[FIC] The Adventures of Jolee Bindo

[Renegade Puma]

Like I said before. I think that it is Exar Kun himself. I think that Dycena brought him back to present time through his time travels.

[Jae Onasi]

Ack, I don't do dead people. Sorry to disappoint you, though!

 

He's just a new Sith Lord. I think the galaxy is big enough that you can have more than one Sith Lord. Nihilis and Sion co-existed but didn't work together. To be _The_ Dark Lord of the Sith, you have to be someone like Palpatine, and that was a little (a lot) too big of a theme for me to want to tackle.

[Jae Onasi]

Chapter 28: Searching for a Sith Lord

 

All eyes were riveted on the orange and red inferno that boiled out from the center of the Vengeance with such speed that it made us feel like we were standing still. A few of the older Ops team members shared grim expressions as they looked out the shuttle windows. The silence hung like a dense fog in the air and was broken only by the engine whine and MacFinlay’s chatter with the Osprey.

 

“Yes, open the fracking bay doors! I can make it in time!” MacFinlay commanded.

 

“If you don’t make it, the entire bay fries and we’ll lose more people,” was the reply from the Osprey.

 

“I don’t have time to argue with you, Riallian. Open the blasted doors!”

 

There was silence on the other end for a few moments. MacFinlay muttered a few choice words under his breath and made a couple of unique hand gestures towards the com.

 

“Steady, MacFinlay,” Bernecki said.

 

“I know I can make it, sir. There’s no way I’d let something happen to that ship.”

 

“I know that, too.”

 

The com keyed on again, and Riallian said, “Captain ordered me to open the doors, MacFinlay. But he says you better haul your skinny rump in fast because he’s charging you personally for any ship damage, even if he has to find you in hell to collect.”

 

MacFinlay grinned. “You tell him not only will I make it in with no damage, but I’ll get a 10 on the landing and he’ll owe me one of his best Dew Mountain whiskeys.”

 

“You’re on,” said Captain Onasi.

 

MacFinlay pushed the shuttle towards the now-open bay doors at top speed, with the wall of fire only seconds behind. He started nodding a tempo to himself. When it reached some point he had determined, he said, “Osprey, MacFinlay. Start closing the bay doors.”

 

“You aborting?” Riallian said. I could hear his alarm even over the com.

 

“No. Coming in now.”

 

“You’ll hit the doors!”

 

“Close them. Now! We’ll argue later.” MacFinlay made another hand gesture at the com, one I’d never seen before. It undoubtedly would cause fights in cantinas.

 

The bay doors started to come together slowly as MacFinlay approached. He gripped the controls tightly as he entered his final approach only moments away from the ship. The doors continued to close together, and it looked like the shuttle would crash into them. MacFinlay finessed the controls with delicate hand movements, and the shuttle slipped through the opening that was shrinking rapidly. The bay doors closed just after he entered, missing the shuttle by a few centimeters. The Osprey’s shields went up immediately. The stream of fire was repelled, curling back on itself and creating swirls that slowly burned out.

 

MacFinlay bellowed out the military cry, “Hoo-ah!”

 

The other members of the Ops team roared “Hoo-ah!” in reply and then clapped so loud in appreciation that the small ship nearly shook.

 

MacFinlay set the shuttle down so perfectly I never felt it stop. The corpsmen were ready to go even before the shuttle doors lifted open. They carried De’layn’s stretcher out to the waiting team, who rushed her to the medical bay.

 

Jolee said, “Carth will want a chat. I’ll go see about De’layn and then join you.”

 

Carth waited for the medical team to take De’layn and then approached the ramp. We all debarked, and the Ops team stood at attention in front of him.

 

“That was some of the finest piece of flying I’ve seen in a long time,” Carth said.

 

“Thank you, sir.”

 

“He’s strong in the Force,” Talin said. “We wouldn’t be here without him.”

 

Carth said, “Something for you to think about, MacFinlay, though I’d like to keep my best pilots.” He handed MacFinlay a small bottle of a greenish liquid and shook his hand. “I don’t get too many of these from Bear, so don’t waste it.”

 

“No, sir. Special occasions only, sir. Thank you, sir.”

 

“Bernecki, I need to speak with you. Talin, Jae, would you join us?”

 

We followed Carth back to the meeting room off his quarters.

 

“What happened over there, Bernecki?” Carth asked.

 

“Sir, we entered the ship approximately 1420. We did a standard search through the ship for any threats. When we got to the bridge, we saw the crew of three. They were dead from that Scourge. One of the men found De’layn and called the Jedi in. They left, I checked the navicomputer, and downloaded the data.” Bernecki handed the datachip over to Carth.

