#“the jedi code is like an itch” ok go off how they are the best

[not0a0mundane]

The Force

[picture description: a collage showing stars, galaxies, humanoid figures holding light and a quote "Deep beneath my skin I feel it the nectar-sweet itch to soothe to sing to love to help." End quote]

The quote is from tma032 "The Hive"

[spacehorrors]

Thoughts on how things could go if Xanatos was still around by the time Qui-gon was killed on Naboo? 👀

I have been saving this question all day and rotating it around in my brain so this is going to be long. the best question. ok so I think in this world we've got to assume Xanatos has tried several more times to get revenge on Qui-Gon and they've just not been successful. so he's like just marinated in his failure.

I think he'd be out of his mind with fury though that he'd been trying to kill Qui-Gon for so many years and some random guy who everyone is saying is a sith has done it. he would be FUMING.

the real question is who he takes it out on like I could come up with good reasons either way why he would take it out on Obi-Wan or go straight into being obsesssed with the sith. unearthing the fact Palpatine is a sith lord etc etc.

so because I'm indecisive I'm going to talk through both and then decide at the end.

so if he takes out on Obi-Wan for letting Qui-Gon die then I think he goes straight for Anakin off the bat because uh that's what he's good at. going for the padawan and letting the master suffer. personally I don't find that compelling unless there was some mutual breakdown for Obi-Wan and Xanatos regarding Qui-Gon. so I don't think it's worth that option. I do think he'd seek Obi-Wan out in either au though because Xanatos is a terrible TERRIBLE human but he's also incredibly lonely.

he needs someone to clap and tell him how powerful he is and if he doesn't have that he'll settle on someone screaming it.

anyway. I think him going after the sith and investigating them is more interesting and would make a better narrative!

SO what's going to happen. um I think he needs to go through Dooku first so I think a showdown between those two is necessary. I'm so conflicted again how this would go down because I think he would take Xanatos as his apprentice to be honest.

I do think this now presents an opportunity for the seed for perhaps the true revenge of the sith lol aka Dooku explains to Xanatos if he wants revenge he'll have to be patient. so I think that would eventually culminate in a dead Sidious and Dooku replacing him.

The Jedi code is like an itch etc etc and Dooku has to take an apprentice but he also has to have revenge but he also has to kill the sith like a true jedi.

Ok I hope this is mildly comprehensible. <3 I lucky add onto this later <3

[spectraspecs-writes]

Taris - Chapter 13 (Carth)

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 12. Chapter 14.

Knowing that Gadon Thek is a nice kind of guy, I think taking a few minutes to chill out in the Hidden Bek base isn’t a terrible idea. They have a pretty nice mess and were kind enough to give Carth and myself a small smackerel to eat. Seeing as how we’re now working for Gadon and all that. And to me, this seems like the perfect time to talk to Carth some more. “Hey, Carth,” I say to him.

He swallows the water in his mouth and says, “Yes, what’s on your mind?”

“I want to discuss something with you.”

“You do?” He shrugs a little. “Fair enough. What do you want to discuss?”

“We didn't exactly finish our conversation yesterday.”

He sighs a bit, like “oh, that’s what she wants to talk about.” “I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from,” he says, “Let me try to explain. You've got the skills of an elite commando, and you've saved my butt more than once.” Hell yeah, I have, and don’t forget it. “Between that and your facility with languages, I'm lucky you're here. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you or being wary. I'm just not built that way. Period.” Dude, that sounds a bit harsh.

“Why are you so hostile?” I ask him, “What, pray tell, did I do to deserve this?”

“You, uh… haven't done anything.” Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. “Yet.” Dude, what a cop-out. “But there's no guarantee that you won't do anything in the future.”

“So you want a guarantee? Is that what I’m hearing?”

“I've been betrayed before by people and I… well, it won't happen again. I don't know that you'll betray me. But there are no guarantees… not for you, not for me. You don't have to take it personally.”

Okay, now I’m pissed. “Don't tell me not to take it personally, you hairless Wookiee!”

“Hairless Wookiee?” he repeats, “Alright, sister, just... just... just calm down before your head explodes.”

Oh-ho-ho, here we go! “Don't tell me to calm down, you ignorant bantha!”

“Is that your idea of an insult? Come on, sister, take your best shot.”

Uh-uh, I’m not playing this time! “Drooling Bomarr cast-off!”

He laughs a bit. Still trying to play with me. “Oh, ouch. I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one.”

“Don’t patronize me, Carth.” You’ve seen me with my swords, do you really want to risk pissing me off?

“Wouldn't think of it,” he says, even though that’s basically what he’s been doing, “Feel better now?”

“Not really. This is still serious,” I say, turning more to face him.

He sighs, and I think he gets that I’m not playing today. “Look... all I mean is…”

I scoff again, interrupting him with a sarcastic laugh. “Right,” I say, “And how am I supposed to know that *you* won't betray us?”

“Me?”

Uh-huh, weren’t expecting that, were you? “Yes, you! Why should I trust you, after all?”

“You shouldn't.”

Huh. I think this just a bit of a turn. “If you're smart,” he continues, “you won't trust anyone… not me, not Bastila, and especially not yourself.”

