Before - Legends Mother of the Jedi; OCs

Just wondering if there's any interest in this story. This story takes place before Yoda joins the Jedi and deals with the collection of youth to add to the Jedi ranks. More than that, it's definitely a work in progress. Let me know what you think! Thanks!

___________

“Ah, Padawan Vendra, so good to see you again.” The woman speaking was called Thryma; she was a Twilek, and was the administrator of this orphanage. Her lekku, like slender Hutt tails draped behind her lightly stooped shoulders. Wrinkles marred the pale green skin around her human-like smiling mouth and eyes.

After shaking her hands free of her long, overly wide brown robe's sleeves, Vendra gently took the woman's outstretched hand in both of hers. “Actually, it's Jedi Knight Fissix Vendra now. I passed my trials last month.”

A human woman with a wry grin stepped forward. “Indeed. As I told her, the fifth time is always the charm.”

Vendra was barely able to hide her scowl. The pointed humor was very much in Master Harr's character. “The trials were easy. The logic puzzles at the end always stumped me,” Vendra muttered. Had she not met Thryma on dozens of occasions previous, she'd have never volunteered that. Maybe Vendra was a little more defensive than she realized.

Thryma grinned widely and bowed at the waist towards Master Harr. “Regardless, you're both always welcome here.”

For at least the twentieth time, Fissix decided that Master Harr wore her age well. For the last ten years, she had chosen not to wear the standard brown robes, instead wearing grey or silver garments that highlighted the natural colors coming out in her boy-short hair. Her limbs were a little more lost in her trousers and sleeves than they had been all those years ago when she had chosen Vendra to be her pupil. Twenty years was a long time. Especially since Master Harr hadn't been particularly young when she started Fissix's training.

“Would you sentients care for some refreshments, or would you like to get straight to it?” Thryma asked Harr.

The Master shrugged. “I'm just here to observe. Fissix is in charge of this expedition. She better get used to doing it by herself. After all,” she grinned slyly. “I'm old. I could check out any time.”

Vendra rolled her eyes. “Master, you won't die until after I do. How would you criticize me if you were to go first?” She knew there was no need to take the sting out of her words. Vendra wasn't using the Force to hide her emotions. Master Harr could probably feel her love and respect, with the mild frustration buzzing about the edges.

The young Knight turned a smile to Thryma. “Now that I've passed my trials—” Vendra ignored the older woman's muttered “finally!” “Master Harr has decided to retire from Youngling finding. Apparently twenty years with me, she's had enough grief to last several lifetimes.”

Thryma's eyes widened slightly. “You're retiring?”

“Not officially,” Master Harr replied. “But I've spent so much time finding promising children, it's about time I get to play with them a bit more.”

Vendra leaned towards the Twilek conspiratorially. “She's always wanted to be a grandmother. Although in her case, she's more likely a great-great-great-great...what, you're not going to stop me?” she asked at last, glancing at the older woman.

“I wanted to see how long you were going to continue on. And how deep of a hole you were going to dig for yourself.” Master Harr made circles with one hand in a 'get on with it' gesture.

Vendra grinned at Thryma. “If you please, I think we'll skip straight to the children, if that's all right with you.”

“Of course.” The administrator led them at a stately pace through the toy-cluttered lobby, past the few offices. She paused outside the door to the children's primary play area, increasing her voice's volume to go over the din of happily playing youth. “We've only had thirty six new youth dropped off since you were here last.”

“So few? Well, that's good, I suppose.”

The administrator nodded firmly. “Most of the children are under two standard years old, but there are a few older ones who could decide for themselves to go with you, if you would take them.”

Vendra bowed slightly, inviting Thryma to continue.

The Twilek triggered the room's lights on and off a couple of times. Instantly there was quiet. “I brought Jedi visitors!”

Chaos began anew, with the sounds of dozens of human and alien voices shouting suddenly, and a hundred pair of little feet of various configurations and size stampeding the Jedi. The first time Vendra had seen that nearly fifteen years ago, she nearly panicked. This time, all she felt was joy.

**

Seven hours later on board their specially designed passenger starship, Vendra had safely clicked three toddlers into safety harnesses overseen by a nanny-droid. The six older children were able to take care of their own restraints. The oldest ones had wanted to ride in the cockpit with the Jedi, but the young Knight had gently turned them down.

