Opposites Attract [Complete]

Meleana landed in a small town high in the mountains of Corellia. Unlike the last mountains she’d been forced to explore these were developed. Stores lined paved roads. Lights from houses were beginning to glitter from the mountain top as the sun began to set. She hadn’t been told what Ketana was doing there, only that it was the last place she had been before she disappeared.
The Jaded Star landed in a clearing on the edge of town. She’d always thought cantinas were the best place to start looking for information and it was just late enough that the regulars would be in, but the crowds would not. Ketana wasn’t as prone as Meleana towards frequenting cantinas, but it was a good bet that she’d been in at least once during her mission.
Meleana took a seat in the middle of the bar and ordered a drink. She sipped and focused in on the conversations around her. None of them were helpful. It was possible Ketana had moved on to one of the other near by towns.
“You’re looking for the Jedi?” The bartender asked leaning in closely to her.
“Am I that obvious?” Meleana asked a little disappointed that she screamed Jedi in a crowd.
“I saw one in here about a week ago. She was arguing with a man. I don’t know who he was. Never saw him before and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Did you hear any of their conversation?”
The bartender nodded. “Something about he shouldn’t be there, he’d get her into trouble. I didn’t think much of it till I saw you come in.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
The bartender shook his head. “He had his back to me. He was human, black hair.”
Meleana furrowed her brow. That didn’t narrow things down much at all. Ketana was cool headed, it didn’t make sense that she’d be yelling at a stranger in a bar. “Do you have any idea why she would have been here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but there’s been some strange goings on in the woods.”
Meleana had the feeling this would be one of those missions. “What sort of goings on?”
“I haven’t gone out there myself, but I’ve heard stories. People hear screaming late at night. They find animal corpses hanging from trees. A couple people have disappeared. Strange stuff.”
Strange yes, but hardly a reason for a Jedi to be called in. “Thanks for the information,” Meleana got the impression that the bartender served himself more than he did the customers. She finished her drink and ordered another one, hoping someone else would come along with some useful information. She heard two men talking about a recent hunting trip and moved to sit at their table. They didn’t seem at all offended by the company of an attractive woman.
“You go hunting out in these woods?” Meleana asked smiling sweetly. She’d learned a long time ago that in some cases a sweet smile was a better tool than all her years of training. She sipped her drink causally as the men started telling her of their recent conquests. Killing an herbivore was hardly Meleana’s idea of a manly display of courage and might.
“Have you noticed anything unusual recently?”
“Of course,” one of the men, the one with fewer teeth than the other, replied. “We don’t go up the north trail any more.”
“But don’t you worry, you just stay away from the north trail and you’ll be fine.”
Meleana smiled at the men. “Thank you for your time,” she said getting up.
Meleana walked back into the street and looked for the nearest clothing store. In the off chance that someone was hunting Jedi she’d rather not stick out. She was sure she’d blend in if she was wearing a similar style coat to the rest of the town. She walked into the nearest shop and purchased a loose white coat. It hung low enough to cover her lightsaber and looked fashionable enough to suit a woman her age.
She looked at her reflection in the store window and pondered her next move. She could go into the woods, but it didn’t seem likely that Ketana was there. It was possible she’d lost it and become a crazy mountain hermit, but that also seemed highly unlikely. It occurred to Meleana that an inn keeper would have been much more likely to have actually interacted with Ketana than a bartender.
It had been cold earlier, but the sun had made it pleasant. Now that the sun was beginning to set there was an icy chill growing in the air. Meleana was glad to walk into the warm inn. The bottom floor was a restaurant with a long bar against the far wall. It had a quaint mountain charm about it.
“What can I do for you?” The inn keeper asked as she approached the bar.
“I’m looking for someone. She’s a little shorter than I am with long reddish-brown hair and light brown eyes.”
“The Jedi?”
Meleana frowned, it’s not as though they walked around with their lightsabers blazing. “Yes the Jedi.”
“She was here. I haven’t seen her in a week or so.” The inn keeper eyed Meleana wondering if all the Jedi were cute human brunettes.
Meleana ignored his stare. “Did you ever see a man with her? Or following her? Did she mention what she was doing here?”
The inn keeper thought a moment. “She kept to herself mostly. Very polite young woman, but she never volunteered any information. There was a man. He came in asking all sorts of questions about her. He was about my height, stocky, blonde hair. I hadn’t seen him before and he never came back again after that. She wasn’t in when he came by.”
Meleana ordered a drink and went over what she knew in her head. Ketana was on a mission to Corellia, this town was the last place she’d been when she contacted the council just over a week ago. She’d had an argument with one man in the cantina, and another was asking about her at the inn, at around the same time. Then she’d lost contact with the temple. At this point common sense was telling Meleana she should be concerned for her friend, but she felt nothing through the force. She and Ketana had a very strong bond. Even as children if one of them was hurting the other knew about it. Meleana had once convinced her Master to fly her to the other side of the galaxy because she thought Ketana was in trouble, but right now she did not get the sense that was the case.
Maybe this mission was just a test. Ketana was probably back at the Jedi temple with Master Yoda watching Meleana run around a mountaintop on a hidden camera and laughing. It was strange that no one had given Meleana any information on Ketana’s mission. Perhaps that was the test, and the Council did believe Ketana was in some amount of trouble. Whatever the case Meleana needed more information. So far the only thing she had to go on was the north trail in the woods, a blond, and a brunette.
“Have you had any human male guests with black hair?” Meleana asked. If the man was from off world it was likely he stayed here. The inn didn’t seem to have many guests so it was likely the inn keeper would remember him if he’d seen him.
