3
In his sleep, Obi-Wan rolled over. Or rather, he tried to roll over only to have something sharp jab him in the temple.
"Blazes," he muttered under his breath. Putting his hand to his head and rubbing the sensitive spot, he opened his eyes and groggily looked around.
No wonder he nearly had his eye poked out. The control panel of the Lucky Star met his eyes, with its many knobs and buttons. He blinked a couple times, and then rubbed away the last bit of fuzziness from sleep.
The ship was berthed in a docking bay on Nar Shadaa. Last night, the two Jedi and the Queen boarded the ship and made the micro jump to the Smuggler's Moon. After docking, they decided to stay on the ship rather than trying to find a room to rent for the night. After everything Padmé had gone through (Obi-Wan felt there was more than she was telling them), he gave her his room without question and he slept out in the cockpit.
Carefully, Obi-Wan stood up. Instantly his back and neck cried out in protest; sleeping in the pilot's chair all night left them feeling stiff. He could sense the other two starting to wake, and decided he'd best go find the refresher. When he came back from the refresher, Padmé was out and in the same clothes she wore the previous day.
"Good morning. Ready to face a day full of Hutts?" Obi-Wan said.
"I'll be happier when this whole business is over," Mace replied instead, stepping in behind Obi-Wan. "I don't know who decided the Jedi should become diplomats…I just don't like it."
"Oh, it's not that bad," Padmé said with the makings of a smile on her face.
"Just as long as it doesn't come to…aggressive negotiations," Mace grumbled. "That's why I hate this job."
With that, he left the cockpit.
At Padmé's confused look, Obi-Wan answered her unspoken question, "In other words, he hopes we don't have to use our lightsabers. As good as he is, Mace doesn't like to use it unless he absolutely must and unfortunately he has a tendency to get assignments that usually end in an aggressive nature."
"I heard that," Mace called out.
"What?" Obi-Wan said sheepishly.
Footsteps made their way back to the cockpit, where Mace stuck his head in, completely ignoring Obi-Wan's protest. "We still have a job to do, Obi-Wan. We should get ready to leave."
He glanced at Padmé, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide a snicker behind her hand.
"Would you like to come with us?" Obi-Wan asked her.
Mace stared at him.
"She'd help us out…you just said we're not diplomats…"
"Alright. We'll have to see if there are some other clothes that might fit her in the ship's storage," Mace said. His tone indicated he might be about ready to turn to some aggressive negotiations right here on the ship.
Padmé wore an eager expression on her face, ready to go out and help the Jedi in return for their service to her.
"I'll go look." Obi-Wan headed down the corridor. After digging around in the storage compartment, complete with an extra lightsaber, he found a smaller cloak and some common-person clothes that might fit her. Although he respected her, he didn't want to give her full Jedi robes.
Padmé took them gratefully. "Is he always like that?"
"Wha – oh, Master Windu?"
She nodded.
"He's…just bothered by the way some things have gone in the wars, I think. He really would have nothing to do with the Hutts, but here we are."
"Oh." The word came out small and simple.
"Don't worry. It's nothing against you." Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly and left so she could change.
A few minutes later she emerged, thankful to be out of the clothes she had been wearing. Once they were out on the street, they got some breakfast then loaned a speeder and traveled what felt like halfway across the small moon. When they arrived at the Hutt's palace they were shunted aside, and given an audience with Jiliac's nephew, Jabba, instead.
The palace itself was grimy. A coat of dirt and grunge seemed to cover everything on Nal Hutta and its moon. The walls and columns of the place originally were cut out of expensive marble but had been allowed to decay, becoming dirt encrusted. Small ponds lay between the columns, and the water was tepid. A foul smell reached the noses of all three humans, and it was everything they could do to keep from crinkling their noses in disgust. A silver protocol droid led them through the maze of the palace.
A clattering sounded off to the left, down one of the corridors they passed. Obi-Wan's head whipped around to find the source of the sound. Reaching out to the Force, he did not feel anything suspicious, no life-forms lurked down the hallway. Again, an echoing clank sounded, this time from behind them. Obi-Wan whirled to catch the culprit of the noise.
