Chapter 4 – Chloe

"What are you-"

"-Doing here?!"

The two women stared at each other, lost for words. In the aftermath of the brief skirmish, the silence was almost palpable. Fortunately, it only lasted for a few moments. Chloe cleared her throat, only somewhat awkwardly, and extended a hand to Max.

Max took it, and Chloe pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks." Max said. She dusted herself down and rearranged her rumpled clothing. Her lightsaber was still on the ground, next to the last soldier's smoking corpse. She reached out, and the lightsaber casually flew into her hand.

Chloe's eyes widened, and then narrowed. She looked at Max, at the lightsaber, and then at the other two dead bodies lying on the ground. "So, you're a Jedi now, huh?" She said, in a tone that Max could've sworn was almost accusatory.

"Of course I am." She said, a little perplexed. "I thought you knew-"

She was cut short by a number of shouts from outside the warehouse. A second later, a full squad of Coruscant's designated tactical underworld police force rushed through the entrance, bearing more heavy blaster rifles, and even a collapsible turret mount. As Max and Chloe were the only two lifeforms left in the warehouse, they ran straight for them, shouting warnings.

"Conversation can wait!" Chloe said. "Run!"

"But I'm a Jedi." Max said. "I'm sure if I just talk to them we can-"

The police squad opened fire.

"OK, maybe not!" Max finished.

Chloe grabbed her arm and roughly pulled Max towards her ship. Blaster bolts whizzed by their heads, coming close enough for Max to feel a burst of heat every time one flew past her cheeks. They scrambled up the landing ramp, with Chloe hitting the emergency close button on her way up. She headed straight for the cockpit and threw herself into the pilot's seat, beginning the start-up sequence even before her butt landed on the scuffed leather.

Max barely managed to get herself into the co-pilot's seat before Chloe hit the master ignition switch, forcing the ship into life. A blast rocked them, momentarily knocking them off-balance.

"Shit!" Chloe exclaimed. "They must have set that turret up." She gritted her teeth. "Hold on to your ass!" She yanked hard on the stick, pitching the nose up sharply. She slammed the throttle up to maximum, and the freighter launched itself into the air with a roar from the engines, vaporising a few members of the tactical squad in the process.

Once they were a couple of minutes away, Chloe let out a shuddering breath, and allowed herself to relax into her seat. "I think we're good." She said. She weaved the YT-1200 with practised ease through the dense traffic of Coruscant's underworld. Eventually, she brought the ship to a surprisingly graceful rest on a hidden landing pad sandwiched between two buildings. Max had been silent for the entire duration of the journey, unsure of what to say.

Chloe shut down the engines, and swivelled her chair until it faced Max. She fixed her with an inquisitive stare.

"So." Chloe broke the silence. "You wanna tell me just what the hell you were doing in one of the shittiest parts of this whole shitty planet? And why you were impaling people like they were Hosnian kebabs?"

Max considered for a moment. Her assignment was top secret, and the Council had expressly ordered her not to divulge any details, but on the other hand, Chloe had just saved her life, and even though they hadn't seen each other in years, Max felt she could still trust Chloe.

She decided on the truth. Or part of it, at least. "I was on an assignment. Jedi stuff, y'know?" It sounded lame, and Chloe's expression indicated she thought as much.

"Right, right. I bet it's all super clandestine and you can't talk about it. Am I close?" Chloe said.

Max rubbed the back of her neck. "Basically, yeah." She said sheepishly.

Chloe's expression darkened for a brief instant. "I thought you'd trust me enough to tell me more than that."

Max frowned. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Chloe looked away, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "Nothing. C'mon, I need to pick up a couple of things from the place I'm staying, then I'll take you back to the more civilised parts of this dump." She got up and made for the airlock.

Not wanting to pick a fight, but also against her better judgement, Max swallowed her already-formed response, and followed. After exiting onto the landing pad and entering into a depressing looking apartment complex, Chloe took her through several corridors, across a short walkway and finally through an almost imperceptible side door.

