7. That Wasn't on My Shopping List
New
GorMartsen
Advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2023
- Messages
- 165
- Likes received
- 1,799
Two hours flew by.
Sitting on the open ramp with a cup of caf in my hand, I watched the left-open main gate. The twi'lek woman didn't have the access code, as the toydarian did, and I wasn't about to create unnecessary obstacles, especially if she had to sneak around.
Which I expected was the case. I honestly didn't know what her deal was. What any of this meant. I just answered a call for help, even if not directly spelt out.
The hooded silhouette peeked into the dock and, finding me watching them, hurried inside. Recognising the twi'lek woman, I rose to my feet, leaving the cup of caf on the ramp end.
"Sorry for being late," she panted, stopping not far from me. Had she run all the way here?
"Don't worry about it. Let's go on the shuttle, and you will tell me everything over a cup of caf," I proposed, already half turning.
"No. No time," she said, reaching under the cloak and presenting me a small pouch. "Please, use this money to buy out my daughter's contract. Taala'Rooshan."
Blankly staring at her extended arm, I felt out of my depth. It wasn't what I had expected.
"She is almost of age, and I am afraid for her fate. She is a good mechanic, I promise!" she added in a rush, pushing the pouch into my hands.
"Buy out a contract?" I asked, feeling the heavy pouch in my hand. "Clan Rooshan?"
The fuck is this?
"Yes!" she breathed out, almost knocking me out with the strong sense of hope in the Force that quickly changed to longing. "Tell her I am fine, and not to look for me."
"What is your name?" I asked, catching her hand. I felt it. It was important.
"No one," she said, gently withdrawing her hand from mine and stepping back. "From nowhere."
No one from nowhere. A clan outcast.
"But before you go, you must know—"
"Wretched woman, that's how you paid me for all I did for you? By stealing?" the toydarian said, gliding into the dock and catching both of us off guard.
"I didn't steal," the twi'lek woman replied, spinning around. "I earned every credit for the hours worked!"
"Your contract is mine. Each credit is mine, too," the toydarian said, slowly drifting closer. "Stealing is a breach of contract. Give me my money, Jedi."
The ugly feeling of dying hope filled the Force, almost suffocating me, and I looked down at the pouch in my hand.
How many credits could broken hope cost?
"I could perhaps buy out your daughter's contract with it," said the toydarian, feeling smug.
"No…" whispered the twi'lek woman, collapsing on the floor, and the Force hit me with despair. "No…"
"It's your fault. If you had thought about the consequences first, none of it would have happened," the toydarian continued, and I had had enough of it.
"Get out," I said through my clenched teeth, boiling cold.
"I will, Jedi. Let me grab my property first," they said, smiling nastily and grabbing the twi'lek woman by the hood, and her eyes met mine, stretching the moment to no end.
"Totto tagged your ship," she said in an almost hysterical voice. "He deals with Hutts."
In slow motion, I saw the toydarian fishing out a small blaster from one of his waist pockets. He raised it inch by inch, but instead of targeting me, the blaster inevitably moved towards the twi'lek's head, and I moved.
Short jump, a hiss of my lightsaber, and the toydarian's hand with the blaster, the cut-off wings, and his still-living body fell to the floor in messy heaps.
The smell of burned flesh filled the docks, and I turned around to face Totto, or what I had left of him.
"What did you do, Jedi?" hissed the toydarian, clutching the stump of his right arm. "You can't do that!"
Deactivating my sabre, I sighed and massaged my face.
"Totto, was it?" I asked. "I thought your name was Jack?"
"I won it fairly, Jedi. It's mine," he grumbled, looking at his stump. "You will pay for this, Jedi."
The Force screamed a warning as Totto pushed something on the vambrace sitting above the stump, and I wrapped myself in the Force, looking for the source of danger. It was inside my robes.
Something exploded there, wrapping me in a cloud of green gas, and I held my breath, blindly searching for the breather in a pocket at my waist.
Smart.
Stepping out of the cloud, I found Totto halfway to the main gate, wobbling on his unsteady feet. A short jump and I was next to him, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him back to the floor.
"Not that fast," I said around the breather. "We didn't finish there."
But even now, he didn't look scared, and most annoyingly, I felt nothing of his emotions in the Force.
"Who do you work with?" I pushed with the Force, waving my hand.
"Mind tricks don't work on me, Jedi," Totto said with an ugly smile.
Right.
My wrist-comm buzzed, and I glanced at it. There was a message.
Unknown sender: [ You butted in on my operation, Knight Lose ]
I glanced back at Totto and the twi'lek, lying on the floor, unconscious, and my wrist-comm buzzed again.
