sparky // a padawan story

chapter 53. retribution.

"If we move quick we can sneak out the front," I tell Obi-Wan and Cody quietly.
"I agree. There was no one standing guard when we came in there. Let's move," Obi-Wan says. I lead the two of them out of the room. The basement is cellar-like, with dirt floors and dark brick walls. I've been down here once, when Hondo was the one in my position, being suspended in the air in the electric shackles, because he had tried to steal my father's spice. We walk quietly up the stairs and tiptoe through the halls back out the door, which shuts behind us.
"Do you remember where the spices were, Cody?" I ask.
"Of course I do, Commander. Follow me," he replies as he steps to the front and begins to lead us through the alleyway. He takes a left through the small, pathway, then leads us to a storage unit at a dead end. We enter, and I'm met with the strong smell of spice. I scrunch my nose as we walk deeper inside. Crates line all the way up the walls and are scattered across the floor.
"It won't take as many bombs to blow all this up than it will to destroy the weapons, so we only need a few," I say.
"I agree, Commander. Let's get to work." Cody opens his satchel and hands me a few unarmed detonators, then does the same for Obi-Wan. I take them and begin to attach them to the sides of spice crates, while Cody and Obi-Wan follow suit.
"Kriff, it smells awful in here," I mutter as I arm my last detonator.
"This would be a good time to have the air filter in my helmet," Cody says.
"Where does one even get this much spice?" Obi-Wan questions.
"Straight from the mines of Kessel," I tell him. "This is a fresh shipment, too."
"Are the Kessel camps really as cruel as they say?" Cody asks.
"If my father's getting it from there, then yes, it is. He takes an unseemly pleasure in seeing people suffer, if you can imagine that."
"Are we done in here?" Obi-Wan asks as he places his last detonator in position.
"I believe so, sir," Cody answers.
"Then let's get out of here. This smell's giving me a headache," Obi-Wan says. The three of us sneak out of the storage unit and quickly get a decent distance away from it. We hide in a smaller alley, and Cody hands me a button.
"I think you should do the honors, Commander Just," he tells me.
I take the button. "It would be my pleasure, Cody. Everyone ready?"
"Go for it, Arlo," Obi-Wan says. I look down at the button in my hand, then back up to the unit in the distance, and press it. I can't help but smile as I watch the explosion before me, spice mixing in with fire, dark black smoke rising up.
"Oh, it's just beautiful," I say with a smirk.
"Hold on, how do we get back to the house without them running out and finding us?" Obi-Wan asks.
I hand the button back to Cody, who puts it back into the satchel. "I know a shortcut. Obviously. Follow me." I lead them through the small alley we hide in, down a secluded passageway, and to the back of my house. I peek through the window into the kitchen and see my father starting towards the front door.
"Don't let her get away," he says to Dooku as he runs out the door. Dooku stays in the house, but goes into the basement. I shake my saber and slash through the window, shattering it, and I climb in. Obi-Wan follows close behind and locks the basement door with the Force.
We hear Dooku bang on the door. "Casimir! What are you doing?"
"I thought I told you to not call me that, Dooku!" I shout at the door.
"Just," I hear him sneer.
"Yeah, that's more like it!" I mock. His red blade stabs through the door. "Oh, shit. Oh, we gotta move!" I begin to run towards my room, Cody and Obi-Wan close behind. If we go through the hole in the wall where the weapons are being hidden with Dooku on our tail, we'll be trapped. But unless my father's covered it up, I should know a good place to hide. I skid to a stop in front of my bed. "Roll under there!" I say quietly, silently hoping to myself that it's still there. Cody slides under my bed, and I hear him fall a very short distance with a thump and a groan, I smile slightly. It's still there. Obi-Wan slides in next, and I hear him apologize when he lands on top of Cody. I roll under last and fall down into a small storage space under my bed. I land on top of the both of them, and they both grunt at the impact. I shush them and scramble quickly to my feet, still crouching slightly to look out from inside, covered by my bed. I watch Dooku enter the room, but I can only see his feet. He walks towards the hole in the wall, probably to check if we're in there, then walk back out.
"What even is this?" Obi-Wan whispers.