“Tall, kind of on the thin side?”
Meleana shrugged. “Does he have black hair?”
“Yeah there’s a man staying here that fits that description. Come to think of it he and the Jedi seemed pretty surprised to see each other here.”
Meleana’s mind was racing. “Good surprised?”
“At first yeah, then they stopped talking to each other.”
“What was his name?” Meleana’s heart was racing, if it was who she thought it was, and the description matched, she didn’t know what she’d do. At the moment she felt like vomiting on the bar.
“I’ve got it in the logs.” The inn keeper pulled up his records and started scanning the dates. “Rendain Aron.”
Meleana’s eyes widened and she had to contain her excitement to keep from jumping off her bar stool with glee. “What room is he in?”
“Number three,” he watched the Jedi jump out of her seat and run into the hall. “But I don’t think he’s in right now,” he shouted after her.
Meleana banged on the door to room number three, but there was no answer. Rendain was her Master’s son. Her Master had never talked about how he came to be. He had insisted on keeping him with him despite the Councils strong advisement not to. The only thing Ari had ever told either of them was that he was born on Dathomir. Rendain had always had force powers, but his had been different from those of a Jedi. He had an amazing ability to heal, even those close to death. He could turn a solid wall into a puddle, though he rarely did. As a teenager Rendain had always been there to watch out for Meleana. She’d always thought of him as her big brother. She hadn’t seen or heard from him in four years, ever since he decided to go explore the galaxy.
As time passed in front of the door Meleana’s smile turned into a frown. He wasn’t there. She’d missed him. Meleana walked slowly back to the exit. She stopped and turned back to the inn keeper. “If he comes back,” she said. “Tell him Meleana’s looking for him. The same goes for the Jedi.”
The sun was down now, but Meleana was far from tired. She had one lead left to go on, the north path. Most people would be frightened to go to such a place late at night, but not a Jedi. If there was something, or someone, frightening there the cover of darkness would give Meleana the element of surprise.
Compared to the last mountain she’d been on this one was quite pleasant. The north path was just that, a path that lead north. So in spite of the growing number of animal carcasses tied to trees Meleana was in high spirits. There was no snow, or ice, just the cold night air blowing gently through the trees. Meleana was just starting to enjoy her walk when a blaster turret began firing at her. She rolled off to the side behind a tree and looked for the source of the fire. She activated her lightsaber and deflected a blast back into the turret. There was a small explosion as the blast hit.
Meleana decided to follow the path from the trees to avoid any other security devices. Up ahead the path ended at the face of the mountain. She scanned the area for traps before jumping down. All of that security had to have been for something. She looked carefully at the face of the mountain, everything seemed normal. She shut her eyes and reached out with the force. She felt a hole in the icy stone. With her eyes closed she walked towards it. She stuck her hand out and felt more cool stone. Further inspection revealed a seam. It was a door. She used the force to slowly slide it open to avoid making a sound. She opened it just enough to squeeze through.
She found herself in a dark tunnel. Screams echoed down the cavern from some far off location. She started slowly down the tunnel and stopped suddenly. A warning from the force caused her to stop in her tracks. There was no floor in front of her. She activated her lightsaber to get a better look at the size of the chasm. It was long, but she should be able to force jump it. She flew through the air and grabbed the edge of the path on the other side. To her great dismay the path fell away.
Obi-Wan’s going to love this, she thought to her self as she fell into blackness. She gathered the force to land softly at the bottom. As soon as she’d gotten back to her feet strong hands wrapped around her and she felt the sting of a Vibroblade against her neck.
“Who are you and what are you doing down here?” A hoarse male voice asked.
Meleana paused, saying she was a Jedi could result in instant decapitation, but she hadn’t thought of an alias. “Would you believe I wanted to see if a friend would catch me?” she said in a light voice. At least it would give her some time to think.
“I’m not asking again.”
“My name is Meleana Ariadne. I’m a lost tourist.” As soon as she said her name she was released the vibroblade went away and the man’s arms wrapped around her to hug her.
“Why are you in a pit!” Rendain said crushing her face against his chest.
“I’m looking for Ketana. Why are you in a pit?” Meleana asked wrapping her arms around him.
“I’m trying to stop a slaver. Ketana isn’t down here.”
“But you are!” Meleana tightened her arms around him. “I missed you! It’s like you were sucked into a black hole.”
“Almost. I’m sorry. I meant to contact you, but I was so far out in the galaxy half the time I couldn’t. I was too embarrassed that I’d been ignoring you to contact you the other half of the time. Where’s Ari?”
Meleana’s mood plummeted. When she didn’t answer Rendain pushed her away to look at her. Even in the darkness he could see the shine of tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” Meleana said trying to keep her emotions at bay.
His mouth dropped. “When? How?” He asked after a minute of stunned silence.
“A few moths ago. He was killed in battle.” Meleana said softly. Rendain let her go and took a seat back against the wall in the darkness. He lowered his head in silence.
“Do you have a cable launcher?” He asked a few minutes later as though nothing had happened.
“You didn’t bring one?” Meleana tried to keep her voice light.
“No,” he snapped. “Do you have one or not?” It wasn’t like him to yell, particularly not at Meleana.
“Yes I have one,” she pulled her cable launcher off her belt. “I’ll toss it back down to you.” She made it back to the top and tossed the cable launcher down. “Was Ketana here tracking the slaver?” She asked when he had made it up.
“Yes, and she nearly caught him too.” Rendain started to walk back down the dark tunnel.
“So why didn’t she?” Meleana was getting tired of prying information out of people. It seemed obvious enough to her that she would want to hear the rest of the story.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this right now. I’ll tell you everything later.”
