Fool Me Thrice

[Rolodome]

It's been too long since I sat down and wrote something with more traditional pacing and structure. So I went and did that. It's not Tolkien detail, but if you've read any of the other stuff I've posted here so far, it's a bit more on the "normal" level of detail that fiction has than the other stuff.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

 

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Fool Me Thrice

 

"Life on Malachor is better than this. Life in a landspeeder is better than this. That's what my old grandpappy used to say." - Harold B. Blumpkin, the Most Confusing Man in the Galaxy

 

They say that if you watch the sun go up and down long enough on Terakin, you can catch a glimpse of the mechanical engine that guides the planet's atmosphere. It's hard to believe, at first, that every inch of Terakin looks like a grassy meadow and smells of innocent spice and youthful exuberance. Mainly, it's hard to believe that spice can be innocent. But you get used to it. Eventually you stop asking questions and start enjoying the endless summertime.

 

I came to Terakin on a ship eighteen years ago. I was a little thing then, a Twi'lek so small, my lekku looked more fierce than I did. My family settled here, willingly. Or, well… I thought it was willingly for eighteen years. My parents did a good job of hiding the truth, until they disappeared. I found them, but I wasn't happy about what I found. Not even a little bit, no sir.

 

Reduced to test subjects in an underground lab. That was when I began to unravel what Terakin is. I was angry in the beginning. I wanted nothing more than to rip out the planet's core and watch every inch of it burn. But I've been on the run too long now to be angry and Terakin has a lot of grassy meadow to run through. They've caught me a few times, but they don't hold me long.

 

They're droids, so they're a bit predictable. From what I've been able to find in the files underground, their directive is straight from the Sith Empire. It's funny. My parents used to tell me stories about the Sith Empire. So many of them and in such vivid detail. I thought they were praising the Sith, but I think back to it now and realize that they were trying to give me a way to live on. A way to know what I would be up against, if I ever discovered the truth of this planet.

 

They didn't choose to come here, they were brought here as test subjects, as part of a long-term project in exposure to atmospheric chemicals and control. The aim of the project was to make people docile and easy to order around. That's what was supposed to happen, but for some of the people, it didn't take. My parents were always a little too on edge. I believe that's why they were taken underground.

 

As for me, I think I learned to blend in as a way to survive. There was always a need in me to fight, but nobody else seemed to have it, other than the repressed version of it in my parents. So I learned to repress it too and I hid it well. The droids never saw me as a threat until it was too late. Now I know what they're doing and I have to get off this planet so that I can expose them in front of the whole galaxy.

 

My name is Samor, but you can call me The Crusader. It's a reference I picked up in one of my parents' stories. A tale of a daring hero who risked his life to save his tribe from a berserk monster. I felt it was fitting for what I'm attempting. But for now, I'm no crusader. I'm on the run to survive. If the droids catch me, they'll lock me up again and it's only a matter of time until one of them breaks its programming long enough to put me in better restraints.

 

I don't have many friends here on Terakin, but there is this guy I met the other day. Calls himself Bluntkin, or Blumpty. Something like that. I don't understand the half of what he says, but he claims he can get me a ride out of here. I wanted to believe him, but I had to run again. I hope he can find me and get me that ride. I'm not sure who else to turn to and as much as I enjoy exercise, I would like a good long break one of these days. Preferably on a desolate, cold planet, where grass dies.

 

 

Chapter 1: Crash Landing

 

A whining sound erupted in my ears, jarring me out of sleep. My hand went for the cold weight of my blaster, aiming it on instinct at the presence that was nearby.

 

The whining continued and, as sleep faded, I felt a heat rising in my neck. I'm not sure whether it was embarrassment or anger. I was half asleep, aiming a blaster at that Blumpley guy, or whatever his name is, while he spun a model of a spaceship near my ears, making whining sounds and laser blast sounds.

 

He grinned at me like an idiot, which is, at that point, what I was thinking he is.

 

"Planning to shoot me with that?"

 

"Blumpter…"

 

He continued to grin like an idiot. "Blumpkin," he corrected me. "Blumpkin, the Most Confusing Man in the Galaxy. Best pilot this side of terra firma and if you've got any blue milk on you, I suggest you hide it because I hear the Nexus love it and they might want to snatch it out of your hands."

