Star Wars: Vergence IV, Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

 Batuu

“I saw them go this way! Follow me!”

Rey peered through the bushes as a squad of stormtroopers ran past the spot she, Finn, and Allie were hiding in. The site of the ancient ruins just at the end of Savi’s Path was a wide and expansive spot, with plenty of abandoned settlements and overgrowth to hide in. However, she doubted they would be able to stay in one place for long; the stormtroopers were bound to reach their position eventually.

She turned back to Finn and Allie, only to see that the latter had started to move deeper into the forest they were hiding. After exchanging a glance, she and Finn followed the droid, being careful not to make any sound that would alert the stormtroopers. As they moved, Rey tinkered with the rangefinder attached to the Mandalorian helmet she was wearing and used it to scan the area ahead and around them. From what she could tell, they were moving in the opposite direction of where the stormtroopers were taking their search, creating a greater distance between them the further they went.

Eventually, the three of them came to a clearing that had a distinct patch of dirt amid the grass. Allie walked over to the spot and knelt down, running the digits of her servos through the patch. She then dug out a small device which she looked over before pressing down on it.

“This device should summon my contact to this location,” Allie said as she turned back to Rey and Finn. “If she is still alive, then she will respond and come here to meet us. If she is not, or if her position has been compromised, then I believe you can figure out the rest.”

“So that’s it then?” Finn asked. “We just sit here and wait?”

“I don’t suppose you have any better ideas?”

Before he could reply, the three of them heard the low hum of a ship’s engine. Rey looked up in time to see a winged black shape fly low over the forest, disturbing a flock of birds that dashed out of the trees. As the shuttle passed them, Rey felt her blood run cold; it was a sensation she had not felt since Naboo, one she had come to associate with the dark side.

“Kylo Ren,” she murmured.

“Sorry?” Allie asked.

Finn looked at her with concern. “Are you sure it’s him?”

“Who else can it be?” She nodded to the Sith holocron which Finn had put into a satchel that came with his Ubese disguise. “He must be here for that.”

“Or he’s here for you guys,” Allie said pointedly.

Ignoring the droid, Rey started to walk back the way they had come only for Finn to grab her by the shoulder. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

“I’m the only one who has a fighting chance against him,” she retorted, shrugging his hand away. “You need to get back to the Resistance and warn them of what’s happened. I will try to buy you time.”

“No.” Finn shook his head. “Don’t do this. You won’t gain anything by sacrificing yourself, other than deprive the galaxy of one less Jedi.”

“But if I don’t make a stand, then he will kill all three of us and take the holocron!”

“Then we destroy the holocron. He can’t have it if it doesn’t exist.”

Rey opened her mouth to object but stopped herself. Why was she objecting? It was a Sith holocron, a thing of evil. It was better off destroyed, as Finn said. Yet a part of her resisted the idea; a part of her that wanted to know what the holocron contained, to know who the voice she had heard in her head was. She wanted answers, something she had been denied nearly all of her life. She wanted to know where her parents were, what had happened to them, yet no one seemed willing to tell her. Anyone she came across who could possibly tell her, whether it be 11-4D or Jonkar Ludd, simply sent her running around in circles. For once, she would have appreciated it if someone gave her a straight answer… and this Sith holocron seemed to be the only thing that could.

“Rey?”

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked back up at Finn. However, he was no longer looking at her and instead staring past her, and she turned around to see a masked man in black robes standing at the edge of the clearing.

“The holocron,” Kylo Ren said. “You have it.”

Getting in front of the other two, Rey unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ignited its blue blade. “Run,” she said under her breath.

She did not look to see if Finn and Allie had heeded her, instead focusing on Kylo Ren as he unsheathed his own lightsaber, its unstable red blade snapping out with a roar rather than a hiss.

“You are Jarsan’s apprentice, aren’t you?” the Knight of Ren said as he took a step forward. “What are you doing so far away from your master?”

“As if I would ever tell you,” Rey retorted.

Kylo Ren tilted his head. “What interest do you have with a Sith holocron? Do you even know what it contains?”

“Just trying to keep it out of your hands.”

“You’re lying.” Kylo Ren spoke the words as if out of genuine surprise rather than a mere taunt. “You want the holocron for yourself. I can sense it.”

“You don’t know anything about me!” Rey snapped.

“Neither do you. Which is why you want it; to find the answers you seek.” Keeping his blade lowered, Kylo Ren raised a gloved hand and extended it towards her. “I can help you. I can help you access the holocron and uncover its secrets. I can help you where your master and the Jedi have refused to. I can help you find your parents.”

“No!” Rey raised her lightsaber in a defensive position. “I won’t listen to your lies!”

“So be it. I shall have it for myself then.”

With that, Kylo Ren charged towards her and swung his blade, which she blocked with her own. He repeated the motion, attacking her side which she barely managed to block. Her experience with lightsaber duels was already limited enough, and Kylo Ren’s erratic, almost monstrous fighting style did not make things any easier. With each of his attacks, she took another step back, moving deeper into the forest. It was then that she realized that Finn and Allie were still there, neither having taken the chance to flee.

“I thought I told you to run!” she cried.

Finn did not answer her and instead drew his blaster pistol, firing it at Kylo Ren. The dark warrior raised his hand and froze the plasma bolt in place. Rey seized on the window of opportunity this distraction provided and slashed at his chest, which he narrowly deflected. He then motioned with his hand and the blaster bolt went flying back at Finn, striking him in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

“You are fighting a losing battle,” Kylo Ren said darkly. “Surrender now and your lives will be spared.”

“Never!” Rey roared as she lunged at him, her blue blade locking into his crimson one. She pushed back against the dark warrior, but it was only for a moment as he quickly pushed their locked blades back in her direction, leaning in towards her.

“Such anger,” Kylo Ren said in a low tone. “Such raw and untamed power. I think I see in you what my master did in me. You would become an unstoppable force if you simply tapped into the dark side.”

“I will never be like you!”

“A shame. We would have made a great pair.” Breaking out of the saber lock, Kylo Ren used the Force to push Rey away, sending her falling to the ground. He then gestured with his hand to summon the Sith holocron straight out of Finn’s satchel and into his palm. The last one standing, Allie drew a pair of blaster pistols and pointed them at the dark warrior. Before she could open fire, Kylo Ren made a simple gesture and the droid crumpled lifelessly to the ground, laying as a motionless heap next to where Rey and Finn laid.

“I can see why you were drawn to this,” Kylo Ren mused as he looked over the holocron. “This once belonged to a Sith Lord named Darth Trayus, one of the oldest Dark Lords. Some of the oldest secrets of the Sith are contained within this holocron, forgotten even by the Dark Lords of Darth Bane’s Rule of Two. Even the purest of Jedi would be tempted by the knowledge within.”

He directed his attention back to Rey as she scrambled back onto her feet, pulling the Mandalorian helmet off her head. “I know why you walk the path of the Jedi. You walk it because it was the one that was opened to you; the one that would save you from a life of toiling endlessly away on a desert planet on the edge of nowhere. But you must realize that it is not the only path.”

Rey glared at him but she said nothing, nor did she make a move to attack him. She had to let him keep talking, if only to buy herself time to think of a way to defeat him. A part of her was also curious as to what he had to say, but she did her best to furiously deny that aspect.

“For the longest time, I was denied the path of the Sith,” Kylo Ren went on. “My master trained me in the dark side but had no desire to make me a Sith. After the failures of Sidious and Vorath, he believed their time had come to an end and that the galaxy was due for a different kind of darkness. Even as recent as this past year, he had given me the task of hunting down and eliminating any trace of the Sith and their teachings to ensure that they do not rise again and threaten his rule.

“But a lot has changed since then. Darth Vorath has returned from the dead, proving that there is indeed a chance at immortality, something which the Sith have long fought to search for. And by killing my master, I have proven that Darth Bane’s Rule of Two is something that is indeed still alive and well. Perhaps the Sith were never vanquished to begin with, much as my master had wished it.”

Kylo Ren spared another moment to consider the holocron before looking back at Rey again.

“Vorath has offered to take me on as his student; to teach me the ways of the Sith and name me the new Dark Lord. While I have no desire of taking on a new master… the idea of taking on a new student does sound appealing to me.”

“If you think I’m going to accept any teaching from you, you’re deluding yourself,” Rey said bitterly. “Besides, I thought you already had an apprentice. That girl with the wings.”

“Karis?” Kylo Ren shook his head. “Her connection to the Force is average at best. She is a formidable warrior, but hardly anything impressive. She and the other Knights of Ren are useful tools but nothing more than that. You, on the other hand… I see potential in you. Potential I can help you unlock.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested.” Rey ignited her lightsaber again and got into a fighting stance. “And I’m not letting you leave with that holocron.”

