Stepping out of the clothes store, the man joined the throng of shoppers on this busy market day. He was dressed in the present fashionable combination of beige tunic with black trousers and blended in to the crowd without a problem. This was exactly how he wanted it. The last thing on his mind was standing out.
As if to emphasize the point, an Imperial patrol pushed its way through the crowd. People were bullied out of the way as it progressed towards one of the stores further up the street. There was a blaster whine and the man saw a body fall to floor.
Probably looked at them funny. He thought.
Not taking any chances, he changed direction towards a side street off the main plaza and tried to work out, in his head, a route to the spaceport. It was a pity he had to leave this planet, he quite liked the routine that he'd gotten into and the place itself was quite beautiful. However, that was the trap, he'd gotten too settled and it was only a matter of time before suspicion was raised.
He pushed the regret to the back of his mind as he followed his own directions, kicking the rubbish out of his way as he walked. He recognised the call of the Force. It was a complete coincidence; he kept on telling himself, that his route to the spaceport and the subtle feeling of suggestion were converging further up ahead. He suppressed his irritation at the sometime manipulative nature of this power he was connected to and carried on. It was then that he heard the high-pitched scream.
Can't I just for once, get from A to B without something happening? He complained to himself.
Breaking into a run, he followed the impulses until his view was blocked by several large beings.
"See there's no-one here." A condescending voice, full of satisfaction, came from ahead of the large beings.
"Forget it. You had your money." came another voice, young and female with a slight waver of fear.
"You forgot some of the interest." The first voice again, "Too many people owe me now and I need to make an example."
"I've paid you back eight times over." cried the second voice, really scared now, "I've got enough for my ticket and you say I owe more?"
"It's a changing environment and you have to be flexible to meet those changes." The first voice was clearly enjoying the fact he could intimidate the second, "However, you could tell us the id you're account and we'll call it quits."
"You said that after the last job I did for you." The second voice was close to tears, "I'll never get out."
"Well, these gentlemen will have to indulge their darker natures I'm afraid. Nara here is very good with knives."
The man had heard enough, suppressing the rage within him and channelling the Force through his legs; he jumped over the blockage of bodies and landed in front of a very scared looking young girl. She looked about ten or eleven, dressed in clothes, which had seen better days and with a mop of short black hair on top. If he hadn't heard her voice, he would have mistaken her for a boy.
She was facing four humans of varying dress from the dead end of these side streets. She literally had her back against the wall. All of her tormentors had the desperate look of people who had lived on the street too long. They were all tall but gangly, obviously not eating too well. Three of them stood behind their leader, who had all the features of a standard thug.
"Who the stang are you?" he yelled,his voice being the threatening voice from before.
"Like you said." The man replied. "The business environment can change at a moment's notice; the real question is how you react? Will you make an offensive takeover bid, or retreat to consider you're options?"
This seemed to confuse the leader; he wasn't used to people using the same kind of language that he used to intimidate people thrown back at him. The three behind him looked warily at each other and then looked back at their new arrival. One of them grinned.
So you want to fight, come on then! He realised it was the wrong thing to think and he had to suppress the satisfaction that these bullies had picked up on wrong one this time.
They didn't even give an order, they just charged. The leader swung a heavy punch, but all he hit was air, as the man moved gracefully to the side. The leader's arm was grabbed and he was swung round into one of his men. The fact that the leader fell onto his man's drawn vibro-knife was just unfortunate. The couple of men fell to the floor, one pinned down by the weight of the other.
The other two didn't even notice, both had also drawn knives and slashed towards their opponent. The man realised that he had no choice and drew his sabre-staff, lighting it at one end. The fact a light sabre had been drawn didn't even register with the two men. Two cuts and there were four thumps, as recently deceased body parts landed on the ground.
The last man threw his leader off him and, taking the Jedi by surprise, body slamming him into the wall beside the girl. She was crouching in terror, trying to shield herself. The light sabre was dropped and switched itself off as it clattered onto the floor. The Jedi concentrated and the Force threw his opponent away from him and into a wall with a sickening crunching of bone.
He knew they were all dead as soon as the remaining body crumpled down to the floor. It had all happened in less than five seconds. He turned to pick up the sabre when he noticed that a small part had fallen off. He examined the part. He always thought it was some kind of decoration that the owner, a Jedi from long ago called Bastilla Shan, had added. However, looking at this small part, it was obviously some kind of data crystal. He picked it all up and turned to look at the girl.
She was still shaking partly in fear, partly at the violence that had occurred in front of her. She turned to look up at him with wide brown eyes.
"You OK?" he asked.
She nodded.
"You can go, they can't hurt you."
"You killed Nico…" she stammered. "The others will come after me."
"I'm sorry, but you've at least got a chance to run." He replied.
"I can't, I need my stash first." She sounded almost frantic.
"That your ticket money?"
She nodded hesitantly.
"Off world?"
"Yes, why?"
"You got the documents for that?"
