It's been a long time, I know. Look, I'm trying here. But high school is being annoying due to EVERYTHING EXISTING (Still a bit salty about that), so I had to shut down my account. However, I figured I would give one last story, and it's my worst one yet. R&R, R&R.
DISCLAIMER: Is my name George Lucas? No. Am I Walt Disney? Also no. Therefore, I don't own STAR WARS.
BTW: Vader is probably OOC. Deal with it.
Part 1: The Fall
!0*0!
Kastan Enderbeck slouched back in his seat. Soon he'd be off this planet and start getting things done. Brenda, his sister, had neglected to come; she had decided to stay on Anoat a few days ago to study some 'potentially incredibly beneficial life-forms burrowing around under the surface'. She had refused to travel with him to his 'voodoo-magic meetings' anymore.
"Well, look where it got you. Right here, studying worms. Having the time of your life. I got you here with my 'voodoo magic', Brenda!" Kastan had argued the other day.
"Exactly," Brenda replied cooly. "Only strengthening my case to stay. Besides, with things to do and a grant from Coruscant, I have an excuse to not attend another voodoo-magic meeting."
"The True Light," he said angrily, "is not 'voodoo'! The Force is in all of us, even you. You know, maybe you should have accepted my offer to join! Then you'd understand!"
"I don't trust things that I can't touch. If one can't touch it, it doesn't exist. Who needs magic when I have a trusty blaster at my side?"
"You're strong in the Force, but have you ever heard of a blaster Jedi?"
Brenda thought for a moment.
"No," she finally uttered.
"Exactly." Kastan said with an air of finality.
She glared at him so furiously that he gave up.
Brenda Enderbeck was a stubborn woman; maybe that contributed to her complete self-sufficiency. Whilst Kastan often required assistance in terms of brute strength, Brenda was rather well-rounded; sensible, strong, and intelligent. However, Kastan's prowess with the blade and the Force meant that he, not she, had become True Light Master.
A beeping noise disrupted his thoughts. He turned to see T3-M4 trundle into the cockpit of his ship, the Ebon Hawk. Both were relics of the ancient past, but they worked as well as any droid of ship, if not better.
"Beep-oop boop beep!" T3 squeaked happily.
"Yes, Hello, T3. What's up?"
"Boop-weep beep beep woop!" it replied.
Kastan smiled. "Glad to have you aboard. Are you sure you'd rather not stay with Brenda, though?"
"Boop-oop?"
"Of course you do. This isn't up to me."
"Boop." T3 slowly exited the small cockpit.
While T3-M4 belonged to both siblings, Kastan understood that it preferred Brenda's company to his own, just as HK-47, Darth Revan's old personal assassin droid, preferred him to her.
Speaking of which, where was it?
Had HK decided to stay on Anoat with Brenda?
To Kastan's relief, HK-47 remained erect in the control hub- exactly where he always was.
"Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, master."
Kastan rolled his eyes. HK always referred to him as its "Master"; as for why, he had no idea.
"HK. If I am your master, I order you to stop calling me Master. Understand?"
"Answer: Of course, master."
"HK, we were just through this. Don't call me that."
"Qualification: Don't I? I was under the assumption that organic meatbags such as yourself enjoy such forms of address."
"HK. That's even worse than Master."
"Query: Uh, as much as I don't like you being angry with me, master, calling organic meatbags organic meatbags is quite amusing."
"You just called me an organic meatbag again!" Kastan fumed.
"Extrapolation: Did I say that out loud? My apologies, master."
"Just stop calling me master, Kastan sighed, exasperated.
"Statement: I am unable to comply with that command, as much as I'd like to."
"HK, you're impossible."
"As you desire, master. Signing off."
Its dark red color gave a somewhat sinister leer to its features. HK-47 had originally belonged to Darth Revan nearly four thousand years ago, and experience told it was quite adept with any firearm. Being seven feet tall and having a mostly humanoid body, it was incredibly intimidating. T3, on the other hand, was innocuous enough, looking like a satellite dish on a rolling tripod. However, it was integrated with two pistols, which it used to great effect.
