The shop caught her off guard. It was a fashion boutique, and Karen had felt astonishingly out of place when she and her sisters had stepped through the door. There were four people in the small waiting area, but she had been immediately accosted by an old woman from a species she couldn’t identify.
“You, what do you want?”
“I am supposed to meet the Senator from Mandalore here, she told us to.” Karen backed up defensively.
“Do we look like the senate building?”
“No, but we were told…”
“Get out!” The old woman started to brush them out of the shop.
A very deep, gravelly voice called from the back of the shop. “Stop. Come here child.” A metallic hand waved her deeper into the shop. Karen slowly stepped towards the voice and pushed through the curtains into a work area. There were several women busily sewing different garments and a pair of women...customers, Karen thought who were relaxing while the seamstresses went about their work. The voice that had called her was a different matter entirely. It belonged to a tall near human woman with bright red skin. “I said come here, child” the woman said with a tone that Karen didn’t want to challenge.
She stepped closer to the woman and was shocked when the woman grabbed her by cheek. She let out a cry of surprise and Gael and Zan were coming through the curtains. “I know this jawline.” The woman smiled softly. “Mandalorian...with a little bit of Chandrila. Long blonde hair, glittering green eyes, a much softer figure than your mother. You are the child of Luna Pryce.” The woman let go of her cheek and patted it softly. “Welcome to my establishment.”
“How did you know my mother?” Karen asked quietly. The woman towered over her and she wasn’t completely sure about her.
“I dressed your mother for years. She was one of my favorite customers, and she told all of her friends about this place. That’s why there are so many Mandalorians that frequent us. Like the Senator.” The woman smiled and pointed at one of the women who were watching the seamstresses work. She waved softly and continued the conversation with her companion.
“I didn’t know that.”
“It is okay, child, but who dressed you?”
“What’s wrong with my clothes.”
“Nothing, if you want to look like you just came in from running tractor droids all day.” That brought out a small chorus of tittering laughter from the seamstresses, but the woman silenced them with a glance. “Let me dress you, your mother was a good friend to me. It would be an honor.”
“You will have to dress my sisters as well.” Karen said firmly, still a little put off by the tractor droids comment.
“A cute little Zeltron girl and a Twi’lek? Your mother did have exotic tastes.”
“She adopted them.”
“Of course she did.” The woman smiled and for the first time, Karen felt a little more at ease. She stood up from the perch she was resting on and Karen felt small again. The woman was towering, nearly three meters tall. Tiny repulsors seemed to flit around her body and she walked with the help of a prosthetic suit. “Come now, let’s see what we can do to liven up your wardrobe.” The woman’s giant hand came down to rest on her shoulder.
The next hour was a blur as various employees coaxed her out of her clothing, measured her, and poked and prodded her in a variety of different ways. She drew a small measure of comfort that both Gael and Zan were getting the same experience. She finally had a minute to think while the woman who owned the store went about her work, mixing colors and fabrics in a dozen different displays at the same time.
“The woman’s a genius.” The voice interrupted her thoughts.
“She’s certainly memorable.” Karen answered her. It was the senator from Mandalore. Her companion had finished her fittings, and left the building with one of the people seated outside.
“Mags has been dressing the women of the Outer Rim for almost twenty five years now. She’s a genius with fabric and color composition.” The Senator sat down with the three of them.
“Is that her name?” Karen smiled at the older woman.
“It’s the translation she prefers. Her people have a very unique language and while they speak basic for the rest of us, they keep their own tongue for their own counsel.”
“Really?”
“They even threatened to cut off ties with the Republic if they allowed their language to be added to the translation matrices for protocol droids.”
“Wouldn’t that trigger war?”
“Oh those were such simpler times. The Chancellor asked the jedi to negotiate, and they worked out an accord that made everyone happy. I sometimes miss those days.”
“We never knew those days.” Zan interjected quietly.
“Of course, you’ll have to forgive an old woman. And my manners have escaped me. I am Der Janis, Senator of Mandalore. You are Karen Pryce, and your sisters Zan Pryce and Gael Pryce. Not present are the war machine Nine R Seven Z, and your brothers Jacob Pryce and Dosh Pryce.”
