Unexpected Friends

Mira sat cross-legged on the floor of her cell, her mind finally clear enough to meditate. She reached into the force to help her body regenerate and to sense her surroundings. The ship she was on was still on Nar Shaddaa, she discerned. She could feel the energy of the moon radiating just outside the confines of the vessel. The ship itself seemed to be deserted. She could detect no other life forms on it and she fleetingly wondered where her captor had gone off to. She then wondered what Dustil was doing and if he was going as mad as she was with the waiting.

Dustil and she had been close, ever since he'd arrived at the academy just a few weeks after the destruction of Malachor. He had been in training with the Jedi Masters before The Scattering, and his father had informed him of Vashti's plan to build a Jedi army. He was the first of many recruits to arrive at the Academy. Many of those who came in the first few months were already Jedi on some level. Some were Masters or Knights, but most had been padawans when they were forced into hiding. They had also recruited a great many force sensitives with no training in the force, but that had extensive training in other areas.

It made quite a few of the Masters nervous that Vashti was training so many older recruits to use the force, but she insisted that they needed to raise a force wielding army as quickly as possible if they were going to join Revan. And so the usual younglings and fifteen years of training weren't going to do it.

Those that had not already been Jedi were given a choice. They could be taught to wield the force to enhance their existing combat skills or they could choose to undergo full Jedi training learning to use sabers and exploring the full power of the force. The first kind spent most of their training learning battle precognition and using the force to augment speed and reflexes. They were also taught how to use the force to heal wounds and how to strengthen their willpower to resist mental attacks. These men and womenstuck tothe weapons they'd used their whole life and were fast becoming a very lethal force.

Those that had chosen to pursue full Jedi training had a much harder road ahead of them. Learning the lightsaber after using other weapons was a dangerous and difficult task. But once they were trained, they would be significantly more powerful than the other group, especially in one on one combat. Both groups were fundamentally necessary for the war that was going to be waged.

When Dustil had arrived, Vashti had put him through his paces. It hadn't taken her long to ferret out his story about being at the Sith Academy on Korriban and his brief training with the Masters on Coruscant. She was quite impressed with his saber skills and had quickly given him the mission of rounding up as many of his former classmates as possible. She had paired him with Mira so that he could take advantage of her innate ability to find people through the force.

The two had taken the Ebon Hawk and had spent the next several months scouting the galaxy together. They had become fast friends and they really enjoyed each other's company, but after they had returned to the Academy things had become a little uncomfortable. Mira had begun spending her time with her other friends whom she had missed over the months and Dustil had begun to feel left out. When they had been sent out together again to find Lorli and Jaf, he had obviously been eager to have her to himself again.

She didn't know how to handle this situation. Normally, she would have just been blunt and honest, informing him that she wasn't interested, but she didn't know for sure that it was true in this case. He was all the things she really liked in a man. He was smart, really cute, surprisingly mature for his age and a good friend. She couldn't deny there was an attraction between them either. So why was she so uncomfortable with his affections?

"Sleep well, miss?" The deep voice cut through her meditation and she jumped to her feet, startled by the Mandalorian's sudden presence.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "How did you do that?"

He regarded her with a smirk, "Do what, miss?"

She reached out with the force again and attempted to sense his presence. This time the same energy that had called to her on her hunt affronted her, but then suddenly it was gone again.

She opened her eyes again and glared at him, "That's a neat little trick," she said suspiciously.

His smirk grew to a grin, "I have no idea what you're talking about, miss." He said as he pushed more rations through the hole in the energy field.

"Riiight," she scoffed, "you have any other tricks like that?" she questioned him.

"Like what?" he persisted.

"Oh, come on," she groused. "You know damned well what I'm talking about. One minute you're there, the next you're not. Is it some kind of device or something?"

He ignored the question and began to leave the room. "Wait!" She called out to him desperately. "Come back and talk to me… I'm going mad in here!"

He stopped near the door, turned and met her gaze, the corners of his mouth twitched, amused by her desperation. "Talk to you about what, miss?" He drawled as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe.

"Anything! Just… talk… please…" she paused a moment, "Did you fight in the Mandalorian wars?" she grasped at a topic. He nodded but didn't elaborate. "So how old does that make you?" she added quickly.

"Twenty-nine standard years," he said casually.

"Oh, wow, so you were eighteen at the end of the war?" She asked.

"The Jedi can add," he taunted.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Actually that was subtraction… but I can do both. They come in handy when you're playing pazaak." She said dryly, "Do you play?"

"Don't all bounty hunters play pazaak?" he asked coolly.

"Hrm, good point." She waved her deck at him briefly. "Care to play a few hands?"

Without speaking he slid his own deck out of one of the many pockets covering his pants and dropped to the floor in front of the cage. Her eyes lit up as she sat and began shuffling her deck.

"What are we playing for?" she questioned him.

He glanced at the table covered in her things and then pointedly at her shirt and pants, "It doesn't look like you have much left to wager."

