Star Wars: Return of the Sith
27: A Long Awaited Call
By Nanaki
On the Corellian Run
On board the Pride of Besadii, in what passed for Korgo the Hutt's throne room in the battered old Star Destroyer, Korgo and Seco were doing what they both did best: arguing. That left Negian to play the peacemaker between two alpha personalities, a task he found very irritating, but he tried not to let it show, since it seemed to irritate them when he stayed calm and cheerful during an argument.
"You seem to keep forgetting," Korgo jabbed a chubby finger in Seco's direction, "that I don't work for you. I work with you, because this is supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. What benefit is there for me in chasing Tenn all over the galaxy for you?"
"You get all the slave girls Jerin stole from Gadran." Negian reminded him calmly. Korgo was being fanned by two Weequay, not that he needed it. It was freezing cold in here; even a being as large as Korgo couldn't possibly be hot. But, it was an obvious way to remind everyone who was in charge.
"Yes, that is true." Korgo agreed slowly. "But the more time and effort I have to spend on that, the less of an incentive it becomes. When it looked like I'd be able to grab them right at Kuat, it seemed like a great deal. But now... They'll probably be long gone by the time we catch up to Jerin. Not that we CAN catch up to Jerin anyway. Even your ships aren't as fast as his. Which is why I want to focus on other matters, at least until a new opportunity presents itself."
"That all sounds reasonable, but you're completely omitting the part where Tenn only got away from us at Brentaal because you sent Jerin after her in an attempt to steal her out from under us!" Seco shot back.
"Well, with the Skywalkers there, the odds were against us anyway." Negian added mildly. "But Seco has a good point here. What were you trying to pull, sending a lone bounty hunter after Tenn? You know she's the daughter of a Jedi Master, and the former Padawan of Master Rondo himself, so what did you think he was going to accomplish?"
"You've seen for yourselves what Jerin can do." Korgo answered as if he was amused Negian had even needed to ask the question. "He can hold his own against other Force users."
"Holding his own and actually catching her are two very different things." Seco pointed out. "And just what were you planning to do with her anyway, if he was successful?"
"I was trying to steal her FOR you, you fools!" Korgo's eyes narrowed. "You didn't tell me you were going there personally. And that brings us to the root of the problem. You two don't tell me even half of what you're planning, partly because you don't trust me, and partly because you just like being aloof and mysterious." Now Korgo leaned forward a bit. "Now, if our roles were reversed, and I was the one who found myself in a partnership with a being several centuries my senior, I wouldn't hesitate to ask for advice."
Negian took the hint. "All right then, how do you suggest we handle things now?"
"The way I see it, you two keep failing because you keep trying to do everything at once. Take out Jerin AND capture Tenn AND, more often than not, face off against the Skywalkers as well. It's possible to reach your goals in incremental steps, you know." Korgo pointed out, with only a trace of condescension in his voice.
"Yeah, we've come to a similar conclusion ourselves." Seco admitted.
"So for your next step, focus on just one of those things." Korgo said. "And here's a hint: Facing off against the Skywalkers should NOT be your first choice."
"Only a true fool would WANT to fight a Skywalker." Seco agreed.
"Jerin." Negian said simply. "Tenn is no match for the two of us together, but add Jerin into the mix, and everything becomes complete chaos."
"Right. So focus on that. Next time, put all your effort into defeating Jerin, and don't worry about anything else until you've accomplished that. But about that 'next time'..." Korgo smiled. "It'll have to wait a bit, because I need you two to take care of that matter I was talking about earlier."
"No you don't." Negian cut in quickly. Seco and Korgo both looked at him with surprise, since he normally didn't disagree with Korgo so directly. "It's just crushing a rival crime syndicate, right? You don't need both of us for that." Negian smiled.
"Well, that may be true." Korgo admitted. "But you do need to work together to defeat Jerin, right? You can't do both things at once."
"Yes, we can." Negian grinned. "If we actually put our heads together and plan it out right. So let's do exactly that."
.
Tatooine
The girls spilled down the main boarding ramp of the Justice with quite a bit more enthusiasm than they'd shown at Commenor, Jerin thought, even though they were entering the blast furnace of Tatooine in mid-afternoon. Then again, at Commenor they'd been both sleep deprived and probably still not sure what to make of him. As far as the blast furnace of Tatooine went, it was currently about as mild as it ever got. Right now was one of the relatively brief periods in Tatooine's year when one of the suns was hidden behind the other. Plus, Mos Cinna, where Jerin had landed, was over 4,000 feet in elevation, as well as situated in a valley between three large mesas, so the town had more shady areas than most places on this world. Even in the middle of the afternoon, it probably wasn't above ninety degrees here.
