Legend of the Harp
By Hemaccabe
Episode III: The Crucible
Chapter 21: Holding Out for a Hero
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
*** Jedi Padawan Fio Brown, Castanea ***
I managed three more days. Every item in my possession was soaked through and yet finding water to drink was almost impossible. The bone chilling cold moved through my body like there was nothing there to stop it. We were spreading the food rations I had scavenged out as far as we could, but the way they were spread, we weren't getting enough calories to support sitting still, much less the constant hiking we were doing from tree limb to tree limb. I was pulling on the Force to give me strength, but each time my foot rose for the next step I was surprised I hadn't collapsed. I had no idea how Jedi Knight Chatterjee and Sei were continuing to move, much less keep up.
I could feel that female Harch growing closer. We just couldn't move faster, and we wouldn't win a fight. Still, I was thinking about fighting. Yes, we would lose and die, or worse, but it seemed better than being shot in the back still fleeing.
I knew at some level I wanted to fight because it gave me an excuse to stop running. I was so exhausted, any excuse to stop, even suicide, sounded wonderful.
I kept putting one foot in front of another.
Then our flight came to an end.
"Stop now."
It was the female Harch. She had gotten around in front of us. I realized we were surrounded. We stopped and raised our hands. I was expecting to feel the bolt of a blaster any second. I closed my eyes. I knew I was going to die.
"Now you all die in pain and fear!" She screeched, her awful Harch voice full of gloating.
I closed my eyes. I was regretting that I hadn't drawn and fired as soon as I saw the Harch. Yes, I would have died instantly, but maybe I would have taken her with me. Suddenly, from nowhere, there was a series of blasts.
Was I dead? No. I hadn't been shot again. The wound in my shoulder was a clear enough reference on how much being shot hurt. My shoulder wasn't even the first time I had been shot.
I opened my eyes. Our pursuers were quite dead. I looked around and coming out of camouflage cloaks were a group of soldiers of some sort. They were all wearing very professional gear. They were using high quality, SA-14 rifles.
One of them came to me, with a smile he asked, "Fio Brown?"
"Yes." I replied, still dazed. Was I arrested? Were these rival bounty hunters? They looked familiar.
It took me a second, I wasn't thinking too clearly, then I saw their shoulder patch and realized who they were! They were Dorsaix mercenaries! Dorsaix was a sparsely populated world, in a remote, resource poor mid-rim system. Most of their people lived in cottages on small farms. They earned most of their trade Credits by selling their people as mercenaries. They had a reputation for only selling service to people and causes they respected. They also had a fearsome reputation for competence. It was said the Dorsaix would give Mandalorians pause. But who were they working for? Were we their prisoners?
"Our employer wants to meet you very much." The Dorsaix captain said.
Then an excessively large and clearly very expensive yacht descended through the atmosphere. The yacht's hull was mostly a pearlescent white marble-like substance, the sort of vanity finish only indulged in by the excessively wealthy. Then, in case the white finish didn't make the owner's economic standing clear, there was also extensive gold trim. I would imagine it was real gold, because imitation would be so gauche. The yacht was the sort of thing that could only, possibly, be owned by the galactic one percent. At least it wasn't an Imperial shuttle.
Out of the luxury yacht came a man wearing a toga in the style of Respublica. Then I realized who it was, Androccoles of Respublica! Formerly Jedi Knight Tukir Harel. Was he here to take some sort of revenge for what we had done on Respublica?
He walked down the easy ramp from the hovering ship. He saw me, smiled, waved and began to come toward me. Then he saw Jedi Knight Chatterjee and his face totally twisted.
He started moving toward Jedi Knight Chatterjee, in slow steps and jerks, as if he couldn't believe his eyes, and I heard him ask, his voice broken, "Is that you? Keely? Please tell me? Is that you?"
Jedi Knight Chatterjee answered, her throat raw, "Yes Tuck, it's me."
Jedi Knight Harel then ran to Jedi Knight Chatterjee and they hugged. They both cried.
Jedi Knight Chatterjee was the first to speak, "I thought you were dead."
Jedi Knight Harel replied, "I thought you were dead!"
Then Jedi Knight Chatterjee began to swoon. Without a moment's hesitation, Jedi Knight Harel swept her up in his arms and brought her up into the ship.
