MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

Saw's ill-advised rescue mission ends in disaster both for him and for the other players, while Sanjay "treats" Kason to a midnight meal. - LS

...

It's pretty clear Steela sent someone after him. Dono's a good scout, yeah, but she's no Werda Flint. Saw spots her shadow out of the corner of his eye a few times, but he doesn't stop her. Why would he? Dono's not trying to stop him, and she might even help once she sees him go in to rescue their true king.

He comes up to the palace walls, waiting for a droid sentry to pass before he goes to give himself the largest possible window of time. Then with one last look behind him to see if Dono's going to join the party, he fires a grappling hook to the top of the wall and pulls himself up.

This is easy, he thinks. Why didn't we do this sooner?

Lux and Steela, he answers his own question. They're too cautious. Always working out plans and never putting any of them into action. He thought Dalla was made of different stuff, but when it mattered she proved she was a lordling all along.

But Lux, Dalla, and Steela aren't here now. It's just him, the palace, and the promise of returning home heroic and with the true king at his side. Heck, they'll probably make him leader again when he does and with a hero's welcome to boot.

He reaches the top of the wall and finds himself above a small courtyard holding the palace's gardens. He carefully descends from the wall to the roof of one of the outbuildings to wait.

A battle droid stands guard as an old man with a beard and a fair-haired boy walk through the gardens. The king! And the boy has to be Dalla and Thias' cousin; who else would be in this gilded cage?

Saw looks down and waits until the droid turns its back, then jumps from his perch behind it.

"Uh - hey!" the clanker cries, but it's too late. Saw rips its head off and tosses it aside.

King Dendup pushes the young boy protectively behind him when Saw approaches and falls to his knees.

"My lord," he says, and bows his head.

Dendup eyes him dubiously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Saw Gerrera." He lowers his hood so the king can see him better.

But instead of celebrating, Dendup practically groans. "What do you want?"

"Your freedom, sire! You're to be executed tomorrow, but I'm getting you out of here. The people of Onderon need your help."

"Stand up," Dendup orders. "Are you one of the meddlers creating disorder, interfering with the affairs of the throne?"

They sort of are, but Saw reasons that he also sort of got dragged into the great game. "Only to restore your kingship as the rightful ruler."

"I see," he sighs. "This is my fault. I opened the door."

They don't have time for this. As much as Saw would like to listen to a speech about politics and duty to the people and all that jazz, it's only a matter of time before another patrol comes. So he turns his attention to the kid. "Are you Kason Blackwell?"

"Why do you care?" The kid asks.

"I care because your cousin is back at our base waiting for you."

"Dalla?" Kason's eyes go wide. "She's here? In Iziz?"

"Yeah, and Thias too. They'll boil me alive if I don't bring you back to them safely."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Saw remembers something from the early throes of Thias and Dalla's world-ending argument. "Do the words Chirn Bait mean anything to you?"

They do. Kason straightens up and reaches out to the formerly despondent King. "Sire, we have to go. It might be our only chance!"

"Take the boy," Dendup orders. "Kason, as soon as you get out of here, leave the city. Get on a boat and return to the north immediately."

"What about you?"

"I will stay here," he says, "to atone for what I did to Onderon."

"My lord, our movement is Onderon. We're gaining momentum, working with the support of two Great Houses, and have the backing of the Jedi!"

Dendup blinks. "Jedi?"

Finally, some leverage. "Yes, sire."

The king walks back over to them. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Follow me, Sire," Saw says, taking Kason in one arm and his grappling hook in another. "Onderon awaits."

But it's that exact moment where any luck he got from kissing Dalla decides to run out. His grappling hook collides into a plasma barrier and falls uselessly to the ground.

"One-way shield!" he spits and the palace's alarm system springs to life.

Dendup pushes Kason away from them. "Kason, get in the greenhouse. You've been there the whole time and you saw nothing."

Kason races to obey but he doesn't get the chance. Six destroyer droids roll up from either side and lock into battle positions.

Saw and Dendup both grab Kason and hold him close, praying the destroyers won't shoot the boy. When they hold their fire Saw glares up at the shield, the source of his misfortune. At least Dono will be able to run back to base and tell the others of his fate.

Please Steela, don't send a rescue mission. I'm going to do everything I can to protect you, and all the others too, but it'll be for nothing if you throw it away like I did.

When the destroyers fire stun pulses, he does the one thing he can do: he pushes the king and Kason out of the way and roars wordlessly. Maybe he's just loud enough Sanjay Rash can hear.

…

The general who hauls him into the palace looks like he needs a freaking vacation. Or a freaking drink. Or both. Kason sticks his tongue out at the guy, so Saw's willing to bet they don't have the greatest history.

"I thought you terrorists would be smarter than this," he grunts.

"General Tandin! What is the meaning of this?"

