"Thank you," she murmured softly, following that woman's movement as her hand came to lay lightly on her arm a bit before moving away. "I will do what I must to assist; anything to get off this rock. I--"

With that she paused in surprise as the Jedi Shawn Petrolu came in from nowhere and, bold as you please, took her sister by the arm and drew her away. She watched a bit as the two whispered between themselves, then returned her brilliant gaze to Jazelle.

"It would seem there is an abundance of Jedi in this forsaken place," she murmured softly, now removing her hands from Paul to simply stand there, swathed in the enigma that was her cloak. She shook her head, smiling a bit as though in contemplation, and then continued.

"I have never before had much use for Force-users; they-- they frighten me. You however..."

Here she turned back to Paul, tilting her head a little to scrutinize his eyes.

"...you are not frightening. Perhaps I've been wrong about them; but this is of no concern at the moment. What is of concern is how to deceive this horrible Hutt, and flee in safety from this place. I am ready to do my part; what did you have in mind, exactly?"

She turned smoothly back to Jaz and quieted.

The interminable dusty sand of this godforsaken planet kicked up in little puffs beneath my boots as I made my way from my "privileged" docking space, and headed into the sorry excuse of a city that was Mos Eisley. I stared down at my toes, watching them grow dustier by the minute as I continued on, looking for all the world as if I was lost in some deep reverie....

Nassy....

...while in reality my mind was whirling like a desert dustdevil.

Yeesh, it's been too long since I've done anything along this line, I thought to myself as I just kept on moving. That little interim with all those Sith....

I pushed that thought away, for it brought back searing memories of a certain lady Twi'lek, one who I was forced to leave behind on her home planet of Rhyloth.

Gods, Nassy, how I miss you. I hope you recover... someday.

I sniffed a little, then sneezed as yet more dust wafted up to clog my nose. That brought my thoughts across light years to my immediate reality, which now that I thought of it probably wasn't much better than what I had just left behind.

They say a man who is in despair will take on desperate measures. And maybe that's why I took on that shady spice deal I had, from the Imperial who just wanted to remain anonymous. Destination: engraved in my brain. The deal? Something about payback... via the long route... against a Hutt named Grakko who had done something that I didn't even want to catch the faintest whisper of... and the two of us alone come out on the sweet end of the deal.

"Just load up the payload; I'll be back in thirty," I had said as, after that Impy and I had personally checked then resealed each and every box, in utter solitude, and had found the entire shipment present and accounted for, I had waved a hand toward the viewscreen which showed "Devil-May-Care" quietly waiting. "It will get where you want it to go, no worries."

So now I found myself with half a cycle to spare, with none being any the wiser in my wake. I didn't know what that Impy had done to hide his tracks, but he had done something, and done it very well indeed. There simply was no clue as to what was going on, what was being loaded into my ship, in containers long ago switched, then laundered, then switched again... enough that any trail which might have been laid would be so entangled it would take a hunting noghri a month to decipher. All data banks carefully erased... tracelessly. The various and sundry bodies of any temporary assistants long ago discarded, equally as tracelessly. This unknown Impy was goooood; otherwise there was simply no way in hell I would have accepted this job. I might be despairing, but I'm not stupid, even when offerred a job that would keep me going -- and going quite comfortably-- for over a year.

These thoughts brought me to a halt before a decrepit looking cantina. I shrugged.

One for the spacelanes, I suppose, I thought to myself before stepping inside, blinking my eyes as I waited for them to become accustomed to the dim lighting within.

[ 11-25-2002 04:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

--------------------

Shawn frowned. This was no good. Thea was nearly eight, and had been through alot, had seen alot; she'd even been at the Praxeum and under the instruction of other Jedi. So why was she still struggling with something as simple as interacting with people other than Jedi?

Shawn's demeanor once again shifted to utter calm, and again he scanned the cantina and those inside...

...when he noticed someone step inside, order a drink, and sit down. Someone he knew very well. Shawn glanced down at Thea, back to the posing Imperial that he knew was Jazelle Corona, and back to Thea.

Something was up here. Something he might need to look into...

...not the type of thing one would want to bring an eight year old into, possibly. Particularly not an eight year old who was obviously lagging so far behind in her studies as a Jedi...

