Rough Beginnings [Open]

[Jordana Jax]

Zaloriis was untouched by the Empire for so long. It was only a matter of time before the far-reaching effects of its deadly skeletal tendrils marred the planet and forever changed the livelihoods of the normally peaceful peoples of the planet. For Jordana, the reality slap in the face was far more severe than even her vividly wild teenage imagination could ever conjure up. As a child, it became a bedtime ritual for her parents to check the closets, the drawers, and under her bed. She'd always believed and insisted that monsters were in fact ... real.

But none would believe her when she'd speak of the monsters beneath her bed or hiding in her closet. No one would listen when she said she saw a pair of eyes gazing at her from outside her bedroom window. Everyone, especially her parents, just brushed it off as nightmares or tricks of light caused by the moon's shine bouncing off the mirror hanging on the wall of her small and cramped room. Many a nights, Jordana would leap off the end of her bed into the hallway with blanket in tow. She feared putting her feet down on the cold floorboards.

Something was under her bed and it would grab her ankles and drag her into the pitch black. She'd never be seen again. The child would rush into her parents room and jump onto their bed to nestle between them. Jarrett Jax, Jordana's father, would grumble incoherently and demand that she get back to her own bed. Kalin, her mother, would just tuck the child in and hold her close, chasing away the fears. This went on for many, many more years than was considered normal.

Those monsters were real. Just as real as the tears soaking her cheeks as she sat huddled against the cold steel bars of a cage that was situated in a now hollowed out area of a ship. Judging by the nuts and bolts still jutting up from the flooring, the area was once seated space for passengers. It was obvious that the seats had been uprooted just to be replaced with animal cages. At least they let me keep this, she thought as she hugged her backpack tighter. The only reason they even let her keep the ratty looking thing was because it didn't hold anything special. Other than a holograph of her parents, a holopic of her beloved pet, and a sketch book that served two purposes, there was nothing inside that her captors wanted. Unless, of course, she included the fact that they had ridiculed her terribly about it all.

The night played over and over again in her head. Her father had become upset and sent her to her room. She heard her parents muffled voices as she checked every nook and cranny in her room for monsters. As she was pulling back from checking under her bed, a strong yet small hand with gray, bony fingers covered her mouth and slipped a weapon against her throat. Back and out the window the thing took her, then into the darkness. It happened so quickly. One minute she was in her room and the next she was used as leverage against her father by ... who?

She was taken from them, ripped from her home. She cried out for her daddy, but he didn't come. The last memory Jordana would have of her parents would be of seeing everyone separated and ... and what?

What became of them?

Jordana screamed and closed her eyes tight while pressing her body against the steel bars, wishing desperately that she could just melt right through those bars or miraculously make herself invisible. The door of the cage squeaked open and one of three gray-skinned robed monsters stepped inside to take the young girl firmly by the arm. She begged and pleaded for them to just let her go and leave her alone, but her voice went unnoticed. How typical. Even the monsters ignore the voices of the young.

Going from the darkness of the ship and into the bright light of day shining upon wherever it was they had just landed at, created a piercingly sharp pain in Jordana's eyes. She'd lost track of just how long she was kept locked up and traveling so the girl didn't know if it was morning or afternoon, what day it was, or what week or month it was. The girl shielded her eyes with a raised arm as she was pushed and tugged to go along, ushered from one entrapment to another.

After crossing the tarmac, a hand pushed down at the back of her head and forced her into the back of a vehicle. The windows were darkened. Scared to death, Jordana clutched at her backpack and pressed as tight as she could against the opposite side as a tall, large body slid in to the back compartment with her. The light of day had been behind whoever it was, so, coupled with her eyes not really adjusting quickly enough to the change of light, she failed to take notice of whether or not it was human, male or female.

The child gave up with pleading to be released long ago. She'd gone hoarse and learned that begging was futile. Her throat was very sore and dry, her lips were dry, too. She was hungry, cold, and tired. Jordana pulled away and eeped out loud as a thick, meaty hand reached over and tried to pat her knee. Thankfully, whomever it was, wasn't insistent on making physical contact with her as the hand withdrew.

Turning to face the window, Jordana tried to get some idea of where she might be, but the vehicle had picked up speed and the images that passed by were nothing more than quick blurs. From this, she assumed that they weren't anywhere near a major city. She didn't hear the muffled sounds of traffic or notice any odors of cooking foods that would fill the air from the kitchens of local eateries and restaurants. She heard no horns blaring, no hum of repulsors or anything of the sort. It was like that, noiseless, for a guesstimated time of two and a half hours.

"Get up", the voice of whomever had been in the back with her insisted. Definitely male judging by the deepness of the voice. Male, or one incredibly masculine female. The thought gave the girl a shudder.

Pulled forcefully from the vehicle, Jordana was then blindfolded and thrust into the awaiting hands of another. No words were exchanged, but she did hear a sound that reminded her of paper crumpling amidst a calloused hand.

"It's all there."

A humph came from one. "I have men watching. You make sure to hold up your end of the bargain.."

"What?! No, please, I'm begging you to jus --'

Jordana was silenced with a cold, hard slap across the face that brought stinging tears to her eyes. The action was followed with a mighty shove to the back of her right shoulder. Jordana stumbled forward. Any time she was to make a turn, she was shoved from the back against the shoulder for which direction her new captor wanted her to go. She fell several times and staggered many more. At one point, the girl was able to tell that they were descending for the ground sloped gently downward. A lift ride came, and down further still she was taken.

When the doors opened, noise and aromas assaulted her sense. Jordana reeled backwards only to be stopped by the closed doors of the lift. She was grabbed by the arm again and thrown forward, caught by someone who had thin arms and bony fingers. She screamed and tried to struggle free. Another hand removed the blindfold from her eyes to reveal the faces of those she was now in the company of. An elderly chap had caught her, and an aging woman removed the blind fold. The woman shushed the child, then said everything would be all right, not to fear them.

But Jordana scrambled away, as far away as she could get. Large, brown eyes shifted wildly from face to face, fearful of what they might do to her.

"Shh, shh, child! We mean you no harm. I'm Shareeze, and this here," the older woman said as she gently hooked an arm around the shoulders of the wobbly, lanky old man, "Corvan."

The names registered, but Jordana wasn't excitedly forthcoming with introducing herself. Weary, she slumped against the hardened dirt wall and closed her eyes, turning away as a fresh onslaught of sobbing ensued.

"Shareeze, get the girl a change of clothes and set up a bedroll for her. Near the fires, hurry." The older woman followed the instructions as Corvan kept vigil over the girl without getting to near.

Jordana slowly turned her head a little, just enough to cast a sidelong look at what was going on. When she seen that the woman was just trying to extend a little niceness, she settled her gaze on Corvan. He offered an uncomfortable grin. His teeth were darkly yellowed, some had blackened due to rot and improper care. But his gray eyes held a twinkle within; wise and kind. He was frail looking to the point of being nothing but wrinkled skin sagging from brittled bones. His fingers, curled around the tip of a stick that served as a walking stick, were gnarled from years of suffering from painful arthritis.

"Come, child. We will not harm you," he bade again.

Jordana kept a sharp eye on the old man, only looking away briefly to see what the others were doing and where they were in relation to herself. "Where .. am I?" She asked, her voice quavering.

Corvan withdrew the crooked hand he had extended and sighed. "I'm afraid, child, you are on a planet called Werncin 3." Corvan knew by the way Jordana's brows furled that she had no idea where in the galaxy she was. He moved his arm out to the side in a sweeping motion to indicate the whole of the hole she had been thrown into. "This is ... where we live."

"Psh, if you can call this livin'!" Hissed another female from somewhere in the small crowd. The sentiment was echoed with nods or murmured agreements.

"What will happen to me?"

Those in the crowd turned their eyes away or lowered them to the ground, shuffling their feet in the dirt; either from nervousness, fear, or apprehensiveness. Jordana couldn't tell which.

Corvan's wise gray eyes softened, the wrinkled crows feet stamped at the corners seemed to melt away as he informed the girl of her fate. "I'd heard that you will be put to work in the kitchen's," he said while pointing a curled finger toward the high dirt ceiling above.

Jordana remained shrunken against the wall while she considered. Working in a kitchen didn't sound so bad. Plus, she'd be up on the surface. There'd have to be opportunities to escape!

Wouldn't there?

Corvan must have been a mind reader because he said, "Everyone who has tried before has never made it more than three feet before getting killed."

"Leave her be, Corvan. Can't ye see she's tired! Come, I've fixed up a nice spot for you to lay your head." Shareeze scolded the ancient man while waving her hand for Jordana to come away from the wall.

She did, but she hugged her backpack tight and kept her distance from the others. Once she reached the thin bedroll the woman had tried to make into a comfortable bed, Jordana laid down and kept a wide, teary-eyed vigil on the others until she couldn't keep her eyes open another minute longer.

* * * * *

The first month was spent slaving away in the hot and sweaty kitchen of some run, down local tavern. It was apparent by the style and dress of the clientèle that the Rotting Rancor catered to those of lesser repute. A few of the girls that had been abducted were pretty enough to be put to 'work'; servicing the lonely drunk space-faring men who wandered the galaxy as pirates or worse. Jordana, for one, was thankful that she wasn't considered 'attractive' enough for that!

At least not to the owner of the Rotting Rancor. The kitchen manager, on the other hand, found the young girl attractive to pinch and grope at every opportunity he had. Whether it was when she was going down to the cellar to get a fresh heaping of soggy, spoiled vegetables or coming in from out back with a new crate of the galaxy's cheapest liquor. Her butt had been bruised from the pinching numerous times. As time went on, and her protests unheeded, Jordana finally gave up on demanding that he keep his hands to himself.

That first month was also spent puking her guts out every afternoon. The living conditions for the slaves were horrendous at best, and the food (if it could even be called that) was even worse. The slaves were allowed to eat whatever was thrown out at the end of each business day. Corvan didn't have the heart to tell Jordana that the scraps they were allowed to have had been thrown out at least three days prior to ending up in their dirty hands. So Jordana learned to squirrel away a dinner roll here or a small helping of vegetables there as she served the customers or retrieved their dishes and brought them to the kitchen. It wasn't the best, but it was a far cry better than three day old rotting scraps; and at least she could keep it down.

Shareeze had taken to caring for Jordana as a mother. Though it wasn't the finest materials, the woman managed to piece together a spare outfit or two for Jordana. One consisted of a pair of pants and a shirt that Shareeze claimed both were ripped to shreds during the washing process. The customer wasn't happy and neither was the owner, Kragen, because he had to give the person free food and a free room just to make up for it. Though a bit large, they were clean and that was all that mattered to Jordana. The other was a disheveled mini-dress. Again, too big for her body - especially in the chest region - but Shareeze managed to make it fit a little better. But Jordana would never wear it while working. The less reason she could give to the kitchen manager, Kragen, to grab at her with, the better.

But that first month wasn't all bad. Jordana had learned via means of eavesdropping, that she was in a city called Jinorota City. Apparently the city was best known for its lawlessness and cheap prices on everything - girls, booze, and information. She kept to herself, didn't really speak much to the other slaves, and soaked up information as she worked the night away. Most of it was trivial crap that wouldn't help her in the least.

As time continued to pass, though, Jordana's hopes of escaping dwindled. The first attempt was an utter disaster. The punishment was worse. The second attempt failed, obviously, when the woman she was hoping would take a message that Jordana had Corvan write, with her when she left the planet was handed over to Kragen. The 'dining room' (if it could be called that) was without a server for a few days thanks to the punishment received for that.

Though her hopes were fading fast, Jordana could be found daydreaming while bathing in dirty, left over bath water. Dreaming of adventures, rescue, and freeing others who were in situations similar to the one she was in right now. She dreamed of finding her parents and running away with them, some place safe, where no one could split them up again. It was on the days that she'd imagine being free, that she'd cry herself to sleep, knowing that they were only dreams that would never come to pass.

Jordana's hands were bright red from the scalding heat of the water used to clean the dishes and glassware. But she'd grown use to it and no longer felt the pain. She swiped the sweat from one thick brow with the back of her arm then dried her hands on the apron strung around her thinning waist. It was time to cut the vegetables, so she grabbed a cutting board and knife and set to work; all the while going back to the thoughts in her head.

Or she would have if Kragen hadn't come bursting through the doors. "Jordana! Where are you, girl?"

She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip then sighed. Now what does he want, she wondered with annoyance. The girl eyed the shiny steel blade of the knife in her head for a minute, then set it down before going to see what the ogre of a man wanted.

"Get yer sweet *** out there and clean up the mess on the floor or I'll have your hide for dinner," he growled sternly.

Flustered, Jordana quickly grabbed a bucket of dirty, soapy water and a sponge, then hurried out to the common room. The customers were in a mild uproar. For what reason, she did not know. She navigated her way through the crowd and found where the mess had been made. By the sound of the rising heated voices, a brawl wasn't far away. Someone had dumped an entire plate and a few bottles of liquor onto the floor. Great, thanks, Jordana thought sourly as she dropped to her knees and began picking up bits of food from the floorboard.

"You're a cheat, Binx. Admit it. You cheated, you were busted for it, and now you're being called out on it. Admit it and we can all go back to our oh so fine dining," Jordana heard one sing-songy female voice say to the gathering crowd.

"Ow," Jordana hissed under the table as some gorilla stepped on the back of her toes, paying no mind to the girl beneath the table cleaning up the mess. As she scrubbed away at the grime and sticky filth on the floor, something shined once at the corner of her eye. Further inspection revealed the item to be the hilt of a dagger tucked into the boot of one of the customers.

What a temptation! Of course, as she imagined slipping said dagger from said boot, she remembered the punishments doled out for trying to escape or pass word along with hopes of being rescued. But those memories soon turned into a grand adventure in the back of her mind. Jordana Jax, a dangerous woman, one not to be trifled with! The girl who took the dagger and used it to hurry along her escape from a gang of local thugs!

She sighed, then went back to scrubbing the floor as the voices all around continued to rise. Still, that hilt was right there, just ripe for the pickings! Oh don't be silly, she thought to herself. You wouldn't even know what to do with it if you managed to get it unnoticed.

Still ...

The voices rose and then all hell broke loose as a bottle came smashing down on someone's head. Jordana heard the sound of hand weapons being withdrawn from leather holsters and saw the flash of bolts flying across the room. Just as the person who had remained seated the entire time stood, Jordana's fingers pulled the hilt and the weapon slid out from the patron's boot unnoticed.

Quickly she hid the dagger within the confines of her apron and scuttled across the floor, weaving around the trampling feet of those seeking cover. Tables overturned, chairs were thrown about, insults and orders were tossed around.

Kragen was busy trying to dodge blaster bolts while demanding order, so he was too busy saving his own sorry skin to notice that one slave had managed to crawl her way toward a darkened hall off to the side and become swallowed by the shadows.

[Jordana Jax]

Sitting there in the dark hallway, listening to the sounds of a brawl over a stupid game of sabaac, gave Jordana a few moments to think about what she had just done. She stole from another. What compelled me to do such a thing, she wondered. The girl would never use it against another, not even as a hollow threat or as her ticket out of this dump. So why had she taken the weapon?

The sound of a dish shattering made the young girl's shoulders draw upward as she cowered against the wall. The noise from the ruckus going on made it nearly impossible to hear the "Psst!" coming from ... Jordana looked to her right, squinting her eyes to better see further down the hall. A trap door in the floor?

"Quick with ya' now, young'en! No time to dawdle," Corvan insisted while waving her toward him, his head poking out from beneath the slightly raised door in the floorboard. Jordana didn't need to be told twice. With a hand keeping a firm hold of the weapon wrapped up in the folds of her apron, she scurried over to Corvan and down into the bowels below.

Shareeze thrust Jordana's backpack into her arms. "Ye'll be needin' this, missy. Now go! Here's yer chance," the woman insisted while spinning the young lady around and giving her a gentle yet firm shove forward.

"Wait, wait!" Jordana said as she turned back around. Her eyes settled on the faces of those who had been kind to her and taken care of her as best they could. Her shoulders sagged deeply. "I can't. I can't leave here and you all know it."

"But you can, child! With that shiny bauble wrapped up in yer apron there, you can escape. Go! Times-a-wastin'!" Corvan said excitedly, urgently, as he once again hobbled forward and spun the girl around then gave her a gentle push in the right direction.

"But, but --"

"No buts about it honey! This ain't no place for a girl like yerself. Now scoot!" Shareeze gave Jordana a shove with each word spoken, demanding that the child pretty much grow a set of balls and get herself out of Hell.

"What about you?" Jordana whirled on the woman and thrust her pushing hands aside, looking to them all with tears in her eyes. "I can't do this alone and I won't leave you here."

Corvan moved surprisingly fast for a man of his age. The girl was stunned silent at how quickly he covered the distance to look down into her eyes. "We've been here far too long, child. It's not much, but we've made a home and a family here in the pit of the Rotting Rancor. This is no place for a child. Now ... GET! Or I'll wallop you a good'un with me walking stick here!" To emphasize his point, Corvan raised his crooked stick and shook it at her.

Jordana did not realize that Corvan was doing it for her own good. So his actions put the fear of God into her. Of course, the old man wasn't so scary, but the others were. Suddenly their faces contorted into angry, evil scowls. Of course, it was all an act to drive the child away and hopefully onto the road to freedom, but she didn't understand that. All the girl knew was that those who had been taking care of her had suddenly turned on her and were now running her out. With one last look that began with saddened pain and ended with scathing hate, Jordan whirled around and ran for the trapdoor.

"God speed, child. You take our love and dreams with ye," Shareeze whispered through a choked sob. Corvan nodded and lowered his head solemnly, patting the woman's arm sympathetically.

* * * * *

Jordana threw open the trapdoor. It banged loudly, which made the girl suck in a breath and hold it. She looked up the hall with wide eyes and waited, praying desperately that no one had heard it. It came as a surprise that no one had in fact heard it. They were still busy throwing punches, tossing tables and chairs at each other, and the occasional blaster shot sang out.

Her heart thumping wildly, her breathing bordering on hyperventilation, Jordana scuttled along the hallway wall and used extreme caution to peer around the corner into the common room. The place was a mess! About ten or twelve were still involved in the fight. Some had been either shot or knocked out and now laid on the floor. Kragen was shouting as he tried to regain control of the house, but his bellowing was answered with a bottle to the back of his head. She heard the loud crack of his skull (or was it the glass breaking?) from where she hid. The lug went down like a sack of wet permacrete. Seeing it with her own two eyes did bring a minute amount of satisfaction.

Knowing that she'd have to move like lightning, Jordana slung her backpack onto her back. Small hands clasped in front of her chest and she turned her eyes upward to utter a pleading prayer that she would make it out the back door. A few big breaths were drawn as she convinced herself more to just run; run like the wind and never look back.

And she did. Jordana shot out of the hallway as if a rapid Bantha were hot on her heels. She jumped over debris on the floor, ducked to avoid getting smacked upside the head by something flying through the air, and dodged through the kitchen door --

Only to be caught by Bristol, the owner. "Where do you think you're going?" A wicked smile pulled his lips back and a pleasured, deep chuckle bellowed from his chest. "You must like torture. Is that it girly girl?"

Jordana's knees buckled and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. She struggled, but Bristol's grip on her shirt was strong. "I think twenty lashes this time. What do yo--" Bristol's words ended abruptly. He stood there, gripping the child by the front of her shirt, staring dumbfounded at something behind her. All of a sudden, the tall and overweight man began to topple over backwards - dead - taking Jordana down with him.

The girl shrieked. Struggling to pry the now dead man's grip from her clothing, Jordana began to panic. Her hands slapped at Bristol's, fingernails dug into his still warm flesh, and she used both trembling hands to shake his loose. A final good, hard yank separated she from him, but the force she had to exert made her tumble backwards. She slapped her hands on the floor behind her to stop the tumble, only to have her hand stepped on by a thick-soled black boot.

Jordana howled, but the man (or woman) who caused the pain paid the girl no mind. They were too busy ducking punches and throwing some of their own. With Bristol out of the way and Kragen too busy with the brawl, Jordana pushed up and ran through the kitchen then out the back door.

