The Mysterious Uduz
"So, you were _working_?" Sia-Lann asked, as the group moved down a mobile walkway toward the landing fields and their meeting with Arani's customer.
Neither Jedi had related their adventures from the previous night.
"I'm...ah... needing some credits for..a business opportunity," Toba said with a sidelong glance at Arani.
"You're making him work?" Rann asked Arani, lagging behind the group and keeping an eye over his shoulder. "That doesn't exactly seem fair to me. Your ship wasn't in that great a shape to start with... "
"No, no, I am liking to work," Toba said, raising his hands to prevent the argument before it came. "Arani making me ship engineer and first mate."
The group fell silent as the landing fields came into view. A checkpoint loomed and behind it the group could barely see their ship in a sea of hundreds of other vessels. Benelli Prime's blasted landscape surrounded the field was stripped-mined of every available resource. A plump man in a tight-fitting brown business wrap manned the checkpoint.
"Arani Korden," she said, handing the man a digital chit. "I'm here for a meeting and to conduct some routine repairs."
"Ms. Korden," the man said reflexively as he took the chit and scanned it through his datapad. "It'll be just a moment."
The group stood around awkwardly as the official whistled an inane popular tune. The Force flared in Rann's mind, and he realized the man was looking anywhere but at the group. He nudged Sia-Lann.
*Something's not right,* he projected to her.
*I feel nothing,* she returned. *Are you sure?*
*That man is acting very strange*
*We should remain vigilant* Sia-Lann unconsciously fiddled with her lightsaber.
"That sure is ugly," Arani murmured.
"What's that?" The official started, flushing suddenly.
She gestured beyond the landing field where the landscape seemed to shimmer with caustic heat.
"Well," the man fussed. "Our planet has been a great supporter to the Republic, you know. There are some that feel that Benelli has outlived its resources, but, as you know..."
A positive tone emitted from his datapad.
"I'm sorry," the man said. "Your party has requested that you meet in one of our conference rooms. If you follow the red marker around to the side of Maintenance Bay 4, you can't miss it."
He handed the chit back to Arani. Rann saw the sweat beading on his forehead.
"Thanks," Arani said and started off toward a cluster of low metal buidlings.
When they were out of earshot, Rann said, "Something about that guy wasn't right, Arani."
"Probably not. One thing you have to realize about Benellians: They'll sell out their mothers to their fathers if they think they can make a dime. It's no problem. I trust Thune."
Entering the conference room, even Arani felt that something was not right. A shabbily dressed older man stood with an IG-117 heavy maintenance droid and two equally shabby looking assistants, both human. The droid stood three meters tall, a blocky, tracked, utilitarian thing. Its heavy-duty lifting arms hung inert at its side.
"Where's Thune?" she asked, pausing just inside the doorway.
"Mr. Markle will be along. He informed me this morning that he would be a little late," the man said. "I'm Rek Yern, and I require the services of your ship, Ms. Korden. I am prepared to execute contracts to that effect."
Both Rann and Sia-Lann felt a tremor in the Force as the tone on Arani's communicator sounded. Arani ignored the communicator and moved toward the conference table.
"Well," she said. "Let's have a seat and get this hammered out, then."
Toba acknowledged the man's assistants with a slight wave and studied the droid as he sat down. Rann and Sia-Lann hovered at the doorway.
"Are your...friends joining us?" Rek asked, as he took a chair.
Arani looked over her shoulder at the two jumpy Jedi and winked. "I believe they'll be outside. Perhaps they can show your men the Polestar and get some specifics about the cargo."
Rek motioning his two men outside. The Padawans followed them, and the door slid shut.
"This is Toba Fin, ship's engineer and first mate," she continued, cooly. "What do you need transported?"
"Droid parts and tools for factories on Coruscant," Rek said. "I have to say, I'm a little nervous about not using the Transit Guild."
