NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Jebble Box
Summary: Izuku and Aayla end up in the middle of a confrontation over the Jebble Box...
Chapter 9: Jebble Box
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Izuku had several different concerns at the moment. Enough of them, in fact, that he wasn't even properly able to enjoy the tight space they were crammed into, or the fact that said tight space was pressing Ayala's assets into the back of his head. This was most distressing, really, as such moments really demanded proper appreciation. Far more critically distressing, however, was that he was actively not sure which of the many concerns-of-the-moment was the most concerning. Let alone what, exactly, he was supposed to do about them. Falling back on his training, he analyzed his current situation. He and his partner were not in immediate danger. Good. That meant he could run down their problems and try to prioritize.
First, situational analysis. He and Aayla were hiding in a small space on a rather cramped catwalk nestled in one corner of the cargo bay were a deal that didn't look or sound like it was going well was going down. On the plus side, per Aayla's scouting, this particular little nook was basically invisible from below. As evidenced by the fact that no one had noticed them there, despite the pair of them having arrived before either of the groups below, and both groups doing a quick sweep on arrival. Better, his own abilities made him a wildcard…and Aayla had regained the ability to use some limited telekinesis in the last week or so. Hers wasn't nearly as strong or instinctive as his own Quirk, but it still meant she could act despite their awkward position, just like he could. She also had an impressive degree of stealth ability that could come in useful, depending on how he handled this.
On the minus side, aforementioned awkward position was not a great place to attack from in a traditional sense, if something went wrong. Something that looked to be increasingly likely as the two group leaders below argued. If someone noticed them, they'd be sitting ducks until they could get off the catwalk. Also on the minus side, there were easily a dozen armed people down there…and one side of the debate had been very upset about that fact. Apparently, this was supposed to be a simple two-on-two meeting. Instead, one side had brought the stated two, plus two more Izuku could sense the minds of, hiding as backup. But the other side, the buyer's side, had brought eight people in total. The Devaronian, who looked disturbingly like the Western devil to Izuku's eyes, had tried to wave those people off as simply being 'cargo handlers' to 'handle the transfer.' Worse, enough of the thugs were human that he'd caught snippets of self-confidence in the idea that they, the larger group, also had backup nearby.
So, situation not great but not terrible, with some advantages and disadvantages both. Concerns then. Issue one, this deal was clearly not going to go down without violence. The debate down there was getting increasingly heated and several of the 'cargo handlers' were subtly shifting to draw hidden weapons. Issue two, The Force was sending him very mixed signals about the Jebble Box, which was apparently secured in the shipping container on a hoversled behind the smaller group. He was getting both signals of this thing is important and this thing is dangerous. Which was actually two separate concerns, really. One, the this is important bit probably meant he should be trying to acquire it. Two, things that were both dangerous and important, were usually things you didn't want fire fights starting near. Also, that you didn't want criminal groups in general to be around. Then there was issue three. That they were still aboard The Wheel. Which meant that it was hard to say what would happen if conflict happened here. Had the buyer already paid off security to look the other way? What would security do if the people that had bought them off were squished by a third party?
Annnnnddd it looked like he was out of time. The seller had just waved and his hidden pair of crew had come out with blaster rifles already leveled, while he and his partner pulled sidearms. Unfortunately, rather than backing down, the buyer merely looked smug. A double cross planned from the start. Izuku needed to make a decision and he needed to make it now. Fight…or bluff. In a snap decision, he settled on the later, at least as his opener. At worst, it would put him in a better position than this cramped nook. Silently feeding instructions to Aayla, Izuku…brazenly strolled out onto the catwalk, making no attempt to silence the sound of his combat-booted feet ringing on metal. All eyes snapped to him, confusion on more than a few faces as they spotted him grinning down at them.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen. You seem to have forgotten an important thing about that box. Specifically, who it was stolen from in the first place."
Casually waving one hand, several crates flew into the air. Two of them broke up lines of sight from shooters to him…but another covered for the fact that Aayla had just dropped off the catwalk and was moving in the shadows as Izuku took all the attention.