She ran. And ran, and ran, until her lungs were going to burst. She pushed herself to take a few more running steps then stopped and dropped to her hands and knees. Inhaling deeply and quickly, Jordana was almost too afraid to look over her shoulder to see just how near or far she was from the Rotting Rancor. She could still hear the noise of the scuffle, but it was very muffled to her own ears. Of course, that could be attributed to the blood rushing through her veins and her pulse pounding loudly.

Fearfully, the girl slowly tilted her head and peered back to the Rotting Rancor from beneath her left arm. She didn't see anyone coming after her, so she slowly sat back on her heels and dared to turn her head a bit more; as if she didn't believe she had actually just escaped from the place, let alone un-noticed.

Knowing that Shareeze, Corvan, and the others were still somewhere inside, Jordana was overcome with a fresh onslaught of tears and guilt. She sat there sobbing for a few minutes, then slowly got to her feet. Her hands hooked around the straps of her backpack and she took a few steps backwards, contemplating if she should just go or run back and step back into the fire. She knew that the others would be punished severely for the fact that she had run away, and it wasn't fair to them. If she'd only stayed ... Jordana turned her back to the Rotting Rancor and walked away with her head lowered, tearing eyes to the ground.

* * * * *

She had no idea what time it was when she left, or how many hours (or was it just minutes?) she had walked. But the sun was beginning to rise and she'd need to find some place to lay low until night came again.

Jordana finally peeled her eyes from the ground and looked around. She had no idea where she was, knew nobody on the planet except for those she had left behind. If she thought her own home world was a scary place, then Werncin 3 was probably the ultimate horror in her own mind.

Turning to look back from the direction she had walked all night, Jordana could just barely make out some of the tops of the skyscrapers of Jinorota City. Doing a full circle didn't reveal much. Just a lot of open space dotted by mountain peaks (so she assumed) in the distance or perhaps even the tops of tall, shady trees, indicating a forest. Nearer to her position though, she spotted an outcropping of boulders and she headed over. Tucking herself down low, she looked around to see if she could be spotted from any direction. When she felt she was relatively safe, Jordana sat down and rested for a while. What do I do now, she wondered. Where do I go? She closed her eyes. A nap would be good and she was pretty tired from her bold and daring adventure.

About an hour into the nap, she awoke with a start, and looked around frantically. Nightmares. No. The girl listened, even canted her ear toward the sky and listened carefully. The sound she heard told her where she needed to go. Jordana stood and swung her pack onto her back again, adjusted the comfort of the straps over her shoulders and headed to East-Northeast.

[Jordana Jax]

She walked until the sun was high over her head. This told her it was the noon hour. By her guesstimate, she had been walking for about five hours - give or take - and she could afford to stop and rest for a spell. Besides, she had to pee. Her trek had been arduous. She hadn't spotted hide nor hair of anyone else. Odd? Perhaps. Then again, she had been moving away from the only city she had only known by name. She hadn't seen any other buildings, hadn't heard any vehicles other than the ships traveling above. Still, Jordana cautioned a look all around just to make sure there wasn't anyone out there watching.

When she was certain that there wasn't, she shrugged her backpack off of her shoulders and walked over to a patch of bushes that looked as if they could use a little moisture themselves. And though there wasn't another soul walking the lonely flats, she still looked around nervously as she unbuttoned her pants and lowered the zipper. As she slid her pants from her hips, she squatted down to urinate. The thought hadn't struck her until she finished that she had nothing to wipe herself with. "Great. I suppose next it'll cloud over and start raining just out of spite," she exasperated, wrinkling her nose as she yanked off a few of the greenest leaves she could find on the bush.

"No, it wouldn't rain. With my luck, I just wiped myself with something that's going to cause a severe burning itch and redden the skin," the child said with a doomed voice as she hiked her pants back up and refastened them. Hefting her backpack from the ground, she took a moments pause to check inside. She'd hoped that Shareeze or Corvan would have stuffed a few extras in there. But they hadn't. The only thing that had been added to the contents was the dagger she had stolen from the space pirate back at the Rotting Rancor.

Thirsty, hungry, tired, alone, and feeling more destitute than ever, Jordana still couldn't think poorly of those she left behind. Which made her wonder how they were doing. Bristol and Kragen had to have known by now that she was missing. She sighed, hoping that Shareeze and Corvan were doing okay. They had helped her escape, after all. It'd be ridiculous to expect that they would have stolen one morsel of food or a bottle of water and stuffed it into her pack before shooing her away.

Her stomach growled. Jordana folded her arms across it after flinging her backpack over one shoulder and carried on her way. Her goal was to reach the tree line that kept growing closer the more she walked. So her plan to move by night and sleep by day was shot to hell. It didn't really bother her. She was use to her plans and dreams going awry.

The hours passed. By watching the direction of the sun, she maintained her course. At least ... she hoped she had. When late afternoon arrived, by her judgment, Jordana reached the trees. But it wasn't just a few of them. It was an actual forest. The waning rays of light drifted through the thick canopy and filtered through. It looked quite serene. She stood at its edge and peered around. She had no idea what kind of creatures roamed the planet or what she might stumble into once she started moving again.

Here goes nothing, she thought, taking first one step then another and another. Into the forest she went. The ground beneath her feet was soft, almost squishy. Water? Oh she hoped! The leaves were a healthy green, the trunks of the trees thick and tall. She wondered how far it was to the other side and if she really wanted to continue walking what she hoped was a straight line.

Vivid imagination sprang to life. Visions of being chased and tackled by some big, muscular, woolly feline turned her skin cold. Or getting caught in an over-sized web belonging to some multi-legged spider, only to be paralyzed and slowly drained of her blood. Jordana shuddered. But no such nonsense came to fruition. On occasion she would hear something rustling in the trees or twigs snapping, some small woodland critter scurrying across the ground. But no boogie monsters jumped out to nab her nor did any spiders drop down from the branches up above to entangle her within a sticky, silky web.

The sun continued to sink in the sky, mottling it with deep hues of purples, blues, violent oranges, and soft yellows. The clouds were edge with a tinge of pink. It was quite pretty to behold. It was then that it truly hit the girl. Jordana stopped and drank in her surroundings. She was free. The realization made the teen giddy. She wanted to shout out, but held it in, fearful that by some strange and off chance someone would hear. So she did the next best thing. Jordana began singing a song she had learned from Corvan many moons ago.

"I met him in a swamp down in Dagoba
Where it bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda
S O D A, soda

I saw the little runt sitting there on a log
I asked him his name and in a raspy voice he said "Yoda"
Y O D A, Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I've been around, but I ain't never seen
A guy who looks like a muppet, but he's wrinkled and green
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda"

Jordana giggled, then stopped in her adventure again to voice a wonderment aloud. "Muppet? What's a muppet?" She took a few more steps then paused again. "What's a yoda?"

Stumped, she just shrugged her shoulders and trudged on, humming happily. But before she could reach the end of her merry little tune, Jordana shushed herself as a most welcome sound hit her ears. It was water! The girl took off in a run, following the sound to its source. She stopped when the most lovely vision revealed itself. A lake whose waters were deep blue and mostly very still. She looked at its size and noticed where it began to thin. Must be where it gains speed or maybe falls over a ledge, she reasoned silently.

The clouds scudding overhead were mirrored in the lake at her feet; by the shore, the water seemed as clear as crystal. Beneath it she could see the bottom of the lake falling away, a drowned tree's limbs long, dark, and silent, and the scuttling of a tiny clawed crawfish bound for deeper waters. Far away down the long lake, a great gray bird rose from the near shore and winged silently across the lake. She watched in awed silence until it vanished into the trees.

The air was turning cooler, and Jordana shivered. She turned east and moved along the shore, weaving in and out around the trees, but keeping the water always in view. It would not do to get lost and stray in the opposite direction now. Mist began to gather in white curls along the water's edge as the air continued to cool. Wisps drifted in under the trees, and the sky fell to silver-gray. She hurried on. Somewhere ahead, a bird called amid the trees. The call did not echo, but merely faded away. Glancing around in the gathering darkness, Jordana noticed just how eerily silent everything became. The trees grew dense and the footing uneven, so she paid close attention to where she stepped.

Suddenly there came a high, weird, unearthly call, as if from a great distance. Jordana froze. What had once been vividly captivating had become eerily frightening in what seemed like just moments. But Jordana had lost track of time ages ago. She edged her way to the lake and slowly stooped to her knees. Cupping her hands, she dipped them into the water and drank away her thirst. The water had a funny taste to it, but it wasn't unbearable. Besides, she was rather parched and didn't really care. She didn't have anything with her that she could fill, which disappointed her, but for now her thirst was sated.

Another look told her what she had probably already surmised before but didn't consciously acknowledge. There didn't seem to be any really safe place to sleep. The shore was soft, open enough to allow her to take off at a moments notice if she had to, and she doubted that anyone was around. Just an overactive imagination at work, that's all, she tried to convince herself. There was a fallen tree nearby, though. So she grabbed her backpack and went over to it. With her back pressed against the thick, decaying log, she drew her knees in close to her chest and just sat.

Every little sound made her jump. She looked around with wide-eyed fright, but the sources never appeared. To calm her fears, Jordana would tell herself that it was just some nocturnal creature going about its nightly routine of gathering food or materials for its nest, den, whatever it called home. The moon was high in the midnight sky before the young child slept.

[Jordana Jax]

Something tickled Jordana's nose as she slept. Her nose wriggled, but the tickling wasn't enough to wake her. At least not yet. Again the tickle returned. This time the girl rubbed at the end of her nose with the back of her fingers, but still refused to wake. And yet again, the tickle came back. This time the girl's eyes slitted open. But when she saw what had been tickling her nose, those slitted eyes shot wide open and she sat up with an audible start.

The quick movement of the human didn't phase the little creature in the least. It sat there, wriggling its itty bitty nose and blinking its beady little eyes at her. Then it sneezed, shook its head rapidly a few times and proceeded to rub its own tiny nose with its front paws.

Jordana just blinked, her brows arched. How amusing, she thought. Then followed the thought with another; it's probably the most poisonous creature on the planet with my luck. When the creature finished rubbing away the tickle from its own nose, it went about its business. Just what that business was, Jordana hadn't the foggiest idea. It scuttled away quickly. Jordana watched it, unable to prevent smiling at just how adorable the thing was. She watched as it darted in a jagged zig-zag fashion and ended up huddling close to another of its kind that was tucked beneath part of a fallen branch, soaking up the morning sun.

Realization kicked in as Jordana remembered falling asleep on the shore of the lake. The thought of what could have happened to her as she slept! Anything could have approached in the middle of the night. Something could have bitten her, crawled into her hair, or worse! Aren't there parasites that burrow beneath the skin where they lay their eggs and reek all sorts of havoc, she pondered.

Her hands shook out her dirtied sandy mane vigorously. Her skin crawled at the prospect of what might possibly be shaken loose and cast aside. She shuddered from the heebie jeebies. While doing this, she stood and scattered her hands over her clothing. She shook her pant legs, grabbed a hold of the hem of her shirt and gave that a few good yanks, then tried to reach around to her back to shake her shirt out there. Jordana looked down right stupid. Had anyone happened to be waltzing through the thick wooded area came upon the scene, they may be misled into thinking that she was having some sort of spastic seizure with the way she danced about and contorted her limbs.

"Uuuuugghh," she exclaimed verbally with a final palsy-jerk. The critters that had awakened her still seemed unimpressed or frightened of the human teen. The mother, or so Jordana assumed it was the mother, cleaned the infant with short, quick, rigorous licks. The baby just sat there, appeasing its mother.

As she lifted her backpack from the ground, she slapped the small particles of dirt and thin, dry twigs from the side that had been face down on the ground, then flung it over her shoulders. Gazing up at the sky with a hand cupping her eyes, she searched for the sun. She figured it was a few hours before noon. Here's hoping I'm not about to head off in the wrong direction, she said mentally to herself, as she left the mother-infant pair of critters behind and approached the lake to get a drink of water before beginning her trek.

* * * * *

It'd been a few hours since she left the protective shade of the thick wooded area and was now trudging across the flats under the heat of the midday sun. Though the sun's rays were warm, the air was a little cooler than it was the other day. Jordana worried that the night time temperatures were going to get cooler and cooler before she could ever reach the spaceport.

Just as she was about to dive deeper into truly unnecessary worry, one of the most welcome sounds came to her ears. Though still a good distance away to her right she spotted plumes of dust rising and swirling into the air. The aftermath of a vessel moving at rapid speed over a dirt road! She watched it for a few minutes to see what direction it remained.

It seemed to go in the same direction the ships in the sky were heading. Am I near the spaceport, she questioned. Of course she wouldn't know until actually getting there. Jordana started to run, her gait no longer straight but heading off in a diagonal direction. The closer she got to the road, the louder the sounds became. Traffic! There was actual traffic. And more ships flying overhead! YES! Then a sign at the side of the road caught her eye. She slowed to a fast walk then eventually stopped and looked up at the sign.

"Sember City 35 miles." Jordana turned to look left, the same direction the arrow was indicating which turn to take ahead in order to reach Sember City. She certainly wasn't going to go that far! Then again, she hoped that she wouldn't have to go that far just to find a way off this hell hole.

She looked to the sign again. "Thail 20 miles" The arrow next to that location's name pointed to the right. Though it wasn't as far away as Sember City, she still didn't want to have walk that far.

A final look the sign. "Jinro -- " Jordana blinked and read it again as her shoulders slumped, rolled forward and her jaw dropped. "Jinroto City 1 mile" She scoffed, turning away from the road sign and walking circles. "You have got to be kidding me! I can't have been walking in the wrong direction! Did I just walk a circle?"

Jordana looked up, her eyes seeking the heavens. "Why, God? Why? Why do you hate me so much!" Distraught, Jordana kicked at the ground as tears of anger filled her eyes. Some rocks that she had kicked didn't go all that far. So she picked them up and threw them at the road sign, angry at everything. When the anger was spent, she plopped down on the ground and sat there with her legs folded, contemplating what she'd do now while swiping the tears from her cheeks.

[Jordana Jax]

The girl wasn't getting any younger as she sat there, angry at the rotten hand life dealt her. She was tired, hungry, angry, and still quite scared; though one wouldn't know it by the way she sat there at the side of the road sulking.

But just sitting wasn't going to get her off this forsaken planet. Nor was it going to get food into her stomach, clean clothes on her body or even the bath she so desperately wanted. She could have taken a swim in the lake if she weren't afraid of what might have been lurking in the water. Images of sinewy serpents with large fanged teeth filled her head, along with tentacled beasts that could only survive in the deepest depths of the oceans, reaching out to ensnare her within its suckered arms to draw her into its gaping maw. Or even the massively clawed, hard-shelled crustacean monsters that had huge beady eyes at the end of twenty-foot long stalks!

Jordana looked toward the city she had tried so hard to escape from with narrowed eyes. How she hated that city! She hated everything about it even though she hadn't seen any other parts of it except for the dingy pit below the Rotting Rancor. But still, one part of her conscious mind said, if you want to get off this rock, you're going to have to go there.

Reluctantly she stood and dusted her backside off. This was done out of habit. Her clothes were filthy and a little more roadside dust ground into the material wasn't going to hurt anything. Jordana headed to Jinroto City, slapping at the roadside sign as she walked past it.

* * * * *

The city was crowded. the air polluted. Dirty, dank, and harboring a stink that made her stomach churn. She walked quickly with her head down, keeping her eyes affixed to the permacrete walkways. Not making eye contact with any of the people out and about seemed like the safest thing to do.

At least she thought so until hooking a fast right around a corner. Six boys jumped her. The girl struggled, cried out for help, but of course no one answered that call. The pushed and shoved, grabbed at her backpack and demanded that she give it to them. But she wasn't willing to give that up. As she played tug of war with the item, another shoved the girl really hard from the back and sent her flying forward. The one who had demanded her backpack side-stepped and laughed out loud when the girl landed hard on her stomach and had the wind knocked from her lungs.

"Let's see what's in here," he said as he unzipped the backpack and dumped the trio of contents onto the ground. As he squatted and thumbed through her sketch book to read her personal thoughts and view her sketches, the one who shoved her down slammed a knee into the center of her back.

If Jordana was able to breathe, she would have lost the ability again. As it was, she was still gasping to get air back into her lungs and now it was worse; not too mention even more painful. Salty tears stung her eyes and rained freely down her cheeks. The others in the group joined in, pinning her down, pawing at her, and finally yanking her shoes off her feet.

"Ha ha! Listen to this! 'But my daddy was -- is -- a good man. And my momma was the best mom any girl could ever ask for. I hope they're all right and that I will see them again one day. I wonder if they're worried about me? Are they looking for me? Do they think about me or even remember me?' He read aloud for all to hear in a high-pitched mocking tone of voice. They all laughed.

"They're not looking for you and do you know why?" He said, almost angrily, while tearing out pages from her sketchbook. "Obviously they don't want a disgustingly ugly rat such as yourself, that's why!" As he said each word, he crumbled up the pages torn and whipped them at Jordana; who was now curled up in a tight ball sobbing soundlessly. As each wadded up paper hit her body, she flinched. They all laughed.

The taunting and down right cruelty continued for another five minutes then they got tired of it and left. Jordana laid there until her lungs stopped burning and she could breathe again. Then she slowly sat up and looked at her things, scattered and ruined on the ground. A fresh round of tears sprang to life, muffled cries growing into full-blown heaved sobs as she picked each up ball of paper and stuffed into her backpack. "They weren't even new shoes. They were worn, full of holes, and had broken laces. Why? Why did they take them?" She whined. Luckily they hadn't found the two photographs hidden in the closed pocket inside. After she collected every last piece, Jordana huddled against the wall of the building and just cried.

[Jordana Jax]

She cried until tears couldn't be produced any longer then got up and looked at herself. What a mess, she thought. Her clothes looked worse than ever, the tears left streaks of clean amidst the dirt on her face, and she was now shoeless. Stuck in a city she didn't want to be in, trying to keep from being found by any of Bristol's men - particularly Kragen. Worn out, starving, and thirsty. Life was just grand for the young girl.

With a grunt she hooked the strap of her backpack over one shoulder and looked up and down the alley. Ahead approximately fifty feet stood a dirty garbage dumpster. A door just beyond opened and a scraggly looking man wearing a greasy apron stepped out. He was talking to himself, or perhaps to someone else behind him holding the door open that she couldn't see. Jordana watched as the man swung a couple of trash bags to pick up momentum, then hoisted them high into the air so they could drop into the dumpster. As he wiped his hands on the apron, he returned inside and the door closed.

She kept watching that door to see if it would open again. But it didn't. For the first time, Jordana noticed a most pleasing aroma coming from the building she'd been huddled against just minutes before. It was some sort of cafe or restaurant! With caution, Jordana crept up to the dumpster, keeping her eyes on the door at all times. As soon as it registered in her head, Jordana ran the rest of the way to the dumpster. When she reached her destination, she looked around for something to stand on. Spotting a packing crate, she grabbed it and dragged it over.

With the crate now in place, she placed one barefoot on it, then the other and peered into the dumpster. Jordana gagged at the smell. It was quite overpowering; rotting fruit, rancid meats, smoky ashes from ashtrays, and old fermenting liquor. She was quite sure there were more smells in the mix she could make out, but she didn't have time nor did she care. With her hands on the lip of the dumpster to keep herself steady, she leaned far to the left and gagged back a few dry heaves.

Jordana remained leaning uncomfortably for a moment or two after the spell passed, steeling herself for the onslaught of decomposing trash that was going to assault her senses again. A couple of deep breaths later, the last one held, she hurriedly jumped up and leaned far into the dumpster, using her waist and left hand for balance. The girl grabbed eagerly at whatever was in reach. Beggars couldn't be choosers, after all. She pulled herself out when she couldn't hold her breath any longer and that first deeply drawn breath made her eyes sting, her lungs burn, and left her light-headed. She hopped down awkwardly from the crate, curling her arm against her stomach to prevent the loss of anything edible she'd just gotten her hands on.

* * * * *

A group had been out on the town that night, two Zeltrons, a young hapan woman, a larger Zabrak man and a couple humans. They laughed and carried on, something to be expected from a group with the party race of the Zeltrons. As they passed by an alley, the young Hapan stopped for a brief moment and looked down the dark walled pathway. Her eyes didn’t allow her to see in such darkness, but something was down there, something that was digging in the trash. Her woman’s intuition told her that it was not something dangerous and possibly something that needed help. She turned to the male Zeltron. ”Dam?” She took the Zeltron’s man arm and spoke in a sweet voice almost cute enough to melt the Emperor’s heart. ”I think I heard something in the alleyway, I think it’s a child.”

