Again, I beg for forgiveness if stuff is spelled wrong. And since I added the prelude, the every five disclaimed thing got a bit screwed up. Tell me if I should keep the prelude or not ok guys? Because I'm not sure.
Either way, I think I'll just pop in a disclaimer whenever I feel like reminding nosy lawyers that (though it sucks) I don't own any of this. Except for the name Alaanis Pi. I call dibs on that. And all the other made up names I come up with. By the by, I'm going to make up a hell of a lot of the Wookie names because they're complicated and I can't remember them. So... Enjoy!
Disclaimer: OF COURSE I SELL THIS EVERYWHERE! I ALWAYS THINK I OWN STAR WARS! STAR WARS IS MINE MINE MINE! MY PRECIOUS! (Note: the previous sentences were all not true. I was being sarcastic. Star wars is indeed not mine and I don't sell my fan fictions. Don't sue me. I have like five dollars.)
Chapter Twelve: Tension
"So… what does everybody think?"
Alaanis Pi was standing in the center of the Ebon Hawk's common room, finally filling in everyone on the ship what happened in the council chambers. Bastila Shan was standing back in a corner of the room, already knowing all of this information, but the rest of the crew was staring at Alaanis.
T3-M4 had stopped his constant rolling about and was now sitting still next to Carth Onasi, who was sitting on one of the uncomfortable chairs, looking at Alaanis like she was crazy. Mission Vao, sitting next to her Wookie pal Zaalbar, was lounging on their usual couch in the common room, looking up at Alaanis with some excitement and surprise. Canderous Ordo was giving Alaanis an amused look from his seat in the corner opposite of Bastila.
"Um…" Carth began. But Mission cut him off.
"So we're supposed to hunt down four of these Star Maps, looking all over four gigantic planets, not to mention the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk and the fact that Manaan is mostly underwater, and not get killed and then find this… thing…"
"That Star Forge," Alaanis interjected.
"Yeah that," Mission concluded. "How the heck are we going to do that?"
"I have no idea," Alaanis admitted. "Not to mention that Tatooine in covered in sand. Lots of sand." Mission fell back onto Zaalbar. Carth shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm with Mission on this," he told her.
"Well, also, before we leave we have another passenger to join us," Bastila stepped forward. Everyone gave her a look. Well, except for Alaanis who knew who this passenger was going to be. "Her name is Juhani and she's a jedi Padawan."
Carth started muttering about enough jedi on board and Canderous scowled. Missions scrunched her face up in thought. "Isn't she that Cathar that you had to fight Alaanis?"
"Um… yeah," Alaanis said.
"Isn't she 'tainted by the dark side' as the jedi put it?" Carth asked her.
"Was," Alaanis corrected.
"Cathar?" Canderous questioned.
"YES!" Alaanis half-shouted. "Don't you people listen? Geez…" Then she realized why Canderous was curious. "And if there wasn't enough tension on the ship already!" she exclaimed. The Mandalorians attacked the Cathar homeworld long before the Mandalorian Wars even began. About sixteen years ago. Hopefully Juhani had a better temper than Bastila…
Just then, the crew all turned their heads towards the exit ramp where footsteps were coming from. Coming from the ramp was Juhani. There was no noise for a moment while the Cathar's yellow eyes glanced around the room.
Juhani was wearing a red jedi Padawan robe with her lightsaber as well as a few tools attached to her belt. She was carrying a small bag which contained her few personal effects and a spare robe as well as some extra garments. She had a topknot of her scant hair on her head, which was greenish like the rest of her skin.
"Hello," Juhani said with a heavy accent, almost like a purr. Of course, Cathars were rather feline-like. Her voice held a confidence quite prominent in the young jedi. It surprised Alaanis slightly, especially after the embarrassment the young woman showed after she had been defeated by Alaanis.
"Juhani, welcome to the Ebon Hawk," Alaanis said with a grin.
"Thank you," Juhani nodded her head and smiled lightly.
"So, this is all the crew." Alaanis pointed to each member as she called out their names. "Over there is Carth, piloting this hunk of junk, T3-M4 our resident droid, Mission Vao, our Twi'lek street urchin ('Hey!') and Zaalbar, her Wookie best friend, in that corner is Bastila whom I'm pretty sure you already know, and lastly is Canderous in the opposite corner."
Alaanis thought it might've been a bad idea to announce Canderous last. Which it probably was. Juhani spotted his Mandalorian clan tattoos with ease and the two exchanged a look that was clearly a challenge from both of them.
"No bloodshed on board," Carth warned them, noticing the increasing tension.
I wonder if anyone besides Mission and I can even stand Canderous? Alaanis stole a glance at Zaalbar. Well, Zaalbar doesn't hate him either really, but Bastila, Carth and now Juhani hate him. This'll be a fun mission.
Alaanis sighed. Before anything else could happen, Mission jumped up off of Zaalbar. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Alaanis shot her a glance that clearly said thank you. Mission winked back at her.
Juhani followed Mission out of the room, surprised by the strength of the fifteen-year-old.
"No fighting allowed," Alaanis gave Canderous a long hard look. "There's enough shouting already when you and Bastila fight. We don't need two jedi professing their hatred towards you."
"Princess doesn't hate me, do you?" Canderous smirked at Bastila. The latter huffed and walked out of the common room, following Mission and Juhani's previous passage.
"Canderous," Alaanis warned. The Mandalorian turned towards her. She realized just then that she was the only one on board who could control the Mandalorian. "Go do something that doesn't involve harassing jedi." Canderous obeyed, heading in the opposite direction of the starboard dormitory towards the swoop garage.
Alaanis fell down onto the couch opposite the one Zaalbar was sitting on. She closed her eyes and let loose an irritated sigh. "I feel like I'm a teacher with a bunch of six-year-olds on board."
"So where to first?" Carth asked her. Alaanis opened her eyes and looked over at him.
"I don't know," she shrugged, sitting up better. "Not Manaan. And after all this irritation, visiting Manaan, the capital of the most tense places in the universe, sounds like a good place for me to kill myself." She sighed again. "How about Kashyyyk? Someplace I can breathe easier."
