Author's Notes
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Into the Maelstrom.
As always, my life these past few months was hectic, but I finally got a break. Detailed news at the end of the chapter.
Let's jump right into more Tatooine fun.
Chapter 7
When people thought of Tattoine, they thought of piss-poor families eking out their meager lives on moisture farms deep in the desert, where the only thing protecting them from raiders and Sand People was how poor they were. The planet was hot, and hot planets were rich in energy. Had Tattoine possessed significant mineral deposits, it could have been a production center in the Outer Rim. Had it enough water, it could have been an exporter of exotic foods and spices. But Tatooine's atmosphere had very little moisture to spare, and what it had never fell willingly as rain: it had to be coaxed out of the air by wasting a whole lot of power. The only reason the place had been colonized in the first place was because of ore. Sadly, shortly after mining was set up, it was discovered that the particular impurities made the ore unusable without applying a purification process that was more expensive than the minerals themselves were.
So it was no wonder that what few Republic citizens had ever heard of Tatooine imagined a boundless desert dotted with moisture farms and perhaps one sand-covered ghetto with an abandoned spaceport that the original miners had constructed thousands of years ago.
Tab hadn't learned about Tatooine in a textbook though, and he knew that the truth was much more complex than imagination.
###
"Something bothering you, Knight Ti?" asked Tab.
Shaak Ti frowned. "It is unbecoming of a Jedi to be read this easily. You make me feel . . . inadequate about my training. I can't say I like it."
They were walking on the right side of a street, letting the smugglers, thugs, slave masters, and slaves pass by them. This was the trading quarter of Mos Espa, and the night was drawing close, so at some stores owners were putting away the merchandize, but other places were opening, many of them having nothing on display: just gaping door portals leading to items and pastimes she was sure were illegal. Kine led them confidently through the labyrinth of hollering traders and keen-eyed stooping figures in rags, and Revan looked quite comfortable at his side. He had pulled out and affixed a vibroblade to his belt—something between a dagger and a shortsword, with a blackened serrated edge. He kept his hand on the hilt, and nobody eyed their group for long.
She said, "You two are even more comfortable on Tatooine than Master Dooku. Doesn't it bother you? Thieves and pickpockets everywhere, slaves in plain view, everyone bearing arms? I saw two muggings in the last hour." She squeezed her fists. "I have no idea how anyone could fix this planet."
"What makes you think Tatooine even wants to be fixed?" Tab fiddled with the short beard he had grown during their voyage. He said, "Does being here bother me? Not particularly. Revan might blow a gasket though if we don't get him somewhere indoors and away from the slaves. I'll be surprised if we manage to pull through this without him dragging us neck-deep into shit."
She said, "We shouldn't draw attention. That's what I keep telling myself."
He chuckled. "The entire point of coming to Tatooine for someone as young as you is to get drunk, wake up with people you don't know, and fight for your life—in any order. In any case, the guy we are here for sounds like bad news even for this planet. We take him out, and people can breathe a bit freer, even if he will be replaced. Or this person might be a woman. An equal opportunities world, Tatooine."
She eyed him wearily. "You are younger than me, Tab. Or at least you looked that way before the beard."
"Keeps sand away from my skin."
Kine, five steps ahead of them, said, "Could you two lovebirds shut up? Your flirting is about as subtle as a gulp of banta piss."
Shaak Ti's lekku twitched. "We aren't flirting!"
"Sure, I believe you."
Tab waved in surrender. "Sorry, Kine, I'll keep it down. It's just that I have nothing to do, and there is a beautiful woman by my side, so I went a bit overboard. I apologize."
That was it. She ground her teeth together and stepped closer to Tab to avoid making a scene. "You should be apologizing to me! I'll remind you that you are no longer on whatever rock you got your training: you are in the presence of a Knight and a Master of the Order and you will hold yourself in such regard." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment and added. "And stop hitting on me! You've been doing it the whole trip."
Tab tilted his head to the right. "Fair point. Just remind me when I forget to ignore that I enjoy your company."
