The Mummers' Dance

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

ORD MIRIT
The One Sith

The Mirit System was one of the oldest patches of space known to either man or Duros. Located in the region of space that had come to be called The Colonies, this expanse of stars was the first to have been visited by explorers from the Core Worlds. Each star was a page in history. A celestial beauty frozen in time.

An angry blaster bolt marred that beauty, flashing across the din of space as it shot like a magic missile fired at the darkness.

"nerf herder!"

The YT-2400 light freighter emerged out into the vacuum of history. Engines burned a vibrant blue, as the ship blazed a trail across a sky full of blaster bolts. And, as per the usual, the ship was on the receiving end of them. As for the epithet that the young Jedi had uttered, that had originally been intended for the clone of Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett -- who was seated beside him. However, it could have just as easily been applied to the Sith starfighters that were now in pursuit of them.

...or the Anselmi trader who was texting on his holopad when he should have been watching the traffic in the space lane. Seriously, get off your comlink. You are flying!

But, they wouldn't be dodging starfighters or freighter pilots who weren't looking where they were going if it were not for the tactical expertise of the Grand Army of the Republic's own clone troopers. Alternating between controlling the wild manuevers of the ship and sliding out of his seat in order to punch the clone in the shoulder, repeatedly, the small Anzat noted, "Spoiler alert: The point of smuggling is... YOU DON'T TELL PEOPLE YOU'RE SMUGGLING!"

Snapping his arm up, the small clone trooper deflected the arm punch and retaliated with a jab to Sor-Jan's ribs that planted the young Jedi back down on his butt in the pilot's chair. "You said lying was bad!" the juvenile clone cadet declared defensively.

Oh, now the clone decides to listen to him. "Not when it's to the Sith!"

"E chu ta," the other boy snapped bitterly, scowling at the Anzat. As another blaster bolt was fired across the canopy, the dark-skinned youngling added, "Feel free to go to hyperspace ANY TIME NOW!"

"Not helping," Sor-Jan muttered, even as plugged a series of coordinates into the navi-computer and then came up out of the seat in order to reach the hyperdrive controls. Seizing hold of the three levers, the youngling knight rocked the controls back.

Instead of stars streaking by, there was the distinctive sound like that of the transmission falling out of the block.

"nerf herder! Why aren't we in hyperspace?" the clone demanded.

"NOT helping!" the Anzati Jedi snapped tersely, bolting from out of the cockpit toward the engineering section. As he did, the boy nearly collided with the gangly 2-1B medical droid as it lumbered toward the cockpit.

"I sensed that the vessel was under distress," the droid noted, avoiding near collision with the small Jedi and then turning to follow him.

Ignoring the observations of the mechanically inept, the Corellian-born youngling plunged head-first into an open man cover in the deck toward the center of the ship. Exposed circuit cards scraped against his face and hands, leaving with a series of small cuts as he wormed his way toward the most likely problem.

The electrical tape was still holding the splicing from the last patch job together.

And the duct tape looked to be holding the hyperdrive actuator in place.

"Your heart rate is elevated and your blood pressure is high," the boy heard the 2-1B remark from the floor above, where the droid was speaking to the child's exposed boots.

"SJ, get up here!" the clone shouted from the cockpit.

"NOT HELPING!" the Anzat yelled, as he wiggled free of the maintenance crawl space. Pushing up from off the deck, the youngling barreled past the droid to make a sprint for the cockpit.

"We've lost the rear deflector," Three remarked, as the Jedi hopped back into the pilot's seat.

For his part, Sor-Jan just blinked. Considering the beating they were taking, they'd only lost the rear deflector? That didn't seem that ba...

"...the lateral controls, the hyperdrive, the navi-computer, and the hot water heater."

"The hot water heater?" the Anzat echoed, turning to give the clone a quizzical look, as if in disbelief that that was even a thing. Shaking his head, the small Jedi brought the ship around in a steeply banked turn, charging their attackers even as he looked for a new angle. "All right, plan B."

Long ago, when all stars still burned as one, his master had taught him that a Jedi Sentinel didn't take a dwang without a plan. And a back-up plan. And a contingency plan on top of that.

"What's plan B?"

"I don't know yet."

The small clone did a double take. "That's not a plan!" the other youngling declared tersely.

"Is SO a plan," Sor-Jan quipped back defensively.

