Maybe I overreacted at Bardo, but the fact he almost killed not only us, but the Queen of Rattatak is something completely unforgivable. The convict I'm less pissy about as she's yet to prove herself to me. I know she's a good shot, but at the moment that's all I've seen.
I look up as the door to my bedroom slides open.
"You okay?"
Of course it would be the one face that would calm me down, Tarth.
"I'm all good." I reply, sighing as Mak follows him into the room. Mak's face is enough to make anyone smile, even in the worst of moods. There's just something about these two, I instantly feel safe around them, as if I'm in company of lifelong friends, although I know I've only known them for two days.
"I feel kinda bad for raging at Bardo. But there would have been another way out that didn't risk our lives." I exclaimed, feeling the anger starting to rise again. I stand to my feet and walk across to the other side of my room, "I mean, what the hell was he thinking?!"
Tarth clearly sympathizes with me, I can see it in his eyes.
His eyes, they seem to have a calming effect on me. I end my rant early and sit back down on my bed next to him.
"That's just the thing," I look up at him as he continues, "There wasn't. I had been scanning the entire ship until you came out. That was the best chance you had of getting out. Bardo was right to do what he did. He saved your lives, whether you want to accept it or not."
The guilt hits me like a ton of bricks. I screamed at my brother for saving my life.
"And if I had of lost you..." Tarth takes my hand now, and Mak, still sitting on my floor, observes.
"I-I..." He seems to stutter and then cut off completely.
"You?"
"I have to go." He says hurriedly, picking up Mak, "I'll see you later."
And with that, he's gone.
What was he going to say? Surely not something about liking me... It's far too soon for that. Isn't it? Yes, I'm sure it's completely business purposes. Without me he'd have no reason to remain on the ship and he'd have no choice but to return the ship to the Jedi academy and return to Mos Eisley back to his shitty old life. Yes, that's definitely what it was.
"We off to meet another one of your deranged friends?" Is the first thing I hear as I walk into the piloting cabin. No surprise that it's Bardo not giving a damn about the repercussions and asking it to Loyus right in front of Adriav, who has taken the role of co-pilot.
"I'm not deranged. I just make sure I get what I want." Adriav says through a firm grin.
"Hey, Bardo." I whisper, pulling his shoulder so he turns to me, "I just wanna, um, apologise for earlier. You saved my life and-" He interrupts me before I can continue.
"It's fine, I know this whole situation is hard on you. I don't expect you to be all rainbows and sunshine all the time. You're my sister, it's fine." He assures me, pulling me in to a hug.
"I know, but, I just wanted to thank you. I don't give you enough credit for what you do."
"If the little family pep-talk is over, we're almost at Rattatak. Loyus's idea." Adriav hisses, before going back to her co-piloting. Bardo and I look at each other simultaneously and mimic her silently, much to Loyus's amusement.
"We're going there so I can inform my people that I will be taking an absence and may be needing their assistance at some point along the line. You can go... sight-seeing. Rattatak is a very interesting country." Loyus points out, walking over to the front window of the ship.
"It's good to be home."
"Now remember. The people around here are always looking for a fight. Make sure they recognize you're a Jedi and they won't mess with you. Got it?" Loyus prepares to go through the rest of the rules for the tenth time.
"Don't look anybody in the eye for too long, only pull out weapons for self-protection, avoid people that look like they could rip you apart with their bare hands, we got it for gods sake!" Adriav sneers, walking out into the sunlight which reflects onto her golden top, blinding me for a second.
"Maybe keep outta the sun. You could kill somebody with the reflection from that!" I cry, shielding my eyes. She sighs and struts away, no doubt to find a bar to pick a fight in. I still don't understand how she can fight in high heels, never mind wear them all the time. I can barely wear them for an hour before falling flat on my face.
"Where are we going first?" Tarth asks, avoiding eye contact with me. Mak, who is happily sat in his arms begins to clap and exclaim with happiness, before beginning his baby Ewok babbling again.