”Really? Why do you think that?” The male Zeltron spoke, his voice have a deep and soothing tone to it.”I just think it is, can we go check? Pleeeaaaasse?” The Hapan was almost to sweet for her own good, but she knew Dam had a lot of trouble turning down such a sickening display of cuteness. ”OK, we’ll check.”

The group turned and moved slowly down the alley way, the larger Zabrak gripped the handle to his blaster while the Hapan clung to the male Zeltron as she was practically blind in the low light. The female Zeltron clung to Dam’s other side, though in what seemed to be a much more intimate way, her hand rest on and squeezed his butt lightly; holding her body much closer to his. She leaned up and whispered in his ears which brought a simple smile to Dam’s face.

It wasn’t long before they spotted the young girl in dirty clothes no shoes, and holding some trash to her chest. The Zeltrons immediately felt the young things sorrow. ”Merek take your hand off your blaster.” the Zeltron commanded with a bit of reflected sorrow in his voice. The female Zeltron moved closer to the young girl ”Hello sweety… Are you ok?” her voice was full of concern. It truly pained her to see such a young girl, not even a woman, in such a condition.

* * * * *

Jordana was busy stuffing most of what she had gathered into her backpack in anxious fashion, stuffing a half-eaten large round fruit between her knees so she could shove the rotten food in and get it zipped up quicker. So intent with her business, Jordana failed to notice that a group of people had spotted her and began to approach.

She didn't take notice until a sing-songy voice spoke, first saying hello then inquiring about her well-being. Of course this startled the young girl, and the way in which she reacted made it quite evident. Backpack was clutched tightly against her stomach, the fruit between her knees fell and rolled away while Jordana looked to them all in wide-eyed fright and started backing away. It didn't help that the girl had no idea of what species or race most of those in the group were, except for the humans amongst their party.

The female Zeltron stepped forward and knelt down, her tight fitting dress falling onto the dirty ground, exposing a sexy bare leg up to the upper thigh ”Aww, don’t be afraid.’ She extended her hand to the young girl slowly, ”My name is Lyoshaa.”

The Hapan, though virtually blind attempted to move towards the young girl. ”We just want to help dear.” her sweet as a lollipop voice sounded out, unfortunately it was sounded at the wall. ”Ahem… Khalleen, sweetheart…” The male Zeltron moved and turn the young hapan to face the young girl. ”She’s this way.”

Khaleen’s face flushed with embarrassment. ”Heehee, ” she laughed a bit to herself embarrassed. ”We just want to help. she spoke sincerely in the general direction of the girl. Damaskus then stepped forward and placed his hand on Lyoshaa’s shoulder gently brushing it against her neck before speaking. ”I’m Damaskus, would you be willing to tell us your name? his voice rolled from his lips soothingly and warmly.

Jordana backed away as far as she could. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that far since her back struck the solid brick wall of the building that the cook had stepped out previously. Those eyes that had been as wide as saucers suddenly narrowed, bringing dark brows into a tight, pinched knit that created tight wrinkles above the bridge of her nose. "No one wants to help," Jordana murmured back, hugging her backpack even tighter.

Another of the party stepped forward, introducing himself. At first Jordana refused to make eye contact with him, opting to keep her eyes shifted to one side yet keeping the party within her peripheral vision, or focused on the ground; specifically on the tips of her dirty bared toes that curled and uncurled with apprehension. Tears welled in her eyes again, certain that she was going to be mugged, attacked, or even killed in the next few minutes. Great, my killer gives me his name, she thought sarcastically. She closed her eyes, which forced the tears that had been teetering on the precipice of lower lids, to tumble freely. Her shoulders hitched with a stifled sob.

Then something subtle and strange began to occur. Over the period of the next couple of minutes Jordana's fears and apprehension ebbed away. Her tears subsided and she felt ... unusually relaxed. This perplexed her, which was obvious to those gathered 'round by the way the expression on her face melted and her body language softened.

"Jordana," she whispered, though she didn't recognize her own voice when she heard it with her own two ears. It sounded almost ... flirty. Startled at the sound of her own voice, Jordana pulled her head back and wondered where in the heck that had come from! It wasn't like her to flirt nor was it like her to find anyone attractive; man, woman, or alien! Yet, as she dared to look over the two humanoids whose looks were far prettier than anything she'd seen in her secluded, enslaved past, she realized that she did find them to be attractive, almost unbearably so.

The group noticed the drastic change in her speech and body language. It was something they expected and would definitely help in calming the young girl. Lyoshaa stood up and moved slowly forward, her sleek curve gliding through the dim light, able to entrance male and female a like. ”Jordana? That’s a pretty name. Would you like to come into the restaurant with us and have some real food?”

Khaleen felt her way along the wall back to the rest of the humans and the bags that they were carrying. She pulled out a pair of shoes. They were a nice pair, not that dressy, but most definitely of high-class style. Khaleen smiled. They were a pair of shoes that she bought during their outing. She was taller than Jordana, but had small feet, her shoes would definitely be the best fit for the young girl. Khaleen hurriedly stumbled back down the dark alley way. Her foot caught the edge and She began to tumble forward.

Damaskus moved quickly and caught the stumbling young Hapan. He then led her closer to the girl. Khaleen put on an ear to ear smile and extended her arms holding the shoes towards Jordana. ”Here! They are probably too big but they are much better than running around in your bare feet.” her voice was bubbly with the offer.

Still reeling from the completely uncharacteristic way in which Jordana had suddenly changed, the girl flinched away from the group again when the Hapan woman stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face. And she flinched back again when the woman thrust a pair of pretty shoes at her, offering them to her freely. Struggling against the ease and affectionate feelings roiling forth, Jordana looked from the woman, to Damaskus, then to the woman again, then finally the shoes.

They are rather pretty, Jordana thought. And my feet are getting cold. She looked to Damaskus again, seeking confirmation that the offer was truly real. He nodded once, motioning a hand with a gentle wave toward the shoes. Hesitantly, as if expecting a coiled viper waiting to strike, Jordana let go of her backpack with one hand and reached for the shoes. "I -- I'm rather hungry," she said softly, snatching the shoes quickly. But she didn't put them on right away. Instead, she clutched at her bag against her stomach again, the shoes hooked by the tips of her fingers.

By this point Damaskus had made up his mind. He’d invite the young girl to stay aboard his ship. Certainly she wouldn’t have to service the guests of his hotel, but he was sure she’d be able to do something. For now though, they’d get some food in her stomach, then he’d give her the offer. ”When we get inside you can have anything on the menu that you want. You just need to put the shoes on first to cover those pretty feet of yours.”

Food? Did he just say food? And did he just say she could have anything she wanted from the menu? A dream come true for the young girl! Still, she was wary of this group that happened upon her. Why were they being so nice? But the loud growl that made itself audible to all forced her to push those concerns aside. At least for now. She could always excuse herself after she's stuffed herself to the point of bursting, then slip out the back if she truly had to. Jordana nodded to Damaskus then stooped to drop the shoes on the ground, keeping her eyes on them all the time. She slid each foot into a shoe and wormed her toes to the front. They were a little too big for her feet, mostly in length, but not too terribly so. The heels would just scrape or clunk with each step.

The woman who had offered the shoes stuck close to the child and insisted she sit next to her. Jordana thought she was really nice and began to feel a twinge of guilt for questioning their sincerity. But on the back burners of her mind, she did still question it. Her experiences with others hasn't been all that good throughout most of her life, so it was hard for the girl to believe that anyone could be nice simply just to be nice.

The group all enjoyed drinks that contained alcohol, but Jordana stuck to carbonated beverages. Besides, they wouldn't even allow her a small sip of whatever cocktails or hard-stuff they were drinking. Damaskus hadn't lied to her. He let her have whatever she wanted from the menu, even the pricey stuff that she couldn't even pronounce. One dish served before the main meal involved something that wasn't quite dead yet. It squirmed and squiggled in a deep dish.

Merek, a very tall and very well built male humanoid of the party regaled Jordana with tales of his race; which she had learned were known as Zabrak's. He told her how he had met Damaskus and even told her some stories that sounded completely made up, but Jordana enjoyed the stories anyway. He explained to her that you were suppose to use a pair of tongs to pick up the squirming creature then dip it in a special sauce that had been placed over a burner right next to the deep bowl. Holding it there for a couple of minutes, cooked the creature to perfect tenderness and that it had to be served as fresh as possible. Hence why they were served alive. Jordana made a face and shook her head. She was hungry, yes, but not that hungry.

The girl ate and ate, stuffing her mouth with bits of everything that was brought to the table. As she was about to say something to Khaleen, a huge, deep burp erupted! Jordana blushed and covered her mouth, looking quite sheepish and embarrassed. But the group just laughed as Damaskus nodded once, pleased by the child for some unfathomable reason. "In some cultures, that is quite a compliment to the chef." He had explained. That explanation put the young girl at ease and the rest of their time spent in the restaurant was one of laughter, content, and genuine pleasure with each other's company.

Whe Lyoshaa and Khaleen had pardoned themselves to the ladies room, Damaskus leaned forward and held Jordana's attention. The man was quite handsome, his looks riveting. The sixteen year old shifted nervously in her seat. But his intentions were honorable; thankfully! His presence stirred feelings and sensations she'd never before felt and it made her wonder if she was at all normal. He'd offered her room and board on his ship. The only thing he asked for in return was for her to help out in any capacity she was able and comfortable with.

* * * * *

And so it was that the young girl named Jordana Jax finally escaped the bonds that held her prisoner on Werncin 3 amongst a newfound group of humanoids who would quickly find their way into her heart and be revered as the best friends she'd ever known.

But her newfound luck didn't last long. Three months later, while orbiting some planet Jordana never caught the name of, emergency klaxons screamed throughout the ship. Damaskus raced into the teen's room and grabbed her by the arm just as she had been swinging her backpack over her shoulders in preparation of disembarking the ship upon landing. Everything zipped past in a blur. From being ushered hurriedly through the cooridors to the escape pods, to Dam's curt explanation of what was going on, to being stuffed into one of the small escape pods and then jettisoned into space.

As the escape pod zoomed away, Jordana turned in time to see the entire pleasure yacht ripple from bow to stern, as if the metallic hull were nothing more than hologram losing its connection. In the next blink of an eye, the entire ship exploded, sending hunks of flaming metal hurtling through the stars. The flash of light was bright, blinding the young teen momentarily, and leaving white flashes of haloed lights in her vision, then it was gone. It was as if the pleasure cruiser had never been there at all. Nothing remained, aside from the floating pieces of metal that had been expelled by the force of the blast.

Witnessing such an incident with her own two eyes, Jordana went into a state of shock; unable to believe that what had just happened, happened. Slowly she sank into the small seat of the escape pod and slid her backpack from her shoulders onto her lap. Vacant and wide-eyes stared at the nothingness of space as the pod fell toward the planet with no name. As the ground drew closer and closer, Jordana slowly came out of shock. With seconds ticking by rapidly, she readied herself to the best of her abilities for impact. This is going to hurt, she thought as she curled up in the seat and hid her turned face behind her backpack.

The pod struck earth, creating a deep crater path along its skidding trajectory. Smoke/steam rose into the air from the entry-burn when the vessel punched through the atmosphere, charring the once shiny metallic hull. Jordana was jolted roughly in the seat and something fell from an overhead compartment and struck her on the head. It made her dizzy, her vision blurry, and she fought hard to avoid passing out. Otherwise seeming uninjured, when the vessel came to rest (finally), the teen struggled to pop the hatch and pull herself free.

Jordana fell face first to the ground and groaned. Disoriented, she slapped around for her backpack and grabbed it when she finally caught a purchase on one of the straps. She pulled it close and rolled onto her left side.

Then she passed out.

[Jordana Jax]

Dusk - Several hours later

"Wakey, wakey." The small, sentient, fur-covered lizard said eagerly to the sleeping heap curled up on the ground. The creature, known by locals as a Moocher, has a name and it's not one of the nasty ones the locals spit like poison from their tongues. His name is Q'ark. He also knew the small figure he be pokin' was a human, for he had seen many of her kind in the spaceports he frequented to panhandle.

The human form didn't move upon first poking. Q'ark scuttled around to the human's front and shook Jordana harder. "Wakey, wakey. It be night soon. Musssn't be out alone in the dark." The creature's esses were hissed and his forked tongue flickered from his mouth each time he had to say a word that had an ess in it.

The sudden movement of the small teen made Q'ark jump back and hiss, ready to defend himself if the need arose. He watched intently as the small human groaned softly and pushed herself up enough to sit up, leaning against her left hip. When Jordana's vision focused on the creature that had been poking her, the teen scrambled backwards as she yelped with surprise, then stumbled over her own two feet as she tried to stand. The teen wound up on her butt on the ground anyway.

"No no, Q'ark not harm you. Be not 'fraid! Pleasse!" Q'ark said, waving his fingerless, hand-like appendages at the girl in a non-threatening gesture. Their appearance reminded Jordana of mittens worn in winter.

When the human child stopped trying to backpeddle away from him, Q'ark cautiously took a few steps forward to lessen the distance some. But he stopped on a dime as soon as Jordana gave the creature the impression that she was about to either hurl something at him or find her footing and run.

"It'ss not ssafe after dark. Not here. Musst get to the cccity. Here, you be hunted. Here Q'ark be hunted! Come, come. Musst go. Now. Hurry." Q'ark was growing anxious by the minute. Even as he spoke, he turned direction just enough to take him past the human child but still remain out of striking distance.

Jordana, on the other hand, eyed the creature strangely and warily. She'd never seen one of its kind before. But as Q'ark continued on his way, Jordana's curiosity was piqued as to what exactly would be hunting her when night fell. "Hunted by what?" Worried that the sentient critter may be speaking true, Jordana pushed herself to her feet and slung her backpack over her right shoulder. "What's a Q'ark?"

Q'ark, obviously elated that the human being didn't scoff at him with disgust or derision, bounded back to the girl with a large serpentine smile peeling back its lizard-lips. The expression was strange, yet somehow rather endearing. It softened the creatures multi-faceted eyes and made it seem more ... human ... in a very odd way. "Devaroniansss! Mean. Mean to Q'ark. Try to hurt Q'ark if they ssee Q'ark." The creature patted at his chest with both mitten-like hands to indicate that he was Q'ark. "Come, come. We musst go."

Again, Q'ark didn't wait to see if the human child were following. He just marched off. He seemed to stand just a little taller, carry himself as if he were a little bit happier. Noticing this made Jordana highly suspicious of the creature and his intent. "No. Thanks. I'll just .. uh ... go my own way."

As soon as Jordana turned her back to head off in any direction the creature was not heading, Q'ark was right in her face. This surprised her and she let out an audible gasp while blinking, astonished at how fast the creature moved. "No no, musssn't go alone! Pleassse! Not ssafe for human child to be here in foresst alone after dark. Q'ark not harm you. Q'ark ssswearsss!"

Still the child looked at the creature skeptically. They stood the same in height so they looked at each other, eye-to-eye. Wait. That wasn't exactly correct. Q'ark, Jordana noticed, wasn't looking in her eyes. He was looking just below them and his tongue kept slithering in and out of his mouth. "What are you? Why don't you look me in the eye? And why do you keep sticking your tongue out like that?"

Q'ark smiled. Again, it was serpent-like and almost endearing in a weird way. Jordana thought if the creature had any sort of magical powers that he'd be floating three-feet from the ground at this point. "Q'ark is Moocher. Moocher is lizzzard-isssh creature native to Abregado-rae." Q'ark beamed proudly, puffing out his furry chest as he spread his arms wide to encompass the whole of the area was Abregado-rae. "Q'ark'sss visssion isss not like humansss. Q'ark ssseesss, tassstesss, and sssmellsss with Qark'sss tongue." He explained

But the explanation confused the teenager. "If you see with your tongue, then why do you have eyes?"

Q'ark explained again. "Q'ark'sss eyess sssee, but not like you sssee. Q'ark'sss eyesss pick up heat ssignaturess. Body heat. You sssee?"

Jordana nodded. "So through your eyes, I look like nothing more than blotches of color? Some parts red, other parts yellow, and such?"

Q'ark, delighted that the child, human no less! had taken such an interest in him and in his species. Q'ark had convinced himself that the human child was his new best friend, even before he began poking her to waken her. The creature jumped, using his tail for balance, and clapped his mitten-like hands. "Yesss! Now come, mussst go. Not sssafe. No, no. Not sssafe."

Time was something of an essence to Q'ark and Jordana really had nothing better to do or any other place to be, so the human child cautiously followed the creature away from the crash site and on toward, what she hoped, was truly the city. Maybe my streak of bad luck has finally ended, she thought.

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana's head hurt. The headache continued to drum relentlessly and encompassed the entire upper portion of her brain. The Moocher, Q'ark, seemed to be a never-ending source of cosmic energy as he skiddled and skaddled through the trees. It felt like hours had passed since the two started their journey toward the bustling city and night life of Abregado-Rae, what city, Jordana had not a clue.

"How much further is it?" Jordana asked of Q'ark as she skipped lightly over some tree roots jutting through the ground.

"Not far now, no, no." Q'ark replied, happy as a little clam to have found a companion.

"Good. I'm getting hungry, I'm tired, and my head and feet are throbbing."

Q'ark stopped abruptly and swiveled his head around. His forked-tongue flickered rapidly while smelling the air. "Yesss!" He exclaimed excitedly, then bound out of sight for a moment.

"Wait, hey! Where are you going?" Jordana called out to the Moocher, but was disappointed that she had not received a response. "Great. Now I'm not only stranded after a crash landing, but I'm stranded in the dang woods of some planet I've never been on or even heard of. What else do you have to throw at me, God? Huh? It's not enough that you've chosen me as your poster child for a whipping post, but now you have to go and --Hey!"

Jordana's rant about being life's train wreck was cut abruptly when something came sailing down from above and nearly conked her on the noggin. It missed, thankfully, by scant inches and bounced once at her feet. The girl turned her eyes skyward and searched the uppermost limbs of the canopy above. Q'ark scampered down the trunk of one exceptionally large tree and hurried over.

"For you," he said proudly as he stood and presented his offering.

Jordana looked at the thing in his mitten-like hands, wondering what exactly it was. It appeared to be egg-shaped, black in color, and about the size of an eggplant. "What is it?" She inquired, still eying the pod-like thing in the creature's hands skeptically.

"Cccilara fruit. Eat, eat. Go on. Make pain go away." Q'ark educated.

"Skin and all?" Jordana asked.

Q'ark laughed. The sound was strange. It reminded the teen of how her neighbor had laughed. More like a sneaky snicker followed by a hissing caused when the air passed between the gap in his front teeth. "No. Fruit inssside." With that, he slammed the odd-shaped pod against the trunk of the tree a few times until the melon split in two halves. The fruit inside looked blood-red and the sight made Jordana shrink back and grimace with disgust.

"Er, no thanks. I think I'll pass." She tried to refuse, but Q'ark wouldn't allow that. He hopped over and thrust one of the halves into her hands.

"Trussst me. Eat. Good. Mmm. Make pain go away." He insisted again.

Still skeptical, Jordana eyed the creature narrowly but lifted the fruit to her mouth. Before taking a nibble, though, she sniffed at it a few times. The aroma had a sweet fragrance to it. Not overpowering like some fruits could be. It was subtle, pleasing. Her stomach rumbled and her mouth started to water.

"Eat, eat." Q'ark continued to insist. To show that it wasn't poisonous, he lifted his half of the fruit and chowed down. In under three minutes, he had the entire meaty interior of the fruit devoured. The remaining black skin husk was cast aside.

The creature left much to be desired when it came to table manners. The way he gobbled the fruit reminded her of a boy she went to school with back on Zaloriis. His name was Reyes and his family was even poorer than her own, if that were even possible. Q'ark waited patiently as Jordana's pink tongue poked out to take a rudimentary taste of the fruit's meat. Deciding it wasn't half bad, Jordana took a bite from it. It was juicy, the texture smoother than the appearance would have one believe, and the flavor was delightful. She smiled to Q'ark, who in turn leaped with joy and bounded away to continue the rest of their walk to the city.

