Star Wars Character Cafe - Interrogated Sociopath Chapters 1

Title: Interrogated Sociopath
Author: Emimar
Characters: Flik Sivrak (OC), Shiba Black (OC), Kat Ros (OC), Riv Shiel, Azet (OC).
Era: Just after ROTJ
Rating: PG-13
Category: Action
Summary: After the events of Redemption, Flik and Shiba, taking Kat Ros with them, return to Ord Mantell seeking a pilot to help them set up the base on Uvena III. After a confrontation with Kaitlin’s parents, Kat sets off on her own to look for a pilot herself, only that’s not the only thing she finds…
Disclaimers: I have not, am not, and will not recieve any profit from the creation of this story. I do not own any of the canon Star Wars characters that feature in this story.

INTERROGATED SOCIOPATH

Now that I know you work for them,
Now that I know your life is based around such lives and corporate greed,
You only believe what you are told,
You only defend laws that are old because it’s law,
Don’t make it right

And now I’m jaded, friends turn to enemies,
All my life,
I’ve done what I’ve been asked,
So who is right?
The one behind the mask

Behind the Mask, Goldfinger

If I become what they had taught me that is wrong,
I lose allegiance to the country that I’m born,
The country that I am born,

I always knew that they would find nothing,
No weapons, just a mind of my own,
This country was built only on treason,
These homes for the slaves,
Homes for the slaves

Iron Fist, Goldfinger

CHAPTER 1

“You said, wolfman, that when you took my daughter away that she would stop living a life of crime, yet I have this,” Kaitlin’s father thrust the poster displaying his daughter’s bounty in Flik Sivrak’s face. After deciding to visit her parents on their trip to Ord Mantell, seeking a smuggler to help supply the new Ackley base on Uvena III with hardware, food and medical supplies, Flik was beginning to think stopping off at the farm belonging to Kat’s parents was a bad idea.

Azara, Kaitlin’s mother backed her husband up. “You said you’d wanted to take her away for schooling, Mr Sivrak,” she said, trying to be more respectful, as Flik and Shiba had secured the funds they needed to set up their farm again, even if it was on Ord Mantell and not their home on Chandrilla. “Yet we find our daughter is a wanted terrorist.” She used the tone of care to explain this? she used with her children.

Shiba glanced over at Flik, her gaze asking him if she should tell them the truth, but Flik shook his head negatively. He didn’t want to reveal that if they didn’t have to.

“I know that it looks dire -” Flik began, but Kat’s father’s angry outburst cut him off.

“Dire? Dire? You’ve ruined her life, wolfman.”

Flik used Jedi breathing exercises to calm himself down, lest he let his species’ natural response to such aggression take control of him. Shiba had no such compunction.

Shiba snorted, rather unlady-like. “From what I saw, Mr Ros, your daughter had already done a good job messing up her own life herself before we intervened.”

“That’s enough, Shiba,” Flik said, having regained control of himself. “Let me handle this.”

Shiba shot daggers at him – she resented it when he talked to her as he would the rest of the Ackley, instead of has his wife, but she understood the need to present a united front in front of these people, just like they’d had to when dealing with Hutts and other clients during their time as bounty hunters. That conversation would have to come later.

“I see no choice but to disown her,” Kaitlin’s father’s next announcement brought Shiba’s attention back to him.

“Andrin!” Azara said, exasperated.

“Oh do shut up woman! Do you really think I wanted to do this?” he rounded on her. “She was never content with just being a petty criminal – she’s become dangerous too. I don’t want the Empire coming here and taking away our livelihood again.”

Shiba exchanged a glance with Flik as the “enemy” fought amongst themselves. She caught a self-satisfied grin on his face that quickly evaporated before their “enemy” could notice.

“So this, this farm is more important to you than our daughter?” Azara all but screamed at him.

“We have other children, Azara. It’s them I’m thinking about. I’m doing this for Danin, Lena and Joel. Kaitlin is no longer our daughter.”

Shiba looked like she was going to deck the man, but a restraining hand on her shoulder calmed her enough to prevent that.

“I think it’s time we should tell them,” Shiba said, instead.

Flik reluctantly nodded his agreement as Andrin broke off from his heated discussion with his wife. “Tell us what, wolfman?” he asked, deliberately ignoring Shiba.

