Chapter Text
Taro set the ship down in a clearing in one of the dead forests, several miles out from the nearest town. Despite being the first time he landed, it was surprisingly smooth – the only hiccup was when he clipped a tree on the way down.
"Nice work, kid," Juli said with a smile. "Wanna give it a couple more tries?"
"Sure."
And that's exactly what he did. Took off, landed. Took off, landed. By the end of their session, he wasn't hitting anything. Landing like a pro.
"Great work. Now take us back home," Juli said. As he took off, she glanced at the radar. She thought she noticed a blip on their tail, far away, but just as soon as she did, it vanished. She chalked it up to just a simple malfunction. Happens more often than she'd want it to, but she was not going to give this ship up. Not for anything.
As they returned back home and landed again, the blip reappeared on the radar. This time, it didn't go away, and stopped close to them. Juli leaned forward, trying to see it better.
"Is something wrong?" Taro asked, concerned.
"Think someone was following us," she said bluntly. She drew her blaster pistol – a small thing, but powerful – and made her way out of the ship. Taro tailed her, his brow furrowed in concern. When they set foot on the ground, she armed the weapon, glancing around.
Two men, both human, wearing nondescript outfits, approached the two of them. They were both holding rifles.
"Is there a problem?" Juli asked. "Because we can handle it."
"No, not really," one of the men said. He had black hair that faded into grey and a light beard. "It's just that someone powerful put a bounty on your head, Juli, and we need the money."
"Wait, Antell," the other one said. "Look at who's with her." The two looked straight at Taro. "Hybrid. Reckon he'd go for a lot more on the slave market."
Juli scowled, stepping between Taro and the two hunters. She aimed her pistol at them. "Don't even think about it, buster."
"Why not?" he said. "Rifles to stun, Felk, we can discuss details later."
Juli shot first. A supercharged bolt, almost overheating the pistol itself, struck the first man in the shoulder. She ran forward and pistol whipped him while Taro wrestled with the other man's rifle. He was then hit by a headbutt, then shoved off the man. He fired a stun bolt at Juli. She was out cold before she hit the ground.
—
Juli came to several hours later. It was dark out. The bolt was definitely strong; it took her a few minutes to process where she was. She was still in the spaceport, still in front of her ship. Suddenly, she remembered what they had said.
Oh.
She booked it out of her dock, trying to figure out if they had left already. She hadn't been here long enough to know all the ships by name, but some were ones she recognized. Most of them were vaguely familiar. None were entirely unknown. The reality of the situation hit her like the Gravestone's weapon.
Taro's been kidnapped.
Sirix was pacing.
He hadn't been this anxious in years. But neither Juli nor Taro had come back. No officers or medics either, so he knew they didn't crash. The force within him was flaring up in a way he hadn't felt since before he retired. What could've happened?
"I'm going out there," Vette said with a frown.
"No, not yet," Sirix responded, scratching his beard.
"What else are we going to do? I'm not going to just sit here and wait for him."
"He's still alive, I know it. They're… just running late."
Just as he said so, the handle on the door jostled. He quickly stomped forward, opening it for whoever was outside.
It was Juli. She's… looked better, to say the least. She was covered in dirt.
"Where's Taro?" Sirix said firmly as he pulled her inside.
She took a breath and explained everything that happened. When she revealed that she suspects Taro has been kidnapped, Vette gasped. Sirix frowned, clenching his fists. He shook.
"I didn't see what kind of ship it was. I just have my memory of what the guys looked like," Juli finished. "I'm so sorry."
Sirix gritted his teeth, and suddenly punched the wall. A crater ran through the metallic wall, a small crack forming in the center of the impact. Juli winced, but Vette just sighed.
"Did they show up on radar?" Sirix said after a beat of silence, lowering his hand.
"Yeah."
"Then check your computer and see if it detected any information about them."
