Pre note: I have no idea how the Star wars calendar works, (besides the standard month, week, day, year stuff that's exactly how the usual calendars of this planet work) so I basically just continued with the copying of our calendar into this fic. So if the word "Wednesday" doesn't exist in the Star Wars Universe, TOO BAD! XD Oh and the whole Life Days / Birthdays thing... I have no idea which it is. But I believe its Life Days. I have no idea! Don't shoot me! This chapter was full of confusion for me! And sorry if I screwed anything up again!
XxXxX
Chapter Eleven: Jedi Issues
Alaanis Pi, Carth Onasi and Mission Vao returned to the enclave quickly enough, the latter two bringing Mission directly to the enclave's medical facilities. The jedi healer decided that Mission had sprained her left wrist, but besides that Mission would wake up within an hour and be okay.
Mission did awake an hour later, looking up to see the whole Ebon Hawk crew standing around the room. Canderous and Carth were talking, which was quite a shock since their argument wasn't louder than a Wookie's roar. Alaanis and Bastila were talking with the jedi healer about the large cut on Alaanis' side that scarred from her duel with Marl back on Taris. The healer decided that it would probably never go away. Zaalbar was tinkering with the small T3 astromech droid, trying to upgrade its sensors.
"Hey guys," Mission said, sitting up in her bed. Everyone turned towards her and they all smiled. Well, except Canderous who never smiled and T3 who physically couldn't. But the small droid beeped happily at Mission's woken form.
":Mission:" Zaalbar exclaimed, practically throwing himself onto her. ":You're all right:"
"Yeah Big Z, I'm fine," she giggled at his protectiveness. Carth walked over to Mission as Zaalbar backed off a bit so Mission could at least breathe.
"Glad you're all right kid," Carth joked. Mission pretended to pout at him calling her a kid. Then she remembered something.
"Hey… what day is today?" she asked the jedi healer. The healer was a young man, probably a bit older than Bastila, with blonde hair and a mustache. His eyes were friendlier than Mission would've expected in most jedi.
"It's Wednesday," the healer replied. Mission's smile brightened.
"Guess what then?" she turned towards everybody who looked at her expectantly. She knew that Zaalbar knew what today was. "It's my Life Day!" Carth laughed and shook his head, Alaanis chuckled quietly, and Bastila smiled. Canderous' lips began to twitch slightly as he walked over to Mission.
"So that makes you what… ten?" he asked her. Mission almost growled at the Mandalorian as he stood next to her bed, facing the rest of the room. She jabbed him in the side and ended up hurting herself. For an old guy, he's got damn hard abs!
Canderous laughed at her. "I'm fifteen," Mission shot at him. "I guess Mandalorians aren't known for their math skills are they?" Alaanis snorted and Zaalbar and Carth laughed harder. Bastila even let loose a chuckle.
Canderous grumbled as he left the room, Mission smiling triumphantly.
Just then a jedi messenger entered the room, obviously only a student at the enclave not more than ten years old.
"Master Vandar asked me to find Padawans Bastila and Alaanis?" Bastila and Alaanis exchanged glances before Bastila told the boy that they would be along shortly.
"Well, I guess you passed your trials Padawan," Bastila smiled at Alaanis and left the room. Zaalbar Carth trailed after her with T3 at his side.
"Happy Life Day Mission," Alaanis said, handing a small package to Mission with a wink.
":What's in it:" Zaalbar asked his friend after Alaanis left the room. Mission opened the package. It was wrapped in a raggedy old blanket that Mission had seen on the Ebon Hawk before. Nobody dared to touch it because it seemed so disgusting. But it appeared that Alaanis had cleaned it. Inside the package were three things. First of the three was a pair of expensive gloves good for battling with blasters. Mission held them up for Zaalbar to see. He nodded his head approvingly.
But the other two things were what really were the good gifts. First was a datapad with a note in it from Alaanis.
To my favorite Twi'lek street-urchin Mission, from just your average ex-smuggler, ex-Republic soldier jedi, Alaanis. I know it's not the same, but I thought you might like this. Carth and I found it when we were on Taris in one of the apartments. And he thought robbing them was a bad idea…
Mission laughed at the note. She could imagine Carth objecting to things Alaanis did, but he would follow them anyways. The Twi'lek looked down into the box and saw a map. But not just any map but a map of Taris.
It was on a datapad, and it seemed like there were a bunch of notes written in it. They were obviously written by Alaanis, considering the odd details mentioned. In the upper city cantina she had written 'find a sith kid and get him drunk' whereas down in the lower city cantina where Alaanis and Mission had first met she had written 'find informative accomplices'. Additionally, she had added 'met big Wookie and little Twi'lek. Odd pair, but informative.'
Mission laughed as she looked over the rest of the map, and Zaalbar came over and looked at it as well.
"It's almost like a little piece of Taris," Mission told her best friend. A little piece of home.
XxXxX
"First of all," Master Vandar announced after Alaanis and Bastila entered the jedi chambers. Along with the short master were masters Vrook, Dorak and Zhar. "I would like to congratulate Alaanis on achieving the rank of Padawan. Welcome to the first step of the jedi order." He bowed his over-sized head lightly towards Alaanis who returned the gesture.
"Second of all," Master Vrook continued. "We'd like to formally thank you for returning Juhani back to the jedi. It was a wise decision you made to redeem her. We have forgiven her as well. It appears she believed to have killed her master. However, Master Quatra was not fatally injured at all, and simply moved on to a new Padawan."
"But most importantly," Vandar told the two women. "We have asked you to come here because of the dream you two shared. We believe we know where it was located." Alaanis listened interestedly to the small yellow jedi master.
