Chapter Text
Xie Lian sat down with a sigh, setting down his huge sack of scraps, and leaned against the metal wall of the ship’s hallway. Crossing his legs on the uncomfortable ground (this ship really wasn't made for passengers!), he whispered into his vambrace:
“All right, Ruoye! You can come out!”
The vambrace came to life, beeping and flashing. It unspooled slowly from his upper arm, then his forearm, then his wrist; the droid was larger than it seemed at first glance, coiling up the entirety of the limb. The ample sleeves of Xie Lian’s robe usually kept it all covered, but when they didn’t, he just lied to people that it was a mechanical arm.
It usually worked, though it seemed to offend Ruoye.
As the little droid unraveled, Xie Lian quickly looked over his shoulder; he'd gone to all this trouble so that the pilot wouldn't see his droid, after all. The rickety old alien had seemed like a kindly old garbage-ship driver, when he’d let him hitchhike off that last planet, but you could never be too careful. So he’d waited until they’d lifted off, and rattled off some random excuse—“Um, is there a bathroom on this ship?”—and snuck down a random dim hallway to sit down and coax out his companion.
Before long, the snakelike droid had slithered and clattered onto the ground, quickly winding itself into a small cylinder. Springing out a set of wheels, it rolled back and forth a few times. Then, satisfied, it spun and gave a resounding blop!
“Shhh!” Xie Lian whispered, putting a finger to his lips. “Careful! Do you want to be scraps?”
Ruoye’s coils loosened a bit, as though it was withering, but it made no more loud noises.
“All right, all right,” Xie Lian fished for something in his sleeve, pulling out what looked like a small tape. “Instead of complaining, why don’t you play this for me?”
Perking up, Ruoye uncoiled a bit and gave an inquisitive poke at the tape. What is this?
Xie Lian’s smile turned sheepish. “I might have stolen it from Master Ling Wen’s library. I’m sure she won’t mind, though. It’s been so long since I’ve been in the Order, how else am I supposed to—?”
But Ruoye was finally overcome with curiosity; with a swift snatch, it shoved the tape through its coils, wriggled as though adjusting it within, and projected a little hologram into the air.
With the blue light of the hologram playing across his skin, Xie Lian pulled his knees up to his chest and watched.
A few reels played, the usual stuff, showcasing the different Jedi masters—Water, Wind, Earth, all the usual titles. It was real propaganda-type stuff, clearly pretty old, a little cringy. It was the kind of stuff that usually wouldn’t be played these days; no one would take it seriously, with how the Republic was doing. However, something old like this, maybe…
“Ruoye,” Xie Lian said slowly, “Do you think they're going to mention—?”
“THE SCRAP MASTER!” the tiny reel proclaimed, displaying a truly hideous hologram of a gnarled Jedi master in ragged robes.
Xie Lian frowned. “But I don’t look like that—?”
Ruoye hissed, shushing him.
“AN OUTCAST, FORMER PRINCE OF THE DOOMED PLANET OF XIANLE, HIS HOME DESTROYED BY THE SITH EMPIRE! CAST OUT OF THE JEDI ORDER, NOT ONCE—BUT TWICE! THIS CHEEKY SCRAP COLLECTOR—
“Ruoye, can you fast forward? Ruoye, can you please—”
—LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE KNOWN GALAXY, IS RUMORED TO SPEND HIS DAYS WADING THROUGH GARBAGE—
“Ruoye, fast forward? Ruoye? RUOYE—”
—A PITIABLE EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS, IF A JEDI MASTER IS LED ASTRAY AND FAILS IN THEIR DUTY! THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC IS—IS—IS—
The tape skipped a few times, as Xie Lian forced his hand through Ruoye’s coils and fought away the tape. He held it out of reach, as Ruoye sprung off the ground and chased it.
“Down!” he admonished the droid. Then, letting out a sigh, he shoved the tape back into his sleeve, and said wearily:
“Scrap Master, Water Master, what’s the difference? The force is the force, it’s all the same.”
And at that, unexpectedly, came a reply:
“People like to say that,” a voice said evenly, in a deep and pleasing tone. “But if that were true, they wouldn't need reels like this. And of course, that wouldn’t be very convenient to the Republic.”
The voice chuckled
“If you could still call it that.”
Xie Lian froze solid, realizing a shadow had fallen over him.
Slowly, wide-eyed, he looked up.
