Eventually you will construct your own lightsaber

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Let it be nothing more than what it is; an instrument of murder, and nameless.”
– Darth Maul

“This mission is doomed to failure,” Jantar Keltainen muttered. Her hands were securely bound behind her, and she was sweltering beneath the blazing sun.

“Only if you blow it,” the pirate captain whispered back.

Jantar had no intention of ‘blowing it,’ but she was definitely having second thoughts about this scheme.

Taking the bounty had seemed like a good idea at the time.

The job had appeared on the roster and Jantar had seen it as a way of developing her mission skills and – as an added bonus – keeping her ear out for potential Sith magic tutors. It was invariably in the least attractive places in the galaxy that the best rumours abounded.

‘Seeking half-dozen skilled fighter pilots to serve as escort for the cargo ship. No questions asked. Half payment upon agreement, half upon safe delivery of the cargo.’ The credits were of no interest to Jantar – who had more resources than the average small planet.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Smugglers plus cargo equals pirates was an equation Jantar had learned long ago. So the ensuing attack was not unexpected. What was unexpected was getting rescued by a second group of pirates, who had also intended to plunder the freighter.

“We’ve been planning this for weeks,” the pirate captain had told her. “You can imagine my surprise when, upon our arrival at the proper coordinates, the only ships we saw were fighters floating dead in space.”

Jantar had been the only survivor. She had been brought the ship’s sickbay and her injuries healed.

“Why?” Jantar had asked, curious.

“When your ship was in such bad shape and you were still alive, I had a hunch. It paid off. We found this.” The pirate captain had reached behind her back, withdrew Jantar’s borrowed lightsaber, and tossed it to her.

“I could use your help finishing our mission.”

Jantar welcomed the familiar weight of the weapon in her hand.

“I might be willing to help you - provided I get to keep a certain piece of cargo.”

“What might that be?”

“That might be my business,” Jantar had replied. For she had chosen this mission over all the others available for a reason. One she was keeping close to her chest.

The pirate captain’s eyes had narrowed as she speculatively regarded the young woman she’d rescued. “Just one item?”

“One item.”

She nodded. “Help me get the freighter back, and whatever it is, it’s yours.”

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The pirate captain had sent a crew member to go undercover on the freighter. He had reported back that the pirate responsible for the theft, was currently not with the ship; and that only a skeleton crew led by an underling was unloading the cargo.

“And don’t get too free with that,” the pirate captain warned, nodding at Jantar’s saber. “I’m not fond of high body counts. We kill when needed, not for sport.”

“You sound like a Jedi,” Jantar said, scornfully.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The pirate put in charge in the rival captain’s absence, had been intrigued by the proposition when contacted via hologram, and permitted them to land in the flat, rocky depression in front of the landing site.

The area was cluttered with debris. Somebody had located this hideaway not too long ago, and it was definitely the worse for wear. Jantar had spotted the freighter they were after – noteworthy for being completely intact amid the rubble – being unloaded as they were ‘escorted’ inside what remained of a large, multi-level complex at blaster-point.

“I’m beginning to think this wasn’t such a good idea,” Jantar said as they walked through a triangular door and passed from sunlight into gloom.

“Hey there, no talking!” One of the pirates shoved a blaster into Jantar’s midsection. She gritted her teeth to keep from Force-hurling the disgusting creature the length of the enormous hangar bay.

A few of the pirates were engaged in activities such as drinking, flirting with the female members of the crew, fighting about flirting, betting on fighting, betting on flirting and the fine art of sliding off a chair completely inebriated.

But there were others, their cold gazes crawling over the newcomers. Seated at a long table, on a raised dais, was the stand-in pirate captain. He sprawled in an ornate chair that commanded the best view.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The pirate who had brought in the two women handed him Jantar’s lightsaber. The makeshift captain looked at it carefully, then at Jantar.

Without taking his eyes off Jantar, he spoke to the Sith’s accomplice. “You must be someone special, to catch a Jedi. How’d you manage it?”

“We don’t always find booty in space. Sometimes we find it in unusual places – like a back-alley behind a cantina. That’s how I came across her.” She gave Jantar a scornful look.

“I found her pretty badly injured, from what or whom I don’t know, but still alive. I took her back to the ship, healed her up – enough to walk, at least – and contacted you.”

Jantar gave her co-conspirator a look that she hoped was both defiant and exhausted. The wannabe pirate captain leaned back in his chair, plunking filthy boots on the table. At the next table over, someone belched.

“So why not take her to your own captain?”

“He’s brutal,” she said, with just the proper amount of loathing, her lip curling slightly.

