Entry 31

Pol Haus met us at the docking bay as soon as the freighter touched down on Coruscant. He ran up the boarding ramp and pulled Sheel into his arms, giving her an amorous kiss.

He then turned to us all with tears in his eyes. "Thank you! I can never fully repay you for what you did." He hugged every one of us including Norro who appeared embarrassed at being praised for a mission he wasn't a part of.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked, wondering about the situation. Sheel couldn't do public poetry shows ever again. She's a convicted felon that's supposed to be on a prison planet.

Pol turned to Sheel and smiled he reached out and took her hand in his. "I would like to give you a new identity as the wife of a police prefect." He leaned in and kissed her. "If you would accept being married to a humble law enforcement officer."

"Yes," she gushed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.

"Congratulations." I gave Pol a brotherly slap on the shoulder and a friendly kiss on Sheel's cheek. "So you intend on hiding her in plain sight?"

"How is that going to work?" Den asked.

Haus ran a caressing hand down one of Sheel's stripped lekku. "I know a person who can change the strip pattern of Togruta Lekku. The facial recognition software tracks these unique patterns."

"Aren't you worried that some trooper will recognize her without computer assistance?" Sacha asked.

Pol shook his head. "I know it may sound a bit bigoted, but the Empire is human-centric and to humans all aliens look alike. I doubt any stormtrooper will recognize her."

"True," I said with a nod of my head. "I wish you to the very best." I picked up my satchel and looked to my group of friends. "We really need to get off planet soon. If Vader or an Inquisitor is anywhere nearby there is a chance of them sensing me."

We said our goodbyes to Captain Kwon, Pol and Sheel and quickly moved down the boarding ramp and toward our ship parked in an adjacent docking bay. My eyes darted nervously around the busy spaceport. There were stormtroopers everywhere and Pol Haus' talk about face recognition software made me nervous. I had changed the color of my hair and removed my beard, but I doubt that would be enough to fool a sophisticated program. I started walking faster until Den and I-Five asked me to slow down. I keep forgetting Den's short stature makes it hard for him to keep up and I-Five's Police-droid body was made for durability and not speed. I turned to Den. "I think we should split up. Our current entourage is a bit conspicuous. Go on ahead and get the ship prepped and request departure clearance."

Den frowned. "Do you sense Vader?"

I shook my head. "I don't dare reach out with the Force. I'm trying to keep a low profile now. It's just every time we are on this planet Vader ends up finding me."

"And then there is a firefight," Den offered. "Or a lightsaber battle."

"And my head gets separated from my torso," I-Five added.

I chuckled. "Let's try to keep your current head firmly attached to your body. Replacement parts are becoming costly."

I turned to Magash, Sacha and Norro. "Let them get a little ahead of you and then follow. I will take up the rear." I noticed Sacha blushed at my last comment. I really need to sit down and talk to her and let her know there is no need to be embarrassed about that birthmark incident. The two women and Norro nodded before wandering off at a safe distance behind I-Five and Den.

I followed taking a circuitous path. I could actually see our ship in the distance when I felt the hairs at the back of my neck raise. There was a Sith somewhere close by. My danger senses bristled as I casually gazed across the docking port trying to appear nonchalant. Eventually I saw him. A Sith Inquisitor walked out from a side corridor about two hundred meters from me. His black and red outfit made the man very noticeable. Before we could lock eyes I turned down a side street and contacted Den by comlink.

"Den, I think I've been spotted by an Inquisitor. I'll try to move to the lower levels and elude him, but I need you to get everybody off planet now! Don't wait for me. I'll find another way to home base."

"Jax, we won't leave you."

I ducked into a turbolift and moved five levels down into Coruscant's underbelly. "For Force-sake, why doesn't anybody ever listen to me?" I yelled into the communication device. "Get out of here and I will rendezvous with you somewhere else!"

I shut down the comlink ending further conversation. I was now completely positive that my decision to leave Whiplashand Coruscant was a good one. I only hoped that I could escape this Sith infested planet one last time.

I exited the turbolift and ran down a dingy pedestrian lane lining a cluster of grimy bars, cheap hotels, skinholo theaters, and shops selling a variety of erotic toys. "Damn, I'm on Sleaze Row." I walked by a store window where a scantily clad Twi'lek sat in a chair trying to look alluring. Above her was a neon sign advertising 'Private dances.'

I saw movement in the distance. It was the flicker of red and black. I didn't wait to confirm it was an Inquisitor. I ducked into the nearest storefront only to find myself in a leather domination shop. I moved to the back of the store while scouting for an exit.

"Can I help you?" I turned to see a man in his early twenties eyeing me. He wore leather pants and was shirtless with the exception of two leather straps crossing his chest in an X pattern.

I looked to the back of the store. "Do you have a back exit?"

His brow rose in amusement. "If you mean my pants…" He turned around to reveal that they were backless chaps. He slapped his behind and grinned over his shoulder. "There is definitely an exit."

I blushed and looked away. "I meant in this store."

