Chapter 15: Mistaken Identity

The hum of the lightsaber blade was uncomfortably close as Nadia dove to the side, narrowly evading one of Kayora’s swipes. Rolling on the hard floor of the training area, she popped up in a ready stance, sure that she was going to feel that later. Throwing a hand out, she attempted to knock Kayora off balance but the Twi’lek was faster, leaping high in the air and somehow not hitting the ceiling. Landing to Nadia’s left, they both attacked, lightsabers clashing against each other brilliantly. The determination on her master’s face was encouraging, because it meant that she wasn’t taking it easy on Nadia. She still definitely wasn’t fighting all out, but Nadia knew she wouldn’t last long against that onslaught. Regardless, Nadia’s skills had improved dramatically since she first came under Kayora’s tutelage.

Breaking apart, they circled one another, like predators in the wild. As she worked to catch her breath, Nadia evaluated her opponent, looking to see if there was anything she could exploit, anywhere that Kayora appeared to be a little fatigued. Much to her annoyance, her master appeared to be as flawless as ever, though the annoyance was really only in this specific situation. Outside of this situation … Nadia caught herself before her mind completely drifted, but not soon enough that Kayora didn’t catch the momentary lapse in focus. Her master lunged forward and Nadia was just barely able to deflect the blade away, but unfortunately it left her on her back foot. Kayora spun slow, clipping Nadia at the ankles and she fell back, landing hard against the deck, her lightsaber skittering away.

“Ouch,” she grimaced. She was definitely gonna feel that one. As she rubbed her soon to be sore posterior, a green skinned hand appeared in front of her.

“Your lightsaber skills are a force to be reckoned with.” Gripping her master’s hand, Nadia allowed herself to be pulled up, and then was surprised as Kayora pulled her into a soft kiss. Looping her arms around Kayora’s neck as they separated, she gazed into her master’s eyes, basking in the adoration she found there.

“Still no match for you,” Nadia replied. “Though I still haven’t mastered the skill of not being distracted by your beauty.” An adorable blush spread across Kayora’s cheeks, and Nadia gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose. “You’re so cute.”

“Oh stop,” Kayora said, laughing.

“Also, somebody has gotten much more confident with her public displays of affection,” Nadia teased.

Immediately Kayora got a worried look in her eyes. “Is it too much?”

“Definitely not,” Nadia murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to Kayora’s lips.

Once they’d sufficiently pleasured each other after the close call on Rakata Prime, they’d both fallen asleep, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. Kayora had the excuse of an adrenaline crash, but Nadia couldn’t blame it on anything except how safe and relaxed she felt, nestled up in Kayora’s arms. When they’d awoken later, there was an interminable glow around her master, which the rest of the crew seemed to notice as well when they had met up for Kayora to brief them on what had happened at the stronghold. Felix kept shooting small smiles Nadia’s way, and Tharan gave her an exaggerated wink when he thought Kayora wasn’t looking. Zenith and Qyzen didn’t outwardly express any notice, of course, but even they seemed to be somewhat put at ease by the lightness in Kayora’s mood. In the weeks since then, Kayora and Nadia had exchanged kisses and had a couple more passionate encounters in between their training. Usually they still slept separately, but on occasion they’d spend the night together, which was beginning to be something to look forward to almost more than the sex.

“Good.” Kayora smiled into the kiss, and then stepped away, letting Nadia’s arms fall back to her sides. Clipping her lightsaber to her belt, she strode over to retrieve Nadia’s and returned it to her padawan. “I’m going to go check with Felix, see if there’s been any news from Theron or the others.”

“No need, commander.” Felix’s chipper voice preceded him as he hopped up the couple of steps that separated the lounge from the hallway. He had a datapad in his hand, which he promptly held out toward Kayora. “Haven’t heard from Theron or the Sith lady, but we did get this transmission. While it isn’t directly from either of them, it’s weirdly cryptic enough that it could be.”

Taking the pad from the soldier, Kayora began to read. Her brow furrowed, and one eyebrow rose up rather comically as she digested the words. Judging by her reaction, Nadia assumed the information on the pad was just as cryptic as Felix had indicated, and perhaps more so. Nadia shook her head. She’d never get used to working with spies.

