In This of All Places

[Amilthi]

It was only five days since she had last been in this place - this wasn't at all how it was supposed to be. The spare part she had purchased had already broken again. Old parts for an old machine, naturally. This was what had forced her to go all the way to Mos Espa in the first place. Almost nobody sold or serviced this stuff anymore, and now it had finally and conclusively reached the point of plain improfitability.

There was no replacement part available, and the merchant was not to be coaxed into returning any of the money she had paid for the faulty part. She couldn't really fault him, he had probably not known that there was a problem with it or she'd have sensed it at once; and he hadn't made any promise that it would hold out for long, only that it would fit. Tricking his mind to give in was out of the question. The very fact that Amilthi had even thought of the possibility would perhaps have been shocking to many a Jedi. Most seemed to prefer to cultivate a disposition that would let them take a certain kind of action they believed to be right instinctively, without even considering alternatives. But that was not Amilthi's way; she had opened the gates to all manner of thoughts within herself and relied on her circumspection and judgment to pick the right ones from them.

...

"Look around you, the stuff's all old, that's what people come here for. You can't expect it to hold out like new." The merchant opened his arms and then folded his hands on his considerable belly.

"They're gonna stop coming."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure they will. But just think what'd happen if I assumed responsibility - I'd be broke in no time and they'd have nowhere to go!"

"Well, I get it", Amilthi said grumpily. "Good luck with that."

Amilthi shrugged as she left the scrap merchant's shop. Being annoyed while talking to someone you wanted something from was sometimes useful, but now that the failed negotiation was over, there was no need to dwell on it. As if on her command, the feeling vanished and she felt quite calm and content, except that she was rather looking forward to lunch. It was just after midday and she was not planning on driving all the way home with an empty stomach.

A little while later, Amilthi was sitting alone at a small table under the awning of a café over her lunch and occasionally watching the people on the street pass by. It was becoming quieter now as the day reached its hottest time and many species preferred to retreat for a siesta.

 

[StandbyRanger]

A young man of twenty walked through the streets Mos Espa, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, and whistling a merry tune as he went. Some people took a chance to listen to his tune as they, only to shrug as they realized they hadn't recognized it. Occasionally the people would make eye contact with the man, to which he would respond with a wink. Their own responses ranged from a sheepish smile or a quick aversion of the eyes. Occasionally, there would be a genuine smile, but that was rare.

Eventually, the man arrived in front of a café, an admittedly sparse gem on a planet like Tatooine. His whistling stopped as he looked the place over. Something was off. There was a sort of, presence at the place; one that was fueled by the Force. He turned around, taking a once over of the area to make sure he was feeling things right, before scanning the confines of the café. Under the awning of the café was a woman with brown hair, maybe in her early thirties, who sat alone. She was quite pretty, but the most intriguing thing about her was that it seemed she was the one exuding the Force presence that Rane had felt.

A waiter approached the young man, who told the employee that he was meeting someone here. Once the waiter had left, Rane approached the table and pulled up a chair, "Hot day, huh," he gave her a warm smile as he sat down, "Name's Rane Vastra. You're drink will be on me." Rane outstretched a hand, offering a welcoming handshake.

 

[Amilthi]

As she was looking across the street, Amilthi's eye was caught by a young man who somehow stood out to her. Such things happened, people seemed especially significant to each other for various reasons, but this was a special kind of significance that Amilthi had learned to distinguish. It wasn't that of a particularly romantically attractive person who outshone everybody around him, nor that of an out-of-place foreigner in the center of a zone of weirdness. It was a significance of the fateful kind that was familiar only to few in the galaxy, but all too familiar to them.

Amilthi made sure not to stare at him and didn't interrupt her meal. She looked up at just the right moment as he determinedly approach. She gave him a friendly smile and leaned back in her chair as he invited himself to her table. He spoke with just a slight Corellian accent that Amilthi had last heard a long time ago.