Seriously, he'd been a Jedi for like fifty years now. This was about as good as Jedi operational planning got. It was known as the Jinn Doctrine. That is, figure it out as you go. Or there was the Windu Doctrine, which Sor-Jan was actually partial to. That one was summed up as, scrap the plan. Just blow something up!

"That's NOT a plan!"

"It's... ten percent of a plan," Sor-Jan shot back, with a derisive snort. Gripping the flight controls tightly, the young Anzat split between the pair of Sith starfighters, making a run for space that was currently open sky.

...but for the two medium cruisers moving into position to fire full broadsides their way.

Scanning the area, the Jedi's eyes fell upon a droid-controlled cargo hauler. Which appeared to be speeding away from one of Ord Mirit's trading posts. If it had unloaded it's cargo, then it was probably...

"Go stand by the tow cable," the small Jedi remarked suddenly. "I've got an idea."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

F O N D O R
The Galactic Alliance
Thirty-one hours later...

The droid-controlled freighter traversed hyperspace, with the compact YT-series Corellian ship snuggled into the niche where the cargo containers were normally carried. They had made the trap just a moment before the ship had gone to lightspeed, taking with it the Alderaan Queen and company. But on a journey whose distance or destination were unknown.

Three had taken the first shift, staying in the cockpit to watch for signs that they were coming out of hyperspace while Sor-Jan worked to try and deduce just what was wrong with the Queen.

...what was wrong this time that is.

When the trip began to toll hours, and those hours turned into a full day, the former Jedi General had put 2-1B on guard while the clone and Jedi went to bed.

Pro Tip: If you're going to use the refresher before bed time, don't forget to repair the hot water heater. Space is cold to begin with. Cold baths in space are just miserable. And don't even mention Tapas. If you have to use Tapas in your own bathtub, there are serious, serious problems that need to be addressed.

"Looks like we're here," the Jedi remarked, as the canopy was bathed in a white light, before a thousand starstreaks appeared. And then snapped back into the familiar backdrop of space.

"Where's here?" the clone asked from beside him.

"Beats me," Sor-Jan answered honestly, with only the briefest of glances toward the orange-ish orb on the galactic horizon below. Leaning into the intercom, the boy said, "Two-OneBee, release the tow cable."

With luck, they were on the far side of Sith space, and could continue on with their mission to Glee Anselm.

There was a mechanical clank as the tether connecting them to the freighter was relaxed. Bringing the engines up to half power, the small Anzat guided the small Corellian ship out from under the larger cargo mover. They'd only just broken away when something scanned the ship.

"...this is the Fondor Space Authority."

"Fondor?"

"Unidentified Corellian transport, transmit your identi-codes."

"It's a planet in the Tapani Sector," the small Jedi commented, even as he tried to work out their location in his own mind. They were on the far side all right, but the far side of The Colonies. Not at all where the Anzat had hoped to be. Far from it in fact. "Freeworld. Part of some sort of... planetary federation."

Federation? Alliance? Something like that. The Galactic... bunch of people who agree to do stuff. Collective. Thing. That was it, the Galactic Thing.

"Whatever it is, we're not going anywhere until I can fix the Queen."

"Identi-codes confirmed. You may proceed to Fondor City, docking bay seventeen."

Silently, the small Jedi inclined the ship down toward the planet, cycling through the preparatory steps before hitting the atmosphere.

The Silver Council wasn't gonna be happy about this little unscheduled vacation...

[member="Lilli Sinopi"]​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

This would be the last week she would spend on Fondor. She had done well for herself with the profits from the small stall in the market place and had more than enough to buy passage off and head to a safer place. After the unexpected meeting with Coci, her cousin, and the reason for the meeting, she had had enough of living life constantly looking over her shoulder. With some of the credits Lilli had purchased a small pistol for protection and even learned how to use it, something she never thought she would ever have to do.

She had found her way to Fondor City, to wait out the time until she would leave, strangely enough she had not picked out her destination, deciding to do so on the day. Although her cousin had offered for her to return to Voss with her, she decided life, if it is to be rebuilt would be done on her own and so she had bid her cousin good bye for now, but she knew that if she was ever in trouble Coci would come for her. Blood is blood.

