Remembrances Part VI: Too Many Hearts Sundered
[Narr Shad'aa, Nal-Hutta Sector Space, Y'Toub System]
Vedra dropped the weapon which she was holding and fell to her knees, sobbing quietly. She tried to control the rage building within her. She saw everything in shades of red. Vedra's lekku twitched as she imagined the worst. She knew what could, and what likely would, happen. She tried to focus her thoughts; but again and again the surges of anger crashed upon her mind like dark waves. Her hands bunched into tight fists; her right had closed on the pocket sized holo-reader in her hand and began to crush it. Its metal edges punctured the skin and blood began to flow. Her breathing deepened and slowed.
The cold evening wind whipped the dust and debris around her and the ship. Only the dimmed flickering lights around the warehouses kept total darkness at bay. The astromech droid was silent, but watching. After almost half an hour Vedra's eyes popped open, they were clearly bloodshot and her cheeks were covered in dried tears. She stood up and opened her palms. The holo-reader she had been holding was partially crushed and covered in congealed blood. It fell on the ground and popped open. It contained a small disk. She knew what it contained; she knew how he worked.
Vedra looked at her palms and winced. She had bunched both fists tight enough to draw blood. She pulled out a small rag from a pouch in the small of her back. The rubbed the bacta-cloth over her hands. It stung profusely. The cuts were small and superficial and had already began to heal. She let it flutter away in the wind. She shivered. The night was getting very cold. She reached into her ship and pulled out an old battered leather jacket, with a pair of black gloves stuffed unceremoniously into its left hand pocket.
She put them on and reslung her polearm sling onto her back and sat down cross-legged on the ground. Vedra sighed and picked up the disk and produced her own portable reader. She scanned the disk contents and memorized the information. She swore repeatedly with each entry she read. It was all there, a time, a place, blueprints, layouts, the correct codes and the target. The only thing that wasn't there was how to get in - the one thing he did not have; something no-one had, but her.
"I can't do this. I just can't get involved again." She cried softly. She thought of Hew and 'Rat and dried her tears. "But I must try. Even if I die, there is a tiny chance ... They might survive."
She leaned back and stretched. She turned off the holo and put the data disk into a wallet next to the one from her father. She touched her father's disk. On a what felt like an unrestistable whim, she pulled it out and inserted it into her reader. There was a lot of data there. She swore out loud. Half of it was garbled and incomplete - including what she wanted most. Her hopes were shattered.
"Just my luck today. Everything on account of nothing." She scanned the contents again and again hoping to find a copy. It was not there - just some old account and security codes, some contact names. She recognized one and gasped. She put the holo away. Her mind whirled -- if only she had the time. She had only a small window of opportunity. It would be an insane gamble now - but she just might have a chuba's chance in space of surviving.
She checked her wrist chrono and grumbled unsavoury comments, "Less than 30 minutes. Why does he have to be so thorough." She knew the answer. It gave her no time to plan a way out and she knew it. Things had changed and this was no longer her world.
Vedra sighed, stood up and reached into a storage compartment on the side of the ship. She rummaged through the contents. She smiled in satisfaction and she pulled out what she sought. It was a worn thickly re-enforced box. She popped it open and pulled out the brown globe. She gazed at the smaller than usual thermal detonator. It was less powerful and less bulky than its more common cousin. "This should do the job. If it still works; it will be enough."
Despite the gravitas of planning a murder, she laughed at the concept of quality testing such a weapon. She put it into her right coat pocket and zipped it shut. She closed the canopy again and leaned onto the side of the ship and looked up at the stars visible in the parting clouds. She marvelled at their beauty and realized her destiny may end here.
Barely audible even to herself, all she could say was "I'm sorry." Vedra crossed the platform and ducked under the still half-open door. She looked back at her ship, "Aayla's Fury." R1 let out a single beep. She didn't know if it was good luck or good-bye. With a shake of her head, she re-entered the warehouse.
