A/N: Shorter chapter. Sorry guys.
Nar Shaddaa. Force it had been a long time since I had wondered the streets here alone. The last time that had been was back when I was Kiana and had still been working as a bounty hunter after my exile. Those were interesting times.
I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts as I worked my way back over to the Nar Shaddaa docks. I was apparently supposed to meet this Visquis. It was apparent to me that he was trying to kill me and deliver me to GOTO. That's all these bounty hunters wanted. Oh well. I had finally made it to the door that lead to the docks when I heard a sound behind me.
"Kiana? Is it really you? I couldn't believe it when I first heard about it, but now that I can see you up close and personal…" A strangely familiar voice trailed off with disbelief. I whipped around and couldn't stop a slow grin spread across my face.
I was greeted by the sight of vividly familiar orange-red hair and the same sharp and calculating brown eyes I had once grown used to for the longest time. She still wore the same revealing green shirt that seemed to stay tied in the middle no matter what she did. Her black leather outfit still shone in the artificial light that brightened the dark moon and she looked as good as ever. I could barely believe it was actually Mira.
"Wow. Long time no see Mia." I stated slowly, more shocked than anything else. I hadn't seen Mira since out last mission together. And that had been almost…two years ago? Wow. Things had certainly changed since those times.
"Ana, when did you become a Jedi?" Mira asked, using my old code name as she stepped up to me. I barely restrained a snort as thoughts ran through my brain. Uhm, how about since I was four years old? I forced those thoughts away quickly and tried to focus in back at the task at hand. If Mira was here, it meant something major was going on. She was a damn good bounty hunter, better than I ever was, and if I remembered correctly she only took jobs that were pretty major.
"It's a long story." I sighed even though that didn't even begin to cover the bases of what was really going on. Mira trusted Kiana Shale, Republic bounty hunter. I wasn't exactly sure how she was going to trust Tyla Moore, exiled Jedi General. And the worst thing was that I knew that she knew about the famed Fearless and the Unbeatable. I still had no idea when that had become my name during the Mandalorian Wars, but it had been everywhere. I wasn't sure how Mira wasn't going to react when she found out that that had been me.
"I imagine. But this isn't good. You've got a big bounty on your head Ana. I can't let you get turned in." Mira responded and I smiled. Yep, I knew I could always count on Mira. She was a surprisingly good person for a hunter and we had once been friends. I could trust her during this.
"I know that, and I thank you for it. But I have to meet with Visquis. I don't have a choice in the matter." I said, my voice carrying the same tone she had grown familiar with over our many jobs together. That was my tone of no nonsense and nothing was going to stop me from doing what I had set my mind to do. Mira sighed and shook her head before speaking again.
"Fine. Come with me and we'll talk. We've got a lot to discuss and no time to waste." She motioned to me, walking away from where we had met. I followed her, not exactly sure where she was taking me. It was probably one of her many safe houses at the docks, but it had been awhile since I had last worked with her. Sure enough, within a few moments I was safe in one of her many reserved places all over the smuggler's moon.
"Alright Mira. Talk. What's going on?" I demanded, leaning back against the wall. For a moment she did nothing but look me over, and I wasn't exactly sure if that was a good or bad thing. I understood that even though what I was wearing didn't identify me as a Jedi, the lightsabers sure as hell did and I was carrying gear she had never seen before.
Finally she settled on "When did this happen?" while motioning up and down at me. I laughed and leaned back a little heavier, getting ready to give her the quick version of the tale.
"Alright, short version. Jedi took me to Dantooine when I was four, I trained with them for several years, then the Mandalorian Wars came. Remember Revan, the commander of the Republic fleet that turned the tide of the war? She was one of my best friends. Revan's personal scout? My best friend back then and now. The Fearless and Unbeatable? Revan's top Jedi General besides Malak himself? That would be me. The oh so intelligent Jedi Council decided that saving the Republic was a direct violation of the Jedi code and Aura and I got exiled and I lost all my Force powers. Then you met me. Now I've got the Force back and I'm searching for all the missing Jedi Masters because they disappeared and the Sith are back in the galaxy. Sounds fun, doesn't it?" I explained quickly, summing up all the past events. She just looked at me before shaking her head.
"You always were insane." She muttered to herself and I just smiled. Before I got the chance to say anything though, my head was overrun by dizziness and I felt myself stumble.
