Sand Pit, Part 1
While they prepared to take off, Steven busied himself organizing things in the cargo hold, still trying to understand why Layla was upset with him. He wasn’t hiding anything and hadn’t been acting like it, right? Well, there was Jake and to a lesser extent Marc, but that wasn’t hiding anything about the mission, just about some of his brand new abilities that he wasn’t quite clear on himself. Speaking of Jake…
You don’t have to watch everything I do. He thought, focusing on the words in his head to make sure they weren’t just thoughts.
I look out for you. The response was almost sulky.
I don’t need looking out for right now, mate. I’m organizing ration packages by color. It’s not dangerous. He said, mental tone overly patient.
You never know what might happen. And why by color?
It’s something to do with my hands. Labels mostly start with the same couple letters, so Alphabetical is out. He shrugged. Anyone ever tell you that you’re paranoid?
Yes. You.
Since you’re awake, tell me about yourself. It would be a better distraction than re-sorting things that honestly did not really need to be organized.
There’s nothing to tell. Came the short reply.
But you’re not me, we’ve established that, which means there’s something else to you. He insisted.
… I don’t care for the tea you drink in the mornings.
Is that really all you want to tell me about you?
Yup.
Then how about we talk about your paranoia? Because it isn’t helping my anxiety. Why don’t you trust the Jedi?
Well, Juhani-
“You didn’t trust them before that either!” Steven didn’t mean to say it out loud, but he was frustrated. Not only did Jake keep being unclear, he wasn’t even good at hiding it.
“What?” A gruff voice from behind him snapped and Steven’s heart jerked painfully. He really needed to practice those awareness exercises he’d been taught, even now that they left the enclave.
“Nothing.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Canderous, who’d been walking by the door and stopped to stare at him.
You really need to remember to not use the mouth. Jake told him sagely. Steven didn’t bother with words, just sending a pulse of mild resentment down their bond.
The man snorted and continued on his way, muttering something about Steven being basically cargo himself. Before he realized what had happened, Steven’s mouth was moving and Jake was snapping “[Fuck you too, Mando!]” Loud enough that anyone in the corridor would hear. To his relief, there was a bark of laughter, but no reply.
You speak Mando’a?
So do you.
Yes, but we clearly don’t share all our knowledge, so-
I just picked up some swear words. That’s the easiest thing to learn in any language.
Steven was about to continue prodding Jake for information, when Mission arrived, grinning. They hadn’t spent much time talking over the past few weeks, but he already knew what she was looking so smug about.
“Okay, so you were right.” He says before she can. “Force sensitive. Me. Who knew?”
“Besides me?”
“Funny.”
She hopped up to sit one one of the storage containers and looked at the piles of ration packs in front of him. “You’re makin’ a mess.”
“It’s organized chaos.”
“Tell that to Layla when she sees her cargo hold.” That got a wince out of Steven and he started putting things back in storage. He could feel the teenager watching him intently. She felt… suspicious in the Force, but he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t want another person mistrusting him for unknown reasons. He felt a flash of guilt-irritation from Jake and sent a query down their bond. She might’ve met me in passing. I’m not as good at pretending to be you as I used to be. Well, there was a terrifying concept, that Jake had not only pretended to be him at some point, but had been good at it. He was doing his best not to think too much about the other consciousnesses in his body because there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it just now.
“So besides a little bit of rubbing it in, what do you need?” He filed away his anxiety about Jake away in his head for now.
“Just that Layla and Konshu are arguing in the cockpit about which planet on the list to go to first. Go be a tie breaker.”
He really didn’t want to, didn’t think his opinion would matter, particularly after Layla’s speech about how it didn’t make sense for him to still be around, but with no reason Mission would want to hear, he sighed and headed back towards the cockpit. He found Layla in front of the nav computer, hands on hips and glaring at Konshu, who was having to bend slightly to stop his head from touching the ceiling.
“Mission said there was a disagreement?” Steven couldn’t pretend to be enthusiastic about playing peace maker, his voice carrying a tone of resigned dread.
“We should head to Maanan first.” Konshu told both Layla and him. “That was the language the droid spoke. It is a good starting point.”
“Maanan is a neutral world. Sith have a strong presence there.” Layla snapped. “I don’t want to encounter them until we absolutely have to.”
“We’ll have to go there eventually, but let’s put it off for now.” He squinted at the nav computer. “There’s four planets. What’s your second choice, Konshu?” Compromise.