"Cilara fruit. Hm." She said to herself. "Hey, Q'ark! Wait up!" Jordana called out through a mouthful of succulent fruit. Some juice tried to escape from the side of her mouth, but a quick swipe of her arm cleared that sticky mess up. It'd take her a while to finish the entire thing. If she could finish it. She'd taken another several bites and had already begun to feel full. And lo' and behold! Q'ark was right. The pain in her head had begun to ebb right around the time the two cleared the forest and set their eyes upon the city limits.

"Q'ark, what's the name of the city?" Jordana asked as the two took pause to catch their breath.

"Thisss here isss the Old Patch. It'sss part of Capital Cccity. Come come, we take floatboatsss to reach the inner city. We go to LoBue Cantina." Again, Q'ark darted off in his funny walk. Front appendages hanging loose, spine straight and as stiff as a board, hind legs rotating rapidly, tail used for balance as it swung stiffly and quickly from side to side in short, curt motions.

The two reached one of the canals and Q'ark hopped right into a floatboat. But the operator of the water vessel had other plans. He kicked Q'ark right out and instructed him to use the sidewalks and bridges. There were some rude expletives thrown in for effect and Jordana gave the man credit because the effect worked. Q'ark was both offended and his feelings hurt. He tried to put on a brave face for Jordana's sake but the sagging of his shoulders ruined the attempt.

"Come on, Q'ark. It's okay. You can ... you can show me the city better if we walk." Jordana suggested, putting a cheerful tone into her voice to make the creature feel better about the situation. And it seemed to work. Q'ark forgot about the rude human operator of the floatboat and grabbed Jordana's hand to hurry her along the sidewalk to the first bridge they'd need to cross.

"Q'ark know all the good sssightsss to sssee in the cccity! Come, I ssshow you!"

Jordana tried to smile, but deep down, she had a bad feeling about this.

[Jordana Jax]

"Thisss isss Sssspaccceport Gusher. Enormouss water-pumping ssstation. Providesss water to the entire cccity and all the ssssurrounding areas," Q`ark explained as he ambled Jordana to the first bridge.

As the pair crossed, Jordana looked to the right and noticed an island or something like that in the distance. "Q'ark, what is that? Can we go there?"

Q`ark paused and looked toward the island then shook his head, his forked tongue sensing the air. "No, no time. Building with lights is Ssstarlight Theater. Phyrssstal Island, that isss. Cccity isss Le Yer. Very beautiful resssort cccity. You too young. Only adultsss go there. Besssidesss, you need hydrobike. You have creditssss to pay?"

Jordana shook her head and sighed. "No, I don't have credits to pay for anything, let alone to rent a hydrobike."

Q'ark turned from the resort island and looked to Jordana. With a flick of his tongue, the lizard-like creature tugged the girl's hand. They continued on their journey. Jordana began to notice some of the sounds as they continued toward the city. Such as the spacecraft either landing or taking off. She paid attention to where they all seemed to be centralized then asked Q'ark if the spaceport was nearby. The lizard-like creature nodded and stated that it was, which also indicated that they were nearing their final destination.

The city itself was like any other city, or so Jordana supposed. The main strips glowed brightly with bright lights, flashing neon signs meant to draw attention flashed brilliantly overhead, scantilly clad women and female alien species tried to lure males into being their dates for a few hours or even the rest of the night. Q`ark paid all of the distractions no mind, which amazed Jordana because her attention was drawn here and there. The girl couldn't keep up with everything there was to see.

Q`'ark sped them along at a good clip. Jordana was almost to the point of needing to jog just to keep up with the creature. The walkways were crowded, her backpack, swaying from side-to-side as it was, kept hitting people's arms. The girl gave up muttering her apologies after a the first few hundred times.

"Q`ark! Slow down! You're going too fast and pulling on my arm," she informed the creature.

The lizard-like sentient creature didn't look back as he hissed an apology but didn't slow down. Jordana was surprised that his tail wasn't tripping up the passersby or that they weren't stepping on it. She practically was after every third long stride taken. "We here! Come, come. We eat! We drink! We rest!" Q'`ark jerked the girl's arm and dragged her into the LoBue Cantina where Jordana's senses were immediately assaulted by flashing lights, loud alarms going off, the sound of slots, and the smells of liquors and smoke.

"Hold it there, Q`ark. Who do you have with you?" A deep baritone voice said as a tall, tan and slender figure stepped from the side of the foyer entry, holding his hand out to halt the two from entering the cantina any deeper.

"Kampl, long time no sssee. Thisss be my friend. We're to be ssseing The Reverend." Q`ark explained.

Jordana had no idea what or who Q`ark was talking about so she decided it was probably best to just keep quiet and let the lizard-like creature do all of the talking.

The security guard Q`ark had addressed as Kampl looked from the lizard-like creature to the young, disheveled girl. After giving her the once-over, his lips twisted with disgust. But he stepped aside and let the two pass. "Now Q`ark, you do not go anywhere else but to The Reverend's table. Got that?"

The lizard-like creature nodded rapidly. "Dokie-okie, Kampl. Only to The Reverend'ssss table. Yessssireee. Dokie-okie. Come, come!" He urged the girl, tugging her hand again as his hind legs rotated quickly.

"Q`ark. Who is this reverend? Why are we going to see him?" Jordana asked, nervous and possibly regretting trusting the lizard-like creature at all.

"Not to worry, no no. He feed you. He help you, yess, yesss. Come, come." Q`ark had to stop and look to the girl for she had stopped walking and refused to take another step further.

"No, Q`ark. I don't think I want to go to this person's table. I think I want to get out of here."

The lizard-like creature's multi-faceted eyes rotated and his head canted. The girl's heat signatures lit up red nearly all over. Ssshe'sss sssscared, the creature thought. Mussst get her to The Reverend. Hisss clientsss need more sssslave labor.

"Q`ark no harm you, I ssswearsss. Come, come. We jussst eat, okay? No Reverendsss table. We get our own! Yesss, yess!"

Before Jordana could completely turn and make her way back toward the entrance, Q`ark grabbed the girl by the hand and forcefully pulled her along.

"Q`ARK! LET ME GO!" The child yelled, digging her fingers into his mitten like appendage that had a vice-like grip on her hand. Her fingers were smashed together and the tips were beginning to burn white from the pressure of the creature's grip. "HELP! LET. ME. GO!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Q'ark bumped solidly into a rather ragged looking man. Wei Wu Wei no longer lived as a drunken vagabond, but there was only so far the sonic showers on the Whaladon could do to help a man's appearance. It would take a real shower with water and soap to make the Jedi look as fresh and respectable as he used to. But here were bigger fish to fry.

"That young girl wants you to let her go."

Wei's expression was calm with eyes that looked like they were always smiling. But there was more to it. His voice carried a polite tone, but also an edge of authority.

"You are making a scene," Wei continued. "Let her go." The Jedi smiled. "Please."

[Jordana Jax]

"'Ssscussse me!" Q`ark hissed to the ragged and homely looking man. "Ssshe isss going to meet The Reverend. We're to have sssome lunch with him. Now, pleassse let usss by." The lizard-like creature puffed out his scrawny chest and lifted his snout into the air, flicking his forked-tongue at the interloper. Q`ark was trying desperately to gain favor with The Reverend by bringing him the girl. Tall at six-foot-five, built like a brick house and weighing roughly two-hundred-fifty pounds, his bushy beard, hard, chiseled features and stern black eyes, The Reverend cut an imposing figure and it never took long for one to realize that to fail this man was just plain stupid.

Once upon a time The Reverend's intentions were good. Of course, this was long ago when the Tundei first came into power. This regime, comprised of offworlders who call Abregado-Rae home, promised the local denizens - the Gado - that they could turn the planet into a lawful one by driving away the criminal elements; such as the smugglers who flocked in droves to Abregado-Rae for it was a haven to them. The Founder of the Tundei was a Herglic known as Shelov. Under his iron first, the Tribunal made up the bulk of the regime and through their strongarm tactics they succeeded in doing what they promised. So the smugglers changed their tactics and began supplying the Gado Hill Clans, the Separatists opposing the Tundei, with weapons, food, and basis supplies. The Reverend use to be the middle-man between the smugglers and the Clans. But all of that changed when the smugglers ceased to do their part. The Tundei responded to the change in tactics by the criminal elements with a show of greater force. Now, as a direct result, Abregado-Rae was practically bankrupt and the denizens were the ones who suffered the most because of it.

The Moochers, Q`ark's kind, became nearly extinct under the Tundei regime fearing that the Veizen Fever, which drove Moochers insane, could spread to the Gado population. But The Reverend provided safe refuge for many of the Moochers who exhibited human-like intelligence. The Reverend also came to discover that he could use these creatures to carry out much of his dirty work, for he, too, had to change his tactics in order to survive. Now instead of smuggling goods and basic supplies to the Gado Hill Clans, he specialized in human and drug trafficking for there was much credits to be made. Jordana, being a pretty but still young girl, would bring lots of credits to The Reverend for he could easily sell her to the highest bidder. She'd fetch a pretty credit, too. Child slave-labor was legal on many worlds, particularly those located far from the inner-core and on the edges of wild space. There weren't nearly enough resources or authoritative bodies in the universe to search for all of the beings that went missing not just on a daily basis, but an hourly basis. The numbers were staggering and the end results usually were too gruesome to mention.

Luckily Jordana's fate seemed to change as she was able to free her hand from Q`ark's mittened appendage and vice-like grip when he became distracted by the man who wasn't afraid to take action in righting an obvious wrong. Kampl, the security guard, surely must have heard the girl's scream for help but turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the happenings. No one knew that Kampl, and his partner, were both on The Reverend's payroll. Had Jordana been allowed to protest further without a do-gooder interrupting, Kampl would have put on a good performance by tossing Q`ark off the premises and taking Jordana into protective custody for her own safety.

Truth of the matter in regards to their whole 'protective custody' was that Kampl would just keep her locked up until after hours then transfer her directly to The Reverend himself. No one would suspect a thing for they'd just assume the girl was handed over to Child Protective Services where she'd become just another sad statistic of the broken system.

As soon as she was free from the lizard-like creature's clutches, she hurried around Q`ark and ducked behind the stranger who had literally just saved her young life. "Now look what you did! Come girl, I promissse not to hurt you. You trussst thisss ssstranger over Q`ark?" Feigning heartbreak was not the Moocher's strong suit.

"Yes!" The girl snapped at the creature as she hovered behind the man, hoping and praying that she did not just put her trust into someone who was working his own angle and intended to do her harm. "Thanks, Mister," she murmured.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You are very welcome," Wei said to Jordana without taking his eyes off of Q'ark.

Wei very casually folded his arms across his chest while slipping his hands inside his rather large, billowing sleeves. The Jedi rested a hand on the lightsaber strapped to his forearm and waited: he wasn't familiar with Moochers. Either this one was acting heartbroken or angry, and Wei couldn't tell which.

"I think it's too late to promise not to hurt her. I think your lack of consideration for her request to be released made that pretty clear. If she does not want to meet your Reverend, then she won't. It is that simple." The smile never left Wei's face, but his voice grew harder.

"We will be leaving now. Step aside, Q'ark."

To Jordana he said, "Stay close. It's time to go."

[Jordana Jax]

The Moocher's multi-faceted eyes continued to flick here and there as the lizard-like creature cocked its head to view the girl as she peeked out from behind the intruder's back. Something about Q`ark changed. His lower lip quivered, the flicking of his thin, pink, forked-tongue quickened, and he began to nervously wring his mitten-like appendages with worry. He'd never been in a situation like this before and wasn't sure what to do.

All he was certain of is that The Reverend would have him killed for failing to deliver the human female child. Q`ark supposed he could always just go find another child to lure to The Reverend. Had he known that The Reverend was watching through one of the hidden security cameras, Q`ark might have put up much more of a fight to keep the child. As it was, the lizard-like creature was clueless. Kampl, however, was not. The Reverend had relayed orders to the security guard, who signaled to his partner that he was to bring in reinforcements. The intruder who usurped the girl from Q`ark was to be shown to the street. The girl and the lizard-like creature were to be brought to him.

"Okay, okay! Sssorry, child. I did not mean to frighten. Jussst wanted to help care for. That isss all." The lizard-like creature glanced nervously over his shoulder, flicking his forked-tongue to sense the air. "You sssafe now," he said softly. With one final look to the girl, the lizard-like creature gave her what passed as a smile for his species, then he bound away just a little too quickly.

Confused, Jordana relaxed just enough to come out from behind her rescuer and look after the retreating Moocher, perplexed. She didn't even get a chance to voice anything to the man who had just saved her when the answer to her unasked question made itself readily apparent. A few security guards came out of a door near the center of the same hall that the Moocher had fled down. The child looked to her savior, her thin brows knit together tightly. She then looked toward the front door where Kampl and his partner stood with their eyes focused intently on the child and the stranger that came to her rescue.

"I think they're looking for us," she said to Wei as she turned her attention toward him. "What should we do now?" She asked, hoping that the man was still feeling generous in the rescuing department.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei followed Jordana's gaze down the hall, then turned and lowered himself so he could look the girl in the eye. "We do exactly what I said. We leave this place and go somewhere else." He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "They cannot stop us," he said, like it was as plain and factual as 'there are billions of stars in the galaxy' or 'Wookies are strong.'

Wei stood. His hands returned to his sleeves. "I want you to hold on to me. Grab my shirt or belt, stay close, and if I tell you to do something, I need you to do it right away."

The Jedi offered one more smile to the girl. Once he felt her fingers gripping the back of his shirt, the pair walked up to Kampl and his man at the door.

"I apologize for the scene. I have no quarrel with the Moocher, or your establishment. We'll just be going now."

[Jordana Jax]

Kampl and his partner stood side-by-side and had their weapons drawn and angled diagnonally across their chests, set to stun, for now. The expressions on their faces were stern. Jordana knew that these two meant business and had no intention of letting either of them leave the cantina. Her fingers clutched the back of her savior's shirt tightly and she stood very close. If she could got any closer to the poor man, she'd be sharing his robe!

"I'm afraid we can't allow that, sir. If you would please come along with us, the girl too, we can get this all sorted back in the offices." Kampl said, his thumb hovering close to the switch that would change the setting of his blaster rifle from stun to kill.

Jordana swallowed. These guys meant business. It brought back bad memories, recent memories, of what happened on the night she was made an orphan and had been taken from her family. The child never noticed that she was shaking, too intent on paying attention to what was going on at the moment. Wei was handling the two men in front of them so Jordana glanced over her shoulder. The two security guards that had come from the office down the hall now several feet away. They were blocking the hall from whence they had come for at the end was an escape.

As Jordana was turning her head back to the front, her eyes alit upon Q`ark. The Moocher had been apprehended by two other security guards. The lizard-like creature was resisting but it was futile. One of the guards lifted his baton and struck the amphibian hard on the head. Jordana gasped audibly and flinched at the same time, watching Q`ark's body go limp. They dragged him off but Jordana did not know where to or what was going to happen to him.

Not meaning to distract her savior, Jordana tugged on his shirt anxiously. She wanted to get out of the cantina fast, like yesterday. She looked up to see a small part of Wei's profile then peered around him to view Kampl and his partner just in time to hear him say, "This can go real easy, pal. Just come with us and we'll get everything sorted out in no time."

The child was scared and becoming more frightened as the minutes ticked by. The twelve year old never considered herself to be much of a baby, but right now more than anything, she wanted her mom and dad. She had no idea what became of her parents. It wasn't like she had any opportunity or means of being able to try contacting them. She was alone in a vast, never-ending galaxy and so far from home. Now she was just doing her best to get out of a bad situation just long enough to be able to sit down and think of what she should do next.

More security guards were now beginning to take roost to their right and their left. Basically the duo was surrounded. They in the center, and a pair of guards to the four corners of where they stood, plus Kampl and his partner directly in front of them. I sure hope he knows what he's doing, Jordana thought worriedly.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei may not have been connected to the Force at the moment, but the Force Cripple didn't need to be to know what was going on. They were surrounded. Civil words offered a thin veil for uncivil action, and Wei was not to be fooled. As he took it all in, his only thoughts were Form III will do nicely.

"It can go even easier if you just let us leave." Wei withdrew his lightsaber hilt. In the dim cantina light it may have looked like anything. "No one in the business of security raises a weapon against the people they're interested in protecting. Besides," Wei continued, settling his grip and his thumb over the ignition plate of the lightsaber, "no one wants to have to contact the authorities over something this small. The Empire doesn't like to have its time wasted by the minutia of the little people."

If Wei had any doubts the bouncers were crooked before, they were gone by now. Usually he would have just shrugged his shoulders and gone with Kampl, if only to take a swing at the man's puppetmaster. But this time things were different.

"We will not be detained." Wei hit the button on his lightsaber. Sea-green light illuminated the area. The low hum of the blade filled the cantina, and Wei's mind stretched out with it. "A sapling that yields to a strong wind springs back up straight when the wind tires out, but the trees that do not bend are broken and torn up from the ground when they resist. Yield."

[Jordana Jax]

Kampl's partner was on edge. The moment Wei removed his hands from the sleeves of his robe and the guy caught the glint of light from the weapon's hilt, his blaster rifle was leveled on Wei and his trigger finger began to itch. The other security guards reacted much in the same way so now the duo had all sorts of weaponry aimed at them. Though Kampl was motioning for his men to relax, and speaking loud and clear so they'd hear the verbal command to stand down, Jordana was very frightened. Her fingers worked the material of her savior's shirt where she held on to it for dear life just as he'd instructed her do. The poor pre-teen was on the verge of tears.

"Whatever you have in your hand, Mister, I'd advise you to drop it immediately and keep your hands high and where---" Kampl had begun to say before he was cut off by the snap, hiss, hum of the elegant weapon made famous by the Sith and the Jedi. Kampl had no idea which of the two he and his men were now dealing with and the guard didn't really care, for the moment the blade ignited and lit up the area with its sea-green light, his men readied their weapons. Kampl was surprised they hadn't opened fire and he was sure they would have had it not been for the young girl.

That young girl let out a scream the instant the blaster rifles took aim once again and as the saber was engaged, certain that the sound she'd be hearing in the next microsecond would be that of the blaster rifle's firing. Jordana was certain she'd be dead in a heartbeat. Tears that were once held at bay now trickled freely down her cheeks. Unlike some, Jordana wasn't a loud or noisy weeper. Her tears fell silently and most were absorbed immediately by Wei's robe for she buried her face against the material and squeezed her eyes tightly closed.

Once Kampl was certain that his men were not about to turning the cantina into a shooting gallery, he settled his eyes on Wei. "As you can see my men are well trained and ready to fire if they are forced to. Now, we'd rather not see anyone get hurt. There's no need for it to come to that. Just drop the lightsword on the ground, kick it away, and keep your hands up." As Kampl spoke to Wei, he subtlely signaled for his partner to take the girl from behind the saber-wielding Force user.

[Wei Wu Wei]

In the twinkling of an eye, Wei noticed the bouncer lean forward and make his grab at Jordana. He shifted to the side, sweeping Jordana out of the man's clutches with his foot. With his free hand, the Jedi gently lowered Jordana to the floor. With his saber-wielding hand, Wei bashed the lunging bouncer in the back of the head with the saber's pommel. Then he cut Kampl's blaster in two. People panicked. The other bouncers opened fire.

Wei's maneuver made his profile slimmer and made Jordana easier to protect: even though the pair stuck together, from the side they offered a narrower target. The Force Cripple's blade sang as it moved through the air. Blaster bolts bounced back towards the bouncers. Wei grabbed Kampl's shirt and slammed the head of security into the door frame. Kampl went limp and fell to the floor. Wei stepped over Jordana.

"Get up. It's time to go." Blaster bolts approached, met Wei's blade, and ran back to their owners. Most of them went wide and charred ceiling tiles, walls, and furniture. The rest left the bouncers with smoking holes in their bodies. When Wei felt Jordana's hands grasping his shirt again, the pair backed slowly out the door.

Now that the two were outside, the bouncers were forced to follow. That gave Wei and his new charge a little time. Not knowing what else to do, Wei hefted the pre-teen on his shoulder and took off down the street. The Force flowed freely thanks to the lightsaber's hum. Soon they were several blocks away and ducked into an alleyway.

The Force Cripple switched off his lightsaber. It was dangerous to cut his connection to the Force at such a critical time, but the blade would give them away quickly, and darkness was good. He turned to Jordana.

