Chapter 8    Blood Oath

Edmund was standing on the flight deck, his gear packed and ready to go. He was surrounded by friends, who were there to see him off.

"So how long are you going to be gone?" Zaron asked. "We really missed having you around on the last mission."

"Hard to say. My talents have been needed elsewhere and I’ve been put in charge of my own jump team," Edmund actually smiled at the thought of it.

"Will we ever see you again?" Andromeda asked.

"One day," he replied simply. "But you have Kosh with you. I hear he was a big help back on Isis. Well, I’m off. Maybe we will meet again." Edmund said his farewell and began to board his transport. Maharet, Zaron and Andromeda gave him a final wave of good bye and watched the transport blast away from the Rebel Base on Palmonar. Just as they were turning to go, Tolian came rushing up to them, practically out of breath.

"You just missed Edmund’s send off," Andromeda said. "Are you all right?"

"I’ve just been handed a mission assignment," he said once he had collected himself. "Come meet me in my ready room so I can brief you and hurry!"

Minutes later they had themselves assembled comfortably in Tolian’s ready room. Kosh was there waiting for them.

"Greetings, my friends," he greeted quietly.

"Here’s what’s going on," Tolian began with his briefing. "There’s a planet by the name of Locnar, out towards the Rim. One of our agents intercepted a droid that had an important message meant for Mon Mothma and was to meet with a contact by the name of Jace Numinari in the city of Mandratha—Lower Mandratha, only Numinari never showed and the droid was lost. We’ve been given the assignment to recover the lost droid."

"Excuse me, but what exactly is the difference between Upper Mandratha and Lower Mandratha?" Zaron asked.

"Let’s just say that it’s definitely not one of your top ten vacation spots. Lower Mandratha is called that because Upper Mandratha is literally built on top of it. The sun does not shine there and you can bet that not only is it a dive but crime runs rampant. Believe it or not, it can give Mos Eisley a real run for the money. But that’s where we’re headed, to get in touch with Jace Numinari ourselves and to recover that droid. I’ll let you have two hours to prepare for the trip, so report to the Redeemer in exactly two hours," Tolian brought the meeting to a close.

Two hours later five adventurers were making the jump to light speed to reach Locnar. It was an uneventful trip, lasting an entire two days. Everyone had mostly kept to themselves—mostly. Andromeda had nearly driven everyone crazy trying to get a decent game of Force Sabacc going.

By the time the Redeemer came out of hyperspace, Locnar was shining before them. It took nearly no time at all to locate Mandratha. It was a huge, beautiful city, all pristine and shining white, built upon what looked like stilts and as they drew closer, it was plain to see that the platform it was sitting on was the "roof" of Lower Mandratha. Andromeda took the Redeemer lower and in for a closer look. Lower Mandratha was not noticeable at first because of the long chutes that extended downward, seeming to cover the lower city.

"Those are garbage chutes," Tolian explained. "Upper Mandratha is built up from the trash." No one said anything. Just the expressions on their faces said it all.

"This is the Lower Mandratha ship traffic control," the radio crackled. "State your business!"

"This is the Redeemer. We’re here on shipping business," Andromeda replied. "Request permission to land." There seemed to be a brief pause before the voice came back.

"Docking pad twenty seven. Fee is ten credits per day. You may proceed," he said and cut off.

"Ten credits? This place must be either doing real well, or else this place is a real dive," Andromeda muttered with sarcasm as she took the Redeemer in for a landing. They were hoping that the scenery would get better as it passed by the view port, but all that met their eyes were old, run-down buildings with trash everywhere they looked and it was very dark. It almost wasn’t discernible if there was daylight or not.

Andromeda paid the scruffy-looking agent at the entrance to the docking pad and they wordlessly went on their way. There was no weapon stipulation, so they went armed to the teeth—Tolian in Mandalorian armor he had recovered from the late Joda Cast and Andromeda in her Ubese Raider armor, which she had recovered from one of Cast’s late bounty cronies. Maharet had no problem whatsoever blending into the shadows. Zaron’s instinct told him to stick close to the Jedi, so he followed Kosh closely.

"So where are we headed anyway, Uncle?" Andromeda asked as they hurried along the dark streets that almost appeared to be deserted.

"The Red Dogg Inn. That’s supposedly one of Jace’s haunts," Tolian replied.

"Haunt sounds about right," Zaron muttered. He shuddered slightly as if to ward off some kind of chill.

It wasn’t much of a hike to get to the Inn, but the fact that they were so much on their guard made Andromeda jumpy. In front of the Inn, a fistfight had broken out between a bunch of drunks. Kosh stepped forward as if to stop the fight, since it appeared to be five men against one, but Zaron stepped in his way.