The man turned around looking disappointed. "Why? Did somebody spot you coming in here? The boss, a wife?" He gave me an appraising look. "Or a boyfriend."

I kept looking at the front of the shop expecting the Inquisitor to walk in any minute. "A boss," I lied.

The man gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, there isn't another way out. Can I sell you a mask?" He walked to a shelf and held up a full leather mask with only eyeholes. "How about this beauty to make your escape?"

"Do you have something that won't make people stare at me in public?"

He shook his head in annoyance tussling his shoulder length blond hair. "How about this?" He held up a black latex gas mask with large transparisteel eyepieces and a single hose coming from the mouthpiece to a rebreather bag. "It is used by various species of near-humans who have trouble handling the polluted air on Coruscant. Nobody would give you a second look if you wore this."

"Fine, fine, how much?"

He quoted me a price and I paid it. I put the mask over my face and grimaced when I breathed in the smell of sweat and body odor. I took off my jacket and reversed it so the lighter colored lining was facing out and then slipped out of the shop. I didn't see the Inquisitor and I hoped he had walked by the shop without noticing me.

I moved down a dark alley in an effort to avoid high traffic areas. I really thought I eluded the Sith when I heard the very familiar snap hiss of a lightsaber up ahead. Around the corner came a young man—probably a teenager—in an Inquisitor outfit and carrying a red lightsaber. I reached to a side pocket and pulled out the Sith saber I carried on Despayre. When I ignited its red blade the boy hesitated. "Are you an Inquisitor?"

I saw my chance to talk my way out of this situation. "Of course I'm an Inquisitor." I was relieved that my voice sounded deep, calm and foreboding through the mask. "Who are you? I don't recognize you!"

The boy let the blade of his saber dip slightly. "I'm Inquisitor Apprentice Holt…I'm the rank of Plebian."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I did know the new Imperial Academy designated freshmen students as Plebes. I assumed this indicated he was a youngling Sith recruit. I kept my saber at the guard position. "How old are you?"

"fifteen sir."

I turned off my saber but kept it ready in my hand. "You are too young to realize your mistake. Get out of here before I inform your Master."

He deactivated his saber and was about to turn when I heard another lightsaber activate. "Not so fast." I turned to find another youngling Sith wannabe coming up from behind me. He was human with blond hair and the start of an adolescent fuzzy mustache. "You need to call this in, Holt. I can sense he is a Force sensitive and just because he has a red lightsaber doesn't mean he's Sith." He eyed me suspiciously. "We might have a rogue Jedi."

'Great,' I thought. 'I had to run into a Sith with a brain.'

I reactivated my saber and tried to sprint past the newcomer. He did a Force leap to block my path and brought his saber down in a sweeping arc toward my head. I countered his strike with a block and a then counterattacked. I could heard the hiss of the fifteen-year-old's saber behind me and the sound of boots moving toward my position. Without turning I threw out my empty hand in his direction and Force shoved the youngster backwards. I heard a grunt as the boy hit something hard. The second Sith was swinging his saber wildly. They both were novice fighters and I knew I could easily dispatch the two, but I just couldn't bring myself to kill children. I remember the deep feeling of despair and disgust that ran through my gut when I discovered all the younglings in the Temple crèche were murdered…eviscerated by a lightsaber. To think my old friend Anakin was most likely the person who committed such an atrocity made me sick. I never want to be like him. I was no child killer.

The youngling behind me must have caught his breath. He let out a wild yell and ran towards me. I could hear his approach and the hum of his saber. I blocked and parried with the second Sith until the last second. I then did a flying back flip intending on getting both boys behind me so I could make a run for it. As I completed my acrobatic maneuver I heard two screams and then the deactivation of the sabers. I landed in a crouch position, lightsaber in hand, when something rolled toward me and bumped into my boot. I looked down to see the head of the fifteen-year-old at my feet, decapitated by his friend's blade.

I looked to the other boy and realized he was also mortally wounded. He was gasping for breath as he sat on the ground trying to hold his intestines inside his body. Blood oozed from the gash and my heart broke as I heard the boy cry. He cried like a child, not a Sith apprentice. I walked toward him cautiously and kicked his lightsaber away from his reach. I deactivated my saber and knelt down next to the boy. I was still wearing my mask and I hoped he wouldn't be able to describe me if he survived. I searched through his pockets as he wept and found his comlink. I pushed the emergency alert and then left the boy bleeding and sobbing. The comlink should give the young man's location. With any luck he might get medical help in time.

I ran down the street and back into a turbolift. I rode the lift back up to the docking bay level. Hopefully, I could purchase a seat on the next transport off planet. When I arrived to the dock I swore softly when I realized the Laranthhadn't taken off yet. I would be mad if I wasn't so happy to see the ship. It had its engines on, but his loading ramp down. I sprinted across the bay and up the ramp while taking off my mask. "Let's get out of here!"

I collapsed on the deck more out of despondency than exhaustion. I could hear the mechanical whine as the ramp as it raised and the hum of the engines as they slowly lifted the ship to a hover before it turned and raced out of the bay and into the bright Coruscant sky.