 

“This should have some very interesting information,” Carth said, plugging it into the computer port for processing.

 

“Jedi Talin returned. When he looked at the navputer, he saw something odd in the hyperdrive. I sent Gadaitis with him, and they found the device. Gadaitis saw how much time there was, decided it was too complex to disarm in time, and I ordered the evacuation. MacFinlay kept our butts out of the flames, sir.”

 

“Write him up for an award when you write your after-action report. I better let you get back to your team.”

 

“Aye, sir.” Bernecki stood up and left the room.

 

“Talin?” Carth motioned for him to go next.

 

“I don’t have much to add. When we got to the bridge, we saw the crew lying on the ground, dead from the Scourge. When I looked at the navputer to find out where they’d been, I noticed some of the data had been wiped. The hyperdrive status indicator was off, but I heard the hyperdrive humming in stand-by mode. When Gadaitis and I checked the engine, we found the device. It looks like it triggered as soon as we opened the hatch. Gadaitis saw the time and how little of it we had left. He made a good call evacuating. I don’t think demolitions could have disarmed it in time.”

 

Carth nodded understanding. “Anything to add, Jae?”

 

I frowned at the wisp of an idea floating just at the edge of conscious thought.

 

“What is it?” Talin asked.

 

“Something De’layn said. I’m trying to remember all of it.”

 

“About Thorn?” Talin asked.

 

“No, though learning he wasn’t the Sith Lord is disturbing.”

 

“Thorn’s not the Sith Lord?” Carth’s brows lifted in surprise.

 

“De’layn said it wasn’t Thorn before she lost consciousness. Thorn was one of the three on the bridge,” I said.

 

“Just great. We’re back where we started.” Carth grimaced.

 

The door chime sounded, and Carth called Jolee in.

 

“How’s De’layn?” I asked.

 

“The med team got her into kolto and they seem happy with how she’s doing.”

 

Talin and I both scrunched our faces at the mention of kolto, to Jolee’s amusement.

 

“Of course, they’re happy if you can flick an eyelash, so you can never really tell,” Jolee continued. He gave a small weary sigh as he sat down.

 

“We were discussing Thorn,” Carth said.

 

“Thorn’s not the Sith Lord, and we won’t know who it is until she gets out of the kolto,” Jolee replied.

 

“If he’s in the area, we need to know now,” Carth said. “We’re already underway for Telos, but I still don’t want to be a sitting gizka.”

 

“That’s still not it,” I frowned again, trying to recall the entire conversation.

 

“What’s not it?” Jolee asked.

 

“De’layn said something else that didn’t make sense.”

 

“All she talked about was Thorn, Dycen’a, and this Sith Lord.”

 

“That’s it. She said she told Thorn Dycen’a was dead.”

 

“Because we told her that,” Jolee said.

 

“But Thorn told her he was going after Dycen’a,” I said, eyes widening as I realized what that meant.

 

Carth said, “How would Thorn know, unless…. Damn it, it’s Aichon or Raxton. It’s one of mine. They’re the only ones outside of the Jedi and me who knew about Dycen’a.” He shook his head in frustration and bit back a variety of comments.

 

"I'm sorry, Carth," I said.

 

“Pull up the ship list again, Carth,” Jolee said.

 

The single ship appeared once more.

 

“Is that all the ships?” Talin asked.

 

Carth looked over the original list of ships. “No, the Republic ships were left off.” His lips thinned in anger.

 

Jolee reassured him, “Carth, if I were looking for an Exchange ship, why would I include the Republic? You’re not the one responsible. This Sith has been hiding his tracks pretty well for a long time.”

 

“I know, but I dislike the thought of one of my crew intentionally misleading everyone, and I hate the idea of my crew and me being this close to him for a long time. Force only knows what he’s been doing to my crew,” Carth sighed. He tapped in some more data, and another list came up. There were two ships this time, the Fujita and The Nightshadow.

 

“None of us likes knowing we’ve shared supper with him. Bet whoever owns Nightshadow is our bad guy,” Jolee said.

 

“That’s Raxton’s ship,” Carth said. He pulled up some more data. “Looks like he was a little busy when he was supposed to be doing some intelligence work on Telos. He went off-system for a few days.”

 

“He’s been very sneaky so far. I think we ought to have a little chat with Aichon to make sure he's not involved,” Jolee suggested.

 

Carth was about to hit the com to call for him when Jolee added with a wicked grin, “Why don’t you let us get set up a bit and then give him a nice reception and all, just in case it’s him.”

 

Carth nodded, and we made our preparations.

 

When Aichon came to Carth’s meeting room in answer to the summons, he was stunned to find himself surrounded by three Jedi with lit lightsabers and a captain holding a blaster.

