Destiny's Pawn: Kashyyyk Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chained

You look like hell, Republic."

"Better than your ugly mug, Mandalorian," Carth grumbled as he swung into the pilot's seat. "And good morning to you, too." Blearily, Carth studied the controls. "Okay. How far are we from Kashyyyk?"

Canderous shrugged. "A parsec, maybe two. He glanced down and saw the small tin of neuro pills next to the giant mug of caffa Carth had brought to the front with him. He picked it up and opened it, then snapped it shut again. "You've been popping them like an addict, Carth."

Carth reached up and swiped them from Canderous's hand. "Unless you want me to fly this thing half-blind from a headache, you just mind your business." He took two from the tin, swallowed them down and followed it up with a gulp of caffa. He sighed in relief as the caffa started to remove the fog from his brain. The neuros would kick in after a few minutes. At least now, he was functional. Shifting in his chair, he listened for a moment. "You might want to send T3 down to the engine room. The port stabilizers are off a bit. Nothing critical, mind you, just needs a check."

“You must be drunk,” he taunted.

Carth threw it right back. “Just check those stabilizers, bantha-wit.”

Canderous grumbled something about Republic men who hadn’t had their rumps kicked enough during the war and checked the stabilizer readouts. Sure enough, they were off – a few centimeters at most and within the normal range, just not optimum.

“How did you do that? The computers barely registered it.”

“Not much different than you being able to watch someone fight and discern the fighting style." Carth busied himself with checks of the other readouts. "I've probably clocked a good half of my adult life at the controls of some craft or another.”

Canderous dropped the subject, throwing a warning over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "I'd not suggest leaving this cockpit until we get to Kashyyyk. It would appear that the Jedi princess is to hold court in the common area."

Carth rolled his eyes. "Lovely. Thanks for the heads-up, Canderous. I'd suggest going to quarters and playing dead."

"Already planning to," Canderous said, opening the cockpit door and stepping through.

He was flying solo. Routine, somewhat dull. The neuros were clearing up the headache, and there was barely a swallow left of the caffa when he heard three knocks on the cockpit door. Carth knew the signal well enough. Strange that habit of hers - Kairi was so unfailingly polite that she always knocked on the cockpit door before coming in. Bastila and Mission would just open the door, though Carth was teaching the kid to at least announce her presence at the door before sneaking up behind him.

"C'mon in, Kairi."

The door opened and Kairi walked in, holding two ration bars and two cups of caffa. She looked down at the mug still next to Carth's chair. "Oh, you brought your own."

"Ah, I drained it." He swiveled behind him and took one of the mugs from Kairi's hand. As he was reaching for it, his elbow hit the near-empty mug and knocked it off the console. Kairi stared at it, and the cup (with contents) halted in mid spill, reversing back onto the console.

"Nice trick," he said.

She shrugged. Putting the full mugs and one of the bars on the console, she sat in the co-pilot's seat and unwrapped her own breakfast.

"So what brings a pretty lady like you to a place like this? " he teased.

Kairi nibbled on the bar and talked between bites. "Juhani is still sleeping, and I wasn't going to interrupt Bastila's meditations. I also came to honor our agreement."

"Agreement?" By now, he and Kairi had so many unspoken agreements that Carth wasn't certain which one she was referencing.

"Yes," she said. "Tatooine. I promised you that I would 'keep you in the loop.'"

"Ah, yes. That. Didn't.... well, I didn't expect you to."

She looked at him strangely. "Why wouldn't I?" She thought a bit more, and seemed to understand. "Yes, as you said on Taris. Well, since I can't earn your trust, I'll attempt not to earn your suspicion. Fair enough?" She sighed and leaned back in the chair. "There was another vision last night."

"Vision? You and Bastila seeing things again?"

She nodded. "I know she'll want to discuss it right away, but I could use a few minutes beforehand. The visions aren't...comfortable."

Having a couple Sith Lords prowling around in your sleep? No, I don't figure that would be. "Can't blame you," he said aloud.

Kairi described the dream without much detail. Revan and Malak were looking for the Star Map. They mentioned the upcoming battle in the Malachor system, putting the date a little under five years earlier. Carth asked few questions and concentrated on being a good listener.

She sighed when she finished. "I wish I didn't have to trust these. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if fate left me alone. And I wonder about my life before. My file says I was not married and that my parents are gone...but did I have friends?" Carth noticed her olive skin color a bit and her eyes shyly look away. "Perhaps a lover?"

