Session One: The Solitude of Angelus Hellsinger
Angelus Hellsinger. That name once spread terror across the galaxy. Born of Jedi and Nightsister, trained by the best of the Jedi order, murderer of hundreds of Jedi, branded Dark Lord of the Sith, and slayer of Jedi Master Mara Jade-Skywalker. But those days are long ago passed into faded memory.
In my over-zealousness I made a grave error. I thought myself unbeatable, able to best any caliber and any number of foes. The Jedi Master known as Luke Skywalker, aged as he might have been, challenged me to a duel to avenge his wife's demise at my hands. Our battle was epic, encompassing the whole of my ship, the Crimson Drake. The duel might have lasted an eternity, was I not betrayed.
Years earlier, I had taken in a young, ruthless Zabrak named Ihsina Naaltir I discovered while wandering Iridonia. A failure in her Selenoren, she fled her home, carving her clan's markings into her face in a fit of rage. I was impressed by her warrior's spirit, and took her in as my apprentice. I taught her the ways of the Force and, to prove her worth, she slaughtered her former clan, men, and women, all.
I had forged her into a weapon, unaware that the blade would one day draw my own blood. As I battled Skywalker, my apprentice turned on me, destroying the Crimson Drake and nearly myself in the process. But I survived, and have been here ever since. In a Force-resistant cell deep under the Jedi Enclave on the rebuilt Coruscant I serve out my sentence. Fourteen years now I've lived in silence and isolation. Fourteen years since I've seen another living being, heard a living voice, or felt the Force around me. Then it happened.
I was reading the one book allotted to me per month, this month's selection being "On Art and War, the Personal Diaries of Grand Admiral Thrawn". I looked up, and saw her. She was beautiful, even for a Twi'lek. Her skin shone with a deep blue that perfectly accented her piercing green eyes. Tight black pants hugged her long, slender legs, and a half-shirt covered her top. She wore a long stocking over her right arm, and jewelry adorned her arm, neck, and lekku. She had a lightsaber at her side, and stood arms crossed, with the stoic, emotionless gaze of a true Jedi.
"Angelus Hellsinger?"
"And I had thought my name and identity was lost to the youth."
"You have been summoned by the Jedi Council," she replied.
"Is that so? And by what authority are they to summon me? I am a prisoner, not a Jedi." She reached for her lightsaber, but I stopped her. "But my curiosity has been aroused. I assume I am to be accompanied by you into the council chambers?"
She nodded, turned and led me down the hallway of my personal prison. Numerous droid guards lined the Hallways, and two especially well-armed druids guarded the repulsorlift to the outside world. All this artifice, especially built to ensure I had no contact with the Force or with another living being. What had changed now? Why send a Jedi to retrieve me from my steel prison?
My answer would be revealed in the Jedi Council Chambers. Built under the supervision of Luke Skywalker, by the finest artisans in the galaxy, it was a massive, if not sparsely decorated, dome overlooking the Emerald Forest Preserve of Coruscant. I entered, in chains, to the blazing glare of the Jedi Masters. I looked at each, daring them to make a move. Kyle Katarn, who found me on the harsh planet of Dathomir, sat at the center. Jaina Solo, whose twin brother was my teacher, and my first 'victim'. Next to her sat Lowbacca, the fierce wookie who lost his arm to my lightsaber. Opposite him, the Jedi Corran Horn, who never trusted me in the first place. Perhaps he was the smart one. Then Kyp Durron, one of the council's founders, who tried to steer me from my chosen path and paid for it with his eye. Several other also sat around, those added in my incarceration, and closest to me sat it youngest member, Ben Skywalker.
"No Luke?" I asked with a smirk.
"Master Skywalker passed away five years ago, from complications brought about from his battle with you," Kyle answered. "But that's not important, nor what we wish to speak to you about."
"Apparently," I answered.
"We have a situation. One we believe only you have the knowledge to disarm. It involves your old apprentice, Ihsina Naaltir."
"Tell me more," I said. Kyle explained the situation, how her fleet was jumping from world to world, striking at Alliance bases then moving on. As if they were searching for something. Ihsina, the bases, the worried Jedi, and myself, I knew exactly what was involved.
"I'm in." I said. "But I do have a few conditions. First, I work alone."
"Not possible. But as you may understand, we want to keep this as quiet as possible. We have you working with a single Jedi. She's new, just graduated from Padawan, but she has a special connection to this case," Kyle answered
"Fine. My second condition, after all this is said and done, I want to go to Dathomir," I replied.
"Absolutely not!" Jaina Solo objected. "This man is a criminal, a murderer! With what he can do, he's more dangerous than an army of Sith!"