 

He looked at all of us, eyes shifting warily as he looked at each of us before looking back at Carth. “Uh, sir, is there something wrong?”

 

“Yes, there’s something very wrong. One of my top men has betrayed both this crew and me. I want to find out who.” Carth’s voice could have frozen space, it was so cold.

 

Aichon looked confused. “Sir, I’d sure like to know what you’re talking about, and why you all have weapons pointed at me.”

 

His eyes glazed over for a minute as Jolee concentrated on a mind probe.

 

Jolee said, finally, “It’s not him, Carth, though it looks like Raxton’s been tiptoeing through his brain a bit. There are some missing memories and some planted images in there.”

 

Aichon shook his head and rubbed his temples once the disorientation dissipated.

 

“Sorry for the headache, but it was the only way to know,” Jolee said, clasping the man’s shoulder gently in sympathy for the pain.

 

“I’m sorry, sir, but I still don’t understand.” Aichon looked from Carth to Jolee and then back to Carth again for an explanation.

 

Carth explained to his bewildered commander, “Thorn’s not the Sith Lord. Raxton is.”

 

“There’s no way. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a good man,” Aichon said, trying to defend his crewmate.

 

“You think he’s a good man, because he planted those images and memories,” Jolee said. “Raxton is the one.”

 

Carth added, “Aichon, you have to trust us on this. He’s the only other person who knew Dycen’a was alive, and Raxton is the only way Thorn could have found out. We’ll figure out how Raxton did this, but right now we need to find out where he is.”

 

“He was supposed to be doing some intel work around Telos while we went on this mission. He said he had found some leads on the Exchange that couldn’t get cold, so I had him stay. Oh, Force, what if he’s doing something to Telos?” Aichon said, holding his head again in pain and shock over the revelation.

 

“Carth, I need an image of Raxton and a secure link to the Jedi Temple. I need to contact the masters there for a little chat about this,” Jolee decided.

 

* * *

 

Masters Vandar and Vrook listened as Jolee explained our narrow escape, De’layn’s brush with death, and our discovery.

 

Master Vrook stroked his chin as he looked at the image Jolee had transmitted. “He’s had some facial reconstruction, but I’m pretty sure it’s Ter Miraxton.” He pulled some data up on the man.

 

Master Vandar said, “Yes, it is a match. It would also fit with the facts in this case. He was a Padawan here about 27 years ago. He left the order about 20 years ago after he fought and nearly killed another Padawan in anger. He disappeared a few years later, and we had feared the worst.”

 

“You feared his death. That’s not the worst,” Jolee said dryly.

 

“Point taken,” Vandar acknowledged.

 

“Can you send us any holovids of him sparring, or any other information?” asked Talin.

 

“We’ll transmit any information we have in the archives. We should have something very shortly.”

 

“All right then, we’ll sign off.” Jolee made a move to terminate the link.

 

“A moment please, Jolee. We have something to discuss with the three of you.” Master Vrook said.

 

I detected a subtle shift in his attitude. If I had been sparring and saw that look, I would have prepared for a nasty attack.

 

Master Vandar continued, “We received an anonymous transmission late this morning. Normally, we discount anything anonymous. However, the contents were disturbing, and analysis indicated it was an unaltered transmission. It is something we feel you must address immediately.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Jolee asked them.

 

“This,” Master Vrook answered, stabbing a button to turn on a copy of the transmission. “Your Padawan and Talin have been a bit busy and less than discreet.”

 

A holovid of the evening Talin and I spent together played on the projector. I looked down and put my forehead in my hand. Talin stood impassively for a time next to me and then placed a hand gently on my back in support. Jolee stood with his chin in one hand, carefully inspecting the holovid.

 

When it faded out, he looked over at both of us. He smiled broadly and gave a jaunty wink. “You sure steamed up some windows there.”

 

I inhaled sharply in surprise and looked up. “Jolee! It’s not a porn vid, for heaven’s sake. We just kissed!”

 

“Eh, it’s a good start, anyway. I can recommend a few books on the subject, you know,” he grinned.

 

Talin couldn’t quite suppress his chuckle, and I put my head back down in my hand.

 

“You approve of this behavior?” Vrook’s eyes were wide in disbelief.

 

“I don’t just approve, I encourage it. I’m watching love blossom before my very eyes. Makes my curmudgeonly heart feel like there’s something good in the universe.”

 

“Master Jolee, you know the Order’s stance on attachments.” Master Vandar chastised.

 

“And you know I think it’s a foolish notion that the Order should abandon because it’s a load of bantha schutta. More Jedi might be prevented from falling if they had someone in their lives to keep them happy and balanced.”

