Chapter 6 doom and gloom, fake friends anew?
LUKE POV
Night had finally fallen. Luke had traveled deep into the underworld. He had been forced to flee away from the Jedi temple because a ton of Jedi had been sent out to look for him but he had managed to evade them so far though he had a couple of close calls.
Just then lightning split the sky and thunder roared angrily. Big drops of rain poured down like tears. Rapidly falling until the shower became a complete and utter downpour.
Running in a random direction cursing his once again bad luck he searched for some form of shelter.
Entering in an area in what appeared to be a garbage dump of some sorts but a more accurate description would be a place where people threw useless junk. There was a wide circular opening in the metal ceiling hundreds of feet above him that showed the rainy and cloudy sky above and strangely there were no speeders crossing over the sky in the night. Well, at least in this area. Just stars hidden by puffy gray clouds. He saw other abandoned run-down buildings around the perimeter of the massive circle in the sky that was like a hole that showed the universe. Building upon buildings were stacked upon each other around the dump holding up the metal ceiling and upon the ceiling were more buildings. Except the only empty space was that circular opening in the sky, right about where the landfill was. So the dump was illuminated by some starlight. The rest of the rain drenched ghetto was illuminated by artificial lamps, signs, and neon lights but this place was absolutely deserted and for a second he was awed by its weird beauty. He only sensed a few force presences in the vicinity so it was a perfect place to hide and the presences were quite a while away. He found an empty abandoned speeder with faded red paint and broken windows. It was hidden really well and he was lucky to have found it but it could hardly call it a speeder because the engine had been ripped out along with other important parts, but at least the leather seats were still intact and it had a roof over it.
The moment of awe and wonder for the structure around him was ruined as he opened the rusted door of the speeder. He flinched as the door squeaked loudly and lightning illuminated the sky once again. Crawling in the backseat he lay down huddling bringing his knees up to his chest. Violent shivers wracked his cold wet body.
We-ell this is just fantastic. Absolutely perfect he thought sarcastically. What a lovely day I've had. I have to say it's been the best day out of the twenty three years I've lived. If the Jedi and Sidious don't kill me maybe I'll just die of hypothermia. Pathetic.
He sighed in defeat. He was cold, wet, he had a massive headache, his legs hurt, his muscles ached, he was absolutely starving and was even considering stealing food, he had failed to talk to Yoda, and the worst part was he probably made enemies with the Jedi now. Could his day get any worse?
He had never felt so frustrated. So helpless. He wished Leia were here, Han, and Chewie as well. They would know what to do. He felt so utterly alone. Well, he was alone actually.
Usually he was a cool headed calm person. He was a Jedi after all. Though how could anyone be calm in such a situation. He couldn't use the force much or risk being sensed by other Jedi.
Maybe I should have asked to talk to Yoda instead of sneaking around like some wanna be ninja. He thought frowning. Well sneaking around is a bit of a habit. I didn't know what to expect out of these Jedi. I was just being cautious. Now look where that's got me.
He sighed once again. How depressing.
"I need to save my father, my mother, the whole Jedi order, and the republic, and I haven't the slightest idea how to do it except that I need to kill Palpatine but I doubt I can even do that in the state that I'm in," he said glumly to himself.
Dammit… I feel like I could just curl up and cry. How pathetic am I.
"Gah, I need to stop feeling so damn sorry for myself," he said rolling onto his back staring up at the roof of the broken down speeder.
Moping wasn't going to solve anything he needed a clear head to find the solution to all of his problems.
Yeah right, like a clear head will actually solve my problems.
He sat staring, thinking, the rain thrumming almost gently against the hood of the speeder. A cold draft blew in through the shattered windows.
He shivered wishing once again his friends were here.
He started to doze off; his eyes slowly closing gratefully welcoming the dark abyss that was to come once one fell asleep. Darkness engulfed him and he dreamt of nothing that night.
NEWT AND SORELI V. POV
A modified red four seated xj-2 airspeeder flew through the maze of the underworld way above the speed limit. It headed deeper into the dark parts of the area finally disappearing into the night. The two occupants of the speeder were pleased by their clean getaway. One occupant driving in the front, the other in the backseats securing their stolen items and artillery.
