Of Geese and Gundarks

[Mara]

((Apologies in advance for any phantom pain other males may experience reading this...
Also, please don't hurt Ean too badly, though you will probably just damage his ego, most of all, haha. )


He stood there as the other man finally turned his gaze upwards towards him. If he thought Ean was going to be surprised about the man's white eyes, he was dead wrong. The bounty hunter was used to staring up at many faces, and this one was the least of the strangest ones he had encountered in his life. So they were white. So what?

But then Ean's eyes narrowed even further as Sam interrupted his conversation with her companion. He wanted to chastise her for the possibility of compromising their mission. He wanted to tell her that who she talked to was his business. He wanted to tell her that if she actually was trying to help, she could have just taken this mystery man over to his table and had a civil conversation, instead of having him confront them like this.

But all those got shoved aside, and he said the first thing that came to his mind as he held up a hand, not taking his eyes off the white ones starting back at his brown. "Wasn't talking to you, Red." He didn't care if his statement for her to, effectively, shut up made the woman mad. Ean was talking to this stranger and before he would 'settle down,' he wanted to find out just who this man was and why he was with Sam.

At a small movement behind the two of them, Ean glanced quickly to the side and saw that the man had moved his cylinder to the table. With that quick look, he still wasn't sure if it was a detonator or bomb or some kind. What he was sure of was that the man meant it as a subtle threat. Ean grinned back at the man sitting down by Sam, and it was not meant to be a grin caused by happiness. No, it was more of a feral grin.

As the other man stood up and came towards him, Ean moved his arms, now crossing them in front of his chest instead of posing them on his hips. He was intrigued by this man now. His movements were classic intimidation techniques, something that the Corellian had seen a lot of in his day. And most of the time the beings showing it to him didn't live. Was this man trying to be so obvious?

This stranger wanted him to calm down? Ha! Before he got hurt? Ha! He was the one interfering into his and Sam's business. He was the one jumping up from the table and coming to stand head to head with the bounty hunter. Perhaps Sam hadn't told the man his name; even if his face wasn't recognizable, his name should have been. Apparently he was now so famous that even the Republic military knew of him. Perhaps this scum of a man didn't pay attention to any newsvids.

Ean didn't know why, but this man was beginning to grate on him. He had already been angry at finding Sam sitting with the stranger, but this silly intimidation tactic was just one of the last straws. The fact that he had pressed himself against Ean didn't bother him exactly; he had just pressed back with his full weight. For a big man, he could be pretty balanced on his feet when he needed to.

Again, Ean wondered who this man thought he was, trying to stand up to an infamous bounty hunter. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he stood there, staring up at the man's white eyes, forcing himself not to cause a ruckus in the cantina. But it was too late. His ire was already to the boiling point and the only thing that would make it better was to release it. And Ean did so in the first way he thought of.

"I'm wondering..." Still staring with his narrowed brown eyes, Ean shifted his right leg slightly and then jerked upwards with his knee into the taller man's groin. Hard. "Are your balls as durasteel as you seem to think they are?" Anticipating the moment he thought the man would double over in pain--what man wouldn't?--he took a couple steps to the side, closer to the table.

There he got a better look at the cylinder the other man had left on the table. It vaguely looked like some kind of detonator with various marks and depressions in it. Even a couple of things that looked like buttons. Ean picked it up from the table to get a better look. Thinking he would make things a little more stressful by initiating some kind of timing sequence for the device--make the man sweat a bit if he thought it would explode in a few minutes--Ean depressed one of the buttons.

To his surprise, a blade of blue shot out from one side of the device, instead of a timer like he had thought. Luckily for all in the vicinity, the blade had ignited far from Sam, Ean or anyone else nearby. It hummed there, almost vertically a few inches from Ean's face. He pressed the same button, deactivating the lightsaber and then glanced in the direction of the stranger.

Things just got more complicated for his job.

[Dire Wolf]

((tehehe, you've inspired my inner Ryn))

Ryn had gotten chesty with the man, yes. It was more or less instinctual for the young ex-Jedi to get close and try to use his large height to intimidate the man. But Ryn was obviously not one for intimidation, despite his height and weight. He skimmed the surface thoughts of the man who he looked down on, apparently he was planning on executing a hard knee to the genitals. While this was a rather... unsporting... tactic, Ryn couldn't blame him for it. Dirty tactics where Ryn's forte... despite the fact that his persona proved otherwise.