The Jedi looked at the screen, grumbling deep in his throat. “... Tatooine. If you wish to be subtle, we should go there first, since I would prefer to stay on the ship while there.” He sounded almost embarrassed. “If it is the first planet, there will be less danger for me to stand against. The suns would be… painful for my eyes and skin.” The admission sounded like it actually hurt.
Layla was surprised at the admission of vulnerability, raising her eyebrows. “Tatooine it is.”
That was solved a lot quicker than I thought it would be. Steven told Jake.
Your skills as a negotiator must be improving. No one threw any sharp sticks at us.
When did that happen? Steven asked suspiciously, feeling Jake’s presence flinch away from his own when he did. The tone had sounded like an inside joke, but…
I’ll tell you later. That felt like a lie.
“Steven?” Layla’s voice brought him back to the outside world.
“Didn’t hear that last bit. Sorry, luv.” He said distractedly. She let out an irritated huff and went to sit in the pilot’s chair.
“Go tell the crew where we’re going first.” He paused, wanting to talk to her more, but not in front of Konshu and not when she was about to be busy flying, then went to notify everyone.
Mission and Zaalbar were playing cards in the main hold. Mission was excited to see another new planet, but Zaalbar told her to temper her expectations. He was not excited to visit a desert planet with his heavy coat of fur. Steven sympathized.
“[It was that or Kashyyyk, so at least you get to go home next.]” He said cheerfully.
It did not have the desired effect. He’d never seen a Wookie flinch before. Without a word to either of them, Zaalbar threw down his cards and walked out of the room.
“What was that about?” Steven asked, staring at Mission blankly. She shrugged, looking worried.
“He never told me how he ended up on Taris, just that he was gettin’ away from some kinda trouble on Kashyyyk.” She said, gathering up the cards. “I’ll talk to him.” Steven nodded and went to find Juhani. He knew Zaalbar kept his distance from everyone but Mission, even Layla who he’d sworn his life to. The Wookie would not appreciate Steven getting nosy or showing his concern.
Juhani was meditating in the storage compartment. She’d sensed him coming and opened her eyes as soon as he entered, smiling up at him. She felt nervous in the Force and the smile was weak on her lips.
“We’re going to Tatooine. Are you okay?”
“I feel I must apologize for the way I acted towards you before, in the grove. It was wrong of me.” She admitted, eyes sliding away from his face.
“It’s fine.” He said instantly. “You were in a bad place.” Buddy, she tried to gut us. Accept the apology, don’t dismiss it. Jake said tiredly. That actually sounded better. “I mean… thanks. I know you won’t again.”
“I hope that by helping you in your task I may redeem myself in your eyes… and in my own.” She murmured.
“You were redeemed to me as soon as you accepted that you needed help.” It was so strange that he could actually feel Jake rolling his eyes when the man didn’t have any of his own and Steven’s eyes weren’t moving.
“Thank you… It is most reassuring to know that you can forgive me, even though I tried to take your life.” She spoke so formally. He worried she was trying too hard to seem balanced. They both knew where bottling things up had gotten her.
“I have to go, but let’s talk more later.” Maybe convince her that what they did wasn’t actually in her best interests. Jake grumbled in their head.
Canderous had installed himself in the unused swoop hanger. Several blasters and rifles were laid out around him as he took each apart, cleaned it and reassembled. Steven decided to just pretend that Jake hadn’t sworn at the man.
“We’re taking off soon. Tatooine. There’s sun block in the medbay.” He said, avoiding looking directly at the older man. Canderous made him uncomfortable and he could feel Jake’s warriness as well. The man hadn’t really done anything. They’d barely spoken, but the memory of the last war was an ever present echo in the galaxy. They wouldn't be here at all if the Mandalorians hadn’t tried for conquest.
Canderous grunted to show he’d heard. Steven was about to go sit down, since he hated being standing for a jump to lightspeed, but the other’s voice stopped him.
“Say something else in Mando’a.”
“What?”
“Do you just know [fuck you.]” Canderous finished cleaning one rifle and moved onto the next one.
“U-uh no. [Hello. How is your health?]” He frowned slightly as he said it.
“Hm. You swear with a different accent.”
Oops. He and Jake thought together. Now two people had noticed and he didn’t want to give an explanation to either of them. He didn’t have a satisfactory explanation himself. “Must’ve been how I learned it the first time.” He said, wishing he actually remembered when he’d learned the language.
“Perhaps.”