"There are ancient ruins located on the enclave here on Dantooine. We believe that Revan and Malak visited these ruins prior or during the Mandalorian Wars. We sent another jedi, Knight Nemo, to investigate these ruins about a week ago. He has not returned, therefore we'd like to send you two to see what has happened to him."
Bastila and Alaanis exchanged quick glances. Bastila seemed eager to receive a new mission, and Alaanis wasn't going to turn down a request of the council's.
"We'd be honored to accept this duty," Bastila declared, bowing her head in respect to the masters. Alaanis followed suit.
"Wonderful," Master Dorak declared, clapping his hands together. "I would advise you not to bring too many companions with you when you travel. And be careful about where you travel, some problems may arrive in your journey and as a jedi, and you should help. But keep in mind the importance of this mission. I would advise you to get right at it tomorrow morning, bright and early."
Alaanis and Bastila left the room as another man walked in.
"I demand to have a jedi investigate the kidnapping!" the man shouted. "Nurik Sandral will not get away with robbing me of my son!"
"Calm yourself Mr. Matale," Master Vrook said with a slight glare at the man. Alaanis and Bastila paused at the edge of the room. "You have no proof that your son was kidnapped by Mr. Sandral."
"I don't need proof! It's obvious!" Mr. Matale responded angrily. He left the room fuming, and Vandar sighed and looked pointedly at Bastila and Alaanis.
"Perhaps you two could stop by Ahlan Matale's home and help him in his search for his son Shen," Master Vandar told them reluctantly. "Keep in mind, you should only do this if you have time, but I feel it is our responsibilities as jedi to keep the peace, and since you two are traveling in that direction, you could stop by."
"We will try master," Bastila replied. The two women walked out of the room. Bastila sighed as they neared the med bay in the enclave.
"I take it you have heard of the Sandrals and Matales before?" Alaanis probed.
"Yes," Bastila sighed again. "They have been at each other's throats since they both arrived here around the time I started at the enclave when I was about seven. I remember the masters being exasperated constantly at the issues those two families had. Some families just cannot get along."
"They should be able to," Alaanis shrugged. "Maybe they're just angry with themselves and are taking it out on their neighbors."
"It could be so."
"What about your family?" Alaanis asked the younger woman as they stood outside the med bay. "Did you guys get along very well?"
"Well… my father and I got along quite well," Bastila reminisced happily. "He was a treasure hunter I suppose. He was always hunting for fortunes. I didn't want him to do it so much, but my mother pushed him into it. I remember that when I left for the jedi my mother was practically jubilant with the fact that I was being taken of her hands. My father was less happy I was leaving. I still miss him." Bastila sighed and seemed to be mentally scolding herself. "But jedi aren't allowed attachments, romantic or familial."
"You don't have much conviction in those words," Alaanis pointed out. Bastila turned away from her. "You don't really believe that do you?"
"Well… I do miss my father," Bastila said, her back still to Alaanis.
"I miss my family as well," Alaanis smiled putting her hand on Bastila's shoulder. "I think you'll survive. You have your friends with you." Bastila turned around and smiled at Alaanis.
"Thanks." Alaanis opened the door and the brunette and blonde walked into the group of people chatting with Mission who was still sitting in the medical bed.
XxXxX
Carth was watching Canderous prove his Mandalorian glory by acting superior towards Mission and she in return made fun of his warrior power while the Twi'lek and Zaalbar were admiring the map Alaanis had given Mission for her Life Day. He wondered where Alaanis and Bastila were; they had been gone for around half an hour now.
Just then the door to the medical bay opened and Bastila and Alaanis walked in. Both were smiling lightly. Carth admired Alaanis as she walked over to Mission who hugged the human female tightly and thanked her for the gift.
"I love it Al!" Mission cried out. "It's such a wonderful gift!"
"No problem Mission," Alaanis smiled. Carth felt like he was probably being such an idiot, staring at her hair that was falling around her ears now, her black roots growing in. The color reminded him of the color of Revan's hair in the hologram he had shown Alaanis earlier that day. In fact, Carth could almost say they looked exactly alike. Except for their eyes. Alaanis' eyes were a warm yet icy blue, and Revan's were a piercing green. Carth should've been paranoid about this, being his paranoid self and all, but he found himself admiring Alaanis too much to suspect much of such things. Plus, Revan was dead.
Carth turned abruptly away from her, not wanting to get caught staring.
"I think it's time to get some sleep," he decided to say after a long time of conversation when Mission was beginning to droop onto Zaalbar, and Bastila looked dead on her feet in the corner of the room.
"First, before we leave," Bastila began, dropping out of her trance and looking more alert than before. "Alaanis and I are to go on a mission tomorrow, but I think we should have another companion along."
"And before you even say you want to Mission, you're in no condition to do anything with that wrist of yours," Alaanis declared seeing Mission open her mouth. The blue Twi'lek pouted slightly, but accepted Alaanis' reasoning.
"I'll go," Canderous growled. Bastila's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see what kind of Mandalorians people are complaining about around here. I've been trying to catch sight of them for a while, but haven't had any luck."
"Okay, sounds good, we should leave soon after dawn," Alaanis announced. They all walked back to the Ebon Hawk to sleep, Zaalbar carrying a half-asleep now fifteen-year-old Mission along. Bastila was walking ahead of the group; Canderous at her side and instead of arguing there was just a tense silence about them. Carth, Alaanis and T3 held up the rear end in a more comfortable silence.
After arriving at the Hawk, everybody feel asleep quickly. Well, except for Carth.