":Not much less tense:" Zaalbar mumbled his input. ":Czerka Corporation is collecting the Wookies to become slaves there. It's not a pretty sight. And some Wookies agree with this. I don't see why. It's demeaning.:" Zaalbar conveniently neglected to add that one of these was his brother… and that he was exiled.
"Still… it's better than the land of sand, the land of sith, or the land of law-loving Selkath," Alaanis muttered.
"I forgot about Korriban," Carth shuddered. "I don't know if I'll ever want to go there. The sith probably have found a star map if there's one there and are just adoring it's dark power like a drunk watching a Twi'lek dancer."
"That sounded just a little strange," Alaanis pointed out, stifling laughter, "but I have to agree, that's one star map that'll certainly be guarded."
"So where are we going first guys?" Mission asked, coming back into the room and plopping back down onto Zaalbar. She was closely followed by Juhani and Bastila who stood near the doorway.
"Sounds like Kashyyyk," Alaanis announced.
XxXxX
Ignoring the request of the jedi masters, Alaanis told Carth to punch in the coordinates for Kashyyyk around nine o'clock that evening. Carth came back into the common room after getting the ship out of Dantooine's atmosphere and into hyperspace.
"We should be there around seven next morning," Carth told everyone lounging around the common room as he came in, and sat down next to Alaanis on the couch Mission and Zaalbar didn't usually sit in.
Everyone was in the room except for Juhani and Canderous. Canderous apparently was working on the swoop bike and Juhani was meditating in the engine room. In the room, Bastila was replacing crystals in her lightsaber while T3 helped her by holding the crystals she was working with. Mission was playing Pazaak with Alaanis while next to her Zaalbar was sharpening his blades again.
"Ack!" Alaanis exclaimed and threw down her side deck. "I'm never going to beat you am I Mission?"
Mission was grinning madly as she collected a bunch of credits from the table. "I doubt it. Believe me, there were some damn good players on Taris, and I kicked most of their butts easily."
"I'm never going to play any version of Pazaak with you except for Republic Senate rules," Alaanis shook her head. "I'm going to go broke if I keep playing for credits with you."
"How about Nar Shadaa rules?" Carth teased as he sat down.
"I see you're eager to see me without my clothes on flyboy," Alaanis smirked flirtatiously. "Too bad it's not going to happen. The last time I played Nar Shadaa rules… well let's say I'm lucky my freighter got attacked by pirates before the game got too far…"
"I bet the pirates had a good time robbing your vessel," Carth mumbled. Alaanis jabbed him in the side with her elbow.
"Don't think I'm such a bad gunner flyboy," Alaanis told him with a glare. "I shot those pirates down before they even had a chance to board. Plus, my partner in crime and pilot of the ship was rather good at his job. Too bad he was captured last time we were on Nar Shadaa. I told him he was stupid to owe a hutt money… he had a bounty on him and some bounty hunters did a nice job of capturing him. In his sleep. Cowards."
"Ouch," Carth muttered. A few clanks and the sound of crystals shattering sounded.
"Sithspit!" Bastila cursed from over in her chair. Carth, Mission and Alaanis all glanced over at her. She blushed a bit, picking up the broken crystals T3 ad dropped. "Sorry… I bumped into T3 and he dropped my crystals… now I have none for my lightsaber!"
Alaanis dug into her bag and pulled out one of the broken lightsabers she had gotten from Sherruk. "Here, take some out of this," she offered, tossing the lightsaber over to Bastila.
"Thanks," she muttered, going back to work with her lightsaber.
Alaanis was about to say something about T3 cleaning up the broken crystals when Canderous walked in the room. He had his shirt off and was covered in a ton of oil, his chest and face was covered in it and his hair looked like it had been dyed black. Bastila stood up and immediately stepped on the broken crystals.
"Sithspit!" she exclaimed again. She fell back onto her chair and clutched her foot.
"Do any of you know where any of the rags from the cargo hold went?" Canderous asked the room at large. They all shook their heads. Then T3 beeped something.
"He says that he grabbed a bunch of them when he went to work on the hyperdrive a few days ago," Alaanis interpreted. "They might still be in the engine room." Canderous headed towards the door.
"Hey Canderous!" Mission exclaimed, staring at the Mandalorian in awe. "You're ripped man!"
The Mandalorian stared at her for a minute before shaking his head and walking out. Alaanis burst out laughing. "You are so blunt Mission," she chuckled. The teenage Twi'lek grinned. "It's my job to point such things out when no one else will, but everyone else notices," Mission commented. She stole a quick glance at Bastila before turning to Zaalbar and asking him for a game of Pazaak.
Alaanis looked over at Bastila, nursing her foot and injecting it with kolto. She wondered what Mission was implying with that look…
"Oh no…" Alaanis muttered, just realizing something else. "Canderous is heading towards the engine room isn't he?" Carth looked down at her next to him. She dropped her head onto his shoulder involuntarily. "Juhani's in there."
XxXxX
Juhani always liked meditating in a place where there was some sort of constant noise. She had visited Coruscant a few times and found herself always drawn to the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the jedi temple there. Back on Dantooine she usually meditated outside by one of the streams. And whenever she was on ships, she would meditate in the engine rooms, relaxed by the hum of the engines.
But the calmness was disturbed when none other than Canderous, the Mandalorian, walked into the room. She would have tried to ignore him if he hadn't cleared his throat with a bit of a growl, obviously trying to catch her attention.
"Yes?" the Cathar asked, turning around with a groan to face him. Her eyebrows shot up at the sight of him. "Why are you covered from head to toe in oil?" she asked none too nicely.
"Because I'm experiencing why droids love oil baths so much," he growled sarcastically. "No, I'm working on the swoop bike. And I need the rags you're sitting on." Juhani grabbed the bunch of rags she had found in the engine room out from under her and handed them to Canderous.
"Enjoy," she purred with an icy tone. She just wanted him to leave so that she could meditate in peace. She closed her eyes again, expecting him to go.
"We were surprised when your people didn't put up a better fight," Canderous commented. "Aren't your people warriors?" Juhani opened her eyes and stood up, staring at him with fury.
"They were until your kind wiped them out!" she exclaimed. She was fairly tall, but still about half a head shorter than Canderous. "We would've put up a fight if you Mandalorians hadn't fought so dirty, surprisingly us in the middle of the night, killing not just the soldiers, but the women and the children. Driving the few survivors from our homeland. And bombing us from afar. Get out Mandalorian." Not waiting for him to leave by his own will, as if he would, Juhani pushed him out with a force wave and closed the door behind him.
