Chapter Text
She didn't remember her life before . Retrograde Amnesia, the healers had told her after she awoke from a lengthy kolto dump, which was just a fancy word for "you may never remember your past, so make the best of it". They had proceeded to give her a clean bill of health and sent her on her merry way.
She still did not know if the paper-pusher who issued her identification papers had allowed themselves some sick joke or if they had actually found her name in some records, if nothing else, but, Ruvena Ordo, seriously? As if it was not hard enough to find employment without any sort of verified skills, but to add a Mandalorian clan name into the mix so soon after the war? The warm welcomes she received may have been able to freeze Mustafar.
Which had led her to a recruiting office, which led her, well, here . Ruvena had, very short into her basic training, been taken aside by one of the officers with questions of "why hadn't she told them" and fast-tracked into service, since she had some (try "a lot of") military training that she could not consciously remember. That, at least, explained many of the scars that covered her body, as well as the way she took to life shipside like a fish to water. Some days, she got the feeling that she knew the Endar Spire better than some veteran officers.
A fact that she intended to take full advantage of in the near future, as she ran through the ship after her previously unknown bunkmate Trask Ulgo, while the Endar Spire shook from the impact of the Sith armada's turbolasers.
"Left!", she yelled, before he could take another turn that would lead them to the bridge. The long, non-officer, non-initiate way. He just looked at her while she overtook him and led him down the shortcut. They arrived at the bridge just as the last of the command crew began making way towards the escape pods. They were followed by a small squad of Sith troopers, and Ruvena was quick to give cover fire to the remaining officers. One after the other, they went down, dead. Her hands did not even shake a little. That must be some serious military experience buried in my brain, she thought unfazed.
The remainder of their escape went off unhindered and they were quickly ushered into the last remaining escape pods. "Hurry, I set the ship to self-destruct as soon as those pods are away. I just hope she takes a lot of Sith with her.", the Commander instructed as he programmed the pods' trajectory for the Tarisian Equatorial Spaceport. Ruvena strapped herself into the pod next to Trask and threw a jaunty salute. "See you landside."
The last wave of escape pods fell down on Taris in a shower of flames. Most of them had been hit by stray fire, while others had been shot down by Sith Interdictors. The burning pods were accompanied by a barrage of debris from the explosion of the Endar Spire that had covered their escape. Ruvena and Trask managed to scramble out of their pod with their gear and the emergency supplies before the first Sith patrol arrived.
"We should ditch our uniforms, the Sith will be looking for us. Will we regroup on planet or try to leave immediately? Are there even some sort of protocols for such an evacuation?"
Ruvena efficiently stripped off her armor, down to her nondescript black undersuit and waved at Trask to follow her example. She rifled through what the Republic deemed emergency supplies, dividing it into piles.
"You should take some of the credits. We won't need the survival gear, so we can sell that and buy stuff that is more useful on a city planet. Like - food! Look, we even have some of the good rations!", she exclaimed and raised some to prove her point.
"You seem to have a lot of experience with this kind of thing for a new recruit," he stated, a little too calmly.
"I have amnesia. I think I got it from some injury in battle. Would explain the awful lot of scars I have. Anyway, they fast-tracked me through training after it became obvious that although I don't remember being trained, I seem to remember what I learned. So... Plans?"
His stance relaxed visibly, but not completely. "We should try to find a way off this planet before the Sith catch us. Master Sunrider will try to organise a group effort if she is in the vicinity, so follow your urges if you feel a sudden need to visit a cantina. It will probably be her, rallying all Republic soldiers in range. Other than that? Survive. Don't get caught. You know. The usual."
He grabbed the heavier of the two reorganized Backpacks and slung it over his shoulder before helping her up and grabbing a bundle of armor. "We could just paint the armor instead of replacing it. Apart from the color, it's not that recognizable. Saves us a lot of credits, too. And spares us the explanation of how we lost our armor in the first place."
Ruvena nodded and undid her long braid before picking up the other backpack and the second bundle of armor. "Too bad your hair is regulation cut. Well, we're too heavily armed for pilots anyway, so mercenaries it is. There are mercenaries that wear their hair similarly, and no one should pay enough attention to you to spot the difference. I will be your distraction." She explained, winking and twirling around, feigning flirtatiousness. "You are too fair to pretend to be my protective brother, so you will have to be my husband. Jealous husband, probably, if I have to charm some merchants. Well? What are you waiting for?" He could do nothing but trail after her as she rattled off infiltration plans like his mother would banquet planning.