An unusual place is this city, the main attraction is it's featured bridge where people live and so it is here she walks among the artificial streets where no rain will ever fall upon, no wind to clean the air fresh and no heat to prickle the skin. She does not like it. But the shopping is good, and that is where one would find Lilli. Browsing among the clothes she would once have worn but now cannot afford.

​

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"Well, we're too far to get a transmission to Voss..."

The smell of smoldering duraplast and soldering lingered through the interior of the ship. Since the crew of the Alderaan Queen had made the landing at the docking bay in Fondor City, the boy had been working to try and put the ship back into some kind of working condition. Now the power was stable. Or, relatively stable anyway. And the comlink was working, but now the autochef was off-line. Along with the Beverage Buddy, which might have actually been a blessing.

Scratched up with a number of minor burns on his clothes and hands, the youngling knight pulled himself out from underneath the communications console. "But we ought to be able to reach Corellia," the small Anzat stated, as he tested a signal toward the corporate headquarters of the Corellia Digital company.

It might not look like much, but the YT-2400 was the personal ship of a verifiable Corellian entrepreneur!

Other CEOs were spacing around in Nubian cruisers, Naboo yachts, or custom starships of fine luxury. Sor-Jan? Some sense of misplaced patriotic loyalty compelled him to hold on to what was arguably the biggest piece of crap to ever come out of the Corellian Engineering Company. And that was saying something, because as a general rule Corellian ships were crap. Anyone who said differently was either a Corellian or a used spaceship salesman. And god help you if it was both, or else they'd own your grandma by the time the deal was done, and you'd be walking out the proud owner of a ship that would probably have to be towed out of the showroom.

The mask-like face of a protocol droid appeared, as the holo-imagers came to life as the signal was traced back along the carrier. "Master, I have been attempting to contact you," the personal assistant remarked by way of greeting.

"Oh, hey RQ," the boy said, dropping down into the nearest seat. His legs, not reaching the floor, kicked idly as he looked at the holographic image. "I've been in hyperspace," the young Jedi supplied by way of answer.

"The board demands an emergency meeting to discuss the drop in sales across the Japrael Sector."

The young Corellian cocked his head to one side in confusion. Had he heard that right? "Drop in sales?" the boy echoed, skeptically. Using both hands, the child gestured as he spoke. "It's the Fete Season! We've got the hottest toy on the market." Seriously, go on HoloNet and look at the top-selling item in holo-electronics. The HoloStation 4 was the dominant gaming platform in the Mid-Rim. "Holy Sith, slaves on Ryloth are subscribing to World of Build-a-Bear Knights... how can we be experiencing a drop in sales?"

"The Maternal Units Demanding Decency have staged multiple protests against holo-game violence."

MUDD. Their name was MUDD. And a more apt description or acronym was not to be found in this lifetime. And Sor-Jan was an Anzat, so that was saying something. "Holo-game violence!?" the youngling knight echoed, sarcasm heavy as the child flopped over in the chair, throwing his legs over the side and letting his head hand upside down from off the seat cushion. "Have they SEEN a holovid lately? Stuff that's rated Yirt today would have been rated Resh in the Old Republic!"

Seriously, there was so much innuendo in the holo-cartoon 'My Little Del-Ya: Friendship is Astral' that it was banned in 47 worlds, but was also the most watched animated series among younglings age 7-12 where it was shown. Along with an inexplicable following by 24-40 year old males... which wasn't helped by the whole innuendo thing. Or maybe that's what the producers were going for.

"Uuuuugggghhhhhh."

Did anyone remember when they were just explorers? Guardians of libraries and seekers of forgotten knowledge?

Sor-Jan certainly didn't. First the Clone Wars, then Order 66, then it was 800 years later and there was a Sith War going on. And he was running a company to try and help keep the Corellian economic market alive. Being a Sith Lord probably wasn't half as hard as the small Jedi was making this life out to be. "Set up the board meeting and send me a calendar invite," the boy said finally, one foot kicking upward as he did. "Then do you mind routing a link to Voss for me?"

When the image of the protocol droid vanished a moment later, the child popped upright and out of the seat. Smoothing out the front of his clothes, which mostly just smeared the grime and grease around some more, the boy looked into the imaging scanner and announced, "This is Commander Xantha on Fondor with a transmission for the Silver Council." After another pause, the boy continued. "We encountered a problem during security checks at Ord Mirit and I'm afraid that my mission to Glee Anselm has failed."