"It's just round this corridor." Chloe said as they walked. "It's not as nice as your Jedi digs, but for a temporary place, it doesn't suck too hard."

"I'm sure it's-" Max began. She had meant to finish off with "nice", but as they rounded the corner, the word dies in her throat. There in front of the doorway leading into Chloe's accommodation, were six more of the black-armoured troops she had encountered back in the hanger. They had evidently arrived just in time, as one of the troops was placing a small, remotely detonated explosive onto the door.

Max and Chloe didn't even hesitate. Without looking at each other, both drew their respective weapons. At the snap-hiss of Max's lightsaber igniting, all six troops whirled round.

"Hello there." Max said wryly.

"Kriff! No one said anything about Jedi!" One of them said.

"Shut up and open fire!" Yelled another.

They levelled their blasters, and did just that.

Max deflected the first volley with ease, though she was careful not to direct any of the bolts towards Chloe. Though after a second, it didn't matter, as Chloe had taken cover behind a protruding wall strut.

Max tried to go on the offensive, but the squad was firing so often that all she could do was concentrate on deflecting the lethal energy bolts. Suddenly, blaster bolts began to fly the opposite direction, towards the enemy troops. She risked a quick look behind her, and saw Chloe, a vicious snarl on her face and firing as fast as her blaster pistol allowed. Her blaster must have packed a punch, as the bolts carved through the thick black armour with ease, downing two of them instantly and forcing the rest into cover.

Seeing a window, Max leapt forward, landing a good thirty feet away, and directly in the middle of the remaining four soldiers. Her lightsaber hummed, and an instant later two more were downed, one killed outright by a thrust through the heart, and the second sent to the floor screaming, gripping the cauterized stump of his right leg.

The final two, seeing how hopeless their situation was, tried to flee. But it was to no avail. Chloe picked off one with a shot to the back of the neck, and Max dispatched the other by Force pushing him out of a nearby window. He screamed as he dropped out of view, until a few seconds later when it was abruptly cut off. Chloe poked her head out of the shattered remains of the window, and looked down. "Damn..." She said when she saw the twisted, mangled body of the soldier, who had unfortunately landed on, and subsequently crushed, the roof of a parked speeder.

Max approached the only remaining member of the squad, who had crawled over to his missing leg, and was now pressing it futilely against his stump. He appeared to be in a state of shock.

She crouched down next to him. "How did you know I was going to be here?" She questioned him. "Tell me, and I'll make sure you're fitted with a decent replacement.

He looked at her. Even through the helmet, Max could tell he was tempted by the offer. But, before he could say anything, a blaster shot tore its way through the centre of his forehead. He slumped over, killed instantly.

Max turned, to find Chloe lowering a smoking blaster. "Why did you kill him, he could've given us valuable information!"

"No, he couldn't." Chloe replied, condescendingly. "All these guys are low level, they don't know anything. Trust me."

"Trust you? How can I trust you after you shot him in cold blood? And how the hell do you know so much about what they know?" Max accused her.

Chloe glared. "Because they're all commanded by a bounty hunter. A bounty hunter who- who I used to work for." She looked away again. "He must have found out where I was staying, and sent these idiots to kill me. Just like he probably sent those three guys you ran into to kill Peej. No loose ends."

Max was momentarily floored. "Wha- you worked with these guys? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought I'd gotten away clean. Guess I was wrong." Chloe bitterly responded.

"Chloe, if you're mixed up in this too, you need to come with me to the Temple. Right now." Max said to her.

Chloe hesitated, clearly unsure what the best course of action was. "I..." She began.

"Look, Chloe, they know where you live. If you stay here, they're just gonna keep sending more and more people to try and kill you until they succeed. Come with me. Please." Max implored.