Two hands shot down to protect the vital area in between the two muscular legs a mere instant before the man's knee jerked upwards. Luckily they managed to stop a good portion of the damage, though it still hit hard enough to solicit a grunt from the man's form. The strike wasn't enough to force the ex-Jedi to buckle and double over, but he did anyways... he was just selling the deception.

The Jedi sunk to his hands and knees at the “magnitude” of the blow as the man picked up Ryn's lightsaber. This wouldn't matter much... taking the weapon away from the obviously simple minded non-force sensitive man would be fairly easy. And that would be overstating the situation. The man formulated a plan as he “recovered” from the strike that he had more or less blocked... then put it into motion a few moments later.

An invisible hand sprung out and grabbed a hold of the lightsaber, which had since been deactivated, but did not pull just yet. A spectral storm began to whip around the man's body as he called all the Force energy he could to his person, and an invisible wind began to whip at Ryn's clothes. Once he deigned himself to be ready, he called the entire contained fury of the maelstrom into a single infinitesimal point on his right palm.

“I don't know who you are,” less than a moment later he thrust out the said palm towards the man and released the wrath of the contained maelstrom. “But you messed with the wrong man.”

The infinitesimally small point on his hand ruptured. It unleashed a massive directed telekinetic wave of the Force towards the man who stood before him. The power that had been directed towards the man was like a tsunami crashing down on a lone tree on the beach... and unless he had a very good reason, ie: good with the Force, it was very likely that he would be swept up with the wave. Ryn clenched the telekinetic fist around his lightsaber and attempted to yank it out of the big man's grasp just as the charged Force push would have reached him.

Even if he didn't have enough power to bring the lightsaber back to his grasp (due to the massive push), surely the combined forces of the push on his body and the pull would wrench the damned saber out of his grasp. He slowly rose to his feet, moving to pick up the lightsaber if Ean dropped it, and held out a hand to Sam.

“I doubt that he will be very pleased with you after this turn of events. He may decide that you are more trouble than your worth. I can't have that. Lets go... my ship isn't far off.”

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

“Wasn’t talking to you, Red”

Oh she was about to kill him…unfortunately, things just…weren’t gonna work out that way for Sam today. A series of events had already begun to unfold, and knowing just who, and what, Ryn was, she wasn’t about to go jumping into the middle of it. She watched with slightly widened grey eyes as Ean eyed the lightsaber, and STILL didn’t back down. Was this guy INSANE? Anyone who knew anything about the universe at least vaguely knew what a jedi weapon looked like…it was standard history! Well, at least SHE thought it was standard history…then again, Sam never really had any formal schooling, it was all taught to her by her father from whatever lessons and standard books he could get from the Republic open databanks. Those lessons had shown what a lightsaber hilt looked like, so certainly everyone else should have known as well, right?

The two postured, intimidated, fluffed themselves up…if they’d been doing this over her affection and not Ean’s damn job (and had a lot of feathers), she’d have sworn them to be two peacocks strutting about…or perhaps two rams getting ready to spar for her as a mate. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the notion, and the images it brought up in her mind’s eye. Her humor was swiftly erased by Ean’s voice.

“Are your balls as durasteel as you seem to think they are?”

Her face was a portrait of shock. Jedi or not, Ryn was still human (at least he was human as far as she knew), and to threaten something like that…then Ean followed through. She’d not noticed Ryn’s swift movement to protect himself, all she saw was the movement of Ean’s knee, the grunt from Ryn and him doubling up before hitting the ground. Ean, the idiot oaf, was already moving and had grabbed the lightsaber. She tensed and sat up, ignoring the fact that the bustle of the cantina had died into silence.

Ean don’t! That’s…!

It was too late, the bright blue blade had made its appearance into the world and Sam pressed both hands over her mouth as the cantina burst into a commotion just as the saber was deactivated again.

…Oh…kriffing…hell…

Sam didn’t curse.

She didn’t like to curse, she wasn’t fond of swearing, she found it unnecessary. Many people thought in terms of “this is cursed, that is cursed”…they just weren’t happy without a good curse and it bothered her more often than not…but this moment deserved a good curse. By this time Ryn was up, and his clothing fluttered in a wind that she couldn’t feel…it made all her hairs stand on end as she watched.

“I don’t know who you are…”

With a shove of his hand outward, the bounty hunter (along with quite a few tables and various other unsavory characters behind him) found themselves in the midst of some sort of ripple of energy that swept them backward. Ean, given his bulk and involvement in the argument, managed to put up a good fight against the wave, but the tables and those who were behind him stood no chance and were blow over, tumbling along the floor to the wall or into other tables or people.