Nothing. Again. Except – a distinct metal object ducked behind the corner.
Shaking his head, he turned back around and followed the rest of the group. There was something about that shape…he recognized it…it looked almost like a foot…
"We have reached His Gloriousness' chamber now. He will speak to you shortly," the protocol droid told them.
Mace nodded and shifted on his feet. After a quick minute, a door opened and a rather angry Barabel stepped out. He eyed the Jedi, and put his hand near his blaster.
"The mighty Jabba the Hutt will see you now." The droid turned to them and then back to the door. Without another word, it walked through the door that automatically opened. Just as Mace stepped up to it, though, it shut – forcing him to open it. Mace pushed it open, an exasperated look on his face.
"HEHEHE!" A booming laugh met their ears. The humans all looked at each other. Perched on a raised dais, the younger Hutt laughed again. Then he went on, speaking in a language neither of them could understand.
Why didn't the Temple give us lessons in basic Huttese? Obi-Wan cursed to himself. Padmé leaned over to him, whispering.
"Tell him that you don't speak his language, and fill it with complements – otherwise you might offend him."
Obi-Wan looked at her curiously but decided her advice couldn't hurt. He turned to Mace and told him what the Queen told him.
"Honorable Hutt, we sadly report that we do not speak your higher tongue," Mace said, trying to keep the grimace off his face from disgust at praising the sloth creature. In return Jabba spoke, and this time the droid turned to them.
"The Esteemed Jabba says that we shall then use an interpreter. He also says that whatever business you have with clan Desilijic that you make it speedy. He has a flight to catch back to Tatooine shortly."
Obi-Wan and Mace shared hesitant glances. Once again, Padmé leaned over to them to whisper advice.
"O great Hutt, we come here with a proposition for you. We come on behalf of the Republic, to offer you payment in return for alliance in the current conflict," Mace said.
A sputtering of Huttese came from the oversized slug.
"Lord Jabba asks what kind of payment you offer for Hutt services," the droid told them.
"Great one, we offer you money in return."
"Lord Jabba says he has enough money and wants something of more value for the favor. However, he will send your request on to Lord Jiliac, and let him decide what course of action to take."
The droid stopped speaking, dropping its arms as if it were powering down. Already Jabba was halfway through sliding out a back exit, his tail receding from view.
"Thank you, Wondrous Jabba for you audience," Obi-Wan called out.
A tail twitch was the only reply he received.
"Well, I guess that's it, then," Obi-Wan muttered and turned to leave.
"Lord Jiliac will contact you when he wishes to see you. May I have your comlink frequency so he will be able to get in touch?" the droid asked. Its silver head cocked to one side, its arms raised as if surprised.
Obi-Wan gave it to him.
"Thank you for your time, good sirs." The droid turned to leave.
"So, that's it? We get to find out way out of this place alone?" Obi-Wan crossed his arms.
"It appears that way, Master Jedi," Padmé said. She turned and led the way out the door.
They spent the rest of day the wandering around Nar Shadaa. Mid-afternoon, they checked back in with the Temple.
"Master Yoda, we went to see one of the Hutts today," Obi-Wan spoke calmly.
"And what did they say?" Yoda spoke straight, not in his usual backwards phrasing.
"Only that they want more than money and will respond if they decide to take our offer," Mace said. "I don't know if they will take it or not."
Yoda sighed. "Like the Hutts, I do not. Wish Palpatine had not asked us to do this, do I."
"Well, we're here now…oh, Master Yoda, we also encountered something else, I think you should know about it," Obi-Wan cut in. Yoda looked back to him, saying nothing and waiting for the young Jedi to elaborate.
"We found a refugee, she's the rather important leader of a planet – the one Qui-Gon and I went to aide about ten years ago," he said cryptically. "She has information that's rather disturbing."
Yoda nodded in understanding. "Bring her back to Coruscant with you, you shall. Find out here what to say has she."
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan put his hand to his chin, remembering the strange foot-shape he saw at the palace earlier that day.
