A Taste of Forgivness

[Mu Satach]

Author's Note: This is a really really really old story I never finished due to IRL conflicts with writing. I always wanted to finish it, so I've resurrected it to do just that.
~~~~~~

The man had been coming into the bar every night for over two months now. It was the same every night. He'd walk up to the bar sit down order a scotch and soda and ask, "Is she in tonight?"

Only to have the bartender smile, shake his head and reply, "Sorry Pops, boss hasn't made it back in from her business trip yet."

The gentleman would nod his head in acknowledgment. His steely silver blond hair catching and reflecting the lights as he moved. The blue neon back lights of the bar seemed to make the man's watery blue eyes glow. He would take a drink, then change the subject to sports, racing, politics or the price of Tibanna gas. Anything to pass the time pleasantly.

When the drink was finished, he'd place his credits on the bar and wave a friendly good bye to the staff. "See you tomorrow night Pops," someone would call out to him as he would leave the bar.

"Maybe, maybe not." he'd call back and disappear into the crowd. No one knew his name, he never offered it and the staff was in the habit of not asking questions of it's patrons. But they knew his face, knew his likes, knew his dislikes and each one fervently hoped the boss would return before the old man's ticker stopped ticking.

So this night, the first night Mu was back from her business trip, a waitress cheerfully knocked and pushed her head in through the doorway. "Hey Boss."

Mu didn't look up from her console, "Hmmm?"

"There's this real sweet old guy who's been coming in for ages looking..."

"I'm not here." Mu cut her off without looking up.

The waitress stood silent, staring at her boss. "Are you sure? He's been coming in like clockwork since you left."

Mu stopped her work and without moving her head flicked her eyes up at the young woman. "I said, I'm not here."

The waitress shifted from foot to foot, hovered, opened her mouth as if to speak then thought better of it. She pursed her lips a bit then sighed. "You're the boss, boss." She pulled the door shut behind her and walked slowly back down the corridor to the bar.

Unaffected by the exchange, Mu continued working.

Hours later, Pops strolled in as usual sat down, ordered his drink and asked "Is she in tonight?"

Word had traveled fast through the staff about Mu's reaction to the news of her visitor, the bartender sadly shook his head and quietly answered, "Sorry Pops."

Pops looked at the bartender, then glanced around the bar at the rest of the staff who avoided his gaze. Slowly he nodded his head as usual and changed the subject to the talk of the latest round of tax increases proposed by the government.

Relieved, the bartender answered and then the conversation was joined by a few patrons who got in a heated discussion on what was wrong with the galaxy and how everything was heading down the fresher in a heartbeat.

As Pops took the last swallow from his drink, the bartender called out, "See ya tomorrow night Pops?"

"No," he casually stated as he set his glass down. "I think I'll hang around a bit longer tonight." He smiled at the bartender and tapped a finger against the glass, "I'll have another if you don't mind."

[Mu Satach]

The band finished their last set, packed up and went home. A few low level staff members swept up under the tables and changed the linens. The man chatted with the waitresses as they counted out for the night and bartender was finishing the last touches of putting the bar back to rights before he began restocking it for the next days business.

Only a few die hard patrons who had empty homes remained sitting in the far corners. "Hey Pops," the bartender asked "you alright to get home tonight? Pretty late and well, it is Port Town you know."

Pops smiled and slide his glass to the barkeep. "It's alright," he leaned forward a bit and in a hushed voice said, "I know she's here." Sitting back up he half laughed to himself and stared blankly into the black wood of the bar top. "I can feel her eyes burning their way into my soul from up there." He jerked his head slightly towards the upper set of one way windows that looked out over the bar.

The bartender started to become a little uneasy. The old man smiled at the bartender, "Don't worry, she'll come out to see me eventually." He seemed to drift away in his thoughts. "She always does."

Up in her office Mu was watching the man below. Her arms crossed she stood motionless, expressionless, isolated from all thoughts except one, "Stubborn son of a bith."

Pops came back from his thoughts, "How about another drink? I read somewhere in the brochure this place was open all night."

"How about I get you some coffee instead." the barkeep turned around and pulled a plain white cup from the stack. "You sound like you know the boss pretty well."

"I should," the man accepted the coffee and took a sip. "I'm her father."

[Mu Satach]

The sun began to rise over Cloud City, the morning crew came in, the graveyard shift went home. Outside the streets started to fill with delivery crews making their rounds.

Mu came down from her apartment and into the kitchen of the Cloud 9, said good morning to the crew, grabbed a cup of coffee, inspected the fresh food deliveries and and signed off on the account transfers to the suppliers. She was pulling double duty for a while. Molly was off on a well deserved vacation and the guy who was the morning shift crew chief had come down with a strange sort of illness. Mu had never heard of it, but the guy was alright and the bar hadn't imploded while she was stranded in the Outlands so she told him to not worry about it and just recover. Besides it felt good to do some clean honest work for a change.

She took a little time to get to know some of the new people that had been hired in her absence, checked out the inventory, made some notes on what needed to be ordered and asked the head waiter to bring some breakfast to her office in an hour. Topping off her coffee she headed up towards her office to put in the supply orders and see if there were any bites on the Holonet for her other items for sale.

The man was waiting for her in the hallway outside her office.

Mu stopped mid stride then sagged against the door frame. He didn't say anything, didn't move, just stood there looking into Mu's eyes and waited for her to decide what to do. Silence wrapped around them like a heavy cloak.

Finally, Mu stood up straight, took a sip of her coffee and pushed her door open. "You never give up do you." She left the door open and headed to her desk.

"Didn't I teach you that tenacity is a virtue?" He followed her inside.

She set her cup on the desk then crossed to the windows and opened the blinds letting in the morning sunlight. Dust particles swirled in a slow motion dance around her. "Was that before or after you taught me the virtue of putting oneself above all others?"

His eye brows raised a bit and nodded his head slightly, "Touché." Sitting down in a chair he rubbed his face and yawned. He looked around the office, "Things seem to be going well though. The staff like working here, though they could use a little more direction from the management."

"Dad," Mu crossed her arms and bit her tongue. "Don't give him what he wants." She turned a bit more away from him.

"All I'm saying is they don't seem to know you that well and this is a nice set up you got going here. Would be a shame to loose it."

Mu had regained her composure, "That's sound advice," turning around she sat down at her desk and started working on the inventory orders. She took another sip of her coffee, "you are after all the expert on losing things."

"How long are we going to keep playing at this?" he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

"How long you got?"

Exasperated he sat back in the chair. "I've told you I'm sorry and asked for your forgiveness a thousand times in a hundred different locations. What more do I have to do? What else can I do? I can't go back and undo what's been done."

"What you can do is stop lying to me. You don't give a damn about me and you never did."

"Now that's not fair."

"Fair? FAIR? You have no concept of the word fair. No, what this is about is you can't stand the fact that there's someone in this galaxy who doesn't buy your charming little routine anymore. When I look at you I see you for exactly what you are. And that's what you can't live with and that's why no matter where I go you show up eventually singing the same song because it's the only one you know." Mu paused and looked at him. "You want forgiveness, fine you got it. Now go and leave me alone."

He stared at the floor not saying a word.

Mu stared at him for a bit, then shaking her head went back to working on her orders.

"I did care," he quietly spoke under his breath.

"What?"

Looking up at her and speaking confidently, "I said I did care, do care, I... I do give a damn about you and that's why I'm here."

Mu shoved her seat back and stood up to leave.

"Look, I just want to... need to really talk to you about..."

"I don't want to hear your lies or stories or excuses anymore!" she reached the door and almost ran into the head waiter bringing her breakfast. Startled he nearly dropped the tray.

"Kiddo, please." her father pleaded with her.

Mu wavered at the door then commanded the waiter, "Give it to him." She strode out of the office and down the corridor towards the rear entrance. She had to get out, get away from him.

"Sata," he called to her from the office doorway as she opened the back door. "I'm dying."

Mu paused, thought for a second then turned and looked at him. "Aren't we all."

[Mu Satach]

The port of entry was busy as usual, Mu worked her way towards the Imperial flight deck officer's main office. She nodded silent hellos to the different pilots and officers she had seen frequenting Cloud 9 and to those she knew from other private business arrangements until she reached her destination.

She walked in the office without knocking and went directly to the private mini bar. She poured her self a drink and waited for him to address her. The officer finished a few pieces of paper work then without looking up spoke, "And what can you do for me this morning Ms. Satach." with an edge of annoyance.

Mu wandered casually forward and sat down in the chair across from the desk, swirled the liquid around in her glass without saying anything. Finally the officer stopped his paperwork and looked up at her and her glass. "A bit early, even for you."

"Nice statue." Mu gestured to a sculpture displayed in the office behind him.

He turned his head, looked at it, "Yes," smirked a bit then looked back at her. "An old family heirloom."

Mu smiled seductively, "Yes," she took a drink, "any more pieces like that?"

His eye's narrowed a bit, "Possibly," intrigued he leaned forward, "what do you think?"

"I would think so." She looked around the office. "Such a fine family as yours must have hidden stock piles to fall back on during hard times, especially since your from... now where was it your family was from again?"

"Funny you should say that," he sat back in his chair a bit. "A little decorative item you may be familiar with made quite the impression with the Admiral at our last meeting."

"No doubt, someday the Admiral will see the value one with your breeding and background can add to his command."

"Would you care to take a guess at how much something like that is worth?" he casually gestured towards the statue.

"Oh... I couldn't."

"Do try."

"Well, I wouldn't know about such things, but possibly a ship."

"What kind of a ship?"

"Oh nothing too elaborate, small, single pilot, maybe something like an Interceptor."

The officer casually started scanning his computer readouts, "I'm afraid it's not quite worth an Interceptor, perhaps an aging Avenger though."

"I never would have guessed." Mu finished her drink. "It does sound reasonable though doesn't it."

"Yes, yes it does." His blue eyes twinkled a bit. The corner of Mu's mouth twitched with a half smile.

"I do enjoy these conversations we have Lieutenant." She raised up from her seat.

"So do I, perhaps we can have lunch today." he stood up and walked her to his door.

"I'm afraid today I'm rather busy down on level 224," she offered him her hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it and in that moment a pass key to an unmarked container in storage on level 224 was passed from her hand to his. "I'm thinking of investing in a small shipping container factory in the Southwest quarter."

"Always the enterprising Lady aren't we," he warmly held her hand for a moment then released it. "It's just as well, later this morning I'll be working in the hanger deck, dock #318 for at least two hours and who knows if I'll get to take a lunch after all."

They smiled pleasantly at each other then said their good byes.

Two and a half hours later Mu was piloting her new TIE Advanced out of dock number #318 while the Lieutenant was admiring his new family heirlooms recently arrived in secret from his home world.

[Mu Satach]