"Sure is. Amilthi Greengrass", she said as she leaned forward to shake his hand. She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then broke into a gentle smile. "Long way from home, isn't it - if it still is home."

 

[StandbyRanger]

"Where home is is a little iffy nowadays," Rane stated, "But you make do wherever you can." The waiter brought the pair two glasses of water, which Rane was thankful for. The sun was rough today, and liquid was a welcoming commodity. Taking the glass in hand, Rane tipped it slightly in her direction as a gesture of respect, before taking a sip.

As he placed the glass on the table again with a refreshed "aah", Rane took the moment to study the woman. He couldn't quite place where she was from, perhaps a core planet? There were no distinguishing marks upon her from what he could see. Yet the Force still flowed through her as easily as a stream downhill. His brow arched slightly in thought.

"So, Amilthi Greengrass," Rane said as he placed his right leg across his other knee, "What brings you to a place like Mos Espa? There's nothing to exciting around these parts from what I understand."

 

[Amilthi]

Amilthi politely reciprocated Rane's gesture. "No, there isn't really. But then I wasn't looking for excitement." She smiled, and then shrugged. "Just some spare parts for old junk that I can't get closer to home. By which" , she added after a minuscule pause, "I mean a place on this planet." Amilthi's core world accent in Galactic Basic was still noticeable, even if she had spent most of the last years speaking Huttese. There was a certain incongruence between it and her appearance, which was that of a native Tatooinean.

"How about yourself?"

 

[StandbyRanger]

His left leg balanced his chair as he leaned back in it, "Well, I wasn't entirely 'looking' for excitement, but it always seems to find me." Rane scanned the crowd, watching unfamiliar faces pass by. He wondered how many of them were dealing with things in their own lives, be it as serious as a family emergency, or quite possibly as mundane as a lunch in a café.

"When you assist a group like the TEF, you're always bound for some sort of trouble or another." Rane took another sip of his drink. Add the fact you're a Jedi and the galaxy goes crazy, Rane thought to himself. It wouldn't be smart for him to openly admit to being a member of one of the most wanted Orders in the galaxy, and Rane had enough common sense to realize that. He wondered what exactly Amilthi was; Was she a Jedi like him? If so, he had never heard of her from other members of the Order. Perhaps she was a Sith, and she was out hunting for rogue Force-sensitives like him.

"What do you think about the war," he asked, prodding for whatever information he could get, You think the Empire is in the right?"

 

[Amilthi]

"The war?" Amilthi gave a wry, sad smile. "The war is over, isn't it? The Alliance has ceased to exist. And it was beyond one side being in the right and the other being wrong long before that." The man in front of her seemed to be quite a bit younger than herself; too young to have fought in the war himself. He had probably still been a child when the war had started. Amilthi wondered how much he knew, and what it had been like growing up as a refugee - for that he was likely to have been.

"But who is this TEF that you're assisting?" She looked at him inquiringly and then ate the last pieces of her mushroom salad.

 

[StandbyRanger]

"Not if you know where to look," Rane stated solemnly. It was true that the war was relatively over, but for the Jedi, the Rebellion, the war was still raging. If Amilthi didn't know about the ongoing struggles that still plagued the galaxy, she couldn't be a part of any sort of faction that was 'in the know.' It was probably safe to say she wasn't a Jedi, or even a Sith. Perhaps she was just another woman, who so happened to have a fine tuned connection to the Force.

"Forget what I said," he said, waving off his last comment, "The TEF is what you're asking about." He downed the last of his water before he continued.

"The Tatooine Expeditionary Force is their full name. Kind of like a planetary militia. They keep Tatooine safe from pirates and the like," Rane's eyes washed over Amilthi once more, "I'm just giving them a hand at times, when they need an extra pilot. I'm a damn good one, that's for sure."

 

[Amilthi]

Amilthi smiled. "I can believe that." Then a frown showed on her face for a moment. "I don't know if that sounds like a serious endeavour, though.", she remarked with a playful smirk. "Who would want to raid Tatooine from outside? There's nothing worthwhile here. Well, slaves, perhaps..." Amilthi sighed, but then shrugged. "The fact of the matter is, this place's problems are... internal. Now if someone came up with an idea how to solve that... !" She smiled pensively.