"What the hell did you do Mira?" I demanded, my voice low as my words started to slur together. Mira just shrugged at me and watched as I collapsed to the floor.
"Sorry Ana. I was going to do this anyway, but now I know that I need to save your butt. Again. Thanks for the environment suit." Mira replied, and I completely lost consciousness.
"I know you can hear me, even if you cannot move yet. Don't try." A familiar voice stated and I groaned. What the hell was going on? And who was talking to me?
"You're friend has gone in your place to meet this Visquis. She's in extreme danger and I'm going to go help her." The voice said, and suddenly it clicked in place. Zez-Kai Ell! Great. We finally find the damn guy and I couldn't move. Just my fracking luck. The Force really was out to get me; it had to be true.
"Still, I never expected to see you or Aura ever again, much less on Nar Shaddaa. But we will have the chance to speak later…if you follow me. I know that you will Tyla, but I suggest you hurry." He said quickly, and I could hear him walk off. I tried to force my body to move. I desperately struggled against the drug Mira had filtered through my system so that I could get back up and get to her. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, fighting my own body, but it felt like forever. Eventually, feeling began to tingle in my limbs, slowly moving up from my fingertips all the way to my torso. Eventually, I managed to sit up, although it took some effort. I was going to kill Mira when I saw her again.
I forced myself to stand up even though my body still felt a little bit numb, and checked to make sure my lightsabers were still safely on my hips. Alright, I was all good to go. Now it was time to go save the damsel in distress and find the missing Jedi. Geez, my life sounded like a bad movie. I sighed and shook my head before taking off through the apartment complex, using the Force to make myself go faster. Everything was a blur as I ran until I skid to a stop in front of the Jekk'Jekk Tar. Well, it was time to see how this was going to work out.
I stepped inside the place and glanced around, not quite sure what to do about all the gas floating around me. Since Mira had taken my suit, I was completely defenseless against the gas. Cyanogen gas began to filter through me and I felt my breath start to leave me as I collapsed onto my knees, trying to find someway to keep oxygen in my system and the cyanogen out.
"Still your breathing exile. Let the trace amount of air in your lungs sustain you." Kreia's voice ordered in my head. I tried to keep myself focused but it was so hard to do. My entire body was in pain. Growling in frustration, I forced myself to stop breathing and listen to Kreia's words.
"It is as simple as holding your breath, just using the Force to guide you. Some Jedi can hold their breath for hours, even days. You must remember it though, for if you stop thinking about it after awhile, the trace amount of air will fade and you will die." Kreia explained and I nodded to myself, grinning as I pulled out and activated my weapons. If Visquis had thought he would capture me by these gases in the air, he was wrong. I stepped forward and the door slid open to reveal several different races all sitting around. They all turned to look at me and they pulled out their weapons in a flash and began to attack.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the fight took longer than I wanted it to. The fact that I had to focus on not breathing and using the Force to keep me alive wasn't helping that either. By the time I finished that room, I had a few stray wounds that I hadn't been able to deflect or block. Two doors led out of the room and I looked at both before picking a random direction and going. Once again, this room was filled with aliens, although it wasn't the same red color that the one before had been. After fighting my way through that group of bounty hunters, I looked around. Damn, the only way out of this room was the same way I had come in. Shaking my head, I went through the next rooms of fighting. Eventually, I stopped in a room that was almost completely empty except for a few Twi'lek slaves.
Without thinking I took a breath of relief and froze. But instead of feeling the harmful gas I had expected, my lungs filled with oxygen. Taking several deep breaths to restore my supply of air, I only stopped once I felt like I could really breathe normally again. I approached the Twi'lek closest to me and she backed away instantly, almost cowering in fear.
"Calm down. I don't want to hurt you. I just need to know where Visquis is." I said slowly, not wanting to scare her anymore than she already was.
"Please, don't hurt us! We'll tell you whatever you want to know! Our master has hidden himself in his secret base under the Jekk'Jekk Tar. He has planted several traps for you. I believe he has been planning this for a very long time." The Twi'lek said quickly and I sighed. Great. Traps. Just what I wanted right now.
"Can you tell me what he has planned?" I said sweetly, trying to persuade her to tell me. It was almost too easy with how quickly she scrambled to reply.
