Chapter 34

"Did you have fun young ones?" Yaddle from her position on the sofa in the ships lounge.

After the fight in the market Renn and the others had quickly returned to the Speedy Vagabond. Unlike Tatooine where order was maintained through private militias and criminal organisations, Coruscant has policed by an actual police force. But that would cause its own problems, with Renn and the others standing in the centre of a destroyed market surrounded by dead bodies, so they had decided to leave before the police arrived.

Renn and the others had gone to the ships lounge after they got back to the ship, while Alpha had gone off to talk with Sapphire as they got the ship ready to leave. They had found Yaddle lying on one of the sofas in the lounge reading a book on a data pad.

Yaddle rose in concern after she saw Seela enter the room behind Renn. Opal still had an arm wrapped around the small girl and it was plain to see from the red rings around her eyes that the young twi'lek had been crying.

"Oh, young one. What's wrong?" Yaddle spoke softly as she rushed over to Seela in worry.

"It's all my fault." Seela sobbed quietly. "They came for me. They were going to kill us. Why won't they just leave me alone? It's all my fault." Seela started to hyperventilate and Yaddle led her over to one of the sofas before sitting her down.

Opal sat on Seela's left, hugging the girl tightly trying to show her support. Shae sat on her right, she held one of Seela's hands trying to offer some comfort, but her face was split between concern for her friend and pure rage at the Hutt that had made the girl cry.

"Oh no, that's not true. None of this is your fault." Yaddle said, trying to envelope the young girl in a hug. Although her diminutive stature, and the fact that Seela was already being hugged by two other girls, caused her some difficulties in achieving that.

"Its not your fault Seela. None of us blame you." Renn said trying to offer the girl a comforting smile and watched as the others nodded in agreement.

Seela kept crying quietly before drifting into sleep. She had been distraught when she found out they were attacked because the gangsters were after her. She had seen that final gangster advancing towards Renn and alternate scenarios wouldn't stop playing in her head.

What would have happened if Alpha hadn't got there in time? What if one of the blaster bolts flying around hit one of her friends? What if one of her friends was killed? Because of her.

Guilt racked her body and she had started crying. The others had led her back to the ship and tried to comfort her, but she barely listened. Eventually it had all been too much and she had fallen asleep surrounded by her worried friends.

Renn looked at the unconscious girl, a look of concern plastered across his face. He meet the eyes of Opal and Shae and saw them give a silent agreement to his unspoken question.

"I'll be back soon. Take care of Seela." Renn said as he turned and left the room.

Yaddle looked over her shoulder and watched the boy leave. She could feel the emotions radiating off him but didn't say anything. Yaddle knew that unlike the jedi the force wielders of house Dredd didn't have to worry about controlling their emotions, and even if she didn't unlike most jedi she knew it wasn't her place to impose her views on others.

Yaddle knew what was about to happen but not through some magical vision given to her threw the force. She knew what was about to happen because she had seen the expression on Renn's face before. She'd seen it on Renn's grandmother's face a couple of times, and it always came before one thing. War.

-

Renn walked alone through the ship's corridors, the sounds of his footsteps echoing heavily in his ears. His mind kept replaying Seela's crying face and a cold primal rage filled his body. On the surface he seemed calm, his face emotionless, but inside he was burning with rage.

Though he hadn't known her that long he had grown close to Seela and seeing her that upset had caused him too nearly loose it. He exhaled deeply recalling all the teaching Sapphire had given him about the importance of keeping a level head before he walked through the door to the Speedy Vagabond's conference room.

The Room's occupants turned to look at him as he entered. Alpha was stood on the other side of the holo-table in the centre of the room with his arms crossed. He was flanked on either side by Spark, Earl, Crow, and Scythe who looked as though they had been studying the holo-table before Renn walked in.

Sapphire's avatar was stood on top of the holo-table, near the holographically projected images of seven gangsters, their information projected next to them in blue letters.

"How is Seela?" Sapphire asked. She already new the answer as she could she everything inside the ship with its internal sensors and so was asking more for the benefit of Renn and the droids.

"She's asleep. She's very upset." Renn said quietly as a looked at the pictures of the gangsters, his gaze focused on the four that he had killed.

"And how are you?" Sapphire asked him softly her holographic features filled with concern.

Renn was silent for a moment until he was brought to the moment when Bolt nudged his body into him and beeped softly in worry.

"Oh, sorry I'm fine don't worry about me. Just thinking." Renn said patting Bolt on the head.

Renn looked up and met Sapphire and Alpha's gazes, his eyes held a resolve in them as he spoke up. "We are going to Tatooine. Gardulla the Hutt and her criminal syndicate are now at war with house Dredd."

The droids watched Renn in silence. Their metal faceplates didn't convey emotion but internally they were grinning in anticipation. They all knew about the reasons behind the coming conflict, and though they didn't start it they were sure going to finish it.

"I had a feeling it would end up this way. We are already preparing to leave." Sapphire said smiling at Renn as the holo-table changed from information on the dead gangsters to information on Gardulla the Hutt and her failing empire.

"Well, we better start preparing then" Alpha said, and soon the group began making plans for the coming fighting.

-

"How could this have happened!" Gardulla raged, her fat tail sending a small table covered in different fruits flying across her throne room.

Seven men, her whole gang on Coruscant, dead. And what did she have to show for it, nothing.

She was losing her control on the situation. Her empire was collapsing from her gambling debts and the pressure Jabba had been exerting to try and take over control of her property. She needed a way for people to fear her power, which is why she wanted the escaped slave. In these turbulent times she couldn't be seen to be defied and so wanted everyone to see the girl die horribly.

But after two teams had been sent to retrieve her, and two teams had ended up dead, it was becoming increasingly obvious that someone was conspiring against her. Was it Jabba? Or was it some unknown force? Gardulla didn't know but it was making her furious.

A slave slipped on a fallen piece of fruit while they were rushing to clean the throne room, after the mess Gardulla had made, causing the bowl she was carrying to clatter across the floor.

Gardulla glared at the now terrified slave, "take that pathetic creature to the arena." She pointed and the slave girl screamed and begged for mercy but was ignored and dragged from the room.

"I want everyone recalled back to the palace. Some one is clearly picking a fight with us, and we need to prepare." Gardulla yelled and her minions scurried of to comply with her orders.

Gardulla was still angry but was confident that once she reorganised there wasn't anything that could stand against her empire. Plus, she had a new victim to watch in the arena. An evil smirk split Gardulla's face as she imagined the slave girl being forced to fight the vicious beasts that filled her arena. She mused over whether or not to force her to fight her pet Krayt dragon, it would be amusing but the 'fight' wouldn't be very long, and she liked to watch people suffer.