Revan's Shadow: Chapter Eighteen

"Hello, what's this?" one Czerka employee whispered to another. They both watched as a beautiful brunette led an odd group of people towards the camp from the direction of the Wookiee platform lift.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth, boy. Those are Jedi robes she's wearing. They don't fool around with anyone, and if they do, it wouldn't be with a hormonally-imbalanced fool like you."

"That's half the fun, sir. Wanting the unattainable ones. She looks about my age, too. You know, there's this holovid series..."

As the younger guard prattled on while staring unabashedly at Bastila, the officer looked over the rest of the group. The girl that had his subordinate drooling wasn't the only Jedi, but she was certainly the youngest. Also a couple of gun-toting mercs. He was almost positive the big one was Mandalorian. What would Jedi be doing with one of them? Why would they need mercs in the first place?

Something was up. Something important enough to someone that it could interfere with his profits. That wouldn't do at all. He frowned as the others noticed the incoming party and the camp virtually stuttered to a halt at the sight of the pretty Jedi.

"Who are you?" he spoke up when they reached the perimeter of the camp. "More civil merchants like that coreslime up on the dock?" His young associate gave him a quizzical look, and he hoped the fool wouldn't say anything. "Or are you playing tourist? It isn't smart if you are, the Shadowlands is all business. Mess around down here and you'll end up dead."

"We're quite aware of the dangers; thank you for your concern," Bastila replied with a hesitant smile. "We're here, on business, for the Wookiee chieftan."

The officer snorted. "He's got no pull with me. I'm with the corporation. He's just some pet we keep so the locals stay in line. As long as you don't get in my way, you can wander where you want. I've got work to do."

"Could you possibly answer a few questions while you work, before we continue on our way?"

"I can do that, sir!" the young man cut in eagerly. The officer was about to refuse, but noticed some of the Jedi's companions were silently amused by the boy's behaviour. Or was it Bastila's response? She was playing shy... or was it playing? She was rather young, after all...

"Alright," he decided, "But make sure you behave yourself." He said it in a tone of voice that the subordinate couldn't possibly mistake, that he was not to say too much. The young man yessired again in solemn response, then cheered considerably as the officer went back to helping the others hoist containers from one side of the camp to the other.

To the rear of the group, Canderous whispered to Juhani, "You alright?"

"Yes," the Cathar muttered distractedly, "I'm just dizzy. The effect of the field we just passed through, I suspect." She blinked rapidly as she looked to Obtena, who was 'wandering' with Carth to the nearest emitter. "Come, let's give Bastila some moral support." Canderous followed silently, torn between watching the perimeter and being present for the inevitable moment in which the Jedi princess would manage to screw this up.

"So, what do you do down here?" Bastila asked, surprisingly smoothly. "I trust it doesn't involve the shameful exploitation of the Wookiees that goes on above."

"Absolutely not! And I agree with you completely on that," the adjutant assured her. "Not much I can do about it of course, I can't even quit, not on this planet. But if I get promoted high enough, over time, I might someday be in a position to do something about it."

"A commendable attitude," Bastila replied, offering the young man a smile which was happily returned. She listened patiently as the potential of tach glands was explained to her. Meanwhile, Obtena was about to begin a conversation with another Czerka man by the emitter they were approaching; but he seemed more interested in Carth.

"Hey, don't I know you?" he asked.

"I get that a lot," Carth replied in as nonchalant a manner as he could muster. "What's this thing?"

"It's what I'm guarding," the man replied, unconvinced; he was sure he'd seen Carth before. "Why they couldn't have just equipped this lump of tech with a blaster and left me at home, I'll never know."

"This is some sort of sonic emitter, isn't it?" Carth asked, pointing at the top of the device.

"Yeah, probl... oh, I know who you are! You're Captain Onasi! You're a hero of the Republic fleet!"

"Okay, you got me," Carth admitted with a grin. Beside him, Obtena sighed. Apparently she'd underrated Carth's 'fame.' Next time you want to be inconspicuous, send the famous flyboy in the other direction, she silently told herself.

"So what are you doing here, of all places?" the guard asked the pilot.

"Just helping out a friend," Carth replied, putting an arm around Obtena's waist.

Oh, the opportunistic little... Obtena smiled in turn at the guard. "We'll be going deeper into the Shadowlands. It'd probably be helpful to know how these things work."

"They generate a sonic barrier that allows us to stay in this wonderful location. It keeps the big predators away." The guard shrugged. "I don't know how it actually works, though. I just know that if they go down, the camp would be overrun."

"So the emitters are the only thing keeping you here?"

"What of it?"

"It just seems like," Obtena said, lowering her voice, "You're not happy to be here; and if something happened to the emitters, you'd get to leave, right?"

The guard shot a worried glance at the commander on the other side of the camp. "If something happens to those emitters the camp would have to move out. But I never said anything."