“You want it that badly, do you?”

“No.” Rey gripped her lightsaber firmly. “I just… I can’t let you have it.”

Kylo Ren continued to stare at her, his black mask making it impossible for her to determine what he was thinking. Then, much to her surprise, he shut off his lightsaber and carefully placed the holocron on the ground.

“You can have it.”

Rey stared at him in surprise, her mouth hanging open. “What?”

“You clearly want it more than I do. Perhaps you even need it more than I do.”

Rey could only stare in disbelief as Kylo Ren turned around and began to walk away, leaving himself fully vulnerable to her.

“I will call off the search and allow you and your friends to get away. If you change your mind about my offer… I trust that you will know what to do.”

With that, the dark warrior walked through the forest and vanished through the foliage. Several minutes after he had gone, Rey shut off her lightsaber and collapsed to her knees, staring at the holocron laying in front of her. A groan from nearby prompted her to look over to Finn, who was beginning to stir from where he lay.

“Don’t,” she said softly. “You’re injured.”

“It’s not that bad,” Finn grunted as he sat up. “The armor took the brunt of it.” He then looked around, realizing that there was no sign of Kylo Ren. “What happened? Did you…?”

“He left,” Rey replied.

Finn stared at her incredulously. “Just like that? What about the holocron?”

“He left it with me.”

Finn looked over at the Sith relic as if realizing its presence for the first time. “Why… why would he do that? Is it some sort of trick?”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t know. Look, we should probably get going. Who knows how long we have before—”

She was drowned out by the sound of a loud ship engine. Fearing that it was Kylo Ren’s shuttle again, she ignited her lightsaber and stood up only to see that the vessel was not the black winged shape they had seen earlier but rather an L-shaped transport that Rey recognized as belonging to the Resistance. Its central landing ramp lowered enough to reveal a dark-skinned woman with blue-dyed hair, accompanied by a pair of Resistance soldiers.

“Are you with the Resistance?” the woman cried over the ship’s engine.

“Yes!” Finn called back. “We’re here with Allie, but she’s been… dismantled.”

“Bring her on board and we’ll see if we can put her back together! We better get moving before the First Order knows we’re here!”

Not wasting any time, Rey and Finn gathered Allie’s parts (as well as the Sith holocron) and scrambled onto the transport’s lowered ramp. As soon as they were on board, it began to take off towards Batuu’s sky.

Once they had set down Allie’s body, the woman extended a hand to Rey and Finn. “Name’s Vi,” she said. “Vi Moradi.”

“Are you Allie’s contact?” Finn asked.

“Yup. Had to gather my team and scramble as soon as the First Order showed up. We were just about to pick her up when we got the signal. Had to lay low for a bit when we spotted a First Order shuttle.” She then rubbed her chin as she studied the pair carefully. “So what were you two doing on Batuu? Did General Organa send you to save my hide?”

Finn glanced at Rey before saying, “It’s a long story. We’ll fill you in once we get back to the base.”

Vi nodded. “Sounds good. Might be a while before we can make the jump, just so that we can make sure no one’s tracking us. Last thing we want would be to lead the First Order straight to our front door step.”

“Understood.”

While Vi left the cabin for the transport’s cockpit, Finn took a seat next to Rey and placed the satchel with the Sith holocron between them. If he noticed her hazel eyes glanced at the relic briefly, he did not show it or speak on it.

“Do you have an excuse ready for the general for why you deserted?” he asked.

Rey did not respond, her eyes glued to the opposite wall. When Finn nudged her with his elbow, she snapped her head to look at him.

“What?”

“Did you hear what I…?” Finn paused before shaking his head. “Never mind. I think you should get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” Rey said firmly.

“Doesn’t seem that way to me.”

“Finn. I said I’m fine.”

He sighed as he looked away from her. “You know,” he muttered. “I really don’t like it when people lie to me.”

Rey had nothing to say to that. The silence remained between them as the transport moved through the void of space, leaving Batuu far behind.

Star Wars: Vergence IV, Chapter Eleven

 CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ord Talavos

“Look at them all, Greshna. Just look at them.”

Drakmos the Despised stood on the balcony of his fortress, watching as the leaders of the Malvis Cabal made their procession from their respective vessels. Even before news had broke of Tyron Valrisa’s victory in the election, ships had started to land on the outskirts of the city, so assured were they all of their own scheme. Even Drakmos had to give credit where it was due; against all odds, the Cabal had succeeded in accomplishing their primary goal. Of course, given how fragile the Alliance already had been to begin with, perhaps it was not all that impressive in the greater scheme of things.

“Gaar Tandoon and his clan,” he murmured, more to himself than to his Chistori lieutenant. “Magistrate Mikus of the Open Eye Syndicate. Even Madame Maeva of the House of Maidens. Truly, there has been no greater gathering since… well, since that auction we had here a while back. But even that was not enough to bring Malvis out of his hiding spot.”

He then turned to Greshna, tapping his chin with the tip of chis claw. “Speaking of which, has there been any sign of his ship?”

“None to speak of,” Greshna replied. “Although I doubt he would make a show of his presence. If you ask me, he will most likely just show up during the Gathering with no prelude. He doesn’t strike me as someone to draw attention to himself.”

“Perhaps you are correct,” Drakmos admitted. “Although I would argue that no one knows enough about him to form a solid impression of him, one way or another. Even I do not even have the privilege of even knowing what he looks like. Perhaps today he will give us all the honor of knowing his true appearance.”

Greshna snorted in a noncommittal manner as she stepped away. “I’ve said this before, but I really hope you are sure about what you’re doing. You’ve got one shot at this, and if you mess it up, then it’s all over. Everything you’ve done, everything you have worked for, will have been for nothing.”

“I am well aware of the risks, my friend,” Drakmos muttered, gripping the edge of the balcony as he glared down at the procession entering his fortress. “Believe me when I say that I have never been more sure in my life.”

Coruscant

“So, uh, have you thought about a name change yet?”

Leaning against the piston of the Renegade’s landing ramp, Valrisa cast her tired dark eyes to Bedo. After apprehending Vixen and their attacker—who had identified herself as “Dorn”—the Renegades had returned to their ship to await further orders from Talon Karrde once Kyla had filled him in on what had happened. Getting onto Coruscant had already been difficult enough, and none of them were sure if they would even be able to leave any time soon.

“Why would I change my name?” Valrisa asked with a sigh.

“Because it’s the same as the guy who just got elected Chief of State,” Bedo replied. “People are gonna start asking questions, and I know how much you don’t like questions. Besides, aren’t you worried he’s gonna send more people after you ‘cos of the Charge Matrica?”

“To be honest with you, I’m not sure what to do regarding any of those things at this point. Clearly Malvis’s schemes run much deeper than any of us thought, and my dysfunctional family just so happens to be at the center of it all. To say I’m worried about any of it would be an understatement.”

“Well, if you need any suggestions for a name change, I’ve got a list already made, so just holler if you need one.”

Valrisa raised an eyebrow at the Ortolan. “Why do you have a list of names?”

“I, uh, have my reasons.” Not waiting for any more questions, Bedo hurried back onto the ship. 

Rolling her eyes, Valrisa was about to follow him only for her body to suddenly jolt back, forcing her to grab onto one of the ramp’s pistons for stability. She sucked in her breath as images flashes rapidly in her mind: a large building somewhere on Coruscant; a familiar man being tortured by another; a masked woman in shackles. None of these images meant anything to her, yet a voice in her mind was telling her that she needed to do something about it. And despite everything about her gut telling her not to, she knew she would. Because she had to.

Poking his head back outside, Bedo looked at her with concern. “Is everything all right?”

“I need to speak with Kyla,” Valrisa said, staggering onto the ship. “There’s somewhere we need to go.”

“She’s still talking with Karrde and Booster. It might have to wait until they—”

“No. It’s here on Coruscant. And we need to go now.”

Bedo continued to look confused as Valrisa walked past him and headed for the ship’s cabin. Passing the main hold, where the others were watching over the captured Vixen and Dorn, she stepped into the ship’s cockpit where Kyla was deep in conversation with Ace. 

Upon noticing her entrance, Kyla looked up and said, “Karrde has given us the clearance to return to the Errant Venture as soon as it is safe for us to depart.”

“Before we do,” Valrisa said, “there is somewhere on Coruscant we need to go.”

Kyla raised an eyebrow. “And where is that?”

“I’m… I’m not sure.” Valrisa closed her eyes, trying to conjure the image she had seen. “It’s some sort of facility, I think it’s on the upper levels. It’s pretty large, has a cylindrical shape to it.”

Ace frowned. “You’re not talking about the Galactic Justice Center, are you?”

“I don’t know if it has a name or not. Why? What is it?”