"Such tears!" He said with amusement. He took the edge of his sleeve and started to dry the girl's eyes. "I told you they could not stop us from leaving. Now we have a little time. What's your name?"

[Jordana Jax]

When Wei shifted to protect her from being nabbed by the security guard, the girl cowered and let out an eep of surprised fear. Crouching, the child covered her head with her hands, more as a result of instinctive reaction to the blaster rifles all firing at once. It was human nature to survive, but it was also human nature to protect oneself. Of course, had any of those guards truly wanted the girl dead, all they had to do was lower their weapons. But they were not out to harm the child. They were intent on stopping the man who had interferred with the lizard-like creature in delivering the child to The Reverend.

Down low to the floor as she was made it easier for her rescuer to maneuver as he needed to. Had Jordana not been so scared she might have looked up to see that the Force wielder was doing just fine on his own and had, in fact, been able to deflect the blaster bolts with his lightsaber. Still, each shot fired made the girl flinch and the tears to flow freely.

What was only mere moments in reality felt like an hour to the pre-teen so she was more than eager to leave when Wei indicated it was time to go. Before she registered what was happening, Jordana found herself over her protector's shoulder, bouncing along as he made their escape to the outside, down the street, and into an alley where Wei then set her down.

Clearly upset, Jordana swiped the tears from her cheeks as Wei did the same with the sleeve of his robe. As the child collected herself, she nodded to the man. "Mhm. Thank you," she said shakily. Her eyes continually flickered toward the mouth of the alley as if she expected the guards of the cantina to come flying around the corner in any minute.

"J-Jordana Jax," the young girl answered the question delivered to her. "Thank you again for your help. I sincerely appreciate it."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei stopped dabbing at the girl's face. "Jordana Jax, my name is Wei Wu Wei. Though most just call me Wei. I'm a Jedi Knight. Helping people is what I do, but I'm not done helping you yet."

Wei pulled his commlink. "R4, I need you to scan the signals in the area. Tell me if you get any on the standard local Imperial channels. You know the buzzwords."

A series of tweets came back through the small device, and words lit up on the small screen. "Yes, I had to pull my lightsaber. A young girl was in trouble, and I suspect was trying to be sold to slavers. I rescued her, and we're taking her off planet."

More tweeting sounds, punctuated by a chirp. "I know the starfighter only seats one, but the notion was to get as much resources out of the slavers here as we could. If I have to steal a shuttle or a freighter to get her out of here too, then that's what will happen."

There was a pregnant silence, then a set of low whistles. "Ok, that sounds fine. See if you can find a way to get some information for me. There's this fellow called 'The Reverend.' See how far up the ladder he is, and whether or not we've finally found a major player in this ring of crooks."

Wei looked back at Jordana. "We're getting you off this planet, but I have some things to do first. Our new Jedi Order is poor, and the Rebel Alliance needs supplies, money, and ships. The Alliance has been prone to steal from Imperial holdings, but I've been dabbling in stealing from the scum of the galaxy instead."

The Force Cripple took a deep breath. "If we can stop these criminals from hurting people, then we help ourselves and the Galaxy. We sway the loyalties of Imperial citizens when a well-known crime ring goes under at the hands of a rogue Jedi and the Rebel Alliance. We also get the crime ring's material for ourselves, like I said before."

Wei held up the lightsaber hilt. "I tipped my hand too soon by rescuing you, but I couldn't guarantee I could find you when I finally knocked over the slave trading hub."

Now that he thought about it, relenting and allowing the pair of them to be taken to the Reverend might have gotten him the information he needed, but it was done. Besides, if Wei could rescue the slaves, steal the ships, and take the money and weapons from under the Reverend's nose, so much the better.

"It has been too long since I've done any undercover missions," he said to himself. He shrugged. "I'm a little rusty," he said to Jordana, "but we can steal a ship, rescue plenty of slaves, and get whatever else we can, and get out. I'm going to need your help, though. Will you help me?"

[Jordana Jax]

The scared pre-teen sniffled a few more times as she listened intently to the Jedi Knight. The girl had heard many stories of the Jedi, and perhaps an equal number of tales related to the Sith and Dark Jedi, but she had never met a Force user before. Until now, Jordana was convinced Jedi, Dark Jedi, and Sith didn't exist but were mythological beings created by ancient civilizations to explain what they could not explain, such as volcanoes, lightning, and violent storms. Much in the way other ancient cultures believed and worshipped their own Gods, Titans, and even Demons of the Nine Hells.

The girl scratched her cheek and as Wei communicated with his droid, she kept looking to the mouth of the alley, keeping an eye out for any of the security guards or even Q`ark. Such a shame the lizard-like creature had an alterior motive for the girl. Jordana was beginning to enjoy his company and his quirky behavior had begun to grow on her. When the child heard the Jedi Knight mention The Reverend, the girl returned her attention to him even though he was still speaking with the droid.

She scratched her nose. Wei finished speaking with his droid and returned his attention to her. The girl listened as it was explained to her of the Jedi Order and the Rebel Alliance. Though she found it ironic that a Jedi would steal anything, she certainly wasn't passing judgment. In fact, if she thought it would be appropriate to high five the Jedi Knight for stealing from the Imperials, she would have! Jordana harbored deep disdain for the Imperial Order and any associated with it, certain she was that somehow they were behind everything that happened back on Zaloriis and Wercin III.

But no matter how deep her disdain for the Empire ran, the moment Wei mentioned slave trading, the girl began to shake her head and though she tried to keep it from happening tears welled up in her eyes again. "No, no, no, no. No way. I was a slave! I escaped and wound up ...." Jordana stammered. She had no idea where she was exactly. "... wherever here is! I don't care how many people it would help, Wei, if your plan involves me having to be a slave to infiltrate a slave trading ring, count me out! I can't do it, Wei. I'm sorry, but I can't be a slave again."

In all of her animated hand gestures, head shaking, pacing back and forth, the teen's backpack slipped from her shoulder and down her arm so she hefted it back up again then swiped the tears that had fallen from her cheeks. Just now it hit her, too. Her nose wrinkled and a look of disgust came over her face. "Good gosh, I stink! Ugh!" Jordana continued to pace, eying Wei on each pass. "I must be farkled," the child murmured. "What's your plan? And it better not have me being a slave," the girl warned him, mimicking gestures her mother had used a thousand times before. That flippant snap of a pointed index finger, thrusting her chin slightly up and forward, the setting of the jaw, tense, and that look that said 'best not to test me'. But to see all of this on a twelve year old? Some might find it quite comical even if the child had been quite serious.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Of course you won't be a slave!" Wei said. "I could never ask you to do something like that! Why would I save you from something so horrible only to have you go back and become a slave anyway?"

Wei took her as seriously as he would have anyone else. The girl's attempt to be threatening and put her foot down made her look cute. She was rather like the children he had seen who would put on their mother's dress shoes or their father's work boots and fancied themselves grown up. Even so, the Jedi did not laugh.

"No, you will not be a slave at all."

Wei scratched his chin. "Let's go find a place where we can get a good meal, get a real bath, and a good night's rest. We will find you some decent clothes to wear, and then we can come up with a real plan."

"R4, We're going to find a place to stay overnight. Let me know if you come up with anything. We will be in touch."

Wei used his personal datapad to bring up a small map of the area. "Let's see. Le Yer looks good. Resort city. Kinda rich and fanciable, but we'll fit right in once we get cleaned up a bit."

The Jedi walked out into the street. Things were quiet. They were near the spaceport, which meant finding a taxi would be no problem. They could get a ride to Le Yer. "Come along, Jordana. And if anyone asks, you're my daughter, and we're here to relax a little while I'm doing business."

Wei turned and offered the pre-teen his hand. "Come on. If you like you can even ride piggy-back."

[Jordana Jax]

The pose held, the child didn't relax it until Wei stated a second time that his plan did not include her having to be enslaved again in order to infiltrate The Reverend's criminal orginization. The mention of food had the girl's stomach growling. In all of the excitement she had forgotten just how hungry she really was. "A shower would be astral," the girl said, using the teen slang term for 'cool'. "And I'm really hungry!"

Hiking her backpack further up on her shoulder, Jordana followed Wei from the alley to the street. She kept back a step or two though, just in case any of the security guards from the cantina happened to be lying in wait. But as Wei wasn't attacked and didn't spring into action himself, the pre-teen figured the guards hadn't bothered to give chase.

As Jordana approached and Wei offered her his hand while suggesting she could ride piggy-back, the child eyed the man dryly. "While I do appreciate being rescued, I'm not five, you know. I'm almost thirteen." Many human children seemed to look forward to becoming certain ages, usually ages in which more freedoms (as well as greater responsibilities) were granted. Certain rights of passages such as being able to stay up later, drive a speeder, and able to shop at the malls without parental supervision.

Jordana thought of those things as she and Wei got into the back of a hovertaxi and she felt a moment of saddness. Her parents had been pretty poor so being able to afford a new dress for a school dance would have been out of the question, as would waking up on her fourteenth birthday to find even a crappy speeder parked out front with a big bow on it, but she missed her parents the most.

The hovertaxi ride to the resort city was uneventful, thankfully. It was also pretty quiet. Jordana had some questions for the Jedi Knight but she thought it best to save them for a more private location, save for one. The girl peeled her eyes from the window and looked to Wei. "What planet am I on?" She finally asked, but did so very quietly so the hovertaxi driver wouldn't hear. Wei answered. The girl nodded after a moment then looked back out the window. The resort city was beautiful, if not way too crowded. The main strip was all flashing neon signs and lights, every other business seemed to be a casino.

Finally the taxi pulled up in front of a rather nice looking hotel and deposited the two beneath the shade of a canopy and onto a red carpet. Jordana looked at the doorman, saw some of the lobby through the glass doors, then looked at her clothes. If ever in her life did Jordana ever truly feel poor and uncomfortable in her own skin ... She forced a quick grin when Wei asked if she was ready, then followed him inside. The pre-teen fidgeted uncomfortably and avoided the rude stares they received from the snobs of society. The child couldn't wait to get to the room and away from the scrutiny of the public.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Please forgive the dirt," Wei said to the man behind the counter. "We have been hiking in the nearby hills today. The city looks beautiful from higher up, doesn't it Flower?"

Wei amazed himself at how well he got back into the hang of espionage. Master Vos' training stuck to him even now, so many years after the Clone Wars. He just hoped Jordana would remember to keep pace with the ruse.

"It's her birthday," Wei continued nonchalantly as he handed credits to the woman and got a room key in return. "I meant to have my schedule cleared before making this trip, but things happen, as they say."

Wei leaned in close to the receptionist. "Is there a boutique nearby?" he whispered. "I promised her a surprise, and since then she hasn't been able to keep out of my things. I wanted to buy her a fancy dress."

The woman offered a smile, wrote an address on a bit of flimsi as she handed over the card keys for the room Wei rented. The Force Cripple returned the smile and gave Jordana a conspiratorial wink.

"Is there a menu for room service? We'd like to take dinner in our room, if possible." The lady gave Wei a menu, which he passed to Jordana. "Choose whatever you like."

Wei entered the address into his datapad, and soon the local network had directions for the Jedi to follow. He waited for Jordana to make her dinner choices while he scanned the resort. Old habits die hard. Soon he knew exactly how he would defend himself and his pre-teen ward in the even the Empire or the slavers tracked them back to the resort.

"Ready when you are, Flower."

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana rolled her eyes up to Wei as he went on with the ruse as he spoke to the receptionist behind the check-in desk. The look she flashed the Jedi Knight at calling her Flower should have told him everything right there. The pre-teen might be appreciative of being rescued and taken under his protective wing - at least for the time being - but he was not going to get away with calling her Flower for much longer. First thing we'll do is change my fake name, the orphan thought as she plastered a big fake smile on her face and nodded her head when asked about the apparently beautiful view of the city from on high.

Jordana took the room service menu from the Jedi Knight and flashed him another brief look. This man sure was confusing to the young lass. He carries a saber, the elegant weapon of the Jedi, seems to be able to manipulate or utilize a power or energy that exists but Jordana wasn't so sure on that, and he seemed like a good man in general. At least he had some morals and scruples. But the child didn't understand the need to tell lies or to steal, as he'd admitted earlier that he does steal. The girl seen him hand over the credits to the lady behind the desk as he paid for their room and took the keycards.

The pre-teen followed to the lift and once inside started to peruse the menu. Everything that had a photo looked good, made her mouth water, and her stomach growl very loudly. She giggled and blushed. It was both funny and uncomfortable for the teen that her stomach had growled so loudly that there was no hiding it from anyone. There were plenty of items on the menu that the girl had never heard of, some she couldn't even pronounce. It all looked quite pricey, too. There were also some dishes listed that sounded rather disgusting, like the Vercupti of sgazza boleruueé which apparently originated at a place called Dex's Diner on Coruscant. It was made of insect meat, tubers, dough, and Dexter's secret ingredient, lubricating oil. The girl blanched. People eat that?! EW!

"I'll have the Jolly meal with a happy patty and shroomchips and a lurol smoothie," Jordana told Wei as they exited the lift and headed down the fourth floor hall to their room. Once inside the girl left the menu on the nightstand situated between two single beds then slid her backpack down onto the bed furthest away from the large picture windows and sliding glass doors that led to a balcony.

"Oh and Wei?" Jordana waited for the Jedi Knight to finish scoping out the room and look at her before she continued. "Flower? Really? You couldn't just use my real name? Or a variation of it like Dana or Anna? Just call me by my nickname, which is Jaxy."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You don't like Flower?" Wei teased. Flower seemed like an obnoxious thing a father might call his daughter, so he went with it. If he had been honest with himself, he would have said he once upon a time planned to call his own daughter by that pet name. If his wife had lived long enough to give birth to his son, and then try again for a second. Wei shrugged.

"Very well. But we won't use your real name, or mine. My name is known to the Empire, and in the event you told that Moocher your name, the slavers will know yours as well. That's two dangerous groups after us that know something about who we really are."

The Jedi used the room's internal comm to send the girl's food order, as well as his own.

"Come, sit," Wei said, motioning to the set of chairs sitting on the balcony outside. "We need to talk in earnest."

The Force Cripple slid open the transparisteel door and took a seat in a chair. "You have had a big night. A lot has happened, and it's no doubt you have questions. Where would you like to begin?"

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana looked to Wei as he encouraged her to join him out on the balcony for a bit of a chat. Usually, taken from the child's past experiences, when adults said they wanted to talk it meant the kid was in trouble. Or at the very least about to get some lesson from lecture or a blatant attitude adjustment. Tired from her adventures, hungry - which made her quite cranky - the girl's shoulders sagged. She pushed her backpack then dragged her feet along the carpet as she followed the man outside and took a seat in one of the two chairs.

Temperature wise it was cooling down nicely and a bit of a breeze had picked up and the sun was nearly set. As it tried to cling to the last remaining minutes of its time to shine, the sun painted the sky with brilliant oranges, fiery reds, deep purples, and stormy blues. Huge, pillowy clouds seemed to form and grow, continually reaching upward, and slowly fill in with the deep blue-dark grey of an approaching storm. Still a ways off the storm was, but there was a hint of its developing presence in the breeze. Jordana loved that smell! The scent of rain made everything smell so clean, she fresh and new. She loved storms because they washed away all of the poodoo of the day, wiped the slate clean so that everyone could start all over fresh in its wake; like being given a second chance. The orphan loved the thunder, the brilliant flashes of lightning, and how alive storms seemed to be.

The girl closed her eyes and lifted her chin while inhaling deeply of the rain-scented air. The faintest of smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth. Slowly she exhaled then opened her eyes and looked to Wei. She did have questions but the child didn't know where to begin. Admittedly the girl was surprised that he hadn't started in on her with a ton of probing questions. She couldn't imagine that it was typical or usual to find a twelve-almost-thirteen year old girl wandering the streets of any planet with a lizard-like creature as tall as she on a daily basis.

Her mouth opened. Then closed. The pre-teen needed a moment to figure out how best to ask her questions. The child didn't want to bite the hand that was about to feed her, after all, and it would go against the teachings of her father to insult the man who had helped her so selflessly. After a moment of thought, and chewing on the inside of her cheek, the girl finally spoke. "You said you're a Jedi Knight and I saw your lightsword, which is pretty cool, by the way. But --" Jordana paused and bit her lower lip. "Why do you steal? I'm not judging," she quickly added as she held both her hands up, palms away from her briefly before folding them again in her lap and pulling her legs up to sit Indian-style in her chair. "I just don't understand. My dad told me that no matter what, stealing was wrong and it never should be done. And," she shrugged her left shoulder, "... you're a Jedi! I thought you guys were suppose to be all, I dunno, good 'n stuff."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei did smile, but he didn't laugh. Her question was simple, obvious. It was a good place to start.

"Let's just say that my Jedi training was not what you would call 'normal.' During the Clone Wars, my Jedi Master spent a good deal of his time undercover. We were trying to use espionage to win the war. We thought if we could use cunning to get close to the Separatist leaders, we could save troopers' lives and thousands of civilian casualties. Of course, the Emperor ordered the Jedi exterminated. I survived, but officially the Jedi are extinct, and their memory is the one the Empire wants its citizens to have: that Jedi are power-hungry and corrupt at best, and self-righteous and hypocritical at worst. The Empire is still hunting the few Jedi that survived their infamous purge."

Wei cast his gaze across the canvas painted by the setting sun and sighed. "But that doesn't answer your question. I steal because of my Jedi Training. If I can discretely divest a wicked man of his means to do wickedness and use that for good--a real good--then I have done well. Suppose I agreed to go with the bouncer to see this Reverend. I could have stood there nose to nose with a face as cold and hard as durasteel and said 'Release your slaves! Handover your smuggling ships and face justice!' but then, where would I be? I can't just put the man in binders and hand him to the authorities. I'm not supposed to exist. Matter of fact, the Empire probably would be more likely to arrest me than him."

Wei chuckled a little. "So, I plan to find this ring of slavers, and take all they have--their money, their materials, and all the people they kidnapped for their unjust trade. Their money will be used help the enslaved return to their old lives, or start new ones. The materials will be used to aid the Rebellion and put an end to this unjust government. The people can live as they used to, or join the Rebellion if they have a mind to do so. The Reverend and his lieutenants wouldn't dare go to the Empire to report the theft, because they would have to admit to their crimes to do so. But they won't be participating in the slave trade anymore, either."

Wei shrugged. "I could steal from the Empire, I suppose, but even amongst the loyal Imperial citizenry there are honest people who only want to make a living and provide good lives for their families. I risk endangering those people and supporting the negative stereotype Imperial propaganda would have them believe. By destroying this slaving operation, I do something to repair the image of the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance as well."

Wei glanced at the girl. "For now, it's just better that I do my best to remain as much of a shadowy figure as possible."

[Jordana Jax]

The pre-teen was pretty quiet for a spell when Wei finished answering her guestion. She was trying to digest it all. Her mouth quirked, perhaps she wanted to say something more on the topic but just couldn't quite find the words. Or, perhaps she had the words but was afraid to give them a voice. "So, basically, you're telling me that you steal because the ends justify the means and that it's okay to become the living personification of what the Empire wants the public to believe about the Jedi?"

The child spoke a little too hastily. While she couldn't take back or rephrase what she meant, she could apologize for coming as judgmental. It wasn't what she had intended. "Sorry," she murmured. The girl thought on it again but in the end she just dropped the subject. Who was she to judge? Her life was so far from perfect and the girl had a saying, which was, 'before you judge me, make sure you're perfect'. She figured that also applied to her when on the end of passing judgment on others.

Of course, the child was a virgin in more ways than the obvious. Her life had been quite sheltered from the rest of the galaxy. The child hadn't seen or read a holonet news report since being taken from her home and her family and sold into slavery so she had no idea what was going on in the 'Verse. There was much, oh so very much that she needed to learn, especially if she was going to survive and make her way in life. Jordana had never felt so alone before as she did right now, though Wei was sitting in the other chair a few feet away. She wished her parents were here. Jordana could easily pretend that she was just on vacation with them. Maybe they were at the casino having a grand ol' time gambling with money they'd won in a state lottery and she was just chillin' until it was time to go to dinner and a show. She could pretend. But why bother? It wouldn't change anything and she had outgrown playing pretend two years ago, if not three.

