Coronet City Blues [Ghostie]

[Meira]

"I'm alright." she said. The burn on her shoulder wasn't anything a kolto patch couldn't heal. "How about y-"

Meira had looked up at Kol then, her eyes having been cast downward as he'd approached. Now, she saw his face... and his hair for the first time. Her question cut off as she took in the sight of him. Some of the adhesive from the grenade must have gotten on him. Meira pressed her lips together, trying her best to suppress a bark of laughter that threatened to escape her. He looked like he was wearing some kind of misshapen, teal helmet. Clearing her throat in an attempt to recover, Meira frowned and poked experimentally at the shell the adhesive had turned into. It was mostly hard by now.

"I'm sure it'll... wash out?"

Typically, such adhesives dissolved after a set amount of time. But this type seemed slightly different. The thought brought a new worry to her mind for their security officer counterparts. The concern showed in her eyes as it occurred to her, causing them to widen. Meira turned quickly toward their speeder, where the officers were still stuck. But, though they were immobile, they seemed alright. No suffocation or anything like that evident. Her worries relieved for the time being, Meira turned back to her counterpart.

"I suppose everyone can be questioned later about the leak?”

"Definitely." she said as the Coronet Security Force vehicles arrived overhead and settled down around them. "Breen will want to be there for the interrogation, I'm sure." she added, and then moved toward where the CSF Captain had emerged from a speeder.

The was a tall woman, human, and was already barking out orders to her teams. When she saw the Jedi approaching, she cut off from her commands and turned her attention toward them. "Are you the Jedi Breen told us about?" she asked, the tone of her voice indicating she was not at all impressed by them. "This is a real mess you've made." she added, glowering.

"We are." Meira said, giving the woman a quick bow of her head. "I am Master Meira Valli, and this is Master Kol Gedyc." she said, gesturing toward Kol. "We apologize for the damage." In all honestly, there hadn't been much damage. Mostly, it was the three speeders that had been banged up. The surrounding area hadn't been affected much.

"I told Breen we could handle things." she said, rather than introducing herself. "He insisted on bringing you in and using his own people."

"The Senator had a mole within his entourage that had to be exposed." Meira informed the woman. "And threats against Galactic Senators are Republic matters." she added then, seeing the Captain's glare, back peddled. "But, we are at your service now, Captain."

The woman regarded them for a few moments, then huffed a sigh. "We've got a clean up team on the way to dissolve this adhesive." she said. "It's a different brew we've seen starting to pop up. Much harder to break down." She gestured toward Kol's head. "You'll probably just want to cut that all off." she said, then turned away from them to continue directing her officers.

Meira looked up at Kol and shrugged. Some CSF officers were lifting the captured bounty hunters from where they'd been subdued and walking them toward transport vehicles. Meira stopped one of the officers and asked where they were being taken. The CSF officer informed her that they'd be held at CSF headquarters and would be ready for interrogation in about an hour or two. Turning back to Kol, Meira gestured toward one of the other transports with her head. "Let's go get cleaned up."

[Ghostie]

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” It was clear that Meira was trying to suppress a fit of giggles, as she reached up and poked the teal, crystalized helmet that Kol now wore. In fact, it might have been the first time that the Jedi Master had seen his companion crack a smile, as she was usually all business. It was a sight he was glad to see, but not at the expense of his golden mane. “Yeah, I hope so.” He sighed a bit, sharing Meria’s hope of a quick wash fixing his hair. Kol liked his hair the way it was, and he sincerely hoped that the adhesive would come right out.

But the security officers were still stuck in the speeder. They were unharmed, but the fact that they couldn’t break free yet didn’t bode well for the Jedi Master. Eyes narrowed, studying the victims of the adhesive gel for a moment for any sign of weakness, Kol had his back turned as Meira went over to talk with the CSF Commander. But even from a few feet away, the Jedi Master could tell that the woman was more than annoyed. She acted as if her toes had been trodden on, and she thought the Jedi insisted on dancing on them some more. Kol made his way over slowly to have a few, polite words with the woman. But as he did so, Meira was already on top of things, and perhaps a little more tactful than Kol would’ve been.

The only thing of any value that the CSF Commander had to say was that this batch of adhesive gel was making its rounds through the city, and it was more potent that usual. And that Kol would do well to simply chop off his golden mane. Or what used to be his golden mane. With those words, the Jedi Master’s heart fell. He hadn’t had short hair since he was a teenager, an apprentice. When he was knighted, he had started immediately to grow it out. Kol wasn’t attached to it, it was just going to be quite the change. A change he wasn’t looking forward towards. As Meria mentioned leaving the scene to go clean up, Kol nodded.

“Let’s.”

---

“Karkin’ son of a gundark…!”

Kol had started mumbling curses under his breath to no one in particular about five minutes ago. The shower had been running for ten minutes, as he stuck only his head under, stripping off his jacket and shirt as he did so. His fingers scrubbed furiously, with just about any soap and shampoo he could find. Kol and Meira had been back at their suite for no more than fifteen minutes, as the Jedi Master had promptly taken to the washroom. The teal, shell helmet was nigh impenetrable, his fingers barely making any progress as he hardly moved through the thickly woven together strands of hair. It was very clear that this wasn’t working.

