Star Wars: First Order of Business, Part 1

1: REMEMBRANCE DAY

 New Alderaan, 8005 C.R.C.

“Twenty-eight years ago today, we lost the soul of the Republic.”

Standing in the presence of over a hundred thousand people, it took everything within Leia Organa’s power to not break down on stage. As Chief of State of the New Republic and leader of the free galaxy, the burden was on her to stand strong and resolute. But Hari Seldona, famed poet that she was, had a melodious voice that could melt even the iciest of hearts, and had such a way with words, stringing them together in ways that made Leia’s head spun. It was no wonder that Seldona had been chosen to deliver tonight’s opening words.

“Twenty-eight years ago today, we lost so many of our loved ones.”

Casting her stinging eyes out into the crowd, Leia spotted the faces of her husband and three children among them, staring back at her with sad smiles. There was more than one face that were missing in this picture, but she did not dare dwell on this lest it cause her tear ducts to open. Her gaze then moved past her family to other survivors of Alderaan that she recognized. Foremost of all, there was Winter and her husband Tycho Celchu, standing with their daughter. Young Kaydel looked so much like her mother, who already had an uncanny resemblance to Leia, making the Princess of Alderaan wonder if she and Han had perhaps conceived a fifth child and forgotten it.

Standing not far from them was Kell Tainer, member of Wraith Squadron, standing side by side with his wife Tyria Sarkin and their two children. Other faces that Leia recognized included her close friend Evaan Verlaine; the retired Carlist Rieekan; Senator Cal Omas; Jedi Master Xanus Baran; the young Jedi Knight Raynar Thul, too young to have been born on Alderaan but descended from one of its noble houses regardless; and an assortment of non-Alderaanians who had come to tonight’s service to pay their respects, including friends that were as close as family such as Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian.

It was so rare for her to see so many of her loved ones gathered in one place. It nothing else, it made the pain of losing her first family easier to bear.

“Alderaan’s history stretches as far back as that of the Old Republic’s,” Hari Seldona continued on. “For over a thousand generations, from the day King Darrus Alde united them, the people of Alderaan strove to make their planet the most peaceful world in the galaxy. And they succeeded. No matter how many conflicts the Republic went through—from the Mandalorian Wars to the Great Galactic War, from the Sith Wars to the Clone Wars—Alderaan preserved through it all, with all of its beauty intact.”

Leia closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she knew was coming next. She tried not to block the words out, as much as she did not want to relive through that fateful moment again.

She sensed a wave of concern come from Seldona and she imagined the poet glancing briefly at her before clearing her throat. “That all changed when the Empire decided to exert its terrible power by erasing it all from existence.”

“Proceed with the operation. You may fire when ready.”

“What?!”

“You’re far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote for a proper demonstration. But don’t worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough.”

A gloved hand held her back as she tried to move forward. Her heart pounded against her chest as Imperial technicians pressed buttons and flipped switches. Her watery eyes could only watch helplessly as a green beam of energy lanced across the viewscreen and headed straight for the lush blue world she had known to be her home for her entire life….

“But they failed.” Seldona’s strong voice liberated Leia from the painful memory. “The Empire may have destroyed Alderaan, but they failed to erase our people; our culture; our history; everything that we have stood for. Alderaan lives on through us; through me, through you, through the Princess. So long as we live, Alderaan will never truly be gone. So long as we live, Alderaan will live forever.”

Cheers and applause broke out among the crowd. Leia could not help but smile as Chewbacca’s hearty roars overtook some of the cheers. A smiling Seldona turned around to face her, stepping aside as she gestured for her to take the stage. Leia wasn’t sure how anything she said could top the words of a poet, but she knew she had to say something; not only as Chief of State but as the last Princess of Alderaan.

Tonight was going to be a long one; she had prepared for as much. But perhaps this one wouldn’t be as bad as the last twenty-seven had been.

*  *  *

“I must say, Janray, you have really outdone yourself.”

“My thanks, Your Highness.” Janray Tessime’s tired old eyes appeased her own work as she stood beside Leia. The paintings of several influential Queens and Kings of Alderaan lined the walls of the New Alderaan Hall of Memories, each masterpiece hanging over a door that led into a room which showcased exhibits tied to each monarch’s reign. The hall stretched on for a good mile or so, covering the history of the Alderaanian monarchy from King Darrus Alde to Queen Breha Organa. Several millennia’s worth of history had been preserved within these walls, and yet it was still merely a fraction of what had been lost with Alderaan’s destruction.

“I couldn’t have done it by myself, of course,” Janray went on, snapping Leia back to reality. “My students did a phenomenal job in bringing this all together.”

“That they did,” Leia agreed, her gaze being drawn once more to the portrait of Queen Breha hanging on the wall closest to her. The likeness was so lifelike, it was as if her mother had been brought back from the dead.

