The Rogue One

"Hold it right there!" the security force officer demanded, raising his blaster towards the green beam of light. "I will open fire!"

Then something unexpected happened. The beam seemed to shift from one side to the other. It slowly grew larger as though coming towards the officer. "I said, halt!" He tried not to let his voice shake. A shadowy figure began to emerge behind the light, "Have it your way," the guard mumbled shakily. He fired three blasts that were easily deflected by the beam.

Before the officer could get off his fourth shot, the beam was practically on top of him. It sliced through his blaster. He gulped expecting the next slice to be through his body. A face emerged from the darkness clothed in the green light. "Get out of her you fool!" Granger did not need a Jedi mind trick to convince the officer. He was gone before Granger could even turn to continue his assignment.

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"So tell me what you think of him," Tristan motioned towards the obviously uncomfortable Pierre. Tristan could not tell if his trusted associate was nervous about having such a discussion in as public a place as a sidewalk café, if he still was not used to being off-world from Syllian, or if he had a bad feeling about the supposed rogue Jedi.

"The Jedi?" Pierre clarified. "I mean, he's good, but….."

"You don't trust him?"

"No," Pierre answered. He did not have a good reason not to trust him, he just could not convince himself that he should.

"Why is that?" Tristan asked although he already knew the answer. Pierre was naturally suspicious. It was part of the reason that Tristan liked the kid.

"I don't really have a good reason," Pierre sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I just….."

"Have a feeling," Tristan finished. "That's good, kid. Gotta trust your gut in this business. Stick with that, but blaster to your head, if you had to pick a reason, what would it be?

Pierre took another breath, "It's just, the Jedi have been popping up everywhere lately. It just so happens that the one I captured a few weeks ago shows up chasing some 'rogue'? A rogue Jedi? Is that even possible?"

Stay in this game a while, kid. You'll see a lot of things are possible," Tristan advised. "I mean, even I can use the Force a little…."

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A few days later, Pierre was on the roof with Granger overlooking a transport being unloaded. "What do you think, boss? Hutts or Black Suns?"

Pierre eyed the Jedi carefully, but before he could answer, one of the local henchmen spoke up. "I know them, they're definitely Suns."

Pierre shifted his weight, but again before he could respond, Granger spoke up, "But that's what Jabba wants us to think, right?"

Pierre cleared his throat, but the henchman spoke again, "Makes no difference. They ain't with us and they're on our turf."

Pierre shrugged. Granger chimed in again, "You all stay here. I'll handle this." Before anyone could object, Granger was over the ledge and headed toward the loading area."

The Jedi Master hit the ground nearly silently, behind the two guards. Granger gave a slight nod to knock both men to the ground from behind. Only the "clank" of the blasters against the concrete broke the Jedi's stealth mode. The Jedi paused for a moment. With no response to the noise, he rounded the transport quietly.

Running into two other guards, Granger thrust his hands forward knocking both of them unconscious. He then yelled out to his comrades, "I think we're clear down here."

The rest of the party soon joined him. Looking around at the knocked-out guards, one of the henchmen asked, "Hey Jedi, why didn't you just slice 'em all up with your laser sword?"

"Too much noise and light. And no reason to kill unless absolutely necessary."

"You got a lot to learn," the same thug muttered pulling his blaster and pointing at one of the fallen guards.

Granger extended a hand calling the blaster to his through the Force. "I said, no." Granger restated firmly to the startled underling.

"That was a mistake, Jedi…."

"What's the problem?" Although he was curious as to how Granger would handle the situation, Pierre interrupted the potential squabble.

"How are we supposed to trust this Jedi? He ain't one of us! He won't even kill one of our rivals."

Granger responded carefully, "I have no problem taking a life when necessary, but we need information. Let's see what these know." He turned to Pierre, "I hear that is your specialty."

Pierre huffed, "He's right. Pick 'em up too. They're coming with us." Granger handed the blaster back to his new associate. Pierre eyed them both carefully as they collected the prisoners and loaded the transport. He still could not bring himself to trust the Jedi, yet he was beginning to develop a certain amount of respect for him.