The republic pilot was wondering what he had gotten himself into when he had communicated Alaanis back on the Endar Spire. Had he expected himself to end up in a jedi enclave with a teenage Twi'lek, her Wookie pal, two jedi, a Mandalorian and an astromech droid? And to have something for one of the said jedi?
No, he told himself internally. He hadn't expected this. But did it really mean it wasn't that bad?
I guess Alaanis' destiny isn't the only one that seems a bit fuzzy. And with that thought he fell into a dreamless sleep.
XxXxX
By mid morning Canderous, Bastila and Alaanis were ready to leave the enclave after Bastila met with the masters once again for a reason she had no intention divulging Alaanis or Canderous with.
They had their supplies in Alaanis' typical over-sized bag and both jedi had their lightsabers with them. Canderous had his repeater as well as his back-up Mandalorian pistols and a pair of vibroswords. They were walking in silence along the pathway into the courtyard with just the simple noises of the beautiful Dantooine day until they were interrupted by a woman running towards the enclave, crying loudly. She ran right into Bastila.
"Um… excuse me ma'am are you alright?" she asked calmly. The woman sobbed onto Bastila's shoulder for a few moments. The young jedi looked bewilderedly at Canderous and Alaanis who were both staring at the woman in surprise.
"My companion!" the woman shrieked. "He's gone!"
Bastila's eyes grew slightly wide as she grabbed the woman's shoulders and pulled her a good foot away from Bastila. "Your companion is missing? Please, explain to us what happened."
The woman's crying lightened considerably as she told the story. "I was out getting some supplies and I came back and the door was open and I went inside and he was gone! The door hadn't been forced open so it was obvious the lock had been picked or perhaps he was taken by surprise. Maybe the attackers knocked and he answered and they took him!" She fell back into sobbing and back onto Bastila.
"Are you sure he didn't just go out for a walk or something?" Alaanis asked tentatively.
"I'm certain he didn't!" the woman cried indignantly. "His programming-"
"A droid!" Canderous began laughing. "Your companion is a droid?" Bastila sent a force wave knocking Canderous back into a short wall where he tripped. Alaanis snorted as Canderous glared at Bastila.
"Yes, but he's all I have left of my husband!" the woman continued crying.
"What's your name miss?" Alaanis questioned her.
"Elise," she replied, hiccoughing and picking herself up off of Bastila. Canderous walked back over to the three women. "Please, you have to help me! If you find my droid, please send him back to me! He's all I have!"
Canderous raised an eyebrow at Alaanis who sent him a look that plainly told him to not say a word. Bastila told Elise that they would keep an eye out for her droid. She thanked them and walked towards a speeder that clearly was her own.
"I can't blame the droid for running out on her," Canderous said as he, Bastila and Alaanis continued on their way towards the ancient ruins the masters had implanted into Alaanis' map in her journal.
"Nobody says the droid ran out," Bastila told him tersely.
"I'm guessing it did," Canderous retorted. "We Mandalorians use droids for fighting, training, and construction. But we use our people whenever we can. How someone gains a personal attachment to a droid is beyond me."
"You heard her, it's her last remain of her husband," Bastila growled. "It obviously means something to her."
"Yeah, it means she's a nut job," Canderous mumbled. Alaanis secretly agreed with Canderous, but she wasn't going to say anything. The three continued walking on in silence for a little while.
A little ways further though, they came to another bump in the road. A small cottage obviously not very significant or strong in the way it was built from wood and hay only was on fire. And the starters of the fire were standing around the house jeering. They were Mandalorians. And they were pushing around three small children and a woman who was obviously their mother in a circle outside of the house.
Alaanis looked up at Canderous who was wearing a disgusted look on his face. "These Mandalorians are disgraceful! Attacking the woman and the children? Burning down an insignificant home? Barbaric! It destroys the image of Mandalorian honor!"
Before even waiting for Alaanis and Bastila, Canderous rushed on ahead to the six Mandalorian and two Duros standing around. The two Duros were robbing the house of its food and supplies, though little.
"What have we here?" Canderous growled menacingly. The six Mandalorians looked up at Canderous and saw the Mandalorian repeater and the Ordo clan tattoos on his arms.
"Come join the fun Mandalorian of Ordo!" one of the Mandalorians called. Canderous growled and bore his teeth angrily.
"Fun?" he barked at them. All six stopped tossing the woman and children around and stared at Canderous. "This isn't fun, it's dishonoring! What happened to Mandalorian honor? You do not deserve to call yourselves Mandalorians punks!" And before waiting for a retort, Canderous began aiming and blasting away the offenders.
Alaanis and Bastila ignited their lightsabers and followed Canderous' example. The Mandalorians were poor fighters, obviously used to weak prey instead of a trained Mandalorian and two jedi. Without too much of a fight they were all but one dead.
"You will regret the day you betrayed us!" he called to Canderous, slicing the throat of the child he held, switching on his stealth generator and running off, obviously to report to a higher authority. "You are a disgrace!" Canderous shouted.
Alaanis looked down at the little girl the Mandalorian had attacked. Her dark skin was covered in blood around her neck and her hair was a mess, some ripped out from the abuse of the Mandalorians before they had interfered. Her brown eyes were open in fear and sadness in her death. Alaanis lifted the small girl and walked over to the woman and her son and second daughter.
"I am sorry we couldn't save her," Alaanis said quietly. Bastila was standing by her side and Canderous was still looking angrily in the direction the Mandalorian had run off in.
"It is okay master jedi," the mother told her, taking her daughter's dead body into her own arms and wrapping it into a cloak. "You saved me and my other children and for that I thank you." She smiled through the tears falling down her face. "Alisha was a good daughter, but perhaps it was her time. Sad as it is to accept." The woman began crying harder and behind her, the burning house's roof collapsed.