 

“This is very dangerous thinking, Jolee. After this mission is finished, we’ll reassign Jedi Talin, and we may have to discuss your mentoring,” Vrook said, frowning deeply.

 

Jolee stood tall and leveled a fiery gaze at the Masters. “You go right ahead and do that. I’ve left the Order before, and I can leave it again. I stay because I can make a difference, not because I need your approval. I might even start my own sect of Jedi that believe love is something good, not terrifying. Now if you want to draw the ire of not only me, but also the Queen of Onderon, a Prince of Alderaan, and the soon-to-be Admiral Onasi, then go ahead and reassign them to try to break up their relationship. You know that if the Force wants them together, they’ll be together, no matter what some ridiculous council of Masters decides.”

 

Master Vrook’s face reddened as he tried to control his anger, and Master Vandar sighed, frustrated by Jolee’s defiant attitude.

 

Master Vandar said, “We will meet the rest of the Council shortly and discuss the situation. We will send all the information we have on Miraxton as soon as we can. Master Supat will go to Telos to evaluate De’layn so we can learn more about the Scourge and its effects on sentients. In the meantime, you three need to concentrate on tracking this Sith Lord and either capturing or destroying him.”

 

“Now you’re talking sensible,” Jolee snorted.

 

“We don’t need to be provoked, Jolee,” Master Vrook growled.

 

“I’m a rebel. What do you expect?” Jolee raised his hands in question and gave them a mischievous grin.

 

“Exactly that,” Master Vandar sighed.

 

“We’ll stay out of trouble,” Jolee said.

 

“I doubt that. Trouble seems to find you quite easily. Still, I wish you well when you meet up with Miraxton.” Master Vrook’s face softened a bit as he spoke.

 

“May the Force be with you,” Master Vandar signed off.

[Hallucination]

Ohh, t3h j3d1 pr0n!!!1!!11!1one!11!!1oneone.

 

Very good, I foresee many Bindoisms when the Jedi try to deal with ol' Baldilocks.

[Jae Onasi]

1337 gives me a headache. But thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say to the Council, too.

[Diego Varen]

A good Chapter Jae. I hope we soon see this Sith Lord, whether it's a he, she or it.

[Char Ell]

The Ops team ducked into the ship one by one, covering each other as they slipped through the hatch, leaving behind some members to guard the shuttle entrance.

“Close them. Now! We’ll argue later.” MacFinlay made another hand gesture at the com, one I’d never seen before. It undoubtedly would cause fights in cantinas.

Ahhh, yes. Such hand gestures are so... human. Such a passage warms my heart as I can relate to situations such as this.

 

So the Sith Lord's identity has at long last been ferreted out. An interesting twist. Very interesting. And the Jedi Masters now know Talin's and Jae's relationship isn't of the strictly platonic variety anymore, heh-heh-heh. I relished the passage where Jolee in essence tells Vandar and Vrook to stuff it.

 

I hope we soon see this Sith Lord, whether it's a he, she or it.

I'm pretty sure Raxton/Ter Miraxton is male.

“He’s had some facial reconstruction, but I’m pretty sure it’s Ter Miraxton.”

Unless he's used the power of the dark side to switch genders. Now that would be a new force power!

[Renegade Puma]

Great chapter Jae! I loved when Jolee stood up to the council and told them where to stick it. Can't wait for this climax.

[Jae Onasi]

Thank you all! It's a 14 hour drive down to my grandma, so I got a fair amount of writing done. Bought a yellow legal pad for just the occasion. I just had to find the computer time to get it typed in because Jimbo had to get some stuff done for work and had to use the laptop.

 

Ahhh, yes. Such hand gestures are so... human. Such a passage warms my heart as I can relate to situations such as this.

 

My favorite one is to just stick up the pinky finger. It's called, "When you don't care enough to send the very best."

 

So the Sith Lord's identity has at long last been ferreted out. An interesting twist. Very interesting. And the Jedi Masters now know Talin's and Jae's relationship isn't of the strictly platonic variety anymore, heh-heh-heh. I relished the passage where Jolee in essence tells Vandar and Vrook to stuff it.

When I was writing a few chapters back, I told Jimbo "hey, I figured out who the Sith Lord _really_ is." and told him where it was going next. Jimbo replied "You really want to make Carth angst with this betrayal thing, don't you?" "Actually, all I wanted was a decent plot twist, but now that you mention it...."

 

@Pottsie--yes, he's male, I had to do that because of the visions.

@RP, CM, Hal--oh yeah, it felt good to put the Council in its place. Jolee is their peer, so he can get away with that kind of thing, too--one of the benefits of being older.