The twi'lek made her way through the dark streets quietly. The nefarious and the deadly were out. He blue skin and dark clothing made hiding easier. The night was punctured by the occasional drunken shouting, some music from nearby cantinas and even the odd scream. It did not take her long to find the undercity entrance she wanted. It led her into another set of crawlspaces and tunnels. These were dirtier and grimier than those she used before. They were not used much. She was coughing up dust, and appeared quite filthy looking in no time at all.
Vedra's thoughts and recollections were as dark as the tunnels. "All this because of single stupid childish crush. I was so stupid; and now my friends may have to pay the price, along with me."
-------
She had not been only the teenage street-smart rat that had ever lived on Nar Shad'aa - far from it. They were legion. Kids of all races and backgrounds made the rough streets of the moon a veritable adventure zone. Vedra's parents constantly tried to keep a very low profile. They worked as food shipment inspectors; a lowly job, but it was a great cover - yet they could not keep an eye on a rambunctious kid at all times. Indeed, locking her up would have raised more notice than not. They had no idea of the world she saw - nor what she did. On the street she learned to fight well or when not to fight at all. She saw the seedier side of glory in the various criminal elements. That's what got her into trouble.
He was handsome guy when Vedra's first set eyes on him, dark haired and dark eyed with a winning smile. He was running a small band of swoopers when they met - though Vedra's close human friend - Itahna. He had a sense of recklessness, and influence - he often raged and fumed, but the girls just called it his "Edge". Vedra was instantly in love. Or so she thought. He flirted shamelessly and laughed at her jokes. Yet she knew that his eyes were not for her. Itahna and Jormak were romantically linked and it was obvious.
Vedra was the "ugly friend." Vedra was far from unattractive then and only recently had realized just how beautiful she really was. Jotmak just didn't seem to clue in or seem attracted. He slave jokes and cracks about her "flopping head-tails." It was evident he preferred humans and saw twi'lek females as little more than accessories or slaves. Yet, she stupidly never gave up trying, and like any sotten girl, she did her best to please him; if not for herself -- then for her friend. Only know, years later did Vedra realize how manipulated she had been. His request were simple at first, carrying notes and parcels, then quietly escalated to listening to rumours or spying on rivals and some thefts.
Then all chaos broke loose. Jotmak had discovered that Itahna had fallen for a rival swooper from another gang. He confronted her and beat her within an inch of her life - he only spared her on account of her wow to remain faithful to him forever. Itahna fled to her lover first chance she got. Jotmak was furious, he summoned his cronies to their usual hideaway and plotted his revenge. He was the heir to the Crimson Dragons and he would bear no insult - they were to die. Their assassination plan was perfect - but save for one oversight - Vedra.
The twi'lek had been heading back down to the hideaway, using her usual unconventional route via a set of heating ducts. She had stolen a few choice data modules from a vendor and hoped to impress the swoop leader. She heard the voices down the shafts at a distance. Twi'lek ears were uncanny in caves and enclosed spaces. She heard everything father away then most would think possible. She caught the plans - every detail. She was crushed. All her affection for him died that day. There was only one thing for her to do. She went home and told her father.
Vedra's father made some contacts aware of the impending plot - and called in a few favours. The murders had been foiled but Itahna and her lover had to flee Nar Shad'aa. Vedra never heard from them again. Of more dramatic import was her parent's realization that their child was no longer safe here. They made quick their farewells to their friends, including Hewtre and the young twi'lek he had taken under his care. Rataila and Vedra had become fast friends - almost like mentor and student. They felt ripped apart.
-------
Vedra reached a point in the tunnels that only she knew -- the path she took seemed unused. She had discovered it quite by accident - literally. Even the most logical mind would not have ever expected to find it. She had taken broken arm and rib in the process and was amazed at what she found - she was lucky to have come back alive. Jotmak had bailed her out of that mess, but never asked how she got there - only now did she know why.