Shiba reached for the blaster that usually hung in the holster at her hip, but remembered when her fingers brushed empty air that she’d left it in the hired landspeeder they’d used to get out here. They usually used the swoop, but with the three of them, it had been more convenient to use a landspeeder than a swoop. Thinking of which, Kaitlin herself hadn’t spoken a word since greeting her parents when they first arrived.

“For the past eight months, your daughter has been a member of the Ackley, an elite group of Rebel Commandos. Since she’s been with us, I’ve taught her piloting skills and Shiba here as taught her basic medicine. As we are Rebel Commandos, we all have a bounty or death mark on our heads.”

“You think this makes things any better? Even knowing that she’s a Rebel could implicate us as well.”

Flik understood the man’s fear. Guilty by association. His entire family as far as he knew, had met their deaths at the hands of the Empire, apart from himself and his grandson, Zak, though there was a remote possibility that his niece and nephew, Nakita and Ryqik Dek were still alive, but as yet he had no proof.

He tried to put a positive note on the situation. “It is only a matter of time before the Empire is gone for good. Palpatine and Vader are both dead. Your family will one day be safe.”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want the Empire to be gone, I do, nor do I not appreciate the sacrifice you and your people make, but I just never expected my family to be involved. I just can’t have the battle on my own doorstep. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Flik said, remembering the old epitome – for evil to succeed, it only needs good men to do nothing. Even with Palpatine gone, his legacy of fear looked set to remain for sometime to come. He was glad he had such people like this man’s daughter in the Ackley who weren’t afraid to stand up to oppose that evil.

It seemed that there was nothing more he and Shiba could do here.

“Shiba, Kaitlin, I think it’s time we left,” Flik said, heading for the door. He stopped in his tracks and turned around at the sound of Shiba’s voice.

“Just a minute, Flik. Kat’s not here,” Shiba said.

Since observing that Kat had been too quiet, during the heated discussion with her parents, Shiba had looked around for her, but couldn’t find her and concluded that she must have slipped out unnoticed.

Flik muttered a silent curse to himself as he scouted around the room for her scent. He found it and followed her trail to the back door and went outside, skirted around the house and farm outbuildings until he was at the front of the house, before confirming that she was indeed, gone, as the landspeeder they had hired was missing too.

“Great! She took off!” Shiba exclaimed, having followed him, with Kat’s parents in tow.

“Azara, go get Danin, so he can drive these folks out of here,” Andrin ordered his wife.

Azara nodded silently and went back into the house to fetch her oldest son. The harsh note in Andrin’s voice suggested that he didn’t like the fact that he would have to give them the use of his landspeeder, but he wanted to get them off his property as soon as he could. Flik and Shiba didn’t mind; they didn’t want to remain on the farm any longer than necessity dictated, either.

CHAPTER 2

“I can’t believe that someone would do that to their own daughter,” Shiba said to Flik as the rocky landscape of Ord Mantell sped past them. In the west, the sun could be seen dropping under the horizon, spreading a red and orange glow across that portion of the cloudless sky. In the east, twilight had started to creep into the sky, but it was still too light for the brightest stars to be seen.

Flik’s muzzle creased as he bared his fangs in a bitter smile, and his ears pricked up to their full height, the Shistavanen expression of anger, or aggression. “The Empire has that effect on people,” he simply replied.

Danin, who’d caught their conversation and was driving the vehicle, looked over his shoulder for a second before turning his attention back on to the trail in front of them. His mother had filled him in on the events that had happened in his parent’s lounge.

“My mum said that she would try to talk some sense into my dad,” he said.

Shiba, in a mood for sarcastic comments, said, “Well, good luck to her is all I can say.” She’d met men like Andrin Ros before when she had run her practice on Corellia, though then it had been more of a father or husband trying to protect his husband or child from her, either because she specialised in non-human medicine if the family happened to be human, or because she was a human doctor treating a non-human family, and mistrusted her because of the anti-alien sentiment common in the Empire. This misconception led them to think that she was working for them in an effort to introduce new diseases to them, which upset Shiba, as she would never have done such a thing as it contradicted her Hippocratic oath. Her best patients had been the Drall and Selonians, because they were native to the Corellian System. The Drall excepted her because they were used to dealing with humans, and the Selonians had no qualms on her being a human doctor because their society was made up of mostly infertile females, with a society structured like that of social insects. Most usually over came their mistrust when they learnt of her Alderaanian origin.