Raxton/Miraxton is a sneaky guy. If he can find a way to sow doubt and dissent in the enemy, he'll take the opportunity to do it. If he can make 2 Jedi worry about what the Council thinks so that it takes their minds off of him, then he'll do that. Of course, Miraxton didn't count on Jolee, now, did he?

Naming Raxton's ship was fun. We were sitting in the car on the way down when I got stuck on the name. If you ever want entertainment, ask your spouse for help on a fiction writing project. Mind you, this is about hour 11 of our trip, and we were feeling the effects of being in a car way too long (read: punch drunk)

Jae: Honey, I need help naming a ship.

Jimbo: How about "The Ship"

Jae: I'm serious! I need something for a Sith Lord. But it can't sound like it's for a Sith Lord because then people would know his identity.

Jimbo: "This is Not the Sith Dreadnought You're Looking For."

Jae: It's a _small_ ship, dear. How about something a little darker? He's in intelligence. Something spy-ish.

Jimbo: How about "The Operative" No wait! "Pay No Attention to That Ship Behind the Cloaking Device"!

Jae: (trying to be serious, and starting to wonder why) No, I guess we can't do that. Spies don't give away that they're spies. How about something a little darker? Something with night, or shadow....

Jimbo: "Nightshade."

Jae: That's closer, but not quite what I was looking for. He doesn't strike me as the gardening type.

Jimbo: Ooh, ooh, I know. "Pay No Attention to the Bunny, It's Not a Plastic Explosive or Anything...."

Jae: OK, you got me. I'll think of something later when we don't have tears streaming out of our eyes from laughing.

[Snafu7]

Just spent the last day or so reading through your fic Jae, and I'm really enjoying it. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[JediMaster12]

Great chapter as always Jae. Jolee telling prune face Vrook to stuff it is a classic Bindoism. Now what gets me is WHO sent that holovid? Hmm...could it be Raxton? or...

Such a disturbing question, unless it's Jolee's idea of a joke.

 

Oh I read the banter you gave about coming up with a name for the ship with Jimbo. Needless to say, I was laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks!

@snafu7--whew! That's a lot of reading.

@JM12--I imagine the trip home will be equally entertaining.

[JediMaster12]

I'll say. At least you have a sense of humor. By the way, it is infectious.

[Jae Onasi]

Had a great vacation, got to wish my Grandma happy 80th b-day, see my sister-in-law and her family (who I love dearly), and generally have a fabulous time doing way too much in way too short a time. Only bad thing was we discovered a small leak in our transmission and the fluid got really low, but fortunately we were able to find it before we burned out the transmission. Now I have a million things to catch up on at home. Blech.

I got a little bit of writing done over vacation but not much, hence the delay. But spending time with Grandma was too important to miss.

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

 

 

Chapter 29: RZ A22

 

“I’m glad that’s over,” I breathed out a sigh of relief.

 

Jolee said, “So am I. Now you can be ‘in cute’ in public like every other normal couple. Watching the two of you act like nothing was going on was like watching a soap opera.” He stopped and thought a moment. “Well, except you two actually talk to each other instead of everyone else. And you don’t bed every other sentient that walks by. And you haven’t fallen in love with Hank’s uncle’s secret-half-brother, stolen at birth by the Mandalorians, who turned into a Sith Lord but then got captured and redeemed. Except when the moons are both full on Corellia, and then the evil side comes out. But that’s episode 12,357.”

 

“Who’s Hank?” Talin asked, confused.

 

“If you get kicked out of the Order, you could have a second career writing those things,” I couldn’t help but smile.

 

“You kidding? They drive me nuts.” He took on a more serious look, “I’m glad you’re smiling again. It’s hard to have the Masters come down on you like a fleet of warships. The thought of leaving the Order can be pretty scary, but truth be told, there are far worse things in life. I didn’t stop being who I was when I left. Oh, some things were harder, but it also meant I didn’t have to take orders from a few of the twits. How some of them became Masters I’ll never know.”

 

“I’ve never known anything outside the Order,” Talin sat down, the possibility of leaving the Order weighing most heavily on him.

 

I sat down next to him and laid my hand on top of his. He looked up at me.

 

I said, “No one’s asked any of us to make any decisions.”

 

“I know, but it never hurts to be prepared for all possibilities.”

 

Jolee replied, “There’s not much to prepare for, Talin. You can’t even control the Force to alter the outcome. Darksiders like to think they can, but they’re a little delusional on the control issue.”

 

“‘You can’t get off the ship til it docks’, eh?” Talin said.

 

“Exactly,” Jolee nodded.

 

“I’d like to know how that holovid ended up in the Masters’ hands,” I said.

 

“Wasn’t me. I was looking for De’layn.”

 

“I didn’t think you did it,” I said.

