I am a worrt, a little bitty worrt, she told herself fiercely. I am a worrt waiting for this creeper to come close... just a bit closer, and I'll have dinner, so don't move whatever the hell you do for the sake of all that is don't move....

At length the cries and crashes and hideous humming blasts of lightsaber energies and groans and gurgles of the fallen and the even more terrible thuds of bodies dropping like the dead meat they had become all came to a close, and the silence of death descended upon the shattered remnants of the cantina. A momentary pause... and that silence was broken by yet another terrible sound.

The sound of someone sobbing.

Minna froze into an even tinier replica of a worrt. That sobbing didn't sound quite... sane. She was sure of it when it was broken by small noises indicating the arrival of another person, booted feet coming to an obviously shocked halt, then continuing forward, stopping again, then a voice reaching out in calm sympathy.

Sympathy to a rampaging murderer? Mother Macree, get me out of here and back to Forbiddance...!

Minna hunkered even more closely to the ground, trying to grind herself into it while making not so much as a wisp of noise to draw attention to herself hidden there amidst the debris.

I swear, no more blue stuff for me if I manage to creep out of here alive...

...and definitely no more "Blue Asteroids," she vowed to herself with a vengeance as she remained in silence where she was, hidden beneath the overturned table she had been sitting at only moments before.

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

Then, slowly, Lo-Ban brought his head back up... as if he had realized something...

He now stood, slowly placing distance between himself and Shawn...

Still, as quiet as the moment before, Lo-Ban simply stood with his back facing Shawn...

Dark, calm quiet filled the room...

Until, the distinct noise of a lightsaber killed such...

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

...serene calm, the Force, Loban, and himself...

...and the brief knowledge that someone here was yet alive.

Even as Loban turned, his lightsaber in hand and activated, Shawn didn’t even flinch. He wasn’t stupid however. He drew his own lightsaber, only holding the hilt in his hand, ready to activate it only if necessary. At length he spoke words.

“You once told me that you wanted to use your abilities to help the peoples of the galaxy,” he said calmly to Loban. “Your hate, my friend, will do nothing but destroy them all...

...but only after it destroys you first.”

He paused at that, letting the silence of the cantina speak in mute emphasis to the words he had just spoken.

Then, finally, “Put the lightsaber away, Loban. I feel the good in you, I know there is good in you, or else there would be no conflict within you now...”

Shawn trailed, something within him identifying with something deep inside Loban. “You are not the only one to have lost your family...

“...I lost mine too...as many others have here today, and many others have all over the galaxy. Help those people in the galaxy, Loban Kenobi, fight this evil with the light that will squelch the darkness, with the light that is within you...”

He remained quiet for a length of time at that, his eyes betraying nothing but calm. Then, in final emphasis, ”Put your weapon away...”

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

Put your weapon away.

No one would have the sheer hutzpah to stand up to the activated blade of a jedi but another jedi -- or dark jedi, she reasoned. Therefore, the second person was one of the first person's ilk.

Now she drew in a slow and utterly noiseless breath, and her hand crept in equal silence to her blaster. A thumb flicked the non-metallic piece which held it hostage in her holster, her hand wrapped about the comfort of its grip. Being the spy that she was, Minna knew how to be a ghost when necessary; she kept her holster carefully oiled, which not only served to constantly lubricate the working parts of the weapon but provided for a frictionless -- and thus silent -- drawing of it.

It didn't make so much as a breath of a sigh as she pulled it out and held it to her chest, her finger on the trigger as she waited to see just where events would now proceed.

If she was lucky, maybe this first unknown would attack the second one, and they'd do her the favor of killing each other....

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

"...but then again, you're always right, aren't you... you have no idea how clear things are... my powers are far beyond yours... you're jealous... but, my problem is not with you..."

With that, his lightsaber was gone... tucked back within his attire... with the same motion his left hand force pushed the eavesdropper toward Shawn...

During the confusion, no matter how brief, Lo-Ban escaped the Cantina...

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

His padawan was turning to the darkside...

...he felt for all the Universe like a Ben Kenobi, just trying to do his best in a time when Jedi were all but appreciated...

...only to fail.

Shawn jerked from this thought as the poor Bothan who had been hiding gripped her blaster and aimed it right for him; only then did he realize he was still holding his lightsaber hilt. Slowly, carefully, he put it back on his belt, then rose his hands in a semblence of surrender. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said calmly, almost as if nothing had just happened.