"Well, I guess we'd better go find where Adriav went, I don't trust her on her own. Especially not on a planet like Rattatak." Bardo points out, which I agree with.
"It's not a particularly attractive place is it?" Bardo adds, folding his arms. He's right. For miles and miles it's brown rock. Rock buildings, rock walls, rock floors, rock caves, rock cliffs, rock, rock, rock. Not even a hint of greenery in sight. The only difference from the rock is the blinding orange-yellow sunlight.
"You could walk for ten miles and you'd still be seeing the same thing." I groan, beginning to follow in the direction that Adriav went.
"Almost every other building in Rattatak is a bar. How the hell are we gonna find the one that Adriav went to?" I grunt, preparing to give up. Almost instantly we hear a crash, a smash and a woman shouting.
But not just any woman.
"That's how, come on!" Tarth shouts running for the bar the sound came from. Upon arrival we see what it is that's going on. Adriav made an angry-looking Zabrak seemingly angrier than normal. And that's saying something. They're a race that seem to look angry all the time.
"I swear to fucking god, mess with me and I will tear you apart!" Adriav screams, smashing a bottle on the side of the counter and holding it to the Zabrak's throat.
"You really think you could take me? Ha! Bring it little lady!" He laughs, which infuriates Adriav. She leaps for him, screeching and positioning the bottle to impact with his throat. He quickly dodges it and Tarth drops Mak on the floor and runs over to restrain her. People all over the bar boo at the fight being broken up. Clearly their ideal entertainment is seeing somebody get annhilated.
"Let me go!" She screams, punching and kicking at Tarth. Tarth attempts to restrain her, but she's clearly stronger than him and he gets thrown backwards into a Hutt. The Hutt almost instantly reacts, picking Tarth up and throwing him down the bar, through several glasses and cups, much to the barmaids dismay. Tarth ends up flying straight into a female Miralukan, who screams and almost mimics Adriav's actions in smashing a bottle and running for the Hutt.
And then, it happens.
All out chaos.
Every single person in the bar, except for Bardo, Mak, Tarth and I, are fighting with somebody. Adriav seems to have a fight on her hands with the Zabrak, although I'm pretty sure after murdering her family and escaping from the highest security prison in the galaxy several times, she can handle herself.
"Get Tarth. I'll try and break up some of this fighting." I say to Bardo, running through the crowd into the thick of things. I feel a fist impact with my face, and turn around to see another Zabrak, seemingly humoured by what he's done. I use the force to throw him backwards, through several others who all fall into a pile. I dodge another fist and jump to avoid a kick, and then myself performing an impressive spin kick that impacts with the head of a Miralian woman that was attempting to punch me.
Adriav and the Zabrak are still fighting, and so are almost every other person in the bar. I could fight, I'm pretty sure I could hold my own. But what good would that do? I don't agree with many rules in the Jedi order, but one I firmly abide by is that I only fight in self-defence. Or vengeance. But that last part isn't the rules.
Instead, I remember Loyus's words.
Make sure they recognize you're a Jedi and they won't mess with you.
I pull out my lightsaber and switch it on. The sound and sudden bright purple light grab everyones attention, all who stop fighting and turn to me.
"Every single one of you will stop fighting now! You got it?"
They all groan, but they know better than to mess with somebody that has the power of the force and lightsaber behind them. Most of them leave, still exchanging a few punches here and there but nothing like what we just broke up.
"Good fight." The Zabrak says to Adriav.
"Fuck off." She spits back, walking over to us.
"What? I'm complimenting your fighting skills! Usually I would have killed anyone opposing me in the first five seconds, and most of the time I fight immensely muscular men." He grins, joining us.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Adriav shouts, turning to him.
"Introducing myself. The names Marduk Blud. And you?"
