Part 3: Coruscant ~ Chapter 4 - Disagreement

Bending her knee until her foot was level with the small of her back, Renora used the Force to press a small button on the heal of her shoe, ejecting a hold-out blaster that she reached back and caught in her right hand. Before anyone in the room had a chance to blink, let alone reach for their own weapons, she stunned all but two with the noiseless weapon.

Anticipating their responses, Renora held D’onny motionless with the Force, sprinting to where Vandort was crouched behind the bar, also held motionless, but by terror.

“P…p…please…don’t…k…kill me,” he stammered, his trademark wild hair looking almost flat with his head pressed against the wall. “I…I…I don’t want…I don’t want…”

“Relax, Mr. Vandort. I’m not going to kill you.”

“No?” he asked, perking up like a hopeful child.

“No, I’m not going to kill anyone. Here, look at my blaster.” He cried out as she held the blaster in front of his face. “It’s okay, just look at it. See? It’s a stunner. They’ll wake up, remember nothing, feel hung-over, and fall naturally asleep, drooling on themselves. Won’t be the first time, I’m sure.”

“Good,” said Vandort, sighing theatrically and easing into a sitting position. “Then what are you doing, if not killing people?”

“I’m going to kidnap Mr. Jepp.”

“Oh, okay, I see. What about me? Do I get to come along?”

“Nope, sorry. I’m going to stun you, too.”

“That’s all right. I would’ve done the same if I were in your place.”

“That’s incredibly reassuring to hear, Mr. Vandort.”

“Will I remember what happened?”

“Well,” said Renora, considering, “yeah, I think you will.”

“Renora!” hissed Giddy through the comlink. Renora swallowed sharply, ignoring her Master’s warning.

“Good, good. How?”

“I’ll fix it so that the stun doesn’t affect your memory. With the Force.”

“Padawan, have you lost your mind?!”

“Ahh, the Force! I see. Okay, that all sounds dandy. I’ll miss the premiere, though.”

“That’s all right. You’ll be at the one for Shadows of Darkness later on this year.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Astral, all completely astral.” He looked up at her, squinting against the light as if really noticing her for the first time. “You know you’re a little young for a Jedi.”

“My Master isn’t going to think so when she kills me for allowing you to remember our conversation.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re on the run and all that. Tough stuff. You know, there are cameras in this room.”

“I scrambled them. They’re playing a prerecorded, looped feed.”

“Padawan, don’t make me extract you. I will do it, if you endanger the mission.”

“Good thinking, good thinking.” He paused, eyeing his drink on the counter as if he wished he could drown himself in it. “Yep, I guess I’ll be seeing you, then.”

“No, Mr. Vandort. You won’t.”

“Oh, okay. That’s astral, too, I guess.”

“I really wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

“Oh, me too, me too. You seem like a real good kid. Except for the…ah…shooting thing.”

“This is going to sound really lame--”

“No, no, go ahead.”

“--but I admire your work. If I would’ve been given a choice to shoot any director I wanted, I wouldn’t have picked you.”

“I appreciate that, I really do.”

“Take care of yourself, Mr. Crazy Hair.”

“Ha! Yeah, yeah, sure.”

“May the Force be with you.”

“Yeah, and with you. Uh, kid?”

“Yes?”

“Stay alive, okay?”

Renora smiled grimly. “You bet I will.”

She shot him square in the chest, pausing to make sure the neural blast didn’t affect the part of his brain regulating short-term memory. After she was satisfied, she turned her attention to D’onny Jepp, still frozen in the middle of the room.

“I’m going to unfreeze you in a second, but first I want to tell you something. You’re not in any danger. Neither are your wife and kids, or any of your friends and family. Whether you cooperate or not, none of you are going to be harmed.”

“That certainly won’t be your case, Padawan,” snapped Master Gidrea. “You were supposed to scare him a little so he cooperates!”

“My name is Renora Ta’a, and I’m a Jedi Padawan. My Master and I need your help. Sorry I had to interrupt your premiere, but my Master doesn’t believe Elice’s Adventures in the Land of Wonder is of as much significance as a galaxy-wide threat to existence. I would disagree with her, but what do I know?”

She released her Force hold on Jepp, steadying him as he swayed slightly, control returning to his limbs.

“You better say something really clever to keep me from killing you with my bare hands,” he said through clenched teeth.

“If you were going to do that, you would’ve done it already. Now, get out of those clothes.”

“You’re joking.”

“Yeah, I’m really in a joking mood right now. Please, Mr. Jepp, just do it. And put on Lari’s uniform.

Renora turned around to provide him some privacy as he changed quickly into the uniform.

“Great,” said Renora, appraising him in amusement.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You look…”

“Like what?”

“Like D’onny Jepp.”

“Now that’s a surprise.”

“Can’t you disguise your face a little bit?”

“Sure, I do that all the time.”

“No, seriously, you’re actor.”

“No, seriously, I didn’t know that.”

“All right,” Renora sighed. “This is just going to have to suffice. The rest is up to one abandoned Padawan.”

“Let’s just hope the Force hasn’t abandoned you.”

“It hasn’t before now.”

The two made their way out of the building and through the crowd, Renora masking D’onny’s presence with liberal traces of Force energy. With each member of the would-be audience having a working, photographic memory of every pore, line, and wrinkle on the man’s face, this was easier said than done. Renora’s hair was lined in sweat, and her breath came in ragged gasps.

“We’re never going to get out of here,” said D’onny.

“Shut up,” said Renora.

They stopped barely within sight of the ’fresher Renora had paid a visit to at the beginning of this insanity.

“What are we waiting for?” asked D’onny.

“Just wait.”

They waited. Nothing happened.

“I don’t think it worked,” said D’onny.

“Just wait, it’s going to happen..”

They waited. Nothing happened.

“It doesn’t look like it’s happening.”

“I told you, just wait! It’s going to happen, don’t worry. Or some Toydarian explosives dealer is going to wake up dead.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Haven’t you done it?”

“That was just a holo film.”

They waited. Something happened.