“But you messed with the wrong man.”

Oh great Goddess of all…Ryn.

"I doubt that he will be very pleased with you after this turn of events. He may decide that you are more trouble than you’re worth. I can’t have that. Let’s go…my ship isn’t far off."

The former jedi held out a hand to her, speaking above the noise level of the scattering cantina occupants. Sith troops were beginning to enter the cantina and Sam’s eyes widened a bit, then she looked back at the man holding his hand out to her.

Dammit…I made him a promise…

A moment of hesitation, she glanced past Ryn to Ean who had blaster in hand, then from him to the sith troops. Ryn wouldn’t hurt her, and he didn’t want her hurt…he was the safe bet. If Ean got hold of her again, who knew what he’d do to her…and the Sith…technically she was still part of the Republic.

--I’m so sorry daddy…I’m breakin’ another promise.--

Looking up at Ryn from out of baleful grey eyes, she held her hand up. Another hesitation as her eyes flickered toward Ean, then she settled her smaller one into his, giving him an “I trust you” look. Pulling his coat from off of her legs, she stood on the seat of the booth and darted out of it. Hitting the floor close beside him, she glanced around them.

I hope you can get us out of here fast, Ryn…Ean’s pissed, and there’s only gonna be more of these Sith soldiers coming. –and I don’t want to find out if they’ll pin me as Republic or not--

[Mara]

((Hoping I understand what Ryn was doing to Ean correctly...))


Ean was still looking over the other man, who he now realized was some sort of Jedi, when he was jolted out of his thoughts by a sudden wind storm. A storm inside the cantina? The bounty hunter almost at once figured it had to be coming from the Jedi now standing in front of him, recovered from the low-balled attack Ean had subjected him to.

Ah, Jedi. Those silly sorcerers were always waving their hands around or playing with their pretty little light swords. Yeah, he had seem a few Jedi in his day, but none had a lightsaber in the form he was holding in his hand. The ones he had seen were much shorter and didn't seem to have as many buttons. If it weren't for the blue blade, Ean would have thought this man to be Sith, not Jedi.

There had even been a couple who earned the man's respect, but most of the Jedi he had encountered just stood around with their arms up their sleeves, wasting time being diplomatic while people were dying around them. In Ean's point of view, Jedi were a waste of their special powers. They could control this amazing field of energy, but most of the time they just sat around, discussing things.

However, the man standing in front of him didn't seem to keen on... discussion. The strange maelstrom seemed to be mostly contained around the tall human, whipping around his clothes, until the wind, for some reason Ean thought he could see it, though he knew wind was basically invisible to the eye--another Jedi trick, no doubt--seemed to shrink on itself, folding up until it resembled a sort of ball near the man's hand.

Not knowing what was coming, Ean still coiled his muscles, ready to move in any direction if he had to. He didn't even think about going for his blaster, not yet. If this Jedi was as powerful as Jedi were supposed to be, the bolts would be useless against the Force-wielder. And he was too busy trying to anticipate the taller man's moves that he didn't even think to aim his weapon at Sam, to try to stop the incoming energy blast.

The wrong man? Ean almost smirked at the thought. This Jedi thought Ean was messing with the wrong man? He was mistaken. He didn't know that he was a bounty hunter to be reckoned with. The Corellian may not have the Force, but he had a score of weapons and allies he could call upon at any time. What was the Force against dozens of opponents?

Ean really wanted to laugh at the stupid man. Offer up some kind of countering taunt after what he had said to Ean. Up until the point where the energy ball slammed into his chest. With a short grunt, Ean felt the blow with his entire being, forgetting any taunts he had thought of. At the same time, he felt his hand jerk. Ean hadn't been holding the weapon very tightly, and so it left his grip easily. He wouldn't waste any of his own energy in trying to keep the lightsaber in his possession. It would just make the Jedi angrier, plus Ean had no use for one.

With his strength he managed to stay on his feet for two seconds before being swept backwards. He didn't know where he was going, but it would be a long ride through the air, he knew. Moments later, he slammed into now-vacated tables, landing straight-on one of them and snapping the cheaply made piece into shrapnel. The weight of his body and of the Force blow making quick work of the table.

Quickly Ean picked himself up off the splinter-covered cantina floor where he had landed a few meters from where he had been previously standing. His hand immediately went to his blaster, a finger flicking it to the 'kill' setting. He knew he wouldn't down the Jedi, but at the moment he was angry enough that it would help him blow off some steam. Well, just a little of it. And perhaps it would give the Jedi a little pause.

