Chapter 63
Killing Old Men
Terri sat up in the bed as the lights to their room was suddenly switched on and a group burst into the room. She reached down the floor and gathered her underwear. Pulling it on as she was slipping from the bed she stood up and crossed one arm across her chest, the other hand pulling her lightsaber to her. Juhani was pulling the blanket they had shared closer to cover herself, from the shape of the blanket she had her blaster trained on one soldier, hidden by a raised knee
The two soldiers stepped apart. Uthar Wynn strode into the room, his sulphuric yellow eyes ablaze in anger. Terri pointed her lightsaber emitter at the ground.
"Master Wynn." She acknowledged him
Wynn ignored her, barely giving Juhani a glance he moved to where Jolee was knocked out. His nose wrinkled as he smelt the alcohol. He leaned down and ran a gloved finger down some dust stains on Jolee's tunic. He raised it to his nose
"I would not do that if I were you, Master." Terri said
"Why would that be, Recruit Starwind?" Wynn demanded frostily
"Glitterstim Spice." Terri explained, rapidly pulling on a shirt and relaxing her arm in front of her chest
She came to parade rest, behind her Juhani was scrambling into clothes and getting up from their bed. Wynn brushed the powder off from his glove onto Jolee's blanket.
"I see." He said
Wynn jerked his head and another two troopers dragged a beaten man into the room a shock collar in place on his neck. He was twitching in pain as the collar fired at different levels every few seconds Wynn pointed to Juhani and Terri
"Are these the two women who overpowered you in your room?" Wynn asked
"Yes, Master Wynn. They offered me a threesome in exchange for help to gain prestige. I turned my back on them and I only woke up when you entered my room." The man gibbered hurriedly, squinting through heavily bruised eyelids
Wynn gave the two woman an enquiring look. Terri scoffed
"I do not like men." She said simply
"As we have seen on entering the room." Yuthara spoke, stepping into the room
Wynn closed his eyes for a moment as he concentrated. He opened his eyes, a musing look on his tattooed face.
"The mere thought of being with a male is repulsive to both of you." He stated
"I may be ambitious but that is one line I will not cross." Terri stated firmly
Wynn pointed to the man suspended by the two troopers. A cruel smirk appeared on his face.
"Then we have a problem. You said these two seduced you and incapacitated you. They say they have no interest in males and they do not hide that fact, something their cultures and previous affiliation would condemn them for. So who do I believe?"
The man tried to get to his feet, the troopers pushed him down harshly
"Master Wynn, I am loyal to the Sith" The man said desperately
"And who are you loyal too?" Wynn asked Terri
"Myself, then whoever lets me accrue power." Terri replied
Wynn chuckled at that answer. He shot a pointed finger at the man.
"Execute him." He ordered
Terri reached under her pillow and produced her blaster. The man twisted furiously trying to break free, the shock collar keeping him from accessing the force. He slumped, a charred mass on his chest as Terri fired
Terri lowered her blaster. Jolee added to the conversation by giving a deep snore and mumbling incoherently. Wynn shot him a look of utter disgust, his hands twitching
The troopers dropped the body onto the floor and got to attention. A dragging noise preceded a droid entering the room. Extending its manipulator arm it started to drag the body from the room by a foot. Wynn gave the women a nod.
"You may return to sleep. Apologies for interrupting your evening." Wynn stated dryly.
Wynn followed the droid slowly as it dragged the body away. For the first time in years he was falling back on his primary training while he analysed the situation. Contrary to popular belief Jedi did not just wander around the galaxy sticking their noses into other beings business on a whim. Several served as technicians and specialists overseeing the civilian employees of the various temples if not outright running several departments by themselves
Wynn had been trained as a temple guard, which was a misnomer of a title. Jedi internal affairs would be a more accurate description, the temple guard were entrusted to police the Jedi order as a part of their myriad functions. Apart from advanced combat training all guards were taught investigative procedure irregardless if they were Guardian or Sentinel class, the consular class being completely unsuited for the training, not that the consular class would lower themselves to be mere guards.