She peered down into the cyclindrical shaft below her. She heard the water sloshing and flowing below. Its chemical tang filled the air. It was solvent waste from one of the industrial operations. It wouldn't harm her or her clothes unless she stayed in it for long. She jumped down with a small splash. The water was only waist high. She expected more. With a shrug at her good fortune, she waddled down the tunnel for several hundred meters over to a small panel located chest high. It would not have been discernable to anyone, especially since it was underwater most of the time; yet somehow she knew it was there. A quick combination of pushes inward and sideways slid back the panel easily. The stink of the corridor beyond almost floored her. It seemed as something died in there and it didn't go out happily; maybe bringing a few friends. In her dark vision she saw nothing. It was likely just the accumulated back flow of chemicals and dirt - at least she hoped it was. It was damp but not wet. Vedra climbed in and tried to hold her breath. It was difficult not to be retching as she crawled through on all fours. After all, it was only a few hundred meters away. The tunnel sloped upwards, it was a slick climb and it eventually led to a another long T intersection. Vedra went to the right. The smell in the air gradually diminished; but her clothes still held an unwelcome wiff.
Fifty or so meters away she found the gap in the tunnel wall, a hole blown outwards. It was just as she found it. She climbed down into a small room. There was no central lighting but dozens of blinking lights indicating a functioning computer. The only door had been sealed and welded shut. Try as she did she never found another way into this room. The only chair had been violently broken sometime in the past and its pieces lay in the corner. A thin layer of dust covered everything.
She stepped over to the display panel set into the wall. It came to life with a touch. Vedra found the systems that were required, and entered in the codes which she had been given. She also uploaded the necessary programs. The timers would shut off the security, sensor and defence systems. She waited for the system to finish. She sighed with relief. The system responded with the messages she expected. She entered in a final sequence she wanted and mumbled a quick prayer in Ryl and sat down for the programs to finish. A few minutes passed and two beeps sounded. Her eyebrows raised. "That was faster than I thought." Her heart raced. "Now I am committed; on one roll of the chance dice."
----------
As she raced throught the shafts and tunnels rapidly, on hands and knees, Vedra bumped and bruised herself at a number of spots, but she didnt let is slow her down. Time was critical. She mentally kept a timer running in her head. It would be close. The area seemed to be filled with louder and louder sounds. She was close to the ventilation systems. Anyone with basic security skills would have seen that ventilators were obvious risks. Thats why there was an elaborate system of sensors, traps and defenses, in case anyone would be so foolish. Vedra reached a dead end panting heavily. She put her ear to the wall and closed her eyes, she reached out with the Force. Almost to the second she sensed the electronic systems shut down. She smiled. With a swift kick she knocked out the end panel in the wall and felt the rush of cold air flow by her.
"One minute. Thats all I have. " She calmed herself and left the Force flow through her. The programs could only mask her presence for a short time before they aroused suspicion. She flew through the ventilation tunnels at a blurry speed until she reached a open air shaft. There was a ladder there. She ascended quickly, all the while mouthing each passing second. She reached her destined level and dove into another set of tunnels. She zipped through them with a trifle less speed trying to keep the sound to a minimum. A four way intersection loomed ahead. He mind screamed "five seconds" and she threw herself down the tunnel with all her force guided agility and strengnth, sliding through the intersection. A distant deep hum filled the air behind her.
Vedra lay face down with her nose pressed against the floor of the ventilation tunnel, panting deeply. Her hands were palms down at the side of her head. Every part of her ached and feared to move. She awaited for the sound of alarms and the blaring of klaxons. There were none. She continued to pant, as much as from exhaustion, as from needing it to re-assure herself thats she was still alive.
Her breathing slowed and the flow of blood seemed to return to her limbs. She began to listen. In the distance she heard voices carrying through the tunnels. The air tunnels were now little more than crawlspace ducts. She had never been this far - ever. There was no need to worry about electronic systems here. No swooper gang lord would ever want and sort of sensor devices this close to their sanctum. She listened closely and inched forward on her stomach through the ductwork. The voices grew louder and clearer. She recognized the one she wanted and moved slowly and cautiously until she was certain she was at the right spot. She looked down through the grill work below.