At length Shawn placed both hands on Allaria's shoulders, pulling her away from him to view a tear-stained face. "If you will excuse me a moment," he said quietly, "There is something I need to see to here."

With that, Shawn let his hands drop and stepped back, then took Thea by the hand. He lead her over to the man whom he knew was Yaoksi Joao. Sensing a need for stealth, however, Shawn leaned in and gave Yaoksi a moment to recognize him without so much as a word, without any exchange of names whatsoever. "I know it's been a long time, Shawn finally spoke quietly so not a soul could hear him but Yaoksi, "But I need a favor of you. My student Thea here needs a safe haven while I am working on something that has just come to my attention and might be dangerous. I know it's alot to ask but..."

Shawn hesitated, then continued, "Could you take her aboard your ship? I will be happy to, ah, pay you for the service," he said quietly. Then Shawn looked directly into Thea's startled blue eyes. "This will be the best for your safety, my young student," he explained. "Take the time to explore your Force senses and interact with people who are not Jedi. For unless you are able to do this, you will not be able to achieve the status of Jedi," we will speak of this again as soon as I can get back to you, but think very carefully on all this. For the need for Jedi in the Universe is not that they help each other, but rather that they help those who are not Jedi."

With that he quieted, again looking to Yaoksi and speaking one final time. "I will come to retrieve her as soon as possible, should you agree to this."

[ 11-25-2002 03:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

Then it settled on the nitty-gritty of what had been offerred.

Take a kid... and he'll pay me for it?

I opened my mouth to give my regrets... when the thought struck me.

How perfect. I mean, to stroll back to the "Devil," this innocent and charming little girl in tow... who would suspect what was by now hidden in the special storage areas I had installed aboard my ship? We would seem to be the very picture of innocence indeed... a father with his daughter, or uncle with niece. Something.

My jaw worked a bit, and then I slammed down the remainder of my drink. I set the glass back on the bar counter very carefully, then turned to Shawn.

"It has indeed been awhile, friend," I said in a low voice, appreciating this guy's innate recognition of my need for stealth. I shifted in my seat more comfortably, then looked down to the girl. She merely clung to Shawn's leg like a granite slug, and tried to hide in his robes. I drew in a deep breath... and then remembered past debts.

"Oh what the hey," I shrugged, getting off the stool and holding out my hand to the girl. She got that panicked "gandy-rak-in-headlights" look about her, but at length extended her small hand and introduced herself.

I grinned disarmingly, and shook her small hand, then cast a glance back to Shawn.

"Your timing, as usual, is impeccable," I said quietly, turning to slap some credits on the counter. Then I nodded to him. "You remember Sullust..." I winced a bit at the memory. "There was a certain spa, with it's attendant lounge. You can contact me there."

I then nodded again and, taking the little girl's hand in mine proceeded to lead her out of the cantina and into the bright and dusty landscape outside. It didn't take long to retrace my steps to where I had left Devil-May-Care, and soon, Thea in tow, I had come up to her and stopped at the hatch. It was locked; I thumbed a control, and stooped down to Thea while she opened to receive us.

"Don't worry, you're in good hands. I promise," I told the obviously frightened youngster as I reached out to ruffle the hair on her head. Then I straightened, led her aboard, and slammed and locked 'er up tighter than a Toydarian's cashbox. After a twenty minute check to ascertain that ALL the payload was indeed aboard, I casually keyed in a special priority code.

Tattooine fell away from us like a bad dream, and Devil-May-Care soared up into the freedom of space. Soon that freedom expanded into the non-reality of hyperspace and we shot off from the system, heading to the destination I had been given where the spice would be off-loaded and I would pick up the remainder of my pay.

((OOC: Follow Yaoksi and Thea into Aboard the Devil in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

[ 12-22-2002 03:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

--------------------

Paul finally realized it as the man spoke to what appears to be his student.

I would have sensed it the moment they entered Tattooine's atmosphere...

With his free hand, (the other still remains gripping the blaster, which goes on unnoticed) he covered his eyes and tried to look away, ashamed of his own disability.

Ah...best to keep my thoughts to my own. If they find out...

