Recruiting
He watched her as she stormed away, unable to move or even speak. He couldn't believe he'd let his guard down enough that she'd been able to put him into stasis. He'd fought his share of Jedi over the years and he knew better. They were great prey, always making the hunt interesting, but they made lousy prisoners, acting all pious and droning on about the Force. He usually couldn't wait to drop them off with whoever was paying for them this week. She had been different though.
She was undeniably Mandalorian, more so than any woman he'd ever met, including those of his own clan. She was apparently quite a powerful Jedi as well and certainly unlike any of his former prisoners. He wondered briefly if she was right about him being strong in the force, but that didn't matter right now. Until Goto told him otherwise, she was still his prisoner, force or no. When the paralysis wore off he immediately strode towards where she had disappeared from sight, while reactivating his mimicker.
Mira stormed down the corridor, flicking her stealth field on as soon as she was out of Drex's line of sight. The nerve of that man. The only reason she had been cooperative with him at all was because she trying to recruit him for Vashti somehow. But now, he could rot in a stasis coma for all she cared. Now she was going to focus on the reason she was on this little trip – finding Lorli & Jaf.
She reached out to the force to see if she could sense them and was almost overwhelmed by the very strong presence she felt there. Now he wasn't masking himself? Great. She tried to ignore his insistent presence and suddenly it disappeared again, letting her search for her friends. They were here on the ship and not far away either. Thank goodness, the sooner she got off this ship and put that man behind her, the better.
She could still feel where his muscular arm had curled around her waist. She wouldn't have expected it to fluster her the way it did. It wasn't the first time a man had gotten fresh, by any stretch of the imagination. She was used to it. Force, it was why she dressed this way. Keep them distracted and they don't notice the bothan stunner until it's too late. That smirk of his, though, and those intense eyes had really done a number on her.
She shook the image out of her mind and headed towards the turbolift picking her way carefully through the debris to make as little noise as possible, unsure if there were more of Vogga's men around. The lift hissed open and she gripped her sabers defensively, in spite of her stealth field. She breathed a sigh of relief when Lorli & Jaf stepped off the lift tentatively.
"Boy, are you two a sight for sore eyes," she said as she appeared before them, a warm smile on her face. The two started at the sound of her voice but quickly their expressions changed to warm recognition.
"Quickly," Jaf said without hesitation turning down a hallway and motioning for her to follow. "We need to get to the shuttle bay. Goto's going to blow the ship if the mercenaries aren't stopped."
"Great," she sighed, "I hate that droid."
Drex walked invisibly behind them, silently loading his dart gun with one of his special Jedi tranquilizers. He wasn't letting her go that easy.
"Dustil," an image of Vashti spoke from the Hawk's com. "I wanted to let you know that we've been detained. Goto has pulled us out of hyperspace and we are docking with his ship to have our little chat. I will do my best to negotiate their freedom, but in the event that you don't hear from me in the next twelve hours, it's going to be up to you to mount the rescue mission for the others. Make sure you get help, but there may not be time to wait for reinforcements from Telos. Be careful and may the force be with you." The image flickered and died leaving Dustil and Mission staring silently at the empty air.
"So what are you going to do?" Mission asked him quietly.
"We wait, and if we don't hear from them, we go after her… them."
Mission's tchin twitched slightly. "You really like her, don't you?" She said with an amused smirk. He shot her a look that clearly said he did. "Does she feel the same way?"
His brow furrowed, "I don't know. I thought she did, but when we got back to the Academy after our mission she started ignoring me. I thought this trip would help us work things out… but every chance she got she ditched me and went out on her own."
Mission frowned sympathetically, "That doesn't sound good."
He sighed. "I don't know. It's so different than it was with Selene. She really liked me, and it was obvious. Mira likes me, but sometimes I think she's bored."
Mission laughed, "Bored with you? No way! I remember when we were at that reception on Coruscant with Carth and Revan and all the girls were lining up to dance with the younger Onasi!" He blushed grinning slightly. "Or that time we wound up in that cantina on Alderaan and all those cantina rats figured out who you were and were clamoring for your attention."
"So why doesn't she clamor for my attention?" he said pitifully.
"Dustil," she paused and waited for him to look up at her, "if she's not clamoring for your attention, you need to move on."
Dustil suddenly flushed, her blue eyes staring right through him, "um… Mission… I… uh…."
"Force! I didn't mean with me, you batha brain!" She exclaimed loudly as a relieved look came over his face. "I love ya like a brother, well, better than I love my brother, actually, but it is like a brother. That's just… gross."
He chuckled as he reached out and hugged her gently, "Thanks, sis."
"Anytime, bro. And seriously, think about it. There was this one guy I met once. We got along great. Played a lot of pazaak, had a whole lot in common, you know? But when we tried to make it get romantic, it just got weird. Some people should just stay friends." He nodded as she added, "And I'm not talking about you and me, right now."
He sighed, "Maybe you're right. It doesn't really matter now, though. Either way, I'm worried she won't make it back."
