Chapter 59: Stark Truths

The shiv is in her hand and swinging towards the Jedi’s neck before he can even blink. Unfortunately, it’s still not fast enough. He’s moving as she moves and while one hand grabs her wrist, the other smacks Boba’s knife from her hand with eerie precision. In an instant, he not only disarms her but has her in his grasp, dramatically limiting her abilities to escape. “Boba! Calm down, I promise I can-!” But Boba isn’t about to let that stop her. With a snarl, she begins fighting wildly and madly, trying everything to escape his grasp. Acting purely on instinct, she even manages to slip her small wrist free of his hold, her other fist slamming into the inside of his leg, startling him enough to release her. Springing up, Boba hesitates for only half a moment between going for her shiv and going for the door. In the end, she chooses the door. She can’t die here. And this Jedi’s presence definitely means her death, as far as she figures. She has to escape; she has to survive. She has to- “Grk!” A sudden force grabs her and pulls her back while her fingers are mere inches from the door panel. Inches from freedom, but Boba finds herself tossed across the room… not by the Jedi’s physical strength, but by that damnable Force of theirs. He uses his fucking mind to throw her away from the door and slam her against the far wall, and Boba gasps as the air is expelled forcibly from her lungs. Before she can recover, he firms up his ‘hold’ on her and her limbs slap into the wall as well, leaving her pinned down. She struggles against it as best as she’s able, but unfortunately he has her dead to rights. That doesn’t stop her from continuing to fight for as long as humanly possible, however. And beyond, even. She squirms in his mental grasp, figuring the more she struggles the more energy he has to use to keep her here… right? He doesn’t look too tired though as he approaches, one hand raised in a show of holding her in place. Letting out a sigh, he rubs at his eyes with the other hand and shakes his head. “Boba… I’m not here to hurt you. I’m not your enemy, no matter what you might think.” Boba’s eyes narrow at that. She didn’t believe him. She wouldn’t fall for his lies. The Jedi killed her mother! “I know that you’re confused. I know that from your perspective, it looks like we’re the cause of all the woes in your life. But the Jedi Order did not kill Janga Fett. We don’t execute unarmed prisoners, especially ones that have surrendered. She was never in any danger from us.” That infuriates Boba enough that she finally stops struggling long enough to engage him verbally. “She died in your custody, Jedi! Seems like she was in plenty of danger, all because she surrendered to you sleemos!” A sigh leaves the Jedi’s lips. “Janga’s death was a failure on our part, but it was not a purposeful one. The Jedi Order did not order her death… and we did not put you here either, with Death Watch.” Boba’s eyes narrow at that last part. What, was he reading her mind or something? Jedi could do that, couldn’t they? Tch. “Bitch who put me here had a lightsaber. Two of them in fact. You aren’t going to convince me she wasn’t a Jedi.” The Jedi looks contemplative for a moment. “… Tell me, Boba. What color were her lightsabers?” Where was he going with this? Boba’s eyes narrow even more as she glares at the Jedi with all her might, her hatred for him and his kind eclipsing everything else. Still… she couldn’t escape. Not right now. So might as well answer. “Red.”