He ran the events of the night through in his mind again. The intelligence operatives monitoring picked up transmissions to contacts that were known or suspected to be Republic intelligence. They ran a sweep and isolated the terminal after backtracking it through several other terminals, his own having been one of them. A security team was dispatched to the room and he had been contacted the moment the breach had occurred. The operative who caught the transmission will be rewarded, as for the ones responsible for the anti virus and software applications, their lives are going to become quite painful.
He shook his head to refocus from the anticipation of pain being delivered. The resident of the unit was found on his bed, he claimed to have been drugged. Not an uncommon occurrence in the academy, though normally that would lead to death for the victim or to be the tool for another students stress relief . The man pointed to Ubisi and Starwind. Not changing his story once despite having been beaten to an inch of unconciousness.
Storming into the room of the two women and the wastrel was eye opening in the least. The room smelled of sex and alcohol, he did not have to rely on his genetic heritage to establish that fact. The disgust both women projected into the force at the mention of servicing a male had been true, as was the embarrassment of having been caught together. As was the embarrassment of having been naked in a room full of strangers. Starwind answers to his questions did not indicate deception in the force. Thus he concluded that the man had been lying to him, very convincingly in fact. Deciding to test Starwind's loyalty he ordered her to kill. Which she did without hesitation. Thus proving that she was loyal and her follower was more loyal to her than the Sith, not an ideal situation but one he could work with. The wastrel on the other hand, despite Starwind's plan for the thing, Wynn wanted him gone. Drinking yourself stupid is one thing, being a drug addict as well. Wynn clenched his fists and took a deep breath to contain his rage.
Reaching the morgue, he pulled out his rarely used comlink and send a message. He waited a few moments before entering the morgue, giving the person inside ample warning. The Zabrak male that was his senior instructor was standing between the various covered gurneys.
There was several lines no Sith would even contemplate crossing, yet this Zabrak crossed two. Necrophiliac and paedophile, Wynn had been one of the knights to arrest him where had been working as a clinical technician in the Temple morgue, the reason for his downfall, a padawan that wanted to say goodbye to a friend in the dead of the night.
Having been sentenced to the sanctuary he was an eager recruit when Wynn had decided to defect to the Sith. Arranging the escape of the worst of the worst had been an excellent cover for his own disappearance. With the Jedi scrambling to capture and contain or in several cases outright kill their own criminals, the chaos allowed him to escape undetected.
The only reason the Zabrak was still alive, was his loyalty to Wynn and the fact that he had extensive experience in his field. The access to fresh bodies being another perk he enjoyed as Wynn's enforcer and bodyguard.
Wynn was fully aware that Yuthara was planning on usurping him, the Zabrak was his Fool in the Sabac deck.
Wynn looked around the room, nearly all the available space had been taken up
"A busy day it seems." Wynn commented
"Starwind had a busy day." The Zabrak chuckled
He pointed to nine covered gurney's
"All of those are hers. The five over there is Onassi's" He said in a rumbling voice
Wynn pointed to Onassi's group of corpses
"Tell me about those first, Barlor" He said
Barlor opened the closest one first, revealing the Arkanian female.
"Cut through cunt to tits." Barlor said disgruntled
"And this displeases you?" Wynn remarked
"Was hoping to get this one eventually, high and mighty little Schutta. Now she is unusable." Barlor replied
"Anything usefull you can tell me?" Wynn sighed, not bothering to hide his disgust
Barlor pointed to a covered form, blue blood staining the shroud and flicked his finger to the gurney next to it
"That one was killed by a blade that was not a lightsaber. That one had his neck snapped. Three of them show post mortem impact injuries from being thrown from height, though not the one with the broken neck." Barlor reported
"So Onasi had help, he does not have a regular blade, the last I checked." Wynn said, musingly
"Blade cut was too big for anything easily concealed." Barlor gave his opinion
"Interresting, I will get back to that later." Wynn shrugged
Wynn turned his attention to the other pile. Barlor shrugged, pulling the shroud back over the Arkanian.