 

My sleep dazed brain tried to make sense of what he said and gave up. "Blumpkin. I was sleeping."

 

He gestured with the miniature spaceship. "You want to zoom zoom?"

 

"Do I want to zoom… what?"

 

"Zoom zoom," he repeated, moving the miniature about wildly and making whining sounds.

 

My brain finally caught up. I jumped to my feet, glancing around for droids. The grassy plains were empty and the grass swayed gently in the breeze.

 

"You found a spaceship?" I asked, daring to hope.

 

He nodded, still grinning. His face seemed to be stuck that way. "For a price."

 

"Any price," I said, without hesitation.

 

His eyes sparked with some unknown pleasure. Then he laughed. "Any price. You kill me. Like a Jawa riding upside down on the back of a Tusken's rifle."

 

"Like a Jawa… never mind. So you have a ride?"

 

"Oh yes," he said. "Oh yes. For a price."

 

"So let's get out of here," I said. I swept around for threats again. Satisfied that it was safe, I tucked my blaster back into my belt.

 

Blumpkin's face changed from the frozen grin to a look of amused confusion. "Get out of here and go where?"

 

To my credit, I didn't let my frustration show. Yet. "To your spaceship."

 

His confusion intensified. "My what?"

 

"Your," I said slowly, "spaceship."

 

His grin reappeared. "Ohhh…" He laughed. "I thought you said baseship. I was like, what?!? Why would someone want to go to a baseship! And what is a baseship even? Oh, you kill me, tentacle man."

 

"I'm a Twi'lek. And I said spaceship very clearly."

 

"Oh, don't be a wet Bantha, old buddy old pal. Enjoy the day!"

 

He slapped me on the back and began walking in the direction that, I could only guess, was the direction of his spaceship.

 

I followed, keeping one hand near my blaster. I told myself it was in case droids showed up, but I'm not sure that was it. I may have been contemplating shooting him and then running in the other direction.

 

We walked for hours, traipsing across the same, boring grassy plains that I'd always traipsed across. If I got off this planet and never saw grass in my life again, I think I would be happy.

 

After enough hours had passed, it began to swirl around my thoughts that maybe he didn't know where he was going. I put the question to him.

 

"Samor old buddy old pal, sometimes you got to walk a lot in life to see the stars. Sometimes the stars are made of old metal and rusty buckets of nuts and bolts. What was the question?"

 

"I was asking if you're sure we know where we're going."

 

"Oh, I know alright, old buddy old pal. I know alright." Then he lapsed into silence.

 

I let this go on, having no other option.

 

After another few hours, we finally called a halt. That is, Blumpkin stopped abruptly and I almost ran into him.

 

"This is the spot," he said.

 

I looked around. There was definitely no spaceship in sight.

 

"This is the spot where I walk off for a while."

 

I looked at him with what I hoped was outrage. "You what?"

 

He shrugged. "Stay here and I'll be back. Faster than a Dewback tied to a Sith's lightsaber."

 

I plopped down and waited. What else was there to do?

 

 

Chapter 2: Let's Try That Again and Make it Real This Time

 

A whining sound erupted in my ears, jarring me out of sleep. My hand went for the cold weight of my blaster, aiming it on instinct at the presence that was nearby.

 

The whining continued, growing louder by the second. The air kicked up into a frenzy around me. My eyes popped open and I rolled to the side on pure instinct, as a monstrous shape seared past, creating a rumble on the plains as it crashed into the grass. Little fires and burning metal erupted around me, crashing and searing the air. I coughed in the growing smoke and moved toward the giant shape.

 

It didn't occur to me until I was nearly on it how stupid I was being. I should have been getting as far away from it as possible. It was probably going to erupt in a fiery ball and kill me instantly.

 

Instead, I plowed forward, looking for a cockpit, and found a shattered viewport, with a robed shape inside. I shot at the material, but it didn't make a dent. I was in the process of trying to figure out how to get through the pointy mess to help the shape out when a gust of air erupted from the cockpit. I had a momentary beat to recognize that I was soaring through the air backwards before I crashed into the grass and pain shot down my back. I tried move, but the pain was too intense.

 

Another whoosh followed and the shape came soaring through the air toward me. The blue blade of a Jedi came bursting to life and stopped its arc, inches from my face. It's wielder stared down at me with animalistic ferocity.

 

"I am a Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order," she proclaimed loudly, while fires were still burning behind her.