“You must understand, though, that times have been tough on my parents since our farm on Chandrilla was seized and we were forced to move to Ord Mantell. Then when Kat started stealing and stuff like that, they’d felt like they’d failed her somehow. When you came along, they trusted you to help steer her away from that life,” Danin said. Though he didn’t like what had transpired, he still felt like he should defend his father from Shiba’s defamation of his character.

“We did. Shiba taught her basic first aid and I taught her to pilot starships,” Flik said, leaving out the little matter of training her to be a Jedi – Force users were still anathema in many parts of the galaxy and revealing that would only complicate things.

“It seems like you’ve done her some good,” Danin had to concede that point.

“Your father would probably come to the conclusion that she’s the leader of a notorious smuggling gang, specialising in spice and stealing priceless jewellery and art,” Shiba said, unable to resist that jibe. A sharp look from Flik told her that she had gone too far with that comment.

“She just needed something positive to focus on,” Flik said. “When I first met her, she thought that she was helping her family by stealing from the gangsters, but it was a good thing that we came along before they started focusing their attention on your family.”

“That’s a fair assessment of the situation I think,” Danin said. “Dad’s just angry that this bounty thing has upset his plans somewhat.”

“How so?” Shiba asked, speaking the first words that didn’t have a sarcastic ring to them. There was always something that remained unseen below the surface.

“Well,” Danin paused, wondering just how much he should tell them of his family’s business, but after a moment of contemplation, he decided that the truth couldn’t hurt. “He’s been in contact with an old friend back on Chandrilla, Calvan Lodon, is his name. Lodon owns much of the farmland on Chandrilla and has a son a couple of years older than Kat, about my age.”

“And your dad wants to marry her off to this son,” Shiba said, seeing where this was going. “Son of a Sith Witch - ”

“Exactly,” Danin said, and both Shiba and Flik caught a note in his voice that he didn’t like this manipulation of his sister. “I knew him at school and he used to hang around our old farm all the time back home. Brandon used to be my best friend back then, until - ”

“There was an incident with Kat?” Flik guessed.

“Yes. Let’s just say that Kat hates his guts ‘cos she thinks he’s a creep, and she’s right.”

Flik’s ears moved into their most erect position and his hackles rouse before he could calm his emotion down. “Kat has no say in this, I suppose, and I sense that you don’t approve.”

“Dad thinks he’s doing the right thing by Kat, and himself, of course, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. There have been rumours that Brandon’s dad had been behind our eviction and that of other farmers so he could buy up the land. Even before our eviction, he was the biggest landowner and had the most influence with the Imperials.”

“Why would Lodon do this if your father was his friend?” Shiba asked, intrigued.

“The incident with Kat almost ruined his son’s reputation, and well, let’s just say that sometimes, business and politics comes before friendship sometimes. There was a lot of unrest on Chandrilla around that time, what with Mon Mothma being a native and all. After what had happened to Alderaan, everyone feared that Chandrilla would be the Empire’s next target, and if the first Death Star hadn’t been destroyed when it had been, there’s little doubt that it would have been. Like you said, Palpatine and Vader are dead now, perhaps we can now finally go home, but my dad needs to convince Lodon to give him our old land back. It’s not just that we want to go home, Mr Sivrak, but our farm on Chandrilla was more productive than the one here has ever been.”

That wouldn’t be the first time, Flik noted. Now it was his turn to be angry, but he kept his emotions buried. He applauded the fact that Kat’s family wanted to go home, but not the way Kat’s father was going about it.

“Kat would go ballistic if she knew,” Flik said, instead of giving vent to what he felt inside.

“Kat always was more independent than what was good for her, but I’ve never liked people who manipulate their kids like that, even if one of them was my own parent,” Danin continued.

“What does your mum think of it?” Shiba asked.

“She supports my father, but only because he’s not told her about the other stuff. She just wants Kat to be happy and thinks marrying Brandon would do that.”

“Even if Kat doesn’t like him?”

“Dad never told her what happened between Brandon and Kat, at least not the full truth anyway. She thinks it was just a matter of two lovers being too young for each other at the time. I must admit, I’ve helped maintain that deception, but only to stop my mum from worrying about it.”

Flik sighed. Perhaps there had been at least one good reason forbidding Jedi to marry, and manipulative parents was it.