"Thanks, son," Carth said with a clap on the guard's shoulder. "Captain Onasi owes you one." That thought cheered the guard almost as much as the prospect of leaving.

"And if anyone tries to blame you," Obtena continued, "You can tell them I messed with your mind." Carth couldn't help but be impressed with how sweetly she'd said it with such dangerous undertones.

"...Okay."

Carth tried to pull Obtena around one side of the guard, but she twisted free with a smirk and went the other way. She then elbowed him in the ribs when they reconnected for good measure. "Ouch. You trying to prove something, gorgeous?"

"Just keeping you in your place."

"Under your boot."

"Hey, my legs are above these boots. You get a good view of them from down there."

"The view would be better without the robes. Ouch," he added, enduring another blow to the ribs. "I'd settle for what you wearing when we met. You looked good in those clothes. Many more visible curves..."

"Stop fantasizing long enough to help me with this thing," Obtena interrupted as she discreetly used the Force to open a panel on the side of the device.

"Oh, I don't know how it works."

"I thought you-"

"No, I just know what it looks like. The dish is curved in that way to direct and focus the sound emitted by the antenna in the middle. That's the extent of my knowledge on sonic tech."

"Fine. I've rewired HK, how hard can this be?"

"Do you actually want me to answer that?" Carth muttered with a grin, and deflected Obtena's elbow with his forearm.

Meanwhile, Bastila was realising that she actually liked the young man she was talking to. He was working for Czerka, certainly, but he didn't seem to be a bad person at all. Maybe he simply took what work he could get, she reasoned. I probably shouldn't be leading him on like this. It isn't fair... her train of thought was interrupted when he complimented her, and she admitted to herself that she was enjoying the attention. She could feel Obtena's reaction, the mental smirk that proved she was paying attention and finding yet another aspect of Bastila's behaviour amusing. A fleeting image of her in the exact situation, but wearing her peach outfit, flitted across her mind; the padawan understood Obtena's point. If she'd been wearing something that showed off her curves, she'd have near-absolute power over this young man...

Bastila terminated that line of thought abruptly. Manipulating and controlling others for selfish purposes would lead to the dark side. She had no doubt that, if their positions were reversed, Obtena would be entirely capable of using this decent-enough fellow to whatever sordid end. He'd probably be a willing partner the whole time, too; not realising the price until after she discarded him. Obtena seemed to find this thought amusing too, and suddenly Bastila was once again infuriated with the bond between them. Remember your promise! she thought as 'loudly' as she could.

Surprise. Obtena was surprised. And then...

...I will.

"What?" Carth whispered to Obtena. "Why'd you stop?"

"I... think the Force bond between Bastila and I just maxed out." Seeing Carth expect further explanation, she frowned and shook her head. "Focus on the task..." She had already considered shutting the sonic unit down, but there were four of them and she'd have to disable three for that to work. Visiting two of them would look suspicious, three downright criminal. They'd never pull it off, even if Carth kept interposing himself between her and the Czerka people. She had to think of something else.

She couldn't think of anything else. Under the frown, her eyes squeezed shut tight as she concentrated. I'd have to shut most of these down, but we'd never get away with it. What can I do to just this one that would allow the animals to drive them out?

It was Bastila's turn to frown, which prompted an immediate enquiry from the junior officer. "Oh, I'm alright," she assured him. "A bit of a headache... I'm a city girl, and the constant noise of wildlife is not something I'm used to. Especially such noisy wildlife. I don't suppose you have something for it?"

"Well-"

"In pill form, if you would be so kind," she hurriedly added.

"Heh, I'll take a look in the medical kit."

"Thank you." Bastila put a couple of fingertips to her temple and rubbed gently in a circular motion, feigning pain as the young man jogged over to a container. Obtena's voice in her head didn't hurt, exactly; she was slightly proud she'd come up with the excuse for her change in demeanor, but told as much truth as she could. A mental prodding from Obtena brought her attention back to the scout-turned-Jedi's problem, and she considered the possibilities.

A minute later, Bastila was thanking the young man once more as Obtena berated herself for being an idiot. "You came up with something, then?" Carth asked.

"Actually, Bastila did. We just have to fiddle with the frequency of this one, instead of disabling three, which I doubt we'd be able to do. If we set this one cycling through the entire range, except for what humans can hear of course, it's bound to annoy something enough to come and put a stop to it."

"What about what Juhani can hear?"

"Good point. I'll be a little more conservative with the frequency parameters."

"Isn't causing an animal attack dangerous for these guys?"

"They stand a good chance of survival if they're clever enough to run at the first sign of trouble. It's either that, or we kick them out ourselves, in which case they would almost definitely die."