Kyle waved his hand, "Yes, it is true. We'll discuss this when you complete the mission. Now, Lord Hellsinger, when you leave the Council Chambers, you will have no contact with us. This is the keycard to an apartment in upper Coruscant. Its location, along with all information we have regarding your mission, is found on that datapad, where your things are currently kept and you will rendezvous with your partner. The datapad is specially equipped with a retina scanner so only you and your partner will be able to open it.
I took the datapad from my pocket, and walked out. I accessed its files, locating the apartment as a honeymoon suite in a nearby hotel. I hailed the nearest taxi to a block away, and walked the rest of the distance. I tried as best I could to remain inconspicuous as I took the repulsorlift from the lobby to the suit. I slid the Keycard in, and the door opened. My clothes were lying on the bed with my lightsaber. I took them in my hand. I always preferred to be unique. Instead of the traditional Jedi robes, I preferred a simplistic look. A pair of brown reek-leather pants, an off-white sleeveless tunic, and a pair of infrared goggles was all I needed. Then I took in my hand my lightsaber. Also a unique design, with the crystals perfectly aligned to create a longer, curved blade, and a handle to match. I locked it into its hook on my belt, as well as a small blaster and three thermal detonators. I looked in the nearest mirror. My hair had grown long and unkempt, my beard full and rugged. I looked far too much like the Jedi Masters that I despised. I grabbed a razor off the counter and made short work of the hair and beard, leaving only bare skin. I sat in a nearby chair and awaited my partner. It wouldn't take long.
The door opened minutes later, and in it stood a woman of remarkable, exotic beauty. She was short but slender, with raven black hair and blood red highlights tied into a long braid, pale in skin and bore deep, green eyes surrounded by black eyeliner. She wore dark green dewback hide half- shirt and pants, with a traditional Jedi robe loosely draped across her shoulders. At her right hung her lightsaber, a standard design, and at her left a vibroblade. She spoke, in a voice that was strong and calm.
"Are you Angelus Hellsinger?" she asked.
"That I am. And you are? Can't say I've ever seen a Jedi like you before."
"My name is Viridis. As for my ways, that is not important at the moment," she replied.
"The most interesting things are often not, I guess. But the fact that we are surrounded by Ihsina Naaltir's forces is important, is it not?"
........................................................................To be continued.........
Angelus Hellsinger. That name once spread terror across the galaxy. Born of Jedi and Nightsister, trained by the best of the Jedi order, murderer of hundreds of Jedi, branded Dark Lord of the Sith, and slayer of Jedi Master Mara Jade-Skywalker. But those days are long ago passed into faded memory.
In my over-zealousness I made a grave error. I thought myself unbeatable, able to best any caliber and any number of foes. The Jedi Master known as Luke Skywalker, aged as he might have been, challenged me to a duel to avenge his wife's demise at my hands. Our battle was epic, encompassing the whole of my ship, the Crimson Drake. The duel might have lasted an eternity, was I not betrayed.
Years earlier, I had taken in a young, ruthless Zabrak named Ihsina Naaltir I discovered while wandering Iridonia. A failure in her Selenoren, she fled her home, carving her clan's markings into her face in a fit of rage. I was impressed by her warrior's spirit, and took her in as my apprentice. I taught her the ways of the Force and, to prove her worth, she slaughtered her former clan, men, and women, all.
I had forged her into a weapon, unaware that the blade would one day draw my own blood. As I battled Skywalker, my apprentice turned on me, destroying the Crimson Drake and nearly myself in the process. But I survived, and have been here ever since. In a Force-resistant cell deep under the Jedi Enclave on the rebuilt Coruscant I serve out my sentence. Fourteen years now I've lived in silence and isolation. Fourteen years since I've seen another living being, heard a living voice, or felt the Force around me. Then it happened.
I was reading the one book allotted to me per month, this month's selection being "On Art and War, the Personal Diaries of Grand Admiral Thrawn". I looked up, and saw her. She was beautiful, even for a Twi'lek. Her skin shone with a deep blue that perfectly accented her piercing green eyes. Tight black pants hugged her long, slender legs, and a half-shirt covered her top. She wore a long stocking over her right arm, and jewelry adorned her arm, neck, and lekku. She had a lightsaber at her side, and stood arms crossed, with the stoic, emotionless gaze of a true Jedi.
"Angelus Hellsinger?"
"And I had thought my name and identity was lost to the youth."
"You have been summoned by the Jedi Council," she replied.
"Is that so? And by what authority are they to summon me? I am a prisoner, not a Jedi." She reached for her lightsaber, but I stopped her. "But my curiosity has been aroused. I assume I am to be accompanied by you into the council chambers?"