“It’s the headquarters of the Galactic Alliance Guard, the new secret police that the Senate implemented a couple of years ago. It’s probably one of the most fortified places on the planet, after the Senate Building itself. Why do we need to go there?”

“I… I think there’s someone being held captive there. Someone we met back on Corellia. Toah, I think his name is.”

“The Jedi fellow?” Kyla asked. “I’m sure he can handle himself. Besides, how do you know he’s being held there?”

Valrisa took a deep breath. No more secrets. “Because I have the Force.”

Both Kyla and Ace stared at her in surprise. “Wait,” the latter said. “You’re a Jedi?”

“No,” Valrisa said firmly. “I trained to be one, briefly, long ago, but I decided it wasn’t the path for me. I have the Force but I’m not… good at it or anything. Definitely not on the same level as Zarin or anything.”

“Good, because Zarin already scares me enough,” Kyla muttered. She kicked back in her pilot’s chair and folded her arms, eying Valrisa warily. “So the Force is telling you that this Toah fellow is being held at the G.J.C. And, let me guess, you’re suggesting we try and rescue him.”

“I mean, like it or not, we’re all on the same team at this point,” Valrisa said. “If Malvis and his Cabal now have control over the Alliance, then they could interrogate Toah and get him to blab about the Resistance.”

“I don’t think Jedi are the type to blab easily,” Ace pointed out.

“Maybe so, but… I don’t feel comfortable just leaving him there.”

Kyla held up her hands. “Hey, I agree with you. Believe it or not, I do. But Ace is right; the G.J.C. is one of the most fortified places on the planet, if not in this sector. There is no chance in any of the nine Corellian hells that we would be able to break in, not without a plan or a large enough team.”

“You’re right.” Valrisa rubbed her chin as she allowed her gaze to wander back in the direction of the main hold. Then, a light went off in her head. “Unless we get in by offering them something we have.”

“And what would that be?”

“Look, even if Malvis has control over the Alliance, it’s not like they’re going to admit that publicly. As far as I know, Vixen is still a wanted criminal and they would look stupid to turn down a chance to apprehend her. Especially if we bring her right to their doorstep.”

Ace tugged at a tuft of fur on his chin. “I like where this is going….”

“I know it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but if Booster can supply us with some Guard uniforms….”

“Ooh, I like the way you think.” Ace looked over at Kyla, smirking with a gleam in his eye. “What do you say?”

Kyla threw her hands up. “Hell with it. We’ve done crazier things. Let me call the old man up again and see what he can do.” She then eyed Valrisa pointedly. “So long as you’re sure this Force thing of yours isn’t lying to you or something.”

Valrisa shook her head. “I might not have a firm grasp on it… but I don’t think it’s the type of thing that can lie to you.”

*  *  *

“Well, well. If it isn’t the man himself.”

Toah opened his eyes as a sharp-looking man dropped a datapad onto the small table he was sitting at, his arms and legs still shackled. The room they were in was small and simple, with a single overhead lamp providing the only illumination. Director Heol Girdun grabbed the light and twisted it so that it was shining directly in Toah’s face, grinning gleefully as the Jedi squinted in response.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you in person,” Girdun went on. “The Jedi who defeated Darth Vorath. Of course, no one saw you actually do it, so how do I know someone else didn’t kill him and you just took the credit?”

“I never took credit for anything,” Toah protested. “A Jedi does not find glory in vanquishing an enemy.”

“That’s funny, because I sure as hell would. If I was the one who destroyed a Dark Lord of the Sith, you’d bet your ass I’d be bragging about it until the day I die.” Girdun smiled thinly. “Although I guess that’s why I’m no Jedi, eh?”

Toah did not answer him and Girdun did not wait for one. Taking a seat across from him, Girdun switched on the datapad and viewed it as he continued speaking.

“So, I take it you’re here for Alema Rar.” When Toah did not speak, Girdun lifted an eye to him. “You might as well tell me, because I already know. I know everything about you, Jedi. There’s nothing you can say that I don’t already know.”

“I do not doubt that,” Toah replied.

Girdun snorted. “Well, believe it or not, your Twi’lek lady friend is actually walking a free woman. She was never here to begin with. Not after she told us everything we wanted to know.”

Toah felt a pit of dread open up in his stomach. “What?”

No doubt pleased that the Jedi had taken the bait, Girdun smirked back at him. “Apparently she has no love for your Resistance because she confessed to working with them straight away. Said that she only agreed to the mission due to her obligations as a Jedi. But if you asked her, she thinks the Jedi should stay out of this fight; whatever this ‘fight’ you folks are fighting is.”

Toah stiffened and regarded the other man coolly. “You’re lying.”

“I may be many things, Jedi, but a liar is not one of them. A disgusting piece of shaak poodoo, sure. But a liar? Never.”

Toah narrowed his eyes, searching Girdun’s face for any trace of deception. He did not try probing Girdun’s mind, for the director was almost certainly expecting that and would pick upon it immediately. Girdun stared back at him with cold dark eyes before looking back down at his datapad.

“She also told us what she was doing for the Resistance in the first place. Trying to see what influence the Cabal has over the Alliance. Well, Mr. Jarsan, I hate to break it to you, but it’s not exactly a secret that any of that is the case.”

Toah furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know what the Cabal is? What it’s built on?” Girdun snorted. “Of course you don’t. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be wasting your time with them. You see, before you had the Cabal, you had the Society. Ring any bells?”

Toah shook his head.

“Didn’t think so. The Society was a pretty well established secret club, been around since the days of the Empire. You had to be pretty elite to get in; you know, your Prajis, your Tagges, your Tarkins. If you weren’t one of them, then you had to be very wealthy, very attractive, and very young, ‘cos these guys were all about making sure their bloodlines continued and kept the Society alive for years to come. That’s like how people like the Dowager of Sedratis were able to get in; she was a young and attractive lady who just lost her husband and was now fair game. Now she’s got seven kids who all have ties to the thing they owe their conception to.

“Anyway, after the Empire fell, the Society had to become even more secret. They weren’t keen on letting any Solos or Skywalkers into their club just because the Republic was back in the picture. But they also didn’t want to kick up any sort of fuss and risk losing the wealth and prestige they had already managed to accumulate. So they begrudgingly accepted their fate and kept quiet, and probably would have faded into obscurity… had Malvis not entered the picture.”

“And just who is Malvis?” Toah asked.

Girdun chortled. “Now ain’t that the million credit question? From what I understand, no one’s seen him in person. Even people who were in the Society during its golden years only knew him as a holographic man, who changed his appearance every time he appeared. Hell, I’m not even convinced that ‘Malvis’ is his real name. But everyone accepted him as their leader because he had a plan. A plan that would bring things back to the good old days, even if it meant relying on the type of scum and villainy that most members of the elite would scoff at.”

He slammed the datapad back down and leaned forward in his seat, clasping his hands over the table as he smiled mirthlessly at Toah.

“Why else do you think the Solos and the Skywalkers and the Mothmas have all quietly gone away, while the Valrisas and the Tagges have entered the picture again? Because Malvis has been playing the long game. He’s been buying the children of the old Society into positions of power, helping them get up the ladder and land themselves spots in the Senate and other high places. Meanwhile, he keeps the crime lords happy by keeping them in his back pocket, letting them run their schemes and paying off the authorities to look the other way. Sure, some get in over themselves, like Wallen or that idiot Loran, ‘cos they don’t realize the truth. They can’t afford to know the truth, because if they did then everything would go to crap. But people like me? Yeah, I know where the money goes. And I let it go, because it got me to where I am now. I’ve got everything to win by letting Malvis play his game the way he wants it to, and I can’t afford letting people like you and the Princess’ little band of rebels ruin it.

“So you see, Jarsan? You’ve been fighting a losing battle. You’re losing because you’ve been fighting the Alliance this whole time; the very thing you’ve been trying to ‘save.’”

“It sounds more like the Empire to me,” Toah said darkly.

Girdun shrugged. “Yeah, so? I’m sure that’s the long term plan, but, you know, baby steps.”

“And just how long has Malvis been influencing the Alliance?”

“Probably longer than any of us realize, but it wasn’t ‘till after the Glorian War that things really started getting set into motion. At least, that’s when I got into my position thanks to his folk.”

Girdun leaned back in his seat and sighed as if he had just finished a delectable meal. Picking up his datapad, he got up from his seat and gave Toah another slimy grin.

“Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I’ve been keeping all of that to myself for quite some time now. But now that things are going according to plan, there’s no point in keeping secrets anymore.”

“Is that why you brought me here?” Toah asked. “So you could gloat?”

“Not just that. I also brought you here so you could tell us the location of the Resistance’s base.”

“I’m not telling you anything.”

“I figured. Which is why we made something just for Jedi like you.”

