TerrekCorso Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Star Wars The Old Republic: The Tales of Twisted Fate The Adventures of Kyle Laurent, Episode I – The Hunted Jedi (ATC 0) Chapter 1 - Ambushed All around the galaxy, skirmishes break out. The strong armed treaty, though declaring peace, did little to stifle the forces of either side’s will too fight. Though the grand campaigns of imperial conquest seemed to be over, the Republic Guard were forced to stand by and watch contested systems suffer and fall under the treaty’s conditions. Generals and admirals all across the galaxy defiantly continued to mount their own campaigns of glory against their respective foes. Deep in the outer rim a republic Hammerhead class starship was on its way home, returning from a failed attempt at emergency rescue. Despite being unable to save the convoy, the Hammerhead and its crew had ensured that the pirates responsible would not be causing any more trouble. Suddenly, in the emptiness of the space surrounding them, a lone sith battlecruiser dropped out of hyperspace and ambushed them. The Hammerhead’s escort squadron fought ruthlessly as hordes of imperial fighters, erupted from the battlecruiser’s hanger bays, threatening to engulf them. Kyle Laurent weaved back and forth among the multitude of hostile ships, wreaking havoc among their ranks. Despite the constant chatter coming from the republic comm channel his hands were loose, his mind clear and undistracted. He had plenty of questions and he could feel that those questions were shared by those around him. How did the empire find them? Why did they attack them? Did they mean to find them there, and if not what were they doing in a distant corner of the outer rim? But the questions would have to wait. As Kyle broke through the rear lines, of the incoming imperial fighters, many turned to follow him. He’d have to keep his wits about him if he wanted to survive. Meanwhile, aboard the Republic Hammerhead. “It worked! He’s drawing them away” a slightly exited, very nervous young man yelled out across the bridge. “Now we just have to hope he lives long enough to make a difference here.” The captain, a young, petit, blonde woman with short hair, responded. “Don’t you worry your sweet little tush captain, He’s the best darn pilot I’ve ever seen” the voice of Van Starwind blurted out over the bridge’s comm. “I hope so, or else his sacrifice will have been for nothing.” The captain snapped back at Van over the commlink, convinced that Kyle’s decoy run would get him killed.. “I hope you like surprises captain, anyway I’ll be out there with them in a second. I just got to my ship…Wish me luck.” responded Starwind, a belated humor in his tone. “Good luck Van” The captain said, barely audible. Van switched off his comlink as he approached the Rising Fox, shivered at the thought of listening to that woman bark orders out during a combat engagement. As the ship shook from the firepower of the enemy barrage, he turned about at the bottom of the access ramp and, somewhat frantically, looked around the hanger. At the far end of the hanger a group of troopers was busy hastily arming the last of the fighters in the bay. “Hey you!” Van yelled generically in their direction, causing a few of them to look over. “I need a gunner!” he yelled as he headed up the ramp, in to the Rising Fox. Most of the troopers who’d noticed him yell went back to work. Those that didn’t looked around at each other waiting for someone to step forward. “Hurry up!” Van’s voice resounded from inside the Fox, full of agitation and impatience. Not a moment later the sound of a wrench hitting the metal floor echoed out and Damon Rann came sprinting past his fellow troopers from in between two docked fighters and straight up in to the Rising Fox. The boarding ramp withdrew, the door shut and the ship took off, out of the hanger and in to the battle outside. “I could swear I just got off this hunk of junk!” Damon yelled through the Fox’s interior as he made his way to the gunners pod. “Oh…Great….It’s you…I guess I won’t feel so bad if I get us killed then.” Van retorted, and with that they entered the mad fray of panic that raged, in the guise of a battle. Chapter 2 - A Risky Maneuver The last words to be spoken by many pilots flooded over the comm., often cut short or over taken by static as the defense of the republic ship waned. “Turn towards the battlecruiser.” The captain of the Hammerhead frantically ordered. “Ma’am, in our current state we’re no match for their firepower!” her first mate protested “It doesn’t matter we’ve got to protect the engines. As long as they’re active we have a chance at escape.” The captain retorted. Not amused in the slightest by the questioning of her orders. “Right! Right! Pull right!” Damon’s panicked voice screamed over the Fox’s comm. system as a wing of imperial fighters soared straight at them. Moments before they collided Van pitched the Fox left, simultaneously pulling hard right, forcing the Fox into a corkscrew maneuver around the central fighter. Damon screamed as the other fighters in formation passed only inches from his gunner’s pod. Despite the proximity, he fired, not willing to pass up the sure hit. Various fighters promptly erupted in balls of flames, nearly catching the Fox in the blast. “Set us on course to move above them. Equalize shield strength, Prepare to initiate slow barrel roll to disperse their firepower.” The captain frantically barked out her orders, the ship shook from the enemy’s barrage as she spoke. “We’ll never survive, the turbolasers!” Her first mate yelled, continuing his protest to her course of action. The captain shot him a disgusted look, but even she found it difficult to believe they’d survive. After a short pause she found her composure again. “Full speed ahead, all batteries aim for their bridge. We’ll force them to turn out of our trajectory.” She said as she turned to face the carnage outside. “Commander, grow a pair and be ready to make the jump to hyperspace as soon as we’re clear.” She then added. Members of the crew hurried across the bridge, carrying out the captain’s orders while the ship continued to shake violently. “All wings…engage the battlecruiser’s top-side turbo lasers.” The captain said sorrowfully, already starting to mourn the losses she knew were coming. With the ship moving in above their enemy she knew the crossfire alone would likely be the death of many of their fighters if not all. But they needed to divert as much of the enemies firepower away from their ship if they wanted any chance at escape. Van hadn’t heard what was going on, he’d turned off his comm. To the fleet, he did however catch the sight of the first wave of republic fighters as they pulled straight in to the sea of crossfire between the two larger vessels. Most of the squadron was ripped apart in seconds. “No…No, no! Damon… hold on to your butt!” Van yelled as he watched another squadron descend in to the chaos and, guessing the plan, prepared to follow them in. A slim figure stood motionless in the center of the imperial battlecruiser’s bridge amongst the hectic officers controlling the battle. Her blood red cloak draped down to the floor, hiding her figure. The hood, pulled up, concealed her face. The captain approached her as the bridge shook violently. “We’ve lost the bridge deflector shields!” he yelled, visibly scared. “Do not let them escape captain. The admiral has informed me of your previous failures, you will not fail again.” The blood red clad woman spat back at the captain. “Port side turn! Match pitch! Line up our broadside and take out their hyperdrive. They will not evade us today.” The captain said, turning back to his crew. Meanwhile, the mysterious woman in red silently left the bridge. The Fox dropped down from the elevated Hammerhead, down toward the battlecruiser below. The squadron before them pulling apart the enemy fighters that flooded toward them, while the heavy batteries from both ships fired non stop, creating a chaotic rainstorm of laser fire. “Follow me!” Van yelled after adjusting the Fox’s comm. system to communicate with the squadrons around him again. The Fox sped forward, barely dodging its demise. It barely pulled safe of ramming