 

An explosion rocked the plains, stopping just short of where we were. The remains of her ship were now just remains.

 

She continued, unfazed. "You have shot at me, dastardly agent of darkness. Surrender and I will show you the mercy of the Jedi."

 

I groaned involuntarily, as my back spiked with pain.

 

Her ferocity disappeared and her lightsaber went back on her belt. She bent down, touching my back through the loose material of my shirt.

 

"You're hurt."

 

"Yes, that's what happens when you send someone flying through the air," I said.

 

But despite my desire to be angry, I couldn't help noticing how gentle her hands felt.

 

"Don't move," she said.

 

"I was planning on doing a jig."

 

She closed her eyes.

 

"Now," I said, "is not the time to go to sleep." But that was as far as I got. Tingles erupted along my spine and her hands pulled away.

 

"You should feel better now," she said. She straightened up, her fierce expression returning. She glanced around slowly. "Where are we?"

 

"It's Terakin," I said, as I straightened up, amazed at the lack of pain. It was like she'd never tossed me around. "You've got to teach me that trick."

 

She turned a look of sympathy on me. "You're delirious from the injury, it's ok."

 

"What are you talking about?"

 

"This isn't Terakin, this is Kolmez. I was sent here to investigate the disappearance of a high priority criminal. If you've seen him, please tell me. He calls himself many things. Mardox the Xenocrash, Venal the Variety Show. And more recently, Harold B. Blum-"

 

"Blumpkin," I finished for her.

 

She raised an eyebrow. "So you have seen him."

 

"Yes," I said, "but this isn't Kolmez."

 

She gave a sympathetic little smile. "This is definitely Kolmez."

 

"No, it's not. It's Terakin. And the Sith-"

 

At the word Sith, she whirled on the spot and her lightsaber flashed on.

 

"Did you say Sith?" she hissed. "Where did you see a Sith?"

 

I put a hand to my head. "Sith Empire. They're doing experiments here. I need to get off this planet, so I can expose them. The droids, they have underground bases."

 

She seemed reluctant to put her lightsaber away. "So no Sith?"

 

"No. But the Sith Empire-"

 

"I'm sure whatever it is, it's not that bad."

 

"Look, are you a Jedi or not?"

 

She looked affronted. "Of course I'm a Jedi. I'm a Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order, Anisten Leisa, Jedi Knight-"

 

"You said that part already."

 

"Of the Jedi Order. Sent on a mission to find a dangerous-"

 

"Criminal, yes, I know."

 

"And you've seen him."

 

"Look, Anisten-"

 

"Leisa."

 

"Leisa-"

 

She frowned. "Anisten."

 

"What?"

 

"My name," she said, "is Anisten Leisa. But you must say it backwards. Leisa Anisten."

 

I let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day. "Ok, Leisa Anisten. I feel like you're not taking this seriously. The Sith Empire is bringing people like my family here by force, doing experiments on us. The atmosphere here isn't even safe. It's designed to make people docile… more easy to give them orders."

 

"But you've seen Blumpkin?"

 

"Yes."

 

She paused for a moment. She seemed to be weighing something in her head.

 

"Ok, Twi'lek-"

 

"Samor."

 

"What's a Samor? You look like a Twi'lek to me."

 

"No, that's my name. Samor."

 

"Oh. Here I thought you were telling me there's a species that looks identical to a Twi'lek called a Samor."

 

"Definitely not."

 

She frowned harder. "How about we make a deal, Samor the Twi'lek."

 

"Just Samor is fine."

 

"But you are a Twi'lek, right?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Ok. Just making sure. I have to get your species right in my head, Samor."

 

"Ok." I resisted the urge to bury my head in the grass.

 

"So anyway, Samor. How about we make a deal. You show me where Blumpkin is and I free your fellow Samors or whatever the heck this thing is about badness."

 

"First of all, it's fellow Twi'leks. Second, there's more than Twi'leks being experimented on here. And third-"

 

"Hey Samor!" A voice interrupted me. It was Blumpkin, back from wherever he'd gone.

 

"Aha!" shouted Leisa Anisten. "I order you to surrender, Blumpkin! In the name in the Republic and the Jedi Order. I, Leisa Anisten, Jedi Knight, will take you in!"

 

Blumpkin looked at me with a broad grin. "Who is she?"