She felt blood rush to her cheeks. The man was insufferable, and she was sure he simply enjoyed riling her up. The Temple was full of young men and women of all races, and it had made certain aspects of growing up . . . difficult. The Force gave much, but romance and dating and various, ah, kinds of exploration were actively discouraged. She was supposed to dump all such impulses into the Force, and she had done so ever since hitting puberty. The Temple made it easy too: everyone was focused on becoming better Jedi, and they all held themselves to the same standard. Outside the Temple, the Jedi were feared as much as they were respected, and that meant that she hadn't needed to deal with romantic attention except a quickly averted glance here and there. But Tab wasn't afraid of her, and he threw compliments her way like he had been born to kiss asses and grease palms.
"Anyway," said Tab. "Where there is civilization, there are thieves and all kinds of criminals. Unhappy societies with weak governments have it much worse, and Tatooine is a depressing place ruled by crooks who don't care only about raking in money. But we can use the underground if we are smart enough to keep from getting robbed blind."
A shop on their right had a woman sitting in front of it. It was protected from the elements by a leather awning and her skin looked as weathered as the ancient skin. Her white rheumy eyes stared straight ahead, and she rolled a single wupiupi coin over the gnarly knuckles of her right hand. The tiny gold coin looked like it had barely any mass left from the constant wear—just a piece of foil, polished to a mirror shine.
Kine approached her, and Shaak Ti couldn't see from behind, but his arms moved in some pattern. "Auntie Buba," he said, "How are you this fine evening?"
Her voice was like crumbling bones scraping on sandpaper. "My ass is covered in bruises from this fucking stool, and stupid kids keep bothering me, trying to get in where they shouldn't poke their nose into. I'm not letting you in again: the Ear will have my head. In fact, after the stupid shit pulled last time, I'm surprised you are still alive. Get lost, Kine, before I get Grawk to encourage you."
A hulking Gamorrean stepped out of the door portal, a hand on a bantha prodding stick affixed to his belt. "Kine," he said.
The kid raised his hands and a disarming smile. "Now, Auntie Buba, that whole thing has blown over. I gave it back, with extra, and Ear has forgiven me, hasn't she?"
She barked a laugh. "Ha! She didn't want to have whelp blood on her hands. Don't mistake it for forgiveness. Grawk—"
"I bring business," said Kine. "They are willing to pay for information and kill if they are double-crossed." He jabbed a thumb at their group. Everyone nodded, except for Revan who gave the old woman a wave and a wink.
The woman looked them over, and Shaak Ti got that tingle in the neck that told her somebody was about to play them. The partial blindness had to be fake.
"Pfft. Look like a bunch of bath-takers to me. Your fancy knife ever saw a fight, boy?"
Tab took a purse out of his robes, jingled the coins and threw it toward the woman. She and the Gamorrean naturally followed it with their eyes, and in that moment Tab and Revan moved. In half a second, both had their vibroblades out. Tab was behind the woman, with a knife at her throat, and Revan was next to the Gamorrean, holding his weapon to the chest. Tab had also caught the purse.
"Insult us," said Revan in a cheerful voice, "And we will gut your entire fucking establishment. And don't mind the robes: they work in certain circles and don't—in others. We were thinking that for your circles, plasma grenades might be better." He reached into his robe with his free hand and took a red sphere. When had he—
Revan stepped away from the Gamorrean, and Tab left the woman alone. "But it doesn't have to be that way. We are prepared to spend money here, as long as there is no funny business, and then we'll leave in peace."
Dooku had moved closer to her. He bent his head, pretending to look at his shoes and whispered, "Observe but don't interfere."
Buba stared at Revan for a few moments, then her face split into a smile, and there was that bark of laughter again. "Ha! You sound like you are our kind of people, even if you wear this pacifist crap. Come on in."
Revan asked, "What, you aren't going to ask us to leave our weapons at the door?"
"Now that would be an insult, wouldn't it? And you bastards are fast. I will ask you not to raise too much of a ruckus, or the boys inside will put you down, fancy tricks or no. Now, what are you waiting for? Stop loitering. Kine, take this sorry bunch indoors. They irritate my old eyes: far too clean."
The Gamorrean stepped aside, and they went through the door, turned left, and entered a plain grey hall ten feet wide. Shaak Ti had to squint when two lamps hit her eyes and illuminated all of them. It took her a while to see that at the end there was a mounted heavy blaster manned by a Rodian with a blob of burn scar tissue under his right eye. There were no lights on his side—the hallway was a kill zone.