“This certainly is strange, but as you say, I would not be surprised if it came from Theron somehow,” Kayora agreed, handing the datapad back. Reaching out, she brushed her fingers lightly over the back of Nadia’s hand as she walked toward the exit, most likely heading to the cockpit. Falling into step beside her, Nadia inquired about their destination.

“Rishi,” Kayora answered as they passed through the arch leading into the cockpit. Kayora dropped down into the somewhat worn pilot’s seat, spinning it around to face the controls. Nadia pulled up the galaxy map as Kayora input the coordinates into the nav computer.

“What do we know about Rishi?” Nadia inquired, shivering slightly in her training attire, now that her adrenaline was subsiding.

“It’s kind of a pirate planet,” Felix responded, pulling up a couple images of the planet in question. “It’s fairly tropical, a bit reminiscent of Rakata Prime, but there’s actually people there.”

“And a lot of them are pirates?”

“Oh yeah, a rather large number of them are pirates,” Felix confirmed. More images popped up, showing different symbols that Nadia assumed corresponded with different pirate factions. A strange bird looking creature showed up in one of the images, and Nadia pointed at it.

“What is that a picture of?” she asked, very curious to be seeing a species she had no knowledge about.

“That’s the species native to Rishi, the avian Rishii,” Kayora answered, turning around in her chair. The stars outside blurred into white smears as they made the jump to hyperspace. “It shouldn’t take us long to reach Rishi. I am very curious as to what we might find there though; as Felix said, it’s mostly just pirates and also relatively out of the way for both the Republic and the Empire.”

Continuing to study the images Felix had retrieved, Nadia gave a brief shrug of her shoulders. “Only one way to find out, right?”

—

Looking out of the window as they sailed across the sky on their way to a landing platform, Nadia couldn’t help but bemoan the fact that they were coming to another tropical paradise and wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. At least, the likelihood of having down time was fairly minimal, though a girl could dream. Once landed and off the ship, Kayora and Nadia strolled down wooden piers through the salty sea air looking for their contact. Taking a deep breath, Nadia allowed herself a moment to just appreciate the environment they were in. Her eyes flicked open to find Kayora watching her, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“What?” Nadia asked, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.

“Nothing.” Kayora reached out and ran a hand down Nadia’s cheek before continuing down the boardwalk.

“Y-you can’t do that to me and then just walk away!” Nadia sputtered, hurrying after her master. Moving further into the small village that they landed at, they playfully flirted with each other, occasionally exchanging light touches. Passing by the outer buildings, they entered into a small plaza area, with stalls dotting the space. Most of the structures were primarily composed of wood, with a lot of thatch roofs and awnings. A group of pirates appeared to be brawling in the corner, but most of the merchants and shoppers didn’t pay them much mind.

“Do we know who we’re actually looking for?” Nadia asked quietly, trying not to draw any unnecessary attention to them. Though with their robes and saber hilts, they already stood out fairly distinctly against the rest of the crowd.

“No, I was told they would be here and contact us,” Kayora murmured in response, doing her best to observe their surroundings surreptitiously. They meandered a little farther into the market area, when a Rishii vendor called out to them.

“Wow, uh, you’re from the Red Hulls, aren’t you?”

Exchanging a confused glance, the two Jedi turn back to the bird-man. “The Red Hulls? I think you’re mistaken.”

“No, no, it’s definitely you!” The Rishii clacked his beak several times and the feathers on his head puffed up. “You’re not going to eat me though, right?”

Again, Nadia and Kayora were gobsmacked by wildly incorrect assumptions that this merchant had about them.

“Eat you? Why would … no, we are Jedi peacekeepers, and-”

Kayora was interrupted as the bird-man continued his rambling. “I mean, I’m sure that those pirates who crossed you deserved it, but we’re all friends here, so no need for cannibalism!” Waving his feathers anxiously, he barely even gave time for a response before forging ahead. “My name is Qaraah, and I’m certainly not one to judge what pirates do, even such fearsome pirates as yourself, and most of the people here feel the same. Not Gorro though, wow, the stuff he said about you, and now you’re here!”

