Chapter 29: Confrontations, Stowaways, and Pests
Okay, a bit late but better late then never. Please review and comment.
On the Ebon Hawk, Bastila paced around the main hold with Juhani watching.
"Bastila please calm down." the redeemed Jedi told her comrade.
"How can I be calm?" Bastila exclaimed. "This is my mission! I should be out there with Calak… and the others!"
She cared most about Calak though. She couldn't explain it but… she felt… drawn to him. This filled her with a bit of disgust as she knew… the truth. Of course, Calak was a good man… it seemed at least. He had done great things such as redeeming Juhani, saving Shen Matale, and more. She only hoped he would remain true to the light, that could be a struggle though. She knew it all too well. Even when one tried to do the right thing it could lead to the dark side, the Mandalorian Wars had been proof of this. Revan had merely wanted to help the people of the Republic, but his haste had caused his fall.
"We have to avoid the Dark Jedi," Juhani tried to reason. "You are a high priority target because of your Battle Mediation. The Dark Jedi will likely know your face by now while Calak will probably not have that exposure."
"Maybe," Bastila said.
But she knew that if Malak ever saw Calak's face, he'd know the truth and make him a high priority target as well. Bastila only hoped that never happened.
Then suddenly she felt a disturbance in the force. She looked Juhani whose feline eyes widened as well.
"Did you feel that?" Bastila asked.
"Yes! Calak and the others are in danger!"
Both female Jedi ran out with the force propelling them faster than the human eye could see.
…
The three opposing Dark Jedi lit their own lightsabers. The leader carried a single red lightsaber, while the other two each had a pair of blades in different forms One carried a pair of quick looking small lightsaber blades that looked easy to maneuver quickly. The other had a long handled doubled bladed lightsaber like Bastila. Calak could only hope that the skills of Canderous and Carth, two of the finest soldiers in the Mandalorians and Republic it seemed… would be able to each take on a Dark Jedi themselves.
The lead Dark Jedi looked at his fellows and quickly gave orders. He turned to the double-blade user.
"You! Kill the soldiers! I'll take the Jedi myself!" He then said to the dual wielder. "Contact the Sith Fleet! Tell them we've spotted a top priority target!"
"Right!" the dual wielding Sith said before extinguishing one blade and reaching for his pocket for a comlink.
The leader leapt at Calak. The soldier turned padawan instantly took up a Soresu tactic, turning on the defensive. He managed to block the strike that came towards the top of his head with intent to slice him horizontally in two with his vibroblade. Calak then switched to Ataru to press the attack, sending a quick flurry of dual strikes at the Dark Jedi who just barely managed to fend off the counter attack. Calak then followed up with a powerful strike that was the work of Djem-So. The move caused Calak's opponent to stagger and the Jedi raised his blade to deliver a killing blow. But the man with the double blade intervened and sent a force push out that knocked Calak off his feet. The leader tried to finish off Calak just as Calak tried to do the same to him a moment ago.
Calak lashed out with the force just in time, he sent his would be killer back and prevented the blow.
The double-bladed lightsaber user went after Carth and Canderous. They flanked him from both sides, protected by their energy shields which would at least manage to deflect a couple lightsaber blows if they got hit. The two soldiers were also highly skilled, which allowed them fend off the lightsaber strikes as well. The twin ruby blades spun with aggression toward Carth who had to scurry back to avoid them, not wanting to get hit even with his energy shield active. As soon as the bloody blades stopped moving, he struck with his own weapons, the matching vibroblade set. They provided more freedom than the opposing single weapon as they were two separate weapons rather then one conjoined. That Dark Jedi however managed to defend with a formidable defense of his own. Canderous tried to get him from the other side, yet the Sith manevered one blade just enough to block the attack aimed at the back of his leg. He spun between his two opponents, attacking and defending simultaneously.
Meanwhile the dual wielder made contact. He spoke his name (which the defendants didn't catch) into the comlink then continued.
"We've found Calak Star on Tattooine!"
The message went through. The Dark Jedi doubted they would really need help but they were smart enough to use every advantage, and now if they were to somehow fall, the fleet would send someone to come and get their targets.
…
Admiral Karath stood on the bridge of his ship. Then one of the communication officers called him.
"Admiral! We just received a priority message! The man known as Calak Star was spotted on Tatooine!"
"Tatooine?" Karath repeated.