CHAPTER 3

Kaitlin brought the landspeeder to a halt outside the first cantina she came to once she’d entered the sprawling metropolis that housed Ord Mantell’s largest spaceport about 50 klicks from her parent’s farm. It was the same city she had haunted back in her early teenage years, the same one in which she’d met Shivron and Silone. Silone had been the boy whom had taught her the basics of breaking into places, but had been unattached to any of the gangs that operated in the city. Silone had been killed by gang members when he with Kat, had proven to be more successful than them at stealing things, but didn’t want to be apart of their gang. If Shiba and Flik hadn’t shown up at that precise moment, she would have been dead too. They’d gone to Shivron’s home then, only to arrive just in time to stop Stormtroopers from killing him. The rest of his family had already died.

This had been the first time Kat had come “home” as it were, since those events. Of course, she was apprehensive about coming across any of her former rivals, but her time in the Ackley and with Flik had toughened her up somewhat, even if it seemed she still couldn’t face her father and mother.

Night had fallen since the beginning of her flight from her parents’ farm, and she sat in the landspeeder for a moment, wondering if she should contact Flik and Shiba to tell them where she was, but she lacked the courage to face them both at that moment, so she put a call through to Lobo, explaining where she was.

“Hi Lobo. Could you record this message for Flik and Shiba?” she asked the AI after patching through to it.

“Sure thing, Mistress Kaitlin,” the AI replied. “It’s recording now.”

“I’m sorry I bailed out on you like that, but I just had to get out of that place, so I’m heading for the nearest cantina and I’m going to spend a couple of hours in there to let off some steam. If you’re lucky, I might find the freighter pilot we need. Meet you back at the Warrior, at say, 23:00 hours? See you then.”

“Is that the end of the message?” Lobo asked, after Kat had stopped speaking.

“Yes. See you later, Lobo,” Kat said, cutting off the signal.

She checked her blaster and her newly constructed lightsabre before pulling herself out of her seat and dropping down on to the pavement. She wasn’t as proficient at using her lighsabre as Flik was, as she had only just started training with it, but its presence there gave her a confidence she had never felt before, and as the cantinas of Ord Mantell were almost as notorious as the one at Mos Eisley, for violence, that was a good thing. She was taking a risk entering the place, but she wanted risk at that moment. Besides which, she was so mad at her father for talking to Flik and Shiba that way after all they’d done for her and her family, that it was the potential attacking thugs who should be weary of her, not the other way round.

Still, she could almost hear Flik’s voice in her head chiding her that Jedi do not go looking for trouble, and she had no intention of doing that. If there were going to be any trouble, then she’d let that trouble come find her, not the other way round.

The fledgling night had chased away the heat of the day and with it, her temper, too, but the night’s coolness hadn’t reigned in her temper fully.

As she entered the bar, a wall of smoke and the scent of unwashed bodies assaulted her. After a moment, or two of waiting while her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kat saw that the place was busy.

A young Rodian thug rose from his seat and headed towards her. She recognised him as the younger brother of one of those gang members that Flik and Shiba had dispatched the last time she was on Ord Mantell. Evidently, he wanted revenge. Kat grinned inwardly at his approach.

“So the Kat is back,” he said. “I have a score to settle with you.”

He charged at her with a vibroblade, but Kat just stood there calmly and used the Force to yank the blade from his sucker-like fingers and snapped the blade in half. She hooked her leg around his and tripped him up, his momentum sending him sprawling to the floor. She let the two halves of the vibroblade fall to the floor and casually stepped over him. She considered rubbing in his humiliation with a taunt, but decided that silence would have more impact.

The only seat amiable, (apart from the one the Rodian had just vacated), was situated at the bar next to a burly looking Shistavanen male who sat in the corner.

Miraculously, no one else bothered her after that display with the Rodian thug as she weaved her way through the crowd to the spot next to the Shistavanen. She put her credit chip down on the bar.

“Lomin ale, and make it quick,” she said to the bar tender as she sat down. The human bar tender took her money and in seconds, she had a tall glass of frothy Lomin ale in front of her. She drank it in one go, which nearly made her fall backwards off the stool as the bite of the alcohol kicked in. she felt a clawed hand catching her back.

“You have quite a thirst there, little lupa,” he said. “Would you allow me to buy you another?”

“Thank you,” Kat said, and chose a much fruiter drink this time, and she drank it with much more caution.

“Kaitlin Ros,” Kat supplied her name. “But you can call me Kat.”

“So I noticed when you took the Rodian down,” the wolfman said, indicating the Rodian, as he got to his feet. “Riv Shiel.”