"Well," Arani said, pulling up a standard contract on her datapad. "With the Trade Fed problems and Benelli's problems, you may not have much of a choice. The Transit Guild no longer offers transport services from the Benelli system. Don't you love commerce?"
Rek grinned, and fired up his datapad to review the contracts.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
*I still have a bad feeling about this* Rann thought to his companion as they escorted Rek's men toward the checkpoint.
*Patience*
They walked in silence, passed through the checkpoint and boarded a skimmer toward landing pad B-222F. The skimmer zipped past massive transport starships, larger than any Rann had seen, even compared to the Trade Fed droid ships. He glanced at Rek's men. They seemed ill at ease, if a little bored, but the nagging tremor he'd felt in the room faded.
"What does your master want us to haul to Coruscant," Rann asked, idly.
"Crates and crates of droid parts," the taller of the two men said.
"Lots of droid parts," the other said.
The droid skimmer came to a halt in front of the Polestar, and the group disembarked.
"So, are you kids from around here?" the taller of the two men drawled.
"No," Sia-Lann said, keying the gangway security system on the ship. "We just arrived, actually."
A high pitched whine, barely audible, echoed across the landing field.
"Where you from?" the smaller man said.
"Coruscant," the two Jedi said, simultaneously.
Rann spotted a large red aircar heading toward the field from the stark surrounding hills. The open top vehicle seemed crowded with occupants, though he couldn't tell from this distance.
"Funny, Mirek," the taller one said. "I heard they were from Naboo."
Sia and Rann froze, hearing the steel edge to the man's voice.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Well, it's hard to find good help," Rek said, sitting back with a sigh. "You don't know how please I am with this. I would have paid double...triple with the Guilds. That combined with the credits I had to outlay for my two employees and their droid..."
"And, I always make my deliveries on time, Mr. Yern, unlike the Transit Guild. They can't really be bothered with small cargo like yours," Arani said, trying to mask her own excitement. The fee from this contract would catch her up with her creditors leaving enough for some much needed upgrades.
"Well, I'm very pleased," Rek said. "I've done business with Mr. Markle in the past. It's a pleasure to see there are still some trustworthy businessmen...and women, left in the galaxy."
Though he had been daydreaming, Toba suddenly came awake. A strange noise emitted from the droid. As Arani and Rek chatted, Toba watched in horror as the ballistics-grade plastics covering the droid's lifting arms separated and retracted revealing two integrated heavy blaster rifles.
"Arani!" Toba yelled, diving to the floor and drawing his blaster.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The man called Mirek fired into Sia-Lann’s back, as Rann spun, igniting his lightsaber. Sia crumpled to the ground, and the aircar streaked overhead unleashing precise and withering fire on the Polestar. Rann forced both men to retreat, glancing two shots off his lightsaber into the plascrete landing field.
“Sia!” Rann called, swiping at the men and sparing a glance over his shoulder.
His Padawan companion lay unmoving.
“Blast!” Rann growled, and then charged.
Both men fired wildly, attempting to backpedal, and Rann took the one called Mirek’s hands off at the wrists. As Mirek collapsed, wailing, the man’s companion only grinned firing to cover his move.
“That’s them!” he yelled, falling behind the Polestar’s landing strut.
Rann whirled at the low droning sound to see two heavily armored soldiers floating down on repulsor packs. In the blasts of rifle fire peppering the area, the Jedi crouched and ran, snatching Sia by the belt and dragged her to cover behind a low maintenance shed.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Arani’s first shot was so quick and so effortless, that Rek hardly had time to react. The super-heated bolt of energy passed his left ear and slammed into the IG-117’s front control panel. Almost before the burst of sparks and smoke, she leapt and swiped the merchant down to the floor. Toba popped up and fired, sliding around the edge of the table before the droid’s rifles barked a stream of death toward him. The table and the flimsy conference room wall disintegrated, the Gungan going down with a wail.
“Up! Up!” Arani yelled to the merchant, as she darted across the room, snatched Toba by his utility bandoliers and dragged him through the smoking hole into Maintenance Bay 4.
