Star Wars: The Forcewalkers
This work of fiction is a nonprofit story based upon the Star Wars franchise made by Lucasarts and Disney
Era: Old Republic-4000 B.B.Y.
CHAPTER ONE: MULKAAR
Mulkaar's black cloak hugged his white trooper armor as he walked down the hallway of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, towards the council chambers. He had to discuss the information he found in the holocron he "borrowed" from a Sith government official, although he wouldn't be getting it back anytime soon, considering he was dead. He read through it, and learned of the Sith and their past, and he never really saw them as evil, just very selfish in their ways of gaining power.
"Padawan Mulkaar!" A voice called out behind him. Mulkaar turned, and saw his teacher, Jedi Master Illume. The Mandalorian had black, short, well-kept hair with a devilish goatee.
"Yes, Master?" Mulkaar responded. He never really thought of Master Illume as a friend, or anything more than a teacher. Illume had tried to befriend Mulkaar, but never made much progress.
"You left this in the training hall," Illume showed Mulkaar a silver cylinder, about a foot long, and thick as a sword hilt. It had black gripping on one side, a button on the upper half, and a rigged black pommel. "Your lightsaber. You should always keep it with you, this weapon is your life," stated Illume as Mulkaar took the lightsaber.
"Thank you, Master. Now I must go, I have information to share with the Council." Mulkaar turned to leave, but Illume put a hand on his shoulder.
"But, the Jedi Council is in a meeting right now, can the information wait?"
"I guess it will have to." Mulkaar sighed and clipped his lightsaber to his waist. "What is the meeting about?"
"I'm not sure, but they're interrogating a bounty hunter about something."
CHAPTER TWO: AJADAR
Ajadar's head strained and throbbed as the Jedi Masters attempted to use the force to tap into his mind and find the information they wanted. He nearly screamed as there was a surge of force-energy rattling his skull.
"STOP IT! Y-you'll never get what you want!" Ajadar exclaimed. A Jedi Knight took down his hood and looked at the Council.
"If we keep this up, he'll surely die." He said as he took a step closer to the bounty hunter. "And we don't seem to be getting anywhere."
"His mind is stronger than we thought. This has been proven to be more difficult." A dark-skinned Jedi added. She wasn't wearing a robe, and had a lightsaber hanging from her belt. Ajadar smiled, and tested the force bonds holding him to the chair.
"And here I thought the Jedi were all hairy old men." He quickly scanned her body, as any man would to a lady with such fine features. "Ajadar Swindurra, bounty hunter, at your service."
"Enough with the pleasantries, mercenary, tell us where you took the Jedi holocron!"
"Excuse me, but I'm a bounty hunter, and I'll never tell you!... Unless I get paid."
"Ridiculous! You stole it from us, why should we have to buy it back?"
"I'm keeping it for something... Special... That I have in mind." The Council members stir and whisper to each other, the dark-skinned Jedi's eyes widened, then relaxed.
"What are you using it for?"
"I'd rather not say" Ajadar smirked, and the Jedi's eyebrows furrowed.
"How much will it take to buy it from you?" The Jedi crossed her arms, and then Ajadar smiled.
"100,000 credits" He looked at the Jedi, and she sighed and rubbed her temples. She looked at the Council, and most of the Council members nodded.
"Deal", the Jedi waved her hand, and Ajadar was released from the chair. "We will have two Jedi escort you to the holocron' location, and you will give it up without hesitation, are we clear?"
"Clear as a sniper scope, now where is my gear?"
"The Jedi just outside will escort you."
CHAPTER THREE: GREETINGS
As Ajadar scratched his short, brown hair, and adjusted his green eyes to the light, Mulkaar watched the lean, cocky character exit the Council chambers, and wondered if he was capable of defeating him. Of course he was, the man was a simple mercenary, but then he wondered why his first reaction was to know if he could defeat him. Ajadar walked up to them and crossed his arms.
"I'm guessing you two are the escort monks?" He peered up and down at his guardians, and snorted. "Can I ever get escorted by a twi-lek?"
"Well, pleased to defeat-err, meet you." Mulkaar mentally face-palmed at his idiocy, he had defeat on the mind. The hunter didn't seem to notice, or he didn't care.