I'm almost hesitant for formalities with somebody that was just in a fight that could have ended lethally for either of them with Adriav, but Bardo, not so much.
"Bardo Fenn. And this is my sister Beka." He says, holding out his hand, which Marduk ignores.
"I'm Tarth Bynar and this is Mak."
"And you've already met Adriav." I add, prompting a stare of death from the eyes of Adriav.
"So what exactly is it you want? 'Cause we're busy people you know." Adriav says, glaring at him.
"Look, I may not be a nice guy, but I am a smart guy. You don't look like regulars on Rattataki soil. So I'm guessing you're travellers. I can see you're all good at fighting and I'm bored. So whad'dya say?" He asks.
"What do we say to what?" Tarth replies.
"Me joining you."
"HA!" Adriav seemingly can't contain herself and breaks out into laughter, but calms down upon seeing the rest of us aren't so humoured.
"Wait, you're not really considering this are you?" She moaned.
"Well... we do need to keep building our team of fighters. And he's clearly good if he can hold his own against you!" Bardo replies. I'm still uneasy of hiring him. I've heard a lot about the Zabrak race, and not much of it was good.
"But he tried to fucking kill me!" She screams, stamping her feet.
"You started it." He replies, seemingly thinking messing with Adriav is a game. She sighs and turns away.
"Oh whatever, I'm going to the square to wait for Loyus's speech, I'll see you whenever you decide to come to your fucking senses." And with that, she's gone. I eye up Marduk. Indeed he's a good fighter, but it's a case of whether we can trust him. Still, I was uneasy with trusting Adriav and so far we've had no problems with her. I just don't want them to end up killing each other on board.
"You've already said I'm a good fighter. There's more to it. I used to be a nightbrother." He says, uneasy to what our reaction will be. Of course, what Zabrak wouldn't want to be a nightbrother? It's the ultimate achievement in their society.
"And why aren't you anymore?" I ask.
"It's a long story. Basically, I'm the only one of my clan still alive." He grunts, his eyes turning to fire as he relives whatever memories are buried within him. I don't want to anger him any further, so I decide to avoid the subject.
"My brothers right. We need good fighters. But how can we be sure we can trust you?" I say through gritted teeth, almost unbelieving that I am about to hire a Zabrak. He holds his hands up and begins to speak.
"I was a nightbrother, remember? It's part of our beliefs that we never betray a brother. Or... a sister in your case. I may not be a part of the nightbrother clans any more but as a part of your team I would never betray you."
It's a good enough story for me, but I guess that's mostly because I know I could kill him at any second if he even tried to betray me, and I look at the other for approval, all of whom nod.
"You're hired."
While Marduk settles in to the ship, Bardo, Mak and I go to join Adriav and wait for Loyus's speech. Tarth went with Marduk to show him the ship and to get it ready for when we got back, but Mak wanted to stay on Rattatak a little longer so I took him with me. Not that I mind, what girl wouldn't want to walk around with a baby Ewok in their arms?
"Ah, I'm good to see you came to your senses and ditched the Zabrak." Adriav sneers as she notices us walking towards her.
"Actually, about that..." I begin, looking to her to see how she'll react.
"Oh my god, what did you do?" She mumbles, cupping her face in her hands.
"Well..." I start, uneasy with telling her this in case she rips my head off, "We may have hired him and he may now be on the ship possibly settling in... Maybe?"
All expression drops from her face and she simply turns away from me to face the stage which Loyus will be entering on to any minute now.
"Fine." She gulps, not saying anything else. I decide not to delve further, as it's probably a smart idea not to enrage a slightly deranged former convict that had just threatened to tear a Zabrak in half and had almost slit his throat with a makeshift weapon made of a glass bottle. No. It'd be best to avoid that.
Everybody in the crowd, surprisingly even Adriav begin to cheer as Loyus takes to the stage, smiling and waving at us as she sees us.