Steven fled back to the cockpit. I’ll be more careful with talking. But he shouldn’t have said you were just here as cargo. Jake still sounded a little offended on his behalf. I don’t want to look crazy, so keep your temper on the inside.
***
That night, he had another dream. It was through the same dark fog as before, though this time he could not hear the two fallen Jedi talking. He looked around, trying to get as much detail as possible so that he’d be able to recognize the place in the waking world. He recognized another projector, like the one on Dantooine, but it wasn’t in a room. Still definitely underground, but not a temple. A cave, with scattered bones and towering stalactites.
When he opened his eyes, the ship was still in its night cycle, but when he went for a drink of water, Konshu was awake too. The Jedi was trying for a drink, but having trouble with a cup more suited to humanoid users.
“There’s probably hundreds of caves on Tatooine.” Steven said tiredly.
“Indeed. Hopefully Spector and Ammit left some trace of their presence. The largest settlement on the planet will be a good place to start.” Konshu was watching him intently.
“Do you have a question?” Steven asked irritably.
“Not for you.” Was the infuriating response. For once, Jake did not answer.
***
They came out of hyperspace smoothly, stars becoming stationary and a beige sphere filling their view. That never gets less ugly. Sunsets are its only redeeming feature. Jake thought, but didn’t mean for Steven to hear. Hiding his thoughts from the other was harder now that they were in active communication.
I’ve never been to Tatooine. Steven thought back, but got no answer. The anxiety continued to build in his chest after that.
They landed at the Anchorhead space port. Konshu was staying inside to protect his eyes, not meant to be exposed to multiple desert suns and Zaalbar had flatly refused to leave the environmentally controlled ship, So Layla, Steven, Mission and Canderous headed out into the oppressive, dry heat.
Layla almost immediately got into a discussion with a port authority about payment and mechanic services and Canderous wandered off without an explanation. Steven was about to go stand with Layla when he was approached by an Aqualish, datapad in hand.
“[Hello there, captain. Let's see… ah, yes. Here it is. It looks like the shipment has been delivered to your ship, as requested.]”
“What? [I’m not the captain. And we aren’t here for any shipments.]” Steven protested.
“[This is docking bay 32, isn't it? Yes, it is, and that's what I have here on the requisition form. Everything seems to be in order. The gizka are your problem now.]”
“[Excuse me, did you say] ‘gizka?’” He had a feeling of impending doom. Oh no. Jake did not sound distressed, rather like he was holding back laughter.
“[It says right here on the manifest that you ordered a crate of gizka. To be delivered to docking bay 32… that's right here.]” The Aqualish said in that special tone workers reserved for customers they had decided not to help.
“[I guarantee you we did not order any gizka.]” It was hard to keep his rising temper from affecting his voice. “[I am not signing for them. No one is.]”
“[If you want to give them back, you'll have to fill out another requisition. I have one right… wait. I thought I had one. Oh, well.]” The Aqualish shrugged. “[At any rate, the gizka are yours. One of the loaders said the crate split open once he put it in your hold… some of the critters might have gotten loose. That happens, I'm afraid. We don't accept liability… and we certainly couldn't take the cargo back. Enjoy.]”
“Oh you are *not* just leaving them in there!” Steven was about to grab the dockworker and maybe let Jake, whose cackling laughter had not subsided since the word ‘gizka’ had come up, threaten the Aqualish into taking them back, when he felt a wave of distress in the Force. The signature was someone he knew; Mission. He spun around and saw her talking to an orange skinned Twi'lek woman.
“Don't you start trashing my brother, you cantina rat! Take that back or I'll smack you so hard your head-tails will pop off!” The teenager all but yelled as he hurried over.
“What-?? Mission, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?” The woman seemed genuinely hurt and confused.
“Griff told me you didn't want his little sister tagging along – that's why he had to leave me behind!” Mission actually snarled. At her brother’s name, Steven could guess who the other Twi’lek was: the Leana that Mission had refused to talk about.
“Is that what the Hutt-spawn told you?” Leana cried. “I wanted you to come with us, Mission. I even offered to pay for your ticket! Why not? I paid for everything else while I was with that freeloader. But he told me you didn't want to leave Taris. I said we shouldn't even go then, but he said we'd come back and get you after we struck it rich on Tatooine – just another one of his lies!”
“No – you're the one who's lying! Griff wouldn't… he wouldn't try to leave me behind!” Mission said as Steven laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t look at him, but he could feel her relief that she wasn’t alone for this conversation.