"Lightsaber all of them." He said
Wynn wonder not for the first time why Barlor bothered to cover the bodies with shrouds considering they were destined for the incinerator in the next few hours
A lone gurney stood in the corner. Wynn lifted an eyebrow in enquiry
"Lashowe's. She got the Nagai with poison. At least she leaves the bodies whole for the most part." Barlor grunted, his eyes lidded and breathing heavily
From the way he was eyeing the trolley Wynn knew that asking Barlor more was pointless, not mentioning the lust he was projecting. He walked from the morgue with more questions than he had before while reminding himself again to slowly kill Barlor when he exhausted his usefulness. Sith must have some standards after all.
Jolee had been suspicious and truculent on waking up with a drug hangover and smelling of booze. His attitude helping shore up the picture of a failing alliance Terri had sketched. Terri was getting suspicious as all recruits were reallocated to fill up the platoons. Standing next to Dustill on her right and Lashowe on her left, she studied Wynn. The feral smiles he was giving to Jolee not doing anything to calm her suspicions.
"Recruits, the last two days were very interesting to say the least." Wynn sounded almost jovial
He walked among their reduced ranks as he was speaking
"Never before have we had so many vacancies being created in one day never mind a week. So much that we need to recruit nearly an entire class again." He said
Wynn nodded to Yuthara who stood at the head of the parade. She spoke up
"To that end we are authorising a recruitment drive in Dreshdae, as always those with the most prestige can recruit without consulting me. Any of you can bring a worthy candidate to me or those students for assessment. If your candidate fails to impress, be prepared to be punished for wasting our time."
She stepped forward.
"Starwind and Lashowe have the required prestige, bother them first. Onassi report to Master Wynne for your lessons. Fall out." She ordered
Yuthara approached Terri and Lashowe, holding a pile of familiar medallions. She split the pile in two and handed the women a set each
"Get to it recruits." She said
Melissa reached her observation post and happily laid down on her stomach, resisting the urge to rub her still sore rump. Why was she the one to match Jolee's bloodgroup? She had argued passionately that any blood would have been usefull, but no! It had to be a match to Jolee's if the Sith decided to do a forensic test. Sure they matched blood groups, but should they run a DNA test the plan would fall apart. Giving the blood was not too painful, then that medical droid had to insist on an iron supplement. A large nerf steak or two would have been perfect, but of course and iron supplement shot was prescribed.
She gave the cryofreeze case that contained the special round a glare as she put it down next to the rifle she was going to use. There was a lot of unhappiness going around. HK was very unhappy to have to hand over his prized disruptor rifle as it was the only weapon they had that could fire the round, if droids could sulk, he would have been the galactic winner.T3 was given a paintjob and had Sith insignia added to its frame, making the irritable droid even more cranky. Carth was unhappy as Canderous was riding herd on him to make sure he did not approach the house. Now they were completely going to ruin Jolee's day.
Somehow that did cheer her up somewhat, she would be doing what she had been wanting to do on Kashyyk a few times. The downside of the rather short message they got outlining the plan was that they had no definite time frame so she could be lying in wait for several days.
The airlock behind the barricade opened and a stream of grey emerged from it. Melissa opened her comlink and tapped twice on the microphone before closing the comlink.
T3 meandered closer to where the recruits were starting to spread out to start their afternoon of entertainment. Not one of the recruits gave it a second glance as they moved past. Spotting its target it rolled closer. The compartment holding its manipulator arm opening. A hyposyringe held in the manipulator arm.
Jolee felt a sudden sting. Looking behind him, he saw a droid. The thing bumped him again and he felt another sting. Deciding there was propably a sharp edge on its dome, he stepped aside and the droid bleeped as it hurried away, running into another recruit, the cry of surprise and pain convinced Jolee that his theory was probably correct. He took four more steps before his stomach gave an alarming growl and turn. The urgent need to find a refresher was upon him. He took another step before the force gave him a sharp warning, Despite his bodies urging he stood still and reached for his lightsaber and ignited the blade. The green light standing like a beacon.