 

I pointed at the nearby wreckage. "She came in that."

 

"Oh," said Blumpkin. "Neater than a Nar Shaddaa cantina in the summertime coated in a glistening coat of rain and sadness."

 

"You must give yourself up!" Leisa Anisten continued to shout. "Stop resisting!"

 

Blumpkin shrugged. "I surrender. You want to get off this rock or what?"

 

"Yes!" I said, filled with profound relief.

 

"Yes!" shouted Leisa Anisten. "Yes, I will commandeer your ship and take you to Coruscant, where you will stand trial for your heinous crimes!"

 

"Sounds good to me," said Blumpkin. "Let's get out of here."

 

As we moved to leave, Blumpkin gave me a sideways wink and muttered, "Like a holiday on Hoth, my friend. We'll be dancing with Jawas under strobing lightsabers yet."

[De-mu-noki]

This is great!

[frauzet]

A promising start.

B. doing a good job at being confusing.

Looking forward to the next part

[wangxiuming]

A really powerful opening! I was hooked from the start. Looking forward to see what's next.

[Lunafox]

I'm curious to see what will come next too! Keep it up. ^^

[Rolodome]

Thanks for your kind words. Glad you're enjoying it.

 

I'm going to try to do a thing where I only reply if I have more story to post, so that way you'll know if there's an update by whether there's a new post from me in the thread. So if you say something and I don't reply for a while, I've probably read it. Just am working on more story first.

 

Without further ado, here is the next part.

 

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Chapter 3: Mother Dearest

 

"In war, it is only the strongest who survive. But if those who remain are too strong, they will war with one another when the smoke clears." - Darth Anise the Salient

 

This was not going as planned. Not one bit.

 

Ok, fine, one little bit. We reached the ship ok. Blumpkin's hunk of metal of a ship that looks like it was hacked together out of spare parts. But apart from that, everything was going wrong. We spent the first few hours trying to get it to start. It kept bursting into life and then going out again seconds later. I would have been happy to help, but I'm no mechanic and after a number of confused attempts to assist Blumpkin, I gave up. Seeing as how every other sentence out of his mouth is unintelligible gibberish, it was impossible to figure out what he wanted me to do.

 

But to his credit, Blumpkin worked on the engine tirelessly. And to his discredit, he did it while spouting gibberish to anyone who was in hearing range. Leisa Anisten had proclaimed some self-righteous words about meditation and wandered off to an empty part of the ship.

 

I was left with my thoughts and an itchy trigger finger. I ventured out of the ship to get some air and check for droids. The fresh meadow was abandoned-looking as usual. The grass smelled sweet and the air had a cool breeze. I had a feeling that I would have considered it a nice day, if not for my hatred of the planet and its twisted purpose.

 

My fingers tightened around the blaster, as I remembered my parents. I tried to tell myself that this isn't the time to be angry, but it didn't work. I took aim at the grass with my blaster, squeezed the trigger, and-

 

"What are you doing out here?"

 

My shot went wild, firing into the clouds. The obnoxiously pleasant clouds. I put the blaster back into its holster, slowly, my heart thumping hard.

 

"It helps to announce yourself," I said.

 

Leisa Anisten seemed unperturbed. "I knew you wouldn't shoot me, if that's what you're worried about."

 

I turned on her, taking her in for the first time. She looked more vulnerable than before… and younger. There was a scar running across her right cheek, but aside from that, the smooth lines of her face looked like she could be my age. I shivered in the warm, meadow air.

 

"Did they take you away from your family?" I asked.

 

She frowned and I realized that the frown made her look older somehow.

 

"Who?" she asked.

 

"The Jedi Order. I heard stories… that they take force-sensitives away from their families at a young age."

 

She stared, unwavering. "I'm a special case."

 

I wanted to ask more, but it was as if she'd put up a wall. It felt wrong to probe.

 

"I heard a lot of stories," I said, trying a different tack, "about both Jedi and… Sith."

 

"Sith?!?" Her lightsaber came bursting out in a great arc. "Sith?" she hissed.

 

I stifled a grin. "Yes, Sith, and no, there are none around. At least," I glanced around, "none that I'm aware of."

 

"Oh," she said, sheathing her blade. "Oh. Right. I get a little freaked out sometimes. Sorry. I had a troubled childhood."