in to the battelcruiser’s top deck and soared toward the bridge. “Stay low!” he barked over the comm. They nearly scrapped the deck below attempting to avoid the range of the larger turbo lasers as they honed in on their target. “Their fire is being diverted.” A young man on the Hammerhead’s bridge yelled, a slight enthusiasm in his voice. “We might survive this after all” the first mate said under his breath moments before the bridge was, again, shaken violently. As the crew recovered from the shock, their worst fear had been realized. “The hyperdrive’s been hit!” A member of the bridge crew screamed in disbelief. The remaining republic fighters were dropping like flies as they etched ever closer to being within missile range of the enemy bridge. “They’re behind us!” the scream of a republic pilot, near the Rising Fox echoed over the comm. before his fighter burst in to flames and slammed in to the deck below. Van maneuvered away from the hull of the enemy ship before he was picked off like the fighters behind him. The rest, both enemy and allied fighters, followed him out. Still bursting toward the bridge, Van pulled the Fox in to a continuous barrel roll, narrowly avoiding the fire from all directions. “Come on baby…keep on rising…you foxy lady you” Van recited his lucky chant, in a playful tone under his breath while he, half panicked, steered them through the heaviest firefight he’d ever seen. “Almost there, almost there, almost there” Damon repeatedly pointed out while biting his lip in anxiety. His eyes were fixed on the distance indicator next to his targeting reticule. Suddenly, from above and behind the imperial battelcruiser, a line of blaster fire came shooting past the Fox. It rammed straight in to the pursuing enemy fighters, dispersing those that weren’t destroyed. “Van you better not miss this shot!” Said the familiar voice of Kyle Laurent as his fighter soared head on toward the Rising Fox, picking off enemies behind and finally flew, full speed, past the Fox as it continued on and in to range of the bridge. “Fire!” Damon screamed in rage as his reticule switched to indicate a lock. While Damon fired away, Van let go two missiles, which promptly shot forward and erupted right on target. The bridge ignited in a giant display of sparks and fire. Slowly the movement from the rest of the ship stopped. The fighters broke off and the republic forces cheered as they pulled away from the battle and in to space. As the cheers started to settle the captain turned her attention to her ship. “What’s the damage, can we still jump? We need to regroup as soon as possible.” She said, aware that they were not out of danger yet. “The hyperdrive is leaking, we can make a short jump but we’ve got to get this repaired or we’ll be in the same shape as the unfortunate imperial friends we just escaped.” Her first mate responded, after reviewing their condition. “Set course for the nearest system, we’ll repair there, we have to leave now.” She ordered before leaving the bridge to conduct other matters. “Set Course for Tatooine, easy on the hyperdrive. We want to arrive in one piece.” The first mate ordered, now in command of the bridge. As the orders spread out to the remaining fighters the Republic Hammerhead, activated its hyperdrive and disappeared. “Hey kid, glad you made it. See you on Tatooine Kyle.” Van said over his comm.. “Uhm…about that Van… think you could give me a lift. My engines seem to be burnt out.” Kyle replied over the comm. system in his usual no problems tone of voice. Van laughed as he pulled in next to the floating fighter and prepared to bring Kyle aboard. Chapter 3- Old Friends The Rising Fox dropped out of hyperspace above the desert planet of Tatooine. Damon sat in the co-pilot seat next to Van, having left the turret in the aftermath of the battle. As Van plotted in a descending course, the silhouette of the badly damaged Hammerhead came in to view. “I’m glad you made it Van. I’m sorry about your Jedi friend.” said the voice of the Hammerhead’s captain over the comm. system. Only a moment later Kyle stepped in to the Fox’s cockpit. He’d taken the time to change out of his flight suit and back in to his regular attire consisting of a loose fitting pair of blue trousers and a simple white shirt. His father’s old brown, double breasted, flight jacket hung loose over his shoulders and one of his high, tough, boots was still in his hand. “Sorry to disappoint cap’ but I’m still here.” Kyle said in his usual playful, light hearted, tone of voice while he strapped on his other boot in the back of the cockpit. There was a short silence from the comm. while the Fox continued planetside. “We’ve sent a team down to pick up some supplies and the parts we need to fix the hyperdrive. If you could help transporting those supplies we would be most grateful Captain Starwind.” A young man’s voice said over the comm. in place of the Hammerhead’s captain. “Sounds great, I’ll turn on my beacon, they can follow it to my ship, I’ve got to say hello to someone while we’re stuck here.” Van responded. With that the Rising Fox left the view of the hammerhead, as though swallowed by the planet bellow. Not long after, the Fox touched down in the starport of Anchorhead. The boarding ramp came down and before it touched the sandy ground of Tatooine Van Starwind was already walking down it. There was nobody there to greet them but the scorching heat of Tatooine’s twin suns. The Rising Fox had once been a common sight on the planet, but a decade had passed since then. It even took Van a little while to get used to the fell brightness of Tatooine’s twin suns before he could see properly again. As usual on the dessert planet there was an assortment of small business ventures that, given the history of the planet, were doomed to fail. Then of course there were the locals, those that weren’t hostile like Jawas who flourished in and around the spaceports. They learned to get along with the galaxies undesirables, who came to the planet looking for a job or just trying to disappear. There was really only one ‘low-life’ Van was searching for though, and he was positive that his arrival had not gone unnoticed. Just then one of the access ways to their hanger opened and Van saw the wide-grinning face of an old friend. The arrival caught the attention of Damon and Kyle, who did not know the man. He was a short man with thick, wavy blonde hair. He had a sturdy build and a rather pale skin, considering the climate he called home. The two men yelled in a fashion of greetings as they approached each other. Suddenly Van swept his arm round and punched the man straight in the jaw who then collapsed on the floor. “That’s for Janeth!” Van yelled over the collapsed man before turning around to see the stunned faces of Kyle and Damon, who looked curiously at his still widening grin. Before they could ask what was going on, the man had already gotten to his feet. Just as Kyle started to raise his hand in warning to Van, Van swung round, as though expecting it. He turned straight in to the curled fist of the blonde man and in a similar fashion collapsed. “That’s for Tisha, you sorry excuse for a space pilot!” The blonde man said, obviously responding to Van’s earlier comment, “And you’re one worthless farmer Killric!” Van replied as he pulled himself back to his feet. “You still got a mean right hook though.” Van added. After a silent moment of intense starring the two men suddenly broke out laughing. “Kyle, Damon. This is Killric Sado, a simple moisture farmer here on the beautiful plains of Tatooine.” Van enthusiastically introduced the man, raising his hand in their direction in an overly dramatic presentation. “Welcome to Tatooine, any friends of Van’s are friends of mine.” said Killric as he extended his hand to greet them both. “Derin… Derin come here and meet your uncle Van.” Killric yelled out. The hanger had become busier during the conversation. A maintenance crew, mainly comprised of Jawas had begun work on the Rising Fox. It added to the unusual for Kyle, who had seen Van yell in docking ports across the galaxy to ‘keep your nerf-hearting hands off my ship.’ While Van and Killric immersed themselves in conversation, a child of ten years old came dashing from between the Jawas, dressed in a matching maroon robe, like a crazed rocket. It startled Kyle as the child zipped by, and out of reflex, he grabbed the boys hood. The boy came to an abrupt halt before he was yanked back towards Kyle, who then quickly let go. “Derin…” Killric said with a bit of disappointment in his voice as the boy got to his feet. “Well if it isn’t a chip off the old block. I remember the night this little critter was born.” Van said turning to the 10 year old version of his friend. As he bent through his knees to come to the boy’s eye level he felt nostalgic, like he was looking back in time at his friend and suddenly, he felt old. “I bet you just love farming like your daddy don’t you?” Van asked the child less than sincerely. He tried not to laugh and began to rush the sentence as he was being cut short by Killric. “You know we aren’t farmers anymore, I practically run this port, dad turned us in to farmers and you know well as I do he hated it.” Killric ranted frantically, obviously a nerve had been touched by the question posed. The two men looked at each other again straight in the eye and at the same time asked. “So why did we move to this barren rock?!” before, once again, breaking out in hysterical laughter. Soon however Damon interjected. “I’m sorry, but we really should meet up with the republic convoy and get going, you can stay back and reminisce if you want but I’m employed and on a schedule, so I gotta go.” He said to Van. “Go on ahead. I’ll keep an eye on the Fox and catch up with my buddy here. The ship will be waiting when you get back.” Van replied. “It was a pleasure meeting you Killric.” said Kyle before joining Damon on his way out of the hanger area and on to the streets of Anchorhead. From there they’d rent a couple speeders and meet up with the convoy to, hopefully, speed up the repair of the damaged Hammerhead starship orbiting the planet. Chapter 4 – The Beast in the Cave Outside the haven of Anchorhead, in the vast expanse of dessert, two speeder bikes race across the plain. Moving quickly, side by side, two distinct dust trails billow in their wake as Kyle and Damon rush to meet up with the republic squad ahead. Suddenly Kyle slammed on the brakes and Damon noticed himself shoot ahead of the Jedi, who came to an abrupt stop. Damon swept round with his rented speeder bike and pulled up next to the identical model, on which Kyle sat staring down at the chassis. “What’s wrong?” Damon asked slightly concerned. “I feel…cold.” Kyle responded, as though searching for the right words only to come to an ominous conclusion. “You’re joking right? It’s boiling out here and don’t tell me it’s the armor, there are two blazing suns up there.” Damon said with a bit of humor but obviously driving for a more compete answer. The two men had gotten used to each others’ mannerisms in the months that followed the siege of Coruscant. Since the Treaty of Coruscant Damon had been lost, his unit was gone, the fight lost. He’d managed to escape death by mere luck, the crazy rouge pilot Van Starwind saved his life and from there his adventures with Kyle began. Both thrust in to new stages of their lives, Damon had no idea what destiny had in store for them, but he knew that when he travelled with them they saved lives, they made a difference. “Go on ahead I’ll catch up when I can. I… I have to check this out.” Kyle said. He knew that Damon was hoping for a more insightful response but the truth was, he didn’t really know what he was feeling. “Check what out? It’s sand, sand and some more sand!” Damon yelled at Kyle as the jedi jumped off of his speeder bike and walked out in to the dessert. “Alright don’t take too long, we want to get off this burnt dust ball as soon as possible.” Damon said in a final effort of communication before speeding off, towards the convoy and his fellow republic troopers. Kyle stared in the distance as Damon sped off, before him nothing but dunes of shining sand and an ominous chill in the force, drawing him forward. As the cloud of dust, left in the wake of Damon’s speeder, disappeared over the horizon, Kyle turned his gaze to see him pass beyond sight. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, to sense the source of the darkness around him. Turning to face the endless dunes again, Kyle was astonished to see the mouth of a large cave on the far side of a nearby dune. He was not surprised there was a cave, but as his sight fell upon it, a wave of the same presence cascaded over him. Cautiously Kyle approached the cave while the sinister presence attempted to invade his mind, prodding him for weakness. As Kyle enters the mouth of the cave his vision fails. The stark contrast between the light of Tatooine’s twin suns and the pitch black of the cave force the young Jedi Knight to rely on his other senses. He reaches out in the force, searching for the origin of the dark presence, but it seems to envelop all. His eyes began to adjust as he made his way down in to the depths of the cave. A single huge tunnel carved its way down the length and thin, pointy, stalagmites and stalactites had formed all about, the concentration of which, however, was near the sides of the cavern. There, many of the rock formations had grown together, creating slender concave columns, narrowing the main tunnel path. Descending further the rock formations stopped and Kyle was left standing in the seemingly shifting darkness. The fleeting presence brooded around him, never still. Kyle glimpsed what he believed to be a figure in the dark before him and a moment later the blue glow of his lightsaber’s blade burst out, in to the cavern. In that blue light the figure took shape, a dark clad and hooded man with a particularly long lightsaber hilt in his outstretched hands. The darkness that had emanated from all about had finally revealed its source, but what was this dark lord doing here, Kyle thought. The answer was irrelevant, he brought his saber up to guard before his opponent and with that the mysterious hooded man ignited the top end of his lightsaber, invading the blue light with that of his purple blade and illuminating himself further. His black robes were accented by a branching pattern of purple lightning. The hilt of his lightsaber bore a similar design in gold, the pattern twisting round the grip. His face however, was still dark, from under the hood all that Kyle could see was the faint glow of two radiant yellow eyes. Kyle stepped forward, time seemed to pass slowly as the combatants neared each other and before the first strike, his enemy released the other end of his lightsaber, producing another dazzling purple blade. Taking the initiative, Kyle engaged, striking hard at his opponent and driving him back. The counter came soon after and time continued to pass slowly to Kyle. He blocked a blow from his left and the follow up to his right, after which, with a slight twist of the wrist, brought his saber crashing down on his opponent’s weapon. The double-bladed lightsaber split apart and the dark figure stumbled backward. With only a single blade working, the dark cave dweller brought his saber up to guard, at last illuminating his face. Kyle went pale, for the first time during the fight he was unaware of the passage of time. For the first time since he’d felt this presence, he was afraid. The face of his assailant was none other than that of his master’s, Terrek Corso, twisted and possessed by the dark side. Though in the back of his mind Kyle knew what was happening, the fear had grabbed hold and penetrated his mind. “No!” Kyle screamed. The sound echoed through the cave as he madly swiped the face, which had to be a lie, from the evil thing before him. An instant to late Kyle realized his mistake. The dark clad man fell to his knees and began to disappear. As the head of the force aberration fell back, the slice in its throat widening, its face relaxed and the deep green of his master’s eyes returned. He cried, though before at his fright, he cried now at his ignorance. Unfortunately he did not have long. Reality returned to him and the darkness fled the cave. As the illusion of his master disappeared before him, the spot on which he was fixated, the fatal wound on Terrek’s neck, did not