Cheeseburger in Paradise

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian couldn’t have thought of a better person to be stuck in the hot messy confines of a server with with. In a galaxy filled to near bursting with people there wasn’t anybody he’d have ranked higher for such a position. And then his fantasy his dream was brought to a…. well it was strange. “Hot and…” he said starting to repeat her words. Well if he wasn’t before... suddenly the blood started rushing to his face his cheeks glowing red. It was a rather intimate position for the pair to be in, their bodies pressed against one another, sweating…. No no no. That wasn’t how a padawan should think about his master.

Thank all the force that his thoughts didn’t have to last long as a pirate opened up the door and Kana worked her space magic. Damian wondered in that moment when he’d learn that. It was a neat trick and could have saved him a ton of headaches in the past. He wouldn’t have had to been such a fast talker if he could just have waved his hand and made people believe him.

That is when he and Kana got to leave the closet and a pirate lock himself inside. There was a little beam of pride that swelled up in Damian at that moment. This was his master. He wondered if Kana could feel it through their weird force bond.

Three, thirds complete download. “Well,” Damian said looking into the server room, “I think the best scenario for us would be he passes out. That would make him being locked in the server room much more believable, and any story he may tell about seeing a handsome young man and pretty older woman locked in a server room in eachothers arms a little more… fanciful.” He shrugged. “We’re almost done here, to be safe I could just go back in there and shoot him.” [member="Kana Truden"] wouldn’t approve of that, not as he just said it. “with a stun shot… to make sure.” She rarely approved of him shooting anyone.

 

[Kana Truden]

She didn’t think on it too much, but the bond was there between the two of them. A seedling for that small thing she had to grow used to. She shared a bond with the grand master but even then it wasn’t on this level. It felt really weird, but perhaps that was what made it all the more special. His emotions, her emotions, down the line it was as if it was the same thing. It was beautiful in it’s own way meaning that when the shot of pride would cruise through her it ended up in a blend of joy as she felt loved in an appropriate way. To be appreciated. It was nice.

“I trust you will do what’s right.” Kana nodded. “You’ve done pretty well so far.”

She looked over at the data download in a disappointed whisper. “Ninety-Eight percent and still as slow as ever.”

“So, I know it’s the wrong time for this, Damian.” She looked over at her student. “But what did you do before? Have you always been a... Uhh, jack-of-all-trades?”

That was the polite word for smuggler-slash-robber-slash-secret agent, right?

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian couldn’t help but smirk at the question. What was he? “I mean, what's the point of having skills if you don’t use them.” Every answer is a reply, but not every reply was an answer. That was something his grandfather had told him. He’s given Kana a reply, but she deserved an answer. “Life wasn’t easy. Granddad he was a smuggler, but he was getting old. It isn’t a forgiving business. There is always someone younger, someone who is vicious out there trying to steal your routes. That and morality often got to you. We didn’t smuggle weapons, or any sort of hard narcotics like spice. Meaning our runs were mostly bootleg liquor, medical goods, things of that nature.” Damian shrugged. “You don’t make as much money, but at least you live honestly.”

And then he looked over at the server room his hand reaching down to touch his blaster. “So what we did, was we diversified. We might have been involved in a heist or two. Now admitting nothing I can say I learned skills on the job you know? Some of it came naturally, a byproduct of the cloning I imagine,” He’d told Kana only in the vaguest terms about his conception. “A lot of rich people don’t even realize you’ve stolen from them. Its sad really, they have everything they could ever want and they don’t take time to enjoy any of it.”

He shrugged remember the times from not long ago. “But that isn’t me anymore. Not after the day I found you.”

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

“It’s not in the blood of rich people to enjoy life.” Kana let her own bitterness lace each and every word. “The dark side is not the only thing that corrupts people.”

Speaking of personal experience. Had been a while since last Kana thought on her past but it would seem like if it always had a way of making herself reminded of what it was like. She knew rich people, she had been raised around them but she had never been one of them. Every day it was all the same as they hunted for one load of credit after the other.

The digital chirp called out for their attention. The download was complete.

“Come on, let’s go.”

#~#~#~#~#

It was well beyond Kana why the pirates had chosen to take up residence on Florrum was way beyond her. It was dry and full of coarse sand that got everywhere. It wasn’t quite Tatooine but for all she knew it very well could have been. Not that Ruusan was much better, but at least Ruusan was her home and not this place.

“The data said they held out somewhere around here.” Kana looked back at their reinforcements before looking back at Damian. “Just not sure what kind of approach we’re thinking bringing a squad of five men armed to the teeth with us.”