Trask had long since given up on trying to understand how his companion worked. Clad only in the skintight black undersuit, with her long dark hair unbound, she looked nothing like the Republic soldier he had met for the first time almost a day ago now aboard the Endar Spire . She had then proceeded to procure casual clothes for them, stock up their food supplies, find a dingy and small, but cheap apartment for them to rest in, and even obtain some really good paint for their armor. He watched her cover hers in a layer of grey with the same air of professionalism that had surrounded her the whole day.
"Is there anything you can't do?" He asked, only half joking. She looked up sharply before continuing to diligently paint the armor.
"I can't cook."
He laughed.
"I'm, serious. In bootcamp, I burned the porridge and scorched the tea. They banned me from the kitchen."
She finished the paint job with lines in dark red and spread the pieces out.
"It should be dry by tomorrow morning. We should grab some rest now and go cantina-hopping tomorrow to find out more about this blockade the Sith enacted and how to get off this planet. Maybe we'll even meet some of the others that came down nearby."
Ah yes. The blockade. No ships landing, no ships leaving. Someone really wanted to catch the crew of the Spire . Obviously someone who had no idea how a city-planet worked. The blockade was not even a day old, and already, people were protesting in anticipation of food shortages. This blockade probably would not outlast the week before some gang or other got creative and blew the Sith outposts sky high. They had to get away before the rioting could start. He nodded in assent and stretched himself out more comfortably on the flimsy mattress.
Watching her put on her armor was like looking at a piece of art. She moved with the grace and expedience of a seasoned veteran, although she could not be older than thirty. The wars of the recent decades had made young veterans of them all. She worked from her feet upwards, putting on each piece deliberately, rechecking the straps and seals on the way back down before securing the blaster rifle on her back and her blaster pistol on her hip. Last came the belt with her vibroblades. She looked like a goddess of war from legends of old. Trask caught himself staring and hurried to follow her example and strapping into his gear. They stowed away their remaining belongings and left behind the empty looking apartment.
The streets were only marginally more busy than the last evening, but they were given considerably wider berth, heavily armed as they were. Passing Sith patrols eyed them with suspicion, as they did with all who walked by. Otherwise, they did not stand out much, as they were not the only transients stuck by the blockade.
They stood out even less in the cantina, which was full of people like them: Traders, pilots, mercenaries and other sentient space debris, as planet-dwellers liked to call them, stuck planetside longer than both groups preferred, all thanks to the Sith. Trask pointed Ruvena towards one of the last empty tables and went to get some drinks, searching the room for any crewmates. She slumped onto the stool, rearranging her weapons for accessibility and listened to try and get a feeling of the mood of the grounded.
She was amazed how badly the Sith were handling the blockade, if rumours were to be believed. It was in fact a total blockade, and it seemed as if no amount of urgency or bribery could convince them to let a ship land or take off. This meant that already there were several large cargo ships of foodstuffs circling the planet in addition to the Sith fleet and the crowd of smaller passenger and trading craft. Why they did not just enact strict passenger controls and searched every incoming ship for rescue parties and every leaving ship for Jedi and republic soldiers, Ruvena could not understand. Jedi Master Sunrider would not leave the planet without Bastila Shan, of that, she was sure. Jedi were sentimental about their hosts like that. And just how did she know that with this absolute surety? No matter. The commander of this Sith blockade was obviously a moron, which was actually good, because on the long run, it made their escape so much easier.
Ruvena looked up as she saw Trask sit down across from her, sliding over a glass of what looked like it had wanted to become a Coruscanti Sunset in a different lifetime. "I thought a little pick-me-up was in order. The drinks don't look all that impressive, but the taste is quite fine." He explained, sipping on his creative interpretation of an Alderaani Meadowspice . "And just how did you land that rarity in this dark corner of the galaxy?" She asked, pointing at his glass. He reddened slightly and mumbled. "I, aah... may have usurped the bartender for a moment longer than actually appropriate. But you have to admit, he is quite good at following instructions!" Their giggles had just descended into a quiet air of amusement and relaxation as they were interrupted by a large stranger.
" Vod'ika ! Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Taris?" He exclaimed, pulling over a seat to join them. Say what ?