"The Jedi have been looking for that particular artifact for some time. And I'm afraid it's not going to leave here in anyone's possession but ours. Of course, I'm quite sure that a suitable finder's fee can be arranged for the person who found it for us. Sadly, this does leave you out of the picture, dear prospective buyer. But the box was never yours anyway. And for the moment, you've lost nothing but whatever bribe you paid to station security."
The telekinetic lifting of the boxes had caused several worried looks, but the 'buyer' didn't look convinced. Which was okay. Aayla had just quietly knocked out one of his people. He just needed to buy her a little more time to even this fight out a bit more. The buyer pulled a blaster and leveled it in his general direction. But that, too, didn't particularly worry him.
"Bullshit. If you were a Jedi, you'd be waving around one of those fancy swords of theirs. And even if you were a Jedi, there's only one of you."
Izuku drew on his limited acting skills to give a dark chuckle, trying to channel a few of the villains…and a few of the more theatrical heroes, that he'd known or faced in the past.
"Just one of me? Even if that were true, it would be more than enough. But Jedi travel as Master and Student. Tell me, how many men do you think you have?"
Aayla had just finished knocking out a third, and that was the last one she'd have been easily able to get to. Izuku made sure to gesture away from her, to where the first had gone down. The buyer's eyes had instinctively flicked that way, then stopped to stare.
"Wait, where's Juan?"
A second later, one of the other goons spoke up, voice spooked.
"Tigin and Fergul are missing too, boss!"
The 'boss' cursed and reached for his com…only for Izuku to rip it out of his hand, along with his blaster from the other. At the same moment, he threw the floating crates at the two largest concentrations of goons. Blaster fire erupted almost immediately, coming from every which way and targeted on both him and from each group at the other. He'd reserved one of the metal shipping crates to act as a shield and used it for cover as he dropped off the catwalk himself. The seller's backup both went down, but one of them gotten off a shot at one of their opposite numbers, dropping him in turn. The seller and his partner had smartly dove behind the hoversled carrying the Jebble Box and were firing blind around it. Meanwhile, no one noticed that two shots came from behind the buyer's group. Both were stun blasts from Aayla that dropped two of the remaining men. That left just two-armed people on both sides, plus the disarmed boss…who went down to a wild shot from the pair hiding behind the box a second later.
Izuku quietly cursed, since that last certainly hadn't been a stunner, and neither had the ones that took out the three guards on either side in that opening salvo. Thankfully, the moment his line of sight cleared, the fight ended, as he slammed both still standing buyer's guards to the floor with his telekinesis…and Aayla stunned them a moment later. The duo behind the box stopped firing, but didn't come out from around it either.
"Don't know who you are stranger. And I do know enough about Jedi to know you probably aren't one. You're clearly a force user of some kind, though, and that means I frankly don't want to know who you are. Better that way. Not that I'm not grateful, you understand, seeing how we were probably dead without you. But what do you want?"
Izuku bit his lip, carefully considering his words.
"At the moment, to get all of us out of here before the rest of the people your buyer had nearby realize something went wrong. After that…we can discuss that when we're somewhere else. Though I obviously want the box. I wasn't lying about a finder's fee, though. I'm willing to pay, up to a point, not just kill you for it."
The man waffled.
"Fuck it. I'm done with this thing. Too much risk trying to move with it. 100,000 credits and it's yours right now. It was supposed to go to the asshole for a cool million. But I'm not trying to move it if he had more goons incoming."
Izuku didn't even blink. His gambling while fishing for information had left them decently flush with credits. This would take a bite out of them, but not enough to matter in the long run.
"Done. Give me an account to transfer it to."
The man threw out a string of numbers, which Izuku fed into the limited banking functions on his com. It wasn't even close to what smartphones back on Earth could do, but the more secure coms did allow for bank transfers. Crude but effective…as the man found out a moment later when he checked his own account and grunted.
"Pleasure doing business with you. Good luck getting that god awful, creepy thing out of here!"
With that the man and his partner were retreating, keeping their blasters out but not pointed at Izuku. The moment they were gone, Izuku grimaced. He could feel the minds of the buyer's reinforcements moving closer. He quickly moved a heavy crate in front of the door they would have to come through, then made for the hoversled.
"Come on! We'd better get the hell out of here, too…"