Kat glanced where he indicated. The Rodian took one look at them and decided that it would be worth his while to make himself scarce, before Kaitlin did that for him. Kat turned back to the wolfman beside her and studied him for a moment. He was around fifteen years younger than Flik, in his mid twenties. He wore a tattered but recognisable flight suit and he had the faint scent of livestock on him. His fur was black in the darkness of the cantina, and the only features she could discern clearly in the darkness were his yellow orbs for eyes and the white flash of teeth, which were almost immaculate.

“You’re a pilot?” she asked.

“Was. I used to be a scout for the Empire before they cancelled the contract.”

“I’m sorry,” Kat said.

The contract cancellation for Shistavanen scouts was common among those that the Empire had employed before Lak Sivrak and others like him had begun to hide the existence of Rebel bases. Shistavanen scouts effected found employment difficult to come by afterwards, so many became Rebel pilots or smugglers. Kaitlin wondered why this particular wolfman hadn’t taken up either career.

Riv flashed his fangs in an ironic smile in the gloom. “Don’t be. I only took the job because none other was available. I would have quit and saved them the trouble of cancelling the contract myself if I had found another that wouldn’t endanger my family.”

Kat nodded, her mind going back to the discussion Flik and Shiba had been having with her parents only an hour or two before. That just seemed to be the usual pattern these days, and it explained why he’d not taken up a job as a Rebel pilot, or a smuggler.

“You out of work now?” Kaitlin asked.

The wolfman’s ears flattened against his head, as if in shame. “Yes, at least pilot work.”

Kaitlin considered her next words carefully. She wanted to help the wolfman if she could, but did she have the right to offer him a job that could endanger his family? He has to accept it first, she told herself.

“It just so happens that my friends and I are looking for a pilot to transport goods.”

“You supply the ship, little lupa, I’ll supply the piloting skills.”

That hit a snag – what they really wanted was someone with their own ship, and Kat immediately understood just what his problem at finding work was.

“To be honest, we were hoping the pilot would have a ship, but I’ll talk to my friends, see what can be done.”

Riv let out a sigh of resignation, and it seemed that Kat’s initial assessment was correct. “I would have had a ship, but the Empire took possession of it when they cancelled my contract. I have been working as a farm labourer to support my family, but the pay is dire. I come here in the evenings seeking pilot work, but not much luck without a ship.”

Kat nodded. “ I can’t promise you anything, but maybe my friends can help you out.”

The wolfman’s ears pricked up a little in gratitude, and his voice had a slight yip to it as he said, “That would be great.”

Kat cursed under her breath as a squad of Sormtroopers, led by an officer in an Imperial uniform, entered the cantina.

“Looks like your Rodian friend’s been talking with the Imps,” Riv said, growling softly, when they seemed to be heading in their direction. Kat was thinking exactly the same thing, until they completely ignored her and went straight for Riv Shiel instead. Riv let out a low warning growl, as his right hand sought his blaster.

The officer stopped in front of them and the Stormtroopers cleared away the patrons and tables from their path. The Imperial officer was the first to speak.

“Lak Sivrak, I have a warrant for your arrest.”

Riv Shiel brought his blaster up, but it was Kat who took the first strike. While their attention had been on Riv, she’d pulled out her lighsabre and finished igniting it just as the officer’s words had left his lips. Her first slash took off the arm of the nearest Stormtrooper, taking his blaster rifle with it.

“Back off, Imperial pig. Lak Sivrak died at Endor.”

“Take them both down!” the Imperial officer bellowed as Riv Shiel fired his first shot. Kaitlin worked to deflect the Stormtroopers’ blaster rifle shots that along with her lightsabre, lit up the cantina.

Riv Shiel was a good marksman and was able to take down the Stormtroopers without Kaitlin having to take a single one down herself, but her presence kept the red blaster rifle fire from causing damage to either her or Riv Shiel, though she couldn’t say the same about the rest of the cantina. Even though she defended herself and the wolfman adequately, she still needed to learn more control over her lightsabre.

Seeing that his Stormtroopers were losing the short fight, the Imperial officer scampered away in the confusion, using the fleeing patrons as cover.

After the brief but intense fire fight, she and Riv Shiel surveyed the carnage as they caught their breath.

“Come,” Riv gripped Kaitlin’s wrist after she had deactivated her lightsabre. Kat nodded her understanding and followed the wolfman out of the cantina before reinforcements showed up.

CHAPTER 4

“If we take the speeder, it’ll get us out of here sooner,” Kat said, heading towards the hired landspeeder she parked outside the cantina earlier.