 

“Well, I’m certainly ornery enough for that, but I wouldn’t turn you in to the Masters for a little smooch,” Jolee replied. “Come to think of it, I probably wouldn’t turn you in for anything unless you turned into a baby-eating Sith.”

 

“Who had the capability to follow and film us, and who stood to gain?” Talin asked.

 

“You weren’t exactly paying attention to the fact that you were being followed, so ‘capability’ is hard to judge. Considering the recent attacks, that probably wasn’t one of your more brilliant moves, but you’re both safe and that’s what counts.”

 

“So we’ve narrowed it down to anyone on this station who could carry a holovid camera. That’s helpful,” I said.

 

“Nice sarcasm. I knew you’d learn something from me.” Jolee grinned.

 

“Whoever did this knew enough about the Jedi’s internal rules to know the Masters wouldn’t approve,” Talin noted.

 

I said, “Carth would know, but he wouldn’t do this. As long as I’m happy, he’s happy.”

 

“I doubt you could do anything to make him unhappy,” Jolee said. “He thinks you’re the greatest thing since rain on Tatooine.”

 

I just shrugged my shoulders and grinned back at him.

 

Talin thought a bit and then said, “I think this was done specifically to cause problems for us with the Council and with Jolee. One of the best ways to take down a fighting force is to create dissent in their own ranks and make them fight each other. Why fight them when you can make them fight themselves?”

 

“Miraxton’s in intelligence and he’s an ex-Jedi—he’d understand the psychology and know the Jedi rules,” I said. “This is just the kind of thing someone like him would do.”

 

“Heh, he didn’t count on me supporting you, now did he? He probably thought it would drive a wedge between us. We might be able to use that to our advantage.”

 

“If we trace the holovid to its source, we might be able to find Miraxton,” I said.

 

“It could have been sent from anywhere or by anyone if Miraxton wanted that. Still, it’s better than nothing,” Jolee said. “Now, I’m very tired from healing and all the excitement, and if I’m right, you both are, too. I’m going to sleep. Don’t stay up too late fooling around.”

 

“Jolee! You know I’m not that kind of a gal!”

 

“Ha! Maybe you should be. Being naughty is fun,” he retorted.

 

“You stay out of trouble if you’re not naughty,” I said.

 

“Well, when you put it that way, then, carry on.” He turned and left for his room.

 

“We all should get some sleep,” Talin yawned.

 

I turned where I sat and looked at him.

 

“You know I’d never ask you to leave the Order. There’s time to break it off if you want,” I said. My stomach knotted at the thought of how it would feel if he walked away, but I knew I had to give him that option.

 

“Oh, come here, dear,” he said, folding me into his arms. “I already knew you’d never ask. The Council was going to find out eventually, though I wish it had been from us and not second-hand. I knew from the start they might ask us to leave if we pursued this. I told you I’d leave in a heartbeat. I still would, because I love you.”

 

“Oh,” I said, as I realized what he’d just said. I sat back up to look at him again.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” His brows knit together in concern.

 

“No, no, it’s just…I didn’t…No one’s…I mean--” I finally stopped talking so I could gather my wits. I tried to breathe slowly and calm my racing heart.

 

“You’re surprised?” he asked, tipping his head as he looked at me.

 

“But me?”

 

“Of course, you. Jolee’s not my type,” he smiled.

 

“You’d be making a huge sacrifice,” I said.

 

“Not for you. In fact, I’m afraid I’m forcing you to make that sacrifice.”

 

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tight. “Talin, dear, you don’t have to worry. I love you, too,” I said softly into his ear. “If we have to leave the Order, we’ll do it together.”

 

He wrapped his arms around me to return the embrace. “You have no idea how much I like hearing that.”

 

“The leave part or the love part?” I grinned at him.

 

He shook his head and sighed. “Now what do you think?”

 

“Kiss me, love.”

 

“That’s the answer I was hoping for.”

 

* * *

 

The Masters had transmitted all the information they had on Miraxton within hours of the call, but they had not been able to track down the source of the holovid. Talin immediately started poring over the sparring vids. Jolee and I combed the other data for anything that would help us find him.

 

After a few hours of studying the information, I went over to Talin to see which sparring session he was watching.

 

“I wonder how the Masters missed his pride,” I noted, after watching the vid for a few minutes. “He’s cocky with his opponents.”

 

“They were watching his technique rather than the overall picture, though attitude is a big part of any fight. They may have passed it off as confidence. Something for us to keep in mind, though. If he was cocky then, he’ll be cocky with us now. There, he’s doing Xi-ro.” Talin slowed the vid down to watch every move in slow motion.

 

“What’s that move? I don’t remember it,” I pointed at his arm.