The Ebon Hawk lurched under his feet; T3-M4 must have taken the controls. Honestly, Kastan was glad no one was in the room, as he had nearly collapsed at the sudden acceleration.
He checked the emergency supplies, which were full. He checked his personal torpedo storage- all of them ready to go if need be. He had T3 check the sole on-board cannon: functioning well. The hyperdrive operated normally, they had enough food and water, medpacs, everything in working order.
"T3, plug in hyperspace coordinates for Dantooine," Kastan said absentmindedly, watching Anoat fade away into the void of space.
"Beep," T3 replied.
To someone looking on from outside, the ship would appear to have rocketed off into the distance at an impossibly fast speed. To those within, everything around moved backwards so quickly that it blueshifted in front and redshifted in back, giving a gradient from black to blue to white to red to black. Hyperspace was beautiful, so beautiful that many ships came installed with special "screen protectors" so that people weren't caught up in the beauty of the stuff and not actually drive the ship. To Kastan, who constantly jumped from planet to planet to planet, it was merely a transition, from one life to another.
The trip would take scarcely two hours. That would be roughly enough time to eat a meal, practice his blade technique, listen to the Empire drone on about curfews, practice using the Force, reprogram his holotable to resemble a fancy wooden one he had seen on Alderaan, teach T3 and HK manners, and maybe add Anoat to the Galaxy Map. Possibly even relax, but the odds of that were slim.
!0*0!
Aboard the Ebon Hawk, Kastan only had time to eat before they exited hyperspace above the ocean world of Manaan.
"T3? Are you sure you put in the right coords? Because I'm pretty sure this isn't Dantooine."
"Boop-oop weep," it replied indignantly.
"Well, then, what happened? Falling out of hyperspace isn't exactly easy, you know."
"Commentary: I believe I know the answer to that question, master," HK answered, pointing up.
Kastan moved to the window, looking out. Suspended in space was a Star Destroyer, the flagship of Grand Moff Tarkin himself.
They had found him.
All Kastan could find in his mind to utter was, "Oh no."
!0*0!
"Sir, these ship codes match those of the Insurgent's vessel," the ensign said shakily.
"Send for Lord Vader, and deploy all TIE Fighter's immediately. We can't risk the Insurgent escaping this encounter."
"Yes, sir."
Grand Moff Tarkin gazed out at the miniscule vessel, painfully obvious against the stark blue of the watery world below. If he failed to capture the Insurgent, the emperor would have his head for sure.
Already, he heard the screeching noise of TIEs scraping across the fabric of space-time towards the Insurgent's ship. He would have to note the ensign's efficiency at getting things done.
His thoughts were interrupted by another ensign.
"Sir. Vader's TIE has arrived. He is heading directly towards the Insurgent's vessel."
"Good," Tarkin replied absentmindedly.
!0*0!
"T3, man the wheel and try not to get us shot. HK, take the gun turrets. I'll try Battle Meditation. Go!"
Kastan had the rare ability to use a Force technique known as Battle Meditation, although it had been far more rare a long time ago. When used, Battle Meditation implanted feelings of bravery and confidence in allies while removing the will to fight from the enemy. It may sound stupid on paper, but this ability had saved Kastan's life many a time. However, it required intense metaphysical concentration, so it could not be used in the midst of lightsaber combat, or in any other stressful and/or distracting area/situation.
Slowly, he let go of all distractions, but a blast rang out before Kastan could start. It was accompanied by a small explosion that sounded all too familiar."
"Not the hyperdrive!" he yelled.
The hyperdrive had become an unidentifiable lump of metal; a shot from a TIE must have hit it.
"T3, HK, the hyperdrive's out. Our best shot is to try to land on Manaan. I think the Selkath built some kind of floating city. T3, try to set us down there."
"Boop-weep!"
"HK, can you figure out which one did that?"
"Answer: I think it was the one with the curved winglets, master. What importance that has, I don't know."
"Great, it's Vader… that actually explains a lot."