Saw forces himself to turn his head to see Sanjay Rash come down a staircase with a Super Tactical Droid. Oh, no. We didn't know about that…

"There's been an intrusion, sire." Tandin explains. "This terrorist apparently tried to rescue your predecessor."

Saw lifts his gaze to meet Rash's disgusted one and forces his signature cocky grin.

"'Sup?" He asks.

Rash scoffs but then sobers up. "Where are Dendup and Kason?"

"They're being taken back to their chambers. Speaking of which, I need to take this prisoner to the detention level."

"They were together? He was going to take them both?"

"I can't say for sure,"

Rash gestures to the Super Tactical droid. "You and Kalani interrogate the terrorist. I'm going to have a chat with Kason Blackwell."

"I didn't think you were awful enough to torture a kid, traitor!" Saw shouts.

The general yanks him up on his wobbly legs. "You are talking to your king!"

"I was," Saw fires back. "Not anymore."

Sanjay Rash's face screws up in anger.

"Interrogate him well, generals," he snaps and stalks off toward the courtyard presumably to get Kason.

The droids sweep Saw through the halls and into the bowels of the palace. While they're walking General Tandin, the only organic there, says something to the tactical droid that he can't hear, though he definitely hears the droid's response.

"My calculations say otherwise. And in light of your previous failure, the same strategy would be imprudent."

"That was a delicate mission. I was ordered not to harm the target and I structured my actions around that order."

"And you failed," the droid reminds him. "In situations like this one, harming hostiles is necessary to ensure victory."

Saw really doesn't like the sound of that, and he doesn't like the looks of the room they haul him into. Containment fields are never a good part of someone's day.

Just breathe, he orders himself. Breathe and give 'em a piece of your mind. You can make this just as miserable for them as it is for you.

"So," he says as the battle droids heft him into the field and then leave the room. "Do you ask the questions first or do you try to scare me?"

The tactical droid nods to one standing at a control panel, and every nerve in Saw's body screams alive.

"AUGH!" Saw never thought electricity could hurt so much. The second the droid switches on the containment field he forgets every strategy and smart remark. The only thought he can muster is make it stop.

An indiscriminate amount of time later the machine powers down and the tactical droid waits for him to catch his breath.

"Where are the other terrorists?" It asks.

Saw summons his courage. "Onderon...is our system! Not yours!"

The droid gestures for the interrogator to turn on the machine.

Saw screams until his throat goes raw, his muscles twitching beyond his control. He's on fire, he's burning alive - and then he's sure of it, sure as he is of anything, that he's going to die. He's going to die here, forever remembered as that idiot who tried to break out the king and epically failed.

"Enough!"

The machine powers down and Saw hangs listlessly by his wrists.

"We have to keep him alive," Tandin urges. "He is a direct link to the terrorists."

"You pity him," the droid accuses.

"I pity your ignorance. You have strong tactics, but it's unfortunate you cannot calculate a different approach."

The droid sees right through it. "Your compassion will be your downfall, General Tandin."

"Your brutality will be yours," Tandin shoots back. "Bring the terrorist into the interview room and leave us."

…

General Tandin probably said something before he made Saw drink a mystery beverage, but he didn't hear it. Whatever's in that cup works miracles; it soothes his poor throat and clears the cobwebs from his head.

"Do I have to tip you?" he asks once he finishes the miracle drink.

"I thought you'd depleted your arrogance with Kalani," Tandin sighs.

"Ha! It replenishes every hour."

Tandin must desperately wish he'd began at the end of the hour. "King Rash is the crowned head of Onderon," he argues. "What's yours is his, and he will do with it what he pleases."

"Dendup is the true king! He never stepped on any of our families' freedoms."

"Are you following his orders?"

"We take orders from no one."

"Not even the families you mention? Are you working with House Kira?"

"House Kira?" Saw laughs. "It's a miracle if anyone but a dalgos or a ruping worked with House Kira!"

"What about House Blackwell? Are you involved with them?

Uh...does kissing the Lady of the North count as being involved with House Blackwell? "Northerners in southern politics? Give me a break."

The general looks over his shoulder and then leans forward. "How deeply are you involved with the Blackwells?" He whispers.

"I told you, we're not!"

"Young man, you are a terrible liar. Keep your voice down and tell me: how are you working with the Blackwells? It's very important I know."

It probably is important he knows. So he can force Lord Blackwell to his knees and drag Dalla into Rash's bedchamber. "You hard of hearing or something? We aren't working with them!"

Tandin gives up. "Aligning yourself with the past doesn't bode well for your future."

"We share the same future! We can sit here as free men or servants of the Separatists."

Tandin slams his fist on the table. "I am free, while you have chosen to become a terrorist!"

"I'm not a terrorist! I'm a patriot! And resistance is not terrorism."

General Tandin stands up. "There's more than one path to resistance."