"Documents?"
"You fly interplanetary or interstellar, you need documents and forms so they let you fly."
The girl seemed to be recovering well from her shock.
"Who do I talk to get them, Mr Jedi?"
"Jedi?" the man smiled without humour, "I'm no Jedi."
"How did you do that then?" The girl pointing to the crumpled corpses surrounding them.
"Luck."
"There's no such thing." The girl seemed to getting angry.
"So what will you do?" asked the man, "Run to the Imperial storm troopers, hoping that it will get you the documents you need?"
The girl seemed to consider this.
"No."
The man's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I owe you," she admitted. "I wouldn't do that."
The man looked at her and considered his options. The girl needed to get off planet and only needed the documentation to do it. If the authorities were looking for him after the warehouse, then they would be looking for a single passenger. No one would expect a "Guardian" and his charge to be troublemakers.
You're using her as a shield. He told himself. You scumbag.
He reasoned that if the heat did get too bad, then he'd drop her somewhere safe and draw them away. Anyway, there was something vague and forgotten about being protective about a child. Alison popped into his head and he pushed those dangerous thoughts away.
"What if I said that I need your help to get off planet?" he asked the girl, "Would that level the scales?"
"Could you get me those documents?"
"Yes," he replied. "However, you'll have to travel with me. I need someone to pretend to be a charge."
"Charge? "
"Someone to escort," He explained. "The documents would explain that I would be your guardian."
"Deal." The girl smiled, "I get a lot of problems with people wanting to take me places, but I don't get the same feeling about you. What's your name?"
The man frowned; he couldn't recall the last time anyone had asked him for his name. But then his life had been turned upside down in the last couple of years.
"Jade." He replied.
"Mooka." Said the girl, offering him her hand.
He shook it.
Mooka had never been to a Spaceport before. She'd seen and heard the ships takeoff and land and once even ventured close to the terminal's doors, but she'd never had the courage to walk in. This time, there was no such fear. She had Jade with her. He turned round and stared at the departure screen.
They'd been shopping and bought Mooka new clothes. She was so tempted to go for the real flashy stuff but she realised that Jade needed the anonymity. She now stood by him, wearing some non-descript jacket, shirt and trousers and holding a small backpack containing all she had left in the world. A photo of her mother, a couple of hundred credits, a few changes of clothes and one small beaten up stuffed toy.
"Galaxy Tours!" muttered Jade.
"What?"
"It's the only scheduled flight that leaves today." He explained to her, "Well at least we'll be comfortable."
"What's Galaxy Tours?" she asked
"It's third one down on the departure board?" he asked.
"I can read, y'know." She replied testily.
"OK, let's see if we can get an upgrade." There was a slight grin on Jade's face as he said it.
They went to the check-in desk and Jade signalled for her to stay behind the line. She'd seen some con artists in her time but Jade was something else. He went through the procedures and very calmly pointed at her. She tried her best to smile and look natural. He turned back to the assistant and seemed to subtly wave his hand at them. There didn't seem to be a problem and he returned a couple of minutes later.
"There we go! Two executive passes for a round cluster trip." He announced.
"What does that mean?"
"It means we travel in style."
"I thought you wanted to travel quiet?"
"That's the thing about first class? They automatically assume you have class and are therefore no trouble."
It was then trouble loomed. It came in the form of an Imperial Officer escorted by two troopers. Jade put his hand around Mooka and moved her out of their path. They walked up to the desk they'd just been at and talked to the person sat there. Jade ignored them and continued to examine the departure board. Mooka, however, couldn't take her eyes off them. She started to shake a little, scared by the two tall faceless men in white armour.
The officer turned round and walked straight up to them. Mooka tried to stop shaking but couldn't.
"Excuse me," The officer asked politely.
Jade turned to look at the Officer and smiled calmly. Mooka could tell that something was wrong. For a second Jade looked concerned, as if he recognised the man and then the look passed as if it had never been there.
"Do I know you?" asked the Officer.
"I'm afraid not," Jade replied coolly. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I was wondering if you'd seen this person." The Officer passed Jade a small flimsy.
Jade looked at it with interest for a second and slowly shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, Officer."
"I see." replied the man in uniform. "Can I ask you to keep your eyes open for him. He might be on your transport."
"Certainly."
"If you see him, call this number." He handed Jade another flimsy. "Don't approach him yourself."
The Officer looked down at Mooka.
"Is your daughter alright? She's looking worried."
"She's not my mine; I'm escorting my Employer's little girl."
"Oh my apologies."
"She's had quite a sheltered upbringing and this is really the first time she's seen your troopers up close."
"Oh." The Officer looked back at his own escort. "I suppose they do have that kind of effect. Again, my apologies to have troubled you."
With that, they marched off to talked to another couple approaching the Executive Queue.
"Mooka?"
"Yes?"
"We walk away slowly, OK?"
"Yes Jade."
She only felt she could breath properly again once the boarded the shuttle up to the liner.