In that instant, Carth could feel the sting. What would it have been like to not remember? It was tempting to envy her. She did not have memories like his, but instead there was a great void. No, it was not enviable. The blank space probably was a different kind of pain than being chained to the past, but it was pain nonetheless.

He reached out for her and tapped her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him with those beautiful dark eyes, and Carth felt his breath quicken as he cupped her chin in his hand. Nothing but the console was between them, their faces so close...

In that moment, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do a lot more than kiss her. He started to lean over that console towards her, and -

"Ahem. Kairi."

Of all the damned times to come barging in! Carth tried to recover what was left of his dignity by going back to the controls and glancing over his shoulder.

"Damn it, Bastila! You know that you can knock."

She arched one perfectly-formed eyebrow. "From what it looks like, I wasn't interrupting anything important. Kairi, please, I'd like to ask you about the vision we shared last night. I've already summoned Mission and Zaalbar into the common room. I should think Zaalbar would have insight into where to attempt looking for the Star Map, as Kashyyyk is his native world."

Kairi got up and nodded to Carth, then turned around and headed out the cockpit door, closing it behind her.

"By now, you must have sensed his intentions towards you, Kairi," Bastila said in a low, firm voice. "Mind your feelings and the Code."

Kairi sighed. "'Yes, I did read...certain emotions from him. But I also know he will not act on them. You've seen the ring on his finger. I can't get anything more out of him than knowing he misses her very much." She put her hands behind her back.

Bastila scowled. "Then he hasn't told you, nor have you read his service record."

"Neither one," Kairi said. "And I don't try to read deeper than the surface when it comes to his emotions, either. Carth is a good man. The more I have come to know him, the more I respect his right to privacy."

Bastila shook her head and led Kairi into the converted stateroom/sickbay as not to be heard. "I would have thought he would have told you by now, but Carth is not married."

Kairi looked confused, but allowed Bastila to explain. "Carth is widowed. Saul Karath attacked Telos with a battle fleet as a test of his new loyalties. Among the dead were Carth's wife and son. That was four years ago." Bastila took Kairi's arm. "What he wishes would not be healthy - for either of you."

Bastila saw Kairi step back from her to slump against a wall. "Oh, Carth. I...I can't fathom how it must have felt for him." Kairi crossed her arms and rubbed her biceps as if cold. "But it would explain the loneliness and empty feelings I sense from him, not to mention the rage he has towards Admiral Karath."

"I worry that he has attached himself to you - and to Mission - as surrogates for that he has lost. I worry what will happen when he finds out what you are."

"What I am?"

Damn! Bastila tried to cover her poor phrasing best she could. "You are a Jedi, Kairi. I tried to tell you on Tatooine, and I must reiterate it here. What Carth does not understand, you will have to make him understand. We are creatures of duty - emotional attachments complicate things needlessly and pave openings for the passions and irrationality of the Dark Side. The ties should be severed as cleanly as possible."

Unbidden, Bastila could see her mother lying on her deathbed - so frail, so sad...and there had been so little time to say good-bye. Well, it certainly should have reminded her of why the Order discouraged such attachments. If she had never seen her mother again, then she would still have her peace. If she had never learned of her father's fate, then she would not feel that tiny spark of resentment towards her masters - resentment she would have to lock away and jettison at the nearest opportunity.

Oh, but the ache...Six years old all over again as she ran for the Enclave doors to hug daddy good-bye and feeling Master Pallu's hand on her shoulder, holding her still as the door closed with an ominous clank. And it would be the last time she would ever see him, just as that too-brief night on Tatooine would have to do as a last farewell to her mother.

She felt cloth being pressed to her cheekbone. Had she - a Jedi Padawan, finest example of the Order's teachings - actually betrayed so much as to shed tears? Great Force, she was losing her control. She cracked her eyes open, not realizing she had squeezed them shut, and felt more tears reach her cheek.

"Carth is not the only ones who grieves," Kairi said, barely above a whisper. "You've suffered a terrible loss and haven't allowed yourself to let go of it. Please don't waste your strength needlessly."

Bastila snatched the cloth from Kairi. "Leave, please. I appear to have been lax in my morning meditations."

Confusion and pity shot down the link. Damn this woman and damn her own weaknesses! Bastila took a look behind her, hoping to tell Kairi to leave her be, only to find that her charge had unobtrusively left.