He gave no mind to the hostile glares he was receiving from the other recruits as he scanned for the danger
"What is up, old man? Are you challenging everyone here?" A student sneered
Jolee ignored the student and focused on his surroundings. His eyes drifted to a building, he spotted a tinge of green on top of the roof. Looking down at his chest he saw a green dot. He turned to face the shooter, lightsaber ready to direct the bolt away. He felt a sharp blow to his chest and he was thrown back, something wet coated his chest and blackness was rolling in, the last thing he felt was his bowels voiding as blackness claimed him.
Terri and Lashowe was walking in front of Yuthara at the rear of the column of recruits and students. Juhani walking several steps ahead of them. Jolee had been in the middle of the pack. Suddenly the pack moved away as green blade came to life.
"I swear if that old fool is on another spice dream I will kill him." Juhani snarled angrily
"Not if I get him first." Terri snapped stepping up
Terri turned to Yuthara
"My apologies, Mistress Bann, I have an urgent task to complete." She said
The two pushed through the crowd that had now started taunting and jeering Jolee as he kept looking around, his blade following his movements. Then he was thrown back, his chest covered in red. The coppery smell of blood in the air and he started stilling. The crowd moved closer in ghoulish anticipation. Jolee went completely still. The crowd moved away in disgust as his bowels voided.
Terri grabbed the nearest student and used him as a shield as she lined up her blaster past his ear , using his bulk to cover her body. She noticed Juhani had grabbed Mekel as her shield.
"Do you see the sniper?!" She called to Juhani
"No! Check the roofs!" Juhani called.
The rest of the students and the civilians scattered and took cover where they could. All anxiously lookingaround to see from where the shot could have come from. A figure appeared on a rooftop as it threw a rope down and started rappelling down the side of the building. Unhitching from the rope the figure started walking to the corpse in the street
The female figure walked closer her face covered by a bandana and her hair concealed by a hooded coat, a disruptor rifle was carelessly held over one shoulder as she wandered closer.
"Step away from the body, no one touches my kill. I claim this bounty." A young voice came from under the hood.
Terri pushed her hostage towards the figure before giving a force push to turn the stumbling man into a projectile. The figure snapped a hand to the side and the projectile veered of course.
"What the kark? A force sensitive bounty hunter." Mekel observed in surprise as he stopped struggling to get clear of Juhani
Terri holstered her blaster and ignited her lightsaber. She took a step back as the bounty hunter ignited her own red blade. She moved forward rapidly and swung the blade. The bounty hunter blocked her strike but her style was shoddy and untrained. Terri dominated the fight, the bounty hunter giving as good as she got till Terri managed to trip her and keep her down with a force push. She lifted her blade to end the fight
"Stop!" Yuthara grabbed Terri's wrist
Yuthara knelt down and pulled the bandana down and with a flick of her hand the hood popped back and red hair became visible. She studied the teenager carefully
"You look like someone I used to know." Yuthara said musingly
"Kind of look like that bitch from the archives. What was her name again?" Juhani asked Terri
"Atris?" Terri replied
"No the other bitch." Juhani answered
"Really narrowing down the list there." Terri said drolly
"The one who wanted to be high Archivist but Atris got the job." Juhani continued
"Oh that one. A real common name something labour related. Plumber, Mason" Terri replied
"No. Carp? Carpenter!" Juhani exclaimed
"Ashani Carpenter." Yuthara said
A look of rage crossed the bounty hunters face
"If you are going to kill me, kill me. But don't mention that bitch in front of me." The bounty hunter snarled
"I heard she had a kid with a republic trooper and got rid of it." Terri said musingly
"I heard it was either a mando or a bounty hunter." Juhani replied shrugging
Yuthara stood up and took a few steps back, not taking her eyes of the bounty hunter for one moment
"Release the girl." She ordered Terri
"Of course, Mistress."