What would he be doing there? That would was of little interest to the Sith. Few settlements to conquer and resources to use. But then Karath remembered something Lord Malak had told him. About a Star Map that Malak found on the planets surface in the wastes of the desert. Could the Jedi have found out about the location of the map and gone to investigate? It was certainly possible, especially with knowledge that Calak had, whether he even knew it or not.
"Yes, Admiral," the worker said. "Shall we gather the fleet?"
"No," Admiral Karath said. "I promised the bounty hunter Calo Nord he would have his chance. Send him to find them."
"Yes Admiral," the worker said obediently.
…
The message was soon sent to Calo Nord.
"I'll have them soon," Calo said as he primed the Sith Shuttle he'd been given for takeoff. It rose out of the hangar and into space, heading toward Tatooine.
…
The dual wielder looked back on the scene as he delivered the message. It had only been a maximum of ten seconds since he'd pulled out the comlink. But that was enough for the average lightsaber duel to end quite often. Only if two opponents were truly equal could the result be a long drawn-out battle, or at least if one had a strong defense to prolong the battle long enough.
The soldiers were managing to hold out, but the Jedi was getting the upper hand against the enemy leader. Then the double blade user sent out a wave of force energy that knocked Carth back, warded off Canderous's blow and proceeded to choke the Mandalorian before thrusting at the Mandalorians chest. The energy shield resisted the blow for a moment, but soon extinguished and the energy beam pierced Canderous's stomach. The Mandalorian gasped and collapsed in pain. The blow might kill him if he didn't receive quick medical treatment. Fortunately for Canderous he had a healing implant that might just save his life, barely. Still, the trauma of the wound caused him to faint.
The dual wielder then reached out into the mind of the still standing soldier in battle armor. This particular Dark Jedi was a consular who specialized in the secrets of the dark side. He knew a few types of Sith sorcery. Carth's mind, though strong, was susceptible to the powers of the force.
Carth cried out and clutched his head which burned. He was surrounded by darkness, the heat of the dessert and the very world he was on was forgotten. He was back on his homeworld, seeing the destruction on its surface, the destroyed homes, and hearing the voices of those he'd lost.
"Carth! Please! Get me a medic!" a woman screamed.
"Father!" a boy cried.
"Get on your feet soldier!"
Then evil laughter sounded from above, and Carth looked up to see Saul Karath's face, large as a warship, gazing down at him.
"You should have joined us!" Saul taunted him.
"No! Never!" Carth screamed, both in his vision and in the real world.
Calak heard his comrade scream and narrowed his eyes. He lost focus for a moment as he glanced at Carth and felt the urge to send another force push at the Dark Jedi that had had two lightsabers. But the leader with the single took advantage of Calak's distraction and finally landed a blow on him! Calak's energy shield prevented him from taking damage. But it burned out from the attack and Calak had to reset his focus to avoid being cut in two by the next blow.
The second Dark Jedi approached Carth, spinning his twin blades to deliver the final blow as Carth stood there helpless while the third assaulted his mind. Calak could only fend off the blows of his opponent and would never get there in time. Hopelessness filled him, his focus diminishing and the next blow disarming him of his lightsaber. Calak now had to rely on his vibroblade in the offhand. But he wasn't as good with the left hand alone as he was with the right. It was also slightly shorter than the lightsaber, and the Dark Jedi leader stepped back just enough to avoid the edge. He then jumped forward and landed a kick to Calak's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Calak fell on his back in the warm sand. The second Dark Jedi prepared to finish off Carth and the leader raised his blade to do the same to Calak. Though down, Calak raised his blade to defend himself from the incoming blow. Carth however was in no state to do so.
"Noooo!" a feral feminine cry sounded.
Juhani suddenly leapt on the scene, right at the second Dark Jedi. She delievered a downwards cut as she leapt at him, cutting him across the back. Another instant and he would have cut Carth down. Juhani then turned to the third Dark Jedi, whose hold on Carth ended. The soldier was confused for a moment but soon regained himself.
Bastila also arrived on the scene. She ran straight for Canderous who lay on the ground, badly injured. But with his healing implant and a little force energy, he could still make it. Calak meanwhile, called his lightsaber back to his hand and renewed his assault. The Dark Jedi leader struggled to defend against the revived spirit of the light user. He backflipped and called his fallen comrades double blade his hand, igniting one blade in his desperation. But he was apparently unfamiliar with the use of dual weapons and Calak's superior skill overcame his. The Jedi Padawan struck high with one blade and followed up with a low attack with the other. The vibroblade cut the enemy leader's leg, not completely off but enough to cause him to release a pained cry. Calak then used his lightsaber to sever his opponents head as his defense wavered. Juhani took on the last Dark Jedi with Carth at her side. The two short blades provided formidable speed, but lacked reach, facing multiple opponents was likely not a good situation. Calak ran over and joined the fray, with several blows from each of them, they slew their last enemy who was cut down with a mixture of lightsabers and vibroblades.
