INTRODUCTIONS

Dalla navigates Iziz with the help of old allies and new friends.

...

Dalla's only experience with the city of Iziz is in holos and books. She's learned its history, listened to the songs about the city's lights and daytime splendor, and watched the news holos and the holomovies set there. None of that prepares her for actually entering Onderon's capital city.

The street she and Lux walk onto is busier than Blackhold during peak season at the end of the day. People in clothes of all colors choke the street rushing here or there, ducking into buildings or out of them.

Lux smiles at her. "Can you keep up?"

She nods. "Aye, as long as you lead the way. Pleased to meet you face to face, Lux."

"The pleasure's all mine." He jerks his shoulder to signal a turn and they turn onto a slightly less congested street.

"Where are we going?"

"We have a safe house," Lux explains, keeping his voice low. "We're just taking the back way there so it's harder for the Separatists to track us on surveillance footage."

And it would be harder for me to rat you out. Not a bad idea to reduce risks. "Good idea. Has it been going well?"

"Relatively," he says carefully. "We're solvent enough we can manage you."

"Thank you so much." She couldn't say this enough times if they were her last words. "Really, Lux. I'll help you however I can while I'm here and if you need anything, inside or outside the banner oath, House Blackwell will -."

"Consider this a gesture of my gratitude that your family protected my inheritance from the Separatists."

It's more than that but she drops the subject. "I'm sorry we couldn't make it to your mother's funeral. We were all out on voyages and didn't find out until we returned to the Hold."

Lux is about to reply to that when a tall, dark-skinned girl jogs up to them and whispers. "Thank gods, you found her!"

"Dalla Blackwell, meet Steela Gerrera," Lux turns his smile to the other girl. "She's one of my better friends."

Steela looks back at him like Dalla's transparent. "How did the extraction go?"

"Dono's handling the droids," Lux says. "She has the best fake ID, so she volunteered to distract them. She's probably wrapping up her tirade right now."

"And how are we doing on time?"

"We can manage."

"Great." Steela extends her hand to Dalla. "Nice to meet you, Lady Blackwell."

"Just Dalla. Good to meet you too," Dalla shakes her hand. "I think I heard you in the background on the comm."

"That was me," Steela confirms. "How are you holding up? It's a long way from Blackhold."

She has so much caffeine in her system Dalla can probably fly if she wants to. "I'm alright." She looks farther down the alley. "Is the other guy here?"

"Saw?" Steela sighs. "Yeah, we decided to leave Saw back at the safe house."

"Where he is probably hanging off the ceiling," Lux says with an eye roll.

"Or he's already left and gone stalking the streets. I hope he remembered non-lethal weapons only."

Just to be safe in case she ends up on the wrong end of Saw the Cynic's blaster, Dalla sends a quick prayer to the salt gods he remembered non-lethal weapons only. "Is that what you've been using in the city?"

"We don't want civilians to be hurt," Lux explains.

Now that he explains it that way it makes sense. Dalla hasn't used a blaster much at all; northerners like to settle their business up close and personal and vibroblades and knives don't afford the dangers of people getting caught in the crossfire. "Smart. It wouldn't be easy to get them on your side of there were civilian casualties."

"Exactly." Steela looks straight ahead. "But forget that. Right now we need to get you back to base. Fast."

"Surveillance?" Dalla ducks her head, kicking herself for not bringing a hat.

"Not so much in the alleys," Steela admits. "But the droid patrols come this way and we have to time this perfectly if we're going to avoid them. Your boat came in a little late -." Curse the river currents - "and we can't quietly deal with a patrol since none of us have ID."

"You said that girl Dono has a fake," Dalla remembers. "Can't she point you in the direction of whoever made hers?"

Steela bites her lip before a smile can form. "Dono has been very closed-mouthed over how she got her fake. But it's so good I think she got a real ID from someone who looks like her."

"I played that game. When I turned sixteen, my friend Miranda wanted to borrow my ID so she could buy the strong stuff at the pub at the Hold. She was fifteen," she laughs. "I asked her how in salt gods' names she expected to pass herself off as me in my own backyard."

"Did it work?"

"She got caught the second she sat down at the bar." And poor Miranda probably was earmarked for death while she sat at the pub with her crew. "I can't pull that stunt anyway. I didn't bring my ID or hers."

"Good call not bringing yours. Hers might have been helpful," Steela says. "I don't have one either so we just need to dodge the patrols."

"We can do it if we hurry," Lux implores and places a hand on Dalla's back to hurry her along. "We don't want to lose you."