The room had a long oval table, about five meters long. Seven individuals sat at each side. Everyone was chatting amicably, two Zabraks near the end were in animated conversation with hands moving in descriptive forms; only a pale white twi'lek male who sat near the door seemed quiet. At the head of the table sat an older man, his hair was grey-white, and tied into a long intricate tail. His features were drawn and haggard. Behind him stood two guards, well armed and armoured. Their trappings were the brightest crimsom hue and each wore a golden armband denoting his elite status. "Only two just as the files indicated." she grinned, "at least something was going right." Their master's paranoia was enough that she didnt need to worry about the guests. No-one was allowed in with weapons. Vedra mentally sighed. It would make things easy.
She shifted from laying flat and straddled the grate with her legs. Vedra drew her blaster from her holster and aimed. In two quick shots at the head of each guard brought them down. They crumpled. As the startled party below watched the guards fall, she smashed through the grating to land feet first on the table. She tossed her blaster aside. Its charges had been depeleted to provide enough energy to penetrate the guards' helmets. She ran to the head of the table where the old man was raising his gun at her. In a single stroke she pulled her short electric polearm from her back sling and knocked the blaster from his hand. In a second fluid roundhouse motion she smashed the weapon into his temple, and toppled him to the side. Vedra then jumped to the floor and hafted the polearm like a spear and sunk it straight into her victim's chest. The clank of metal on armour was loud. Yet the protection would do him little good. Yellow tendrils of electricity sparked from the weapon into the man's chest. He quivered and jerked for a few seconds and then went pale. Blood bubbled from his mouth and his body became limp.
The guests had recovered from the shock and stampeded through the main door out. They flailed wildy and shouted "Murder!", "Security!" and dozens of other phrases Vedra barely took notice of. She reached over and grabbed the victim's hand and removed the ruby encrusted ring from his right hand. That was her proof of a job completed. The corridor filled with the stomp of armoured feet. She turned her head to the door; already she could see armoured men turning the corner to face her. She grabbed one of the fallen drink vessels on the floor and threw it at the door control panel. Her aim was true and the panel exploded and the door slammed down shut.
She knew she had only seconds to spare and ran to the only other door into the room, the one to the study of the leader of the Crimson Dragons. The office was sparsely furnished. It contained a plush crimson rug and a large desk and chair at one end of the room. On the far wall was a large tinted window that overlooked the streets of Nar Shad'aa. She looked down at the streets below. "Twenty meters. I can do it." A surge of joy rushed through her. The building and window were meant to repulse and sustain even a ship grade heavy weapons assault from the outside. But that was its weakness. All that energy defendings the outer shell left it unprotected from the inside. Vedra flipped the desk over and hunched down and unzipped her jacked pocket. She activated and tossed the thermal detonator at the foot of the window. The blast shattered the window and roughly smashed both Vedra and the desk into the wall.. The table was little more than burnt embers. She groaned, got up and shook off the soot.
The outer room door crashed down with resounding boom and quickly filled with soldiers. Vedra took a running start and sailed through the open window just as the guards reached the study door. She prayed she timed it right. All her senses were running strong; she let the Force flow through her and guide her tucks and turns, as she slowed her fall. She hit the catwalk and made it - almost. Her left ankle seared with overwwhelming pain and Vedra screamed. She looked over her shoulder and saw the guards in the window above aim at her. With the near last of her strength she bolted across the catwalk and around a corner. Her ankle flared with blinding pain and threathened to trip her and pitch her into the darkness below. She bit her lips and dragged herself around the last bend as multi-hued blaster bolts continued to sear the walkway. She took a moment to catch her breath. She looked at her left foot. The boot hid the swelling. It was sprained, or even worse - broken.