How had he managed to get from Ord Mirit to Fondor? He'd let the collective imaginations of the Jedi Masters try and work that out for themselves. Younglings, like the Force, moved in mysterious ways after all. "My crew is safe, but the damage to the ship makes hyperspace travel impossible. We are making repairs, but I don't know how long until we can take off again," the boy reported, supplying a succinct and honest assessment of their current situation. "Xantha out."

With the time delay between Corellia and Voss, it would probably be another 8 or 12 hours before the Jedi received his report. Which meant that he had most of the day before he could expect to hear from the Council. Making his way from out of the cockpit, the young Jedi passed by the lounge area, where a small clone trooper was working with a complex set of building blocks. "Come on," Sor-Jan remarked, throwing his green cloak over his earthen tunic. "We need to get some parts for the Queen."

"Oh!" the little Mando chirped, short legs kicking furiously as he raced to catch up with the Jedi. "Do you think we... like, we could find the Commander Cody action figure here?"

From out of the pages of history, a Mandalorian toy manufacturer had somehow managed to turn CC-2224 into the hottest action figure this Fete.

How was it that there were literally hundreds of Jedi Generals across the Republic during the Clone Wars, but it seemed like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker got credit for pretty much the whole war?

No one had even heard of General Xantha. Trust me on that one, Sor-Jan had checked. Not even a footnote in any of the surviving historical records, as few and far between as those were now.

But the comment, and the implied purchase of the clone trooper action figure, made the Corellian Jedi do a double take. Turning to face the small clone, the Jedi just blurted out, "The Sith just blasted us out of the sky, the hyperdrive for the Queen is somewhere between here and Mandalorian space, and my profit margins down in Onderon. And you're worried about your Fete list!?"

"Priorities!" the young clone answered, with a bubbly giggle and Sith-eating grin.

Throwing one hand up, the Anzat just rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable."

As the loading ramp closed back up behind them, the young Jedi tucked his hands into the sleeves of his sage colored robe. The silvery cylinder of the lightsaber he'd carried for nearly three decades glinted through the folds of his robe as he walked, with the blue-on-blue garbed clone shuffling along beside him. The shopping district seemed quite diverse. Clothing retailers. Appliance retailers.

There was certain to be a Watto's or a Ship Depot somewhere.

[member="Lilli Sinopi"]​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

After doing some window shopping, Lilli found her way along the street toward a bakery. Feeling a little peckish, she purchased a fresh fruit pastry and a large caf, rather then eat in she decided the find a park, for what that was worth considering it was artificial indoors, but at least she might see some greenery. Everything is so clean here, the window sparkle without a blemish, the foot paths appeared the same and to her it was rather sterile. Even the caf tasted sterile, lacking a good full bodied flavour, but it was hot.

There really was not that much of interest in the street but she looked around for something to do. Her interest peaked however, as she noticed a young man striding toward her, by the look of him he is a Jedi from one of the groups known throughout the galaxy but she is unable to discern which. Although she is aware of her force sensitivity, Lilli had never progressed it in the slightest, but something prickled her attention toward him. Her eyes fell on a glint of light hitting metal on his person, the flash of a lightsaber hilt the reason for it, she smiled to herself because of one so young to be in such a position, but she is not privy to such machinations of the Orders.

As the young man approached her, she having good manners, smiled as they passed.

​

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"...I dunno, I figure we'll go to Duro first."

The young Anzat's head turned, inspecting the contents of a nearby vendor stall as they passed by it. Hyperdrive motivators. Older models, retored. And also way overpriced. They could almost get a new unit for those prices. "...then jump to Corellia," the small Jedi said, continuing as the former general and clone trooper passed a young woman on the street.

As the pair talked of departing Fondor, the sandy haired youth glanced up in time to catch the smile and gave a nod of acknowledgment as their paths intertwined for that single moment.

And then the moment had gone.

"If we're really lucky, maybe we can find someone who'll pay for a ride off this rock," Sor-Jan noted wistfully. The idea of some credits coming in was every Corellian's personal fantasy. As opposed to the norm, which was a lot of credits going into a ship that was still going to be a colossal piece of crap worth a faction of what was invested into it at the end of the day.

