‘After I lost consciousness, my mind was consumed by complete darkness. I didn’t know how much time went by since I was in this condition. However, it changed. I heard voices, and sometimes I saw pictures, only for a few seconds, then darkness replaced them again.’
‘This continued for a while. Then it changed again. Now I could hear more of the sounds and voices, and I felt an unfamiliar presence picking up my body, taking me somewhere. Whoever it was, he or she clearly tried to be careful, but was overly clumsy in the process of taking care of someone injured. Soon after this realization, darkness claimed me once again.’
‘I had no idea how much time passed since I lost consciousness on the venator.’
‘When I eventually woke up in an unfamiliar bed inside a shady room. I slowly opened my eyes, and looked up to the ceiling, which was filled with spiderwebs covered in dust, and if I am not wrong, there were more than a few blaster burn marks visible on the dark grey metal that created the frame of the small room.’
‘The room itself was very badly maintained, there were trash everywhere and empty beer and wine bottles covered with years of dust and dirt.’
‘Alrighty~! What the hell could have happened to me while I was out cold?’
‘I slowly sat up on the bed. My body still felt unnaturally heavy, but I was clearly much better than I would be without that dark side siphon. The one I leached onto that crazy bitch... I could sense that she was not close anymore, and the leach spell was also broken by now. No matter, it did its job... and kept me alive.’
‘I checked my battered body.’
‘I was provided with some basic first aid, and my heavy armor was removed, which left me with the standard jedi padawan clothes under it. That meant gray long sleeves and simple brown pants with socks.’
‘I felt that my torso was bandaged, along with my left shoulder, right leg and my lekks and head… Lets just say, I was practically a roll of bandages and be done with it.’
‘Whoever did this, even if he or she was a bit sloppy, I will honestly thank them since they tried to help me as best as they could. I felt genuinely thankful towards my saviors. It was clear that in one way or another, I managed to escape a doom scenario.’
‘I don’t know who the heck that woman was, but she was clearly a sith assassin, since I couldn’t feel her presence until the very last moment.’
‘It is true that I was seriously injured... but my force awareness is something I am very proud of. I believe that I could still sense a powerful, hostile presence when I am on the brink of death. The only exception is if she was superbly trained in hiding her force presence and intentions.’
‘The other proof was the fact that she wasn’t really trained in the force... The sith never gives away more knowledge than it is absolutely necessary. They never trained someone they clearly thought of as a simple pawn in their hands to use the force in any refined way.’
‘That woman, she was powerful in the force, it’s true. But she clearly lacked knowledge, didn’t even realize my force siphon, couldn’t react to my lightning attack, and her attempts at using the force were butchered, and crude beyond measure. They were good enough, against normal padawans, even against weaker knights. Yet, they would crumble against anyone who had a good foundation and stable knowledge of the force.’
‘Her wielding two lightsabers means that she is well trained in the art of lightsaber combat, since any type of Jar’Kai was a sign of a fool or an above average duellist.’
‘All of this information led to the conclusion that she was a sith assassin.’
‘I guess, breaking the barrier around the Jedi Order painted another, much more deadly target on my back... I kind of expected this, to be honest, but this reaction time was off.’
‘How would the sith lord learn who exactly caused the destruction of its barrier so soon... Did I fail to hide myself from it previously? No, if he had indeed sensed my presence, I would feel his or hers, too! I am a great sensor after all, and I didn’t succeed in this. Than that means it must have spies in the Jedi Order, or some kind of way to get information directly from them. That was the more likely possibility, and one I already entertained in my thoughts.’
‘My musing was disrupted, as the door to my room opened, and a widely smiling weequay with a long red rain coat walked inside. I looked at him, giving him a weak but thankful smile, as it was clear to me that this man helped me out in a great deal. His presence felt strangely familiar. Was he the one who brought me here?’
‘I was sitting in bed but still bowed my head towards him, giving my most respectful thanks.’
“I thank you from the depths of my hearth. I am not sure why, but I can sense that you saved my life from a great deal of suffering… I am honestly grateful for that.”
‘There was an awkward silence following my words.’
‘The man seemed to be taken aback by this scenario, and he was looking at me with slightly bulged eyes that were partly hidden by the pilot glasses that he was wearing over them.’