She‘s good, Jantar thought.

“We boarded a prison ship once, and she stole its torture droid. The captain had always been harsh, but now? I’d do anything to get away from him.”

“Like deserting your captain to join our crew, eh? How could we trust a turncoat?”

“You were given a second chance when you turned on your captain. Isn’t that right?”

Jantar stifled a smile as the would-be pirate captain’s face blanched at the reminder. They had done their homework.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Look. I’ve got everything to lose and nothing to gain by lying. I’m giving you a Jedi. The ransom the Order will pay for her safe return will be staggering. Plus...”

She placed her hands on the table and brought her face close to his. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know about my former captain’s plans. Your boss will come back to find that in his absence, you have defeated a dangerous pirate captain, captured her ship, have a new loyal crewmember, and a Jedi prisoner in the bargain. He just might make you second in command.”

The wannabe considered this, removing his boots from the table and leaning forward. “Still, why not keep the Jedi yourself and collect the bounty?”

Jantar’s patience had worn out. The more they were grilled, the more likely they would be shot and the stand-in could claim all the glory himself. She decided it was time to shake things up a bit.

The lightsaber sailed from Jiro’s hands into Jantar’s just as she spun around to catch it. She could not use it to cut her bonds with her hands bound behind her, but she could fight. With a yell, she sprang over her accompliace. turning in mid-air and angling the lightsaber so precisely it singed her pirate captain’s braid.

“What...” cried the wannabe, who then dived for cover under the table.

Jantar’s accomplice gasped and stared at the Sith. Her eyes narrowed and she lunged for the nearest blaster, which happened to belong to the pirate who had brought them in.

The shots she fired barely missed Jantar. The pirate captain looked furious.

Her white teeth were bared in a grimace of pure hatred.

‘Oh, no,’ Jantar thought. ‘She thinks I’ve turned on her.’

It was a perfectly reasonable assumption.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar hoped that as things unfolded, the pirate captain would understand what she was doing. And that none of the pirates holding them would.

With her back to the pirate captain, Jantar used the Force to sense the bolts coming and bat them away. She heard a yelp behind her, but it was decidedly not feminine. Good. She jumped onto the table, whirling in a circle down its length and catching any stray arms or torsos unfortunate enough to be in her lightsaber’s blazing yellow path.

“Stand down, Jedi!” The request came more than once and Jantar ignored it.

Has she caught on yet? One way or another, either to continue the plan or end it, her accomplice would have to stop Jantar. Two pirates charged the table, raising their blasters. Jantar leaped to meet them, kicking out with both feet. The toe of each boot caught a startled pirate under the chin. Their heads snapped back and they crumpled, either unconscious or dead.

As Jantar landed, a powerful kick in the small of her back sent her sprawling. Her lightsaber was snatched from her hands and a second later, pain blossomed in her wrists. The pirate captain planted a boot on her back. Jantar shifted her head to one side and looked up, still uncertain as to whether the pirate was still friend or now foe. The pirate brought the humming tip of the lightsaber so close to Jantar’s face that she was forced to squint against its brightness.

She struggled for breath, and finally gasped, “I... yield.”

“I didn’t believe you were really able to capture her,” the would-be captain said, somewhat grudgingly, as the ‘defeated Jedi’ was led away.

“I am...impressed.”

“No question, Jedi are tough to defeat. I’m lucky she’s not at her best.”

She casually fastened the lightsaber to her belt, as if there was no question that it belonged to her. The wannabe noticed the gesture, but let it go, doubtless reasoning that the amount they would receive from the Jedi Council in ransom would more than compensate him fora lost lightsaber.

“So I take it we’re agreed?” the pirate captain continued. ‘‘You get the bounty on the Jedi and accept me as a crewmember, and I tell you where to find my former captain’s fleet.”

“Well,” the wannabe hedged, “It’s my captain who has to make the final decision.”

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The pirate captain took a seat without being invited, and again, the wannabe did not object. “I’m not surprised. It’s his gang, after all. I’ll wait. When is he expected back?”

That threw the wannabe. “He didn’t say. But I could put in a few good words for you if you were to tell me where to find this fleet. So I could, ah, prep the ships and get them all ready-like.”

‘So you could send off your men now and take all the credit-like,’ the pirate captain thought, amused. And likely try to kill me in the bargain. She pretended not to have come to this obvious conclusion.

“That’s a great idea!” she said. The wannabe visibly relaxed. “Now...let me start by telling you how many ships my former captain commands, what kind, and their names.” She smiled. “I think a drink might loosen my tongue...if you’ll join me.”