They went through the door at the end of the hall, and acrid fumes hit Shaak Ti's nose. It felt like breathing in hot sand, and she began to cough, trying to keep dignified posture and failing. Instead of the uniform grey of the hallway, this room was all metal painted in dark-blue and violet. Pillows stuffed with something lumpy were thrown around a dozen metal tables, and twenty or so patrons lounged around them, playing cards or smoking thin yellowish sticks and staring into space. Master Dooku wrinkled his nose. "Dontworry," he said.
"Bless you," said Tab.
Master Dooku explained, "It's a drug: has a proper name, but I doubt any of these people know it. It regresses cognition to that of a ten-year-old, so that is full of wonder. Try not to breathe in too deep." He stopped talking, and Shaak Ti noticed that the Master's chest was barely moving when he didn't talk.
Her throat was still burning, and she felt something start to slip into her mind, crawling past her barriers and inhibitions. She put the left sleeve of her robe in front of her mouth, but it didn't help much.
"Hey, lady, you can just crouch: there is none of this stuff at my height," said Kine, grinning.
Tab laid a hand on her shoulder, and she felt his power suffuse itself with her body, asking for access. Maybe it was that she had started to trust Tab, or maybe he simply caught her off-guard, but she let him do whatever he was doing, and warmth flooded her chest, quickly spreading to fingers and toes. It became easier to breathe, and the fog in her mind cleared. When she raised an eyebrow and looked at him, Tab just shrugged. He said, "I told you I was passable at healing, didn't I? Let's find somewhere to sit, so your head doesn't get cloudy again."
Now that she could think properly again, Shaak Ti noticed that the three other Jedi were working some sort of technique, cycling energy through their bodies. This must have been what allowed them to need very little breathing. She could understand how Master Dooku could do this, but how many techniques did Revan and Tab know?
She kept gathering crumbs of data about them: conversation slips, demonstrations of Force Techniques, spars on the ship. She blocked out most of it, afraid to put together everything she had on them: she was sure that if she watched and listened a little while longer, all the jagged pieces would arrange themselves into a clear picture without mental effort or prying deeper than Tab and Revan allowed. But it made no sense, she knew, none at all. Something was missing. They flowed through the underbelly of Tatooine easily, as only people who have spent much time among irreputable companions do. They seemed to have an elbow-deep bag of Force tricks, and whatever was thrown at them, Tab or Revan could rummage in the bag and pull a key for that particular lock. And yet her instincts were telling her that they were hiding something too big to even contemplate. Some great shadow loomed behind them, and from the distance she was at she could hardly make it out: like staring at a cruiser's ramp with a microscope and trying to deduce the make of the ship.
Revan and Tab walked up to the bar and slid onto adjacent stools in one synchronized movement. The bartender was a young woman, no more than thirty, but the only hair she had was a white lock on the top of her shaved head, weaving to the back and tied into a knot that Shaak Ti could see when she moved.
"What can I get you, gents? And lady."
If she saw the robes, she made no comment about them.
"Two shots of Syrian Panther Sweat for me and my friend over here," said Tab and stared questioningly at her and Master Dooku.
Master Dooku chuckled. "Ah, I wonder what would be . . . hm . . . appropriate."
The bartender said, "Considering what your friends are ordering? Nothing less than an Emerald Kingdom would do."
"Isn't that poisonous to humans?"
"Only when fools try to make it before they are ready. It's a very advanced drink. But Syrian Panther Sweat is worse: it's supposed to leave your head echoing for half an hour. You gents sure?" Tab and Revan nodded, and the bartender shook his head. "And you, gal? What would you like?"
"A glass of water, please."
"Water. You are serious." She looked her over, turned to Tab and Revan and grinned. "Gents, I think this girl wants to get you drunk."