“It is is a pleasure to meet you, Der Janis.”
“Now i have filed all the paperwork for you and Jacob to take your place as full citizens of Mandalore with all the attendant rights and privileges. I was not sure how you were going to handle the other three of you.”
“What do you mean?” Gael asked her.
“Traditionally Non-Mandalorians aren’t granted citizenship.”
“Why not?” Zan asked.
“They’re outsiders.”
“So are we.” Karen said softly.
“You are born of Mandalore, and will always be welcomed home. Your grandmother is interested in meeting you.”
“On Chiros?”
“Yes.”
“I tell you what. We are all the children of Luna Pryce, and we travel together. If Mandalore is unwilling to recognize our family as a family, we may have to seek citizenship elsewhere. Chandrila perhaps.” Karen said firmly.
“I will speak with Bo-katan, and see if we can’t find a way through this crisis.” The senator smiled.
“Please do, we will remain here on Coruscant for the next week or so, and then we have not determined where our next port of call is.”
“I would avoid the Outer Rim. I have it on good authority that Krassit is still looking for all of you.”
“So you have heard about our struggles with the Black Sun?”
“I have. I am attempting to exert some influence here to get the Black Sun called off, but i do not know how effective that can be.”
“Any assistance would be a boon.” Karen smiled softly at her.
“I must take my leave, but stay in touch and we’ll see how things go, all right?”
The three of them nodded at the Senator. “Be well.” The Senator smiled and pointed at the young woman who was waiting for her measurements. “Be careful around her. She’s from Hapes, and she’s quite mad.”
Dosh and Jake
Dosh and Jake were actually being productive citizens with their time. They’d had to pick up a courier droid along the way to carry everything but they had managed to empty the contents of the various security boxes, secured sites, and otherwise looted the contents of the various banks they’d gone after. Jake had done a fairly careful inventory of the contents as they went, but there had really been an absolute pile of stuff. The courier droid had escorted them back to their ship and they offloaded it into one of the security vaults.
“You know what confuses me?” Jake asked his brother after he set the small case of gems into the vault.
“I suspect a great many things, brother.” Dosh teased his brother. Jake had made an effort to pay closer attention to what was going on around him, and that was a refreshing change of pace.
“Well, yeah, but i mean specific things.”
“Like what?”
“Where’s the sickbay?”
“What?” Dosh turned his attention to his brother.
“A ship this size should have at least something that looks like a medbay, or a sick bed. We have been all over this place and haven’t seen anything like that.” Dosh scratched his ear. That was actually a good point.
“Hmm...how would you suss out the location of that kind of a hidden compartment, assuming we think there is a hidden compartment.”
“Ship’s systems?” Jake answered him.
“Which ones?”
“Power...possibly hydraulics. Oh and heating and cooling, plus probably other liquids.” Jake answered him. Jake’s attention was wavering back to the bag that they had acquired from the lawyer. Jake had been aching to mess with it since they had left the lawyer’s office, but he’d been good the entire time.
“Tell you what, let’s figure out what’s in your new bag of tricks and we’ll look for the medbay tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“You’ve been a rockstar all day, brother. Now i have no idea what most of that stuff is probably going to be, but Niner may have a reasonable idea.”
“Yeah, but he’s been super pissy for the last four hours. I thought he was going smash the crap out of that astromech.” Jake answered Dosh.
“Yeah, the emancipation didn’t seem to go over well.” Dosh cleared the last few things from the courier droid and paid its fee before sending it back on its way. “I can’t imagine why he would have that hostility.”
“He’s an odd droid.” Jake answered him. “Niner,” he called into his commlink. “Hey, i’m about to go digging through this bag of stuff and i would be greatly appreciative if you could help me identify the contents.” He heard a barked snarl and a whirl of binary from two different sources. “Niner?”
“Like what?”
“Where’s the sickbay?”
“What?” Dosh turned his attention to his brother.
