Looking

Sulon, a moon of Sullust

"Have I said recently that this is a bad idea?" The Duros was clearly unhappy as he followed his companion into the cantina.

"Only about six times in the last ten minutes." His companion said mildly as she looked around the room. "Hush." The brown haired female human was tense, but her hand was not on her holstered blaster. That said? It was not far from it.

"By your will, oh mighty mistress of disaster." The Duros' voice was not even close to under his breath. His rifle was slung, but an observant person would see that the hand he had stuck into his belt was millimeters from a row of grenades. A truly observant person might see that his rifle was charged even while slung.

"We get a drink, we ask the guy what we were told to and then we leave." The human replied as she started towards the bar. "Simple."

"You share your mom's definition of 'simple', Zay." Was the Duros sad or scared? Hard to say. "That is not a good thing."

"So you have said." The girl replied. Grief peeked out of her eyes for a moment before being banished. "We beat them here. We need to do this."

"This is not going to end well." The Duros complained but the girl strode into the darkened cantina. He shook his head and followed.

The girl did not answer. Instead, she made her way towards the bar in the back of the room. Few of the tables were occupied at this time of day. The denizens of the cantina looked to be miners. Few of them looked anywhere close to 'awake'. Stood to reason. This time of day the night shift had gotten off duty and the day shift had taken their place. Most of said night shift were likely at home asleep, but here were always those who sought liquid refreshment instead of actual rest type refreshment. Several sets of eyes tracked the girl and more than few had interest, but they all took in her demeanor, the fact that she was armed and the alert Duros behind her. Unlike what would have happened in most places like this, all of them went back to their drinks.

The girl and Duros both stilled for a moment but then continued towards the bar. That was not typical behavior for a cantina. Such places almost always attracted rough and ready sorts. The kind that either liked to hurt others or thought they could take whatever they wanted. Such did not last here and word had gotten around. Start trouble in 'The Moldy Crow' and you wound up hurt if you were lucky. If not? You wound up dead.

The bartender was not human. Not that it mattered to the girl or her companion. At first glance, he looked humanoid, but his head was elongated and a maw filled with sharp teeth. He eyed the human as she approached the bar but did not speak until she leaned up against it.

"What will you have?" The saurian's voice was calm, melodious almost. Odd from such a horrific looking form. Was he a CHistori? If so, he seemed far calmer than their reputation suggested.

"I have heard good things about Ruby Bliels." The girl said as she leaned up against the bar. The Duros shook his head and took up position behind her, her eyes flicking here and there across the cantina. The bartender just looked at her and she shrugged. "I will have one of those."

"Those drinks are quite expensive." The bartender warned. "The cost of one of those is far more than you would think." Was he talking about a drink or something else?

"I was told that if I ever came this way, to ask for one." The girl shrugged again. "I have a few spare credits. I can afford one drink. Even a really expensive one. My mom recommended that drink."

"Huh." The bartender turned to his selection of liquors, picked up two of them and then pulled a cup out of a hidden slot. He started to pour. Wait… Were his hands touching the bottles? The girl blinked and he was flipping them adroitly from hand to hand as he poured a bit from one, then a bit from another. "Your mother sent you here?" He asked, disbelief not quite sounding in his voice, but close.

"Not really." The girl sighed. "My mom is dead." The bartender stilled and then he bowed his head. "I um… She left a hidden message for me to come here if I needed help. I… I think I do."

"This won't end well." The bartender said sourly.

"Yeah, I have been saying the same thing for hours now." The Duros chuckled from behind the girl. There was little mirth in his chuckle. "Like mother, like daughter."

"So I see." The saurian replied as he laid the cup in front of the girl. "Zay." It wasn't really a question, but she nodded anyway. "Damn, Kyle and Jan won't be happy." He shook his head. "Are you in danger?"

"Not at the moment that I know of." Zay said as she picked up the drink and sipped it. She paused and then smiled. "This is good."

"Better be. You do not want to know what that drink would cost anywhere else." The bartender said with a wide, toothy smile. "But for you? That one is on the house. I knew your mother. She was a good woman."

"Most of the time." If Zay's voice was a bit husky, no one was about to comment. "She did what she had to."

"Yes, she did." The bartender agreed. "I will send word. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Staying anywhere may not be such a good idea." The Duros said quietly and the girl turned to see a figure in the doorway. The uniform was clear. First Order. Some kind of junior officer. The woman was clearly unhappy to be entering the cantina, but what was even worse? No one paid her any mind. That attitude alone spoke volumes! Anywhere else, the uniform alone would merit caution, hate or at least a bit of comment. Not here.

"Oh, not again." Zay looked at the bartender who waved her back to her drink. "She does anything at all and she won't leave." He said quietly as the woman looked around, gave a sniff and started for the bar.

"She won't be alone." Zay said quietly.

"No. their kind never go anywhere alone." The bartender agreed. "Not that it matters."