"I was told you *ahem* fine, young, gentlemen could give me my gear back, and I'll give you your fancy holocron thing." Ajadar crossed his arms and looked at Master Illume, who smiled.
"Of course. I'm Itash Illume, but you can call me Illume."
"Thanks, I will. Now where's my stuff?"
"And this is my apprentice, Mulkaar." Master Illume patted Mulkaar's shoulder, which was responded to with a glare.
"I... am Mulkaar..." Mulkaar didn't know what to say, Illume was making everything awkward.
"Neat, now where's my stuff?"
"In my ship, I'll take you there." Illume responded.
"Finally, words that I want to hear." Ajadar yawned and stretched and followed Illume to the shipyard. They approached a transport ship and an officer dropped a crate in front of the Jedi. It opened up, showing standard black and red armor, clearly battle-worn, but with its own enhancements as well. Ajadar equipped his chestpiece, leggings, and boots, then his side-cape, and his helmet. He pulled on his jetpack, gauntlets, gloves, and holstered his weapons, including a blaster rifle, vibrosword, two Westar-44 pistols and reloaded his wrist rockets. "Now follow me, I'll get you your holocron."
CHAPTER FOUR: COLLECTION
The bounty hunter pressed a button on his forearm, and a red crescent-shaped ship flew over and floated in front of them, and opened a hatch. He stepped in and the Jedi followed, then the hatch closed and started flying across the shipyard, into the sky.
After a few minutes after, Mulkaar grew impatient,
"Where are we going?" Mulkaar queried.
"Home sweet home. You'll get your holocron thingie, don't worry."
"Who is driv-" The ship abruptly slowed to a stop, surging Mulkaar and Illume forward, as it landed on a rooftop. The hatch opened and Ajadar dropped out, standing next to a blue twi-lek in gray and green scout-class clothing, who handed him a small black pouch. The jedi followed, just as a rodian walked from the cockpit up to Ajadar.
"I'm guessing that's the holocron, isnt it?" Illume said as he produced a credits card from his pocket. After they traded the card for the pouch, Illume opened it to make sure, and there it was. A glass pentagonal dodecahedron, glowing bright blue. "Thank you, hunter." The Jedi turned and walked from the roof through the building, down to the street, and blended into the crowd as they returned to the Jedi Temple.
"Master?"
"Yes, My Apprentice?"
"What is on that holocron?"
"Some old Jedi secrets, we're lucky to have gotten it back before that scoundrel did anything with it."
"I see..."
The Jedi arrived at the temple, and Illume returned the holocron to the council. Mulkaar was just outside, listening to their banter.
"How did a bounty hunter get in the holocron vault? That place is impenetrable!" On Jedi added.
"My point exactly, I say we trial him again!" Another commented,
"Master Quard, please," Master Illume interrupted, "we already traded back the holocron, I'm just glad we did before he did anything with it."
"How do you know that? He could have read it already!"
"That's impossible, he's not force sen-"
"Enough!" The dark-skinned Jedi yelled.
"Master Kanara, what do you suggest we do?"
Kanara responded, "Simple. Send a spy to watch the bounty hunter. Who volunteers?" No one raised their hand. "Well, I can't do it, I'm needed here, and we need someone close to the council." Master Illume raised his hand. "Master Illume?"
"I have a friend who could lend a hand. He's a very good spy." Illume smiled.
"Very well, get them on the job, but I don't want anyone dead, understand?"
"Yes, of course." Illume bowed.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE SPY
A dark figure sat alone in the corner of a cantina bar on Coruscant, his ragged hood hiding his masked face. The dirty establishment had the sour scent of cheap beer, and the pungent, smoky smell of deathsticks hung in the air. A bounty hunter walked into the tavern and sat two seats away, and ordered a drink. He took off his helmet, and ran his hand through his short brown hair, scrambled by his helmet, and watched the dancing Twi'leks behind him, his dark green eyes slowly scanning the well-known aliens. The dark figure had his orders, to find out if this man knew anything about the holocron that was stolen from the Jedi temple. Ajadar took a drink, then dropped a couple credits on the counter, and left the cantina. The figure spoke into his communicator on his metal arm, and Master Illume's voice echoed back,
"Good work finding him, Gengieris, now keep a close eye on him. I've got a bad feeling about this." Gengieris stepped out of the cantina, into the rainy, dark street, and stalked Ajadar to his ship. He sneaked around the side and put a beacon under the ship's wing, then scurried off before anyone saw him. He returned to the cantina and went to the back door, but an Ithorian bumped into him, spilling the brown-skinned creature's drink. The beast growled angrily and yelled gibberish at the assassin. Gengieris tried to push his away through the door, but the Ithorian swatted him back, almost knocking him down. Gengieris leaped forward and pushed his robotic hand into the beast's chest, then pushed him over and continued through the door, leaving an empty syringe on the ground. The hooded figure pulled his hood down, showing a triangular blue gas mask, with a red visor. The rest of his head was scabbed, with burn scars.