Unknown sender: [ But I can use it. Call Judicals, pass Totto to them and leave. I will pick up from here ]
Jedi Lose: [ Who are you? ]
And where?
The dock bloomed in the Force Sight, and I saw a subdued Force signature, clinging to the ceiling. There was something familiar about it, but who was it?
Unknown sender: [ wink wink ]
As I looked at the new message, the Force shone in a way all younglings knew. Pay attention.
Jedi Lose: [ What about the twi'lek? What would happen to her? ]
Unknown sender: [ What, you laid your eyes on her? ]
It was weird and inappropriate, and quite too personal.
No waaay.
Jedi Lose: [ I will shoot you ]
Unknown sender: [ All talk, no bite. Fine. Just convince Totto to hand over her contract to you, and get out of my hair ]
No fucking way.
Jedi Lose: [ Watch me ]
Glancing at Totto, looking at me strangely, I opened my tattered robes and reached for the old blaster. Or what was left of it.
"You planned this, didn't you?" I said, dropping the wreck of the blaster on the floor and summoning the smaller one from where it lay with Totto's hand still attached.
"I know nothing about it," Totto said, eyeing his own hand as I peeled it off the blaster's handle, finger by finger.
"I think you owe me a hundred wupiupi," I said, dropping the hand and raising the blaster. "And a fine."
"You have no proof," Totto said, looking into the barrel. "You can't do it."
I shot the blaster into the air, missing the hidden Jedi on the ceiling by an inch.
"How sure are you?" I asked, smiling nastily.
"Take the pouch; it should be enough," Totto said, jerking his head towards the pouch I had dropped on the floor beside the twi'lek woman.
"Not yours," I said, shaking my head and levelling the blaster at Totto's feet. "Left or right?"
"The blaster! It's worth more than the old one!" Totto said more urgently, angling away from me as my wrist-comm vibrated again.
"Better. And the fine?" I said, aiming at the healthy arm.
"I don't have any credits on me!" Totto pleaded, and I believed him, almost. But it wasn't money I was looking for.
"Her contract, and I'll leave you to the Judicals," I said, glancing at the wrist-comm.
Unknown sender: [ Taren, you bastard! You almost shot me! ]
Taren.
"You have a deal, Jedi," drawled unhappy Totto, but I saw the hidden gleam in his eyes.
Oh, Totto was in for a surprise.
I doubted Tey, the fierce red togruta I knew quite well from a certain perspective, was hanging out here for no reason.
Sitting on the open ramp with a cup of caf in my hand, I watched the left-open main gate. The twi'lek woman didn't have the access code, as the toydarian did, and I wasn't about to create unnecessary obstacles, especially if she had to sneak around.
Which I expected was the case. I honestly didn't know what her deal was. What any of this meant. I just answered a call for help, even if not directly spelt out.
The hooded silhouette peeked into the dock and, finding me watching them, hurried inside. Recognising the twi'lek woman, I rose to my feet, leaving the cup of caf on the ramp end.
"Sorry for being late," she panted, stopping not far from me. Had she run all the way here?
"Don't worry about it. Let's go on the shuttle, and you will tell me everything over a cup of caf," I proposed, already half turning.
"No. No time," she said, reaching under the cloak and presenting me a small pouch. "Please, use this money to buy out my daughter's contract. Taala'Rooshan."
Blankly staring at her extended arm, I felt out of my depth. It wasn't what I had expected.
"She is almost of age, and I am afraid for her fate. She is a good mechanic, I promise!" she added in a rush, pushing the pouch into my hands.
"Buy out a contract?" I asked, feeling the heavy pouch in my hand. "Clan Rooshan?"
The fuck is this?
"Yes!" she breathed out, almost knocking me out with the strong sense of hope in the Force that quickly changed to longing. "Tell her I am fine, and not to look for me."
"What is your name?" I asked, catching her hand. I felt it. It was important.
"No one," she said, gently withdrawing her hand from mine and stepping back. "From nowhere."
No one from nowhere. A clan outcast.
"But before you go, you must know—"
"Wretched woman, that's how you paid me for all I did for you? By stealing?" the toydarian said, gliding into the dock and catching both of us off guard.
"I didn't steal," the twi'lek woman replied, spinning around. "I earned every credit for the hours worked!"
"Your contract is mine. Each credit is mine, too," the toydarian said, slowly drifting closer. "Stealing is a breach of contract. Give me my money, Jedi."
The ugly feeling of dying hope filled the Force, almost suffocating me, and I looked down at the pouch in my hand.
How many credits could broken hope cost?
"I could perhaps buy out your daughter's contract with it," said the toydarian, feeling smug.