We all looked at each other, unsure what to do.
The leader of the Dorsaix stepped forward, "I think he would want the rest of us to board as well."
We all marched ourselves up onto the impossibly luxurious ship.
I went to look for our host and found Jedi Knight Harel had just placed Jedi Knight Chatterjee in the Med Bay. I could tell she was already unconscious.
Jedi Knight Harel turned and looked at us, "Fio Brown?" He asked.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Jojo asked me to come here and check on you, make sure you were all right. Looks like he had the right idea. I'll keep an eye on Keely, you two should get a shower and something to eat." Jedi Knight Harel explained.
If I wasn't so bone tired and hungry, I might have objected. Instead, I let Jedi Knight Harel show Sei and me to two very nicely appointed staterooms.
I stripped out of my gear in a warm dry place, that alone was almost more luxury than I could take. Still, I was too proud to collapse so I walked myself into the very well-appointed lav. Shower or bath? Hard to decide. I eventually chose shower because I was worried I'd pass out and drown myself in a bath.
When the warm water hit my skin, it was the best feeling I think I might have ever felt.
I came out of the shower and, after drying off, found a very nice robe waiting for me. The droid attendant informed me, "Whenever you are ready, you may come out and the Praefect has food prepared."
Food sounded better than sleep right now.
I came out of the stateroom and the droid led me to a dining room. I wasn't totally trusting, I had my pistol in the robe's voluminous pocket. Sei, also wearing a robe, met me at the door to the dining room. By the Force, he looked good in that robe.
We entered the dining room where we were greeted by Jedi Knight Harel, "I have a wide variety of food aboard. You have but to request anything you may wish, and my chef droid will prepare it. However, based on where you came from, I thought this food might appeal to you?"
On the table were two place settings. At each was a cup of tea and a bowl of oaf soup with noodles and dumplings.
Before I could eat, I had to ask, "How is Jedi Knight Chatterjee?"
Jedi Knight Harel answered, "Oh I have good news on that. She has serious concerns due to exposure, exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. However, we have warmed her up and are currently administering high-nutrient fluids. The Med Droid expects a full recovery after a reasonable period of convalescence."
"That is good news." I replied.
That was as much will power as I had. I sat down and took a sip of tea. My extensive knowledge of tea let me know it was a very well regarded Zhonghuan herbal blend that would let one sleep. It had also been brewed expertly. Sei sipped his and added sweetener. No one is perfect. The soup was wonderful oaf bird soup with noodles, bits of tender oaf bird and some very light dumplings. It was delicious. I suspected, even if I wasn't famished, it would have been delicious.
When we were done eating, I leaned back in the very comfy chair. I had forgotten my shoulder and winced.
That got Jedi Knight Harel's attention, "Is something wrong? Are you injured?" He asked.
"Oh, it's nothing..." I began, but Sei interrupted me.
"She was shot in the back of the shoulder."
Jedi Knight Harel immediately stood up, "You should have said something. Let me see."
Of course, he came around the table pulled back the upper left-hand side of my robe and looked.
"This is serious, please come with me." Jedi Knight Harel asked.
He led me, and Sei followed, to the Med bay and nothing would do but that I be examined, and once examined, into the bacta tank I went.
At least it was warm, and I got some sleep.
Twelve hours later I emerged from the bacta tank, was carefully washed and the much-reduced wound was bandaged.
When I walked out of the med bay, I found Sei asleep, sitting on the corridor floor.
I knelt and shook him.
"What...where?" He woke up.
"Did you wait here for me?" I asked amused.
"I wanted to make sure you were all right." He explained.
"That's sweet." I said and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"I'm still hungry, shall we see what they have?" I asked to be answered by a rumble from Sei's belly and an embarrassed look.
We made our way back to the Dining Room.
Jedi Knight Harel was there and as soon as he saw us, sent a signal.
Jedi Knight Harel had been speaking to Master Dodger and continued, "See, I have her. She's all right. I assume this is one of your troopers who also survived."
Master Dodger looked at Sei and said, "I don't recognize him, but I'm sure we'll get the bottom of everything when you get here to Dandoran."
"Of course." Jedi Knight Harel replied.