Juli nodded and ran back outside. He sat at one of the tables in the bar and sighed, clasping his hands together and resting his forehead against them. Vette took a moment before sitting next to him, resting her hand on his back.
"We'll… find him," she said half-heartedly. Sirix didn't say anything, just moving his head up a bit, his hands covering his mouth.
The couple sat in silence for a few minutes. Their son was kidnapped. Sirix shook his head, eyes shut. So many emotions he felt that he hadn’t felt in decades. Pure, unbridled rage. Disappointment in himself. A vague sense of having failed his family.
"If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find him," Sirix finally said, his voice laced with fire. "I promise."
"I know you will," Vette muttered, leaning against his figure. "We always find the lost."
More time passed, and Juli returned. "K-52 Strongarm."
Sirix stood quickly. "You’re certain?"
"If it isn’t, then my ship is long dead," Juli retorted. "Yes."
He grumbled to himself. "The first thing that comes to mind is—"
"The Hutts," everyone simultaneously said. Sirix shook his head. "It just had to be the Hutts."
"Should we call Matane?" Vette asked.
"I’ll do that. Juli, Vette, call your other underworld contacts, find anything you can."
"Been a while, Uncle."
Matane Rulon had changed quite a bit since the war with Zakuul. That’s not to say it was a bad thing, far from it. She had matured since then, and her appearance now showed as such. Her uniform was much more modest than it was in the early days of the alliance, her hair was longer, and she had a new, smaller scar on her left cheek.
"You know I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important," Sirix said.
"Straight to business, then? No hello, no how are you?" Matane retorted. If there was one thing consistent about her, it was her sass.
"Taro’s been kidnapped."
She said nothing, her eyes widening briefly. "Oh. So you want Alliance assistance, then?"
"Yes. All we know is that our kidnappers are, at the very least, using a Hutt ship," Sirix explained. "Juli and Vette are contacting their allies in the underworld already."
"Hmm…" Matane hummed, rubbing her chin. "Well, unfortunately, Oggurobb retired two years ago. So unless you want to visit him at his… high living lab on Nar Shaddaa, you’re out of luck on our end."
"You realize you have the resources to begin patrols."
Matane sighed. "Things have changed. More people are giving up our fight, whether through retiring or simply wanting to serve the Republic rather than a third-party." She gave a pained smirk. "Not quite as Eternal as you’d hoped."
Sirix nodded with a soft smile. Despite the name, when he’d retired, he knew it wouldn’t last forever. "Either way, I would appreciate any help you can give."
She pouted for a moment, looking away. "I’ll discuss it with Nova and Odora. I can’t make any promises, but we’ll do what we can."
"Thank you."
Without a word, Matane cut the transmission.
Sirix thought about the people she mentioned. They were her new right-hands, since both Theron and Lana have retired. All he knew about Odora was that she's a mirialan that was formerly part of the Republic army before joining the Alliance. But he did know Nova much better.
She's an ex-slave that Ico met and freed on a diplomatic mission shortly before the Revanite crisis. Throughout the wars from that point on, Ico had spent his time working through her traumas before she became a strong cathar woman. Sirix was glad to hear that she was Matane's right-hand now. She'd needed a community for a while.
Regardless of the current situation, Sirix returned to the bar, where Vette was also just returning.
"Any luck with Matane?" She asked.
"She said they'd do what they can. They're losing more people than they're gaining, I gather," Sirix replied, sitting down. "And Oggurobb's retired. He's on Nar Shaddaa."
"Yeah, Risha let us know that as well," Vette said. "That's all we've got so far."
Sirix nodded. "Then I suppose we should head over."
"Can you handle it?"
Sirix paused. Nar Shaddaa was… loaded with memories for him, good and bad. It was where he had focused his search for Ico before he joined the Empire. It was where he first hinted at his feelings for Vette. It was where he had served Baras in the hunt for Jaesa. Needless to say, returning after all these years was a difficult prospect.
"Yes," he finally said. "For Taro."