 

[StandbyRanger]

"If only it were so simple," Rane stated, "There's always going to be someone feeding off the unfortunate positions some people are in." The undercover Jedi switched leg positions, as his previous position was becoming slightly uncomfortable. As he did so, Rane took a look down the street once again.

There was a small twinge of anticipation as he looked upon a small crowd walking this way. He couldn't make out their features, but he could feel through the Force that they were meant for trouble. Rane's hand unintentionally rested upon where his lightsaber was hidden, a secret holster hidden in the right side of his jacket, which he pulled away from. He couldn't give away the fact he held the weapon of a Jedi. His hand was placed upon the grip of the blaster at his side instead.

The group drew closer, and Rane could make out there was five of them; Three of them were of normal height and build, and wore sand covered rags over their faces. Rane couldn't make out what species they were. The other two of them were of starch contrast to each other. One was a large and brutish Weequay, the other a small, skittish Patrolian. All five of the group were clad in the garments of mercenaries, as well as equipped with high powered rifles and blasters. People went out of their way to resist eye contact and get out of the way of the group.

Keeping an eye on the approaching group, Rane redirected some focus back to his acquaintance and their conversation, "It would be quite awhile before the galaxy is free of all problems. Hopefully we'll be there on that day to see it."

 

[Amilthi]

"It just seems that putting people in a less unfortunate position would be the ideal way to solve this", Amilthi remarked with a friendly smile. It gave way to an expression of mild concern a moment later as she noticed how Rane's eyes looked past her, fixed on something or someone on the street.

An uneasy feeling arose within her. She closed her eyes for a moment to reduce the distraction from her external senses. A dim apprehension crystallised into awareness of the sentient minds in her vicinity. In the same way in which one could know the position of one's arms with closed eyes, she could feel a group approaching along the street. They were... a disturbance.

"Well, one's allowed to have dreams, isn't one?", she said with a wry smile. "Although I guess there are better places than this to either wait or work for it..." She looked to the side and smiled at the waiter, who was suddenly standing besides the table. "You asked for the check", he said and put a slip of paper on the table. She hadn't said a word. Amilthi produced a few coins from her pocket to cover her share and pushed the paper over to Rane.

 

[StandbyRanger]

Rane took a quick look at the paper, trying to make sure he kept an eye on the approaching mercenaries. He relieved the grip on his blaster and reached into his pockets. He produced enough credits to cover both of their drinks, as well as give a generous tip to the waiter. Rane gave him a smile as the server graciously accepted their payment, and walked back inside the establishment.

As Rane's eyes returned to the street, the mercenaries had disappeared. It was somewhat of a relief, as they could have caused trouble if Rane wasn't careful. Unfortunately, his Jedi side shone through. He needed to find out where those mercs were headed, "Well Ms. Greengrass, it's been my pleasure to spend this time with you, but I think it's time I--" A scream pierced the air, cutting off Rane's goodbye. His gaze snapped back to the street as a man was forcefully removed from his domicile.

Tossed onto the street like a rag-doll, the man tried to clamber away from the unseen force that assaulted him. Before he could get far, a blaster discharged right by his side. He froze in place, cowering with his hands on the back of his head. From his home stepped out the gigantic Weequay, his rifle still smoking from the barrel. The unnamed mercenary strode over to the prone man with a swagger of brutish confidence, a cocky smile stretched his mouth. The brute grabbed the man by the back of his neck, and hoisted him off of his feet just as the merc companions exited the home.

There was a muffled conversation between the merc brute and his victim that Rane couldn't quite make out. However, it didn't seem to go well, as the man was tossed several feet once more. A crowd had gathered around the altercation, to both check on the assaulted man as well as possibly see some violence go down. A blaster shot rang through the air, and the gathered crowd ducked down in fear. The Patrolian mercenary clambered onto the Weequay's shoulders, and cleared his throat.