Paul took his hand away coughed into it. "Well, we can't just walk in there and ask if they can hand over the spice. They only move 'precious' cargos by starship. Otherwise, the Imperials won't do it, not even for an Admiral. Their security has been running tight ever since the rebellions on Corellia. But..."

"In case of an attack, all such cargo are always placed on landspeeders. That way, they can be shipped out quickly during a battle. It's a new protocol I...um...borrowed from an officer's datapad."

"All need is a..." He looked down at IllaAnda, still holding on to his arm, almost like she's clinging for life itself.

That may well be the case...

"Distraction. Not an actual 'bait' but something to keep the guards occupied while another group is taking the speeder."

"Of course, we'll have to do this AFTER you talk to the Imperials about the Hutt, Jaz."

Saying her name also reminded him of a little annoyance...

She did say my first name...ah...don't dwell on it too much or you'll start stuttering again, you idiot.

--------------------

with her words she even managed a little innocent smile, whether in redemption of her character, or in sample of her "distraction" abilities, none would ever know, for the truth was, given the chance, those guards would be more then destracted, they would be placed in there graves at an earlier age... or at least, wish they had been.

--------------------

"Yes, of course. I'll have a chat with the garrison commander, then rejoin you... but there is the other matter. Can you arrange for a buyer of the cargo by the time I get back? If we don't have a place to unload that stuff quick, the jig will be up. Unless you had another idea where we could store it. I have my ship, but you'd have to get it past Grakko's spies watching it at the dock."

A lump formed in her throat at the suggestion someone else move her precious ship without her in it. The Endless Emprise was not just a ship to her, it was a special gift from Stryker. The only thing he gave her worth a damn. Having it stripped by pirates was bad enough... the brief paranoid flash in her mind that the Jedi could just take it from her and leave her stranded... he wouldn't do such a thing, would he?

Trust. Might as well be a four-letter word to Jaz. She scanned his eyes and they hid things, hid feelings, hid past deeds of likely questionable ethics. Like hers, no doubt, and she smirked to herself again. He is a force-user, but otherwise we may not be so different.

"So, uh, if you'll need my ship, I guess... I'll just have to trust you. Just make sure," she glanced at IllaAnda, then back to his eyes, "you take care of her as you would a lady." She smiled mischievously, looking at the woman on his arm again. She was normally afraid of force-users? Yet she had no trouble calling off that Rodian earlier. Strange girl, acting so scared and innocent. I bet she's innocent. Well, Paul, you'll find out soon enough. Welcome to the broken hearts club...

Clearing her throat, Jaz continued. "So... need her or not? My ship, I mean."

[ 11-26-2002 02:30 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jazelle Corona ]

--------------------

Two and two was currently not making four. What was this about a Hutt? Spice?

A dying woman and her sister? What exactly was the connection here...?

Not to mention that their male friend was doing an excellent job of covering his emotions.

Bingo. A force-user. A well-trained one at that.

Shawn had to wonder exactly what the odds were of him bumping into a group such as this: a couple of sisters of which one is dying, and a female who claimed to be helpless and jobless yet was suddenly able to impersonate an Imperial in order to steal spice from the very Hutt she claimed to be trying to get away from, and a Force-user who was hiding every thought and emotion he possibly could.

Something definitely not right about this picture.

Shawn regarded everyone in the small group one by one, very calmly. Yet his gaze remained the longest upon the Force-user and Jazelle. “Excuse my late arrival,” he spoke at last to the entire group, “I’m Jedi Shawn Petrolu, a friend of Allaria’s. Is there some sort of trouble here?”

--------------------

"Oh, hello again, Master Jedi. No real trouble. Just trying to get my ship in proper working order again so we can all get off this forsaken planet," she smiled, hoping he would mind his own business. It wasn't that she disliked him, but she saw him as a goody-goody, a practicing Jedi chaperoning a child. If he chose to hand her over to authorities, he could pick his planet and could probably drum up charges against her, some of them petty, and some, like the incident with the Rodian, not so petty. This made her uncomfortable.