fade. Or so he thought, until the wounded lid of a giant eye blinked in irritation. “Oh…Sithspit!” Kyle yelled as he ran for his life, realizing the terror he’d awoken. From behind him an agonizing, billowing roar echoed violently. He ran as fast as he could between the crumbling rock formations around him as the massive beast began to catch up. The space around him seemed to be getting darker and with the help of the force he leapt forward, moments before the giant claw of a Krayt Dragon came crushing down where he had stood. He couldn’t continue like this, with the little bit of distance he’d gained, he turned to face his foe. Reaching out in the force he closed his eyes, his hands palm to palm. Slowly he drew them apart, as though under a great strain and the cave began to shake violently. Stalactites fell from above and barraged the Krayt Dragon, too massive to dodge the falling projectiles. It howled and roared as it was pummeled, but continued to steadily creep toward Kyle until it towered over him. It brought its right claw up to swipe at Kyle when a sharp Stalactite came slamming in to it and pinned it back to the ground. With its leg impaired the giant beast lunged forward, snapping its jaws in the wake of the fleeing jedi. With razor sharp teeth snapping at his heels, Kyle tried to block himself off from he beasts attack by dashing between the columns, a shorter route than the beast was forced to take. Finally the light from the cave’s mouth came shinning in to view. In one final force infused sprint Kyle sped to the cave’s entrance and there he stopped. He turned round once again, waiting for the beast to catch up, which it finally did. They stared at each other for a moment before the Krayt Dragon gave out another death curdling roar and began to charge. Kyle stood firm, unmoved by the ever nearing monstrosity. As the beast lowered its head to strike, Kyle made his move. Using the force he sprinted along the mouth of the cave, up the side and for a short moment across the ceiling. Meanwhile, the already lunging Krayt Dragon slammed its mouth in to a mound of dirt, unable to stop its momentum. Dropping down from the ceiling, Kyle landed square on the beasts head. He thrust his saber downward but it glanced off. Amazed, Kyle grabbed hold of one of the various horns as the Krayt Dragon flailed its head back and forth in the freedom of the open dessert. Kyle knew he had to end this, the beast had not been the source of the darkness he’d encountered and whatever was would be fast approaching. Bracing himself between the beast’s skull and a horn, Kyle struck again at a point near his original stab and this one penetrated. A great howl could be heard and the beast flailed even more violently than before. This only aided Kyle as it provided the momentum for him to reach a few more strategic positions around the skull, before the beast came crashing down in to the sands below with a great thud. Kyle rolled off of and away from the carcass as it came to rest between the dunes. With a hint of curiosity, he stepped forward to examine the spot were his lightsaber’s blade had failed to puncture. Using his saber he burnt away the surrounding flesh to uncover a shiny white pearl. As he examined it, a vague memory of an early teaching came back to him. He was rather certain this pearl could be used to augment a lightsaber and considering the scarcity of Krayt Dragons, he decided he’d make use of it. For all he knew he could have just killed the last of their kind but he doubted it, if the one he’d just faced had survived till now then perhaps others were still hiding beneath the sand. With the great beast laying slain before Kyle’s feet he was once again able to calm himself. In doing so he could once again sense the darkness, it confused him. He’d taken care of the force aberration and though the beast could have been tainted by the dark side, it was now gone. So why did he still feel a dark presence? Turning to his Jedi teachings he emptied his mind of questions, he let the force give him the answer he needed, instead of the one he searched for. Sure enough the answer became clear, the presence he felt now was different, it did not emanate from the surroundings nor seep through his thoughts. It was further away, back in the depths of the city. In a flash Kyle caught a glimpse of a vision which shocked him. For just a moment he could see Van being shocked by rolling arcs of lightning, he could feel his pain, but did not know if It was now, or in the future. One thing was certain, he needed to get back to Anchorhead. Episode I: The Hunted Jedi continues in the next post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrekCorso Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 Chapter's 1-4 can be found in the previous post Chapter 5 – Hauntings of the Past Deep inside the remains of an ancient Sith temple a team of imperial researchers and scientists crowd around a carbonite casing, baring the semblance of a young girl, as the reanimation process begins. “Is she alive?” a commanding feminine voice asked from the back of the laboratory. “Yes lady Jade, her vitals are stable, she has survived.” replied one of the scientist in a strained and raspy voice, who continued to meticulously examine the girl’s state. Noting the effects of the hibernation sickness from the near decade the specimen had spent in that death like state. “Good.” replied Lady Jade, her tone much softer than before. The sound of her heeled boots echoed as she approached the slab of carbonite and the crowd parted before her. The poor girl who’d begun to wake could barely sense what was going on at all, her thoughts and memory slowly returning. “My all” She whispered, her throat was hoarse and dry. Then she felt the weight of long, dark, hair as Lady Jade lent in over the girl. “Welcome back to the living. I mean to give you what you want. You can be with him forever, all I ask is that you find him for me.” Jade whispered in the ear of the barely conscious girl. Hazily, Raene awoke from her nostalgic nightmare, laying face down on the cold, steel, floor of a small starship. In the months since she’d been released from carbonite she’d remembered only vague, irrelevant, things from her past. All that mattered was finding her old love. Unlike her superior, it was more than a task for Raene, it was a need. She could feel his presence calling out to her in the force, always. Or was it her calling to him, all she knew was she needed to feel his presence again, like a warm blanket on a cold night it comforts all and without it she shivers in the brisk wind. The air was warmer than it had been before and the roar of the engines had ceased. They had landed and the presence of her new caretaker, Lady Jade, was nowhere to be found. Though still weak and disoriented from the cocktail of drugs they had been pumping in to her to keep her calm and compliant, combined with the remaining symptoms of her hibernation sickness, she brought herself to her feet. Suddenly a chain snapped tight and Raene became painfully aware of the collar that gripped her neck. In an instant both her knees collapsed back to the ship floor. There she silently brooded for a moment. She did not know Jade’s intentions, but she guessed that she meant to kill her love. It did not matter, if playing slave to this woman was the only way to search for him, then she’d do it. But she didn’t have to do it obediently. In an outburst of anger Raene latched on to the chain which bound her and with the assistance of the force, ripped it violently from its foundation. The free end lashed around the room clanging noisily against the ships chamber. Raene could feel the faint presence of her love outside on the surface. She wondered how far away he was, if the presence was weak because lady Jade had already killed him. She could no longer control herself, she had to see him. Giving in to her desires she raced out of the dark ship in search of him. Meanwhile, in a docking bay at Anchorhead, The Rising Fox sits dormant. The last of the mechanics have already left the ship after an intense repair and overhaul. Shinning in the light of the Tatooine suns, the ship is peaceful and calm. Until a young boy with dirty blonde hair and