Wars Amongst the Stars: Rebellion: Vol: 1

Chapter Nineteen

Lando walks over to the wall, studying one of Sabine's paintings that takes up the wall. "Sabine. I understand this is your work. Reminds me of Janyor's protest paintings on Bith."

The Mandalorian walks over to look at the painting herself, "Janyor of Bith is a major influence."

At this point in the conversation about art, Keen decides to leave the room, walking toward her cabin.

It's not as though the Jedi dislikes art. Art was something the Jedi admired greatly. The Temple's always teeming with artistry of some kind. Whether that be with lightsaber movements, or Force techniques, or even just paintings, one is never without art. No, what the Jedi dislikes is Lando Calrissian.

The door to her cabin slides open, the Jedi plopping down on her bunk. She attempts to shake her thoughts of the Temple from the forefront of her mind. Keen can't deal with being distracted, not with a mission close at hand. Her eyes drift shut, although the Jedi doesn't fall asleep.

A few minutes later, the door to the room slides open. The signature of the person is most definitely not a member of the rebel crew, so Master Quinara sits up. "Can I help you, Calrissian?"

"It was just that I've made an acquaintance of every other person on this lovely ship, I feel as if I must at least try with you."

"Well, you tried. Goodbye."

The smuggler steps further into the room, "Oh, come now, there must be something that we have in common?"

"Jee uth mee jewz ku, cheeskar goo," (I said goodbye, cheater scum)  Ar'iabel replies in Huttese.

The smuggler looks shocked, "I see that you have dealings with the Hutts. That, in and of itself is something we have in common."

"Cha skrunee da pat, Sleemo!" (Don't count on it, slimeball.)

"Oh, do we really need to throw in insults too?"

"E chu ta! Calrissian, take a hint, and take a hike."

The smuggler raises his hands, leaving the room, all the while chuckling.

***

Kanan, Hera, and Lando go towards the docking bay, Ar'iabel rushing up beside them. "I'm going with you."

The smuggler offers her a cunning smile, "Are you sure? We wouldn't want to overwhelm Azmorigan."

In lieu of a response, the Jedi just continues to walk with the others.

"Now, whatever I say, just play along," Lando says, about halfway between the two ships.

"Wait. What does that mean?" Kanan demands.

"I hope you have a backup plan in case something goes wrong."

"No fear, Captain. If a comet hits, this ship has escape pods."

"Pretty sure that isn't the type of 'wrong' Hera had in mind," the Jedi Master mutters, continuing down the long corridor. The doorway at the end whooshes open, servants leading the four to a large open room.

Sitting on a makeshift throne is a short, overweight, red alien. He has fruit juice running down his chin, the smell not much better than the appearance.

"Good to see you again, Azmorigan," the smuggler steps forward slightly.

"I have what you ordered. Mmm, mmm. What do you have to offer in return?" the alien asks, snorting and eating, getting crumbs everywhere.

Calrissian shoves Hera forward, and she lands on her knees in front of Azmorigan, clearly intending on offering her to him, as a slave.

"What?" Kanan shouts, launching forward toward Hera, "You can't do this!"

"Trust me."

Keen turns on the man, "Trust you? No offense, mate, but we hardly know you!"

Hera turns round to face the two Ghost crew members, "A deal's a deal, guys."

Azmorigan looks up at the Twi'lek, surveying her appearance. "Well, her attire is, uh, preposterous, but the trade is, uh, mmm is acceptable," he grumbles.

"Thank you, Lord Calrissian, for delivering me to my new master. I must find a way to repay you."

Both Jedi roll their eyes as Calrissian replies. Keen can sense a strong surge of anger from Kanan and she turns to him, a hand resting lightly on his elbow, "Are you good?" she whispers.

The Knight doesn't respond, just continues to glare daggers at Lando as the three exit back to the Ghost. Passing through the docking port, back into their ship, "Where's Hera?" Sabine immediately asks as she greets them at the door.

"Tell her about Hera, Lando," Keen grumbles.

The door at the other end of the room sliding open, as Lando says, "Hera is following the plan, which is what we should be doing if we want to get her back."

"Where's Hera?" Zeb asks, directly in the middle of the conversation.

"What plan is she following?" Kanan growls at the smuggler. His anger is rising to the levels of rage, and, frankly, it's starting to worry the Jedi Master.

"I told her to take an escape pod."

"You never told her that!"

"I did, actually. Weren't you paying attention? Besides, Hera strikes me as very capable. We are lucky to have a captain like her." The smuggler walks through the door at the other end of the room, pushing the crate along in front of him.

"I know that...Wait. What do you mean, 'we'?" The Jedi Knight shouts, confusedly. He stands rooted in his spot, glaring after Lando.

Ar'iabel walks toward the exit herself, and barely hears Sabine say, "Quite a day you're having. First, you lose Chopper, now Hera."

The Jedi walks through the cargo hold, where Ezra, Lando, and Chopper are. She hears them discussing the contents of the crate. Climbing the ladder for the cockpit, Keen hears the smuggler informing the Padawan not to open the crate. She rolls her eyes, "Who would be stupid enough to open a strange crate that could have potentially dangerous equipment inside?"

Master Quinara arrives in the cockpit, collapsing in the chair behind the pilot's chair. Several minutes later, Kanan, Sabine, and Lando enter the room. The Knight and the smuggler continue to argue, but, Keen mostly tunes them out.

Her mind is elsewhere, mainly on a certain, Alderannian princess. If the Jedi is to train her, she'll need to discuss it with Yoda, as well as Obi-Wan. The last thing Keen wants to do is leave the Ghost once again, but the future of the Galaxy could rely on Leia.

Keen's eyes are focussed out the viewport, and so, she's the first person to see the escape pod. Just as she opens her mouth to point it out, Calrissian says, "In a pod, as discussed. You really should have more faith in our captain."

"Our captain?" Kanan flowers, looking about ready to strangle Lando.

Sabine, clearly picking up on the Knight' anger, leads the smuggler out of the cockpit, claiming an excuse of prepping the airlock.

Ar'iabel doesn't say anything, just fixes Kanan with a look. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the Jedi Knight says, "Look, I know I shouldn't let myself get angry, but this guy just drives me up a wall."

"I understand, he makes me want to hurt him, but you have to temper that anger, and calm yourself."

He clenches his eyes in understanding, "Fine."

The conversation tampers off, and over the comm Sabine informs both Jedi that their captain has made herself on board. Keen slips out of her seat, heading down to the cargo hold, hoping to see Hera at least attempt to murder Lando.