Another shot landed home; even Kastan's prototype shield generators wouldn't be able to take much more.
"Boop-weep bap boop!" T3-M4 shrieked as it trundled out of the cockpit.
"What to you mean, you've lost control of the ship?!"
"Translation: I believe he is trying to tell you that he's lost control of the ship, master," HK-47 chimed in.
"Yeah, thanks, HK," Kastan sighed. "Everyone into the escape pod!"
Everyone clambered into the all-too-small escape pod as another blast found its target.
"Launch," Kastan ordered sorrowfully.
The escape pod jettisoned from the Ebon Hawk just as its deathbell rang. The little pod had been rocked by the shockwave, and was now hurtling directly towards Manaan at unprecedented speeds.
"Reflection: It was nice knowing you, master."
!0*0!
"Sir. The Insurgent's craft has been destroyed. No evidence of anyone inside at the time of destruction. We did, however, pick up an escape pod moving very quickly towards Manaan.
"What are the odds of survival?"
"If the craft hits Ahto directly, the survival chance for occupants is approximately 24.7235827% If it hits water, however, the odds of surviving the immediate crash are closer to 52.297120082%, but the chance of actually managing to get back to Ahto City are around 5.543%."
"Thank you. You may go."
"Yes, sir."
!0*0!
"Whoa!"
"Woop!"
"Commentary, we're probably not going to survive impact!"
"Gee, thanks, HK!" Kastan replied sarcastically.
"Beep-eep woop. Boop, beep, boop…"
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
A tremendous force abruptly pushed everyone inside the escape pod towards the ceiling; they had landed. Kastan, noting that he was still breathing, realized that they had survived, somehow.
"We beat… the odds, somehow!"
"Boop-weep boop beep bap woop… beep weep."
"Water? Is that what we landed in?"
"Weep."
"Analysis: it appears that the flotation device you installed failed, master."
"I never installed a flotation device."
"Extrapolation: It would appear so, master."
They were sinking, slowly and dramatically, under the surface of Manaan.
!0*0!
Vader landed in Ahto City, the only solid platform on Manaan. His objective was simple: find and capture the Insurgent, alive if at all possible. Finding him, however, would be incredibly difficult.
"Fan out and find the Insurgent. Leave no room unchecked, regardless of what anyone says. Remember, we're looking for a male human, called Kastan Enderbeck, height 5' 5", and has obvious Jedi robes. This shouldn't be hard to miss, even to the most oblivious." he took a moment to glance at the stormtroopers amassed in front of him. "He's accompanied by two droids, one an ancient T3 unit, the other a blood red assassin unlike anything seen before."
Vader turned his back on the troopers in front of him as they saluted with a "Yes, Lord Vader!" and exited. Turning again, he was astonished to note groups of Rebel Alliance soldiers, as plain as day, standing and chatting as his troopers walked around them, completely oblivious. They clearly saw Vader, but paid him no heed. The Sith Lord began to pull out his lightsaber.
"My lord, you kinda can't do that here. Selkath regulations dictates that any violation of the peace on Ahto will inevitably result in hefty fines and a cut from the all-important kolto harvest, which is used to make bacta. You know, the stuff in medpacs that makes them work," a shadow trooper interjected, materializing from the shadows. "It's only found on Manaan, which makes it completely and utterly valuable to any war effort. Makes the native fish-heads so arrogant that they think they can maintain an unaffiliated pacifist world in the middle of a war for the galaxy. Embarrassingly, they can. I thought everyone knew abo-"
Vader instinctively lashed out with the Force momentarily forgetting the Selkath laws. Upon remembering, he immediately rescinded himself and stopped Force Choking the trooper.
Fortunately, the Rebel Alliance soldiers didn't notice.
!0*0!
A silhouette struck the ocean floor, spewing a great deal of grit in an ellipse around the firaxan corpse. This was all witnessed by Shelkar, a Selkath researcher on the Rebellion's secret underwater base. She reluctantly summoned her crew of six to collect the dead Firaxan shark for research.