"Did we lose them," a feminine voice asked.
"Yeah, I think we did," another voice answered, this one belonging to a male, the voice sighed in relief.
"I'll drive us to the detritus landfill, okay. That place is practically impossible to find and I doubt they will think of looking for us there, let alone find any trace of our asses," the feminine voice suggested directing the modified xj-2 speeder down a dark tunnel.
Shrugging the male voice answered, "sure thing Soreli. Maybe if we're lucky we'll find something to sell."
Chuckling, the newly named female voice Soreli replied, "I highly doubt it newt. You know all that is ever dumped there is junk, garbage, and more junk."
"Yeah, unfortunately," the figure named newt said smiling.
After a while the red speeder flew into the detritus landfill, a slight drizzle of rain fell from the circular opening in the sky. It was quite a sight on starry nights.
Soreli parked the speeder behind the skeleton of an airbus, devoid of anything that would make it recognizable.
Then they both got out looking around.
"Hey, do you think that rusted red speeder we saw a couple of days ago is still here. You know the one with the nice leather seats, I think we could rip the leather out and find something useful to do with it," the figure of newt suggested.
"hmmm, yeah lets check it out."
Together the two figures walked in the direction of the speeder.
When it suddenly came into view after a short trek over garbage newt sighed in relief saying, "Good, it's still there."
"Of course it's there you idiot. Not many people know about this place or come here at all because all that's here most of the time is worthless useless junk," she said kicking an empty tin can that was nearby.
"Let's go," newt said nearing the red speeder.
Soreli trailed behind.
Newt opened the front doors, saw the leather seats were still there then he proceeded to open the back doors.
The sight that he saw made him gasp in surprise.
Soreli heard newt gasped and quickly hurried over.
Pushing newt roughly out of the way she glance in the darkness of the speeder and froze.
There lay a teenage boy. He had sandy blond hair and was wearing all black and appeared to be around eighteen years of age. But her eyes were drawn immediately to the silver cylinder clipped to his belt.
A lighsaber she thought. We could make tons of money off that.
"Is it dead," the timid voice of newt asked behind her.
"Of course he's not," she shot back all the while placing two fingers on the figure's neck to feel a pulse. She felt one all right.
"What should we do with him? He seems to be unconscious at the moment."
"Yes, and perfectly harmless. We should take the lightsaber and split. I hear they sell for a lot of credits so we'll be rich enough to live more comfortably," Soreli stated evilly turning around to face newt.
"What if he finds out it's us who took it," newt questioned. Still not completely sure of their plan.
"He's a Jedi. He can always build another one," she stated offhandedly.
She turned around and leaned back in to the broken down speeder and snatched the lighsaber carefully off the Jedi's belt. She studied it for a moment then proceeded to clip it on to her own belt. She then began to walk away back to their speeder.
Newt stood there. Unsure of what to do. It felt so… so… wrong. Yeah, that was the word, wrong. Something just told him whether it was instincts or premonitions that this Jedi was meant for great things and would change the world, the galaxy, the universe. He just couldn't explain the strange feeling that came over him so suddenly.
"Well, you coming," the voice of Soreli asked but he just couldn't take his eyes of the supposed Jedi.
"I- I don't think this is a god idea. I just have this bad feeling about this."
Sighing in frustration Soreli marched back over to him, grabbed his hand, and tried to pull him along.
"Soreli, why don't we take him with us?"
"What?" she asked incredulously. The idea was ludicrous and not to mention stupid to say the least.
Sounded just like something Newt would say anyways.
"I mean he doesn't even look that harmful. I'm sure we could subdue him if things get out of hand," newt replied not taking his big eyes off of the Jedi.
"This is stupid. We should not be having this conversation Newt. Now let's go back to the Bloodrazer (that was what they decided to name their speeder) and get the hell outta here. Like right now. That thing could wake up at any moment and I don't think he would be pleased to know we are robbing him of something all Jedi hold important."
"But he's just a kid. Come on let's take him with us," Newt insisted stubbornly. "He could really help us . I mean a Jedi. We could accomplish a lot more with Jedi on our side."