Master Dodger looked at me, "Fio, you're all right?"
"Yes Master, I'm fine." I replied.
"Good, I'll see you back on Dandoran." He replied.
The food came again and was similar, except I noticed the portions were bigger. Also, this soup had veggies in it.
When we were done I got up to go back to my stateroom.
Jedi Knight Harel said, "We're still a number of hours from Dandoran. Please, get yourselves some rest. I'll let you know when we arrive."
I nodded and got up, Sei followed me.
When we got to my stateroom, I decided I'd earned a bit of a reward, so I said, "Sei, I'd feel better if I wasn't alone. Would you join me?"
"Uh, okay." He replied.
I took him in my stateroom and then to the lav. I started a bath.
"I want to take a bath and I want you to make sure I don't drown." I explained.
"Okay. I can do that." He replied nervously.
"Why don't you get in and tell me how the water is?" I asked.
I could tell this confused him, but I could see him screw his courage to the sticking point. He dropped his robe, revealing his extremely statuesque, though currently a bit thin form. He got in the tub and leaned against the back.
I dropped my robe and could tell he liked what he saw as much as I had. I got in the tub and leaned my back against his heavenly chest. Oh, he felt so good. Then I felt something between his legs which was pressed very pleasantly against my rear which told me he felt as I did.
I turned around then in the very large tub and we both got to enjoy each other. I found it relaxed me far better than anything I could have imagined. I ended up asleep in his comfortingly strong arms.
When we got to Dandoran, we were provided with some very basic clothes and duffels for our surviving gear.
Jedi Knight Harel parked his ship right next to the big house Master Harp keeps in the hills just south of town, normally a no-no, but I guess this was a special occasion. We walked down the ramp with Jedi Knights Harel and Chatterjee. Masters Harp and Dodger were there to greet us.
Master Harp reacted to Jedi Knight Chatterjee a lot like Jedi Knight Harel had. There was a lot of hugging and grasping of arms.
Master Dodger came over to me and, very uncharacteristically hugged me. I liked it. Then he held me at arm's length and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes Master, I'll probably need a few days to recover, but I'm okay." I replied.
"You should be proud of your Padawan, Jojo. When you get the full report, don't let her understate just what she went through." Jedi Knight Harel added making me grimace on the outside but feel proud on the inside.
I realized right there, yes there were some things about this mission I wasn't proud of. I lost my ship, crew and squad for starters. But I had kept going when the going was hard, and I had succeeded in the mission objective. Jedi Knight Chatterjee was safe here on Dandoran. That was a big deal.
"Who is this young man? He wasn't part of your crew or squad." Master Dodger asked.
"He's someone I met along the way. I can vouch for him in the short term. You'll get a full explanation in my debrief and report." I replied.
"Good enough. Go see your Mother. She's been worried about you." Master Dodger ordered.
"Yes sir!" I replied, and we were off. I was grateful Sei stayed quiet. I could feel from him that he was confused about what he was seeing and was just soaking it all in.
With that, I went and dumped my duffel in the house and had Sei dump his duffel in the bedroom next to mine. I kept my Credit chip and we walked to my Mom's shop. When we got there, I shook my head and acted like my absence was no big deal. Inside, I was really glad my Mom made a big deal over me and cried.
Once my Mom regained her composure she turned and looked at Sei, "And who is this?"
"Like I said Mom, I was basically camping on this forest world. Sei was a Public Safety Ranger who helped out. He wanted to see Dandoran, so I invited him back with me." I replied as nonchalantly as I could manage.
I'm pretty sure my Mom doesn't have access to the Force, but she does have whatever magic power Mothers have over their children, so she knew something was up between Sei and me. This was good as she would now think I was lying about Sei, not how dangerous the mission had been. I did NOT want my Mom to know I'd been shot, again, or how close I had been to dying. That would not help.
Of course, Mom had to fill us up with roasted oaf bird and rice. Then lots of pie. Sei ate a lot. Mom liked that.
Since all of Sei's and my gear was trashed, when we were done eating, I took Sei to the Marketplace.
On the way I explained, "I think it's probably better we don't tell everyone you were a Storm Trooper. We'll just go with the 'Public Safety Ranger' thing okay?"