"Perhaps you could stay at the jedi enclave ma'am," Bastila proposed. The woman nodded. "Thank you. We know the way, it isn't far."
"No, I will call for an escort," Bastila protested. She pulled out her comlink and called the enclave, requesting an escort to arrive. It only took about five minutes for an older knight to arrive.
"I am sorry to hear of your loss," the man told the crying woman. Her two surviving children were staring in fear. "Where is your husband?"
"He went out hunting," she replied. "He was always afraid this would happen. He will come to the enclave to look for us." The woman turned back towards Bastila and Alaanis. "Thank you both. And your friend over there. If he is a Mandalorian as he said, perhaps they all aren't as bad as those that attacked us." She smiled and with the jedi knight guiding her and her children, the left the blazing home behind.
Alaanis turned towards Canderous, still staring angrily into the field.
"Mandalorian honor is the only thing most Mandalorians have nowadays since we lost the war," Canderous growled. "It seems like some decided to give up that as well." He turned towards her, but was staring more at Bastila than Alaanis as he said the next part. "Not all Mandalorians are like that. Most have honor. Most are better than that scum."
Bastila looked up at him and nodded. She was beginning to understand the Mandalorian. Just beginning. "We should get going," Alaanis told them quietly. "We have other jedi issues to deal with." And so the three of them continued walking towards the ancient jedi ruins, this time with no more interruptions.
It was a magnificent sight. Alaanis stared in awe at the ruins. They looked older than the planet itself, but they still appeared to be in good condition, neither brittle nor cracking or overrun with much moss. And she could feel the power emanating off of them. The force surged in this place. Tall pillars rose out of the ground, centering around a large dome that obviously went underground. A stone door opened as she touched it, and the three walked inside without a second thought.
The stone door closed behind Alaanis, Bastila and Canderous, surprising the older woman slightly as she suppressed a sneeze. It was dark, dusty and damp in the ruins. Shallow light entered the large square room they were located in from holes in the roof, very small and letting through little sunlight from above. There was one door opposite the entrance, and walking through the room Bastila put her hand up to it, and it opened.
In front of them, in a smaller square room, was an ancient droid, covered in the same dust and dampness as the rest of the stone ruins. Also in the room, besides three doors, was the body of a senior jedi knight.
"Poor Nemo," Bastila mumbled as she spotted the jedi knight. Nemo was apparently an older man in his mid fifties or sixties, his hair grey and his body limp. "That droid must've killed him." Bastila's eyes grew wide as the droid let loose a garble of unintelligible speech.
Canderous gave the droid a look. "Okay, jedi are supposed to understand all sorts of dead languages. Did either of you understand that?"
Alaanis shook her head. "I have no clue what that droid said. I heard a couple understandable words… they sounded a bit like an ancient Selkath language."
The droid spoke again, this time in a way Alaanis understood. ":You are neither the builders or the slaves. Who are you:" the droid asked.
Bastila's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Why would a droid on Dantooine speak ancient Selkath?"
":I was instructed to understand the language of both the Builders and the slaves. This is the language of one of the slave species. It seems to be the language you understand:" the droid informed them. ":Why have you come:"
Alaanis considered why they had come. "Did you kill that man over there?" she asked, jerking her hand in the direction of Nemo's still body.
":No:" the droid replied. ":He attempted to surpass the defense of this structure and failed. I did not kill him.:" Alaanis was curios as to what these defenses were and asked. ":Error, no memory of answer to such question. Please, ask a different question.:"
Alaanis sighed. The droid almost sounded like a phony psychic from Nar Shaada or Coruscant. Cryptic answers, just like the ones most of the jedi gave.
"Do you know anything of a Star Forge?" Bastila asked the droid.
":Error, no memory of answer to such question. Please, ask a different question.:" the droid repeated. Bastila sighed this time.
"Well, how do we get past you into these rooms?" Canderous asked the droid. The droid replied, and Bastila translated.
"He says that there is nothing stopping us. But the rooms to the east and the west are the ones we may enter first. He says that if we exit those rooms alive we may enter the room to the north." Bastila shivered slightly at what could be behind those doors.
"Sounds like suicide," Canderous grumbled. "What is the importance of these ruins anyways?"
"They're very important Canderous," Bastila growled. "They're more important than you'd expect, much less comprehend." Her eyes narrowed and his matched as he took a challenging step towards her. "Try me," he said menacingly, towering over the young jedi.
"Stop, both of you," Alaanis finally stepped in. "This isn't solving anything. How about we just see what's behind those doors?" Bastila turned away from the Mandalorian in front of her and her glare dissipated.
"My apologies," Bastila nodded her head. "Alaanis is right. We should simply enter the rooms and see what's inside." She turned towards the door and tried to open it in the same manner as the first door had opened. "It's locked." Bastila groaned.
Alaanis smiled suddenly. She remembered something from her training, a question Master Zhar had asked her once. 'You come across a locked door. What would you do?' he had asked her. Alaanis had smiled to herself, expecting to probably end up kicking down the door, but thought amusingly at the thought of knocking on a door behind which Darth Malak stood with his lightsaber ready for battle. 'I'd knock,' Alaanis had replied, smirking. Master Zhar had looked at her curiously after that.
With that thought in mind, Alaanis walked to the door and knocked on it. Bastila and Canderous both gave her looks, but both looks turned from skepticism to shock as the door opened and behind it two droids stood, backing away from them.
