Star Wars - Dark Counsels
by Domien De Groot
Prologue
Like gems encrusted in a dark cave, the stars stood unwavering in the cold, unchanging dark of space. The millions of little dots of light shone quietly upon an uncaring, dark brown world, for on the planet of Caffar, there was no one to watch the stars. The planet was the farthest away from its system's star and the surface was so cold and forbidding that no known creature could hope to survive on it. However, Caffar was not uninhabited. Running over the northern hemisphere like a scar over the face of a grizzled soldier, was the great canyon known as Caffar's Abyss. There in the depths lay the entrance to the dreaded prisons of Caffar, a place where hope was nothing more than a memory to any who entered it.
Suddenly the quietness was disturbed as the flat, grey shape of a light freighter emerged out of hyperspace. The ship looked damaged and scorched in places, like it had just narrowly escaped from a fight...
"Well, here we are... " Lira sighed apprehensively. Her Twi'lek co-pilot didn't respond.
"Jorian?"
-"Lira, I'm not sure the Sparrow can take the weather conditions down there after that last... encounter with Ullac's boys..."
"Come on, they hardly hit us!" Lira exclaimed in defence. Her ship, the Soaring Sparrow was dear to her and she felt personally offended at the slightest criticism to it.
"Sometimes that's all it takes, I'm afraid" Jorian said in his typically cool way.
-"We're heading down there right away, Jorian. It's not like we have much of a choice, anyway" Lira replied, ending the discussion.
As the Soaring Sparrow entered the atmosphere of Caffar and made for the Abyss, Lira noticed the communications light was flickering. She pushed the button and after the initial static noise, a metallic sounding voice was heard.
"Unidentified vessel, please state your identity".
-"Caffar prison, this is the Soaring Sparrow requesting permission to land!" Lira yelled.
Jorian frowned.
"Is it really necessary to be so loud?" he asked.
-"It will be until someone repairs the communications device..."
The Soaring Sparrow slowly made for the deepest part of the Abyss, until it hovered over an enormous metal plate. The plate started moving and suddenly opened itself like a flower, shedding a cold blue light that reflected in a ghostly manner on the Sparrow and its surroundings.
The ship lowered itself and landed in a large, empty hangar. As soon as the freighter rested firmly on the ground, blowing steam from its exhausts, the hangar door above closed again with a dull thud.
"Well, at least we landed her safely" Jorian sighed, relieved. Lira ignored him and got out of the pilot's seat. A few moments later, the Sparrow's ramp lowered as Lira and Jorian emerged out of the ship. Jorian surveyed the hangar.
"Shouldn't we be meeting someone here?"
-"They'll come, don't worry!"
"Quiet!" whispered Jorian hoarsely. He squinted, focussing on some distant sound.
Then he turned to Lira, his bright orange eyes wide with worry. "Blasters... and the hum of a lightsaber.."
Lira smiled incredulously. "A Jedi, here? That seems unlikely, my fr..."
She halted. Now she heard the sounds too. There was some kind of heavy fight going on, and a lightsaber was definitely involved.
All of a sudden a metal grate fell down before the two smugglers, making a hellish noise. Barely a moment later, a haggard looking Jedi followed, silent as a cat. As he touched the ground, he looked up and his gaze met with Lira's. The Jedi was an elderly man with striking, pleasant eyes and a grey ponytail. He smiled charmingly. "Hello there... Any room for a stowaway aboard your ship?"
-"Are you insane?" asked Lira, intending it as an actual question.
"No, just on the run. Please. Trust me."
Jorian frowned.
"This is ridiculous, Lira."
-"I know," she replied, "but he is a Jedi..."
The stranger looked over his shoulder with a furtive glance.
"Make your decision quickly" he said with a desperate expression on his face. "They are near, I can sense it".
-"Alright, hide by the hyperdrive. We'll deal with this" Lira said quickly.
The Jedi picked up the fallen metal grate and took it with him in the ship.
A few moments later a door at the far end of the hangar opened. A man in a grey costume with a dark blue cape entered the room, followed by several rough-looking soldiers carrying Mandalorian blaster rifles.