Then something dawned on Shawn. My problem is not with you...

Memories surfaced: Loban’s sudden departure from the Stargazer...

Shawn suddenly knew that he had a choice to make. Go after Loban, and try to stop him from going the route he now suspected, a route that might involve his sister...

...or continue with his original plan to notify the Empire of the strange goings-on here on Tatooine. He truthfully hated having to make the choice. He pursed his lips thoughtfully even as the Bothan continued to eye him suspiciously, her blaster yet aimed in his direction.

Shayla could take care of herself, and Erik was with her. And, hopefully, she had found Graysith as well...

The decision was made.

He looked to the Bothan, his demeanor still remaining utterly calm. And that’s when he recognized her from his brief tenure aboard Sorben Tarnus’s star destroyer. Maybe...

“Any chance I can make a deal with you to get me back to Coruscant? The Empire needs to know what’s going on here on Tatooine, in specifics, if it doesn’t already...”

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

Damn Jedi! she spat to herself, amidst other more randy curses. How could I ever forget that you can't hide from a jedi? I could be a stone statue... but as long as my heart beat, I could still be found through their weird force. In fact, if my heart quit beating I still would have been spotted; they'd just find the lack of me in that Force-ness whatever it is they use....

She barely had the time to realize that the only occupants of the cantina were herself and the owner of the second pair of boots whose footfalls she had heard. In fact, she really hadn't been certain that he was in fact that particular owner at all. There was an endless second or two of wheeling images coming into her eyes: cartwheeling tables topsy-turvy chairs and a flash of something dark, a robe and boots maybe, and another quick view of a shadow fleeing....

Then she was balanced on her feet and crouching, her blaster aimed right at the face of the owner of that second voice. Who verified any last niggling doubts she might have as to his authenticity by finally speaking to her in his calm and soothing manner, his one hand quietly belting his weapon.

Minna's eyes widened as she recognized him. Slowly she rose from her crouching position, her eyes never leaving his, her blaster lowering now to aim at his knees but not anywhere in hell coming close to being holstered. Another little ripple of unease ran through her.

This was the Jedi who was taken on Tatooine to begin with. Now he wants to go speak with the Empire. Had the universe changed that much as of late, that the sheep was asking to lay down with the lion? Since when do Jedi rub elbows with the Empire?

Was this one, as improbable as it might sound, working for Tarnus?

As before, all this flashed through Minna's thoughts in the space of a nanosecond. She stared at Shawn with a touch less ice and a touch more speculation. If he and Lt. General Tarnus were connected, then maybe she could end up with that weapons upgrade the latter had once promised to her after all....

She sniffed, lowering her blaster to Shawn's ankles. The tip of it wavered toward the broken entrance into the cantina, taking in the bodies in line with it in one fell swoop.

"Who was that guy?" she finally asked in her quiet raspy whisper, not deigning to reply to his request for transportation at the moment. She was, after all, a spy. And a good spy gathers information when she can, as much as she can, whenever the opportunity arose.

One simply never knew....

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

He paused for a moment at that, actually letting a flash of sadness escape his otherwise calm visage. Then, "Now...I'm not quite sure who he is anymore."

With that he fell silent, not pressing any further at the moment concerning transportation but merely waiting to see if Minna might have any more questions.

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

I'm about to find out...

He recognized one of the voices...

Petrolu...what is he doing on Tattooine?

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

Slowly, she shook her head.

"If that killer was your padawan then sorry, but I don't want to be this close to you any longer, friend," she muttered raspily. Her free hand now snaked out, waving in a low swooping arc to take in the destruction amidst which they stood, the multiple bodies. Her nose wrinkled; the stench of charred flesh yet hung upon the air.

"If you want a message sent to the-- the Empire about this, then tell me now and give me the frequency you need it sent on; I'll make certain it gets to-- to whoever it is you want to contact."

She blinked her dark and expressive eyes and shifted her stance then, settling her center of gravity a touch lower to the ground as she waited to see what kind of response her reply would provoke. Her finger tightened a touch further, creeping around to join in a deadly embrace with the hair-trigger on her blaster, which even as she spoke she raised once again level with her chest, bore up but ready in an instant to extend and shoot anything that moved.