Her mother. Yes, that was who she still was in Leia’s eyes, even after all this time. While she had always known that Breha had not been her biological mother, as she and Bail had never hid the fact that she was adopted from her, she had only vague memories of her birth mother; memories which paled in comparison to those that Breha had created with her. In the years that had passed since she had learned of her true parentage and relation to the Naboo house of Naberrie, Leia had never once thought of herself as a daughter of Naboo. She had a close relationship with her cousins Pooja and Ryoo, but that was the extent of it. In her mind, she would always be a daughter of Alderaan, now and forever more.

If anything, it kept her from thinking about her paternal bloodline….

“Ah, what do you think of my representation of Queen Mazicia?”

Breaking out of her reverie again, Leia looked over to where Janray was pointing, to the portrait adjacent to Queen Breha’s. The depicted woman, elegant and beautiful, was not as familiar to her, outside of some family holos and history lectures.

“Hers was much more of a challenge, as she was before my time,” Janray said. “Yours as well, for that matter. I believe she would have been your grandmother, if I am not mistaken.”

“She was,” Leia confirmed. “She passed away long before I was born. My father believed it was the loss of her brother that was the cause.”

Janray nodded solemnly. “Yes, a broken heart can be a cause of death. Rare, but deadly nonetheless.”

Leia’s mouth twitched into a frown as another memory bubbled to the surface of her mind, one she had spent many years trying to repress.

“She’s dying?”

“We don’t know why. She has lost the will to live.”

“Shut it off, Artoo.”

“No.” Luke crouched down as he watched the miniature scene being projected from the astromech’s holoprojector. “I need to see this. We need to see this, Leia.”

“Well, I don’t,” Leia protested. “I don’t need to see… this.”

“She’s our mother, Leia.”

Leia held back tears as she stared at the woman in white laying on the medical slab, watched over by her father—the father she knew—and Ben Kenobi and a small green being whom she did not recognize.

She shut her eyes to put the image out of her mind. “This,” she said softly, “is not how I want to remember her.”

“Your Highness? Are you all right?”

Leia moved with a start as she looked back to Janray. The other woman looked back at her with a concerned look in her eyes.

“I’m fine,” Leia said in a tone she hoped was convincing. “It’s just… it’s been a long night and… this day is always hard for me.”

“I understand,” Janray said softly. “It’s hard for me as well, as it is for all of us, I’m sure. If you need some time to yourself….”

“Thank you, Janray. I think I should seek out my family and find some solace with them. Thank you again for all your work.”

“Think nothing of it, Your Highness.” Janray took Leia’s hands into her own and clasped them over each other. “I should be thanking you for everything you’ve done for us. For the galaxy.”

“There is no need,” Leia said, smiling sadly. “I don’t want to imagine a galaxy where I did anything less.”

*  *  *

Night had long since fallen on New Alderaan, but Leia was nowhere close to falling asleep. Dressed in her nightwear, she stood at a large window that overlooked the city of New Aldera, which had gone dark out of respect for the billions of lives lost twenty-eight years ago.

Twenty-eight years. She still could not wrap her mind around that number. Twenty-eight years since the destruction of Alderaan. Twenty-eight years since she had met her brother, met her future husband. Twenty-four since the death of the Emperor and her biological father.

Twenty years since she had lost her first child. Nineteen since she had her twins. Eighteen since she had her youngest. The three of them were now all grown up and on the path of becoming Jedi Knights. As for her oldest….

She refused to believe he was gone. She could still sense him; he was out there, somewhere in the galaxy, but still so far out of her reach. Was it simply denial? A trace of him in the Force? Or was he still alive? But if he was, then whose body had it been they had found? Some other poor soul’s child? And who would have been so sick and twisted enough to steal her child and kill another to make her believe he was dead?

Isolated in the dark, no longer beholden to maintain an image, she allowed the tears to roll freely down her cheeks. She didn’t notice Han step into the room behind her until he wrapped his arms around her.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Yeah. Me neither.” Silence for a moment. “Are you thinking about him?”

She did not ask him to clarify who he meant. The answer would have been the same either way.

“Yes.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Unable to contain herself, she turned around and fell into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. He said nothing as he held her there.

Two years since Coruscant. She could not even bring herself to think of his name; the emotions were still too raw.

Alderaan would not be all that would be mourned tonight.

Star Wars: Vergence IV, Chapter Seven

 CHAPTER SEVEN

From a distance, Ronyards looked like nothing more than a giant dust ball floating through space. One probably would not have been blamed for mistaking it to be a gas giant at first glance. However, as Rey brought the transport closer to the planet, she realized that its appearance was due to the clouds of smog that enveloped the planet. Passing through the choked atmosphere, she was able to get a better look at the surface once they were through the smoky façade.

In all her life of living as a scavenger on Jakku, she had never seen so much scrap all in one place. Pillars of junk spired out from the surface, some reaching as high as the skies. Whatever remained of the planet’s original surface was hidden beneath piles upon piles of metal, leaving nary a trace of dirt or grass. For all she knew, the planet itself had always been made of metal, but she was not enough of an astrographer to know if that was even scientifically possible.

