Chapter 3

A few hours later Mira walked onto the bridge to find Merak staring out of the view port. She looked out and saw that the ship had started to orbit a planet.

"The planet sure is beautiful." Merak said.

"From up here every planet is beautiful, but it's a different story on the surface. As I said before, looks can be deceiving." Mira replied.

At the same time the authorization to land came in and Mira put the Commenor's Dream into a landing sequence.

A while later Merak felt the ship shudder as it touched the ground in the middle of a landing bay. Mira started for the ramp along the way stopping at a locker. Merak stood behind her and looked over her shoulder. Mira opened the locker. The locker contained items Mira had collected over the years for use on missions. The first two shelves contained thermal detonators, the next shelf contained various blasters and a few extra light sabers. The last shelf contained whipcords, and survival gear. Merak went to touch a detonator to examine it. Mira quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"I told you before, many things on my ship don't like being touched. If your asking for a death wish that can be arranged. But since your new at this mission thing, I'll give you another chance." Mira said coldly to Merak as she secured two detonator's to her belt. "It doesn't matter who you are, a detonator always evens the odds."

"Does that mean I get a Thermal detonator?" Merak asked.

"No, you get this." Mira stated as she handed Merak a small whipcord.

"But why?" He asked, a bit disappointed.

"One, your not old enough, two you haven't proven you can handle one, and three, Jedi's don't have nine lives." Mira finished gathering supplies and then closed the locker.

Mira lead the way down the ramp of her ship. She made sure it locked up tight and then nodded to Merak. She exited the bay and looked around the tiny port town of Moss Eisley. Creatures of many types and forms walked thru the streets. Droids of all shapes and sizes rolled and walked and hovered to and fro. The weather was hot and the sun beat down hard. Merak looked around and took in the sights.

"This way. Keep your hood up. Tattooine may not be an empire run planet, but they also don't take to kindly to Jedi. Keep your saber hidden. And try not to cause any trouble."

Merak did as he was told. Mira was the more experienced one of this pair and he knew it. Though that didn't stop him from catching sight of some of the most oddly shaped creatures tearing into what looked to be a sort of cooked frog. Mira gave a cough and Merak ran up to catch her. The pair entered a small saloon and looked around. It was rather cooler in here. The bartender was serving an alien with blue fur covering it's face. A Trio of aliens played a haunting song in the corner while a pair of glowing eyes watched them from a darkened booth. At another table a pair of small aliens with large green heads and red eyes traded crystals. This clearly was the gathering place of many of the pilots that were taking temporary refuge. Mira and Merak walked up the bar. The bartender saw them and headed over.

"What can I get you strangers?"

Merak pulled out a small data pad with a photo downloaded form the archives on it.

"We are looking for a bounty hunter that may have taken refuge on this planet. Maybe you've seen her?" He said as he passed the pad to the bartender. "Her name's B.C. Orion."

He took a look at it and shook his head.

"I knew of her. Rumor has it she crashed her ship in the outlands a few years back, though no one's been able to find the wreckage. As far as I'm concerned that bounty hunter is gone, and it's a good thing to. We have enough hunters come thru here, we don't need any more."

"I see. Well is there anyone else you know of that might have seen her ship go down?" Merak asked again.

"Well, no one that I know of. Ori may have seen something a while back, though she doesn't come into town. You may want to try with her. Though the last person that tried to get information from her came back in a box. " The bartender replied, then looked away to yell at two droids who entered the pub. His face changed to recognition however and he left Merak standing by himself. Mira placed a hand on Merak's shoulder to lightly tell him not to interrupt the conversation between the droids and the bartender.

"Sure, I've got Ori's shipment of parts. Came in earlier today. It's round back. She doing ok out there? I also included the other supplies she wanted, though some were hard to come by and will cost her extra. Remember to tell her she's welcome to come around sometime. I know it wasn't her fault for the last fight. Some strangers just don't know when not to push certain buttons. It was his own fault for insulting her droid. Alright, go around back and I'll have my two load your skiff."

Mira tugged on Merak's cloak and nodded toward the door. Merak wasn't finished asking and getting information though. Mira got fed up rather quickly at his sudden disobedience and grabbed the young Jedi by the collar of the cloak and pulled him quickly out of the pub and back into the hot air. Merak lowered his hood and glared at Mira.

"I wasn't finished asking him about this Ori and where we could find her."

Mira shook her head and keep her hood up.

"You didn't need to. Those droids he spoke to will lead us directly to her. Tell me something, did you have a habit of getting on your masters nerves too?"

"Well, not really, I don't know, I didn't pay attention to him to much. Maybe that's why he left like he did. Anyways how will we follow them?" Merak asked with a shrug.