“Ahhh…,” I say. I think I’m starting to get this. “So you don't trust yourself, is that it?”

“I don't need to be analyzed, thanks,” he says, starting to turn away from me, “Can we… can we just get back to business?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about this?” I think I’m getting somewhere here.

“No, I don't want to talk about it. What I want is to save the galaxy… if that's even possible.”

He stammers a bit, then says, “Why is whether or not I trust you or anyone so damned important to you? Why… why do you even care?” And before I have a chance to say anything else, he stops me. “We don't have time for this, so can we please just… drop it. For now? Can we pick it up later if you really must, I… want to get underway.”

You know what, dude, I feel like you’re trying to avoid this subject. But I’ve finished my bread and I feel like running it off, so what the hell, let’s go. So I sigh and get up. “Let’s go, then. This Jedi isn’t going to find herself. And neither is Mission.”

He hops off his chair and follows me out of the Bek base.

Let’s see, if the Vulkar base was back the way we came, then presumably the entrance to the Undercity is in the other direction. Sounds like a good place to start, at least. So I head off in that direction. And it’s not long before we run into some Vulkars, but I’m not so sure these guys will be a problem. Not if the guy they’re talking to is any indication.

“You guys are behind with your payments,” he says. A human. Payments to what? “What do you uh, you think just ‘cause you're in some gang you don't have to give Davik his cut?” Sounds like the Exchange to me. In the galaxy, wherever you are, there are two constants - Czerka Corporation, a huge intergalactic business conglomeration, and it’s less legitimate little brother, the Exchange. Where Czerka is a business, the Exchange is part organized crime, part black market. If a planet’s economy is like an iceberg, you’ll find Czerka above the water, and the huge mass of the Exchange under the water. And it seems to me like this Davik guy is in charge of the Exchange around these parts. I haven’t seen a trace of Czerka so far, so Davik must be the head honcho around these parts. Not the Sith, much as they think they’re in charge. No. It’s Davik.

“I don't see Davik doing anything for his share,” one of the Vulkars, a Nikta, says, “We do all the work. Davik claims he's part of the Exchange, so let's see him prove it.”

“Yeah,” his Rodian buddy scoffs, “let's see the big crime lord come and get his money from the Black Vulkars!”

Mission was right, these guys are idiots.

“Ah, so you want to play this the hard way?” the Exchange agent says, “Haha. OK.” And he whistles.

That is one built Mandalorian. And it looks like he knows his way around that repeating rifle.

And he has the Vulkars nervous. “Oh, hey… Canderous,” the Nikta says, backpedaling hard, “We didn't know you was working for Davik now.”

“Yeah, we were just goofin' around here,” the Rodian says anxiously, “We don't want no trouble with a Mandalorian. Here's Davik's cut.” And he hands the Exchange agent some credits.

“I knew you boys would see reason. Now get out of here.” And the Vulkars turn tail and run into the apartments.

“Too bad,” says the Mandalorian, “I was looking forward to cracking some heads.”

“Maybe next time, Canderous,” says the Exchange agent, “I better get this over to Davik. I'll call you if anyone else gets behind on their payments.” He heads off back towards the Upper City elevator, and Canderous heads into the apartments.

I sort of tilt my head a little and narrow my eyes. “Uh-oh,” Carth says, “I know that look. Why do I get the feeling we’ll be heading into those apartments?”

“I’ve just got a gut feeling that if we want to get off this planet, we’ll need that Mandalorian’s help,” I say.

“Can’t we worry about that after we’ve found Bastila?”

I turn to him. “Sure, if you want to search the entire planet for a lone Mandalorian working for the Exchange.”

Carth sighs defeatedly. “All right,” he says, and he follows me into the apartments.

Okay, we were literally right behind that Mandalorian, where the hell did he go? He has to be around here some… ooh a droid! My fingers have been itching to fix a droid ever since I saw that droid shop. And you know, I can almost smell the Black Vulkars in here. It would be good to have an extra gun hand here. So I settle down with my pack and my hyperspanner.

“What are you doing?” Carth asks, “I thought we were looking for that Mandalorian.”

“We were,” I say, starting to tinker with the droid, “But now I’m repairing this droid.”

He sighs again. “You really need to talk with someone about your attention span.”

“Can’t you smell the Vulkars in here?” I say, fixing the droid’s targeting sensors, “Trust me, you’ll thank me for this later, when you’re not bleeding on the floor.”

“How do you know there’s…?” he starts to ask, but then he just sighs again. “You know, forget it. Fix the droid, what the hell.”

“Now you’re seeing things my way,” I say, replacing the droid’s burned out shield emitters.

I just love fixing droids. If I believed all that Jedi crap, I’d say it was a great way of centering myself. But as it is, it just takes my mind off things. Like Bastila - what if we can’t find her? What if she’s dead by the time we get to her? What if we die before we get that accelerator for Gadon? What if, what if, what if. But fixing droids. That’s something I know I can do. That’s a problem I know I can fix. And it makes me feel a hell of a lot better about my other problems. There’s just something about fixing droids that tells me that everything’s going to be okay.