Meleana got the impression from his tone that he wasn’t in the mood to talk to her about anything. She followed him in silence down the hall. He obviously had a better idea of the situation than she did. More than anything she wanted to know what had kept Ketana from completing her mission. The tunnel ended with locked door. Rendain punched in the code and it opened. She wanted to ask him how he’d gotten the code, but he turned and hushed her before she could.
They walked into a dimly lit room. It was sparsely furnished with only a table and a few chairs. There were three other doors all but one was bolted shut.
“Take care of the slavers,” Rendain’s voice was no more than a whisper as he pointed to the unlocked door. “I’m going to try to get everyone else out of here.”
“What about the pit?”
“There’s got to be another way out of here.”
Meleana arched her brown. “Why would they have such high security on one entrance if there were two?”
Rendain walked over to a security console along the far wall. “I can take care of the pit.” he said hacking into the console with ease.
Meleana moved to the unlocked door and pressed her ear against it. Inside was quiet. She opened the door a crack to peer into the room. It was dark, whoever was in there was probably sleeping. She stepped inside without a sound and shut the door.
There were four beds, three of which were occupied. Meleana’s plan was to disarm them before they had a chance to wake up. She walked silently into the center of the room and crouched down to pick up a utility belt with a blaster holstered on it. The loud buzz of Meleana’s holotransmitter filled the room. Within seconds the men were awake, their blasters pointed at her. Meleana activated her lightsaber before any of them had a chance to ask who she was. She sliced the end off the blaster in front of her and spun on the ball of her foot to slash at the two behind her. She got to her feet and stepped back towards the door. The glow of her purple blade was the only source of light in the small room.
“We’re going to wait here for a minute,” Meleana said. Anyone have any objections?” The men shook their heads. “Good.”

Rendain and Meleana turned both the slaves and the slavers over to the Corellian authorities and made their way back to the inn. Though the sun was rising on a new day the same inn keeper was still behind the counter.
Meleana ordered herself and Rendain a drink as they sat down. “Are you going to tell me where Ketana is now?”
“I never said I knew where she was,” he nodded at the inn keeper as he set down his drink. “She was here. She got a bit of a surprise when she went to handle the slavers, one I’ll let her decide whether or not she’ll share with you. She decided to go straight for the heart of the operation rather than take care of the people who needed her here.”
“And what were you doing here?” Meleana took a long sip of her drink.
“I was looking for a friend. He borrowed money from the wrong people and couldn’t pay it back.” Rendain frowned. “Looks like I’ll have to keep looking.”
Meleana pulled her holotransmitter out of her belt pouch. “Maybe Ketana has a lead on him.” She played back the message that had been left. It was fragmented there was too much static to understand anything. All she could tell was the Ketana was not on Corellia anymore, and that she was in trouble. “She should have known better than to try and go after the slavers on her own. Anyone trading slaves this deep in the core wasn’t the kind of person you’d go after on your own.” Meleana was genuinely upset with her friend, who generally followed the rules without question, for doing something so stupid without the Jedi supporting her.
Rendain took the holotransmitter from her delicately and attached it to his datapad. “I can track the transmission. We’ll find her.”
“You need to tell me why she did this. I’m not going after her on a suicide mission without a good reason.”
Rendain looked up into Meleana’s determined amethyst eyes. “One of the slavers was her sister. Her twin sister. I guess things at home didn’t work out very well for her. I think Ketana felt obligated to help her. She finally talked her sister into joining her side, but she was terrified her boss would come down on her. So Ketana decided to take off and try to handle the boss.”
“Wonderful,” Meleana rubbed her temples.
“She’s on Roon,” he said. “Why don’t you dock your ship inside mine? We can catch up on the way.”
They were both exhausted, but after not speaking for four years neither of them wanted to go to bed. They spent the first few hours in hyperspace catching up on each others lives.
“So what did you do on your first mission as a Jedi Knight?” Rendain asked. He’d gotten the idea that her stories were nearing the end of his father’s life, and he didn’t want to hear about it. There was a flicker of a look on Meleana’s face, before she started telling her tale, that intrigued him.
Meleana stopped and laughed at the look on Rendain’s face. “What?”
“What was that look about?” Rendain asked teasingly, knowing exactly what a look like that meant.
Meleana bit her lip nervously. “What look?”
“That, oh he wants me to talk about that, I can’t talk about that, look.”’
“You can accurately pinpoint that look on my face?”
“Don’t change the subject. I want to hear the part of the story you don’t want to tell me.” He gave her a smug smile. He’d caught her in a way only he could.
Meleana did not like being put on the spot and she knew just how to punish him. She’d tell him the truth as bluntly as possible. “I had sex with my last mission partner. We had lots of wild sweaty crazy sex. It was great. Is that what you wanted to know? Should I get a little more graphic?” Her eyes smiled wickedly at him.
“I hate you,” he said flatly.
“You asked for it,” she said with a laugh.
Rendain tried to think of a way to make her feel as uncomfortable as he did. “Do you have feelings for him?” He asked.
“No,” Meleana said without thought.
“That was a little fast. You know people usually answer too quickly when they’re lying.”
Meleana shrugged slightly. The truth was she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t thought she did, but she’d found her thoughts kept returning to Obi-Wan. “You’re right. We’re madly in love and I’m carrying his child. We’re leaving the order and buying a house on the beach.”
“Now you’re deflecting? That’s mature.”
Meleana toyed with her hands. “We’re friends I guess, casual friends.”
“If that’s what you need to believe. Tell me about him.”