Not that she was complaining but at this point she truly, really, very much did not want to upset the locals. They had info they wanted and despite being pirates they could surely work out a deal with between one another, right?

Oh who was she kidding?

“Well, at least we have a medic with us.” She pointed at herself. “You guys are pretty good at the whole action thing. I’ll hang at the back and let the men handle this.”

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian hobbled back to the group with a smile on his face. “We have ears on them,” he said lifting up a listening device he’d cobbled together from a com unit. “We can hear everything they say at the meeting. Once we confirmed the schematics are present we stoop in.”

Okay maybe he’d been spending too much time with the Jedi owl… “That sound right?” he asked looking up to Kana affectionately. The guardsmen around them nodded and with few words started taking up positions around the site.

Everything was covered. Two men with long ranged blasters took the high ground while more in tactical gear prepared for the main assault. Damian and Kana weren’t far away, they would be the first to jump into action. The others knew to move at the sight of Kana’s saber igniting. “I really need to get one of those,” Damian said gripping his blaster tightly. Lightsabers were more than a weapon, a tool, they were a status symbol.

The lad continued to listen in until finally money and a chip with the schematics went onto the table. “Now,” he said getting up and starting his rush forward. There was a large dusty field he had to cover before he reached cover. He struck hard against the old downed ship that the pirates were using as a meeting site and peered over the edge firing his blaster. Then all hell was set loose. Blasters returned on him and the commando’s they brought with them started providing covering fire while moving in from all sides. “Surrender now,” Damian said standing up, “You are all under arrest for theft and piracy…” and then he pointed at the buyers, “and attempting to purchase stolen merchandise.” Another blaster bolt whizzed his way, but he trusted Kana to not let any blaster bolts to strike him. “You are surrounded,” he said exagerating the numbers.

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

“Uh, sure.” Kana had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Hearing them, probably, but all this military lingo was more often than not far beyond her. “We’ll be ready, saber and stuff. Yeah.”

The two jedi lingered outside as they waited for the men to indirectly jinx themselves. The magic word that would trigger all hell to break loose for the men inside. Caught by surprise by Damian’s surprise Kana hung back by a few seconds. The rush of adrenaline as they busted into the exchange was exciting. Her saber ignited and without much further delay the entire area seemed to bathe in the red light as blasters fired from all directions.

“Yeah, right!” The pirates called out in a call on the boy’s bluff. “That makes me the Queen of Naboo! Never should have come here, kid!”

“So much for the easy way.” Kana shrugged at her student as she got up from behind their cover. “Only one way to get ahead here, kid.”

Head, abdomen, head, head, legs. If there was one thing you could count on when it came to being a practice dummy it was that people had no regular pattern in which they fired their rifles. It kind of felt obvious that they wouldn’t, but for a group of men with a rifle of their own the variety in where they targeted their shots still felt somewhat lacking.

Eventually she was within range. Her gut said it was clear and before anyone could react she pushed the lot of the men to the floor.

“He told you to give up.” Kana lowered her saber. “I would take the offer, really.”

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Blaster fire kept pouring down on the group as Damian smiled a smug little smile. The meeting wasn’t taking place with the full pirate force, or a full force of the buyer. No instead it was just two small teams of men pinned down by a combination of withering fire and the presence of a Jedi.

Damian lifted up a little device out of his pocket. It had several red buttons on it. One of the pirates made a break for it and Damian depressed a button that said sector four. Fire erupted in a great plume as the explosive went off. “What?” he said with a shrug, “I may have planted more than just listening devices….”

And with that the pirates surrendered. Hands over their heads and weapons on the ground. If Damian wasn’t smiling already he would have at that moment. Instead his smile got broader. For his first mission as a Jedi, this one went particularly well. The squad of troopers moved forward and started to place binders on the various pirates. Damian helped while rifling through pockets finding data cards for analysts and pocketing several credit chits. He wondered if Sasha Santhe would give them a reward? Probably, all you had to do was ask. He’d send a holonet request as soon as he could. He wondered if [member="Kana Truden"] would approve. Probably not, still he had to hedge his bets and money was useful on these sorts of operations.

As he stood there in triumph watching the security ships take away the pirates and all the money and data present for the buy he couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. That is when Kana walked up to him and handed him a small silver tube…. a lightsaber. “It’s yours,” she said with a smile.

Damian looked up to her. Maybe he wouldn’t ask Sasha Santhe for a reward. She owed them now and that was good enough. “I just…” he didn’t say anything else. Kana simple turned and walked away. Standing up and stretching Damian followed her. This was set to be an interesting new adventure, becoming a Jedi….