Tika Dane: Cleanup
By: Myst Dragon
Chapter 1
From the point of view of her memories, she'd always been a scoundrel at heart, any situation that a silver tongue couldn't get her out of, was either fixed with a well placed blade, or quick feet. Her trade until she'd arrived on Dantooine with the "famed" Bastila Shan, had been that of a smuggler. In her Jedi training she found herself ill-suited to the ways of the Guardian and the Consular. Recent revelations made her wonder about the validity of the knowledge she possessed before the Endar Spire. Could she "return" to the life of a smuggler, and be as successful at it as she thought she'd once been? At least now she was armed with the knowledge that the vast majority of her memories were false.
It had only been a few short hours since the ceremony where Jedi and Republic soldiers celebrated the destruction of the Star Forge, and what they hoped to be the turning point of the war. One thing Tika Dane knew was that she didn't like ceremony, and that she'd rather dance naked for a Hutt than be paraded around the galaxy as the Republic's savior. Of the people who had traveled with her in the quest to destroy the Star Forge, she'd told all of them, of her plans except for Juhani, Bastila, and Carth. She believed Juhani might side with the Order and not let her go. She knew Bastila would have objections, so she gave her something to sleep, and locked the princess in the starboard dorm. Carth made it clear after the Leviathan that he cared more for the Republic than for her, so even if he wouldn't stop her escape, she knew he wouldn't come along for the ride. It seemed easier to just not make him choose. She felt uneasy sitting in the pilot seat that Carth had been sitting in for so much of the journey. She put those feelings aside as she guided the Ebon Hawk from the surface of the Rakatan planet, and into hyperspace. Once safely on her way, she switched things over to T3 to monitor; and made her way back to the Communications room. She quickly went to work setting up the equipment to transmit a message she was about to record. She brushed back the red hair, which she normally kept tied in a ponytail, and straitened her deep green robes.
Once ready, Tika activated the recorder. "Master Vandar, Admiral Dodonna. I apologize for not addressing you in person with what I have to say now, but I have no desire to be imprisoned, either in the literal sense or as a figurehead. Right now the only thing I want is to make a life for myself and be who I am now. I'm taking Bastila with me so I can help her recover from her recent lapse in judgment. I might even make a human being out of her." The redhead gave a slight laugh at her last comment. "Should the Republic need the services of a good smuggler, I'll be happy to help for some reasonable compensation to cover expenses and float me until the next job. Members of the Jedi council; don't worry that I might fall to the dark side, that's why I'm bringing the old codger. Tika Dane, out." With that she pressed another button to send the message on its way.
"Trying to go somewhere without me, gorgeous?" She was startled by the sound of the familiar voice coming from behind her. She'd been so wrapped in what she was doing that she lost track of everything else around her.
"C… Carth?" She stammered his name, pulling herself from her shock, as she turned to face the brown haired man in his orange jacket. "What are you doing here?"
He looked into her bright green eyes and for a moment it seemed as if he were about to profess his deepest love for her, and then he spoke. "Jolee told us you were planning on leaving before the Jedi could force you to do anything else, c'mon everyone's waiting in the main hold." As the republic pilot dragged her out of the room, she sighed with a grin and thanked her jedi training for keeping her from punishing him. As they entered the main hold, she saw the entire crew of the Ebon Hawk sitting or standing around the holotable, with the exception of T3-M4. The assassin droid, HK-47 stood off to the side observing. Canderous sat back smoking one of his thick cigarras. The old jedi, Jolee simply sat back. The, blue skinned Twi'lek, Mission sat next to Zaalbar. As far as walking carpets went, Zaalbar was one Wookiee that Tika was proud to know. As her eyes caught Bastila, she was sure that the brown haired woman would be going into a full on lecture instead of merely scowling, if only she were a bit more awake. Juhani appeared slightly amused by Tika's expression.
"So what's the plan, aside from escaping Jedi custody?" Jolee asked, as the redheaded woman had just about made herself comfortable. The old man always did have a way with timing that she didn't like.
She sighed before answering him. "The plan', is that we take breather to rest up, and maybe take a few jobs running cargo past the Sith."
"Doesn't sound like the best use of your skills, Revan. Not while there still plenty of strong enemies out there." Canderous grunted his disapproval of 'the plan'."
"I'm not Revan!" She nearly exploded, and gave a sigh as she took a few breaths to recompose herself. Then a thought came to here, which made her grin. "If I were Revan, we'd all be sitting around a campfire, singing the Sith code and learning the best way to stab your leader in the back!" Mocking the Sith always seemed to give her some measure of comfort. It was the very reason that she used red crystal's she'd taken from sith lightsabers, in her two custom sabers. She liked to refer to them as her 'defectors'. "In all seriousness, Revan is dead. All that's left of her is this shell of a body and a handful of memories. If Tika Dane hasn't done enough to earn the respect of a Mandalorian, then you're free to leave whenever you want."
He thought about what she was asking, and even though it seemed strange that someone would want to deny the honor of the actions Revan had performed, he thought of the deeds the woman he'd fought beside since Taris and he'd made up his mind. "Even before I knew who you used to be, you'd done more than enough to earn my respect, and if you ask me to consider you only by what I've seen you do since joining you; then you've still more than earned my respect."
This made her feel more at ease. She may not agree with Mandalorian philosophy and ideals, but she had come to respect Canderous as a trusted ally and friend. "I certainly hope everyone more or less agrees with that. Our first stop is Tatooine to re-supply, and there is some entertainment there."