Chapter 9

After departing Eriadu we gathered around the common room on the main deck. Subail was the first to speak "SO, what are we going to do about the little blue jedi-ling in the cells. And what is the game plan with the Hutts?"

"I say we take her to the Hutts. Might get a good price." Said Doth.

"Well, we will first get rid of the hot goods we are carrying with us now. And no Doth I am not selling her, and you know what I think of slavery. We send the Jedi order a message asking for a 'fee', for the release of the youngling. once that's done with, I know of a particular Hutt on Nar Sheda who collects old jedi relics. I was planning on selling those stuff to him at a modest price and a small favor. We will see how it goes. One step at a time. Now you guys clear out from the visual range of the holo and I will see if I can make a deal with our Jedi friends" I reply with a sinister little smile.

(POV change Jedi Council)

The council was currently meeting and reviewing the details of the latest mission carried out by Master Qui-gon jin and padawan Obiwan Kenobi.

"Well you did on this mission, solve possible major pirate attack on Ryloth, you did" says Master Yoda, then he focusses on Obiwan "Improving you are, young Obiwan, continue being diligent, you must"

"Yes, master Yoda" says Obiwan with a small bow.

"Well since this review is over, you may return Mater Qui-Gon, young Obiwan." says Master Windu.

As they were about to leave, the central holo projector starts beeping. They all look at each other. There were no calls on the schedule and this was a private frequency only used by members of the order and other high-ranking officials.

Master Windu answers the incoming transmission. The holographic image of a person in a particularly pitch black Mandalorean armor shows up.

"Who are you and how did you get access to this channel?" demands Windu.

"Who I am is the least of your concerns. But if you must know who we are, you may call us The Ghosts. As for how I gained access, all I can and will say is that it's a trade secret. As for why I called. I have recently chanced upon and freed one of your padawans, when I raided a slaver's ship. Her name is Ayala Secura. And I would like to return said padawan to your order safe and sound" said the anonymous figure.

"Well then you have our thanks for returning our lost padawan to us, Mr.…." said Master Shaak Ti

"You don't need to probe for my identity, you may call me Nomad. And you misunderstand master jedi, we went through quite a lot of trouble liberating the slaves from that ship. What I have are two conditions for the release of your padawan. If you are willing to listen." Said the figure.

"And what demand have you hmm…?" asks master Yoda.

"Nothing serious just 100,000 credits for the release of said padawan and the second condition being that I want you to send Master Qui-Gon and his padawan for the exchange." Responded the figure.

"Credits you ask for, I understand. Ask for Qui-gon why do you?" asks master Yoda.

"The only reasons being he has an understanding of us Mandalorians that few jedi have. He is less likely to do something stupid. Don't misunderstand me master Yoda. I have little love or trust for Jedi. Not after they aided insurgents to slaughter our families and our people. But I am not about to stoop so low as to harm a youngling. And as for the reason for the ransom. There is no free lunch in this galaxy. It was us who liberated her from the fate of slavery. And we are not about to do a job for free." Explained the unknown figure.

Master Windu was about to threaten the unknown caller when master Yoda spoke up again "Accept your conditions we do, send the coordinates you shall"

"Very well. Glad that you saw reason. It seems some of your order still retains at-least a fraction of the wisdom of the old order. Meet us on Karfeddion in five days at the following coordinates." Said the figure transmitting coordinates and cutting the transmission soon after.

"Well that was interesting" said Obiwan.

"Why negotiate with such people. We could have easily sent a strike team and freed the padawan." Says Windu

"Instigate trouble, where there is none, we must not. The darkness already clouds our vision. No need to add unknown enemies, already exist more than needed in the shadows. Honor they have, bloodthirsty they are not. Opportunistic, yes. Find this Nomad intriguing I do." Then Master Yoda looks at Qui-Gon "Go to bring back padawan you must. Go swiftly" Master Yoda tasks Qui-gon and his padawan.

"It will be done master" says Qui-Gon with a slight bow and leaves with Obiwan. They have to depart now if they are going to make it in time.

"Meditate on the resent events, we must" says Master Yoda.

The other masters sit silently pondering on what just happened.

(POV Thrunn)

I just got of the holo call with the Jedi Council. "Well that went well, better than expected." was all I could say turning back to the guys.

"Ya think they will come through?" asked Doth.

"The greatest possibility is that they will come through. But it will be wise to set up contingencies just in case." I responded.

"Well we are just half a day's jump from Karfeddion, we can head in early and start setting up early. That might help us remain in control of the situation as much as possible." Said Subail.

I nodded and asked "Hey Vanzii, how is our guest, any problems so far?".

"Nothing so far. She is just sitting there doing nothing giving us death glares. We have atleast four skytrooper and two 19ST droids watching her at all times" came his reply.

"Well I think I will go and talk to her. Hey Janak can you tell Teeseven to get us going to Karfeddion." I say and start heading to the third deck where the containment cells are.

"Will do" came Janak's reply.

I slowly make my way down to cells. I can see the droids tightly guarding and observing our guest.

"Hey, comfortable in there?" I ask her.

"What are you going to do with me?" Ayala asked fixing me with a glare.

"What do you think we are going to do?" I ask.

"Well usually lowlifes like you sell people like me to the highest bidder as their slave. Am I too far from the truth?". She stated, still glaring at me.