"I'm not going to ask how you passed your trials then. Those speeder bikes aboard my ship will come in handy. First off we need a way to tail the droids and I know just the thing." Mira said.

The pair snuck to the back of the pub and saw the two droids waiting on a skiff as boxes were loaded onto it. Mira took a small item out of her pocket and tossed it onto one of the boxes that were loaded onto the skiff. The item was a tiny homing droid. It burrowed into the box and started to give of it's homing signal. As Mira headed to her ship she pulled out her data pad and sure enough right in the middle of the screen was a large blinking red dot signifying the tiny droid.

"Where did you learn that trick?" Merak asked.

"Let's just say I learned to trail people quickly to survive."

Soon the two Jedi were on speeder bikes. Mira's was the faster of the two, clearly modified, where as Merak's was slower and barely holding together. He was getting the impression quickly that Mira didn't like him and he figured he would have to prove himself to her. While they raced off toward Ori's hut he was thinking of a plan to get on the good side of Mira.

As the two Jedi sped over a hill of sand Mira slowed to a stop, Merak followed suite and Mira hopped off her bike. She walked a few yards ahead and as she crested the hill she perked an eyebrow. What stood before her was the last thing she expected. A patch of tiny mud huts surrounded by a large wall of scrap. She pulled out a pair of binoculars to enhance what was going on in the distance. She zoomed in on the skiff and two droids. Part of the wall opened to let them in. Then as quickly as it opened it closed. She watched as different droids moved two and fro between the huts.

"Looks like a sort of droid village." Merak said.

Mira turned to see that he too had a pair of binoculars and was watching what she was.

"Looks that way, though now the question is how to get in there." Mira replied as she turned back. While trying to think of a plan she heard her speeder bike fire up. Looking back she quickly rolled out of the way as Merak sped past her, almost running her over. She watched as he headed straight for the walled village.

"Master Luke forgive me, I seriously don't see what you see in him. If he gets himself killed would it truly be a loss?" Mira mumbled. She shook her head and watched the goings on from her binoculars. If he truly did get into trouble, she would have to come to the rescue, but not before he learned his lesson.

Merak sped up to where the two droids on the skiff had entered the village. He jumped off the speeder and raised his hood. He walked to the wall and looked for an opening. Out of a small hole a tiny eye of a perimeter droid popped out and looked the Jedi square in the face.

"State your business here." The very gruff electric voice said.

"I have business with the master of this village." Merak said in his best serious voice.

"State your business here." The droid said once more.

"As I said before, I'm here to see your master, the one who runs this village. The person in charge here." Merak replied again, this time with a bit more force in his tone.

"Processing." The droid stated and then suddenly disappeared into the wall. A minute later the wall opened up and a dull silver protocol droid walked up to Merak.

"I am C339, protocol droid, human cyborg relations. What is your business here?" It said as it tilted it's head.

"I'm here to see the person who run's this so called town. I'm looking for the one the bartender in Moss Eisley calls Ori." Merak told the droid.

"Ori, oh my. Well she doesn't like visitors. Is there a way I can be of assistance?" The droid said, trying to be helpful.

"Not unless you know where in this village I can find her to talk to her."

"As I said sir, she isn't taking visitors. Now if there isn't any way I can help you then I must ask you to leave."

"And if I say no?" Merak said in a smug tone.

"No is not an option. You will be forced to leave. We give you this choice, leave now willingly, or face the consequences. And sir, the latter isn't to pretty." The droid said clearly jittery.

"And what will a droid like you do? You don't look like you could take on a nuna." Merak said, his arrogance getting the better of him. He failed to notice the rolling movement to either side of him.

"I won't do anything, I am not a security droid, but they are. I would say have a good day, but for you I fear there isn't much left of it." The silver droid replied as he turned to leave.

Merak perked an eyebrow and before he could figure out what the droid had meant, the answer came to him.

Two rather large droids unfolded themselves and pointed blasters at him. Two more rolled up and did the same. Merak backed up from them and pulled out his light saber. He knew he would have to fight the droids, and that this would be much different from the training he was put thru. That he had only gotten thru because he had learned to hack into the system and made the droids in the training a lot slower then they normally were. This was a far cry from that. Here he didn't have the advantage. These security droids did. Merak took up a fighters stance and waited. Another smaller droid appeared from behind the four security droids. He looked at Merak and then nodded to the security droids. Before Merak could put up a fight he was hit with a dart. His vision clouded and he collapsed, his saber extinguishing itself as it hit the ground. Two of the security droids grabbed a leg and pulled him into the village. The doors slammed shut once more.

Mira shook her head, but before she could get up, she too was hit by a dart of the same sort and passed out herself.