Sei nodded reasonably, "That makes sense considering."
"If you want to stay, you'll be welcome. If you want to go back, we'll put you on a transport. If you want to go somewhere else, we'll send you there." I explained.
"I want to be where you are." He said.
I tried to roll my eyes and be cool, but when he said that, my insides melted.
"Since you have, like, no gear and my stuff pretty much all got trashed, I'm taking us to the Market. I have plenty of Credits. If you see something you want, just point and I can buy it." I explained.
"Anything?" Sei replied surprised.
"You want to buy a planet?" I asked.
"No, I suppose not. But where I grew up, we never had money. We got what the Imperial authorities gave us. Then as a, uh, you know, I was always on duty." He answered.
"Don't worry. Shopping's not complicated." I explained with a laugh.
"Okay. I have read about shopping." Sei replied.
That made me smile.
We went to the Market and I was amazed how it had changed. I remembered the market in the original Korpluck Town. It was a circle of clapboard, open faced, floorless sheds. The walls and roofs of the sheds had been whatever scavenged scrap the stall keepers could find. Stall keepers had to be careful to pick the best piece of board, generally corrugated tin, for their roofs, to keep off the rain and snow. The shopkeepers roasted in summer and were lucky to have a small stove as they froze in winter.
Now the market was a circle of pleasant, modern shops. There was a large covered portal around the inner circumference of the market to make browsing and strolling pleasant. All the shops were indoors, surrounding the train station that took one to the industrial area and spaceport. The location was very convenient for shopkeepers and patrons as most of the population was still working for one of the industrial concerns. People could pick things up easily on the way to and from work.
I started to shop for clothing, picking up some basics. Sei didn't pick anything useful. However, every time we passed something to eat, he'd point. He had oaf on a stick, a brown milk shake, beef of a stick, fried potatoes, a sandwich, fried fish, a fruit juice smoothie, okay, I had a smoothie too, it was good.
"You need to buy some clothes and personal things!" I finally said to Sei with some exasperation.
"I'm not sure what to get?" He answered.
"Fine." I took him to a men's wear shop and got to play dress the prince with him. That was fun. We ended up buying him a half dozen shirts, some pants, boots, socks and under things. When he was dressed. He looked good. I was pleased. I think he was pleased to.
We went to another place and got him a valise for his clothes and some basic necessities, brushes, soap, etc.
"Do you need something for your beard?" I asked.
"No, it was permanently removed in training." He replied.
"Okay. I'm glad they left everything else." I said.
He blushed.
That evening, before dinner, I got taken to a private room and debriefed by Masters Harp and Dodger. I had to explain what happened.
Eventually we got to me saying, "I'm so sorry I lost the ship and crew and troopers."
Master Dodger replied, "Things happened. We have to learn to accept them. I have lost many troops over the years. I must remember them and learn from their loss. That is what it means to truly honor their sacrifice. Do you remember them?" He explained then asked.
"Yes Master."
"Did you learn?"
"Yes Master."
"Good enough."
"What are we going to do with your Storm Trooper you brought back?"
"I'm not sure, but I think we would need to ask him." I answered before I realized up till that moment I hadn't admitted what he was. Sometimes the Force and apparently omniscient Masters can be so annoying.
"That is probably true."
"Do you think you are ready to assemble your lightsaber?"
"Yes Master."
Several balls I hadn't known were in the room rushed at me from different directions.
I caught them all.
Masters Harp and Dodger smiled.
I had to bring Sei food in his room since that night the Jedi had a private dinner. There was a lot of laughing and remembrances between the four Jedi Knights. I could tell they were all intensely pleased not to be alone anymore.
When dinner was over, I brought forward my Kyber crystal and tray of light saber parts. They floated up into the air and assembled.
Masters Harp and Dodger nodded again, clearly pleased.
The blade came down into my hand and I ignited the green blade.
"Isn't that?" Jedi Knight Harel began.
"Yes, that was the blade of Mistress Athacalena." Master Harp replied.
"How ever did you get it?" Jedi Knight Harel asked astonished.
"I found it." Master Harp answered.
"But wasn't her blade blue?" Jedi Knight Harel asked, puzzled.
"You know, I believe it was. How interesting." Master Dodger said.
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