‘There were a few smirks and weak laughter coming from behind him. I just realized that there were another two people standing in the door. One of them was a weequay woman, while the other one was a weequay man.’
‘Now that I thought about it, they looked very… eccentric…’
‘The raincoat wearing one, placed his hands on his hips, and began to laugh out load without any reservation. Jolting me out of my thoughts.’
‘The others followed suit, as if they were already waiting for this to happen. Then he suddenly halted his laughter and stepped forward into the weak light that was provided by a repetitively blinking light-bulb that was long due for a change of power cell.’
‘The man fluidly reciprocated my bow towards me in an awkwardly ceremonious way while saying this.’
“Hondo Ohnaka, at your service, little Miss.” — ‘Then, after his bow, he immediately dropped this courtly act and fell into a just as natural, overly relaxed one. Yet, I could see in his eyes that he was everything but relaxed at the moment.’
‘He was watching my slightest moves, and even face mimics. This man was an experienced, battle-hardened veteran, and that was clear to me, and my respect only grew. Under the mountain of that carefully created facade, he was unmistakingly a trained warrior.’
‘The type of man which saw opportunities where others saw only danger. Even if this man turns out to be my enemy, or especially in that case… He should not be taken lightly, I noted for myself sensing his sharp awareness.’
‘He was looking at me with a raised brow. Oh, I guess I should give him my name, too!’
“My name is Nizzal Grey. Greetings to you, sir.”
‘There was a whistle coming from the corridor.’
“Bah!” — ‘He shouted, suddenly turning around and forcefully shutting the door in the other man’s face.’
‘Before the door closed from the momentum, I heard a shout of surprise and most likely pain noticing the loud bang following afterwards. I winced, realizing that the poor fool was likely slapped by the violently closing doorframe. The muffled shouts coming from the other side of the door seemed to verify that suspicion.’
‘Note to myself, don’t irritate him too much... Maybe just to see where his breaking point is... I shook my head. That can be arranged later. I should pay attention for now.’
‘He turned back towards me with a natural smile, as if nothing unusual had happened.’
“Now that the nuisance is taken care of, tell me, little girl, how much credit can your parents pay for your safe return?”
‘I blinked... then blinked again. Wait, what? That wasn’t exactly the question what I was expecting, to be honest...’
“What do y-you mean?”
“Well, you see, we are pirates, in case you didn’t notice. There was a great space battle between a few separatists and republic ships in our current looting territory. We were searching for something useful in the left-behind wreckage when we found an escape cabin with two unconscious females in it.”
‘Oh, the other one must be that assassin. It’s good to see that my force siphon got to her. Or was it something else? She shouldn’t have fallen unconscious so soon…’
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“Then, after we, as good and honest pirates used to do, helped you from the pure goodness of our hearts.” — ‘While he was telling me this fantastic story, the door opened slightly and the other two pirates began snickering, while looking at his clearly exaggerated facade. Suddenly, he looked back with narrowed eyes. The door shut itself, this time on its own.’
“Sorry about that.” — ‘He said, not even sparing a shrug, then continued with the same zeal.’
“But, then, our honestly caring nature was paid back with sorrow. As the older woman woke up, and horribly killed some of my closest friends. Completely unprovoked!” — He stated with a righteous fury. Then continued slowly, giving himself over to his emotions.
“They were like brothers to me... I even know a few of their names!”
‘Wait… what?’
“The worst of all, that damn bitch just ran away, not even giving me the courtesy of skinning her alive… And this is where we are, sweetheart… So tell me, who will pay remuneration for our loss? There is my question to you, lassie: how much money could your parents pay?”
‘I looked at the floor, feeling uncomfortable. That damn droid stole my money. The Jedi didn’t pay me at all. They instead simply provided what I needed, and that didn’t include money... At least not yet, and I could not lead them back to one of our bases, to take out some money, that would be too stupid, and it would risk actual exile from my order... The fact is, that I am broke, and have nothing on me currently... I kind of felt bad for myself...’
‘There was an awkward silence stretching over the room. I finally decided to answer and be honest.’
“I... don’t have parents. I never knew them... I was left behind and lived on the streets of Ryloth, until someone took me in...”