Fuming, the Cathar sat back down the center herself again. She remembered something her master had once said to her. "If you are confident you know your limits. Otherwise it's arrogant you are Padawan. Remember, you aren't better than anyone else. Perhaps your abilities and skills are more attuned, but all peoples are equal."
Perhaps she should stop this hatred towards the Mandalorian, even if he did cause her to leave her home, her parents' eventual death and her slavery. It would lead her back to the dark side if she continued this hatred.
XxXxX
Whether or not Juhani and Canderous were going to fight, Alaanis wanted to speak with Juhani anyways. But by the way Canderous was walking away from the closed engine room with a pile of rags in his one hand while wiping at his oil-covered face with his other hand holding another rag. And he was mumbling angrily under his breath.
Alaanis knocked on the door. There was no response, so Alaanis simply opened the door. Juhani was sitting on the ground, her legs crossed, her eyes closed, and her arms on her lap.
"He baited me, and I took the bait," Juhani explained before Alaanis could ask. Juhani opened her eyes, stood up, and turned towards Alaanis. Her height surprised Alaanis a bit. She was as tall as Carth, just a bit shorter than Canderous.
"As long as you don't let the anger at him take over you I think you'll be fine," Alaanis smiled. "Are you okay?"
Juhani nodded, her topknot bobbing with her head. "Maybe avoidance will work best," she decided.
"That sounds easier than it is," Alaanis muttered. "Bastila's been trying it since he joined the crew back on Taris."
"I had heard you were on Taris before you came here," Juhani said. "And now it is gone… and it is your fault is it not?" Alaanis could sense some contained anger radiating from Juhani.
"I didn't see many Cathars on Taris," Alaanis pointed out, a bit confused.
"There aren't many Cathars in the universe at all," Juhani fumed. "The Mandalorians wiped out a great deal of them sixteen years ago. They ravaged the Cathar homeworld. It's nothing now. Probably worse than what Taris looks like now… and worse than Telos."
"So did your family go there after your homeworld was destroyed?" Alaanis asked cautiously.
"Yes," Juhani admitted. "I was only two years of age at that point, very young. But as the Mandalorians began attacking, my family was pushed onto the first shuttle to leave. It turned out to be the only shuttle that left… at least not in pieces."
"Then you went to Taris?"
"Yes, Taris, that festering slime hole," Juhani growled. "My family was hated, and a few other Cathars that ended up on Taris, that didn't have the money to leave. A few were killed by drunks. Such a prejudiced world… my father was killed in a bar brawl. My mother died of overwork. Then I was sold into slavery."
"I'm sorry Juhani," Alaanis said quietly. "What happened then? How did you get to Dantooine?"
"Well, the jedi came," Juhani smiled. "I somehow ended up on Dxun, sold to the Mandalorians I guess. There were a lot of slaves working for the Mandalorians. Many were young." She sighed. "Then Revan led the war to Dxun, fighting the Mandalorians. She and her jedi comrades freed many of the Mandalorian slaves. When the jedi were sending us places, one jedi saw me. She said I was force sensitive. She told me I should go to Dantooine… so I did. And I became a jedi. You remind me a bit of her."
"That makes an interesting biography," Alaanis smirked. Juhani's smile faded.
"Yes, but still, I have to honest about my emotions," the Cathar decided. "I am a bit angry about the destruction of Taris."
"Well," Alaanis tried to think of something to say. "Controlling your emotions is what the jedi say is what is best. I guess I agree, but it helps if you do share them… while keeping them in control."
"You're referring to the Mandalorian," Juhani found the hidden message.
"I didn't say anything," Alaanis lied innocently as she walked out of the engine room, leaving Juhani behind to continue meditating.
Back in the common room, everybody had left. Alaanis glanced at her chrometer. It was ten o'clock. Canderous was probably working on the swoop bike some more. Mission had probably fallen asleep, and Zaalbar was most likely in the port dormitory. Carth and Bastila were unaccounted for.
Walking past the security room on her way to the cockpit, Alaanis spotted Bastila examining some old messages the ship had sent and received. Probably going to talk to the masters while she's at it, Alaanis thought to herself.
Unsurprisingly Carth was sitting in the pilot's seat of the cockpit with his eyes closed. Alaanis came in and placed her hands gingerly on his shoulders as a greeting. A smile formed on his face.
"The only place I really feel comfortable on a ship is in the cockpit," he admitted. He opened his eyes and looked up at Alaanis. She grinned and slid into the co-pilot's chair.
"The only place I feel comfortable on a ship is either in the gunner's chair or on the exit ramp," Alaanis said. "I'm not a big fan of flying unless it's adventurous."
"I think it's hard to avoid adventure when you're around Al," Carth commented.
Alaanis laughed. "That's true. Trouble seems to chase me to every edge of the galaxy." She stared out at the view of the stars and planets flying by at rapid speeds as the ship traveled through hyperspace.
They sat in comfortable silence for a little while "I'm tired," Alaanis finally commented. "Aren't you?" Carth shook his head. "I'm rarely tired." He observed her as she stared straight ahead. He turned his head quickly as she turned back to him.
"Well, I am," Alaanis mumbled. "Goodnight flyboy. See you bright and early on Wookie World."
"'Night," Carth mumbled as Alaanis patted his shoulder heading to leave the room. She arrived in the starboard dormitory to find Mission asleep in her bottom bunk across the way from Juhani who was sleeping on the bunk above Alaanis' Bastila's bed above Mission was still empty as Alaanis slipped into hers. She yawned and immediately fell asleep, lying her head down onto her pillow, randomly thinking of Carth's quirky grin he had thrown her when she walked into the cockpit…
XxXxX
"We are arriving on Kashyyyk in the morning Master Vandar," Bastila told his holo-image.
"Very well Padawan," the short master replied. "Contact us again after you find the Star Map."
"Yes Master…" Bastila complied.
"Is something bothering you Padawan?" Vandar asked her.
The young jedi shook her head. "Only…" Bastila began. "How will we know where the Star Maps are?" This was something that had been bothering her for a while.