Even sitting down, he was tall and broad, clad in parts of Mandalorian armor over a form fitting black ensemble similar to theirs, with a brown leather vest over it. He had greying black hair, stormy grey eyes and a square jaw, and although he looked faintly familiar, Ruvena was sure that she had never seen him before. She turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
He did a double-take and searched her posture for something while she watched him in turn. She gestured to Trask to shut up as he set to explain about her amnesia. This was about to get very very interesting. She could not let him ruin her fun.
"Did you get lost again, vod'ika ? I was worried when I didn't hear from you for months. Again. I thought you were getting better."
His concerned tone tapered off towards the end when she did not show signs of recognition, and he sighed in defeat.
"You really don't remember me, do you? I'm Canderous, your brother. And whatever trouble you have gotten yourself into, this time, you won't be getting rid of me until we get rid of your trouble, Ruuni ."
Somehow, that nickname pulled on strings that Canderous had been tugging on since he had sat down and released a shadow of a memory, and suddenly, she knew .
" Ruusi !" She slid over and hugged him. Of course his features were familiar. She saw a set of very similar ones every morning in the mirror. How could she not have recognized him? Suddenly, her ignorance was almost embarrassing, although she knew that it was not her fault.
"I'm so sorry. I..." She drew a shaky breath as he slung an arm over her to lend her the moral support she did not know she needed. Meanwhile, Trask's eyes wandered from one sibling to the other, desperate to find either the family resemblance or evidence of a ruse or prank. He felt a little like a bystander in one of those silly holonet shows where the 'plot' consisted of an impossible pileup of improbable coincidences.
"I have amnesia. I woke up seven months ago in a medical center on Manaan, not remembering anything of my past. They managed to pull my name from some records - is our last name really Ordo? - but nothing else, and I ended up enlisting. My first post rained down on Taris yesterday." She pointed skywards to emphasize her point.
He nodded at her question and then began laughing so vigorously that he nearly fell from his seat and tears came to his eyes.
"A Mandalorian in the Republic army. I never thought I'd live to see the day."
Trask watched the alleged siblings reunite with a sense of trepidation. He was distrustful of fortunate coincidences from experience, and the string of luck they had had so far since the boarding of the Endar Spire only made him anticipate even greater misfortune in the near future. He was sceptical, but he could not deny that they interacted with an underlying comfort that spoke of thorough familiarity, a thing that was rare between siblings with such a great age difference separating them, but even rarer between unrelated people, which supported Canderous' claim.
While Canderous looked old enough to have been fighting in the Mandalorian War since the very beginning and during the height of their success, Ruvena was at least two decades younger, if not more, and may have joined the war closer to the end if at all, when the Mandalorians were already retreating from the combined might of Revan's tactical prowess and the full attention of the Republic Navy. Nevertheless, she listened to his recounting of the recent lives of various relatives and acquaintances with the rapt attention that could only belong to someone intimately familiar with the people he was talking about.
It seemed eerie to Trask, since Ruvena still did not consciously remember the people her brother talked about, as was evident in the way her eyes would occasionally light up in sudden recognition of a name or place. Furthermore, it was unusual for a that much younger sibling to be this involved in the life of an older one, but maybe Mandalorians were just weird that way. Trask had heard that they valued family and community much more than other peoples.
"... and so they both lost the bet and had to paint their armor yellow for a week." Canderous finished retelling an anecdote about two mutual friends of theirs, Dorian and Marian, that made Ruvena laugh the hardest yet.
"And he told you that, like this, in his last missive?" She asked between fits of laughter.
"Not literally." He denied, and that had to be some sort of inside joke she half remembered, because they both descended into the kind of chuckles that only conspiring rascals in the wake of their prank were capable of.
"So everyone I know and don't remember is still alive and well, but what about you?" She asked the question Trask had been waiting for for some time, sounding amused and scolding at the same time.
"You may not recall, but I was growing tired, and when Mandalore was defeated and you left , I did too. I had no desire to watch our people live and die as nothing but farmers, dirtside , after Revan took our bes'uliik and beskar'gam away, and half of our culture with it, and grounded us with only our oldest colonies to live on. Mandalorian mercenaries are in high demand. There are few that dare defy the command of the one who slew Mandalore the Ultimate and people still remember how we fought when we were free."
The events were familiar to Trask, but they sounded quite different from the losing side. During the battle of Malachor V, while large parts of the Mandalorian fleet were being obliterated in orbit, Revan had defeated and killed Mandalore the Ultimate on his own flagship in single combat. Without leadership and with most of their resources spent, Revan had been able to force the Mandalorians to give up their ships, weapons and armor, and they retreated within the borders of the systems that they controlled before the war, to planets that had been occupied for so long that there were more Mandalorians living on them than native species. Or so it was said in the recorded history of the Republic.
