The Rebel Faction

"Very well then, I`ll have my men on the surface to deliver one artifact here for your examination and the rest you shall see trough a screen, the deal shall be made on the planet as the rest of the artifacts are secured from the temple and you shall have that one artifact in forehand."

What are you planning, Silus wondered. Businessmen were never this easy; not when there was a chance at more profits.

Silus didn't trust him. Of course, Silus hardly trusted anyone, but it was a trait that had helped him to survive for this long. Distrust was as much a part of him as the Force.

"Oh don`t worry about these two fellows, they are just my personal security and now if you may please follow me to the hangar to have a look at the item..."

Silus stood, taking a long pull from the drink before place the empty glass on the table.

"Everyone has their own defences," Silus said quietly, following the dug out the door.

Silus crossed his arms and waited as the floors rushed by. Easing out into the Force, Silus felt his surroundings, invisible ropes created and poised to strike at the droids. All this went on unknown to the dug.

"Tell me Silus... How was it that sent you to do the work for them? Perhaps the strange raced Vodo Baas?"

Silus eyebrows rose at "strage race". It was no surprise that Fegal knew about Vodo, the Jedi Master was no stranger to the public.

"It is enough for you to know I am a Jedi. You will get your credits, and we will get our artifacts," Silus gave a slight smphasis on the 'our'. He was getting tired of this skipping around.

The elevator stopped, the dug floating into the hangar and Silus following cautiously behind. This new figure, perhaps the "Nebael" Fegal spoke to, was armed enough to take on a small army. The Jedi Knight stepped carefully to the box, closely examining the holocrons being proffered. They were certainly real...

How long, he wondered, have these been missing? Many years, likely.

To Silus's eyes, these holocrons were just that... simple holocrons. Old trinkets, no matter what wisdom they contained. To him, they were hardly worth the credits.

But he wasn't to look at these through his eyes; he was to look at them through the eyes of the Jedi.

And when he looked at these, he saw that the Jedi would be most willing to let go of the credits. The holocrons were of far more value to them.

"Thirty thousand credits," Silus said. "No more, no less."

Silus looked back at the holocrons and mentally sighed. If the other artifacts were like these, the Jedi would certainly be interested in them. The sooner this was over, the better. He didn't trust this dug... nor this Nebael. The armoured figure seemed ready to strike at any moment.

Unknown to either, Silus's hand strayed closer to his lightsaber. Things could suddenly get very bad... fast.

"The Jedi accept your offer."

Silus smiled. It was not a nice one.

"Of course. I have the credits on my ship."

Vodo had seen ahead and made proper preparations. There was enough. Silus wasn't the only one who distrusted this businessman.

"Wait here and I shall retrieve them for you. It will take only a moment," Silus said and, without another word, made his way to his own ship.

Silus sat, arms crossed and eyes closed. It allowed him to rest and read more into the Force, even while lacking in the stereotypical positions associated with meditation. He ignored the rocking while the ship began the climb down to the planet's surface. For now, he was content to probe the minds of those around him.

From the dug, he felt contempt, confidence. All the more reason not to trust him.

As for the mind of Nebael... it was the mind of a hunter. That didn't help matters; Silus knew that. It was obvious in the way he walked, in the way he moved. In the way he talked...

"Tell me Jedi.... what is it like? I`ve heard about that force babble on Tatooine, but I`ve never actually faced one in battle or no Jed has been in my reach so that I could have collected them...."

Silus opened his eyes and grinned into the hunter's armoured face. "That's obvious. You are here talking to me, and you are here in one piece."

Nebael didn't have time to retort, as the ship had chosen that moment to land. Silus let the smile disappear and followed Rac, paying close attention to the bounty hunter.

You will not be making any collections today, Silus thought to himself.



They arrived at a command post and were greeted upon arrival by some sort of military official... mercenary, by the looks of him.

"We have secured the last artifact I would believe, but they are still to be packed and there is actually one door still left to be blown up, but I haven`t dared to because my men reported that there were sounds. I suspect that some animal might have made a nest there and I am not going to sacrifice my men into the hands of some beast...."

Ahh, now the hand is played. Silus mentally grinned.

Rac snorted, turning his smiling face on Silus.

"If you take that thing out what ever it is then I´ll drop the price to 33 000 each..."

"Very well," Silus nodded, "I'll take care of this 'beast' for you."

The Jedi turned to the captain, "If you would lead the way?"

"Of course."



The temple was old... time and the local vegetation and taken their toll on the building. The walls were cracked, long ago flagstones were broken and faded. The Jedi never end well... that was a fact Silus was getting used to. You became a protector, a powerful warrior and traded in any chance you had at a quiet, peaceful life or a quiet, peaceful end. Very few Jedi died in their beds. Very few Jedi died anywhere close to home.

The journey stopped at a large door, made of stone. Silus nodded at the mercenary, "I expect you had better go."

The man nodded and hurried off. Silus turned his attention to the door, running his hands over the ancient markings etched in the stone. How long have you been here?

The door opened, and Silus strolled into the room. The room was the typical ancient chamber: cracked stone walls, dust, cobwebs. What it was lacking, however, was a large, snarling beast. Silus tsked loudly.

"Rac... Rac... Rac," he said, running his hand along the wall. "I'd expected something more clever from you."

His hand ran over a small square of stone that, until observed closely, looked like just another part of the wall. There was a click as his fingers touched it.

Ah, I thought as much. Now, it is time to get out of here.

If there was a way in, there was always a way out.




A minute later, the room exploded.