 

“That’s a wrong move, is what that is,” Jolee said, joining us.

 

Talin added, “And he’s doing it at full speed, which means he’s practiced it wrong a lot. That’s one of the weaknesses we’re looking for. He’ll either do it wrong at that point with us, or he’ll hesitate there a moment to think about doing it right.”

 

“He seems to prefer that form, too,” I said.

 

Carth came into the room to share the information he had learned.

 

“Anything interesting in the other data?” Talin asked, taking a break from the holovids.

 

Jolee replied, “He spent a lot of time with a Bothan Master, and so his intelligence skills are superb. His infiltration and manipulation skills are strong, and his ability to glean information from his sources is excellent. He was able to get into places many others couldn’t.”

 

“No wonder he got as high as he did in the Navy,” I said.

 

“He’s been on the fast track in the Navy for some time. The top brass had their eye on him as future admiral material and he was getting promoted as fast as the regs would allow. We checked out the stolen goods, and we tracked the supply drain to him. It was always small enough to not really be pursued heavily or written off as an Exchange attack. Any time the attention shifted his way, he redirected it or got himself transferred.”

 

“He’s as elusive as a Twi’lek dancing girl,” Jolee said.

 

“If he’d reached one of the top admiral posts, he could have taken over the Navy and done Force-knows-what to the Republic,” I said.

 

“He’s already solidified a position with the Exchange. If we don’t stop him, he could use Norelden’s resources and force a battle with the Navy. We can’t afford to lose any more ships right now,” Carth said. "More importantly, the Republic needs to recover, and it can't with a Sith Lord attacking."

 

“Norelden’s base is still on Telos, isn’t it?” Jolee asked Carth.

 

“It hasn’t moved as far as I know, but I can’t trust my intelligence right now. I’m off to meet with his subordinates so I can start to sort out what’s real and what’s not, but I wanted to let you know what we found so far.”

 

“So, he’s got the Exchange in his pocket, maybe some of the Navy, too, and is running around with a lot of Republic supplies,” I said.

 

“Sounds like something for Mik’oth to check out,” Jolee grinned.

 

The call went through quickly, and Mik’oth appeared at the other end.

 

“Hey, Tail-headed Tornado! Nice outfit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a unique shade of yellow before. How did you manage to get an entire suit made in that color?”

 

“Lekku-less wonder! Isn’t it wonderful? I commissioned it personally.”

 

“It’ll burn my eyes if I look at it too long.”

 

“That’s why I have the turquoise and fuschia accessories. It tones it down a little.”

 

I stifled a laugh.

 

“Oh, it’s my favorite lovely Padawan. How could I possibly have missed you? Hello, dear!” he waved at me, the large rings clinking against each other as his fingers wiggled.

 

“Always good to see you, Mik’oth,” I smiled and waved back.

 

“When are you coming back to Coruscant, dear? The planet is grey and drab without your beauty.”

 

“Keep wearing that suit and it’ll never be drab,” I replied, grinning.

 

“Oh, you say just the nicest things!”

 

It was Talin’s turn to suppress a laugh.

 

“Mik’oth, we need a little help. We thought Thorn was the Sith Lord, but we found out it’s a guy named Miraxton. He’s ex-Jedi, was working his way up the Navy ladder and skimming off a bunch of supplies. He’s in with Norelden’s branch of the Exchange. He disappeared a few days ago and we need to find him fast. We think he’s going to take over Norelden’s fleet and make trouble. Did I mention we need to find him fast?”

 

“Very clearly, Jolee. Give me a little bit and I’ll get back to you.”

 

Mik’oth took just under an hour.

 

“Ah, any opportunity to see your lovely Padawan once more,” he said to Jolee.

 

Jolee smiled. “Stop, you’re embarrassing the poor girl.”

 

“She looks just fine to me,” Mik’oth answered with a grin.

 

Carth came in just then. “That better not be my niece you’re talking about,” he said, keeping his voice neutral.

 

Jolee said, “Mik’oth, Captain Carth Onasi. I’ve fought with both of you and can trust you both. Anything said here will stay here.”

 

“We think we’ve found Miraxton’s base on Telos—he’s working out of Restoration zone A22,” Mik’oth announced.

 

“What took you so long?” Jolee smiled broadly.

 

“You call 53 minutes long?”

 

“How did you get this in only 53 minutes?” Carth asked. “It’s taken the Navy several days just to track down the leads on our own supplies.” He crossed his arms and looked at Mik’oth in disbelief.

 

“All hyperspace routes lead to Coruscant. Just follow the money. It always leads back to the source. Captain, I have many more resources than the Navy. And I mean many.”