"There is a maze of poisonous gas that cuts off all communications and maps. Even if you managed to make it through the maze, his entire compound is crawling with Ubese guards." She explained and I growled in frustration.
"Great. Ubese. They hate Jedi. Even ex-Jedi more than anything. How fracking lovely. Anyway, have you seen a red head around? Lots of leather, snappy attitude?" I asked and the Twi'lek nodded.
"Yes. She came here hoping to stop Visquis. She wasn't prepared for all the traps though and she was caught completely unaware." The attendant explained. Way to go Mia. Now I gotta go save your ass…again.
"Thank you. Get you and the others out of here. I'll deal with your master." I allowed, turning away from her and towards the door out of the room. Stilling my breathing once more and focusing only on the oxygen I had refilled my lungs with, I opened it and stepped inside the maze. Instantly my map went to static and all I could hear in my ear was static from the comm. Placing my hand on the left wall, I followed the many twists and turns until I came across a high security door. I sat there for I don't know how long, fighting with the thing to get it open. I was just about to give up on the damn thing when suddenly it slipped open. Well that wasn't good.
I stepped inside cautiously, drawing my lightsabers. I glanced around and cursed when an Ubese immediately attacked me. I deflected the attack and quickly defeated him and his companion. The next span of time was spent searching Visquis' base and defeating the many Ubese guards he had in there. I wasn't sure how much time passed as I went through the place, but it eventually stopped when I felt another precognition push at my head. Visquis was in the room beyond me, and it wasn't going to end well. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.
"Ah. You finally arrive. Both much sooner, and yet later than I hoped." Visquis said, standing in the middle of the pit with dead bodies all around him. I narrowed my eyes at him and kept my hands at my lightsaber hilts.
"Let's just cut the crap and get to business, shall we? Why the hell did you put a bounty the size of Coruscant on my head?" I questioned, carefully keeping Aurali out of this.
"Ah, it was not I that placed the extremely large amount of credits on your head, Jedi. We all have out masters, no?" He said, and if he had been humanoid, I would've sworn he chuckled when he said it.
"Just tell me what I want to know schutta. I'm not in the mood for your damn games." I growled, my hands falling to the lightsabers at my hips. I just wanted to get my information and get the hell out of here.
"Why don't you tell me what I want know? We have slowly been squeezing the life out of the refugee sector here on Nar Shaddaa for quite some time and yet you and your companions have only just arrived. Why is that?" He asked slowly and my grip tightened on my weapons.
"Don't try to turn this around on me. I want to know why you were after us." I demanded, and he shrugged at me.
"Well, the price on your head is massive. You must have angered Goto greatly for him to hate you so. And that is what makes you the perfect bait. I shall bring you to him…and then kill him." He explained, waving his hand. A load of the same gas from before filtered up from the ground I was standing on, but I merely grinned cruelly and acted like I was waving it away from me. That didn't affect me anymore.
"Wha…the gas…it doesn't…guards! Attack the Jedi!" He ordered suddenly, and the door slid open. I spun around, weapons activated and prepared to take on the next wave of attack when I saw the Ubese charge. Weirdly enough though, they didn't go after me. Instead, they went straight past me and surrounded Visquis.
"I ordered you to attack the Je…you…never truly worked for me, did you?" He questioned, and I jumped in surprise as I heard a voice come out of nowhere that seemed to fill the room.
"While the Jedi remain on Nar Shaddaa, my eyes shall watch her. Both of them." He said, and I felt like that last comment was directed towards me. I glared up, mentally trying to warn Aurali that they knew it wasn't just me.
"I...please Goto! I offer the Jedi to you as a gift, as I would my own life!" He pleaded desperately and I saw one of the Ubese step forward. My eyes narrowed and I smirked.
"Go ahead, kill him. Slowly; painfully." I muttered darkly and the Ubese did what I had commanded. I simply sat back and watched, not helping nor taking joy from what was going on. When the Exchange leader had finally been killed, I glared upwards once more.
"What an amusing Jedi specimen you are." The voice laughed and everything went dark as I felt an incredible amount of stunning energy flow through my body and I fell to the ground once more.
Anything familiar belongs to LucasArts/Obsidian/Bioware. Tyla Moore belongs to Shadows of the Storm. Aurali Adrics belongs to Aurali Adrics.
Choices for the Right Reasons © Shadows of the Storm/Aurali Adrics