Too late, Toah sensed someone approach him from behind and was unable to move in time as a pair of hands slid something over his head, obscuring his vision and cutting off his hearing. 

For a moment, he heard nothing.

Then, the sounds of Hell opened up and greeted his ears.

Star Wars: Vergence IV, Chapter Ten

 CHAPTER TEN

Batuu

Located at the galaxy’s edge, Batuu was the last taste of galactic civilization before venturing into the unknown. It was here that daring smugglers and spacers would come to either prepare for the dangers of Wild Space or to hide from whoever happened to be on their tail. Because of its status as a forgotten backwater world, Batuu was the ideal place for anyone trying to lay low. It also had its fair share of stops and tourist traps to keep one busy while they waited for the coast to be clear.

Rey wasn’t here for any of those things, however. As she and Finn followed AG-37 through the bustling crowds of Black Spire Outpost, she kept her eyes and senses clear, regarding practically every sentient being she saw with suspicion. She still wasn’t sure how much they could trust AG-37, and if the assassin droid was leading them into a trap. Growing up on Jakku, she didn’t have much interaction with droids since hardly any came to the planet (and those that did didn’t stick around for very long) and she still wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. Those that worked for the Resistance—such as Poe’s BB unit or General Leia’s protocol and astromech droids—seemed nice enough, but for every BB-8 and C-3PO, there was a 11-4D or AG-37. Due to their nature, it was impossible to read them in the Force and thus impossible to predict their motives or actions.

As they turned a corner into another part of town, Finn said to AG-37, “So, this acquaintance of yours… does she have a name?”

“Most beings in the galaxy have a designation of some kind,” AG-37 replied. “She prefers to go by the moniker of ‘Allie.’”

“And what is it that Allie does? Is she a smuggler? A bounty hunter?”

AG-37 rotated a portion of his cylindrical head so that one of his photoreceptors was on Finn even as the droid continued moving forward. “Perhaps it would be more practical to question her yourself.”

By that point, the droid had brought the two of them to a small building near the edge of Black Spire Outpost. Outside the building, behind a grated fence, was a row of droids, ranging from astromechs to GNK units. Each one had a price labeled on them, promising that it was the best deal one could ever find this side of the galaxy.

“I guess she sells droids,” Finn murmured to Rey.

As AG-37 tapped on the door, they could both hear what sounded like yelling coming from inside. AG-37 continued to knock until the door slid open and a tall bipedal droid with weathered white plating and a cape over its shoulder stormed out, brushing past AG-37 as a Utai followed it out, shouting at the droid in his native tongue. Upon seeing AG, the Utai’s small black eyes went wide and he hurried back inside, closing the door behind him.

“I figured I would find you here,” AG-37 said as he turned around to follow the irate droid.

“Not in the mood, Aygee,” the droid retorted.

“Wait,” said Rey. “This is Allie?”

The droid stopped and turned around to look at her. “What is it to you?”

“These two humans are seeking passage to the Ileenium system so that they may return to their allies.”

“And you can’t do it?” Allie asked.

“Not without some sort of financial compensation, which they are incapable of providing me with. I have no interest in getting involved with the affairs of organics, but I do know you are more… sympathetic to their struggles.”

“I would say that is an overstatement,” Allie said. “Just because I am a freedom fighter does not mean I stand with all who label themselves as such. Especially those who still use droids in their service.”

“But you have worked with the Resistance in the past, have you not?”

Allie hesitated for a moment. “Yes,” she said tentatively.

“Then you should have no qualms with doing so again.” With that, AG-37 began to walk back in the direction of his ship. “I will leave you to your negotiations. Our business together, such as it was, has concluded.”

Rey and Finn watched as the assassin droid stalked away, vanishing back into crowds. “Not much of a people-person, is he?” Finn remarked.

Shaking her head, Rey turned back to Allie. “I trust that you can get us to the Ileenium system?”

Allie cocked her head to one side. “How did you get lost in the first place?”

“We went on an… unsanctioned mission to Ronyards and lost our ship in the process. Aygee helped us get off Ronyards, but wouldn’t take us back. He said you might be able to help.”

“Yes, well, ‘might’ is a funny word, isn’t it?” Allie made a sound that simulated a sigh. “Listen, if you two had come to me at any other time, I could have easily helped you. But things have been… strange here on Batuu for the last few days.”

“How strange?” Finn asked.

Allie looked around before motioning the two of them to follow her into a secluded corner. Once they were well out of the earshot of anyone who might have been listening in, the droid said, “The First Order arrived here just the other day, trying to weed out anyone who might be a Resistance spy. Most people have been afraid to push back against them, especially since the local crime boss is all too happy to work with them.”

“Are there any… spies here?” Finn asked, his voice quieter than a whisper.

“I do have a… contact whom I have not heard from since the First Order arrived. I’m uncertain as to whether their position has been compromised or if they’re merely laying low.”

“So what do we do?” asked Rey.

“Well, your options as I see them are as follow: either we try to leave and get past security, leaving my contact behind… or we try to find my contact, rescue them, and find a way to call for reinforcements.”

Rey glanced at Finn. She knew that the first option would be out of the question, given that any First Order agents searching them would likely recognize Finn (or both of them) and that would be the end of them. The second option, as dangerous as it was, was really the only hope they have—and was far better than the alternative of knowingly leaving a Resistance agent behind.

“Let’s try and find your contact,” she said to Allie. “But first… I don’t suppose you can help get us some disguises? It might make walking around here a little bit easier for us.”

Allie chuckled—or rather made a sound that approximated one. “Now that, I can easily arrange.” 

The Vanguard

In the shadow of the twin moons Destra and Valara, the Star Destroyer Vanguard loomed over the planet of Batuu. As an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the Vanguard was rather old, especially when compared to the newer Resurgent-class models that made up a large portion of the First Order’s fleet. The fact that it and other of its kind had not yet been phased out was a mystery even to those who advocated that they remain in service.

In many ways, Admiral Vin Borgas could not help but feel like the Star Destroyer he commanded. Having lived through the rules of Palpatine, Kaine, Vorath, Pellaeon, and Verradun, he had accumulated quite a long-winded career at nearly sixty years of age. Even those of the First Order’s leadership, such as younger firebrands like General Hux, paled in comparison. Yet Borgas could not shake the feeling that he was on his way out the door; that his superior would force him to take an early retirement, or worse find some other means of relinquishing him of his duties. He had seen it happen to those before him, when veterans of the Clone Wars were phased out in favor of newer blood such as himself. Perhaps it was only fitting that the same would soon happen to him.

One thing that continued to baffle him was where Hux and his kind had come from in the first place. While he would gladly admit that he rarely paid much attention to what happened outside of his Sector Fleet besides what the Moff Council wished of him, the fact that people like Hux and Quinn had risen to high positions out of seemingly nowhere within the last decade was quite a shock to him, especially given how reduced the Empire’s numbers had been following the Imperial Sith War. Even more so was the fact that Kuat-Entralla Engineering and Sienar-Jaemus Systems, subsidiaries that Moffs Tareth and Tonith had established not long before the Glorian War, had been able to produce so many new model Star Destroyers and TIE fighters by the time of Darth Taral’s insurgency and the subsequent rise of the First Order. Clearly someone had been working behind the scenes in preparation for the First Order to come to power… but who and for how long, Borgas had no idea.

Of course, at the center of all these mysteries was the Supreme Leader himself, an enigma as much as everything else was. In all this time, he had yet to meet the Supreme Leader in any form, whether it be via hologram or in person. And considering that Snoke was supposedly incapacitated at the moment, with his Executor Kylo Ren taking temporary command, he probably would not for the foreseeable future. It made him wonder if Snoke even existed or was merely a fabrication meant to keep people like him in line. He would be suicidal to voice such suspicions aloud… but they were suspicions he held, nonetheless.

“Sir?”

Borgas withdrew himself from his musings as he looked down at the communications officer. “Yes?”

“You have a message from the Supremacy.”

Borgas stiffened at this before forcing himself to relax somewhat. The Supremacy was the Supreme Leader’s flagship, but he knew it would not be Snoke he would be speaking to. Most likely it would be some lowly informant delivering him a message from the Executor. Still, on the off-chance he was wrong….

“Direct it to my personal quarters,” he said. “I will receive it there.”

As the officer did as ordered, Borgas swiftly departed from the bridge and headed for his quarters. Once inside, he took a moment to steel his nerves, bracing himself for the worse, before answering the awaiting call. The holoprojector hummed to life as it displayed the shimmering blue form of the Executor himself. Instinctively, Borgas dropped to one knee and bowed his head. While he wasn’t sure if Kylo Ren considered himself a Sith Lord, his appearance certainly passed him off as one and Borgas could only assume that he demanded the same form of respect as the likes of Darth Vader.