":The droids are malfunctioning:" the droid from the center chamber told them. ":They will begin shooting at a sound like the one you issued by pressing your fist against the door at an increased speed. They will stop if you do the same thing. They were ready to shoot before you 'knocked' on the door. They will turn back to their assassination protocols if you make the noise again. Unless you fix them.:"
Alaanis looked incredulously at the droids in front of her. Stepping on the stone floor would certainly result in them aiming their guns at the three trespassers. But a second step would stop them…
"You guys stay back," Alaanis muttered. "I'll fix the droids." Bastila stared at Alaanis.
"You can't do it; you're going to make enough noise by simply walking!" Bastila whispered, trying not to disturb the droids. Alaanis smirked at the younger jedi and took two steps.
After the first step, the droids perked their robotic heads up and began aiming their gun, but with the second step, their guns were lowered and their eyes that had begun lighting up shut off. Bastila took in a sharp breath. Canderous was smirking. Alaanis continued towards the droids, following in the same manner as she had begun with. She was just in front of the droids and then grabbed a hydrospanner from her gigantic pack. It fell on the ground as she took it out. Quickly, Bastila stomped on the ground. Alaanis shot a grateful smile towards her fellow jedi.
It took her about five minutes until she had reprogrammed the droids, deactivating their noise sensors and programming Alaanis, Bastila and Canderous as 'friendlies' and not to shoot them. Alaanis walked back to Canderous and Bastila, both staring at her with a new respect.
":Good work:" the droid from the central chamber stated as the three intruders crossed its path. ":You clearly have the hands of a mechanic. Unfortunately, the droids in the chamber to the east have no chance of being fixed. You will have to face them yourselves. And open the door without 'knocking' this time.:" The droid silenced and the three companions glanced at each other.
Bastila sat down on the floor and closed her eyes as if in meditation. Canderous simply stared at her. "What are you doing?" he asked her as if she was crazy.
"I'm seeing how many droids are in that chamber," Bastila told him calmly. Alaanis thought of something suddenly. "Hey Bastila… can't you use your battle meditation to help us?"
Bastila looked up at Alaanis and nodded her head. "I could, but there are only two droids in the chamber anyways. And it is not very effective on droids as it is on sentients. It could work, disabling the droids abilities slightly, but we don't need my battle meditation. If we work together that is. I'm certain these droids will probably be a bit more advanced if they've survived for this long." She took a look down at Nemo's body as she stood up. "And killed Nemo."
Alaanis looked over at the east door and examined it for a minute. Closing her eyes and drawing upon the force, she opened the door with her mind first, and then she heard the rumblings of the door opening, along with blaster shots headed her way.
She ignited her lightsaber in a flash, the pale yellow glow lighting the dim room and blocking the blaster bolts back at the droid aiming for her. Bastila ignited her double bladed lightsaber and charged towards the spider-like droids with their many legs, deflecting their rapid shots at the same moment. Canderous aimed his Mandalorian repeater, roaring along with his machine while he blasted away the droid Bastila was heading towards first. It's defense was disabled by Canderous' work, as well as it's formal weapons, but its flamethrower was just beginning its work as it singed Bastila's back as she leaped out of the way. She screamed, but kept on fighting the droids, continuously chopping off its many legs with her lightsaber. Alaanis was busy with the second droid, shoving her lightsaber straight into its core. The droid collapsed onto the ground, defeated by Alaanis' lightsaber just as Canderous shot his repeater right into the heart of the second droid.
Bastila groaned. She felt like her back was on fire. Canderous and Alaanis examined her back quickly. "It doesn't look good," Alaanis stated obviously. "Well, you'll be fine, especially if you call upon the force for some help, but…"
"The flesh is seriously scorched," Canderous said, walking around Bastila. "Hey Pi can I get some light?" Alaanis nodded and ignited her lightsaber, just below Bastila's back. "I know a Mandalorian remedy that's good for this sort of burn." Canderous smirked. "A friend of mine got a minor burn on his leg like this after screwing up his droid… who was conveniently sporting a flamethrower." Alaanis put her lightsaber back in her belt after switching it off.
"Let's keep going," Bastila muttered. The back of her robes were ripped off, it was obviously falling apart. "But first I need a new robe." She ripped off the brown one she had been wearing, showing to be simply wearing normal clothes underneath, just a tan shirt and pants. She spotted Nemo. "I hope he doesn't mind…" she muttered as she pulled off his blue robe and put it on herself.
"He's dead, I doubt he minds right now," Alaanis replied, shrugging.
":So you survived both chambers:" the droid told the three as they stood in front of him. ":I will open the northern chamber for you now.:" Behind the droid, the third door opened. Alaanis led her two companions into the room, where it was like the room they entered… only there was something at the end opposite the door.
Two statues stood insignificantly with a… thing between them. "What is it?" Alaanis asked as they approached the thing. Just as she spoke, the 'thing' opened with a hiss, four sides of a thin triangular prism over a platform lowering, a map of the galaxy appeared.
"It looks like a map," Bastila stated the obvious. "And there are five worlds that seem to be blinking." Alaanis looked closer and indeed did see five worlds blinking.
Bastila began pointing at the map, scrunching up her face in concentration. "This one here is Dantooine, where we are right now. And if that's so, then over here… that's Tatooine. And over there is Manaan. And then that's Kashyyyk… and Korriban." She examined the map for another moment. "Do you think more of these maps will lead us to whatever that 'Star Forge' thing is?"
Alaanis shrugged. "It's a good educated guess. Maybe we should speak to the council."
"Well obviously we should," Bastila scoffed. Then she reddened slightly. "Sorry. Master Vrook says I have a tendency of being impatient." Well he has a tendency to be skeptical. I think he and Carth would get along quite well, they're both overly paranoid.