"Something more to say, have you, young Obi-Wan?"
"Master…" Obi-Wan started then decided it was not worth mentioning. "No, not for now."
Yoda gave him a cursory look, and accepted Obi-Wan's words. His blue image vanished.
Two days passed until they heard from Jiliac. For Obi-Wan, the previous nights were ones of agony; once again he slept out in the cockpit. Padmé offered to sleep there for the third night, but he declined, saying it was no bother. When Mace suggested they rent a speeder for the trip back to the palace, Obi-Wan was more than willing to go along with the idea. He wasn't sure his back would withstand that walk again.
"Wait, stop," Padmé said. Obi-Wan pulled the speeder over to the side of the road, and Mace looked at her. "You should probably get some blasters or something…"
When the Jedi didn't say anything, she continued. "I have a bad feeling about this. I can't explain, it's just something my intuition tells me."
"You mean like you can see what's going to happen?" Obi-Wan said.
"No, not like that. Just a feeling that we should be ready…for anything."
"I don't sense anything, do you Master Windu?"
Mace closed his eyes, and searched ahead in the Force. Opening them, he said, "No, but perhaps she is right. Maybe we should go prepared."
The Jedi and the Queen got out of the speeder. A short ways down the block they found a weapons store, and inside they bought a small blaster pistol for the Queen. Continuing on their way, Padmé felt better but not completely confident. The Jedi were calm so she tried to remain so herself.
Upon arriving at the palace they were again escorted by the same droid, who seemed not to recognize them. Today they were led into a much grander chamber; the marble retained some of its natural color instead of the dark brown coating the rest of the palace.
A very large, very fat Hutt sat on a specialized repulsorsled. It was barely big enough to carry his gross weight, his tail trailed off the back of it. Unlike his nephew Jabba, Jiliac said nothing as they walked into the room. He merely blinked at them a couple times before speaking.
"What brings you here, why does the Republic bother me this time?" he bellowed.
"O gracious Hutt, we come here simply to ask for your alliance," Obi-Wan said, conducting the negotiations today.
"What could the Republic offer me that would be of value?"
"We have many riches, great one."
At this, Jiliac seemed more interested.
Obi-Wan continued, "And, if possible, to learn where you stand on the issue of cloning."
"Cloning? This matter concerns me not! I do not care if the ships carrying my spice are clones! I do not care if my servants are clones! No, I think clones hold little importance here on Nar Shadaa and Nal Hutta. Nothing your Republic can offer would persuade me to take part in their petty wars!"
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows at the Hutt's outburst. He had not anticipated such a torrent from Jiliac. Mace, on the other hand, stiffened at the Hutt's words and Obi-Wan could feel that he was reaching out to the Force, trying to get a reading of his intentions.
Certain that he did not offend the Hutt by lack of manners; he pondered what had disturbed Jiliac. Obi-Wan had his own ideas of what was petty, and the crisis facing the Republic was not one of them. He thought of the hedonistic habits of the Hutts, and made himself all the more resolved.
"But no, I am not a fool. The Republic controls a lot of space, far more than it should perhaps," Jiliac said. This time his voice was calm, calculating the benefits.
Obi-Wan snapped to attention, watching him carefully. In the back of his mind, he bristled at the Hutt's slight against the Republic.
"A business proposition is a business proposition and I would be a fool to turn one down. No, Jedi, I will not say no. But I will not say yes. I must consider your proposal, and decide whether it to the best advantage of clan Desilijic."
The Hutt waved his hand, as if dismissing them.
"You are now dismissed," the protocol droid told them. Not that they needed the interpretation. Mace and Obi-Wan shared a brief glance as they followed the droid out.
"Hey! Stop!" Anakin yelled, running. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a Wookie and a Twi'lek fighting over a package of ration bars. Coming to a halt beside them, he tried to catch his breath.
"Wh...what's the problem?" he asked in one quick breath.
"This stupid furball claims that these ration bars are his. I distinctly brought them with me! They are mine!" The green skinned Twi'lek nearly shouted. He reached towards the Wookie and tried to grab the packed from his paws. The Wookie bellowed in reply.