Mission hugged him. "If she's half the Jedi Revan was… she'll be ok. How about another game of pazaak?" She asked as she shuffled her deck. He nodded as he pulled his own deck out of his robe.
As Lorli expertly tapped keys on the security computer outside the small shuttle bay, Jaf leaned against the wall crossing his arms and lekku over his chest, looked at Mira and asked, "How did you get here, anyway?"
She grumbled with disdain, "That damned Mandalorian."
He nodded in understanding. "Those darts have one hell of a kick, eh?" She nodded in agreement. "Dustil come with you this trip?" He asked with a knowing grin.
She blanched, nodding while she mumbled. "He's back on Nar Shaddaa still. Vashti's coming to talk to Goto, I think."
Dustil. She hadn't even thought about him in way too long. Jaf's little smirk really irritated her, too. Ever since Dustil had arrived on Telos they had been constantly shoved together by everyone. She hadn't minded really, except that they all just seemed to expect her to feel something for the handsome young man. Force, even she'd expected it. He was all the things she should want in a man, wasn't he? Being with him just made sense. Too bad it didn't do anything else for her.
She wondered what he'd say when she told him everything that had happened over the last couple of days. If she told him, that is. His over protectiveness had been bad enough before she'd been abducted. He was going to be insufferable now. She momentarily felt guilty for not looking forward to seeing him again, but quickly shoved it aside. She was going to have to set things straight with him when she saw him again. This was just getting ridiculous.
She was distracted from her pondering by the sound of the door to the shuttle bay opening, revealing a small troop of assault droids which immediately began firing at them.
Within seconds, the three of them had their sabers off their belts and were hammering the droids with a combination of fast saber strokes and waves of telekinetic energy which managed to short out their circuits.
In less than a minute the five assault droids were nothing more than piles of scrap. Drex watched from the shadows impressed with their attack. He'd seen Jedi in action before, but these three were relatively new recruits. For them to already wield that kind of power was almost disturbing. No wonder Goto wanted to have leverage against them. If the rest of their group were like this, they would be a very powerful army, especially if they really did have the backing of Mandalore as well.
Once the three had dispatched the droids they hurried to the shuttle. Mira stopped for a moment on the loading ramp glancing over her shoulder wondering if she had really felt his presence flicker just then. If so, he had meant for her to feel it and that seemed odd to her.
She stopped Jaf as he passed her, "I'm going to go check something out." She said as a curious expression crossed her face. "If I'm not back by the time you guys are ready to take off. Leave without me." Jaf began to protest but she cut him off, "Don't argue. We don't have time. Get back to Nar Shaddaa and find Dustil. There's something I have to take care of." He begrudgingly entered the ship and began the pre-flight checks as she headed back out to the corridor.
She didn't know what Drex wanted, but the way he was flickering his presence on and off made her curious. He really did need to be trained, power like that was rare even among seasoned Jedi. They needed men like him. She turned into the hallway and paused.
"Miss me?" His deep voice chuckled next to her ear as his mimicker deactivated with the familiar whine.
She spun to face him. "Not as much as you missed me, apparently," She smirked. "What do you want? Make it quick, my ride is leaving."
"There's still the matter of clearing this ship." He said simply.
"You're asking me for help?" She smirked.
"Mmm," he mumbled noncommittally, "More like, offering you a piece of the action. If you think you're up for it."
She grinned, "How much are we talking here?"
"We clear the ship and it'll be worth 5000 credits, half of which would be yours," he said casually.
"I don't need credits, but I'll tell you what. You can keep it all if you'll promise to talk to Vashti about joining us when this is all over."
He scowled. "Just talk to her?"
She nodded, "Honestly, no matter how strong your natural talent is, Vashti would be the one to decide if you were ready for training."
"I told you once. I have no desire to be a Jedi slave." He insisted.
She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "You think I'm a slave?" She demanded, her green eyes sparking combatively.
He chuckled. "No, you're the Jedi. I would be the slave," he said dryly.
She couldn't keep from raising her eyebrow at him as a grin spread across her face. "Regardless, talk to Vashti and see what she can offer you when we get out of here. Even if she doesn't think you're ready for training, she might be interested in hiring your services as a bounty hunter."
"Mmm," he mumbled, "fine, I'll talk to her."
"That's good," she said as they heard the whine of repulsorlift engines in the nearby shuttle bay. "Especially since my ride just left." She added with a smirk.
The four Jedi gathered in the central area of the Shadow Runner. Vashti glanced at the faces of each of her friends. She had known Juhani the least amount of time, but the sleek cathar had become invaluable to her both as a friend and as a fellow Jedi. Vashti admired her quiet passion and strict self discipline greatly, as well as her ability to instill the same tenacity into her students.
"I'm hoping this will be a simple conversation," Vashti began, "but, if something goes wrong it will be up to you three to break me out of there. I'll keep in contact with Atton over the bond and feed him as much information as possible. Hopefully, it won't be needed, but if it is, at least you won't be heading in completely blind."