The bounty hunter shot Terri a glare, as she cautiously started to sit up.
"She your dominatrix?" She snapped, jerking her head to Yuthara
The bounty hunters head turned from the blow Terri delivered. Her hand was at the girls throat in mere seconds later and she started to squeeze
"You will show respect to Mistress Ban!" She shouted in the bounty hunters face
"Screw you, cunt." The hunter gasped out
Yuthara grabbed Terri's shoulder and pulled her back
"Stand down, I will handle this." Yuthara ordered
Terri stepped back bounty hunter screamed as force lightning enveloped her for a moment. She writhed in pain, and lay gasping on the ground as the lightning stopped. Yuthara knelt down again and ran a gentle hand through the girls hair
"Now are you going to be civil?" She said softly to the girl
"Fine." The girl rasped out, twitching in pain.
Yuthara pulled the girl to her feet. She staggered for a few steps but stayed on her feet. She looked to an alley
"TK 41! Take the prize to the ship and carbonite it." She ordered.
A bipedal droid came into view and moved towards the body. As it passed the group the girl pulled the rifle to her and thrust it at the droid
"Take this and go clean it after carboniting the prize."
"Resigned Response: I shall do so, owner."
Yuthara placed a firm hand on the girls shoulder and pushed her towards the cantina. Terri and Juhani fell in place behind her.
"Let us get comfortable while we talk. Starwind attend us." Yuthara suggested.
"As you wish, Mistress." Terri replied.
With the days show ended the civilians and students went back about their business, all stepping well clear of the drag mark left by the droid as it was dragging the body away by a foot. A few students moved to the cantina looking forward to a drink or two and maybe a continuation of the show
Yuthara steered the girl to a corner booth and pushed her into it. She sat down on one end and motioned for Terri to sit at the other end. Terri looked at Juhani.
"Get us a variety of drinks, the girl will definitely need something." She instructed
Juhani nodded and pushed through the mass starting to fill the cantina to get to the bar. The onlookers kept a distance from the booth, but there was no disputing that they were closely scrutinising every action.
The girllooked warily around the dimly lit room. Seeing the two women close to her ignoring her, she slowly slipped a hand from the surface of the table and moved it to her thigh, unsnapping the holster restraining clip containing her blaster. Terri chuckled, dryly, before finaly looking at the girl, a slight mocking smile on her face.
"Even if you are fast enough to get one of us, you will not make it out alive from here." She said, leaning back in her seat unconcernedly
"Maybe I am suicidal." The girl retorted
"Considering that you whacked a Sith student in broad twilight you very well could be." Terri replied
"Not that I believe that you are suicidal." Yuthara broke in, studying the girl
The girl leaned back in the booth, shifting so that her back was completely covered. Yuthara snapped her fingers at Terri
"What do you sense?" She asked
"Fear, anger and is that satisfaction?" Terri replied
"What does that tell you?" Yuthara demanded
"That the kill was personal for our friend here." Terri replied
"Of course it was personal, she tracked him down to the Academy. No mere bounty hunter would come here and kill a Sith." Yuthara stated
The girl snorted, before starting to laugh
"You thought he was one of yours?" She chuckled
"Why don't you tell us? You clearly want to'" Yuthara invited, a slight edge to her tone
"Let me guess, someone here found him in some shithole in the galaxy drunk and stoned of his face. And after plying him with more of either, he admitted to having left the Jedi because they killed his hidden wife slash secret apprentice, and he wants to join whatever you do here out of revenge or the second story was he was willing to do anything to make enough credits to support his habits. He used to change between the two" The girl stated
Yuthara looked rapidly to Terri, who paled slightly. The girl continued.
"Then it gets better, a strike team of Jedi arrive. He claims they are there for him, or to take care of whatever local that needs to be taken out. He then suggests strongly that you leave quickly to escape and he just so happens to have a ship."