"I have been working for Davik Kang and the Exchange recently. Pay has been good, when he remembered to pay me, but I was beginning to worry for you when another message failed to appear. I was actually making plans to get off this rock to go looking for you, and excuses of you being busy be damned, when the Sith announced their 'quarantine'. Pah. As if anybody is dumb enough to believe that.
"If it was just the two of us, we could look for one of the old deposits from the occupation. The have to be some that have gone undiscovered all this time. We could take off with two of the old model bes'uliik and run the blockade, might be fun."
His tone betrayed that his definition of fun did not match with most people's. Ruvena's answering grin divulged a similar disposition to disagree with sensible folk. Trask was slowly beginning to realize that the bearing of his fellow soldier, her way of organizing things on the fly, her daring and audacity, had to be a result of her Mandalorian upbringing. Or maybe it was just this family that was utterly, irrevocably mad .
"With soldierboy here, we have to find a different mode of transport. Davik has been bragging about that new freighter of his, the Ebon Hawk , supposedly the fastest in the galaxy, capable of outrunning even the Republic's fastest Cruisers. The problem is that as a smuggling vessel, it has little fighting capabilities, as it relies on speed and evasion. And speed alone won't get us through the blockade."
Trask decided that this was a good moment to burst into the Mandalorian's little planning session. "We may be able to help with that. Your sister and I are not the only Republic soldiers stranded on Taris after the explosion of the Endar Spire , and there is at least one Jedi down here with us. She may be able to fool the Sith into thinking that our takeoff was authorized. Or we could stage a distraction, rouse all stranded pilots with ships to take off at the same time and hope to confuse the Sith. We may even be able to organize some sort of escort with more ships, maybe even those besu-thingies you spoke of."
" Bes'uliik . Basilisk war droids, in Basic. It is a good idea, but that will not work. They are sentient and only allow themselves to be ridden by people with the heart and guts of a Mando'ad , a true Mandalorian. And Ruuni may be one of the most capable and daring war-riders I have ever seen, but even us two together would be nothing but flies to splat for the Sith armada if we tried to play escort to your snail-ships, Republic."
It was almost funny how Canderous managed to be appreciative of his input and deeply disdainful of his last scheme all at the same time.
"Give me your commlink. I will contact you when I have any news or if anything unforeseen happens, otherwise, we'll meet again here tomorrow around midday. I have to get moving, I'm supposed to escort a rabble of Davik's hired nitwits into the Undercity to loot the escape pods that went down there, and there's only so much of their collective idiocy I can take without preparation." He explained as he fiddled with her commlink to enable future secure transmissions. He put down the modified commlink in front of her before he dropped a kiss on her brow, ruffled her hair affectionately and marched out.
"Is he always this..." Trask drifted off for lack of words.
"What, overwhelming? Larger-than-life? Awesome?" Her eyes sparked with mischief. "Yes."
"At least, I think so. The people he spoke of were familiar, and I think I would have noticed the difference if his behavior was not. And he can help us. Isn't that wonderful?"
"And wonderfully convenient. Don't misunderstand me, I appreciate the relative luck we have had, considering we survived in the first place, landed safely, and now this opportune happy reunion. I just worry that our good fortune will run out at the most untimely moment possible."
"I will gladly forsake all blessings for the near future if we just get to safety alive and in one piece."
He tried to shush her. "Don't tempt fate."
"What's the worst-"
"Dont!"
Ruvena sat up straighter when she saw a young woman enter the cantina. Her appearance caused an itch in Ruvena’s brain the same way Canderous had, she noticed, now that she knew the feeling. At a second glance, Ruvena was tempted to call her a girl, rather than a woman, because she looked as if there were more planets in this galaxy where she had yet to reach her majority then planets where she was of age.
The girl scanned the room and came over to them with a purposeful stride as soon as she spotted them. "I am so glad I found you." she blurted, cast around a glance for eavesdroppers and dropped her voice to a whisper.
"I wasn't trained for this." she confessed. "This was supposed to be a training mission for me, to get used to Master Sunrider and to my new duties. She was injured in the crash, you know, and now I am all alone, and technically, I am second in command for this mission and I have no idea what I am supposed to do and I am so glad that Master Sunrider insisted I learn the crew roster by heart or I would never have recognized you."