The girl lowered her eyes to her knee as she idly plucked at a loose string hanging from the inseam of her pants. She had so many questions but they seemed to all shout at her all at once from the different corners of her mind that she couldn't focus on any single thought. Of course, that could have also been her mind's way of preventing her from suffering some kind of break down or mental reset by skirting around the questions she really wanted to or perhaps should be asking. Pretend is so much easier, though, the girl thought as she looked from her scuffed and dirty pant leg toward the setting sun. Another thirty minutes and it would be the moon's time to reign the heavens. She idly wondered what phase the moon would be in tonight. Full? Quarter? Half? New? Unfamiliar with the phases of the moon and the standard hours of Abregado-Rae, Jordana would just have to wait and be surprised. The girl was really beginning to hate surprises.

"Why would you think that this Reverend wouldn't report it to the Empire? The Empire knows all about the slaving. As well as the drug and human trafficking. THEY are the ones who took me away from my family and sold me into slavery!" Jordana's soulful dark eyes narrowed, her brow wrinkled with trouble, and her lips pursed tight as her jaw set firmly. The last statement was more hissed than spoken. She didn't expect the Jedi Knight to believe her. Adults never listened to what children had to say, no matter how heinous or unbelievable. The subtle change in the girl's dangerously narrowed eyes spoke volumns. She didn't want to talk about what happened. Tears stung her eyes, shimmered on the lower lids of her eyes. Jordana shook her head and blinked the tears away, then angrily swiped them from her cheeks as she stood and pushed her chair back.

She sniffled and cleared her throat, stepping over to the balcony to lean against the rail. She propped her foot up along the bottom rail and laced her fingers loosely together. From up here, life looked rather simple, luxurious, worth living. Pretend is so much easier. There was one question weighing heavily on the child's mind and it was the one question she probably should have asked first. "What's going to happen to me?" She was afraid of the answer, so she didn't peel her eyes from the myriad of colors painting the darkening sky. As the light waned, so too did some of the colors but a few seemed to become even more vibrant as if they were taking their last deep breaths before succumbing to silence for another night.

The girl knew she was simply far too young, way too inexperienced, and extremely naive to be on her own. She'd be dead within a month if left to fend for herself. Of course, if left to fend for herself, the opposite might hold true. Perhaps should would learn to be self-sufficient, how to survive, and be forced to mature much faster than most children her age. But she also knew that Wei probably had a responsibility to turn her over to authorities who would place her in the system. Jordana would bounce from foster home to foster home, perhaps be abused by at least one foster home, and be lost in the system until she turned seventeen, the age of legal adulthood.

If that happened, Jordana had already planned to run away. She didn't know where she'd go or what she'd do. She just knew that she wouldn't let herself get sucked into a system that was terribly broken. Of course, weren't most supposedly organized forms of government broken?

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei allowed her words to wash past him. Of course he was the living embodiment of what the Empire wanted its citizens to believe. That's how propaganda worked. The people in charge took exactly who you were and made everything about it evil.

The Empire might know about the Reverend's slaving ring, or even be collaborating with the Reverend. But the Empire would throw the Reverend in jail just to save face if news of Imperial involvement reached the ears of the public. It was the first, if not the only reason not to deal with the Empire. You never knew when the Empire would turn on you: you only knew that inevitably they would.

Wei decided instead to answer her more important and immediate question. "You choose. If you want to find your parents, I will help you find them. If you would rather not see them, you can come with me. There's paid work within the Rebel Alliance. I don't expect you want to be left in the hands of the Empire."

Wei stretched and stood when the bellhop knocked on the door. "There's dinner. For now, let's focus on the present. We will eat, get a hot shower each, and get a full night's rest. Then tomorrow I will begin my mission." Wei paused and mischief danced in his eyes. "That is, unless you would like me to leave the slaving ring in tact to sentence more people to a life of hopelessness, despair, and cruelty."

He realized his teasing might not be received well, and before Jordana could reply the Force Cripple apologized. "I'm sorry. That was mean. Come eat, and we'll see what we can't do to make you laugh."

[Jordana Jax]

Food! The girl didn't need to be told twice as she nearly ran the Jedi Knight over as she bolted from the balcony to the room. She sat down at the small table for two and anxiously got their plates set up. The child was already taking a huge far from ladylike bite from her happy patty and chewing it hungrily. Catsup dotted the side of her mouth and a mustard drip colored her chin. "Fffhiss is ssssoo gooooood! Mmmm!" It was a wonder Jordana didn't choke with how quickly she inhaled the first three humongous chomps she put into that burger. But as her stomach's signal to the brain finally arrived to tell it that it was okay, the girl could slow down, she had alraedy beaten it to the punch. Some shroomchips were stuffed into her half-full mouth and it was all washed down with a healthy drink of the Lurol smoothie.

"OooOOO! OW! I hate that!" The pre-teen exclaimed with a sharp hiss of pain. Her right hand immediately shot up to rub furiously at her right brow. "Brain freeze," she explained. It took a good two minutes for it to subside, too, which really sucked! Now she finally grabbed a napkin and wiped the sauces and crumbs from her mouth, then took a much smaller bite of the happy patty. "Do you like horror movies?" She asked. "I ask because Tenta Kill-5 starts in a few minutes." Jordana indicated the advertisement tent sitting off to the side of the table. It was bragging about the hotel's special holofilm channels that came free with the room but most others across the 'Verse had to pay for the special service.

"It's about a group of kids who go camping and wind up fighting for their lives as they're attacked by a vicious, humongous, gross swamp monster! Quality entertainment right there, I tell ya'," Jordana said as she swung her foot, nibbled a shroomchip, and flashed the Jedi a big cheesy grin.

Interesting how the child didn't comment one way or the other at the Jedi's offer to help her find her parents. Of course, the pre-teen assumed they had been killed. And why not? Her daddy hadn't come to her rescue, neither did her mom. Weren't parents who loved their kids suppose to swoop in and save the day?

"Come on, you know you want to watch one of the best "B" rated horror holo's ever made," the girl said in a tone of voice that both dared and teased the Jedi Knight.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged and smiled. "Sure. Let's see what's going on in cinema."

The Jedi allowed Jordana to do whatever she liked. She had such a hard day. She deserved to be entertained. "If you end up with nightmares, just remember that my lightsaber is not a night light," he joked back.

The girl was in a playful mood. That was good. She needed to laugh. So Wei would play the part of fun babysitter for now. Wei sat down with his own food--a large bowl of noodles in a sweet coconut broth. The Force Cripple added some spicy sauce to his noodles and pulled a pair of chopsticks from a fold in his sash.

Wei glanced at them fondly. The sticks were made of a solid, heavy wood carved with vines ending in budding blossoms. A gift from his wife on their first wedding anniversary. His face flickered with sadness for a moment, then he let go of the feeling.

He took a mouthful of his food and set up the holoprojector to play Tenta Kill-5.

[Jordana Jax]

"Oh ha ha," the girl said when Wei told her she couldn't use his lightsaber in the event of a nightmare. But her tone hinted that it was all in jest.

Jordana wrapped her food back up. For someone who was completely starved, she only ate about half of her burger and a quarter of the shroomchips. Jordana had learned a few years ago that she couldn't allow herself to over eat for if she did, it'd be coming right back up. She usually ate half then waited half an hour. If she was still hungry then she could eat a little more.

"Wait, don't start the movie just yet. I hear the shower calling me!" Amazing how a little bit of food could change the mood of someone. Jordana felt much better now that her tummy was full. The girl grabbed her backpack and shook the contents out onto the bed. There wasn't much. A sketch book that also served as a diary, wadded up pages that had been ripped from the sketch book, a writing stylus, and a photo. The girl sighed. Not even a clean pair of underwear to put on once she got out of the shower.

Thirty minutes later, Jordana finally emerged from the 'fresher. She had a towel wrapped around her head and her body. "Okay, Wei. 'Fresher is all yours. You can start the movie now. Oh, do you have any change? I thought I saw a sign for a laundry room right off of the lobby so I can wash our clothes."

Jordana sat down at the end of the bed she'd occupy this night. She watched Wei as he cleaned up the table a bit, noticing that he'd cleaned the chopsticks he was using before and laid them carefully on a napkin. "Those are very pretty," she complimented, having noticed the delicate ornate carving up near the top. "I'm not sure how you're able to eat witht those things, though. I tried once and let me tell you," the girl shook her head, "It was not pretty!" The pre-teen finished saying as she stood and folded the comforter down and turned back the sheet and blanket.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei picked up the sticks with a small flourish. "I have two pair, actually. They're--" he paused for a moment. "They're special. If you want to learn, perhaps I will teach you. And don't worry about the laundry. I'll take care of that."

The Jedi watched the girl preparing the bed for the night. "So, no movie after all? Or will you be watching from under the covers?"

He had a few spare changes of clothes now that he joined the Rebel Alliance, but they were hidden along with R4 and the starfighter. Wei wanted to get some new clothes for Jordana, but at such an hour all the clothing stores would be closed. It would have to keep.

While the astromech was on his mind, the Jedi checked his chrono and his personal comm. No word yet. Wei wasn't worried. It might be a little while before R4 checked in. It might not be until morning depending on how difficult accessing the Empire's databanks proved to be.

"Give me the clothes you want washed, and I'll handle it. The movie is set to start whenever you like. Just press the button on the remote there. Also, it seems the room came with a small refrigeration unit, so I put your food in there. You can reheat it whenever you like."

Satisfied that everything was in order and Jordana's basic needs had been met, Wei was ready to get cleaned up and ready to sleep. It had been a long day.

"I have a card key. I plan to put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door so the help doesn't bother you when I go clean the laundry. If anyone knocks, or tries to get in, ask for the password. The password is Hydrospanner."

[Jordana Jax]

"You don't get to watch movies much, do you?" The girl asked as she hopped into the bed and pulled the covers up, then bunched them all around her. Once those were bunched perfectly, she propped her pillows up and then grabbed that comforter she had folded to the end of the bed. That, too, had to be bunched up just right around her. Once she was comfy and all settled in, the pre-teen grabbed the remote from the nightstand that was situated between their beds. "Whenever you are going to watch a scary B-rated holohorror, you must be comfy cozy and all bundled up. Unless, of course, you're older and have a boyfriend. Or in your case, a girlfriend. Then it's a rule or something that the girl has to curl up next to her guy and, in your case, you must put your arm around your girl and keep her safe from the oogity-boogity." The orphan explained to the Jedi Knight.

But that also made her think of a question. As out of the blue as it might seem, she asked, "Are Jedi allowed to have a love interest? What about marriage? Can you get married? And if you can't ... how do more Jedi get made?"

Jordana pointed to the direction of the 'fresher. "I left my clothes in there on the floor. You might want to hold your nose when you pick them up. They're pretty ripe," she warned him, wrinkling her freckled button nose as she nodded as-matter-of-factly. Reaching up, the girl gave the towel wrapped around her head a good rustling then pulled it away. Her dark blond hair had a tendency to curl a bit on its own near the ends. "Can you pick up a brush? Oh, and maybe a toothbrush and toothpaste please?"

The look on Wei's face made Jordana giggle. She nodded. "Yes! I heard you. If anyone knocks ask for a password, which is hydrospanner. But if someone tries to get in, I'm just going to scream. Somehow I don't think anyone breaking and entering is going to have a password."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei listened with patient amusement. For being a girl who had such a hard time living as a slave, she had a very resilient spirit.

"When I was a Jedi during the Clone Wars, Jedi were not allowed love interests and marriages. The Jedi Council saw them as needless attachment that fired up the emotions and tempted people to the Dark Side. We would say "There is no Emotion: There is Peace. There is no Ignorance: There is Knowledge. There is no Passion: There is Serenity. There is no Chaos: There is Harmony. There is no Death: There is the Force. We did not allow ourselves attachment, did not allow our emotions to get the better of us, and learned not to let getting what we wanted get us instead."

Wei shrugged. "I never did understand the process, but there were Jedi assigned to different planets tasked with checking infants for Force Sensitivity. We discovered a correlation between Force Sensitivity and having a high midichlorian count, but it was a bit more complex than that. Jedi didn't have to have children in order for there to be more Jedi: we just needed the other parents to commit their children to the cause."

Wei sat on the edge of his bed. "It's ok, though. Any Jedi who grew up during that time would eventually wonder who their parents were, but we were ok with not knowing. Even though we never met them, our parents gave us a fantastic opportunity. The Jedi brought me up in a safe and supportive environment. They taught me to do something fantastic. I was always at peace. Also, I got to see more of the galaxy and meet most of the most interesting people in the entire universe. I didn't need attachments or a wife: it was as though the entire galaxy was my family."

Wei stood and looked away. "Of course, Order 66 brought all that to a stop, and then there were no Jedi anymore. But they didn't kill all of us." Wei turned back to the girl and offered a roguish wink. "I went back to my home planet and hid. I met my father, and I did indeed have plenty an opportunity to keep a beautiful woman safe from the oogity-boogity."

The Force Cripple grabbed the smelly clothes off of the refresher floor and pulled a comical face. "I think some sort of new life form is germinating in these clothes. I'll be back."

Wei stepped out of the room and locked the door behind him. He checked the tags for the girl's sizes and committed them to memory, then he put them in the wash.

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana only had two choices in life now. Either give up and die or pick herself up - no matter how many times or how hard she falls - and continue on. Her father had once told her that it would be a cold day in Hell before he'd ever just give up and that he expected the same tenacity from any child of his. So it was, probably on a subconcious level, that Jordana persevered for two reasons: to honor her father, and, to spit in the face of those who tried to break her. Spite was a very powerful ally; if used properly.

The child smiled gently to the Jedi Knight as she listened to his experience. There wasn't anything she could say to make any of the horrors he lived through any less horrible and the child wasn't about to add insult to injury by even trying to come up with anything to say. Her smile grew a little when he mentioned a new life form growing in those clothes of hers, then she watched the man leave the room.

After hearing the door lock, Jordana lifted the remote and had her finger poised over the play button but didn't push down on it. Thoughts of something Wei had said really made her think, forced her to wrap her mind around them and what they might mean. In fact, so perplexed by these words, the girl tossed back the blankets and padded over to a small desk that sat in a far corner of the room. She found some paper and a pen and wrote them down, meaning to ask Wei about them in the morning.

She took the notepad back to the bed with her and set it down on the nightstand. Then she hopped back in, bundled herself up, and hit play. It was time to completely enjoy Tenta-Kill 5.

In five minutes flat ....

The girl was out like a light.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Laundry cycles were never very long affairs, and soon enough Jordana's clothes were clean. Wei grabbed the collar of his own shirt and gave it a quick sniff. His nose wrinkled at what he discovered. He'd need to get his own clothes washed soon. But he'd get a fresh set from his small cargo compartment first.

R4 checked in just before Wei returned to the hotel room. Several locations ping as hotspots for local crime. A casino, an abandoned amusement park, and a few cantinas in the area. It is likely the casino funds the ring, the cantinas provide "merchandise" and the amusement park is where the new slaves are sold and shipped away. Exercise caution.

The Force Cripple opened the door to the hotel room before replying. I shall. Forgot my change of clothes with you. I will be by in the early morning to fetch them. I have a few errands to run for myself and this girl. I also have some other assignments for you as well.

I will faithfully serve.

No doubt most of these places will be well-guarded, but even they have lulls in security and business. Later tonight--perhaps halfway between midnight and sunrise--Fly by the casino, amusement park, and a couple of the cantinas for a visual check. Don't fire the thrusters, don't start up life supports, or even the safety lights. It'll take some time, but you should be able to get to all of these places on just repulsors. With luck, you'll look like a late-night cargo skiff. Get me some holos of these places. If there's any sign of trouble, run like a taun-taun.

Acknowledged. Good night.

Wei put up the comm and slipped into the refresher. After a quick shower, Wei checked on Jordana. Fast asleep. Wei turned off the movie and lay in his own bed. Then he too slept.


**********

The following morning, Wei got up early, met R4 at their base camp outside of town, got his spare clothes, and then went shopping. The Jedi managed to find a clothing store that opened early, and bought three outfits in Jordana's size: a fresh pair of pants and a cute top along with a good pair of running shoes; a knee length dress that suited the moderate temperature with a pair of matching sandals; and lastly, a sleeveless black dress that went to her ankles with matching heels and purse.

Wei knew if he brought her along, she would need to run. The short dress was just for fun. The black dress was set to stun. If the casino turned out to be a very high-society sort of place, she would need to appear older. Clothes and make-up could make anyone seem older, or at least more mature. But it took poise and sophistication to sell someone the notion a person was an adult.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Wei knew that many full-grown women who loved to gamble were hardly poised or sophisticated. The Force Cripple wasn't sure what Jordana's parents were like, but Wei knew if Jordana was his daughter, he'd want her to know how to behave with class. He'd figure out how to teach her. Luckily for him, he had been married to a very classy lady.

The Jedi snuck back into the room in time to lay the clothes out and order breakfast for himself and his charge before Jordana could wake up herself. Breakfast would arrive in a few hours, leaving Wei time to meditate on the Jedi Code while the sun rose.

[Jordana Jax]

As Jordana woke, the girl just laid there in the bed on her left side, facing the wall. She had a moment where she had completely forgotten where she was and whom she was with. Waking in a strange place in a strange bed ... but then she remembered and it was okay. So comfortable she had been, for it'd been years since she last slept on a real bed, the girl had slept so soundly that for once she did not wake from nightmares. She actually felt very well rested for the first time in a very long time.

The orphan rolled onto her back and glanced over to see Wei kneeling on the floor with his eyes closed. Her mom use to do this sometimes but while sitting on the couch. She use to call it her mental vacation. When Jordana asked what that was, her mother explained that since she and their father would never be able to afford to go on a real vacation, that sometimes she would close her eyes and let herself mentally pretend that they were on vacation; usually it was some exotic location that Jordana had never heard of. Of course, being a child, Jordana didn't quite understand what her mom was talking about and thought it was really weird. But she also learned to just leave her mom alone when she was 'on vacation' like that so she left Wei alone, too, as she tossed the covers back and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

As she stood she saw the new clothes laid out at the foot of her bed. The girl glanced to the still meditating Jedi Knight then back to the clothes again. She smiled. The pants and shirt she could totally dig. The dresses though? Jordana had never really owned a dress before so she could't imagine being able to wear one and have it look nice on her. She also saw the heels, which made her stifle a chuckle. I trip over my own shadow and I'm suppose to wear these at some point? Psh! The long dress was pretty. It was simple but quite elegant, at least in Jordana's twelve-almost-thirteen year old opinion.

The sundress and sandals were cute, too. In fact, Jordana was surprised that Wei had some taste in women's clothing. Not many men were able to choose clothes for the opposite sex and have it match, let alone look good on the person. Of course, Jordana's opinion as to whether or not either dress would look good on her wasn't really high on the meter. The girl grabbed the jeans and t-shirt, the clean underwear, and disappeared into the 'fresher. She was overjoyed to see a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hair brush on the vanity sink for her, too. The girl spent five minutes brushing her teeth. She couldn't stand having a dirty, icky mouth! Of course, when one grew up poor with parents who couldn't afford and didn't have any type of insurance, one learned how to take care of their teeth and body really well.

Even though she had showered last night, the girl did it again. Because she could, not because she had to. In her mind she also didn't know if she'd get to shower again tomorrow so she might as well take advantage of it while she still could. She was grateful for Wei's help and generosity, but she doubted he'd let her tag along once he was finished with this mission he set out to do in bringing down the slaver ring and freeing the slaves -- or whatever it was.

Needless to say it was at least an hour from the time Jordana had entered the 'fresher to the time she finally exited. She had on the jeans and t-shirt Wei picked out for her, her wet hair brushed neatly. The girl would let it air dry as she always had before. "Thanks, for all this," Jordana said to the Jedi Knight as she motioned to the new clothes and then indicated the room they'd shared for the night, too. A knock on the door had the girl glancing over her shoulder, but Wei assured her it was probably all right, just room service. Still, to be safe, she stood off to the side and let the man take care of it.

Sure enough it was food and it smelled so good! Jordana sat down at the table and started to dig in as soon as Wei set out the plates. "Hey, Wei? You said some things last night that really got me thinkin' and I wanted to ask you some questions. Is that all right?" He indicated with a nod that it would be acceptable.

