A/N: This is a semi-sequel to my story Pazaak: Juma Rules. I wanted to start telling the story of how Vashti (The Exile) and her crew began to find and recruit force sensitives and open the academy on Telos, etc. But after about ten pages of writing, I realized that it was utter crap. So I quit for a while and started brainstorming for a lot of ideas to make "episodes" about. I had planned on doing them in chronological order, but after a week or two of writer's block, I finally gave into my desire to tell this story. If I manage not to make a complete arse out of myself with this one, I might go back and tell some of theother stories that are now rattling around in my brain.
Be Warned! This is my first foray into actual plots and characters not defined in the game. I do not vouch for it being interesting or of any quality at all. I did, however, enjoy writing it.
She walked the streets of the smuggler's moon, meandering through the throngs of people seemingly without direction. Occasionally she would stop and appear to listen to something, ignoring the persistent gazes of the sentients around her. Then she would walk again, being drawn further into the maze of the city's streets. She wore her favorite black pants and jacket. Her green tunic was tied to show off her midriff and cleavage and her black headband kept her fiery red hair from falling into her vibrant green eyes. The outfit served its purpose well. Those gawking at her rarely noticed the veritable arsenal she carried with her. Besides the rocket launcher she always kept on her arm she wore a twin set of blasters, one on each hip. Next to each pistol there was a long black cylinder that was well camouflaged against her black pants and almost invisible to most passersby. Along the back of her belt she wore an assortment of grenades, rockets and darts. In addition, she kept a small vibroblade tucked into the side of her left boot.
She paused on a corner, letting the large bag she had slung over her shoulder drop to the pavement. She knelt over it a moment, shuffling through its contents and pulled out a datapad thumbing through it for what had to have been the hundredth time. She studied the holo of her target again and the details she'd been able to gather about him. He was Drex, a Mandalorian of clan Meerel, a bounty hunter. Though he was not prone to wearing their armor, there were few that could mistake him for anything but one of that hawkish race, even if they hadn't noticed his clan tattoos. His skin was greyer than that of her friend and former crewmate and he was considerably younger as well. Her sources had said that he was the reason two of their new recruits had gone missing.
Lorli Gann and Jafort'or had both finished their initial training at the Jedi Academy on Telos. Lorli was a human female a little older than Mira and Jafort'or was a male orange skinned twi'lek who had been a veteran of the Mandalorian wars. Their mission had been to scout Nar Shaddaa for more force sensitives. It had been surprising just how many recruits they'd managed to find on the moon and it had become a favorite place for Vashti to send her fledgling Jedi on their first missions. The city could be dangerous, but the thugs the city bred were no match for a Jedi - even baby padawan Jedi with less than three standard months of training like the ones that had disappeared here. Or at least that was true if you kept your nose out of Exchange business and made sure you didn't anger someone you shouldn't have. But in all, Nar Shaddaa had been pretty safe for Jedi ever since Goto's yacht had been blown to pieces and there wasn't anyone to honor the bounty on the Jedi.
Mira herself had only been a Jedi for close to a standard year and it had been only six months since they had begun their hunt for force sensitives and opened the academy on Telos. It was hard for her to believe that less than a year ago she hadn't felt the force at all. Except that wasn't exactly true. She realized now that she had always used the force to hunt her targets especially here on Nar Shaddaa. Her quarries had unwittingly called to her through the energy of the moon and she had usually found them with surprising ease. And that was why Vashti had sent her here.
She pulled a comlink out of her knapsack and spoke into it quietly, reporting that she was getting close to her target. The young man who received the call and was waiting for her at the Ebon Hawk had been very reluctant to let her go out by herself, but she had eventually convinced him that she would hunt more effectively on her own. Once he relented, though, he had begun to sulk. He had pulled the hood of his robe up over his head as he sunk into the pilot's chair. Mira had sighed exasperatedly, glad for the chance to get away. She really liked Dustil, but lately he had begun treating her differently. He'd been seriously possessive and over protective. It was driving her nuts.
