Chapter Six
Scoundrel
Mayli scrunched up her nose in disgust as she walked down the main thorough through of Mos Eisley. This place had really become a pit, particularly in the past decade as Imperial sanctions Coreward forced mafias to build up on the far-less policed Outer Rim worlds. And with Jabba the Hutt basically the leader of Tatooine…well, Mayli could not wait to see the last of the desert world. Yes, she often felt sentimental; she'd fallen in love here, gave birth to and raised her daughter on Tatooine. But visiting Mos Eisley, with a smell that can only be defined as wretchedness permeating the air, reminded her how dangerous the place had become.
Still, she had seen something as she parked the Nebula Flame that brightened her day. An old Corellian YT-1300 light freighter, which her father's company produced decades ago, sat a few ships down from hers. She paused a moment to look at the ship, a bit shabby, but well-loved, allowing bittersweet memories of her late father to take over. She imagined him laughing jovially at the site of the older model.
Minutes later, Mayli felt hopeful as she entered the large, busy cantina, wanting to help some poor, young pilot by giving him or her a valuable contract.
"Mayli!" came a loud, booming voice, and Mayli turned to see a table by the entrance occupied by Wires, a former clone trooper turned delivery pilot, a good friend over her years on Tatooine.
Embracing the tall man, she joined him. "Hey, how are my customers?"
"Um…my customers, you mean," he laughed. "Great. Thank you so much. Finally got completely out of Jabba's shadow. But you gotta tell me how to deal with that old botanist in Anchorhead."
"Oh, he's been a little crazy for as long as I've known him," explained Mayli, glancing around. "What does a girl gotta do to get an ale around here?"
Wires rolled his eyes. "No wait staff. Just the bar. I'll come too. Need another."
Mayli led the way through the thick crowd. Suddenly, a Rodian stepped back right into her, and Mayli stumbled. But just before hitting the ground, a large pair of strong, hairy arms grabbed her and brought her back to her feet. Recovering, but still flustered, Mayli looked up to a see a Wookie nodding down at her, saying something in his growling voice. Mayli knew enough Wookie to realize he asked if she were alright.
"Yes. Thank you so much," she said, smiling up at him.
Wires moved up next to them. "Mayli, this here is Chewbacca. Chewbacca, Mayli, pilot extraordinaire. Mayli, Chewbacca is co-pilot to Han Solo, that cocky bastard everyone has been talking about lately."
Mayli just shrugged. "Haven't really been to town, Wires. Been getting ready to move."
"Ah, that's right, love," Wires said. "Gonna miss you. Anyways, Chewbacca co-pilots that hunk of junk Corellian freighter…"
The Wookie howled in protest, but Mayli interrupted.
"Not that beautiful YT-1300?"
Chewbacca turned and voiced a very pleased yes.
"My father's company built those. That one is in pretty good shape, considering the age. You must take good care of her."
Chewbacca howled his delight, patting Mayli a bit too hard on the upper arm. Despite feeling a bit jarred, an idea came upon her.
"Chewbacca, would you and this…Han Solo…be interested in some delivery contracts?"
Wires snorted a laugh beside her. "Han Solo…do deliveries for wineries and botanists? That guy and his Wookie are smugglers. And in trouble with Jabba. The man dumped a shipment of Jabba's to escape some Imperials, but Jabba wants the money anyways."
"Typical," Mayli said, again happy to be away from Jabba's employment.
"The kid needs to pay the Hutt back or bounty hunters are going to be all over his ass," continued Wires. "You know Jabba."
Mayli studied Chewbacca, who looked a bit disgruntled by Wires' comments.
"Maybe he would like some steady work," Mayli said, feeling a bit of kinship with this unknown Han Solo, the sole reason her sentimentality of the ship.
The Wookie put his arm around Mayli and led her to another part of the cantina. She turned to glance at Wires, who simply shrugged.
"I'll be back at the table," he said, and she nodded.
Mayli followed Chewbacca through the crowd, realizing how nice to be as tall as a Wookie, people just moving aside as you walked. Arriving at a dark booth in the back, a young man sat, brown hair, handsome face, playful eyes, wearing typical Corellian garb. He rose as Chewbacca and Mayli approached, flashing her a charming, flirtatious smile.
"Han," he said.
"Mayli," she introduced herself, but before she could continue with her business offer, Chewbacca interrupted.
Han seemed irritated with the roaring Wookie. "Listen, I can figure this out on my own, Chewie…hey, that wasn't my fault…no, we will not pay with our lives. I have a plan…okay, so I can't explain it just yet…"
Mayli now broke in, sliding into the booth. "I heard you are in need of some work to get money to pay back Jabba. I used to work for him but went back into business for myself. Now, my husband, daughter and I are leaving, and I need to pass along some of my customers."
Han raised an eyebrow. "Wow, thanks sweetheart. What's the work?"