"Astral! Okay, well ... you said that the Jedi Council didn't allow marriages and for Jedi to love another because they thought it was needless attachment that fired up emotions, right? But fired up emotions can be so useful, so powerful, so motivational. I mean, as long as someone was able to control those emotions, I guess, and not use them to do bad things, what's wrong with being attached and emotional with someone? You also said that it could lure people to the Dark Side? What is the Dark side? I'm guessing its bad, huh? And if there's a dark side, is there a light side? What's the Force?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well," Wei said after a mouthful of egg, "if we want to see the danger in powerful emotions, then we need to study the Dark Side itself. The Sith--the enemies of the Jedi--have a code. I recited the Jedi Code last night."

Wei grabbed his datapad and a stylus, opened a word processor, and started to scrawl out words.

There is no Emotion: There is Peace.
There is no Ignorance: There is Knowledge.
There is no Passion: There is Serenity.
There is no Chaos: There is Harmony.
There is no Death: There is the Force.

"This is the Jedi Code," The Force Cripple explained. "The Sith Code goes as such:"

Peace is a Lie: There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my Chains are Broken.
The Force shall set me Free.

"You are right that there is a Light Side of the Force, as well as a Dark Side. The Jedi allow the Light Side to flow through them. A Sith commands the Dark Side, and bends it to their will."

Wei paused. He ate a few mouthfuls and chewed slowly while he considered his next several words. The Jedi's mind rifled through the experiences of his life to find a means to express the two philosophies accurately and clearly.

"Let's talk about last night. Remember when I faced off with that bouncer? There was a very real chance that we could have been killed. Remember how you felt? Were you scared? Were you upset about the situation? Maybe you were angry?"

[Jordana Jax]

The girl drank deeply from her cup of juice. While she ate, she listened, and also read the two Codes Wei had written out for her. There was much to question about both Codes but she wasn't so sure she'd understand. Jordana nodded when Wei asked of remembering last night.


"I was very scared, yes. I don't understand how anyone couldn't have been scared last night. You included. Upset about the situation? Like .. how do you mean? Was I upset to even be in it? Sure. That's only human. Was I angry with Q`ark?" You bet! Again, it's human nature. He lied to me, tried to force me to do something I didn't want to do."

Jordana splashed a shake of salt and a shake of pepper onto her eggs then frowned upon discovering there wasn't any steak sauce to drowned them in. No sense in wallowing over it though, right? Beggars couldn't be choosers and she was just more than happy to even have a breakfast this morning to eat! She looked to Wei from over her fork as she shoveled a mouthful of egg into her mouth. Sitting back, the child took a napkin to wipe her mouth then shook her head lightly. "I don't get it. What do my feelings about what happened last night have to do with this Force and its sides? I mean, who cares, right? You came along. Out of everyone in that cantina, you were the only person who couldn't just stand by and idly watch what was happening. You couldn't pretend not to see it like it wasn't really happening."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Everything."

Wei ate a bit more. "You see, how we deal with our emotions is what makes us Jedi or Sith. Jedi acknowledge their emotions, accept them, and then let them go. A Sith latches on to those emotions and uses them to fuel his power. Yesterday, when we were facing down those bouncers, I did briefly fear for my life. I recognized my fear, but then let go of that feeling. I allowed myself to settle down and be peaceful. When I was at peace, I could see the truth of our situation. The Force flowed through me, and we were able to survive."

Wei grabbed a slice of bacon and crunched it down. "If I were a Sith, I would have used my fear to strike at the bouncers. I would have reacted to their threats against us with anger, and cut them down. I would have bent the Force to my will."

Wei looked around for something to use as an illustration. "The problem with the Sith way of doing things is that it takes so much effort. A Sith that relies on his rage has to always stay angry. Can you imagine having to deal with that feeling all the time? That squeezing feeling in your chest? The elevated heart rate? And who would you stay mad at? Eventually everyone becomes an enemy, and the world must burn, because in order to stay powerful, victorious and 'free' you have to spend all your time jealously guarding the power you've worked so hard to attain."

Wei finally shrugged and grabbed the water pitcher. "A Sith has to control everything--even the Force. Jedi are different. We let the Force flow, and we empty ourselves to be receptive to that flow. The Force is life, and life will always preserve itself. If a Jedi lets go of his fears and trusts in the Force, and the Force lends him strength. Do you follow so far?"

[Jordana Jax]

As Jordana ate and intently listened she thought she might be understanding it a little better. Still, it didn't make much sense in a lot of ways, though. "I think so," she answered honestly, but the expression on her face clearly gave away the fact that she was still thinking on the matter. Perhaps thinking further on it, even. "Okay. So, you gave the example that if you had been a Sith and in last night's situation, you would have used your fear and anger to cut down the bouncers and pretty much kill them out of malice. But, I can retort that if you were a Sith, you would not even have interferred. You wouldn't have cared about my safety or well-being. In fact, you might have even helped Q`ark fulfill his intentions simply to watch and enjoy my suffering." The girl lifted her juice and took a drink from it. "Right?"

She paused briefly to scratch at an itch just below her right nostril. "Of course, I could also just tell you that if you had just cut down those bouncers, you also would have been reacting as any normal not-Jedi or not-Sith human being might have reacted if they had found themselves in that situation. Just because someone acts or reacts in a way that brings about harm or death doesn't make them evil or a Sith. It's human nature to survive and we'll do it by any means necessary.

"You speak of emotion as if it's a terrible thing, maybe even something to be feared. If you deny yourself emotion, you also deny yourself learning experiences. You can't just say 'Oh, I'm feeling scared or angry, I better accept this and move on' and then go on as if you never felt it. That can't be healthy. That sounds more like ..." the girl thought for a moment, searching for the word. "More like denial or suppression. How do you learn to control your feelings if you don't allow yourself to actually experience them?"

The girl took a couple more bites of egg then pushed her plate aside. When she finished chewing she added a little more. "Shouldn't it be more like ... Ok, you feel jealous. Now how are you going to let that affect - or not affect - your actions and reactions? You learn from experiencing, from feeling. Not from acknowledgment and suppression That sounds rather dangerous to me, and more to push someone to this Dark side, if you ask me. Bottled up emotions are never permanently sealed. They will always emerge. It's inevitable."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's forehead wrinkled. Apparently he hadn't done a good job communicating himself. Teaching was hard.

"Yes yes, you're right. Suppressing an emotion is unhealthy." Wei scratched his chin. "You see, when I get angry, or afraid, I don't push it down. I recognize how I feel and why I feel that way. Then I allow myself to calm down. I remember that fear is paralytic. I remember that anger can force us to react much more strongly than the situation calls for. I remember that I can do more than be a slave to these feelings and then I let them go. I stop being angry. I stop being afraid. I don't suppress them. Surpressing them means I'm holding onto them. And then, in the future, if I find myself afraid or angry again, I remember the last time I felt afraid or angry, and use that experience to help me overcome those feelings. Peace and calm doesn't come about from keeping a lid on your emotions. It comes about from dealing with your emotions in a constructive and meaningful way."

The Force Cripple grabbed the two sets of chopsticks and put them on the table. "Now, let's talk about love, and such as that." He motioned to the eating utensils. "After the Clone War, I went into hiding to save my life. As ready as I was to die, dying would not have preserved the history and legacy of the Jedi. So I survived. And sure enough, the Jedi have since found a way to reunite, and I am among them helping to re-establish our Order."

Wei forgot his breakfast and held up the sticks decorated with vines and blossoms. "I got married. I managed to find love. It was new. Very different. What started out as a friendship suddenly became something unlike anything I had ever experienced. I couldn't let it go. I couldn't just stop feeling love, though I did spend a lot of time thinking about what I felt and why. Eventually I decided that love was good. I didn't try to get over it. I think it would have been more damaging to myself and the woman I loved if I had. After all, love is a great source of compassion. So, I accepted it and continued to love my wife until the day she died. I still love her. But now I work on dealing with the grief I feel and the pain of losing her, and I try not mourn her so much."

Wei offered a wistful smile to the pre-teen girl. "After all, there is no death. She has rejoined the Force. As long as I can feel the Force, I can still be connected to her. I don't look at the pain and the tragedy of losing her when I remember her. Instead I try to stay focused on what a grand joy it was to have her be a part of my life." Wei stacked his plate and some of the serving dishes back on the serving cart.

"I hope that has helped you to understand better."

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana was very, very quiet long after Wei finished speaking. She sat there in the chair at the small table for two inside their hotel room and idly bit at her thumbnail while staring out the window. The child wasn't looking at any one thing in particular. In fact, the only thing she was truly seeing was the past, the remnants of the life she had been ripped away from.

She was thinking about her parents. Of course she loved her mother but Jordana was one-hundred percent daddy's girl. Dirt poor her family may have been, and yes daddy may have been rather strict with the way he was raising his daughter, but he loved her with all of his soul. He did everything he possibly could for her for she was the apple of his eye and the light of his life. Not that he didn't love his wife, but a father's bond with his daughter is different than that felt for a spouse.

The girl sniffled quietly and turned her head so Wei couldn't see the tears in her eyes. The orphan stood and went to the 'fresher. Once behind the solitude of the closed door, Jordana climbed into the tub and drew the shower curtain across. Then she sat down, drew her knees to her chest and folded her arms across the top of them. As the tears broke free, though her effort at containing them was quite valiant, the child buried her head in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. All she wanted was to wake up from this horrible, awful, terrible nightmare. She wanted to wake up and find herself in her own bed, smelling her mother's cooking and hearing her father chopping wood or hollerin' about something or another from outside. She wanted to smell the grease that stained his clothes from working on the out-dated, rusted out equipment and see the dirt and grime smudging his rough, calloused hands and embedded beneath his fingernails.

She wanted to hear her mom say that everything would be all right now. Maybe Jordana had been really ill and had slept a really long time. Perhaps a high fever induced the nightmare in which she was now living. It was possible. She had read that in health class. Or maybe she had seen it on some holo drama at her friend's house. She wanted her mother to shout with excitement, have her father come racing into the bedroom and sweep her up into his arms. To have him hug her so tight she couldn't breathe as he spun her around and thanked the Powers above for answering his prayers. She just wanted to be held, made to feel safe, secure, loved and cared for.

But no one really ever got what they truly wanted. At least Jordana never had. She was still so young and now so very, very alone. Not only was she alone, but she was very frightened. World's were big. But the 'Verse was much bigger and far more scarier. She learned from personal experience that monsters truly did exist. The child learned first hand that there were terrible, malicious people (and lizards!) who only wanted to profit from anothers misfortune, skills, youth.

Oh what she wouldn't give right now to be back at home and heading off to school! She missed her friends, she missed her teachers, and she even missed the bullies who picked on her every chance they got! They were nothing compared to what she'd been through since being kidnapped. Though she was sitting in the bathtub of a resort hotel room that cost more than her mother ever spent on groceries in a quarter, Jordana thought home was like a grand palace, decrepit and embarrassing as it was, especially when compared to the nice homes her friends lived in. But it was home.

It must have been a solid thirty minutes before Jordana's tears ceased to fall. The pre-teen thought that this would not be the last of her tears. There would be more, of course. She had milestones in her life that, if reached, she would wish her parents were there to share with her. Turning thirteen, sweet sixteen, getting her license, graduating from school, getting married. Provided she lived long enough to experience any of those things herself. The girl remained curled up in the tub in the 'fresher for a while longer.

A memory of her mother brought a crooked smile to her tiny, tear-stained face. "There, there, my sweet, beautiful girl," she would say as she wiped the tears from Jordana's cheeks. "It's not the end of the world, you know. But, I can see this has really upset you. Therefore, you get a twenty-four hour pass. For one day only you are allowed to mope, cry, scream, throw a tantrum, and generally feel bad, sad, and sorry for yourself. Wallow in self-misery, but only for a day. Any longer than that and you'll get real sick of yourself, ya hear? But don't deny yourself this moment, this experience." Then her mother would kiss her on the forehead and return to what she was doing.

Shakily Jordana stood and stepped out of her sanctuary. At the sink she blew her nose into some tissue, washed her face, brushed her teeth again, and ran a brush through her hair. Feeling more like herself and more presentable, the girl slowly emerged from the 'fresher. There was no hiding the fact that she'd lost it in there. Her lower eyelids were still rimmed dark pink.

The girl glanced at Wei and managed a meager yet sad little smile. He had something physical from his wife, something he could touch and connect with. All Jordana had now were memories and she feared that, over time, those too would begin to fade until one day she wouldn't be able to remember much about her parents at all. She wondered how long it would be before she forgot what they looked like?

"Um," she began to say but her voice cracked. After clearing her throat, she started again. "I have more questions but later, okay? What's on the agenda for today?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei was looking at his datapad when Jordana returned. The chopsticks had returned to their place on Wei's person, and the breakfast cart was gone. The Jedi glanced up as the girl spoke to him and smiled kindly.

"You got it. It's high time we got down to business anyway."

The Jedi set his datapad down on the table. "Most of the places I had planned to investigate are on Phyrstal Island. If you look out the window there, you can see it nearby. It was once a popular resort, but now it's rundown and tourists tend to avoid it. I expect a large place like where no one visits would be an ideal place to base a slaving operation."

Wei's datapad displayed a map of Abregado-rae and all the area between Capital City and Le Yer. "In Capital City there are two Casinos: The Star of Chance, and the Triple Nova Casino. I suspect that the slavers could be using one or both of these establishments to launder money and glean slaves. The LoBue Cantina, where the Reverend resides, is a hub for acquiring people to sell as slaves."

"No one goes to Phrystal Island that doesn't have to, so any approach we make to the island is bound to be noticed by the slavers. That is, if they're smart and have people watching. The Empire patrols the area, of course, but it doesn't seem like they take much interest in the resort. The Casinos are another matter."

Wei tapped the dot on the map labeled "Capital City." The datapad zoomed in to the location and offered a detailed layout for the Jedi spy and his tagalong. "The casinos see business throughout the day, but naturally the hours of best business are at night. If the casinos are up to no good, then most of their bad business will happen during the day under the guise of supply deliveries, laundry services, and safe deposits. Thanks to R4, who you will meet later today, we have discovered that these places have their own security, but accept a hand from the Empire in moving their safe deposits to the local banks."

Wei looked up at the girl. "Now, we need to know three things: 1) Where and how do these people get their slaves. 2) How do the slaves get to Phrystal Island. 3) How do the slavers go about their transactions. The third objective is the most complex. Could be the slavers do all their deals through holotransmissions and then ship the slaves to the buyers. Could be they invite buyers to the planet, take them out to the Island, and they auction slaves there. Lastly, (and this would be the worst case for us), they might be shipping the slaves across the galaxy and making their deals on other planets."

Wei scratched his chin. "What I want to do is this: I want to find out if these casinos are funding the slavers with money and people, or if the casinos use the slavers to buy labor. If the casinos are sending money to the slaving operation, I want to know where it goes and how it gets into the hands of these criminals. Then, I want to make sure those slavers never get their money."

Wei stood. "Come on, we need to go meet up with R4. And if anyone asks where we're going, we're off to see a man about electrum."

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana thought long and hard on some of the things Wei brought up as they studied the images on his holopad. But one in particular stood out and that was the question he posed of how the slaves get out to Phrystal island. So as the two made their way from their room to meet up with R4, Jordana waited until they were able to converse back and forth without others overhearing the bulk of the conversation.

"It's probably not self-sufficient, though if it were, that wouldn't be unsual. Phrystal Island, I mean. Since it's surrounded by water, it's entirely possible that they have their own reactors for energy, their own water purification systems, etc. But if it was once a pleasure resort, then it's probably more likely that they're connected to and reliant the mainland. So moving slaves around by either day or night would likely draw attention, right?"

Jordana wasn't really asking Wei anything. She was just working through her thoughts outloud.

"An island. Surrounded by water. How do I get even a simple yet very needed thing like electricity to my island?"

Jordana considered for a bit.

"Underground. That's the only possibility, right? You'd have to built tunnels to string the lines for electricity, satellite systems, computer systems, and all that, right? Running a pleasure resort you wouldn't want your guests to see maintenance vehicles all over the place or anything that would remind them of work. So how do you conceal all of that on an island? You do it underground. I can't think of another way to move slaves without being caught. Can you?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's eyebrows lifted in pleasant surprise. The girl was a thinker. She would do very well for a helper.

"I might. Underground transportation is certainly viable. However, there are things to consider that might make it more difficult than you think. Let's suppose the island was once supplied electricity, sewage, and drinking water from the mainland. When the island resort shut down, the power, water, and sewage companies likely shut down the lines. They might have even closed off the maintenance tunnels used to repair the lines.

Now, let's suppose they at least shut down the lines, but didn't block the tunnels. If the criminals reconnect the island to the mainland, the companies would notice someone pulling power without being paid. That would be bad. Unless someone foots the bill for that power" Wei shrugged, "say, the Galactic Empire, perhaps no one would ask what's going on. Maybe the criminals even bribe the utility companies direct. But secrets are kept best the fewer people that know. They wouldn't want to get too many organizations involved. But even if they can get to the access tunnels, they have to have a way to do it. A way to get the people underground without people seeing. It means they have to access the tunnels from somewhere. If they've involved the utility companies, they can do it from the companies' operation sites. If the companies are not involved, they need to have access from some other building. A building that can be burrowed under and then attached to the tunnels."

Wei frowned. "You have presented a good scenario, but we still need to find out where they get their slaves from, which could be..." Wei sighed. "anywhere."

The Force Cripple stopped in his tracks for a moment. His eyes flicked back and forth as the thought, like he was trying to connect dots. Then as fast as he had stopped, he started walking again. Fast.

"We're going to split up soon, and we're all going to have different assignments. I know we've only just met, and I understand if you don't quite trust me, but I need your help. You're smart, you've got energy, and you've got drive. I know I can count on you. We're giving you a crash course in spying, and then I'm going to need you to accomplish a lot. It's going to be very dangerous, and I won't always be able to protect you. But I can show you how to take care of yourself. And you have my promise that when this is over, I'm not going to leave you here."

Throughout the conversation, the pair made it out of town and well into the outskirts. Wei held out his hand to shake just as R4 landed the starfighter. "Deal? Want to join the team?"

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana had always been a thinker-type person. She didn't have many friends back home on Zaloriis and she certainly didn't have any friends her age when she was enslaved on Wercin 3, so the child has always had to rely on her own imagination, her own thoughts, to keep her both entertained and alert. The girl was a keen observer, a quiet person. It was easy to mistake her for one who isn't willing to participate in any lengthy discussions but that was far from the truth. Jordana enjoyed lengthy, intelligent discussion. She also preferred to listen to what others had to say first and for a while before chiming in herself.

"They don't need to go far to get their slaves, Wei. Look around you. It's a metropolis. It's also a metropolis that draws mega tons of attention by providing fun, luxury, and pleasure to the adults of the 'Verse who can afford it. There's lots of alcohol, too. I'm sure there's plenty of recreational drugs, too, if we're going to be real about it all. Some pretty, young, single girl gets drunk off her butt or higher than a hawkbat can soar, I imagine it'd be pretty easy to lure the girl away from a crowd and abduct her.

"I seen it in a movie once. Spacer's III I think it was called. Or maybe it was Wanderlust 7. Sounds like an adult film, doesn't it? It wasn't. Anyway, the story was that a bunch of guys and gals - of course, the most popular ones in school - planned to take a senior trip to some fictional casino resort. I'm pretty sure they just used the casino's of Tralus or Talus for the wide shots then copied the look for shooting closer on set. Anyway, they all got super drunk. The guys were just killed off, especially when they tried to defend one of their girlfriend's. The girls were abducted, tortured, and eventually killed. 'Cept for one. 'Cuz every horror flick has to have one survivor. It's really more for the possibility of being able to make a sequel if the first one does well enough to develop a cult following." She sure loved those terrible, awful, simply-cannot-miss-'em B-rated holofilms.

Jordana let the tips of her fingers brush the tips of some of the tall grasses edging the landscape as the two drifted from town into the outskirts where they were going to meet up with Wei's droid. "I'm pretty sure it's easy for a parent to forget all about their kid as the booze begins to flow and the credit signs flash enticing neon words like 'Winner' and 'Jackpot' as the slots spin and whatnot. I'd imagine no one's really ever paying close enough attention to notice when a kid wanders off or is even just grabbed while standing no more than a foot or two from their mom or dad. Why should anyone pay attention? They assume the security is top notch and that nothing bad can happen while on vacation."