"Newt, in case you didn't figure this out already that is most likely a Jedi. Jedi don't help criminals they stop them. If we bring this Jedi…," she said pausing to point her finger at the prone figure in the backseat. "…with us he will most likely try to stop us. That's far from helping us you lamebrain," she finished sarcastically.
"But, I've just got this feeling. I feel that taking him with us would be the right thing to do," Newt insisted once again.
"No. You can be so naïve sometimes," was the short reply he received.
"Come on, you always say that we should listen to our instincts and my instincts are telling me that we should bring him with us."
"then you're instincts are messed up big time Newt. We should get you to go see a doctor. Well, if we had enough money anyways."
"Please Soreli, just listen to me for this. I know this is the right thing."
"No, it's not. Now let's go. We need to get out of here."
"Well, I'm not leaving without him."
"You know," Soreli drawled out. "I knew you were crazy before but now I think that you are just plain insane!"
"Please, we have to do this, I can feel it," he pleaded with her giving her big puppy dog eyes.
She grew unsure. Her face twisted in a frown of confusion and another emotion Newt couldn't place, but it was most likely one of deep contemplation.
Sighing in defeat she reluctantly said, "Fine we'll bring it with us, but you have to carry it to the bloodrazer, okay."
Rolling his eyes as much as a nautolan could he replied playfully, "yes, ma'am."
Soreli wiped the rain water off her face and turned away walking in the direction of the bloodrazer.
Rain drizzled over newt as he threw the slightly damp jedi over his shoulder and carried him after Soreli.
A little later a red modified four seated xj-2 red speeder flew off silently into the night. One of the occupants' content, the other very annoyed, and the other asleep.
LUKE POV
The first thing Luke noticed was that he was warm, dry, and on something soft.
It felt like a bed of some sort.
Opening his eyes proved that his suspicion was correct.
He heard talking too. A male and a female voice.
The voices immediately stopped after he stirred.
Opening his eyes wider he abruptly sat up in the bed, glancing cautiously at his surroundings.
He was in what appeared to be a small room with one window and two doors. One leading into the hallway of the building and the other leading into a bathroom. The curtains on the windows were closed but he could tell it was daytime. The room had tan yellowish walls and the floor was tiled with white squares. Across from his bed which was a very long desk lined with shelves, a computer, hacking equipment from what he could tell, and papers.
Under the desk was a cooler, a trashcan, and boxes of different shapes and sizes.
His attention then returned to the two occupants in the room with him. One was a woman sitting on a green cheap looking couch. She looked to be around her mid-twenties. Sharp dark blue eyes watched his every movement while mid back lengths long brown hair marred her face. She had light colored skin which contrasted greatly with her all black body suit. There was a blaster on her hip along with a vibroblade. She wore black boots that reached up to about her knee.
The other occupant looked much friendlier than the first, sitting on a rolling chair. He was a green nautolan who looked younger than his female companion. About maybe eighteen to nineteen years old. He had big black eyes and his head tentacles, if that's what one would call them, had black stripes. He was wearing a black vest, with a black long sleeve shirt underneath, dark brown loose pants similar to jeans with pockets in them, and a pair of black boots. He also had a blaster strapped to his hip and a vibroknife.
He was pretty sure these two had other weapons but they must've been concealed.
Speaking off weapons he didn't feel the familiar weight of his lightsaber. His hand immediately went to his hip, and it was not there.
"Where's my lightsaber," he demanded giving the two unknown occupants a guarded look.
"Relax, Jedi. As long as you don't try to stop our criminal activities you'll get it back. It wasn't even my idea to bring you here anyways, it was my brother's," the female human coolly stated looking at him with disinterest.
"First of all I have a friend who is a smuggler so I think I'm pretty okay with your… activities…, and what do you mean by brother?" he questioned looking at the nautolan confusingly.
"My adopted brother," she answered nodding toward the nautolan.
The nautolan rolled his chair over to the bed and said with a big grin plastered on his face,"I'm pleased to meet you Jedi-,"
"Oh, uh Luke," he answered.
"Pleased to meet you Jedi Luke," the nautolan said as they shook hands.
"uh, just call me Luke, I'm not really comfortable with formalities." And I'm not an official jedi anyways he thought.
"Well, Luke my name is newt and that over there is my sister Soreli v. but just call her Soreli."