Her hands moved under the bar and he started pulling bottles out. For Shaak Ti, she poured a glass of water and slid it to her. For Master Dooku, she took out a dark-green crystal and a bottle of what smelled like pure alcohol. She threw the crystal into a glass, added a finger of alcohol and swirled it, waiting until the crystal dissolved, hitting Shaak Ti's nose with the smell of herbs and reminding her of her home planet. The bartender then added a finger of water, took a purple leathery fruit from under the counter, sliced it open and squeezed some juice into the glass. He slid it in front of Master Dooku.
She then pulled out a tiny bottle—no more than a few ounces—with double glass walls with a fine mesh of steel suspended in the glass. The liquid that was inside was black and viscous. She took out two shot glasses and a sheet of something white and slick. She tore off a small patch and wiped the inside of both glasses, making them gleam. Seeing Shaak Ti's inquisitive glance, she said, "To keep the glasses from melting." She then took out two durasteel sheets and laid them near the glasses. She took the bottle, leaned back as far as possible from it, then opened it, splashed two fingers into each of the glasses, capped the bottle, and slammed the durasteel over the glasses. The drink was exposed to air for two seconds, but it was enough to release tendrils of grey smoke into the air. The smell was of musk and burning hair and mint. It was enough to make her eyes water.
Revan nodded and took his glass as did Tab. "To the success of our venture. May assholes get their due, and may we all come home whole." They clinked the covered glasses, and Master Dooku joined them. After a moment of hesitation, she did so too. Tab and Revan tilted their heads up and clamped their free left hands on their noses. They let the covers slid to the floor by shaking the glasses a bit, and before a single tendril could escape, they tossed back the drinks. She didn't even see them gulp: it seemed to go straight down the esophagus.
"Oh," said Revan leaning back. "How I have missed you, Syrian Panther Sweat. A drink after my own soul. Appreciate the quality, man. This is great, right, Tab?"
"Like a stream of molten lava burning me from the inside. Perfect."
Revan offered a fist bump to the bartender, and the woman hesitated a second before accepting it and saying, "Damn. I thought you'd hit the floor the moment it hit your stomach. Name's Ear. What can I do for you, gents?" He then turned to Kine who he'd been ignoring. "And don't think you're off the hook, pipsqueak, just because you bring a couple of blokes who can actually drink. And are those Jedi robes? Well, I'll give you that, you are subtler than the last pair. Bloody dimwits."
"Now, that's interesting," said Tab. "Get us all water, please. The burning is getting less pleasant."
"Like pompous toddlers they were—adorable." She poured Tab, Revan, and Master Dooku a glass of water. "Used their mumbo-jumbo to mess with Buba's head outside, so I had to stop old Trangvar from punching them full of holes with the blaster. I'd be surprised if they survived two days after leaving here—didn't look like they had the oomph to back up the cocky attitude. And the girl's ass when she wasn't looking—real smooth."
Shaak Ti didn't like how ершы sounded. Aayla was a good friend, but she was impulsive and far too bubbly for a Jedi. Master Vos was also a problem: he let emotion blind him too often. She'd heard whispers in the Temple of him being interested in his Padawan in that way, but she dismissed them. Ear though had no reason to lie about this, and if Master Vos was distracted and Aayla was her usual self . . . She didn't like their chances against a criminal overlord.
"What were they here for?" she asked.
"Toots, I ain't dumb enough to give you info before I see the peggats." She made a 'give me' gesture with his right hand. "How much are they worth to you, I wonder. A right dangerous place they wanted to go to."
A patron rose from a table to their right and back and walked out swaying from side to side. Tab glanced at Revan and made a quick series of gestures. Revan nodded, got up, and went after the man.
Tab crossed his fingers and laid his chin on them. "Well, it depends. We are looking for the Whisperer. You could give us a name. You could give us a location. You could tell us of the safest way to get in. And we could recommend your . . . establishment to whatever Jedi may be coming to Tatooine later. They'll probably be dumber than us and inclined to leave more money here. There is always something happening on Tatooine, so having an information broker to go to could be beneficial for both of us. What do you say? Want a more permanent arrangement?"
Tab had only one hand on the bar, and the bartender had both of hers below it. Shaak Ti could feel the tension in the pub. Some of the patrons suddenly seemed more alert. Revan was still gone, and Tab was staring at Ear without blinking, a slight smile on his lips.
Ear drummed on the bar a few times. "What're you going to do to the Whisperer, I wonder."
