Chapter 23: Rescuing and Settling Feuds
Author's Notes: Okay, now that my story that I've been focusing on for the past while has been completed I am able to once again get chapters out more frequently for this story. We will now be doing this biweekly alongside Element of Balance. Come march I will probably be done with my other two stories, then this one and Element of Balance will be updated weekly. Not sure if I will do a story of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. I have considered doing a lemon fanfic of a male exile and Brianna though. That would probably be fun.
Could use some more reviews please as it's been several chapters since the last one!
Rahasia's words hung in the air for a moment, Calak, Bastila, Mission, and T3 were silent as they took in the fact that Ahlan had been right.
"I see. Seems Mr. Matale's suspicions were correct," Bastila said.
The council had been right to be cautious, she thought. They didn't want any trouble between the families. But they were wrong to not even consider the possibility that Matale might be right.
She often tried to remain true to her teachings, and loyal to the council. But at times that was difficult. She remembered meeting Malak once when he'd been a Jedi. He'd recruited several in the room to join him and Revan in the Mandalorian Wars to save the Republic, saying the council was taking too long. Even though she tried to convince herself that she'd made the right choice, there was still a part of her that wondered if she'd made the right choice refusing him.
No, she told herself. If you'd gone, you would have been killed or
fallen to the dark side as well. Then when your battle meditation manifested itself, the Republic would have no chance when you used it in the service of the Sith.
Pushing away her doubts, Bastila continued. "We must inform the council
of this discovery!"
"No!" Rahasia exclaimed. "The Jedi Council does not have the authority to search our estate! If they send another party, my father will likely do something drastic! I fear he might kill Shen in a misguided desire for vengeance, even if he knows Ahlan was not responsible. We have to do this quickly before my father can make his next move!"
"She's right," Calak agreed.
He looked ahead in the direction that Nurik went. It had been sealed off, he could maybe force his way through with his lightasber. But that might draw attention.
"Is there any way we can keep Nurik in his room? Calak asked. "Or at least out of the way so he can't get to Shen?"
Rahasia nodded. "I can visit him and console him then steal his master key card. If the house comes under attack the security doors will all lock through the house. That will trap him in his quarters. It will buy you some time. The droids on the second floor will have to get him out, and most of them will likely come down to deal with you... the intruder."
Calak nodded. Rahasia reached into her pocket and handed him a card of her own. "Shen is on the first floor in the main house. My room is there as well. I'll just need a few minutes to see my father. This card should get you in through the side door."
"Thank you," Calak said before walking back out the front door.
He, Bastila, Mission, and T3 all made their way east to the bridge nearby. They just needed to wait a little while and then head in through the side door. No droids outside as they looked back. However, they soon heard a growl.
Turning around, they saw the white horned Kath Hound and two others they'd passed earlier charging toward them!
"Aah!" Bastila exclaimed as she lashed out with the force.
The invisible wave of energy burst from her hand instantly, but to her shock it did not send the albino canine creature back as she intended. It did however, stop the creature and allow Calak and Mission to draw their lightsaber and blaster respectively. T3 was ahead of them, opening the slot to his built-in blaster on top of his head and firing a shot. The thick white hide managed to resist it, but the Kath hound still yowled in pain. Calak ignited his lightsaber and swung, this Kath Hound however, was more agile then the others he'd met. It backed away just out of range of his strike and then swiped at him. The claws tore Calak's robes and he grunted as he felt the pain from the wound. It took all his willpower to avoid flinching. Good thing too, because the Kath Hound thrusted out it with its tusks next. But Calak's force sense and heightened Jedi reflexes gave him the instant he needed to jump and avoid the blow. His feet landed on the hounds head as Mission shot with her blaster at one of the smaller Kath Hounds and Bastila ignited her own yellow blades before thrusting at the other. Her front blade pierced the hound's skull, and it fell with a cry.
Calak meanwhile, drove his own blue blade downward into the albino's back. All three of them fell and Calak stepped onto the ground.
"Phew, close one," he said.
"Yes," Bastila said before looking at the Albino's corpse. "The force was with that Kath Hound. Force Sensitive creatures are rare. It was able to resist my force push."
Calak tended to the scratches on his chest with a force heal. He stopped the bleeding and watched the rest of the wound heal. Not even a scar remained. He smiled at that. They turned their attention back to the Sandral residence. Mission sighed and T3 beeped once or twice while Calak and Bastila meditated. Finally, the time Rahasia suggested passed and the two Jedi, the young Twi'lek, and droid made their way back to the estate. They entered through the unprotected side door with the key card. Inside they immediately came across a single security droid.
"Halt! You are not supposed to be here!" it said.
Calak lit his lightsaber which he already had out. The droid immediately responded to the hostile movement.
"Intruder alert! Lock the estate down!" It spoke into a built in comlink.