Her stream of words ended as she inhaled deeply, and Trask took the opportunity to interrupt her. "You are Bastila Shan? Good, we were hoping to find you."
The girl, and she was a girl, that much was clear from her insecurity and lack of experience, slumped into the seat Canderous had left behind, suddenly limp from the relief of handing responsibility over to someone older and more qualified.
"Sit down, calm down and rest. The evacuation was yesterday, were you able to find shelter? Did you rest at all?"
Bastila only shook her head at his questions and began to shiver all over, now that the strain of the last day was over.
"We should go back to our den. Trask will whip us up something to eat and you can finally get some sleep. There is nothing more we could accomplish here today anyway."
She cradled Bastila into her side with an arm as they got up to leave the cantina, and the girl melted into the embrace. She was already half asleep by the time they got 'home' and Ruvena tucked her in after they had stacked up the two mattresses and divested the girl of her boots, coat and lightsaber.
"What do you think happened? There are only so many injuries that can incapacitate a Jedi which don't kill the host immediately."
"I believe that Jedi Master Sunrider is not as gravely injured as Bastila believes. Maybe she isn't even injured at all. It is possible for a Jedi to exhaust themselves, healing their host. Bastila can't have been hosting for long, or she would not be this anxious. She probably misread fatigue for unconsciousness."
#Bastila. Bastila! Wake up, dear child.#
It was dark, and the room she was in was unfamiliar, but she recognized the two Republic soldiers sitting at the nearby table and eating.
#Master Sunrider, you are healed!#
Bastila missed Vima's annoyance at the title, but handed over control eagerly, so she let it drop and concentrated on more urgent matters. Their injuries from the crash were mostly healed, and sleep had quelled the worst of their weariness. She finished skimming over Bastila's memories of the time she had spent unconscious and crawled out of the nest of blankets they had slept in.
"I thank you for taking care of my Padawan when I was unable to."
"Master Sunrider. Come, join us."
"Please, call me Vima. Every time I hear someone calling for 'Master Sunrider' I get this urge to look over my shoulder for my mother and apologize for whatever trouble I got into."
She sat down and was quickly given a bowl of stew.
"I thought Jedi didn't have families like most species?"
Vima laughed at that blunt statement.
"That is true. Our childhoods are spent more communal, and genetic relation means nothing compared to the bond between a student and their master. But the relationship I share with Nomi and Andar Sunrider are most easily translated into Basic by the words 'mother' and 'father'. It is, as you said, a relationship more intelligible to other species. We share a name, after all."
"Vima, then. We may have a plan to get off this rock, but I'd like to hear your ideas first."
"First, we eat." She stated, and helped herself to a third bowl. "Then, I will meditate and try to find all of the crew. If none of them are in worse trouble than they can get themselves out of, I will leave with you and wave my presence through the Force as bait that will most certainly provoke Malak into following us and take the focus of his attention away from here, which should restore affairs on the planet to normal."
Watching the Jedi meditate was at the same time very boring and among the most fascinating things she had ever seen. The utter stillness of body that accompanied the quietness of mind was funny to see in a girl as prone to nervous quirks as Bastila, and bonded with a Jedi that seemed to have not yet completely outgrown the awkwardness and informality of youth.
"I found them. All of the soldiers that got away from the Endar Spire in time survived the evacuation and most of them are in a position to regroup without my intervention. Actually, all but one of them are, unlucky bloke. I can sense that he is alive, but injured and unconscious. I will be able to find him when he regains consciousness. Now, you said something about a plan?"
Ruvena did not know why she was blushing as she told what had transpired earlier that day.
"Yes. We met my brother in the cantina. I didn't recognize him at first, but he recognized me, obviously, and he said he should be able to get his hands on a fast ship. We would only have to disable or get the pass codes for the ground defense system. Evading the Sith blockade proper should be no problem if the freighter is as agile as we think it is. We will meet him again tomorrow in the cantina where we met you both to see what news he has and make some more plans."
Vima - or was it Bastila? It was difficult to differentiate between Jedi and Host for Ruvena, especially since both were unfamiliar - frowned at that, turning thoughtful.
"That is a fortunate coincidence. I see the Force is with you."
"I don't know of the Force, but Trask and I have been quite lucky, yes. I just hope this lucky streak continues until we get away from here."
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that."
Now it was obviously the Jedi speaking, and Ruvena noticed that her eyes turned green when she did. Bastila had grey eyes.
"Do you Jedi always change eye colour?" She did not know why, but it irked her.