The Jedi tried to be as patient as possible. Even among other Jedi, Kol was usually more laid back, and calm. He just always preferred a direct approach. It was simple, and usually worked. But he knew that with his hair, he had tried a solution that was indirect, that was probably not going to work. But he still had to try. And now that he had, he was about ready to give up. Groaning some and grimacing under the flow of water from the shower head, Kol turned it off, and shook his head. His hair all stayed together, flopping from one side to the other in a large mass as some pieces stuck together and stood at odd angles.

All of it teal.

“Hey, Meira?” Kol’s voice was hesitant as he called for his comrade. Throwing a towel around his neck as he kicked his dirty clothes to the side, Kol dried off what he could. He gave up. It was time for the hair trimmers. Wherever they were. He thought he had seen them before, somewhere in the bathroom. Wandering out in the main room of their suite, Kol looked around, trying to find Meira and see if she knew where the clippers were. He hated being half-dressed around someone he hardly knew, but it was just for a moment, and they were grown adults. And Jedi. Besides, hair notwithstanding, Kol had little to be ashamed about.

“Do you know where the hair clippers are? I thought we had some…”

[Meira]

While Kol went for the suite's bathroom, Meira went to the kitchenette. Kol's hair apparently meant a great deal to him, as she could hear his increasing protestations from the bathroom while she cleaned herself up at the kitchenette sink. To be fair, She would likely be more than a bit distraught if her own hair had been so severely damaged. It was all she could do to wish him well in the effort, and then grab a nice cold drink and settle onto the sofa. She had just found a recent episode of Ghost Boarding School on the Holo when she heard Kol call her name.

"What's that?" she called back, muting the show. It seemed he'd turned off the shower. Perhaps he'd been successful after all.

“Do you know where the hair clippers are? I thought we had some…”

Kol came around a corner and Meira, about to shout back, was caught off guard by the sight of him. Her mouth hung open, her response forgotten, as she stared. You poor man, she thought. He'd made some progress. The adhesive in his hair was no longer a hard shell, but appeared to be something more pliable. And yet, he only seemed to mix it into the strands further. Where it had once sat on the surface, it now seemed to be thoroughly rubbed in. Meira, realizing how she must have looked staring at him, clamped down on her lips with her teeth, trying... and failing to hold back her laughter. It burst from her, sharp and loud, devolving into silent chuckles as she fell sideways on the sofa.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she said, after a moment. "It's terrible of me to laugh." Taking a few steadying breaths, Meira willed herself to calm down. "Here," she said, standing up and moving toward him. "Let me help."

Walking around him, Meira went into the bathroom and began to search through the cabinetry under the sink. The room had been cleaned while they were out, so she imagined the maids had returned the clippers to their original place. "Here they are." she said, brandishing them. "Come over here."

Meira gestured toward the shower stall. Better to keep the mess contained. "Kneel down." she instructed as she fiddled with the clippers, finding the switch and adjusting the setting. As he settled, Meira readjusted the towel he carried so as to better cover his shoulders. The clippers came to life with an enthusiastic buzz. With one hand, she lifted the clotted bits of his hair, trying to see where she could begin. Meira, of course, was no barber. Her own hair, a mass of dreadlocks, curls, and braids, hadn't been touched by scissors or clippers in decades. But how hard could it be? She would do her best to save as much of his hair as possible. Then, when the mission was over, he could go to a professional and they would have more to work with.

"Ready?" she asked, and then lifted one of the clumps of hair.

The end result was... not terrible, as far as Meira was concerned. There was a spot or two along the sides and back where she simply hadn't had a choice but to trim close to his scalp. The hair along the top of his head was somewhat easier, and she'd been able to spare more of it. In all, Kol was left with something resembling a typical human male haircut.

Stepping carefully out of the shower stall, Meira gestured for Kol to inspect the work in the bathroom mirror. It was at that moment that a knock came at the door that connected their suite to the Senator's. Meira left Kol to admire her work or, more likely, to mourn his loss, and went to the door. Opening it, she found Chi on the other side. After a few words with him, Meira returned to the doorway of the bathroom.

"They're ready for us down at the station. Are you up for some interrogation?"

[Ghostie]

Night had fallen once again across Coronet, the red-oranges of the sunset just starting to be chased away by darkness, and pushed out by the neon and electric atmosphere of the city’s nightlife. Speeders came and went across the busy skylines as one in a particular, a nondescript vehicle of crimson, dove and landed smoothly just out front of brand new Solosten Spaceport, which Senator Breen had just unveiled that morning. Already the new port was seeing traffic, as it relieved the overburdened Coronet Municipal Spaceport. Now, there were fewer hold-ups, layovers, and more shuttles for wanting passengers. As Kol climbed out of the back of the red speeder, he watched the foot traffic into The Solosten, impressed that it was already so busy.

As his robes swished around him, the Jedi Master ran a hand through his hair. Or what used to be his hair. It was so short, now. It barely covered his fingers. Meira had done quite the job, cutting off the ruined portions. It looked fine, for the most part. It was fashionable. Kol just wasn’t sure he liked it so much. If it wasn’t for the beard he now kept, he would look like did as a Padawan learner. It was a big change to get used too, and something Kol felt he was going to have to learn to live with. After all, he hardly cut his hair. And for that fact alone, he figured it would be a long time, if ever, before it grew back.
Running his hand through his hair once more, Kol looked around as a few passerbys looked over their shoulders at him and whispered to each other. The Jedi Master had changed into his robes after his haircut, as some of the adhesive had found its way to his jacket. With his lightsaber now in plain view on his hip, and sporting the customary clothing of the Jedi Order, he figured this was bound to happen. Especially after today’s long events, with the shootout and whatnot. It was one reason that the Jedi Master shyed away from robes when he was out of the Temple; he liked being approachable. And the hushed stares said he was anything but. Grimacing a bit, he looked around to the inside of the speeder as he set a fresh cup of caf on the roof of the vehicle.