The man shambled down the streets towards his low rent hotel. Reaching the lobby he felt the cool rush of sterilized air.

"Whoa, looks like somebody finally got lucky." the desk clerk grinned from behind the desk as he entered.

The man smiled, "Not quite."

"Aw, what happen man? I thought for sure when you didn't come back last night you finally got to see her." the kid kicked his feet off the desk and spun around to view the old man.

"I did."

"Then what's the problem?"

"She hates me." there was no malice or sorrow in the statement, it was just a matter of fact spoken kindly. A bit of a laugh escaped his lips at the reaction of the desk clerks confusion. "It's a long story and I'm a bit tired."

"Man, that sucks. After you've spent all this time just waitin'. What a waste."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Sometimes," air escaped his lungs "sometimes you spend the rest of your life paying for and regretting the things done in moments of haste."

The kid's eyebrows furrowed together, "So... will you be checkin out and movin on then?"

"Well, the last time we talked it took me 5 years to find her again, but something about her has changed since then. I think she'll be coming back here, so I'll be hanging around a while."

"Last time? How long you been doing this?"

It was a man's turn to look slightly confused, "You know, I've sort of forgotten." His eyes faded a bit as he became lost in memory, "She was so beautiful and trusted me completely. She would have died for me and I..." his voice broke, he swallowed hard and blinked several times.

An echo from his past loomed before him, a hand stretched out reaching towards him. The rumble of rushing water, the sound of a heavy gate rolling shut, the deep clinking clatter of its tumblers as it slowly cranked down silencing a final scream "Don't leave me!" coming from the deep darkness within and he saw himself turn away.

"Pops!"

"Hmm?" the man came back from from his past,

"I said, if it's been so long you can't even remember anymore, why bother? Why don't you just let it go."

"Because, can't spend eternity feeling this way." he headed to the lift.

"Oh hey, almost forgot. Some guy name Doc Ivins tried to get a hold of you earlier. Said you'd know how to reach him."

The man nodded his appreciation and left the lobby.



Mu piloted the Avenger through the asteroid field not far from Bespin. She could hear her breath inside the black helmet. The view was limited, but it didn't matter. She almost preferred it that way. Not seeing, but reaching out feeling her way through the system. Anticipating the rocks beyond the rocks, the patterns they made as they glided past her, like dancing in shifting sand in a sea of time. It was relaxing, it was challenging, it was a distraction, but it brought a moment of peace to her thoughts. And ultimately that was what she had purchased from the Lieutenant.

Every moment she could spend racing in the ship took her further and further away from her past. The more in control, the more she felt herself returning and that was what made the outrageous amount of money she paid for the ship worth it. Every ounce of her being had to be concentrated on her surroundings. One mistake, just one would mean the end of her existence.

In the ship she was the one in control, she commanded it's every shudder, it responded to her touch and she to it and if she made a mistake it cost her and her alone. A victim of only her own hands and no one else's.

A hint of a smile pulled at her lips hidden beneath the Imperial mask. She increased her speed and continued her dance through the field.

[Mu Satach]

"Stephen, it's good to hear from you." the man viewed the hologram of the Doctor Ivins.

"So you've found her again." the Imperial doctor was aged, tired, beaten down and annoyed. "And she's bolted again hasn't she."

"Not necessarily."

"RóBehr, RóBehr, RóBehr..." Ivins sighed. "Why do you torture yourself like this? Let her go and be done with it."

"For as long as I've known you Stephen I can't believe you're the one telling me to drop it and walk away."

"My friend, I'm old and tired of this game and so are you."

The man, Róbehr, fidgeted with his pullover and didn't look at his friend.

"RóBehr she's not going to change her mind. There's nothing you can do anymore. Come back to the core and find a nice place to spend what few precious days you have left in peace."

RóBehr shook his head, "You have to promise me Stephen that if I die before she listens to me you have to tell her."

"Not that again." Stephen rubbed his forehead.

"Promise me."

"It won't do any good."

"Promise me."

"It could put her in danger."

"She deserves to know the truth."

"What truth? There is no truth. Truth is a lie."

"You don't believe that."

"Why won't you just leave well enough alone?"

"Promise me."

Ivins sighed. "You know I will."

RóBehr smiled. "I knew I could count on you."

Ivins groaned. "I called earlier to tell you I've renewed your prescriptions. You should be able to pick them up at any Imperial med unit when you run out."

"Anyway you can up the dosage?" RóBehr rubbed his jawline.

"Has the pain increased?"

"A bit."

"Try and manage it with the current batch. If it becomes unbearable, I'll need to see you again before I can make any changes."

RóBehr nodded absentmindedly. "Do you think I did the right thing?"

"What?"

"Did I do the right thing?" RóBehr looked far away.

Confused, "What right thing? When?"

"That night," RóBehr looked back at Stephen, "the first night."

Ivins thought for a moment, "I honestly don't know anymore."

"A fine doctor you've become." RóBehr snorted.

"I have only you to thank for my ambivalence." RóBehr slumped in his chair as if hit in the stomach. Stephen immediately regretted the comment, but said nothing.

"Thanks for the prescription. I'll be in touch if the pain worsens." RóBehr quietly spoke. Ivins nodded and RóBehr killed the transmission. Standing up he walked to his window and looked into the bright light for a moment. Carefully his hand raised and closed the blinds to darken the room.

He walked to his bed, sat down and kicked off his boots. Lying back he rolled over on his side, then remembered to activate the "Do Not Disturb" message.

A few moments later he was fast asleep.

[Mu Satach]

Mu let the ship drift in space. Her fuel was running low after speeding it through the asteroid field. She wasn't ready to leave the solitude of space yet. She had maneuvered her drift pattern into a lazy arc causing the twinkling distant stars to slowly pass her view.

"Someday Sata, someday..." her father's voice rose through the silence. Mu closed her eyes and tried in vain to ignore the memory filling her brain.

Two and a half standard years after the Jedi Purge

A vast golden wheat field stretched out before them. The man tall and strong. The teenage girl willowy and silent. Both watching the setting sun.

"Someday we'll have a life of quiet and peace." he warmly placed his large hand on her shoulder.

The girl said nothing, just watched the clouds drift and change shades as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

"At least until some young man comes and steals your heart from me. Hmm?" His eyes twinkled in mischief as he teased her.

Half smiling the girl replied, "Unlikely," as she absentmindedly pulled at her sleeves making sure the scars were covered. He caught the familiar gesture of self consciousness.

"Oh Sata, one day someone will see everything I see and more." He smiled at her.

Mu's eyes squinted skeptically at him and slightly shook her head. "You're such a nard."

"How so?" the man looked at his daughter quizzically, slightly unsure of what exactly a 'nard' was.

"Thieves should not be hopeless romantics."

"Not thieves... Con artists," he corrected her. "and we only take from those who so richly deserve it."

Mu started walking back down the hill towards their camp and broken ship. "Hopeless..." she began to half run and laugh "You're a complete hopeless NARD who can't fly a ship to save his life!"

RóBehr quickly caught up with her within a few steps and tousled her hair. "As I recall someone told me the flight path was clear."

"Shauah... clear of ships trying to kill us." Mu picked up the tools and started putting them away before they ran out of sunlight. "How can you miss spotting a hunk of junk three times the size of a speeder?"

"Nag nag nag..." RóBehr opened up the toolbox and started helping Mu put the tools away. "You're worse than a wife and mother-in-law put together. It was the size of a navigation droid if that."

"What was she like?"

"Who?" RóBehr finished and was placing the box in it's storage compartment.

"My mother," Mu's voice suddenly had a rare softness to it.

RóBehr froze.

"You never talk about her, we don't have any images of her..." Mu watched him closely, "or me."

"I told you. Everything... all was lost in the accident. Everything." RóBehr avoided looking at her and started hunting for the cooking kit. "Everything burned away in the fire."

Mu sat down on a rock and hugged her knees. She watched him silently build a small camp fire to keep them warm and cook their dinner. "I wish I could remember her. Won't you please tell me about her?"

RóBehr continued to avoid looking at her. "I don't want to talk about it, end of discussion." RóBehr angrily added fuel to the fire.

"Did she die in the fire?"

RóBehr's head shot quickly up, the voice came from a child not the cocky teenager who bantered with him earlier. Her eyes glistened in the darkness reflecting the light from the fire. All the strength went out from his shoulders.

He dropped his head and stared at the ground for a bit, looked at the horizon, then the stars above and finally nodded his head slightly and hit the ground with his fist. Without saying a word he stood up, brushed the dirt from his hands and entered the ship.

Mu buried her eyes in the dark fabric of her sleeve and hugged herself tighter. She could hear compartments within the ship being torn apart. She felt a familiar calm composure come over her as she disconnected herself from her feelings somehow. Turning her head sideways she looked towards the horizon where a second moon was rising. It's silver thread shining brightly.

The racket from inside the ship ceased. RóBehr's boots hit the dirt and he walked over to Mu. She didn't move, just continued to watch the silver thread climb higher and higher.

"She," his voice cracked he cleared his throat a bit and spoke again, softer. "She was beautiful."

Mu turned and raised her head to look at him. He kneeled down in front of Mu and held out a silver chain with a black crystal pendant.

Mu reached out, her finger tips caressed the pendant a tendril of a memory snaked it's way through her brain. Nothing more than familiarity, but that was enough. RóBehr reached out and placed the necklace around her neck. "She was the moon and the stars. A good and true friend. Faithful and honest who defended the weak with every ounce of her being. And so very intelligent." He wiped the last remnant of a tear from her cheek. "You become more and more like her every day Sata."

"What happened?"

RóBehr bit the inner corner of his lip a bit. "She..." he swallowed and looked away from Mu's eyes. "She was killed," he reached down and unhooked something from his belt. "the night the galaxy fell into darkness." A silver hilt with etching along the side reflected the moonlight. "She was innocent and pure. She fought valiantly through the slaughter, but in the end it wasn't enough. There were too many of them." A haunted look came over his eyes. "I found her, not far from our home, dying. I felt the life leave her body as I held her in my arms." RóBehr blinked several times and held the hilt out towards Mu. "It was hers, now it's yours."

Mu held it gently, instinctively. An electrical current of recognition seemed to slid up her arm. Without activating the blade, she knew it would be a deep blue.

"I've hidden it from you out of fear. If they find out about you, they'll come again, just like they did for her. And there'll be no stopping them. So you must hide this," he placed his warm hand over her small one and gently pushed the saber's hilt towards her. "No one must ever know you possess it or have the skill to use it." RóBehr locked his eyes on hers. "Understand?"

Mu nodded.

"You're all I have left Sata. The only thing that makes any sense to me anymore," he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what I would do if... if..."

Mu reached forward and hugged her father. "Thank you."

"Promise me something." his arms wrapped around her.

"Anything," she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Never stop being my little girl."

Mu squeezed him tightly before letting go and sitting up straight to look into his face and smiled, "Never will, you'll be old and gray with no teeth and I'll still be saving your butt from the menace of space junk."

RóBehr started to laugh, "Now who's being the nard?"

Mu rolled her eyes, "Ugh, that made no sense at all you NARD!"

"I think you're the real nard here." RóBehr playfully shoved her on her backside, "Come on kiddo, let's eat."