An hour or so later, the Ebon Hawk burst from hyperspace to view the forested world of Kashyyyk. They hailed the only landing port there was on the planet - a Czerka Corporation outpost - and were granted permission to land. As they swooped into the planet's atmosphere, Mission gasped and pressed herself against the window. The starry sky, the massive trees and the light of the moons...it had to be the most incredible place she had ever seen! The Ebon Hawk flew barely over the tops of the massive wroshyr branches, affording her the best view.

"This...this is your home, Zaalbar? It's...it's beautiful!"

<<"And dangerous. From what I have heard, nothing has changed. Slavers still prey on my people, and the galaxy has turned its back.">>

Mission patted his back. "No one's gonna make a slave out of you, buddy. Kairi and I will see to that."

<<"Small comfort, but I thank you.">>

"No problem," she said. "But I am really curious about your home, Big Z. I've tried not to pry. I mean...I respect you and your right to stay quiet, but I've always been curious about you."

<<"I am not certain what I could tell you, or even what I would want to, Mission. Though I care much for you, you are still a Twi'lek - an outsider. It angers me that there is so much I cannot explain - even to you.">>

She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm at your back, Zaalbar, if that helps."

He smiled sadly. <<"Come on. Bastila mentioned that she wanted to speak to me about Kashyyyk and what they can expect in their quest. I only hope they do not ask me to come with them.">>

"Zaalbar?" Juhani stood in the door, hands behind her back. "Bastila and Kairi have gathered in the front room and are discussing their vision. Are you willing to speak with them?"

<<"I suppose I don't have a choice,">> Zaalbar said. <<"This planet is dangerous...and the greatest danger isn't the native creatures.">>

"Yes," Juhani said bitterly. "I believe the three of us will have special dangers to attend to. I take it you are referring to the slave transport we saw on our way to land at the dock?"

Zaalbar scowled. <<"That is exactly what I'm referring to. But your kind also must fear the chains of a slaver?">>

Juhani nodded. "Very much so. Indeed, I felt the bite of a slaver collar around my own neck long ago...a terrible lifetime ago." Her jaw tightened, and her lean body tensed like a pulled string. She took a deep breath and whispered the first line from the Code.

Mission looked a little pale as she put a hand on Juhani's shoulder. "Yeah, I've had my own run-ins with 'em, too. A lot of perverts will pay big for Twi'lek girls. Had to sleep with one eye open most of the time back on Taris."

"Taris..." The word sounded unnaturally heavy under Juhani's lilting accent. A cascade of emotion passed through her face for a moment - grief, bitterness, anger - before she returned to the famous Jedi calm. "A place that held so much for all of us, it would appear. Come, Bastila does not like to wait."

****

Bastila was pacing the common room when they came in. "The Force is guiding us, helping retrace the steps of Malak and his old master - leading us ever closer to the Star Forge."

"Do you know anything about this planet, Bastila?" Kairi asked, leaning over one of the sensor panels.

"Kashyyyk is a lush, but simple and undeveloped world. I would not have expected to find the alien technology of a Star Map here." Bastila gestured for them to come into the room. "I see you've finally agreed to join us."

Mission sat on one of the sofas, crossing her arms (and head-tails) with apprehension. Juhani stood next to it, her gold eyes following Bastila's route around the room. Zaalbar was bringing up the rear, stooping to get through the low door without smacking his head.

The dark-haired Jedi smiled. "Oh, you said that about Tatooine, too." She swung into the console's seat, checking the sensors for the unique energy signatures they had detected on Tatooine. "It looked to be on the forest floor in our vision."

Zaalbar gasped, halting in the doorframe. <<"The...forest floor? Are you certain, Kairi?">>

Kairi nodded. "Yes," she said. "Revan and Malak were on the forest floor. Is there a chance that your people may have encountered it?"

<<"My people make their homes in the upper branches. Only our bravest hunters venture to the far depths of the forest on their sacred hunts. If they have encountered such a thing, then they would not share the story readily with outsiders like yourselves.">>

"I see," Bastila said. "Then we are to look for it unaided, then?"

Zaalbar shook his head, running his fingers through his fur nervously. He spoke only to Kairi. She carried his left-debt, so she was entitled to know. <<"The Shadowlands are a sacred place, Kairi. Much of it is uncharted and unexplored. It is a place of great danger as well. Kinrath spiders and katarn beasts rove in packs and carnivorous blossoms can devour one of even my species!">> Zaalbar let out a sigh that echoed off the metal bulkheads. <<"But there is beauty in the danger, harmony in the unknown...Ah, words cannot explain it. I am sorry.">>

She looked up at him curiously. Indeed, it was hard not to be flooded. Zaalbar was usually quiet aboard the ship, no doubt a little uncomfortable. The Ebon Hawk's corridors had been designed for humans, and were claustrophobic for a giant like him. He also had remarked to Kairi that he was not used to friendly humans, having spent too long seeing them as potential slavers. Kairi took care to treat him with respect. She was still not clear about what a life-debt meant, but she could sense how Zaalbar and Mission both saw her, and she wanted to be the kind of person they'd convinced themselves she was.