She blushed slightly. "Just a friendly wager," she suggested. "I win, you bring me some chocolate – you win, I'll buy you a drink when you let me out of here." She said confidently.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't think your boyfriend would approve." He said gruffly.

She blanched. "He's not my boyfriend," she said emphatically.

"Oh, really?" He said casually, "And is he aware of that?"

She sighed deeply, "No…" she admitted, "I don't think he is."

He chuckled. "Fine, when you lose and if I let you go and don't have to kill you or turn you over to Goto I'll let you buy me a drink."

"And if I win, you'll get me some chocolate?" She prodded him.

"Mmm," he mumbled in agreement.

They played several rounds, trading wins, each time raising the stakes just a little bit higher. Mira had worked her way past chocolate to some caffa and something other than rations for dinner, but she also now owed him a bottle of Corellian whiskey and a box of his favorite cigars. As they played she started telling him about Vashti and the mission they had been on last year to stop the rising Sith lords. She told him about Korriban, about Freedon Nadd's tomb on Dxun and the battle she, Visas & Bao fought there.

After babbling endlessly she remembered his little trick when he'd come in the room. Trying to sound conversational, she asked, "So, just how do you mask your presence in the force?"

He considered her for a moment, "Is that what I was doing?" he drawled as he played a card.

She met his gaze, and tried to discern if he honestly didn't know what he'd done. She finally nodded a response, "Yeah, hard to believe you don't know you're doing it though."

He shrugged, "Oh, I know I'm doing it. I just didn't know what I was doing…"

She blinked, trying to follow his logic. "Ah," she said when she finally understood his meaning, "but how?"

He thought for a moment, scratching the slight stubble on his jaw absentmindedly. "How do you move your hand?" He questioned her finally.

"I just do," she replied quickly, the realization of what he was trying to say hitting her as the words left her mouth.

"Exactly," he confirmed.

"OK…. So it's not a device of some kind? Then how did you learn to do it?" she questioned him further, his evasive answers were really starting to irritate her.

He shrugged again, "I always have."

"Always?" she wanted clarification.

He nodded, "I became aware of it when I was learning to hunt as a child. I was always able to get closer to my targets than the other boys."

She grunted exasperatedly as she used the force to smack him on the shoulder, "do you have any idea how strong you have to be in the force to do something like that… without training?"

He rubbed his shoulder where her telepathic blow had landed, "You don't say?" he answered, mildly annoyed with her.

She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. "The whole reason we are even on Nar Shaddaa is to find people like you, like I was. Whatever Goto's paying you, we can offer you much, much more."

"I have no desire to be a Jedi slave." He said shortly.

"You'd rather be Goto's kath hound?" she goaded him.

He glared at her, "I'm a bounty hunter, miss. I only work for myself. I'd think you of all people would understand that."

She took a deep breath and slumped against the back of her cell. "Yeah, I get it or at least I did." Her voice dropped considerably then as she began to get contemplative, "but it's nice to be a part of something again, to be able to make a real difference."

"To belong?" He mused.

She met his gaze and recognized what she had once been, then nodded and said simply, "Yeah. I'm part of a clan again."

Drex gathered his deck and stood. He glanced at her warily before he made his way silently out the door. She sighed heavily as she rolled onto her back and closed her eyes.

Dustil paced around the Hawk restlessly. Mira had been gone a day and a half and Vashti wasn't due to arrive for another day. He hated this. He'd tried to read, to meditate, to sleep. None of it had gotten his mind off of his worries. He couldn't help thinking about the day Selene didn't return from her last mission and he didn't know if he could survive something like that again. His old desires for vengeance were creeping back into his consciousness and he knew that if he ever got his hands on that Mandalorian, he'd make him pay for what he was doing to Mira.

T3 warbled at him mournfully on Dustil's fifth circle around the ship in as many minutes. "You're right, T3," he said to the little droid, "I need to get off this ship before I go insane." The little droid chirped with distress. "I'll be careful, I'm just going to get a drink and play some pazaak. Stay here and watch the ship." T3 beeped a hesitant agreement as the young man attached his saber to his belt and headed down the loading ramp.

Ugh, how he hated this city. He had spent two years in the slums of the refugee sector trying to get enough money to get off the cesspit of a moon before going to Korriban to join the Sith. The streets were dark and there were beings everywhere. He hated the crowds. He hated the weird smell of the air. Every building was covered in a disgusting grime that made him cringe and long for the wide open spaces of Telos… or even the pristine gloominess of the Sith academy.

He made his way to the red sector and headed straight to the cantina. He hoped a drink would calm his frayed nerves, or at the very least help him pass the time better than pacing did. He sat at the bar, sipping his juma slowly when a blue twi'lek took a seat beside him. He glanced at her perfunctorily, and was startled at the familiarity of the bright smile that greeted him.

"Mission!" He gasped with surprise as he hugged her affectionately, "What are you doing here?" The last time he had seen her had been during the few months they had both been staying with his father and Revan before she had left for the unknown regions.