Something that gave Ean pause wasn't seeing the Jedi hold his hand out to Sam. No, he had noticed the Sith soldiers entering the cantina, no doubt due to the owner's meddling in the affairs of his patrons. No matter. He didn't have to worry. He was only a bounty hunter and had the papers and I.D. to prove it. However, he was worried about Sam. Even with her fake identification, if she was captured, he wasn't sure how long she would be able to lie against Sith interrogation. He needed to get her back. And away from that Jedi. Preferably still in one piece. Not only was she one of his few connections to finding the major but he had found himself growing fond of the woman's snarky but personable company. A thought he didn't have any more time to dwell on at the moment.

He lifted up the blaster and aimed it at the Jedi. Over the commotion of the quickly emptying room, he didn't catch what Ean now considered some sort of traitorous Jedi--even the poor excuses of Jedi Ean had seen never attacked defenseless civilians--was saying to Sam. But he did catch the redhead glancing his way for the briefest moment before she broke the look to gaze around the cantina again. She had probably also noticed the Sith troopers, and for the first time Ean wondered if he had done the right thing in taking the secretary with him.

But it was too late now. He had gotten her into this mess, and he would do everything in his power to get her out of it. It was the least he could do. And afterwards, if she no longer wanted to help him, he would be okay with it. Just send her back to Coruscant with the key code to his storage locker with her things inside. Including some jacket she was apparently very attached to.

Ean saw Sam moving now, getting out of the booth and joining the Jedi in the now mostly empty cantina. Without paying careful attention--except for purposely missing hitting the redhead--Ean fired his blaster at the Jedi. Emptying half a clip on him before moving forward. He had a moment's thought of getting to the troopers, acting the victim, the concerned citizen, telling them about the rogue Jedi. Perhaps he could get the tall man arrested and then he would have Sam back, quick as that.

But something told him it wouldn't be as simple as that.

He aimed his blaster again, his other hand already going to a pocket for another powerpack for his blaster. If he could just stall them a bit longer...




((Bah, sucky ending, but I didn't want to continue too much more; need to let ya respond.))

[Dire Wolf]

((>_< my bad, I just have an eccentric way of describing a charged up Force Push, which was what that was. Also: Sorry... I thought it was Tal's turn. >_<))

A sigh of relief pushed itself out of Ryn's throat as her smaller hand settled into his larger one, a small part of him believed that she'd stay with that insufferable bounty hunter. He would hate for that “hunter” to do something on his account, especially if all that he was trying to do was help her.
He looked at the Soldiers (who were digging in and saying things like “hands up, get down on the ground”), then to Ean (who was just getting up), then to Sam... who was now on the floor behind him, then finally to his lightsaber. An incorporeal hand clasped its fingers around the pommel of the little cylinder and yanked it into Ryn's corporeal grasp.

Two lines of plasma sprang out from the metallic hilt and moved to deflect the incoming blaster bolts away with relative ease. He redirected each one to hit either the floor infront of him or the ceiling above, he had to be careful about where he deflected them... hurting the innocent civilians any more than he already did was unacceptable. Then Ean opened up on him. He truly was an idiot. A satisfied smirk crossed Ryn's face as he repositioned his opposing blades to greet each of the bolts. Which he managed to deflect back without hitting any of the civilians, there were more than a few near misses, but no hits.

It seemed that the Sith troopers didnt take kindly to the tall man deflecting blaster bolts back to their source or into the ground, and almost instantly unleashed a flurry of multicolored blaster bolts into the Jedi. He began to whirl the staff around in concentric vertical circles around the front of his body to protect him from the bolts. The man allowed some to pass, though they were only the ones that wouldn't harm anyone.

Then a bolt slipped past his defenses and slammed into his shoulder. That threw his eccentric and whirling defense off enough for another bolt to hit his leg. It was at that point that he decided enough was enough, and drew the Force into his body. After a few brief moments he threw out an open palm and yanked it back towards him, slowly closing his fist along the way. The wave of the Force towards him was more than powerful enough to yank the blasters out of the troopers hand.

After a few brief moments of simply standing there, his body hunched over and lightsaber in a position to easily defend himself and those around him, staring at the iron-clad troopers. He slowly shook his head then turned his attention back to Sam. There was no way to escape this without getting her hurt, or himself killed. He looked over to the wall beside him, which was a window... there. That was the way that he'd get Sam out of danger.