Riv nodded and swung into the driver’s seat before Kat could take it herself.

“Hey!” Kat protested.

“I need to check on my family. If the Imps traced me to the cantina - ”

“Okay,” Kat said, walking around to the other side of the speeder and vaulted into the seat next to him. “But you won’t be going anywhere without this.”

With a murmured, “Thanks,” the wolfman snatched the electronic key that she dangled in front of him.

“Be careful – this vehicle’s hired. If there’s some damage, I won’t get my deposit back,” Kat warned him as he inserted the key into its slot and urged the landspeeder forward.

He glanced at her. “Somehow, that would be the least of my worries, don’t you think?” he snarled, harsher than he’d intended.

Anxiety radiated from him like heat and light from a thousand different suns. After witnessing what had happened to Shivron’s family, Kat couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t think of anything to say that would comfort him and wouldn’t sound patronising at the same time, so she stayed silent. The wolfman took her silence to mean that he had hurt her feelings.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it. Like you said, that’s the least of your worries, right?” Kat said, trying to break the tension of the situation. After fifteen minutes or so of driving, he brought the landspeeder to a halt.

“We walk from here,” Riv said, slipping the key from its slot and handing it back to her. “We’ve got to make sure that no one’s there before we go in.”

Kat nodded, closing her eyes for a moment, concentrating, and stretching out with the Force. There was something there at the edges that spoke of death, but other than that, it seemed clear.

“It’s clear,” she informed him. She didn’t tell him of the death she had detected, as she didn’t know what that meant yet. It could just as easily be a dead animal killed by another for all she knew. “It’s best to remain cautious,” she added instead.

The wolfman nodded and helped her out of the landspeeder, as he’d exited while she had been concentrating on what the Force was telling her. He drew his blaster and trotted quickly but stealthily to the street where his home resided. Kat had to marvel at his stealth as she followed a few metres behind, her blaster ready at her side, also.

The house that Riv Shiel led her to was little more than a hovel, but the stench of death reached Kaitlin’s nostrils before they even went inside. Riv holstered his blaster, as did Kaitlin, as there seemed to be no use for them. They were too late. The outside was just like the hovel she and her family had stayed in before they got the farm, but the inside reminded her of Shivron’s house father the Stormtrooper raid, only this time, there wasn’t going to be survivor.

Bile stirred up in her throat as they entered the lounge, as that was where they found their first grim discovery. It was a frail old female, Riv’s mother. He knelt down at her side and checked for a pulse. Kaitlin needed no such thing to tell her she was dead; as she felt no stirring of life within her. Half a metre away from Riv’s mother lay another body, smaller, a young female Shistavanen child, no older than Jeana, Shiba’s daughter. Evidently, Riv’s mother had been trying to protect her when she died. A memory of fighting her way through smoke with Jeana and Zak flashed in her mind, and not only did the sight of the dead child before her made her feel ill, but so did the thought that the same fate could have befallen Jeana and Zak if Kat hadn’t gone back for them. The sight before her caused Kat’s heart to shatter and she wanted to disgorge the contents of her stomach.

“Kiyah,” the name of his daughter came out as a growl as Riv’s attention turned from his mother to his daughter. Both had been killed by blaster rifle shots. He rose to his feet and tore into the room that was the kitchen, hoping to find that his mate had escaped, but the scene that met them was worse. In there they found the body of a lupa closer to Riv Shiel’s age, which Kat took to be his mate. Both of them had to look away at the sight, for her stomach had been ripped open and a foetus lay at her side.

Riv’s knees lost all their strength at that point and he sank to the floor and let out the most painful howl of anguish that Kaitlin had ever heard. She knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. He didn’t make a move to push her aside. The Empire’s evil hadn’t ended with the death of Palpatine.

After what seemed like an eternity, Riv’s initial grief at the death of his family subsided, and he became aware that he was in Kaitlin’s embrace. His lupine eyes stared into hers for a long moment. Kaitlin realised at that moment that she felt more than pity for him at his loss, but it was only a fleeting emotion, one that didn’t last long enough for her to analyse what it actually meant.

She was the first to get to her feet, and Riv followed suit, looking at the scene around them before his gaze settled at last on Kaitlin. She felt butterflies flutter around in her stomach, different from the nausea that had gripped her before and she realised that what she was experiencing was a crush, and because it was a strange situation for that to occur, she pushed it aside, to deal with later. Riv’s next words also helped her to focus her attention back on to the reality of their surroundings.