“Need a hand with those?” He asked Meira in a soft voice, as they grabbed their bags from the speeder. As much as he hadn’t wanted the haircut, it hadn’t been a real injury. Kol’s fellow Jedi Master, however, had taken a blaster burn to the shoulder. It wasn’t anything serious, she had assured him. But nonetheless, Kol tried to be a bit more considerate. He didn’t treat the woman like a baby, whom he had to do everything for. But being kind and offering his two good shoulders was different. Grabbing his own bag, Kol swung it around from one shoulder to his opposite hip, grabbed his drink, and closed off the speeder behind him. “Thanks for the ride, Haruk. Stay safe.”

The Pantoran waved to the two Jedi from his open window, before zooming off once more. Kol was sure that the security officer had a long night ahead of him. They hadn’t found one mole, but two. Meira’s pyschometry had proven useful, pointing to one of the male Corellians as having passed off his card to the mercenaries. And when he saw no other options, he revealed a partner he had been working with, the other Corellian in Breen’s force, for a plea deal. So in all reality, everything had turned out fine. But Haruk and Breen had a lot of patching up to do. Kol wished they could help. When everything had been revealed, it turned out that Breen wasn’t such a bad guy, just cautious. But the Council wanted the pair of Jedi Masters to report as soon as they could on their mission. In person.

“Ready to get back home?” Kol asked, raising his cup of caf to his lips as they started the slow walk up the steps of the new spaceport.

[Meira]

"Thank you, yes." Meira said, pushing her back along the seat toward Kol as they exited the speeder. Meira's injured shoulder, patched up and now covered by her Jedi tunic didn't really hurt, and she had the other shoulder. But Meira wasn't so proud as to refuse a kind gesture when it was offered. As she stepped from the speeder, Meira noticed how their garnered more attention than they had when they arrived. It wasn't unexpected, Jedi always drew the eye. Kol, however, seemed keenly more aware of the attention. With the way he kept running his hand through his hair, she could guess why. She hid a smile by turning away and waving to Chi as he lifted the speeder back into the air and back toward the Coronet Security Force headquarters. Some Republic police would be arriving soon to collect the prisoners and take them back to Coruscant for trial. But for Meira and Kol, the job was finished. All that remained was to report back to the Council.

“Ready to get back home?” Kol asked as they made their way up and into the spaceport.

"I am." Meira replied, stretching her neck to one side and then to the other. Hopefully this flight wouldn't be too crowded. She would like the opportunity to stretch out and get some sleep. "It's been a while."

They moved through the entrance toward a security checkpoint. While their clothing might have been enough to identify the two as Jedi, the security guards still did their duty, checking their IDs. Though, once their IDs had been verified, they were allowed to forgo the other security checkpoints. Moving beyond security, they were shown the way to their transport by the Security Captain, who seemed very pleased to have met them. He had a cousin who was a Jedi, or in the agricorps at least. Meira had smiled and conversed with the man, but had to inform him that she was sorry but she did not know his cousin Bill. But perhaps one day they would meet. They arrived at their transport's terminal just as boarding began. Meira bid farewell to the Security Captain and they joined the line to board. It wasn't long before the transport was lifting away from the Solosten Spaceport to make it's way out of the atmosphere at to it's jump point.

---

"I've got eyes on them." The figure, cloaked and hooded, leaned against a railing outside of the spaceport. She watched as two Jedi exited a speeder and walked toward the entrance. The female Jedi looked exactly as described. The male Jedi, however, didn't have the long blonde hair they'd been told to watch for. She reported this, but said that he looked as described otherwise.

"I have them now." Another figure, this one concealing most of his face behind a stand displaying Coronet souvenirs watched as the Jedi were processed through security.

"I see them." came yet another voice as the Jedi approached their terminal. "You two get to the ship with the others and head to the intercept point."

As the first two figures made their way discretely out of the spaceport, the third mingled in the terminal, waiting a while after the two Jedi boarded before also boarding the transport. He moved casually, his tall frame never hinting that he was stalking his prey. He did his best to keep himself out of the Jedi's lines of sight. Though, it would hardly matter. The Jedi hadn't seen his face before. He'd been in his armor. That armor was now on the ship that would be intercepting this transport just before it jumped into hyperspace. For now, the mesh underweave bodysuit he wore beneath his clothing would have to do.

Teaming up with those amateurs had been a mistake, but a happy one it seemed. He didn't like that they'd failed in their task, but there was a silver lining to every cloud. After all, it wasn't every day that a Mandalorian had the opportunity to take out a Jedi, let alone two. Mandalore would be well pleased.

[Ghostie]

Truth be told, Kol was looking forward to their return to Coruscant. It had been awhile since he had seen the Jedi Temple, since he had seen home. He enjoyed his time on the border planets, helping rebuild homesteads and deliver supplies. And the Jedi Master had every intention of heading back out that way, once he could. The work was extremely fulfilling. But Kol knew as well as anyone that every once and awhile, it was good to unwind and reassert themselves. He was looking forward to some quiet meditation in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. To finding other Jedi Masters to keep his saber skills sharp. What the man was not looking forward towards, however, was the Council’s usual droning about him taking on a Padawan learner. Not that Kol didn’t want a student, mind you. He just didn’t want the issue forced.