 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

 

"No," she said fiercely. Then her expression softened. "At least, not right now. Do you trust him?"

 

"I don't even know him," I said, without hesitation.

 

She nodded, looking satisfied. "He'll do. I think we should go back inside. I sense he is almost finished."

 

We chatted as I followed her back inside. "You can sense that?"

 

"Yes," she said. "I can also sense that your heart skips a beat when you look at me."

 

I stumbled unceremoniously on a piece of perfectly flat ground and flushed. "I didn't need to know that."

 

"Oh, I think it's better if you do," she said. "That way you won't try to hide it."

 

I was glad she wasn't looking at my face. I was certain that if she had, my blue skin would have been flushed so hard she'd have thought I was a pureblood Sith.

 

We found Blumpkin in the cockpit, just as he was powering up the ship. It hummed to life and thrummed with sound, vibrating all around. I'd never felt so simultaneously awed and terrified in my life. This thing was going to fly us out of here? Surely it would crash after the first minute. But then… this thing was going to fly us out of here. I would finally be free. I was going to expose the horrors of this stupid planet.

 

"Better find a star and wrap it around your kneecaps," said Blumpkin, "we're about to skid across the netherworld."

 

"I hope so," I said, deciding that whatever he was saying, it was a positive.

 

Rising into the clouds and up through the atmosphere was the longest few minutes of my life. Cold sweat formed on my brow as Blumpkin guided us steadily upwards. Every second I thought we'd fall out of the sky. As we cleared the clouds, something soft touched on my hand. I jolted and looked at Leisa Anisten. She was staring impassively out of the viewport, but her hand was definitely reaching out and grasping mine.

 

I gave her hand a squeeze and looked out the viewport myself, admiring the view as we left Terakin behind. So maybe things weren't going that badly. That was the thought that went through my head as I gasped in awe, seeing Terakin from the outside for the first time and feeling the warmth of Leisa Anisten's grasp.

 

Moments later, the gasp died in my throat, as the shadow of a massive hulking ship loomed overhead.

 

"Well if this isn't a Wampa's backside," said Blumpkin. "Looks like we're about to set sail for uncharted waters on a metallic contraptionary device."

 

I looked at Leisa Anisten and caught her eye.

 

"Can you translate?" I whispered.

 

She stared at me impassively. "We're caught in a tractor beam. We're going on that ship." She let go of my hand and swept toward the entrance. "Stay here. Both of you."

 

Blumpkin shrugged at me after Leisa Anisten was gone. "Lightsabers and gemstones make for neat decorations in a sandy Tatooine home."

 

I was ready to do as Leisa Anisten had instructed and stay put, but it seemed our captor had other plans. The intercom burst into life.

 

"This is Darth Anise the Salient," the voice said. "Kindly exit your ship. My troopers will take you to me. Resist and you will perish. Obey and I will show mercy."

 

The inside of Darth Anise's ship was massive. The ceilings stretched high, the corridors were large enough to fit a party. Of all the stupid things I had to think of in that moment, I wondered what it would be like to have a normal party, among friends. My friends on Terakin had all been people with minds muddled by the atmosphere. I'd never really felt a kinship with them.

 

Blumpkin, I noticed, seemed to be letting his head rove about in wonder, like some starstruck child. Some thought in the back of my mind sparked to life, but was interrupted by the light shove of a trooper's hand in my back.

 

"Keep moving," said the man, through his helmet.

 

The tonal shift caused by the helmet reminded me of the droids on Terakin. I considered running, but there was nowhere to run to. Somehow I still had my blaster though. They hadn't taken it away. If this Darth Anise was anything like the Sith in the stories, she could probably snatch my blaster away in an instant with the force. Still, I determined, if it came to that, I had to try. I had not come this far to end my life as the prisoner of some Sith.

 

Not after Terakin. Not after my parents.

 

We reached the bridge to find Darth Anise sitting on a large throne-like chair, her legs crossed and a hand under her chin, staring at what, I could only imagine.

 

She straightened up when she saw us and beckoned.

 

"Leave them here," she said.

 

The troopers hesitated.

 

"That means you leave the room," she said.

 

They left quickly.

 

"Step forward," she said. "Bask in the power of the dark side." She paused and stood up, clasping her hands behind her back and pacing in front of the throne.

 

Blumpkin and I waited in silence.