[member="Lilli Sinopi"]​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Her feet took her but two paces before she stopped. Lilli overheard the conversation between the young man and his friend, this drew her curiosity more and she turned to follow them. "Excuse me, I am sorry but I could not help but overhear your conversation", Why had she stopped them, after all she could just book her passage through normal transport off this place, but she decided to find out about them more.

"Maybe I can help you, I need transport to leave Fondor and have no real destination but if I could be of help?". This is strange even for the galaxy, an unknown person approaching another in the street, maybe she just needs to get out more. But there was something about them that did not 'speak' of ill intent, she was sure of that and it was this that led her to speak up.

"My name is Lilli, I come from Corellia, recently in fact", she did not go into more detail, that would be enough. But she waited for the looks of suspicion from them, or dismissal or something that would give a negative response. "I have credits enough to pay my passage". There was not much to the girl, only a small bag and what she stood in.

​

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"But what about..."

With a subtle gesture, the young Jedi quieted the small clone trooper. "There'll be time for your toys late..."

Excuse me?

This time it was Sor-Jan who was interrupted, and by the introduction of a voice unfamiliar to him. Turning, both younglings pivoted back to look up at the young woman addressing them.

As she spoke, the Anzat's cynical or pragmatic nature was already reacting to what he perceived as 'warning signs'. For starters, she'd come from Corellia. Now, Corellians didn't really talking about this -- because Duros might be listening -- but Corellians weren't exactly the most honest or trust-worthy members of the galactic community.

Made holidays spectacular. By the time the relatives left, you were going to have been robbed, shot, swindled, and probably wondering why all the rum was gone.

Second of all, she had no destination. No destination? Really? The boy was tempted to ask whether or not it was some kind of local trouble.

And finally, she was offering to pay her way. If there was anything that could make a Corellian skeptical, it was the promise of a paying customer.

However, try as he might, the Jedi's empathic senses didn't detect any false pretenses or subterfuge from this girl. Quite to the contrary in fact, as the blue eyed boy looked through the Force at this young woman he was presented with a curiously strong instinct that she was no more, and no less, than what she appeared to be. With that in mind, the youth thought about what she'd said for a moment, and then bowed in deference toward her. "We should be grateful for the opportunity to provide you transport then," the boy remarked in answer, straightening back up and tucking his hands into the broad sleeves of his green robe.

"My name is Sor-Jan Xantha," the youth supplied, with a second, short bow at the neck as he introduced himself. Inclining his head toward the coppery skinned boy beside him, the Jedi added, "The young one here is Three."

That was a number, yet the way in which the boy had uttered it seemed clear that it was a name. Or a nickname.

Looking back up at the young woman, the boy said, "We will leave in the morning, for Duro." That was a major space port. From there, she'd be able to get a transport to anywhere she might care to be. Republic space. Mandalorian space. Free space. Wild space. "You'll find a Corellian ship waiting at docking bay seventeen."

[member="Lilli Sinopi"]​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

"I am sorry, this must seem very strange to you, approached by a stranger on the street, but I can assure you I am not some odd person", or maybe she was asking like this, and began to doubt her own sanity. "It is a pleasure to meet you Three and Sor-Jan", such unusual names.

When informed they would depart in the morning, she frowned a little as it was a long time to wait and she had no accommodation. "I know this is asking a lot but, would you mind if I tagged along with you both?, I mean I will not get in the way .. it is just I have no quarters for the night and I have seen what there is to see in this place". She looked at them with a little hope. Gosh I sound so clingy and needy. In a way she was.

"I promise I will not be any trouble", famous last words.

​

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The two boys shared a look between themselves.

The young woman seemed sincere enough. And he sensed no deception. The boy could think of no reason to decline, and wondered for a moment why he'd entertained the thought of declining at all. "We should welcome your company," the young Anzat supplied finally, looking at the woman with a nod of his head.

Indeed. If she was bunking aboard the ship, that could bump their departure schedule up easily. "In that case, we'll leave as soon as some repairs are made to the Queen," the boy stated, motioning for the woman to walk with them as the pair resumed their walk toward the scrap yards and junk dealers. Parts for a YT-2400 were not likely to be on the shelf at a reputable repair shop after all. And Corellian Engineering Corp was synonymous with 'aftermarket parts.'

As they walked, the Anzat turned to ask, "So, Lilli," he began, making conversation as they went. "How did you find yourself on Fondor? It's a long way from Corellia."

[member="Lilli Sinopi"]​