"Hey! Hey! Easy! Both of you!" Anakin stepped in, holding off the Twi'lek. Over his shoulder, he said, "DC-11! Get over here, please!"
"How may I help you, sir?" DC-11 asked. The droid, one of the few that the Jedi employed for this purpose, made its way over to Anakin.
"I just need you to tell me what this Wookie is saying." He turned back to the disputers.
The Wookie gave another howl, and DC-11 translated: "The Wookie says that he found the box of ration bars in the hallway of the ship as he was coming back from the refresher. He asked around if they belonged to anyone, and did not find the owner."
Anakin adopted a skeptical look as the Twi'lek twitched his lekku irritably.
The lithe alien said, "That's what he claims, anyways. He really snuck into my room and stole them as I slept! They have been missing since this morning!"
"When did you find the box?" Anakin turned to the Wookie. He grunted and made a growling noise in response.
"He says that he found them a day and a half ago."
Anakin sighed. There was no way to prove either one right or wrong. He reached out with the Force, hoping he might catch a glimpse of guilt or nervousness from the liar. In fact, he found that both Twi'lek and Wookie were at fault. He looked between them both and spoke.
"You both just found them, here on the ground, didn't you?" he said.
The Wookie grunted in disdain, Anakin could tell well enough what his intent was. DC-11 started to speak, and Anakin waved him silent.
"This is an outrage!" the Twi'lek exclaimed. "I came here and expected help! Not false accusations!"
Holding his spot, Anakin just held eye contact with the Twi'lek. "I think you both should just split the box…some poor other refugee dropped it. Here, let me see the box."
He held his hand out for the ration bars, but the Wookie made no attempt to give them away. Anakin gave him a look that said I'm not kidding and the Wookie handed them over with a growl.
Taking the box, Anakin counted the number of ration bars. To his relief, it came to a nice even twelve and he gave each being six respectively. The Twi'lek wandered off, grumbling what was most definitely not a thank you. The Wookie howled again, and gave Anakin a hard pat on the back that nearly sent him reeling.
"You're welcome," Anakin gasped. He inhaled sharply, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of him by the Wookie. "Remind me to never get into a fight with one of those. Ever."
"Yes sir. I shall remind you if the need arises," DC-11 said.
Anakin rolled his eyes, then let them wander over the spaceport.
There were so many of them…so many species, so many beings… All of them taking refuge from the planets that declared themselves separate from the Republic.
Through the day Anakin lost count of how many fights, similar to the one he just resolved, he worked through. Ration bars, water, clothing, sanitary supplies, commodities, everything imaginable was up for grabs and argued over. A group of Sullustans fighting over some rill caught his attention. Feeling slightly guilty, Anakin turned away from them, leaving them to one of the Masters. At the current moment, he didn't want to get involved with spice and creatures likely to be on it.
"Work well with strangers you do," Yoda said. The quiet words startled Anakin.
"Hello, Master Yoda," he replied, turning around to face the little alien. "Thank you."
"Balance you bring to others. Perhaps not wrong it was to train you…" Yoda alluded, blinking. "Yes…perhaps not wrong it was."
With that, he started to walk away.
What all that was about? Anakin shook his head in confusion as he watched Yoda wander away at his slow pace. After all these years in the Temple, he never got over how…odd…the Master could be.
"But perhaps strive to hard to be your best, you do, mmm?" Yoda turned around and suddenly said. Anakin stared at him, dumbfounded. "Back to the Temple we must go, important news from Obi-Wan is there."
In one of the high rooms of the Temple, with Adi Gallia and Ki-Adi Mundi also present, Yoda turned on the holotransmitter. In the center of the room, a miniature Obi-Wan appeared with a miniature Mace next to it.
"We have successfully contacted the Hutts. It appears that they do not wish to have an alliance with anyone, for we have heard nothing about one with the Federalists," Mace briefly explained. "However, Jiliac of the clan Desilijic was willing to have audience with us, and we are now waiting for his reply."