“Admiral Borgas,” Kylo Ren said coolly. “Have you located the Resistance spy on Batuu?”

“Not yet, Executor,” Borgas replied. “However, my men are combing every inch of the planet. We will find them in due time.”

“See to it that you will. I also have another task for you.”

“Of course, my lord.” Borgas internally winced. Was Kylo Ren a lord? He only knew of Darth Vader from the stories of his uncle, yet this man reminded him so much of those tales….

If the Executor was bothered by the term, he did not indicate it. “There is a Sith holocron currently in the possession of the Ithorian collector Dok-Ondar, who operates on Batuu. I want you to retrieve the holocron and deliver it to me.”

“It shall be done, Executor.” Borgas chewed on his lip, uncertain as if he should voice the question circling in his head. Deciding to take the risk, he said, “If I may ask, do these orders come directly from the Supreme Leader himself?”

The momentary silence was icy enough to chill Borgas to the bone. “Does it matter?” Kylo Ren responded.

Borgas swallowed. “I suppose not. I will see to it that the artifact is recovered.”

Kylo Ren continued to regard him silently for a moment before his holographic image dissolved. Once it had, Borgas let out a sharp laugh into the darkness to relieve the stress that had built up within him.

“A delivery boy,” he murmured. “The Supreme Leader’s Executor is treating me as his delivery boy. Is that all I am to him? Forty-one years of service and this is the thanks I get….”

Shaking his head, Borgas sighed as he rose to his feet and straighten his uniform. With any luck, maybe he would be sent towards an early retirement. Maybe in Hell, he would be treated with some shred of respect.

Allie’s hideout, Batuu

“How the hell are you supposed to see out of this thing?”

“You see that thing in the front?” Allie replied. “It’s called a visor. Your eyes are supposed to see through them.”

“Thanks, I figured that,” Finn muttered as he slid the Ubese helmet over his head. “It’s pretty lacking in peripheral view, though.”

“Because it’s made for Ubese eyes rather than human ones.” Allie tapped a few buttons on the side of the helmet once it was secured over Finn’s head. “The HUD system should make up for its shortcomings.”

“So, where do we start looking for this contact of yours?” Rey asked from behind the weathered Mandalorian helmet fastened over her head. The rest of her disguise was comprised of a smuggler’s vest over a worn chestplate. Between her outfit and the Ubese armor Finn wore, they would hopefully pass off as the type of bounty hunters that populated the rest of Black Spire Outpost.

“Typically, we would rendezvous in Smuggler’s Alley,” Allie said. “However, I doubt she would frequent her usual places. Out next best place to check are the ancient ruins on the edge of the outpost.”

“What does she look like?” Finn asked.

“She is human like yourselves. Dark skin. Hair color and style varies; I believe she changes it frequently to keep her pursuers off her trail. She operates under many aliases, so I don’t have a name to give you.”

Parting through the drapes of her hideout, Allie poked her head outside before gesturing for Rey and Finn to follow her. Stepping back out into the streets of Black Spire Outpost, they began to make their way through the moving crowds, heading in what Rey could only assume was the direction of the ancient ruins Allie had referred to. The deeper they moved into the outpost, the more Rey started to notice the First Order’s presence on the planet. Stormtroopers were patrolling the streets, questioning and searching anyone they came across. Allie had told them that the stormtroopers would be unlikely to bother them given the reputation that both Mandalorians and the Ubese had for being ruthless and dangerous warriors. Even so, Rey remained on her guard, keeping her hand close to her concealed lightsaber.

She couldn’t help but wonder why the people of Batuu were being complacent with the First Order’s presence in the first place. She knew that the planet was far enough in the Outer Rim for them to be unconcerned with the affairs of the Galactic Alliance, but the fact that anyone in Black Spire Outpost was willing to comply with stormtroopers—notorious for being soldiers of the long-collapsed Empire—and not question their presence made her wonder what was going on. Perhaps it had to do with the crime boss Allie had mentioned earlier; perhaps they had a tighter hold on the people of this planet than anyone had let on.

As they walked along the trail known as Savi’s Path, Rey suddenly felt as if someone was watching her. Without even thinking about it, she stopped in her tracks and turned her around, directing her gaze towards a building near the Droid Depot, distinguished by its dome-shaped roof. Finn said something to her, but his mask automatically translated his words from Basic to Ubese. Regardless, she could still sense his concern as she subconsciously started to walk back in the direction they had came.

“What are you doing?” Allie asked. “We have to keep moving.”

“I sense something,” Rey said quietly. “It’s coming from over there… from that shop.”

Allie looked over to where she was facing. “Dok-Ondar’s den? There’s nothing of value there; just trinkets and baubles that the old Ithorian sells at ridiculous prices. Come on, we have to keep moving before they find us.”

But Rey was no longer listening to her, or to Finn for that matter. Something was calling to her; its words were indiscernible but she could tell it was trying to draw her there. It must have been important. She could not ignore it.

Forgetting all about the Resistance spy, she started to walk with determination towards the antique shop, ignoring Finn and Allie’s protests. She didn’t even notice the two stormtroopers that had also been heading in the same direction as she cut in front of them and stepped into the shop. Inside, surrounded by all sorts of artifacts and valuable items, was an old, weary Ithorian who lifted his enormous head to look at Rey as she walked in. He said something to her in his native tongue, which she did not understand; not that it mattered, as she was only here for one thing, and one thing only.

The pyramid-shaped object glowed bright with a scarlet gleam from where it was displayed, beckoning her towards it. She did not heed the Ithorian’s objections as she approached the holocron and removed it from its display, staring deeply into its crimson glow.

“You there! Stop!”

She rotated herself in the direction of the stormtroopers, who had barged into the den with their blasters raised. Sith holocron gripped tightly in one hand, she used her other to draw her lightsaber and ignite its blue blade. The stormtroopers opened fire and she easily deflected their blasts, redirecting them to strike back at the soldiers. As their bodies crumpled lifelessly to the ground, Rey stepped out of the den with the holocron, her mind a foggy haze.

The one thing that was clear was the voice that now spoke in her head. “Yes,” it said to her. “Good. Do not let anything step in your way. Embrace your power. Unleash your true potential. Give in to—”

Suddenly, the world spun around and before Rey knew it she was laying on the ground, both the holocron and her lightsaber have fallen out of her hands. Finn was standing over her, pulling her back to her feet as he fired his blaster at a group of stormtroopers that were now rushing towards them, weapons drawn and firing.

“Come on,” Finn urged her. “We have to move!”

“But…” Rey tried to say, unable to form words. “But—”

“I’ve got your lightsaber. Allie’s got the artifact. Come on, let’s go!”

Seeing no reason to argue, Rey followed Finn and Allie as they fled down Savi’s Path, the stormtroopers still firing after them.

The Supremacy, elsewhere in the galaxy

“Ah. Did you feel that?”

Kylo Ren stirred in what had once been the Supreme Leader’s throne. Beside him, placed within a small portable force cage, the child known as Kalon Sendor grinned at the Executor of the First Order.

“It would appear that there is another.”

Rolling his gloved hands into fists, Kylo Ren opened a channel to the Supremacy’s commander.

“Captain Yago, set a course for the Batuu system,” he ordered. “There is something I must attend to there personally….”

Star Wars: First Order of Business, Part 3

 3: DEATH TO THE NEW REPUBLIC

New Alderaan, 8005 C.R.C.

It had been Leia’s hope that she would have been able to avoid any real political work or conversations during her stay on New Alderaan. Unfortunately, the Force, as always, had other designs in mind.

“I must say, you are looking rather elegant today, Your Highness,” said Carise Sindian, beaming from her deep-golden face as she approached Leia in the busied streets of New Aldera. The young senator from Arkanis was wearing a long, flowing silver robe that was embroidered with glimmering jewels. Like Leia, she too was of royalty; unlike Leia, she wanted the entire galaxy to know about it. “Is that veda cloth you’re wearing?”

Leia forced a smile as she adjusted her blue robes. “Yes, I believe it is.”

“An excellent choice.” Sindian had a look on her face that suggested she had not approached Leia simply to discuss fashion sense. Knowing the younger woman as well as she did however, Leia knew that Sindian was going to bury the lead for as long as she could. “I must say, the past few days have exposed me to more Alderaanian culture than I could have ever dreamed of. I suppose the Empire was not as thorough in destroying Alderaan as they thought.”

Leia resisted a twitch from the rather insensitive statement. “I trust that you are enjoying it?”

“Very much so.” Sindian’s dark eyes were focused on Leia, as if she was studying her. “I am also rather intrigued by the bits of history that I’ve learned.”

Sensing that this was the direction in which Sindian wished to take the conversation, Leia chose her next words carefully. “Is that so,” she said simply.