Bastila finished healing Canderous. The Mandalorian would be alright she was sure. He'd just need some rest now.
"That was some excitement," Calak stated as he and Carth carried Canderous by the shoulders. "Good thing you guys came."
"We're a team, Calak," Bastila said. "We need to stick together. There are times when we might have to split up, but we are better together."
Calak nodded. "I guess so."
"Yes. As long as we Jedi… and our allies stand united we will always succeed," Juhani agreed.
They arrived back in the Hawk and set Canderous in the medical bay. Soon Mission and Zalbaar returned as well. Misson had gotten a few energy shields as well as a black Echani set of light armor.
"It will probably be too hot in the dessert though," Mission said. "But it could come in handy in dark places."
"No information on the Star Map though?" Bastila asked looking around.
"None," Mission and the others confirmed.
"Well, all we know is that it's out there in the desert somewhere," Bastila said. "We'll just have to go out there and see if we can find it."
"We could be searching for months or even years in that vast dessert," Carth grumbled. "We need someone who really knows this planet!"
"Most of the settlements on here are new," Juhani said. "But there are two species that have lived here for generations. Jawas and Tuskens."
"Arr!" Zalbaar sounded.
"I don't think that we're gonna have much luck with the Tuskens," Mission said. "One of their tribes have my brother."
"Yes, the Tuskens are known as savages on this planet," Bastila confirmed. "We'll likely have to fight them. A pity we can't talk to them."
Mission sighed. "I'm worried about my brother."
Zalbaar put an arm around his best friend. Calak looked at her and tried to console his young friend as well.
"Don't worry Mission! We'll get him back."
She managed a smile. "Thanks. I know I can count on you, there's definite fringe benefits to being friends with a Jedi."
Calak returned the smile. He then looked at the onboard galactic standard time clock nearby.
"It's getting late," he said. "We better get some sleep soon. And we'll head into the dessert tomorrow."
The rest of the crew nodded. Zalbaar, who had had the misfortune of being the last to get his meal this morning headed to the cargo hold where they kept their food supplies. He opened the storage hatch which held a number of packages containing food. But as he looked inside, the Wookie noticed something was off with a soft growl.
"Arr. Rarr?"
He looked at the currently open boxes and noticed that some of the wrappers had been removed. Someone had been at the food, but had it been one of the crew… or something else.
Zalbaar's mind asked these questions. He'd have to ask the others about it to be sure. But he'd not seen anyone leave the main hold aside from Calak after dinner. But the soldier turned Jedi had gone straight to bed. It didn't make sense.
…
Back in the cargo hold, a small shadowy figure peered out as the Wookie left. Seemed she'd been undetected, and hoped she could remain that way for a while yet.
…
Calak awoke the next morning and after having his breakfast, was approached by Zalbaar.
"Arr!" the wookie growled.
"Something's wrong? What do you mean?" Calak asked.
Zalbaar let out several more groans in his canine like tongue. Some unknown being had been at their food. He'd asked the others but no one claimed to have taken anything.
Calak stroked his chin. "I doubt anyone would like about taking food. They'd have no reason to. But if it was someone else then… we might have a pest or something on here."
With this news, Calak headed into the Cargo Hold. Checking the supplies in the cooler immediately to the left of the doorway, he looked inside and saw there was a small yet noticeable difference in the amount of packages that held their food supply. Inspecting the supplies carefully he found no torn or half eaten packages to indicate this was the result of pests or vermin. This seemed to be the work of a person, yet all the crew had denied being at the extra supplies.
"Seems we might have another passanger," Calak said. "An uninvited one.
He opened up his senses to the force, feeling the presence of his friends. He felt their feelings, Canderous's numbing pain that was almost completely healed already as he lay in the medbay. He felt Mission's concern for her brother and anger at the Sand People, as well as confusion in regards to whether or not Lena had been telling the truth about Griff. Carth's pain, Bastila and Juhani's relief. He felt the others and their various emotions as well. But finally he sensed
someone else, someone close by.
He looked in the direction of the crates on the right side of the Cargo Hold and reached out with the force, moving the box and revealing a young human girl. She gazed up in surprise and sat up, laying on a set of blankets.