Obi-Wan continued where he left off:
"Our refugee remains of assistance to us, providing diplomatic support. There was one troubling thing: when we were speaking to Jiliac he knew we were Jedi. We don't know how he knew it, for none of us said anything." Obi-Wan shrugged. "Now we just have to wait, oh, excuse me…"
Obi-Wan turned around, then turned back, saying, "We have just received a transmission from Jiliac, he will see us again. Hopefully we will be home shortly! And Anakin, mind you behave yourself under Master Yoda!"
With that, the transmission shut off. Anakin blushed at Obi-Wan's words, and Yoda turned to him and smiled.
"Very good you have been, very good. Very good this break has been for you, no longer do anger and tension provoke you both. Master and apprentice will be able to once again work in peace."
For the second time, Anakin blushed. Adi Gallia smiled at him, too, nodding. Anakin felt like he could not make his face go redder.
The fat Hutt Lord leered down at Obi-Wan, Mace and Padmé with his dirty yellow eyes.
"Hehe!" he boomed. "Not only do you insult me with not offering anything of value and give me money instead, but you offer me REPUBLIC CREDITS! HAHA!"
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows, hoping the Hutt wouldn't notice him behind Mace. Padmé stood on his left, her brown hair pulled back from her face.
"No, I cannot accept your offer. I have decided that if the Republic were truly civilized, they would not send me this Jedi poodoo! Do they not have ambassadors where you come from?"
Obi-Wan felt a tingling in the Force, telling him to be on his toes. Mace stiffened from the same warning; he had felt it ever since they reached the palace. But that was Mace. He had a talent for such things.
"Do you Jedi know that there is one thing the Republic could have sent us? I have decided there is nothing greater the Republic offer than two of its Jedi! HEHEHE!"
Mace found his voice, and asked, "And what is to become of the lady, Lord Jiliac?" He said the word 'Lord' with strain.
"Ooh! She is to go as a gift to my nephew, Jabba! A great gift she shall make! HEHE!"
Padmé's eyes opened wide with shock, and she looked alarmingly to Obi-Wan. He didn't turn to her, but she did feel a calming presence wash over her. She gulped.
Without another word, guards entered the room from doors on all four sides of the room. Each was armed with an assortment of blasters, stun guns, stun nets, and vibroblades.
Obi-Wan's eyebrows went up as he took in the variety of weapons and wondered how they did not manage to kill themselves off by merely walking.
"So much for a peaceful visit," he grunted through clenched teeth.
Fighting their way out of a fully guarded palace they didn't know was not Obi-Wan's idea of a morning warm-up. His hand went to his lightsaber instinctively. He watched as Mace turned from the Hutt and started to walk to the grand entrance doors and the front of the hall.
As soon as he took his first step, one of the guards fired. In a split second Mace had his purple blade out, swung, and deflected the bolt. In the background, Jiliac began booming in laughter, but Obi-Wan barely heard it. It was merely a distraction he didn't need to focus on.
"JEDI POODOO!" the Hutt roared once more as he vanished out a handy little back door just behind his repulsorsled.
"So he doesn't even want to take credit for this, huh? That's always enough to make a body feel good!" Obi-Wan sarcastically said. The Queen smiled wryly at him, and pulled out her blaster.
"Yeah, well it is always good to be prepared…he doesn't care about credit, he just cares about his disgusting bulbous tail getting shot off!" she said. When a guard from a far corner fired at her, she took one deft shot and knocked him down.
His scream echoed through the hall.
"One down…how many more to go?" she muttered.
"You two, let's get out of here and back to the ship," Mace called out.
Deftly the Master was avoiding blaster bolts and stun bursts. Suddenly he whirled around to find a stun net flying straight for his face. The opening stun net stopped short of Mace, and reversed its trajectory, flying back toward the one who unleashed it. It enveloped him, and he fell with one strangled yell of frustration to the ground, unconscious.
Padmé took cover under Obi-Wan's blocking capabilities. Both of them ran to catch up to Mace. The dark Korun Master stood at the door deflecting bolt after bolt with deadly and precise skill. His face was somber, deep in concentration. Obi-Wan could feel the older master's connection with the Force, and reached out to it himself. For an instant, he thought he could almost feel and sense what Mace was, but at the flash cut back his Force perception.