~~~

"Never stop being my little girl..." the voice ricocheted inside Mu's head.

Lies, lies, lies...

Another sound began to rise from the back of her brain, the creak of metal collapsing under pressure.

nothing but lies...

Water gushing, filling her lungs, her hand grasping metal, pulling herself forward against the current and the face. Remote, unfeeling, uncaring, and calmly turning away. Her hand reaching out, her screams drowned out by the roar and the darkness that engulfed her as the hatch closed.

Mu jerked and gasped for breath inside the stifling pilot's suit and slammed her fists into the side. Warning alarms went off all around her. Remembering where she was she stopped panicking, forced herself to breath normally and shut off the alarms.

Taking a moment to regain her bearings, she flicked on the nav computer and charted a course. She cracked her neck a bit and hit the engine controls within seconds the stars all streaked out of existence and she was gone.

[Mu Satach]

RóBehr tossed and turned in his bed. He was covered in sweat and tangled in the coverings. The dream came to him often, haunting his existence.

Coruscant City - Sometime prior to the Battle of Genosis

"I'm going to have to ask for your badge Lieutenant."

"This is steaming pile of..." RóBehr shouted across the desk at his Captain in the civil defense forces.

"YOU'RE dirty and you know it." Captain Vosk shouted back at him.

RóBehr spoke through gritted teeth, "I'M not the one dealing Carsunum out of the evidence room."

Vosk throttled RóBehr from across his desk. Pinning him to the floor he started pummeling RóBehr's face with a twisted amount of glee. Other officers rushed into the office and pulled the Captain off of RóBehr. RóBehr struggled up and then charged Vosk, soon the office was full of shouting men.

"You're nothing but a low life two bit gambler who can't make good on his bets!" Vosk fought to get free of his men.

"That's better than being a scum sucking dealer who can't keep his hands from shaking! How many have died from that munk you slip them?" RóBehr shoved at his holders.

After several more minutes of holding the two men apart one command was heard above all others, "GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Vosk commanded.

