New Sheriff in Town: Part 2

Jessie glanced over his shoulder, nervously. He saw nothing down the alleyway. He carefully punched in the code. Just as he hit the last number, he heard a loud crash at the other end of the alley. He spun, blaster in hand, but there was nothing. When he turned to face the door again, there was a blue beam of light across his throat.

"Pleasure to see you again, Jessie," Myriam emphasized the name, just so he would understand that she knew exactly who he was.

"Hi," Jessie whispered eying the lightsaber carefully.

"I do hope you remember me," Myriam moved the blade just slightly.

"Of course," Jessie gulped.

"Say it," the blade nicked the underside of his chin.

"Myriam, the Jedi," he spat out nervously.

"And you remember what happened to your former boss and his crew?" she reminded.

"Yes," Jessie squeaked more than whispered.

"Tell me what I want to know," Myriam threatened afresh.

"The Magistrate?" Jessie attempted to clarify.

"Exactly," she responded.

"What exactly?"

"Everything," Myriam affirmed.

Two hours later, Jessie was huddled in a corner soaking in his own urine. Myriam cleaned her lightsaber. Hannibal stared at her in awe.

"He seems pretty weak," Hannibal pointed with his nose to Jessie, "I'm very impressed, but couldn't you have just Mind-Tricked him?"

Myriam paused thoughtfully from her cleaning, "Probably, but fear leaves a more lasting impression."

"Fair enough," Hannibal conceded. He continued to admire Myriam. "Nothing sexier than a beautiful woman when she's angry."

Myriam paused from her cleaning again with a sigh. Her blade shot forth and Hannibal jumped out of the way just in time to save his crotch. "Oh, you haven't seen me even close to angry. And if you ever speak to me less than professionally again, I will do to you what I did to his boss. And still won't be angry about it."

Hannibal gulped, "Fair enough."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finly looked down on the docks from his hiding spot. "Looks like the shipment and the clients have arrived," he spoke into his comlink.

"Very well," Numa responded from the shadows below. "Hector, when they make the exchange, you move in. I'll cut off their escape."

"Roger," Hector acknowledged on top of a nearby shipping crate. "How'd I get the hard part?"

After a few minutes of pleasantries between both parties, credits appeared. Hector knew that was his cue. He dropped from the crate to the middle of the entire group, lightsaber flashing. "Greetings sleemos. Please don't come quietly."

The four men from the ship pulled blasters. Hector raised his left arm to send two of them crashing into a nearby pile of junk. He deflected blasts from the other two with his saber back into their hands. The three delivery boys turned to run, but were cut off by Numa who extended both arms and sent them flying back towards the ship.

Hector grinned, "We make a pretty good….." A lookout, hiding in the corner jumped up and ran back towards the warehouses.

"After him!" Numa pointed and both Jedi took off in pursuit.

The lookout made it maybe twenty meters when Finly came crashing down on top of him. "Surprise!"

"Finly!" Numa exclaimed. "That was not the plan! We were supposed to let one go and follow him to his contacts!"

"Oh yeah," Finly started, "Ummmmm….oops…..guess I got caught up in the moment.

Hector shook his head, "Well, the main thing is we got the merchandise and more importantly the manifest. Should provide plenty of intel for us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Granger squirmed in his seat across the Prime Minister's desk. He never pictured himself as the type of leader who would send his team on an assignment while he sat in an office, but he knew he needed to be there to pump Delfo for information. He could have left the job for Iesha, but Delfo was far more forthcoming with the Master than with the padawan. The other five Jedi's images appeared on from the communication display almost simultaneously.

Hannibal spoke first, "Our…..I mean…..uhhhh….Myriam's contact told us that the main boss in Syllian these days is a guy named Ocir. He's headquartered somewhere in the Outer Rim, but they're the gang that runs everything here. Somebody high up in Ocir's organization is related to the Magistrate."

The Prime Minister nodded at Iesha who spoke up, "That jives with the PM's intel."

Numa added, "The ship from our meeting had clearance from within the Magistrate's office and the manifest says the packages were to be delivered to someone named Urrillian."

Myriam added, "Jessie says that's one of the guys that we interrupted in the Magistrate's office the other day."

"Master Numa," Delfo spoke up. "What was in the crates?"

"Death sticks, lots of them."

Granger sighed, "All the dots seem to connect back to the Magistrate. Madam Prime Minister, is there any doubt in your mind that he isn't in the middle of all this? That he is somehow just a pawn or being used in some way?"

"No," she stated. "He is the source, not a side-effect."

"Very well," the Jedi Master rose from his chair. "Jedi meet me back at the Magistrate's office within the hour."

Each Jedi signed off. Granger and Iesha moved to the door. "Master Granger," the Prime Minister called after him. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to attempt to arrest the Magistrate, but if that doesn't work….." he smiled at Iesha. "I'll leave another impression. Will you back me up Madam Prime Minister?"

"Do what you need to do, Master Jedi."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The assembled Jedi strolled into the Magistrate's office with a sense of righteousness on their side. Granger waved his hand in front of the office manager, "We are here to see the Magistrate." Without responding, the manager touched a button and the door to the main office slid open. This time four of the five men (minus Jessie) from before and several others were gathered in various chairs around the room listening to the Magistrate ramble from behind his desk about leadership.

"Master Jedi," the Magistrate groaned. "I must insist that this wait until later…"

"And I, Magistrate," Granger interrupted, "Must insist that you return with me to Coruscant immediately."

The Magistrate gave a fake startled look to one of his nearby henchmen, "You have no authority to do that, now please leave."

Granger sighed, "That is exactly what I have the authority to do. Feel free to call the Prime Minister for clarification."

The Magistrate sighed, "I should have known her office was behind your being here. I tell you what. File a motion with the courts back in Coruscant and if they feel I should return, I will have my office file a response. Should only take a few years to sort out."

Granger cleared his throat, "You are under arrest. Are you refusing to come quietly?"

"I've had enough of this," the Magistrate frowned. "Get out of here before I have you arrested for trespassing."

"Very well," Granger turned just slightly. He glanced at the spear mounted on the wall behind the Magistrate. It flew from its mount and stopped just in front of Granger. The spear began to spin as the Jedi Master spoke. "You said this spear was a symbol of power. I say what good is power if it is never used for anything good?"

When Granger stopped speaking, the spear shot forward. It flew through the Magistrate's chest and half way out the back of his chair. For a few seconds everyone, the Jedi and henchmen were in shock. Then Granger, followed closely by the rest of the team, turned to face the Magistrate's underlings. Green and Blue blades sprung to life as they turned. Granger spoke with an authority none of them had heard before. "Go back to where you come from. Tell whoever you work for that I am in charge of this system now."

Next: Teamwork