Mayli grimaced a bit in irritation at this stranger calling her sweetheart. She could see Wires' assessment of him being cocky just in the way he presented himself. Sure, Obi-Wan had all sorts of pet names for her she loved, and even Wires calling her "love" was nice, as they'd know each other for over sixteen years. But this Han calling her sweetheart…ugh.
"Yes, I run product delivery for a couple of business, and I have two final contracts, one for a brewery out of Mos Espa and another…"
"Wait…just food and textiles and…"
"Yes, these are steady, continuing contracts. And I'd be happy to…" she continued, but he again interrupted.
"Listen, I'm a smuggler. And the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship in the galaxy," he said, and he leaned toward her, his eyes glittering with delight. "We made the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs."
Mayli began to laugh. "Ridiculous."
Han scowled. "I'm not kidding! Right, Chewie?"
Mayli glanced over at the Wookie, who nodded aggressively. She'd definitely need to check the facts on this one.
"Anyway, I do big items…that kind of speed is not wasted on hauling the latest fashions or wine for some rich idiots on Alderaan," Han said, leaning back and sharing his charming smile with her once again.
Mayli shrugged and rose. "Your loss…but I do compliment you on…the Millennium Falcon. She truly is a beauty," she said, moving away, hoping now to just pass the contracts off on Wires, glad she was never as young and stupid as this Han Solo.
Returning to Wires with an ale, they both laughed over the foolish kid.
"Oh, he'll learn," said Mayli. "But the Kessel Run thing is true?"
"Yup, know someone who was there," Wires said, taking a long drink.
"Well, Chewbacca is nice. If I encounter someone who needs to escape Tatooine fast, I know who to recommend," Mayli said, and then another thought struck her. "Goodness, I hope Zella never becomes interested in a guy like that."
Wires laughed. "She's still a baby."
"Fifteen," Mayli said, not for the first time wondering where all the years went.
"Fifteen," Wires repeated. "Thinking about Ben as her father and you as her mother…well, I pity the poor boy who ever glances her way."
Mayli raised a silent toast to Wires.
At the Kenobi homestead, Obi-Wan stood beside his daughter, both with lightsabers ignited, looking at the two men standing before them. Jac, the Sith clairvoyant, smiled warmly at him, but the young man beside the elder looked nervous, staring guiltily at Zella.
Jac aged well in the nearly two decades since Obi-Wan last laid eyes on him. He dressed regally in full robes of rich, dark colors, his once black hair streaked in silver, dark eyes filled with a knowing wit. The boy, who appeared about Zella's age, resembled Jac greatly, and Obi-Wan immediately guessed this to be Jac's son. He became startled when he remembered a dream, years ago, featuring these two. The memory hit him so hard, he deactivated his blade and opened his mouth to speak.
But Zella surprised him by speaking first.
"How dare you trick me!" she yelled, anger penetrating the air. Obi-Wan glanced over, shocked to see her near tears and addressing the boy specifically. "Here I think you are some cute, nice guy, and I get up the nerve to talk to you, and you are a rotten Sith and…"
"Hey, I had no idea you are the daughter of the man we were looking for," the boy fired back, his face flushed, his eyes seeming to plead with her. "I just wanted to have caf with you and…"
"Really?" Zella asked, her voice softening. Still, she did not lower her staff.
Obi-Wan stared at her. Cute, nice guy? Caf? What had she been doing in town, seeing some boy? And now, the way she looked at this kid…Obi-Wan felt his insides churn slightly.
The boy laughed. "Yes. You stood out in town, and I could feel the Force in you…strong, shining."
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth, the sudden urge to ignite his blade passing through him.
Beside him, Zella lowered her staff. "Listen, maybe I was…"
"Enough children," Jac said, raising his hand and gesturing as if to brush them aside. "We have business of galaxy-level proportions to discuss."
Obi-Wan started, realizing his attention shifted to his daughter's flirtations with this boy and not the immediate problem of a known and dangerous Sith standing before him. Yes, the nineteen years and raising a daughter did shift his priorities a bit.
"Ben…Obi-Wan Kenobi, so nice to see you again," Jac said politely.
"I cannot say the same," Obi-Wan retorted harshly. "Why have you come?"
"No need to be rude," Jac said. "By the end of the day, I feel we will be good comrades, as we both want the same thing."
"And what is that?"
"Revenge against Sheev Palpatine, that old, dusty, yet all-powerful Sith currently ruling our galaxy," Jac said.
Obi-Wan felt his heart rate quicken. "Revenge is not the Jedi way," he said, sounding unconvincing.
Jac laughed, not an unpleasant sound. "Come now, of all the people the Emperor has wronged in his decades long climb to the top, the Jedi might hold one of the top three positions. You are human, and humans seek vengeance when wronged. And he wronged you greatly. Massacring the Jedi is one thing, but stealing your apprentice, turning him to the Dark Side…"
"What?" asked Zella, who turned off her lightsaber and now stared at her father.