"You and Revan share a force bond," Vandar reminded her. "After that first dream of the first Star Map, I imagine she will have more dreams. A dream for each Star Map. And you will share this dream."
"Do you think she will ever catch on?" Bastila questioned worriedly. "I can't simply say it was a desirable dream every time." Vandar seemed to consider this for a moment.
"I hope she does not," Vandar admitted. "Knowing such things could trigger the person she used to be. The Dark Lord she once was. Perhaps after time, after this mission… but for now, do not worry. She won't suspect."
"As you say Master," Bastila ended the transmission and headed to the starboard dormitory to get some much needed rest,
XxXxX
The Star Map! She had found it! She had worried that she may never find that Star Map… the shadowlands were a large place, but here it was! Not even very far from the village, perhaps a few miles, but too many.
The glowing of the Star Map ended as the memory faded away as quickly as her slumber.
XxXxX
"Did you dream it too?"
Alaanis looked over at Bastila's bed and saw the younger jedi climbing down from above Mission's sleeping body. "It felt like a memory…" Alaanis muttered. Bastila's face paled slightly.
"Dreams and memories can be easily confused," Bastila commented. Alaanis shrugged.
"It wasn't far from the village… deep in the Shadowlands… but what village?" Alaanis felt confused. Bastila grabbed her robe, put her hair back up in its usual style of a ponytail and two braids and headed out of the dormitory.
Alaanis looked down at her chrometer. It was a little after six. Throwing her jedi robe back on over her simple garments, she walked out after Bastila. Behind her Alaanis could hear Juhani waking up.
In the cockpit, Bastila was sitting in the co-pilot's chair while Carth sat in the pilot's one. "Did you sleep at all?" Alaanis greeted him. Carth waved a hand dismissively
"I slept for a couple hours," he said defensively.
"In here?" Alaanis asked.
"Mmhmm."
"Crazy." Alaanis shook her head. "I need some caffa…" She walked out of the room and back into the dormitory, rummaging through her oversized bag and finding her last mug of caffa, half empty to boot. I'll need to refill here. The caffa from the ship itself sucks.
"Tea is much better for you, you know," Juhani pointed out as she walked into the dormitory holding a cup of said substance.
"Yeah, but does it taste better than caffa?" Alaanis said as she chugged down the bit she had left. Juhani sat down on Alaanis' bed. "That's one opinion," she shrugged.
"Have you ever tried caffa?" Alaanis gave the Cathar a look.
"No…" Juhani began but before she could continue Alaanis shoved the caffa in front of the eighteen-year old jedi Padawan.
"Have some then," Alaanis commanded. Juhani sighed. "There's no way I can object is there?" Alaanis shook her head. Juhani grabbed the mug and took a sip. She froze.
"Mmhmm…" Alaanis smiled triumphantly. "You like it don't you?" she asked.
Juhani sighed. "Yes I do." And with a sly drink she downed the rest of the mug.
"Hey!" Alaanis exclaimed. "I don't have any more!"
"We'll be landing in less than an hour, I am sure you can find some somewhere in one of the Czerka buildings," Juhani pointed out.
"Alright," Alaanis said grumpily. Juhani smirked at her and handed her the caffa mug back. "Thanks." Juhani slipped on her red jedi robe over her typical garments as she walked out of the room.
"Hey Juhani…" The Cathar turned around and looked curiously at Alaanis when a cylinder was tossed her way. Juhani caught it, mostly in part to her jedi reflexes and examined it.
"It's another lightsaber… but it takes a lot of training to use two," Juhani stuttered.
"I remember your technique when we fought," Alaanis said, grinning. Juhani blushed slightly. "I was trying to forget about that," she mumbled. Alaanis waved a hand dismissively. "You looked like two lightsabers would fit you better than one," the older woman explained. Juhani smiled and clipped the lightsaber onto her belt.
"Thanks," she said as she left the dormitory.
Alaanis gathered together her gear into her oversized green bag as Zaalbar walked into the room.
"Mission's still sleeping," Alaanis informed the Wookie. Then she looked up at him. "Hey Zaalbar… you can guide us around Kashyyyk can't you?" Zaalbar looked a bit uncomfortable suddenly.
":Er… I don't know about that Alaanis Pi:" Zaalbar mumbled.
"Why not?" Alaanis asked curiously. "Is there some sort of dark past you have?"
Zaalbar shifted uncomfortably. ":I guess I will honor my lifedebt to you by telling you of my exile from Kashyyyk.:"
"Whoa… exile?" Alaanis asked, her eyes bugging out. "Why were you exiled?"
":You see, my brother supported the slavery:" Zaalbar began. ":I found out about his support of the Czerka taking our people as slaves. I was so angry about it that… I used my claws to fight him. You see, us Wookies never use our claws to fight. We're not barbaric, even if we are interpreted that way. Our claws are tools, and using one in a fight, you become a madclaw. And that is what I am in the eyes of my people forever. A madclaw. Now my father, he was chieftain. My brother convinced him that the fight was my fault, and me being a madclaw my father believed him. And I was exiled.:"
Alaanis stared at the Wookie in the doorway. "How come you never told me Zaalbar?" a voice behind Alaanis said. Mission had woken up and the blue Twi'lek was sitting up in her bed, staring at Zaalbar.
":I'm sorry Mission. I was ashamed:" Zaalbar told his friend.
"I don't care if your brother is a big liar; you're my friend Z, my best friend." Mission smiled at Zaalbar and climbed out of her bed. Zaalbar wrapped her in a fuzzy hug. Alaanis smiled at the scene, finished putting all her stuff together, and walked out of the dormitory.
"Thanks for telling me Zaalbar," Alaanis said as she left the room. "And I hope you'll reconsider showing us around Kashyyyk. I think we'll need a good Wookie with us."
As she passed through the common room, Alaanis noticed Juhani tinkering with her new lightsaber and Bastila working on her own some more. The two jedi were also conversing a bit. T3 was rolling around the ship a bit, and Alaanis heard colorful curses coming from the swoop hangar. Obviously Canderous wasn't done working on the swoop bike.
Arriving in the cockpit, Carth was still in there, manually piloting the ship now as they exited hyperdrive. Alaanis set her hands down on his shoulders again and leaned her chin on his head.