a dirt covered face comes scurrying out of the ships structure. His name is Derin Sado and his father has been telling him stories about this ship since before he was born. Who knew how much of it was true, probably none, but the stories where there and he couldn’t help but have a look at it. Especially since it looked like a hunk of junk. Derin was determined that it had to be a hoax of some sort and so set about hacking in to the ship and investigating the components. What he found was most surprising to him, nothing, he found nothing of even average quality. And this was directly after a repair and overhaul. Derin could swear he’d seen actual shipwrecks that had better parts than the tin can he’d grown to love all his childhood. “That hunk of junk is the Fox you’re always on about?” the voice of a young, blue, twi’lek boy blurted out from behind Derin. He’d forgotten he’d told his friend Iago Surrel about the ship, and now felt completely embarrassed for making such a big deal out of such a worthless ship. “No way a Jedi landed in that? We see better ones land every day Derin. You can’t seriously tell me that’s your legendary Rising Fox. Can it even lift off?” Iago mocked. “It’s just old now, I guess. Last time it was here was before I was born.” Derin plead, still embarrassed and trying to find an excuse. “Derin this model was old 10 years ago.” Iago replied monotonously. “A classic!” Derin yelled, turning to his little blue friend, a wide grin on his face. “Not sure there’s much left of the original ship Derin, it looks like an assembled pile of scrap.” Iago Surrel continued to remark about the old Rising Fox’s condition. “Come on, you got to see what landed in the next hanger, it’s awesome!” Iago excitedly insisted, taking hold of Derin’s arm and practically dragging him along to the adjacent hanger. Iago’s eyes sparkled as he dragged his friend Derin in front of a glistening starship, its sleek shape and shinning metal surface portrayed the full image of what Iago dreamed of when he heard the word ‘starship’. “Now if you told me a Jedi landed in this, I’d believe you.” Iago boasted, as Derin, finally free from his anxious friend’s grip, caught sight of the prototype X-70B Phantom. Neither of them knew the origin of the design, nor could they, with the ship still in the prototype stage, hardly anyone in the galaxy had seen them yet. But it would soon become painfully obvious to the boys that no Jedi was aboard that ship. Like a shadow herself, a figure stepped out of the dark. Her eyes, a raging yellow, stared intensely, straight through the two young kids. As the boys caught sight of the figure they froze. The woman’s long blonde hair was wrangled and mangy, only topped by the filthy, ripped, state of her black attire. The way she stared at them however, scared them to death. Both had the overpowering urge to run, but found that they couldn’t. Slowly the woman’s gaze shifted, until it met the frightened eyes of Derin. Suddenly, with a flick of her wrist, an invisible force sent Iago flying back, directly through the access door to the adjoined hanger through which they had previously entered. A moment later the door shut. And by the slight twitch of the woman’s finger, he had a strange notion she was responsible. She was still staring at him, with those freaky eyes; she hadn’t taken them off of him for even a moment. But Derin was no longer fixated on her eyes, his focus had shifted along with his fear toward the woman’s hand. He stared at the hand as she lifted it, his fear materializing as his feet lifted off the ground. The hand grabbed at him and though it did not clutch him, he could feel it crushing him. “Where is the Jedi?!” she screamed, so loud it sent a ringing through Derin’s ears. “Tell me or I’ll crush you brat.” She threatened, but Derin was too scared to speak and the tightening grip of the witch’s power was starting to really hurt. Chapter 6 – The Sound of Pain “So I said ‘I don’t really like it when folks get all up in my face.’ Of course that just made him angrier. But the weequay let go of my shirt and took a step back, tripped right over the little snot nosed brat.” Van recounted an old adventure with his friend and adoptive brother as they entered the hanger where the Rising Fox was docked. The two men laughed to the point of tears reliving the moments they’d missed from each other’s lives. “I’d probably have been shot right then and there if it weren’t for that scrawny royal kick in the rear.” He managed to add as he wiped small tears of exhaustive laughter from the inner tips of his eyes. “Speaking of kicks in the rear, where’s mine?” Killric asked as he scanned the hanger floor, in search of his son. “I thought you told him to stay out of the hanger?” Van said, slightly puzzled as to his friends query. “Ha, that’s why I know he’ll be here. Him and that Iago kid, they’re worse than we were back in the day.” Killric responded. Both men gave each other a short glance. “That’s impossible.” Van said quickly and both men bust out in laughter once more. But that laughter would be abruptly interrupted as a frightened twi’lek boy ran hurriedly toward them. Meanwhile, in the next hanger, Derin’s back smashed forcefully in to the beige brick of the hanger’s wall and with the impact, let out a painful gasp. He would have screamed if not for the enraged woman, whose grip straddled his throat. “I’ll ask you one more time…Where’s the Jedi!” She yelled. Though she was meters away from him, blocking his only escape from the hanger, Derin could feel the weight of her grasp as she clutched her hand ever more tightly. “Drop the boy.” A stern man’s voice suddenly ordered, as simultaneously, the barrel of a blaster pistol edged in to Raene’s line of sight. “Slowly.” The man added as he rested the end of the barrel on her temple. She could hear the mechanical click as he cocked the weapon, followed by the sound of the bolt charging, constantly rising in pitch. Slowly she lowered the boy to the ground. “There, was that so…” Van started to say, but was cut off as Raene suddenly attacked. Moving swiftly, she knocked the pistol from his hand and, drawing on the force, sent Van tumbling back in to the dust before he could lift his second pistol to aim properly. His shots flew wide and as he scrapped through the dust of the hanger floor, he wondered what he’d gotten himself in to. Derin gasped for breath, his neck finally free from the woman’s grasp. For a moment the pure relief of unhampered breathing overcame the fear of the encounter, as well as the throbbing of his rear, as he sat in the dirt, having fallen the last few feet to the ground. But it wouldn’t last. Before Raene turned to follow Van in to the next hanger, where the Rising Fox lay docked, she shot a cold glance toward Derin. In an instant the bone chilling fear was back. Even as she walked through the door and left his presence, he knew she wouldn’t forget about him. Van’s body finally came to a halt as it dragged along the dirt floor. Picking himself up from the ground he switched his remaining pistol to his right hand. The woman walked briskly toward him, unwavering and unnerved by the rising pistol in Van’s hand. He fired, unwilling to give up a clear shot opportunity, but it was not as sure as he thought. With animal like reflexes the woman dodged her way through the blaster fire, as if it where nothing, until she stood at point blank range in front of him. With a sudden flick of her wrist, Van’s right arm twisted and any remaining shots were buried in the dirt. With her other hand she then motioned and a supply crate, stacked near by the docked Rising Fox, came crashing in to Van’s side. The collision forced his hand loose from his gun and sent him tumbling, once again, across the hanger floor. Van was trapped under the crate as it came to rest. He could hear the footsteps of his enemy slowly getting closer. “So you want to tell me where the Jedi is?” She said. Moments later the crate lifted from Van’s body, but lingered over him, threatening to crush him completely. “If you don’t know, I have no use for you.” She added, insinuating that he’d be dead very soon if she didn’t like his answer. Before Van could say anything however, a high powered shot flew but