Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt
Over the next eight days time seemed to stand still, nothing eventful happened to them. Nevan remained in a very solemn mood and Aida seemed withdrawn to her Master. In all reality she had taken every second she could to investigate further what had happened. Many hours of searching turned up nothing, the small red book was her only connection and Nevan had kept it on him at all times.
Nevan watched a timer tick down on the console in front of him, twenty minutes until they came out of hyperspace on the edge of the Cerallis system.
His first act was to key the intercom to Aidas quarters "We'll be coming out of hyperspace in about nineteen minutes Aida."
"Ok." she replied.
He began to prep the ship, checking and rechecking all the systems. He warmed up the sublight engines and began setting the course from the edge of the system to Cerallis.
The Demons Foe returned to real space and immediately the sublight engines punched in full. The slate gray freighter sailed towards the planet. As it neared the planet the traffic became heavy and it gracefully wove between the other ships. Soon after the departure from hyperspace the ship was lowering into a dockingport.
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The hatch opened halfway and with a loud whirring noise from the motors stopped. Nevan cursed and kicked the hatch, it slowly began to open again.
Nevan and Aida walked out of the ship and found themselves face to face with a trio of armed men.
"I'm sorry sir but you don't have clearance, it will be an extra two hundred credit fee." The first one said.
Nevan rolled his eyes "This is a public port and you have no insignia with either the company that runs it or the local military, so I suggest you either get out of our way or I can report you."
Nevan began to walk forward, but the first man stopped him by placing his hand on Nevans chest and pushing him back slightly.
"You might want to move your hand."
They all laughed "Or what, the little girl over there will save you."
Nevan just smiled.
With a burst of the Force all three were sent sprawling "Now that was nothing, I could inflict horrors upon you beyond your wildest imagination and since your only petty thugs and probably a drain on society I may very well have done that if I weren't so tired and if I didn't have a mission to do." Nevan said it with humour in his voice, but there something in his tone that told them that he meant it and if they tried anything again he could and would turn them into paste.
Nevan continued at a brisk pace onward, yelling behind him "And if you touch that ship I will hunt you down and deliver the afore mentioned horrors."
The Shadow Jedi's threat was enough to ensure that they would never again pull something like that.
A small mousy looking man greeted them the second they left the port "Hello, I'm Gui you need anything I can help, transports anywhere on planet, the best food, and slightly less legal items I can obtain them all."
Nevan looked as though he was about to push the man aside and continue on before he seemed to rethink "You get me the best mechanics on the planet working on my ship in there, and some security and I can make it worth your time." Nevan handed him several credit chips "Consider that a down payment, get that ship working and I'll triple it, get it working in the next three days and I can triple that."
Gui stared in disbelief at the credits in his hands and it took him a moment to snap out of it "Yes sir, I'll get the best people I can working on it!" He gave a sloppy mock salute and ran off in search of someone who could do the job effectively and cheaply allowing him to gain a sizeable profit without incurring the wrath of his current employer.
"Aida." Nevan said in a whisper as he continued his quick pace, leaving Aida several steps behind him "Do not go anywhere or do anything without me."
Aida stared at the back of her Masters head, he seemed to be looking back and forth and constantly ready to attack. The attitude he was displaying now was incredibly different from the said back Shadow Master she knew so well.
His orders continued "If you see something suspicious tell me right away."
"Suspicious?"
"Out of the ordinary, unusual, not quite right, suspicious."
Aida hadn't quite noticed it before, but Nevans hand was just slightly elevated, just a little closer to his lightsaber than usual. Not something most people would notice, but for those few who knew the true skill of the man and that even in the most relaxed mood and position he could be ready to strike in an instant and wouldn't need to be in such a ready position, it was extremely unusual.
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The marketplace existed around the various dockingports on the east side of the city and it was a strange place. A huge dome structure stood out in the center of the Hayalla the capital city of the planet, massive metal structures circled around that, smaller residential areas were on outside of that and on the rim was the dockingports and marketplaces. What made the marketplace so strange was the almost primitive look, a dirt ground, small sandstone huts, wooden kiosks with clothe blocking the sun from the vendors, for those who did not know, the marketplace was the foundation of the city and had not changed for hundreds of years, commerce was the foundation and although on the inner tracts of the city there were many upscale stores these small areas were still preferred by local and visitor alike.
Nevan looked uncomfortable as he stepped into the densely packed area of the marketplace, as they walked a glaring in his eyes drew to his attention to a person ahead of him in the crowd, clipped to his belt the unmistakable hilt of a lightsaber.
"Hey!" Nevan yelled towards the man and began to make his way towards the person.
The person looked back at Nevan revealing that it was a young boy no more than sixteen "Stop!" Nevan yelled as he drew his lightsaber from his belt and kept it in his hand ready to activate the second he needed it. Aida repeated her Masters actions, the boy spotting the two lightsaber wielding individuals took off dodging through the crowd.
Nevan burst after him but was quickly taken over by Aida who sprinted ahead of him.
They wove through the crowd, often knocking down a person here or there in pursuit of the boy. Nevan watched as both disappeared into a dead end alley ahead of him and pressed himself to his limits. He crashed into a large and very angry looking man, not wanting to waste any time he simply decked the man, breaking they guys nose in the process.
"Aida!" He shouted as he neared the alley.
The second he turned in he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. Three people, all with lightsabers, one the molten bronze of his Apprentice, another blue and being held by the boy they had been chasing, the third was green and being held by a man he had not seen in a long time.
"Qui-Gon?"
"Master Coronis." He replied, giving no hint of surprise.
"Drop theMaster,Qui-Gon I left the order a long time ago."
"Yes but I can sense that you have grown more powerful since then, continuing your training since you abandoned the Jedi?" He said the last part with a very small hint of resentment in his voice.
"I did NOT abandon the Jedi, they were the ones who left me, hell not even you stood up for me, I figured if anyone would it would be you." Nevan motioned for Aida to put her lightsaber away.
Qui-Gon and the boy did the same.
"So I take it your here for the same reason?" Nevan inquired.
Qui-Gon nodded "Yes, there have been reports of a Dark Jedi in the area, but the odd thing is that he is clearly Jedi trained but we don't have a single record of his existence."
Nevan laughed "The Jedi never gave you a picture I assume."
The boy spoke up "How did you know?"
"Does Master Orinis sound familiar at all old friend."
Qui-Gons reaction was very clearly massive surprise "It couldn't be, we were there when..." He turned to look at the boy before turning back to Nevan "We should discuss this somewhere else."
Nevan nodded "When I was sent here I made sure that I made arrangements for a hotel room, my ship is temporarily unusable, too many ears about." He looked over at Aida "By the way this is my Apprentice Aida."
Qui-Gon placed a hand on the boys shoulder "This is my Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Nevan smiled "I never thought I would see you take a Padawan, for some reason it just never fit in my mind."
Nevan turned around and flagged down a transport, moments later they were on their way to the hotel.
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A/N: Please REVIEW its the only way I know if I'm doing things right.