Interestingly, the corpse seemed to be attracting very little attention. Judging by her past experience, half the shark would already be eaten by scavengers and other firaxans. She shrugged it off as just a lucky find, but upon closer inspection, it was easy to tell something was off. Reason the first, little attention from other animals. Reason the second, it was beaten almost beyond recognition. Reason the third, the thing was made out of metal. Reason the fourth, there was a human pounding desperately on the metal of the pod.
!0*0!
T3-M4 saw them first; a group of Selkath wearing bright yellow enviro suits were approaching the practically destroyed pod. The firaxan sharks swirling around the escape pod paid them little heed; perhaps it was the yellow? It didn't matter. Questions could be answered later.
"Beep boop! Beep boop boop bee-doop weep!" T3 shreiked.
"Really? Selkath in enviro suits?" He glanced outwards, easily notifying how many Selkath were coming. He counted seven.
Kastan began pounding on the metal wall in hopes of getting their attention.
"Analysis: We appear to have just enough fuel to reach their position, Master."
Kastan stopped, then turned around slowly. "We… had fuel… this entire… time?"
"Answer: I was too busy trying not to be squished into scrap metal by a particular T3 unit to pay attention to the fuel gage, Master."
"Fine, HK. Just use it. We're not getting much more mileage out of this thing anyway."
!0*0!
Shelkar noticed the pod beginning to move, using its last wisps of fuel to shorten the distance between them and itself. She had to appreciate the bravado of who or whatever was inside.
The fuel was short-lived, however; she could tell they had ran out by the telltale shudder of the engine. However, the pod remained floating above their heads; what force kept theme there, she had no idea.
!0*0!
Kastan sat absolutely still; had he not been sitting up and breathing, albeit very softly, HK-47 would have sworn he was dead. Channeling the Force took deep and undisturbed concentration, HK had learned over many assassinations and combat scenarios. It still remembered systematically destroying an entire Empire labor camp all on his lonesome… Those were the days. And it had been so long since it had added to its staggering kill count...
HK had also learned that certain Force Powers took less time to take effect than others, combative Force Powers being the shortest to work, while passive telekinesis took the longest, depending on the circumstances.
The pod drifted through the ocean towards an opening in the facility, intended for submarine access. Its mangled tip broke the surface of the water, and its oxygen levels refilled. Kastan's eyes immediately rolled up into his head and, utterly depleted from his enormous Force ordeal, promptly fell unconscious.
HK-47 had seen this happen to many Jedi during its long career as an assassin droid; as they used the Force, they gradually lost the ability to use it. However, it took almost no concentration to regenerate it while not in use. When under extreme duress, a Force-wielder could call upon vast amounts of the Force, with minor backlash like nausea or tiredness. When pushed to the absolute limit, it could even knock one out cold, as it had done to Kastan himself.
!0*0!
Shelkar peeled off her enviro suit and proceeded to scan the pod for survivors. Her eyes immediately locked onto the only organic life-form in the escape pod itself- the unconscious human on the floor that she had seen before.
Turning to the menacing, blood-red, seven-foot droid lounging casually in the back, she asked, "Wot happned do heem?" in her best attempt at Basic.
"Explanation: Over use of the force in a dire situation rendered him unconscious," it replied nonchalantly.
"Zhat sound bahd. We will take too infirmuhree."
"Boop-beep weep boop!" the other droid, which she had thought was a table at first glance, said indignantly as it trundled out of the mangled escape pod.
"Shh! Quiet!" She scream-whispered in her best basic possible.
"Query: Why?" the other droid asked.
"He needs rehst, yoo wil dezturb heem."
"Qualification: My master will be fine, either way. Addition: You can speak your native Selkath; both my master and myself can understand it perfectly.
"Thank goodness, I'm terrible with Basic," she replied gratefully. "But did you just… call him 'Master'?"
"Qualification: I am not at liberty to divulge this type of information to an organic meatbag such as yourself," HK said with an imaginary sneer.
"... Organic… Meatbag."
"Interjection: Don't even try it; I'll splatter your brains all over the floor, then have T3-M4 drive through it," HK threatened, upon seeing Shelkar's face begin to fill with rage.