Tab's smile grew wider. "By the time we are done with him, he won't be a problem for anyone anymore."
"I have people ready to open fire on you. I suggest you put both hands on the bar."
Tab didn't. He said, "And I have a lightsaber ready to ignite and pointed at your abdomen. Any of your people do anything, and I'll burn through your intestines or maybe liver. Dying won't be pleasant." He leaned forward. "Here are your choices. Try this half-cocked ambush. Maybe get one of us but definitely die. Try to feed me bullshit and see first-hand just how good the Jedi are at seeing through it. And die. Or tell me what I fucking need to know and get enough gold to tear through your pockets when you go home tonight."
Strangely enough, she couldn't feel him using the Force to help him convince Ear. A mild suggestion would have surely tipped the scales, and they wouldn't be risking a bloodbath.
After ten more seconds, Ear relaxed and gestured with his visible hand. The patrons that had been roused went back to staring into space. She said, "You want to take down a criminal lord of Mos Espa. I'm not sure you carry enough cash for the information you'll need."
Tab said, "And I'm sure you have people interested in his slice of business, and if we can give you a sign that he's gone, you will be able to sell that information to one of the other authorities here for tons of cash."
Ear scratched her chin. "That's true, I suppose. But I'll still need, ehm, a deposit. To prove your good intentions, sweetcheeks."
Tab nodded, reached inside his robes and began pulling out small bags of coin. "Twenty peggats each," he explained. "Ten for you."
"What about the kid?" asked Ear.
"Screw the kid," said Tab with an easy smile. "We have what we came for."
Kine looked like he had been smacked, and Shaak Ti wanted to protest, but Tab gave her a hard enough glare to make her shut up. This was his world, she realized: negotiations at gunpoint.
Ten minutes later they walked out of the establishment. Kine was stomping after them, and after they rounded the corner, Tab turned to him and crouched down as if to fix the kid's clothes. She didn't see anything, but there was a jingle of coins.
"Here you go," said Tab. "Split it and hide it in a dozen disgusting places. Be smart about the money, and you'll go far."
"But— this is more—"
"Well, you did help us get the info on the cheap side, so it's only fair you get some reward. And you still need to help us get closer to the palace. Then you'll be free, and we'll be kicking Hutt's ass. Which is mostly what Hutts are made from."
Kine giggled.
###
"You will only get in the way," said Tab while hiding grenades inside his robe. He tossed a plasma grenade to Revan.
They had gone back to Traveler's Hope, Kine got his shower and left. It was now up to the boy to protect the money, but Tab had faith in the kid. He was smart and had some ability with the Force even if not much. He'd be fine. Or at least this was what he had to think to focus on the mission.
Shaak Ti said, "We can't let you two go in alone. A pair of experienced Jedi would be in a tight spot trying to infiltrate a criminal stronghold, and we don't know anything about you. Master Dooku, back me up."
Dooku rubbed the tip of his pointed beard and said, "Perhaps me and Knight Ti could cause a distraction?"
"Master!"
"No, Knight Ti. You haven't seen them fight and I have. I suspect our friends have even more tricks, but they wouldn't be willing to reveal those if we are with them. I would rather see Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos back with us, safe and sound, than try to force knowledge out of our allies."
Tab glanced at Revan, and his friend nodded. Tab shook his head. "What I'm afraid of is that you two will raise a general alarm, pulling all of Montar's forces to us. Then we'd be screwed."
Dooku laughed. "Tabook. Please. I've been joining diplomacy missions since I could barely string two words together. Add the Force, and I'm sure we could right walk in. After all, what would you expect two Jedi to do in this situation?"
Tab thought about it while cleaning a blaster and holstering it. They had done some shopping at the night market, and while the arsenal they had now was ramshackle, it was functional. Except for a third of explosives Revan had thrown out fearing they would blow up in their hands.
"You want to secure an audience with Montar," he said.
Dooku nodded. "We will offer a significant amount of credits to get our Padawan Secura and Master Vox back. I will claim they acted on their own, and that the Order has no reason to interfere with his business. After all, what he is doing is perfectly legal on Tatooine."
Tab nodded. "He won't buy it, of course. But maybe you can intrigue him enough that he doesn't have both of you shot on sight."