"Well no one's using any of the others," Saw snaps. "The Separatists have taken over Onderon because we let them."

...

"It's not breakfast time."

Sanjay just can't win with Kason. Forget that he's offering him an opulent breakfast. No, it's not breakfast time.

"Have you never had breakfast for dinner?"

"Momma says we have breakfast for breakfast, lunch for lunch, and dinner for dinner."

"Well your mother isn't here, so we don't have to follow her rules."

"I don't want your breakfast."

Sanjay would just repeat his threat to spoon feed him the meal, but he has more leverage this time. "If you eat with me, then the terrorist in the dungeon gets to eat today."

Kason glares and sits at the table. Sanjay pushes the boy's plate up to him and hands him a fork. Kason looks as if he's seriously considering stabbing him with it, but instead he spears his eggs and sticks a bite in his mouth.

"They're very good," Sanjay takes his own seat. "I always found a good meal comforting after a rough day. You certainly had a scare with that terrorist."

"That guy was the best person I met here in Iziz. Except Dendup, of course."

Sanjay ignores the slight. "Did he understand he was talking to a lordling?" Kason could sure use a lesson in that…

"I was with the king he came to save. He was going to take me too."

"But do you think he knew who you were?"

Kason's lip curls a little. "How could he know who I am since you have me in all this red?"

"I think you look very nice in it." He still remembers Kason's squawks when the service droids stole his fishing leathers while he was in the shower. He certainly wasn't happy to find the red clothes in their place. But red clothes or not, all Sanjay needs is that little lip curl. The terrorist definitely knew who Kason was. The question now is what he had to gain from this.

He's snapped out of his thoughts by Kason slurping muja juice out of a mug. A mug with an extremely unflattering caricature of Sanjay on it.

How that thing even got in the palace Sanjay doesn't know. Over the last few days, packages from a HoloNet retailer have been delivered in his name, all containing gag gifts - toilet paper with Sanjay's face on it, a holder for said toilet paper shaped like a snake with his head, multiple unflattering mugs like the one Kason has, and finally, the package that confirmed the sender's identity: a referee's whistle with instructions to give it to Dendup.

"You won't go anywhere near her. If you do I will fight you here or I'll fight you in the north! I will fight you on the very steps of the palace with Dendup as referee!"

He remembers Lana Blackwell shouting after him like it was yesterday.

"This is my favorite mug," Kason proclaims and takes a huge bite of his breakfast.

"Of that I have no doubt. Your family sent it." He takes a bite of fruit to help compose himself and give himself time to come up with a good question. "Which family member do you think sent it?"

"Emoth."

"Not Dalla? I thought she'd be the one to send me insulting gifts."

"Only Emoth would have such good taste in mugs."

There it is: he's changing the subject when Sanjay mentions Dalla. There has to be something there. "Tell me more about your cousin. I'm going to be married to her; I should like to know a little about her."

"She hates serpents," Kason says. "We all hate serpents. One time my dad was taking a shipment down to Iziz and I was with him, and a sea snake came up to our vessel. Dad grabbed it and -."

Sanjay goes in for the kill. "Why do you keep changing the subject whenever I mention Dalla?"

Kason swallows hard. "Because you're creepy. And none of us want you talking about her."

"Really? It seems like more than that." It hits him. "Why are you afraid for your cousin?"

"Because of you!" he blurts. "You want to hurt her, just like you hurt my mom!"

Normally that would be enough to blow Sanjay's top but he's focused on other things. "You were perfectly fine talking about her earlier when you were making threats. What's changed?"

Kason's mouth snaps shut and he crosses his arms over his chest in defiance.

"Have you received any kind of communication from your family?" Nothing from Kason, so he moves on to the more likely possibility. "Did the terrorist tell you something?"

There, the tiniest twitch at the corners of his mouth. Sanjay's mother always told him that truth came not from what came out of a person's mouth, but the way it moved.

"What did he say?"

Kason shakes his head, whether it's to deny Sanjay's request or the fact the terrorist said anything remains to be said.

"Is what the terrorist said the reason you're afraid for Dalla?"

To his credit, Kason tries his best to stay absolutely still. He steels his body and tries to keep his face perfectly neutral. But there are some reactions that are beyond anyone's control. Yes, the terrorist is the reason for Kason's fear. But how could an insolent young man have anything to do with the betrothal...and then Sanjay's kicking himself for not figuring it out faster.

"Dalla is in Iziz, isn't she?"

Kason unfreezes. "No."

That's all the confirmation Sanjay needs. He gets up from the table and speaks to one of the guards. "Page the detention block and tell them I'm coming to speak to the terrorist."

Kason screams something without words and launches at him. A guard lunges forward and grabs him before he can make contact or grab something off the table to use as a weapon.

With the boy subdued Sanjay approaches and touches the top of his fair head. "It's alright, Kason. Once Dalla's here this will all be over."