Meleana sighed. “Why? I don’t think he’ll go for you.”
“Just humor me,” Rendain said with a smile. His dark red eyes twinkled at her.
“Fine,” she wasn’t going to let him win. “He’s your age, handsome. He’s got this adorable cleft chin and a huge…”
“Alright you win,” Rendain cut her off. “We can talk about something else.”
“Could you pin point where on Roon Ketana was?”
Rendain shook his head. “Not exactly. She’s on the dark side of the planet, somewhere in the north east.”
“Do you have any knowledge of the slave trade there?”
Rendain shook his head. “I’m not familiar with the planet.”
Meleana looked up at the ceiling lost in thought. She didn’t have any experience with slavers, only what she’d learned from other Jedi at the temple. Rendain said something, but she didn’t hear him.
“You still do that?”
“Huh?” Meleana said looking to him.
“You still zone out. I figured you’d grow out of that.”
Meleana shrugged and looked back up at the ceiling. “It helps me think.” Ketana must have been captured or she would have tried to make contact again. If she was still alive the slavers would likely sell her and her sister. “We could pose as buyers.” She suggested.
Rendain nodded. “That could work. Not that I’ve ever tried to buy a slave, but I think its one of those friend of a friend things.”
“The slave traders on Corellia had nothing to offer,” Meleana frowned. “What about a seller? What if one of us just happened upon a slave and was looking to unload them?”
“That could work. It would gain us a little trust at least.”
“So who’s going to be the slave?”
“You,” he said plainly. “I’m much bigger than you. It will be easier for people to believe that I could over power you.”
Meleana rolled her eyes. “You can’t.”
“Yes, but we are not going to tell people that you are a Jedi and therefore quite capable of subduing me.” He gave her a sly smile. “And, for reasons I will not tell you, I happen to have a slave dancer’s costume that will fit you.”
Meleana scrunched her brow. “That’s so disturbing… Is it clean?”
“Yes it’s clean.” he said with a smile. “We’ll be there soon. I’ll get it for you. See if you can use your Jedi skills to hone in on Ketana.”
Meleana took a deep breath. “Right,” she said uncomfortably. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on Ketana.
“Slave dancer?” She yelled after him. “Really?”

Meleana joined Rendain in the control room. He was navigating the asteroid field that covered the space around Roon.
Meleana pulled up the planet on the nav screen and focused in on a corner of the world. “Land here.”
“What’s there?”
Meleana read the screen. “Nothing, not as far as the records show at least. Roon isn’t a very well documented world.”
“Really? Who wouldn’t want to go to a planet inside the cloak of the Sith? What doesn’t sound great about that?” Rendain was an excellent pilot. Had he not been there would be no way he’d be able to engage in any type of conversation while navigating the large ship through the treacherous asteroids. “Are you dressed yet?” He didn’t look away from the view screen.
“I thought that was a joke.”
“I put the costume on the table right in front of you.”
“I thought that was a hallucination.”
“Our lives are literally in my hands, are you messing with me?”
“Yes I’m dressed in my disturbing little costume.”
“Should I take a holo for… what was his name?” He let out a sigh of relief as they entered the atmosphere of the planet and checked the coordinates Meleana had given him.
“No. If you try to take a holo for anyone I will beat you senseless.”
Rendain gave her a wicked grin. “Would I do a thing like that? I was only thinking of your friend and all the lonely nights he has to endure.”
Meleana rolled her eyes. “You’re such a pervert.”
Rendain ignored her and scanned the ground for any signs of a settlement.
“There,” Meleana pointed out the view screen.
Rendain followed her finger but didn’t see anything until they were much closer to the small settlement. He landed the ship on the outskirts.
“I was thinking, it doesn’t make sense to pose as a seller. We’ll only end up getting split up,” Meleana said. "You’re just looking for a new supplier. It makes more sense. If Ketana couldn’t get herself out of whatever trouble she got into there is no way I’ll be able to do it alone.”
“You’re far more talented than Ketana,” Rendain said. “But I agree, getting split up is the last thing we need.” They made there way out of the ship and onto the dark surface of Roon. “It doesn’t look like we’ll have to look far. This place isn’t that big. If she’s here we’ll find some sign of her.” he said as they walked into the settlement. The dark streets were empty of life. A few droids stood guard throughout the settlement. The only sign of life was the sound of music coming from the cantina in the center of town.
“Please order me a strong drink,” Meleana said softly as they walked inside.
The dark cantina was buzzing with life. Everyone there had at least two slaves tending to them. There were twi’lek and human dancers on platforms scattered throughout the room. Rendain found an empty seat at the bar and Meleana stood behind him. She looked around at the other slaves. They were all tending to their Masters, massaging them, giving them drinks, lifting food to their mouths. Others were doing things she wouldn’t even consider trying on Rendain. Obi-Wan on the other hand, she thought to herself.
Rendain ordered himself a drink and passed a shot glass back to her. She downed it and handed it back quickly. He looked around at the other patrons in the cantina. Most were male, though there were a few females in the group.
Meleana places her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently. “To your left three tables down against the wall.” she whispered into his ear. “The girls look nervous. I’ll bet they were just recently purchased. Go make friends.”
Rendain waived the bartender over. “Send a round of whatever that table is drinking,” he pointed to the table Meleana had pointed out. “With my compliments to their choice in company.”
The men at the table looked over at Rendain when the server brought them their drinks. One of the slaves was sent over to them.
“My Master wishes to thank you for the drinks. He invites you to join us.”