The droid shot at Calak who deflected it back with minimal difficulty as he used the Soresu form as had become usual against those that carried blasters. The deflected shot hit its own shooter in the chest and droid fell. But the damage was done, all the doors nearby closed down. Fortunately, that was exactly what the invading party wanted. Nurik would be trapped in his room upstairs, Calak just hoped Rahasia got the master key card. Looking around he saw they'd arrived in a hallway with several closed doors nearby.
"We need the layout of this place so we can find the prison," Bastila said. "If we can find a security terminal, T3 should be able to hack into the system and acquire it."
She took a step forward at the door in front of them but Mission looked down.
"Hey look out there's a mine!" the Twi'lek shouted.
"Oh!" Bastila exclaimed. "I didn't see that! Thank you, Mission!"
The Twil'lek approached the mine and with her decent skill in demolitions shut it down and took it for herself. She then looked at the door it had been put in front of.
"You think that might be the security room?" she asked.
"It could be," Calak said. "T3?"
The droid beeped and walked forward, outstretching his slicing arm. His built in top of the line security rigging system easily opened the advanced security door. Calak chuckled. His group could become some highly skilled thieves if they wanted to. Inside they found… just a footlocker.
"Leave it," Calak said. "Gotta find the security room. Be ready for an attack though."
Bastila and Mission nodded while T3 beeped. Mission and T3 activated their energy shields, preparing themselves in case they ran into more security droids. They split into two pairs, Calak and T3 going to the nearby door on the left end of the hall while Mission and Bastila headed down to the right where another door stood.
Mission and T3 both used their security slicing skills and had the doors opened in a jiffy. Both opened to reveal a group of droids inside. But with a few well-placed lightsaber strikes and blaster shots, they easily managed to overcome them.
After they dealt with the droids Calak, looked around the room and found what they were looking for.
"Bastila! Mission!" he called. "Over here!"
The two females made their way back after finding nothing but a locker and a droid in need of repair in their room. T3 immediately plugged in. He brought up an image of the layout of the estates ground floor and pulled up the prison which wasn't too far.
"Dwwo! Woor?" T3 beeped.
"Yeah, I think it might be a good idea to do some damage to the security droids here," Calak agreed.
"Brr, Wooh Bpp!" T3 agreed.
He looked through the cameras and found a power conduit in one of the rooms under guard. With a few taps of his slicer arm, he activated and caused an electrical overload in the room that blew up the droids. That was a few more that wouldn't be bothering them.
"I'll head to the prison," Calak said. "You two stay here with T3 in case more droids show up!"
"You got it," Mission said.
Bastila nodded and looked at him. "Be careful Calak."
"I will," Calak promised giving her a small smile.
He looked at her and couldn't help but think she was rather cute. His cheeks flushed a bit before he turned away and ran down the hall.
He ran into another security droid on the way but it was easily dealt with. He leapt at it, his lightsaber cutting it in half before it could fire.
"Ha! Give me a card to this place and I destroy everything!" he said with a grin. "You need to upgrade your security in here Nurik!"
Of course, there probably weren't many security systems in the galaxy that were capable of repelling a Jedi, let alone a pair of Jedi. He spotted the door to the prison and smiled before noticing something at the floor.
"Uh oh, another mine," he said.
He thought for a moment. He might have managed to disengage a mine or two on Taris but that wasn't a skill he specialized in as his primary focus in training had been fighting. Not wanting to take the chance that this might be a mine too advanced for him to disengage, he drew a grenade from his pocket and pressed the small activation button before throwing it at the mine. An explosion sounded and a second quickly followed. The door to the prison was undamaged, thankfully. Calak lit up his lightsaber and moved it through the center of the door, melting the lock in only a couple seconds.
The door opened to reveal Shen Matale, a young dark haired man in a light gray tunic, inside. He looked at Calak in surprise.
"Who are you?" he asked before noticing the lightsaber in Calak's hand. "A Jedi? Are you with my father?"
"Yes!" Calak told him. "I'm here to rescue you Shen!"
"Rescue me?" Shen exclaimed before shaking his head. "No! No! I'm not going anywhere!"
That was unexpected. Calak frowned at him.
"What do you want to be the Sandral's prisoner? If its safety your worried about I have-"
"Its not my own safety I'm worried about!" Shen explained. "I'm concerned about Nurik's daughter Rahasia! If I escape, Nurik will know she helped me! She aided you didn't she?"
"Yes," Calak confirmed.
"I'm not going to leave if it means Rahasia has to face her father's wrath!" Shen insisted. "Either she leaves with me or I stay here!"
"Why?" Calak asked. "Don't your families hate each other?"
"Our father's do," Shen admitted. "But not me and Rahasia… or Casus. We were all taught to hate each other but then Rahasia met one day when I ran away from my father. I was sick of my father. He was always controlling and not letting me get out and leave our estate. She was nothing like how my father said she would be. She and I fell in love and then I met her brother Casus. We started to be friends and then Casus went missing and this whole mess had to happen. I hope he's alright."