‘The man blinked, then added with fake sympathy.’
“How terrible… some parents are, but maybe this particular someone who took you in could instead pay for your freedom?”
“He died a few weeks ago...” — ‘I said, and was genuinely saddened having to remember to that terrible moment.’
‘There was another heavy silence in the room. The other pirates who since then once again began to spy on the conversation looked unusually solemn...’
“… I am sorry, but I don’t have money. It was already stolen from me... with my ship... That woman you mentioned earlier actually tried to kidnap me... She was a well-trained sith assassin and caught me off guard.”
‘Hondo looked at me with thoughtful eyes...’
“Sith assassin? Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” — I answered solemnly.
“How could you be so sure of this? It’s not like sith were something you run into every day.”
“I fought with her and lost because of my previously accumulated injuries. I can’t really describe why I know this to be true, but I am certain that she is a sith assassin.”
“Hmmm... Are you one of those Jedi padawans, then?”
“Not exactly. I am from a third, much smaller sect, actually, but I worked with them... I had no choice.”
‘He raised his other eyebrow next to the already raised one.’
“How come?”
“Well, one of them attacked me, and I... Well, I guess I almost killed him... and then they told me, that I have to work in the army for five years, or work in a mine for twenty years, if I remember correctly...”
‘There was another wave of surprise, but this time it was clearly caused by shock.’
‘The man called Hondo slowly shook his head in denial while saying with as much disappointment one could gather.’
“How far... The mighty Jedi have fallen.” — ‘Said Hondo, with a distant look in his eyes as if he was staring into a faraway horizon.’
“I am a pirate captain, but even I am not heartless enough to send a young baby girl like you into the cruel galactic war.” — He quickly added in a barely perceptible whisper. — “Well, at least not against her will.” — Then continued in his normal tone of voice. — “Do you want to go back to them? Maybe they can pay a ransom for you.” — ‘He asked, and that really surprised me.’
“Well, I have made a friend, but I don’t really want to go back right now… Do I suspect rightly that you would allow me to stay awhile?”
“Feel free, but until you decide to go back or not go back, you will have to work with us as an honourable member of our crew...”
“And if you chose to stay, you will have to pay back the price of your life, and my lost men’s life in credit to us.”
“I can already think of a few ways to use your force abilities, maybe it is time to visit those hutts casinos... Hehehe... Now rest girl, these two will help you out if you need something...”
“The girl is called Claire, while the nosy one is Jack. I love them as my own! They might actually be… Now that I think about it…”
“Anyway, stay as long as you like! Hah! I am such a good Samaritan, I sometimes even surprise myself with myself. Well, that sounded better in my mind, actually...” — ‘He kicked open the rusty door, then walked out of it, leaving behind me and the two guys who fell on their assess because they were surprised by him storming out without any warning.’
Hondo barked at them while walking away.
“Take care of our new guest! She is clearly a respectable child, so treat her in the same manner!”
“Yes, boss...” — Said the other two with varied enthusiasm.
‘I was sitting on the bed, blinking profoundly... I looked up at Claire, who was pushed into the room by Jack, who closed the door behind her...’
‘The woman cursed silently, staring daggers into the doorframe, then slowly walked closer to me.’
‘I looked up at her. She couldn’t be much older than me. I was not proficient in estimating weequays’ age, however, so I could be completely wrong.’
‘Now, as she was standing much closer, I could take a better guess... Maybe she was about sixteen or seventeen at best. She looked embarrassed and kind of excited at the same time, while being wary of me. She couldn’t help herself and finally asked.’
“Does the force really exist and can you use it?” — She asked this with an embarrassed, childlike curiosity glinting in her eyes.
‘It was not that rare of a reaction, really, except for Coruscant. There were not many worlds who had a constant presence of relatively large numbers of force users.’
‘To most people, Jedi were like some mysterious radical sect. For others, they were noble warriors, but in most cases, people didn’t really see a Jedi in real life, ever, only through the media outlets, news portals or in holo videos.’
‘With today’s technology, you can make anything look like reality in a video. Therefore, the general public, although, acknowledged the Jedi because of their very real and existing political influence. Most of them held a certain scepticism against their mysterious powers and foresight. The force was a truly enigmatic thing, that was a constant source of mystery, even for its wielders. I couldn’t really fathom what normal people could think of it.’