Master Illume checked his comms relay in his ship, showing a beeping red dot just over Coruscant. A blue transparent figure appeared as a hologram, wearing a cloak and a gas mask. A raspy metallic voice coughed over the radio,
"I found the bounty hunter, that beacon is on his ship, when do I get payed?"
"Soon enough, friend." Illume responded, leaning back. "Soon enough..."
CHAPTER SIX: INFORMATION
Ajadar kicked his feet up and took his helmet off, and held a hologram projector in his hand. He turned it on, and waited a moment. A hologram appeared of a tall, stoic man, with thick scaly armor and white hooded cape. A deep, proud voice projected from him.
"Ajadar Swindurra, why have you called?"
"The Jedi took the holocron, did you get everything you needed off it?"
"No, but I can figure out the rest. Thank you for your services. Your pay will be in the usual spot."
"Alright, Thalos, I'll be there." The hologram dissipated and Ajadar's ship slowed to a stop over Coruscant, then his Rodian co-pilot typed in some codes, and they blasted into hyperspace.
Gengieris piloted his dark, bird-shaped ship out into orbit, stalking the bounty hunter's. He copied down the coordinates the ship was going to, and followed them in hyperspace. After a few moments, his ship exited hyperspace, and was presented with a dark green planet, with a few lakes and rivers. Kashyyyk, home of the tall, furry Wookies. Gengieris located where Ajadar was landing, and zoomed close by, landing a safe distance off, in a clearing of the seemingly endlessly tall trees, so dense, the native population built walkways and houses high up, villages sprawling across the forest canopy. The air had a thick, fresh smell of forest air, and a hint of some sort of sap. Gengieris equipped metal claws on his hands and clambered up a trunk. After several minutes, he reached a landing pad and hung off of the ledge. He peeked up, and saw a ship, and a hut on the other side of the platform. He climbed up and snuck across the platform. Ajadar was talking to someone in the hut.
"So, you have someone in the Jedi Temple? Sneaking you answers?" He queried. The other person responded,
"Yes, and I believe you have already met him." At this, Gengieris activated his communicator, and relayed the conversation to Master Illume. The other person continued, "he has great potential, but he doesn't quite yet know how to use it..." The voice stopped, and Gengieris rolled away from the hut door, just as an array of blaster bolts shot through the wall where he was crouched. He stood, and Ajadar walked out of the door, holding his Westar-44 blaster pistol, smoke wisping into the air.
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONNECTIONS
Mulkaar's black hooded robe hugged his figure as he strode through the Jedi archives, and opened his communicator to a tall, armored, hooded figure and a familiar bounty hunter. The tall one spoke first.
"Mulkaar, I need to speak with you soon, our plans are almost complete."
"Yes, Master Kanan, I am on my way now. Illume doesn't suspect a thing."
Ajadar spoke after Mulkaar, "So, you have someone in the Jedi Temple? Sneaking you answers?"
"Yes, and I believe you have already met him. Padawan Mulkaar. He has great potential, but he doesn't quite yet know how to use it..." Kanan stopped, and nodded towards the door, and Ajadar instantly reached for his pistols and turned and fired his blasters through the wall. The hologram closed and Mulkaar hurried to the docking bay, where his starship was waiting.
CHAPTER EIGHT: CONFRONTATION
"Who are you?" Ajadar raised his arm, aiming his blaster at the hooded, gas-masked figure. It responded in a deep, robotic voice, that sounded like a scratchy-throated junker through a bad radio.