Calak sighed. "Sorry, but Casus is dead. I found his body."
"Oh," Shen looked down sadly. "It wasn't my father though was it? He can be violent but-
"No, it wasn't," Calak promised. "Kath Hounds did it."
That caused Shen a small amount of relief. But Calak still had a problem. "I came here to rescue you," the Jedi reminded the man. "Is there any way I can convince you to come along?"
Shen nodded. "If you can convince Rahasia to come along then I'll go."
Calak thought for a moment then nodded. He looked at the open door though. "Sure you'll be okay with all the droids though?"
"They won't view me as a threat," Shen assured him. "I'm not armed!"
That probably made sense. Quickly making his way back to security room where the others were, Calak found his group still there.
"Did you find him?" Bastila asked. "Where is he?"
"He wouldn't leave," Calak told her. "He's worried about Rahasia!"
"Why?" Mission asked.
"No time to explain!" Calak said. "Find her room T3!"
The droid beeped and soon highlighted the area on the map. Calak made his way there, and found three more droids. Figures there would be some added security around one of the children's rooms. They fired as he lit up his still drawn lightsaber and blocked the shots. He then sent out a force push and knocked one of the droids off its metal feet as he continued advancing. He managed to deflect the shot from the droid on the right back at it as he had the first one when entering the estate, then cut down the middle droid. The last one he'd pushed managed to pull itself to its feet but he gave his lightsaber a quick throw and it cut off the droid's head.
He then knocked on Rahasia's door. "Rahasia! Its Calak! Open up!" he called
She walked over and ran her father's stolen master key card to open up.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were going to free Shen?"
"I was, but he refused to leave without you!" Calak quickly explained, using no unnecessary words.
She giggled. "Shen can be so stubborn sometimes. It doesn't surprise me he'd rather die then leave me to face my father alone. I guess me leaving with him is the only way now. I'll head outside and meet you all in front of the house."
Rahasia quickly ran off to do so, vanishing from sight. Calak smiled, now he just needed to get back to Shen. He'd have to hurry though, Nurik's personal droids could get him out any minute. Using the force to increase his speed, Calak ran back to the security room for his friends. "She's agreed to go with him. Quick! We have to go!" he said.
They followed him to Shen's cell.
"You're back!" the Matale heir exclaimed. "Please tell me Rahasia agreed to leave with us!"
"She has, come on!" Calak said.
"Oh, I pray she is not just telling me what I want to hear!" Shen stressed.
"Let's go!" Calak said. "We've wasted enough time already."
And so they made their way outside with Shen and found Rahasia waiting for them.
"Shen!" she exclaimed as she saw them. "You're safe!"
"Rahasia!" Shen responded in kind as the two lovers hugged. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"
They embraced for a moment and then turned to Calak.
"It was all thanks to you Jedi!" Shen said before noticing there were two of them that weren't Jedi present. "And your friends I suppose."
"You know it!" Mission said.
"If there is anything we can do to repay you we will gladly give it," Rahasia said.
Calak gave a smile. "Well, Jedi don't typically require payment, but we are the middle of a war right now. If you can spare some money."
"Very well, I think I can-"
"We should get out of here before Nurik frees himself, if he hasn't already," Bastila interrupted. "You're right we should…"
Calak suddenly sensed someone approaching as Shen tried to speak again. It was a single person. He looked off in the direction the presence was coming from. Ahlan Matale was making his way toward the home of his rival family, ten battle droids around him. He noticed Shen and Calak in front of the estate, and Calak sensed relief in the man. But then Calak sensed another presence as well, coming from behind. He glanced back at the front door and saw Nurik coming out with his own battalion of war droids.
"There you are Shen!" Ahlan exclaimed.
"Father!" Shen said in surprise.
"Mr. Matale!" Rahasia greeted in the same tone.
"Rahasia!" Nurik called his daughter.
Then the reverse happened with Rahasia calling-
"Father!"
"Mr. Sandral!" Shen exclaimed.
"Nurik!" Mr. Matale spoke in a hostile voice.
"Ahlan!" Mr. Sandral matched his arch rivals tone.
"I knew this was your doing! I knew you had taken Shen!" Ahlan stated.
"You had taken my Casus long before that!" Nurik said.
"Father please calm down!" Rahasia begged. "The Jedi already told you that Casus was killed by Kath Hounds! The Matales are not responsible!"
Nurik glared at his daughter but sighed. "You're right Rahasia. I'm sorry. Abducting Shen was a mistake Ahlan!"
The Matale patriarch glared at Nurik but took a deep breath. "You thought I had abducted your son?"
"Yes," Nurik answered. "But I learned you are not involved. Take your son and get off my property!"