Staring down at him, with his arms crossed, was a young man dressed in black and red robes. His skin was pale as chalk (maybe he’d come from one of those planets where they had to crawl around underground?), and his hair was pitch-black, tied askew into a ponytail. He was handsome; that much couldn't be denied. However, he carried a wild aura, adventurous but regal—almost like the galaxy was his to claim.
What caught Xie Lian’s attention, though, was the gleam of his eyes.
The young man stared down at him fixedly, with a confident ease that shocked him. If he didn’t know any better, an aura like this—he’d expect it from Grand Master Jun Wu.
But Xie Lian soon snapped out of his thoughts. Snatching Ruoye with one hand, he tensed, ready to defend himself if necessary.
Seeing this, the young man stepped back and waved a hand graciously. “Relax, don’t worry, I’m not here to steal your droid. I’m just hitchhiking—same as you, right?”
“En,” Xie Lian said cautiously. “You’re headed to Puqi?”
“Is that where this old ship is going?” the young man sighed. “I don’t really know, I’m just traveling around. I got kicked out of my house, what to do…”
Somehow, Xie Lian doubted that; the planet they’d just come from was basically a garbage planet, not even on most maps. He was really supposed to believe that this finely-dressed man had drifted there by mistake?
Still, though, he couldn’t sense any killing intent from him. Maybe he wasn’t lying. Relaxing a bit, Xie Lian smiled.
“Oh, I see, I see. Sorry, you know how it is with things these days.”
“Of course. That droid looks like an expensive one, too. It’s good to be careful.”
This man knew about droids? Xie Lian blinked. “…what’s your name?”
A sly smile.
“You can call me San Lang.”
Sounded fake, but maybe on some planet they named their children by order of birth? Who knew?
“What about you?” San Lang said smoothly, interrupting his thoughts.
“Um—” He should’ve come up with a fake name, but who knew about him these days, anyway? “Xie Lian. Um, nice to meet you.”
“Were you watching a playing an old propaganda tape?” San Lang drifted over and sat next to him. “Keep watching, let’s see.”
Giving San Lang a curious, side-long glance, Xie Lian hesitated for a second before releasing Ruoye from his grasp and feeding the droid the tape again. He didn't look away from the young man, though. The delicate profile, the sharp and commanding brows…
Who was this person, exactly? Sitting next to him just like that, so bold...
Before he had the chance to probe, though, the staticky hologram flickered back to life. The tape played on, in that triumphant style that had gone so horribly, tragically out of style.
Yet, Xie Lian was surprised; because every so often, the young man at his side would pause the tape to point something out, a particular detail about one of the Jedi Masters, things that weren’t on the tape and even Xie Lian didn’t know. This random passenger really knew a lot? Though it made him a bit suspicious, even Xie Lian couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this; soon, he was asking questions.
“I don’t get it,” Xie Lian wondered, staring up at the slowly spinning image. “If Shi Wudu is in charge of the treasury, why’s he titled Water Master?”
San Lang smiled. “It’s easy to forget, gege—”
Gege?
“—since everything is spaceships these days, but the easiest way to transport goods across a planet used to be by waterways. It’s still the main route of commerce on less developed planets. So, Water Master.”
Xie Lian was still blinking in shock at the nickname. Maybe on this young man’s planet, strangers called each other older brother? As far as Xie Lian knew, in common language, calling someone something like this was a bit…
Affectionate?
He didn’t want to be rude, though, so he just nodded. “Ah, that makes sense.” He paused. “You…sure do know a lot about the Jedi Order.”
San Lang shrugged. “You pick things up along the way.”
“…what about the Sith?”
San Lang’s smile seemed to widen. “What about them?”
“Do you know about them too?”
“En,” San Lang replied. “Which kind, Empire or Ghost?”
It must be said that Xie Lian was wholly out of date when it came to knowledge on the Sith. When he’d been in the Jedi Order, after all, the Sith Empire, led by the Sith Lord White No Face, was the big problem, so it was really all he knew; he'd known back then that there were so-called “Ghost” Sith Lords drifting around, named thus because they were unaffiliated with the Sith Order, but they weren’t a big deal in those years. Now, though, gaining power and influence, they’d risen to be the Jedi Republic’s main rivals.
Master Ling Wen had told him a little about the so-called “Four Calamities,” the current main players of the now scattered and tumultuous Sith world.