"I was a spy, but now I'm an assassin," the man whipped his hand from behind his back, holding a small crossbow, that launched a silver needle right at Ajadar. He dodged, and it bounced off his shoulder plate. Ajadar ran behind his ship, and fired at the assassin, the "Yelp!" of his blaster pistols echoing through the dense trees around him. He took cover behind the wing, and fired again, the shadowy figure moving too fast for him to hit. Ajadar looked to see if the assassin was coming around the ship, and saw a tracking beacon under the ship's wing. He chuckled and tore it off and took out his other pistol, one in each hand.
"You tracked me here, huh? When did this get on here?" He was responded with a electro-pole jabbing into his side, a fierce shock exploding at the contact point. Ajadar grunted loudly and grabbed the pole, but got kicked in the face by the assassin. Before they could strike again, he grabbed their hooded gas mask and slammed his forehead into their face, knocking them back. Gengieris slapped the electro-pole across Swindurra's jaw, then knee, and swiped his legs out from beneath him, knocking him to the ground. He raised his crossbow but the bounty hunter's legs clung to his, and they pulled him down to the ground, smacking his head against the ship's wing.
"You got moves, I'll give you that," Ajadar said as they both stood and he quickly drop-kicked his opponent, who side-stepped and kicked him in the abdomen. Ajadar tried to get up but Gengieris smacked him in the back of the head with his staff, knocking him unconscious.
"Did you hear the merc and his boss?" Gengieris's voice cut through his radio. A much more handsome one responded.
"Yes, I did. It seems our fears were true, he shared the information with someone. You can kill him, and find his higher-up, find out as much as you can before desposing of him." Illume closed his communicator.
CHAPTER NINE: THALOS KANAN
"I thought you could do better," Gengieris snarled as he reloaded his crossbow, and aimed it at the unconscious Ajadar Swindurra's head. Right as he pulled the trigger, a strong force blasted Gengieris onto his back, nearly falling off the nearly-mile-high platform. He hopped up and saw a tall, built man with a white cape, an intimidating horned helmet that showed only his eyes, and armor made of golden scales.
"I've already payed that bounty hunter, you're not killing him yet." His angry voice boomed. Gengieris shot a dart at the man but it was stopped by an invisible wall, and it fell to the ground. "I am Thalos Kanan, and you are trespassing here."
"I was hired to spy on him, and now to kill him. It's my job, don't make this difficult." The cyborg-like voice responded.
"It is you who will make this difficult, boy." Thalos revealed a long, curved, dark, chrome tube, a sheath. He withdrew the hilt and with it the blade, a katana-like sword rising in his hands. Thalos flicked a switch and the blade hummed lowly, as lightsaber-resistant vibroblades do. His hand gripped the handle and he took a powerful and intimidating stance with the blade, looking as if he could slice through the entire planet. He zoomed at the assassin with blinding speed, and Gengieris barely had time to block with his electro-staff. Thalos made another strike at his legs which he jumped over and kicked at Thalos, but he was lifted into the air and slammed down by the Force. Gengieris rushed the knight with his staff, making hard strikes to the knees and sides, each being blocked by the vibrosword. Gengieris swung at the head, and made contact with the sword, and held it. He pushed against it with all his strength, the purple lightning crackling at the end of the pole, but Thalos overpowered him and made a fast swipe, leaving the assassin's cybernetic arm without a hand. "I suggest you leave before I make any more wounds," Thalos said as he sheathed his mighty sword. Gengieris skidded back, and was teetering on the edge when Thalos threw his severed arm into his abdomen, throwing him off the edge. Thalos activated his communicator and walked back into the wooden hut. "Mulkaar, go to the backup hideout. They know we're here."
"I'm on my way, Master." Thalos then stepped out onto another landing pad and approached a white, v-shaped starship with gold plates and cockpit cover. He opened it up and sat inside, then it closed as he ascended into the air, and sped into the sky. In orbit, Thalos attached his ship to a hyperdrive ring and typed coordinates into the computer, and his ship flashed into deep space.