Vendra dropped into the navigator's chair like a stone. “I'm exhausted. I don't know how you can look so relaxed and alert at the same time, Master.”

Harr placed a comforting wizened hand on Vendra's shoulder. “You did well. Use the Force to refresh yourself, if you must. You're young, but I made you check all those children for a connection to the Force by yourself. That'll take a lot out of anybody.”

Master Harr moved around to the pilot's station and gracefully settled herself in.

The young Knight leaned the back of her head against the chair. “Four Force sensitives, two of which could be Jedi. That's a pretty good haul.”

“True. But don't discount the other lives we brought with us. Just because they don't use the Force doesn't make them worthless.”

Vendra sat up straight. “I never thought they were worthless.”

“Ah, but did you ever think they were special?”

Marr was focused on the ship's warmup sequence, appearing not to pay attention to Vendra. But the young Knight knew that was deceiving. “At first, I guess. But the Council always talks about Jedi recruits far more than the others...” Vendra said.

“That is their failing,” Harr replied firmly. “Don't let it be yours, too.” She swivelled her chair to look seriously at her former apprentice. “We've found starship mechanics, pilots, scientists. And an executive VP of the bank of Coruscant.”

“Graidy Ree, yes I saw that the other day while reading my follow-up files.”

Master Harr let a smile touch her lips at last. “Good, I'm glad you read those. Did you know that one of the children we found is now a Senator?”

“What? Who?” Vendra demanded.

“I'm not telling. Consider that homework.”

Vendra rolled her eyes again before turning back to the navicomputer. “And here I thought you weren't going to be my slave master anymore. Shall we head to Coruscant, drop off our load before we head out again?”

“You're in charge, Fissix.”

“Sure I am. Let's go home.”

 

So they're not just looking for Jedi? This is very interesting. I like the teasing between Vendra and Master Harr.

 

Looks interesting so far. I'll keep reading to see where it goes.

 

A new Peri story!

I'll echo Kahara: I'm enjoying the dynamic between Master Harr and Vendra.

I'm curious about what kind of region that orphanage is in to have "only" 36 new arrivals since the last time the Jedi were there, unless it's been a long time between visits. I wonder what number of new arrivals Vendra is used to seeing there.

Another echo that it's neat they're looking for others besides Jedi as well. It certainly sounds like they have a good track record with providing those non-Force-Sensitive kids the opportunity for good lives when they're no longer with the Jedi. I wonder what Jedi like Master Harr and Vendra look for in the non-FS kids? Some special aptitude or something else?

Great work! Looking forward to more.

 

Peri is at it again.

Great beginning

 

Working so closely with someone for a very long time can't help but breed some sort of rapport. Thanks for reading!

Thanks! That's appreciated! I'm going to try to update this next week, but I've got a busy weekend ahead, including visitors. More will come ASAP!

Hi Thumps! Good to see you. It's been a while since I've posted anything, hasn't it? We'll see how well and long the need to tell this story grabs me. Hopefully for a long time!

Hello EB! Thanks for tracking me down! More story soon!

 

This is a great start! Great chemistry between Harr and Vandra. You really bring out the best of each character in the playful ribbing dialogue.

"Ah, but did you ever think they were special?"

I love that line - I might be reading to much into that statement, but I think it nicely captures the Jedi's elitism and destructive self-importance. Honestly there are not enough stories resconstructing the Jedi hegemony. (Yes I am reading into this a lot! Calm down - It's only the first chapter, R_F!)

Srsly though, it's great to see you, Peri! Im excited to read more!

 

Awww, thanks Rau, it's been a while, hasn't it? I don't know how in-depth I'm going to go with what you're poking at here, but I will definitely touch on some of it. I've always wondered what it was like for Jedi to choose children, and how/where they came from.

Here's the next short snippet. I hope to have the action in place by the end of the week--Thursday at the latest. I'll see how things go!

_____________

“Welcome back, Master Harr. Knight Vendra.” The sentient greeting them was a trunk-necked Ithorian, sometimes called “hammer heads” because of their widely spaced eyes. The words boomed from both sides of his neck, stereophonic due to having a mouth on each side. Leathery brown skin was mottled with beige and black splotches, his distinct colouration almost giving him a camouflage pattern.