Jordana walked faster, slower, or even trotted to keep pace with the Jedi Knight. The child was panting by the time they reached their final destination, near the guy's starfighter. He'd explained a lot to her and made her a promise, but Jordana wasn't so sure about any of it. She figured it was his nice way of saying sayonara. But there was something in the man's eyes that made her think otherwise, like maybe he did truly mean to get her off of this planet and to some place where she would be safe. So after a few minutes of soul-searching and considerable thought, Jordana shook the man's hand. "Deal."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei Wu Wei smiled. "Awesome. Now, let's get down to business."

Wei turned to R4. "Jordana here has had a very wise idea about the slaving ring. Looking at the data, we have decided that they are based on Phrystal Island. Jordana suspects the island might be getting its power from the mainland. She has reasoned that the same tunnels that give maintenance workers access to those power lines might also be giving our slavers a means to transport people off the mainland and onto the island. We need to get access to the power grids and see where that island gets its power."

The astromech whistled. It can be done. Access to the mainframe is riskier, but quicker. Alternative: find map of power structure and check individual nodes to see which is supplying power. Geography can eliminate districts to find relevant searches. The little droid offered a happy chirrup. Unless we can find access to scuba gear.

Wei chuckled. "No, no scuba gear." Wei patted the ship. "Come on, get out of there. The starship is too conspicuous for what we need."

Then the Force Cripple turned to Jordana. "Now, we still need to look into the casinos. We also need to escort R4 to where he needs to be. We can take our time and all go together, but we will be more noticeable. If we split up, we can do more and do it more quietly."

He held up his palms as though he were holding something in each hand. "On the one side, we have to scout out the casinos. On the other side, we have to go to the district maintenance sites, break in, and get readings with R4. I want you to check the casinos if you could. It'll be simple. Just sitting somewhere across the street and watch while you pretend to read and drink cold caf. But I'll make sure you're equipped in case someone tries to get you."

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana looked from the astromech to the Jedi Knight, her expression skeptical. "Do you know how many casinos there are, Wei? How am I suppose to scout them all? How do I know which ones I should be watching? What if Q`ark sees me?" Sure, she heard the man say he would make sure she was equipped in case someone tried to get to her, but that didn't do anything for distilling the fear of the very real possibility that an adult would be able to overpower her with ease.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"There's only two I'm interested in: The Star of Chance, and the Triple Nova Casino."

Wei pointed at R4, who obligingly displayed the map of Abregado-rae. "The Star of Chance is near the spaceport, so it sees a lot of traffic. Also, it's location makes it pretty safe for you. Spaceport security is always tight, and any pre-teen girl screaming her head off is going to get far more attention in a place like that than any dive-bar cantina. The other casino is the Triple Nova, and it's in Le Yer a few streets from our resort hotel. Once I give you the tools, you can investigate all you like."

Wei opened the starfighter's small cargo hatch. "It's going to take time to look at these. I'd say one day each, minimum." Wei reached into the hatch and pulled out a datapad, a comm, and something that looked like a personal chrono.

"Here's your gear. A datapad for you to take notes. It's a clamshell, so it looks kind of old, but that's ok. The hinge is durasteel. Keep it held at your side, and if someone tries to mess with you, slam the hinged end in his face." He gave her the datapad.

"The comm is set to my channel. It also has a tracking beacon. The green button calls me. The red button makes the beacon do its thing." The Force Cripple handed that to her as well.

"Lastly, this chrono is a retrofitted shield generator. As it turns out, not all the droidekas from the Clone Wars got scrapped. Thanks to some salvage operations undertaken by the Rebel Alliance, we managed to get our hands on a few of their shield generators and turned them into these. It's kind of bulky, and I know it's ugly. Just say it belongs to a father or great-grandfather, or something. It'll only last a few minutes, so if someone comes after you and you're about to get overpowered, slam the chrono's facing. It's the button that acitvates the shield. After that, you have ten minutes to get out and find some place safe. It's a high-risk, high-profile thing to do, so use it only if you absolutely have to." He handed his would-be spy her last item.

"All you need to do is find a likely place to sit outside the casino--perhaps at a cafe or a public bench--and just watch who comes in, who comes out, and if any odd trucks or other things arrive. It's very easy, and might even get boring."

Wei scratched the back of his head like there was something he forgot. R4 tooted a quick rhythmn. "Right! Your money to buy yourself a blended iced caf drink at the cafe or wherever you choose to hold your stake-out. It's only about 30 or so credits, and it's got to last both locations if you plan to buy snacks. Any questions about the operation or the equipment you've been given?"

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana looked to Wei. She probably should have a slew of questions but for the life of the girl, she couldn't come up with a single one! This worried her, too. Did that mean anything? Was it a sign of things to come? Like ... bad things? The orphan wasn't sure if she could pull off what Wei wanted her to accomplish, but he seemed to have faith in her (heavens knows why), so she swallowed self-doubt and simply shook her head as she took the things the Jedi Knight was providing for her to carry out said mission.

With the clamshell datapad tucked under an arm, Jordana slipped the chrono onto her wrist and tightened its strap so it fit snug around her small wrist and wouldn't come off too easily. A look-see at the small buttons so she could familiarize herself with its working functions and she seemed good to go on that front. Slam the facing, got it. The credits were stuffed into the front pocket of her new jeans.

"I think I'll start at the Star of Chance. I just feel the need to be in a very secure place while doing this. Not sure why. I guess my nerves are still a bit jittery." Perfectly good and logical explanation for the apprehensive butterflies fluttering around in her belly. Jordana turned to begin making her way toward the spaceport then stopped. "Hey Wei?" The child called out as she twisted at the waist to look back at the Jedi Knight. "How long should I sit there? Where and at what time should we meet up again? And what should I be looking for exactly?"

She squinted against a ray of sunlight as it filtered through the canopy and warmed her face. Tiny bits of pollens, dust, and small fluttering bugs danced in the beam. "I mean," she began to explain as she turned and faced the man, "I don't think anyone who's going around kidnapping people is just going to walk right up to their intended target and just nab 'em. Right? It'd have to be more ... I dunno. Just not so obvious, I guess." The child shrugged her shoulder when she paused, unsure of which would best fit for what she was trying to get at.

"I remember being taught in school about stranger danger. You know, the whole don't accept candy, rides, or anything really from strangers. How a kid shouldn't approach the speeder of someone they didn't know just to pet their domesticated felinx or to give directions. Stuff like that." Jordana stuffed her finger into her ear and wriggled it around, trying to get at a deep itch. "But I remember the Corsec Agent also telling my class that most people actually know their abductors," she further explained as she pulled her finger from her ear and looked at it to see if any ear wax had been stuck to it. The pre-teen didn't see anything but to be sure, she swiped the tip of her finger along the side of her thigh a few times then looked to Wei. "Do you think that's true for this? I mean, if I see some little boy running across the spaceport with his arms open wide, giggling, and for all intents and purposes, genuinely excited to see someone ... well, how am I suppose to know that the person he's so happy to see isn't going to kidnap him?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You won't, but it's ok. Stay focused on traffic patterns. How often do you see cargo skiffs pull into the delivery bay? How are they marked? There's bound to be security outside, but look for people who seem nervous or suspicious. Take notes on the other speeders that show up."

Wei looked at R4 as if to ask if he was forgetting anything. The little droid's head swiveled as if to say, "Don't look at me!"

"See how the casino handles the riff-raff. Most drunks, cheaters, and gambling addicts are usually shown the front door. It might happen often, or only once in a while. Eventually, though, the bouncers have to show someone the door. When that happens, see if the authorities come, and which direction they travel. The headquarters for the local police is in the capital city in the opposite direction of Le Yer and Phrystal Island. See which way the speeder goes. As a former slave I know you're going to watch after other people, but watching individuals gets cumbersome. Try your best to take in the building as a whole. And remember, be very casual."

[Jordana Jax]

"Don't worry he says. Be very casual. Just focus on traffic patterns and cargo skiffs he says." The orphan girl mutters as she makes her way back to rejoin the populace of the city, laptop tucked under her arm and the money Wei gave her stuffed into her pocket, and her backpack slung over her right shoulder. Jordana followed the signs pointing the way to the spaceport. Wei had told her that security would be plentiful and tight there and that's where she was going to feel relatively safest.

When Jordana finally reached the area she looked around. There was plenty of traffic, quite a few cafe's dotting the perimeter of the fareway, and more than enough people - aliens and human alike - bustling about and minding their business. From where she now stood Jordana could see the spaceport across the thoroughfare and the casino. This seemed like as good a spot as any to set up shop so she looked to the cafes to see which one appealed to her the most. There was Rummy Gummy's, The Golden Chalice, and The Purple Mynock. The first one sounded more like a disease and the second sounded like a bar. She didn't feel like hanging out with a bunch of drunk, smelly people. So The Purple Mynock it was!

The inside was actually nicer than the girl imagined it would be. Hardwood floors, half-paneled walls, booths, tables and chairs, and seating at the bar. The food smelled relatively decent, too. She didn't seat herself inside though. Instead Jordana asked the hostess if she could sit out on their veranda. "Homework to do and I'd rather be outside so why not do my homework outside?" She explained, forcing a smile that apparently passed off as believable enough for the hostess led the girl to the veranda and showed her to a table.

"Mirimar will be your waistress," the hostess said disinteretedly as she flopped a menu down on the table and walked away.

Jordana looked after the woman for a minute or two. Someone really hates their job, she thought. The orphan gleened over the menu. When Mirimar showed up and finished with her sales spiel pushing the daily special, Jordana ordered. "I'll have the Shawda Clubb on toasted Pseudograin bread, a Xizor salad, and a large Krayt milk please." That was twenty of thirty credchits Wei had given her. She could still get two more Krayt milks and drink water after that. She just told herself that she'd nurse the meal and the drink as she feined doing homework while doing what she was really suppose to be doing. Intelligence work.

Comfortable, Jordana hooked her backpack over the back of her chair and pulled the laptop in front of her. After she opened it and powered it on, the girl figured it would be wise to pull up a screen that appeared to be school related. So she found a website focusing on early history of the galaxy and a notepad. She even typed a few things out to make it look as if she were writing a rough draft for a school report. Once she had enough to make it believable that she was just enjoying a nice day, some after school meal, and taking a break, Jordana divided her attention between the spaceport and the casino.

Mirimar delivered the girl's order about ten minutes later. Jordana began with the salad, which she ate slowly. Activity at the casino was beginning to pick up. Not much happened during the next forty-five minutes, though. It was rather boring and she'd stretched out eating the salad to a full thirty minutes. Take a bite, make a note, take a bite, make a note. Stop both and sit and stare as if lost in thought. Repeat. But within another half hour after that, the Casino received a delivery. Or three. Jordana perked up a bit and started taking down more notes.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei leaned against his starfighter to watch Jordana walk away.

"Poor girl. No family, no home, and a history as a slave for one scumbag or another. I hope she's cut out for this."

R4 offered a low warble and removed himself from the starfighter's dock.

"Ok, she's got her job to do, and we have ours. Let's get that information and see if we can find a way into the sewers of this shady place."

A short time later Wei and R4 managed to get a few bits of data, but nothing concrete. The planet's sewer systems didn't seem to make much sense. It appeared to Wei that the tunnels were walled off seemingly at random.

"What do you think, R4?"

Wei plugged his datapad into a port on R4's side.

I think if we can correlate data for the casinos' sewer lines with this data, we can figure it out. We should have Jordana find a maintenance hatch nearby. It won't be like these ones that use turbolifts. It will most likely look like a large durasteel circle. There should be a serial number the utility workers use to communicate problem areas, etc.

"But what if the entrance is behind the building or down an alleyway?"

Then she should exercise caution

"I don't like it. I'd rather check it out myself."

No risk, no reward.

"Easy for you to say. Fine, I'll tell her your idea. But if that maintenance hatch isn't out in broad daylight, I won't have her going behind buildings to find it."

Wei hit his comm.

[Jordana Jax]

Jordana use to think that stake outs would be a cool thing to be on, thanks to all of the horrible programming available on the holonet. Those agent shows sure made things look really exciting with all of the explosions, high speed chases, weapons-drawn raids, drug busts, kidnappings, and more. If anyone discovered the truth behind some of those things ... no one would want to be an officer, intelligence agent, or even lowly mall security guard (also known as rent-a-cops).

Jordana was nursing her meal as slowly as possible without it seeming overly obvious. She'd take a bite of the burger or salad, chew slowly, swallow, take a sip of milk, then look at the screen on the laptop Wei loaned her. She had a screen pulled up to hide the notes she'd been taking relating to deliveries, things she saw that just seemed odd or out of place. It was a video game. You had to manipulate this little figure that looked like an ancient spaceship and blow up tons of asteroids. Big ones, little ones, medium ones. Each level became progressively faster and faster. The girl's reflexes for this game were pretty good but by the time she'd reach leevl twelve, the asteroids were zipping by so quickly that she was only able to shoot out three or four before a humongous one would enter the screen and smash the tiny spaceship to smithereens. Sure. The asteroids speed up as the levels progess but the maneuverability of the spaceship sure as heck doesn't!

Jordana lifted the fork and stabbed it a few times into the Xizor salad. Once it was full of leafy greens, some red pepper strips, and a slice of 'shroom, the girl patted it into the small cup of dressing that came with the dish. Just enough to add a little flavor. As she brought the fork to her mouth and opened to shovel it in, the girl lifted her eyes from the advancing fork and looked out the window and across the street. Slowly she pushed the fork into her mouth and set the fork down, then started to chew very slowly as she watched what was going on.

A laundry truck had backed in and several people began wheeling out deep canvas carts presumably full of dirty laundry. But one of the overstuffed bundles of linen moved. Or she thought it did. A jiggle and a wiggle, much like a shimmy or two of lime Jell-O when you lift the plate or bump the table. Did I just see that? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Jordana watched more closely now over the next ten or fifteen minutes, both her food and her video game forgotten.

Her comm chirped, startling the poor girl who slapped a hand over her racing heart as she closed her eyes for just a moment. A humored snort through her nose and she shook her head gently, silently scolding herself for being so stupidly silly. "Yeah?" She answered. The girl divided her attention between listening to Wei talk in her ear and the last of the laundry carts as they were wheeled out and their contents thrown into the back of the laundry truck without care or exercised caution.

"Uh huh," she said, clearly distracted. Or she was until Wei snapped her to full attention, which was okay at this point. The laundry carts stopped coming and the staff went back inside. "Yes! I got it. I don't see anything from where I'm seated but I'll look when I move on to the next," she said to Wei, quietly so that no one could overhear her end of the conversation.

She was still focused on the laundry truck across the street. It hadn't moved and its driver hadn't returned to the cab to drive it away. This struck Jordana as odd behavior so she pulled up her notepad and typed out her notes, alternately flicking her eyes from the screen to the window. Just as she finished her notes, another man came out. He was dressed in all black. His shirt, shoes, pants, and leather jacket were all black. He was definitely human. Jordana had to keep her attention divided now as she looked at the laptop in search of an option. She grinned when she found it. The girl wasn't sure it would work or not but she turned her laptop just enough and started tapping one of the keys on the keypad. She wasn't sure if the holographic capabilities on this thing were working or not, but the girl figured that trying to capture and image of this man might be work the try.

She watched as the man in black and the driver exchanged words. Both men puffed on cigars and had a few laughs. Then the man in black pulled a fat, long envelope from the inside breast pocket of his leather jacket and handed it to the driver. The driver thumbed it open, appeared to be counting whatever was inside. When he was satisfied, he shook hands with the man in black then returned to the cab of the laundry truck and drove away. That was interesting. The girl made a few more quick notes then closed the laptop. She finished her meal, drank her milk, then collected her backpack and left the cafe.

When she left the building, she looked around, pretending to be getting her bearings. She noticed one manhole cover in the center of the street between the cafe and the casino/hotel. Wondering if there was one behind the casino or near to where the laundry truck had been parked, Jordana waited for a clearing in traffic then hurried across the street. There were plenty of people and aliens bustling about so she wasn't too worried about being seen or someone trying to abduct her again. As she passed the casino/hotel's delivery vehicles entry at the alley, she slowed her footsteps and glanced to her left. A few oversized trash recepticles that needed attention, stacked crates, empty laundry carts, and ... BINGO!

Jordana hurried along now. Once at the corner, she waited for the WALK sign to light up and crossed the street again. The girl didn't think she needed to get anything else, at least at this moment, so she started making herself scarce from the vicinity. Once she was clear of the area, she contacted Wei on the comm. "Where should I meet you?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Home base is good. Just get back to the hotel and we can talk more about what you saw. We have maps of the sewer system. We can check the data we have with the notes you've taken and formulate a plan. See you shortly."

Wei tapped R4 on the top of the droid's round head. "Let's go check on the girl, get recharged, and then find a way to shut these people down. I forgot how bracing espionage work could be."

A short while later, they were back at the hotel. R4 projected the sewer map into the air over Wei and Jordana's dinner, while the pair of would-be spies went over Jordana's notes.

"So there's two manhole covers?" Wei asked. "That's interesting. I'm surprised you checked both locations. I would have seen the one and not thought about what might be behind the building. It proves how long I've been out of this kind of work. And it definitely shows how clever you are."

Wei slurped at some noodles. "So, now it is time to be asking the big questions. Care to ask the first one?"

[Jordana Jax]

The young girl made her way back to the hotel room she and Wei were sharing, doing her best not to look as uneasy as she felt. Jordana couldn't shake the feeling that she had just witnessed an abduction and that her eyes had not, in fact, been playing tricks on her. Her stomach was becoming upset as a result.

While Wei ordered some dinner, Jordana cleaned herself up. Another shower was in order simply because the girl felt dirty for not doing something about what she witnessed earlier. The more Jordana thought back on that moment when she saw something move in the laundry cart, the dirtier she felt. What if there was a kid in there? What if it was some little boy or girl who was taken from their mom and dad? Would his or her parents be frantic? Would they immediately be searching for the kid? What if it wasn't a kid at all but a grown lady? Would anyone care to look for her? Would anyone know she was missing right away? Jordana had to brush her teeth twice once out of the shower. Afte the first time she found herself kneeling on the floor before the porcelain bus wrenching her guts out.

Sitting at the table, Jordana had her knees drawn up close to her chest, feet propped up on the edge of her seat. The girl was hugging her legs tighly. Though she was looking at Wei as he ate and spoke, Jordana wasn't really paying attention to what he said at first.

"Huh?" She finally asked, lifting her chin from where it rested atop of her drawn up knees. "Oh. Yeah. Clever," the girl snorted softly, "that's me."

Jordana collected herself and sat up a bit straighter in the chair. She forced herself to do this, too. She rubbed her thighs a few times then slid her right foot from the seat's edge and let her tip-toes brush the carpeted floor. "I don't know what to ask, Wei. I think I saw an abduction." Jordana was very troubled by what she thought she saw. "They're using the laundry carts and trucks to smuggle their captives out. But if they were using the casino to do that, wouldn't someone inside notice?" Jordana thought for a minute. "No. And the patrons have no idea what's going on because the people being abducted aren't seen by those gambling their money away. They'd have to be kept down below, or -- or maybe in some secret room. To get them into the carts and on the trucks though, maybe they haul them up from the manhole cover?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Most people will either not notice or not care. If you notice and try to go to the authorities, have you really done anything besides paint a target on your back? If the authorities don't know, what will they do? You have a jostling bag of laundry you saw out of the corner of your eye. Or worse: what if the authorities know and just don't care? This planet isn't exactly a shining beacon of justice in the galaxy: that's why slavers use it. The Empire is more interested in order than in protecting their citizens."

Wei chuckled and winked. "But that's why I'm here."

The Force Cripple motioned to the sewer maps. "So we thought they used the sewers for transportation. Apparently we were wrong. But not entirely. Turns out that manhole cover you found doesn't appear on this map. That means that the utility company has abandoned it, or someone else put it there. Who questions a manhole cover? But it's out of place. No sense in two manhole covers so close together."

Wei cleared his throat. "So, we need to be able to follow the laundry trucks. We can take a small risk and watch them over a long time until we figure it out, but that means they've sold more slaves. We want to stop that. So, let's take a bigger risk and net the bigger reward: Get someone on the inside to be transported as a potential slave to sell. I volunteer myself."