Jac looked legitimately surprised. "Why my dear girl, your father has not shared with you the tragic tale of Darth Vader the Broken, formerly Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One?"
Zella gasped. "Darth Vader…he was Anakin?! Wait, Anakin's surname was…Skywalker...Luke!"
Obi-Wan stomped up to Jac, now standing a foot away, face-to-face. Still, the Sith did not move but stared almost lovingly at Obi-Wan.
"Why have you come here, to taunt me?" Obi-Wan hissed. "There is no longer a Jedi Order, Anakin is dead, and…"
Jac's face became serious. "Years ago, when you were a guest of the Sith Scholars…"
"Guest!? You abducted me!"
"Well, whichever terminology you prefer. When you were with us, I had my first vision, of you dueling Darth Vader and perishing…but not dying in the normal way. Vanishing," Jac said. "Do you remember? I told you this."
"Yes…and you mentioned the place was called Death Star, some space station," Obi-Wan said, remembering like it was yesterday. He'd thought of Jac's words often. Vader…vanishing.
"Over the years, other visions emerged, and until last week, they appeared random. And then, as I mourned and raged and plotted my ultimate vengeance on my master, everything fell into place. You…all those years ago…I knew then and know with great certainty now. You and I are connected. You and I…right here, right now…we start the chain of events to shatter everything Sheev built."
The words delivered so matter-of-factly sent a shiver through Obi-Wan. He sensed no deception from the man.
"You somehow get to the Death Star…I do not know how, but you are in the company of a blonde kid I saw in town. He felt like Vader when I walked by him. On this station, you fight Vader and vanish…but you become a Force Spirit. I've seen you sabotaging the station, deep in the mechanisms, a ghost disabling shields and data ports. While the station is already weak, pre-sabotaged by its designer, which I honestly find uproariously amusing, you remove the post-design, during-construction mechanisms that strengthened the weakness, making it a piece of sweet Hapes crumble cake for the Rebel fleet to destroy the Death Star," Jac said. "Meanwhile, I take care of the other projects of the Empire, the Sun Crusher and the biological weapons and the others in the labs throughout the galaxy, one at a time."
Obi-Wan stared at him, dumbfounded. He finally found his voice. "But…Force Spirits cannot sabotage a ship…how is it that I vanish, no body…and the Rebellion…wait, what's a Sun Crusher?"
A knowing smile spread across Jac's face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several data chips and a holocron, the one Obi-Wan recognized from the Sith Scholars' library, thankfully not the one he'd been tempted by years ago.
"I have a short amount of time to educate you, bring you up to date on your mission, our mission," Jac said as if speaking to a soldier. "This is your destiny, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Mayli zoomed across the desert from Mos Eisley, feeling a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders in finally getting rid of those last two delivery contracts. Now she could focus on the move to Chiss space, seeing her daughter off to the university and settling into her later years with Obi-Wan.
Approaching their homestead on the edge of the Jundland Wastes, she narrowed her eyes, seeing something in the distance at the bottom of their hill, metallic, glittering in the late afternoon suns. Curious. But growing closer, her heart nearly stopped. A ship. A ship she knew. The ship belonging to the Sith Scholars.
Parking the Nebula Flame next to the yacht, she dashed up the path, wishing she were a bit younger and could move a little faster. Reaching the top, she stopped short. Four people sat in the meditation garden she built for Obi-Wan years ago. On one bench, Ben and Zella, both turning and rising as she approached. Obi-Wan looked deeply sad, Zella stricken. On the benches across, but now also rising, sat a young man unknown to her and the Sith Scholar Jac, still handsome, but with the same leering stare.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she screamed at him, causing her daughter's jaw to drop. She hardly used such language.
Obi-Wan stopped her from dashing at the approaching Jac, placing both hands on her shoulders.
"Darling…he comes with a plan…to help the galaxy, defeat the Emperor. And it makes sense," he said quietly, and she saw in his eyes the truth.
"This is it…that sense we've both been feeling," she whispered, and tears sprang to her eyes. She hated crying in front of others, but the tears slid down her cheeks now without her permission. Glancing over Obi-Wan's shoulder, she saw Zella weeping too. And beyond, the younger man looking devastated.
Only Jac looked happy, a sort of jolly glee that made him look mad surrounded by others so upset.
He approached. "Mayli. You look lovely as ev…"
Mayli shrugged off Obi-Wan, ran up to Jac, and punched him square in the jaw with all her might.
Author's Note: In the next chapter, Obi-Wan and Mayli learn more about Jac's plan and the holocron, and Zella and Sam connect.
I really enjoyed writing Han Solo and Chewbacca in this chapter. Since childhood, Han Solo has always been my favorite Star Wars character, and I recently got to meet Peter Mayhew at comic-con. I hope to write a story with them both in larger roles in the future, when finished with my Obi-Wan stories of course.
Thank you for reading!