"It's okay," Alaanis told her. She pulled out her journal and added the Star Map to her datapad. She saw a blip in the map. "There's a spot missing in the map. Like a whole sector."
Bastila looked at the map again. "You're right. It seems like somebody corrupted this data to erase that area. Maybe with information from other Star Maps we could fix this."
"If there are other Star Maps," Canderous noted. "It's quite a long shot."
"I think it might end up having to be one we have to take," Bastila said solemnly.
XxXxX
As the group approached the Sandral estate Bastila wondered how she had gotten them wrapped into this familial problem. The Matales and the Sandrals had been bickering since Bastila had arrived at the jedi enclave thirteen years ago. And now Ahlan Matale was assuming that Nurik Sandral had kidnapped his son.
The thing was that Nurik had a 'motive'. It turned out that Nurik's son had gone missing about a year ago, and he thought Ahlan had kidnapped him. Luckily enough for Ahlan, he had found Nurik's son's dead body, under a collapsed piece of architecture, and a journal with an entry just before his death. Ahlan had given Alaanis the journal to show to Nurik, hopefully persuading him to give Ahlan's son Shen back.
The problem was there was no guarantee that Nurik had kidnapped Shen. Bastila sighed. Why couldn't families get along with each other? She had once heard from a friend that families fought with other families because their own family had issues. This didn't surprise Bastila as her own family had never gotten along with other families when they traveled from place to place.
Bastila had shared these thoughts with Alaanis before, shortly before the departure for the ancient ruins. And now she was recalling them, as she knocked on the door to the Sandral estate. A droid spoke through a comm system.
"What is your business here jedi?" the droid asked.
"I come on behalf of the jedi council to speak with your master Nurik about the kidnapping of Shen Matale," Bastila declared. "As well as to speak of the disappearance of his son Cassus."
The droid seemed to be considering for a second. "Come on in jedi," he finally replied. "My master will speak with you shortly." The door opened in front of Bastila, Canderous and Alaanis as they walked inside.
The Sandral's estate's living room was a room of luxury. The couches were made of exotic materials, soft to the touch as the three guests were instructed by the droid to sit down. Potted plants and paintings covered the room in a lovely décor, and the antique rugs on the ground seemed to come from the richest of the core worlds.
"Ah, welcome master jedi," a tall dark man with balding grey hair greeted as he walked into the room. Bastila and Alaanis stood. Canderous seemed to like spiting people, and decided to stay sitting. Bastila shot him a glare, but he ignored.
"Let's speak shall we?" the man that must've been Nurik Sandral suggested, sitting down on a bleed red chair opposite the red couch Canderous was sitting on. Bastila and Alaanis sat on his left, looking down to business.
"Yes, let's," Alaanis said evenly. She pulled out the journal of Cassus. "I believe this is your son's journal. Ahlan Matale found it recently and asked me to give it to you in hopes you will realize that he did not steal your son from you. Your son died in an architectural accident."
Nurik read over the journal for a few moments before looking up at his visitors. "Thank you," he said lightly, and a bit distractedly. "This means a lot to me." Bastila smiled at him.
"But I assure you I did not kidnap Shen Matale," Nurik stated in a way that meant he would say no more. "Now if you'll excuse me, I am a very busy man." Standing up, and Bastila and Alaanis as well in respect, Nurik left the room. Bastila and Alaanis looked back at Canderous. Alaanis smirked, but Bastila narrowed her eyes.
"Lovely display of disrespect Mandalorian," Bastila growled. "I thought Mandalorians had honor."
"Honor for those who deserve it," Canderous replied, not moving from his comfortable position on the couch. "That man kidnapped his rival's son out of spite that much is obvious. I hold no respect for such men. He probably can't even hold his own family together."
"Well, he's trying."
Bastila, Alaanis and Canderous turned towards the direction Nurik had left just a minute or two ago. Standing there now was a young woman who was obviously his daughter. She was tall and lanky like her father, the same chocolate dark skin and brown eyes. Her brown hair was short, shorter than Alaanis', and she was standing in the doorway, fidgeting and looking a little uncertain.
"I'm Rahasia Sandral, Nurik is my father," the young woman said, introducing herself to the three strange visitors.
"Is something wrong Rahasia?" Bastila asked her. Rahasia was obviously just a couple years younger than Bastila, though much taller. She was fidgeting like crazy though.
"Um…" Rahasia started and then stopped. She spotted Canderous and twitched a little bit more. "My father, he isn't a bad man. He has had a few problems raising my brother and I on his own. My mother died when we were very young. And since my brother's disappearance he has been in grief. He blames the Matales for all our problems…"
"So he kidnapped Shen," Alaanis concluded. Rahasia nodded.
"Called that one," Canderous mumbled. Bastila shot him another look.
"Why are you telling us this Rahasia?" Alaanis asked Rahasia. The young woman stopped fidgeting for a moment and a slightly dreamy look overcame her face.
"I met Shen once, outside of my father's lies about him. When I was in the marketplace. He was so sweet and kind… I couldn't believe what my father had said about him. I continued seeing him for a few months. My brother met Shen and approved of him, and they became friends despite our fathers' hatred for each other." A light darkness overcame Rahasia face then. "But after my brother had been missing for some time, my father went in a rage of grief. He was so certain that Ahlan Matale had kidnapped Cassus that he kidnapped Shen, and has been hiding him in our home for months now, beating him. I try and help him whenever my father is asleep or out. But I'm afraid one day my father will go too far and kill Shen. It's a risk, but I have to save him! And I need your help."
Bastila and Alaanis exchanged glances. Bastila smiled at Rahasia. "We'll help you."