CHAPTER TEN
On the sandy dunes of Tatooine, a large town dominated a valley, the blistering heat of two suns beating down on the citizens, sand blowing through the soft winds, which often brought fatal sandstorms. Two cloaked figures, one white, one black, and a bounty hunter followed each other into a dimly-lit cantina, the smell of alcohol and smoke nearly choking the apprentice.
"You get used to it, kid. Or you buy a mask with a filter." Ajadar joked.
"I'll be fine," Mulkaar cleared his throat, "not like it will kill me."
"Sure, kid..." Ajadar took his helmet off as they sat in a booth in the corner of the bar.
Thalos looked over his shoulder and spoke in a low, but not whispering, voice. Whispering draws attention, talking doesn't,
"Mulkaar, Jedi Master Illume sent a spy to our platform on Kashyyyk, how did that happen?"
"I do not know, Master, he must have-"
"That was my fault," Ajadar interrupted, "they put a tracker on my ship, I'm not sure when." Thalos nodded and clenched his fist.
"That may take a toll on your next payment, Hunter,"
"Hey, it ain't my fault! I can't search every nook and cranny of my ship on an hourly basis, I've got a schedule!"
"Of watching Twi'lek dancers?" Mulkaar added. Ajadar scowled at this.
"If you lower my pay, I'm telling the Jedi your plans," he threatened. Thalos just chuckled.
"And let them interrogate you again?"
"It's not interrogation if I tell them without resistance,"
"Well... It technically still is," Mulkaar added again.
"Just shut up, Jedi Newbie!" Ajadar stood up abruptly, as did Mulkaar. Thalos rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"You are foolish, Hunter, but I won't kill you if you calm down right now." Thalos added inflection on "right" to let him know he wasn't kidding.
"I am calm!" Ajadar pounded his fist on the table, and noticed everyone in the cantina was staring at him. The bartender, a short, stout human with a large brown bushy beard and thinning hair, wiped a dirty shot glass and peered over at them from the counter across the room.
"Hey, space-man, take it outside," he yelled in a burly-man voice. Ajadar flipped him off, and the man pulled out a blaster pistol from behind his bar and held it. "Son, just calm down and you can leave here in one piece."
"What is your problem?" Mulkaar asked, his hand resting on the pommel of his lightsaber.
"When people don't respect me, I make sure others will," he put his hand over his hip, and, with one quick, smooth movement, unholstered his blaster pistol and shot the bartender in the hand, making some of the bar patrons stand and reach for their weapons while others fleed out the door. The bartender cursed and ran outside the cantina. Mulkaar had his lightsaber in his hand, pointed at Ajadar.
"Put it away or you'll have more holes than Utapau."
"You can't hurt me, Jedi," Ajadar reached behind his head and grabbed his vibroblade off his back, and flicked the switch above the grip, activating the cortosis weave and emitting a low humming noise. He twirled it in his hand and stepped back from Mulkaar, who's lightsaber was on and glowing bright blue.
"Ajadar, what are you doing?!" Mulkaar demanded, Thalos just crossed his arms and watched.
"I'm sick of being pushed around!"
"You're a bounty hunter, you get paid to do people's work. If you don't like it, maybe you should be a ," Mulkaar smirked and raised his saber to block Ajadar's vibroblade, clashing and sending sparks and emitting a crackling noise as the energy in the lightsaber and the vibrating, resistant cortosis pushed against the saber. Mulkaar pushed, putting all his body weight into it, and threw the bounty hunter off him. "Let's take this outside, space-man." The Jedi pushed his hand at Swindurra, forcing him out the front door, and jumped out the door, black cape swirling in the air behind him and unclipping onto the sand. "Sorry for pushing you around," Mulkaar chuckled.
"You're gonna regret that!" Ajadar yelled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Pain. Not bleeding pain, or broken bone pain, but "I just got every inch of my body bruised all at once" pain. Gengieris groaned as he lifted his head up from the ground, and sat up and supported himself with his... missing arm. His body fell back to the ground, which made his bruises ache. He awkwardly succeeded in standing up and searched for his arm. After not finding it, he looked up at where he had fallen from, and saw a lot of broken branches, and a metal hand sticking out of a tree. The cut that severed his arm left a sharp edge that managed to bury itself in the side of the thick Kashyyyk-an tree. Gengieris sighed and started climbing.
