the guards.
"So, that crazy old man Bindo has you doing his dirty work, eh? I suppose he's just upset that we don't all live like a hole in the ground the way he does."
"Don't you care that you're destroying the ecosystem?" Bastila asked.
"Uh, no. I'll be rich by then and not have to do it any longer, and we'll have an easier time milking the planet. "
"Commander --?" One of the guards staggered back. "The generators, they aren't working!"
"This place is dangerous!" Cried another guard. "Let's get out of here!"
Dern raised his blaster and shot, narrowly missing one of the fleeing guards. "Halt, you cowards! No one leaves under my -"
The ground shook and a mighty roar split the air. A gigantic monster with a gaping maw was lumbering towards the camp. Without the sonic generators annoying it, it was checking out the camp and the tasty smell of tach...and humans.
Dern and his crew ran like hell. So did Kairi's party. Only difference was that Kairi's crew were laughing as they headed back towards Jolee's cabin.
Jolee sensed their coming before he saw them, Nice to know the old Jedi senses were still working. Their laughter echoed merrily through the woods along with the commentary. He could also sense the poachers were gone, but had no ideas as to what truly happened.
Mission bounded ahead, waving to him cheerily. "Hi, Jolee! We got rid of those poachers! Oh, we got them good!"
"Yes, I did sense they're gone. And I don't sense the taint of death on you. Interesting. You spared them?"
"I wouldn't say 'spare' is the right word," Mission said in between chuckles. "But if they make it back to the treetops, they'll think twice about heading back!"
Kairi walked up next to Mission and put an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Well, that, and there was nothing to gain from killing them."
Jolee huffed. "Wasn't there? Well, I suppose the environment would say otherwise, but at least the Wookiees won't be blamed for human greed this time. Now, I mentioned taking down barriers in your path - that damnable force field Dern's crew put in. Effective, but I know how to get around it." He leaned in. "And on the other side - ancient answers. Maybe a few that you're looking for."