Perhaps that was why he spent so much time away from the Temple.

Stretching his arms over his head a bit, Kol stifled a yawn. It wasn’t as large as a transport as Meira and Kol had traveled on to arrive at Corellia. There was little walking space, unless you had somewhere specific to go. No vending machines, but the flight attendants passed out free drinks. What the transport did have, thankfully, was leg room. The rows of passenger seats were spacious enough to allow most any species, and the two Jedi had a row to themselves. It seemed as much as people revered the Order, no one wanted to sit next to a Jedi. But that suited Kol just fine. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, his legs weren’t pushed up into his chest. With a soft, grey blanket draped across his lap, more for comfort than warmth, the Jedi was ready to sleep through the flight once again.

They had left the atmosphere a few moments ago. A handful of minutes, and the ship would be at its designated point to jump into lightspeed. Then after that it was Coruscant before breakfast. Kol wondered absentmindedly if The Starlight, that little diner not far from the Temple, was still open. They had some decent, if rather simple, food. Perhaps Meira wouldn’t be opposed to joining him for a bite before reporting in. Yet as the man ran his hand through his freshly cut hair once again, rubbing his scalp a bit as he did so, something felt off. The trip had all the signs of being a quiet affair. Rather boring. Kol wanted the boring. But he couldn’t relax.

There was an ominous presence onboard. It meant ill-will. They weren’t strong in the Dark Side of the Force, like Solis or Keres. Kol and Meira would have picked up on that the moment that this person had gotten close to the ship. Nonetheless, it was focused, and dangerous. In fact, if Kol trusted his senses, the Force was telling him that it was focused on himself, and the Jedi in the window seat next to him. Kol’s stretch this time was just as large as the first, but was his supposedly subtle way of looking around. An older human couple talking, while their teenage son was glued to his datapad and had a set of earbuds. A flight attendant trying to help an Aqualish who didn’t speak good Basic order a drink.

There. A few rows back, and across the aisle. A man sat hunched over, in a long and worn cloak with his hood up. His eyes glued on the Jedi. Kol’s two very different eyes met the hidden figure’s face, and they both paused. The Jedi turned back around in his seat, and finished his fake stretch. Slowly and nonchalantly, he dropped the blanket to the floor, and shrugged off his own cloak, made of brown wool. Whatever happened next, he wanted to be able to move freely. Kol hoped that there wouldn’t be violence, on this small transport with so many innocents around. But the Force told him this was an individual to be wary of. Nudging Meira gently with his elbow and hoping she wasn’t asleep just yet, Kol kept his voice low, so only she could hear.

“Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? Don’t look; a few rows back and across the aisle.”

But just as the situation was coming to light for the two Jedi, the entire transport came to a screeching halt and rocked violently. Kol braced himself against the seat in front of him, hoping to not be thrown to the ground.

[Meira]

Meira settled into her seat with a sigh. Leaning her head back into the chair, she went through her usual relaxation routine. Starting at the top of her head, Meira moved her consciousness through her body, relaxing her muscles as she went. Even with the years of practicing this technique, Meira was always somewhat surprised that the muscles of her body were never quite relaxed unless she consciously made the effort to relax them. It had been even more of a problem during the war, though not as surprising then. These days, she'd almost returned to a more normal level where the constant, battle ready tension was not present every waking moment.

She'd made it as far as her shoulders when she realized something wasn't quite right. Her sense of alarm stemmed from noticing the tension in her companion. Though Meira had never melded with Kol, she'd been in close proximity to him long enough for her senses to become more attuned to him. He wasn't quite relaxed, even though he had -for once- all the space his tall frame needed to stretch out and get comfortable. Meira opened one eye to glance over at him. Kol was stretching, but his presence in the Force belied his true intentions. He was searching... scanning for something. Meira turned back toward the window, but her own senses moved outward as well. She felt it then, the intense focus of attention toward Kol and herself. The tension she'd been working on dissipating returned as Meira readied herself.

When Kol nudged her, voicing the concern, Meira nodded. She did not turn, but instead focused her perception in the direction he'd indicated. With that guidance, she was able to zero in on the one he'd indicated. "I can sense him." she replied, wondering what this man's intentions were. "I sense..." she began, but then the ship rocked violently.

Meira threw her arms out, catching onto anything she could find to steady herself. She'd almost fallen completely out of her seat. Many around them had. The surprised cries of the other passengers rose in the air. The ship's lights flickered. There was a sudden, jarring thunk against the side of the ship. The comms activated throughout the ship with a loud tone and the Captain's voice came from the speakers, but it was immediately gabled by the mix of static and metallic ting that was typical of signal jamming.

From the row in front of them, Meira heard the groan of someone in pain. She raised herself to look over the seats and saw an elderly Cerean woman who had fallen to the floor. Meira hopped over the seats and crouched down next to her, reaching out to gingerly support the woman by the arm to raise her back up to the chair. With a soothing voice, and some calming assistance from the Force, Meira helped the woman to seat herself again.

Meanwhile, she could sense that the man who had been watching them had moved. She tried to scan around the ship to find him, but the failing lights and the movement of the increasingly panicked civilians was making it difficult. "Kol..." she said. "Where did he go?"