Vedra knew she could not tarry. She was injured and had to hide quickly. She knew the area below was a the famed "Pleasure" concourse. She could lose herself in the crowds. She limped along the catwalks until she reached a working repulsor elevator. She waited a full minute for the carriage to arrive all the while looking nervously about like a hunted animal. So far there was no pursuit. She was luckier than sin and she knew it. The carriage was empty and she rode it a dozen stories down. When the doors opened she was greeted by a bustling crowd. This was a popular after hours cantina strip. One of the few types of places that never shut down. She quickly merged in with the multitudes and tried to keep a normal walk. Her pained look and questionable smell raised a few eyebrows and nothing more.
Vedra ignored the cantinas, sin bars and spice dens. She went straight to mass transportation shuttle and hopped aboard the next tunnel train. She didn't care where it went and was surprised to see her car was empty, she sat down.
She thought of Rat and Hew and began to cry profusely.
--------------------
Two days had passed. Nothing. No word. Good or bad. No word on if she succeeded or failed. Nothing in the holonet about the assasinations or of dead Ithorians or twi'leks. She expected nothing. A body could disappear without a trace here.
It was mid-morning and the cantina had only a sparse crowd. Vedra sat at the end of the bar her back to the wall. A half eaten breakfast sat before her. She showed it rudely to the side. She picke dup a quarter clear glass full tumbler of brown murky liquid and held it in front of her face. She watched the liquid slosh about. It was her third, or fourth so far today. She had lost count, but she was not drunk, but well on her way. At this point, she reasoned, Hew and Rat were probably dead; her ship was probably impounded and a warrant for her death was on likely the data-pad of every bounty hunter from here to Coruscant. The Jedi would likely never take her back as she was little more than a failed novice. The old cliche was true, she was living on borrowed time. Her one victory was that at least her foot was swelling a lot less-it was only a sprain - a bad one.
She had taken another sip of her drink when a half drunk human male sauntered over to her and dragged himself in the seat next to her at the bar. His hair was dark and disheveled, and he reeked worse than she did, -- that was an accomplishment. Two days of running after being in the smelliest confines she could think of had hardly given her time to 'freshed up. Half a dozen empty seats and he picked that one. She grunted and set her drink down and put some credits on the counter. She got up and put her jacket on and grabbed her weapon sling. As she turned to move she saw the drunk raise his hand and let a shimmering necklace with tiny sparkling bantha dangle from his palm in front of her.
"Looking for this, luv? " he chuckled. She grabbed the necklace and seized him by the throat with one hand and her electric baton digged into his ribcage. Her alcohol stupor evaporated and she stared into his face. She recognized him instantly - one of Jotmak's cronies.
"Where is she Du'utwon, I want her here, yesterday. I am not afraid to kill again," she growled. The man was visibly choking, but managed to speak in a harsh crackle, "Kill me and you will never know."
She dug the polearm deeper into his chest and he uttered a cry of pain. "By my luck, I swear she is alive. I swear. I was brought to take her to you. Jormak wants to see you." Her mouth was close enough to bite the man's nose off. "What about the Ithorian?" He shrugged. " I didnt see any dammed hammerheads, just a green twi'." She snarled and thew him on the foor. He groaned. She gave him a kick in the ribs. "Well lead on. I haven't got all day." He struggled up and walked towards the door. The other patrons and the bartender had been watching. She glowered at them. They went about their business - she didn't seem the feminine type.
He walked her down to a repulsor car lot. Vedra sat down beside him in an ugly neon pink two seater - it was a crime against the senses, but a fashionable colour these days. She kept one end of her baton poking into his kidneys and her eyes scanned about her constantly. He flew the vehicle through the city in a semi-random pattern. Du'utwon kept checking to see if he was followed. Once he was content no one was tracking him he set out for one of the nearby industrial zones.
Vedra knew she was in all likelihood going to her death. Regardless, if she succeeded or not, Jotmak would likely kill her and her friends just to cover his trail of evidence. At least she would see her friends one more time, to say goodbye. Yet she could not help but feel a glow in the Force and sense a comforting presence pushing her on. Despite the impossibility she knew she still had a hope - one faint hope deep in her mind.