The twin blades mournfully sheathed themselves as he clipped the saber to his belt and wrapped his arms around Sam's abdomen. Then he coiled up his legs and sprang them outwards, leaping towards the window at a tremendous speed due to the Force assisting his actions. Ryn clenched his jaw as he smashed through the thick window, the shards of glass eviscerating his skin and grey-black shirt along the way, and flew out into the deathly cold of Mygeeto. Ryn made a loud huff as the air was forced itself out of his body by the weight of Sam slamming down into his body, which slammed into the permafrost.

Ryn hooked one arm underneath her knees and positioned another so that it could support her back as he slid to a stop in the cold snow. The tall Jedi slowly got up from his position, still holding Sam, and looked back at the cantina. He could easily see the Sith Troopers were scrambling to get their weapons, the dozens of frightened drunkards, and even a few that were too stunned to do anything through the wall. He sighed slightly, ignoring the scraming pain that he was putting his shoulder though to keep Sam aloft, and took off towards the Sundered Star.

The Force rushed into the man's legs, allowing him to ignore the pain from the blaster shot and push the two limbs to move faster than a normal human could even hope to move. It wasn't long before the Jedi had gotten to the Star and jumped onto the still lowering entrance ramp. Once he was at the crest of the ramp he set Sam down on her feet slammed the bottom of his fist into the panel that would close the ramp. He was still panting from the strain that he just put on his body, and his voice reflected his exhaustion.

“Go... cockpit.... I... be... right... behind.... you.”

He would wait for her to disappear behind the corner before collapsing to his knees. That would be the time to show his weakness... his pain. The various wounds that he sustained from the past few months screamed out at him to do it sooner, to simply give in and pass out. His body was enervated, and it was very likely that he would slip into unconsciousness shortly after his collapse. Very likely? Heh... he would pass out after she left him.

[Mara]

((Yeah, so it's been over a month... and I want to get Ean moving on to Tatooine to visit Mr Greegar...
So, moving along...))


Though the bursts from his trusty blaster didn't get through the Jedi's defenses--he had turned on his pretty little lightsaber, blue energy coming from both ends--Ean felt that he had kept the other man distracted enough, perhaps so he could get closer to Sam. And he was getting closer to the duo. Every few moments, still firing at the Jedi, who was now facing fire from the Sith soldiers on his other side, he moved forward a couple steps. He had nothing else on his mind but to finish what he had started. He again wished that he hadn't brought the young woman into this mess. Ean had worked alone all his young but prosperous bounty hunter career. To think he needed help now was...

Ean shook his head slightly to get rid of the thoughts. He needed his concentration on other things right now. He had to think quickly before this rogue Jedi ran off with Sam. Sam, his ticket to find the major. His mind whirled around his options. It would be difficult to just rush in past the silly yet dangerous weapon of the Jedi to grab the new redhead. The Sith soldiers would be a cinch to get past but not that Jedi. He cursed himself quietly for not paying more attention in class as a child. The only maneuvers he knew were in relation to body guarding not rescuing or full-scale assaults.

He was putting a new powerpack into his blaster, when a sudden clattering gained his attention. Ean's head snapped up to see all the weapons of the Sith troopers settling on the ground before them, the Jedi waving his hand around in front of him. Ean's face hardened, and he brought his blaster up. With the Sith not firing on the two, the other man had lowered his defenses. If Ean could get in a disabling shot, he might have a chance to grab Sam before the troopers recovered their weapons.

But he was too late. In the short amount of time spent thinking about it and not doing anything, the Jedi had turned off his sparkling blue weapon and was grabbing onto Sam. Ean had to stop firing for fear of hitting the woman who had just recently been his partner. By this time the Sith soldiers were regrouping, gathering their weapons, but the Jedi had Sam and was flying through the nearest window, shattering the plasteel in every direction.

His weapon still in hand, he ran to the window, with a hard glare in his brown eyes. A rush of cold air blasted him, but Ean didn't care. This Jedi was getting more and more on his bad side, so far that he was probably on the very top, above everyone else he had ever met in his life. If he ever got his hands on that man... the Corellian's fists closed tightly just thinking about it.

The two ran off then, well, just one carrying the other, and Ean was distinctly aware of his position again. Inside a cantina with scared customers packed into a far corner, a bunch of Sith soldiers standing near the door with their guns in hand. Slowly he turned away from the window and holstered his blaster, forcing himself to breath quietly and settle his emotions. He didn't want to waste time in this establishment; he had to get after his prey.