 

“Carth, you might not trust him, but you can trust me. If Mik’oth says it’s in RZ A22, it’s there,” Jolee stated.

 

Carth thought for a moment more, still looking at Mik’oth. He touched a button. “Aichon, as soon as we transfer our patient to the med team on the station, put us on course for RZ A22.”

 

“RZ A22. Aye, sir.”

 

“Tell Bernecki I’ll have a job for him tomorrow.”

 

“Aye, sir. He’ll be very happy to hear that.”

 

Carth turned back to look at Mik’oth. “All right, I’m going on your word. I hope I’m not flying all of us into a trap.”

 

Mik’oth said, “More likely you’ll be trapping them—they won’t be expecting an attack this soon. They’ll be expecting military speed on the paperwork, you know. Besides, I want to see the lovely Padawan Jae again, so you all better take care and get this schutta before he does anything to harm her or the rest of the galaxy. He’s got too much power already. Jolee, let me know if you need anything else. Talin, be good. Jae, dear, do be careful, please.”

 

Talin put an arm around my shoulders. “We’ll all be careful.”

 

Mik’oth smiled widely. “Oh, aren’t you two cute. If you don’t have the wedding reception at my cantina I’ll be very, very upset.”

 

“The only thing we’ve said about weddings is that it’s way too soon to talk about them,” I laughed.

 

“Of course,” he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Talin, I hope you figure this out faster than you did holding hands.”

 

Talin grinned. “Whenever we have news, you’ll be one of the first to know.”

 

“Wonderful. Now, I’ll leave you to go find this Sith and save the galaxy.”

Mik’oth’s image faded out.

 

Carth opened another link. “This is Captain Onasi. I need to speak with Admiral Dodonna, please.”

 

He looked over at us. “If Raxton’s got access to an Exchange fleet, we’re going to need some help.”

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter. Family is more important than Fics. Especially if you haven't seen them in ages. Looking foward to the next Chapter.

[Darth Jester]

Very well done once again Jae cant wait for the big fight scene

[JediMaster12]

Yes another good chapter Jae. Mikoth as usual is blunt and straight to the point. I'm glad that you got to see your family.

[Renegade Puma]

Woot woot! Big fight is coming! Great work Jae, keep it up.

[RedHawke]

I seriously needed a distraction today Jae, so I read some of your little story here... and from the parts I read its pretty darn good!

[Char Ell]

It's a good thing our protagonists have Mik'oth's intelligence network available. Maybe Carth can persuade the roguish Twi'lek to offer his intelligence services to Telos on occasion, for a nominal fee of course.

 

One question, if I may, Jae Onasi. Will your story address, to any degree, how Ter Miraxton became a Sith Lord from a fallen Jedi? I'm curious although it's entirely up to you. George Lucas only gave us a little tidbit about Palpatine's Sith past with the story Palpatine shared with Anakin about Darth Plagueis.

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks, folks.

 

@RH--well, it was supposed to be just a little story.... If someone had told me in Feb. 'hey, you're going to spend the next 4 or 5 months writing a novel' I would have laughed hysterically and referred them to a psychiatrist for good drugs. It took off and I happened to be along for the ride. I can't say it's not fun, though.

 

@cm--Having Mik'oth around does make things so convenient, doesn't it?

 

I hadn't thought quite that far yet on Miraxton's story/history, because I didn't even know who the bad guy _really_ was until a few chapters back. It's a little harder in 1st person because I can't switch to Miraxton's point of view, show him doing evil acts, talking to his staff/connections, ruminating about his training, that kind of thing. The only options I have are for our heroes to learn about it through some other source (Jedi, Mik'oth, De'layn, etc.) or have Miraxton 'monologue' during the big fight, or both. It might be a way to utilize Dycen'a's character. While it's not really a loose end, it wouldn't hurt to finish off that little subplot. It certainly would be interesting to see how Miraxton developed his particular pathology and how his 'Sith mentor' exploited that, since I think most Sith Lords happen to be sociopaths. I'll take any excuse to watch more 'Criminal Minds.' "Oh, Jimbo, I'm watching it to do research for my story."

[JediMaster12]

Hey a Criminal Minds fan! Love that show!

Truly Jae if you thought that this was to be a little story, then you must have been out of your mind.

This is truly and awesome adventure coming along.

[Diego Varen]

What I don't get is how Jae managed to get an eight-paged Fanfic (On LF of course. On Microsoft Word it would be about 37 pages) for her first Fanfic on LF. It took me forever to get a sort of alright Fanfic (The Sith Lord). Anyway Jae, looking foward to the next Chapter. Also any plans for a Sequel?

[bballforlife]

Great story Jae!

[Snafu7]

Great chapter Jae, can't wait for the next one!