The wannabe gave her a lascivious look, reached for a no-doubt filthy mug, and sloshed a bright green liquid into it.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

The lightsaber burns on Jantar’s wrists were exquisitely painful, but she didn’t care. In taking Jantar down, her accomplice had sufficiently damaged the stun cuffs so Jantar could break free – and that meant they were still allies.

She could take a little pain.

Once the doors to the hangar closed behind her and her escorts, Jantar wasted no time. She used the Force to shatter the remains of the binders and extended her hands, palms up, to each side. Two of the pirates slammed hard into the walls. She whirled on the third, who came at her with a fist raised and rotting teeth bared, and she punched him in the throat. The fourth grabbed her arm. She twisted, using her momentum and the Force to hurl him over her head, landing a blow to his jaw on his descent.

They all looked to be alive, but out cold. Better safe than sorry, though.

Jantar relieved the guards of their blasters, then paused. She had been asked to kill only when needed. Sighing, she set one blaster to stun, and gave the pirates a second shot of dreamland.

Now to take over the freighter – and make sure the item she coveted was still on board.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Once the pirate captain told the wannabe where the fleet was supposedly based, he, of course, decided immediately to take the initiative and send what ships were available to attack. The pirate captain encouraged him to send all his men, but he stubbornly shook his head.

“We need to unload the cargo,” he insisted.

That was really too bad, but the pirate captain had just sent all the intact ships and every pirate but those here on a wild bantha chase.

The pirate captain then spun outrageous tales of the terrors the ‘evil Captain’ perpetrated upon his hardworking crew, buying time for Jantar. The wannabe swallowed it all, apparently having decided that since she had defeated a Jedi, his new crew-mate was entirely trustworthy.

A movement caught the pirate captain’s eye. Jantar’s slender, robed figure blended so well with the shadows that she was easy to miss.

“So tell me more about this ale that your Captain hoards all to himself,” the wannabe prodded, plunking down his empty cup and reaching for a refill.

“Ale? Oh no, it’s Corellian whiskey,” the pirate captain said, watching Jantar out of the corner of her eye while smiling innocently. “And a finer thing has never touched your lips.”

The wannabe leered hopefully at the implied invitation. Jantar made her way to the door and slipped outside. The pirate captain waited, continuing to exchange suggestive remarks. She gave it a few minutes more, then unobtrusively placed both hands below the table, pressed a button on her bracer, and smiled.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Well, I can’t say this hasn’t been fun. but I must be going.” She indicated the cup of green liquid. “Thanks for the, ah...well...whatever that was.”

The wannabe’s eyes narrowed. “What’re you talking about?” His words were now slightly slurred.

“My ride should be here right about...” She cocked her head, and was rewarded by the unmistakable sound of a ship landing in the outside arena. “Now.”

Faster than she would have given him credit for, considering the amount of alcohol he had imbibed, the wannabe leaped over the table with a roar. The pirate captain darted away, pressing the switch on the lightsaber. It activated with a snap-hiss, almost startling her with its speed.

A sword was a sword, however, and the pirate captain knew how to use one. The wannabe grabbed for a blaster someone had left on the table, but the pirate captain slammed the lightsaber down, slicing through both blaster and table with as little effort as if she were cutting through butter. The wannabe threw a stool at her. Again, the captain waved the yellow, humming blade and cut the piece of furniture in half.

She laughed with sheer delight. What a glorious weapon! She swung it simply to hear the sound it made.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Which of you is the Jedi?” blurted the wannabe.

“Jedi? Neither. She’s a Sith.”

Then the pirate captain caught a look of terror in the wannabe’s eyes and presumed the knowledge of the dark sider had done this to him. But his gaze was too far away. His gaze was…over her shoulder.

The pirate captain whirled to see a figure silhouetted in the triangular doorway. He carried an electrostaff which sparked magenta at both sharp ends and stood like an aristocrat, head high, one hand on his hip, his duster billowing about him. He strode forward, fairly vibrating with offense.

“You imbecile! What have you done? Where is my crew?”

He completely ignored the woman holding the active lightsaber. The pirate captain stared from one to the other, unsure whether to attack or to burst out laughing.

“Oh, hello…captain,” the wannabe said miserably. “This lady here came saying she wanted to defect and join us instead.”

“Of course she does. Everyone knows the captain of her ship is a tyrant. Am I not correct? Hmm?” He peered alertly at the pirate captain, expecting confirmation. She nodded wordlessly.

