Star Wars - I, Jedi

by Michael A. Stackpole

  "I guess they heard there was a rumor that the), were the reason I'd demanded a month from Tavira before becoming her consort. Story goes that I've been spending a lot of my off hours with them in a last grasp at freedom before becoming Tavira's nighttoy. They're both smart enough to know Tavira isn't likely to care whether or not it's the truth-just the rumor will dam-age her image and demand retribution."

  Elegos narrowed his eyes. "And where would that rumor have come from?"

  I shrugged. "You know me, when I'm drinking I can't keep a secret and I'm depressed enough to mourn my love life in pub-lic."

  "Well done." He sipped from a glass of the blue syrup, which turned the golden down of his upper lip green until he licked it clean. "Will you rest today, or keep up the pressure?"

  "Nothing breeds success like success." I took a big bite out of a pastry, chewed, then swallowed. "The Invid system has one huge weakness and I need to push and exploit it before Tavira can act."

  The huge flaw in the way Tavira controlled her groups was what she saw as keeping her safe: all communication was pretty much one way. The HoloNet could keep her informed about big events in the galaxy, like a major New Republic push against her subsidiary groups, or events like the Sun Crusher and its destruction; but she was blind to local Courkrus news. Word of an impending operation reached us when a small craft, like a Skipray blastboat, entered the system and commed di-rectly with the headquarters of the various groups. During these runs she picked up local news, but until she made one of those runs, she'd not know anything about what I was doing.

  I handled the benefactor problem rather quickly, and mopped up the rest of Shala's crew at the same time. Rach'talik had gathered a small band around himself and set up house-keeping in a warehouse in which Shala had stored a lot of the loot his group had taken. The night after the Great Hutt Roast-as it became known locally-I hit the warehouse, scat-tered the various denizens, then threw the place open to the public. This action became known as the Fire Sale, since it was assumed anything left in the place would be burned, and it was picked clean in hours. A few minor scuffles broke out, but vi-sions of a shadowy presence caught in the corner of the eye was enough to quell them.

  Two days later a communications ship arrived from Tavira. I would have loved to have been there to watch the communica-tions officer when he tried to raise Shala and the Fastblast and got no answer. The information he got from the others wouldn't have pleased him any better, since desertions had dec-imated the Blackstar Pirates and LazerLords. Most of the Red Nova crew had gone native, leaving the Survivors and Riistar's Raiders the best off of the groups. In three weeks of absence, the cutting edge of the Invids had been considerably dulled.

  Elegos and I expected a reaction from Tavira, and got it more quickly than we thought possible. Within a day after her com-munications ship left Courkrus, I awakened to a pounding on my suite's door. I heard Elegos's voice, had thrown back the covers and pulled my robe on, but didn't get even as far as closing it when the door to my bedroom burst open and Tavira stalked in. She shoved me back on the bed, then stood there with her fists on her hips, looking down at me. "Surprised to see me?"

  I blinked and swiped sleepsand from my eyes. "Surprised?

  No, I suppose not."

  "Are you pleased?"

  "Yes."

  "Harumph." She eyed me appraisingly. "I would think you would show it more."

  I pulled my robe closed and sat up against the headboard.

  "It's early."

  "And you had a late night." She sat on the foot of my bed.

  "Alone?"

  "Completely."

  She smiled briefly, the same way pet owners do when they discover their animal hasn't messed something up in their ab-sence. "Good. And you've not been bothered by this Jedi?"

  I shook my head. "I've heard the stories, seen things occa-sionally, but come to no harm, no."

  Her eyes shrank to amethyst and jet crescents. "But you were there the first time he appeared." "What?"

  Tavira brought her chin up triumphantly. "The visitation. People have determined that was the Jedi. He warned of his own impending campaign against the Invids. Well, this Skywalker won't get away with it."

  "Skywalker?" My jaw shot open. "You think it is Luke Skywalker?"

  She reached out and grabbed the big toe on my right foot, playfully wiggling it back and forth as she slid forward. "Of course, it is Skywalker. You blonds, sometimes you can't think at all. Skywalker is the only Jedi with enough power to be able to do what has been done here. The New Republic keeps sug-gesting he is off training more Jedi, but you yourself noted that he was present at Xa Fel. We are the New Republic's greatest problem, so it stands to reason they would use their greatest weapon against us."

  "Indeed, it would."

  She moved closer and rested her chin on my knee, smiling slyly. "In fact, the news about the Sun Crusher's destruction is pure disinformation. No one who had a weapon that was inde-structible and capable of annihilating whole star systems would destroy it. No, they're waiting until they discover where I keep the Invidious, then they will obliterate it."

  I pulled back, smacking my head on the headboard. "Ouch. Are you sure the New Republic would do that? They don't seem to have the guts to do such a thing."

  "Carida is gone, isn't it?" She patted me on the other knee. "They blame its destruction on a rogue, a child, yet you notice he is lauded as a Jedi now. Since when are promotions given to people who fail to carry out orders?"

  I shivered. "I'd never have thought of that."