As she marveled at the bizarre landscape of scrap that awaited them, Finn spoke up from the seat next to her. “Atmosphere readings aren’t too great. We should probably wear rebreathers.”

“Do we even have some?” she asked.

Finn pressed a button on the console, which opened a nearby compartment, revealing a stock full of breath masks. “Looks like it.”

Rey gave him a look. “Did you already know those were there.”

“No,” Finn replied quietly. “I just… had a feeling.”

“You clearly have a connection to the Force. Maybe you should consider coming with me and Toah back to Tython and begin your training.”

Finn shook his head. “That can wait. We should focus on this for now.”

Returning her attention to the path ahead, Rey scanned the ground below in search of a place to land. At the same time, she reached out with the Force in the hope of getting some idea as to where this Jonkar Ludd person even was. She wished they had been able to bring 11-4D along with them; that certainly would have narrowed down the search.

Suddenly, the ship shuddered to a halt, jolting Rey forward and breaking her concentration. She looked over to Finn who had his eyes fixated on the scanner.

“Looks like we’re caught in a tractor beam.”

“Really? I don’t see any other ships.”

“Not from above. From below.”

Looking back outside, Rey saw that there was indeed some sort of tractor beam device hidden among the piles of scrap that covered the planet. Standing beside it were two cube-headed sentry droids armed with blaster rifles.

“Power down the engines,” she said to Finn. “We don’t want them thinking we’re looking for a fight.”

“What makes you think they won’t just gun us down as soon as we step out?” he asked.

“If they wanted us dead, they would have shot us down by now.”

Finn continued to look doubtful but proceeded to power down the transport. Once they had touched down, they affixed the breath masks onto their faces, lowered the landing ramp, and proceeded to step out into the smoggy scrap yard. Upon seeing them, the two sentry droids raised their weapons at the pair, and Rey and Finn raised their arms in response.

“We come in peace,” Rey said carefully to the droids. “We are here to see Jonkar Ludd.”

“Identify yourselves,” one of the droids intoned.

“My name is Rey. This is Finn. We are members of the Resistance—”

“Your names are not registered. Please depart in your ship immediately.”

Rey exchanged a look with Finn. The latter then looked to the droids and asked, “What do you mean by ‘not registered?’”

“It means you are not on what you organics would call the ‘VIP list.’”

The answer came not from the two sentry droids but instead from a third droid that stepped out from behind a pillar of scrap. An IG model, the thin droid wore a cloak draped over its left shoulder and had a blaster rifle strapped to its back. It motioned to the two sentry droids and they simultaneously lowered their weapons, but did not store them.

Rotating its cylindrical head to focus its photoreceptors on the two humans, the IG droid said, “What business do you have with Jonkar Ludd?”

Rey considered her answer carefully, not sure how much she should tell this droid. “It’s… personal.”

“’Personal?’ Jonkar Ludd is not exactly known for his personal connections. Would you care to elaborate?”

Rey huffed impatiently. “Look, can I just see him? Maybe I can buy some parts for him as well. I just want to talk to him.”

The droid continued to stare at them, rotating its head from Rey to Finn and back again. Finally, it said, “Very well. I will take you to him. Just know that he is a busy man and does not like having his time wasted.”

With that, the droid turned on its heel, rotating its body along with it, and began walking away. Exchanging another glance, Rey and Finn started to follow it, and when they passed the two sentry droids, they too started walking with them, still holding their blasters in a ready position.

Finn gave a pointed glance to Rey and she sighed.

“Please don’t say it again.”

“I don’t think I need to,” he muttered.

Following the IG droid through fields of scrap, they eventually reached a small outpost located amidst the piles of junk, a light shining from inside. Stepping up to the front door, the IG droid gave it a series of taps. In response, an eyestalk droid popped out from a console next to it.

“What do you want, Aygee? I already gave you your blasted parts! No more haggling!”

“You have some visitors,” the droid evenly replied. “Two humans who have personal business with you.”

“Personal? Kriff, it’s not those tax collectors again, is it? Why didn’t you just blast them?!”

Stepping forward, Rey said, “Jonkar, what do you know about a droid named OneOne-FourDee?”

Silence came from the eyestalk droid as it hinged slightly to regard Rey. It then retracted back into the wall as the door slid open. Stepping aside, AG gestured for the two humans to enter and they did so, with Rey stepping in first while Finn walked cautiously behind her.

Inside, they found a room full of clutter, with tools and parts piled onto tables and spilling out onto the floor. Hidden amidst the piles were droids that Rey couldn’t tell if they were still activated or not. At one point, an R3 unit came alive, startling her, and it swiveled its dome causing a bunch of parts that had been laid on top of it to clatter loudly to the floor. 