She spits it out spitefully, fully anticipating some sort of excuse. Even she’s a little surprised by what he comes up with, however. “She was a Sith, Boba. The antithesis of everything that the Jedi are and adore. You were taken from us by a Sith, and if you were taken by a Sith, it stands to reason your mother was killed by the Sith as well.” Boba blinks… and then laughs in the Jedi’s face. “S-Sith? Bahaha! Is that the best you can come up with?!” Even to her ears, her laughter sounds a little forced. But then, she has to laugh, because if she doesn’t laugh she’ll scream. “The Sith are gone, Jedi! I know the histories! The Sith have been gone for centuries at least!” She knew the histories better than most, probably. Janga had made sure Boba was well-versed in Mandalorian History. And Mandalorians had a long and storied past with both the Sith and the Jedi. They were the ever-present third wheel in the constant clashing and love-hate relationship that the two orders of Force Users had going on. Except the Sith were gone. They’d been gone for a long, long time. They were ancient history at this point. And yet, still the Jedi insists on staring at her as though he’s not lying to her face. “The Sith are back, Boba. They’re back… and I suspect they’re behind everything. The Clone Army, this war, your mother’s death, your kidnapping… everything.” He really sounds like he believes it. But of course, Boba doesn’t believe HIM. Jedi lie. And they read minds. Next he’d probably be trying to control her mind, but she wouldn’t let that happen. Regardless, she didn’t believe a word he was saying. Glaring daggers at him, she goes back to struggling against his hold. It still doesn’t seem to be straining him to have to hold a writhing opponent, but she wouldn’t give up. She refused. Letting out another sigh, the Jedi looks away for a moment before speaking again. “The woman who put you here… her lightsabers were red you said? And she had two of them? What did she look like?” Boba snarls, refusing to answer. But the Jedi fills in for her. “Bald, maybe? Chalk-white skin and face tattoos?” Twitching, Boba resists the urge to respond. Hah! He did know who the bald woman was! He was only affirming what she already knew… the bitch was a Jedi! “Her name is Asajj Ventress. She’s the Sith Apprentice of Count Dooku who is himself a Sith Lord. She’s been fighting on the side of the Separatists for the duration of the war so far.” What? Boba’s nose wrinkles and she frowns at his words. Wasn’t Dooku a Jedi? Except… not anymore. He’d left the Jedi, hadn’t he? But he’d still had a lightsaber… a red one, if Boba remembered correctly. “Here, let me show you.” It’s not like she has much choice in the matter. Except, then he stops holding his hand in her direction and Boba finds herself falling down from the wall. Landing on the floor somewhat awkwardly, she narrows her eyes at the Jedi. He doesn’t look nearly as exhausted from using the Force as she’d hoped. And he’s now firmly between her and the door. Between her and her knife, too. And yet, while he does give her a look, as if to say ‘don’t try it’… he also brings up his armguard and opens a connection to the holonet. As a floating holographic screen shimmers into view, she watches him put in a code, typing swiftly and then bringing up a video. “Come here. Watch. I’ll show you that Asajj isn’t a Jedi. She’s been fighting Jedi this entire war.” Slowly, Boba approaches. As she does so, the Jedi presses play on the video. Her eyes watch as the bald woman who had dropped her off here comes onto screen, both of her red lightsabers already lit and held at her sides. She watches as she faces off against two more Jedi that Boba recognizes from Geonosis. They were this Jedi’s friends or something, she thinks. The ensuing battle certainly doesn’t look like a spar. For one, it takes place in a jungle and both sides are surrounded by battle droids and clone troopers. People are dying all around them, and this… Ventress is certainly trying her damnedest to kill the other two with her sabers. With a snarl, Boba acts entirely on instinct and suddenly the Jedi’s blaster is in her hands and pointed at him. She wishes she could say it was unwaveringly though, but it’s not. She’s trembling, even as she glares at him and then at the holographic display. This wasn’t… it couldn’t be… she… -x-X-x- What do I do? What if he’s telling the truth? Tylo was beginning to hate Boba Fett. Which was wrong on multiple levels. For one, he was a Jedi and Jedi were not supposed to hate. For two, she was a child… and one who had been through great hardship at that. Even still, he absolutely despised that this brat had managed to get the drop on him… again. It wasn’t his fault though. Boba was rapidly proving to be his direct counter. The kid didn’t tend to think things through all the time. She reacted on impulse more often than not. Only because he knew she already had that shiv of hers had he managed to react to her sudden incredible need to stab him in the neck in time. But this latest incident was… well, it was annoying to say the least. One moment she’d been watching the video of Asajj Ventress fighting Annie and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the