"You musn't be angry, Padawan. Be aware of the impulse towards anger, but let it pass." Master Sorro Tem knelt in front of Jayce, one big paw-hand resting heavily on his shoulder.
"But he started it!" Jayce said. "He said I didn't deserve to be a Padawan!"
"And he's wrong," the big cathcar rumbled. There was just a hint of anger in the master's voice as well. "But it does not matter who started it. You cannot choose how others treat you, only how you respond. And anger, violence, hitting a fellow Padawan, is never the correct response."
Jayce nodded. "I know, master. I just... it's hard."
"And it always will be, especially for jedi like us. Anger comes easy to a zabrak, just as it does to a cathcar. And so we must be extra strong."
Jayce frowned. He couldn't imagine Master Sorro Tem angry. The cathcar was big and strong, but always so kind and gentle. Noble. It was the only word for it.
"You get angry, Master?"
"Of course I do." Master Tem stood, towering over his young padawan. His lips curled back to bare his teeth in a snarl. "I want to punish that insolent padawan for daring to insult you!" He shook his golden mane and held out a hand. The fingers ended in wicked claws. "And I have the strength to do it! He couldn't stop me!"
Jayce stared at his master, wide eyed, suddenly afraid. The gentle cathcar had transformed into a powerful, dangerous creature. Claws for lacerating flesh, teeth for ripping throats. He didn't even need the lightsaber to kill.
Then the snarl vanished and the claws retracted. His master stood before him once more the gentle, noble Jedi.
"But I choose not to," Master Tem said. "It's when you have every reason to be angry that choosing peace shows the most strength. And I know, Padawan, that you are strong."
"What did you do?"
Zapal's angry voice, along with the slap across the face, roused Jayce somewhat out of his stupor.
"What did you do, you little piece of bantha poodoo?"
Jayce opened his eyes. He was seated in a chair, and Zapal leaned over him. His missing horn was back. But now that he knew to look, Jayce could tell it was a very high-quality fake. Probably had something hidden in there that helped him break out of the restraints.
"What do you mean?" Jayce asked. His tongue felt thick and sluggish.
"The hyperdrive isn't working. And now there's a ship approaching."
Jayce looked past the zabrak to the control panels. The proximity warning was blinking with a report that a C-ROC cruiser was on approach. A vessel favorited by pirates.
"Are you expecting someone?" Jayce siad. "If this is a bad time, I can just go."
Zapal smacked him again, then grabbed Jayce by a horn and pulled his head close. "With me, I promise you'll be safe and unharmed. With them," he pointed out into space, "there's no telling what they'll do, but I can guarantee it will be worse. Sell you into slavery, or just kill you. So tell me what you did to the hyperdrive!"
Jayce shook his head as much as he could while being held in the stronger zabrak's hand. "I'll take my chances."
"This isn't going to end well for you," Zapal promised, then pushed Jayce away. "Get him out of here," he ordered the droids. "Lock him in a separate room from the girl."
As far as prison cells went, the rooms on board the yacht were very nice. Comfortable beds, private wash rooms, and holoprojectors loaded with entertainment options. Jayce ignored it all and settled down in an attempt to meditate.
Jayce had lost his battle with Zapal. The best thing to do was prepare for the next. And that required calm thought and preparation to respond to whatever came next. He attempted to broaden his senses, and to glean whatever information he could about what was going on outside his comfortable cell.
The heavy laser fire that jolted the ship needed little interpretation. The C-ROC that had responded to Jayce's destress call was not there to help, and only had a mind for plunder. Another shot hit the ship. Energy pulsed through the hull and the lights flickered. After another hit from ion cannons, the lights died completely.
Soon after blaster fire sounded from the other side of the locked door. Jayce focused his awareness to try to discern what was going on. He felt the droids, all six of them. Then there were five, then four. An explosion, and there was only one left, and it was dispatched soon after. He heard shouting voices, the zap of a stun gun, more shouting, more zaps. Finally silence.
Jayce's attempts at continued calm were interrupted by his growing nervousness. The distress call might have just made his situation worse. Zapal might have been right. He had chosen not to kill Jayce when he had the chance. These people could be in a very different mood.
Doors were being opened. They were searching the ship. They were almost on him.
Hide the crystal! he thought. Zapal hadn't taken it, it was still on the cord around his neck. He quickly stuffed the kyber crystal down his pants.
The door opened and a light nearly blinded him.
"Hey, we got another zabrak in here!" The raspy, hissing voice behind the light identified its owner as a trandoshan. "Smaller, though. Should I stun him, too?"