Those holding RóBehr started pulling him out of the office. RóBehr jerked his way free of them and stood glaring at Vosk. Reaching into his navy blue tunic he pulled out his gold and silver badge, he looked at it for a moment then spit a bloody wad onto the floor in Vosk's direction, "You're a fraggin di'kut Vosk." RóBehr threw the badge at Vosk's feet and shoved his way out of the office.

Later, Doc Ivins found RóBehr drinking in the Outlander Club on Vos Gesal Street.

"Steve!" RóBehr smiled at his friend then spit out another small amount of blood on the floor.

"Heard you made quite a mess today." Stephen started examining the cuts and bruises to his friends face out of habit. "Looks like someone made a mess of you as well."

RóBehr half laughed. "I'm better off anyway."

"I told you not to get involved."

"I can't help it. I was born to..."

"Yeah yeah yeah, seek out evil and destroy it."

"It's a family tradition." RóBehr swayed a bit.

"How much have you had to drink?"

RóBehr grabbed a bottle of something from a passing server, "Not nearly enough," and took a swig.

"Come on, let's get you home and sober you up some."

"No, no..." RóBehr headed off to a table leaving Stephen to deal with the server who came back for the bottle.

Stephen calmed the waitress down, paid for the bottle then went to sit at the table. "So, what was the official reason for getting the sack?"

"Said I took a bribe to plant evidence on Ackred Fissel. Said I needed the money to pay off my bookie." RóBehr undid another button on his blue uniform and took a swig from his bottle. A server came by and placed a drink down infront of Ivins.

"I thought you said Fissel was as guilty as they come?" Ivins took a sip of his drink.

"He was, is, should be." RóBehr took another drink.

"So they lied to get you out. Just because you found out about Vosk's dealings then?" Stephen dropped his head. The whole Republic was getting fracked up from the top down.

RóBehr nodded, "Oh it wasn't a lie though. I took the money."

Stephen's head shot up. "What?"

RóBehr looked around the place. "I didn't plant the evidence, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to take a donation to the save my own backside fund."

"What?!?"

"Stephen," he started laughing, "I am a fracked up two bit gambler you know that."

"I don't get you at all."

"No one does."

"You're full of it, all your big talk about defending the weak, upholding honor. It's all munk isn't it."

RóBehr hung his head for several moments.

"Did I ever tell you I wanted to be a Jedi?"

Stephen slid further down in his seat. Not again.

"I always thought it would be great to be a Jedi." RóBehr took another drink from his bottle.

"Yeah yeah, kid stuff RóBehr. You, me and billions of other brats growing up across the galaxy."

"Yeah," RóBehr stared off into space. "Kids stuff."

"Come on, let's get out of here. Things will be better in the morning." Stephen finished off his drink and stood up.

"I can't," RóBehr gestured towards the Sabacc tables, "Faytonni over there has already won my last paycheck and I need it back to pay the rent."

Stephens shook his head and turned to leave. "Just be careful he doesn't win the shirt off your back as well."

RóBehr raised his bottle to Stephen, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Hours later.

Stephen awoke to banging on his front door. Groggily he got up and peered at the security viewfinder. RóBehr was standing in the hallway in only his undershirt and skivies. Without a word he opened the door, RóBehr stumbled in across the room and flopped on Stephen's couch. It sounded like he muttered something, but Stephen didn't care. He walked to his hall closet and pulled out an extra blanket and threw it over RóBehr's passed out form then headed back to his room. He climbed back into his bed and Kell his wife rolled over, "Who was it."

"Nothing." Stephen pulled the covers up over his body. "No one."

"It's him again isn't it."

"So what if it is."

"Why do you keep helping him?" Kell sat up and looked at her husband through the darkness.

Stephen rolled over and looked at Kell. "I told you, he saved my life."

"That was years ago," Kell sighed heavily. "Surely you've repaid it by now."

"I don't know." Stephen laid back and stared at the ceiling. "I keep thinking..."

"What?"

"You don't know him like I do."

"I know what helping him is costing you." Kell curled up next to Stephen.

"I wish you had known him when we were kids. He was different back then," Stephen wrapped his arms around Kell. A loud snore drifted through the walls from the livingroom. "I keep hoping that maybe I can help him be that way again."

[Mu Satach]

The saber ignites in her hands and hums. She raises it above her head, the blue glow illuminating the beads of sweat and the strands of hair plastered to the sides of her face. Her muscles flex beneath her tank top as she begins slowly arcing the blade through the night air, the blade leaving a streak of light behind it.

Her bare feet slid across the granite floor, step, block, strike, swing. The blue streak arcs around gracefully in the large empty darkened room. Jungle sounds drift in from large open windows overhead, but provide little light.

She moves gracefully through the series of forms, each one increasing in speed and ferocity. She controls her breathing, she focuses her mind, she pushes her body, she flies and an enraged scream tears itself from her throat as she slams the blade deep into the structures flooring.

The floor splits and cracks open beneath her from the concentrated force of the blow. Her thumb flicks at the power switch on the silver hilt. The blade winks out and leaves only a red glowing hole pulsating in the rock.

Mu remains motionless. A bead of sweat dangles from the tip of her nose. She closes her eyes tightly. A single tear slides down and mingles with the sweat then drops onto the rock. It evaporates with a hiss.

Clouds move and moonlight streams into the empty space. The light exposing the vast ruins of a forgotten Jedi temple. Vines snake their way up pillars and across the ceiling. She sucks in a breath of air and rises to a standing position and opens her eyes.

At the far end of the temple room she can make out her neatly folded flight suit, helmet and gear waiting for her. She crosses the large room, in and out of the shafts of light.

She stands beside her gear and looks down at her hands then holds them up to the light. The scars so familiar and foreign to her shimmer in the moonlight. Her fingers trace the lines up her forearms to the twisted flesh of her shoulders and backside.

"Why can't you forgive him?" a quiet soft feminine voice asks silently in her head. "It's not really him your angry with, you know..." the voice was deep, warm, and caring. The voice came and went over the years. Mu was in the habit of calling it her conscience. She had a vague feeling it wasn't really her own inner voice, but the voice of someone she knew long ago. The voice was almost maternal, yet not. More sisterly, instructional, a voice Mu instinctively relied upon in times of need.

"Because," her voice cracked "he promised everything would be alright and then he left me to die alone."

"As did you."

An image of a cherubs face dressed in a light brown tunic loomed in Mu's mind. An echo of her own voice drifted in, "Don't worry little one, everything will be alright."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo!" Mu screams, picks up the helmet and hurls it across the vast expanse into darkness.

[Mu Satach]

RóBehr's face grimaced in pain. He rolled over, sat up gripped his chest and slammed a fist down on the comm panel.

"Front desk" crackled a badly wired speaker.

"Mmmmedick" he garbled then fell onto the floor in a coughing fit.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that sir?"

A pinkish bloody foam gurgled out of RóBehr's mouth.

"Hello? Hello?" the disembodied voice of the clerk was the only sound in the room.

[Mu Satach]

Dr. Stephen Ivins watched the spires of Cloud City pass outside his window. The golden tones of the setting sun reflected by the clouds failed to fill the interior of the Lambda shuttle with any warmth. He grimaced and pulled at the tight fitting pale almond collar of his uniform.

"Shuttle Trikalas, you are cleared for landing. Proceed to medical platform 38." the intercom clicked off.

"Colonel, I have been informed that an escort will be waiting for you at the medical facility." The pilot's hands manuvered across the control panel and the shuttle banked towards the landing platform.

Stephen continued to watch the spires pass, "Good."

The shuttle's thusters kicked in and settled the ship on the white tiled platform. Ivins' black booted heels stepped down the ramp as it descended followed by those of his personal pilot.

At his appearence a small squad of Imperial troopers snapped to full attention. An aging man in a light grey uniform started to approach them. Ivins turned to his pilot, "Don't get friendly with anyone."

The pilot's cold eyes met Stephen's. He nodded.

