Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [198]
What was truly great about this effort and the rebound in morale was that it rested very strongly on my representations of Tavira’s plans to deal with the Jedi. I quickly let things evolve such that I moved into Shala’s position of directly confronting the Jedi. I promised a trap that would destroy him and I knew, as the Invids put their trust in me—transferring much of it from their trust in Tavira—that if I went the way of Shala, morale would collapse flat and Tavira would lose the combat arm of the Invids.
How I would have the Jedi kill me was something I hadn’t had time to figure out yet, but I knew it would have to be really spectacular or really nasty. I didn’t know which I would settle for—Shala’s demise would be tough to top and a bit rougher on me than I wanted to attempt. Grisly would probably be the best and I wanted to leave clues to the Jedi living in the city’s sewers so lots of time would be spent hunting down there, while I could be living someplace a bit nicer.
To heighten the tension concerning the confrontation, I decided to return to the Crash cantina. I knew everyone there well enough to be able to blank their memories during my entrance and scramble my features to avoid recognition when I suddenly appeared in their midst. I projected a red mist condensing into my form to cover my appearance, and almost laughed aloud as previously brave men and women recoiled from me, moving away from the bar toward the furthest reaches of the room.
I ignited my lightsaber and pointed it at Jacob Nive. “Where is Idanian?”
All the blood drained from Jacob’s face. “I d-don’t know.”
“He has said he will end my actions. Where is he?” I swept the blade around in a grand arc, causing people to duck or cover their eyes with their hands. “Where is he?”
A chorus of denials came back weak and timid.
“Tell him, I will meet him. The same fate that took Shala the Hutt awaits him!” I kept my voice very low and as menacing as I could. “When we meet, his time will be at an end.”
I slashed the lightsaber down through the bar and across, whipping the blade through the area where the Savareen brandy and other expensive liquors were kept. The brandy immediately exploded in a gout of blue flame, which lit the area behind the bar and began to spill out onto the main floor. More bottles exploded and the bartender started screaming, allowing me to step back and make my escape. I slipped into the night amid the shouting and yelling of people trying to deal with a fire, and began taking a fairly quick route back to the hotel.
Across the street I saw a knot of five individuals turn and come in my direction. The fact that Jenos’ brave talk had spawned hunter gangs didn’t surprise me, and I’d dealt with that many individuals before. I ducked into an alley, moving halfway along toward where it turned right and led out to another street, then prepared to project an image of my actually walking further along a nonexistent part of the alley. Getting them to chase me and hit the wall had worked wonders before, and if I could take a couple of them out, it would make the rest of the task much more simple.
They came to the alley mouth but didn’t run in. When I hit them with the illusion, they didn’t shout, didn’t point, didn’t draw blasters. In fact, they seemed to look directly at me, which meant the illusion wasn’t taking. That struck me as odd because they looked human, but since they wore hooded cloaks I couldn’t be certain which humanoid species they were.
Since they spotted me, I moved away from the wall and further down the alley. I let the Force flow toward them as they walked forward, but I caught no sense of fear or anticipation from them. I could feel them in the Force, but I wasn’t getting nearly the sort of feedback I expected. Something very odd here. Time to provoke a reaction.
I threw back the right side of my cloak and brought my lightsaber out. I thumbed it to life and wove the humming