Plotting revenge was another action she felt an active Jedi would disapprove of. Jaz didn't feel that way about Paul Arrakeen because the Hutt told her he'd left the Jedi and was reduced to working for scum for unknown reasons she dared not judge, lest be a hypocrite. But Shawn... his integrity still seemed well intact.

"I believe I owe an apology for my... behavior earlier. I didn't use proper judgement with your apprentice around." That was an understatement. "Where is she, by the way?" Jaz's head twisted around looking for the girl.

--------------------

This was simply not my day. In fact, it might just be considered the least of what seemed to me an unending series of days not gone according to plan, which seemed to be bombarding me from all sides lately.

First I let that Sith ship of Galen's slip past. Then I vow and declare to the Admiral that I can get another... only by the time I get to the Guild I find Seuss has, er... how to put it nicely?

Slipped me the proverbial mickey by absconding with the one Galen and I had left with him. Where did he put it? How in Hell's Seven Circles would I know; I've been so out of touch with my old guild I was lucky to be able to walk on the planet without being marked.

Then again, word does travel fast... and after all, my name was right up there in lights with Swatzi now, as far as who was trumping out in the galactic game of "Empire Wins" we were all involved in.

But apparently being third man down in the Imperial heirarchy meant nothing on this backwater world. I sighed, reminding myself once again that I had told Actar that I'd check into his latest appropriated spice shipment en route to Coruscant. Maybe he'd forgive the fact that I hadn't been able to dig up that other ship.

Or maybe not. But then, I had fingers in far places now; I'd get back to Seuss... later.

Now I was too busy with the rather terrified looking Lieutenant who was staring at the empty packing crates he had accumulated from the various and sundry landspeeders stashed handily here and there. Each and every one of them was filled with...

...absolutely nothing. Someone had gotten here at some point, and taken the shipment once destined to a Hutt named Grakko, and then re-routed to Admiral Actar. Only now there was nothing to re-route; I let the enigmatic lenses of my Mandalorian visor glare threateningly at the young lieutenant, who looked as if he wanted to throw up in his boots.

I tapped the manifest with a gloved finger.

"Now, you say you had this shipment, that you personally saw to it's parceling out for safekeeping... yet now when we come to take it we find it missing. Have you anything else to say about it?"

The hapless officer nodded, shuffling frantically through his papers as if he'd find the missing spice lurking within their pages. Then he realized his gaffe, and shook his head frantically, his eyes wide.

I let the moment drag a bit before continuing. "The spice is gone. Imagine that."

The officer nodded miserably, looking like he expected to be held personally responsible. Which of course he would be... but later as well. I leaned in threateningly. Something just wasn't smelling right about this entire situation, and I meant to get to the bottom of it. That's the least I could do for the Admiral, after all.

"Now listen to me very carefully. Someone is stealing the Admiral's cargo, and this someone is going to be caught and punished for it. If I know how somebodies like this usually operate, they usually aren't happy with just a one-time shot at stardom. Once the bug has bitten, they're done for.

"So!"

I paused, letting my helmet visor speak volumes while I sent a coded transmission off to Actar on the private frequency we had set up between us. No one could hack into that message, and I mean even I couldn't do it had I wanted to.

I nodded as the brief conversation ended, then turned to the lieutenant. He gulped visibly.

"We pretend nothing has happened, my friend. We go on, life as normal. We keep our eyes open, won't we? And we wait."

And buddy, are your eyes going to be assisted by places and people you haven't even begun to dream of. For although I might not have been with Actar that long, I have come to know him well. And in most matters what boiled down to brass tacks was the principle of the thing....

And thus it was nothing but principle which made me reach out and casually snap the lieutenant's neck... but only after we had carefully closed up the crates and taken them back to their landspeeders and hidden once again. When it comes to spice, the least number of peeps who know about things, the better... and the dead aren't much inclined to continue switching rontos in midstream.

Which is what I had a very great suspicion was happening here.

I stolled back into the garrison with the body, and dumped it casually before the troopers in attendance.

"This is what happens when you lie to get into the Imperial guard. Actar wants only the most loyal; I do hope you understand this.

"And keep an eye out on that cargo for Actar. We'll be taking it with us when we go."

I then left, to go find a place to grab a bite and think about what I was going to do next....