"I don't want that either." Getting lost would be a disaster, and so would running into a patrol. She quickens her steps and Lux and Steela match and almost surpass her pace. "How much farther?"

"Not far," Steela hooks them down another alley, then two more in quick succession. "I think we dodged the droids."

They take one more turn and a smile spreads across Lux's face. "Yes we did." His eyes go straight to Steela, skimming over the top of the Dalla's head.

It takes all her self-control and the fact Lux and Steela are basically perfect strangers, albeit strangers who hold her life in their hands, to keep from laughing. Thias and Miranda's puppy love was subtler than this.

But then again, she doesn't suppose they care.

A sentry nods to them as Lux and Steela usher her through the door and into a dimly lit room filled with people.

Dono, the woman from the dock, stands with a few other people laughing. "So I screamed at them for a few minutes until Lux and the northern girl were gone and then I stormed off. They didn't even check my ID! It was awesome."

"Careful not to choke on your cockiness, Dono," a dark-skinned man with a soul patch laughs.

"Oh, and you're the one to talk," Dono scoffs.

"So he's distracted," Lux whispers to Steela over Dalla's head.

"And that's a good thing." She replies. "Neither he nor the Jedi were big on this."

Dalla's eyebrows hit her hairline. "Jedi?!"

Lux and Steela share an oh-kriff look.

"I thought you were going to tell her," Steela says.

"Never got the chance."

Dalla steamrolls into the conversation. "You're in contact with Jedi? They're that invested in Onderon?"

"I know a Jedi," Lux explains. "I simply contacted her and she set up a meeting with the Jedi Council."

"Is she here?" Her heart thunders in her chest. Dear salt gods, Jedi change everything. She'll admit she isn't the most informed about the war, but she does know that a single Jedi could take on her entire family - father, brothers, aunt, uncle, cousins, and herself - and win without breaking a sweat. "They could get rid of Rash within the day!"

"Except they're not going to," Steela rolls her eyes.

"They're not going to?" Dalla repeats incredulously. "He's the reason the Separatists are here in the first place. Don't they want the Separatists gone?"

"We all want them gone," Lux clarifies. "But since the planet is officially aligned with the Separatists, they don't have permission to fight alongside us. They're only advisors." He sounds about as happy with the arrangement as Steela does.

"Forced marriage and kidnapping are violations of sentient rights," Steela mulls. "If she testifies Rash is trying it…"

"Betrothal with parental permission is legal under Onderonian law, and Rash will just say permission is pending," Lux says sourly. "And so is the taking of noble hostages to ensure loyalty or cooperation in bargains."

"Which Kason is." Dalla scans the room for the Jedi, which isn't hard. The only people over age 25 as well as a Togruta girl are wearing matching dark brown robes, just like every holo she's ever seen of a Jedi. "They're advisors?" My father has advisors, but they're bannermen we've known for years. Uncle Jamos and me and Glover Harkon. Thias will probably be my best advisor, Miranda too if Rash's men hadn't killed her. Our advisors would help us in a heartbeat if we were at war, not sit around and keep advising without lifting a finger.

As if they can read her mind (and they probably can) the older Jedi and the girl turn to face them.

"I'll take care of this," Lux says apologetically and heads over to them, leaving Steela and Dalla alone.

"Well that was sudden."

"Not much isn't," Steela shrugs. "Have a seat; I think we're both exhausted."

She can sense a caffeine crash quickly approaching. "Thanks," she says and takes a seat next to Steela on one of the couches. "So, have you lived here all your life?"

"Mostly," Steela answers. "My parents were Beast Riders, but we lived in the city."

Dalla notes the past tense. "It seems like a great place to live."

"It is," Steela agrees. "It may not be as fancy as Blackhold, but we had the markets and the other Beast Riders during the Summer Fete. My mother used to celebrate my birthday then because it was so close."

"Summer Fete?"

"It's a celebration of the Beast Riders' culture. We all meet together in the jungle and remember the old ways." Steela frowns. "We haven't had a Fete since the Separatist takeover."

A little like the Summer Solstice Festival, she thinks. "Summer's just begun. You can probably throw one as soon as the droids are gone."

"I hope," a little of the frown disappears. "Would you come if I did?"

Ten minutes ago Dalla didn't know her from a Chirn, yet Steela's magnetic. She feels she can give the other girl an honest answer. "Aye, but I'll be late. I'll be busy breaking every bone in Sanjay Rash's body."

Steela cracks up. "Ha! Save a few for Saw and I."

"I took you more for the dismantling-droids type."

She nods. "I am. We'll flip for it."