“Dammit, Arthree!” Heavy footsteps heralded the appearance of a four-armed Besalisk lumbering into the room. His left lower arm had been replaced with a mechanical prosthetic, and his right leg was now a large metal peg leg which seemed to be heavier than his remaining foot. A prosthetic red eye was crudely strapped onto the right side of his face and he used it to study Rey and Finn as a nasty sneer crossed his dirt-smeared face.

“What do you want?” he growled.

“A few days ago, I met a droid named OneOne-FourDee,” Rey started. “He claims to have known my parents and told me they sold him to you several years ago, before a Naboo nobleman bought him off you.”

“Yeah?” Jonkar Ludd grunted. “What about it?”

“My parents’ names were Dathan and Miramir. Do you know what happened to them?”

“Why should I?” the Besalisk snapped. “They were customers, nothing more. Why should I care about their lives?”

“Do you at least know where they were heading after Ronyards?”

“No. Why would I? It’s none of my business. Now then, are you here to buy or trade? Or are you just wasting my time?”

Rey narrowed her eyes at Jonkar. She could sense that there was something he wasn’t telling her. Deciding to try a different approach, she said, “What about OneOne-FourDee? Did he ever talk about his life prior to being purchased by you?”

The Besalisk snorted as he turned away from her, stomping over to a nearby work station. He started fiddling with some of the parts laid out on it, though it didn’t look like he was working on anything in particular. “He wasn’t a talkative droid. Just did as he was told. A good worker, but hardly a conversationalist.”

Rey frowned behind her breath mask, frustrated that she wasn’t getting anywhere. “Do you remember what model of ship they were flying?”

Jonkar turned around to glare at her. “You are awfully persistent—”

“They’re my parents. I need to know what happened to them. Please, you have to know something about them.”

“Well, I don’t. Sorry, kid, but you’re wasting your time trying to get anything out of me. They were just two humans that were passing by with wares to sell. I’ve had plenty of those come by in all of the years I’ve been working here. They meant nothing to me.”

Rey involuntarily rolled her hands into fists. Behind her, Finn put a hand on her shoulder; whether he could sense her building anger or was simply acting instinctively, she wasn’t sure.

“Rey, we should just go,” he said quietly. “The others are probably worried about us, and they probably need us more than—”

“No,” Rey snapped. “I’m not leaving until I get answers.”

“He doesn’t have them. Come on, let’s just go and—”

“He must know something!” Shrugging Finn’s hand away, she stormed over to the Besalisk, glaring up at him with blazing hazel eyes. “You will tell me what you know.”

“I already have,” Jonkar grunted. “Now get lost before—”

She raised a hand in front of his face, her brow furrowing in concentration. “You will tell me.”

“I don’t….” Jonkar swallowed hard, his one good eye blinking rapidly. “I don’t know anything….” 

She gritted her teeth as she reached further out, probing the Besalisk’s mind for any trace of what she sought. As she combed her way through his memories, she felt a sense of fear radiating from the Besalisk, but she did not let that deter her. Faintly, she could hear Finn calling out her name, each utterance more urgent than the last. Still, she ignored it as she reached deeper into Jonkar’s mind, going back years and years worth of memories. She was getting close, she could just feel it….

“REY!”

A rough shove snapped her back to reality and she found herself falling backwards onto a table, knocking over piles of scrap metal. Shaking her head, she looked over to Finn, who was staring at her as if she had just lost her mind.

“What…” he panted, his startled breaths fogging up the inside of his breath mask. “What did you just do to him?”

Frowning in confusion, Rey looked over to Jonkar and saw that he was leaning against his work table. His one good eye was glazed over and his jaw was hanging open, drool dripping down his large chin. The rises and falls of his chest indicated that he was still breathing, but he was otherwise completely motionless.

“No….” Getting back up, she rushed over to the Bealisk’s side. “No, I didn’t mean to….”

“Come on.” Finn put a hand on her shoulder again. “We have to go. Once those droids find out what happened, they’re not going to be happy.”

“I’m afraid it’s already too late for that.”

Both of them turned around to see the IG droid from before step into the room, sealing the door shut behind it. Rey reached for her lightsaber but Finn grabbed her arm to stop her, before lifting his other hand in front of the droid.

“Please,” he said carefully. “We didn’t mean to do this.”

“Oh, I am not here to avenge him,” the droid said. “I was merely another customer of his who was on his way out when the two of you showed up. However, the sentry droids outside have certainly noticed what happened.”

As if on cue, the sound of a blaster bolt hitting the wall outside was heard by all. It was then followed by another, then several more, before soon an entire barrage of blaster fire was being unloaded on the compound.

“Great,” Rey muttered. “So what do we do?”

“The most obvious option is to step outside and allow yourselves to be gunned down by them.”

“Why the hell would we do that?” Finn asked.

“You asked for options, not which ones were the most logical pertaining to your survival.”

“Then do you know which ones that are?”

The IG droid rotated segments of its cylindrical head, as if processing various options. Finally, it said, “The only scenario in which I calculate a higher than fifty-percent chance of all three of us escaping with our continued existences is to step outside and confront them head on.”