an inch from Raene’s cheek. Startled, she turned to see who shot. Up on a higher level, looking down on the chaos was Killric Sado, armed with a simple hunting rifle, but determined to defend his business. Seeing the immediate threat, she forsook Van, who narrowly rolled to safety as the supply crate came crashing to the ground. Raene did not look amused. She dodged the next couple shots, moving with an uncanny speed and flexibility. Reaching out toward Killric, the force began to weave her will. All around Killric, panels ripped from their foundations, arrays bent and buckled, all toward the woman’s hand. In moments Killric himself would be swept down along with the rest of, what was now, debris. Killric tried to stand but his leg was broken. He lifted his rifle to fire at Raene as she approached, only to discover that his arm was broken as well. He wrestled on the ground, reaching for the rifle with his other arm, but Raene worked her sorceress ways once again and ripped it from his grasp. The rifle flew through mid air, straight to her hand. “Noooo!” a woman’s voice cried and a moment later Janeth Sado, Killric’s wife, rushed to her husband’s side. Desperately she tried to shield his broken body from the, now armed, assailant. Raene waved her free arm vigorously outward and as she did, Janeth could feel a pressure pushing at her abdomen. She folded over and then suddenly flew, with violent speed, away from her beloved husband. Unable to control her limbs and dangling in the air, she smashed in to a nearby refueling station. “Janeth!” Killric screamed in a pained voice. The distraction had given Van time, or so he had thought. He ran in for a full tackle, his shoulders low and hunched forward, aimed directly at her back. All seemed well till the last moment. All Van could see was her back, he was so close, as it twisted and her hand came directly in front of his face. A jolt of lightning sparked and struck, and before he knew it Van was on his back again. He was still tingling from the shock when he heard the fateful sound of a blaster shot. A moment he’d remember for the rest of his life as, regaining some degree of sense, he manages to confirm his fears. His life long friend and adoptive brother lay dead, a point blank shot to the head defiling his face. Janeth wept in the dirt. With no strength to stand and no hope of overpowering the evil woman she saw nothing else to do. But her focus was about to change, despite the overwhelming emotions bearing down on her from the events just past. As from the edge of the hanger bay, a young boy’s voice cried out in a similar pain. “Father!?” Derin yelled through streaming tears. “Derin!” Janeth yelled back in shock as she stared at her son in horror. The fear took hold and her gaze instinctively whipped round to face Raene. Who smiled psychotically and brought the rifle to bare at Janeth. “Van! Take care of Derin!” Janeth began to say but she was cut off. Raene fired a single bolt in to the refueling station, creating a spark to ignite it. Derin and Van could do nothing but watch as Janeth Sado was consumed whole by the erupting flames. “No!” Derin screamed for what seemed like forever. His mind was wild with emotions, his heart ripping from his chest. Suddenly, both Raene and Van were forced to clutch their ears in immense pain. The boy’s emotions brought out his connection to the force. Embodied in the scream, his emotions emerged, piercing the air and striking all that can hear. Unable to stand the sound, Raene collapses to the floor, dropping the rifle as she grabbed at her ears in frustrated agony. Thinking fast, she reached out in the force, pulling a small hydrospanner from the floor and knocking the boy out, for his own good, as well as theirs. Free of the sonic concussive forces, Raene grasped at the rifle once again. But, just as she managed to get a hold of it, a small, durable, cable latched itself to the grip. “I don’t think so.” Van Starwind said as he tussled with Raene over possession of the rifle. “All I wanted was the Jedi.” Raene plagues Van, tired of toying with weaklings. “I’m right here!” Kyle’s voice yelled out, startling both combatants, who had been too busy with each other to notice the noise of an approaching speeder bike. As Raene turned. to face the man she’d been searching for. she came face to face with a speeder bike just as Kyle was abandoning it. The speeder crashed in to her, knocking her across the room. Raene stood up and faced the Jedi, finally. In the space of a heartbeat, her face went from radiant and psychotically happy, to a disappointed sadistic hate. She screamed at Kyle, as though she was nothing but a beast and then fled, scaling the walls of the hanger bay before disappearing. “Who was she?” Van asked Kyle as it became evident that pursuit would be a waste of time. “You’re asking me?” Kyle responded truly baffled at the thought that he would know. “Well she was looking for you.” Van continued the conversation, confused, angry and hurt. “I think it’s evident now, that it wasn’t me she was looking for.” Kyle said with a concerned and puzzled tone. Chapter 7 – A Storm Cometh Corporal Damon Rann grows concerned as he, along with the rest of his squad, pass by the formation of dunes where Damon had seen Kyle last. He’d heard nothing from him and until now, had assumed he’d be waiting here. “Kyle, Van, anybody reading this?” Damon hailed the Rising Fox, determined to ascertain his young Jedi friend’s fate, while the squad of troopers hurriedly made their way towards Anchorhead. The skies grew dark as they punched all they could get out of their speeder bikes, the few carrying trailers laden with parts trailing slightly behind. Meanwhile, aboard the Rising Fox, Kyle made his way past the cockpit of the craft after an extensive, although quite useless, discussion with Van. His immediate thoughts were concerned with putting the ills of the day past them, getting some rest and completing their escort mission. But as he passed the cockpit, he caught the repeating message from Corporal Rann. “Oh right, the convoy.” He muttered as he suddenly changed direction stept in to the cockpit and plunker down in the flight seat. “Damon, it’s Kyle. I’m fine, here back at the Fox. We’re waiting for you and those parts. As soon as you’re here we’ll be good to go.” He answers enthusiastically over the comlink. “Goo… to he…r it. We’l… be the… s…n. Hopefully, …fore thi… storm hit…” The reply came back riddled with interference. Fortunately Kyle could discern most of what was being said. But unfortunately, he’d made a false assumption he would soon realize. “Ok, you’re breaking up, look out for that sandstorm guys, those things can be deadly.” Kyle responded and turned to go and check the comm. array for any damage. “Not a sandstorm Kyle, a storm… storm. With the light… an.. the clou..” Damon’s signal was lost again in distortions, but the moment of clarity sent a chill down Kyle’s spine. He ran back to the comlink and practically screamed in to it. “Corporal we’re on Tatooine, they’ve never heard of a rainstorm! Get out of there!” Damon received the warning but it was already too late. In a grand display of power, lightning surged through the sky. Strike after strike rained down across the convoy’s path, striking members as they continued along on their speeder bikes. Half the squad was killed traversing the lightning, either by a direct hit to them or a bolt to their speeder, sending it spiraling out of control or merely exploding on contact. The convoy was forced to a halt when one of the towing speeders came to just such a violent fate. What remained of their squad was in disarray, dodging the lightning which struck like a deadly net from the heavens all around them, they tried to regroup in order to fall back to a secure position. But once again they would find that their ways had been predicted, and that they’d just fallen in to yet another trap. The lightning storm ended, and for a moment the remaining six men scan their surroundings meticulously. In an instant and from out of nowhere, a gust of wind picks up and a blanket of dust and sand is hurled all across the plain in a rolling, consuming, wave. It washed over the troopers, clouding their vision and pounded