Rendain had to stop himself from thanking the young woman. He stood and followed the slave back to her table. He took the seat vacated by the young woman and motioned for Meleana to sit in his lap. Meleana sat down sideways and he wrapped an arm around her hip.
“You have excellent taste,” Rendain said eyeing one of the slaves at the table. “I thought I did. Unfortunately my last batch of girls proved me wrong.”
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this one,” A human male said running his hand down Meleana’s shoulder.
“She learned to behave after seeing the fate of the last two.” Rendain looked at her and gave her a smile he ordinarily would never dream of giving her. “I’m a little embarrassed to ask, but after the behavior of my last two girls I’m in the market for a new supplier. I was told I might find one here.”
Meleana could see the door perfectly from where she was sitting. Up until now no one had gone in or out of the cantina. The doors opened and a man walked in alone. His head was turned away from her. When he turned to scan the bar Meleana instantly recognized him as the man who’d killed her Master. She buried her face into Rendain’s neck as casually as she could. He brushed her hair comfortingly. He could sense the sudden tension that had built in her.
Meleana closed her eyes and tried to tune out everyone else in the cantina. The voices at the table faded first, then the din from the rest of the cantina. Finally the bounty hunter’s voice was the only one she heard.
“Your information was bad,” he said in a harsh voice. “You said you found my girl. Do you know what I found instead?” he paused briefly. Meleana couldn’t hear the person he was talking to. “I found a blasted Jedi!” Again there was a pause. “Don’t you think I would have mentioned the small fact of her being a Jedi if I had been looking for a Jedi!” His voice rose every time he said the word ‘Jedi’. “I don’t care if they look alike! The lack of a lightsaber on my girl is one very big difference!”
There was a long pause after that. Meleana imagined the other party was trying to explain themselves.
“Had it been anyone else I would be dead and you would be safe, but I am not just anyone. Now I have until that Jedi wakes up and the slavers notice the difference to find the real bounty before they come down on me! My line of work is all word of mouth! I can’t have unhappy clients!”
Meleana breathed a sigh of relief, Ketana was alive. She opened her eyes, the bounty hunter had been silent for too long. She looked up and saw a man on the floor, a knife stuck out of his chest. A crowd was just beginning to gather around him as the bounty hunter slipped out.
The rest of their table got up to inspect the remains. Meleana looked up at Rendain. “Did you get what we needed?”
He nodded. “Mind telling me what happened to you.”
“No,” Meleana said getting up. “It will only distract you.” She took a deep breath. Her mind was racing with too many thoughts at once. Should she contact the temple and ask for help? Should she go after Ketana now with no regard for her sister? Should she try to track the bounty hunter and see where he led her? “I can’t do this,” she said in a panicked tone. “I can’t do this alone I can’t.”
Rendain stood up and grabbed her arms firmly. “Yes you can. You never listened to Ari anyway. What changed?”
“I just need a minute,” even as the words escaped her lips she knew it was a minute she couldn’t have. She needed to make a choice quickly. Ketana’s life depended on it. There was no harm in contacting the temple and asking for help. She and Rendain wouldn’t be able to take on the bounty hunter alone. Rendain was an excellent healer, but he was useless in a fight. Only in the best case scenario did Meleana think she could accomplish this mission on her own. She’d have to get to Ketana before the bounty hunter. Ketana likely wouldn’t leave without her sister. In a perfect world she would be hidden somewhere safe. Meleana highly doubted that the events would play out that way.
Whatever the case may be, she needed to get to Ketana immediately. “We should go. Take me to the salvers. I’ll contact the council on the way.”
“Do you have your lightsaber?” Rendain asked afraid of the answer.
“Yes it’s strapped to my thigh under this little flap thing.” Meleana waved her skirt. “Let’s go.”

Meleana’s brief conversation with the council was finished before they reached the slavers compound. Rendain dropped a name to the guard at the door and they were allowed in. The council hadn’t immediately agreed or disagreed to sending aid, which left Meleana exactly where she’d started.
They were brought into a reception room and told to wait.
“If we can’t find her I need you to find a way to leave me here.” Meleana said in a hushed tone when they were left alone in the reception room
“So we have two captured Jedi instead of one? That doesn’t sound like a good plan.”
“Just do what I ask. I’ve got my comlink. I’ll contact you if anything goes wrong. Just go back to the ship and wait for me there.”
Rendain had not time to argue. A human male dressed all in black joined them in the reception room.
“Welcome,” The man said without acknowledging Meleana. “I’m Jarvice Sinn.”
Rendain bowed. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t introduce myself.”
“Of course, privacy is valued by all of our clients.” He motioned towards the sitting area as two twi’leks walked in with refreshments. “How exactly did you hear about us?”
“Through a friend.” Rendain said without thought.
“And what was this friends name?”
“His name?”
“Forgive me, but we have had to increase our security as of late.” Jarvice smiled. “His name?”
Meleana focused on the man’s mind. “You don’t need to know his name. You will allow us access,” she said with a wave of her hand. The twi’lek slaves looked at Meleana in a stunned silence.
“His name doesn’t matter,” Jarvice repeated. “I’ll bring you right in.”
Rendain smiled at Jarvice trying to conceal his nervousness. He wasn’t a Jedi, the only training he’d had was what he’d picked up from watching his father, and like most teenage boys he’d never been very interested in what his father was doing.
They were lead into the first room of the long facility. Slaves of different genders and species were spread throughout the room. Rendain assumed this was the display they used to determine the customer’s type.
“Have a look,” Jarvice said extending his arm. “Let me know if you see anything you like.”
Rendain walked around the room he stopped and inspected a few of the slaves to keep from raising suspicion. “I’m looking for something… a bit fresher. These all look like they’ve seen better days.”