Juhani appeared back at the table carrying a tray. Terri grabbed a bottle of beer and popped the tab, taking a deep swallow. The girl smirked seeing that
"So you were the chump he targeted." She said.
Juthara pushed the tray closer to the girl
"Have something to drink, I know I always want something after getting shocked like you were." She said her tone gentle
"I am still underage." The girl objected.
The three women snorted in amusement, all knowing that it was not the real reason for her refusal.
"No one here cares for republic drinking laws, or any republic laws for that matter. Go on, have a drink." Yuthara chuckled
The girl hesitantly took a bottle before shaking her head. The next moment her blaster was in her hand. Fury was flickering in her eyes
"You made me do that!" She angrily shouted
"I did. The question you want to ask is can you learn it too?" Yuthara admitted
"Jedi training, no thank you. I will not become like that piece of shit I killed nor the bitch who is my mother." The girl snapped.
"We will come back to that later. You insist he was a Jedi. Why is that?" Yuthara asked
"I will not tell you shit, get out of my way." The girl demanded
She dropped her blaster and grabbed at her throat. Juhani let go of her force choke a moment later.
"I thought we agreed to stay civil." Juhani admonished her.
Terri picked up the blaster and put it on the seat beside her.
"Kid, you have the power to do all of this too, I feel your anger. Your desire to force the galaxy to your will." Terri said cajolingly
"The old man killed someone close to you, did he not?" Juhani stated in a comforting tone
"Who was it young one?" Yuthara asked, gently stoking the girls trembling hand
"All of us here have been hurt in some way, you are among friends here. Share your burden." Terri said softly
The girl grabbed a bottle of spirits, taking a deep swallow she coughed harshly before speaking
"My father and my sister." She whispered.
Terri slipped a medallion across the surface of the table.
"This will allow you to join the Academy, here you will gain the power to get revenge on all those who killed your family. Here you will get the power to stop what happened to you happening to another girl." She said softly, insistently
The girl tapped the medallion with a finger.
"And if I do not like what you are selling?" She demanded
"Then you leave. No harm no foul. It is not like you would go and join the Jedi are you?" Yuthara said
"How long as this training?" The girl demanded
"It all depends on you. You have the raw power to learn quickly, if you have the will to match it will go quicker." Yuthara answered
"And what comes after? Conscription? Enslavement?" The girl demanded waveringly
"Nothing you do not want to do. You will have the power to chart your own course be it part of the Empire or a bounty hunter that can go toe to toe with Jedi." Juhani said
They all could feel her indecision. Terri leaned over and looked her in the eyes
"Now that you have achieved a portion of revenge, ask yourself this. What are you going to go back to? Your old life is gone and nothing will bring it back. Here you can take the time to figure out your next step while gaining experience and training at no cost to you." She said
The girl closed her hand on the medallion. Yuthara gave a broad smile
"A wise choice, young one. What shall we call you?"
" Melissa. Melissa Young." The girl answered
Yuthara turned in her seat to give the girl her full attention.
"Do you want to tell us your tale? If it is a sore point for you, we will not pry." She said
Melissa took another deep pull from the bottle in her hands
"The man I called father was not my biological father. The woman who gave birth to me was already pregnant when she contacted the Republic for a pick up. Dad was a pathfinder for the fleet, so he and a few others were sent to get her, force forbid the Jedi send their own on a rescue mission." She said, turning the bottle in her hands
Placing the bottle down, she gave a deep sigh
"Skip a few months Dad and his crew found themselves in the brig on smuggling charges, all of them swear they were innocent. The day before their court appearance she came in carrying a bundle, me. She tells them that the judges were already instructed to find them guilty."
"So they were going down unless they did something for her?" Terri suggested
"She gave them a deal. Dad takes me and they all walk away from the cells. They will be dishounarably discharged and cashiered, or they could take there chances on a penal colony." Melissa continues
"It was obvious they took the deal then." Juhani observed
Melissa reached for a can of soda and popped the tab
"Dad already had a daughter, so he took me home with him. Getting home he finds his wife shacked up with another man. He took his daughter and left. He had an old freighter from before joining the fleet. He took us both onto it and tried to run cargo."