She was about to say something else when a slight movement caught her eye. There, silhouetted in the shattered remnants of the door leading in to the cantina, stood a somewhat shocked looking Gotal, twin head-cones wavering as the rather strong emotions emanating from the two of them rammed into her like a supernova. The being opened her mouth, worked it in silence, then whirled and fled into the streets of Mos Eisely.

Minna pulled her gaze back into Shawn's.

"But for now," she said in lieu of whatever else she had in mind, "it is time to go. I believe that this place is soon to become a somewhat unhealthy one to remain in any longer."

Nodding, she tucked her blaster more tightly against her chest, then moved quickly and fluidly past Shawn, heading for the door just vacated by the Gotal. If he wanted her to send the transmission, he'd follow. If not, she didn't care.

All she knew was that Imperial forces more than likely would be here in but moments, and she didn't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when they arrived.

[ 01-22-2003 12:24 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Minna Manth ]

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

Someone was close by, watching, but Shawn couldn't make out whom even with his senses completely open. This fact alone was disturbing. It meant someone was here but hiding, and only a Force-user could do that.

Had Loban come back...? Maybe there was still a chance, then...

...or maybe he had suddenly realized he missed someone and had come back to finish the job...

Either way, Minna needed to get to safety, and Shawn was at least going to see to it that she did. Still, he suddenly felt a grave need to deal with this unknown, whether it was his padawan or not. When they were finally some lenght away from the cantina, Shawn reached out a hand and laid it on the shoulder of the unsuspecting Bothan. “Let Lt. General Tarnus know that troops of an unknown origin have attacked Tatooine with numerous casualties.”

He paused at that. “I have to go back to that cantina; someone was back there... watching...”

At that he fell silent then, waiting to see if the Bothan would respond any further before he returned to the cantina to confront this disturbing unknown.

[ 01-24-2003 11:22 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

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A padawan turned to the Dark Side...an unknown faction attacking the Empire...and the Jedi Master Petrolu returning to Tattoine. he thought. Either Tarnus is trying to get me killed, or he has no idea whats going on with his fleet over this dustball.

Then the Jedi heard Shawn telling the Bothan he was returning to the cantina...he began to wonder if he should reveal himself or not.

Paul's mission was to find Grakko, retrieve the data from the interpreter droid, and bring it back to the Imperials. They didn't bother to give him a time limit as to how long he has to do this, so the Jedi could use some help...

On the other hand, Master Petrolu might try and stop Paul from (reluctantly) aiding the Empire. Being unarmed as it is, that might not be a smart move.

Paul frowned, figuring that he would be discovered eventually, and stepped over from the wall so he can be seen through the blasted hole.

"Might as well save you the trouble, Petrolu, since we're both stuck in a warzone."

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

Surely this wasn't the one Petrolu had formerly confronted, she thought to herself, nevertheless keeping her blaster unwaveringly pinpointed at Paul's chest. Unspeaking, she remained frozen, watching to see who would say or do what before she formed any hasty opinions of her own concerning the situation.

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

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

And there was only one person Shawn was so close to in the entire Universe, only one...

...and he had just let his former padawan go after her in belief that she could withstand any attempt at attack Loban might make with her friends and allies.

But had he been wrong?

By all outward traces, Shawn was as calm as a sleeping space slug. But inside he was worried, beyond worried....

Had he placed the good of everyone else above his sister yet again, only for harm to come to her yet again?

He had to get to her. He had to know. The Empire had enough information via Paul Arrakeen to know that there was trouble on Tatooine....

Shawn frowned at that, a question mark suddenly forming in his mind in place of the momentary fog caused by the sudden slam of evil. Shawn turned to regard Paul, crossing his arms, his look once more totally Jedi-like. “How did you get here Arrakeen, considering the last I knew you were imprisoned on Coruscant?”

With that he fell silent, his greeny-blue eyes deceptively calm as he awaited the response.

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

Sormontato glided out of hyperspace with the ominous grace of a hunting dianoga, and nearly as invisible. In her wake she trailed her entire battalion of support SSDs, star destroyers, transports and carriers...

...and accumulative troops numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

General Ahem sat completely at ease in his ready room, watching the approach of the rust-colored dustball which went by the name of Tatooine, noticing the myriad ships flittering hither and yon in orbit about it, knowing each represented carriers of another type who had been deploying unknown forces of their own to the surface.