"Colonel Ivins, I am Chief Medical Officer Pitaka." Stephen just nodded and started walking towards the building. Pitaka scurried along beside him. "We were pleasantly surprised to recieve notice of your arrival." he laughed nervously. "But rest assured you'll find everything in order and our staff has been instructed to give you full cooperation in your... audit? of our facilities."

"Do you have the information on the patient I requested?" The troopers were clearing a path through the corridors for Ivins, holding back people, stopping the flow of patients through the halls.

"Ah yes, yes." Pitaka quickly handed Ivins a data pad and swallowed. "Our ICU is directly up this corridor where the gentleman is recieving the best care possible." He paused, "Under the circumstances of course."

Stephen clenched and unclenched his jaw as he read the updated data while still striding forward as fast as he could towards the medical suite that awaited him.

[Mu Satach]

Mu slammed the hotel desk clerk up against the wall and growled in his face. "Don't play games with me little man. Where is he?"

It seemed the old man had known her better than she knew herself. She had returned to Cloud 9 in a foul mood, but determined not to walk away. She'd grown too accustomed to being a part of the crew of Cloud 9. She knew them all too well. Come to depend upon the casual conversations with the chefs, the bartenders, the waitresses, the suppliers, even the customers... to keep her... sane/grounded.

They were straight lines, their desires simple, all of them just working to get paid, day after day. Honest folk making their way through the universe, best way they knew how. And not a single one of them out to kill or torture her. Well, that wasn't quite true. There were a few who had tried, but even they were very direct about wanting to rip her face off and wear it as a shiny hat.

Then there was the Dr., for a reason she could quite pin down in her own mind the thought of never seeing him again tore at her in a way she didn't think was possible. A type of pain she didn't like to think about, nor want to really understand.

She had stayed at the abandoned temple for days; maybe weeks, she wasn't sure. Spent most of the time just wandering the abandoned hallways, thinking about the past, the future anything but the present. It was a good place for thinking. She had stumbled upon it years ago while on the run after a deal gone wrong. Left for dead, her ship gutted and drifting, she'd managed to crash land on the planet. Took her several months to get things working again and hoist herself off world and back into the mix of things. Ever since, it had become her own personal hiding place. A place where she could shut the rest of the galaxy out and hammer out her thoughts into straight, sensible lines... or at least into something less twisted and chaotic.

This time however, she began to think about the ancient Jedi who had once lived there and called it home. Imagining what it would have been like to be a part of them, where familiar faces, friends and colleagues would call out to you and welcome you... home. It was then she had realized that after two decades of shiftlessness she now had a place to return to, a home of her own. Something she always told herself she never needed, turned out to be the one thing she couldn't live without.

When she stepped back into Cloud 9, read the note Terry handed her, she set her mind to send the old man packing once and for all. Playing hide and seek with the old man was not apart of that plan.

"I... don't... know..." the clerk gurgled, kicked his feet and clawed at her arm. Her fingers squeezed around his throat a bit more.

"Well that's funny, because this note right here in my hand tells me otherwise." Mu snapped the paper in front of the clerks bulging eyes. A shaky handwritten note made by the old man;
Sata, when your ready I'll be waiting.
followed by the hotel's address.

"So, I'm going to ask you nicely one more time." She let go of his throat and yanked him close to her, leaned over him and through gritted teeth asked,

"Where

is

he."

The kids eyes were watery from the choking, but he managed to cough out a reply, "I swear, I don't know. They took him away."

"Who?"

"Mm... mmm... medics... Imperial mmedics."

"Frack!" Mu let go of the kid who dropped on to the floor. Turning her long black coat billowed out while her boot heals struck the metal floor with an icy clack clack clack.

The kid called out to her just as she reached the door, "His stuff is still here."

Her hand hovered above the door pad a moment."What kind of stuff?"

"I don't know..." he picked himself up and began to rub his neck, "just you know, stuff."

[Mu Satach]

Mu hoisted the box a bit higher and reached out and tapped in the key code to open the back door to Cloud 9. She walked through the dark hallway to her office door, she paused, set the box down and drew her blaster.

Reaching the door, she pushed it open slightly and aimed at the figure sitting in her chair watching the late night patrons. "You've been busy." Stephen's voice drifted to her through the darkness.

Disgusted Mu lowered her blaster and flicked on the overhead lights. She holstered her blaster and picked up the box containing the old man's goods. "Don't you have someone more important to torture?"

"That's the luxury of rank, I get to choose my specimens these days."

"How convenient." She stepped into the office. Behind her Stephen's pilot stepped out of the shadows and closed the door. She turned and looked at him, then turned back to Stephen and placed the box on her desk. "Does he wash windows as well?"

Stephen stood up and flicked a data pad at Mu, "Don't give me any of your lip. I'm not happy to see you either."

"Just like old times." She flipped on the screen and squinted. "What's this?"

Stephen reached out and started digging through the box, hunting for something. "It's everything I know about you."

"And it's not even my birthday."

Stephen paused and shot her a look then continued digging. "It's also an encryption key code."

"Code? For what?"

"For this." Stephen pulled a small chain from the box and on it dangled a dark crystalline pendant.

"I don't understand."

"This is where he stored his private journal. He gave me the key code to give to you, should anything happen to him."

"Is he..."

"No, not yet." Stephen moved away from the desk and towards the door. "As good as though." The pilot opened the door for Stephen. "Time is running out for both of you."

Mu stood with her back to the door and rested her palms on the desk, "Why do you care?"

"I don't, but I gave my word." Stephen reached the door and turned around, "And in the end that's all any of us have left." He walked out the door with the pilot following.

"Stephen!" He turned around to see Mu looking at him, "I was sorry to hear about Kell. I would have been there at the end, but thought it was best to stay away."

He nodded slightly, "Were you the one who sent the Cerulean Roses?"

She nodded.

"I thought so, she did love those roses..." Stephen walked back in and stood before her "and you." Stephen ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room. "Do me a favor, read the files, read the journal then make up your own mind. But don't put it off." He reached into the breast pocket of his almond uniform top.

"Here," he handed her a billfold. "These will get you past the security if you decide you want to see him." He turned and left the office.

She looked down at the items in her hands.

"And don't worry, he's got too many tubes down his throat to do much talking." Stephen's voice carried back to her from the hallway. "Not that he could if he didn't."

The back door slammed shut leaving her standing alone in her office. Sounds from the bar filtered up through the walls, she could hear the band start playing a soft sad melody followed by Lili's voice floating across the expanse.

She never felt so utterly alone.

[Mu Satach]

The night time blue tinted light filtered in through the blinds, casting diagonal shadows across her and the bare white walls of her loft. Unlike the dark grays of her office, or the warm russet tones of her private hidden den, the loft where she slept and stood now was white and blank as a linen sheet and about as comforting as the frozen ice fields of Hoth. She always thought she would fill it with something, but as time went on she found she preferred it that way. Colorless, nameless... empty, a void that she existed in... the void she felt growing in her mind ever since coming to Cloud City. Let the psychobabble Doctor's figure out why, not that she'd ever let one near her.

She took a drink of the Corellian brandy in her hand and watched the traffic speed by in the air and on the streets below. "Play it again." She called out, the small hologram popped on behind her. Doctor Ivins, young with a slightly frightened look on his face began dictating the record.

"Subject is a young human girl. Approximate age 13, name unknown."

Unknown?

She took another drink.

"From what I can tell, the girl should be dead. The subject has suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns over approximately 68% of her body by a sudden white hot incendiary device. The burn pattern is consistent with either a chemical or fire grenade. What saved her life appears to be that a good portion of the burns have already been regenerated. However, the regeneration happened without the proper washing and cleaning of the wounds. Metal fragments, cloth and charred flesh has become fused into the subjects body. Multiple reconstructive surgeries would be needed to reconstruct the skin... but," Ivins ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know where we could find a suitable facility given the current state of things." his hollow eyes looked away then came back. "At any rate, using what little is available here, we've managed to remove most of the shrapnel from the back, legs and arms. But not all, and without access to a proper facility, I'm afraid the scaring will be quite... noticeable."