“And she brought us – I mean you, boss – a Jedi she’d captured. Said we could hold her for ransom and–”

“I leave you alone for half a day. Half a day! And look what you have done. No ransoming Jedi! That never ends well. Bad for business.”

“But... it was like this beautiful fruit just fell, right into my lap!”

The newcomer sighed. “Fruit never falls into your lap unless you shake the tree first!” He looked at the pirate captain, spreading his arms in a helpless manner. “You see what I have to deal with.”

“I certainly do,” Jantar’s accomplice said, not without sympathy.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Now, then,” the newcomer turned to her, “What do you really want?”

“To take back what’s mine.” She pointed the lightsaber at him. “You stole my haul.”

“You? The terrifying captain” He eyed her up and down. “Not what I expected. Not at all.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head sadly. “Little girl,” he said, “Did you think I had come alone?”

And the hitherto empty chamber echoed with the sound of weapons being drawn.

The pirate captain smiled. “Did you think I did?”

Sudden perplexed cries of pain and anger came from the entrance area of the grand hall, followed by blaster fire.

She brought the lightsaber arcing down, but the newcomer recovered in time to block it with his electrostaff. His eyes narrowed. “You may have the laser sword, but you don’t have the Force.”

“Don’t need it.”

He swung the staff low, but she leaped up and it sliced only air.

A second jump brought her onto the table, and she swung with the lightsaber. This time, he struck it hard and the impact jarred her injured shoulder. Gritting her teeth, she kicked out and up, and the electrostaff flew from the newcomer’s hands.

“Not bad.”

He recovered the weapon and vaulted up to join her, shoving one of the sparking ends of the staff like a spear. She parried, but let him drive her down the table, pretending to be unsure of her footing. A smile curved his thin mouth, and he feinted, dodging her blow and bringing the staff down. At the last second, she swerved and dove for a blaster someone had left behind. In one graceful movement, she grabbed it, fired at the newcomer, and flung the lightsaber toward the doorway.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar had been using a combination of the Force and the pirates’ own blasters to methodically mow them down. It was almost too easy. She’d already incapacitated the half-dozen who had been unloading the cargo ship, and the newcomer – she presumed to be the pirate captain of this crew - had brought only another ten back with him.

There was an ample supply of things to hurl at them – pitchers, a crate and the sharp-edged tools it was filled with, mugs, stools, even the pirates themselves could be used to knock their fellows down.

It was good exercise, and Jantar welcomed the chance to work up a sweat while fighting. Respectful of her accomplice’s wishes, she didn’t shoot to kill, but several of them were on the ground writhing in pain from blaster shots to their arms or legs.

Suddenly Jantar felt a quick, bright urgency in the Force.

She whirled, looking toward the far end of the hall, and saw her lightsaber hurtling upward.

It turned end over end, still lit. Some of the pirates tried to grab it in mid-air, and paid with their fingers. Others, more wisely, dove out of the way. Jantar shot out her hand and the hilt smacked into her palm. She grinned as she sensed the tension in the remaining four pirates skyrocket. At that moment, she heard the sound of another ship landing outside, and felt the presence of two-dozen life forms racing across the landing field.

She grinned, and set to work.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“Not so fast!” the newcomer warned as the female pirate chief turned to fire on him.

He struck her full in the chest with the end of the electrostaff and the woman gasped, flailing helplessly as the jolts surged through her. She crumpled, gasping, and tumbled limply off the table, spasming on the ground.

He leaped lightly down and gazed at her. “A good effort. I’m almost impressed. You came close to living up to your–”

The female pirate captain lifted the blaster and aimed it directly at his chest.

“–reputation,” he finished.

“It’s set to kill,” she warned him. “Throw away the staff.”

“Surely we can work this out,” he protested, but her silence led him to comply with her request.

The female pirate captain got to her feet, still feeling the effects of the stun, but forcing herself not to show them. “On your knees, hands behind your head.”

Again, he obeyed.

She stepped forward, placing the tip of the blaster between his eyes. “You mocked me earlier. I think you’ve changed your tune.”

“Most certainly,” he said. To his credit, his voice was completely calm.

“Now I’m taking what’s mine.”

She fired.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“He was rather charming, actually,” the pirate captain said, finishing her account as she and Jantar sat in her cabin. On the table beside them sat a nondescript metal box about a third of a meter high. “Of course I wasn’t about to kill him, but he didn’t know that. It’ll be fun to hear what sort of rumours he’ll spread.”

“A smart move,” Jantar said as the captain uncorked a bottle of aged Corellian whiskey. “So…I’ve been wondering something.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have any tattoos.” She’d noticed it immediately. All the pirates Jantar had encountered adorned their bodies with tattoos. She wasn’t sure what they signified, but they all had them.