"Leave my family alone!" Kason screams.

"She'll be my family soon enough," Sanjay pats Kason's head. "And I promise, you have nothing to worry about. I'll be gentle with my wife."

…

Tandin's miracle drink wore off about an hour ago, and Saw's left in his cell to feel the effects of electric torture in all its glory. His muscles have never ached so badly in all his days.

On the off chance there's someone outside who would actually listen to him, Saw sings a Kira pride song, about crushing one's enemies under fambaas' feet, outrunning them on dalgos' backs, and rising above them on rupings' wings. It doesn't have a big story behind it like the a Blackwell victory song he heard, which tells of a traitorous clan's gory defeat at the hands of the northern navy. His is more generic, sung by almost every beast rider clan. It can't hurt anyone outside of his cell. His throat, on the other hand…

Ignoring his aching muscles, Saw forces himself to stand and drink from the grimy faucet. He stumbles back to the corner he designated his sleeping place and collapses into a heap.

Rest. He's going to need some of that to clear his head, to help him think up a plan for tomorrow's execution. Saw's just managed to find a semi-comfortable position when he hears footsteps approaching. He rolls his eyes when they stop in front of his cell. "What do you want, clanker?"

The voice that answers him definitely isn't mechanical. "You have something that belongs to me."

Saw cranes his head to behold the traitor Sanjay Rash himself standing in his cell door. He's flanked by Generals Kalani and Tandin, and two MagnaGuards stand in front of him with electrostaves activated. Kason's in the background, looking defeated but unharmed. Thank gods.

"What? Decent facial hair?" Saw retorts.

Rash doesn't blink. "I know Dalla Blackwell's in Iziz."

Kriff!

"If you cooperate in bringing Lady Blackwell to her proper place, I may be convinced to show you mercy," Rash announces. "Where is my wife?"

There's no way Saw's telling him, if only because Steela and Dalla are in the same place. That and he wouldn't wish marriage to Rash on his worst enemy. He has to throw him off the trail to protect them all, but how?

And then it comes to him: the oldest trick in the book for protecting women from unwanted advances, and an opportunity to stick it to Rash.

"Your wife? You mean my wife."

Rash nearly chokes. "What?"

"This is Dalla Blackwell we're talking about, right? Brown hair, broken nose? With the little birthmark on her…" He tries not to smirk when he sees Rash turning bright red. "Yeah, she's my wife. We got married yesterday."

"Stop deluding yourself, boy," Rash sniffs, though Saw's thrown him off balance. "She's betrothed to me. That makes your quote 'marriage' invalid."

"Oh no, we checked all the boxes. We had a family blessing and a cloak and a binding cloth. You know betrothals aren't legally binding until vows are said. And she actually agreed to do it. We're more married than you'd ever be. She's not yours to mess with anymore."

"I am the king! I'll do what I please with anyone I please."

"You know, it's not a good time to be king. I've heard their reigns are getting cut short."

Rash scowls at him.

"Your marriage ends tomorrow."

"Good luck trying to get a perfectly legal marriage annulled. I'm not signing any papers, and I highly doubt she will."

"Until death do you part." For a second nothing but evil flashes on Rash's face. "You will be executed tomorrow along with Dendup. And then Lady Dalla will marry me with all of Iziz as our witness."

"You wish. My friends and my wife are smart. They'll never fall for that."

"We'll see," Rash gives him a sardonic smile. "Don't waste your last hours worrying about the other terrorists. My wife and I will see to them after our wedding."

Saw can only muster a barrage of curses to that and Rash leaves. A few seconds later the detention level door shuts and General Tandin races into Saw's cell.

"Saw, listen to me," he orders. "You need to tell me where your wife is."

"Why, so you can haul her here? No way!"

"No, you fool!" Tandin's run fresh out of patience. "Can't you see I'm trying to help you? I can't do anything for you now, but this isn't over for her. There's still time." He composes himself. "Please, if you have any affection in your heart for Dalla, then let me help her. Don't sentence her to a living death."

He sounds so sincere, like he actually cares about Saw and Dalla. But Saw knows good cop/bad cop games when he sees them.

"I love my wife," he lies. "I'm not going to betray her." Replace wife with sister and it's the truth.

"You don't understand." General Tandin pleads. "Didn't Dalla tell you what happened on the docks at Blackhold? That was me. If you tell me where she is, I can get to her before Rash does. I can save her!"

Saw sets his jaw. "This is one sick game you're playing," he says. "But I'm not going to play it. I'm not selling out everyone I love to the Separatists."

"Saw, you're making a terrible mistake."

"Maybe I am," he admits. "But at least I can go to my grave with a clean conscience."

…

Thank you to Starwarshobbitfics for your review, and please everyone don't hesitate to leave one of your own. DK and I would love to hear what you think of this rather drastic turn of events.