“For one, there seems to be a question as to who carries the royal blood of Alderaan. Am I correct in assuming that the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention of 7945 was what resulted in your father’s ascension to the title of Viceroy and your mother’s ascension to the throne?”

“Yes,” Leia said tentatively.

“But your father’s mother was the queen, was she not? Would the throne not have been his birthright? It’s not like Alderaan hasn’t had kings in its past.”

Leia bit her lip, not knowing how much she should speak on the subject. “As I understand it, the contention was a bit more complicated than what the history records indicate. Even I don’t fully understand the details.”

Sindian gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. “Are you suggesting that Queen Breha’s ascension was not legitimate?”

“Of course not.” Leia knew she should have expected this. Sindian was the type of person to put words in others’ mouths. Typical politician, I suppose. “Again, I don’t fully understand the details. I just know that the contention was over more than just the title of viceroy.”

“How intriguing.” Sindian continued to regard Leia with those dark eyes of hers, something which made the older woman feel uneasy. “In any case, I don’t suppose it matters. You are Alderaanian royalty by blood either way.”

Leia stiffened slightly, doing her best to not show her discomfort. “Yes, but Alderaan is no more. If you are suggesting I declare myself Queen—”

“Is Alderaan gone? Truly?” A sly smile crossed the senator’s lips. “Look around you, Leia. Look at all of the people and culture that have managed to survive, despite the Empire’s efforts. Is Alderaan truly gone?”

Leia did not look around as prompted. She did not need to. She knew what Sindian was trying to say and she did not want to give her that sort of satisfaction. “I am already Chief of State of the New Republic,” she said. “What purpose would it serve to declare myself the queen of a planet that no longer exists physically?”

“Who says you cannot build a new kingdom here on New Alderaan itself?” Sindian asked. “The legacy of Alderaan would continue through you and your children. Just think: Queen Leia Organa of New Alderaan. It has a ring, doesn’t it?”

“Not to me. ‘Chief of State Leia Organa’ already carries its fair share of burdens.”

“I’m not suggesting you declare yourself Queen now,” Sindian said. “After all, you won’t be Chief of State forever. Once your term limits are up, then perhaps—”

“Then I plan on retiring to spend my remaining years with my family,” Leia said. “I appreciate your interest, Senator Sindian, but I suggest you focus on your own future rather than mine. After all, you still have your whole life ahead of you.”

Sindian looked as if she wanted to debate further but seemed to think better of it. Pursing her lips into a thin smile, she simply bowed and said, “I will allow you to enjoy the rest of your day. Until we speak again, Your Highness.”

With that, the silver-dressed woman vanished back into the crowds. Allowing herself to relax, Leia turned in the other direction, intent on finding her family. At that moment, she caught a gleam of gold and saw C-3PO amid the crowd, along with R2-D2 and her three children. Smiling, she walked over to meet them only to then frown when she saw the grave expressions on their faces.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

C-3PO started to speak but Jacen raised a hand to silence the protocol droid. “Artoo says he saw a strange figure somewhere in the crowds. He thinks they were wearing a mask that resembled—”

“That resembled a certain mask-wearing Sith Lord whose name we shouldn’t speak aloud so no one overheard and goes into a panic,” Jaina interjected pointedly.

Leia’s eyes went wide and she immediately looked over to the astromech droid. “Where did you see this person?”

R2-D2 warbled and C-3PO translated, pointing in the direction from where they had came. “He says he spotted them right after we had left one of the gaming dens. Of course, they could be anywhere at this point.”

“I will alert security,” Leia said, turning back to her children. “In the meantime, I want you to keep a lookout for whoever this individual is. If you see them, then alert me or the head of security; don’t act unless they do something.”

The trio nodded and immediately split up, heading in different directions into the crowds. Turning to the two droids, Leia said, “Go find Han and Chewie and have them meet me at the capitol. The president will want to know about this.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” C-3PO responded before heading off with his astromech counterpart.

Once she had alerted her head of security of the situation, Leia departed herself, heading in the direction of New Aldera’s capitol. As she made her way through the crowds, she found her mind racing in all sorts of directions, threatening to pull her back into memories she would rather not revisit. But she forced herself to focus on the here and now. The time for reminiscing would have to wait.

*  *  *

“How about another round of drinks, eh? All on me!”

Cheers rang out from all around the cantina as the bartender begrudgingly started preparing drinks. Most of the people there were either exhausted from all the celebrations out in the city’s streets, or had been dragged all the way to New Alderaan by their families and had no interest in participating in the celebrations.

Lando Calrissian, on the other hand, had a different reason for being there.

Turning away from the drunken patrons, he let his jovial facade drop as he slumped forward in his seat, pressing his aching forehead against the counter. His pounding headache and rising inebriation did nothing to ease the pain he felt in his heart. Thirteen years on and the pain had still not gone away. It never would, he knew, but the past couple of days had reopened old wounds that he had been able to grin through for some time now. Not even the sabacc tournament happening at the back of the room could take his mind off of it.

As the bartender placed another bottle of Corellian ale on the counter, Lando heard someone sit down on the stool next to him and pick up the bottle, pouring it into Lando’s glass. He forced himself to lift his head up and see the face of a very familiar scoundrel.

“So this is what you’re gambling your money on now, huh?” Han Solo remarked.

“It’s not gambling if you know what you’re getting,” Lando muttered.

“Fair enough. Still, how long do you plan on drowning your sorrows?”

“As long as I can still afford it.”

“And how’s that going for you?”

Lando patted the pockets of his pants. “I’ve got a hundred creds on me.”

“And your tab is…?”

“Ninety,” grunted the bartender.

“Sounds like a good place to stop for the day,” Han said. He poured himself a glass before patting Lando on the shoulder, leaning closer to his friend. “You’re thinking about Kadara, aren’t you?”

“What gave it away?” Lando retorted bitterly.

“You’re not alone, you know,” Han went on. “You’ve still got us. And Chance. Where is that scoundrel, anyway?”

“No idea,” Lando grumbled.

Han frowned, a genuine look of concern on his face. Glancing at the drink that Lando still hadn’t touched, he asked, “How much have you had already?”

“Not enough.”

“Well, something tells me it is.” Setting both his and Lando’s drinks aside, Han set down several credits onto the counter—enough to pay for the tab—before helping his friend off his stool, slinging Lando’s arm over his shoulders to keep him steady. “Come on, let’s get you somewhere nice and quiet so you can rest.”

Lando mumbled something incoherent in return. As the two of them were about to leave, Han spotted a certain golden protocol droid standing at the entrance to the cantina, barred from entering by the bouncer.

“Oh, Captain Solo!” C-3PO called out to him. “Princess Leia sent me to inform you—”

“Not now, goldenrod,” Han grunted as he brushed past the droid.

“She wants you to meet her at the capitol,” C-3PO pressed on. “It’s a rather urgent matter—”

“Isn’t it always.” Han sighed heavily. “Tell her I’ll be there as soon as possible, once I get Lando somewhere safe.”

The protocol droid kept talking, but neither Han or Lando were listening to him at this point. Lando could feel himself going in and out of consciousness, broken only by random words from Han, words he could not quite place or decipher.

In the moments where he drifted off, he saw the face of his daughter, smiling brightly at him as if she was really there. Then a dark hand would grab her from behind and drag her into the darkness, and he was too helpless to stop it. He could hear the voices of his wife and son shouting out at him, accusing him of letting Kadara get away from him.

“It’s not my fault,” he would tell them. “It’s not my fault!”

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting, akin to a gas vane opening, caused him to turn around and see Darth Vader standing over him, the sound of his mechanical breathing filling the air. At the Dark Lord’s feet were his friends—Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie—tied together in chains, all glaring at him with white hot fury.

“Traitor,” Darth Vader hissed at him as he raised his red lightsaber, ready to bring it down on Lando.

“It’s not my fault,” was all he could say as the crimson blade came down—

Lando jolted back to consciousness as he landed on a bed. He looked up just in time to see Han leaving through a door and closing it behind him. A low mewl brought his attention to Chewbacca’s presence as the Wookiee gently eased him back down and told him to rest. At least, that was how Lando was interpreting him; he had spent enough time with the Wookiee to pick up some of his language.

“Sorry about this,” Lando said sheepishly. “Guess I kinda let myself go.”

Chewbacca made a sympathetic sound. Taking in a deep breath, Lando closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall back asleep, praying that his dreams would be better this time.

His mind didn’t get a chance to form any when the explosions started.

*  *  *

“Terrorists, you say?”

“I can think of no other reason why anyone would wear such a mask,” Leia said, standing in the office of New Alderaan president Eglyn Valmor. “The idea of wearing the mask of someone like Vader, on a day dedicated to a planet he helped destroy, has to be deliberate.”