Vendra rushed into the Ithorian's very-long arms. “Ip Jo! What are you doing here?”

The sentient's eyestalks raised slightly, his personal attempt at a smile. “The Council wanted me to keep you from getting too far from your ship. Several of the orphanages on Nar Shaddaa have requested a visit as soon as possible.”

As Vendra stepped back, head cocked to one side, Master Harr asked, “Was any reason given?”

“None, sorry, just the usual Hutt-centric egotism stating their obvious self worth and altruism.”

Vendra shared a look with her former Master. The Council often did this to the Youngling Seekers, sending them away before they could take more than a couple of steps into the Temple proper, without so much as a communication warning them beforehand. It seemed like it was more prevalent since the new Seeker director took over, whatever his name was. Vendra would have to contemplate that later.

“Can you remember the Nar Shaddaa orphanages demanding a pickup before?” Master Harr asked.

Ip Jo shrugged his narrow shoulders.

Fissix thought back. It was in Hutt nature to be demanding, but then again it wasn't in Hutt nature to gather lost children and let the Jedi have their pick. “I suppose I can't.”

Harr nodded, as if she expected that. “Ip, we'd really appreciate it if you came with us.”

The Ithorian's giant neck-stalk rocked backwards in surprise. “Master Harr, I'd sooner jump down a ripe garbage chute than spend three days in hyperspace with fifty screaming children.”

“Shall I tell Master Bjak that you're being uncooperative?”

Stereo rumbling came from deep within Ip's throat. Master Harr wasn't playing fair and he knew it, but he also respected her well enough that he didn't want to let the old woman down. “Let me get my travel bag,” Jo said at last.

Master Harr put a bony hand on his arm in thanks. “For what it's worth, I don't think you'll be bored the whole time. I've got a bad feeling about this.”

**

“I've sent messages to every Youngling Seeker's quarters and ship to meet us on Nar Shaddaa as you requested, Master.”

Harr nodded from her spot at the pilot's chair. “Good. I did a check; it's been over six months since we were last on the Smuggler's Moon.”

Vendra eyed her former master suspiciously. “Are you sure?”

“That's what the records say,” Master Harr said with a shrug. “I know we haven't been there in over a year.”

Vendra pondered while she entered in navicomputer coordinates, but didn't come to any conclusions. The problem with being a Seeker was that she did the same thing almost every day, so they all sort of blurred together.

“I'm here,” Ip's voice thundered, shaking both of their seats as he gripped the backs of their chairs. Nerf hide leather groaned as the Ithorian dropped his heavy weight into the copilot's chair. “Let's get this over with.”

“I found these for you,” Vendra said, tossing a package to Ip. Even though he had no way of knowing something was going to be hurled at him, the Ithorian snagged it out of the air, holding the package suspiciously. The human Knight smiled. “They're aural dampeners designed for your physiology.”

He burbled in stereo glee. “Vendra, I could kiss you.”

Vendra considered both pairs of the Ithorian's lips and shook her head. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Master Harr interrupted whatever retort Jo was going to give. “I'm sure that was the start of a lovely slough of insult-hurling, but let's get going first, shall we?”

“Wait,” Vendra butted in. “I thought I was in charge of these expeditions.”

The Master rolled her eyes. “And?”

“Let's go.”

**

Vendra's fingers dug into her jaw. “Okay, so none of the three orphanages are answering their holos.”

Ip Jo moved up behind her and scrolled through some of the computer's results. “That's because they're not getting through. Scoot over.” He took her seat and let his fingers fly across the controls. “Each of your comm calls were jammed.”

“I told you before we left,” Master Harr said. “I've got a bad—”

“Shhh.”

Ip Jo glanced over at the younger human. “Well if she can't say it, I will. I've got a bad feeling about this.”

Vendra fought off a small surge of anxiety. “Aww kriff. So do I.” She put her small hand on the Ithorian's narrow shoulder. “All right, slicer expert. Unravel this mess for me and figure out what's going on.”

 

It seemed like it was more prevalent since the new Seeker director took over, whatever his name was.
Ah, bureaucracy and management changes. Not even the Jedi are immune.

...but let's get going first, shall we?”
“Wait,” Vendra butted in. “I thought I was in charge of these expeditions.”
The Master rolled her eyes. “And?”
“Let's go.”