“Think about it. If Griff wasn't trying to ditch you, Mission, then why didn't he tell you where we were going? After we left Taris he told me looking after you was holding him back – Griff's always looking to blame other people for his own problems. That's why he abandoned you. He did the same thing to me, too, as soon as I ran out of money. He started blaming me for all his problems. Like it's my fault his get-rich-quick schemes never work out!”
“That… doesn’t sound far fetched. And she feels like she’s telling the truth.” Steven admitted. Leana gave him a curious glance then nodded.
“If he was here to defend himself Lena wouldn't be saying all this bad stuff about him!” Mission sounded like she might cry and he guessed that she had her doubts, even if she wasn’t going to openly accept what the other Twi’lek said.
“Hey, if you want to talk to Griff go ahead. He said he was going to make a fortune working the Czerka Corp mines on this shitty planet, but as far as I'm concerned he's out of my life forever! I’m getting out of here and you should too.” He was on Tatooine? Small galaxy. Steven thought.
“Griff's better off without you anyway, you table-dancing, brother-stealing home wrecker!” She actually stamped her foot, though it didn’t have much effect, what with the thick layer of sand that covered everything.
Hurt and anger rolled off Leana, but she just shook her head. “Someday you’ll see I’m right about him. Good luck, Mission.” And then she was gone.
“I know you’re upset, but that was rude.” Steven frowned at Mission and got a rough shove in the chest for his trouble.
“You don’t understand about family. I can’t just… He’s my brother and she’s a liar.”
He can be your brother *and* a liar. Steven knew better than to say it outloud. He didn’t know anything about sibling relationships, so it wasn’t really his place to give her advice.
“Griff… She said he’s still on Tatooine. I'd like to go talk to the Czerka Corp rep on Tatooine and see what he has to say about where my brother is now.” She looked up at him hopefully. “Do we have time to go? I know this is important, but…”
“We’ll talk to Layla. We might have to stop there anyway, since we need information about any other… Jedi who passed through here.” That satisfied her for now.
“Are you two okay?” Layla had finished paying their docking fee and asking about the settlement. She’d caught the last exchange between Mission and Leana. She knew they couldn’t afford many distractions, but it wouldn’t hurt to swing by the Czerka offices, since they were already on planet…
“Yeah, just some-”
“WORM, WHAT ARE THESE AND WHY ARE THEY ON THE SHIP?!” Someone, almost definitely Konshu, roared from the Ebon Hawk loading ramp.
“Let’s go to Czerka. Like right now.” Steven grabbed both women by a hand and started dragging them out of the space port. Tatooine is the worst. It has like… a special gravitational pull for coincidence and massive fucking inconveniences. Jake said and Steven agreed.
***
Anchorhead practically bled despair into the Force. Combined with the heat, it was both physically and mentally uncomfortable. Layla had gotten directions from the port authority, so at least she knew where they were going. The sentients hurrying through the streets were a mixed bag of species, mostly miners, the buildings battered by constant blowing sands. Layla was watchful, but kept glancing at Steven and fighting back a smile. He’d explained about the gizka and fortunately, both women found it more funny than infuriating.
“They breed like crazy.” He warned.
“Yeah, but they don’t chew wires or anything, so it’ll be a problem for later.” She said breezily. “Also, I noticed Konshu has forgotten your name again, so if they do become an issue, I’ll leave it to him to be mad about it.”
Steven got halfway through a rude gesture before Mission’s snicker distracted him.
The Czerka office looked like every other building in Anchorhead. There were only two employees inside, an alien behind the counter and a woman going over a datapad.
“We are no longer issuing hunting licenses or hiring.” She said, not looking up at them.
“We’re not hoping for either.” Layla replied coolly.
“I'm looking for a miner named Griff.” Mission piped up.
That got her to look up. “Griff? Uh... there's no Griff here. Never heard of him. No, I... I don't remember a single Griff on the Czerka Corporation payroll.”
It was a bad lie and they all saw it, with Steven getting the extra confirmation from the Force. “You have the whole galactic corporation payroll memorized?” He asked, tone bland. “We’d go away faster if you just checked.” You would think a corporate representative would be better at deception. Tatooine gets low quality everything. Came the joke behind his eyes.
The woman glared at him. “Oh, you mean that Twi'lek! Must have slipped my mind for a second. Yes, of course I remember Griff.” She set down her datapad, crossing her arms and looking at them suspiciously. “We hired that Twi'lek some time ago. Not a good worker according to his crew chief: always complaining and faking injuries to get out of work. He entered false time sheets and slept through his shifts. We even suspected him of stealing Czerka Corporation supplies, although we could never prove it.”