Chloe scrunched her eyes up in frustration. She was going to regret this. "Fine." She acquiesced. "Just let me grab a few things first."

Max nodded. "I'll keep a look out."

Without a word, Chloe disappeared into the dwelling. Meanwhile, Max closed her eyes, and let her senses travel outwards. She immediately sensed thousands of lifeforms in the surrounding few hundred metres alone, but none of them were heading their way or seemed to harbour ill will towards them. Satisfied, she opened her eyes just as Chloe emerged, carrying a hold-all under her arm.

"Let's go." She said.

Chloe set her ship down on a vacant Temple landing pad. She gazed, wide-eyed, out of the cockpit. "Holy shit, I never realised just how big this place is." She said.

"Yeah, though it's a nightmare to walk around." Max replied.

The comms system crackled to life, and a voice filtered out of the console. "Attention unidentified vessel: you have made an unauthorised landing on Temple grounds. Please state your business or leave immediately."

Recognising the voice, Max jumped on the comms. "Brooke, it's Max. Can you tell me if any of the council are available? It's urgent."

"Max? What are you doing in that beat up piece of junk?"

"I've never wanted to punch a voice so hard before." Chloe said through gritted teeth.

"Brooke. Not now." Max said.

"Alright, whatever." The voice over the console said. There was silence for a long moment, and then "You're in luck. One of the Masters is free. He'll meet you in the briefing rooms on the ground floor."

"Great, thanks Brooke."

Brooke just clicked the comms in response.

"It'll take a while to walk, so we should get going if we don't want to keep him waiting." Max prompted.

Chloe nodded, and the two disembarked, heading towards the meeting place at the briefing rooms. Even at an elevated walking place, it still took several minutes.

"I see what you mean." Chloe said, a little out of breath. "You guys really need a better way of getting around this place."

"Right?" Max agreed.

Eventually, they entered into the nest of briefing rooms, with Chloe following Max to the sole unoccupied one. They crossed the threshold, and were greeted by tall, bald Jedi with one of the smoothest voices Chloe had ever heard. Max seemed to respect him, because she bowed before greeting him verbally.

"Master." She said, with an obvious intonation of politeness.

"Max." He returned the greeting. "Who is your companion?" He asked, turning his attention towards Chloe.

"Master, this is Chloe Price. She's a frie- she has valuable information relating to the break in." Max informed him. "Chloe, this is Mace Windu: Jedi Master and the greatest warrior in the Order."

"Nice to meet you, never met a legit Jedi Master before." Chloe said in a friendly tone. Though, privately, she couldn't help but notice Max's last second switch-out of the word "friend". She looked at Max, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.

Mace had noticed it too. For a second, he took a step back and looked at the two young women. Not with his eyes, but through the Force. For Mace had an unusual gift: he was able to see how individuals were connected, through an ability that let the practitioner see fault lines in the Force, known as shatterpoints. These shatterpoints occasionally occurred around events, but more often between people, and as Mace looked at Max and Chloe, he could see an intricate web of faults surrounding them. They were quite faint, but there were dozens, if not hundreds of them. Clearly, these two had their immediate fate bound up in each other. Mace made a mental note to monitor the two of them, just in case. Returning to the present, Mace looked directly at Max.

"You said Ms Price had important information?"

Max nodded. "Yes, Master. There's a bounty hunter involved, commanding what appears to be a sizable group, possibly operating out of the Maw." Max went on to explain what had happened on level 1313, how she had found Peej, and how Chloe had found and saved her. Mace remained implacably stoic throughout the explanation, only raising an eyebrow briefly when Max mentioned Chloe's previous employment under the bounty hunter.

"Thank you, Max." Mace said when she finished. He turned his attention to Chloe. "How exactly were you involved?"

Chloe took a breath. "I'd worked with the bounty hunter before, through a few jobs that needed a... person like me: someone who can both discretely move a certain number of assets from place to place, and also get in and out of anywhere, no matter the security."

