Chapter Text
Legend says that if you go to the planet Ju'unde in the Ju'unde System of the Calaron Sector, you'll find a mountain overlooking a small town, and atop that mountain, you'll find a powerful witch. They say that if you manage to climb to the peak, she'll grant you a wish; she'll heal a loved one or call down the Spirit of Vengeance on evil doers.
As a resident of that town, which is called Ju'un, by the way, I've heard all of the tall tales from locals and visitors. It's said that occasionally the witch comes down from her mountain, coming to barter in the town with patched-up machine parts and herbal remedies. I've caught a glimpse of her once or twice in the market. Other tales say that she once lived here in Ju'un, and was always helping out here and there. The tallest of tales, though, claims she’s a Jedi in exile, hiding from the Empire's Inquisitors.
I'm about to put all of that to the test. 2 weeks ago, my parents went missing, and now this witch is my only hope to find them.
***
“Attempt number sixty-six at climbing the mountain,” I mumble into my audiorecorder. “It’s the farthest I've ever gotten; the peak is within sight! I didn’t think it'd be this difficult…” I gaze down at the small town I was raised in, a series of small grey buildings standing out against the greens and yellows of the fields surrounding it. I turn and look up at the remaining mountain, a sharp grey heap jutting out from the planet. I put my audiorecorder back into my backpack before returning to the cliff face.
I climb up the sheer, rocky face, struggling to find footing. Mere centimeters from the top, I slip, fated to fall at least a few meters to the last ledge. Suddenly, however, a hand catches mine, hoisting me up.
“Whoa, there,” comes a voice from the hooded figure holding my hand. She sets me down on the ground. “Aren't you a bit young to be climbing such a big mountain?”
“I'm 16!” I protest.
“Really? Huh, I swore I looked older at your age.” The woman flips down the hood of her cloak, revealing flowing red hair reaching far down her torso, an impish grin set into marble-white skin, and eyes twinkling with mischief. Her dark brown cloak reaches to the ground, its edges frayed and coated with dirt.
She looks very much the way I would imagine a witch. “Never mind that! I need your help.”
“Hmm? What with? I don't exactly take commissions, you know,” the witch said, turning and walking back towards her home, a small, raggedy hut assembled of scraps of metal, rusted and caked in mud.
“It's my parents! They're- they're missing.”
The witch stopped in her tracks, squeezing a fist. I'm suddenly hit with a wave of emotion: sorrow, but now my own. It's something deep, distant, old.
The witch turns back and kneels before me, her face now etched with concern. “Imperials or criminals?” she asks.
“Is there a difference?”
She chuckles, flashing me a grin. “I like you, kid.”
“Imperials. My parents tried standing up to some corrupt storm troopers.”
The woman squints at me, examining my face. “Little Kalli?”
Now I take a moment to examine the woman’s face. I hadn't heard that nickname since, “Auntie Meetra? I haven't seen you in what… 10 years?” Sure enough, the woman bears a resemblance to the woman who appears in a number of holoportraits of my family. “That'd be…”
“When the Imperials arrived, yes. So, you’re Karawn and Koyi's brat, eh? It's not surprising they got themselves in trouble…” Meetra sighs, rubbing her eyes.
“So, can you really call the Spirit of Vengeance?”
“What? Oh, that old tale? It's only half true. I'd tell you to stay here, and I'll take care of it, but it’s easier to bring you along than to deal with your inevitable stowaway.”
Meetra gestures for me to follow, walking around behind her hut, where there's a modified Jabiim transport freighter. We enter the ship, and she leads us up into the cockpit. As soon as I sit in the copilot's seat, Meetra begins flight, the ship taking off. She transmits the proper codes to the Imperials, and we're quickly off into hyperspace.
“Where are we going?” I ask idly.
“There’s an Imperial detention center on an asteroid a few systems south. That's where they'd be taken based on their offense.”
“How do you know that?” I press.
“Witch,” she says with a coy smile and nonchalant shrug. “So, kid, besides your parents getting kidnapped, how've things been?”
“Oh, well, you know… ever since the Empire came, things have been… tense. But I mostly work out in the fields now. The lazy imps usually don't venture out that far from the nearest leisure spot.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. The ship drops out of hyperspace, directly in front of a small station based on an asteroid. “This station has a blind spot here, and the Imperials, being lazy, as you said, have yet to do anything about it. She brings the ship down behind the station and flicks a switch. The transponder screen, which originally had some bureaucratic designation, now simply reads “Spirit of Vengeance”.
I look up in surprise, and Meetra gives me another coy smile. She goes to a small storage room and pulls out a cloak. “What’s this for?” I ask, catching it as she tosses it to me.
“Don’t want your face showing up on a wanted poster. Your parents would never forgive me. It should be the right size; I was about your size at your age. Minus the lekku.”
I pull the cloak over my shoulders, pulling the hood over my head, sweeping my lekku over my shoulders so they’re covered. “You’ve had this ship since you were my age?”
“Thereabouts, yeah,” she answers, still rifling through the closet.
“How do I look?” I ask, doing a little twirl.
“Like a dashing little criminal! Aha, here it is!” There’s a click, and when Meetra turns around, I’m greeted by the visage of the legendary Spirit of Vengeance, a scowling and angular red face with golden features. “How do I look?” she asks, her voice distorted and obscured by the mask.
“Like a dashing criminal,” I reply with a grin.
“Now, let’s go get your parents,” the Spirit of Vengeance says.
