Children of the Force ZERO: The Rising Tide

by Master Solo

PNJO AU Round Robin. Jedi Master Levi Varss, a war hero of the Galactic Alliance, is once again called upon to deal with another pirate problem in these socalled Pirate Wars which the Galactic Alliance is tied up in.

1. Chapter 1: The Calling

Title : Children of the Force ZERO - The Rising Tide
Authors :
- BrantFlir (The Lance Flir Series ; The Jax Ores Series)
- CourtneySolo (n/a as of now)
- DCWiz (n/a as of now)
- Laguna (n/a as of now)
- -RebelScum- (n/a as of now)
- SilSolo (n/a as of now)
Notes : The Galaxy you know. The characters you don't.
Summary : One year prior to the events of Children of the Force I, another adventure took place. One that would shape things to come. Jedi Master Levi Varss, a war hero of the Galactic Alliance, is once again called upon to deal with another pirate problem in these so-called Pirate Wars which the Galactic Alliance is tied up in. To do this, he musters a striek force to spearhead this attack on a Hutt Slave Ring in the Outer Rim.

He inlists the help of his former apprentice; Jax Ores, a powerful Jedi who left the order becuase his ideals didn't match with those of the Orders; an ex-Jedi, Antarian Ranger; Krista Fett, adopted daughter of Boba Fett; a Jedi, and a Galactic Alliance Intellegence Agent.

CHAPTER ONE - The Calling

The howling wind and biting sand battered the battle armor worn by a young human male as he walked through the storm to his prey, which tried insanely to scramble up the smooth rock ledge. The quarry, a thirty-year old retired mercenary, had double-crossed the Sector Rangers so many times he had gotten a bounty put on his head so fat that he had aroused the interest of most of the bounty hunters in the Galaxy.

"Please, I'm worth more alive!" the man begged, and reached for his credit chip, "How much am I worth? I'll pay you double!"

"You're worth enough dead," the man said coldly from behind the reflective face of the battle helm.

The Blade X Blaster Pistol rose into the air, and the safety was clicked off. The Kashyyyk wood crafted handle was glossy in the gloved hand. Then his trigger finger haltered, and the conflict swarmed through the bounty hunter's head.

The Sector Rangers want him dead...But is it right to kill him? It's not the Jedi way! But I'm not a Jedi anymore...

The blaster bolt rang out and echoed through the canyon over the roar of the storm. But the bounty hunter no longer heard the storm. Only his own breath and the thumping of his heart. But then he regained control over himself, and the cold shadow returned. He had completed his job.

The ex-Jedi cut off a piece of the man's flesh, took DNA samples, and a picture of the body. All the evidence he needed to give the Sector Rangers.

By nightfall he had reached Mos Espa, and had returned to his personal starship, the Imperial.

The Imperial was a design created by a sister corporation of Imperial Munitions, Imperial Shipyard Designs. It was a VT49 Armed Transport designed to outrun anything it couldn't outfight and outfight anything it couldn't outrun. The stock weaponry of this thirty meter armed transport was two turreted heavy laser cannons, three general-purpose warhead launchers, and a Tractor Beam/Repulsor. The design was then subcontracted out to Kuat Drive Yards and Fondor Shipyards to be constructed.

But the Imperial was no stock-armed transport, with ion cannons and a retractable light turbolaser along with many other hidden surprises of a bounty hunter. It had been a gift and a favor from the Sector Rangers when he had abandoned the New Jedi Order.

"Its done Julius," Jax told his contact within the Sector Ranger Hunters' Division over the holonet, "I sent you all the evidence as well."

"Very good. You've been credited 21,000 Galactic Credit Standards into your account, with the other 4,000 going to your Guild, and then I've also credited 1,000 credits to your account for your standard pay. Will you need any fuel or supplies before you leave Tatooine? I can arrange company expenses for you," the ranger told him.

"No, that's fine. But I have to go, Julius, I've got an emergency call coming in from Geonosis," Jax explained and then cut the conversation and opened up the incoming call, "Jax Ores, here."

"Hello, Jay," a familiar voice said over the comm. unit.

"Levi?" Jax cried, putting the call onto his holoscreen, and the fivety year old face of his former mentor in the ways of the Force appeared, "What do you want?"

The Jedi Master sighed, and then looked up, "I need you, Jax. I've been assigned a mission that I can't do on my own, and you're the only one I'd trust to be by my side in this. Our shorthand will come in handy."