At that moment, a bright spark shot through the metal around the main door to the passenger cabin. The spark turned into a molten line as some kind of cutting tool began to trace around the outside of the door. The two security guards for the ship, armed with mere stun blasters, were trying to calm the passengers. One looked at the door, eyes wide, and then swung his gaze around the cabin until his eyes landed on Meira in her obviously Jedi apparel. He shouted out to her for help and Meira raised a hand, both to acknowledge that she'd heard him and to silently implore him to remain calm. With the Cerean woman safely seated again, Meira stood and moved to the center-most point of the cabin. She held her arms outstretched and projected a soothing aura through the Force.

"Please." Meira said, augmenting her voice so that all would hear. "Remain calm. Those who are able, move carefully to the rear of the cabin. Help others if you can." Meira continued to project her soothing presence through the Force as the beings began to comply. Her eyes watched warily for the man Kol had spotted earlier. The cutting around the door was nearing completion. Meira turned, the hilt of her lightsaber leaping from her belt to her hand but not yet igniting.

[Ghostie]

“This is your…” -bzzt- “... captain speaking. We’ve experienced a colli -” -bzzzzzzt-

The man barely got the words out, before the transmission was cut off and nothing but the buzz of static was left. Kol was sure that no one had actually subdued or harmed the pilot or co-pilot; the Jedi hadn’t sensed any death or violence yet. But the tell-tale metallic thunk on the ship’s hull had sounded like they made physical contact with another ship. And that meant that there was more than likely a signal jammer blocking all communication. Which also meant that the only help arriving for this transport was Kol and Meira.

“Kol, where did he go?”

“I don’t know, I don’t see him.”

Kol’s voice was even and calm as he made himself heard over the din of chaos and confusion that was quickly befalling the passenger cabin. The Jedi scanned the area, trying to get his bearings. But that task was made even more difficult when the lights flickered, and the emergency lighting bathed everyone in a dim, red hue. There were a few screams, but they were as short as the length of the darkness. Still, it seemed that the man had used the momentary lapse of darkness to slip away. Whoever he was, he was quick.

But as orange-red sparks started to fly from the outline of the entrance way on the side of the transport, Kol figured the pair had bigger things to worry about than one man. Meira quickly took control on the situation, guiding the passengers to the back of the cabin and away from whoever was about to board their ship. Kol uses the moment that his fellow Jedi did this to reach out with the Force and look for that same focused, sinister presence from before. Amid all the confusion and worry, the man wasn’t hard to find. But there were more like him on the other side of the airlock. Warriors, meaning ill-will. Focused on the Jedi.

This wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“He went towards the bridge. Get after him.” Kol spoke towards one of the armed guards, who hurried off as the other helped move the rest of the passengers to the rear of the cabin. As the first did as he was told, the Jedi directed his attention to the other man. “Stay down with the passengers, and do what you can to keep them safe. We’ll deal with this.”

It wasn’t long at all before all the passengers were huddled in the back of the seating area with the guard, peering around seats and such as parents clutched their children, each and every one with a worried look across their face. The plasma torch had almost finished it’s cut across the airlock, as the sparks reached their origin from the other side. Kol had circled around to the other side of the entryway, opposite of Meira so that they could catch the intruders on either side. When the plasma torch finally stopped, he took up his lightsaber, holding it in one hand, unignited.

“They're all focused on us... Ready?”

He glanced at Meira, but just as the words left Kol’s mouth, the airlock fell away from the bulkhead with a heavy, metal thud, revealing two armored warriors in the other side. Mandalorians. Or at least, Kol assumed Mandalorians. And given the design of their armor, it was a safe bet. One was female in orange armor, totting a large blaster carbine among other weaponry. The other was male, with a large blade in hand and blue armor strapped across his body. Everything stopped for a moment as the Mandalorians seemed to take stock of the situation, and silence fell across the cabin.

<<Get back on your ship, warriors. There’s nothing for you here.>>

The stern words of mando’a from Kol seemed to not register with the warriors. Or they registered, and they just didn’t care. Or they were surprised that a Jedi knew they language. Either way, the only answer the Jedi received was the two looking at each other for a moment, and the woman raising her blaster to fire off a few rounds in his direction. Kol’s green lightsaber sprang to life, and he took great care to not damage the hull of the transport as he defended himself from the fusillade.

[Meira]

"...Ready?"

Meira nodded, but Kol probably never saw it. The airlock door fell inward and their attackers came into view. There was a brief moment of hesitation as they took in their surroundings. They were quickly recognized as Mandalorians, boy their armor. Probably companions of the one that had gotten away from them planetside. Kol spoke to them, and though Meira could not understand his words, she coudl understand the meaning well enough.

Not heeding Kol's warning, the female Mandalorian opened fire on him. Meira's violet blade sprang to life at the same time as Kol's, but rather than deflecting blaster shots, hers was engaged by the male's own blade. She was surprised, but only for a moment, when the male's weapon was not instantly severed by her own. The Mandalorians were known for their lightsaber resistant metal. Gritting her teeth, Meira pushed back against the man's sword, using a bit of the Force to augment her strength. But the man was stronger than she anticipated. Meira found herself having to disengage.