[ 11-26-2002 01:15 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

Shawn simply folded his hands deeper into the sleeves of his robe, looking to all the Universe as though he were simply a niave Jedi. Yet he was well aware of the fact that this whole situation was still quite frankly just wrong.

He smiled a moment over to Allaria's sister, making note to ask names later, then turned and look Jaz dead in the eye, his usually calm Jedi gaze turning stern once again. "My student is being taken care of," he said quietly. "But I wonder...how precisely are you planning to fix your ship, with no parts and no money?" he inquired, cocking his head slightly and looking at the other man in their group for a moment, a flash of something that could be interpreted as suspicion in his eyes. Then he returned that gaze to Jaz and waited, the stern look returning to his usually calm gaze.

[ 11-26-2002 01:17 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

At the door she turned and called back to Paul Arrakeen, "My comm frequency is beta-three-nine, when you need to call me. I'm late for my meeting. And if you decide to take my ship without telling me... it's booby-trapped, so I suggest you call first."

Jaz stepped back into the dust and sand as the suns were beginning to set. She headed for the speeder the Hutt had provided, prepared to head toward the garrison base.

--------------------

And what an itchy blaster-finger she had. Metaphorically speaking as well as literally.

Shawn didn't frown at all this; a slight raise of the brow was the only thing he did in response to any of it. The whole situation was still bothering him, however, pressing him to find out more details. He turned his look back in the direction of Allaria, then once again to her sister, actually laying a gentle hand on Allaria's arm. Then he eyed the Force-user still with them.

"I'm a friend of these ladies," he said, "I will not be gotten rid of so easily. I want to know what you plan and how it relates to my friends here, and I want to know it now. And by the way...what was your name again?"

His look all but reading I know you are a Force-user, so you might as well be out with it, Shawn simply waited for the man's reply.

Too many people assumed Jedi were just push-overs...

--------------------

Suddenly, the rays interrupted by the shadow of a man passing before her, heading confidently toward the cantina. Jaz looked up with one eye, the other still trained on her blaster, and saw the figure take note of her, his eyes lingering slightly longer than she preferred.

Perhaps it was the scar jaggedly decorating his face clear from the eye to the jaw, or his manner in general, but clearly he was no ordinary scum. A survivor, likely a killer, perhaps a pirate or a bounty hunter... either way, his interest in her Imperial dress was more than a little unsettling.

Ignoring him, she hoped his glance was purely out of curiosity, and he would move on to take his refreshment inside. She had a Hutt's reputation to further ruin.

--------------------

Never mind how you got that position, Hunter....

I pushed that errant thought viciously away, and returned my attention to the cantina across the way. Behind me the Toydarian running the miserable little show I was currently standing in dared to come fluttering over to me, waving his greedy little hands about something. I just moved a casual finger, and a small projectile flew out from my gauntlet to ignite a waiting repair droid into furious and gibbering life. The Toydarian squawked, and flew off to capture it.

I grinned a little, shifting my weight again, then sent my gaze for the third time to the cantina. One can never be too careful in certain circumstances; as I was saying, I might be Actar's lefthand man now, but that certainly gives me no excuse to go running off like some kind of loose cannon, all full of myself. So I leaned against the wall again, scoping the view, determining if I really wanted to go across to that miserable dive at all. It certainly looked seedy, and fates knew I could get food aboard the destroyer Actar had pressed upon me.

That's when a person came storming out from that cantina to a waiting speeder bike. She began to mount it-- oh yes, she was definitely a she, as was clearly revealed by my zoom lens. Not too bad in the looks department: intense dark blue eyes, blond wisps hanging down from the Imperial cover on her head... and dressed in a Major's uniform? My eyes slitted behind my visor as I ran through the list of officials on this sorry excuse for a planet. Not just any list; it was THE LIST, commed to me by Actar himself, of all the officers he had stationed here. Some would say he was being something close to paranoid about merely a spice shipment; I knew better, however. The man had every right to double-check his security -- which is partly why I got my position, after all -- especially after what had happed on Coruscant in that fiasco over Galen. Many a man had died over the weeks succeeding that day....