"You're a smuggler." Mace stated.

Chloe nodded. "Not just a smuggler. I'm the smuggler, which is why I'm guessing he hired me. I only know his first name; Nathan, but he's the prodigal son of a wealthy and powerful Mandalorian clan, judging from the occasional bit of info he let slip. He hired me and my... former partner to break into your Temple here."

At the words "former partner", Chloe happened to see Max's eyebrows shoot up her forehead, but only for a second.

"And did you? Break into the Temple?" Mace prompted.

Chloe shook her head. "No. We didn't like the sound of it, so we declined. That's how Peej and his disruptors became involved, he must have e been the backup plan in case we split."

Mace frowned, drawing his brows together. "You refused the contract? Just like that?"

"Yeah." Chloe said, defiantly.

She's lying. Max thought. That or she's not telling the entire truth.

If Mace had detected the falsehood,he didn't react. "Very well." He said. "Max, you should take Ms Price with you, she may be of great use as a former contractee of this bounty hunter. I'm sending you both to investigate this facility in the Maw. You are to report back with any new information you find."

"We'll set off at once, Master Windu." Max bowed, and motioned to Chloe for them to leave.

Once they were safely out of the room, Mace sat back in his chair, deep in thought. He pushed a button on his comlink, and a moment later a familiar voice trickled through the speaker.

"Master Windu. A pleasure it is, to converse with you. On your mind, something there is?" Said Yoda.

"Master Yoda." Mace greeted his colleague. "I just met with young Starfield..." He proceeded to inform the diminutive Jedi master of everything he had heard in the last few minutes.

At the end of it, Yoda was silent for a good few moments. "Observe them carefully, we should. A dangerous influence, this smuggler could prove to be. I sense a history between them, hrm yes."

"I agree." Mace said. "Their destinies are linked, of that I am sure. To what end, though, I do not know."

Yoda sighed. "A bad feeling about this, I have."

The landing ramp had barely even closed before Chloe rounded on Max.

"What in the Sith-spitting hell was that?" She demanded.

"What was what?" Max asked, genuinely bemused.

"You know damn well what." Chloe retorted. "Back there, you were about to say "friend", and then you ditched it midway through the word. What gives?"

"Chloe, it didn't mean anything. It- it just would've complicated things if they knew we were friends." Max tried to placate her.

"Sure. Of course it didn't mean anything. You wouldn't understand." Chloe was glaring, crossing her arms in defiance.

Max decided to try once more to calm her. "Chloe, I know you're angry-"

"I'm not angry!" Chloe said, angrily.

Max sighed. "I know you're angry, but it won't help if you don't tell me why. I'm your friend, remember."

"Are you?" Chloe scoffed.

Try as she might, Max could only tolerate so much of Chloe's standoffishness before she snapped. She knew she was meant to be a Jedi, and not give in to anger or passion, but Chloe was irritating her beyond words.

"Look." Max said icily. "We can either spend the whole damn day arguing like this, or you can stop being cryptic for two fucking seconds and tell me what's wrong!"

All the bluster and pride seemed to vanish from Chloe. She fixed Max with a pointed look. "Fine. I'll tell you what's wrong." She took two strides, bringing herself within a foot of Max's face. She was so close Max could see her struggling not to cry.

Chloe opened her mouth, and spoke quietly.

"I wanna know why you abandoned me."

Author's Note: Oh my god so much plot. How do people do this all the time (it probably doesn't help I'm used to writing one-off fluffy shenanigans). And if you thought the back half of this chapter was dialogue heavy, boy, the next chapter is gonna be even heavier (and I am positively terrified of writing it).

And yep, Nathan is our bounty hunter. How many of you saw that coming, as honestly I thought it was pretty obvious, maybe?

I'm running out of things to say, as I'm exceedingly tired, but hopefully it won't take me as long to write the next chapter. Hopefully. Oh god.
May the Force be hella with you.