She stood and slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way back into the crowd. He was close, she could feel it. Her senses heightened and she stretched out with the force as she stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the heads of the beings around her. Suddenly she saw him. He stood taller than most of the beings around him by at least 20 centimeters and was much closer to her than she had thought he would be. She fleetingly wondered how she could have missed him as she felt something sharp imbed itself into her abdomen. She glanced down at her bare stomach and recognized the butt of a dart protruding from it. Sith spit she thought as she called on the Force to rid herself of the toxins. But it was too late. Her mind blurred and as she tried to reach for her saber she felt his arms close around her waist. She had the vague impression of being hoisted off the ground and thrown over the large man's shoulder like a rag doll. The last thing that ran through her mind before she lost consciousness was that he had a very nice ass.
Her head was throbbing. She wasn't sure where the rest of her body was, but her head was definitely here. That was a good sign. She suddenly became aware of a very sharp pain in her left shoulder and numbness in the arm that was pinned beneath her. Her cheek pressed against the cold floor and she stretched her right leg to try to shift her weight off her upper body. Suddenly a searing pain shot down her leg waking her completely. Instantly she jumped to her feet only missing the energy field that surrounded her by pure luck. A force cage. Oh, joy.
She slumped back down to the floor, pressing her back against the solid part of her cell as she took in her surroundings. As she placed her hands on each side of her pounding head she realized that she appeared to be on a ship of some kind. She strained to hear the engines to determine if they were in space, but was only greeted by the hum of the force cage.
Out of habit, she began to reach into her jacket to pull her pazaak deck out to help her think and it was only then that she realized that she wasn't wearing it. Her boots and belt were gone as well. She glanced around the room and noticed a small table in the corner where her things had been unceremoniously dumped. Force, She thought to herself, Dustil's not gonna like this.
After some time, the silence was finally disturbed by footsteps in the corridor just outside the room. The door opened and the Mandalorian man she had been hunting entered carrying a packet of rations and a small canteen. He glanced at her coolly as he pressed a few buttons on the nearby control panel and then slid the provisions through the small hole that had opened at the bottom of the force cage. She stared at the rations a moment, not really conscious enough to feel hungry or thirsty and without comment he turned to leave the room.
"That's it?" She asked him sharply, her voice cutting the silence.
He turned back towards her and glanced at her amusedly, "You were expecting dinner and a holovid?" His deep voice drawled.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "I was expecting you to tell me why the hell you've brought me here!" she said loudly.
"Shouldn't you just be glad you're alive?" He smirked as he turned and left the room.
"Can't I at least have my fracking pazaak deck?" she yelled after him as his footsteps got softer and softer.
Ugh. She strummed her fingers against her knee as she shifted her weight and tried to think. She was still alive. That was the good news. She hoped that meant that Lorli and Jaf were still alive as well. She began to wonder how she had not seen the dart coming. And furthermore, what was in that dart that it caused her to pass out so quickly? It wasn't anything she carried with her, but damn, she was going to have to get some… if she ever got out of here.
The boredom was killing her. It had been hours since she had awakened and she had already examined all the possible escape routes. The prospects were pretty dim. She figured she should probably be meditating or doing something more Jedi-like, but the drug that had made her pass out was still making it very hard to concentrate on anything. She restlessly rolled over onto her back placing her hands behind her head and her legs perpendicular to her body resting them against the solid part of the cage.
She began singing then - softly to herself at first, just to pass the time, but as she sang, her voice got louder and the songs became bawdier. She rather liked the way her voice echoed in here and trying to remember all the verses to Corellian drinking songs was pretty amusing. It was in the middle of a particularly tawdry verse that she happened to tilt her head back and see her captor eyeing her with mild annoyance.
She ignored him and kept singing making sure to stress each of the most vulgar words. She almost jumped in surprise when his deep booming voice joined her to finish the verse. She frowned, still lying on the floor, her legs against the wall. Her arms were now crossed over her chest as she tilted her head back again and glared at him through the energy field.
"Don't stop on my account," he said, "You were just getting to my favorite verse."
She swung her legs around quickly, pivoting on her rear end so that her back was now against the wall. She pulled her legs up to her chest and considered him for a moment. The holo she'd had of him on her datapad didn't do him justice, she realized. There was no way a picture could capture the intensity of his grey eyes and he had those classic Mandalorian features that she had admired even as a child. Her eyes traveled down his body, taking in the clan tattoos on his forearms as well as his very nicely muscled chest.
He raised an eyebrow at her, seemingly amused at the obvious once over she had given him. "Are you sure you're a Jedi?" He asked her with a smirk.