"Out of my way, Zaron. I must put a stop to this senseless violence," Kosh tried to get past.

"No way! You don’t know who those guys are! You wanna get yourself killed? —because they will kill you and they don’t care who or what you are. We don’t need to get involved!" Zaron tried to stop him.

"On the contrary—" Kosh tried to get past again.

"If you step in, then that means you involve all of us. We’re just here to find the contact, get the merchandise and get the heck out of here! No entanglements!" Maharet had now barred his path. It appeared that Kosh was struggling with the decision, but after a brief moment of finding his absolute calm again, he realized that they were right and turned away from the fight, following them into the Red Dogg Inn.

The Red Dogg Inn was smaller than the Mos Eisley Cantina and very dimly lit. The thick smoke in the room was almost enough to make a person think that the place was on fire. Once their eyes had adjusted, they casually strode up to the bar. The bartender was of the typical scum, looking as scruffy as he smelled. He eyed his new customers with disgust.

"What can I get for you? You’re not from around here. You guys look too clean," his voice was almost frog-like.

"Corellian Ale—in the cleanest glass you have," Andromeda said promptly as she set a few credits down. The bartender scowled for a moment as he tried to remember where he had it.

"I’ll have the same," Tolian joined her. A moment later, the bartender set down two glasses with the yellow liquid inside of them.

"Was wondering if you could help us," Andromeda said next as she slid five more credits across the bar. "We’re looking for a man who goes by the name of Jace Numinari. I understand he frequents this bar."

"Over there in the corner," the bartender pocketed the credits and pointed to a young man seated by himself in the corner.

"Keep the change," Andromeda said quietly as she turned to go to the corner. The man had their back to them, enjoying a tall glass of what appeared to be lum. Tolian approached him first.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you Jace Numinari?" he asked. The man turned around, almost startled. His blond hair seemed a little tousled, and his blue eyes seemed a little out of it.

"Why, yes. That’s me. Don’t tell me who you are. I already know. The agent told me about you guys, although I wasn’t expecting you all to show up so soon. You’re here for a droid, am I right? Let’s wheel and deal!" Jace suddenly perked up. His manner reminded them of a vehicle dealer who would say anything to make his sale. It made Andromeda cringe.

"Yes, we’re interested in a droid. Where can we get it?" Zaron asked as he took the seat across from Jace.

"That’s the problem," he said.

"Problem?" Andromeda raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I wouldn’t call it a problem exactly, see, but getting to the droid you want can be just a little difficult—" Jace continued.

"How difficult?" Andromeda folded her arms across her chest and gave him "the look".

"Well, I ran in to a little Imperial difficulty," he said almost embarassedly. "They kind of found out what I was up to and confiscated my warehouse. From what I understand, they haven’t done anything to it, but I don’t dare go back to it for a while. If they see my face anywhere near the place, they’ll most likely arrest me or something. If you want to check it out for yourself, you’re more than welcome. I’ll give you directions and you’ll find it with no problems! When you’ve found out what they’ve done to my warehouse, come back and let me know. I’ll be here waiting for you." Andromeda looked from Zaron and then to Tolian.

"Agreed," Tolian said and stood up.

"Here you go. On me. Tell the cab driver to drop you off at the corner of Garina and Yodlkut. My warehouse is there—can’t miss it!" Jace settled back into the corner again and waved them goodbye.

There was no problem finding a taxi once they left the Red Dogg Inn. The driver did as instructed and they paid him his fare.

The warehouse was almost not recognizable. It was in the seediest part of town and the warehouse was completely boarded up. There was a new lock on the door. Anyone could tell it was new, because it was the only shiny silver thing in visible sight that wasn’t rusted over or just flat-out old. With weapons drawn, they began to search about the place. Andromeda managed to find only one window that was not boarded up. With Maharet’s help, she tired to take a peek inside. From the dim light that came in through the window and from various cracks and splits in the walls and doors, she was able to make out a lot of boxes, some crates and a droid or two. After quickly reporting her find, they all quickly headed back to the Inn.

"Well?" Jace asked as they came back in again.

"Everything is still intact, but now you need to come with us so we can get in," Maharet said helping him up.

"Um, I really don’t think—" Jace began to protest.

"No time to argue!" Andromeda practically pushed him out the door and into the waiting cab.

It took no time at all for them to reach the warehouse again. Tolian worked the lock and was able to get through it easily. It was just as matter of keeping their fingers crossed in hopes that getting through the lock didn’t trigger any silent alarms.