Dooku smiled and tutted. "Oh ye of no faith. Believe a little bit in us and the Force."
Tab considered Dooku's offer. It could help him and Revan if some of the Hutt's forces were pulled to watch the Jedi. Dooku had a reputation, Tab knew, and his arrival would surely be seen as something dangerous. He just didn't want to get prospective apprentices killed. Plus, Dooku was one of the less stubborn Jedi he had met, and Shaak Ti had potential, especially if she ever got past the Temple dogma. It would be a shame to lose them.
"Tab," said Revan, "stop your mother-hen act. They are grown-ass Jedi, let them live a little."
Shaak Ti scrunched up her nose. "Why are we even asking you? Master Dooku should be the one planning this."
Dooku smiled. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm just laissez faire about it."
Tab hid fastened a vibroknife above his left ankle. He turned to Revan. "How do I look?"
"Like you are an idiot with no weapons waiting to get robbed."
"Right. I'll put the blaster on the outside. What the hell is this model? They didn't even put proper thermal isolation between the power cell and the plasma chamber. It's like that shopkeeper wanted us to die."
Revan grinned. "I'm sure it had nothing with Shaak Ti here lecturing him on the immoral nature of his goods."
"Okay," said Tab. "We are going. I'm trusting you to do your thing, Master Dooku, and not get killed, and you should trust us two to do the same."
Dooku nodded. "Fighting in close quarters against superior numbers will be difficult. I suggest you stick to Makashi with bursts of Ataru."
Tab felt the corners of his mouth drift up as his fingers brushed against one of the many bulges under his robes. "I like another tactic. We get in and we blow them up."
###
Montar's stronghold was a white spire jutting out of the reddish dust clouds that covered the streets of Mos Espa. It was on the western side of the city, past the bazaar and the slave markets which were thankfully closed for the night. Revan might have become a problem otherwise. Their group crept along the streets, closer to the fortress, while Tab hid everyone from the attention of bands of thugs that roved the streets. As they got closer to their destination, half-drunk clumps of two to ten became squads of three wearing similar clothing. The sentries were disciplined, but it only took a couple nudges with the Force to make them check out an empty corner while Tab slipped past with everyone else in tow.
###
Dooku and Shaak Ti split off, and Revan and Tab headed to the back of the building.
"This stronghold," said Revan. "It's new."
The building was surrounded by twenty feet of open space on all sides: like other Hutts, Montar appeared to be paranoid. Then again, everyone really was out to get a criminal lord, so maybe it was just caution. Now that Revan had pointed it out, Tab peered at the walls across the space they were circling. Most buildings in Mos Espa were smooth: hard edges didn't survive the endless grating of sand for long. The desert polished and slowly eroded everything, and a building's age showed in its lines. Montar's stronghold was pale yellow with streaks of red, and its walls met at right angles with sharp edges. There were two floors: the second smaller than the first, and black automatic turrets dotted the terrace above the first one. Thugs patrolled the perimeter in groups of four.
"Do you see any openings?" asked Tab.
Revan shook his head. "This place is locked up tight." There was admiration in his voice. "It's fairly well protected against a Jedi infiltration too. Wish we had our team."
Tab nodded. It's been some time since he needed to plan a stealth mission. With Briana and Atton backing him up, he could usually slice right through whatever compound he needed to get into, and if they were about to get overwhelmed, there were always Force Storms to take care of that. He flexed his fingers, feeling the Force sluggishly respond to his prodding. The tentative bonds they had developed with Dooku, Shaak Ti, and Qui Gon were there, but they weren't enough to get him anywhere near his full power.
"We'll need to move fast," he said. "I see mines, patrols, blaster turrets, and what looks like a grenade launcher. Think I got everything?"
Revan squinted and looked the building over. At least there were enough lights around it to make its outline as clear as if it was noon. "I can't see well from here. But those four towers at the corners of the second floor? They might have snipers."
"Damn it. We should have posed as food delivery or something. Dooku and Shaak Ti will be drowning in shit as soon as we start." He frowned and spread his hands, palms up, letting the Force wash over them. "Well, nothing for it now. Let's get in."
