Summary: Set 25,000 years after A New Hope, this story follows the last adventures of the Skywalker line. Jonah, who was destined to do something no other Force holder had ever achieved.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I only own original places, characters and stories within the universe.
Jonah Chronicles: Unknown Regions
25,000 ABY. Tak-Vern
The Unknown Regions of Space has shrunk considerably over the millennium plus years since the destruction of the Death Star over Yavin IV. Since then, the galaxy has been invaded, a slain Emperor has been reborn and killed, empires and republics rose and fell and the Jedi Order stands as the Guardians of Peace and Justice, like back in ancient times.
Tak-Vern was a planet unlike any other. Each planet is by a rule unique in their own way. But at Tak-Vern, the planet was centered at the edge of a black hole. Caught in the precise point where the gravity of the well could not pull it in, but near enough to keep the blackness of space from pulling it in.
The Chiss Triarchy, the successor of the old Chiss Ascendancy, had claimed the planet as their own. But the Hutts had managed to set up shop on the planet, and those who had the skills or the desperation could hide there. Few pilots were capable to make it there, even with the advances in propulsion technology. Between the gravity well, and a massive asteroid belt that spiraled the outermost edge of the gravity, there was danger enough in the area. Not even to mention the pirates.
The dark streets of Cekbar were in a constant shadow. Even when the light from the far sun was shining high I the sky, the streets were so narrow and laden with filth that could be dated back to the founding of the city in 24,837 ABY. Vapor from the filth wafted up, and not all the piles of junk were immobile. No one walked openly in such places, and so it was no wonder that the stranger with the dark brown cloak drawn about them was able to blend in with the undergrowth and downtrodden people in this part of the city.
The figure paused at an intersection where another narrow alleyway intersected the alleyway he came from. He paused, as if thinking. Then, turning on his heel, he followed the path as it went into an almost identical alley. The scum of the planet kept to their business. It was the unwritten rule of the time. You simply did not disturb someone else's business.
He stopped near a garbage recycling unit and pulling a device from his hand, pressed a button on top three times in rapid succession. Out from behind a small crevice in the wall came out another figure. This person was of a height similar to his own, but their was no mistaking even with the cloak the figure worn its female gender.
"It's about time," the woman hissed, "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show."
"I had some trouble bypassing the Hutt security at the hangerbay," he replied, sliding the signaling device back into his cloak. "Our kind isn't appreciated on this planet."
The woman snorted. "That's a fact," she said, "Let's go."
She turned on her heel and began walking down the alleyway. The figure strode after her. So far, everything was more or less according to plan. She had the coordinates for the location they were supposed to be going. All he had to do was follow her, and be ready for what lay at the other end.
"Are you sure she's still here?' he asked, as they passed under a flickering side light, which pulsed out light every couple of seconds. Very little of the city had been kept pristine, and the Hutts were mainly to blame for that. The Chiss had simply abandoned the planet more or less, except for claiming it in name only.
"Her Ladyship wouldn't leave," came the reply. A darker shadow was being cast and looking up, the man saw that clouds were forming overhead. Tal-Verns closeness to a blackhole had the unfortunate side effect of creating very unpredictable adverse weather conditions. "Her contact should be meeting her tonight. We need to get to the bottom of this."
"As you said," he agreed, "We need to get to the bottom of this."
They soon arrived at the edge of the alleyway, and were greeted with a street where motorized vehicles and pedestrines walked along. They avoided looking into the alleyways, the people versed enough in their own planet and especially the cities to realize they'd invite only trouble. The man took a chance to scan the street, and dozens of shop and at least one public communications kiosk could be seen. The kiosk was of the older vid communications, and not as upgraded as the newer 3-D holographic communications systems. He could see people leave and entered a diner of some type and a couple drunks lounging about in an outdoor cantina.