"You must realize, Master Varss, that my time is money, and that I can't afford to be off on some mission with you while I could be making money catching criminals for the Rangers or the Guild," Jax explained.

"You will be well-paid. But I'm gonna need you on this op," Jedi Master Levi Varss nodded to his former padawan.

"100,000 Galactic Credit Standards per week," Jax named his price.

"85,000 plus all expenses," Varss offered.

"Deal. Now, what's the op?"

"I can't say now, but it involves taking down a slave trade and criminal base," Varss explained.

"With just us? Are you planning on an assault or an infiltration?"

"Infiltration."

"We'll need more people," Jax sighed.

"I'm getting s strike team together. Do you have someone in mind?"

"Yeah, Rorworr," Jax explained.

"Fine, bring him on board. He'll be good on this mission. Now, I'll meet you on Geonosis at the old meeting spot in three standard days," Varss replied, and the communication ended...

His eyes were soft, friendly, warm. His manner and voice soothed her, taking the edge from her anxiety. He could be running from anyone, it didn't matter any more. She felt a thrill through her body; shallow breath and a flutter of the heart every third day when she would arrive at her office to find a flower waiting, bright and beautiful, with the secret location of their next meeting attached. She pulled the ribbon from her pocket and looked at it again.

"1740, Rartesh Cantina."

She checked her chrono. 1755. He was late; had something happened? She knew of his discomfort with the numerous bounty hunters and other opportunists lurking on Beros. Even the admittedly powerless Berosian authorities were hunting him, though h'd never told her why. What did it matter? He was a good man and he loved her. She could see how his features softened, how his muscles relaxed and how not once did he look over his shoulder when they were together. No matter the danger, he would not leave Beros without her.

Suddenly a black-gloved hand grasped her firmly on the shoulder, pushing her into the chair, while a second hand covered her mouth. Her eyes glanced around desperately, but nobody in the crowded cantina seemed to notice or care, and she quivered with fright. She felt hot breath on her neck as her assailant leaned down to whisper his threats.

"Were you followed?"

Her heart leapt. It was him! The glove moved an inch from her mouth.

"Blaine!"

"Quiet," he said, softly. "I need you to come with me, tonight."

Her mind raced; was he serious? She had told him many times that her father was facing the wrath of Boulbog the Hutt after a business deal gone bad. She could not leave him alone to such an ordeal.

"But my father-" she began.

"I'm taking care of it," he interrupted, his voice soothing. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do," she said.

"Good," he said. "Brace yourself."

Before she knew what was happening, Blaine grabbed her tight, pulling her sharply upward and out of the seat. His free hand moved from her shoulder to the table and he jerked it into the air, overturning it with a violent crash. The attention of the entire cantina was on them now as he pulled a blaster.

"Business," he said calmly, almost apologetically. "Just business."

The cantina's patrons returned to their drinks and conversation. She hadn't expected anyone to help her. Beros was legendary for its lax legal system and had long been a haven for pirates and criminals. Sights such as this were not so uncommon in local cantinas. They backed toward the door, and then he pushed her into the street.

"Run," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the night.

"What are you doing?" she shouted, but Blaine did not stop to explain himself, he simply ran through the backstreets with her close at his heels. They ran for what seemed an age, finally arriving in familiar streets, stopping breathless outside her house.

"Why..?"

"It needed to look convincing," he said, matter-of-factly. "Your father, I need to see him, now."

She looked at the ground, overcome by indecision.

"He's not here," she said.

Her father, in truth, was inside the house, but he had falsified travel arrangements that placed him in the core worlds, and not at his home address. It was part of a large scheme to keep the Hutt Enforcers off his trail long enough for him to earn back the money he owed, and avoid paying them in his own blood. Blaine looked at her with tenderness, his face softened in the moonlight.

"It's alright," he said soothingly. "I know he's here, I've come to make a deal with him. My business here has paid me a large enough profit that I can help your father. Word will spread that you have been kidnapped and the local crime syndicates will believe it was arranged by the Hutts. They will call off their search for your father in the short term thinking your kidnap into slavery has satisfied his debt, giving you and your father the perfect chance to escape."

"You really think this will work?" She stared at him urgently, studying his features. She had guessed once that he couldn't be older than thirty, though he had never told her his age. The lines etched in his face, however, told that he had endured more than most do in a lifetime.

"I've been planning this for weeks," he said. "The kidnapping needed look authentic and be public for word to spread. I'm sorry if I frightened you, but don't you see? We can finally be together, Selphina. I want you to marry me. I love you..."