"Is he armed?" a light, almost jovial, voice replied.
"No. It looks like he's already tied up!"
"Really? That's interestin'. Bring him on out here, I'd like a word."
The hand that pulled Jayce out of the room was big and clammy. Several flashlights swept over the lounge, illuminating bits and pieces of the area. Jayce caught sight of a couple dismantled battle droids and a wounded human lying against the bulkhead, being tended to by a twi'lek. Zapal was lying unmoving on the deck.
"Now," the voice that Jayce assumed belonged to the leader said. "Let's get a look at you." A lamp lit up the room, making Jayce's eyes water. Holding the lamp in one hand, a blaster in the other, was a tall rodian in a long coat. "Tell me, zabrak, how did you come to be tied up in the room on board such a nice ship?"
Before Jayce could answer, Val was pushed up alongside him.
"Hhhhsssss, found another one, capt'n," the trandoshan said.
"Ah, two prisoners. Even better. And one a human. The plot thickens."
Jayce looked around the room, trying to catalog assets and think through some sort of plan. Nothing came to mind.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The rodian cocked his head. "I would have thought it was obvious. We came for the ship, and now we have you as well. This'll all go smoother if you answer my question. Tell us who you are and who will pay the most for you, and you'll be on your way that much sooner."
Val piped up at once. "Look, honestly, I've got nobody that would pay anything for me, and no money myself. But I'm a swoop racer. I'm real good, perhaps you've heard of me. Val Cortina."
She paused. Silence.
"No? Well, I'm really good. And I've got a race coming up. You let me go and let me take my bike, I'll split the winnings with you. Fifty-fifty. How does that sound?"
The rodian's mouth twitched with a hint of amusement. "Sounds like I'd be gamblin' quite a lot on your race with not much to show for it."
"Fair enough," Val said. "Seventy-thirty then."
The rodian laughed. "I like you, Val. But no, I won't be lettin' you go, not even if you offered me all of your imaginary winnings. There is always someone willin' to pay." He turned to Jayce. "What about you? Are you her pit crew?"
"I'm Daro, an archeologist working for the jedi temple," Jayce said, giving the lies he'd thought up while tied in the room waiting for them to find him. "I'm sure the temple would pay well for my safe return, along with the artifacts in the hold."
The captain cocked his head. "You look a bit young to be an archeologist."
Jayce shrugged. He didn't have a response for that.
"What about him?" the captain asked, jerking his head towards Zapal on the floor. "I take it you're not with him."
"He's a thief who hijacked our ship and tried to make off with the artifacts. I'm actually grateful you came along and stopped him."
The twi'lek stood and strode over to the captain and draped an arm over his shoulder. "If that's all true, the jedi should pay even more for the rescue."
"That's the question, darlin'. How much of it is true? You're a racer," the rodian gestured to Val, then to Jayce, "and you're an archeologist, and he's a thief. It all smells fishy. How's Karth doin'?" he asked the twi'lek.
"He'll be fine, perhaps grumpy for a bit. I sedated him for now."
"Good. Kri-Tek?" he called. A high-pitched squeak came from the hall that led to the cockpit. "How's it goin' in there?"
A meter-tall, big eared chadra-fan scampered into the room. "I fixed the hyperdrive, but the navicomputer is locked down tight," its shrill voice said. "Take a long time to slice it."
The rodian looked around the room, considering. "All right," he said at last. "We'll tow this thing outta here. These three are comin' with us, we'll sort out their stories back on Nar Shaddaa."
Nar Shaddaa. The Smuggler's Moon. One of the galaxy's top contenders for the most wretched hive of scum and villainy. The giant skyscrapers danced in the thousand colors of holographics celebrating every vice and crime imaginable. To Jayce, it looked as if someone had painted over the Coruscant skyline with greed and sin.
Their ship touched down on a landing pad jutting out from the tops of a pair of block-like skyscrapers. The two buildings were criss-crossed with bridges to form a plaza bustling with activity. Jayce, Val, and the awakened Zapal were led across walkways over kilometer-long drops to streets lined with little shops and big advertisements.
"Eat Here!" flashed in a dozen languages above a dancing bowl of noodles.
"Guns! Guns! Guns!" declared the words over the silhouette of an armed and seductive twi'lek woman.
"Eek-tho's Droids," proclaimed another. "Find the droids you're looking for!"
Their path took them directly towards the biggest and brightest hologram of them all, hanging above the rotunda entrance of a grand building on the far side of the plaza.