in to them. “Switching to thermal.” Damon heard over the squad comlink, built in to their helmets, as he himself struggled to see in the fog of sand around him. But a moment later the same voice let out a pained scream. “Don’t switch to thermal, don’t switch.” another voice said in panic. Another trooper let out a blood curdling scream. A moment later the remaining men, unable to see anything but each other around them, catch sight of a vague red glow nearby. “Sith!” Sergeant Mugaba, the squad leader suddenly yells out, realizing the true nature of the perils that had befallen his squad. The announcement was met with what could be considered the appropriate response. The troops spread out in an attempt to envelop the vague red light. Laying down as much firepower as they could, but unable to gauge the distance to, or movements of their target, they fired in vain. The final gasps of soldiers around them toys with the survivors’ minds, as their mysterious attacker picks them off one by one. With death staring them all in the face, Damon threw the risks away and went with an insane improvised solution. “RPG, hit the dirt!” He screamed as he pointed his repeating blaster up in the air and switched the setting. He waited a moment to hear the end of the blaster fire before launching the explosive round in to the sky with only the slightest angle. He quickly dropped to the sand at his feet and curled up before the round exploded above him. The resulting shockwave blew the lingering sand away and clearing the plain. Damon lifted his head to the delight that his plan had worked, but devastated as he realized the state of their squad. Only he, Sergeant Mugaba and a private named Hesas were left alive, scattered about on the plains amongst their dead brethren. In an emotional outcry private Hesas charged at their enemy, who was now, finally, out in the open. A rather short woman with long black hair, robed in red. Hesas approached her firing, but it was a fruitless effort. The first two shots where blocked by her saber and buried in the dust. The following two had a more ominous course. They flew back toward Hesas, the first smashing and breaking his rifle, the second ramming straight in to his neck and with that the troopers’ numbers had fallen by yet one more. “Where’s the Jedi?” The woman suddenly asked in a bitter tone. The two troopers were shocked and speechless at her sudden interrogation. “Strange policy you got, kill first then ask questions.” Sergeant Mugaba finally retorted as he slowly closed their distance, his heavy repeater fixed on the sith. “The Jedi was supposed to be here. It’s obvious he isn’t now.” she answered, mockingly motioning to their dead comrades with her unarmed hand. Damon held back, covering his sergeant with the fullest of his concentration. “Where is he? Not on the ship up there right?” She said and for a brief moment her eyes trailed up to the republic hammerhead class starship in orbit above the planet. “No” Mugaba blurted out definitively, seeing through the trick to distract his attention and divert his gaze. But he’d read the trick wrong, her eyes flicked back and stared straight through him. “Good” she almost whispered and a wicked grin began to grow on her face. Suddenly she pulled out a long range detonator and without a moments hesitation activated the device. Within an instant the hammerhead starship in orbit began to rip apart. Various explosions rippled across its hull, emanating from within and finally dooming the vessel. It wasn’t until he was watching debris fall from the stratosphere that Damon realized he’d taken his eyes off his enemy. In full panic he turned back to face the heartless sith woman, wondering how they’d managed to make someone, so young, so wicked. Sergeant Mugaba didn’t need to look to know what was happening, he only felt the need to kill the one who was guilty. He fired as he strafed his way toward his enemy, who volleyed any good shot he had back in his direction. His rifle wasn’t very accurate, but it sprayed a relentless amount of firepower for any size force. But with the amount of return fire he had no option but to close the distance to finish this. From behind Damon loads another RPG round in to his own weapon. With Mugaba closing distance his shots become more accurate and his enemy was increasingly strained with every shot. Damon watched and took a moment to steady his aim, he couldn’t afford to miss that shot, but with his sergeant quickly approaching his target he has little time left. He fired and the RPG round shot forward on a perfect course. A second later Mugaba was forced to drop his overheated, heavily damaged, weapon. But his resolve was not shaken. Rushing forward he pulled a rather hefty vibroblade from a sheath on the back of his belt. A heroic effort, unfortunately it was not successful. Only a couple meters from the young sith woman he was reminded of the lightning that had killed half of his squad, in a rather harsh manner. Continuous volleys of lightning cascaded from the woman’s fingertips until Mugaba fell to his knees. He couldn’t tell why the woman had stopped, but her attention had been diverted for a moment, as an RPG round came hurtling towards her. Moments before it impacted she took hold of the projectile with the force, and with steady, heartless, control, pushed it straight in to Sergeant Mugaba, where it promptly erupted. Damon screamed in a heartfelt rage, not even a year had past since Coruscant and already it was happening again. Using a sand dune for his own cover, he fired pointlessly at the young, murderous, woman, until using the force, she pulled his weapon from his grasp and sent it flying in to the sand dunes. The Sith approached him with her saber active, he was helpless. But behind her, in the sky, he saw his salvation. The Rising Fox was heading straight for them at full speed, they were flying low and until that moment Damon had forgotten he had a Jedi. Chapter 8 – The Hunt Begins The Rising Fox came rushing by, the turbo lasers firing wildly in to the dunes below as they flew over the battlefield carnage in the sand below. Damon took the opportunity to run, making his way along the top ridge of the sand dune as the Rising Fox swooped round. As it lowered it’s altitude near Damon Rann, the cargo ramp started to open, lowering itself slowly. Upon it, Kyle Laurent stood waiting, his saber in hand and active, as he hanged on to one of the hydraulic mechanisms. Kyle leapt from the ramp as the Fox continued its descent, dropping himself between the fleeing Damon Rann and his pursuer as he ran to meet the ship. The Jedi and the Sith collided in a dazzling display of technique and skill. Their lightsabers crashed in to each other as Kyle boldly held his defense, strong and unwavering, despite the merciless flurry of enraged lashes that his adversary through at him. Soon however, it became apparent that Kyle’s skills with a blade far outmatched her own. “You look younger than I expected, Corso. My master wants me to destroy you.” the woman said, reaching a pause in the battle as she is forced to recognize her weakness. A puzzled look came over Kyle’s face. “I am not the Jedi you seek.” He stated abruptly as the two combatants stared each other down. “Then why did my little hound lead me to you.” she responded, obviously discontent with Kyle’s denial of being the man she had sought. For a moment the fight continued, but this time, Kyle did not remain defensive. They struck back and forth at each other. “I’m not Terrek Corso.” Kyle yelled. “And yet you know his name. If you are not him, then where is he?” she spat back at him. “My master died during the battle of Coruscant.” Kyle said and again they stood there merely staring at each other. Meanwhile, Damon had just reached the open docking ramp of the Fox and was making his way inside. He heard a kid’s voice call over the ships communications systems. “You should put a gun pod on the bottom too, then I could just shoot her.” The young Derin Sado suggested from where he sat in the gunner’s pod aboard the ship. “Great kid, with you ‘aiming’ again I’m sure we’ll all be toast.” An aggravated Van replied as he ran around, frantically adjusting and tuning the Fox. “Jedi shouldn’t lie.” The