The repulsor car landed on a platform next to a large bulky green-rust warehouse. Half faded lettering on its walls proudly declared "Ysa'ar's Finestest Gourmet Spises" She cringed at the bad grammar, as much as its verbal overkill.
Du'utwon pointed to the the door. "This is as far as I go. The boss is inside." Vedra hopped out and the car sped away up into the traffic stream. She approached the door. It was an old fashioned hinge double door and unsurprisingly unlocked. The lights inside were working, enough to work by but not enough to prevent shadows everywhere. Crates stacked upon crates were everywhere, no neat rows or alleys. It was a maze. She heard a loud voice becon from one corner of the warehouse -where she judged was the foreman's office. "Come here, slave. I have been expecting you."
Vedra, reached an open area between the shipping crates and piled cartons. Jotmak sat on rickety wooden chair. Rat lay bound and gagged at his feet, still wering her grey coveralls. He was using her as an improvised ottoman and she was squirming noticably. He held a powerful distruptor pistol in his hand. It was pointed at Rat's head. "Drop your weapons slave." Vedra gulped and did as bidden. Rat's eyes were wild in surprise as she saw Vedra, her lekku twiched up a storm.
Jotmak waved his left hand. The crates around her popped open. At least a dozen well armed soldiers, all wearing the same crimson armour sorrounded them. Their heavy weapons were all trained at Vedra. She looked at Rat and shook her head. One of the men reached down and picked up her fallen blaster and polearm and threw them away. Jotmak laughed, "you don't think I'd face a paid assassin by myself do you?"
"You don't have the balls Jotmak. I am not surprised," she spat back. He glowered at her. The guards grabbed her arms and legs. She did not struggle - the odds were impossible.
"My, my, your charm has improved after all these years. slave-girl. Your charms have just cost you your second friend. I've already killed the Ithorian now you get to watch this one die. It is a pity." He frowned down at Rat and gave her a small kick in the back and aimed the distruptor as her temple. "She could have fetched a nice price."
Vedra's voice was calm, "Spare the girl Jotmak. Take me instead. She is just a street rat. I am ready to die."
He turned and tsked at her, waving his gun "Tut tut Now. Don't worry you will join her soon." and again aimed for the girl's head. Vedra closed her eyes and heard distruptor fire. She heard a male scream, not what she had expected. She flashed her eyes open. Jotmak lay on the ground with half his arm burned off and writhing in pain. She swirled her head about.
The guards around her had swiveled their weapons around and pointed at the grey cloaked figure who entered the killing circle. They dropped their weapons. At least a hundred armed and armoured men in identical crimson armour sourrounded them. Gold arm bands flashed from every sleeve. The grey man dropped his cloak and stood there in bright silver and red armour - a gold dragon crest rested on his left breast. His long grey-white pony tail gave no dispute as to who he was.
Devrat Silhar'r, Head of the Crimson Dragons and Lord of the Undercity, turned to Vedra and gave her a lazy salute. Her jaw dropped in surprise. He made a mock bow and added a wink "Ahh, my beautiful assassin! Your little message got through." His guards had freed and untied Rat. He motioned to them to let the twi'leks converge. The girls hugged with abandon. After a moment he spoke to them.
"vedra, I believe you have something on mine." Vedra blushed and retrieved the ring from her pocket and handed it to him. She pointed to her head and muttered an apology. She saw the scar on his temple. He laughed and directed them to the door, "my men will take you to my fortress. We will speak later." An escort formed to take the twi'leks away. Devrat turned to his son lying the floor and knelt next to him.
The clan lord spoke with deep sadness "That is the second time you have almost destroyed this clan. I cannot forgive that."
"But father. I am your sole heir.." he sputtered half in pain and fear, "..ah ah I was framed and... that bitch.. I was going to capture her.. and" Devrat stood up and shook his head.
Vedra and Rat crossed the warehouse threshold and flinched when they heard another distruptor blast and the gurling scream that followed. They looked up at the bright noon-day sun and each other and held their hands tightly together as they boarded the suspensor barge.
[End of Part VI]