So I now deepened my interest in this lady major. Or perhaps I should say, "supposed major." There were none to speak of garrisoned here, fates knew; and as far as I knew there were relatively few females in his troops. Not after the Galen Affair. Actar seemed a bit-- hesitant to trust too many women after that. I crossed my arms, watching her now as some scarred man...

Probably a bounty hunter wannabe, sheesh, the universe is full of them. A guy picks up a facial scar, and all of a sudden he's Captain Tougher-Than-Space-Slugs or something....

...came striding confidently along though the dust and sand and general misery that was a street in Mos Eisely. Her attention darted to him, but covertly.

Hmmm. She's got something to hide, the way her body language is screaming at me.

That decided it for me. I just shifted a touch, letting myself blend more imperceptibly into the shadows of this kiosk, and continued to watch while the imperial impersonator continued to stare obliquely at the helmetless man striding somewhat close to her. I couldn't help but shake my head.

Only a fool travels without his helmet in the business I was in... er, had been in, but still was more than capable of picking up at the drop of a pin.

--------------------

She kept her face hidden, bringing her warrior nature back under control, and when she was certain not a lick of her inner darkness was present raised it. Those brilliant eyes focused brightly on Shawn.

"Oh, you mean Paul here!" she said even more brightly, playing the dumb beauty to the hilt. "Ara- Ara-something... hmmm.

"Y-yes, Arakeen, it's Paul Arakeen, didn't you say?

"I'm IllaAnda, and this is my sister Allaria. Wow... a real Jedi Knight...."

She let her voice trail off in awe, but even so her lips parted in a friendly and brilliant smile. She nodded pleasantly toward the waiting jedi and stood quietly, once again taking Paul by the arm.

Then he looked back to Paul. "Judging from what I have heard of you, my friend," he said coolly, "I think you'd better explain just exactly what is going on here."

Then he waited, his look reading that he wouldn't settle for anything other than the truth and that he'd better hear it soon.

[ 11-26-2002 04:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

I haven't even left yet and I'm already having problems.

He looked back at the other Jedi.

No point in hiding.

"I'll answer your question, Jedi, but let this be known," Paul started to say, taking a step forward. "I'm not going back to the Praxeum. I'm not going back to the council for a trial concerning how I "murdered" my Padawan. The rumours are a lie, and the witnesses that were there arrived after I fought with my apprentice."

Before he could respond, Paul continued talking. His stare became more focused and serious as he controlled the rageful words starting to build up.

"Your friends here...they've become involved in a little plot to take down a gangster named Grakko. Their part in it will be brief, and it will be the only way we can escape from Tattooine."

The Jedi started to relax, and he stepped back. "I'll understand if you have any objections to this...but I won't you let you stop us."

...That last part...doesn't sound like me...

--------------------

Shawn forced himself to remain calm, but he was by no means that. He arched an eyebrow at the Jedi Master. "I don't think there's any threat of you facing the Jedi Council, seeing as the Praxeum has been taken over by Actar and therefore was probably destroyed by him. And aside from that, I don't necessarily care to go back there myself," he stated with no further explanation. "But I am interested, however, in how it is IllaAnda and Allaria benefit from this plan of yours, and how it is exactly you believe this is your only way off Tatooine; at any rate, it isn't a very peaceful nor legal way to do so. You must take the Imperials and the Hutt's gang for complete morons if you think this will really work; you are risking alot of lives in this little scam. And while you may threaten my attempt to stand in the way of this plan, you simply aren't getting rid of me that easily," Shawn ended.

But then, he couldn't help but add one final rejoinder. "By the way...while I answer to 'Jedi' I tend to prefer to be called Shawn. It is my name, after all."

Through all of this, Shawn's look still remained eeriely calm, yet his senses were ever fully alert...

[ 11-26-2002 09:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"You-- you mean we're still going through with-- with whatever it was?" she asked, the very picture of innocence. "I thought we were being rejected for whatever Jazelle had planned, since she ran out of here before telling us what we were to do."

She now turned the full force of her beautiful smile upon Shawn, who's expression hadn't shifted one iota.