"Attention citizens of Mos Espa," the Patrolian commanded in a high-pitched, raspy voice, "We are currently on a hunt! Specifically, a hunt for Jedi!" Rane's heart skipped a beat. If he didn't leave, he could put everyone into some serious danger. He looked back at Amilthi, the panic on his face disappearing, leaving a faux smile in its wake. Rane still needed to find out who exactly she was, and how powerful her connection to the Force was. If she wasn't a Jedi, she could easily be mistaken as one, especially if one of those mercenaries was Force-sensitive themselves.

"Miss Greengrass, what do you say if you and I get out of here? I think we could find a more peaceful place to spend the rest of our day,"

 

[Amilthi]

Now that everyone was looking at the commotion, there was no harm in turning her head to get a view of these enemies of peace. In itself, such things did happen on Tatooine and weren't too surprising; but these people's objective was a novelty. It seemed that the influence of the Imperium was slowly seeping even into the remotest corners of the galaxy. The feeling that this evoke in her was, for some reason, not so much concern as indignation.

Amilthi was used to people addressing her as Miss, and not in the habit of correcting them when they did. It was a tad dishonest, but ultimately did little harm and frequently made a difference in her favour on an unconscious level. "That is a fabulous idea", she said, rising from her seat. "To think what would happen if these people made a mistake!... or worse", she added quietly, "made no mistake." Amilthi wondered if her vis-à-vis had the same suspicion about her that she had about him.

 

[StandbyRanger]

"That's something I would rather not imagine, if you don't mind." Rane was never one to get into the habit of imagining his own demise. The Jedi tended to think of happier thoughts that the ones that occupied the aforementioned line of thinking.

Rane followed his lunch companion's lead, and rose from his seat. More and more people were beginning to crowd the area, mostly due to the masked mercenaries going into different houses and establishments to drag their occupants outdoors. This situation allowed for the two to seek cover behind the backs of those who were too frozen in fear to leave. Rane gestured for Amilthi to follow him through the crowd, and away from the confrontation, "If you have a ship or home in the area, that'd be a good place to head for."

As the Patrolian continued to preach the message of "the evils of the Jedi," one of the masked mercenaries began to study the crowd, looking for something. His head movements were akin to a hound dog picking up the scent of the next juicy target. The Weequay seemed to notice and gestured the mercenary over.

"What is it," the Brute inquired, "Those senses of yours picking anything up?"

The masked one continued to 'sniff' the air, "Not entirely sure, boss, but there's something here."

"Well find out what it is, and bring whoever they are to us. This is a big payday, and I'd rather not miss out on it."

The masked mercenary nodded wordlessly before slinking off into the crowd to search for his prey. Unbeknownst to the two lunchtime compatriots, he would be hot on their trail soon enough.

 

[Amilthi]

Amilthi tried to follow Rane through the crowd, but was suddenly jerked away from her path when she felt someone grab her arm. She whirled around and found herself opposite a youngish human man. "Hey!" She looked into his eyes with a piercing glance and spoke before he could say any more. "That's a bad idea." The man looked suddenly puzzled and let go of her. "Sorry", he said sheepishly. "Bad idea."

Amilthi lost no time to hurry away from confused onlookers to catch up with Rane. "No ship or home, but I've got my landspeeder two blocks away", she explained quickly.

It was all a rather confusing situation. For most people here, the Jedi were the stuff of stories, not a matter of real life. What were those mercenaries hoping to achieve by coming here and preaching like this? There wasn't a benefit to anyone in inconveniencing a few Jedi on Tatooine. And the way these people carried themselves, it wasn't even clear that they hoped or expected to find any real Jedi. It was very liable to lead to loss of life or limb with all but the most pacifistic types, and hoping for help in a dangerous situation from a crowd on Tatooine was a mistake only the most inexperienced would make. Unless of course these people were insane fanatics who had lost all reason and had no idea of what they were doing...