He didn't sound worried at all that the officer had to have some kind of backup nearby. Probably a fairly heft one knowing the First Order. Then again, if he was what Zay's mom had sent her to talk to? Did he need to be worried? As if he was following her thoughts, he smiled at Zay and waved her back to her drink. He looked at the Duros and the other alien shook his head.

"I won't let them touch her." The Duros was just as quiet as the officer picked her way through the cantina. "I owe her mom."

"They won't." The bartender promised as he moved to the side and the Duros moved to the bar to stand beside Zay as she sipped her drink. The alien nodded to the newcomer as the officer made her way to the bar. "What can I get you?"

"You." The officer was not speaking to the bartender. She was speaking to Zay!" "Let me see some identification." The Duros tensed, but another voice spoke up from the side!

"You don't need to see her identification." Zay and the Duros spun to see a woman at a nearby table watching at them over a mug of something that looked foul. There was something off about her and the man next to her, but it was hard to pin down. She was wearing brown armor that looked well used but no helmet.

"I do not need to see her identification." The First Order officer said in a wooden tone as the bartender muttered something that sounded incredibly disrespectful under his breath. Was he chuckling? The man at the table was shaking his head, but he was smiling.

"This is not a woman you are looking for." The seated woman said in a quiet, but firm voice and the officer nodded, still wooden.

"This is not the woman I am looking for."

"She can go about her business."

"You can go about your business." The officer said slowly to Zay.

"Move along." The woman bent back to her drink and the officer started for the door.

"Moving along." Everyone was watching as the officer walked out the door!

Zay finished her drink, set her glass on the bar and looked at the bartender who looked as if he wanted to curse or start laughing. It was hard to say which. She smiled, just a little forlornly.

"A bit creepy, but hey! That worked." Zay's calm words echoed and then many people were laughing.

"Catherine, you are not supposed to do things like that." The bartender said through chuckles.

"I would say 'Bite me' but you likely would, Desann." The woman at the table said with a shrug. "I didn't draw on her." She offered and the bartender sighed deeply.

"Your restraint is appreciated by all of us who live in this area." The saurian replied with a growl. "Many of us have friends and family in this area. Anything?" He asked, his tone kind. Catherine bowed her head.

"No." The woman's voice was sad. "If they were anywhere nearby, I would sense them and I don't."

"I am sorry." Desann sounded sincere.

"Yeah, so am I." Catherine slumped a bit and her companion laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Zay who stared at her. "What did you do to earn their ire?"

"Survived." Zay fought to keep bitterness out of her voice and failed.

"Yeah." The woman rose form her seat and… Wait… Was that a lightsaber at her belt? "Their kind do not appreciate being thwarted." She stepped to the bar and smiled at the Duros who eyed her suspiciously. "I am not your enemy."

"Prove it!" The Duros had his hand on his grenades, but Zay laid a hand on his arm.

"Shriv, don't." Zay said very quietly. "Not here of all places. You saw what Mom wrote. 'Don't start anything.' Mom was many things, she was never stupid."

"Could have fooled me." Shriv and Desann both chorused and shared a look.

"Why are you here, Zay Versio?" The woman called Catherine asked, her face serene, but her eyes… Fire burned in those eyes that matched anything Zay had ever seen in her mother's. This woman was nothing like her mother, but there was a feel about her. Zay was no Jedi, but she knew that feeling. A feeling of violence barely restrained. Violence that was tempered by love, honor and duty but always there and always ready. Ready to rend and tear at a moment's notice. But there was more in those eyes. A compassion and kindness that was at war with the violence there. A deep sadness. "This is not a safe place for you. Your mother made many enemies. Some deserved their fates." She paused as Zay nodded.

"Others did not." Zay said very softly. "She tried to fix what she could. It was never enough."

"I know the feeling." Catherine reached out slowly to take Zay's right hand in both of her own. Why was Zay suddenly crying? Why was Catherine holding her and crooning as Zay cried? Why was Shriv relaxing? "It is all right, Zay." Catherine said as the girl sobbed. "It is all right. You never had time to grieve for Iden, did you?"

"No." Zay sobbed into the odd woman's shoulder as Catherine held her. "There wasn't time! I had to leave her behind! I had to-"

"It is okay." Catherine just held her as Zay cried. "It is all right. You are safe and I will keep you that way. I swear it. I never knew your mother, but what I heard of her? I liked."

"Desann?" A new voice had Zay tensing, but Catherine was massaging her shoulders now in an odd, but very gentle way and she relaxed almost against her will. She looked and a red haired girl stood at the door. A real honest to god metal sword hung across her back. "They are coming."

"How many, Jaden?" The saurian jumped clearing the bar to land beside the pair of women.

"Four squads." The young woman replied as she took up station just inside the door. "For what I overheard, they expected the officer to have a prisoner, but they were ordered to raze the place after she left. She left, so they are coming."

"Four?" The saurian shook his head and a handle that had long, sharp blades coming from either end of it simply appeared in his hands. "They tried that before. They will have more backup this time."