"Jerin, aren't you coming with us?" Joona had noticed him lingering at the top of the ramp.
"Nah, I'll meet up with you guys in town later." Jerin answered. "I'm gonna hit the Bounty Hunters' Guild kiosk in the spaceport." He explained. All the bounties that could be claimed in a single day were probably long gone by this point, but it never hurt to check. You never knew when some genius would decide to pull off a daring daylight bank robbery. Or when thugs from rival Hutt clans would open fire on each other in the middle of a crowded marketplace.
"You're going bounty hunting now?" Joona sounded surprised.
"Sure. Gotta pay the bills somehow." Jerin shrugged. Joona frowned a bit, as if it was just now dawning on her that he didn't actually have infinite credits at his disposal, but she didn't say anything else. As she turned and hurried to catch up to the others, Jerin found himself appreciating the graceful way she walked probably more than he should. 'Stop watching her walk away, you fool.' He thought to himself, yet he didn't immediately heed his own mental command. 'Or, if you want to go down that road, try focusing on one of the thirty five that are actually available.' Well, technically it was thirty six, but Tenn was both pregnant and had a lethally jealous Sith for an ex.
"You're looking thoughtful." Jerin just managed to avoid jumping as Tenn's voice came from right next to him.
"Well, sure." Jerin smiled a bit. "There's more going on up here than you know about." He gestured at his head.
Tenn's brow furrowed a bit, as if she hadn't been expecting that kind of a response from him. "I think there's more going on up there than YOU know about, too." She said mildly, before heading down the ramp. Right now, she actually wanted to just stay here and banter with Jerin, but that would just be avoiding the unpleasant task she needed to perform: asking the Jedi for help.
.
Tenn quickly blew on the screen of the public comm in the main spaceport terminal, and frowned at the large cloud of dust that appeared as a result. Everything around here was covered with dust, even compared to Ryloth, which was saying something. On the plus side, at least the comms were partitioned into private booths, instead of just being out in the open, since this was definitely a conversation she didn't want random passerby overhearing.
After paying an exhorbitant fee to place a call from the Outer Rim to the Core, she decided to call Master Rondo's office directly, as that seemed to offer the best chance of catching the Grand Master alone, without having to talk to any other Jedi. So of course, no sooner had the screen resolved into a clear image than she was greeted with the politely disinterested face of her father. "What are you doing there?" She wondered out loud, before realizing that probably wasn't the best way to start this conversation.
Alaric sat up a bit straighter in the chair, a chair that made him look comically small, since it was designed for Master Rondo, and raised his eyebrows a bit. "And, right into attack mode! Could you PLEASE not be your mother? For a few minutes, at least?"
Based on that reaction, Tenn guessed that her parents must have talked recently, which was not something they did often. "Sorry," She said simply. "It's just, I was expecting Master Rondo or one of the temple droids to answer, if anyone. Is he around?"
Alaric shook his head slowly. "No, he and most of the council are offworld. I'd be with them too, but I just got back from a mission a few hours ago. So..." He leaned forward a bit. "I'd planned on asking if all the comms at Brentaal were broken when I finally talked to you again, but I see you're calling from... Tatooine? Not even remotely close to Brentaal. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Wow, where to start?" Tenn looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "Well, in running away from my problems, I've ended up running INTO a bunch of problems that aren't mine."
Alaric blinked a few times. "That's... a more honest answer than I was expecting."
She shrugged. "Well, I've been hanging around a very honest guy lately. He must be a bad influence."
Her father glanced at his datapad for a second. "Would that 'very honest guy' be the same Mandalorian/ amateur dark sider that Dirk and Lucia saw you with?"
"That would be the one. Jerin Danar." Tenn nodded.
"Hmm..." Alaric was reading the datapad quickly. "Says here that in addition to being powerful for an untrained Force user, he's also a descendant of Boba Fett and Mirta Orade?" Now he looked back at the screen. "Pretty hard to believe this guy's a paragon of honesty. But, if he's put you in an honest frame of mind, is there anything else you feel like being honest about?"
Tenn felt like her throat had suddenly gone dry. 'He knows already, doesn't he?' She realized. 'If not, he'll find out soon anyway. No point postponing it.' "Well, yeah." She said slowly. "I'm pregnant."
To her surprise, the slight smile remained on her father's face. "Yeah, I had a feeling." He said calmly. "Your presence in the Force has felt different for the past few months."
"Wait, what?" Tenn leaned closer to the small screen. "You can sense me in the Force from across the galaxy?" Had Negian actually learned that skill from her father, and never said anything about it?