 

I moved my hand slowly, inch by inch, closer to my blaster.

 

Finally, she stopped moving and looked straight at me. "Twi'lek. You were on Terakin. Why have you left?"

 

"As if you don't know," I said. All of the rage against Terakin came bursting forth in a rush. "I'll bet you're the one who put it together, you evil witch."

 

She laughed. "You've got spirit. Strength. But I'm afraid that has no place here, now. And the galaxy has no place for it when we win the war. I sense your foolish crusade, Twi'lek. It swirls about you like a cloud. Give it up and bow before me, and I will spare you."

 

My hand had grasped onto my blaster. I gripped it hard. "I'd rather die."

 

Her face split into an amused grin. "So be it."

 

I yanked out the blaster and fired at her. Her lightsaber came bursting to life in an arc, blocking the bolt. She lifted her other hand and with a rush, the blaster was flying toward her. I tried to right myself, but before I could react, a rush of air slammed into me and I went flying backward, hitting the metal ground hard. Somewhere in my clouded mind, I was reminded of my first encounter with Leisa Anisten. I thought back to the way her hand had felt in mine. How warm it was.

 

I grinned and pulled myself into a sitting position through searing pain. "You'll pay for that, Sith."

 

"Oh will I?" said Darth Anise. Her lightsaber came spinning through the air. In the distance, I heard a scream pierce the air.

 

This was it. I was going to die here. Better than dying a prisoner on Terakin. I'm sorry, mom and dad. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I couldn't save the people of Terakin.

 

The lightsaber spun inexorably toward me. And then stopped. An inch away from my face. It hung in the air, humming with energy, and then the light disappeared and it clattered to the ground.

 

I blinked slowly, trying to understand what had happened. Leisa Anisten was in front of me, poised in a ready stance, and she was shouting something at Darth Anise.

 

"Don't you dare hurt him, mother." Her voice was shaking. "If you want to hurt him, you have to hurt me."

 

Darth Anise's voice came echoing back. "I thought I sensed your bratty presence on my ship, Leisa."

 

Leisa turned to face me momentarily and hissed, "I told you to stay on the ship."

 

I grinned weakly. "Didn't go as planned."

 

Leisa turned back to face her mother. "We're leaving and you're not going to stop us."

 

"You foolish girl," said Darth Anise. "You dare to tell me what is going to happen on my ship? I will tell you what is going to happen, dear. You are going to give up your foolish Jedi training and become the Sith you were meant to be. And as for these two useless wastes of air, they are going to die. Painfully. And you are going to kill them."

 

Leisa said something angrily back, but I didn't catch it because I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked around to see Blumpkin crouched there.

 

"It's time to go," he said, and winked.

 

I stared hard at him, in confusion.

 

"Jawas like to ski on Hoth," he said.

 

With the world once more making sense… that is, Blumpkin making no sense, my brain woke up and I pulled myself into a crouch gingerly. "Where are we going?"

 

Blumpkin said nothing, instead gesturing for me to follow. We half-walked, half-crawled out of the throne room and hid as patrolling groups of guards walked past. In the distance, I could hear Leisa Anisten and Darth Anise still shouting at each other.

 

We made it back inside the ship uneventfully, but slowly, and I found an uncluttered bulkhead to rest against, feeling ready to pass out. The pain in my back was throbbing relentlessly. The ship hummed to life and Blumpkin looked past me at the ship's entrance.

 

"Ten seconds," he said, and flipped some instruments. The ship's landing gear retracted and ten seconds later, Leisa Anisten came into view, looking bedraggled and angry, but otherwise unscathed.

 

Blumpkin guided the ship out.

 

I looked at Leisa Anisten in sheer wonderment. "How?"

 

She plopped down next to me and blew out a sigh. "I told her I'll become a Sith if she lets us go. I just need to kill the two of you first."

 

Blumpkin let out a cackling laugh.

 

"She believed that?" I gaped.

 

"I doubt it," said Leisa Anisten, "but she wants me to believe she did. She'll likely follow us for a while and see what we do. She always was a clingy parent."

 

Leisa put her arm around me and cuddled close. Her eyes turned on me with full ferocity. "You don't mind, do you?"

 

"No," I said, smiling. "It dampens the pain."

 

"Oh." Her face filled with sympathy. "The pain."