“Sounds about right.” Steven said, muffling a yelp when Mission kicked his shin. The woman continued as if she hadn’t heard.
“We would've fired him but we needed workers. It would have been better for him if he had been fired. Then the Sand People wouldn't have gotten him.”
“Sand people?” Layla frowned.
“Aggressive native inhabitants.” She said dismissively. “They destroy our sandcrawlers and kill our miners. One particular tribe is the worst. It's as if their chieftain has decided to wage a war against us. Your Griff was lost in a Sand People raid we suffered not too long ago. We didn't find his body so we have to assume he was taken prisoner. Whether he's still alive, I couldn't say. In the end it just wasn't cost effective to keep searching. All miners sign a waiver absolving Czerka Corporation of liability in these circumstances.”
Mission gasped in horror and Steven winced. Layla’s temper flared in his awareness and her voice had picked up an edge the next time she spoke.
“Cost effective? Really?”
“Czerka Corporation cares deeply for all of its employees. That's why we've started a bounty program to thin the Sand People numbers.” Came the bored reply.
Steven felt a wave of nausea at her words. Thin their numbers? Was it legal for a corporation to put out such bounties on sentients? It certainly didn’t sound right. Prosecuting criminals was one thing, but random bounties would definitely get innocents killed. “Has anyone tried negotiating with them? Why are they attacking?”
“Czerka is not interested in hiring a diplomatic representative. They are unable to communicate with offworlders. Not that they gave any miners much of a chance.” The woman sneered. “Griff is gone and if you’re not interested in bounties or shopping, get out.”
“Where are the Sand People at?” Mission’s voice had a note of desperation in it.
The woman glanced at the weapons all three of them carried. “Head southwest into the Dune Sea. Remember, there’s good money in bounty work. And maybe Griff,” She couldn’t hide her disgust when she said his name. “Is still kicking somewhere.”
Mission was already running out the door.
“Wait, Mission, we need to talk-” Layla called, following.
“Talk? What is there to talk about? Those Sand People took my brother prisoner! Griff might… might not be who I thought, but we have to go rescue him! We can't just leave him with those... those... those monsters!” Came the frantic response.
“Hey, hey, time to take some deep breaths.” Steven hissed through his teeth when Mission whirled to glare at him. “I’m good with languages, so maybe we should go find them and ask about Griff-” Bad idea. You don’t speak Tusken. And they get mean fast. He wasn’t going to ask how Jake knew that. The thought of just… attacking someone who might be part of the group who’d taken Griff did not sit well with him. Well, if it’s that important to you… While Layla and Mission argued, both ignoring his advice about breathing, he noticed that Jake’s presence in his head had vanished. Not vanished… gone far away? There was a stab of pain behind his left eye, like the start of a migraine and then Jake was back. Marc says try to find a protocol droid. The last… the last person who tried talking to them used one.
You won’t be able to avoid explaining how you know this stuff forever. Steven snapped, then forced himself to focus on the world outside his head.
“I’m going to see if there’s a droid shop anywhere in town. If we can find a translator droid…”
“That Czerka woman said they can’t communicate with translators.”
“And I’m so sure she tried a non-organic one.” Steven said dryly. “Let’s just try this first. Please?”
“... We’ll gather more information. You can go looking for a droid and I’ll try and find out more from the people in town to see if there’s any chance at all.” Layla sounded very tired. She now had two people with unrealistic hope, going against each other. “Mission, you go back and find Canderous and tell him there might and I mean *might* be a fight soon.”
Steven nodded, face tight, and turned away. Before she lost sight of him, Layla noticed his lips were moving, as if he were talking to himself.
She asked around town and none of what she heard was not encouraging. The sentients around Anchorhead were equal parts hostile and afraid. Even the most sympathetic person, a Duros who was vocally opposed to the bounty on Sand People, didn’t seem too optimistic.
“[They probably see all this as an invasion. It basically is.]” He growled. “[And the fighting has been getting worse. Plenty of dead on both sides and no one will stop it. There was even a Jedi here a few years ago that couldn't seem to get through to them. I... think that ended in blood too. I'm not saying it would be easy, but someone has to try.]”
Layla sighed. Apparently she would be part of that attempt, or be subjected to the saddest looks Steven and Mission could muster between them. It had nothing to do with their overall mission, but what Konshu didn’t know at the moment would not hurt him. Or the crew’s ears once he started yelling about it.