There we go, that should do it. This droid will go off and take care of any hostiles in the area. The more Vulkars we take care of now, the fewer we’ll have to worry about in their base when we get that accelerator. Now, with the droid taking care of the Vulkars, I can commit more time to finding that Mandalorian, Canderous. Carth and I have been right near the entrance this whole time, so he couldn’t have left. He has to be in one of these apartments.

Nope, not the first one.

Nope, not the second one, either.

And not the third one.

Or the fourth one.

Hmm. Why is there a footlocker in the middle of the room in the fourth one? And there’s a note on the footlocker: “Gilthos: Sorry I couldn't be there with you, but here's the package I promised. Remember, activate the holographic security system in the proper order to open it or… BOOM! Just activate the holograms in the same order that they joined the band. Since you're The Twisted Rancor Trio’s manager, you should be able to figure out the code. I still think this is a mistake. Davik won't be happy if Ashana can't fill in for her sister. And you don't want to get Davik mad or you might never come out of that estate again. Anyway, good luck. And if this works, think about what a great chapter it'll make in that biography of the band you’ve been working on.”

“No way!” I exclaim, “I love the Twisted Rancor Trio!”

“Who are the Twisted Rancor Trio?” Carth asks.

“You’ve never heard of the Twisted Rancor Trio?” I balk, “What kind of rock have you been living under? They’re only the best music group this side of the core! And I love them!” I look around at the holograms. “It’s a shame they stopped performing.”

“Why did they stop?”

“Their manager…” Oh, shit, he died. “Ah.”

“What?”

“See, I’d heard they were on Taris, but I didn’t think… Their manager died. And given from this note, he got in trouble with the Estate. Means he won’t be coming back for this stuff. We might as well take it.”

Carth looks at the note. “Well, the only way to get into it is to activate the holograms in the right order. Hopefully you’re as big of a fan as you say you are.”

“The biggest. Let’s see… first was… Elinda… then Ujaa and his brother Ujii… but they were awful so Loopa and Fodo took their places… that just leaves… Ashana.” And the footlocker opens. Awesome - some solid armor and 50 credits. If only their manager had the armor before he left for the Davik’s estate. I never thought this trivia would actually get me anywhere. This is some really nice armor, I think I’ll put it on. The Echani know their stuff. “There’s only one apartment left. That Mandalorian should be in there.”

“If he hasn’t left.”

“Stop raining on my parade.”

Next apartment - hmm, that’s a Twi’lek.

“Hey – you can't come in here! This is a private apartment!” he shouts at me.

“Sorry, I was looking for somebody else,” I say quickly, “What are you doing here? This place looks pretty much abandoned.”

“None of your business. Just turn around and go back the way you came, if you know what's good for you.”

Well, I don’t know what’s good for me. And I’m nosy. So maybe if I ask right… “Are you in some sort of trouble? Do you want to talk about it?”

“I… I guess I could tell you. You'll probably find out on your own eventually, anyway. Zax is giving his bounties away like candy, or so I hear.” Oh, there’s a bounty office? “My name's Matrik – I used to work for the Exchange, but all the violence and killing started to get to me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, so I turned state's evidence.

“My testimony helped put some of the biggest criminals on Taris away for life. But Davik didn't like seeing his friends go down, so now he's got a bounty on my head.”

Ouch. “Isn’t there some sort of witness protection or something?”

“There was, until the Sith came in and shut it down.”

Double ouch. “Maybe there's some way I could help you out if this mess,” I say. Hey, if it hurts the Exchange, that’s alright in my book.

“I don't think there's much anyone could do. And I'm getting sick of running. I've decided to make my stand right here.”

He sounds like he’s given up. Well, he can’t exactly have Davik eliminated, and in a case like this, paying him off is not an option. “Maybe you could fake your own death?” I suggest.

“I've already thought of that,” he says, “I even came up with a plan of how to do it. But I can't pull it off while I'm holed up in here.”

“I could help you out. No one’s looking for me.”

“The trick is getting Davik to buy it when there's no body found at the scene,” he says, “If it looks like I died in a massive explosion, he won't be suspicious when my corpse never turns up. If I have an accomplice go back and tell Davik that they were the one who set off the explosion to eliminate me, I think I'd be home free. I have some demolitions experience from my own days in the Exchange so I could set it all up. But I'd need to get my hands on a permacrete detonator.”

“Hey, I can do that, no problem.”

“They don't usually sell them in stores here in the Lower City, but the Upper City might carry them. You might want to look there first,” he suggests, “Once that’s done, you could collect the bounty on my head. That would close the matter.”

Sounds like a good plan to me. “I’ll be back when I get that detonator.”

Matrik doesn’t say anything more. Like he doesn’t believe me. But I’ll get it for him.

“If we keep getting things for people, we’ll never find Bastila,” Carth says.

“Hey, if you want to go to the Undercity by yourself, be my guest,” I say to him, “But I want to try to help people, if I can. Isn’t that what the Republic does anyway?”

“Well, I guess you’re right,” he says, “Better to help where we can, I guess.”

“Now you’re seeing things my way,�� I say. Back to the Upper City then.