Spinning, she let the man's weight push him forward as she moved sideways. He stumbled a step, but recovered quickly. Whirling around, he faced her again, blade held ready. Meira watched him, looking for some sign of his intentions, but unable to read much from him hidden behind his armor as he was. Through he Force, she could feel his intention, simple and predatory. News of the new Mandalore had spread across the galaxy, and the Jedi had taken particular note of his declaration of their "right" to hunt force users. The Jedi had treated that declaration with the proper amount of caution, and so their casualties had not been so terrible as they might have been. She could feel that these beings sought to claim glory in slaying the Jedi. Every muscle in this man's body was coiled in that anticipation, that desire. An instant before his charge, Meira sensed his intention and she stepped back and to her left, narrowly avoiding his blade and bringing her own across the man's midsection. Sparks flew as the Mandalorian armor resisted her blade. Any other foe would be dead, but this man merely had a scorch mark. Meira sighed as she felt the man's mirth through the Force. He was enjoying this.

"You'll have to do better than that, Jetii" the man chuckled.

As the Jedi were engaged by his vode, the hidden Mandalorian quickly dashed through the breached airlock, finding his armor ready for him on the other side. Dawning it with the practiced speed of a seasoned warrior, the man unsheathed his sword and returned to join the hunt. He saw, as he moved through the airlock, that Jesker had the female Jedi's full attention, and so he moved to where Sereen held the other at bay with her barrages of blaster fire. With a growl, he pointed his blade toward the man, his hand touching Sereen's shoulder to stop her.

"I'll take him." he said to her in their native tongue. "You make sure the passengers don't get any heroic ideas."

[Ghostie]

A green blade of energy whirred around Kol as the barrage of blaster bolts tried ever so desperately to slam into their intended target. But the Jedi Master would have none of it. Deflecting the lasers was the easy part. Ensuring that they did as little damage as possible to the transport and the cowering passengers was another matter entirely. Kol couldn’t redirect the blasts into the durasteel walls, ceiling, or floor panels. They could hit a critical ship system, or worse yet, puncture the hull. A sudden loss of cabin pressure while in the cold vacuum of Space would most certainly end his trip back to Coruscant in a hurry.

Instead, Kol redirected the crimson bolts back towards his attacker, the female in orange armor. She took one harmlessly in the shoulder, and a second to the opposite side of her chest. But after sustaining a prolonged burst of her own blasts turning back to face their owner, the woman started to stagger back some, and took cover in the airlock. The firing stopped for a quick moment, when Kol had the chance to glance around and find his companion, Meira. Her melee with the other Mandalorian seemed to be in a stalemate, but before Kol could find the best way to intercede, the orange-clad warrior slapped a power pack back into her carbine, and fired on Kol once again.

Avoiding direct fire into the airlock, once again to avoid the chance of rapid depressurization, Kol picked a certain row close to the entryway and decided to deflect the bolts into the chairs there. Harmless puffs of stuffing chased the sounds of ripping and zipping sounds as the blasts torn into the furniture. If they got out of this without harm, he’d give up his own seat to whatever unlucky patron had this row to sit in. The destruction of the transport’s seating didn’t last long, however, as the third Mandalorian finally appeared. The Jedi Master watched though the sustained blasts and whirring green energy as he quickly donned his armor, and made straight for Kol.

For as much as Kol had grown to detest violence on any level after the War’s end, he was quick to give into the fray, and was not one to be caught flat footed. He took a few quick steps towards the airlock, meeting the new Mandalorian in his grey and blue armor in the middle of the transport. Kol had fought more than a few Mandalorians before. He briefly remembered for when they had come for Master Talzuk’s place on Concord Dawn, before his green lightsaber met the overly-long beskad in a shower of superheated sparks. The two exchanged an assortment of heavy, two-handed blows, Kol’s height and reach matching the man’s impenetrable armor.

Not completely impenetrable, mind you. One just had to look for the cracks. The weak points. An old scar that someone had tried to patch. Exposed extremities or joints. And, as gruesome as it could be, the T-shaped visor was one of the biggest flaws. Barring that, however, when one engaged a Mandalorian, they had to treat it as if they were engaging a well trained Force-user, who simply wasn’t using the Force. Their swords and armor were quite adept at taking blows from a lightsaber, and living to fight another day. Kol slowly circled his opponent, so that the two Jedi were now back-to-back. Catching a lucky blow, the Jedi Master severed a few fingers from the grey clad warrior, who proceeded to howl in pain and drop his sword. The Mandalorian scrambled for a blaster pistol at his side, but in his anguish, he was too slow for Kol.

“Meira, duck!”

The Jedi Master had used the momentary lapse in their melee to tug the bench of seats he had ruined just a few moments before free from the floor panels with an proper application of Force energy and a wave of his hand. Once it had been freed, Kol pulled it rocketing towards where the two Mandalorians and two Jedi stood, in essentially something of a line. Crouching at just the right moment as it passed overhead, Kol sprung back up as the bench passed, taking up a steady Djem So guard, and scanning for what happened to the Mandalorians.

[Meira]

The Mandalorian closed again, his blade whipping around as he moved. He feinted to Meira's right, but reversed his direction at the last moment, bringing his blade to sweep sideways at her from the left. the violet light of her lightsaber swept across Meira's form as the blade whirred and she moved to block. It flashed as she absorbed the impact of the man's powerful blow and a screeching sound like nails drawn against a surface was emitted as the two weapons pressed against each other. The Mandalorian leaned his weight in, trying to use it and his height to overwhelm Meira. But her strength was bolstered by a reserve he could not fathom.