"It's a good thing I could hear your footsteps or else we probably would've flown off course and died," Carth told her. Alaanis smirked.
"It's a good thing you're such a good pilot then," she replied. "You sure it wouldn't be because you're tired though?"
"Positive beautiful," Carth answered stubbornly.
"Really, what is up with the beautiful nickname?" Alaanis asked him, sitting back down in the co-pilot chair. Carth gave her a look.
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he asked her. "You're damn gorgeous."
"I bet you tell all the ladies that," Alaanis winked at him.
Carth rolled his eyes. Alaanis was never easy to compliment. "So what's up with the flyboy nickname while we're discussing nicknames?"
"You're a flyboy! That's what's up with it," Alaanis explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Carth shook his head. "Is there another reason why you came up here besides to tease me?"
"Yeah, actually, I was just curious about how close we were to arriving," Alaanis shrugged.
"Fairly close, we should be there in about ten minutes."
"But my main reason was to tease you," Alaanis grinned at him. Carth turned towards her and grinned back. "You sure it wasn't to flirt with me?" he asked.
Alaanis donned a fake thoughtful look. Then she mockingly shrugged. Then she just burst out laughing and left the cockpit, leaving behind a baffled Carth. "She's crazy," he muttered.
"Yes I am," Alaanis commented popping her head back in quickly before walking away.
Women, Carth thought to himself.
XxXxX
As the Ebon Hawk landed on Kashyyyk, Zaalbar had a bad feeling about Alaanis' decision to stop here first. She had said she wanted to get away from the tension that was growing on the ship. The large Wookie doubted that the tension on Kashyyyk would agree with the small human.
"Okay, so… I think we'll need to talk to the Wookies rather than Czerka," Alaanis declared as the crew met in the common room for a quick meeting before departing. "So Zaalbar, I hope you can guide us."
":I shall try Alaanis Pi:" Zaalbar nodded his head in compliance.
"Good," Alaanis smiled her appreciation. "So who else wants to go to Wookie World with me?"
"I'm deep into fixing that swoop bike of Davik's, maybe we can earn some money swoop racing on the other worlds if they have swoop racing," Canderous declined. "Plus, a world full of Wookies doesn't really tempt me."
"I'll accompany you," Bastila stood up from her chair and took her completed lightsaber from T3.
"I need the droid to stick around with me then," Canderous grumbled. "He's gotta help me with my repairs on that swoop." T3 beeped his agreement.
"I'd like to check whatever's going on here out," Carth shrugged and stood up, throwing a smirk to Alaanis. "So I guess I'll come."
Before Alaanis could object, Mission jumped up. "I'm going," the Twi'lek said determinedly. "Fine," Alaanis sighed. "But the moment we're in trouble you're coming back to the ship. You can't fight with your wrist, even if it's healing."
"I'd like to accompany you Alaanis," Juhani smiled as she pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on.
"Excellent," Alaanis rubbed her hands together. "So Canderous, T3, you guys are staying behind. Carth, Bastila, Juhani, Zaalbar and Mission, you guys are coming with me."
The six stated walked out of the common room, Alaanis had her huge green bag in hand, and they stepped off the Ebon Hawk, to be greeted by an Ithorian, obviously a Czerka employee by his uniform.
":Welcome to G-2654:" the Ithorian greeted them in his native tongue. ":My name is Janis, I am the head here on G-2654 in charge of trade to and from this planet for Czerka Corporation. Do you need a Wookie interpreter:" The Ithorian named Janis looked Zaalbar up and down. ":I suppose you already have yourself a Wookie slave here. I guess you must know the language.:"
"He's not my slave," Alaanis corrected the Ithorian. Zaalbar felt a surge of anger at this Czerka representative. "He follows me because of a lifedebt."
":Ah, a difficult thing to stage but quite effective I see:" the Ithorian muttered. Zaalbar was ready to burst at that.
":Do not demean the lifedebt:" he roared.
":Please keep your slave in line or else we will have to restrain him ourselves:" Janis warned. Behind him were two other Czerka employees with tranquilizer guns ready for action. Beyond them, Alaanis could see a few Czerka mechanics and some metal boxes lying around the small dock. It seemed to be one of the only two docks in the area. The other dock was unoccupied.
"He is not my slave," Alaanis repeated. Then she glanced over to Zaalbar and spoke to him in his language, which Janis could not understand. ":I know this makes you angry and I don't blame you Zaalbar. Just hold your trigger for now, we don't want trouble.:"
I'll show him trouble, Zaalbar thought to himself but agreed to stay calm out loud. Alaanis gave him a wane smile.
"Where are your facilities? Do you have a shop, because my crew needs to restock," Alaanis asked Janis. The Ithorian brightened up at the change of subject.
":Of course, of course, just follow me miss:" Janis led the party of six along a long walkway. Zaalbar knew this walkway was new… but the trees… they were familiar. This was his village. The one he had been banished from years ago.
The group split up when they approached a small building with a bunch of vendors outside. Juhani walked around, browsing a little. Bastila and Carth continued walking with Alaanis into the building to stock up and speak with Janis. Mission and Zaalbar stopped walking at the edge of a piece of the walkway.
"Something up Big Z?" Mission asked the Wookie.
":This is near my old village:" Zaalbar explained. ":The walkway may be new, but the trees are the same. It's so strange, being home again. Especially with this feeling of dread growing in my stomach. Something's not right.:"
Mission nodded her understanding. "Czerka swooped in and took over eh?" Zaalbar nodded. ":It appears so.:" The two friends stood in silence for a moment until a voice interrupted their individual musings.
"Mission? Is that you?"
Mission and Zaalbar turned around and saw a yellow Twi'lek in a Czerka uniform standing behind them.
"Leena?" Mission asked. "What are you doing here? Where's Griff?"
The Twi'lek Mission had called Leena looked a bit disgruntled. "I don't know. Probably still on Tatooine, the nerf herder."
"Hey don't talk about my brother that way!" Mission exclaimed defensively. Leena looked taken aback. Zaalbar looked between the two Twi'leks. Yeah… Kashyyyk really wasn't a place where tension dissipated.
"Mission? Why are you acting so angry?" Leena looked quite confused.