“Wait! Aren’t we on an asteroid?”
“Oh, yeah. There’s a localized atmosphere here.”
“Oh. Neat.”
We exit the ship and walk a short distance to a rear entrance to the compound. I stare up at the imposing grey edifice. Meetra kneels in front of the door’s dataport, withdrawing a scomp link from within her robes. She inserts it into the port, and after a few moments of whirring and a bit of muttering to herself, the door opens.
We enter the facility, and Meetra leads me as we sneak through the winding hallways, eventually coming to a door with two guards. Meetra turns to me and says, “Wait here.”
Meetra then knocks out both guards with two swift punches. She gestures for me to follow, and we both enter a room filled with data terminals. She goes to one and navigates through the information, which is indecipherable to me. After a few moments, she reads out a report: “Two twi’leks brought in for rabble-rousing. Charged with treason. Terminated.”
“What!? No! It- it can’t be!” I cry out. “There has to be more! Please!”
Meetra looks at me, then turns back to the console. She types a few things and then says. “You’re right. This report was altered by an officer. Their quarters are around the corner. We’ll see what he has to say.”
I nod, and we exit the room. I follow her, and we soon come to another room. Meetra opens the door. The officer inside exclaims, “Y-you! You’re the Spirit! Wh-what do you want!?”
“There were two twi’leks here a number of days ago. The file says they were terminated, but they weren’t, were they?” Meetra says, menacingly approaching the officer.
“N-no! I-I sold them!”
“Sold them!?” Meetra growls. Beneath the mask, it barely sounds human.
“Y-yes! T-to some slavers! Why? Do you want to sell that one?”
“You make me sick!” Meetra looms over the man, who’s cowering in his seat.
“What, is she your servant then? No? What?”
“She’s their child! The two twi’leks you sold had a child, you bastard!” Meetra picks the man up by his throat. “Where was the slaver heading?”
“Hutt space! He said something about Tatooine!” the officer exclaims. “Please, please spare me,” he sobs pathetically.
Meetra tosses him onto his bed. “You’re lucky I’m in a hurry.” Meetra nods for us to leave, and we both make our way quickly out of the station. We’re soon pursued by stormtroopers, and Meetra reaches into her robes, tossing a few grenades that spew smoke into the corridor. Meetra stops running, and I skid to a halt, turning to her.
“What are you doing?” I shout.
“Kid, you’re about to find out why I’m called the Spirit of Vengeance.” She takes a vibroblade from her belt and disappears into the smoke. Blaster bolts flash, and her silhouette moves in impossible ways as she takes each trooper out with a few neat slashes.
She reemerges from the smoke, and I stumble back. “W-whoa…”
“C’mon, kid. Let’s go,” she says gruffly.
We return to her ship, and she punches in the coordinates for Tattooine. I sit anxiously in the copilot’s chair, my worry for my parents swirling with a newfound fear over just who this woman might be. I can’t help but stare at her, brooding silently in the pilot’s chair.
“Meetra?” I say quietly, gazing out at the blue and white flashes of hyperspace. “Are you okay?”
She removes the mask, turning to me. “Sorry you had to see that, kid.”
I nod. The violence of the Empire and that of those who resist it isn’t new to me, but it’s never been so personal before. I’m not sure how I feel. For now, I just want to get my parents back.
“I promise, I’ll get your parents back.”
“I believe you.”
***
Meetra shows me to a cabin, telling me that the trip will take a couple of days. The first thing I do is sleep, for probably at least 10 hours. It’d been a while since I’d had a good night’s sleep, and that climb was exhausting.
When I awake, the ship is darker, and I decide to take a look around. I wander the halls, peeking into each room. Most were either empty cabins, cluttered storage spaces, or, of course, the large cargo bay. As I approach the last cabin right before the cockpit, I hear a voice from behind me say, “Ah-ah! That one’s mine.”
I turn around to see that Meetra somehow snuck up on me. For how large she is, she sure can move quietly. “S-sorry,” I murmur. “I was just curious…”
“It’s alright, I was just as curious at your age. But I think you’ll understand the desire for privacy.”
I nod vigorously. With that, I hurry back to my room, more than ready to pass the rest of the trip in there. I flip open my sketchbook, sketching Meetra and the Spirit of Vengeance. The rest of the journey is uneventful.
***
We land on Tatooine, not far from Jabba’s Palace. As we walk down the ship’s ramp, Meetra takes my hand. “Stay by me. This place is very dangerous.”
Meetra goes up to the Palace’s gate and knocks. A small scope extends out and chitters in an alien language. Meetra replies in a language that I can identify as Huttese. The scope retracts, and the door opens.
Meetra and I walk through the dank halls of Jabba’s Palace. We come to a central chamber, where the Hutt himself rests upon a large platform.
Jabba speaks, and a protocol droid translates. “The mighty Jabba asks what business you have here.”
Meetra kneels. “Mighty Jabba. I come before you to humbly beg for the release of two slaves. Two twi’leks were cruelly separated from their daughter.”
Jabba looks skeptical, and Meetra adds something in Huttese. Jabba grumbles something, and the droid says, “Bring out the new slaves.”
My parents, restrained and beaten, are brought before us. I hold my breath, waiting for some trick, but the restraints are loosed, and my parents rush to hold me. The last thing I see before being engulfed in the hug is Meetra giving Jabba a grim yet knowing look.
We exit together, Meetra looking like she’s been weighed down the whole way back to the ship. We head home, my parents fussing over me as we fly back to Ju’unde.