XxXxX
Bastila and Alaanis rushed through the halls of the Sandral estate, searching for the exit. Invisible to any passer-by with their stealth generators on, they were dragging along an equally invisible Shen Matale. Convincing him to leave was tough, but they had agreed to convince Rahasia too escape her father as well. The two were going to meet by the exit with the help of Alaanis and Bastila since Shen was in no condition to be wandering hostile walls alone. Canderous was going to meet there as well. Bastila had decided angrily that he wasn't sneaky enough. Though Alaanis agreed, Bastila's protests probably had more to do with the rudeness expressed by Canderous earlier rather than his stealth abilities.
They bicker like little children, Alaanis thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes. And Canderous is like triple the age of Bastila, shouldn't he be more 'mature'? Then again, Canderous was Canderous, and obviously liked to spite Bastila.
Soon enough Bastila, Alaanis and Shen arrived just outside the house.
"Rahasia!" Shen whispered, since he hadn't the might to say anything louder. His clothes were torn in a few places, he was marked with dirt and water, his short black hair messed up as if he hadn't combed it in years. He looked weak beyond anything. Obviously Nurik hadn't been treating him well.
"Shen!" Rahasia called. She rushed forward to Shen and hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting his fragile body. He collapsed a bit onto her.
"Uh oh," Alaanis muttered, looking over on a hill to the north. Walking towards the estate was none other than Ahlan Matale and four of his droids. Bastila tapped her shoulder.
"More 'uh oh'," she said. Alaanis glanced over to where Bastila was pointing. Alaanis felt her jaw drop slightly at the sight of Nurik Sandral angrily walking towards Shen and Rahasia along with his own four droid. It only took a few moments until Nurik and Ahlan were both only feet away from their respective children.
"Shen!" cried Ahlan.
"Father!" Shen said weakly.
"Mr. Matale!" Rahasia said in slight fear.
"Rahasia!" Nurik called.
"Father!" Rahasia said, resuming her former fidgeting.
"Mr. Sandral!" Shen whispered in fear.
"Ahlan!" Nurik yelled angrily.
"Nurik!" Ahlan yelled back. "I knew you kidnapped my son you no good bantha fodder!"
"Mr. Matale," Rahasia began before she was cut off.
"Don't even get me started on you!" Ahlan screeched. "You don't deserve to breathe the air of this planet!" Rahasia looked hurt as she backed off.
"You stole my son long before I stole yours!" Nurik accused angrily.
"Did you not read the journal of your son I gave to the jedi here?" Ahlan questioned furiously. "You are beyond ignorant Sandral!" Nurik narrowed his eyes.
"It was a hoax and I know it as well as you do! You planted that journal and my son's body most likely. I don't believe you and your made up stories. You have been jealous of my family since we arrived here!"
"Jealous?"
"SHUT UP!" came Alaanis' voice into the mix. Nurik and Ahlan quieted for a moment before Nurik snarled. "Why should we listen to you jedi?"
"Because you are going to rip each other's heads off for stupid reasons if you don't listen to me!" Alaanis screamed. She looked outraged. Bastila tapped her shoulder to try and get the older woman to calm down a bit. But Alaanis shrugged her off. Through the bond the two women shared, Bastila could feel reason behind Alaanis' emotions. Necessary emotions for the situation.
"I think kidnap warrants me the ability to get a little angry," Ahlan spat.
"Listen to me first before you start a war though," Alaanis said, a bit more calm. Bastila was attempting to send her calming thoughts through the force bond, and it seemed to be paying off slightly. Alaanis took a deep breath.
"I know that you guys seem to hate each other, why I have no idea because it seems like you have a lot in common and the only thing stopping you from getting along is some ideal you have about each other being evil maniacs. Oh and just for your information, your children seem to love each other. Shen and Rahasia. And I don't blame them because despite the influence they got from you, they seem like really nice kids." Alaanis gave a last glare at the parents and looked over to Shen and Rahasia. "If they don't get along, come to the jedi enclave, both of you. I'm sure you'd be welcome." Alaanis gave them a last smile, and with Bastila and Canderous at her side, they left.
Behind them they could hear Shen and Rahasia convincing their parents to get along.
On their way back towards the jedi enclave from the Sandral estate, once again Alaanis, Bastila and Canderous encountered Mandalorians. Canderous glared at them as the seven Mandalorians approached.
"I have heard about you Mandalorian of Ordo," the leader of the Mandalorians acknowledged Canderous. "I have heard you killed some of our group. Your own clan members were in that group you killed. Two Ordo."
"They did not deserve to wear the name of Ordo," Canderous snarled. The Mandalorians laughed.
"I am Sherruk," the offending Mandalorian declared. "And I have killed my share of jedi, sporting their scalps and lightsabers as my prizes. You jedi pets don't scare me." He cocked his gun and aimed.
Before Canderous had a chance to move he was hit in the shoulder by the blaster shot. It wasn't serious though, and Canderous took this as his motivation. He pulled up his repeater and blasted away a second Mandalorian that began charging at him. Alaanis pulled out her lightsaber, and in one swift movement sliced a third Mandalorian up in front of her. Bastila used her double-bladed lightsaber to challenge two different Mandalorians both armed with swords. Canderous began shooting at the Mandalorians Bastila was facing while Alaanis hacked at another one who didn't stand a chance against Alaanis' skill. Three down. The two Bastila was facing with the assistance of Canderous fell. Five down. Alaanis kicked one of the Mandalorians as he approached her from behind and knocked him to the ground where he met Bastila's lightsaber sticking into his gut. Sherruk was the only one left.
