Read Online Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi, Volume 3 by Jude Watson - Free Book Online
Authors: Jude Watson
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know I can’t leave here, Ferus. And I don’t want to put you and Trever in danger. But Malorum has to be
stopped.”
“I’ll stop him for you, Obi-Wan,” Ferus said. “I don’t know how, I don’t even know why. But I’ll do it.”
“May the Force be with you.”
“You know, I’m beginning to realize that it actually
is
with me. Still.”
“Of course it is, Ferus.” Obi-Wan’s voice was warm now. “Depend on it.”
For the first time since he’d left the streets of Bellassa, Trever felt at home.
The Erased reminded him of the friends he’d made in the black market. Sure, you didn’t want to ask the brothers, Gilly and Spence, what they did before they were Erased, but that was
fine with him. He was used to people concealing their pasts.
Gilly and Spence didn’t say much. They were short and compact and heavily armed with various makeshift weapons they trusted more than any blaster. Keets Freely was the talkative one. That
guy could chew your ear off with facts about the Coruscant underlevels: How they’d always existed outside of the law. How security didn’t penetrate this far down. Millions of
inhabitants relied on their own defensive skills or teams of vigilantes to protect neighborhoods and individual apartment structures with their hundreds of inhabitants.
According to Keets, ever since the Most Evilest Empire took over, things had only become worse. Before the Clone Wars, the Senate tried to keep the place from falling apart, at least. They sent
droid teams down for occasional repairs. They even set up med clinics for the poor slobs who had to live there. But now, with the new greedy Senate, nobody cared. So the millions of beings slammed
into the sublevels traveled in packs and kept arsenals of weapons to protect themselves.
Trever could have skipped the lecture and picked up the main point—watch your back.
He noticed that Ferus wasn’t too happy about leading the Erased down. They had traveled for hours until they were far away from the Senate and Galactic City, and all Ferus could think
about was the Jedi he was searching for. Honestly, he was a little obsessive about it. But still, Trever had never met anyone he felt he could depend on like Ferus. It was worth sticking
around.
Their plans were loose. They had to be. The group had decided to head down, all of them packed into one large speeder, and pick up information along the way. Since there were so many rumors
about Solace, they felt certain that they would find the way there.
Of course, some of the rumors were pretty extreme.
Number one: Solace was a place on the crust that had escaped the monolithic building boom on Coruscant. It had trees and lakes and was open to the sky far above, with nothing on top of it.
And if you believe that
, Trever thought,
you believe in space angels.
Number two: Solace was built centuries ago on the crust, a wondrous place of palaces and towers where all were welcome, and all were cherished, and all were free.
Right, and the Emperor is a humble guy looking out for everyone’s well-being and the galaxy is a blooming garden.
The only rumor Trever truly believed was the fact they already knew: Solace was hard to find.
At the end of a long day of learning basically nothing, Rhya Taloon unstrapped her holsters to make herself comfortable and stretched out on the sleep couch in the guesthouse
they’d arranged to stay in for the night. Gilly and Spence were busy cleaning their weapons while Trever lay down on the other sleep couch, and Ferus spread his cloak on the floor for a
bed.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Rhya announced to the ceiling. She placed the toe of her boot on the opposite heel and kicked off one boot, then the other. They landed with a thump on
the floor.
“You’ve got to ask a lot of questions before you get real answers, sweetblossom,” Keets said as he sat astride a chair. “We may not see it, but we have pieces of the
puzzle.”
“We do?” She waved
stopped.”
“I’ll stop him for you, Obi-Wan,” Ferus said. “I don’t know how, I don’t even know why. But I’ll do it.”
“May the Force be with you.”
“You know, I’m beginning to realize that it actually
is
with me. Still.”
“Of course it is, Ferus.” Obi-Wan’s voice was warm now. “Depend on it.”
For the first time since he’d left the streets of Bellassa, Trever felt at home.
The Erased reminded him of the friends he’d made in the black market. Sure, you didn’t want to ask the brothers, Gilly and Spence, what they did before they were Erased, but that was
fine with him. He was used to people concealing their pasts.
Gilly and Spence didn’t say much. They were short and compact and heavily armed with various makeshift weapons they trusted more than any blaster. Keets Freely was the talkative one. That
guy could chew your ear off with facts about the Coruscant underlevels: How they’d always existed outside of the law. How security didn’t penetrate this far down. Millions of
inhabitants relied on their own defensive skills or teams of vigilantes to protect neighborhoods and individual apartment structures with their hundreds of inhabitants.
According to Keets, ever since the Most Evilest Empire took over, things had only become worse. Before the Clone Wars, the Senate tried to keep the place from falling apart, at least. They sent
droid teams down for occasional repairs. They even set up med clinics for the poor slobs who had to live there. But now, with the new greedy Senate, nobody cared. So the millions of beings slammed
into the sublevels traveled in packs and kept arsenals of weapons to protect themselves.
Trever could have skipped the lecture and picked up the main point—watch your back.
He noticed that Ferus wasn’t too happy about leading the Erased down. They had traveled for hours until they were far away from the Senate and Galactic City, and all Ferus could think
about was the Jedi he was searching for. Honestly, he was a little obsessive about it. But still, Trever had never met anyone he felt he could depend on like Ferus. It was worth sticking
around.
Their plans were loose. They had to be. The group had decided to head down, all of them packed into one large speeder, and pick up information along the way. Since there were so many rumors
about Solace, they felt certain that they would find the way there.
Of course, some of the rumors were pretty extreme.
Number one: Solace was a place on the crust that had escaped the monolithic building boom on Coruscant. It had trees and lakes and was open to the sky far above, with nothing on top of it.
And if you believe that
, Trever thought,
you believe in space angels.
Number two: Solace was built centuries ago on the crust, a wondrous place of palaces and towers where all were welcome, and all were cherished, and all were free.
Right, and the Emperor is a humble guy looking out for everyone’s well-being and the galaxy is a blooming garden.
The only rumor Trever truly believed was the fact they already knew: Solace was hard to find.
At the end of a long day of learning basically nothing, Rhya Taloon unstrapped her holsters to make herself comfortable and stretched out on the sleep couch in the guesthouse
they’d arranged to stay in for the night. Gilly and Spence were busy cleaning their weapons while Trever lay down on the other sleep couch, and Ferus spread his cloak on the floor for a
bed.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Rhya announced to the ceiling. She placed the toe of her boot on the opposite heel and kicked off one boot, then the other. They landed with a thump on
the floor.
“You’ve got to ask a lot of questions before you get real answers, sweetblossom,” Keets said as he sat astride a chair. “We may not see it, but we have pieces of the
puzzle.”
“We do?” She waved
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