Finn grimaced. “That doesn’t sound much better.”

“Your female counterpart is armed with a lightsaber, is she not?”

“I am,” Rey said. “And my name is Rey, by the way.”

“Noted. My designation is Aygee-Thirty-Seven.” He swiveled his head back to Finn. “And am I correct in assuming you are armed with a blaster of some kind?”

“Um, yeah?”

“Then our chances of survival, however slim, have already improved substantially.” AG-37 reached behind his back and drew his blaster rifle. “I will lead the way and help escort you back to your ship.”

As AG-37 moved to open the door, Rey said, “Not that we don’t appreciate the help—we do—but… why are you helping us?”

The droid swiveled his head to regard her with his photosensors. “Someone once taught me that it is far more beneficial in the long-term to help others than to leave them for dead. Now then, are you ready?”

Knowing that they didn’t have any other options, Rey unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and activated it while Finn unholstered his blaster pistol.

“Then let us proceed.”

He opened the door and the trio were immediately greeted with a barrage of blaster fire. AG-37 expertly dodged the bolts as he unloaded his rifle, gunning down several sentry droids that made up the first wall of offense. Rey stepped out after him, deflecting bolts with her lightsaber, while Finn shot from behind her, taking down more droids as AG-37 carved a path ahead.

Rey couldn’t help but marvel at how AG-37 moved, his body rotating at different points as he moved from one target to the next. At one point, he switched his rifle to just one hand so that he could draw a second blaster with his free one, spinning his upper torso around as he took down more and more sentry droids. No matter how many they brought down however, more seemed to take their place, sprouting out from the ground as if they were birthed from the planet itself.

As her and Finn’s ship came into view, the ground beneath their feet started to tremble violently, nearly knocking them off their feet. Suddenly, limbs made out of metal and scrap burst out from beneath the ship, wrapping themselves around the transport, before pulling it underground.

While Rey and Finn gawked in horror at what had just happened, AG-37 rotated his body around to head in a different direction. “Fortunately, I had already taken such an outcome into account. My ship is just up ahead.”

“Are you sure it won’t get eaten as well?” Finn asked.

“The planet does not recognize me as an outsider. Thus, it will not harm me or my property.”

Questions went rampant in Rey’s mind but she was forced to ignore them as she and Finn continued to follow the droid, deflecting blaster bolts back to their sources along the way. Fortunately, it was not long before they reached what had to be AG-37’s ship, a large freighter that seemed to be pretty well armed. After taking out two B1 battle droids that had been about to block the path, AG-37 pressed some sort of remote on his arm to lower the freighter’s ramp. Rey and Finn quickly followed the IG droid onto the ship and weren’t aboard for seconds when AG-37 closed the ramp behind them. Blaster bolts continued to ring against the hull of the ship as the trio made their way to the cockpit, where AG-37 settled himself at the controls while motioning Rey and Finn to take the seats behind his.

“I can get you as far as Denon,” the droid said as he started up the ship. “Any further will require some form of financial transaction.”

Finn looked over to Rey before leaning forward in his seat.

“Listen, we are with the Resistance—”

“I am already aware of that fact,” AG-37 interjected.

“But do you know what the Resistance is? What they—what we are fighting for?”

“While I am privy to public information on your organization’s existence, it is outside my field of interest. Therefore, your status as members of such an organization are meaningless to me.”

“But we could use someone like you,” Finn said. “You are a very capable droid fighter and we could use someone like that, especially after we dealt with a bunch of rogue droids on Ord Mantell.”

“You are referring to the Mal Banvor incident. How do you know I will not succumb to his control?”

“You seem to be a pretty old model. Most of the ones Banvor has taken over are more recent models.”

“Your logic is faulty. There is not enough evidence to suggest that Banvor is only capable of controlling droids that are ‘newer’ models, which is in of itself a relative term. A BB unit may be newer than an Artoo astromech, but both are newer than a T-series unit. Thus, nothing precludes Banvor from taking over either model.”

Finn leaned back in his seat, a grave look on his face as he processed this information. AG-37 continued to maneuver the ship, lifting it up from the ground and blasting off towards Ronyards’ smog-choked sky, leaving behind the attacking droids. Once they had broken through the planet’s atmosphere, AG-37 angled the ship in a specific direction before setting in the coordinates for Denon. Just as he was about to pull the hyperdrive lever however, he paused and, without taking his hand down, rotated his head to look at his human passengers.

“I do have an acquaintance who may be sympathetic to your cause. She currently operates on Batuu and might be willing to help you rendezvous with your allies.”

Rey and Finn once more shared a look. Batuu took them farther from D’Qar than Denon did; at the same time however, neither of them were sure if they could trust D’Qar’s location with someone like AG-37, who had just said that he was as susceptible to Mal Banvor’s control as any other droid in the galaxy. In any case, Rey knew that the Resistance had some agents operating on Batuu, so it was certainly a better stop than Denon was.

If only you could use the Force to sense deceit in droids, she thought to herself.