"You cannot defeat me!" Sherruk cried as he threw a grenade at Bastila and Canderous. Canderous was quicker in the reaction (though Bastila never would admit it) and grabbed Bastila and they jumped out of the way of the plasma grenade Sherruk had thrown.
"Let go!" cried Bastila. Canderous complied and she fell to the ground out of his grasp. While this short argument took place, Alaanis stabbed Sherruk with her lightsaber. He was obviously dying, but hadn't yet.
Canderous walked over to Sherruk. The last thing he did before Canderous shot him in the head was spit onto Canderous. The living Mandalorian glared at the dead one's body. "Scum," he muttered, kicking Sherruk out of his way.
Alaanis took a glance at Sherruk's belt. "He wasn't lying," she said quietly. "He's got about six lightsabers on that belt. Most of them are broken, but there's two that look fine…" Alaanis ignited one of them that lit up with a violet glow. She swished it around and pocketed it. She picked up a second one that was blue and pocketed that as well. Alaanis salvaged crystals from the other lightsabers before the three companions left behind the Mandalorians and headed back to the jedi enclave.
XxXxX
By news of Shen and Rahasia themselves, Alaanis and Bastila discovered later that day that their parents had finally agreed to let their children get married, and to get along with each other. Rahasia had laughed as she recalled their awkward handshake.
After Shen and Rahasia left the jedi enclave, Bastila and Alaanis reported back to the jedi council and reported what they had found in the ancient ruins, and told them about the Mandalorians they had encountered as well as the Matale/Sandral feud they had resolved.
"We agree with young Bastila," Master Vandar declared. "We believe you should investigate the other four planets for traces of these Star Maps and the Star Forge."
"You're putting us on a mission… without a jedi master?" Bastila asked incredulously.
"We don't have many knights or masters to spare," Vrook pointed out. "In addition to that, we feel secrecy is a better idea than a full on assault. A small team of jedi seems to be a better idea than an army of them."
Bastila and Alaanis bowed their heads. "Who will be coming with us?" Alaanis asked the masters.
"You may continue with your crew from Taris," Master Dorak decided. "Their skills should come in handy. And of course, Bastila will be traveling with you."
"Also, Padawan Juhani has requested that she travel with you," Vrook added. "She will be coming by your ship later this evening. We think that you should leave in the morning to begin your mission. The order of the planets doesn't very much matter, just that you contact us if and when you locate the Star Maps on each world."
"As you wish masters," Bastila complied. The two young jedi Padawans left the council chambers, leaving behind the world of jedi issues everyone seemed to have, and heading towards the Ebon Hawk.
XxXxX
AH! Nineteen pages! A new record! Yay! XD And so many reviews! You guys are awesome! I'm sorry for the long delay in updating. After finals I was roused with a huge case of writer's block. I finally was able to pull through it today and tack on the last ten pages of this chapter. I'm sorry if it's not very good, but I'm trying! Yah! Anyways… It's so relieving to have gotten this chapter out and finally finished Dantooine. Expect a Story Break shortly. I actually need to write up a new one because the jump from the first one to the ones I've written is a little big.
Anyways, I noticed in the second chapter that I sad Alaanis was 26. Ah! I was wrong. I made her 27. As I stated in a different chapter. Anyways, thanks for the TONS of reviews! Now I shall comment on them all. XD
Greatstar – Thanks! I think I'm a little hard on Mission lol. First she gets captured by the sith and then she gets knocked into a cliff wall! I was going to make a bigger deal out of Bastila's pyro friend the droid, but I felt Bastila would never hear the end of it if we actually read about Canderous treating her wounds!
Resident roach code metallica – As you can see this chapter is even longer! XD Yay! Lol, anyways, for the Carth/Alaanis romance, all we can do it wait… ;-)
Lunatic Pandora1 – Canderous gets to meet the Mandalorians in this chapter, no worries!
Kaoru Himura2 - -continues writing as quickly as possible- X
Shadows Run – Lots of reviews! Yay! I feel so special, and it's good to see you reviewing again:) Now… As for Sienna, don't worry you'll find out in a couple story breaks if you still don't see who she is. XD Plus, she's going to be in the sequel, so we'll meet her! Whee! As for the Carth age thing, yeah, I know I got it wrong, I don't care, I'm making him younger because, well, I feel like it lol. As for Alaanis' brothers, I decided that the council would probably be so logical as to make Alaanis' past be almost a lot like Revan's, because in case Revan's memories arise they won't be so different than the real ones. So yes her brothers are in fact real. As for more chapters for you, I actually did send this one to you, but after just rereading the reviews I realized that your email is broken you say. Can you tell me your aim address? Mine is CrazyMissSarah21 in case you wanna contact me. Just so that I could get you to read over some of the chapters. :)
Wild's Daughter – Oki, I started reading Prisoner's story but I haven't gotten to Canderous yet lol. I am trying to get Canderous right, but he is hard to write. Hopefully I interpreted him better in this chapter?
beatletrekkie – Thanks and thanks! My finals went by pretty well. I only know about my geometry final so far, which I got a B on (which is good for our class, it was such a hard class) but I think I did fine. :) I'm glad you like my fic so much!
Thanks again everybody! The reviews make me feel REAL happy! And they usually inspire me. So, thanks so much! XD Yay! Okay, well, I'm having issues writing these last sentences because I'm on the phone with a bone-headed friend of mine. He's teasing his little brother by talking about how he kissed his girlfriend (one of my best friends). Anyways, I'm off because it's really hard to write anymore while I'm on the phone, and well I have nothing more to say! Next up: Kashyyyk, right after the Story Break Two. And Shadows Run, IM me asap:)
6-11-05