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Granger sat in the floor of his new quarters with his eyes shut. He breathed in and out slowly. He had been aware for some time that he was not alone, but he knew exactly who his visitor was and that he meant no harm. "You've been sitting there for a while," Granger broke the silence. "Are you just going to watch or did you want to join?"

Tristan adjusted his hat slightly. "Meditation's not really my thing. Why you still do that, anyway? If you're not a Jedi anymore, I mean."

"I still use the Force. It gives me an advantage over my adversaries. Proper meditation keeps me in touch with it."

Tristan leaned forward. "See, this is why no one trusts you yet. You have qualms about killing. You meditate. I can use the Force and I don't need no meditation."

"I'm no longer in the Jedi Order, but that doesn't mean that I don't believe in the codes and disciplines of the Jedi. You have a natural talent, it's true." Granger opened his eyes and locked them on Tristan's. "I can teach you how to grow stronger and even to strengthen them on your own."

Tristan pondered the offer. "So what…..I'd be like your padawan or something?"

Granger smiled, "You're way too old to begin any type of formal training, but even a Master continues to practice his disciplines. I can teach you some of those….. if you want." He waved at a spot on the carpet in front of him. "Your choice."

To Granger's surprise, Tristan removed his hat and moved from his place on the couch to the floor in front of the Jedi and closed his eyes. "OK so what now."

Granger was not exactly sure how to proceed. He had never attempted to train anyone who had not been assigned to him formally by the council. Would they have a problem with this? Did he have a problem with this? He was about to train someone prone to the Darkside how to be more in touch with the Force. The Jedi Master swallowed his doubt. If there was one thing that he knew for sure, it was that the ways of the Jedi were more powerful and useful in overcoming the Darkside. That is the discipline that he would pass along to Tristan. "Ok, relax your body and mind. Breathe in slowly…."

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The door to Vespecio's office slid open to darkness. Ocir glanced around wondering if he had the time wrong. "I'm here," the boss's voice summoned from behind the desk. As Ocir's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the imposing silhouette that sat behind it. There was a whiskey bottle out with a glass in front of the seat that Ocir was expected to take. It smelled like the boss had started without him. "How did it go?" Vespecio poured two drinks as his underling sat.

"Perfectly. The Suns on Draxil are ready to go to war with us and we are ready to respond in kind. And if anyone does any digging, it looks like the other side started the whole thing."

"What if someone digs deeper?" Vespecio downed his new shot.

"Then it points to Jabba, but the Hutts are clueless. Your tracks are covered." Ocir reassured his boss as he took his own shot.

"I knew I could count on you for this. When it finishes playing out, there will be a much higher position open just for you."

"That's why you took Syllian from me?" Ocir was mindful of his tone, but did not mind showing a little of 'his anger.

"Tristan is better equipped to handle Jedi, wouldn't you say?" Vespecio raised an eyebrow.

Ocir sincerely agreed. "Sure, but I hear there is one here now."

"A rogue or so he claims. Appears to be on our side for the moment," the boss confirmed.

Ocir proceeded cautiously, "So this thing is already in motion. It will take time to play out, but considering this new development, are you sure we shouldn't try to stop or slow it down?"

"You may show yourself out," Vespecio responded. He continued to swirl his drink in his glass as his subordinate left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Pierre crouched in the darkness. As jobs went, this was a big one, bigger than anything he had been entrusted with on Syllian. Trust. There was that word again. Not only was he not sure about the Jedi, but he was unsure about all of the clowns that had been placed under him for this task. And they were unsure about him. He was a kid in their eyes and an offworlder. Why had they been passed over? Why was he suddenly the golden child? Even the Jedi would have been a better pick to lead in their eyes. He reeked of experience, the wrong kind of experience as far as most of them were concerned, but they could trust his instincts if things got bad. And there it was again, trust. None of them trusted the Jedi because of his background, but they knew he could get the job done. None of the men trusted Pierre although they knew his background, but they did not know he could get the job done. Honestly, he was not even sure how much he trusted himself, but Tristan had seen something in him. And everyone trusted Tristan. "What's our status?" Pierre whispered into his comlink. "Team one. Green." "Team two. Green. "Team three. Green." Pierre waited for the final check. There was nothing. "Team four…. You there?... Team four… Jedi….where are you?" He knew putting the Jedi alone was a mistake. Now they would both…..