"Don't get me wrong, I can't sense just anyone, the way Negian can." Alaric seemed to guess what she was thinking. "But I can sense YOU. You're my child, after all." He explained gently. "And based on the way your presence in the Force has changed recently, you were either pregnant, had a particularly malignant form of cancer, or had gotten several internal organs replaced with synthetic parts. Out of those possibilities, pregnant is definitely the best one." He laughed a little. "So, not that I'm one to be judgmental about conceiving a child outside of marriage, but I can't help but be curious: Who's the father?"
Tenn looked away from the screen as she answered, "There is no father."
Alaric raised his eyebrows again. "Do you mean the father doesn't matter because he's a complete murglak and won't be involved in raising the child, or do you mean that literally?"
Tenn looked back at the screen now. "You know perfectly well what I mean."
Now Alaric looked away, through the big bay windows looking out on the gardens and fountains in the center of the temple. "You're saying, there's a second Anakin Skywalker growing inside you right now." His right hand clenched into a fist. "Damn it Negian, this is one thing too many."
Tenn shrugged. "For all I know, it was actually Seco. Or maybe even some remnant from the One Sith we don't know about."
Alaric looked back at her now. "We both know it was Negian. Maybe Seco helped, but it was definitely Negian's idea." He let out a long sigh. "Yet, I'm sure this wasn't what you wanted to talk to Master Rondo about."
"No." Tenn smiled in relief. She very much appreciated that he had no follow-up questions about what her plans for the baby were. "Someone is manipulating the Republic military into doing Seco and Negian's bidding. Probably Seco and Negian, but possibly a Hutt." Tenn proceeded to give her father what she thought was a thorough rundown on everything that had happened since she met Jerin, with special emphasis on the Republic 5th Fleet trying to stop them at the Corellian Run.
"Yeah, sure sounds like someone high up the chain of command is being blackmailed." Her father nodded. "I don't see how Seco and Negian could do that though. Unless they're using the Force to basically control someone's mind... But none of the fleet admirals are what I'd call weak willed."
"I don't understand it either." Tenn agreed. "But they're definitely influencing the military somehow, which is a serious problem."
"That's an understatement." Alaric let out another sigh. "We'll start looking into it right away." Now, a smile appeared on his face again. "So, are you really going to stick with this guy all the way up the Triellus Trade Route?"
"Well, yeah." Tenn smiled too. "Not only is it the right thing to do, but it's a fair amount of fun too, at least so far."
Her father's smile turned into a smirk. "You realize, for someone who ran off because she was afraid of the responsibilities of being a Jedi, you are doing a TERRIBLE job of not being a Jedi."
"I know. My Vao blood must really be clouding my judgment." She shrugged. "I suppose I better get back to the girls. Make sure they're not getting into trouble."
"Several dozen Twi'lek teenagers on Tatooine? OF COURSE they're getting in trouble!" Alaric replied, and they both laughed. "All right Tenn, whatever you do from here on out, stay safe. And don't wait so long to call next time."
"Thanks Dad. I love you." Tenn smiled warmly, relieved that she wouldn't have to hear some kind of parting lecture.
"I love you too, kiddo. Until next time."
.
Coruscant
Dirk Skywalker was still walking a bit stiffly as he entered his mother's apartment overlooking the Jedi Temple, closely followed by Lucia and R2-D2. It was more due to the fuzziness in his head than any real lingering pain. Still, he was grateful that he hadn't woken up in a bacta tank. Once that happened, it took weeks for the lingering scent to fully leave your nostrils, and every meal you ate seemed to taste like bacta too.
As the door to the living room slid open, C-3PO turned around from where he'd been watering a truly impressive collection of plants that lined the window sill. Threepio quickly set down the watering can and hurried over to them. "Oh, Master Dirk! It's so good to see you up on your feet! When we heard you'd been injured in battle, we were all quite concerned."
Dirk couldn't keep a warm smile from appearing on his face. "Somehow, I bet no one was quite as concerned as you, Threepio."
Though only Threepio understood exactly what he said, everyone picked up on Artoo's scolding tone as he chimed in: "I TOLD you he was fine," The astromech beeped.
"You tell me all kinds of things that I have to take with a grain of salt, to use the human parlance." Threepio replied. However, the possibility of a new installment of what Dirk thought of as the Artoo and Threepio show was cut short when Dirk's mother strode briskly into the room.
Paige Skywalker was fifty four years old, but looked closer to thirty five, partly due to a strong connection to the Force, and partly due to being in great shape in any case. She was wearing tight black pants and a matching tank top, but had thrown on a colorful shawl over that. Her dark red hair would have been curly, but it hung down to her waist, so gravity helped to straighten it a bit. Coming to a stop, she put her hands on Dirk's shoulders, turning him from side to side. "No permanent damage, I take it?"
Dirk quickly twitched the fingers of his left hand, but they still had the same range of motion as before they'd been broken. "Just to my pride, thankfully."