Meleana arched her brow, there had to have been a better way to word that.
“Of course. Follow me.” Jarvice brought them to another room at the end of a long hallway. He unlocked the door.
They were ushered into a room full of slaves all under the age of twelve. It took all of Meleana’s control to keep from strangling Jarvice.
Rendain made no attempt to hide his disgust. “What sort of a man do you think I am? I asked you for something less ragged, not something I’d have to train to use the toilet!” He grabbed Meleana roughly by the arm and jerked her towards him. “Do you have any girls that look like this? Ones that don’t look as though they’re straight from the den of a Hutt?”
Jarvice was clearly startled by Rendain’s outburst. “I’m sorry to have offended you. I’m sure we have something to fit your tastes.” They were brought into a room of human females.
Rendain searched the room carefully. Ketana wasn’t among any of the girls there. “Is this all you have?”
“Yes.” Jarvice was confused by the question. The room had more than twenty slaves. It seemed odd that none of the women had caught his eye. “We have other species if you’re not interested in these.”
Rendain shook his head. “I just like to make sure I haven’t missed anything.” He looked at Meleana then at one of the slaves. “I’m interested in this one, but after my experience with my last girls I’m wary of spending my money on something untested.”
“We have private rooms-”
Rendain cut him off. “That isn’t what I’m worried about. Allow me to trade my girl for yours. If she is well behaved I will come back before the end of the week, pay for her and pick up mine. If not I’ll return her.”
“We don’t typically allow-”
Again Rendain cut him off. “I think it’s the least you can do after your offense. It’s not as though you have anything to lose. If I take off with your girl you’ll still have mine.”
Jarvice furrowed his brow and eyed Meleana. “I’ll give you three days, but you have to understand I can’t have this cost me any business. Should someone be interested in your slave…”
“That’s fine, as long as I am properly compensated.” Rendain led the slave girl out of the room. “I will contact you.”
Meleana sat down on the long couch against the wall and looked at the floor. Jarvice seemed satisfied that she would behave herself and left the slaves alone in the locked room. Meleana looked around, there was a small vent that she may or may not be able to fit through.
“Are we ever allowed out of this room?” Meleana asked one of the other slaves.
The young woman shrugged. “Sometimes we are taken to the cantina to dance. We have a shower once a day.”
Meleana looked back at the vent. Waiting to get out during the group shower would likely be easier than trying to fit through the tight space. Cutting through the door was too obvious. She didn’t want alarms going off before she had a chance to fully explore the facility. Ketana was likely being held somewhere else, assuming the slavers hadn’t killed her. “When do we shower?”
“Soon,” The slave said with another shrug.
Showering left Meleana with another problem. If she couldn’t break away from the group in time it would be difficult to conceal her lightsaber and comlink. It was hard enough keeping them covered in her skimpy outfit. It seemed like it was a chance she’d need to take. There were enough girls, if one was missing they wouldn’t notice.
She lay back on the couch and shut her eyes. There was nothing she could do for the time being but wait, and it seemed a good time to catch up on some much needed sleep.

One of the other slaves woke her a few hours later. The other slaves were moving towards the door. Meleana thanked the girl who’d woken her. She moved into the crowed. The group was relatively unguarded. There was one man in the front and one in the back of the line of slaves. All the rooms were emptied at the same time. Two men could hardly keep track of so many people. Meleana ducked around the next corner. She used the force to conceal her as she raced away from the crowd. She waited until she was sure they were gone to pull out her comlink.
“I need you to pull up a schematic of this place,” she said to Rendain the second he answered.
“I don’t even know if there is a schematic.”
“They built the place, they had to use something to do it. Things don’t build themselves.” She looked around the hall. It was clear for now. “Did you get it?”
“Just a minute, I’m not a droid.”
Meleana kept an eye on both ends of the hall while she waited. “I need you to look for a secure area. Someplace they might keep prisoners.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Work quickly.”
“That’s only going to make this take longer.” He pin pointed a few possible areas that could be used to hold a prisoner. One was close to the exit, which made it an unlikely choice. “I’ve got two possibilities for you.”
“Give me the one that’s nearest to the room you left me in first.”
“Go straight down the hall to the turbolift, take it down a level. Go to your left follow the hall until it dead ends and make a right… it’s the third door on the right.”
“I’ll contact you if I need directions to the other room.” Meleana slid her comlink back into the band around her thigh. She started quickly down the hall. They were empty for now. Her biggest worry was getting off the turbolift. Getting on was simple, but anything could be on the other side of the door on her way down. She hid herself in the lift as the doors opened. She didn’t sense anyone on the other side.
She followed Rendain’s directions. The door looked the same as all the others in the building. They were all durasteel with coded door locks. If Meleana thrust her lightsaber through the door and Ketana wasn’t inside the slavers would be on alert. They’d be looking for a Jedi and she’d be the most likely suspect. That would put both her and Rendain in danger.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A well dressed human male answered, he looked a little surprised to see her.
Meleana bowed her head and didn’t make eye contact. “I was told to see if you needed anything.” Meleana looked into the room as subtly as she could. It was an office, not a holding cell.
“Who sent you?”
“Jarvice.”
The man nodded. “You’re services are not required now. Have him send down one of the twi’leks in an hour or so.”
Meleana bowed. “Yes sir.”
She turned and walked back towards the lift. She picked up her comlink when she was around the corner. “Where’s the other room?” A door closed down the hall and she quickly tucked her comlink away. “Do you need something sir?” The man she’d been talking too had followed her down the hall.