"As if you don't know," Mission spat. "You gold digging bitch! You took Griff away from me that's what! And left me on Taris with nobody but myself! Until I found Zaalbar that is. Not that I couldn't care for myself…"
Leena's eyes grew wide. "Wha-what are you talking about? Look Mission, I wanted to take you with Griff and me when we left Taris. He said you didn't want to come. I didn't believe him, but I couldn't prove him wrong. And as for me being a gold-digger, I paid for everything when I was with Griff. But it doesn't matter anymore. I broke up with him back on Tatooine. I was sick of his get rich quick schemes. They never worked."
"Liar!" Mission cried. She took a step towards Leena who was about a head taller than the blue Twi'lek. "Liar!" she repeated.
"I'm not lying Mission!" Leena told her desperately. "Ask Griff yourself. He's on Tatooine probably. He was working for Czerka, expecting to get rich off of some mining there. But I didn't believe him so I hopped a freighter off of Tatooine and ended up here on Kashyyyk."
"I still don't believe you! You have no proof. Griff was a good guy!"
"He has his heart in the right place… sometimes. But he's no angel Mission." A voice called Leena's name. "I have to get back to work. But I'm not lying. I hope you can eventually find Griff and find out the truth."
"Yeah right you cantina rat," Mission growled. Leena sighed and walked away.
":Why don't you believe her Mission:" Zaalbar asked after a minute. Mission took in a sharp breath and let it loose in the same manner before turning to Zaalbar.
Mission sighed as she opened her mouth. "I don't know. But I believe in Griff, he wouldn't do the things Leena said he did… would he?" She turned towards the towering Wookie questioningly, looking for an answer in him.
":I didn't know your brother:" Zaalbar shrugged. ":But if he's anything like you I'd doubt it.:"
Missions grinned and punched Zaalbar's arm playfully. "Thanks Z. Let's go see what's going on with Alaanis." The two walked into the small building and found Bastila collecting a pile of medical supplies and some armor. Beyond her Carth and Alaanis were standing and talking to Janis the Ithorian.
Lying around the room were shelves of supplies, like the ones Bastila was exanmining, along with doors to supply rooms and other locations. A few desks were set up with papers and computer consoles lying around where some Czerka employees were working. But the thing that mainly caught Zaalbar's eyes were two Wookies lying caged on the ground. One was unconscious, but the other was just hopelessly lying in the cage. The sight made Zaalbar wanna rip the building apart. His own kind being sold as slaves... how disgusting.
"I still don't believe in what Czerka is doing here. Can't you come to an agreement with the Wookies that doesn't involve slavery?" Alaanis was arguing with Janis. The Ithorian shook his head ignorantly.
":We have reached an agreement with the chieftain of a nearby village named Chuundar:" Janis told the jedi in front of him. ":And it does involve slavery, but so what? They're a primitive species:"
Zaalbar would've roared angrily and loudly at the Ithorian, and possibly ripped one of his arms off, if he hadn't heard Chuundar's name. Alaanis seemed to notice his uneasiness and asked him in his language what was wrong.
":That was not a name I wanted to hear:" Zaalbar said simply.
":Why:" Alaanis questioned him, head cocked to the side in curiosity.
":That's my brother:" Zaalbar answered. ":I wonder what happened to our father. If my brother turned on a second member of his family as well. I wouldn't be surprised.:"
":I'm sorry Zaalbar, we'll deal with it when we need to, don't worry I won't let your brother slander your name.:" The Wookie woofed a thanks and Alaanis nodded her head in a 'it's nothing' sort of manner.
"Anyways... could you tell us where your food supplies are?" Carth asked Janis. In response, the latter pointed to a room full of varieties of food, mostly imported long lasting flavorless food. But there was caffa to Alaanis' delight, who collected about ten jugs of the substance and paid for them.
Carth shook his head as Alaanis stuffed the caffa into her bag. "You are crazy for that stuff aren't you?" Alaanis just smiled. Quickly enough Bastila and Juhani had met up with the rest of the crew off the ship. They were all standing around Janis.
"Do you know if we could speak with this Chuundar?" Alaanis asked the Ithorian.
":It is not my duty to allow or decline visits to the cheiftain:" he replied. ":But if you go along the walkway Czerka built to his village, I am sure the Wookie guards will answer your question.:"
"Thank you," Alaanis smirked. Zaalbar saw out of the corner of his eye a shelf being knocked over, bringing with it bundles of grenades and eplosives. Only one exploded though, and it was only a concussion grenade.
"Whoops," Alaanis said absent-mindedly. "That doesn't look good." A good deal of the Czerka employees had run over to fix the stand just before the grenade exploded and the rest had run out of the room. Janis was among the unconscious.
"You did that?" Bastila exclaimed. "Why would you do such a frivolous thing! You demean the force with your uses of it! Such things will lead you to the dark side Alaanis!"
"Bastila, relax, I had a reason," Alaanis tried to calm Bastila down. It didn't work well though. Bastila continued ranting for about ten minutes before Zaalbar roared loud enough to shut her up. ":Let's hear what Alaanis Pi has to say for herself:" Zaalbar growled. A little afraid of the Wookie, Bastila complied.
"I did it so that I could free this Wookie over here without them noticing," Alaanis explained, walking over to the caged and hopeless Wookie Zaalbar had noticed when he walked in.
":Do not worry, I am going to free you:" Alaanis told the Wookie as she opened the cage with the force. The Wookie seemed to understand and thanked Alaanis.
":I won't be able to get out of here without being captured:" the Wookie protested. The crew all exchanged glances.
"I have an idea!" Mission exclaimed. "I can dress up in a Czerka uniform and bind his hands so that it looks like I captured him, but I really am just going to bring him back to the village."
"That sounds great Mission!" Alaanis declared after a moment of thought. "But I don't want you going alone. Bring Zaalbar too." Alaanis explained the plan to the newly freed Wookie and he grunted his approval. Alaanis found some spare cuffs and cuffed the two Wookies while Mission found a Czerka uniform in a vacant supply room.
"Perfect," Alaanis said, examining the trio. Mission smiled and gave a thumbs up as she walked out of the room.
"We will be suspected," Juhani pointed out. "The Czerka will expect us to have pulled the stunt. It won't be good for our mission."