His eyes were drawn to settle upon a small flashing neon sign. The marking were Chiss and Huttess, the two major languages of the planet. Galactic Basic was known to very few of the planets native (and legal) populace. Those who knew Basic tended to hid it in favor for the other two languages, which drew less attention. But, that in and of itself wasn't interesting to him. The Gamorrean Guards leaning against the wall where he guessed an entrance to the club the sign obviously was showing; now that was interesting to him.
He turned to her, and saw her nodding her head slightly. They exited the alleyway and crossed through the street, bumping into people as they walked, and avoiding the low flying motorized vehicles as they cruised along the ground, not high enough to avoid heads, but not low enough to really be all that near the ground. They entered the alleyway down the opposite side and the Gamorrean guards stirred, grunting as they notice the intruders.
The woman lifted a hand, and both guards slumped back against the wall, silly grins on their otherwise always angry looking faces. They stepped up to the door and she kicked the door a couple times with her foot. A small window slid open and two eyes and a snout could be seen.
"What a be you wanting?" the man asked in Chiss.
"I'm here to see Dak Melara," she said, "I've got an appointment with him.
"This be a club for fancies," the man said, disdain in his voice, "Not a office building. Be off, you."
"But he wants to see this," she said, parting the upper part of her cloak to reveal a very skimpy corset around a very round and large bust. "It's very important."
The doorman eyes widened and then narrowed as he checked her over. His eyes darted to the other figure. His eyes showed his suspicion. But, glancing back at the woman, he seemed to make up his mind, however slow it was. A few seconds passed before he next spoke.
"Okay," he said slowly opening the door which slid, "He be in the Upper Room. But you be not the only female companion tonight for him."
"Good," she said, stepping through, "Come, man. We mustn't keep him waiting."
He followed her into the club and they passed through a small hallway that was sound proof. The door closed behind them and they stepped into the main club area. Exotic dancers danced with skimpy outfits on a stadium, their rhythms in time to a ghastly music that both thumped, bumped and veered. Stop motion lights flashed, giving everything a very slow motion feel. Tables were packed with people who were there to enjoy a drink and what space didn't have a table was packed with people drinking, smoking or kissing. The bar was illuminated by red, green and blue lights, and a six handed bartender worked feverishly to keep up with the orders, even though there was about a dozen servers and other staff. Slot machines could be heard being played.
Neither of them slowed down, but jostled their way through the crowd to the set of stairs at the far end. A Human in a black suit watched them with suspicion as they passed him by and went up the stairs. At the top of the flight of stairs was a door. Stepping up to it, the woman stopped. They couldn't hear anything in there, although there would have been little to hear, for the music from downstairs reached them. The woman knocked on the door, and after a short pause, the door cracked open slightly.
"Vat iz it?" a fat Toydarian asked.
"I have an appointment with you," the woman said.
"I already haz peple 'er'," the Toydarian smirked, "Naw gu avay."
"But I really do," she said, sticking her hand to hold the door open, even as he closed, "Just as my friend here. He works out all my appointments."
The Toydarian looked back at the other cloaked figure. He held a few seconds. The disbelief and suspicion was quiet clear. He hadn't gotten his own club on this sith spit of a planet by being trusting after all.
"What is it?" a woman's voice called out, barely heard over the thumping of the music, "Get rid of them. We have business."
"Ov cawrse," he nodded, "I be sawrry, but yew must gu."
"Fine," the woman said, "But not until we've taken the girl with us."
The Toydarian raised an eyebrow. "Vat-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as the woman lifted her hand and force pushed him back through the room. She thrust the door completely open and charged in. The man followed her, the guard reacting to the suddenness of what was going on. His hand went to the blaster at his side, but the blaster leapt from his hand and up the stairs, spinning into the open hand of the man. He closed the door behind him as he went. And he turned to see that there were three other occupants in the room. All with blasters drawn and pointed at them.
"Stop!" a woman, the one the voice belonged to shouted from the master bed. She was sitting there in a form fitting cat-suit of black leather, and in her hands was a blaster that was almost too large for her to carry. "I don't know who you are. But if you move, I'll shoot you."