"So, you were _working_?" Sia-Lann asked, as the group moved down a mobile walkway toward the landing fields and their meeting with Arani's customer.
Neither Jedi had related their adventures from the previous night.
"I'm...ah... needing some credits for..a business opportunity," Toba said with a sidelong glance at Arani.
"You're making him work?" Rann asked Arani, lagging behind the group and keeping an eye over his shoulder. "That doesn't exactly seem fair to me. Your ship wasn't in that great a shape to start with... "
"No, no, I am liking to work," Toba said, raising his hands to prevent the argument before it came. "Arani making me ship engineer and first mate."
The group fell silent as the landing fields came into view. A checkpoint loomed and behind it the group could barely see their ship in a sea of hundreds of other vessels. Benelli Prime's blasted landscape surrounded the field was stripped-mined of every available resource. A plump man in a tight-fitting brown business wrap manned the checkpoint.
"Arani Korden," she said, handing the man a digital chit. "I'm here for a meeting and to conduct some routine repairs."
"Ms. Korden," the man said reflexively as he took the chit and scanned it through his datapad. "It'll be just a moment."
The group stood around awkwardly as the official whistled an inane popular tune. The Force flared in Rann's mind, and he realized the man was looking anywhere but at the group. He nudged Sia-Lann.
*Something's not right,* he projected to her.
*I feel nothing,* she returned. *Are you sure?*
*That man is acting very strange*
*We should remain vigilant* Sia-Lann unconsciously fiddled with her lightsaber.
"That sure is ugly," Arani murmured.
"What's that?" The official started, flushing suddenly.
She gestured beyond the landing field where the landscape seemed to shimmer with caustic heat.
"Well," the man fussed. "Our planet has been a great supporter to the Republic, you know. There are some that feel that Benelli has outlived its resources, but, as you know..."
A positive tone emitted from his datapad.
"I'm sorry," the man said. "Your party has requested that you meet in one of our conference rooms. If you follow the red marker around to the side of Maintenance Bay 4, you can't miss it."
He handed the chit back to Arani. Rann saw the sweat beading on his forehead.
"Thanks," Arani said and started off toward a cluster of low metal buidlings.
When they were out of earshot, Rann said, "Something about that guy wasn't right, Arani."
"Probably not. One thing you have to realize about Benellians: They'll sell out their mothers to their fathers if they think they can make a dime. It's no problem. I trust Thune."
Entering the conference room, even Arani felt that something was not right. A shabbily dressed older man stood with an IG-117 heavy maintenance droid and two equally shabby looking assistants, both human. The droid stood three meters tall, a blocky, tracked, utilitarian thing. Its heavy-duty lifting arms hung inert at its side.
"Where's Thune?" she asked, pausing just inside the doorway.
"Mr. Markle will be along. He informed me this morning that he would be a little late," the man said. "I'm Rek Yern, and I require the services of your ship, Ms. Korden. I am prepared to execute contracts to that effect."
Both Rann and Sia-Lann felt a tremor in the Force as the tone on Arani's communicator sounded. Arani ignored the communicator and moved toward the conference table.
"Well," she said. "Let's have a seat and get this hammered out, then."
Toba acknowledged the man's assistants with a slight wave and studied the droid as he sat down. Rann and Sia-Lann hovered at the doorway.
"Are your...friends joining us?" Rek asked, as he took a chair.
Arani looked over her shoulder at the two jumpy Jedi and winked. "I believe they'll be outside. Perhaps they can show your men the Polestar and get some specifics about the cargo."
Rek motioning his two men outside. The Padawans followed them, and the door slid shut.
"This is Toba Fin, ship's engineer and first mate," she continued, cooly. "What do you need transported?"
"Droid parts and tools for factories on Coruscant," Rek said. "I have to say, I'm a little nervous about not using the Transit Guild."
"Well," Arani said, pulling up a standard contract on her datapad. "With the Trade Fed problems and Benelli's problems, you may not have much of a choice. The Transit Guild no longer offers transport services from the Benelli system. Don't you love commerce?"