“There was no need for them to do this.”

She detected a hint of why did they do this? in his voice. She didn’t have an answer to that, but there was one truth that had become clear to her ever since Shivron had lost his family.

“The life of a ‘non-human’ means nothing to them,” she said, matter of factly. “But that doesn’t make it right.”

Though she hated to leave behind the bodies of his family, especially his daughter, Kiyah and his mate, she saw that she needed to get him out of there, to help him think more clearly. She placed her hand on his back and they started to walk towards the door.

“Come on. My friends will be able to help you.”

Riv nodded, as the numb feeling of helplessness that accompanied grief began to take hold of him. As they made their way through the senseless death that had once been his home, the house began to fill with a thick noxious gas that made their eyes and noses stream with water and their throats and lungs burn. It happened so quickly that the first either of them knew about it was when they started coughing and choking. Kat wiped her eyes and mouth and leaned into him. They both continued walking, or more like stumbling forward for a couple of steps before their knees gave way beneath them and they fell to the floor as darkness descended over them.

CHAPTER 5

As Danin brought the landspeeder closer to the spaceport where the Warrior was docked, Flik decided to put forward the offer that he’d been thinking of making Danin ever since their fist meeting, for he’d sensed Danin was Force-sensitive like his sister.

“You know, Danin, you would be welcome in the Ackley, and we are a couple of hands short since our last meeting.”

Shiba looked at him, puzzlement evident on her face; yes they had lost Quan and Cathos. Quan had died during the mission to break out the Bothan Intelligence Operative, Shara Kre’lar from an Imperial Detention Centre and Cathos had been a casualty at Endor, when the freighter he and other members of the Ackley had been on had crashed. The rest of them had survived, but the Gotal had died in the crash when a falling tree had crushed part of the cockpit.

Danin shook his head. “I’d have to decline. It’s enough for me to know that is out there, fighting for people like us. If it were just me and her, then I’d gladly join you, but if I left too, dad would drive my mum crazy. And of course, there’s my younger brother and sister to take care of.”

“I understand,” Flik said, trying to keep a note of disappointment out of his voice. “ The offer still stands if you change your mind, though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Danin said.

“You can drop us off about here,” Shiba said, as they were a couple of blocks from the spaceport. With the onset of night, the air had cooled down somewhat and aside from the fact that they wanted to avoid being followed, Shiba felt like walking. Physical activity of any kind would work off the frustration she felt inside. She glanced at Flik as Danin brought the landspeeder to a halt and knew that he had the same idea.

They said their farewells to Danin and when the landspeeder was out of sight, Shiba decided to continue their earlier conversation without Danin being there to over hear her.

“He’s such a creep.”

“Danin?” Flik asked, creasing his muzzle slightly, the Shistavanen equivalent of raising eyebrows as he glanced at her. He knew whom she meant, but he just wanted to tease her a little.

“No, Kat’s dad. He’s one of those, ‘You’re my daughter so you’re my property,’ kind of person. Makes you wanna throw up or throw a punch at him, which ever’s the most appropriate. If there was a bounty on him, I’d have no problem taking him out.”

“I know you don’t really like the guy, but I think it’s about time you dropped this.”

A wicked smile crossed Shiba’s face. “I’ve had an idea – we could always find this Lodon guy, tell him that Kat’s dad has put out a price on his head, convince him to do the same to Kat’s father and we could take the bounty.”

Flik let out a low rumble of growling laughter, thinking she was jesting.

Shiba frowned at him. “I’m serious, Sivrak.”

“Shiba, we don’t do that sort of thing anymore.”

Shiba blatantly ignored him. “He’s a scummy man, Sivrak. The only thing that’s really holding me back is the fact that he’s Kat’s father.”

“Well, at least you’re starting to see sense.”

“We could use the money, though,” Shiba said, as Flik’s frown became more marked. “Now don’t give me this ‘aggression is not the path a Jedi should take,’ nonsense.”

Flik shook his head in exasperation. “You’re insane, doctor. You should see a physiatrist.”

“It’s your fault I’m like this, Sivrak. Before our paths crossed, I was just a nice, stable respectable doctor.”

“You sought me out, remember? Besides, we’re not gonna do it, Shiba.”

“The voice of conscience, now are you?”

Flik was just glad that none of the other Ackley where there to see this argument/insult slinging match between them, even if some of it was in part jest.