"It is a simple way to indicate who of us is in control at the time. And Basic does not allow for the intricacies to make a distinction between I-the host , I-the-Jedi and we-both ."
Ruvena noticed that the last words were not Basic, but the comprehension tickled at her brain and she understood them anyway.
"What was that?"
"I am so sorry! Mother always said that it is terribly rude to project knowledge, but I sometimes forget. I just... gave you the knowledge to understand the words I said. I won't do it again, promise."
"See that you don't."
Ruvena did not know where her sudden anger came from, but was willing to attribute it to the headache Vima's unintentional intrusion had caused. She massaged her temples and sat down. She was getting weary, but she had no idea how the three of them were supposed to sleep tonight when they only had two mattresses. She was saved from brooding over that by the beeping of her commlink.
=Yes?=
=Little sister. Things are about to get interesting faster than we expected. We should meet at the lift to the Lower City, next to the cantina. Bring everything and everyone you have. I'll tell you more once you're there.=
He ended the connection before she could reply, obviously in a hurry. She turned to face her companions, who looked at her questioningly.
"We have to pack up and move out. If my brother says things are about to get interesting, he means it in the worst of ways. We want to be prepared when that happens. We will probably go for the ship tonight. Vima, can you fool the Sith into thinking we are an authorized takeoff?"
They burst into activity after her announcement, packing up what little they had unpacked previously and putting their armor back on again. They armed themselves with all blasters they had, which freed up some space in their packs. Trask crammed one into the other and strapped into the remaining backpack. As the only pure ranged fighter in the group, he would be least encumbered by the additional weight and bulk.
"I may be. But it would be easier if I didn't have to." the Jedi conceded as they moved out.
They arrived at the lift only to find Canderous already waiting impatiently. This time, he was in full armor sans helmet, and a lot more heavily armed. He greeted Ruvena with an arm-clasp and the others with a nod and waved at them to follow as he strode over to the Sith guarding the lift.
"I have business in the Lower City. Those three are with me." The brisk declaration caused the Sith guards to step aside and they filed into the lift.
"Good thing I went through the whole authorization shenanigans with them yesterday and they still remember me. Wouldn't want to remind them why it is wise not to piss me off." By now it was obvious to everyone. Canderous was in a mood.
"And who is it that you picked up while I wasn't looking?"
"That's Bastila Shan, she was travelling with us before we got stranded. What happened that got you in such a good mood?"
They stepped out into the dimly lit corridors of the Lower City, and followed after Canderous.
"There's trouble in the Lower City. I won't bore you with all the details, but the important thing is that, in addition to the swoop gangs being at each other’s throats as usual, one of them claims to have gotten their hands on a Republic officer and want to trade him for favors with the Sith, which is all kinds of complicated, both because of you and because the Exchange was supposed to have first claim on everything that came down yesterday. That works quite well for us in fact, because it gives me an excuse to be down here and stir things up a bit. I just thought you might want to get your hands on your colleague before he gets disappeared, and we won't be hanging around here long enough for anyone to figure out it was us after that."
His detailed answer eased any worries that they might be overheard, which gave Vima leave to introduce herself properly. She even managed to bow while walking without looking ridiculous.
"It is an honour to meet you, Canderous Ordo. I am Vima Sunrider. You were already introduced to my host."
If he was surprised that she knew his name without being told, he did not show it, and just nodded in acknowledgement. He did not even seem surprised that she was a Jedi. That in turn was something that surprised Ruvena, but she decided to let it drop, as they had more important things to worry about.
"We will be meeting with an informant first. She works directly with me and not Davik, and she certainly knows more about this whole affair than his flunkies. We will proceed accordingly."
The cantina he led them to was almost ironically similar to the Upper City cantina they were in before. They piled into the backroom booth he had chosen and were soon joined by a Rutian Twi'lek. She was around Bastila's age, but held herself with the kind of maturity that came with growing up at the fringes of society.
"I see you made some new friends. You gonna introduce me, Candy?"
Ruvena barely stifled her laughter at hearing that nickname, and she could see that she was not the only one.
"This is my sister Ruvena, and her colleagues Trask and Bastila. And the lovely girl that just joined us is Mission Vao." He pointed at each of them in turn. "What can you tell me about the guy the Black Vulkars are claiming to have captured?"
"Candy, I told you. I won't work for the Exchange, not even through you."
"So he was scraped from an escape pod. Good. I'm not looking for him on behalf of Davik."