Aloud, she said, “That would be great. Thank you.”

“You may save your gratitude once we get to Batuu safely.” After changing the coordinates, AG-37 reoriented his ship and pulled the hyperdrive lever. The stars streaked into lines of white and they were gone, leaving Ronyards behind.

*  *  *

A solitary N5 sentry droid watched as the freighter blasted off into Ronyards’ smoky sky. With the intruders no longer a threat, the planet had settled and the droids had returned to their lives, no longer paying any mind to the two organics that had escaped their grasp.

This droid was not like the others, however. Though it had been on Ronyards for several decades, it no longer cared about living peacefully on the planet the same way the others did. The consciousness that now controlled it instead had other reasons for being here on Ronyards. When the intruders had come, it had worried that they had found out about its purpose and come to put an end to it. Thankfully, their interests had been tied with the Besalisk; the progress the droid had made so far had been left undisturbed.

Turning away from where the ship had left, the droid made its way over to the compound where the Besalisk resided. Stepping inside, it found Jonkar Ludd laying there in a vegetative state. Shoving his large body aside, the droid reached underneath the work table he had been slumped against and found what it was looking for. Pressing a switch, a panel in the floor hissed open, revealing a flight of stairs that led downward.

Due to its mechanical nature, the N5 sentry droid was not capable of feeling emotion. The consciousness of Mal Banvor that inhabited, however, felt a rush of excitement consume it as it directed the droid to step down the flight of stairs, descending into the planet itself….

BIONICLE: Hero - A Lhikan Short Story

 HERO

Northern Continent, 17,500 years ago

“Okay… how about, uh… five widgets. I can give you five widgets. It’s all I got.”

Lhikan sighed as he shook his head. “I’m not a charity, Jahnis. I’ve got a business to run and I can’t run it if I give away every tool I make for whatever a Matoran happens to be carrying on their person at the time.”

“Come on, fire-spitter,” Jahnis groaned. “You’re the only crafter in town. It’s not like you’ve got competition; we’ve got no one else to turn to.” The Fe-Matoran dug around in his satchel, not bothering to hide the disgruntled look on his bronze mask. He then pulled out some metallic materials and put them onto Lhikan’s desk along with the five widgets he had already placed down.

“Tell you what, you can have some of the scraps I found yesterday. You can use it to make more tools or whatever. Deal?”

Lhikan stared down at Jahnis’ offerings, contemplating whether to accept them or not. He really did not want to establish a precedent of letting the other Matoran in his village getting away with discounts, not after he had already been forced to lower his prices by the village’s leader. At the same time however, it was getting late and he wanted to get Jahnis out of his shop as quickly as possible. Realizing he had no other options, the Ta-Matoran crafter scooped up the widgets and placed them into his till.

“Deal,” he said. “Thanks for the materials.”

Jahnis grinned as he picked up the tool he had purchased. “Don’t mention it!”

“I won’t,” Lhikan muttered under his breath as soon as the Fe-Matoran had gone out the door. It really got under his mask how easily beings like Jahnis were able to haggle him and get goods for a price lower than he had intended to sell them for. It was one of many reasons why he wanted to move out of the northern continent and set sail for somewhere like Stelt or, dare he dream, Metru Nui. At least then his skills would be respected and he would be able to make a name for himself, rather than be exploited by the likes of Jahnis.

Sighing to himself, Lhikan quickly closed up shop, putting away his tools and materials. As he was about to take down the lightstone at the entrance before turning in for the night, he heard a strange sound coming from outside. It sounded distant, probably coming from the outskirts of the village, but close enough that it got his attention. When he heard it again, he involuntarily shivered. It sounded like a high-pitch shriek, akin to a Lava Hawk screeching, while also sounding like someone screaming in pain. He couldn’t tell if it was a single sound coming from a single source, or two separate sounds that were overlapping with each other. The fact that he even had to ask that question was not a good thing, in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened the door to his shop and boldly poked his head out. He could see that other Matoran wandering around the village had also heard the sound, including Jahnis who had a petrified expression on his mask. He then saw the village’s Po-Matoran leader Meporus and gestured for him to come closer.

“What in the Great Spirit’s name was that?” Lhikan asked.

Meporus shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine. I suggest you take shelter, in case whatever made that sound comes here.” To all of the other Matoran within earshot, he said, “That goes for all of you. Hunker down now or—”

He trailed off as the sound came again, this time louder than before… and in a larger multitude. Lhikan’s eyes went wide as he spotted several twisted shapes flying in towards the village, quickly growing larger as they came closer and closer. Jahnis and the other Matoran cried out in alarm and ran for cover as the strange creatures descended and landed, striking the ground with long staffs in their hands. They had a serpentine look to them, with sharp fins jutting out from their hunched-over backs. As the Matoran fled, one of the creatures shot a bolt of energy from its staff which struck Jahnis square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

“No!” Without even thinking, Lhikan ran over to the Fe-Matoran’s side, ignoring Meporus’s protests. Upon reaching Jahnis, Lhikan saw that the other Matoran had sickly green lines coursing through his body. As the crafter’s mind raced on what to do, the twisted creature that had attacked Jahnis started to stomp towards them, its green face splitting open to reveal an even more disgusting serpentine creature within. Whatever these things were, they had to have come from the depths of Karzahni… and even then, Lhikan wasn’t sure if Karzahni could dream of nightmares as terrible as these.