"This way." She nodded in the direction of a side street to convey the direction to Rane.

 

[StandbyRanger]

The mercenary tasked with weeding out the prospective target eyed each and every terrified civilian that so happened to make eye contact. The nameless merc sized up each innocent, with piercing black eyes that seemed to delve into your very soul. That was one part of his life that he wished didn't come with the job; Strong arm tactics and Sith directive made him nothing more than a glorified bully backed by government coin. These people are petrified. We bust into a public area with guns brandished and scare half the city to death in search of 'galactic fugitives.' Not the best job I've ever taken. If it weren't for the money, I wouldn't dare come here.

The side street the two Force-users stepped into was small; barely wider than any other alleyway. Rane could feel the mercenaries' shift in attention to an active patrol of the area, "Tell me, Miss Greengrass, if push comes to shove, how fair are you in a fight? You more of a blaster kind of lady? Or perhaps you're more of an 'up-close and personal' gal?"

 

[Amilthi]

It was unpleasant the attention Amilthi felt directed towards her without even looking. It was nothing compared to the preying intent of a trained user of the Dark Side, the burning gaze of a Sith that left one feel violated and confused by its inconceivable maliciousness; but it was noticeable and she would have liked to escape it. Amilthi was not very proficient in hiding her presence in the Force and at this moment regretted not having developed it further in the years past. She had felt so safe in her remote location that she had thoroughly neglected it. She just hoped that these mercenaries' senses, if they had a Force-sensitive among them, were ill-developed enough for her to escape them nonetheless.

"I'm terrible with a blaster", she said to Rane with a faint smile, "but don't you worry about me."

She hesitated for a moment. Putting these people out of their business and preventing them from harrassing and endangering others in the future might have been a worthwile thing to do. It might not even require severe violence. But it was a risk not to be taken - the knowledge that there were Jedi on Tatooine couldn't be given away so lightly.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Come on." With that, she hurried on through the small street.

 

[StandbyRanger]

"These guys, what do you think they'll do if they don't find their quarry?" Rane had his own idea about what lengths these mercenaries would go to catch them, and what they would do if they couldn't. It was a bleak outlook, for sure, and every piece of common sense gnawed at him to head back and confront the mercenaries head on. Perhaps when they had reached Amilthi's speeder Rane would saw his goodbye and go back.

"If they were so bold as to openly hunt us...," The us was a slip of the tongue not meant to happen. Hopefully Amilthi had not caught the small mistake in grammar, or else he would have just blown his cover.

The Force-sensitive mercenary had managed to track his feeling to a small street off to the side of the main avenue. Taking cover behind a wall, he peered down said street, catching glimpse of the two wayward Jedi. He clicked his comm on and relayed back to his team in a hushed voice, "Boss? Yeah, I think I got them. They're on a small street, further into town. I'll keep my eye on them until you get here."

 

[Amilthi]

Amilthi acknowledged the pronoun with a quick smile. He must have picked up on her attempt at hiding herself, which was actually a welcome secondary effect of it. That was one problem solved. On the other hand, she felt that they had failed to solve the problem of remaining undetected. She had a clear sensation of someone's attention being focussed on her, and it wasn't Rane's.

"You think so?" She slowed her pace, weighing his implicit statement in her mind. "I'm not sure, actually", she said after a moment - oddly, as if it were a decision on the question.

Amilthi was genuinely uncertain about whether their failure to catch them would cause the mercenaries to become wantonly violent. But there was no point in trying to decide the question; its importance was screened off by the fact that now dealing with these mercenaries wouldn't reveal anything new. They knew already, or suspected sufficiently strongly, that there were Jedi here. The point of escaping would have been to hide this information, which was now a lost cause. If anything, confronting the bounty hunters might even allow her to remove their knowledge - one way or the other.

"Never mind", she said, suddenly, and turned around without another look at Rane. Determinedly, she walked back through the small street.