Rek grinned, and fired up his datapad to review the contracts.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
*I still have a bad feeling about this* Rann thought to his companion as they escorted Rek's men toward the checkpoint.
*Patience*
They walked in silence, passed through the checkpoint and boarded a skimmer toward landing pad B-222F. The skimmer zipped past massive transport starships, larger than any Rann had seen, even compared to the Trade Fed droid ships. He glanced at Rek's men. They seemed ill at ease, if a little bored, but the nagging tremor he'd felt in the room faded.
"What does your master want us to haul to Coruscant," Rann asked, idly.
"Crates and crates of droid parts," the taller of the two men said.
"Lots of droid parts," the other said.
The droid skimmer came to a halt in front of the Polestar, and the group disembarked.
"So, are you kids from around here?" the taller of the two men drawled.
"No," Sia-Lann said, keying the gangway security system on the ship. "We just arrived, actually."
A high pitched whine, barely audible, echoed across the landing field.
"Where you from?" the smaller man said.
"Coruscant," the two Jedi said, simultaneously.
Rann spotted a large red aircar heading toward the field from the stark surrounding hills. The open top vehicle seemed crowded with occupants, though he couldn't tell from this distance.
"Funny, Mirek," the taller one said. "I heard they were from Naboo."
Sia and Rann froze, hearing the steel edge to the man's voice.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Well, it's hard to find good help," Rek said, sitting back with a sigh. "You don't know how please I am with this. I would have paid double...triple with the Guilds. That combined with the credits I had to outlay for my two employees and their droid..."
"And, I always make my deliveries on time, Mr. Yern, unlike the Transit Guild. They can't really be bothered with small cargo like yours," Arani said, trying to mask her own excitement. The fee from this contract would catch her up with her creditors leaving enough for some much needed upgrades.
"Well, I'm very pleased," Rek said. "I've done business with Mr. Markle in the past. It's a pleasure to see there are still some trustworthy businessmen...and women, left in the galaxy."
Though he had been daydreaming, Toba suddenly came awake. A strange noise emitted from the droid. As Arani and Rek chatted, Toba watched in horror as the ballistics-grade plastics covering the droid's lifting arms separated and retracted revealing two integrated heavy blaster rifles.
"Arani!" Toba yelled, diving to the floor and drawing his blaster.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The man called Mirek fired into Sia-Lann’s back, as Rann spun, igniting his lightsaber. Sia crumpled to the ground, and the aircar streaked overhead unleashing precise and withering fire on the Polestar. Rann forced both men to retreat, glancing two shots off his lightsaber into the plascrete landing field.
“Sia!” Rann called, swiping at the men and sparing a glance over his shoulder.
His Padawan companion lay unmoving.
“Blast!” Rann growled, and then charged.
Both men fired wildly, attempting to backpedal, and Rann took the one called Mirek’s hands off at the wrists. As Mirek collapsed, wailing, the man’s companion only grinned firing to cover his move.
“That’s them!” he yelled, falling behind the Polestar’s landing strut.
Rann whirled at the low droning sound to see two heavily armored soldiers floating down on repulsor packs. In the blasts of rifle fire peppering the area, the Jedi crouched and ran, snatching Sia by the belt and dragged her to cover behind a low maintenance shed.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Arani’s first shot was so quick and so effortless, that Rek hardly had time to react. The super-heated bolt of energy passed his left ear and slammed into the IG-117’s front control panel. Almost before the burst of sparks and smoke, she leapt and swiped the merchant down to the floor. Toba popped up and fired, sliding around the edge of the table before the droid’s rifles barked a stream of death toward him. The table and the flimsy conference room wall disintegrated, the Gungan going down with a wail.
“Up! Up!” Arani yelled to the merchant, as she darted across the room, snatched Toba by his utility bandoliers and dragged him through the smoking hole into Maintenance Bay 4.
Last edited:
)