Tab didn't have his offensive capabilities back yet: a proper Force Storm would eat through most of his reserves. Yet before he became a one-man artillery battery, he had been a specialist in support and incapacitation. He folded power around him and Revan, molding it into an ovoid and creating a cushion that would dampen anything coming at them, be it energy-based or concussive. He then focused on a technique he was most proud of: Jedi Master's Speed. He finally had enough to maintain it along with basic protection, and it would have to do.
The world slowed down. He could see individual grains of sand drift in front of the lights. They were across the empty space and there was a blast door, leading deeper into the building. He could see windows on the second floor, behind the turrets.
Tab felt a wave of Force from Revan as his friend flooded his system with power, pushing himself beyond human capabilities.
"Let's try to pull at least some of the heat from Dooku once we get in."
Tab approached Revan from behind and jumped on his friend's back. For a moment they looked ridiculous, until Revan activated the prototype stealth generator they had built during the trip. Light bent around them, and the pair vanished from everyone's view.
"Here goes nothing," said Revan and leaped.
While Tab could use too many Force Powers to count, Revan specialized in the few that were most useful in close combat. But when he specialized, he really gave it his all. Even with Tab on his back, he made a magnificent arc through the air, above the kill zone surrounding the building, and over and behind the turrets. They landed heavily on the balcony on in front of the second floor, and Tab jumped off, slapping a demolition charge on a window.
Everything was silent for a moment, and then all the turrets swung toward their invisible forms.
"I never was good at stealth," said Revan.
The field failed, and twin dark-gold blades ignited. The turrets fired with loud thuds. Revan knocked a few crimson bolts out of the air, but there were too many, and he and Tab were forced to roll away. The demolition charge chose this moment to explode, the shockwave breaking reinforced glass. A cloud of debris and dust went into air, and the turrets paused for a moment, their programming adjusting to poor visibility. Tab crouched and dashed through the opening, igniting his lightsaber on the way.
He ended up in an apartment, empty except for two half-naked Twi'lek girls, tied to racks on one of the walls and staring into space. The place war rather Spartan for a Hutt, Tab thought: the walls were bare grey, light came from simple projectors. There was an autopsy table in the middle of the room which looked like it had been taken straight from a Coruscant morgue. There was also a counter with gleaming, polished, expensive instruments of pain. He heard Revan growl. He was staring at the girls, more specifically at scabbed over scars on their stomachs and all over their bodies.
There was only one door out of the room. Tab tossed a grenade at it at the same time as it opened, and the concussion charge flew into the middle of a dozen mercenaries that were about to pour in.
Even thirty feet away, the shockwave nearly took him off his feet and the explosion was like putting his head into a metal barrel along with an ignited firework. He had to blink to clear his head, but the thugs had it much worse: they were holding their ears, blood pouring out. Seven humans and one Gamorrean.
Beside him, Revan stepped forward sporting a grin that didn't promise anything good. His eyes blazed with orange. He pointed with his free hand, and even through the ringing in his head Tab heard the command.
"Break."
The hurricane of Light Revan kept around his presence wavered and split, and a torrent of Darkness pulled forward. The kind of desire that made men rape others in prison, the kind of jealousy that made them kill family, the kind of fear that made them shit themselves before having their hearts burst from shock. It went by him and slammed into the thugs. Revan swayed on his feet, and Tab had to step to him to support him. "You shouldn't have done that," he said. "We need you at full power."
One man in front of them was staring at his hands, looking at the blaster in his right one, as if wondering how it had gotten there. He looked up at Revan, one of his eyes bloodshot, and giggled once, twice, then broke into hysterical laughter and pointed the blaster at the man next to him, starting to fire and laughing harder when the bolt burned through the man's forehead and exited through the back of his head along with a smattering of boiling brains. The shooter now had tears streaming down his face and turned to another of his comrades, but that one wasn't about to go down easily. He already had a vibroblade out. "Tilar," he was saying, "Tilar, what's wrong with you?! Guys, restrain him! Guys?"
He was the only one who had managed to shrug off Revan's attack. Everybody else had gotten their weapons out and directed them at others.
Revan and Tab didn't wait for the end. They ran past the group and headed down.