"Where he hid his spices before his business got big. He used to not have as much. Once he emptied it, it became one of my hiding spots."
"And where's the weapons?"
"Through the hole in the wall. Come on." I squeeze out from under my bed, which isn't nearly as easy as it used to be when I was little, then help drag Cody and Obi-Wan out. Obi-Wan chuckles softly when he noticed the drawing of me and Hondo.
"You're quite the artist there, Arlo," he tells me, hushed.
"Just one of my many talents," I joke as I step into the hole in the wall. I look to the left and see nothing but the beams holding up the building, but to the right is a passageway. I start down it, followed by the other two.
"Do you think he made a hole in the wall just for this purpose?" Cody asks.
"Oh, no. He threw me into the wall once," I tell him. Neither of them respond, so I look behind me to them. They look at me sadly, but then both look down when I turned around. We stop at a door, and the lock asks for a voice password.
"What do you think it could be?" Obi-Wan asks.
"...This may be a minor setback," I mutter. "This is stupid, I'm cutting it open—"
"No, Arlo, don't. That could possibly set off an alarm," Obi-Wan tells me.
"Ugh. Fine." I then start to blurt out ideas. "Casimir?" Beep. "Abraham?" Beep. "Annabeth?" Beep. "Spice?" Beep. "Weapons?" Beep.
"Try your name," Obi-Wan suggests.
"Why would his password be my name?"
"Because no one would expect it, would they?"
"Okay... Arlo?" Beep beep. The door slides open. "Hm. Didn't expect that." We step into the room, and I open one of the crates to double check that we're in the right spot. And sure enough, the crate is full of weapons. Cody hands out the detonators again, and we arm them and place them on the crates as quickly as possible. Cody hands me the button once again as we walk back through the passageway.
As soon as I step out of the hole, I hear my father yell. "Where is she?"
"...We've gotta run," I say as I make a sprint towards the front door, followed by Obi-Wan and Cody. As soon as I exit my room, I'm knocked to the ground and the button falls out of my hands as my father pins me against the ground, and Dooku ignites his saber as he walks over.
"What have you done?" my father asks.
"Consider this as retribution for everything you've ever done to me," I tell him as I try to push him off, but fail.
Dooku points his saber at me. "I always knew your attitude would be the death of you.
I then hear Obi-Wan ignite his lightsaber as he comes out of my room and up behind him. "Not quite yet, though."
"Kenobi. I've been expecting you, my friend. Always chasing your children around, aren't you?"
"At least that means I make a better father than Casimir," he states as he points his saber at Dooku. They begin to duel while I push my father off of me.
"Cody, the button!" I shout. Cody runs over to grab the button, but Dooku Force pushes him away into a wall before he can reach it. I scramble up off the ground as my father punches me back down. I roll out of the way as he stomps at me and stand back up. I block another punch with my hand, then hit him across the face and kick at him. He grabs me by the ankle and pushes back so I trip, but I barely keep my balance, just to get pushed stomach-first into the ground. I notice the button a little ways away, so I try to crawl towards it as quickly as I can. My father kicks it away and lifts me off the ground by the collar and slams me against the wall, then holds a knife to my throat. The cold blade touches my neck, but doesn't quite graze it yet.
"If you're gonna take my business down, I'm taking you down with it," he threatens. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cody crawling over towards the button.
"...Don't be so sure of yourself, Father." Cody tosses the button to me, and I catch it and hold it up. I press it, and the force of the explosion pushes my father and I forward onto the ground, as the wall and my room are engulfed in flames. I quickly try to get up off the ground, but I'm pinned down by him once again, knife still in hand. He stabs at my head, but I manage to turn away just in time. He grunts in frustration as he tries to pull the knife out from between the floorboards, but is pulled off of me with the Force by Obi-Wan, who now has Dooku on the ground, his blue lightsaber pointed at his neck. He grabs mine from my belt with the Force and ignites it, pointed at him on the ground to the side of Dooku. I pull the knife out of the floor as Cody helps me up.
"Thanks, Cody," I say.
