The republic fleet officer crossed her arms as she looked up at me "And you say you didn't know anything about any contraband? They worked for your company for years."
I nodded "If I knew about it, would I not have either turned them in earlier or kept quiet, have them keep making money for me?"
The blond human sighed but finally shook her head "Well, either way, there is nothing we can do so, in the end, it doesn't matter. The only proof we have are the recordings you provided us with....we do not have enough solid proof to convict them for anything. They were also in Hutt space, where we don't have jurisdiction. We are going to need to let them go."
I ruffled my feathers in annoyance but nodded "I see. Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant Sandis." I said before backing out of the small office and started to make my way through the corridors of the orbital station.
I'm getting really sick of narrow corridors only after a couple of days on the station to remain available to answer questions. Not that it helped.
"Bad news?" Swan asked as she joined me on the way back towards the docking port. I glanced over at her, not really surprised she could tell. We've worked together for years now, she is bound to have picked up my body language by now.
"They are being let go. Lack of evidence. No jurisdiction. " I grumbled, "What's the word on the Autumn Flower?"
She sighed "I feared that might happen. Not much else we could really have done though." she said before she shook her head, "Sarah and Padme think they can repair her, but that it would be better to hand her over to a shipyard to give her a proper refit."
"Authorize it." I said with a nod as we entered the ship "We break orbit in three days. Signal the rest of the crew and tell them they have shore leave until then. We have cargo to Alderaan lined up for then."
Swan nodded "Got it, sir. May I ask how you plan to spend your time?"
I shook my head "I'm not in the mood to do anything really. I'm staying on board to play games or something." I said before I stopped and asked "Were you able to dig up anything about this group?"
My second in command sighed before she shook her head "Not really. To be honest, my contacts are not brilliant. Best I found out was that they are a rather large drug cartel in the outer territories. If they know it was us that screwed their shipment, which they will as the crew of the Flower are still alive...we better be careful."
"Agreed." I said before I turned and made my way towards my quarters.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
I coiled up on my large pillar and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before I held out my hand and floated my holocron from my hand and onto the floor, activating it.
The corners of the pyramid twisted and the picture of the old Jedi master once again appeared. His face hidden by a mask and he was wearing dark robes.
"I am Keltor, Lor...oh, it's you again." the semi sophont force recording said, lowering his arms as he removed his mask.
I tilted my head as the kind of ghost looked around.
"This is a different ship. How long was it since I was last activated?" Nerok asked as he turned to me again.
Shrugging my wings I picked a fruit from my drone "A while. I am not a Jedi, I do not have time to dedicate all my attention to this force thing..."
He frowned "So why have I been reactivated again?"
"Because I have a question. How do you avoid falling to the dark side?" I finally asked.
The holocron recording crossed his arms with a frown "That is a question the Jedi and other light side force groups have worked with for thousands of years. Do you follow the code? Even the new one you taught me is at least a start."
"I try to follow the old code. I have had...slip-ups." I said as I looked out into space "Nothing serious, mind you. I kept control but I lost my temper and the force came easier to me than normal."
Nerok slowly nodded "It happens to many students. It is when you revel in it, seek it, use it consciously...that is when you need to really start to worry, but then it is usually too late. But the occasional slip-ups are not unknown even for students with masters."
I spread my feathers, tilting my head at him "Are you telling me not to worry about the dark side?"
The holocron recording chuckled and shook his head "No, of course not. What I am telling you is that what you describe happens to many students that go on to become good Jedi. I would prefer it though if you discussed the matter with this Master Yoda you told me about. He should be able to provide support and guidance that I cannot give, especially as you should still be suspicions about me."
"You might still be a sith holocron trying to corrupt me." I grumbled as I rotated a fruit slowly in my right hand.
"Indeed. I am actually surprised you have not turned me over to the temple yet." He said, crossing his arms again.
I shook my head before I ate my fruit "You are part of my treasures, a valuable item to show my status. Located during great hardship and trials you are of great personal worth...even if nobody knows you exist."
The old Jedi holocron watched me for a moment before he shrugged "I see. Was there something else you wished to discuss?" Nerok then asked.
I shook my head and lifted the holocron into my hand with the force as he deactivated.
Perhaps I should discuss the matter with Master Yoda. Maybe not the holocron...but I could use guidance...guidance I could actually trust not to be a trap.
Sighing I floated the holocron onto a shelf before I rolled over and closed my eyes to get some sleep.
I'll head down to the planet tomorrow.