 

She closed her eyes and I felt a familiar tingle. The pain weakened a little, but was still there.

 

"I can't fix every injury," she said, "but I did what I can, for now." She ran a hand down my lekku and I shuddered, sinking into the sensation.

 

"I'm curious," I said, "what was your plan?"

 

She shrugged. "I was going to talk to her and convince her to let us go. It worked out more or less that way, I suppose. I hate her more than ever though."

 

"I'm sorry, Leisa Anisten."

 

She winced. "Please. Call me Mara. Leisa Anisten is the name she slapped on me. A jumbled up mixture of 'Anise' and 'Salient.' I don't much like the idea of being named after her anymore. Mara was the name my father gave me. He was…" she trailed off.

 

I sensed her pain and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. We can talk about it later."

 

"You kids ready for Coruscant?" cut in Blumpkin.

 

I tried to make sense of what he said, realized that I could, tried to make sense of that, and passed out from the pain.

[Rolodome]

I've been putting off writing more of this, cause of working myself into a need for shaping the story together into perfection, so I sat down and wrote some more. It's not perfect and never will be (saying that for myself, really).

 

Thanks for joining me in this story's journey. Here is chapter 4.

 

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Chapter 4: Memories

 

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

 

Tock.

 

Whirr.

 

Tick. Tick.

 

Whirr. Click.

 

The droid paced up and down the corridor.

 

No, that's the ship's instruments.

 

That can't be a droid. I escaped the droids. I'm on my way to Coruscant. With Blumpkin and Mara.

 

I opened my eyes to find that Mara had dozed off with her head on my shoulder. Taking care not to wake her, I laid her head against the bulkhead and got my bearings. Blumpkin was at the controls, still and quiet, save for a low sound.

 

A humming sound.

 

I joined him at the controls and caught his eye. He looked at me blankly, still humming some mindless tune.

 

I'd never had time to stop and notice how truly deranged he looked. There wasn't anything visibly wrong with his face, but that was what made it so freaky. Something about the way his lips twisted into the semblance of a smile. It was reminiscent of a normal human, but it was like it got derailed halfway there and gave up.

 

"How close are we?" I whispered.

 

Blumpkin took note of my tone and whispered back. "Coruscant isn't far. Terakin is closer to it than you might think." He winked and turned his attention back to the viewport, resuming his mindless tune.

 

As we came out of hyperspace and Blumpkin negotiated with the fleet for clearance, it hit me how enormous Coruscant looked from the outside. And how out of my element I was. Here I was with a plan to expose some planet that I didn't even have the coordinates for. How was that supposed to work? And how would I get an audience with the Senate? By walking in?

 

I glanced at the still-sleeping Mara. Perhaps she has some influence with the Jedi Council. That could be my way in. But what about Blumpkin?

 

The Republic Fleet seemed not to know anything about him being a criminal and was letting him through.

 

Blumpkin must have seen the surprise on my face.

 

"Easier than picking flowers on Alderaan," he said with a wink.

 

I nodded and looked away. He was making a little too much sense for my liking. In the short time I'd known him, I'd gotten accustomed to him saying things that didn't make any sense at all. It was weird for him to be coherent. It made his not-quite-human appearance feel even more alien, instead of less.

 

I had visions of ditching him once we landed, but I had a feeling he would ditch Mara and I first. I just wasn't sure if she would chase after him, and if I'd be out of the help of a Jedi at that point.

 

We flew in and landed on Coruscant uneventfully, taking one of the docking bays near the Senate Tower. I had no idea that's what it was, but Blumpkin narrated in whispers as we came in. I was beginning to think there was a lot more to him than he was letting on when Mara's hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped.

 

"You were asleep," I said, trying to hide my embarrassment.

 

"Not anymore," she yawned. "How's your back?"

 

I had forgotten my back was messed up. I checked for pain and there was none. "I don't feel a thing."

 

Mara frowned at me. "That's odd."

 

"It's good though," I said.

 

"Yes," she admitted, "but still odd."

 

She continued to frown as Blumpkin opened the hatch and took the lead, striding out with a bounce in his step.

 

I followed Blumpkin, wondering where he was headed and hoping it wasn't going to devolve into chaos.

 

"Where are you going?" I asked.

 

He whistled as he bounced along. "To the Senate Tower, of course."