"I'll take that chance." And she just might rig that coin toss if it means getting at Rash.

An accented voice cuts their conversation. "I don't believe our guest has been introduced."

In the split second before silence falls Steela mutters a word under her breath that Dalla's heard more often on deck.

The man with the soul patch inflates. "You actually did it."

"Saw..." Steela sighs, exasperated in the way only a sister can be when her brother is being a bonehead.

"You brought her here?" Saw practically foams at the mouth. "My gods Steela, what else does she know? She could be reporting straight to Rash and just waiting for her husband to give her a crown. She -."

"'She' is right here!" Dalla shouts and jumps to her feet.

For a second she's sure Saw will kill her but the look on Steela's face stops him cold. "Yeah, I see that. We're going to have to get a new safehouse."

"Saw, think this through," Steela orders. "King Rash wants to marry her. And you know he's no romantic. He wants her so he can take the north's navy and then make her have Rash babies. Look at her face. You think she wants any of that?"

"Emotions can be faked, Steela."

"That can't!" Steela jabs a finger in Dalla's direction. "You said that the Separatists never cared about anyone else, and when someone needs our help you're going to turn them away? You're going to turn away someone who's willing to help us with the entire might of the north because you're paranoid."

Dalla gets the impression Saw's a real class act. "My aunt was married to Sanjay Rash seventeen years ago. He will do horrible things to me until he gets an heir. And he will never get an heir," she growls. "He knows I'd rather die than let him do that to me, but he has a hostage and I wouldn't put it past him to make an example."

The Togruta Jedi speaks up. "Jedi intelligence intercepted a private transmission from Sanjay Rash saying the hostage was his stepson."

"Did they see the end of the transmission? That hostage is my cousin Kason." Dalla replies cooly. If her mother taught her one thing it was how to keep a calm face while simmering inside. "He's Rash's stepson in his dreams. And since Kason already made him angry and popped his dream bubble, then the salt gods only know what Rash is going to do to him. We've been working on rescue plans since we found out where he was."

The older Jedi strokes his beard. "If Rash was willing to name the boy as his stepson, it's highly unlikely he would do him harm. I see no reason for a rescue."

"Kason beat up Rash in front of Count Dooku. His pride is probably boiling over." And that's not the only thing - her anger is, too. "Aren't Jedi supposed to protect innocents instead of setting them up for death?" She blurts.

Frack! I just yelled at a Jedi!

Dalla's sure she's blown it. She knows less than nothing about Jedi, but she's willing to bet the northern fleet that yelling at them is just something you don't do. She's done for. Banner oath or no banner oath, she wouldn't blame Lux or the others a bit for taking the Jedi over her.

The bearded Jedi's eyes widen, but the younger one smiles. "Well Master, what do you say to that?"

"This complicates things," the older Jedi ruminates. "If the king has committed a crime, that may delegitimize his claim to the throne."

"Which means the Treaty of Iziz is invalid, and Onderon is a disputed world," the Togruta picks up. "And if it's a disputed world, the Jedi and the Republic are allowed to remove a droid presence."

"Unfortunately, that's not the case," Lux interjects. "It's a good plan, Master Kenobi, but hostage-taking is legal under Onderonian law. Unless we can prove Kason was harmed with no provocation from the Blackwells - which, Dalla?"

"Between what Kason did and what my father said? Oh, we provoked him all right."

"Then Rash's actions are allowed under the law." Lux shakes his head. "Dalla Blackwell, meet High General Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Anakin Skywalker, Commander Ahsoka Tano, and Captain Rex."

The names ring bells of recognition from the HoloNet broadcasts she and Marlon watch at Blackhold. "You're the -."

"Please don't say it," Ahsoka Tano groans.

"Hey, I like hearing it," Skywalker smirks.

Lux goes on like he can't hear them. "Masters Jedi, Captain, meet Dalla Blackwell, Lady of the north."

Skywalker lowers his hood. "So you've chosen to side with the Republic?"

"The north has always been on its own side." Her father has kept their people out of the Clone War for this long, she's not about to sell them out now. "A war among houses is one thing, but among planets? Not the northern way."

"Your people are known for avoiding galactic conflict," Kenobi says.

They would have stayed out of this conflict too, if Rash hadn't done what he did. "We have plenty of business to contend with where we are."

Saw scoffs. Everyone but Steela ignores him.

"Like it or not, she's already here, Saw" she says. "You might as well get used to it."

Saw fixes his sister with a very black look, then Dalla with the same one laced with mistrust.

"Fine," he relents. "But when this goes downhill, don't say I didn't tell you so."

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