I had to laugh at that. Awesome dynamic.

Curious about the comm jamming on Nar Shaddaa and why they were called there to begin with.

Great post!

 

Poor Ip Jo, doomed to a mission full of younglings (well, they didn't have to twist his ear or whatever Ithorians have for hearing too hard; his friendship with the others comes through nicely.) This mission sounds more and more like something is funky... communication problems never mean anything good.

 

Love how you describe your Ithorian character and how the mystery is building up

 

Something interesting is going to happen on this mission. Good work.

 

Thanks very much! Real life is so mundane, it's hard to remember the names of all your colleagues sometimes. Even the ones you've been working with for 8 months. Somehow that's my problem, I'm sure.

Indeed they don't. Poor Ip is going to have to wait till next week to get his segment posted though. Thanks very much for reading!

Thanks EB!

Hopefully this isn't TOO interesting. Here's the next post for ya! Thanks for reading!

***

Sitting in the cockpit of a one-sentient transport, Vendra squirmed gleefully at the edge of the seat. This was it. Her first solo mission as a Jedi. No master to tell her what she did wrong, or second guess every decision. This time, it was just her, the Force, and the lightsaber she had spit-shined so frequently that she could practically see the inner workings of it.

Ip Jo's sleuthing had turned up an odd anomaly. Everywhere else could receive the Jedi's communications; it was only the three specific orphanages that were being locked out. Hence the solo mission and the wonderful freedom that it would bring.

Vendra let the autopilot take her in while she familiarized herself with the layout of her specific target. It was the smallest orphanage of the three, with space for about 500 kids in various stages of development. They did rate a landing pad, one wide enough to land Master Harr's large transport, so she should have no trouble parking her small shuttle there.

Of course, the landing pad was currently occupied.

Resting there was a large freighter, very boxy, painfully unimaginative, with a large boxy cockpit at the front. Even the engine modules were boxy. There were no symbols, no decals, anywhere on the ship; it was painted the stock grey that most craft rolled off the assembly line with. Nothing should have set off the warning bells in her mind. But they were shrieking. It was more like they were clanging ceaselessly, like a malfunctioning droid stuck in a perpetual ringing loop.

Vendra took over for the autopilot, sliding her shuttle in right under the nose of the other transport. With her mind open, the Force surged an idea—and a warning—and she gave her shuttle just a little more throttle, ripping the freighter's boarding ramp away. Now whoever it was wouldn't be able to make space again.

She had a brief moment of anxiety, wondering if she had just damaged an innocent being's craft before a barrage of colored blaster bolts rained down on her from the entrance to the orphanage—as well as the torn opening to the stranger's ship. Hand-held weaponry wasn't anything that would damage her ship. Especially not after she activated her deflector shields.

The young Knight hadn't counted on rockets, though. The first two slammed into her shuttle almost simultaneously, nearly shoving her ship off the landing pad. Vendra glanced at the shield power, and decided she couldn't take too many more hits like that.

Another rocket salvo battered her transport towards the end of the pad. A flash of insight came like a glow rod being turned on in a pitch black room. Vendra launched the freighter forward, clipping the forward-most landing strut of the larger ship, pitching it forward. The freighter's weight crashed down onto her shuttle, pinning her shuttle into place. She cringed at the shriek of strained metal squealed throughout the cabin.

After the major collision with the freighter, the blaster fire outside had subsided slightly, signalling it was time to get out. Vendra leaped free, using the Force to propel her at superhuman speeds. Her brilliant blue lightsaber blade batted back half a dozen bolts, making the sentients who fired them duck for cover.

She sensed the six people inside the boxy transport and jumped up inside the torn hull. They were clustered around the hole in close proximity with one another. Perfect. Sensing the surprised Rodian's intent, she ducked his shot, which tagged a Twi'lek in the shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon. In one smooth motion, she sliced the barrels off of three weapons and sent the Rodian flying backwards with a Force-assisted kick. Vendra reversed her momentum and brought the same foot up under the jaw of another attacker while sweeping her lightsaber forward, through the abdomen of the last armed assailant, cleaving him in half.

Even as her emotions began to go into shock, Vendra had the presence of mind to knock out the rest of the dumbfounded crew with a couple of palm-heels to their temples.