Valmor nodded in agreement. The ice-blonde woman was close to Leia in age and had been among the survivors of Alderaan that Leia had connected with following the planet’s destruction. Following the Battle of Endor, she had served as regent administrator of the Alderaan Flotilla but had withheld from settling on New Alderaan, as the wound of her homeworld’s loss was still too fresh for her to simply adopt a new home. Following the Imperial Sith War and the chaos it brought however, the people of New Alderaan looked to Valmor for guidance and she answered them by taking office and leading the planet into a new age, one that would preserve the legacy of Alderaan while starting one of its own.

In many ways, Leia saw some of herself in Valmor. They both shared a homeworld and carried the weight of its legacy and its people on their shoulders. In that regard, they were of equal footing.

“I will have security clear the streets,” Valmor finally said. “I don’t want to give these terrorists—if that’s what they are—any more time than they already have to strike.”

Leia grimaced but nodded her agreement. She knew a move like this would upset the crowds, perhaps even give them cause to worry, but it was far better than the alternative. “I will have my security do the same.”

As Valmor moved to contact her chief of security, Leia noticed one of the guards behind the president shift slightly. A young man with tan skin, he wore a helmet that was customary of Alderaanian royal forces, with the visor lowered slightly to hide the upper part of his face and at least partially mask his demeanor. Despite this, Leia could sense a shred of agitation radiating from the man as Valmor opened her comm channel. That was when Leia saw the guard reach for his holstered blaster, and in a matter of seconds she knew what was about to happen.

“No!” she cried out as the guardsman drew his blaster and pointed it directly at Valmor’s head. Before he had a chance to fire, Leia reached out with the Force and the man’s body froze in place, his finger centimeters away from pulling the trigger. The other guard moved in quickly and disarmed his partner before shoving him to the floor.

As Valmor looked on in shock, a hand over her chest, Leia stepped over to the traitorous guard and knelt down beside him, staring at him intently. “Who are you working for?” she demanded.

The young man glared at her with dark eyes. His mouth moved but the words were too quiet for Leia to hear.

“What was that?”

“Long live the Empire.”

He then clenched his teeth and electricity coursed through his body as the electro capsule in his mouth went off. As Leia and the other guard moved away from his twitching, smoking body, Valmor hailed her security to alert them to what had just happened. At the same time, a prickle from the Force directed Leia’s attention to the window and she looked outside in time to see smoke rising from the direction of the New Aldera Amphitheater. In the distance, explosions rang out as people ran in terror from an unseen threat.

Dread filled her thought as she watched the chaos unfold. It just never ends.

*  *  *

When Jaina Solo finally spotted the Vader impersonator in the crowd, it was already too late. By the time she had gotten her lightsaber unhooked from her belt, his thumb pressed down on the detonator in his hands and the ground shook as the New Aldera Amphitheater went up in flames. People cried out in terror and started to run past Jaina as she pushed her way through them, pursuing the mask-wearing terrorist.

Reaching out with the Force, she tried to trip her quarry by dropping a vendor stand in front of him. He easily jumped over it however and continued running, making a sharp turn down a small alleyway. Jaina followed him there and ignited her lightsaber, reaching out again with the Force to get a grip on him. She managed to yank on the black cloak he was wearing, which caused him to falter for a moment, only for him to shrug off the cloak and throw it at her. She cut through the cape with her violet blade before calling upon the Force to increase her speed. Apparently the attacker had not taken this into account, for he let out a cry of alarm when he looked back at her and saw that she was a lot closer to him than she had been mere seconds ago.

His confusion gave her the window of opportunity she needed and within seconds she closed the distance between them and tackled him from behind, pinning him to the ground with her knee while she held her lightsaber blade to his face.

“Don’t move,” she said through gritted teeth.

“D-death to the N-New Rep-Republic,” he stammered, his voice muffled behind his mask. “L-long live the Em…Empire.”

Without warning, his body jolted with electricity and Jaina jumped away from him. Upon realizing what had happened, she regarded his dead body with both pity and disdain before turning away and running back down the alleyway. She could still hear explosions going off, indicating that this boy had not been alone. If the others were anything like him however, she doubted Jacen or any of the others would be able to get anything from out of them.

Coming back out into the streets, she saw that Jacen was indeed grappling with another of the terrorists. Like the one she had pursued, this one was also wearing a costume modeled after Darth Vader, although he appeared to be older and more experienced than the one Jaina had seen died given how he was putting up more of a fight. Regardless, he was ultimately no match for a Jedi and Jacen easily brought him to his knees with his lightsaber.

Holding his emerald blade to the assailant’s neck, Jacen said, “Surrender now so you may answer for your crimes.”

“What happens to me now will change nothing,” the attacker growled. “The message has been sent and we have served our purpose. Death to the New Republic. Long live the Empire.”

“Get back,” Jaina warned. “He’s going to—”

Sure enough, the attacker bit down on an electro capsule and his electrified body collapsed to the ground. Growling in frustration, Jacen tore the mask off of the attacker… only to drop it as he stepped back in shock.

“What is it?” Jaina asked, stepping closer.

Jacen said nothing and Jaina soon realized why as she looked down at the face of the deceased assailant. Although it was far younger than she had ever known it in her life, the face the attacker wore bore an uncanny resemblance to that of her uncle, the great Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Star Wars: Tales from the Jedi Order - Keeping Score

 KEEPING SCORE

Wasskah, 40 BBY

“How does it feel, Jedi, to lose to a Trandoshan?”

Plo Koon remained silent as he sat cross-legged in the cage he had been placed in. The Trandoshans standing guard had spears pointed at him through the steel bars, ready to strike if he so much as flinched. Their leader chuckled, a guttural sound, as she paced away from the cage and walked over to the second captive Jedi. Lissarkh was sitting on her knees, her hands binded by stun cuffs, as she looked downcast at the ground, wincing as the older Trandoshan brushed a claw against her face.

“You have done well, daughter,” the lead hunter hissed. “With this catch, the Scorekeeper will award us many points.”

“I didn’t,” Lissarkh stammered, tripping over her words. “I’m not—”

“You’re not what? Not my daughter? Was it some other hatchling that was taken from my nest by that wretched Wookiee Jedi? Trandoshan Jedi are a rare sight in the galaxy, and you are young enough to be that very hatchling. Unless there is more than one female Trandoshan Jedi in the galaxy that is your age, which I very much doubt.”

Lissarkh squeezed her eyes shut and Plo Koon could sense his Padawan’s growing apprehension and anger. He sent calming thoughts to her through the Force while keeping his attention on the older Trandoshan female.

“If you are indeed correct that my Padawan here is your daughter, Hunter Yavassk, then I believe you have a different account of the story than from what I have been told.”

Yavassk snapped her head back to the Kel Dor Jedi, her forked tongue slithering from her mouth. “And just what is your version of events, Jedi?”

“As I understand it, the Wookiee Jedi you speak of—Master Tyvokka, my former teacher—came to this sector seventeen years ago to rescue Trandoshan hatchlings from being sold into slavery. Your daughter happened to be one of them and, sensing that she was Force-sensitive, brought her with him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.” Plo Koon inclined his head slightly. “Is that accurate to how you understand it?”

“What you Jedi saw as slavery, I saw as an opportunity,” Yavassk retorted. “The Zygerrians were offering to train our children to become skilled hunters, the best that Trandosha would ever have to offer. Eternal servitude to their future masters was a small price to pay for pleasing the Scorekeeper. You Jedi had no right to interfere!”

“These hatchlings included not only your own but those taken from the Speaker-Above-All himself. Many Trandoshans believed that the Wookiees were responsible for the kidnappings and the Senate sent us to investigate. You overstepped your boundaries and that incited a response from the Jedi.”

Yavassk sneered at Plo Koon, baring her teeth. “You think I care what the Spineless-Above-All thinks? He is too weak willed to stand up against Senator Yarua and fight for the representation we deserve. His children would have fared far better under the guidance of the Zygerrians.”

“I do not believe kidnapping children is making quite the statement you want it to make,” Plo Koon said.

“Enough!” Yavassk snarled. “We have wasted enough time already. It is time for us to hunt.”

“But you have already captured us.”

“Capturing a Jedi is one thing. Killing is another.” Yavassk grinned wickedly. “You will be released into the wilderness and my clan—including my daughter—will hunt you down. Whoever kills you will be rewarded greatly by the Scorekeeper.”

“No!” Lissarkh protested. “I will not participate in your game. He is my master and—”

“You are a Jedi no longer,” Yavassk snapped at her. “You are a Trandoshan, now and forevermore. You will do as the Scorekeeper wishes.”

“No. I won’t—”

“Lissarkh,” Plo Koon said calmly. “Do as she asks.”