"Boop-oop weep! Beep boop da-weep!" T3 chirped, almost pleadingly.
"You know, you're pretty bloodthirsty for a droid," she said sarcastically.
"Qualification: Of course I am. Even droids such as myself must be allowed to have a little fun every once in awhile."
Having made its point, HK stalked out of the pod.
"Hang on a second," Shelkar said.
HK paused, then turned.
"Query: What are you going to waste my time with now?"
"I'm going to ignore that. But seriously; overuse of the Force? Is he a Jedi or something? I thought they all died out."
"Answer: Ask him when he wakes up; he will explain it far better than I.
"Fine," Shelkar replied, rolling her eyes.
!0*0!
The stormtroopers accounts were all the same: Failure. The Insurgent had seemingly disappeared off the face of Manaan.
The last stormtrooper arrived much later than the others. As far as Vader could tell, he showed no shame.
The trooper practically flew across the room, over the heads of his compatriots and into Vader's extended fist.
"You are late," Vader boomed. "I do not tolerate insurgencies within any squadron. Where were you?"
"P-permission to speak freely, sir?" the trooper asked.
Oh, now he respects authority. "Permission granted."
"I was investigating some leads, sir."
"Care to share?" Vader asked, a mocking undertone all but dripping from his words.
"If I'm correct, the Rebel Alliance has a highly illegal underwater facility, Lord Vader.
"How did you acquire this information?" Vader asked, softly.
"We've been tracking frequent and regular submarine signals to a specific location, and unusual power signatures coming just off Hracket Rift. We know the pod almost hit Ahto directly; I had the ensigns calculate the velocity, gravitational pull, spin velocity, every possible variable. When they're all plugged into a holodisk, it shows that the overall trajectory points almost directly at the facility. Therefore, the Rebels probably know if the Insurgent is, in fact, at the facility as of this instant. If I have led you astray, you may do whatever horrendous act you deem worthy upon myself."
Vader was mildly impressed, almost like watching a dog perform a mediocre trick for the very first time. He had never heard of a stormtrooper being capable of anything beyond getting shot on their own.
"Impressive. But since you discovered this on your own, I will expect you to complete it on your own. Understood?" He said, almost silently.
"Y-yes, Lord Vader."
"You are dismissed. Not the rest of you," he added, glaring at the stormtroopers near the back who were about to exit.
He saluted erectly before Vader dropped him unceremoniously on the ground. The trooper's cohorts quickly made a path for him as he marched outwards.
After another hour of chastising and reminding the stormtroopers what they were doing, Vader followed the lone trooper, willing to see how he infiltrated the base.
!0*0!
GRG-892 marched down the streets of Ahto City. Having just been sent on an exclusive mission courtesy of Lord Vader himself, he was keen to deliver. Citizens took little notice of his presence, as he was merely a stormtrooper, not much of interest.
A few minutes later, he was there, the Rebel Alliance's insignia looking like a swan in flight.
As he tried to enter the base, metal detectors - metal detectors! - blared. GRG-892 silently added this to his ever-growing list of Reasons why I Hate the Rebellion. He froze as he was swarmed by Rebel Alliance soldiers, who patted him down for weapons, only to find a small communicator.
"What brings a trooper to Rebel headquarters?" a woman asked haughtily.
"My name is GRG-892, and I'm a defect from the Empire," he replied, trying to feign sheepishness. "I request refuge at the underwater base."
The woman took a step back, subtly biting her lower lip. "How do you know about the facility?"
So I was right, he thought.
"To be completely honest, we've known for a while. We're just waiting to turn you all in," GRG ad libbed. "The Selkath would not be happy with your… ahem… choices."
"I see," she replied, a bit less coldly than before. "And you request the underwater base to get away?"
"Yeah, sure. Can I go down now, I'd rather not waste time."
"Yeah, sure," she mimicked. "Let's go."
She hoped that he didn't notice the recorder she had delicately placed on his back.
!0*0!