"Anytime, Commander." We watch as Dooku reignites his red lightsaber and connects it with Obi-Wan's, while my father rolls out from under my blade in Obi-Wan's other hand, and kicks the hilt, knocking it away and into his hands. As he turns back to me, seething with rage, I look down at the knife in my hand, then fling it at him like a frisbee. It cuts through his ear, splitting it in half, though still attached to his head. He drops the hilt of my saber, and I grab it with the Force, then push him back into the wall. Suddenly, part of the ceiling nearby collapses from the flames. "Commander, we've gotta go!" I look over at Obi-Wan, who continues to get closer and closer to the flames as he fights Dooku. Their two blades interlock, Dooku with the upper hand. I use the Force to lift Dooku and throw him into the same wall as my father. Obi-Wan looks at me gratefully.
"This place is gonna blow, let's bounce!" I shout at him as I hook my saber on my belt and run for the door. Obi-Wan and Cody follow closely behind. We rush out of the house and sprint out of the alleyway all the way back to the Black Spire Outpost. Once we figure we're a safe enough distance away, we start to walk back to the ship. I let the two of them lead the way back, while I straggle behind them. Unbeknownst to me, they shoot worried glances back at me every once in a while as I continue to walk with my head down.
Word has always traveled fast around the Spire, and once we almost make it back to our ship, the whispers around the street begin.
"Remember Casimir's daughter, the one we all thought was dead?"
"Yeah, what was her name, Arlo? She was a fun kid."
"Well, she's still alive, she's a Jedi, and she just blew up all of Casimir's spi— ahem, I meant, product."
"No way!"
"Yes way. It's about damn time someone but him in his place. Who does he think he is, conspiring with those Seps?"
"Good for the kid. I always felt bad for her, always hangin' round here with Oga and that one crazy pirate— what's his name, Ohnaka? Yeah, she was always with them at Oga's Cantina just tryin' to hide from Casimir. Wonder if she knows her pops killed her momma."
Kriff, am I glad I'm behind Obi-Wan and Cody right now, so less people take notice of me. I don't want to catch up with anyone right now, let alone even think about it. Any of it. I tune out the conversation I was listening to, and listen in to Cody and Obi-Wan's conversation, though they don't realize it, since I was completely zoned out before.
"Do you think they made it out in time, General?"
"I believe that they did, Commander."
"Even Casimir?"
"Yes, I sense he escaped."
"Should we go back and —?"
"No, we shouldn't. Though I agree he needs to be stopped permanently, we need to get Arlo back home right now."
"She'll be okay, right? I've never seen her so shaken up before."
"I haven't either, Cody. But we'll make sure she's all right." We walk out onto the platform our ship is on. The two of them board before me and walk to the cockpit while I slump down the wall nearby once again. I can feel the ship lift off as Cody walks out of the cockpit over to me and carefully sits beside me. We sit in silence for a moment, until he breaks it.
"I wish I could be more help to you right now, Commander, but it doesn't really feel right offering advice when I have no idea what you're going through."
"It's okay, Cody. You don't have to say anything."
"Just know I've got your back. And so do the rest of the boys."
"I know you do, Cody." I smile softly at my friend, and he reciprocates, which isn't exactly common for the slightly stoic man.
"Arlo." Obi-Wan exits the cockpit as the ship enters hyperspace, and kneels in front of Cody and I. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"No, Obi-Wan. You were right. I was ready."
"Then what's it that's bothering you?"
"All of it. I just want to... forget, I guess."
"Listen closely, little one. Your past has shaped you into the person you are now. But that does not define you. Nor has it destroyed or defeated you. Your past prepares you for the person you will be. It strengthens you. Forgetting might take the hurt away, but it would also take away else you've learned from it. Don't forget where you come from, Arlo, because it has made you into who you are today. And I hope that one day you will be able to see yourself outside of your his shadow, as I do. You are not your father's daughter. Rather, you're my brilliant, resilient padawan."
"Or everyone's favorite reckless commander."
"Exactly. We all run into our pasts at some point, Arlo... and how we react to that is ultimately what guides our futures."
—
so business on batuu is finished... for now 👀 i'm really happy to hear some of you all saying that you enjoyed my arc! i know i do a lot of freestyle chapters that don't go with an episode of the show here and there, but i haven't actually written a whole story arc before, so it means a lot to hear you all liked it :)
thanks for reading! -a 🪐