Her gaze narrowed again for a moment, but realizing he was the only way out of this damned cage, she let her features soften again and she shrugged. "That's an awfully philosophical question for a Mandalorian," she sassed.
He just grunted as he sat himself at the table in the corner. She watched him with alarm as he began rifling through her things. He pulled out her blasters first examining them closely. "These are some pricey upgrades you've got here," he commented casually.
"Thanks," she said as she tried to unclench her jaw, "I did them myself." She added absentmindedly. He regarded her again a moment and then picked up one of the black cylinders lying on the table. "Don't touch that!" She warned, jumping to her feet.
"It's not like I've never seen a lightsaber before, miss." He said as he lazily ignited the blade. "I've never seen one this color, however."
"It's viridian…" she said anxiously, "please, turn it off…"
"Worried about me, miss? That's very sweet of you." He said provokingly.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I would really rather you didn't kill yourself and leave me locked in this damned cage. If you want to be stupid and play with lightsabers, that's fine, just LET ME OUT FIRST!" she snapped at him.
He chuckled as he extinguished the blade and picked up her rocket launcher. "This is a nice little piece of equipment, too. Good thing you didn't see me first, eh?" She grimaced remembering the sting of the dart that'd hit her.
He picked up her datapad next and began thumbing through it. She was suddenly very glad the most personal things on it were encrypted. "There's quite a bit about me in here," he remarked, "you even have a picture of me." He looked up at her and smirked. "Guess I wasn't as easy a target as you thought, eh?"
"Well," she said casually, "I guess that's a matter of perspective… I did find you and I'm still alive… as you so kindly pointed out earlier."
He grinned as he pulled the comlink out of her bag and activated it. "Hello?" he said into it questioningly.
"Who are you?" A tinny voice screeched through the static of the com, "Where's Mira?"
Drex grinned again, "Mira's here with me. Aren't you doll?" he replied into the com as he stood and strode towards Mira's force cage.
"Dustil," Mira said quickly, "I'm here, I'm all right… I don't know where here is though…"
The large man shot her a look and she stopped talking. He spoke into the com again, "Just tell your boss that Goto wants to see her. She needs to come to Nar Shaddaa and then we'll give her more instructions."
Dustil stammered over the com, "It will take her a few days to get here, will you guarantee Mira's safety until then?" The desperation in his voice was fairly obvious and Drex raised his eyebrow at Mira. She looked away quickly, and managed to fight off the blush that threatened.
"Hrrrmmm," he said over the com with a playful gleam in his eye, "That's not much fun. If I promise to keep her alive, can I kill the other two?" Mira clapped her hand over her mouth in horror at the man's amused taunt.
The com crackled and popped but no voice came through. Finally Dustil spoke again, his composure much regained. "I will get Vashti here as quickly as possible. Please, don't kill anyone."
"I make no promises," Drex snarled through the comlink as he switched it off and threw it back over onto the table.
"So Lorli and Jaf are still alive then?" Mira questioned him quietly.
"Mmm," he mumbled noncommittally, as he sauntered back over to the table and began going through her jacket. She clenched her teeth as he pulled out her holocamera and her miniature holoprojector. He pressed a button on the projector and a half sized image sprang to life over it. He watched the vid curiously, as it cycled through images of men and women on a small ship practicing with lightsabers, playing pazaak or just generally cutting up. Most of the scenes were punctuated with laughter. He started visibly when Mandalore, or at least someone wearing Mandalorian armor and Mandalore's helmet, appeared in the middle of this rowdy crew of Jedi. He shot Mira a look.
"Mandalore?" He questioned.
She nodded, "Yeah, that's why he wears the helmet," she replied patronizingly. "I asked him once if I could wear it, but he didn't go for it."
He shot her a quizzical look, "What clan?"
"Ordo," she replied, "and he'll never let you forget it, either."
"Is that your clan as well?" He questioned her coolly.
She started a moment. "I'm not Mandalorian," she stated firmly.
He looked at her skeptically. "Your weapons say otherwise." He remarked without emotion.
She frowned and slid back down the wall of her cage. "I was adopted by the Fett clan during the war and ran munitions for them."