“I have a guest coming. I’ll need you to entertain them.” He continued walking, expecting her to follow him.
How was she going to entertain guests with a lightsaber strapped to her leg? She was brought to a private receiving room.
“Straighten yourself up.” The man pointed to a door in the corner of the room. “You’ll be serving refreshments unless otherwise requested.”
Meleana bowed and hurried into the small washroom. The vanity inside was stocked with make up and jewelry. Meleana heard the door to the receiving room open. She instantly recognized the voice of the bounty hunter, Genesis, the slaver had called him.
Meleana panicked and started slathering on makeup. She searched the vanity for something to hide her face. She breathed a sigh of relief when her hand touched a veil. She tied it around the bottom portion of her face and made sure her eyes had enough makeup to be unrecognizable. She paused, if her lightsaber was discovered she was finished, but she didn’t feel safe without it.
She walked into the receiving room with her hair in her face and picked up the carafe on the table. She filled a glass for both of the men and set it down. She stood behind Genesis and listened.
“What is it you wanted to see me about?” The slaver asked.
“I’m afraid I made a mistake. The woman I brought you earlier is not the bounty you asked for. I was hoping to remedy this, but I’ve been unable to locate the target.”
“The woman you brought me looks exactly like our former employee.”
Genesis nodded. “I realize that, but there is one huge difference. The woman you have is a Jedi. I’ve taken care of the situation. In addition to finding you the girl you asked for, I’ve found a buyer for your Jedi.”
“Who would want to buy a Jedi?” The slaver asked with a laugh.
He shrugged. “I didn’t question their reasoning. They’ll pay well for her. Normally I would request a larger percentage, but given my blunder I’ll accept twenty.”
The slaver milled over the idea. “How soon can she be transported?”
“There are a few issues to work out. I’ll take care of it and bring back the contracts along with all the details to you. The documentation will be for a shipment of ore.”
The slavers comlink began to buzz. “You’ll be in touch?” He asked Genesis. The bounty hunter nodded and the slaver answered his comlink.
“One of the dancers at the cantina passed out.” A voice said on the other end.
Meleana looked down at the floor as Genesis walked out.
“You, tell the man at the door to escort you to the cantina.” The salver barked.
Meleana bowed and walked out. She walked slowly keeping her distance from Genesis. Going to the cantina would be an excellent way to escape, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to escape. She hadn’t found Ketana yet, but she knew she’d be heading off planet soon. She may be able to find more information at the cantina, but she wouldn’t find Ketana there. Every decision she made could be the difference between saving Ketana and losing her. She pulled out her comlink and contacted Rendain.
“I need you to send that girl to the cantina to dance,” the veil muffled her voice. She pulled it off and let it fall to the floor.
“You want me to send her back into slavery?” His tone of voice told her he didn’t like the idea.
“If she doesn’t go they’ll be looking for me. I don’t like the idea either, but we aren’t here to free slaves.”
“You’re not here to free slaves.”
Meleana sighed. “Do what you want, but if they start looking for me I might never find Ketana and we could both end up… I don’t know. Just do what you want.”
She put the comlink away. She’d forgotten to ask him for directions in her haste. She knew she could find Ketana on her own. She’d been sent to find her because the Council knew she could. She needed to stop relying on others and start taking care of things herself. She turned around and walked quickly down the hall. Ketana was somewhere in the building. Likely on the same floor as Meleana. The second floor was much smaller than the first. Large doors led to what looked like a hangar. She’d already ruled out two of the rooms on the lower level, which left only two more. It seemed unlikely that they would hold a prisoner in the room next to the receiving room. That left one door.
Meleana didn’t bother knocking. She was sure Ketana was on the other side of that door. She plunged her lightsaber through the durasteel and cut a hole big enough for her to climb through. Ketana was bound and unconscious on the floor inside. Meleana ran to crouch down next to her. She lifted her into her arms and shook her gently. She tried for a few more seconds to wake her, but whatever she’d been given had knocked her out cold.
Meleana hoisted her over her shoulder and rushed down the hall. She steadied Ketana with one hand, her lightsaber was held tightly in the other. This time there was no hiding in the turbolift. Her only hope was that Genesis had already left the building. The buildings security seemed fairly relaxed. Finding the place was difficult and in the outer rim slavery was perfectly legal. Meleana’s only obstacle was the guard at the door. She knew he was there and force pushed him into the back of a wall before he had the chance to spot her. She jumped over his unconscious form and hurried back to the ship.
They had landed far enough out of town that they wouldn’t be noticed. At the time it had been a good idea, but while running with another person on her back a few miles seemed much longer to Meleana. When she finally reached the ship she was sweating and out of breath. She keyed in the ships entry code and set Ketana down on the floor inside. Meleana slid down the wall to sit next to her.
Meleana had just caught her breath when Ketana opened her eyes.
“Meleana?” She asked in a groggy tone. “What’s going on?”
Meleana gave her a smile. “I just rescued you from the slavers.”
“Just me?”
“I don’t know where your sister is if that’s what you’re getting at. The good news is the bounty hunter that got you hasn’t been able to find her”
Ketana sat up wincing. She’d taken a bad beating in her fight with Genesis. “She’s on an asteroid. I left her on an escape pod.”
She wanted to chastise Ketana for doing something so stupid, but, with all the things Ketana had let slide of hers over the years, it hardly seemed fair.
Ketana’s eyes fluttered shut. “I don’t feel so great.”
Meleana helped her to her feet and led her into a room with a bed. Ketana lay down and Meleana sat beside her. “I’m going to go talk to Rendain. Will you be alright on your own?”