"That's why we're going to pretend we were hit by the concussion grenade as well," Bastila said, following what Alaanis was thinking. Alaanis gave her a look.
Did you just read my mind? Alaanis asked through the force bond the two women shared.
No, I just felt your plan through this bond, Bastila replied simply.
Alaanis shrugged and she, Carth, Juhani and Bastila all fell down onto the ground.
XxXxX
":How lucky is it that it was only a concussion grenade and not the plasma ones:" Janis the Ithorian muttered as he awoke from the effects of the concussion grenade that had exploded. He surveyed the area around him, spotting the troublesome jedi and her friends. Well... all but her Wookie slave. They were rubbing their heads and beginning to sit up. Janis' fellow Czerka employees were doing the same.
":Where is your Wookie friend:" Janis asked the jedi. She looked around, surprised to not see her Wookie companion anywhere.
"He probably avoided the blast," the Twi'lek accompanying the jedi shrugged. "He's probably back at our ship." Janis observed the situation a bit more. One of the cages was missing a Wookie!
":What happened to the Wookie slave in that cage:" Janis asked one of the awake Czerka employees who was walking into the building.
"I saw a Wookie leaving this vicinity about twenty minutes ago," the employee explained. "I believe the one guiding the Wookie had been given permission to ship the slave to the encampment until the freighter to pick it up arrived."
":Hm:" Janis thought to himself. ":Alright then.:"
XxXxX
"What really happened to Zaalbar Mission?" Alaanis asked the blue Twi'lek as they walked along a walkway towards what was called "The Great Walkway" leading them to the nearest Wookie village.
"When we arrived at the village, the Wookie guards recognized Zaalbar," Mission explained a bit nervously. "They called him a madclaw and told him to stay at the village and visit the chieftain."
Alaanis sighed. "We're going to have to go find him then," she decided. "Mission, just in case anything goes wrong, I think you should go back to the Ebon Hawk now. We can't have too many of us along and with your wrist... it's not really smart to bring you along. I just don't want you to get hurt." Mission was obviously pouting but agreed with Alaanis and headed back to the Ebon Hawk.
Juhani and Bastila walked a bit ahead of Carth and Alaanis, the pair of younger jedi talking about something. It seemed that Bastila wasn't only lecturing Alaanis about the darkside. And it seemed like Alaanis wasn't the ony one who argued back consistently as well.
The quiet between Carth and Alaanis was a bit unsettling. It seemed like they both wanted to say something, but neither did. Alaanis pulled out one of her many jugs of caffa and took a sip as they walked.
The four of them were stopped at the edge of the walkway which led to "The Great Walkway". A Czerka employee warned them that the kinrath infested the walkway, and the Wookies didn't really stop them from attacking the Czerka employees.
"Carth, I hate to say this, but I don't know if you should accompany us," Bastila said as he Czerka opened the gate. "You don't understand the language, and could easily anger the Wookies with that ignorance. It's already really tense here between Czerka and the Wookies. Perhaps you should stay behind."
"Fine," Carth grumbled. Alaanis felt a bit bad leaving him out, but Bastila was right. It would be a burden interpreting everything for Carth. Juhani, Bastila and Alaanis knew languages quite well. They all understood the Wookie language.
But Alaanis couldn't stop the pit of dread lying in her stomach as they three jedi walked past the gate and onto the walkway, with Carth headed the other way.
XxXxX
The Czerka guard had been right. The kinrath spiders were everywhere, and the four jedi made good use of their lightsabers. Alaanis now had the violet one she had found on Sherruk and was making good use of it in syncopation with her yellow one. Bastila's double-bladed saber was flashing every which way as she fought off the dozens of kinrath, and Juhani's two blue sabers showed off her technique with the blade.
"What did I say? You were made for two of those things," Alaanis smirked as Juhani flourished her sabers, finishing off the last kinrath in the attack. Juhani grinned back.
The walkway was long and complex. Often the three women found themselves at dead ends, turning around. The good news of this all was that there were many supplies lying around from people failing to fight back the kinrath. Many of the supplies were useful.
The bad news was that at one of these dead ends, they encountered three dark jedi.
"Oh no..." Bastila muttered. "Malak must know where we are!"
"Lord Malak was most displeased when you escaped Taris," the leader of the three, a female in dark grey robes with a blask mask over her face informed them. "I will certainly have the joy of defeating you three." She pulled out two short red lightsabers, and met them together, making a clashing sound as a challenge. Her two companions pulled out single silver lightsabers.
Juhani, Alaanis and Bastila acknowledged the challenge and ignited their own. "You defeat us? I think you have your two parties confused," Alaanis threatened. The leader charged at her, yelling as their blades met.
The battle commenced as the other dark jedi, both male unlike their female leader, rushed at Bastila and Juhani. Bastila fell into a dance with the jedi she was facing, easily blocking her opponent's aggressive tactics. It wasn't very hard to block him, and quickly she was able to be on the offensive before he even threatened her much. It didn't take long for her to slash him with her lightsaber, delivering the death blow.
Fiercely, Juhani's blue blades swung again and again a she leaped this way and that, avodiing the wild swings her opponent was now making to try and attack her in the air. Sustaining a small cut at her ankle, Juhani finally landed cat-like on the platform and stuck the dark jedi she was facing with her right handed saber.
Alaanis had a tougher time, for her opponent was not the leader of the three for nothing. Plus the two shorter blades were different than the long ones Alaanis had been used to. But quickly enough, Alaanis found herself using an old technique she had learned back at the enclave, and remembered sparring against Bastila in this manner. It was a gentle tactic, used for disarming one's opponent instead of killing them. But when Alaanis got her blade next to the dark jedi's neck, a foreign aggression captured her and her saber struck through the dark jedi's neck quickly and easily, like a knife cutting air.
The three women were panting slightly as they put away their sabers. Alaanis looted the corpses and then the three exchanged looks.
"How would Malak know where we are?" Juhani mused. Bastila looked worried.
"If he is in possession of this Star Forge," Bastila thought aloud, "Whatever it is, he probably has knowledge of where the Star Maps are. He did appear in our dream of the Star Map on Dantooine. He probably has his agents on all four worlds, waiting for us to appear."