She finished her drink and absently rubbed the scars on the back of her arm. "Home fire my..." She walked back to the middle of the room, sat down and poured herself another drink. "Cross reference the date of the file with news flashes." A list of file names appeared before her suspended in mid air. "That one, play file."

A news anchor started broadcasting, "Little is known at the moment, but it appears that several high ranking leaders of the Jedi Council have attempted to assassinate the Chancellor tonight."

She threw back the drink and continued watching the archived broadcast.

[Mu Satach]

Coruscant
Order 66[/]
A hush fell over the bar as the news report continued on the large overhead screens.

"And as you can see behind me Trooper's have successfully entered the Temple. Reports are coming in now that all the remaining Jedi have been rounded up for questioning." Behind the reporter the Jedi Temple burned into the night air.

RóBehr's hand gripped his glass tighter.

The image switched to the news room anchors, "That's good news, and this just in, there's speculation that the Chancellor will be requesting a special session of Congress in the morning. Stay tuned for more up to the minute covera..."

RóBehr threw his glass at the screen and shattered the image.

Moments later he was sailing through the air and into the street outside.

"And stay out!"

"You're all FRELLING BLIND!" he yelled back at them. "You apathetic bastards."

The bouncers slammed the door behind them.

RóBehr staggered to his feet and wiped at the blood on his lip. The smell of smoke was everywhere. He ran along the back streets, climbed fire escapes until he was high enough to look out across the city.

The glow of the fire stood out on the horizon.

His hands gripped the edge of the walkway. "Do something," he whispered to himself, "don't just stand there do something." In the end he just sank to his knees and watched the fires burn throughout the night.

In the predawn light he made his way back through the back alleys towards the rat trap that was his home in the lower gutters of the city.

[i]Coward

He grabbed a trash can and threw it aside in anger. Debris scattered out and into the stream of filth beside him. A small groan caught his attention. Walking forward he came upon a small crumpled mass, a body.

The com link rang and woke Stephen up, half asleep he flicked on the view screen. "Oh Kra..." He swallowed then looked at RóBehr's face flicking before him. "I told you never to contact me again."

"It's not about me."

"You've been drinking."

"Not for hours."

"I'm not giving you any more money."

"STEPHEN," RóBehr worked his jaw, "someone's hurt. I don't know who else to call."

Stephen looked at him, "How bad?"

"Pretty bad. Please come... quickly." the transmission ended before Stephen could say another word.

[Mu Satach]

Stephen shook some<i>thing</i> off of his shoe. He shook out a handkerchief and held it over his face as he walked through the dank under ground. His hand reached out and knocked at a slime covered portal. He wiped the back of his hand against his trousers.

The portal opened slightly, RóBehr’s blue eye looked at Stephen through the slit. “Are you alone?”

Stephen shoved the door open and pushed his way past him.

RóBehr slammed the portal closed behind him and watched the street through an electronic peep hole, blaster drawn and ready.

“Krast!” Startled by the weapon Ivins stumbled backwards a bit.

“SSSSHHHHH!” RóBehr waved the weapon at Stephen.

Ivins shook his head. Around him were piles of stacked crap, empty food cartons, a stream of water, he hoped it was water, flowed down one side of the wall, and something scurried over his shoe on it’s way towards the other room, “God…”

RóBehr pointed the blaster at Stephen without removing his gaze from the street outside.

“RóBehr, put the gun down.”

The barrel of the blaster didn’t move.

“I said put the gun down!”

RóBehr’s thumb flicked the safety off.

“You said someone was hurt.” He whispered.

The back of RóBehr’s head moved slightly.

Water dripped somewhere in the hovel. The rhythmic plop ticked away the passing moments. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Stephen’s face.

Finally, the blaster was lowered. RóBehr turned around and locked eyes with Stephen who growled at him, “What the frell is going on?”

Dark circles under RóBehr’s eyes yielded no information. “In here.” He worked his way past Stephen, through a ratty green curtain into another room. Stephen cautiously followed.

RóBehr turned up the illumination, Stephen rushed forward to a figure laid out on RóBehr’s bed. It took him a moment to recognize that it was young human female. Anger swelled as he examined her battered burned body. He looked up at RóBehr’s wide frightened eyes. He charged RóBehr and threw him against his slime covered wall.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!”

RóBehr grabbed Stephen, threw him back and hissed at him, “I found her like this. You’ve got to help her.”

Stephen stared at RóBehr for a moment then reached down to his med kit and opened it up, “Krast, why didn’t you call the medics then, get her to a hospital.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No I’m not,” he pulled out his equipment and started cutting away the burned clothing. “She needs a burn ward, anti-biotics, and some place <i>clean</i>. We’re going to have to move her…”

“We take her to a hospital they’ll KILL her!”

Stephen turned “What the frak are you talking about?”

“Stephen, look the clothing, she’s Jedi.”

“Even better, we’ll take her to them...”

“You don’t know?” The two looked at each other in confusion. “You don’t know.”

Stephen went back to stabilizing the girl. “You’ve lost it.”

RóBehr scrambled through his piles of debris found his portable holovid and clicked it on. A snowy static filled image popped up.

A dark cloaked figure appeared flickered and continued speaking, “The Jedi Rebellion has been foiled.” RóBehr flicked through several frequencies all depicting the horrors the night had held while Stephen slept soundly. Reports of the assassination attempt, the run on the temple, the glorious victory of the army against the Jedi and finally rested on an image of the still smoking towers of the Temple in daylight hovered in front of Stephen's face.

"This... this isn't," Stephen's head shook slightly, "wha... what's happening?"

"We can't take her to <i>any</i> authority." RóBehr swallowed, "they'll kill her Stephen."

"But she's a child."

"And what do you think were in there!" RóBehr shoved the holovid of the temple at Stephen.

He stumbled backwards, "No... no, that's not possible, the army wouldn't, couldn't..."

"Stephen think about it!" He grabbed Stephen by the shirt and shook him. "The Knights are spread from one side of the galaxy to the other leading the clones against the Separatists, that leaves only the younglings, padawans and the civilian corp in the temple. There was no rebellion."

"I... I..." Stephen shook slightly, "We can't treat her here."

RóBehr looked around and nodded his head. "What do you need?"

[Mu Satach]

Stephen walked down a corridor. His head looking left to right and back again. His white medical uniform gleamed underneath the overhead lanterns while the soft soled shoes made a slight squeaking sound on the metal flooring.

Reaching a set of blast doors he punched in the key code and doors slid open. He stood there for several seconds. Finally he stepped inside.

"Ivins?"

"Yes sir."

The medical coroner looked Stephen over a bit. "Hmm," he glanced down at his data pad.

Stephen swallowed and said nothing.

The coroner stepped closer, "What's your angle? eh?"

"Sir?"

"Come on, nothing in your psych profile leads me to believe you'd volunteer for this sort of work."

Stephen blinked, "Money."

"Come again?"

"It's my family. Distant family, on Ylesia. They've run into some hard times and need a lot of money fast." Stephen swallowed again.

"Ylesia? That's... eh..." the coroner searched his memory.

"On the outer rim, in Hutt Space."

The man rubbed his beard. "Well, and I guess they figure since you're from the core, you must have access to quick cash." The coroner scratched his head.

"We like to take care of our own, no matter how stupid." Stephen tried to not panic.

The coroner smiled at Stephen, "Have a few imbecilic cousins myself. Can't seem to keep them out of trouble, no matter how hard I try."

Stephen relaxed a bit. "What can you do? Can't let it get around you've got family in slavery to the Hutts."

The coroner laughed. "Don't I know it... don't I know it." He picked up a set of charts and handed them to Stephen. "Well, pretty straight forward. The droids do most of the work, but we have to over see them and make sure that all the bodies are cataloged and cross referenced with the ID files. They want every body accounted for, direct order from the Emperor's office. They are pulling together missing names for the wanted lists."

"Right," Stephen tried to not look at the rows of small bodies they past.

"So, now that you're here," the coroner yawned and stretched his arms. "I can get some rest."

"I'll get right on it."