next she’d stolen his blaster from him without even THINKING about it. Her finger was on the trigger, but Tylo had hope that she wouldn’t fire. If she’d gone for his blaster originally and not her shiv and managed to take him by surprise, he’d probably have been shot almost immediately. But now? Now he’s introduced just enough doubt into the equation to get Boba’s attention. Need more information. Need answers. Interrogate the Jedi. Pointing the blaster at his face, Boba snarls. “Explain.” Tylo very carefully does not smile… he’s pretty sure she’d shoot him if he did. Instead, he does his best to explain. “The Kaminoans claim that it was a Jedi Master that originally ordered the Clone Army created for the Republic. But he died shortly after they say he put in the order. And your mother said that she wasn’t hired by a Jedi Master, but a man named Tyrannus. The Order believes that Tyrannus might be a Sith Name and we know that the Sith are back and orchestrating this war in some way from the shadows.” Tylo hesitates for a moment… before deciding to just go for broke. He’s already told Boba more than most are aware of. But he needs her to trust her. And he wants her to stop pointing a blaster at his face, if at all possible. “I personally believe that the Sith are behind everything, like I told you before. They hired your mother to make the Clone Army, and then when she outlived her usefulness to them, they had her killed. Then, they took you and put you here… I don’t know the why of that just yet.” Never mind why they put me here… why the hell would they give the Jedi an army? It doesn’t add up.  “Why would the Sith want the Jedi to have an army? They hate you.” Tylo shakes his head. “I don’t know that just yet. That’s part of why I’m here, to find that out. But ask yourself this Boba… with everything you know, would your mother have ever agreed to be part of a project like this, cloning herself and the others for the Jedi Order… if there wasn’t some underlying plot?” Boba’s eyes widen at that and Tylo reads in her mind that he’s hit the nail on the head. Mama hated the Jedi. She hated them more than anything. She had to have known that the Clones were for the Jedi… but then, why would she sign on for such a job, no matter how good the credits were? Unless… Tylo just nods, pretending he read Boba’s thoughts on her face… instead of directly. Though the young girl already had suspicions he could read her mind. Heh, funny how your average Jedi would never believe such a thing, because they used the Force to protect their minds. But someone as paranoid and superstitious as a Mandalorian Youth would believe a lot. “I believe that the Clone Army is a trap for the Jedi. That the Sith want to use them in some way to kill us all. In the same way they killed your mother.” Boba stiffens at that. Damn him. He’s actually managing to talk me around. But… the bitch isn’t a Jedi. The video is proof of that. No Jedi on the Separatist side, that much I know. And if she’s not a Jedi and she’s a Sith… then he might be telling the truth… With a growl, Boba… doesn’t quite put the blaster down, but she does relax her hold on it and remove her finger from the trigger. She’s still pointing it at him as she glares, angry as ever. Only, now the anger is pointed in a better direction, Tylo can only hope. “Why ARE you here, exactly? I know you weren’t here for me. You didn’t know I was here until now. So what does Death Watch have to do with any of this?” Tylo shrugs, not really in a position to lie at this point. “Rook Kast.” Boba stiffens at that, and he knows immediately that she knows something. “She worked with your mother, as you well know. And now she’s working for Death Watch. We need to know what she knows. We need-!” “She’s here.” Tylo’s eyes widen, a little surprised by that. But then he hears Boba’s further thoughts, just as derisive as her tone as she speaks her mind without hesitation. “I was terrified when I first heard she’d arrived and been put in charge of this place. She’d recognize me on the spot and then I’d be dead. But… the bitch has holed herself up in her quarters. She practically never leaves. She’s left Ursa Wren in charge of everything, delegating to Wren and just sort of handing down orders from on high while keeping to herself. You think she knows something?” Slowly, Tylo nods. Boba frowns, her young face scrunching in thought. Kast might have the answers I need. If the Sith really did kill my mother… then I need to know so I can avenge her properly. Damn it all… With a growl, Boba finally lowers the blaster. However, she doesn’t move to give it back either. “Let’s go talk to Kast. I want answers. You can have her when I’m done with her.” Tylo very carefully doesn’t snort in amusement. Force, he was really being ordered around by a child, wasn’t he? At least it wasn’t at blaster point anymore…

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[  ] Go straight for Rook Kast with just Boba at his side - 32%

[X] Risk being caught by diverting to grab Bo-Katan and Koska for back up - 68%

(From this chapter on, I will be posting the results of the Vote for the chapter to increase transparency and alleviate the issue of constant cliffhangers.)