"That's me, the human comlink," Atton said acerbically as Vashti shot him a playful glare.
"General," Bao's soft voice cut in. "You can count on us. We'll keep the ship ready for departure in case we need to make a quick exit."
She nodded. "Good. I guess this is it then."
"Be careful," Juhani's lilting voice said quietly, "and may the force be with you."
Atton escorted Vashti to the ship's exit ramp. I don't like this, he said over their bond.
I don't either. But what choice do we have? She responded.
I could go. He thought with a smirk. You know how much Goto likes me.
Riiiight, She giggled, I'll be back soon.
We'll be there in a minute, if something goes wrong.
She nodded, stopping at the top of the ramp. You know I'm counting on you. She hugged him, drawing strength from his embrace. I'll keep my thoughts open to you.
He took a deep breath and pulled himself away from her. He never liked it when she put herself in danger, but she could definitely take care of herself. And if something went wrong, he'd damn well storm in there and put a blaster to Goto's head himself.
Mira and Drex made their way quickly across the vessel towards the starboard lift, which led to the command deck of the ship. According to the cameras linked to the security terminal next to the shuttle bay, that was where the remaining mercenaries had gathered. There were about fifteen of them standing around in small groups. One of the groups seemed to be engrossed with breaking into what Mira assumed was the bridge command computer.
Within the confines of the lift, they were faced with one of those awkward moments, each noticing their proximity to the other. Without the distraction of movement or other targets his presence was becoming overwhelming. Involuntarily Mira shifted her eyes off her focused glare at the lift door to glance at his face. He was watching her with that amused smirk again.
"Stop it," she snapped. "You're making me nervous."
His smirk widened to a grin. "Forgive me, miss," his deep voice drawled slowly, "You're much more interesting to look at than the door."
She shot him a glare, "that's not saying much."
He chuckled quietly to himself as the door opened revealing a wide expanse of empty hallway with a closed door at the far end that supposedly led to the bridge. The two crept down the hallway quietly, as they turned their stealth fields back on.
Mira whispered, "Stay at the door when it opens, wait for them to come to us." She heard an agreeing mumble come from the empty air beside her.
She activated the control and the door hissed open normally, catching the attention of several of the men in the room. Four of them looked curiously at the door and then walked towards it, looking for what had triggered it. As soon as they had stepped out of the door, Mira activated the control again, closing the door behind them as she fired a dart at the nearest target by the time she reloaded the other three had already been taken down by Drex's darts. They drug the men away from the door and activated the control again, this time gaining the attention of all of the remaining mercenaries.
They each managed to get another dart off before the first of the men got to them and their stealth fields deactivated. There were nine of them. Mira's sabers ignited simultaneously as she used a wave of energy to push all but the closest of the men away from them. She swung her blades quickly and precisely, blocking each of her opponent's attacks as she used the force again and put the whole crew into stasis.
Drex raised an eyebrow at her as his opponent froze before him, his eyes still moving agitatedly. She shrugged as she switched back to her darts and began tranquilizing them one by one.
"Well, that was easy," she said with a smirk as the last of the opponents collapsed to the floor.
"Mmm," he agreed begrudgingly. "But the hard part is dragging them all to the cell block." She groaned as he made his way to the command console and entered in codes from his datapad.
"Excellent," an all too familiar sneering voice came across the com. "I am indebted to you, Mandalorian, and your little friend. It's a shame she has to go back into her cell so soon."
Mira grimaced. "No way, Goto," She snapped as she shifted her attention to Drex.
He smiled at her not quite reassuringly, stepping closer to her threateningly as he said, "there's no need for that, Goto. Mira will agree to behave herself, won't you, miss?"
Mira stepped back apprehensively as he took another step closer. She glanced down at his hands and notice he still held his dart gun. Looking closer she saw that the butt of the dart it held wasn't the same as the one they had been using on the mercenaries.
"You schutta!" she growled at him as she raised her hand and attempted to put him into stasis. He just grinned at her and took another step closer. When she realized he was resisting her attack she spun towards the door and sprinted into the corridor, running as fast as she could towards the turbolift. She felt the dart humming through the air the split second before she felt the sharp jab in her rear end. This man was going to be the death of her.
Thanks again to all of my readers and reviewers. Believe me, I'd have quit a long time ago if you guys weren't so encouraging… So… if you're just trying to be nice, stop it and I'll shut up! ;-p
SilverShadow: I went back and put Atton into this chapter just for you. ;-)
VanillaLatte: I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I hope you enjoy my other one as well. Being fun to read is what I am striving for.
LuvsDelkoSpeed: Yeah, I think he likes her too… ;-p Thanks for not being too disappointed about them not going to get Revan yet.
Trillian: You flatter me! Your encouragement has been a huge boost to my writing as well as my ego. Thank you, so much! I hope once again that this chapter lived up to the others.
The Lady Revan, gekkeiju, Shryke and Kuramas: Thank you very much for your words of encouragement. I really appreciate that you've taken the time and energy to write your thoughts.