"Sure thing. Uh, by the way where are we exactly."
"We're in the Jolo motel. It's a temporary hiding place we're using," soreli answered briskly.
Before another word could be said in the room his stomach started growling. He blushed a bit and asked, "You wouldn't by any chance happen to have any food would you." Because I'm starving. I can't even remember the last time I had a good meal.
He ate and took a shower while newt had his black clothes washed so he could have them clean once he got out of the shower. Over the next couple hours the trio talked and Luke got to know a little more about Newt and Soreli.
Newt was eighteen years old and Soreli was twenty six. Their modified red xj-2 speeder was named the Bloodrazer. It was after all as red as blood. The duo would be classified as hijackers, shoplifters, thieves, smugglers at times, vandalizers, and looters. Basically they were what one would call a public menace. They just loved to ruin belongings of the rich compatriots of Coruscant.
Soreli v. was cold to strangers but she loved her adopted brother. That much he could tell. It seemed that she would do almost anything for him. Soreli was a cool, confident, cautious type of person. She always kept an eye out for trouble and did not waste any opportunities to gain what she needed. She was skilled with blades and liked to throw knives and other sharp objects at her opponents. She didn't really care about others that much but it was clear that she loved newt from the bottom of her heart.
Newt on the other hand was almost the opposite of Soreli. He was kind, friendly, caring for others he didn't even know or in other words very empathetic, but he could be serious when the situation called for it. He loved his sister Soreli. Respected her decisions and opinions. He had a kind hearted nature and was skilled with his blaster. He loved her dearly and tried his best to take care of his older sister. They balanced each other out perfectly it seemed.
He told them about himself as well but he didn't tell them that he was from the future, wasn't even an official Jedi, or that Palpatine was a sith lord, who his parents were, or any other too personal information. They had asked him how he had ended up in the detritus landfill but he lied and just said he was on a classified mission as a Jedi and his opponent had beat him but he escaped, stumbled upon the broken down speeder, and used it to rest in. he also said he didn't need to go back to the temple anytime soon. Soreli looked suspicious looked as if she was about to demand answers out of him had it not been for Newt. After that they didn't really question further since it was clear he meant no harm whatsoever. He also took it upon himself to thank the both of them for saving him.
Luke was in deep meditation. Sitting cross legged on the bed. He had to explain what meditation was to Soreli and Newt earlier so they wouldn't question what he was doing. He was using the meditation to reestablish his strong force connection when he was interrupted by a question from the outside.
"You told us your name is Luke but, I just curious, what is your last name if you don't mind me asking?"Soreli questioned. She was sprawled on the green couch looking at something on a data pad.
He opened his eyes blinking a couple of times. The question caught him by surprise. What do I say! He thought. "Uh, its sky…stalker. Yeah, Skystalker."
"Luke Skystalker,"Soreli repeated with a raised brow. "Sounds pretty shady to me and it sure as hell is wierd. It makes you sound like some pedophilio."
That made Newt who had been taking a sip of a bubbly beverage start to choke and cough with laughter.
He chuckled nervously. She's right that name does make me sound like some weird pervert. Damn it. A chance to come up with your own last name and you choose something only a creeper would have. He continued to berate himself.
"Well I think Skystalker sounds like a cool name," newt interrupted still chuckling a bit, "it's like your stalking your prey or something." He swiveled around in his chair.
Yeah I guess. Stalk my prey. Stalk Sidious… wait a minute. Now that's just weird. Sidious is probably the one who's going to be doing the stalking and I'll unfortunately be the prey. He shuddered at that.
One more thing was bothering him. He didn't know what time it was so he voiced his question aloud.
"It's five thirty seven p.m.," newt answered. "Me and Soreli aren't going anywhere so since you still look pretty tired maybe you should rest," he said looking a little at him with concerned eyes.
"Black eye circles don't really look good on you either, you know," Soreli commented wryly.
"Okay, I'll sleep," he conceded and settled back down on the bed but not before giving Soreli a nasty glare but she just smirked back in return.
He drifted off to sleep without second thought. Hopefully resting would help him regain his energy. He really needed it after the events of the passed days which seemed almost unbelievable but in reality they were true, and he'd have to find some way to deal with it.