She shuffled her pazaak deck expertly with a grin, "Just trying to find a good game or two before I head back to Kashyyyk. What have you been up to?"

He made a face, "Right now I'm trying to kill some time before Vashti shows up to rescue Mira."

She raised an eyebrow at his casual use of names she didn't recognize, "Are those Jedi?" she finally asked. He nodded and began to tell her about the Exile and how she had spent the last year fighting Sith and gathering force sensitives together to go into the unknown regions.

"She's going to go find Revan?" The young woman asked excitedly.

He nodded again, and then looked her over. She wasn't the kid she'd been almost five years ago anymore, but she still had the same youthful exuberance. "You know, you should come back with me, us… after we get Mira free." He began, "Juhani is there, and Bastila too. Jolee shows up fairly regularly to drop off a few more force sensitives he's found but he never stays long… he starts complaining about how the cold hurts his joints." Dustil said with a grin. "Even Canderous comes fairly regularly to see Bastila and Shan."

Mission grinned, "Awesome. Count me in!" Her grin faded slightly as she asked, "How's your dad holding up?"

"He's doing better now that he knows something is being done to bring her back." He paused a moment then continued, "He really wants to go with Vashti when she goes to find her."

"You can't really blame him, can you?" she said as she leaned toward the young man. "Besides, it's not like he can't take care of himself, ya know?"

"Yeah, but Vashti was told that any non-force user wouldn't stand a chance against the true Sith." He said with a sigh. "But, Atton and Vashti have been teaching him how to protect himself from force attacks. He's getting pretty good at it too. I can't put him into stasis anymore." He said with a grin.

Mission's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me!" She practically screeched. "Carth? Learning Jedi tricks?"

The young man chuckled, "Most people have the ability to resist force techniques. They just have very little chance to practice it."

"Wow, you think I could learn to do that?" She asked almost tentatively.

"I don't see why not," He said with a smile, "If my dad can do it, anyone can."

Mira awakened to the wine of repulsorlifts and the shuddering of the ship around her as it pulled away from the smuggler's moon. The voice of her captor echoed over the ship's com, "Change of plans, miss. Goto's yacht is under attack. Your friends are being kept there. We have to go and try to stop the siege, and if nothing else, get your friends and Goto's droid off the ship." She sighed in exasperation but her expression changed to a broad smile when the energy shield around her deactivated. "Grab your gear, miss, and come to the cockpit."

She bounced exuberantly to the table and began fastening each piece of her ensemble into its familiar place. She felt much better a few minutes later as she made her way to meet the Mandalorian.

"You'd think Goto would have learned his lesson after his last yacht was blown to pieces." She said as she entered the cockpit.

"Mmm," he began, "He's only had this one in commission a few months. Vogga's wising up to his tricks though. Goto started intercepting all his ships again about a month ago. Apparently the last one Vogga sent up was full of mercenaries instead of cargo."

"Ah," she nodded as she plopped into the chair beside him. After a few minutes she asked, "So it doesn't make you nervous in the least that you've let me free and I'm wearing my sabers again…?"

"Mmm," he mumbled noncommittally.

She sighed exasperatedly, "Force, you're a pain in the ass."

He chuckled, "Goto's offering a considerable reward if we can stop Vogga's men with minimal damage to his ship. He said that he wasn't in the mood to replace it or his droid again so soon."

"I hate that droid." Mira whined.

"Mmm," he mumbled again.

"Ugh!" She vented as she slugged him on the shoulder, "how about using some real words! I don't know why I haven't killed you and taken the ship back to Nar Shaddaa already!"

"Anger leads to the dark side," he said dryly, "besides, you're going to need my help if your friends are going to survive."

"Hmph," she mumbled back at him.

"There it is," he said as they approached a ship that was easily twice the size of Goto's last yacht. Mira's eyes widened in admiration at the impressive vessel that was before them. "Your friends are on the lower level. If we can't stop Vogga's men the G0-T0 droid we need to get off the ship is near the prison area as well."

"Any ideas how we're going to do this?" she asked him as he docked their small ship at the much larger one.

"Goto sent me all the security codes and a map, so we should be able to get around pretty easily. If we break your friends out first, then we will have help taking down whoever's left after that." He began, "I'm planning on wearing my defel mimicker and using my tranquilizer darts on as many as possible."

She nodded, "You have enough to share? I've got my stealth field generator in my bag."

"I'm not sure I trust you that much," he commented casually, "but since I'm immune to them you can help yourself. They're by the workbench in the cargo hold."

Mira followed him to the cargo hold, where he began gathering his gear. She opened the container he had pointed out and began to fill her bag with the darts she found there. "These aren't the same as the one you used on me," she noted.

"They're the same, just not as strong. The dose I use on you Jedi would kill a normal man," he replied as he buckled his vibroblades to his mimicker.

"You do know I'm not going back into that cage after we're done here, right?"

"Mmm," he mumbled again with a smirk "Let's go," he said as he made his way towards the airlock activating his generator.