"Actually, we are looking for him." Vima cut in. "If I am correct, the man they have captured is Commander Carth Onasi. And if the Sith get their hands on him, he won't survive the week. They may even honour their trade with the Black Vulkars, at least for a few days. In any case, it won't end well for the regular citizens of the Lower City."
"Lady, are you trying to appeal to my compassion? 'Cause I can tell you, there ain't nothing left of it."
"Actually, I was appealing to your survival instinct. Life in the Lower City may not be pretty now, but it certainly won't get better if the thugs get supplied by Sith and eventually become Sith. Helping us would prevent that from happening for some time, maybe even completely."
While Vima was talking, Canderous had thrown some credits and a piece of candy on the table.
"Now we're talking! So, the Vulkars have their prisoner stashed away in their base, and they think he's quite safe there, 'cause no one has the power to challenge them head on down here. A Sith detachment is supposed to come down tomorrow to collect him and discuss the reward, so if you want him you have to spring him tonight. I know a way to sneak in, but that's gonna cost you."
"Of course. I might even become generous and take you with me when we leave."
"Taris too boring for you, with the Sith stomping around?"
"No, I'm helping my sister, terminating the contract Davik was breaking anyway is just a bonus. The ship is big enough for one more and we could use your skills to sneak into the Sith base and snatch some codes. And you get so see the galaxy. Win-win little one, win-win." Mission nodded at that and stashed her credits away before inhaling the candy.
Canderous handed out stealth field generators as he explained. "We should at least try to get in and out unseen. I took another stealth unit for our guest, and we may get to the exit before anyone notices him gone. Just follow Mission for now."
They went in through some sort of hidden side entrance that Mission sliced open. The side corridors they sneaked through were abandoned, especially as it was getting late and most of the gang members were either sleeping or otherwise busy. Following a combination of Mission's and Vima's directions, they quickly arrived at another locked door that Mission sliced open.
"I can feel him on the other side. He is only sleeping." Vima explained, and in they went.
Commander Carth Onasi was lying in a corner of the tiny cell, curled up in a ball with his back to the wall. Vima went over to heal and wake him, while the others kept an eye out for unexpected company.
"Wake up. Commander, you must wake up. Carth!"
He snapped to attention with almost military precision, which was admirable considering the state he was in. Vima hushed him, Canderous slapped the stealth generator into his hand, Ruvena gave him a spare blaster and soon they were ready to go.
They returned through the same hallways they had passed before. About halfway back to the exit, the gang hideout broke into sudden silent activity, and they knew their stunt had been noticed. They slunk into corners and shadows and waited for groups of agitated thugs to pass before hurrying to the next niche.
"We can't keep this up much longer. He especially can't." Vima cautioned, after another bunch of thugs lumbered past their hiding place, and gestured towards Carth, who seemed to be barely holding it together.
"We don't have to. Our exit is just over there, see?"
Mission opened the door quickly and they filed out, glad to have escaped undiscovered.
"You two, keep the stealth fields running, I have no desire to explain to the Sith where and why I picked up guests. Mission, you should take Bastila with you to the Sith base, she might prove useful. You two, find someplace to stay and rest for a few hours, our quarry doesn't look well. Ruvena, you will be coming with me. We have a ship to liberate."
They went to the lift in a hurry and were promptly let through by a tired Sith trooper who did not even bother to pretend to look at them twice.
Davik Kang's estate also served as the Exchange's headquarters on Taris, and it showed. The entrance hall was an ostentatious clash of too much money with too little style, all rolled up in a room too spacious for any sensible person to find, well, sensible. They walked in arm in arm, Ruvena almost hanging off of his arm as she laughed about another funny story he told about his work. Although it was surprisingly busy for the late hour, they were let through undisturbed, mostly because Canderous was known, as was his personality, and nobody wanted to annoy the local grump out of his rare good mood. Well, almost nobody. They had almost reached the suite of rooms that were assigned to Canderous when a little man with a big hat stood in their way.
"Canderous. I see you finally found yourself a girlfriend. It was about time. You were driving away customers with that temperament of yours." The man stated while undressing Ruvena with his eyes.
"Take your filthy eyes off her, Nord, who knows where they have been last." Canderous groused. At the same time, Ruvena took matters into her own hands and slapped him. "Creep." Then she planted a kiss on Canderous' cheek.
They managed to keep from laughing until they were out of hearing range.
"I see your penchant for messing with other people's heads has not forsaken you."