Of course, she’d had to tell him, after…
…after there’d been that one incident, on his first mission after returning, a hand leading him out of a bridal sedan cobbled out of old steel—and the clink of silver chains that sent alien beasts scrambling and cowering, as he’d been led forward, by the light of a few scattered force-butterflies…
Shaking away the thoughts, Xie Liam stammered: “Um, the Ghost Sith Lords.”
“Which one?”
Xie Lian hesitated. “…Crimson Rain Sought Flower. Hua Cheng.”
Staring at him openly, San Lang moved closer.
“…”
“…”
“What do you want to know?”
Over the next few minutes, through San Lang’s exposition, Xie Lian learned a lot about the so-called Sith King. How he’d gotten his name, protecting a white flower from a shower of blood, after cleaning out the base of a rival Sith Lord; how he liked to pick fights with the Republic, frustrating them to no end; how he was missing an eye—(“This one,” San Lang had pointed)—and rumor had it, he’d dug it out himself in a fit of insanity.
Xie Lian shivered. Insanity probably wasn’t it, but maybe it wasn’t too far off.
The dark side had a way of twisting things in one’s mind, if one wasn’t careful.
Xie Lian knew this best.
More importantly, though, he was really starting to like his new friend. He’d split a bun between them, and they were happily chatting away. Without realizing it, he’d let his guard down; it had been so long before he’d had such an interesting conversation partner!
“San Lang,” Xie Lian said curiously. “Since you know so much about these things, I’m wondering…do you know anything about the Scrap—”
But he didn’t have the chance to finish the thought; because suddenly, without warning—
The ship lurched!
Immediately, the hallway went dark, then was lit by flashing red lights; an alarm blared and blared, and the ship jerked again, as though something was smashing into it—
Xie Lian sprang to his feet, quickly pressing Ruoye onto his arm. The droid spiraled around it as Xie Lian turned to San Lang. “Quick,” he said. “Come with me!”
“What’s going on?” San Lang said languidly, sounding not at all concerned.
“Let’s find out!”
Without thinking, Xie Lian grabbed the young man’s wrist and pulled him along.
Soon, they arrived at the bridge. The pilot was hitting frantically at his controls, his long alien ears quivering. When he heard the two arrive, he turned frantically.
“Space pirates!” he shouted. “I—I forgot, I didn’t check the maps—I forgot their path crosses here during this time, what do we do—?”
“Don’t worry!” Xie Lian shouted, and ran towards the controls—boom! Another strike shook the ship, and he almost fell over—
San Lang caught and steadied him, seeming barely affected by the lurching. “Be careful.”
“Thank you!” Quickly, Xie Lian managed to get to the controls, and began hitting buttons and flipping switches. With his forehead glistening with sweat, he managed to punch in a code, and—
Cloaking device: activated, a mechanical voice sounded.
The ship stabilized; the main lights came back on, and the eerie red glow was gone.
“Wow!” San Lang said behind him. “I didn’t know gege was a starship pilot?”
“I—I know a little,” he mumbled. “But don’t thank me yet, we’re still…”
We ’re still drifting straight through space pirate territory!
“…let’s turn off the main power,” Xie Lian whispered, flipping a switch.
The lights dimmed; the engines grew quiet.
The three of them were drifting in near-darkness dark, now, with barely a sound in the vacuum of space.
Next to him, the pilot was groaning, his snout twitching to and fro: “I can’t, I can’t, I’m too scared…!”
Glancing at him, Xie Lian felt bad. He threw a furtive look at San Lang—ah, he was looking at the controls, he was distracted, good—Xie Lian waved his hand over the pilot’s eyes, sending him to sleep with the force.
The pilot slumped, and Xie Lian dragged him out of the chair, onto the ground.
“Hm?” San Lang turned. “Did he faint?”
“En, he fainted…” He cleared his throat. “What about you? How are you doing?”
“I’m really scared,” San Lang replied, unconvincingly.
“It’s okay. I’m here, I know my way around a ship, we’ll be fine.”
And for a while, it was; they drifted, conveyed by inertia and the slightest bit of power from the engines, through the void.
Then, all of a sudden, the communication panel crackled—and a cacophony of voices blared out of it:
“Hey! Give ME the microphone!”
“No, ME! It’s MINE!”
“Cmon—”
“Why is it echoing?! Did you forget to turn it off?”
“Moron!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“What’s with this fucking echo—”
“It must be something else! If he’d left it on, it would only be echoing if…there was another…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Ohhh, now, just hold on…”
Uh oh. Xie Lian braced, and—
BAM! Something sizzled, and then—
Cloaking device damaged, a mechanical voice said over the speakers. Cloaking deactivated.