“A ship this size should have at least something that looks like a medbay, or a sick bed. We have been all over this place and haven’t seen anything like that.” Dosh scratched his ear. That was actually a good point.
“Hmm...how would you suss out the location of that kind of a hidden compartment, assuming we think there is a hidden compartment.”
“Ship’s systems?” Jake answered him.
“Which ones?”
“Power...possibly hydraulics. Oh and heating and cooling, plus probably other liquids.” Jake answered him. Jake’s attention was wavering back to the bag that they had acquired from the lawyer. Jake had been aching to mess with it since they had left the lawyer’s office, but he’d been good the entire time.
“Tell you what, let’s figure out what’s in your new bag of tricks and we’ll look for the medbay tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“You’ve been a rockstar all day, brother. Now i have no idea what most of that stuff is probably going to be, but Niner may have a reasonable idea.”
“Yeah, but he’s been super pissy for the last four hours. I thought he was going smash the crap out of that astromech.” Jake answered Dosh.
“Yeah, the emancipation didn’t seem to go over well.” Dosh cleared the last few things from the courier droid and paid its fee before sending it back on its way. “I can’t imagine why he would have that hostility.”
“He’s an odd droid.” Jake answered him. “Niner,” he called into his commlink. “Hey, i’m about to go digging through this bag of stuff and i would be greatly appreciative if you could help me identify the contents.” He heard a barked snarl and a whirl of binary from two different sources. “Niner?”
“I’ll be there momentarily.” The droid answered with a clipped snarl.
“We need to get him a friend.” Dosh said quietly. Jake nodded his agreement as he started to unpack the bag on the table. Dozens of tiny trinkets, tokens, and small electronic gizmos were unpacked gently and set on the table while Jake unpacked every tiny compartment and internal pouch.
“Hmmm...lots of credits.” He stacked the small golden chits in stacks on the desk. There were almost a thousand of them, and they were worth 100 credits each. Math failed him. He started stacking them in groups of 20, while he waited for Niner. Niner entered the room with a crash as he knocked over one of the tables.
“What the hell, Niner?” Dosh turned his attention to the droid and glared at him for a moment.
“OF all the ignorant, poorly thought out decisions…” Niner was still wrapped up in his own thoughts.
“Niner.” Jake grabbed the droid firmly by its shoulders. This proved to be a poor decision. Niner grabbed him firmly by the neck and twisted, sending him flying across the cargo bay. Dosh grabbed the Ion pistol they’d pulled out of storage earlier and pointed it at the droid.
“Niner, power down or i will shut you down.”
“What?!” The droid turned its attention to the Trandoshan.
“You are not well, and you need an expert to take a look at your systems. You can voluntarily power down, or i can fill you fill of charged particles.”
“You don’t have the stones for…” the pistol discharged and filled the droid with charged particles. It’s mechanical hands reached out and Dosh fired again. Niner fell in a smoking heap on the ground.
“You killed Niner!” Jake’s voice was straining to speak.
“I stunned him real hard. If he has the systems i think he does, he’ll be fine. I hope.” Dosh approached the droid carefully and switched him off. He didn’t need any redundant backups turning Niner back on. “You two.” he called out to the other two droids they’d picked up earlier in the day. “Get him on the workbench and i want a full system diagnostic by the end of the day.” The droids chirped an affirmative, though they were very reluctant to move the smoking droid.
“Well that puts a crimp in our afternoon.” Jake said with a frown.
“We need to get him a friend.” Dosh said quietly. Jake nodded his agreement as he started to unpack the bag on the table. Dozens of tiny trinkets, tokens, and small electronic gizmos were unpacked gently and set on the table while Jake unpacked every tiny compartment and internal pouch.
“Hmmm...lots of credits.” He stacked the small golden chits in stacks on the desk. There were almost a thousand of them, and they were worth 100 credits each. Math failed him. He started stacking them in groups of 20, while he waited for Niner. Niner entered the room with a crash as he knocked over one of the tables.
“What the hell, Niner?” Dosh turned his attention to the droid and glared at him for a moment.