Lissarkh stared at her master in surprise. “But—”

“My decision is final. If your family wishes to hunt, then a hunt they shall have.”

“That’s more like it.” Yavassk motioned for the guards to step away and open the cage. “Since I’m feeling generous, you will have a ten minute head start. That should make it challenging enough.”

Plo Koon rose to his feet as the cage opened. As he stepped out, he gave one last look at his Padawan, who stared back at him with wide eyes of confusion. Without a word, he then turned and ran into the forest.

*  *  *

True to her word, Yavassk did not shoot the starting blaster until exactly ten minutes later. By then, Plo Koon had found his hiding spot and waited patiently for the Trandoshan hunters to make their way through the forest.

He had expected that this mission would have led to this. The Council had been hesitant to send any Jedi to Wasskah to investigate claims of missing children, both Trandoshan and Wookiee alike. When Master Tyvokka had investigated similar such claims seventeen years ago, it had only worsened tensions between the two races as many Trandoshans believed that it had all been a set-up by the Wookiees and that the Jedi had deliberately sent Tyvokka in order to paint the Wookiees as heroes. As most Jedi separated themselves from the culture of their homeworlds, the Council had not expected such a connection to be made and were thus reluctant to potentially make the same mistake.

It was only when Plo Koon volunteered himself and Lissarkh for the mission that the Council agreed to send Jedi to Wasskah and potentially bring an end to the kidnappings. While Lissarkh had long since distanced herself from her people’s culture, having been brought to the Jedi Temple mere weeks after being hatched, the presence of a Trandoshan Jedi being the one to save the missing children would have hopefully convinced the Trandoshans that the Wookiees were not to blame and that Yavassk was acting entirely of her own accord. 

As it turned out however, there were no missing children. It had all been a trap, as Yavassk had been banking on the fact that the Jedi would send someone as they had in the past, and her family would be able to acquire “points” from their deity the Scorekeeper for killing a Jedi. The fact that Yavassk was also reunited with her daughter was merely a bonus, from what Plo Koon had gathered.

Reaching out with the Force, Plo Koon could sense that the Trandoshans were on their way to find him, Lissarkh being among them. He and his Padawan had been both deprived of their lightsabers, although Lissarkh had doubtlessly been given a weapon of some kind by her mother. He only hoped that she did not give into her emotions and use it for the wrong reasons. This would be a trial she would have to face alone, without his guidance, if she wished to become a true Jedi Knight.

In the distance, Plo Koon heard something snap, followed by an alarmed wail. By the sounds of it, a trap had been sprung by one of the Trandoshans—likely a trap that had been intended for Plo Koon himself. Were the hunters so blind as to miss their own traps?

A few moments later, he heard another cry as one of the other hunters fell into a pit. He then listened as a third was taken out by flying darts, a fourth by a log thrown at his face, and a fifth was launched into the air, flying directly over Plo Koon’s hiding spot. The bushes behind him then startled to rustle and he braced himself as he slowly turned around, ready to face his hunter.

“Master?”

Plo Koon allowed himself to relax as Lissarkh poked her head through the bushes. “It would appear you have won the game, my young Padawan.” He gestured to where the Trandoshan hunter had flown over. “Was that your doing?”

Lissarkh nodded somewhat sheepishly. “I pretended to know exactly where you were and led them into their own traps. They were too focused on the hunt to realize what I was doing.”

“It would appear you did know where I was hiding.”

“Well, yes. But not where I made them believe they were hiding.”

Plo Koon chuckled as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Well done, Padawan. Now then, let us have a talk with your mother.”

“I’m right here, Jedi.”

Master and apprentice turned around to see Yavassk emerge from the bushes opposite of where Lissarkh had emerged from, a vibrostaff clutched tightly in her claws. Both of their lightsabers were secured safely to her belt, placed within a lock that would make it difficult for either of them to grab their weapon with the Force.

“You disappoint me, daughter,” Yavassk growled, glaring at Lissarkh. “You could have earned a place in the Scorekeeper’s good graces.”

“The Scorekeeper means nothing to me,” Lissarkh protested. “I am a Jedi and I trust only in the Force.”

“Only because that is how the Jedi have warped your mind,” Yavassk hissed. “There’s a reason they kidnap children so young, before their minds have had a chance to develop even the most basic of functions. It is so they indoctrinate you with their ideals and make it so that you can never question them.”

Lissarkh narrowed her eyes. “That is where you are wrong, mother.”

Yavassk laughed bitterly. “And how is that?”

“Because I have questioned it. Many times.”

Plo Koon glanced at Lissarkh but said nothing. She stepped forward until she was between him and Yavassk, separating them from each other. “During my final year as an Initiate, I met a youngling who had been brought in from Gallus. Because his species lived on formaldehyde, he had to be placed in a small vat or exo-suit filled with it in order to live. I then asked my clan’s teacher why he couldn’t have been taught on Gallus, and I was told that it was because all Jedi must cut ties with their homeworld in order to become a true Knight of the Order. I didn’t understand that reasoning, and none of my teacher’s answers satisfied the question that was really burgeoning in my head.

“I didn’t get my answer until my second year as a Padawan. My master and I traveled to a planet where the people were under the threat of a warlord. Said warlord had a connection to the Force, but it was raw and uncontrollable. It made him a danger to everyone around him, including himself. Unfortunately, his powers got too far out of hand and we were unable to save him before he perished. If he had been found by the Jedi Order at an earlier age, then perhaps he could have been trained to control his powers and become a respectable Jedi Knight. Maybe then, he and the people he killed would have still been alive.

“The Force is a gift, but it can be a dangerous one when left unchecked. That is why the Jedi Order exists; so that power can be controlled and used for good, rather than evil. But it must be done from an early age, or else it will be too late to temper the storm that will come.”

Yavassk snorted in disdain. “It is just as I feared. Your mind has been warped too much by their teachings. I am afraid you are too far gone. But no matter.” She raised her vibrostaff over her head. “I am sure the Scorekeeper will reward me greatly for killing two Jedi instead of just one.”

With a battle cry, the Trandoshan lunged at the two Jedi. Before she could reach them, a blue blade emitted from one of the lightsabers secured to her belt, breaking through the lock she had on it and stabbing her in the leg. As Yavassk cried out in pain, Plo Koon summoned his lightsaber to him with the Force and used it to cut through Yavassk’s arms, dropping them and the vibrostaff to the ground. Howling in pain, Yavassk dropped to her knees as Plo Koon pointed the blade of his saber at her neck.

“I’m afraid the Scorekeeper will not be keeping score for you today,” the Jedi Master said coolly.

A furious glare was the only response the Trandoshan gave him.

*  *  *

“We will be sure to inform both the Chancellor and Senator Yarua of your successful mission,” the Republic Judicial said as Yavassk was led onto an awaiting shuttle. “I’m sure they will be intrigued by the fact that a Trandoshan Jedi was responsible for the apprehension of such an elusive criminal.”

“That they will,” Plo Koon said. He looked over to Lissarkh and saw that she had her back to the rest of them, staring into the forest from which they had escaped. “Give me a moment, lieutenant,” he then said to the Judicial. “I must have a brief word with my Padawan.”

The young Commenori man nodded and walked back to the shuttle, leaving Plo Koon alone with Lissarkh. Walking over to his apprentice, he put a hand on her shoulder and she broke her gaze from the forest to look up at him.

“Your master was the one who brought me to the Temple, wasn’t he?”

Plo Koon nodded. “That he was.”

“Was it a coincidence, then, that you chose me as your Padawan?”

“In the Living Force, there are no coincidences,” Plo Koon replied. “From the moment you were brought to the Temple, Master Tyvokka informed me that you would be a special case. And I knew he was right when I first saw you at the Apprentice Tournament.”

Lissarkh continued to stare at him, as if she was studying him with her reptilian eyes. “He had just died, hadn’t he, when you took me on as your apprentice? Did his death influence your choice?”

Plo Koon sighed as he looked away, staring at the forest himself. “Perhaps it did. I had always believed that he intended on making you his Padawan once you were ready. Perhaps the Force guided me to you when he became one with it.”

“Are you glad it did?” Lissarkh sounded half-joking when she said this, but Plo Koon did not take it that way. He turned to face her directly, both hands on her shoulders.

“Very much so.”

Lissarkh’s mouth curved into a grin. “So am I.”

Plo Koon’s comlink chimed at that moment and the Kel Dor Jedi answered it. “Master Plo, this is Lieutenant Dodonna. We are all set. Whenever you’re ready to leave….”

“We will be joining you shortly, lieutenant,” Plo Koon replied. With a nod to his Padawan, the two Jedi turned away from the forests of Wasskah as they headed back for the ship, ready to leave it and the history it carried well enough behind.