"We passed a pair of drop ships escorting a walker transport on the way in." Shriv said quietly as Zay cried in Catherine's arms.

"The bigger walkers don't work all that well in such close urban settings. Too many ways to either avoid them or hit them from angles they cannot hit back from. This city may be small by galactic standards, but there is still too much for them simply to crush through. Even walkers will break if you hit their knees against enough stuff." Desann said slowly. Was that experience talking? "Scout walkers will function, but be vulnerable to flanking." He shook his head. "What craft brought them into the system?" He asked Shriv who frowned.

"We saw a middle weight cruiser that scanned as the 'Bakura's Revenge'." Shriv mused. "But those don't usually carry walkers, do they?"

"The First Order don't play by the same rules as the Empire did." Desann warned. "They have had time to plan, to adapt, to make new toys to hurt people with."

"I didn't mean to bring danger to you!" Zay begged as Catherine held her.

"You didn't." Desann reassured her. "This has been coming for some time. After the last group vanished without a trace, we knew they would show up again, in greater numbers. It is what stormtroopers do. Empire or First Order, the results are the same." He shook his head. "We refused to bow to that moron Ren and his fool of a master, so they had to try and root us out. That hasn't worked out so well for them." He said dryly.

"General Organa asked me to find allies." Zay pleaded. Catherine and Desann shared a look. "Can you help?"

"I am not the one to ask such." Desann admitted. "I know my limits." He looked at Catherine who shook her head.

"This planet and its inhabitants need you, Desann." Her tone was odd. Not commanding, not quite. More a suggestion? "We gave our word."

"That we did." Desann replied, his posture firming. "Kyle's father died here, fighting for freedom from the Empire after being pushed too far. Kyle promised these people he would not forsake them as the New Republic did." When he spoke again, it was calm, but barely repressed fury sang in his tone. "They will not take Sulon. So swear the Bladeborn." He clasped a fist to his chest and the girl at the door did the same. Catherine inclined her head to him.

"So swear the Bladeborn." Catherine nodded to him.

"But..." Zay begged through her tears. Catherine gave her a squeeze and she sobbed harder.

"You need time and me?" Catherine was musing. "I wondered why the Force sent me here. This may be why." She looked at Shriv who looked worried at Zay's continued inability to speak. "She was falling apart, wasn't she?"

"Too much, too fast, too many." Shriv agreed. "She never let herself grieve. I did what I could, but I am no counselor."

"Neither am I but you did well." Catherine reassured him. "She hasn't fallen completely apart. Her dad?" She asked and Shriv shook his head. "I see."

"Damn First Order killed them both!" Zay all but screamed that. "I will kill them! I swear will kill them all!" She started to struggle, but Catherine laid a hand against her head and Zay gave a gasp before falling limp.

"That road only leads to death and destruction, girl. Probably yours. Let us see if we can find you a better one." Catherine said as she hefted Zay's unconscious form easily. Shriv looked as if he wanted to speak, but Catherine shook her head. "I do not need a hand free to defend myself. You do. I will do what I can for Iden Versio's daughter. I swear it by Blood and by Steel."

"I do not know you." Shriv growled.

"No, you do not." Catherine replied as the saurian bristled. She glanced at him and shook her head. "He is doing his duty to his family, Desann, no more." Was that a rebuke? "Would you do less for Tavion?"

"No." Desann admitted, giving Shriv a half bow. "I wouldn't. Her, you can trust, warrior. She does not give her word lightly. And when she does? Anything with sense will move out of her way."

"I have heard of you and yours. Good and bad mixed." Shriv said firmly. "But her, I do not know."

"Was that crazy Jedi still mad about the Valley?" Came from the girl at the door. "Geez, Skywalker can sure hold a grudge, can't he?"

"Jaden!" Came from both the saurian and Catherine! The girl stiffened, gave both of them a bow and left the cantina.

"We need to see to our defenses." Desann said to the others in the cantina who nodded to him, rose, saluted and filed from the cantina in military order! "They will not take this world."

"No, they will not." Catherine said softly as she eased Zay into a more comfortable position. "The cost will be dear, but we will not forsake our Grandmaster's oath. Fight well, Bladeborn. Be true to the Code."

"I will, Masterblade." Desann bowed to her and then, he was gone. Shriv stared at her and then at her companion, who shrugged but remained silent. The man drew an odd golden rifle like weapon and held it ready. Were those golden vanes of some kind on either side? It looked beautiful, but also deadly. Utterly unlike anything the Duros had ever seen.

"Master… blade...?" Shriv asked a bit weakly.

"That is a long story." Catherine said as she started for the door. "I will see Zay to safety, warrior. Maybe to some healing. They will not take her. You have my word on that."

"I bet it is a long story." The Duros drew his rifle, but did not aim at her. He was many things. 'Stupid' was not one of them. "A good story with a happy ending?" He all but pleaded.

"Not sure." Catherine admitted. "It isn't done yet."

"Figures."