‘I smiled at the young woman.’
“It definitely exists. That much I can tell you, or show you if you allow me.”
‘She nodded without hesitation. I closed my eyes and gently reached out with the force. There were many things in the room lying about, but I chose the empty bottles to play a harmless trick on her. I raised up about fifty of those bottles around us in the air, slowly circling above us.’
‘Soon, I heard a sharp intake of breath. I cracked my eyes open and looked at the girl, who was also raised up in the air with the bottles. She was looking in barely contained shock.’
‘The door suddenly opened, as Hondo walked in with great momentum.’
“Oh, and I forgot to mention that... SWEET MAMMA! Claire, you are flying, my girl!” — Then he turned towards Jack who was standing by his side with a similarly awed expression, and asked in a demanding tone. While raising his fist in the air. — “Jack, you damn bastard, what did you mix in my drink this time?”
“It wasn’t me boss, not this time at least. I can see her floating too.”
‘Hondo suddenly kicked out Jack’s legs from under him, who fell on his ass generating a loud noise.’
“So you were the bastard who drugged me with some crazy shit last time! I would beat you black and blue, but I was the one who taught you. However, I am at least gonna kick your arse since you didn’t even steal my money... Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of our Jedi guest? Get out of here! WAAH!”
‘Mind you… all this happened casually while Claire, alongside of a hundred empty glass of beer, was currently imitating swimming right above their heads about half meter.’
‘The scenario filled me with strange familiarity and calmness. I wasn’t entirely sure why until extremely ridiculous images started to flash in front of my mental eyes. Showing me similarly wild scenarios in frightening abundance.’
‘I had a terrible feeling that the Grey Order, the mysterious sect I was taught to adore and respect from a young age, had an unknown, less respectable side to it.’
‘Anyway, after Jack ran out of the room, as if his pants were on fire. Hondo turned back to me, then said.’
“Put down those empty bottles, and the lass, girly. We are not running some wild circus show here, and I want to change the bottles back for extra credits next time I visit Tatooine!”
‘Based on my first impression about them, I wasn’t entirely sure considering the circus part…’
‘I nodded to him, and placed down the bottles in an orderly manner, while I also put down Claire. She seemed really happy at this moment.’
“So the stories about the existence of the force were true.” — Said Hondo, thoughtfully. — “Who would have thought that those unbelievable things seen on holo videos could be real, reflecting back blaster shots, and so on? I would have been more surprised if a half crazed bitch hadn’t run over my ship half a day ago doing exactly that. I guess Claire was sad that she missed out on the experience.”
‘I smiled at him warily. Not sure how to react to that.’
“Well, most of them, I guess. The force itself is believed to have a limitless potential, but what we can harness of it is very much limited by our body and mind. Along with such things as one's race, age and overall skill, experience and knowledge… All of which are factors that account for one’s ability to wield the force in the end.”
‘Hondo’s eyes sparkled at the mention of limitless potential, but that same glint slowly dimmed with every one of my following words.’
“What about you, Nizzal, was it? You don’t look anything impressive to me.”
“Well…” — ‘I can’t really blame him for thinking like that. I definitely didn’t feel too impressive wrapped in bandages like a mummy.’
“But seeing how well you do with your injuries and all… I might have another proposition for you, so listen well.”
“If you help me to solve a certain problem of mine, I might entertain the idea of taking you into our little pirate gang as a full-fledged member? I will tell you a few contact locations, and we will hide you wherever you need a safe place. You will also have a share of this job’s profit, and any future jobs that we may do together. Don’t get me wrong, but you are clearly in the need of some quick cash, and this way, we can rid the world from some annoying bastards, while also making good money. Who knows, if we do good, I am even be willing to forget about your debt.”
‘I thought about that.’
“Well, but I don’t want to kill innocent people, nor rob them...”
“Such a sweet little angel. There is no need to worry. The ones I have in mind are definitely not innocent. I myself have a debt to pay off to them, and I think you would also be interested in this endeavor.”
“Let’s hear it then.”
“I knew that I had a good feeling about you. So everything will work out like this...”