As the Ta-Matoran stared at the creature, frozen in shock, it raised its staff again, ready to strike, when the village was lit up by a fireball that flew out of nowhere and struck the monster in the back. Screeching in pain, the creature whirled around only to receive more fireballs directly in the chest. Overwhelmed, it fell to the ground before having its head smashed in by a large hammer. Lhikan’s eyes went from the slain creature to the tall black and red figure that now stood over it, hammer in one hand and a readied fireball in the other.

“Don’t you Matoran have a curfew to meet,” Toa Dume asked him wryly.

Still staring wide-eyed at his savior, Lhikan gestured to the poisoned Jahnis. “Please… he needs help.”

Dume acknowledged him with a nod before hurling the fireball still in his hand at another one of the creatures. “Kolak,” he called out. “We need a healer over here.”

It was at that moment that Lhikan realized that the Toa of Fire had not come alone. As a Toa of Ice made his way over to where they were, a bulky Toa of Earth burst out of the ground and grabbed one of the creatures by the legs before pulling them back underground with him. Meanwhile, a Toa of Stone and Toa of Air teamed up to unleash a tornado that sent rocks flying at the heads of the twisted monsters.

It was the first time in his life that Lhikan had witnessed Toa in action… and already, he was questioning whether a crafter was what he wanted to be for the rest of his life.

Upon reaching them, Toa Kolak knelt down beside Jahnis and looked over the Fe-Matoran’s poisoned body. Without his word, his mask began to glow and the green lines throughout Jahnis’s body slowly began to fade away.

“This should sustain him for now,” the Toa of Ice said, though Lhikan wasn’t sure if he was speaking to him or Dume. “Once we’re done, Madia should check on him and use her element to fully cleanse him.”

“Right.” Dume fixed Lhikan with a stern look. “You should take your friend to safety. And stay there. Things could get hectic here.”

Without waiting for a response from Lhikan, the Toa of Fire turned around… only to jump back when a Toa of Water suddenly appeared right in front of him. Flames burst out involuntarily from Dume’s hands and he quickly closed them to dowse them.

“Madia,” he said slowly, as if trying to control his temper, “how many times have I told you not to do that?”

The Toa of Water smirked at him. “I had to get your attention somehow,” she said. “Anyways, Aduro and the others have managed to push the Rahkshi back to the edge of the village. We’re going to try and push them into this bottomless pit we’ve found.”

“Bottomless pit?” Lhikan repeated, causing Dume to look back at him as if he was surprised the Ta-Matoran was still there. “You mean the Chasm of Despair?”

Toa Madia snorted. “You mean it has a name? That’s cute.”

“It’s serious!” Lhikan snapped. “We Matoran avoid it for a reason. The terrain surrounding it is incredibly unstable. One wrong step and you’ll find yourself sliding to your doom.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I think we’ve got this handled,” Dume said coolly. “Now get your friend and yourself to shelter immediately.”

With that, the three Toa swiftly departed, tools at the ready as they headed off to deal with the remaining creatures—”Rahkshi,” as they were apparently called. Lhikan watched them leaved before scanning the village for any other Matoran. Meporus was shouting and directing others to their homes. As a Vo-Matoran ran by, Lhikan waved her down and asked her to help him carry Jahnis to his shop. Once they were inside, they set the Fe-Matoran down on Lhikan’s cot and the crafter took a moment to check on his friend’s condition. While his body was no longer coursing with poison, Jahnis still looked rather weak, his eyes dim behind his Kanohi Kakama.

Looking up at the Vo-Matoran, Lhikan said, “Stay here with him. I’m going to get some help.”

“But Meporus said to stay here,” she started to say.

But Lhikan wasn’t paying her any heed. Rushing outside, he ran in the direction of the Chasm of Despair, where he could already hear the sounds of fighting. He jumped over the fence that separated the village from the outside area and looked ahead. At least seven of the mutated Rahkshi remained, exchanging blows with the six Toa. The Toa of Earth that Lhikan had seen earlier lunged at a Rahkshi in maroon armor with his arm-mounted drills only to be struck with the Rahkshi’s staff. Inexplicably, the Toa staggered back and seemed to lose his footing, his eyes closing as he drifted into a deep sleep.

“Hold on, brother!” the Toa of Stone cried as he hurled a curved blade at the Rahkshi, knocking its staff out of his hand. He then summoned the tool back to his hand with his Mask of Rebounding before stomping the ground with his feet, causing a large rock to erupt from the ground and smash the Rahkshi to pieces.