At once, the voices on the speaker burst into celebration:
“HAHA! IDIOTS!”
“YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE FROM US???”
“OOOOH, YOU’RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS ONE!!!!”
“GIVE ME THE MICROPHONE—”
“No give ME the microphone—”
“YOU got to threaten the last ones we killed, can I PLEASE—”
Wincing, Xie Lian lowered the volume knob and leaned in, pressing a few buttons. Then, he spoke.
“Um…” he said. “Sorry, we’re just an old scrap ship passing through, we got lost. There’s nothing for you to take. Can I offer you—”
“LIES!” one of the voices burst.
“LIES! LIES!” came the chorus from the others.
“Heh! You’re gonna tell us YOU’RE not the one who scattered ship parts halfway into the next sector?!”
Xie Lian blinked. “…ship parts?”
“RUTHLESSLY killed our fellow pirates!”
“YEAH!”
“We won’t let you get outta here alive!”
Confused, Xie Lian furrowed his brow. “…blasted ships apart? With this old thing? I don’t think it could even blast a tiny comet apart….”
Despite his words, all the while, Xie Lian had started inching towards the weapons control panel. There couldn’t be much on a thing like this, maybe one or two guns for self-defense, but it would have to do. He’d flown his way out of worse situations, hundreds of years ago; he could do it again.
If he’d paid attention, he would have noticed Hua Cheng moving languidly towards the communication panel, gazing down at the buttons.
The voices from the communication panel continued to taunt them. “COULDN’T HURT A FLY? OH, IS THAT SO?”
“Think you’re real smart, in your Republic-tagged delivery ship?!”
“You’re the ONLY one that’s passed by here, who the fuck else could it be?”
Xie Lian thought about it for a moment, wrapping his hands around one of the blaster control sticks, and then spoke: “Maybe it was an untagged ship.”
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
“Yeah, RIGHT! What kind of moron would go around in an untagged ship?! You can’t even report it to the Republic if something happens to it, it’s basically fair game!”
“You’re SOOO dead, shitty Republic dog…”
Thinking to himself, Xie Lian hesitated. “Maybe…a Sith ship?”
The laughter redoubled in force.
Xie Lian had his hand on the blaster button. “It’s not impossible.”
There was a faint tapping sound behind him, almost like someone was pressing a couple of buttons. It couldn't be, though, since it was only San Lang here with him, so Xie Lian assumed it must be the creak of the ship.
The voices continued: “HAHAHA, A SITH SHIP HERE? YOU…you…”
All of a sudden, the line went dead.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Xie Lian even lifted his thumb off the button. “…hello? Hello? Did the connection—”
A burst of noise from the panel—
“AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”
“SPARE US, OH GOD!!!!!! SPARE US!!!!!
“AAAAAAAAAAA—”
With a desperate whirr, a ship uncloaked next to them and ran its engine at full throttle. Like a clumsy bird, it lifted its wing slowly, slowly—and then blasted, shooting off into space at full speed!
Dumbfounded, Xie Lian stared through the window.
Then, he turned to look behind him.
San Lang was standing by the communication panel. He was in the middle of moving his arm away, shaking out the sleeve of his robe and clasping his hands behind his back.
“Wow!” he said, with a bright smile. “Gege, you’re incredible, you really scared them away!”
“Really?” Xie Lian mumbled. “How? With this old ship? I just told them…hm, who knows.”
And so, he turned the power back on. The ship hummed back to life, the autopilot picking up the course; and after a few more minutes, the small planet of Puqi loomed before them.
In truth, Xie Lian didn't know what to think. San Lang's lingering near the control panel hadn't escaped his notice. Maybe it had been a coincidence. Even if he had tapped out a message through it, what could he have possibly said to scare the pirates so badly? Xie Lian couldn't think of anything.
Almost anything.
Still, he was curious.
“Where are you going after this?” Xie Lian asked, looking over his shoulder.
San Lang sighed, sitting heavily in the pilot's seat. “I’m not sure…maybe I’ll look for work down there, or jump to the next planet over.”
“…”
Xie Lian bit the inside of his cheek.
Then—
“Why don’t you come with me? There’s a ancient Jedi temple down there, really tiny, I’ve been living it it—it’s not very nice, but at least you’ll have somewhere to sleep.”