Vendra clenched down on her gorge—she was a Jedi. No matter how much it hurt her to have killed that man, she would not vomit. She would not cry. She would not give in to despair or regret. Gently, she touched the dying man along his cheek, using her abilities to ease his pain and his passing.

“I'm sorry,” she said, biting back a sob. “I didn't mean to.” Vendra had followed her instincts. If she hadn't, that man probably would have killed her. Still, it was going to be a while before her conscience was clear after her first kill.

Vendra could see the two humans racing from the orphanage's door towards her. She rose from her knees at the sense of the two men angling in for lines of fire. Vendra didn't feel like being gentle anymore. Grabbing both of their blaster rifles with the Force, she wrenched them out of the humans' grasp and used the momentum to club them unconscious with each others' weapon.

Vendra gave a long sigh as she began tying the men up. Ignoring the two halves of corpse, she sought her calm center, and willed her emotional turmoil away; at least for now. And that was when she felt the presence of lifesigns—hundreds of them—hidden behind a thick blast door behind the entry way. Fortunately the lock mechanism was simple, and the door hissed open revealing a small town-worth little faces staring at her from behind forcefield cages. The vast majority were crying, but their eyes brightened drastically at her appearance.

Before they could raise a cheer, Vendra motioned them all to gentle silence. “How many of them are there?” she asked the young Bith nearest her through his glowing prison door. He seemed to be the most composed. “Do you know?”

The young being couldn't have been more than nine. He shrugged his narrow shoulders. “At least eight? Ten? I don't know, sorry.”

“It's all right. You're safe now.” Vendra glanced back to the entryway and made a show of counting each body. “Eight....nine. Oops.” Two of those counted was one body cut in half. She forced away her regret again. “For your own safety, I'm going to leave you in here. Once all the bad guys are out of commission, I'll free you all. You have my word as a Jedi on that.”

“Please help Miss B'fran,” one Rodian child said. “Those mean people said they were going to hurt her...”

“I'll do my best.” The young Knight gave a wide grin, closed the blast door and began working her way back through the freighter, lightsaber still in hand. She let a small smile creep back on her face as the chant of “Jedi!” started to coalesce behind her. Making a quick decision, she entered the cockpit and ran her lightsaber through the main computer. That would keep anybody from taking off for a while.

Including her. Oh well, done was done.

Vendra entered through the orphanage's crumbled door. She darted from room to room, Force senses searching for signs of life. There were two people ahead, both nervous, and one frightened out of her mind. Around Vendra's feet were contorted bodies and automated defense droid parts. The smell of burnt flesh and melting plasteel was unbearable. Most of the bodies were of children, scattered amongst their toys. Vendra let her anger dissipate as best she could. Here or there, an adult clustered around the still forms of children in what seemed to be defensive postures. The orphanage staff had done their best to shield their charges. It just hadn't been enough.

Rounding the corner into the administrative suite, Vendra found two of the three life signs she was tracking. The blue-skinned Twi'lek male was holding a blaster to the head of a pale Quarren female. Her face tentacles were wriggling, reflecting the torment and fear she felt.

“I want answers,” Vendra demanded of the male, igniting and pointing her lightsaber at him.

The durasteel in the man's voice was obvious, and matched the resolve in his grey eyes. “You'll not get them from me.”

Before she could react, the Twi'lek fired into the Quarren's head, and then brought the weapon around and fired again, this time into his own temple. It happened so fast, both of their bodies collapsed at nearly the same time.

Sudden movement came from behind as a sentient raced out of cover and ran for the freighter. Vendra was still dumbfounded at the tragic ending she'd just witnessed. It took her a couple of seconds to decide to chase after the last assailant. She didn't get there quickly enough to see how he ascended into his ship; with the boarding ramp gone it couldn't have been easy.

Before she could leap in after him, her danger sense ignited like a lightsaber. Instead of leaping up, Vendra followed her instincts and leaped away from the mangled ship entrance just in time to avoid the shrapnel of an explosive.

Her danger sense kicked out as quickly as the explosion's booming rumble. She switched on her lightsaber again anyway and jumped back inside the freighter. Her nostrils were greeted again by burnt flesh and a small fire in one of the ship's instrument panels. None of her captives still lived. The frag grenade had killed them—including the final being who'd used the explosive—in a charred and bloody fashion.