  Tavira placed hands on either side of my hips and kissed me gently on the nose. "Oh, you would have, my dear." "Thank you." Then she slapped me. Hard. Snapped my head around to the right and by the time I'd recovered, she stood again beside my bed and glared down at me. I pressed my left hand to my cheek. "What did I do?"

  "It's not what you did, it's what you've failed to do!" She turned away from me, but fury poured off her. "You should have dealt with this Jedi situation."

  "What? Me? How?" I sat forward. "I had no way to reach you."

  "Immaterial. All I've heard since I've been here is that you've not drawn a sober breath since the Jedi arrived. The night Shala died, you were so drunk you destroyed a speeder bike and didn't even know it." She gestured vaguely toward the street in front of the hotel. "I've brought you another one, by the way. Don't destroy this one." "i'm sorry."

  She spun back, with her hand raised to slap me again, but she hesitated. "You are sorry, and I expect a change. Your behavior must improve. You must lead by example. You must show them not to fear the Jedi."

  "Emperor's black bones, he melted Shala's headquarters.

  Two nights ago it was still warm."

  She lowered her hand. "You cannot let your fear show. These Jedi, they are like animals. They can smell fear. It's so thick here, I can smell it, and I hate it." "Fighting the Jedi is not easy."

  "I don't want you to fight it, I want you to lead the others in opposition to it. You do that, and I will take care of the Jedi." Her fists returned to her hips. "As much as I would like to join you there for a proper reunion, I have preparations to make. I'll be back within the week. I expect to see you sharp and in control."

  She started to walk out of the room, then paused and turned back. "Oh, kill Jacob Nive and take command. The man's spirit is broken. If he can't be fixed, he's useless." "I'll remember that."

  "Do that, darling." She gave me a wink. "It's an object lesson you would do best never to forget."

  I did exactly what Leonia Tavira wanted. I cleaned myself up and started making the rounds of the remaining groups on Courkrus. I visited them all in their strongholds, snapping or-ders, inventing security procedures, threatening, bribing, hint-ing darkly that any group that didn't get tough would be melded in with other groups, losing their autonomy. And of those groups that ran, well, I simply asked if anyone truly be-lieved the galaxy was big enough to let them hide from Leonia Tavira.

  The
Survivors took heart immediately, and even Jacob Nive seemed to recover some of his nerve. The Blackstar Pirates remained sullen but determined to stick things out. The Red Nova crew rallied and even started talking with the LazerLords about a merger that would keep the two of their groups func-tioning well. Riistar's Raiders, whom I had largely left alone, started plotting to surpass the Survivors and began making overtures to me about shifting my allegiance to them.

  What was truly great about this effort and the rebound in morale was that it rested very strongly on my representations of Tavira's plans to deal with the Jedi. I quickly let things evolve such that I moved into Shala's position of directly confronting the Jedi. I promised a trap that would destroy him and I knew, as the Invids put their trust in me-transferring much of it from their trust in Tavira-that if I went the way of Shala, morale would collapse fiat and Tavira would lose the combat arm of the Invids.

  How I would have the Jedi kill me was something I hadn't had time to figure out yet, but I knew it would have to be really spectacular or really nasty. I didn't know which I would settle for-Shala's demise would be tough to top and a bit rougher on me than I wanted to attempt. Grisly would probably be the best and I wanted to leave clues to the Jedi living in the city's sewers so lots of time would be spent hunting down there, while I could be living someplace a bit nicer.

  To heighten the tension concerning the confrontation, I de-cided to return to the Crash cantina. I knew everyone there well enough to be able to blank their memories during my en-trance and scramble my features to avoid recognition when I suddenly appeared in their midst. I projected a red mist con-densing into my form to cover my appearance, and almost laughed aloud as previously brave men and women recoiled from me, moving away from the bar toward the furthest reaches of the room.

  I ignited my lightsaber and pointed it at Jacob Nive. "Where is Idanian?"

  All the blood drained from Jacob's face. "I d-don't know." "He has said he will end my actions. Where is he?" I swept the blade around in a grand arc, causing people to duck or cover their eyes with their hands. "Where is he?"

  A chorus of denials came back weak and timid.

  "Tell him, I will meet him. The same fate that took Shala the Hutt awaits him!" I kept my voice very low and as menacing as I could. "When we meet, his time will be at an end."

  I slashed the lightsaber down through the bar and across, whipping the blade through the area where the Savareen brandy and other expensive liquors were kept. The brandy im-mediately exploded in a gout of blue flame, which lit the area behind the bar and began to spill out onto the main floor. More bottles exploded and the bartender started screaming, allowing me to step back and make my escape. I slipped into the night amid the shouting and yelling of people trying to deal with a fire, and began taking a fairly quick route back to the hotel.

  Across the street I saw a knot of five individuals turn and come in my direction. The fact that Jenos' brave talk had spawned hunter gangs didn't surprise me, and I'd dealt with that many individuals before. I ducked into an alley, moving halfway along toward where it turned right and led out to an-other street, then prepared to project an image of my actually walking further along a non-existent part of the alley. Getting them to chase me and hit the wall had worked wonders before, and if I could take a couple of them out, it would make the rest of the task much more simple.