Taking advantage of the breath Qaraah needed to take, Kayora spoke quickly, hoping to get her question out before the merchant continued his rambling. “Where might we find this Gorro?”

“Oh Gorro? He’s probably at the cantina, usually is that one. That’s where he talks a big game, oh I should warn you he definitely said he was going to kill you when you got here. I’d be careful going to talk with him, maybe find someone less aggressive? Or at least wait until he’s done drinking, so maybe he’s a little more drunk and less violent, though I think he might be one who gets more violent while drunk.”

Nadia held a hand to her head. The incessant babbling of this man was definitely going to give her a headache if they didn’t get out of here soon. Even Kayora’s smile was tight, betraying her waning patience.

“Thank you for your help, Qaraah,” Kayora said diplomatically, tipping her head slightly. “We will see if we can find this Gorro.” With that, the two of them made a hasty exit, the voice of Qaraah fading as they got farther away, though never seeming to stop.

“By the Force, that man could talk,” Nadia exclaimed once they were definitely out of earshot.

“That he could,” mused Kayora. They’d slowed their pace, but diligently observed the activity around them, hoping to pick up on something that would indicate the direction of the cantina. It wasn’t long before their patience was rewarded, as a pair of pirates rounded the corner, clearly inebriated.

“That Gorro is an idiot,” one of them scoffed, practically tripping over her own feet. “If the Red Hulls show up, I’m staying the hell away from those crazy cannibals.” The two drunks stumbled by, and the two Jedi sauntered in the direction that they’d come from. Sure enough, once they rounded the bend, they saw the sign for the cantina, brightly lit over a worn metal door.

“Let us hope that this Gorro is more bark than bite,” Kayora said, and pushed open the door.

The expected rambunctious din of a cantina met their ears as soon as the door breached the frame. Bottles clinked and liquid sloshed amongst the loud boisterous voices of those present. The place itself wasn’t overly large, just a handful of tables and a bar against one wall, with a generous amount of drink options displayed on the wall behind it. Through all the noise, one particularly arrogant voice cut through the others.

“Like I keep saying, when the captain of the Red Hull arrives, I’m gonna blast them, right then and there. They think they’re so tough, killin’ and eatin’ people, but they ain’t as tough as me, and I’ll show ‘em.” 

Nadia scanned the clientele present until she found the owner of the cocksure speech, a red-skinned Rodian, leaning up against the bar. His saucer-like antenna twitched as he gesticulated wildly with one hand, the other wrapped tightly around a glass of bright green liquid. The bartender, a dark-skinned human female, looked entirely over the conversation she appeared to be stuck in. She studiously cleaned out a mug with a rag, occasionally casting a baleful gaze at the blathering Rodian.

Never one to let things drag on too long, Kayora made her way over toward the bar until she was a few steps behind the Rodian, Nadia close behind.

“Excuse me, might you be Gorro?” Kayora inquired politely, hands folded in front of her in a non-threatening position.

“Who’s askin’?” The Rodian, presumably Gorro, spun around to face them, then immediately dropped his glass to the floor, reaching for his blaster as it shattered.

“Ah, come on, quit breaking shit!” the bartender groused, shaking her head in irritation.

Drawing his blaster, Gorro pointed it at Kayora, who was still yet to make a move. A female Rattataki and an imposing male Zabrak stood up from a nearby table, both pulling out their blasters as well. “If it isn’t the captain of the Red Hulls herself,” Gorro spat. “Here to stake your claim on Rishi? I don’t think so!”

Sighing, Kayora tried her best to defuse the situation, as Nadia knew she would. Though seeing the impatience of their opponents, Nadia unhooked her lightsaber hilt from her belt, just in case.

“I am not a pirate captain, and I don’t know who the Red Hulls are,” Kayora began in earnest. “I don’t wish to fight you, I wish to-”

“Die, pirate scum!” Gorro interrupted Kayora’s plea for peace, raising his blaster and firing a shot. Faster than should’ve been possible, Kayora’s pale green blade burst to life, deflecting the blaster bolt into the leg of the Zabrak, who fell to the ground howling in pain. Nadia activated her own double bladed saber, dashing to the Rattataki and slicing her weapon in half, before delivering a bone-crunching blow to the woman’s chin with the hilt of her lightsaber. She turned in time to see the Zabrak raising his own pistol, so she twirled her blade, cleanly severing the man’s hand from his arm. Gorro let out a battle cry and charged Kayora, who easily sidestepped and cut the Rodian down, looking regretful for being required to do so. The skirmish was over in seconds, and then there was silence, except for the quiet cries of the Zabrak, clutching at his missing hand.