"I don't think she wants Allaria or me around... maybe she thinks we'll ruin her plan or something." She shrugged, finishing up with. "I really hadn't been given any suggestions or ideas; all I know was that the plan was her idea... and I never heard any part of it other than something about a 'distraction' Allaria and I were supposed to do... but now I guess we're not...

"So I guess the whole things off now, right?"

Her smile grew impossibly brighter, revealing the tips of her gleaming teeth...

...and all the while the hidden Skemmdarvargur was fairly howling beneath her cloak.

"how will we get off this accursed planet... Nothing seems to be going our way..."

She then directed her gaze in the direction of her "friends" and her beloved sister...

she inhalled deeply, following it the exhalation and closed her eyes for a moment...

--------------------

But Grakko was probably watching her somehow, so at least making an appearance at the cantina, then the garrison, might lead the Hutt to believe she was following his demands. If it didn't work, she could call him on it later and perhaps find some other way to deal with him.

She stepped off the speeder and walked up to the trooper at the gate, who stood at attention when he realized her rank.

"Good evening, Sargeant. I need to speak to your commanding officer immediately -- tell him Major Zenna Tori is here. It's a security matter." She handed him an identification card complete with verification code.

The trooper shifted uncomfortably, then after checking her documentation, reluctantly replied. "Uh... ma'am, I'm afraid our Lieutenant is no longer with us. Sorben Tarnus was here a little while ago and... relieved him of his duty. I thought perhaps you were here to take over."

Jaz blinked a couple of times to register the trooper's words. What a stroke of luck... or was it. The name the sargeant mentioned rolled around in her brain. Tarnus... where have I heard that name? Corellia... yes, Striker mentioned him once. Striker was nervous discussing him, said he worked for dark Jedi. Now he's an Imp?And he killed an officer? Absently she rubbed her neck.

She snapped back into the conversation with the trooper. "No, I was not informed ahead that you needed a new commander. I would like to communicate a message back to Coruscant. The Hutt gangster Admiral Actar has been dealing with apparently has access to Imperial personnel files and is stealing officer IDs. I think the Admiral should know this."

She stood confidently, hoping the trooper was assuming hers was not one of the stolen ones, for why would the thief come to the garrison and confess? Why indeed...

"I'd send the message myself, but my ship is temporarily disabled, including my link back to the Core. Will you pass this message on for me, Sargeant?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, which annoyed Jaz... she hated being called that.

"If you see Mr. Tarnus again, please request he look into this Grakko more closely."

"Yes, Major, I'll be sure to tell him."

"Excellent," she smiled, then added, "Do you happen to have a spare hyperspace generator in your lost and found?" she added batted eyelashes for fun. Heck, it worked for IllaAnda.

The trooper shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am. Almost everything but. I can order another transport for you."

The offer was tempting, but Jaz needed to take her own ship with her, not leave it behind. Not to mention adding theft of an Imperial cruiser to her already growing criminal record didn't sound like the healthiest option. Plus, it wouldn't allow her to verify if Grakko finally got his.

"No need. There's a part being expressed to me, I just thought I'd save time. Perhaps another day investigating the Hutt and possibly bumping into Mr. Tarnus is reason enough to wait. Carry on, Sargeant. I'm sure you have your work cut out for you watching over that shipment for the Admiral." Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked back to the speeder.

Paul Arrakeen had not commed her yet, so she would head for the cantina again and warn him that his life was possibly in danger, perhaps Shawn Petrolu's too, if Tarnus was walking around. Then she would hear Paul's idea to distract the guards and get to those landspeeders. She smiled as she thought the task might be easier, now that no officer was in charge of the garrison.

And with any luck, Tarnus would hear about the Hutt's slicing into the Imperial database very soon.

[ 11-27-2002 12:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jazelle Corona ]

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"Her name is Zenna Tori, you say?" I scoured THE LIST once again; nope. Nothing remotely similar to it, let alone being anywhere physically near enough to give her anything close to a reason for being way out here in the sticks. Zenna Tori, at last report, was stationed on Ambria, where her duties were to oversee certain... developments of my esteemed cohort, Admiral Swatzi. A ship had fallen into their hands, last I had heard. She was one of the most fiercely loyal officers the Empire had, as fiercely loyal as was the ensign on the other end of the comm-link. Which was why a mere major had been given so delicate a duty.