Vader watched the 'defect' walk slowly into the Rebel Base, accompanied by a woman. It must have been Hsiu Wann, the woman in charge of the Rebel activities on Manaan. He had to marvel at the Rebel's innocent stupidity as they gave him his communicator back.
For the millionth time, he cursed his automatic breathing system. He quickly moved west, towards Empire headquarters, to avoid any unwanted hostilities.
His mind, however, was burning with a single question: How would he get into the facility to get to the Insurgent without breaking any Selkath laws and ultimately jeopardizing the Kolto trade? By the Force, he hated this planet. Vader quickly realized that he needed an actual reason to be in the base… perhaps as the swift hand of justice that swats the fly on the wall.
!0*0!
"Query: Why did you let one of them down here?" HK-47 asked rudely, jutting its head towards GRG-892.
"Chill out, you oversized, misinformed protocol droid. He's a defect from the Empire. Cut him some slack," a rebel soldier replied.
"Extrapolation: I don't trust organic meatbags as a whole, and that rule is doubly so towards stormtroopers. Did you at least remove any and all weapons? Communicators?"
"He didn't bring weapons, and his communicator was too small to pierce the miles of water above us."
"Query: Just keep-"
"If you don't shut up right now, I'll throw you in the trash compactor and there will finally be peace down here."
"Protocol: I'd rather you not do that; it would be a waste of my genius engineering."
"Then shut up," the soldier said, ending the exchange.
GRG-892 glanced at the Rebel gratefully, then glared at the droid behind him with vehemence.
!0*0!
Too close, in his opinion.
GRG-892 racked everything Vader had said concerning the appearance of the Insurgent. Male human and two dro-
"... the other a blood red assassin droid unlike anything you have ever seen before…"
The suspicious droid from before was bloodred enough, and it was completely foreign to him. However, it may have merely been a incorrectly build or programmed security droid. That would explain the paranoia. He'd have to confer with Vader about it over the communicator.
"This is where you'll be staying," a Selkath continued as he droned on and on and ON about his accommodations. They certainly weren't luxurious, but it was comfy, homely, and devoid of all life.
Perfect for communicating with Lord Vader in secret.
The Selkath had left; he had left GRG-892 a map of the premises, presumably so he did not get lost. He smiled evilly.
This was just too easy.
!0*0!
"Really? How are you sure of this?" Judge Kindoh asked. The Ahto lawmaking body, made up of five elected Selkath known as Judges, served to settle disputes amongst the Rebellion and the Empire.
"I assure you, the Rebel Alliance do, infact, have an underwater facility and are mining vast amounts of kolto directly from the seafloor," Vader replied.
"Didn't Revan blow it up four thousand years ago? There have never been repairs to that site," Judge Hosaxu said.
"Either the rebels reactivated it, or the Empire is lying to us," Judge Quashi said. "Personally, I do not believe the Empire is lying."
"Quashi, these are Sith. We know what they are capable of. You do remember what the Sith did during the Great Sith War, correct?" Judge Biado retaliated.
"Yes, I do remember. But we mustn't hold old stereotypes against new Sith, no? It's true that Darth Malak allowed for heinous acts to be committed against the Selkath people, but Vader is not Malak," Judge Quashi replied cooly. "Now please, Vader, explain how you will deal with this crisis?"
"My plan is an ultimatum; let me and my troopers enter the underwater base, or face dire Kolto cuts. Discipline must be enacted.
"While there, I will deal with the Insurgents, destroy the kolto harvesters, and come back here, with the villains in tow."
"Let us vote," Judge Kwysekra announced."
A day passed as they deliberated. When they returned, they announced their verdict. They would offer Vader temporary rights to trespass Rebel territory on behalf of illegal kolto exportation. They refused, however, to let Vader bring any stormtroopers along with him, as "he was dangerous enough alone."
As Vader left, plotting how to smuggle in stormtroopers, each more complex than the last, hsi communicator buzzed.
"Sir. Phoenix Squadron has landed on Manaan; what they're doing, I have no idea. They've been making mysterious inquiries on Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and Korriban, all in the companionship of the Insurgent."