"You're going home, buddy. That's great news for you...." Mission's enthusiasm dimmed considerably as she saw Zaalbar hanging his head. "Well, isn't it?"

<<"From what I have heard from the Czerka workers on Tatooine, the situation has become bleak indeed. You know already how I was beset by slavers during a hunt, of how they brought me to Taris as a beast for one of the Upper City nobles to collect as a trophy.">> Another heavy sigh.

Juhani narrowed her gold eyes, and Kairi could feel the other woman's bitterness - fetid and hot like a wound unhealed. "Yes," she said, muttering. "I know those...collectors...too well."

"Juhani..." Bastila warned. "Mind those emotions."

Though they had been traveling together for two months now, there were still salient conflicts, sharp edges that scraped against psyches, and caused dissonance. Juhani struggled with anger and bitter feelings while Bastila locked her emotions away in a proverbial strong box, and seemed to be sitting on the lid as they struggled to free themselves. Zaalbar's quiet demeanor hid turbulence beneath the calm surface, turbulence he tried to hide from those who would be close to him. Mission was thankfully guileless, saying and expressing as much as she was honestly able.

Juhani rose and glowered at Bastila. "I am, Bastila. But you mind that not all of us have had the privilege of being sheltered in an Enclave for all of their lives." She threw up her hands in frustration. "Even now, I struggle...I...I have been wrestling with my feelings inside, trying to come to terms with it, but I find I cannot."

Defensively, Kairi blocked out her mind, but sprang between them, taking Juhani's shoulders. "Juhani..."

"You have no idea of what others must endure," Juhani continued to growl at Bastila. "To walk down the streets, to have people look at you in disgust; like an animal. Most did not know anything about me, but it was there all the same. Because I was 'alien' - different from them, frightening. I doubt any of them had seen my people before, so they persecuted me. They looked down upon me and my family, charged us more for food, spat on us, would not let us walk down 'their' streets..."

Kairi tried to push Juhani back and away from Bastila. "Juhani, please!"

"Just let me vent my anger! I need...I need something to blame - anything!" As quickly as the flash of rage started, it passed, and she sagged. Kairi steered Juhani to the other side of the room.

"She needs chastisement, not comfort," Bastila said to Kairi. "Comfort will only reward that behavior."

"Who died and made you Jedi master, Bastila?" Mission stood up, hands balled into fists.

Bastila closed the gap between her and Mission. "Do not speak to me on topics you know nothing of, youngling."

Mission raised her fist. "I may be young, but I can still..."

"ROARRRRR!" Zaalbar's shout shook the bulkheads and brought all conversation in the room to a dead halt. Kairi sighed, still looking pale with between the morning's vision and the toll of trying to keep the arguments blocked from her mind. She smiled weakly at Zaalbar.

"Thank you, Zaalbar," Kairi said, joking feebly.

He bowed slightly. <<"Glad to help.">>

Kairi walked to the center of the room, leaning on the console in its center. "Please, everyone. The Council, the Republic...they're expecting us to do this, and if we're fighting among ourselves, we're just better targets for the Sith, or...other enemies."

Zaalbar had scooted over to the far end of the padded bench. His head was hanging and he almost seemed to be curling in on himself. The effect would have been comic if not for the distraught expression on his face. <<"I fear, Kairi, that I may make things worse for you, not better.">>

"What of your people, Zaalbar?" asked Juhani. "Do they not resist this plague upon them?"

<<"When I left, some did, but there are also traitors in the midst of my own kind. Too often those who stood against this became the targets of the slavers.">>

"Our job here is to get the Star Map - remember this," Bastila warned. "We are also not to draw attention to ourselves, lest we alert the Sith."

"You do have a point, Bastila," Kairi said.

"Good," Bastila thought a moment. "And perhaps there is a way to go unnoticed. Slavers will not speak to us if we go about announcing we are Jedi. There are some fine clothes in the cargo hold - Tarisian high fashion. It should serve our purposes."

Juhani scowled when she realized what Bastila planned.