Setting her jaw, Meira breathed in deep, calling on the power of the force to aid her body. In a moment, she had stopped his slow push. Then, with an exhale of breath, the force she'd collected was sent back outward, pushing the man back and allowing her to disengage her blade from his while he flailed to keep his feet. Pressing forward, Meira made several sweeps with her lightsaber, aiming for the man's legs and arms. He blocked most, but one caught his shin guard and glanced off and the last found a seem in the elbow of his armor and cut through, severing his forearm. He cried out and Meira stayed her blade for a moment to see if he would yield.

“Meira, duck!”

Without hesitation, Meira dropped to the ground, extinguishing her blade in the moment as the bench Kol was controlling sped through the air. Its edge caught the man she'd been fighting right at the back of his neck. She saw his head snap backward and then bounce forward again as the bench tumbled over him, then herself and Kol, and landed on the other Mandalorian male. As Kol jumped up, Meira moved to the man she'd been fighting. She could sense that he was still breathing, but his severed limb and possible broken neck would mean he was out of the fight. She could see the other Mandalorian male's arm sticking out from beneath the bench, the sword he'd been holding lying just out of reach. He wasn't moving either, but Meira sensed he was still alive. That just left...

"Drop your weapons!"

Meira's head whipped around to see that the female Mandalorian had grabbed one of the passengers, a young Rodian woman, and was holding her blaster to the captive's head. Meira began to stand slowly, her arms out to her sides, not wanting to startle the woman with any sudden movements.

"I said DROP THEM!" the woman shouted again.

Meira glanced at Kol, and then slowly lowered down to place her lightsaber on the floor of the ship. "Please," she said, infusing her voice with calm through the force, "there is no need to harm this woman. We are the ones you came for. Let her go."

[Ghostie]

There was only one Mandalorian left. The woman, who had been all but forgotten about in Kol and Meira’s scuffle with the two wielding beskads. Her orange armor, in a more modern design and style, gave no clues or tones as to her thoughts or actions. The blaster pistol she held to a passenger’s head, a female Rodian who’s bug-like eyes might as well be bulging from their sockets in disbelief at the whole situation, told the Jedi everything they needed to know, however. Out of the corner of his eye, Kol could see Meira glance up at him, as she slowly set her own weapon on the floor.

Kol was much more hesitant himself. His face turned into a grimace as he had an intense stare down with the Mandalorian’s T-shaped visor set in her helmet. But after a few brief seconds were not a soul made a sound or moved, the Jedi shut off his lightsaber and tossed it away, listening to it clatter against the floor panels of the transport. Kol knew it wasn’t a sign of giving up, not to him or his companion, but that it was simply going to make sure the warrior’s hostage was going to remain safe, for the moment.

Letting Meira speak to the Mandalorian, Kol suggested in the Force that she should be ready to act. They hadn’t used the Force to bond on this trip, and they had only just met. However, they had communicated through the mystical energy field enough in the past day or so that Kol assumed that the woman would understand what he was trying to imply. Still glowering at the Mandalorian, Kol spoke up at the right moment. He was trying to catch the warrior off-guard, and unbalance her. It would make his idea quite a bit more easy if he did so. The Jedi let a little annoyance and anger slip into his words; not real emotions, as he knew everyone on the transport but the Mandalorians would have a happy ending. But the emotions simply sold what Kol was trying to sell.

“We are the ones you came for. Let her go."

“She’s not going to let her go, because she’s not really mando’ad.”

“AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF IT, JETII?!”

The woman’s grip around the Rodian tightened, and her blaster pistol dug a bit more into her head.

<<I know your language…>>

Kol slipped easily from Basic to Mando’a, his tone staying steady as he picked up a slight air of surprise from the warrior, which quickly dissipated. The Jedi took one slow step towards the Mandalorian, hardly noticed past the tension that hung thickly in the passenger’s cabin.

<<... I know your ideals. Your culture. And I know you have no honor if you can’t save yourself from your own mess. You’re a coward if - >>

That did it. As Kol had spoke, he had taken deliberate, slow steps towards the woman, keeping her attention the whole time. His lightsaber hilt had bumped against the side of his foot when he had stopped. And with the words of ‘coward’ being directed at the Mandalorian warrior, she swung her pistol from the Rodian, to straight at Kol’s chest. In an instant, the Jedi reached out both of his hands, both calling on the Force. His left hand yanked the blaster pistol from the Mandalorian towards Kol, while his right called up his lightsaber. Kol’s lightsaber reached it’s owner first, and the Jedi activated the green blade and cut upwards and towards the ceiling as the Mandalorian’s blaster pistol came only seconds after, the green blade slicing it into two smoking pieces. Looking back around from where the weapon went flying towards the other end of the cabin, Kol was ready to pounce.

[Meira]

There was a tense moment of time between when Meira set down her lightsaber and when Kol deactivated his and tossed it aside. Even Meira was unsure, in that moment, what Kol might do. That is, until she felt the tingle in the back of her mind that signaled communication through the Force. A stronger bond would have allowed for a clearer message, but the two simply hadn't had the time -or the need, really- to forge such a bond on their mission. But the connection they had built was adequate to convey the message. Be ready.

Without that foreknowledge, Meira might have been surprised at the way Kol reacted to the last Mandalorian. She might even have been deeply concerned by the apparent anger and hostility in his voice. As it was, Meira knew that whatever Kol was doing, he was doing it for a purpose. He was putting on a show specifically for this woman. As the two spoke in the Mandalorian tongue, Meira began to form something of an understanding. Kol obviously had experience with such people. His ploy was to appeal to something in their culture. She knew that Mandalorians supposedly placed a great importance on honor, especially in combat. Perhaps he was attempting to appeal to that?