Vendra fought off another bout of queasiness. As she phoned for local authorities and medical personnel, she hoped Master Harr and Ip Jo were faring better than she did.

 

Wow, this got very violent, very quickly!

"Vendra fought off another bout of queasiness. As she phoned for local authorities and medical personnel, she hoped Master Harr and Ip Jo were faring better than she did."

Me too!

 

Wow!! That was more interesting than I expected. At least Vendra realized that she had no choice in killing her assailant. It was kill or be killed and she did the only thing she could.

Great work.

 

Explosive action and a great insight in Vendra's character.
Great read

 

Wow. Vendra's guilt around killing that dude was profound. She is going to develop into one of my favorite coming-of-age style characters I'm excited!

I'm curious to read what happens next. Who are these psychos?

 

Indeed it did. I had no intention of making the story this way. The problem with being a pantser-writer is sometimes the story writes itself differently than you planned. For what it's worth, the next few posts will be much less...violent.

Thank you very much! The problem with being well trained is that you do the thing you were trained to do, even if you don't mean to.

Thank you, EB

Ahhh, you'll have to figure out who these psychos are later. I hope I can make it a surprise. Thanks so much for your kind words, though! I hope I can live up to the hype.

Stay tuned! I'll have more on Tues or Weds!

 

Great action scene there! I wasn't expecting what happened. Those guys were very determined, and killing themselves makes me wonder if they were working for someone who would not tolerate any of them spilling the beans. Definitely hardcore stuff either way.

It was neat to see the kids' complete faith in Vendra as a Jedi. I also liked how she approached this solo mission, confident in herself and the Force and following the Force's guidance willingly. I hope she can cope with the aftermath of her first kill.

Looking forward to more!

 

Vendra sure doesn't start easy with things. That was a pretty grim scene for her to walk into for her first solo mission, though she handled it well. Hope the kids who survived will be safe and that nobody comes back to finish the job. Somebody really doesn't want info getting out about what was going on there. It's not just anyone whose employees would blow themselves up rather than risk capture.

 

I can only imagine how much it would mess me up to have to kill someone. Thank you very much for reading, Thumps!

It's true. Most employers don't pay you enough to have you blow yourself up rather than be captured. I know mine doesn't. I'm sure we'll find more out...later.

Here's the continuation!

***

Ip Jo set his shuttle down with the grace of a drunken bantha. “Flying is just not my thing,” he muttered to himself.

He had managed to do a loop around the orphanage's perimeter, taking special note of the Hutt and his bodygyards that had just slithered into the building. The ship parked on the landing pad that the slime had oozed out of was a design he hadn't seen in well over a decade. It was one of SoroSuub's lesser known transport line, more typically used to haul live nerf for slaughter from one world to the next. It wasn't supposed to be armed, but a double-barrelled turret poked out from the top and rear-most of the vessel, guarding over the squarish engines. With a setup like that, it could only be slavers.

Ip's landing pad was about half a klick from the orphanage. He locked his shuttle down, doing the bare minimum to keep the shuttle from exploding while he was gone. With speed born of both the Force and determination, Ip raced along the sidewalks, not caring who he jostled or who saw him. His sensitive ears picked up a few murmurs of “Crazy Jedi.” He took that as a compliment.

Time was of the essence, he knew that without the Force's guidance. Thick Ithorian fingers wrapped around his long lightsaber hilt, pulling it free, just in case.

Ip Jo dashed between the transport's landing struts, keeping his senses open for any slavers guarding the craft. Oddly, there didn't seem to be any one around. That was the chance he hadn't dared hope for. With Force assisted speed, he went to the door leading to the orphanage. It only took one good shove to disable it. Ip smiled to himself. Nobody would be coming through there for a while.

Turning his attention to the locked starship door, he let the smile grow. This was something he was much more familiar with. If the Jedi hadn't found him at a very young age, with his talent for slicing, he would have ended up doing bank heists, or hopefully something that paid him well.

So enthused was he about his task that he didn't sense the beings on the other side of the door, nor did he predict that the door would open suddenly, and not from anything he did.

His double mouths gaped in surprise. “Holy Force. Kids!” There were dozens of them, all crammed tight around the egress, and the suggestion of hundreds more, out of sight around corners.