"If you're going to lie to those people, you had better do it well..." Jorian whispered in Lira's ear.
With the ominous sound of their heavy boots echoing through the hangar, the soldiers and their leader approached the Sparrow.
"I apologize for the delay, there have been... troubles with one of the prisoners. My name is Anrol Quie. I function as warden here at the Caffar Abyss."
He was a tall, imposing figure with a harsh and expressionless face. Quie extended a hand and Lira shook it warily.
"Lira Fireglance, captain of the Soaring Sparrow. And this is my co-pilot Jorian Modd".
Jorian nodded with an expression that showed he was not interested in any further courtesies.
"Right," Quie said, "let's sign for that cargo of yours. Of course, I'd like to see if everything is in order first".
-"That's no problem, mister Quie... However, first I'd like to discuss the contract you promised us."
Something vaguely resembling a smile reached Anrol Quie's mouth, but not his eyes.
"I promised you a contract if your first delivery went according to plan."
Lira stared into Quie's cold eyes ponderingly.
"Fair enough" she said after a moment.
-"Excellent" Quie replied. "My soldiers will unload the cargo and I'll inspect it."
Lira threw a quick glance towards Jorian. "Er... no!" she exlaimed.
Quie raised a single eyebrow.
"We... like to provide full service" explained Jorian calmly. "After all, your men have more important duties than unloading fifty boxes of prison food ingredients, I'm sure".
-"Very well" Quie replied. "You may bring the boxes to the storage room at level 4".
With a sharp turn, he left, shortly followed by his men.
As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Lira went back up the ramp of her ship.
"Thanks a lot, Jorian! Now we can do all the work ourselves!" she complained.
-"You were the one who wanted to protect the Jedi..." Jorian cast back with that annoyingly irrefutable logic of his.
Lira swallowed a sarcastic reply and made for the engine room of the Sparrow. There she found the Jedi, sitting by the hyperdrive with a friendly expression. Lira half expected him to say something like "welcome to my humble abode".
She looked at him. "Well?"
-"Well what?"
Lira rolled her eyes. "Well, who the hell are you and what are you doing aboard my ship?"
-"Oh. I'll explain later. You better get back into space as soon as possible. I suggest you make for Tatooine. They'll never come looking for us there".
After he had said those words, the Jedi closed his eyes and went into meditation.
Lira stared at him with an indignant expression for about ten seconds until she decided it was futile to get into an argument with a Jedi, so then she decided to just ask him a perfectly reasonable question.
"You do realize that "as soon as possible" is right after we have delivered our cargo, don't you?"
The Jedi smiled with his eyes closed.
"Of course. You should fulfil your duties... But I wouldn't sign any contract with Anrol Quie."
-"I do what I want to do. I'm not your Padawan, mister" exclaimed Lira peevishly.
Jorian entered the room.
"Wait a moment, Lira. If this Jedi knows something about Anrol Quie, perhaps we should listen to him."
The Jedi opened his eyes.
"You know... we are losing valuable time... and it is harder to meditate for me if you keep interrupting."
Jorian held up his hand to keep Lira from launching into a speech of protest.
"At least tell us why we shouldn't sign for a contract with Anrol Quie."
-"Well, first of all, he's an unscrupulous man without a shred of conscience... but I presume you've worked for people like that before?"
Lira and Jorian nodded in unison.
"Well, the second and most important reason would be... I need you both for other purposes. Believe me, you won't have much time to work for mister Quie in the near future" the Jedi said. "Not much at all..." he added, widening his eyes expressively.
-"What!" Lira yelled, full of anger. "Who the hell do you think you are, "master Jedi"? We're not joining you on some... quest! We've got a living to make!"
The Jedi sighed. "When we get to my hideout on Tatooine, I'll pay you both 50,000 credits... and I'll introduce you to some decent employers if you help me on my quest. Does that sound alright?"
Jorian closed Lira's mouth.
"That sounds, ideal, master Jedi..."