"Heboona! Bona no kechoo!" she spoke in a language even Calak with all his alien tongue expertise was not familiar with.
"What are you doing on my ship?" Calak asked, in a mix of surprise and anger.
The girl looked at him, not saying anything.
"How did you get on here?" Calak asked.
She shook her head. Apparently she didn't understand basic. Calak looked at her, uncertain what to do. He could simply throw her out, but what if Tattooine wasn't her home world? She could have been from Dantooine or even Taris. Though the latter was probably unlikely as they'd been on Dantooine for over a month and never seen her.
He gathered the rest of the crew in the main area of the ship with the girl whom he held onto. She gazed at all the faces in fear for a moment.
Calak could feel her strong tear and bent down, making her face him.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," he promised.
Though she likely didn't understand his words, she understood the tone and meaning. Her fear lessened and she grew calm.
"Well, we have a stowaway," Calak told them.
"Great, now what do we do with her?" Carth asked.
"I say we throw her into the sand," Canderous (who'd managed to recover after his rest) said.
"Arr!" Zalbaar agreed.
"Oh, come on Big Z!" Mission objected. "She's just a little girl."
Mission was still a little girl herself, Calak thought but didn't say aloud. That would make the young Twi'lek mad no doubt.
"Yes, and we have no idea if she even lives on this world," Bastila agreed.
"Where do you live girl?" Juhani asked gently.
She merely looked at them.
"I don't think she understands us," Calak told them.
"Well, say something then!" Carth ordered.
The girl did in her own language.
Canderous's eyes widened in surprise. "She sounds like she's speaking a variant of Mandalorian!"
He then began speaking in Mandalorian as well. His tone was very rough, though, and the girl was frightened.
After several tough statements and fearful responses, Canderous looked at the others.
"She says her name is Sasha and she was a prisoner of the Mandalorians on Dantooine. After they didn't come back she escaped and headed to the Jedi Enclave. She got on our ship while we were all asleep it seems."
Calak sighed. "Well guess we'll have to take her back to Dantooine and see if we can find her family."
"We can't leave Tatooine right now!" Carth objected. "Those Dark Jedi were able to get a signal to the Sith Fleet!"
"But wouldn't that mean Malak could be here soon?" Bastila asked. "Perhaps we should come back later."
"No!" Calak objected. "Malak could figure out our mission and decide to send protection to the Star Map, if there isn't some there already!"
Carth nodded. "You're right. Okay, but as soon as we find it we take her back to Dantooine and see if we can find her family."
"Agreed," Calak said. "Right now we need to act fast. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid any Sith that come."
They ate breakfast with Sasha joining them then Calak exited the ship with Bastila and all the others, except T3 who would stay behind to watch the ship. But to their surprise, as they approached the door to the hangar, it opened and an Aqualish alien carrying a number of crates on a hover cart entered.
"Hello!" the Aqualish greeted in his alien language. "I have a shipment to this docking bay!"
"Shipment?" Calak repeated.
"Were we expecting something?" Bastila asked.
"I don't think so," Carth said.
"There's no doubt this is the right docking bay!" the Aqualish said.
"Um, there might be some mistake!" Calak started. "See we were an unplanned arrival."
"Oh," the Aqualish lamented. "Well unfortunately the dock officials didn't alert me so that means whoever is in the hangar bay this shipment is assigned to gets it!"
Calak frowned. "Now really you can probably just-
"Oh come on Calak there might be something good in there!" Mission said eyeing the crates.
"Maybe he's here with a weapon shipment," Carth suggested.
"No weapons," the Aqualish said. "But creatures!"
"Creatures?" Calak asked. "They aren't dangerous are they?"
"Not at all!" the Aqualish assured him, and Calak sensed truth to the aliens words.
"You know it could be good to have some pets on board to keep us company!" Mission said.
"I guess," Calak agreed.
"Excellent." The Aqualish said as he took the hovercart to the Hawk and walked up the boarding ramp.
The crew waited for just a few minutes before he came back down with the now empty crates.
"There you are! The Gizka are all free!"
"Gizka?" Calak repeated.
Gizka were suitable pets as they were quite docile. But when many of them were together then it would quickly become a problem. They reproduced quickly and had covered many worlds across the galaxy. It was a lot of work to keep their population from getting out of control. One Gizka would be okay but even small numbers would lead to
"That's right, Gizka!" the Aqualish said. "Enjoy! Hope you find them all good homes!"
Calak clenched his teeth. First a stowaway now a collection of rapidly populating pests? The fates must have been conspiring against him.