She nodded, turned and led me down the hallway of my personal prison. Numerous droid guards lined the Hallways, and two especially well-armed druids guarded the repulsorlift to the outside world. All this artifice, especially built to ensure I had no contact with the Force or with another living being. What had changed now? Why send a Jedi to retrieve me from my steel prison?
My answer would be revealed in the Jedi Council Chambers. Built under the supervision of Luke Skywalker, by the finest artisans in the galaxy, it was a massive, if not sparsely decorated, dome overlooking the Emerald Forest Preserve of Coruscant. I entered, in chains, to the blazing glare of the Jedi Masters. I looked at each, daring them to make a move. Kyle Katarn, who found me on the harsh planet of Dathomir, sat at the center. Jaina Solo, whose twin brother was my teacher, and my first 'victim'. Next to her sat Lowbacca, the fierce wookie who lost his arm to my lightsaber. Opposite him, the Jedi Corran Horn, who never trusted me in the first place. Perhaps he was the smart one. Then Kyp Durron, one of the council's founders, who tried to steer me from my chosen path and paid for it with his eye. Several other also sat around, those added in my incarceration, and closest to me sat it youngest member, Ben Skywalker.
"No Luke?" I asked with a smirk.
"Master Skywalker passed away five years ago, from complications brought about from his battle with you," Kyle answered. "But that's not important, nor what we wish to speak to you about."
"Apparently," I answered.
"We have a situation. One we believe only you have the knowledge to disarm. It involves your old apprentice, Ihsina Naaltir."
"Tell me more," I said. Kyle explained the situation, how her fleet was jumping from world to world, striking at Alliance bases then moving on. As if they were searching for something. Ihsina, the bases, the worried Jedi, and myself, I knew exactly what was involved.
"I'm in." I said. "But I do have a few conditions. First, I work alone."
"Not possible. But as you may understand, we want to keep this as quiet as possible. We have you working with a single Jedi. She's new, just graduated from Padawan, but she has a special connection to this case," Kyle answered
"Fine. My second condition, after all this is said and done, I want to go to Dathomir," I replied.
"Absolutely not!" Jaina Solo objected. "This man is a criminal, a murderer! With what he can do, he's more dangerous than an army of Sith!"
Kyle waved his hand, "Yes, it is true. We'll discuss this when you complete the mission. Now, Lord Hellsinger, when you leave the Council Chambers, you will have no contact with us. This is the keycard to an apartment in upper Coruscant. Its location, along with all information we have regarding your mission, is found on that datapad, where your things are currently kept and you will rendezvous with your partner. The datapad is specially equipped with a retina scanner so only you and your partner will be able to open it.
I took the datapad from my pocket, and walked out. I accessed its files, locating the apartment as a honeymoon suite in a nearby hotel. I hailed the nearest taxi to a block away, and walked the rest of the distance. I tried as best I could to remain inconspicuous as I took the repulsorlift from the lobby to the suit. I slid the Keycard in, and the door opened. My clothes were lying on the bed with my lightsaber. I took them in my hand. I always preferred to be unique. Instead of the traditional Jedi robes, I preferred a simplistic look. A pair of brown reek-leather pants, an off-white sleeveless tunic, and a pair of infrared goggles was all I needed. Then I took in my hand my lightsaber. Also a unique design, with the crystals perfectly aligned to create a longer, curved blade, and a handle to match. I locked it into its hook on my belt, as well as a small blaster and three thermal detonators. I looked in the nearest mirror. My hair had grown long and unkempt, my beard full and rugged. I looked far too much like the Jedi Masters that I despised. I grabbed a razor off the counter and made short work of the hair and beard, leaving only bare skin. I sat in a nearby chair and awaited my partner. It wouldn't take long.
The door opened minutes later, and in it stood a woman of remarkable, exotic beauty. She was short but slender, with raven black hair and blood red highlights tied into a long braid, pale in skin and bore deep, green eyes surrounded by black eyeliner. She wore dark green dewback hide half- shirt and pants, with a traditional Jedi robe loosely draped across her shoulders. At her right hung her lightsaber, a standard design, and at her left a vibroblade. She spoke, in a voice that was strong and calm.
"Are you Angelus Hellsinger?" she asked.
"That I am. And you are? Can't say I've ever seen a Jedi like you before."
"My name is Viridis. As for my ways, that is not important at the moment," she replied.
"The most interesting things are often not, I guess. But the fact that we are surrounded by Ihsina Naaltir's forces is important, is it not?"
........................................................................To be continued.........