"I am guessing his record followed him around." Terri stated
"None of the big companies would deal with him, he also insisted on not running dodgy cargo. Then one day he landed with a cargo of food on Sluis Van at one of the orbital stations."
"Go on." Yuthara said
"The orbital station had been taken over by a gang, Dad knew about it, but it was legitimate cargo. A combined Jedi, Alterran Rangers and Sluis Van Police task force raided the station. There was no escape."
"You were with them?" Juhani asked
Melissa shook her head
"No I was on the surface with one of Dads old friends, Kiara was with him as co pilot. In court my dad produced the bill of sale for the food proving it was a legitimate cargo."
Her face turned to a snarl
"Then Bindo stood up, he claimed they found spice on the ship and that he had seen dad and Kiara traffic slaves from the station. Dad demanded proof of the allegation. Bindo just stated that his word as a Jedi in good standing was enough. The judges believed him, typical of republic justice, no one dared to call a Jedi on his bantha crap."
Melissa downed her drink and grabbed a beer
"They were sentenced to Mustafar correctional colony. They did not survive the trip to there." Melissa said softly
"The friend of your father, I assume he looked after you?" Juhani probed
"Yes, she was a bounty hunter and taught me all she knew. As you can guess there is not a lot of options for legitimate work for the daughter of a convicted slaver." Melissa replied
"You said knew?" Terri asked
"She went on a local hunt and did not come back. I cleared out with her ship and droid a few days later when people came knocking. Been tracking that bastard ever since, taking jobs here and there for funds." Melissa answered, tiredly
Yuthara tapped a finger on the table
"An impressive tale, one question what did you shoot, Bindo was it, with? It did not look like a disruptor round." Yuthara asked
"I repurposed a disruptor round casing to fire a slug round." Melissa replied
"Why?" Juhani asked
"Jedi are known to be able to redirect blaster bolts, and at its core a disruptor round is still energy based and thus can be redirected, A slug travels faster than a disruptor shot. It cannot be seen and it is highly unlikely to be redirected as you all saw." Melissa gave a proud yet feral smirk
"How come no one picked up you are force sensitive?" Juhani asked
Melissa shrugged her shoulders
"Moved around a lot, and no one cares for some spacer brat." She replied
"And where did you get your lightsaber?" Yuthara asked
"Proof of kill for a contract, good thing I took it actually, the body disappeared from my cargo hold. And yes I used a slug on him as well." Melissa answered
"So that is why you were insistent on encasing the body in carbonite." Terri said
"Partially, The Exchange simply wants proof of death, but Sakara wants hard proof before she will pay out, and rumour has it she loves carbonite sculptures." Melissa smirked
"How much is he worth?" Terri asked idly
"One million for the Exchange. Five hundred thousand from Sakara. I see no reason not to get paid by both." Melissa replied
Carth grabbed his nose as HK was pulling his load up the boarding ramp.
"Stop right there." He ordered
Carth walked to the fire equipment cupboard and retrieved the suppressant hose. HK stood stock still on the ramp
"You want a hose down too?" Carth asked
"Irritated response: I have dust in all my joints and nowhere is an oil bath to be found."
Carth hosed both down and then hosed the ramp down. HK pulled his cargo fully into the hold before the boarding ramp was raised. Canderous administered an antidote to the drug and pressed down hard as Jolee jolted awake.
"You are on the Hawk, you are safe." Carth told him
"Why?" Jolee demanded
"The bigger question is, how much did you screw up that we had to fake an assassination for you." Caderous retorted
"Sarcastic response: Could not possibly be waving a green lightsaber around when he was given a red crystal before leaving the ship."
Canderous gripped Jolee by the lapels of his tunic and pulled him close
"My daughter had to take your place, if one hair gets damaged you will regret it, Jetti." He promised
"That is if I do not get to you first." Carth added