“That’s because I have no loyalties other than to my crew,” the captain said. “Otherwise, I belong only to myself. I am my own woman.”

Jantar nodded. She liked that. She thought about her own body and the possibility of adding tattoos. She was her own woman too, but she had one allegiance. To the Sith. Truth be told she had a second – to the Ember of Vahl. Possibly it would rank first once she understood what it meant – but for now she was blissfully ignorant of her lineage, or rather her blood-line. For she was a test-tube offspring and, perversely, even her biological sibling did not know who her parents were.

The captain raised her glass. “To success and to new friends.”

Jantar was surprised at her reaction. She didn’t have ‘friends.’ She had no need for them and suspected they would be more of a liability than a help. She had people she respected, and that valued her. But friends?

But she’d grown to admire the pirate chief, and the other woman had kept to every part of their bargain. And she was good company. Jantar said nothing, merely gave a fleeting smile as their glasses clinked. The whiskey was delicious – a warm, slow comfort slipping down her throat.

“I could get used to drinking this.”

“Why don’t you?” the pirate said. “I can provide erratic but profitable income, bed and board, adventure and fair treatment.”

It sounded tempting. And for a long moment, Jantar Keltainen was tempted. But then she thought of all the baggage she would bring along with her and her unfulfilled aspirations. Jantar would never trust anyone, not really, not even this remarkable woman with whom she had partnered for a brief time. She would always be alone, and she accepted that.

“While that’s a fine offer,” she said, “I must decline.”

She sensed the other woman’s genuine disappointment, but the captain recovered quickly. “If you ever change your mind, the offer stands.”

“And if you ever need a Sith, I’m not hard to find.”

“Deal.” They shook hands.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

“In the meantime,” the captain said, ”Let’s take a look at this item that you’ve risked your life for.”

Jantar glanced at the box beside her. “Part of the deal was that I don’t look at it.”

“You’ve worked pretty hard. Go on. You can always say you were making sure it wasn’t damaged in the fighting.”

Jantar pretended to consider that. There were two reasons she wouldn’t open the box. The first was it would enhance her reputation as someone who kept her word. Even when given a plausible excuse, she declined the temptation.

The second reason was the main one. Jantar didn’t want the captain to know what she’d worked so hard for. It was so inconsequential in appearance that it would set the captain’s imagination running, which in turn might sets tongues wagging. And Jantar needed total anonymity and a free run at what she was about to seek out next.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar sat on her own ship. The lock was easy to pick, and Jantar carefully lifted the lid. A small force field in the box itself prevented unauthorized handling but the Sith used the Force to negate it.

The object that had given her so much trouble was no gem, or weapon, but a simple book. Old, and fragile. Carefully Jantar scanned each of the pages and returned the journal to its resting place.

Then she read and re-read the scanned document. Two days passed and all Jantar did was eat, sleep, wash and read. Over and over she took in the words, until she knew every one of them verbatim. And she had deciphered the meaning of the text.

The only problem, as she saw it, was that the only possible course of action would mean she would have to ally with a Jedi to have any chance of success.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

Jantar did not hate the Jedi the way many Sith do. In time she would learn to hate them even more that the typical dark sider – but for an entirely different reason. Genocide tends to have that effect.

But right here and now, at this stage in her maturity and knowledge base, she was comfortable in working with one. She would keep her views on the Jedi Code to herself and not share her thoughts about the Sith Code either. All she had to do was find a Jedi willing to do the same.

We was sure she could find some rogue Jedi – as they tended to call themselves – in need of a sizeable amount of credits. In Jantar’s opinion, and experience, everyone had a price. It might not be material wealth, but a bargain could always be struck to the mutual benefit of both parties.

 

[Jantar Keltainen]

JEDI WANTED

‘A Sith is a Sith,’ Neuk mused. ‘You couldn’t call them trustworthy, but…the credits are tempting.’

The young Jedi sat in a booth that could have been in any cantina on any planet. He was surrounded by spacers, smugglers, alcoholics and down and outs. The Jedi ticked the last two boxes comfortably and at times the first two.

He downed the cheap whiskey and contemplated the datapad in front of him. Once a rising Padawan, now he was forced to search the jobs board on the Invisible Market for roles that paid sufficiently well to satisfy his thirst – and the gambling addiction. It was a good thing there was no Sabacc game on, or else he would have lost his datapad by now and have had no chance to consider rejecting the opportunity that presented itself.