"That sounds welcoming," Alaanis said sarcastically. "We better keep moving. I hope there are no more welcoming parties waiting for us." The other two jedi silently agreed and they continued their long walk to the village.
XxXxX
":Are you saying you hold the madclaw forcibly? That he is your slave:"
Alaanis, Bastila and Juhani were standing in front of the gates leading to the village in which Zaalbar was being held. Alaanis couldn't for the sake of her remember the name of the village. It had a much too complicated name anyways.
"No," Alaanis answered frustrated. "Zaalbar swore a lifedebt to me. May we please at least speak with Chuundar?" The Wookie guard seemed to consider this before growling an affirmative.
The gate opened before the three female jedi and another Wookie stood in front of them. ":I will bring you to the chieftain's hut:" the Wookie declared. ":Follow me, and don't wander. Our kind is not very welcoming of yours.:"
The village was bustling with Wookies. Many tall, hairy figures were found walking, conversing, constructing, and some smaller Wookies seemed to be playing, though the difference in age was barely noticeable as the younger Wookies were not much shorter than the older ones. Many of them gave the strange outsiders menacing or curious looks. A few pointed and whispered.
Soon enough, the three women were being guided into the chieftain's hut.
Inside the hut there were a few small rooms off of the main one, but the main room was the only one the three jedi were allowed in. In the center of the room in a large luxurious chair, obviously not made from Kashyyyk's own resources sat who must have been Chuundar, a large Wookie much like Zaalbar, only with slightly paler fur. He was wearing a necklace made of Kinrath claws. Around him stood two Wookie guards as well as two Czerka guards. And being held and cuffed by a third Wookie guard was Zaalbar himself.
"Zaalbar!" Alaanis exclaimed upon sight of him. "Are you alright?"
":Do I look alright:" Zaalbar muttered, giving Alaanis a look as he held up his cuffed paws.
":Silence:" Alaanis turned her attention to Chuundar, who was standing now. ":Why do you disturb me outsider:" Chuundar asked Alaanis.
"You have Zaalbar," Alaanis explained. "He's a friend of mine. And he swore a lifedebt to me. If you continue to hold him, then he is not fulfilling his lifedebt." She gave Chuundar a slightly cold look.
":Is this true madclaw:" Chuundar walked towards Zaalbar. ":You are in debt to this human woman here:" Before waiting for a supply, Chuundar swiped Zaalbar with his paw, claws not included, and Zaalbar growled. ":You are a shame onto my family and a plague onto my village:"
":No that's you:" Zaalbar roared. ":You are the one selling our kind to Czerka! You are the one demeaning our way of life. Look who flanks you. Czerka:"
Chuundar's eyes narrowed at his brother and then he turned away, walking back towards his chair in the center of the room. ":Nobody believes a madclaw brother:" Chuundar said. ":Nobody would join your cause even if they did believe you. Czerka gives us weapons and gives me power, and they get slaves. I did what I had to do. Survival of the fittest.:"
":Survival of the corrupt:" Zaalbar spat. The Czerka and Wookie guards aimed their guns but Chuundar called them off.
":I have a deal for you outsider:" Chuundar declared after a moment of silence. ":Do me a favor, and I will let you have this madclaw back. As long as you leave.:"
Alaanis' eyes were narrow. Juhani began muttering in her own language about slavery. She understood Juhani's anger. She felt it too. "Name it," Alaanis said tersely.
":Another Wookie had fell to the same fate as my dear brother here:" Chuundar told her, putting an unnecessary disgusted emphasis on the word 'brother'. ":He has been sent into exile in the shadowlands, being driven mad and using his claws in a battle. I want you to dispose of him for me. Then, when you return, I will give you Zaalbar and you can be on your way.:"
Alaanis didn't want to do this, but how else would she get Zaalbar back. She nodded her head and Chuundar clapped his paws together in merriment. ":Sounds good. I will have a guide bring you to the basket to bring you down to the shadowlands. Hurt any other Wookie besides the one you were instructed to kill and believe me, you will be sorry. Growwleyr will be along shortly. Meet him outside of my hut. He understands your language. I tell all of the Wookies that is is smarter to learn the language of the enemy. Actually, it makes them easier to control. Do not wander. We aren't very fond of your kind.:"
Juhani and Bastila walked outside. Alaanis followed at a slower pace, whispering to Zaalbar as she passed. "Just play along for now." And with that, she exited the hut, fuming at Chuundar's corrupt power.
XxXxX
GEEZ! That's one LONG chapter! Twenty two pages! A new record! Heh… anyways… I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. XD I was going to name it "Wookie World" but then I decided… um… that was completely against the mood I was setting. The atmosphere is very tense here, obviously. Wookie World is like an amusement park (in fact it is one in Yet Another KOTOR Parody by Helena L heh) so I didn't want to rip off any future plans for amusement park constructors.
Anyways… I threw in that prelude, so I hope you guys liked it! It was rather random, I just felt like adding it in. Some quick back story. So… thanks for the reviews! They were loverly. So thanks to Lunatic Pandora1 (don't worry I'll add in plenty of HK humor), Rachil Fayrchild and resident roach code metallica.
By the way, kudos to you resident roach code metallica! Yep, Sienna's the exile. And as for the name situation, I played first in ktoor 2 as Sara, the second time as Alaanis Nalquin (where the name for this fic originated, I never played the first game with the name Alaanis) and the third time, I have started this game, not yet finished (I don't own the game, I rent it) as Sienna Vaas. Dark side. But I'm a light side person, so yeah. Ironic we used the same name no?
Additional note: I keep writing random scenes for Destiny II. Heh, I wrote one last night involving the farewells between Carth and Revan and Sienna and Atton (I hate the Disciple, I really do). They were amusing. I'm going to suck at writing Atton. Anyways… I already have part of the first chapter and the introduction finished, and I wrote a bit of the last chapter of this fic up as well as part of the revelation and after the revelation, so I really write random parts a lot don't I? Okay. I'm done.
So until next chapter, review plenty more (because I love reviews, and I get a bunch of them here! You reviewers rock!) and have a good summer! W00t! Oh and it finall cooled down a bit here. Heck, I've been wearing pants instead of shorts for the past like three days. Joy for not-too-hot-ness! Well, I'm off to go watch Lord of the Rings (because I want to) so bye! REVIEW!
6-18-05