 

"Uh, ok," I said. I glanced at Mara, but she wasn't next to me. I looked around and couldn't see her anywhere. I could have sworn she was next to me a moment ago.

 

Blumpkin was continuing on, oblivious.

 

"Blumpkin," I said, running to catch up to him. "Blumpkin, stop."

 

He stopped abruptly and I nearly ran into him.

 

He turned around slowly, sending shivers down my spine at how alien the movement looked. "What?"

 

"Mara," I said, pushing aside the weirdness of him and trying to focus. "I don't know where she went. I can't find her."

 

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine," said Blumpkin. He stared at me with a blank look, unmoving.

 

"Please stop staring like that, it's creeping me out."

 

Blumpkin turned away. "Better?"

 

"Uh… yes," I said. "You know what, never mind. Let's just go to the Senate Tower, like you said."

 

"That's where I was headed!" Blumpkin shouted. There was a hint of menace in his voice.

 

Only a hint though. I must have imagined it. I tried to shake the feeling like everything was going downhill, but it gripped me like a cold, wet blanket. Coating me in fear. I followed Blumpkin to the tower in silence, overwhelmed by the height of the buildings, by the sounds of speeders going by, by the murmurings of all the senators.

 

I could hear them in my head, pushing at me. Everything was so loud. We entered the Senate Tower and I brushed by someone on their way out. My shirt only touched the fabric of their robes, but it felt like they'd punched me. I gasped and ran straight into Blumpkin, stumbling and falling to my knees. Blumpkin somehow stayed upright and looked down at me in what I could only describe as bored confusion.

 

The feeling like something was wrong intensified. The voices pressed at me from all directions, hitting me with the weight of every emotion, punching me over and over. It was too much. I was going to die. They were going to hit me until I died.

 

"Shut up!" I screamed.

 

Everything went silent.

 

Heads turned. People murmured nearby. Blumpkin waved away a guard and reached out an arm, pulling me up.

 

"We're almost there," he said. "Don't lose your head now." He smiled warmly.

 

It twisted his features crudely. I pushed down the urge to run and held onto his hand, letting him lead me like a child through the building. Hot embarrassment burned on my cheeks.

 

I'm not a child. I pulled my hand away and followed Blumpkin at a bit of a distance. The voices had come back, but they were calmer now. More docile. Something about it felt right. Every piece in its proper place.

 

I took a deep breath and enjoyed the feeling. What happened back there, moments ago, was another version of me. I'm strong, not some screaming child. I let my mind wander and it calmed everything it touched. The world is a good and happy place, I thought. Terakin was just a very long nightmare.

 

Blumpkin led us to a large door with a sign outside, saying Jedi Council.

 

He knocked on the door. Someone came to it and opened it. Some Jedi in long robes, his lingering white hairs like little wisps on his head.

 

The Jedi looked at Blumpkin. An eyebrow went up. He looked at me. I thought I saw a hint of fear, but by the time I could process it, it was gone. He gestured for us to follow in complete silence.

 

We approached a circle of seats, where a few Jedi were scattered about, engaged in conversation. In the back of my mind, I sensed that the white haired Jedi had circled around behind us.

 

"Observe his tattoos," he said to other Jedi. "A Samor."

 

"I thought those Twi'lek were long dead," said one of the Jedi.

 

"I sense he does not know," said another, with a kinder, gentler tone. She stared at me hard. "Do you know what you are, Twi'lek?"

 

I swallowed hard as the hum of a lightsaber sent a jolt of fear through me. The Jedi behind me had ignited his blade.

 

"Master Devolan," said the gentle Jedi. "Put away your blade."

 

"I can sense the hold he already has here," said Devolan. "There is only one way this ends."

 

"That is not the Jedi way," insisted the gentle Jedi. Though her voice was gentle her words cracked like a whip.

 

Devolan's resolve wavered. "We don't know what he's capable of. Even he seems not to know what he's capable of. We are all in danger."

 

"And if you frighten him, will that not compound the danger, Devolan?"

 

Sweat formed on my brow as the seconds stretched unnaturally long.

 

Finally, the silence broke with the sound of Devolan's blade retreating.

 

"Of course, Master Satele," he said.

 

Grand Master Satele Shan. The words echoed in my head from some faraway place.

 

"Would you care to explain where you have come from?" she said.

 

I opened my mouth to speak and pain seared through me.