The coroner slapped Ivins on the back, "Glad to have you aboard!" and walked out of the chamber.

"Thank you sir." Stephen called out as he left. After the doors closed Stephen finally allowed himself to look around. Rows of droids working tirelessly moved body after body onto examination tables, processed them, moved them onto conveyor belts and picked up the next body. Conveyor belts moved them all towards crematoriums at the far end of the warehouse.

The Empire was quickly destroying all evidence of the Temples true residents. Near him a droid moved a small body onto the table. Dark curls surrounded the stiff lifeless body. She was no more than three standard years. Stephen's knees buckled, he fell to the floor. His dinner followed and then he strained to keep his insides from coming up after there was nothing left of his dinner remaining inside himself.

Mouse droids scurried up and started cleaning up the undigested food particles and gastric fluids. Stephen stood up and kept his eyes on the floor and made his way to the officer's terminal station.

As each body was processed the ID records were updated with deceased. Stephen pulled out a small data drive containing the genetic information of the girl RóBehr had found and plugged it into the terminal. He searched the records until he found a match. He brought up her file.

The young girls face looking back at him from the screen was youthful, full of hope. Her nose slightly crinkled from her wide smile. Long straight brown hair, wide hazel eyes full of mischief. Stephen closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.

He copied all the information he could about her to his drive then manually updated the ID file. DECEASED flashed on the screen as the record updated. He removed his drive then sunk in his chair as he watched file after file update before him, watched the droids silently work, listened as the conveyor belts droned on ceaselessly.

Hours later

A pale faced man, only a shadow of himself wandered into a back alley. He knocked on a door to a low rent motel room. It slid open slightly, RóBehr's blue eye looked out, then opened the door wider. Stephen walked in without saying a word.

RóBehr closed the door, bolted it then turned around. "Well?"

"It's done. They won't be looking for her as long as..." Stephen collapsed into an arm chair.

"As long as what?"

Stephen looked up, "As long as no one knows what she is." He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a datapad and threw it at RóBehr. "Here."

RóBehr clicked on the screen and read the girls file. He sank down on the sofa drinking in everything about his new ward.

"RóBehr, what the frell are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean what am I going to do? I'm going to keep her."

"She's not a fracking stray pet RóBehr."

"I know that. I'm going to take care of her, as if she were my own."

"You can't even take care of yourself."

"Yes I can."

Stephen rolled his head at RóBehr.

"I just never had a reason to before now."

Stephen stood up, "Has she regained consciousness?"

"Not quite, been sleeping most of the day."

Stephen walked into the fresher, rolled up his sleeves, washed and disinfected his hands. He then walked into the bedroom and pulled back the sheets. His eyebrows arched in surprise to find the bandages covering her back had already been changed. He turned around as RóBehr came in.

"She sort of came to, mumbled something I couldn't quite make out. Got her to drink some water. That's been about it." RóBehr walked over to stand at Stephen's side.

"We're both fracking crazy." Stephen mumbled to himself.

RóBehr looked at Stephen.

"You for thinking you can take care of her." Stephen continued his thoughts, "Me for letting you try."

[Mu Satach]

Stephen stood outside of the hospital on a balcony. The night wind blew his graying hair as he lit up a cigarette. He leaned back and watched the traffic speed by. As he exhaled he heard a small scrap of a footstep. Without looking, "Quite the tale, isn't it."

Mu stepped out of the shadows. She looked in through the window towards RóBehr's room and said nothing.

Stephen pulled the stick out of his mouth and turned his head towards her. "I always imagined you happier to discover there's not a drop of blood linking us."

She shook her head slightly and looked upwards and exhaled. "And my mother?"

"Another little work of fiction he made up."

"Krast." she muttered under her breath. "Why," she looked into Stephen's tired eyes. "didn't he just let me die in the sewers instead of... of..." her hand started to shake.

Stephen twisted around and looked in through the window at RóBehr's still form. "He wanted to be a hero to somebody."

Mu just looked at him.

Far off in the distance a pair of eyes watched them on the balcony.

Stephen took another drag on the stick. "Look, I know I don't know jack about that deal on Mimban, but-"

"Don't you dare try to justify what he did," Mu clenched her jaw.

Stephen sighed and looked out across the city. "All I'm saying is he believed in fairy tales too much."

Her eyebrows furrowed together, "What?"

"We were raised on tales of the Jedi. See, our grandmother would tell us stories at night during our summer vacations. Super beings who could do no wrong. Protectors of the galaxy, great warrior hero's and all that." He inhaled and the tip of the cigarette glowed in the darkness. "He believed too much." Smoke curled escaped his lips and was blown away.

"What do bedtime stories have to do with anything?"

A dark figure moved along a ledge above them.

"More than you'd think. They'd all been handed down for generations about one of our own who was taken and trained by the order. The idea that somewhere in our bloodline there was a Jedi Knight was invigorating as a kid, but RóBehr he took it to heart and soul. Trained day and night working to become as close to a Jedi as a regular kid in the core could. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do to save someone. Hell, even saved my hide on more than one occasion." Stephen half laughed pushing himself off the wall and walked towards the railing. He stretched his arms out and griped the sides. "And then... well things started to change."

"Very sad," she could see his reflection in the window, "my heart bleeds."

"Yeah," Stephen dropped his head and looked down at the traffic speeding below. "I guess tales of woe are a little too common these days." He turned around and flicked the cigarette away, "What I'm getting at is I think he idealized you a bit too much."

Mu crossed her arms and turned to look at Stephen. "Come again?"

"You were the real deal sweetheart. The genuine article," a wry smile pulled at his lips. "his own little invincible Jedi Knight, given to him as a second chance to do something right in the Universe."

The figure crouched down and activated a switch on it's arm band.

"You two" Mu put a hand to her forehead and started rubbing, "are the sickest pieces of dren in the galaxy. Seriously... " She looked up, "you're both completely menta-."

A bolt shot out, Mu ducked and rolled, dragging Stephen's body down behind the balcony's wall. The form above them dropped with a thud onto the balcony beside them.

Her blaster in hand and taking aim into the darkness, she searched for anything to indicate where the shooter was at.

Stephen crouched over the lifeless body and checked it. "Damn."

"Who is it?" She could feel the sniper moving out there, but still couldn't see him.

"Imperial hunter." Stephen raised up a bit and looked about. Reaching down he pulled his comm link from his belt. "I thought I told you not to get friendly with anyone."

"Just a little kiss before the party starts is all." Stephen's pilot answered as he continued peering through the scope at the balcony. He moved his site from Stephen and scoured the sides of the building. Seeing no more figures for the moment he brought his view back to the balcony to find Mu's eyes looking directly at him.

His head popped up and he looked with his own eyes. He couldn't even see the balcony from this distance. He blinked, shook his head and peered again through the scope. She was still looking at him.

Stephen stood up and pulled at Mu's arm. "You have to go."

Mu continued staring across the expanse.

"More will be coming, you need to leave now."

Mu stood and shifted her gaze, "And you?"

"Can't do much about that now." He smiled. "Truth is, I've got quite the marker on my own head." He began steering her inside the building.

As they moved through the ICU and past RóBehr's body, she pulled away. "One thing, what made you go along for the ride?"

Stephen stopped and looked down at his friend's body for a moment then looked at her. He saw a vision of that young innocent girls face from the data file looking at him, "I guess deep down I wanted to be a hero to somebody too."

[Mu Satach]

"This is..." the pilot searched for the right word as he watched the Satach and Ivins shove the gurney sled carrying the barely living body of RóBehr up the ramp of the Trikalas.

idiotic,

stupid,

suicide,

plain ol'dumb

Ivins shot his pilot a look.

"inadvisable." Captain Izacs had done as he was instructed. The shuttle was prepped for take off and he had spent the few moments waiting for Ivins pondering how much time they had before other hunters arrived. He had begun cycling through an archive of alternative shuttle id's, just in case, when he noticed the two pushing the gurney towards the shuttle.

"Tell us something we don't know." Ivins hit the controls and the ramp began closing. "Do we have clearance for departure?"