Finding a weak pillar halfway to where Jiliac resided minutes before, Obi-Wan pushed on it with the Force. It came crashing to the ground, sending a couple guards scrambling out of the way. The rest of the guards left stared in amazement at the falling column. Quite obviously they had never encountered Jedi before. Padmé took the moment to push the door open, and they all tumbled from the room.
"Now where?" Obi-Wan said. "Oh, that's just great…that's really great! I…hate….these guys!"
Outside the door were several battle droids. One glance at them and Obi-Wan realized that it was the foot of a battle droid he saw a few days ago. Mace muttered something that sounded like "It's not good to hate, younger Jedi," but the words were lost in the din.
As soon as the battle droids registered who they were they began firing a volley of blaster bolts at them. Padmé stood back and took potshots at the droids, while Obi-Wan, courageous as always, charged ahead and started hacking. He darted this way and that. The blue lightsaber flashed and sizzled, frying droid components. Less than a minute passed for him to make quick work of the battle droids. Mace joined him just a bit later, making sure the door was impassable by collapsing another high marble column in front of it.
Within the space of seconds, the two Jedi had made mincemeat of the seven or so battle droids. Obi-Wan hurtled his lightsaber at the last droid, the blade slicing its head off before flying back to the Jedi. Ruined parts lay everywhere, heads, arms, legs, and torsos. All sustained damage of lightsaber singes and holes.
"It's always nice to run into old, dependable friends," Obi-Wan said. "Now I want to know just why the Hutts have these cheap pieces of Jawa junk hanging around."
"Did you just say 'Jawa junk'?" Padmé said. Obi-Wan shot her a look saying, So what if I did? She rolled her eyes at him and stepped lightly through the rubble.
"Well, the Hutts must be giving the Federalists something in return," Mace commented, completely ignoring their exchange.
"I thought the Separatists used clones," Padmé said.
Both Jedi looked at her.
"She's right," said Obi-Wan. "They would have no use for battle droids. That's it. The Trade Federation gave them to the Hutts."
Mace gave him a look that clearly showed he thought the younger Jedi was insane.
Padmé agreed with the Master. "That doesn't make sense. The droid armies were the pride and joy of the Trade Federation."
"But if they have the clones…who, given that they can be somewhat unstable, are basically in endless supply…"
"True…"
"Let's get out of here before more of them show up, regardless. And, those guards will blast their way through that door any minute, and we don't want to be around when either one happens…" Obi-Wan said, turning around to leave.
Suddenly he stopped.
"Which way do we go again?"
"That way," Padmé told him, pointing right.
"Right."
Obi-Wan took off. Mace shook his head, and followed Padmé and the other Jedi at a slower pace.
After a few more turns, they encountered some more guards, and a few more battle droids. One pack of guards was surprised by their appearance, right near the entrance to the palace, and Obi-Wan used a quick mindtrick on them to let them pass. On the way out, they passed another protocol droid.
"Thank you for your business, and may you have many good journeys filled with luck and profit," it said blandly.
"No, thank you for your business!" Padmé mouthed off. Wasting no time she shot its head off, point blank. The droid didn't have the time to even begin forming a reply to her statement.
"Droids, any droids, are really starting to get on my nerves…" She shook her head and stormed out the door.
Obi-Wan just gaped at her then looked back to Mace, who merely shook his head.
"She's troubled…it will catch up to her," he said prophetically. Without another word, Mace went to follow the Queen as she made her way to their speeder.
Acting like normal people going about their business, they traveled to the spaceport. They eventually arrived after Obi-Wan got into trouble with Hutt security for speeding. A quick mindtrick on his part got them out of both the situation and a ticket.
Quickly walking through the spaceport, they found the Lucky Star. Inside, Mace rapidly started the ship and took off, not bothering to ask for clearance. They reached the upper atmosphere of Nar Shadaa without further pursuit, and as soon as the coordinates were put into the navicomputer, they took off into hyperspace.