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Aayla felt it pulse above her. The wave of Darkness made her quiver. It was nothing like what she could have summoned herself: it was directed, vicious, powerful, invigorating. It called to her. Lying on her cot, she reached out to the source almost absent-mindedly, like to an old friend Bonded to her through the Force.
There was a feeling of surprise. And then a probe. Curiosity. She felt rage behind it.
Someone had come to her. Come to take her away. To stop her from getting her revenge. She gritted her teeth.
Denial. Anger at those who would take freedom from others.
Oh yes, she saw. No Jedi would feel this way. And there were Jedi in the building too, she sensed. They would try to rescue her. They would spout on and on about peace and forgiveness. She would forgive Montar's men after they lay gutted at her feet.
Hurry, she pleaded with the presence. Get here before them. Set me free. Sic me on Montar.
There was a rush of air, and an indistinct blur shot past the forcefield in front of her cell. A startled yelp was followed by the sound of a body sliding down a wall.
"Tab, get her out of here. We don't have time to hack our way through."
A man stepped in front of the forcefield. He wasn't the one who had called out to her, but he felt similar. He too was excited, and she felt the joy of battle resonate from him. He raised a hand to the forcefield and frowned. The Force pulsed once, not Light and not Dark, merely inquisitive. It seemed to find what it was looking for, because the man smiled, ignited his double-sided lightsaber and stepped to the side, thrusting it into the wall. The field died.
Another human stepped in front of the wall. Huge and dark and dangerous. He looked at her steadily, and in his eyes red and blue swirled. He tossed her a cylinder.
She caught it. It was clunky, but yes, there was the familiar button. She pressed it and the blade blossomed in front of her face.
"Green?" she asked.
The man grinned, cocky as they come. "I would have brought red but didn't think the Temple would appreciate the symbolism. Now, are you gonna sit on your bed, or are we going to murder our way to our allies?"
End of Chapter Notes
This chapter was so much fun to write: I'm finally getting the feel for what Tab and Revan are like and what their friendship is like and where it will all go. But no doubt I got the timeline wrong, and the characters are not like their canon counterparts, so I'd like to remind you that this story is only loosely canon compliant. I love Star Wars to bits, but not enough to dig through every bloody source, so don't expect me to know ship class designations and when Dooku had sex the first time. This is a story where we have fun with characters and throw some OP elements into the movie universe to let chaos engulf it.
Also, you can buy a glass of water on Tatooine (I'm mentioning it, because this came up in a review). People still drink, It's just that water comes from moisture farms and makes up a major part of most people's budget.
Now that the disclaimer is over, on to some updates.
I dropped the price on my original novel Beware of Light as far as the kindly gods of Amazon jungle would let me, so if you want to check out more of my writing (and with proper worldbuilding this time) you know where to go. The exact map is in my profile. Overall, I'm working more seriously on making writing my career now, but so far it hasn't interfered much with my creating fanfiction—RL madness usually does that.
In other news, I've beaten Persona 5, and I know that I'm way too late to the party, but I can't recommend that game enough. It's perfect is what it is. Wacky, charming characters, solid plot, cool concept, great soundtrack, fun gameplay with only a couple hours of grinding but still punishing when you make mistakes. If you can afford the bloody thing (why are console games this expensive?), then it's probably one of the best RPGs to pick up.
Let's see. Books. Lies of Locke Lamora is the perfect fantasy novel. It's like Game of Thrones for me, only set in one city and I care about all the characters and not just Arya and Tyrion.
Review replies:
Vangran
Thank you for pointing out that embarrassing typo. Tatooine's proper name has been restored.
shydes528
Hope you liked that glimpse of Darth Revan that I showed.
Phoenix Invictus
Thank you for the recommendation. I might take you up on the offer, or I might keep my headcanon intact. About the romantic tension. In The Old Republic Revan says that to him Meetra was something more than just the Exile and does so in a very suggestive tone. Because of that phrase, I thought the developers hinted at a relationship that wasn't completely platonic. In any case, it doesn't matter. Thanks for liking the story, and I'll be interested in hearing your opinion on what's to come.
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There is another batch of RL crap heading my way, but hopefully it won't impact the release of next chapter too much.
Until then, stay shiny.