Kol stepped forward slowly. As he held all of the Mandalorian woman's attention now, Meira was able to move in tandem with her companion. As he approached, she circled around. As he held the warrior's attention, Meira gained the Rodian woman's attention. With their eyes locked on each other, Meira exuded all the calm that she could toward the other woman. She would not allow Kol's maneuvering to be hindered by a panicked hostage. Then, something Kol said caused the Mandalorian to move the blaster pistol away from the Rodian. In that instant, both Jedi reacted. While Kol called the blaster and his lightsaber using the Force, Meira performed a similar maneuver. Her targets, however, were the hostage and her own lightsaber. Because of where she'd moved, the Rodian reached her before her weapon. In a smooth motion, Meira was able to pull the Rodian from the Mandalorian's grip and move herself between the hostage and the warrior. An instant later, her lightsaber was in her hand once again and Meira held it at the ready but did not ignite it.

The Mandalorian was entirely surprised as the blaster seemed to leap from her hand toward the large Jedi. At the same moment, it was as if her hostage had moved through her grip like a ghost and was instantly behind the smaller Jedi. She had frozen as these things happened, her mind unable to give commands to her body as she tried to process it all. But when it did hit her, she knew that she'd failed. And failure was simply not an option. As her blaster was cleaved, she reached to her belt where a thermal detonator waited.

In a flash of violet light that passed so quickly she might have only imagined it, the Mandalorian woman's hand was severed from her arm. There was a brief moment of complete silence, and then the pain washed over the woman. She gripped the stump of her arm and screamed, dropping to her knees. As she did so, Meira plucked the inactive thermal detonator away from the woman's belt as she extinguished her lightsaber. Knowing that Kol was ready to deal with the now subdued warrior, Meira turned back toward the Rodian.

"You are safe now." she said, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. Her eyes turned toward where the other passengers had been huddling behind benches. "It's over." she said, raising her voice.

[Ghostie]

Meira picked up on Kol’s plan well, for the soonest that the Mandalorian woman was free of her blaster, Kol’s fellow Jedi sprung with her own lightsaber and freed the warrior’s hostage. Things seemed to free for a half-minute after that. Kol could feel the woman’s confusion as to how she had lost both her weapon and her hostage in the span on an eye blink, yet, her helmeted face showed no emotion, as normal for a Mandalorian. Then she pulled an item from her belt. An item that made Kol’s heart leap into his throat. A thermal detonator. If she set that off, the entire transport would be destroyed. But the Jedi Master didn’t get to finish this train of thought as a purple blade snatched the woman’s hand away just as quickly as it had produced the explosive, The Mandalorian fell to the ground, holding her now stump of an arm, and Kol returned his lightsaber to his belt. Looking at Meira, he nodded.

“Nice job.”

---

It took a whole fifteen minutes after the fight had ended for CorSec to show up and board the transport. Kol and Meira worked with the authorities, and explained the situation, which was collaborated by the passengers and staff, all of which had fallen to no harm. The Mandalorians, for their part, had not been killed. They had been maimed, and the pair that had been hit with the bench had a few broken bones and were unconscious when the authorities arrived, but all were going to jail and not the morgue. Everyone else was transported to a different ship, and those that had paid for their fare, which excluded Kol and Meira, had their money refunded and then some. Truth be told, a very volatile situation had turned out the absolutely best that it could.

But Kol didn’t feel victorious. He knew what a victory felt like, and this wasn’t it. When he had won a battle in the War, there was a sense of accomplishment. Of being proud of his troops and their valiant efforts. Of knowing that they were fighting for everything good in the Galaxy, and that their sacrifices were finally rewarded. There was a sense of relief, that they had a moment to breathe and regroup while the enemy retreated. While Kol and Meira may have come out on top during their little skirmish on the transport, there was no sense of relief in Kol’s heart. He had been quiet while they were seated in a new ship, and after the authorities had left, and everything from the past few days mulled over in his mind.

Something that Senator Breen had said stuck with Kol, and the way that he had treated the two Jedi Masters as they worked their way into his security detail. Jedi were not thought of as the protectors of peace and justice that they once were. Instead of being met with smiles and waves, they were met with just as many scowls as well now. They were no longer protectors, but warriors, like the Mandalorians. Generals and soldiers. Where Jedi went, people usually died. Kol and Meira had been lucky that had not been the case this time, but as the Jedi Master spied the Rodian across the transport who had been used as a hostage, he recognized that things could have gone very differently.

Standing at the vending machine as it slowly lowered the pair of drinks that Kol had ordered, he had offered to buy this time, since Meira had done so on the flight in. But he was distracted, hardly paying attention when one of the cans had become stuck. The Jedi could not be stuck in a War that was over. Yes, they must always be ready for the Sith, and the Mandalorians. But they could not forget about the average citizens, either. They could not become like the Sith, who lauded their powers over the beings who lived in their Empire, and were despised for it. On an off-subject thought, Kol randomly wondered if Keres was like those Sith he had heard about, pushing the commoner out of the way just because they could not use the Force.

Snapped from his thoughts by the lurch of the ship finally going into hyperspace, Kol used the Force to retrieve the canned beverage from the vending machine, and slowly marched back to where he was sitting with Meira. He was tired, but he knew that sleeping was going to be a rare thing for him on their trip back to Coruscant.