Ean turned to face the soldiers, holding up one hand in a peaceful gesture, the other going to his pocket to gently pull out his identification. Quickly and calmly he explained his situation and status as a bounty hunter, mentioning he was currently on a bounty, gesturing to the two that had left via the window. He didn't need to mention he was currently contracted by the Republic. It was a private meeting he had had with Vinay, and the Sith wouldn't be able to prove his story wrong.

The man in charge seemed dubious, but Ean pulled out a name, someone he knew on the inside, obviously a superior of the man standing in front of him. If the soldier had any problems, he was to ask a certain Major Gabben about it all, a personal friend of Ean. Finally agreeing, the Sargent called his men together and started exiting the cantina.

Ean dusted off his clothes, setting it to rights before heading to the bar. He dropped off a pile of credchips for the damage caused by him and his... compatriots. Giving the bartender a jaunty salute and a grin, he made his way out of the bar as well, heading into the street. Heading out of one mess, and heading directly into another one, he figured. There was no way to know now where that rogue Jedi had taken Sam. Ean had no idea where the man had come from. But he headed into the biting wind and started down the street. There were a few things he could try...

* * *

On retrospect, the search would have been much easier had Ean had the Jedi's name to search the spaceport manifest with. After leaving the cantina, he had went immediately to the Trailblazer, figuring to use the ship's systems and his own personal datapad to help get Sam back. He sat in the cockpit now in the pilot's seat, fingers pushing various buttons on the console, sometimes glancing down at the datapad in his other hand.

A search for any and all Jedi coming into Mygeeto had come up empty. Ean knew it would; this Jedi was obviously not a member of any Jedi Order he knew of, acting the way he was. But he had given it a shot. With a sigh, he sat back in his seat, trying to go over the encounter with Sam and her new "friend" from an hour earlier. Trying to remember if she had introduced him or not. He closed his eyes, imagining the scene in his mind, as he had earlier during his flying lessons with Sam.

He had it... something he had heard while confronting the Jedi. He hadn't realized it until now. But Sam had called the man "Ryn." Ean wasn't sure if it was a last name or a first name; at least it was a start for his search. He narrowed his search down to ships that had arrived within 48 hours of the current time. And he had a whole score of ships still to look through, from personal yachts to huge passenger liners.

Ean sighed. He considered just calling up his soldier friend and having the major shut down the whole spaceport, not letting any ship leave while Ean knocked on every single vessel's hatch looking for Sam. But, though he had power and influence, the bounty hunter didn't have quite that much of it. He needed a new strategy.

Feeling hungry, he headed to the galley to think. He always felt better with a full stomach. Ean put the leftover stew in the processor to warm up, spreading what he knew on his figurative wall. He had a name: Ryn. He knew the man was a Jedi, at least formerly. Sam would be with him, that must he knew for certain. Ean just had to figure out whether he had come to Mygeeto on a passenger vessel or he had his own ship. Because, with the brief glance he had of the man's face before escaping through the window, he felt sure they would not be remaining on planet any longer than necessary. Despite the Jedi's bravado, he was scared of the bounty hunter. Why else would he have run like a coward?

There was a beeping, and Ean gathered his hot stew, taking it back to the table. He smiled a moment then, savoring the first bite of it. The citizens of the galaxy would be horrified to find out one of the most renowned bounty hunters was also a good cook. Ean chuckled to himself as he ate.

A moment later, full and satisfied, he came to a sudden realization: without Sam, he couldn't fly the Trailblazer. It wouldn't matter if he knew which ship they were in, even their destination. He wouldn't be able to follow. Absently he slammed a fist on the table, his dishes clattering next to him. Blast that woman! Not only had she deserted him and gone back on her promise to help him, she had left him stranded on Mygeeto, one of the last places he would choose to be unless on a mission.

He stormed back to the cockpit where he had left his datapad. Another idea was forming in his mind. An idea forged of his hate for the Jedi. And the traitorousness of Sam. No, he couldn't shut down the spaceport. But he could use his friend to get the information he needed, information he couldn't find without somehow hacking into the spaceport's information systems. Time was of the essence, and he didn't have time for such silly nonsense.

Ean grabbed his personal comlink and keyed in an encryted code. A moment later a gravely Rodian voice answered. "Ah, Grabben. It's Ean. Yes. I'm good. I have a favor to ask of you..."



[to All the Fixin's...]