"That's a relief, but you need to be more careful!" Her grip on his shoulders increased in intensity. "We Skywalkers are an endangered breed."
"Oh, not this again." Lucia griped quietly, but it was the kind of quiet that was meant to be heard.
Peering over her son's shoulder at Lucia, Paige merely raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's true." She replied simply.
"The Skywalker NAME is endangered," Lucia responded, "But that's it." That was true enough. The Skywalker bloodline was currently thriving. From the Queen Mother on Hapes, to the House of Draco on Bastion, to the president of Syn Security Services, to the trio of podracing siblings who called themselves Rawk's Raiders, there were currently over one hundred people in the galaxy who could claim descent from Anakin Skywalker, with that number increasing on a fairly regular basis.
"As I've told you before, the name itself has value." Paige explained with an exaggerated sigh. Dirk quickly wondered if he should move so they could argue more effectively, but decided against it. Maybe it would shorten the debate if he stayed where he was. "Why do you think Krayt was so eager to recruit Cade? It wasn't because they got along." She pointed out. "The Skywalker name is a symbol people rally around in dark times."
"People rally around ANY symbol of hope in dark times." Lucia replied calmly. "It's a mantle that could easily be taken up by Rilus Draco or Tusken Rawk, if necessary."
"Tusken Rawk?" Paige snorted. "The same Tusken Rawk who just got out of the hospital after crashing his pod on the race's first turn, for the fourth race in a row?" Now she noticed that Dirk was looking at her in surprise. "Don't get me wrong. He's our boneheaded distant cousin, and I love him, but to suggest-" Everyone turned toward the kitchen as the chime of an incoming call came from that direction.
"Excuse me everyone, I'll answer it." Threepio hurriedly shuffled off in that direction. To Dirk's relief, he returned quickly, before the conversation could resume. "Mistress Paige, Master Alaric Vao would like to speak with you."
"Oh? I thought he was still off on his mission in the western reaches..." Paige hurried off to the kitchen.
"Hmm... You think Tenn finally caved and asked him for help?" Dirk glanced over at Lucia.
"I sure hope so." Lucia sat down in a chair that wasn't very comfortable, but then, it wasn't supposed to be. Paige was a big believer in not sitting still for very long.
"You think you'll ever stop lecturing my mother about her fixation on the Skywalker name?" Dirk asked, but the smile remained on his face.
"If she stops lecturing US on that subject." Lucia shrugged. "I mean, you have to admit, it seems a little odd that she never took your dad's name, just so YOU would be named Skywalker, even though there was legally no reason she couldn't name you Skywalker anyway."
Dirk turned to look out the window. "If you're going to try to argue that Skywalker women shouldn't be odd, well, that's an argument you're going to lose. Especially since you are one." Lucia couldn't help but smile at that. He was clearly trying not to take a side, but he was doing a good job of it.
Before she could reply, Paige walked back into the room. "Well, it seems Alaric just had a very interesting conversation with Tenn."
"Finally." Dirk and Lucia said at the same time, while Artoo added a whistle that probably meant the same thing. "What do we need to do?" Dirk asked eagerly.
"Quite a bit, it seems." Paige replied evenly.
A sincere grin was on Lucia's face as she stood up. "Then let's get started."
.
"He's a Skywalker! Heir to a great name, and he'll be just as trapped by it as you are, Kol!" - Morrigan Corde, Star Wars Legacy
.
(Nanaki's note: Sorry to keep you waiting so long for a new chapter, everyone. The combination of a particularly lousy schedule at work this year, along with distractions like Mass Effect Andromeda and South Park: The Fractured But Whole caused me to get out of the writing habit once again. But now that it's the slow time of year at work, hopefully I can get more done in short order. Now, since there's a minor but important character named Paige in The Last Jedi, this seems like a good time to go ahead with:
Character Name Origins #7: Paige Skywalker
Just as Legacy's Skywalking brothers, Nat and Kol, were named after a musician, (Nat King Cole, naturally. To be honest, I don't remember ever actually reading an interview where John Ostrander came out and said his characters were named after the legendary jazz musician, but it's hard to imagine any other reason Cade's uncle and father were given those particular names.) Paige is named after a musician as well. In this case, Led Zeppelin founder and lead guitarist Jimmy Page. I went with the more feminine form of "Paige", but it's pronounced exactly the same, so the homage is unaffected, same as with "Cole" and "Kol". Also worth noting, Paige was first mentioned by name back in chapter 22, posted a year ago, so she's in no way named after the character in The Last Jedi. Not that there would be anything wrong with that, but since the sequel trilogy is an alternate timeline, as far as this story is concerned, it could be confusing if I were to imply that she's an in-universe namesake.)