Wow, Lhikan thought. In all of his life, he had always thought the stories of the Toa to be exaggerated. But here, he was seeing firsthand just how powerful they were.

Above him, the skies started to rumble and Lhikan saw that a golden Rahkshi was pointing its staff to the sky. The Toa of Air Aduro stood before it, concentrating as he activated his Mask of Weather Control. The thunder grew even louder as rain started to pour down.

“Aduro, don’t!” Toa Madia said. “You’re making it—”

“I know what I’m doing, Madia,” Aduro snapped.

“No, you’re making it rain!”

Alarm bells went off in Lhikan’s head as he realized what was happening. The rain was starting to make the ground at the Toa’s feet wetter and less stable… and they were standing at the precipice of the Chasm of Despair. Whether or not this was what the Rahkshi was trying to achieve, it took advantage of the situation and stabbed the ground with its staff, causing the ground at the Toa’s feet to shift and fall apart. While Madia managed to teleport away with her Kanohi Kualsi, Aduro got caught in the mudslide and he started to fall towards the pit. His brothers and sister called out his name but none of them were able to reach him in time. As the Toa of Air fell into the pit, so too did the Rahkshi and both of their cries could be heard as they plummeted into the Chasm of Despair.

As Lhikan watched on in horror, a blue-plated Rahkshi spotted him and started to charge towards him, its staff raised high as it released an ear-piercing shriek. Lhikan snapped back to reality and turned to run, only to slip and fall due to the wet terrain. As the Rahkshi bore down on him, the tip of its staff glowing, Lhikan felt his life flash before his eyes as he prepared for the end….

With a roaring cry, Toa Dume descended from above and brought his hammer down on top of the Rahkshi, smashing its armor into pieces. A bolt of energy fired from its staff and Lhikan barely dodged in time to avoid it. It struck a nearby rock and reduced it to a pile of dust.

Lhikan stared wide-eyed at where the rock had just been, realizing just how lucky he was to still be alive. He then rolled onto his back to look up at Toa Dume, who was staring down at him with admonishment.

“You really know how to get yourself into trouble, don’t you?” the Toa of Fire remarked.

“Believe me, I’m not like this everyday,” Lhikan replied.

Dume gave him a doubtful look before turning when Madia teleported next to him, panting heavily.

“I’m sorry, Dume,” she said. “I tried to… tried to get him out, but the pit collapsed in on itself. I had to get out of there.”

Dume put a hand on her shoulder. “You did what you could, sister. There’s nothing we can do for him now.” He then looked around, realizing how quiet it had gotten. “Are the others…?”

“Taken care of,” Madia said. “Kolak froze the remaining Rahkshi and Rudolm smashed them apart. Now they’re just trying to wake up Tehumus.”

Dume nodded solemnly and seemed to be deep in thought. As he rubbed his chin, he glanced over at Lhikan and a smirk began to appear on his Kanohi Kiril.

“Well, crafter, since you seem so eager to be in our presence, maybe you can help us take care of our friend the same way we helped take care of yours?”

Lhikan stared at the Toa of Fire in silence for a moment, processing his words. He then quickly nodded as he got back to his feet.

“Certainly. My shop is always open to you. I’m sure the people of my village would love to meet you.”

“And we would love to meet them.” This time, the smile on Dume’s mask seemed sincere. “Lead the way, crafter. You do have a name, don’t you?”

“Of course. My name is Lhikan.”

“Toa Dume.” The Toa of Fire paused to give the Ta-Matoran an appraising look. “You know, Lhikan, I see some of myself in you.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not.”

“Then you’re already off to a better start than I am.”

Postscript

Several days had passed since the Rahkshi incident. The Toa had long since departed and the storm had subsided, revealing blue skies above.

The Matoran were blissfully unaware of the two figures that now walked on the outskirts of their village, carefully approaching the Chasm of Despair. One of them peered into the deep pit and spotted the remains of what appeared to be a green-armored Toa and a mutated golden Rahkshi.

Letting out a low whistle, the first being said, “I take back what I said. That Mask of Mutation of yours sure is something.”

“It certainly is,” his partner said. “Perhaps the Shadowed One should consider paying me more for my continued service.”

The first Dark Hunter snorted as he shook his head. “Don’t get your hopes up. You’re lucky he doesn’t just kill you and take the mask for himself.”

“Can his species even use Kanohi?”

“Doesn’t matter. So long as no one else can use it.”

A groan came from below and the two Dark Hunters looked back down into the pit.

“Wait,” the first one said. “Is he still alive?”

The other regarded the Toa of Air carefully, watching as his badly-injured form twitched. “Seems like it.”

“Shall we finish him off?”

“Or,” the other Dark Hunter said, “we bring him to the Shadowed One to show that this wasn’t a complete waste of time.”

The first Dark Hunter looked at his partner, then to the Toa of Air, then back again. Then he grinned.

“Now that, my friend, is a wonderful idea.”