Ketana nodded.

Meleana searched the ship for Rendain, but there was no sign of him. Meleana cursed, after the argument they’d had she could only guess that he’d gone off to free the slaves. Her comlink buzzed and she grabbed it off her leg.
“Where the hell are you?” She shouted into it.
“I’m in orbit,” Obi-Wan’s voice said, “and I was just calling to ask you the same thing.”
Meleana gave him the coordinates. It looked as though the Council had decided she needed help after all.
“Would you like to fill me in while I’m landing? Or is it more fun if I have no idea what we’re doing?” He asked.
Meleana wasn’t sure where to begin. Any number of details could lead to a long story. “It’s a long story. Right now I’ve got one friend trying to liberate slaves who needs to be tracked down. Another is too sick to be of any use. I’ve got a girl on an asteroid that I apparently have to save. My personal favorite, the bounty hunter that killed my Master is in the same tiny little settlement with me.”
“Hmm… Is that white ship yours?”
“I certainly hope so. I’ll come outside.” Meleana walked out into the eternal night just in time to see a Jedi starfighter landing a few meters away. Anakin jumped energetically out of the cockpit first followed at a slower pace by Obi-Wan.
“Master Ariadne, what are you wearing?” Anakin asked.
Meleana looked down at the slave dancer’s costume. She’d been wearing it for so long she’d gotten used to it. “I was undercover.” Meleana looked to Obi-Wan, he seemed to approve of her wardrobe change. “Anakin should stay here. He can watch over Ketana. It’s too dangerous for him to come with us.”
Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. “He’s my Padawan. I’ll be the judge of what is and is not too dangerous.” Obi-Wan paused. “Anakin go inside and take care of Ketana.”
Anakin did as he was told. Meleana and Obi-Wan walked at a brisk pace back towards the settlement.
“He must have gone to the cantina.” Meleana said as they walked. “I would have seen him if he’d been at the slavers compound. Maybe he was waiting for me to come out… The slavers main building is the only place he could accomplish anything.”
“And where’s the bounty hunter?” Obi-Wan asked.
“He was going to take care of some negotiations then he was going back to the slavers,” Meleana looked up at Obi-Wan. “Is it alright that I’m flipping out on the inside?”
“You seem calm to me.”
“I’m trying to be.”
Chaos was evident as soon as they reached the settlement. Freed slaves were pouring onto the streets. Slavers were making a futile effort to catch the slaves that greatly outnumbered them. Meleana spotted Genesis coming out of the cantina, one of his associates, a reptilian humanoid female, walked close behind him. If there was trouble with the slavers it would be costing him money, Meleana stopped walking, it took a tug from Obi-Wan to get her moving again.
“We need to find your friend. We’ll avoid confrontation if we can.” Obi-Wan said pushing against the flow of slaves coming out of the building. Battle droids were beginning to fill the building, shepherding the slaves back into their holding rooms.
Meleana looked at the crowd of slaves and battle droids separating her from Rendain. Meleana could feel Genesis getting close. She sensed the blaster turrets drop out of panels in the ceiling before she saw them. They began firing randomly. The slaves retreated in fear and the droids turned on the Jedi. Meleana and Obi-Wan took out two of the four turrets quickly. Their lightsabers were a flurry of motion as they blocked blaster bolts from droids and turrets.
“A slave with a lightsaber?” An amused male voice said from the door. “That seems highly unlikely.”
Obi-Wan blocked a shot headed for Meleana. The man at the door had distracted her. “Take care of the droids,” he said stepping between Meleana and the bounty hunters.
“Men certainly do enjoy dying for you.” Genesis said ignoring Obi-Wan. He drew his vibroblade. “Do you call this one Master too?”
He charged at Obi-Wan. The other bounty hunter opened fire on him with a repeating blaster. Obi-Wan jumped out of the way of the fire and blocked a strike from the vibroblade. The sounds of blasters around him began to lessen as Meleana took out more of the droids.

Just when Meleana thought she was finished with the droids more poured out of the turbo lift. She took out the battle droids quickly, but still more came. Through the commotion she heard Rendain scream. She force pushed the droids back to get to him, he’d been hit by several blaster bolts and was unmoving on the floor. Meleana cut down the remaining droids and bent down to check him for a pulse. He was alive, but badly injured. The lift opened and a droideka rolled out. It positioned itself in front of Meleana and opened fire. She blocked its fire until the lift doors opened again. She force pushed it back into the wave of battle droids and shut the lift doors with the force. She hit the doors with another wave of the force and hoped she’d bent them out of place enough to prevent them from opening. She ran back into the reception room just in time to see Obi-Wan get shot with something in the chest. Meleana force jumped in front of him. She slashed out with her lightsaber. Genesis moved but not quickly enough to prevent the blade from slashing his skin. Meleana landed on her hands and knees in front of Obi-Wan and quickly got back up to her feet. She deflected bolts from the repeating blaster and kicked Genesis hard enough to send him flying. He landed on the other side of the room.

It was possible either side could have won the fight, but Genesis had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting his bounty either way. The slavers would blame him for brining the Jedi down on them. It was time for him to leave. He got back onto his feet wincing at the pain in his ankles. He ran out the door while Ina, his partner, laid down cover fire.

Meleana let them leave. She couldn’t pursue them if it cost Rendain and Obi-Wan their lives. She turned to Obi-Wan. “Can you walk?” She asked between breaths.
He nodded.
Meleana rushed back to get Rendain She lifted him over her shoulder. He was much taller than her which made carrying him awkward. She could see the droids were cutting their way through the lift doors. They needed to move fast.