“OF all the ignorant, poorly thought out decisions…” Niner was still wrapped up in his own thoughts.
“Niner.” Jake grabbed the droid firmly by its shoulders. This proved to be a poor decision. Niner grabbed him firmly by the neck and twisted, sending him flying across the cargo bay. Dosh grabbed the Ion pistol they’d pulled out of storage earlier and pointed it at the droid.
“Niner, power down or i will shut you down.”
“What?!” The droid turned its attention to the Trandoshan.
“You are not well, and you need an expert to take a look at your systems. You can voluntarily power down, or i can fill you fill of charged particles.”
“You don’t have the stones for…” the pistol discharged and filled the droid with charged particles. It’s mechanical hands reached out and Dosh fired again. Niner fell in a smoking heap on the ground.
“You killed Niner!” Jake’s voice was straining to speak.
“I stunned him real hard. If he has the systems i think he does, he’ll be fine. I hope.” Dosh approached the droid carefully and switched him off. He didn’t need any redundant backups turning Niner back on. “You two.” he called out to the other two droids they’d picked up earlier in the day. “Get him on the workbench and i want a full system diagnostic by the end of the day.” The droids chirped an affirmative, though they were very reluctant to move the smoking droid.
“Well that puts a crimp in our afternoon.” Jake said with a frown.
“Sort of. Those are keys, that’s a data crystal for a mainframe, and those look to be important.” Dosh pointed out four different things in the scattered table full of things.
“What are the keys to?” Jake asked him quickly. He pulled up the computer database and connected to the planetary grid. Ten minutes later he had an address and a location for where the keys were last registered.
“Jake, that’s the mid city, Niner said that was dangerous ground.”
“Before or after you blasted him?”
“Before. We don’t know what’s down there.”
“There really is only one way to find out.” Jake smiled at his brother.
“Oh no.”
“Come on. We haven’t had an honest adventure on Coruscant yet.”
“This is a tremendously bad idea.”
“Yep, but if you don’t come with me, then you’re going to get to explain to Karen how you let me run off by myself.”
“You’re a horrible influence.”
“I prefer to think of myself as fun and pretty.” Jake smiled. Dosh shook his head. Jake was amazingly mercurial, going back and forth from practical and studious to reckless and airheaded the way the wind changed directions.
“If we are going to do this, we do it right.” Dosh grabbed a suit of armored clothing and tossed it to his brother. “Gear up, grab some weapons, and if we have to, we can shoot our way out.”
“Man, you’d have been a lot more fun at skyhopper racing with that attitude.”
“Shut up and get dressed.” Twenty minutes later, they were dressed and on their way into the seedy underbelly of Coruscant without any idea what they were doing...
Continued in
The World City Part III Here
“What are the keys to?” Jake asked him quickly. He pulled up the computer database and connected to the planetary grid. Ten minutes later he had an address and a location for where the keys were last registered.
“Jake, that’s the mid city, Niner said that was dangerous ground.”
“Before or after you blasted him?”
“Before. We don’t know what’s down there.”
“There really is only one way to find out.” Jake smiled at his brother.
“Oh no.”
“Come on. We haven’t had an honest adventure on Coruscant yet.”
“This is a tremendously bad idea.”
“Yep, but if you don’t come with me, then you’re going to get to explain to Karen how you let me run off by myself.”
“You’re a horrible influence.”
“I prefer to think of myself as fun and pretty.” Jake smiled. Dosh shook his head. Jake was amazingly mercurial, going back and forth from practical and studious to reckless and airheaded the way the wind changed directions.
“If we are going to do this, we do it right.” Dosh grabbed a suit of armored clothing and tossed it to his brother. “Gear up, grab some weapons, and if we have to, we can shoot our way out.”
“Man, you’d have been a lot more fun at skyhopper racing with that attitude.”
“Shut up and get dressed.” Twenty minutes later, they were dressed and on their way into the seedy underbelly of Coruscant without any idea what they were doing...
Continued in
The World City Part III Here
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