“Gods damn it, I’m so tired of people fighting in my cantina!” The barkeep was standing in front of the bar, hands on her hips, glaring at the lot of them. “Is it that much to ask for you to take this shit outside?” Grumbling, she started picking up shards of the glass the Gorro had dropped and tossing them into a bin.

“Apologies, miss, but I only wished to speak with Gorro,” Kayora said, kneeling down to help clean up the mess. “I was hoping to find out why everybody thinks I’m a cannibalistic pirate.”

The bartender let out a bark of laughter. “I don’t think everybody thinks that, I’m pretty sure Gorro was just loud enough that everybody within earshot heard him ranting on and on about some big shot pirate captain.” The woman scooped the last of the glass up and stood, giving Kayora a once over. “Which apparently is you. No offense, you don’t look like a cannibalistic pirate captain.”

“None taken. Do you know where Gorro might have heard such a rumor?”

Moving back behind her bar to dispose of the rest of the broken shards, the woman went back to drying glasses as she eyed up Kayora and Nadia. For a moment, Nadia was worried the woman wasn’t going to be of any help, but then she spoke.

“Gorro let it slip that he was hired by Kai Zykken, a smuggler who apparently owed a bunch of money to the captain of the Red Hulls.” She smirked. “You, I guess, but I take it you don’t know a Kai Zykken either?” As both Jedi shook their heads, the barkeep sighed. “Well, you should be able to find him in a warehouse a couple streets over. Here’s the address.” Kayora thanked her, and the two of them headed back out into the village.

Hopefully it would be easier to talk to this smuggler than it had been to talk to Gorro.

—

This Kai Zykken at least didn’t attack them on site, but wasn’t too helpful either. He claimed he had information on a datapad regarding who told him about the Red Hulls, but of course he had lost the datapad. A brief investigation ended with Nadia and Kayora chasing down a Kowakian monkey-lizard that had made off with said datapad. Once they retrieved it and viewed the contents, it led them to a random crier droid shouting about the Red Hulls, which then provided them with coordinates on a safehouse where they were supposedly going to meet whoever it was that had them summoned here.

“At this point, I might need to take a break before we meet this person because all of this running around has been beyond tedious,” Nadia lamented, as she and Kayora made their way toward the coordinates the droid had provided. “I understand that they wished to cover their tracks, but there had to have been a better way to do that. At least, a way that was less annoying for us.”

“Come now, padawan, you mustn’t let such things irk you so,” Kayora mused, ever the role of dutiful master. She did, however, shoot Nadia a wink, knowing full well how obnoxious the previous several hours had been. Nadia grinned back, mood already improving just by the easy banter they had. Traversing a wooden plant bridge, spanning the distance between two of the elevated town sections, it appeared they were moving more toward the outskirts, as evidenced by the thinned crowds and sparser selection of shops. They passed under a weathered archway and saw their destination in front of them: a curved building in the corner of the plaza they’d just entered. The door slid open as they approached, which seemed to be a lapse in security, Nadia thought. A hallway curled around the inner wall of the building, and they dutifully followed it, since they had no other options.

The hall let out into a large central room, with an array of surveillance and research equipment scattered among it. Also present were several faces that they knew well: Lana and Theron at one of the screens, and Vera casually lounging in one of the chairs nearby. The noise of their arrival caused the two at the screen to turn, both giving the newcomers a bright smile.

“Excellent, you made it!” Theron exclaimed enthusiastically.

“No thanks to your inane scavenger hunt,” drawled Nadia, still not fully over how annoying it had been.

“Yes, that was Theron’s idea,” Lana said, a bemused lilt to her voice that sounded like it said I-told-you-so.

“Hey, better safe than sorry,” Theron defended, putting his hands on his hips. “And with what we’ve found here, the pirate cover story we made for you is definitely going to come in handy.”