"Good. Draw them together, and they are all the easier to swat."
"Yes, Lord Vader," the ensign said hastily before ending the communication.
Immediately afterward, the communicator blared again.
"Who is it this time?" Vader said angrily.
"My lord, this is GRG-892, the trooper you sent into the underwater base."
"Ah. Have you any news on the Insurgent's whereabouts?"
"I have good new and bad news."
"Tell me," Vader said."
"The good news is that I believe I found the assassin droid you alluded to when we got on the planet," GRG said as he watched T3-M4 trundle by his room. "And I just found the T3 unit. I have a map of the facility, and if I had to guess, the Insurgent would either be in the main barracks or the infirmary. The bad news is that I don't actually know the Insurgent's exact whereabouts, and the assassin droid suspects my lie, that I was a defect," he finished, practically gasping for breath.
"Excellent. If you survive this, I will personally recommend your services to the Emperor himself."
GRG ended the communication, giddy about the potential promotion. Rarely did a stormtrooper get a promotion; it would appear that he had been forgiven for his failure.
!0*0!
Kastan awoke, groggily. His eyes, however, refused to open, regardless of how hard he tried. He heard a constant beeping noise which robbed him of any concentration. They must have placed a neural restrainer on me. Then again, who was 'they'? The Empire? Kastan could break through most neural restrainers; what was going on?
Slowly, he noticed people talking.
"He's been brain-dead for twelve hours. Should we cut him off?"
'Cut him off?' What did that mean? Could it…
Oh, no.
Light finally flooded his vision as his eyes opened.
So he wouldn't die after all.
"Statement: We really shouldn't, Shelkar," HK-47, who had apparently been in the room the entire time, replied.
"Whyever not?" The Selkath, obviously named Shelkar, asked.
"Answer: He's awake. Just look at him."
She turned.
"I never doubted it for a second," she said hastily.
"Protocol: You clearly wanted to cut -"
"He doesn't need to know about that," Shelkar whispered angrily.
"Already did," Kastan said weakly, all too aware of the slur in his voice. "Relax, though. I'd have done the same thing in your position."
The Selkath researcher visibly relaxed.
"Now that that's settled, can someone please explain where I am?"
"You're in a bed," Shelkar replied wryly.
"I realized that. I mean, what is this place?"
"The infirmary."
"The infirmary where?"
"Explanation: She'll keep this up forever, she's been doing it to T3 for the past hour.
"Explanation: We are currently in an underwater base, originally owned by the Republic during the Great Sith War. Obviously, it's been inhabited by the Rebel Alliance as of late. Such a facility is highly illegal, so if the Selkath authorities on Manaan ever found out about the base's existence, we'd be dead.
"Addition: Don't trust the defect."
"HK! For the millionth time!"
Kastan regressed under the consciousness of his mind, hardly listening to Shelkar and HK bicker on and on, T3 having materialized out of pure nothingness to try and calm them down. He was angry at himself, if the Empire attacked now, he was a very dead man.
Little did he know, it was just outside the door, listening to everything.
The first domino in an intricate setup of events, circumstance, blind luck, and psychology, began to fall.
Once again, I apologize if this is terrible beyond belief. Also, hi there! I hope you're reading this, because this is kind of important. Updates on this will be VERY sporadic. Expect the next chapter sometime around Christmas.
This is a 4-chapter story, and I wrote it frantically in eighth grade. Please don't kill me if it's terrible, which it probably is.
Also, if you happen to work at Disney, I have two questions for you:
1: Why are you browsing Star Wars Fanfiction and not doing your job?
2: Is there any way to add Kastan Enderbeck to the mix of Star Wars?
No seriously, I really want to know. You don't even have to pay me, just take the idea and use it. Say someone on the developer team came up with it or something, I just would really like Kastan Enderbeck to exist in the canon Star Wars Universe. Review with #KAS4SW if you agree! (Make sure to read the entire fanfic though! (By which I mean all four chapters!)
Anyway, dalies and mentlegen, this is Professor Zerkxes, over and out.