Sith woman said bluntly, staring in to Kyle’s eyes with hate and anger. A surge of lightning welled between her hands. She clutched them together and motioned them forward, sending a continuous arc of lightning smashing in to Kyle’s lightsaber. The lightning surged in waves, buckling and bending its direction. Smaller sparks flew off, jolting Kyle as he held back the mass of energy being propelled at him. The surge came to a halt but was followed by bolt after bolt in rapid succession. Eventually one such bolt caught the hilt of his weapon and the resulting surge ruptured the power cell, the blade of his weapon disappeared before his eyes. The Sith in response activated her own weapon and hurled it at the, now unarmed, Jedi. Reaching out in the force, Kyle changed the direction of the wildly spinning blade that had been speeding towards him. The blade veered off course, flying past Kyle and slicing in to the Rising Fox behind him. “Oh you did not just hurt my baby!” yelled Van angrily as he took his seat behind the flight controls and moved the Fox in closer to them, threatening to crush them both, with the loading ramp scrapping the dune sand. With the ship approaching, on an almost suicidal course of action, the hands of the red Sith woman began to spark a new. With all her might she vaulted the power of the dark side in to her adversary. Kyle braced himself, catching the incoming threat with his hands and holding it back with the force. He let his enemies power build, wrapping it in an endless loop, in order to maintain it as more energy was hurled toward him. The power built until finally it erupted, sending Kyle and the red clad Sith in opposite directions in an explosion of force energy. Kyle had had the mixed luck of having been pushed directly in to the Rising Fox as it approached. “Van we’re all on board! Stop being suicidal and get us out of here!” Damon yelled over the com system after nearly smashing the button to activate it, desperate to save their lives from the maniac captain of this ship. Moments later, they started gaining altitude pulling away from Tatooine’s surface and soaring up to the stratosphere. Their mission was a complete failure, their hearts saddened by loss and their minds full of questions. With the planet in their wake, the Rising Fox punched in to hyperspace, leaving the sector behind. Breathing a sigh of relief, Van Starwind made his way back, from the cockpit, to the communal area. There, Damon Rann and Kyle Laurent discussed the particulars of the events as they had just unfolded. Preparing their reports, to the best of their ability, and attempting to wrap their minds around the dark plot which they’d found themselves caught up in. Derin Sado, the ten year old, recently orphaned, boy sat quietly in his seat. His heart was heavy with the loss of his parents and the grief hung in an overwhelming manner upon his face. As Van entered, it became obvious that both men where discussing the topic in lieu of dealing with the boy, neither of them sure of what to say, or what to do. Van walked starkly over to the son of his, now deceased, brother and sank threw his knees in order to level with the boy. “I’m sorry about your folks Derin, I’m sorry I had to take you from your home.” Van said sorrowfully, tears welling in the rough, wise cracking, smuggler of the outer rim’s eyes. The interaction stopped Kyle and Damon in mid conversation; they’d both wanted to comfort the poor kid. Kyle walked over to the boy, whose eyes were tearing, as he shivered silently in his seat. Kyle wrapped his double breasted, brown leather, flight jacket, the same one his father used to wear, over the boy’s shoulders and the warmth surged through Derin like a calming mist. “Do not fear Derin, the pain will fade, I’ll help you with that, I promise.” Kyle comforted the child along side Van as they journeyed coreward to relay the fateful doom of their friends and allies. Kyle felt as though he knew the boy’s pain, having had his own father killed in a similar feud years ago. He wondered if Derin could be saved, if the connection to the force, that had erupted when his parents died, could be tamed. “Van, if you’re ok with it, I’d like to see about training him.” Kyle said, his tone calm, collected and serious. Van stared back at him, in a manner that suggested that he was being cautious, but generally agreed with the proposal. Derin looked up slightly confused, his head twitching back and forth between the two men. He wondered if he’d followed the men’s conversation correctly, was he going to be a Jedi? Dain Jade made her way to Anchorhead in the dead of night on a stolen republic speeder bike. Taking no detours, she went directly to her ship, docked in the local spaceport under false transponder codes. As she approached her ship, as of yet unnoticed, she found that it had been marked as part of a local investigation. She didn’t care, silently but swiftly she entered her ship, sticking to the shadows. Once up the ramp she strode quickly to the communications machinery. After fiddling with the links for some time, a blue projection came to life on a large display unit in the center of the machinery. Dain knelled as the dark clad figure came in to view. “I have failed you my master.” She said her voice a mix of fear and sadness. “Have you found him?” the man responded in total disregard to her statement. “No my lord, only his apprentice.” She retorted, trying to reserve a cold demeanor, and at the same time trying to redeem some grace in the eyes of her master. “What of him.” The hologram demanded. “He narrowly escaped me, my lord.” Dain answered, increasingly fearful of the repercussions of her failures. “It is of no consequence, find the master, kill him. If the asset can not help you, than she has outlived her usefulness. Terminate her.” Her master said conclusively, his contempt for and disappointment in his apprentice painfully clear, and with that the transmission halted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrekCorso Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 (edited) The Adventures of Kyle Laurent will continue in... Ep II - Ilumination Currently writing... The Origins of Hate Ep I A Dark Star Rises More links to The Tales of Twisted Fate series can be found in the Chronology below... Feel free to post comments * = current project The Tales of Twisted Fate Chronology The Chronicle of Crystals Ep I-III (To Be Named)BTC 28-24 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep I A New DestinyBTC 24 The Origins of Hate Ep I A Dark Star Rises *BTC 16 The Rising of the Fox Ep I The Lone Wolf & The Sly FoxBTC 14 The Origins of Hate Ep II Raene FallBTC 12 The Rising of the Fox Ep II The Shaddiest Corner of The GalaxyBTC 12 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep II In Darkness RaisedBTC 12 The Rising of the Fox Ep III Safe HavenBTC 10 The Origins of Hate Ep III Lifting The ValeBTC 9 The Origins of Hate Ep IV Seeds of VengeanceBTC 8 The Rising of the Fox Ep IV Joining the FightBTC 7 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep III Mandalorian MenaceBTC 7 The Origins of Hate Ep V The Jaded WitchBTC 4 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep IV Temple FallBTC 0 TREATY OF CORUSCANT The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep I The Hunted JediATC 0 The Origins of Hate Ep VI Shadows of the CorruptorATC 2 The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep II IluminationATC 3 The Rising of the Fox Ep V The Cunning FoxATC 3 The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep III Night's ValorATC 6 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep V The Fabled DaughterATC 7 The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep IV Defenders of The RepublicATC 10 Star Wars: The Old Republic The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep V (To Be Named)ATC 20 The Adventures of Kyle Laurent Ep Vi The Great DeceiverATC 20 The Rising of the Fox Ep Vi: The Fall of the RisenATC 20 The Legend of Terrek Corso Ep VI: Twisted FateATC 20 The Chronicle of Crystals Ep IV-Vi (To Be Named)BTC 28-24 Edited May 15, 2013 by TerrekCorso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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