I scoff "Look here missy, if I wanted to sell you off. I wouldn't have asked your council to come and get you. If I wasn't going to return you, why would I sell you. I would keep such a beautiful little bird for myself" I say coyly, at that her glare falters "Well we also asked for a ransom in exchange. But you don't need to worry your pretty little head about it" then she looks at me like I just slapped her.

"You are just like all the others lowlifes in this galaxy, just another opportunistic scumbag" she says.

"I will admit to being opportunistic. But let me remind you something. There is no free lunch in this galaxy. We spent time and effort saving you, so no we aren't letting you go without a ransom. If you Jedi would get your entitled asses off your high horses and out of your Ivory towers in the core world, and stop kissing the senate's corrupt ass, you might really see how the galaxy works and what it has become. But I know that is asking too much of your ilk. You are just, the blind leading the blind. You lot preach about being peacekeepers and serving the people, yet you have lost touch with the people you are meant to serve. The common folk fear you more than they respect you. And you will pay the prize for your blindness and arrogance sooner or later. Let me just say the same thing I said to your Grand Master. We have no love for you Jedi. You joined up with traitors or facilitated the slaughter of our families and people during the civil war. But we have our warriors honor and we are not about to stoop so low as to hurt a youngling". I say with a commanding voice. "Hope your fellow Jedi come through. Or we are dropping you off in Hutt space and you can make your way home on your own. That is if you survive and not get captured and turned into a Hutt's slave first."

With that said I just stand up and head off without paying attention to her.

(Time skip) (POV Qui-Gon Jin)

We had departed the very same day. The council arranged a councilor class corvette for our transport. We drop out into realspace over a sparsely populated jungle planet. The coordinates given to us are in a remote location.

"Take us to the coordinates nice and slowly." I tell the pilots. Then turn to my padawan "Ready to go and get your fellow padawan?".

"Yes master. I only hope they don't go back on the agreement" said Obiwan.

"I have a feeling there will be no issues on this one, it will be a simple exchange. But it doesn't hurt to be wary. Most of the Mandalorean warriors still hold a grudge against the Jedi." I said.

We came up on the landing zone. It was a large enough clearing. "Set us down pilot. And keep your eyes open". I told the pilot.

"Yes, Sir" was his only reply.

As me and Obiwan make our way through the jungle to the meeting area, I couldn't help but wonder who these people were. There was no previous record or anything of such a group.

When we reach the location, we are met with the sight of the padawan and the anonymous Mandalorean who had spoken to the council. They were surrounded by eight strange battle droids. But I could sense there were many more hiding in the surroundings.

As we reach, the warrior says "That's far enough Jedi". Looks like he was being cautious, definitely not an amateur. I ask "May I know who you are?"

He looks at me and says "You may call me Nomad".

"Very well Nomad, how are we going to do this?" I asked.

He looks at me for a few seconds, thinking through all the options "My droids will bring the padawan to the center, you apprentice will bring the credits to the center as well. One of my droids will check if everything is in order. Then we finish this exchange and go on our own merry old ways."

"Very well" is all I could say. Turning to Obiwan I slightly whisper "Don't do anything impulsive. I fear things might go horribly wrong if a fight brakes out. There are more hidden in the surrounding"

To which he nods in acknowledgement.

Obiwan starts walking toward the center. Three droids brought the padawan forward. They were in formation, such that any wrong move could be costly. When both sides reach the center, a droid step forward and takes the case from Obiwan and checks the content. After making sure everything was in order. The droids stepped back and walked towards their master leaving the padawan behind for us to take.

"Pleasure doing business Jedi. And farewell" said Nomad before turning around and starting to leave. But he suddenly stops saying "Oh nearly forgot" and throws a lightsaber hilt towards me, before walking away.

We returned to the ship, Obiwan took Ayala to the med bay and I went to the coms officer. "Do we have a lock on the tracking beacon? "I asked.

"Sir, it's still there, around the area you just came from" came his reply.

A frown found its place on my face. Apparently, my assumptions were right, these were not ordinary bounty hunters. An ordinary crew wouldn't have even suspected a tracker.

(POV Thrunn)

After leaving the meeting we reconvened a few hundred meters away and thoroughly scanned the credit box. My assumption was right. The conniving Jedi had placed a tracker along with the credit. I take it and stick it in a tree. While still thinking it was a bit weird talking to Liam Neeson. Lucky for me, the padawan we exchanged wasn't his daughter. So I am most likely in the clear.

We make it back to the ship. "Athena, have they left?" I asked as soon as I returned.

"They have just departed. They will leave the gravity well in a few minutes." Came her reply.

"That went better than I expected "commented Janak.

"Well they knew they were outnumbered and outgunned. Otherwise I am willing to bet good credits they would have tried something" said Subail.

"That's why ya plan ahead and bring a lot of firepower" commented Doth.

"Well since this is over and done with. All that's left is to make it of this planet without being spotted and head for Nar Sheda". I said. "Go and unwind. We will need to be on our tows while dealing with Hutts".

With that the boys went to relax, while I went to the bridge. "Athena keep the cloaking field running and have stealth systems brought on till we hit hyperspace. Teeseven take us to Nar Sheda." I gave out the order. * Taking off. When do I get to come and play master? * beeped Teeseven.

"You will get you chance Teeseven. Just be patient" I couldn't help but snicker at his question.

Next stop Nar Sheda.