“I’m a Jedi,” was his simple response.

By this time, they had come to the spaceport. Unlike more security conscious worlds like Corellia or Coruscant, there were no security checks they needed to pass through, which was one of the main reasons why Flik had chosen Ord Mantell in the first place. Flik had concluded that the spaceport and their ship the Forgotten Warrior was the most likely place where Kat would have gone to since her departure from her parent’s farm, but when they boarded the Forgotten Warrior, there was no trace of her in or around the Shistavanen Scout ship.

“I’m going to check to see if she’s left any messages,” Flik informed Shiba and headed for the galley, leaving her to her own devices.

Flik sank down onto one of the benches surrounding the small table in the galley.

“Lobo, have you heard anything from Kaitlin?” Flik asked the ship’s AI.

“She called in thirty minutes before you arrived. Shall I play the message?” Lobo’s disembodied electrical voice replied, with none of his usual inefficiencies. That alone caused Flik to suspect something was not quite right.

“Go ahead,” Flik ordered.

A second later, Kaitlin’s strained voice issued from hidden speakers. “I’m sorry I bailed out on you like that, but I just had to get out of that place, so I’m heading for the nearest cantina and I’m going to spend a couple of hours in there to let off some steam. If you’re lucky, I might find the freighter pilot we need. Meet you back at the Warrior, at say, 23:00 hours? See you then.”

As the message ended, Shiba entered the galley with a create of medical supplies she’d been putting off cataloguing for the past few days.

“Did you find out what happened to Kat?” Shiba asked as she set the create down on to the table and headed over to the cupboards in search of hot chocolate.

“She’s gone to the cantina for a while.”

“Did she say which one?” Shiba asked, still foraging for the hot chocolate.

“No,” Flik said. “You can make me one, while you’re at it.”

“You sure that’s wise?” Shiba asked, having finally hunted the stray hot chocolate container down.

“Having hot chocolate?” Flik said, with a grin, knowing that it would irritate her.

Shiba turned to face him. “No, that Kat’s gone to the cantina – she’s got the landspeeder to drive.”

“She’s a sensible girl - ” Flik said as Shiba turned back to her task.

“She’s a teenager.”

“Point taken.”

There was a moment of silence before Shiba let out a curse.

“What is it, dear?” Flik asked.

“Out of hot chocolate. Kat’s doing, no doubt. She probably hid it from us. We’ll have to have caf instead.”

“That’s bad,” Flik admitted. He despised caf, but a drink was a drink and he was thirsty. Five minutes later, Shiba sat down next to him bringing the two steaming mugs of caf with her.

“I don’t think there’s any need to worry, Shib. She’s a Jedi in training.”

“It’s still early,” Shiba said. “Do you think we should go to the spaceport cantina so we can work on the real reason we’ve come here. We can take the swoop - ”

“Kat said that she was going to look into it. It’s ‘bout time she did something useful instead of drinking all the hot chocolate. Besides,” Flik said, turning to look at her with that penetrating lupine gaze of his. “the only reason you want to go to the cantina is so that you can see if Kat’s there.”

“So? Would it hurt if we did find her while we were looking for our pilot?” Shiba asked, a little irritated that he seemed to know her intentions. That’s the problem with Jedi, she cursed silently. The fact that he was a Shistavanen also meant he was very perceptive at reading body language too, not that it didn’t have it’s uses at certain times, but for much of the time, all it did was aggravate her. By this time, both their mugs were empty and she gathered them up to wash them in an attempt to hide her irritation.

“We’re not her parents, Shiba. Even if she isn’t successful at securing a pilot, we can look tomorrow. It won’t put us behind schedule.” He stood up and walked over to her and took her in his arms. “I think we should spend this impromptu time we have to relax and enjoy ourselves.”

“These medical supplies should have been catalogued days ago,” Shiba protested, teasing him. She knew exactly what was on his mind.

“No screaming kids, no Zan to annoy us, no Imperials shooting at our backs. The medical supplies can wait until we’re going home. There’s little else to do in hyperspace, anyway. It’s not often we get time to ourselves like this. We can go to the cargo bay, do a little Teras Kasi first if it’ll make you feel less guilty,” he whispered quietly in her ear.

“Okay, okay. It’s early. I have time to do these later on,” Shiba said, giving in to him.

“That’s the idea.”

Flik led her off to the cargo bay. Shiba never did get started on cataloguing those medical supplies that night.