"No…" whispered the twi'lek woman, collapsing on the floor, and the Force hit me with despair. "No…"
"It's your fault. If you had thought about the consequences first, none of it would have happened," the toydarian continued, and I had had enough of it.
"Get out," I said through my clenched teeth, boiling cold.
"I will, Jedi. Let me grab my property first," they said, smiling nastily and grabbing the twi'lek woman by the hood, and her eyes met mine, stretching the moment to no end.
"Totto tagged your ship," she said in an almost hysterical voice. "He deals with Hutts."
In slow motion, I saw the toydarian fishing out a small blaster from one of his waist pockets. He raised it inch by inch, but instead of targeting me, the blaster inevitably moved towards the twi'lek's head, and I moved.
Short jump, a hiss of my lightsaber, and the toydarian's hand with the blaster, the cut-off wings, and his still-living body fell to the floor in messy heaps.
The smell of burned flesh filled the docks, and I turned around to face Totto, or what I had left of him.
"What did you do, Jedi?" hissed the toydarian, clutching the stump of his right arm. "You can't do that!"
Deactivating my sabre, I sighed and massaged my face.
"Totto, was it?" I asked. "I thought your name was Jack?"
"I won it fairly, Jedi. It's mine," he grumbled, looking at his stump. "You will pay for this, Jedi."
The Force screamed a warning as Totto pushed something on the vambrace sitting above the stump, and I wrapped myself in the Force, looking for the source of danger. It was inside my robes.
Something exploded there, wrapping me in a cloud of green gas, and I held my breath, blindly searching for the breather in a pocket at my waist.
Smart.
Stepping out of the cloud, I found Totto halfway to the main gate, wobbling on his unsteady feet. A short jump and I was next to him, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him back to the floor.
"Not that fast," I said around the breather. "We didn't finish there."
But even now, he didn't look scared, and most annoyingly, I felt nothing of his emotions in the Force.
"Who do you work with?" I pushed with the Force, waving my hand.
"Mind tricks don't work on me, Jedi," Totto said with an ugly smile.
Right.
My wrist-comm buzzed, and I glanced at it. There was a message.
Unknown sender: [ You butted in on my operation, Knight Lose ]
I glanced back at Totto and the twi'lek, lying on the floor, unconscious, and my wrist-comm buzzed again.
Unknown sender: [ But I can use it. Call Judicals, pass Totto to them and leave. I will pick up from here ]
Jedi Lose: [ Who are you? ]
And where?
The dock bloomed in the Force Sight, and I saw a subdued Force signature, clinging to the ceiling. There was something familiar about it, but who was it?
Unknown sender: [ wink wink ]
As I looked at the new message, the Force shone in a way all younglings knew. Pay attention.
Jedi Lose: [ What about the twi'lek? What would happen to her? ]
Unknown sender: [ What, you laid your eyes on her? ]
It was weird and inappropriate, and quite too personal.
No waaay.
Jedi Lose: [ I will shoot you ]
Unknown sender: [ All talk, no bite. Fine. Just convince Totto to hand over her contract to you, and get out of my hair ]
No fucking way.
Jedi Lose: [ Watch me ]
Glancing at Totto, looking at me strangely, I opened my tattered robes and reached for the old blaster. Or what was left of it.
"You planned this, didn't you?" I said, dropping the wreck of the blaster on the floor and summoning the smaller one from where it lay with Totto's hand still attached.
"I know nothing about it," Totto said, eyeing his own hand as I peeled it off the blaster's handle, finger by finger.
"I think you owe me a hundred wupiupi," I said, dropping the hand and raising the blaster. "And a fine."
"You have no proof," Totto said, looking into the barrel. "You can't do it."
I shot the blaster into the air, missing the hidden Jedi on the ceiling by an inch.
"How sure are you?" I asked, smiling nastily.
"Take the pouch; it should be enough," Totto said, jerking his head towards the pouch I had dropped on the floor beside the twi'lek woman.
"Not yours," I said, shaking my head and levelling the blaster at Totto's feet. "Left or right?"
"The blaster! It's worth more than the old one!" Totto said more urgently, angling away from me as my wrist-comm vibrated again.
"Better. And the fine?" I said, aiming at the healthy arm.
"I don't have any credits on me!" Totto pleaded, and I believed him, almost. But it wasn't money I was looking for.
"Her contract, and I'll leave you to the Judicals," I said, glancing at the wrist-comm.
Unknown sender: [ Taren, you bastard! You almost shot me! ]
Taren.
"You have a deal, Jedi," drawled unhappy Totto, but I saw the hidden gleam in his eyes.
Oh, Totto was in for a surprise.
I doubted Tey, the fierce red togruta I knew quite well from a certain perspective, was hanging out here for no reason.