"Team four here. Sorry. There are a couple of battle-droids guarding what seems to be a weapons cache." Granger's voice broke the silence. "Should I take it out as planned or do we want to get a look inside?"

Pierre grinned. Taking out this hideout would not only put the Black Suns out of business in this system, but capturing their main weapons cache would make them think twice about coming back here. "Can you capture it or should each team send help?"

"I got it," the Jedi assured his boss. "No problem."

"Very well," Pierre concluded. "Each team move in. Rendezvous at Team four's position after."

The surprise attack went nearly perfectly. When Pierre arrived at the cache, Granger and the others were already taking stock. "Helluva catch, Jedi." Pierre grumbled.

"You are the team leader, the credit goes to you. Helluva catch," Granger walked away to continue loading the captured weapons. Pierre could not help but watch him work and smile at the job they had done.

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The kid regained enough consciousness to see his blood stained shirt. He was still standing and the thugs who jumped him held him up by the arms. His eyes slowly refocused on the alleyway around him. His eyes zoned in on the one face everyone on Markuria feared. "Glad you are still with us," Tristan pushed up the brim of his hat to look his prey in the eyes. "Now, we know about the shipping yard. Where else do the Suns hide out in these parts?" Tristan pulled his blaster and placed the end of the barrel against his captive's forehead. "And don't even think of lying to me."

"I swear I don't know. Rizzo only pays me when he needs a job done. I didn't even know he was with the Suns."

Tristan holstered his blaster, but raised his empty hand this time. The boy felt his throat tighten. Horror filled his face as Tristan spoke again. "But you knew he wasn't with us."

The boy would have been too afraid to speak even if he was able. He felt the seat of his pants getting wet. The smell of urine soon filled the nostrils of everyone in the alley. The two henchmen holding the boy began to laugh. Tristan lowered his hand. "You really are just a part-timer, huh." The boy nodded as he gulped in fresh air. "Let him go." The thugs complied and their captive dropped to his knees. "Get out of here, kid." The boy quickly complied. As he ran, he heard Tristan shout, "And next time you need a job, come see us instead."

"You've been hanging around that Jedi too long, boss."

"You think I'm getting soft?" Tristan shot back.

Both men grinned, "Nah boss, we know better."

Tristan looked back in the kid's direction. "No reason to kill unnecessarily. Besides his fear will work more for us than his death."

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Tristan briefed Pierre as they walked to the ship. "So Zeakwon's still the boss of Syllian, but you are my eyes and ears there and what's more, he knows it. He'll have a healthy amount of fear of you, but he also…."

"Won't trust me," Pierre finished.

Tristan grinned, "You OK with that?"

"It'll work out," Pierre pondered. "We'll need each other. He'll trust that, at least."

"Smart kid…. And speaking of trust, can you hack Republic databases?" Tristan changed the subject.

"Done it before. If I'm in and out quick, it should be easy and untraceable."

"How about the Jedi records?"

Pierre gave a look of understanding, "You want me to find out about our new friend."

Tristan responded "You seem unsure. You trust him now that he threw you that weapons cache?"

Pierre gulped not really sure how to respond. Tristan laughed and swatted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry kid. One of the privileges of rank is taking credit for the work of your underlings."

Pierre felt relieved, "And I'm sure he did it to ingratiate himself to me. I still don't trust him, but I…"

"Kind of like him," Tristan finished the thought. "Yeah, there is something about him. And that is what worries me. Find out what you can."