With Maharet keeping watch at the door, the others carefully picked their way through the warehouse. They found the place that Andromeda had seen earlier and were inspecting the droids.

"Were either of these the droid you were looking for? I can make you one heck of a deal here. I can give you that half-droid for only five hundred credits. A real bargain, seeing that he has no legs attached," Jace said smoothly.

"I like it," Kosh said quietly. "I’ll take him!"

"But this isn’t—" Andromeda started.

"That doesn’t matter. He can be my pet. I think I shall name him Trumpy," the Rodian smiled.

"Sick," was all Andromeda said and turned away. She barely had walked two steps away from him when Maharet came running up.

"Imperial Storm Troopers! We’ve got to get out of here!"

"Too late!" Zaron gasped.

"Alright in there! You are caught trespassing on Imperial property! Come out of there slowly with your hands up!" a loud voice was heard.

"No way!" Andromeda muttered as she secured her helmet, knowing what was about to come next. "They’ll just have to come on in and get us themselves!" No sooner had she said it than three smoking canisters came sailing in through the window and through the now open door. The place began to fill with a gas that seemed to burn their eyes and causing them to choke a little. They were being smoked out.

Eight Storm Troopers came rampaging in, with blasters blazing. Thankfully, there was plenty of cover, so picking off the Troopers was not a problem. Upon defeating them, the remaining retreated, no doubt to get backup. Jace was understandably upset, since there was his merchandise getting caught in blaster crossfire.

"But not to worry," Kosh soothed. "The droid wasn’t hit." He was admiring it again and had turned it on.

"Oh! Hello. I’m XT-G4," the droid said. "I’m sorry. I would give you a proper greeting, but as you can see, I am without legs at the moment."

"Mind if we ask a few questions?" Kosh asked.

"Not at all," he said.

"Who was your former master?" Kosh asked.

"My former master was a Swoop Bike racer and as you can guess, my care was not foremost with him," the droid said a little sadly.

"Does the name of Mon Mothma ring any bells?" Kosh asked next.

"No, I’m sorry. That name is not in my memory files," he said. Kosh reached up and shut the droid off. This was not the droid.

"I’ll take him anyway. Five hundred for him, was it?" Kosh asked.

"Kosh—" Andromeda was about to protest.

"If you want, I could probably help you and fit him with a new set of legs," Zaron offered.

"Mon Mothma? Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I know of that droid. I sold him already," Jace said.

"To who?" Tolian demanded.

"A friend of mine. He hangs out at the Red Dogg sometimes. His other haunt is the Bloody Nagh. He should be there right about now, I should think," Jace replied. "But we should hurry. There’s no telling what he’s done with the droid already."

"Back to the bar," Maharet sighed as they all piled into the taxi again.

The Red Dogg was extremely crowded for this hour of the night and Jace turned them right around to Bloody Nagh’s, which was just across the street. This place made the Red Dogg look clean.

Jace escorted them to a back table. "This is Nagh," he introduced. The burly mountain of a man barely looked up at them.

"What is it that you want this time, Jace?" he grunted, not looking up at him.

"Remember that droid I sold you a few days back?"

"Now you’re going to tell me that the thing was defective? I’m going to get my rear roasted by Guido or one of Vito’s guys," Nagh began to get upset.

"Hold on! Vito? As in Vito Chance?" Jace said, unbelieving.

"Yes, Vito Chance. I sold it to him. He was looking for a gift and he liked the looks of the droid, so I let him have it. If you want to discuss the droid, then you’ll have to see Vito about it and keep me out of it!" Nagh hissed.

"Fifty credits for you if you can get us an appointment," Andromeda jingled the money in her hand.

"And just who the heck are you?" Nagh snarled.

"Friends of mine," Jace soothed.

"Fine. I’ll be right back," Nagh said as he rose out of his seat, taking the fifty credits from Andromeda’s hand as he went. In a few tense moments, Nagh returned and was completely seated and comfortable again before he spoke.

"Lucky for you, Vito was in an excellent mood. He’ll see you first thing in the morning. Eight a.m. and by the way, he’s living high on the Taun-Taun in Upper Mandratha," Nagh dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Jace walked them back to the Red Dogg.

"I wish you guys the best of luck," he said, taking his leave of them. "I won’t be going with you. Vito’s got a warrant out for me in Upper Mandratha. Besides that, I’ve got my business to manage down here. But you know where to find me if you ever need anything."

"Thanks, Jace," Tolian shook his hand. "Let’s go, crew. We’ve an appointment to keep in the morning." With quiet farewells, they headed back to the Redeemer for a good night’s sleep.

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