"The Final Round," the lights proclaimed. And below, in smaller words cycling through a dozen languages, "Cantina. Casino. Live Fights. Presented by Ogutta the Hutt." On the marquee in front scrolled the advertisements for upcoming matches, events, and odds.
They were marched inside and into the cacophony of the casino. Chimes, bells, beeps, buzzers, rings. Shouts of joy and despair mixed together all around them. A pod race was playing on a massive screen to the right, and in front a large crowd stood around a pit arena where two gamorians went at each other with electro staves.
No one batted an eye at the sight of three people with wrists bound being led through the commotion. They headed around the pit and towards the back to where a well-dressed devaronian met them in front of a pair of gamorrean guards.
"Ah, Captain Takka, so good to see you back," the devaronian said. "I expect you're here to see Ogutta."
"That's the idea, Krella. Got a good haul, too."
The devaronian gave a devilish grin. "Excellent. She will see you at once."
"Thank ya." Captain Takka, his crew, and his captives marched past the door guards and into the back.
The Hutt's throne room was a relatively quiet place compared to the tumult of the casino floor. The massive bulk of the slug-like hutt rested on a repulsor platform in front of screens that took up the entirety of one wall, playing multiple angles of the same pod race as the screen in the casino. A mercenary in full combat gear lounged off to one side. Other than that, and another gamorrean guard on this side of the door, it was just a few servant droids.
Ogutta spat angry Huttese and threw a cup at the wall. Drink sprayed across the floor, and a droid hurried to clean it up. Then the hutt saw the visitors, and her face brightened.
"Ah, Takka. Takka, mi bukki," she said, and followed it with a string of Huttese Jayce didn't understand.
"Yes, my lady," Captain Takka replied, and bowed low. The others did the same, and the trandoshan pushed Jayce and Zapal into following along. "We return with a great treasure. A fine starship, filled with valuable artifacts. And these three who I am sure will fetch a fine ransom."
The hutt's eyes widened and spoke animatedly. In the Huttese phrase, there were two words Jayce understood, and they made his own eyes go wide with shock. Ogutta had clearly said Val's name. The hutt recognized her.
"What's going on?" Jayce whispered to Val. "I'm not good with languages."
Val wore a massive smile. "Apparently I have a fan. Ogutta the Hutt says she put a large bet on me to win the Onderon Swoop Classic."
"Wait, so you actually are a well-known racer? I thought you were just exaggerating."
"I told you!"
"This is good, right?" Jayce asked.
"Very good. Well..." she shrugged, "for me, at least."
Captain Takka turned to Val, the surprise apparent on his face. "You're free to go," he said as he untied Val's hand. "Na'alon, darlin', could you make arrangements to transport Val and her bike to Onderon?"
His twi'lek crewmember nodded. "This way."
Val looked at the other two prisoners and shrugged. "Sorry, but there's nothing really I can do to help you. Better luck next time, Horns!"
She turned and followed the twi'lek out with the most arrogant strut Jayce had ever seen.
When she was gone, Captain Takka once again addressed Ogutta. "As for these two, my lady, one claims to be an archeologist working for the jedi. The other has made no account of himself."
"If it please, my lady," Zapal said, taking on an uncharacteristically deferential tone and bowing his head slightly, "I am a governor of the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems, and a friend to Count Dooku. This thief," he gestured with his bound hands towards Jayce, "is not what he claims. He can offer you nothing. But if you were to return me to my home, and allow me to take this thief to face justice, Count Dooku would reward you substantially. If you do not, he will be most displeased."
"I do work for the jedi!" Jayce cut in. "My lady," he added hastily. "And they will pay for me and the cargo on board that ship, as well as this traitor. The Separatists will only double-cross you. But the jedi are known for their honesty and fair dealings."
Zapal let out a snort of disgust. Ogutta, however, let out a deep, rolling laugh. She said a few words that made both Zapal and Captain Takka visibly upset.
"But, my lady," Captain Takka interjected. "If one of them is telling the truth, we might be throwing away a fortune!"
Ogutta the Hutt was clearly not happy with having her orders questioned. She let out a string of angry Huttese. The mercenary on the couch sat up and hefted his blaster rifle.
Captain Takka reluctantly nodded. "Very well." He stepped away from Jayce and Zapal, and the gamorrean started ushering them away.
"Wait, what's going on?" Jayce asked frantically. "Where are we going?"
Captain Takka sorrowfully watched them be led away. "She says while we determine if you are telling the truth, you'll be sent to the fighting pit. For what little it's worth, I hope you survive."