  They came to the alley mouth but didn't run in. When I hit them with the illusion, they didn't shout, didn't point, didn't draw blasters. In fact, they seemed to look directly at me, which meant the illusion wasn't taking. That struck me as odd because they looked human, but since they wore hooded cloaks I couldn't be certain which humanoid species they were.

  Since they spotted me, I moved away from the wall and fur-ther down the alley. I let the Force flow toward them as they walked forward, but I caught no sense of fear or anticipation from them. I could feel them in the Force, but I wasn't getting nearly the sort of feedback I expected. Something very odd here. Time to provoke a reaction.

  I threw back the right side of my cloak and brought my light-saber out. I thumbed it to life and wove the humming blade back and forth before them. "You don't want any part of this, trust me. Run now and I'll let you live."

  One by one they likewise freed their gun arms. I set myself to pick off blaster fire, but none erupted, no angry whines filled the alley, no red bolts burned toward me. Instead, blue, yellow, red, orange and purple lightsaber blades sprang to life in their hands. Five of them, hissing in concert, like a krayt dragon hungry for the meal wrapped up in my clothes.

  They advanced, and I realized there really wasn't any way things could get much worse.

  Ten a sixth silhouette ap-peared at the mouth of the alley and a green lightsaber sprouted in his hands.

  Great, now we have the whole rainbow represented. I lifted my left hand from my blade's hilt and waved him forward. "C'mon, pal, one more won't make any difference."

  I wished I felt as brave as those words sounded.

  The man at the alley mouth started forward. "No one need die here tonight."

  I knew that voice! Luke!

  And I recognized in his warning to those I faced a directive to me. I slid to the right and blocked a red slash low right, directing the red blade away and into the brick wall. Pivoting on my left foot, I snapped a sidekick into my foe's belly, driving her back. I discovered she wore an armored breastplate, which partially shielded her from the strength of my kick. The armor, however, didn't stop her from catching her heels on debris and going down, temporarily taking her out of the fight.

  Luke engaged Yellow and Purple as I ducked beneath a blue slash and twisted to bring my left hand up. I caught my foe on his chin with the heel of my hand. The blow shifted the mask he wore up a couple of centimeters, temporarily blinding him. A quick punch to the throat choked him, then I grabbed him by the clasp of his cloak and flung him into the alley wall. His armor clicked hard against the bricks, then he dropped back all boneless and the deadman switch on his lightsaber shut it off.

  I parried Orange's cut and caught his wrist in my left hand. I shifted my right hand up, then whipped it down and across. My lightsaber's heavy pommel caught Orange right behind the right ear, or where the right ear would have been on a human. As Orange dropped senseless to the ground, his hood slid back and I saw he was a Rodian.

  I reached down and flicked his lightsaber off, then straight-ened up as Luke rose above Red. From her I only got peace, a peace I found vaguely reminiscent of the peace I'd imagined surrounding Mirax when Exar Kun showed her to me. "New trick?"

  Luke shut off his lightsaber and I did the same with mine, plunging the alley into darkness. "Old one, one of yours. I hit her and knocked her out. Just easing some of her pain now."

  "Nice sense of timing. If you hadn't arrived, the five of them would have killed me, clean and quick." I shivered. "How did you find me?"

  In faint light from the street, I saw Luke's expression sharpen. "I knew, if you had learned all you needed to learn, that I would meet you here, and that we would be allies." I felt a chill run down my spine. "I see."

  Luke's voice lightened slightly. "As for the when, with that I needed some help." He turned back up the alley. "Are we clear?"

  A silhouette framed itself in the alley, prompting me to laugh. "I see no pursuit."

  "Ooryl?" I hopped over Orange's body and ran forward.

  "Ooryl, what are you doing here?"

  "I am a Findsman." The Gand shrugged as if that should have explained everything. "The important thing of being a Findsman is not knowing where to look, for that is easy. It is knowing when to look. I knew the when was now, and went to Master Skywalker to tell him that. He pointed me here, and I brought him now."

  Luke waved us back into the alley. "We have to get our sleep-ing friends out of here. We have a ship, but I need somewhere else to keep them. They know where Mirax is."

  I nodded. "Can't be far from here, because Tavira brought them within a da
y of hearing we had Jedi trouble here. Who are they?"

  "I don't know." Luke shook his head. "We better find out and find out fast, because if we don't, if someone learns they've failed in their mission, it may cost Mirax her life."

  I reached down and hefted Orange up by his belt, letting Ooryl grab Yellow and Purple. "I know where we can take them, but getting information out of them will be tough. They know how to use the Force, and I'm not sure we can break through to find out what we want to know."

  "I think I have something that can help us in that regard."

  Luke gestured, allowing Red and Blue to float up into the air. "Lead on, Keiran. As Ooryl explained it to me, when is just an aperture in time, and we don't want it to snap shut before we can get through to your wife."