"Fine, since you agree to release him I will not press charges, especially under the circumstances!" Ahlan said. "I presume your droids that you sent on my property were looking for your missing son?"
"Yes," Nurik growled. "Now I have to buy a whole new battalion!"
"Consider your lucky that's all you're paying for!" Ahlan said before turning to his son. "Come Shen! We're going home! Oh and… I know you've been seeing that girl."
He gestured to Rahasia.
"I will not have it!" Ahlan continued. "No son of mine will marry a Sandral!"
"On that we can agree!" Nurik said. "Rahasia come inside!"
"No!" Rahasia and Shen both said together.
"Father," Shen addressed Ahlan before turning to Nurik as well. "Rahasia and I are in love! She risked everything to help me escape! I didn't think that she would meet me out here but she did! That proves she cares about me and not about this stupid feud!"
"Shen, the Sandrals are nothing but thieves!" Ahlan stated.
"You're wrong Father!" Shen spout back. "You're blinded by the need to protect me and your wealth!"
"And the same goes for you Father!" Rahasia said.
"That's enough of that!" Nurik said. "I'm not letting you be with that boy! You're my daughter and you will do as I say!"
"The same goes for you Shen!" Ahlan stated.
Calak chose this moment to intervene. He ignited his lightsaber. "Both of you calm down!"
The blue blade immediately got everyone's attention.
"We are trying to be calm!" Nurik said in a forced tone. "We ARE reasonable people after all!"
"If Shen would just realize that he has to listen to me we can settle this peacefully!" Ahlan said.
"No, you listen to me Father!" Shen spoke definiantly. "Either you agree to put down the blaster and forget about this feud with the Sandrals, or I'm leaving!"
"The same goes for me!" Rahasia said. "I'm sick of this feud! From what I've seen of Shen, he's nothing like how you thought all the Matales were Father!"
"I-I…" Nurik stammered. "You are too young to undersand!"
Calak decided to speak again. "Listen to me! Both of you have been controlling your children for who knows how long! Shen snuck out because he doesn't like being couped up! Do you want your children to be unhappy in your households?"
His words hung in the air for a moment then Ahlan answered. "No, but I'm sure he'll become happy again once he sees the things I do are for the best!"
"I've seen that they aren't Father!" Shen said. "I've felt happier when I was with Rahasia then I ever did under your strict rules!"
Ahlan was lost for words at that and Calak deactivated his lightsaber, approaching the Matale patriarch.
"Children have a right to make their own chooses and forge their own way in life," he said.
"But… he is my son!" Ahlan said. "I don't want to lose him!"
"And I don't want to lose Rahasia!" Nurik said. Seemed he and Ahlan were finding a lot in common today.
"Children have to spread their wings and leave the nest at some point," Calak replied looking at the other man. "They grow up. But that doesn't mean you have to lose them."
Nurik looked at his daughter and spoke in a voice of love. "My little Rahasia!"
"Father," she said in a similar tone.
Nurik then looked at his rival with tears starting to form. "I… I don't know why we fight like this! We got along in the beginning didn't we, Ahlan?"
The old man sighed. "I don't know how you can think of that when our children are planning to run away together!"
"Maybe we can compromise?" Nurik asked. "I think Shen may be a good husband someday from what I've seen so far."
Ahlan huffed. "As much as I may dislike it, I think I see it too in your daughter. Very well, but I will not have them live in a Sandral House!"
"Then you intend for them to stay with you?" Nurik asked, a bit of hostility returning. "I won't have it!"
"Then maybe it would acceptable for you to build us a new house?" Rahasia suggested.
Both father's looked at her.
"That… is actually… a good idea!" Ahlan said.
"I'm surprised. That does sound like a good idea," Nurik agreed. "Perhaps we should discuss this in detail later."
"Agreed. We will put our feud aside," Ahlan said turning around to make his way home peacefully. "Come Shen! You'll stay with me… for now."
Shen nodded. "Be right there, Father!"
"Don't take too long Rahasia!" Nurik called as he turned to go back inside.
The two fathers began walking, Nurik vanishing quicker while Ahlan walked on the wide open plains. Shen and Rahasia looked at Calak and the others.
"Thank you Calak Star!" Rahasia said. "You made our families put aside their feud! I didn't think it was possible! But you did it!"
"And all of you helped as well," Shen said to the others. "Calak may have done the talking, but you all helped get me out of there! Thank you."
"Our pleasure," Bastila said.
"Yeah," Mission agreed.
T3 beeped.
"We will never forget what you've done!" Rahasia promised. "We'll name our children after you all!"
That caused the sentient beings to blush. Rahasia and Shen then parted ways… for now. Both followed their fathers, but one day they'd live on their own. Calak wished them the best in life. He and his companions walked off to rendezvous with the others. Still a couple things left to take care of before they returned to the enclave.