"Oh. Right. Animal attack it is, then." Carth watched as buttons on the control keypad depressed in sequence all by themselves, before the panel swung shut once more. The pilot offered Obtena his arm with a grin, but she turned with her nose high in the air and stalked back to the rest of the group with a chuckling Carth in her wake.

"Has the constant noise of the wildlife driven you insane yet?" Obtena asked as she approached Bastila.

"Not quite; that remains your special privilege. Time to move on?" Obtena nodded, so the padawan turned back to the junior officer. "Thank you very much or your time and your aid. It was wonderful meeting you," she said, and was rewarded as he blushed. Obtena mentally pointed out where else his blood might be rushing to, and Bastila walked off before he saw her blush.

The group left in the opposite direction from which they had come, and waited until they were well out of sight before coming to a halt. Juhani suffered no ill effects upon leaving the camp. "I've got to hand it to you, princess," Canderous said with a surprising amount of joviality, "For a virgin you did pretty good back there."

"Thank you," Bastila replied after a false start, "But I'd appreciate it if you kept your assumptions about my sex life to yourself."

The Mandalorian's disappointment was so palpable, even Juhani couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you saying you're not a virgin?" Canderous asked, trying to bounce back.

"I'm saying it's none of your business."

"That could change..."

"Not likely."

"You don't like the rugged, experienced type?"

"I think the fact that you're the mass murdering type takes precedence. Being old, unwashed and unshaved doesn't really compare."

"Hey, I wash. I'm just... musky."

"If that's what you want to call it."

The verbal opponents glared at each other for a long moment, until Obtena broke the silence. "I don't believe it. The Jedi princess has battled the Mandalorian to a standstill."

"Wouldn't be the first Jedi that did," Canderous grunted, crossing his arms defiantly, "But I admit, I didn't expect Bastila to go toe-to-toe with me and live." Bastila merely responded with her elaborate bow, but it did not escape her that he had called her by name for what seemed like the first time. Apparently she had just become worthy of a modicum of respect from... The murderous barbarian, she told herself mentally.

By Republic standards, yes, Obtena interjected, But he still lives by a code of honour that should not be ignored.

Bastila considered this, before changing the subject. Thank you for giving me that initial response.

Just remember that's all I gave you. You ran with it, and you did just fine on your own. You deserve the praise.

I wasn't impying that I didn't, Bastila pointed out with a raised eyebrow that made Obtena grin.

"There's nothing wrong with being unshaven..." Carth muttered, but noone paid him any attention.

*

It took barely ten minutes after their departure for something large, heavy and angry to come crashing through the camp. When the group returned, nothing was left but mangled machinery and containers strewn about the place. Of the Czerka people, there was no sign. Either the offended animal had swallowed every last one of them whole, or they'd been sensible enough to run off at the first sign of trouble. Obtena righted a few containers, checking the contents of each until she found the tach glands Mission needed, before leading the way back to Jolee Bindo's hut. The old Jedi was pottering about outside as if he had completely forgotten his loss of temper earlier.

"Welcome back. Had any luck?"

"The poachers are gone," Obtena informed him, "And will most likely not be coming back."

"Yes, I heard the fuss from here. I told you I wanted a non-violent solution, and I had my reasons for it. You should have thought about that."

"You never asked me to keep the noise down. Besides, those men were there to make a profit. No amount of talk would've persuaded them to leave."

"And you call yourself a Jedi? Hmph!"

"Perhaps you've been down here too long, old man, but not every sentient being is a bumbling, weak-minded fool."

"I haven't forgotten. Neither should you." The old rascal's grin returned as Obtena caught on. "I don't sense the smell of death on you. All that commotion, yet you spared them? Interesting."

"I just neutralized their advantage and let nature take its course. But if you didn't care about the outcome, why did I have to do it?"

"You were here and it needed doing. Besides, dealing with the Czerka is dirty business. I hope you washed your hands."

Obtena held up her hands, palms forward to prove the state they were in. "Will you help us find the Starmap now?" she asked in mock reverence.

"Yes, of course." Jolee ducked inside his hut a moment, extinguished some unseen light source, and came out again with a stained, brown cloak over his shoulder. "Let's get moving," he ordered them, heading off in a new direction. "I noticed the old paths some time ago. You probably wouldn't have found them on your own."

"I was a scout before I was pressed into service, you know," Obtena pointed out as they started walking. "I'm only letting you tag along because you'll save us some time."

"Is that a fact? I wouldn't be so damn cocky if I were you. The universe always has at least one more surprise to spring on each and every one of us. Maybe even me." He gave Obtena a sideways glance. "Definitely you."

"What's your point?"

"Oh, no point. I just want to see how you'll react when it happens."

Obtena clucked her tongue in mild frustration. "I think I'll learn to hate you long before then, old man."

Obviously determined to have the last word, Jolee grinned again. "How very wise of you."