"People of Rattatak!" She says. I'm confused at first, as not everyone on the entire planet can be attending this, although the crowd is huge, until I notice the cameras filming her. It must be being broadcast across the planet.
"I thank you for patiently awaiting my return and never giving up hope that I would be rescued! No Sith lord is too strong for the forces of good across this galaxy!" She cheers, pumping her fist into the air.
"And please do not blame my defence forces for my kidnapping, they did everything they could, however in the end I gave myself up to avoid more of my precious people being killed. Thankfully, I was rescued." She smiles.
"By those wonderful people over there." She shouts, pointing at Bardo and I. We wave, and everyone around us begins to cheer.
"Shall the names Beka and Bardo Fenn forever be remembered as heroes, for rescuing the Queen of Rattatak from the clutches of evil!" She cheers, and many members of the crowd being to chant it.
"Now I ask for your patience once again, as I must once again leave you. However, this time with good reason!" She begins, prompting a lot of chatter in the crowd.
"I have offered my services to those two Jedi's who rescued me in a vital mission to take down the very Sith lord that tried to capture me. Except this time I will be properly prepared if I am to come into contact with him."
Many of the crowd begin to panic and worry, but she reassures them.
"I hope you all remember I have the very same training the generals of the army do, and I also have two of the strongest Jedi as well as many other powerful allies on my side." She says, looking over at Adriav who flips her hair in the wind, hoping for a camera shot on herself which she recieves.
"Which brings me to my next point. If we are to need it, I request that the armies of Rattatak assist us in this vital battle."
I know for a fact that they won't say no, not only do they worship Loyus like a God, every single Rattataki person loves to fight. But it's their reaction that startles me. Across the crowd, they begin to raise their hands and chant.
Bardo and Beka Fenn, heroes of the galaxy, for them we will fight, for they saved our Queen!
Loyus shoots a wink at us, and then turns and walks off of the stage.
I don't know how I got here,
But we cannot get out,
I'm surrounded by strangers,
As the music starts to pound,
I see the bodies slowly swayin',
Movin' side to side,
I feel the animal is rising,
As I slowly come alive...
So everybody starts to move now,
I wanna see you all give way,
I wanna tear this place apart tonight,
And have you thank me for my rage,
Tell me what you came for,
Can I give you just a taste?
I wanna see you lose your fucking minds,
And rip apart this place!
Let me see you move your bodies!
I'll tear you apart,
I'll feed off your heart,
I wanna see your bodies grinding just for me,
I'm just what you need, the perfect disease,
Don't you wanna turn the beauty into the beast?
This song was Beast Within by In This Moment.
The latest addition to the team is the former Zabrak nightbrother Marduk Blud created by Barrett M107, who also got last chapters question correct first, which was that Mos Eisley is in fact in Tattooine, and so he decided there would be a bar fight.
More people are starting to review which makes me happy! Every review makes me smile, remember that! So anyway what's your opinion on my whole depiction of the bar fight scene and of course Marduk himself? Did they do the right thing to trust him?
Now for the just for fun question! I asked you If you were places in the Star Wars high security space station prison, what would it be for?
Barrett M107: Kicking ass and taking names just for funsies. Yes, I said funsies
Alice the B-Rabbit: and if i was in a high security prison i'd fuck shit up like Adriav :D
ShadowMaster77: If I was thrown into high security prison, it'd be for blowing stuff up.
Shoutout to all of you that reviewed, and even more so for the ones that answered the questions! Also go vote in the poll! Thanks for all of your new submissions too, I have a whole lot of characters to work through now, and I can't wait!
Whoever gets this question right first gets to pick out a new plot twist; What are the two main distinct appearance features of the Rattataki race?
Ahhh the questions are getting harder now ;) and for the just for fun question: If you were in Beka's position, how would you break up a huge alien bar fight?
Thankyou! Keep reading, keep reviewing, keep enjoying(hopefully) and PM me if you need anything!
Until next time, GOODBYEEEEE!