"It's taking a little finessing, but we'll get it." Izacs replied. He hadn't expected the woman to join them in their little escape from the city. Especially after the meeting he had witnessed between Ivins and her the day before at Cloud 9. His eyes drifted over the gurney. Let alone the soon to be corpse that seemed to be the cause for their journey from the core.

"Good," Ivins moved towards towards the cockpit.

"Do we have a destination in mind?" Izacs locked eyes with Mu as she maneuvered the gurney into place and locked it down. Minus the aid of the spotting scope he could finally see their color. Green. "Or is this the standard run away and hope for the best scenario?" he called out to Ivins.

"Don't panic flyboy," Mu pushed her way past the Captain, breaking his gaze.

"Who's panicking?" He turned and followed her.

Moments later the Trikalas was airborne.

[Mu Satach]

Mu sat in the co-pilot's chair and began punching in coordinates.

"So..." the pilot's hands moved across the console, "there is a plan."

"Never leave home without one." Mu began to monitor the comms channel listening for anything out of the ordinary.

"Care to share?" He kept his eyes on the flight path maneuvering through the traffic coming in and out of the city docks.

"You can't read nav chart coordinates?"

"I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time darling."

"Just focus and get us past the gravity well," Mu began to relax. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Once we've made the jump to hyperspace we can chit chat all you want."

"Fair enough." Silence settled into the cockpit.

[Mu Satach]

The shuttle made the jump to hyperspace without incident. Mu turned around in her chair to confront Ivins, “Care to explain? That hunter wasn’t there for me. I’m not that important.”

“Politics in the core are,” he rubbed his brow, “uncertain, always shifting among the elite. Certain associates of mine have determined that my usefulness has come to an end.” He sat back and shrugged. “Hazard’s of youthful ambition.”

“Tragic.”

The pilot turned towards Mu, “Since we’re being chatty, why are we headed into Hutt territory?”

“I have a contact there.” Mu turned back in her seat and settled in for the flight.

“You’re just full of helpful information.” The pilot looked at Ivins, who stood and shrugged a second time.

“I’ll be with my patient,” Ivins began to unbutton his uniform collar as he left the cockpit.

The pilot watched him leave then turned back to look at Mu. He let the silence hang in the air for exactly 3 ticks. “Look, I get it. There’s some kind of history going on here and I’m just along for the ride. The Doc may not care about his life anymore, but I’ve been paid good money to see that it continues.”

Mu looked at him.

“Imperial officers heading directly into the pit of unwelcomed guests doesn’t strike me as the wisest decision.” He sat back a bit, “I need to know what we’re walking into.”

Mu sat up and punched up their destination on the HUD, then zoomed in. “It’s a small outpost at the edge of their territory. Mainly used as a pit stop by smugglers for basic parts and supplies.” She sat back in the seat and let him examine the charts. “When we get closer I’ll signal my contact that you three are on the run and I’m expediting your escape across the stars.”

“That sounds highly suspicious.”

“Everything out here is suspicious.”

“Point taken. I’m J’Cyn by the way,” he held out his hand. “I like to know who I’m going to die with.”

Mu hesitated then returned the hand shake, “Satach.”

“Now that the formalities are out of the way, I’m going to get some sleep.” He left Mu alone in the shuttle’s cockpit. After he was gone she worked her way out of her black leather jacket and relaxed into the chair. The sleeveless tunic revealing the thin silvery battle scars racing up the arms and under her shirt.

~~~

“I’m comin’ in hot Sal.”

Sal’s toothy grin and boisterous laughter was only surpassed by his snout. “Eh! What have you got with you ‘dis time?” he clasped his hands in delight. “Is no good Mu! I think you play too much out there. I still fixing de ship from your last run!”

A broad smile spread across Mu’s face at the holo of her friend.

“Is sometings shiny yes? Sometings maybe Sal can take a small piece?” Sal cocked one eye closer to her.

“Fraid not Sal, I’ve got the blood and guts kind with me this trip.”

“Fugitives! Ahhhh, dey don’t divide up so good.”

“Don’t worry Sal, they’re the best kind of cargo, the rich kind.”

The toydarian exploded in laughter.

J’Cyn watched Mu from a slight distance as she carried on her conversation. Ivins walked up behind him, “She’s not your type.”

“Oh, she’s definitely my type.”

“See you soon old friend,” she reached out and clicked off the holo.

[Mu Satach]

The ship touched down on a forgotten landing pad amid a jungle on the far outskirts of the space port. "Stay here." Mu commanded as she left the cockpit. J'Cyn and Ivins watched her greet a small group gathered to meet them.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" J'Cyn asked

"She's..." Ivins paused, "If she thinks it'll work, it'll work."

"How do you know that?"

A half smile appeared on his face, "I know her well enough to know she doesn't trust anyone but that," he motioned out the window, "that happening down there right now is nothing but trust. If she trusts them, then it'll work. Despite her words, at her core she can't help who she is." Ivins turned and looked directly at J'Cyn, "And that person cares deeply, even for an old dying man who almost destroyed her. She's had a thousand opportunities to kill him over the years, but she's always taken the better path. Even now, she could have left him at that hospital to die alone, but here we are, and she's down there making arrangements so his final hours will be peaceful."

"You make her sound like a saint."

"In another life maybe."

J'Cyn looked at the doc skeptically. He was about to say more, when sounds of Mu returning caused them both to look for her.
She entered the ship and thew a bag at them both. "Ditch the uniforms and don't complain about the fit."

~~~

J'Cyn and Mu maneuvered the gurney into the makeshift living quarters. Sal flew along side them, "So, 'dis is it eh?" He flew around and activated the lights "Not much, but clean."
Mu looked at her friend, "I appreciate the hospitality Sal."

"Eh, it's quiet, no one to bother you back here I think."

Ivins spoke up, "It's more than we deserve." He leaned over the bed and checked on his patient. "We won't be imposing on you for very long."

"Anything for my friend," he clapped a clawed hand on Mu's shoulder. "Speaking of my friend here, we have business to discuss." Sal started leading Mu out the door. "Your ship, why you treat her shields so bad?"

"You know I like contact sports."

"Eh, it makes the repairs a bit too much..." their voices trailed off into the distance.

J'Cyn watched them go then turned back to Ivins. "How long?"

"Not long. Another day or two at the most." Ivins continued his examination of his friend.

"Good to know." he nodded to himself. "I'm going to check things out."

"Be nice to the locals." Ivins called after him.

The moist hot air enveloped J'Cyn as he left the structure. Smells of damp rotting vegetation and oil assaulted his senses. He made quick work of scouting out the surrounding area of the enclosure they were in. Then he followed the footpath between rows of ship parts, buildings, and long forgotten junk towards the sounds of life coming from the other side of the compound.

The closer he got to the epicenter of the lights and noise the more he could see shadow figures passing between him and the light. He instinctively checked his blaster was where it should be and proceeded past figures milling about. The casual nod of acknowledgement with disinterest and eyes always focused on a destination. His manner and stride asserting that he knew he belonged and knew where he was going allowed him to blend in and explore. Beyond the loud laughter and music of the local juke joint he spotted the beginning rows of ships docked at the outpost. He past food stands and small shops, a little bit of everything and nothing anyone would want. A couple of mechanics squabbled with each other and a fight broke out. He side stepped the altercation and moved on unfazed as many others about him did the same.

He circled the entire outpost noting all the different small freighters, their crews, and tired transport captains. It was as she said it would be, a no nothing small port in the middle of a small trade route, in the back end of space. Satisfying himself of their situation he rounded his way back to the epicenter of this small kingdom, the juke joint.

The smoke filled joint smelled of fried food, alcohol, and sweat. Patrons jostled one another as they made their way in and out of the main doors. Music far too old and too familiar blared out of the music box in the corner as games of chance were in play at the tables. A few lost souls clung to each other on what tried to be a dance floor, but the main attraction was the bar. He found an empty spot and waited for the bartender. Getting his drink he turned around to survey the room a second time when he heard her. Her voice and laughter floated to him from the corner.