“Ok kriff, it's one of them!” The young human boy—Ip guessed around twelve years old—at the herd's lead reached for a blaster that was awkwardly stuffed into his trousers. He almost had it pulled free when Ip clamped his massive hand around the boy's.

“You don't need to do that,” the Ithorian said, simply holding the weapon in the boy's belt. “I'm a Jedi, I'm here to save you.”

Dark eyes looked up at him suspiciously. “How do we know you're not a slaver?”

“Would a slaver have one of these?” Jo lifted up his lightsaber and activated one of the two blades, casting an emerald light throughout the cabin. The boy's face showed surprise for a moment, but he wasn't impressed for long.

“Fine,” he answered, making a show of removing his hand from the blaster. But he didn't hand it over, nor did the Jedi take it from him. “What do you want to do?”

“Well, you could let me in,” Ip replied, his eyes slanting slightly in a grin. “And then I can fly us off this rock.”

The boy backed up, shoeing the little ones behind him to do the same. “I hope you have more luck than I did. That navicomputer was locked up tighter than a Hutt's wallet.”

Ip's chuckle turned into a groan of disgust. Speaking of Hutt, the whole cockpit smelled like one. To his sensitive Ithorian nose, there wasn't an equal to that stench in all the galaxy. He plopped into the oversized pilot's chair and tried a few slicing algorithms. Those fizzled out miserably.

“Yes, I see what you mean.” Ip turned to the young slicer. “What's your name?”

The boy became very still, the look he gave the Ithorian was blatantly suspicious. “Why do you want to know?”

Based on the young boy's skills, Ip guessed the boy probably had a rap sheet that would impress bank robbers, even on Nar Shaddaa. “Relax, kid, I just wanted to know what to call you.”

“Call me whatever you want.”

Ip grunted a laugh. “Fine. Kid, can you cycle and re-encrypt the primary hatchway door?”

Kid rolled his eyes and nodded, sending a tuft of black hair bobbing into his green eyes.

“Good. Go to it, I don't want anybody else on board. This ship smells enough without more sweaty bodies.”

A few of the younger children followed Kid to see what he was doing. Others clustered around Ip and fired questions at him, non-stop. He tried to slip into a meditative state, but the non-stop whining around him made that impossible. Still, he ignored it as best he could while he prepped the ship for takeoff.

Three minutes later, the repulsorlifts were functioning and the engines were warmed up enough to begin an ascent. That's when the ship lifted off of its own accord.

“Oh great,” Ip muttered.

“That was fast,” Kid said, plopping into the copilot's chair.

Ip glanced over and gave the human a wink with his left eyestalk. “Wasn't me. We're on a slaver ship, obviously they've got a slave circuit to get this thing home.”

“That's really not funny. What are we going to do?”

“Well Kid, I'll try to get past the slaver circuit. But as a Jedi, I have an obligation to see where this ship is going. Hopefully we'll be able to stop them from abducting anybody else. That is, unless you'd rather just go and hide somewhere.”

Kid's eyes smoldered with rage. “Can we blow these slavers up?”

Ip shrugged, then let his fingers start dancing across the control pad. “Anything's possible, though I wouldn't get your hopes up.”

“Fine,” Kid said.

“Good. Go secure our other passengers. I need to concentrate.”

“Aye aye, Captain Jedi.”

As the boy herded his charges back to their former cells, Ip wondered if he was going to be able to disable the slave circuit in time. He didn't look forward to guarding hundreds of children on a running firefight through a capital ship...

 

Love Ip's actions and his interaction with the children.

 

Ip Jo found a very different crowd of kids than Vendra. These ones are organized and have attitude. Their leader's skepticism makes me think of a very young Han. Should be interesting times.

 

His sensitive ears picked up a few murmurs of “Crazy Jedi.” He took that as a compliment.

Heh, that made me laugh. I like Ip Jo's attitude.

That kid's pretty resourceful if he managed to get a blaster from somewhere. Looks like he's got some street-smarts too, and he's probably seen a lot in his young life if he knows the people are slavers. He could be really helpful in their escape if he can trust and work with Ip Jo. Ip Jo may have his work cut out for him in that aspect, though.

And now they're going for a ride... somewhere. Hopefully Ip Jo can handle the likely bad stuff at their destination.

Great work!