"There's no need to confuse them with truth or reality once they have come to their own conclusions. Especially if they are so funny. And don't you dare disapprove now, you egged me on."
"So this is the kind of lovely company you spend your time with?" She asked once they were sprawled across the enormous chaise longue.
"No, that's the kind of annoying company I have to work with. Calo Nord is the worst kind of bounty hunter. He has no scruples, no integrity and his only loyalty is to money and to himself. I won't miss him one bit."
"How long do we have to wait?"
"Knowing Mission, no more than two hours. Why?"
"Wanna go and mess with that jerk's head for a bit more? You know where his rooms are, don't you?"
The wolfish grin that spread over his face was answer enough.
"Let's first pack up your stuff and prepare your rooms. We may have to leave in a hurry."
They swept through the rooms chuckling in anticipation. Canderous put on his complete armor and filled a crate with the weapons he could not carry on him and his few personal belongings while Ruvena took great care to rumple and mess up every horizontal surface of sufficient size. Leaving the crate in front of his door under a stealth field, they crept over to Calo Nord's suite, which was only a few doors farther down the same corridor. Ruvena was set on slicing the door open when Canderous just went through.
"Unlocked? Overconfident much?"
"Calo Nord trusts his reputation and he is overconfident in his knowledge of human nature. He does not expect the unexpected."
They managed to discreetly strip the rooms of credits, weapons and other valuables while creating the impression that nothing more happened to them than an uninvited overly amorous couple. They added their loot to the crate and harmonized their stealth fields before sneaking off towards the hangar.
On their way, they were contacted by Mission.
"I got it, you ready?"
"Almost there. You can set out now, you know the way."
They had already secured the cargo and were only waiting for the rest of the group to show up when their lucky streak ran out. Ruvena was already in the cockpit, performing the pre-flight-checks that could be done without powering the engines while Canderous was waiting next to the closest control panel for the others to board the ship so he could open the hangar doors for takeoff. Mission tapped him on the shoulder to indicate their arrival when he noticed that they had company. Calo Nord was sauntering into the Hangar, followed by his employer Davik Kang. They were flanked by two thugs of the disposable no-need-to-remember-their-names kind.
"I thought I heard something skittering around here. Show yourself!"
Canderous deactivated his stealth unit with a defeated sigh and raised his hands in a questioning gesture.
"So you have. Now what?"
"What are you doing skulking around between my ships, Ordo?"
Canderous was spared the trouble of adopting an innocent expression by his helmet. Instead, he imitated the most sincere innocent inflection he was capable of.
"I was just showing my friend around. She wanted to see your fleet, was so impressed by your place, I thought your ships might have the same effect." He drawled suggestively and waved a hand in Ruvena's direction, who was just coming down the boarding ramp of the Ebon Hawk .
"It is beautiful. The engines are a piece of art and..." she gushed excitedly, having caught on promptly. That she had come out meant that everyone else was in position and ready for takeoff. He turned to the control panel and quickly punched in the confirmation code.
"Actually, what I really wanted was to hand in my resignation, effective immediately, and blow this joint." He corrected as the hangar doors began to open and the Hawk's engines flared to life.
After a brief moment of confusion, Nord, Kang and his thugs began firing on Canderous, who had already drawn his blaster and opened fire at the end of his sentence. Ruvena had taken position on the half-closed boarding ramp and was trying to force the Exchange members to seek cover. It worked for the most part. They had not expected Ruvena's quick assistance and underestimated the capabilities of Canderous' armor, which allowed him to ignore the few shots that did not manage to evade. He reached the hovering spaceship with help from his jetpack and Ruvena closed the ramp to allow them to take off properly.
They congregated in the main hold one at a time. Vima was already sitting there cross-legged, deep in meditation to aid their escape. Mission was sitting at the communication relay, furiously inputting codephrases. Trask and a slightly less drawn Carth joined them after the transition to hyperspace.
"I flared my force presence just before hyperjump. That should provoke Malak into devoting his fleet to looking for me instead of harassing the population of Taris. We are en course to Dantooine. There is a Jedi Enclave there where we can rest and recoup. Our soldiers can stay there until you get new orders, and you two can surely find passage to wherever you want. Or at least to somewhere you can transit." Vima announced.
"I won't be going anywhere without my sister." Canderous announced confrontationally.
"Can we please discuss this later? We have several days until we arrive on Dantooine, and we are all overdue some proper sleep in comfortable beds. Everything else can wait until we are all more awake."