"Oh my," he murmured to himself, shaking his head to think how far things had progressed in this manner. It wasn't that he had anything in particular against Lt. General Tarnus's command policies... it was just that they differed rather drastically from those of Admiral Actar. While Tarnus had deployed a small garrison to see what the hell was happening out here in the sticks -- said garrison having disappeared into the unknown, it might be added -- Ahem knew that deployment was to test the waters.

But such testing was at the price of lives and materiel, he couldn't help frowning. Admiral Actar would have sent me from the get-go, and be done with it....

He sighed, returning his attention to the screen.

So be it. The two admirals had been incommunicado for quite some time, for reasons of their own, leaving a clearly wet-eared and newly appointed Lt. General in command of things. Perhaps when this little fiasco was over he, Ahem, could return to Coruscant and offer his battle-seasoned experience to Tarnus....

Now he nodded, flicking open an intra-ship comm.

"Operation Cleanse, if you will Colonel," he ordered the Officer of the Watch. Then he sat back, watching in satisfaction as that order was carried out... and each and every ship in orbit around Tatooine flowered one by one in fiery destruction. Soon the only motes flitting about were his own follow-up fighters and troop carriers, who then arrowed down into the Tatooine atmosphere, there to seek and destroy whatever didn't belong on the surface.

General Ahem nodded, and rose from his seat. Time for a nice cup of hot tea....

The Jedi smiled, and made a small laugh to himself. "As if it couldn't get any harder...turns out that not only do I have to deal with gangsters, but also whoever is battling out with the Imperials here."

He looked at Petrolu, and raised an eyebrow. "Unless you, too, intend to make matters worse..."

Best to know where he stands...we didn't really have a good start when we met last time...

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

But it was then that, out of the corner of his eye, Shawn saw a few small sparkles in the sky. A moment or two after that, some rather Imperial looking ships made atmosphere, apparently headed for Mos Eisley.

Shawn looked back to Paul. "Looks like the mysterious attackers on Tatooine might have finally met their match," he said thoughtfully, that look of his ever-calm regardless of any of his concerns for Shayla or the peoples of Tatooine. "That's one thing less to worry about, possibly."

Talk of things to be worried about caused Shawn to recall his current mission and other concerns that he had. "I was here looking for my former padawan..."

For the first time, Shawn hesitated the slightest. Then, "I guess you could say I found him...

...or at least, I found the shell of what used to be him. He's gone now..."

Shawn didn't wish to linger on the subject of his ex-padawan any longer, so he abruptly changed the topic of discussion.

"What's this about Hutt corruption, exactly? Weren't you working for the Hutts before?" Shawn quizzed, cocking his head, his arms crossed against his chest.

[ 02-25-2003 01:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

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"Months ago an Imperial agent dumped me on Tattooine, weaponless and without money. I had to do what I can to get off planet and help other Jedi recover from the Empire's assault."

"Grakko the Hutt offered me a deal; I become his errand boy, and he'll pay me til I can afford a transport. Unsurprisingly, he payed me very little for each...job...until I discovered he lost a spice shipment to the Imperials. I offered to retrieve it for him in exchange for a greater sum of money. He accepted the deal and..."

The Jedi sighed and bowed his head, almost shamefully. "..betrayed me, along with you and the others, to the Empire. General Tarnus, whom I sense you've met before," Paul lifted his head and tilted it to the side before he continued, "made me an offer I couldn't refuse: I bring evidence that the Hutts were openly working against Imperial law, and he won't send me out the airlock. So here I am."

He crossed his arms, awaiting an answer from Shawn, though his mind was also focused on something else...
Former padawan? Paul thought. Did he turn to the Dark Side?

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

...I would in return ask your assistance in a matter concerning my former padawan. I fear he has turned to the darkside, and alone I do not have enough resources to try to turn him back or prevent any damage he might cause in his turn."

Shawn paused then, thoughtful once more. He ended with this: "We've been Jedi without unity for too long, Paul. Change is in order, for if we remain divided...

...we will continue to fall..."

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

Abruptly, he turned his head sharply away, shutting his eyes as he did so.

I can help...my ability with the Force may be crippled, and I have no weapon...but I HAVE to help. Leave the past behind, Paul, and focus on the future... his thoughts reminded him of those words constantly, in the hope that somehow he would pay heed to them.

It worked.

"Alright." he said. He opened his eyes and looked back to Shawn. "I'll help you with your padawan...right after we take care of my mission with the Hutts."
Maybe...maybe I can seek redemption with the Council this way...

Paul uncrossed his arms, hiding his shaking right hand behind his back.