I snapped back to what the Ensign was now telling me, his voice low. "She asked for a hyperdrive generator, Sir," he continued respectfully. "She was told we didn't have any available for her."

And this... along with the information she had dripped concerning the Hutt's database hacking, she casually passes on to a mere Trooper, even after having been informed that I was on-planet? I couldn't help but shake my head again at the sheer amateurish show this woman was making of herself. Which brought me back to the utter professonalism of Ensign-soon-to-be-Lieutenant Zhurelle.

"Good," I nodded thoughtfully, then quieted a bit, considering everything again, returning to the Trooper who had been on point upon her arrival.

At least the little blabbermouth got the part about the generator right....

"I want everyone you've got checking the spaceport manifests. If there's been a ship sitting there disabled, I want to know about it," I began, when the ensign cut into my building command.

"Sir, I have already taken that upon myself," the ensign replied snappily, a touch of smugness now creeping into his otherwise respectful tone of voice. "There are two, the Heaven's Forbiddance, registered to a Bothan by the name of 'Minna Manth,' and an Endless Emprise, currently in registration transfer from a person named Stryker to someone named 'Jazelle Corona.'"

He paused, waiting. I smiled to myself... making a mental note that this kid deserved a better station than this miserable hellhole.

"Very good," I affirmed, then continued. "I want those two ships under constant watch, and then I want that watch tripled. I don't want so much as a sandrat to come anywhere close to them. And I want whatever incoming shipments regarding any parts for either to be sent off to Kessel in error, if you catch my drift."

I also wanted "Officer Loose Lips" who had so blithely informed the lady that Sorben Tarnus was aware of her existence, out of his personal one... only that would be something I would be taking care of myself.

Soon.

"And, I want what would appear to be a normal watch placed around those landspeeders... and I would appreciate it if you directed this personally. Carry on," I finished, closing the connection, then sending another message off to Actar along our private and indecipherable-- to others, at least --comm frequency. He'd certainly be interested in the fact that there seemed to be more than meets the eye going on out here in the boondocks that was Tatooine... and I meant to get to the bottom of it.

I shifted against the junk-dealer's wall, still eye-balling that cantina, and just waited to see if any new developments would come my way. Waiting was, after all, something I did very, very well....

[ 11-27-2002 01:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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She removed the jacket, exposing the white tee shirt she wore underneath, then ripped all the insignias and patches off. Next she drew a pocket knife and cut off the sleeves, converting the jacket into a plain vest. The converted jacket now showed off well-defined arms she feared were getting too soft from easing up on her workouts.

She couldn't do much about the piping on the pants, but she scuffed the boots against the speeder and dirtied them with sand. Finally, she removed the officer's cap and let her unnaturally brown hair fall back to her shoulders, then shook it out and fluffed it a little.

"Much better," she sighed to herself, then even glanced in the view-reflector to check her appearance. Now Jaz, she scolded herself, you haven't done that in years. All this weird behavior for a crush? You're slipping...

"I don't care," she smugly replied to herself in the reflector. Talk about distractions, I can use one. Almost had one, until... and here I go talking to myself again. The galaxy was always lonely, but now it seemed even more so to Jaz. Again a sigh escaped her and she spread a little more sand and dust on her pants.

Heading for the cantina, she walked in the door and noticed Shawn Petrolu was still there with Paul, the twins as well. Jaz grabbed Paul's sleeve and tugged him off to the side. "I need to talk to you... NOW!"

Before he could protest, she whispered, "Listen, I went to the garrison and dropped the tip about Grakko. Guess what I found? No commander, no officers, just troopers, one of them dumb enough to tell me their Lieutenant was killed by a guy named Sorben Tarnus. Know him by chance? I think our plan is becoming more complicated."

She glanced over at Shawn who was still in earshot, wondering if the Jedi knew more about this bounty hunter-turned-Imperial.

"I know this is my fault, taking the Hutt's stolen major ID and using it... I'll take the fall for that, but he's here for some other reason. I thought I should warn you." Her eyes held a look of sincere concern, even for this man she barely knew.

[ 11-28-2002 02:15 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jazelle Corona ]

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