He pulled her close and kissed her. She felt a rush of warmth and joy.

"I love you," she said, breathless, kissing his forehead. "I love you so much."

Selphina entered the eleven digit security code, registered her retinal scan and ordered the doors open. The security system was elaborate, but necessary to protect her father from the Hutt's agents. She did not turn on any lights in the house, and simply took Blaine's hand, leading him down the stairs to the basement, where her father had been working on his mysterious deal. Her father had never told her any details of this deal, merely stating that it would see them wealthy enough to be free of their debt to the Hutts. He had insisted that she continue her regular routine so as not to arouse suspicion. Selphina's stolen hours with Blaine had been an exciting and secret diversion.

"Father," she said. "This is Blaine, my... my fianc?" She looked up at Blaine with a shy smile, and he nodded encouragingly in the dim light. "He can help us with the Hutts, he wants to."

Selphina's father was sitting at a small desk in the darkness, his face illuminated by a computer display. "I won't accept charity," he said. "I don't care who this man is, you should not have told him of my situation. This deal will make us rich and get Boublog and his mercenaries off our backs forever. I can't abandon things now, and I can't afford the luxury of trusting this... this stranger."

"I knew you'd say as much," Blaine said, releasing Selphina's hand and moving a step forward. "Tell me though, old man, do the Jedi know of this debt to the Hutts, or do they think you're simply a good informant? That you'd consider keeping information from a Jedi tells me you're desperate, not to mention stupid, and you clearly realise you're a liability to them or you wouldn't have bothered. I don't think they'll be enamoured with such... selfish motivations."

The old man looked up at him fiercely, and Selphina felt her heart freeze a moment. Jedi? Mission? Her father had never mentioned these things to her, and how did Blaine know so much?

"How do you know all that?" her father said aggressively.

"Let's just say I have business to conduct with the Jedi myself," Blaine said, flat and equally aggressive. "And mine is a little more important than yours."

Selphina barely had time to register the sudden threatening change in his tone, the stiffness of his posture. She'd not seen him like that before. By the time a cry had left her lips, Blaine had already drawn his blaster and fired, striking her father in the chest. Blaine stared at the body a moment, confirming a clean kill before turning his attention on Selphina. His face was cold and emotionless. Frightened tears filled her eyes.

"Why...?" was all she could say.

"It was the only way," he said, and showing no remorse pulled the trigger again. Selphina's body fell lifeless to the floor.

Boulbog the Hutt had once called him 'Chameleon'. He could become anything, deceive anyone. It had been nothing to gain this woman's trust, win her affection and love, all of it to find, kill and take the position of this man, her father. The handsome bounty offered by the Hutts did not entice him; now there was nobody left standing between him and the Jedi.

A grim satisfaction crossed his thoughts for a moment before it was suppressed under a dark emotional cloak.

A striking 20 year old, Krista Fett, walked briskly down the cold corridors pondering her past. At birth, her biological parents had abandoned her outside a local pub on Corellia. Boba Fett , after escaping the belly of the sarlacc, had happened upon her that some night after the Vong Invasion. He had adopted her and raised her as a bounty huntress. Around her preschool years, he had discovered Krista's ability to use the Force. Krista smiled. Good times, she thought. Boba, wishing to continue her training, took her to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. There she had met Jax Ores. Jax. How would he react to seeing her again? After all, it HAD been almost 5 years. Would he still continue to be her best friend? Or would he persue to be something more, as they had almost done 5 or 6 years ago...

"Miss Fett! Please, wait!" A young pilot called from down the hall. Krista turned around and waited for him.

"Yes, Officer?" She teased. The yound man blushed.

"You dropped your locket on the way out of the briefing room. Here it is," the Tatooine officer panted as he handed her the worn locket.

"Thank you for returning this to me," she replied, fastening it around her neck. How foolish can I be? Krista chided herself. She had nearly lost her most treasured possession. It was a birthday present from Jax. He had given it to her for her 14th birthday ... back before they had thought about possibly making thier relationship something more. It just wasn't fair! She mused, thinking back on those long lost yuears with Jax. The dance at the Temple...The fights they fought during the wars...That cold night on the Mon Calamari beach...

But as she boarded the shuttle for the destination, she resolved not to let anyone pst her guard. Jedi do not fall in love ... or used to not, back before the New Jedi Order was founded. But at the back of her mind, Krista somehow knew that at least ONE man would creep through her guard. However, she knew for sure that she would always be her Daddy's Little Girl...