He nodded simply and turned his attention back to the vid. He watched in amusement as what appeared to be a security camera feed flickered in front of him. A male and a female Jedi were dueling with sabers, but their battle seemed to exude a raw energy which culminated in a passionate kiss. He chuckled, "Are you sure any of you are really Jedi?" He asked her, an amused smile playing across his lips.
"There you go getting philosophical on me again," she said dryly.
"I thought the Jedi weren't supposed to do things like that."
She shrugged, "We're not exactly typical Jedi."
"Apparently," He said as he nodded again and turned the projector off, tossing it back onto the table. Mira stifled her sigh of relief that he'd gotten bored of it before he'd gotten to the parts with Dustil. She really wasn't in the mood to have to explain that.
He picked up a boot and pulled the vibroblade out of it. He admired its blade and flicked a similar glance at its owner. She noticed his gaze and decided she should take advantage of the situation. She grinned at him, twisting onto her stomach keeping her knees bent - her feet kicking over her back. She rested her head on one fist and used the other arm strategically to enhance her cleavage. "I don't suppose there's any way I could convince you to let me out of here?" she purred, her words laced with the power of force persuasion.
He chuckled. "Not yet, miss," he said as he shuffled over to her. He crouched in front of her, bringing his face very close to hers. "But if your boss shows up and Goto's satisfied, I might just take you up on that offer," he said with a smirk.
Her expression soured and she pushed herself back into a sitting position again. Damned hard headed Mandalorians. "Aw, come on," she groused, "I'm tired and there's no way I can sleep in here!"
"Mmm" he mumbled again as he activated the small opening in the energy shield and slid her pazaak deck into the cell. "Goodnight, miss." He said with a smirk as he left the room.
Dustil was beside himself. He knew he shouldn't have let her go out there alone. He berated himself as he went to the communications panel in the security room and began the call to Telos.
An image of Vashti appeared suddenly, she was blinking sleepily as Atton shot the camera an annoyed look from behind her. "Dustil," she began calmly, "What is it?"
"Mira's been captured by that Mandalorian we were tracking in relation to the disappearances," Dustil blurted out anxiously, "He says Goto wants you to come to Nar Shaddaa and meet with him."
Vashti sighed heavily, "Do you know if Mira's all right? What about Lorli and Jaf?"
Dustil nodded, "The Mandalorian contacted me using her comlink. She said she was all right but that she didn't know where she was. He also suggested that the other two were alive as well, but I can't be sure of that."
Vashti nodded and spoke firmly, "OK, knowing Goto she's probably safe at least until I get there. Don't go sticking your nose into things, if he captured Mira he could capture you and we don't need to give him another hostage."
Dustil stammered and began to protest but she cut him off. "Dustil, I know you want to go run in there and save her, but the best way to get everyone out of this alive is for me to talk to Goto and try to give him what he wants."
The young man nodded reluctantly, "hurry then, please."
Vashti nodded, "we're on our way. See you in a couple of days." She turned the panel off and sighed again.
"You're not really going to talk to that lunatic again are you?" Atton questioned her with annoyance.
"Why not? You and Bao did a great job of breaking me out last time." She smiled persuasively at him. "Besides, what choice do we have? I expected to hear from him sooner or later."
Atton grumbled to himself a moment, "Well, let's get going then." He stood and began pulling his clothes on, "are we taking anyone with us?"
"Yeah, I'm sure we should, who would you suggest?"
"Brianna's got one hell of a punch," he commented as he finished fastening his belt and began dragging the footlocker out of the closet that they kept packed with their traveling arsenal.
"And the fact that she practices in her underwear doesn't mean a thing to you, eh?"
He grinned rakishly, "It's some pretty nice scenery you have to admit." She shot him a scathing look and he just grinned back at her. "Hey, I don't see you complaining when she gets Bao to strip down! I've caught you watching those matches quite a few times!"
Vashti chuckled slightly embarrassed. "No comment." She grinned at him.
"Hmph," he grumbled, "so who to take?"
"I'd like to take Bao, since he's dealt with Goto before…" Atton nodded, "And how about Juhani? Bastila can probably take her classes until we get back." He nodded again.
"I'm going to go prep the Shadow Runner for take off." He informed her dragging the heavy footlocker onto a repulsorlift dolly. "If you need anything besides what's in here…" he paused a moment and grinned at her again, "get Bao to carry it." She rolled her eyes at him and went to wake her companions.