"It's been awhile since someone referred to me as a Jedi without putting a blaster to my head..."

He gazed at the Bothan, whom was still pointing her gun at him. "I hope you're going to do the same."

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

And here he and Paul were spouting about a padawan turned Dark and a Hutt smuggling spice...

He turned his calm greeny-blue eyes to the Bothan. "Is there something we can do to allay your fears? You are free to go as you please, Ms. Manth..."

He quieted at that then and waited to see what the spy might have to say.

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

Free to go?

With effort she kept from snorting aloud at the sheer beneficence of that statement.

As if she couldn't disappear like smoke on the wind, and right in front of their eyes, at any time she chose to do so... well, at least physically....

Which brought her thoughts round-robin to reality. Both men were regarding her now, their demeanors much more calm than before, although the one guy was emitting wave after wave of something approximating despair on a level of a solar wind blasted out from a giant star. Her head cocked the merest fraction to one side, and at long last she allowed herself to blink.

Yeah, she was free to go... but where? And do what? Maybe it would behoove her on down the road to stick to these two after all at least for a little while; never know where that road might lead and what information might lay along it. Surely the two jedi would be more than a match for that ex-padawan... and information was a good thing.

Slowly, smoothly, with even a hint of suaveness only a top spy can put into the motion, she stood fully up and holstered her blaster. Loose and ready to move in any direction, she turned her head from one to the other, carefully scrutinizing them both. And finally she spoke, her voice a whisper of a spring breeze.

"It was never fear," she said, and fell silent, ready for anything which might then unfold. She followed that statement with one more meaningful, one much more succinct, and one accompanied by a nod of her head to the door.

"Imperial forces-?"

[ 02-28-2003 12:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Minna Manth ]

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Still very much in shock from Grakko's sudden and unexpected assasination as well as very alarmed and mystified by the silver stuff which the stranger had left with them, the smugglers whom had been conspiring with the Hutt before his murder withdrew to themselves, meanwhile allowing the band and dancers to return to the entertainment floor, hoping to convince the costumers that everything was in control and that nothing had ever happened.

In the the midst of the dance floor, Kia’ra Roch’ella danced lithely about the club patrons, waving about her transparent shawl of gold as she spun gracefully throughout the room, occasionally reeling in male-patrons with her stunning indigo eyes and her golden shawl, wrapping it seductively about them as she danced. This usually resulted in the reward of a credit or two; really, those credits were all that Kia’ra was interested in, and all that she had been taught to love. For that was all she was, a mere dancer in a palace, a mere slave without any other way to survive on this mostly criminal planet of Tatooine. Finally tiring of the males and of the staring eyes, Kia’ra at last withdrew from the dancing floor, actually drawing some boos and hisses from the watching crowd. She almost forgot the chain about her waist, but was quickly reminded of it as one of Grakko’s smuggling lackys jerked her to him, smiling the smile of a spaceslug as he looked her over measuringly and expectantly, actually pulling her yet closer to him til his face was millimeters from hers.

Kia’ra had learned not to resist. As long as she complied, she knew that she could keep her tips. “Maybe I should take the spice Grakko owed me out of you,” he said with an unpleasant little smirk. Then he drew in closer, about to do just that when someone ran into the main chamber and yelled, ”Imperials!”

Kiara didn’t think she’d ever seen a smuggler look so horrified in her life. ”Take the droid to my ship!” he whispered, just loud enough for his nearby fellow smuggler...

...and Kia’ra...

...to hear. A couple of that smugglers underlings headed off with the Grakko's old rusty droid immediately, and the smuggler returned his gaze to Kia'ra. “Now, where were we?” he finally asked, stepping in closer, pretending as though there wasn’t a thing wrong in the Palace. And it worked. The Imperials never arrived, but instead passed over. After a few minutes of akward waiting just to make sure, the smuggler began to drag Kia’ra to the dance floor. As he did one of his cronies queried. “Should we retrieve the droid?”

The smuggler shook his head, still gripping Kia’ra’s chain and pulling her out to the dance floor. “No, better leave him where he is...”

[ 03-01-2003 01:55 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kiara ]

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He looked back to Shawn. "Grakko's palace isn't too far away. Just over the cliffs to the West. If we move now, we'll get there in no time..."

The Jedi then glanced back at the Bothan. "Hope you have a fast way off planet...as far as I can tell the Imperials just set up a blockade."

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