"It will take an extraordinary effort to kill us," the man said, from underneath his hood, "And believe me, you are not that person."
"So be it," the woman smirked, and with a pull of her finger, fired her blaster, as did the other two in the room. The man and woman both held up their hands and the flurry of blasterfire glanced sideways, striking into the wall and the Toydarian who was beginning to stir from hitting his head on the wall.
Her eyes widened. "You're….you're…." she blathered, her hand growing slack.
"Our turn," the woman said, and from underneath their cloaks, the two cloaked figures pulled out metal cylinders. The woman connected two long cylinders so they made a cross and with a flick of a switch, four yellow blades extended from the ends. The man held two cylinders at arm's length from each other and activated a silver blade which connected the two.
"Jedi!" the woman screamed, "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!"
Blaster fire resumed, but using his lightsaber as a staff, and using a small grip that stuck out from the connecting point of the connected lightsabers, the two Jedi deflected the blasts and advanced. One guard, a Rodian, charged the man, but right before he could bowl the Jedi over, the Jedi jumped, spiraling over him. As he spiraled, he pulled his legs over the blade and sticking the blade behind him and landed just behind the guard. Yanking backwards with both handles the Jedi cut the guard in half.
Her blades spiraling like a windmill before her, the female Jedi advanced on the other guard, a Human. He had pulled out a second blaster and was firing as rapidly as possible. But each bolt was deflected in the windmill of energy and just as he fired off the last blasts of his energy cell, she spun the blade in a fancy circling motion. Limb after limb flew apart and the man collapsed, screaming as he fell limbless to the ground. Then with a sweep she cut off his head in mid-fall.
The woman raised her blaster to fire at the woman, but before she could squeeze off another shot, the staff-saber swished down, cutting her blade in half. Disturbed by her fortunes, she bakced up against the far wall. Her eyes were filled with horror as the male Jedi gently pulled the entended handles apart. It revealed that the one blade that had connected the two handles was really two blade that had combined in between the two handles and he pointed both at her.
"Lady Mervo: for crimes committed in the Galactic Alliance of Democracy," he announced, "You are under arrest."
"Who….who are you?" the woman asked, fear completely taking control.
The man removed his hood and the woman followed suit. He was a Human of perhaps 6 plus feet and the woman was a green Twi'lek perhaps two inches shorter than her comrade. The woman's eyes then showed really defeat. She tossed away her broken blaster and didn't resist as the Twi'lek used the Force to drag her across the bed and into her arms, where she put a pair of electro-cuffs on the front of her hands.
"Jonah Skywalker and Verikka," she muttered, "I should have known."
"You should be honored," Verikka said.
"Why's that?" the woman asked with a snort.
"The Jedi Order doesn't send us unless they consider you a real threat," the Twi'lek said.
The door burst open, and several guards poured into the room, blaster rifles drawn. They were pushing and shoving to get in through the small space. These showed the New Black Sun symbols on their chest plates of their armor. The New Black Sun was some of the more serious contenders when it came to private armies and security. These were really bad news.
"Hate to break up with introductions," Jonah said, "But we've got to be going."
And with that, he tossed both blades out of his hand, and the blades stuck into the floor. Spinning around in a perfect circle, the blades cut through the floor and dropped them down into the casino area of the club, right on a Sabbacc table. They had barely finished dropping when the first blaster bullets, three times more accurate than the weapons of the ancient Galactic Empire opened up, splashing into surprised and disgruntled players. Calling the two blades to his hand, and his companion holding the woman by the arm tightly, they dashed out of the room. Jonah used the Force to blow a tunnel through the crowd, tossing people left and right, out of the way of the door.
The doorman stepped out, an ancient vibro-axe in his hands. Jonah lifted his hand, and the weapon sped up, the blunt side smashing hard into the Chiss. He landed flat on his back, out cold. The door swung open and a heavy rain could be seen falling. The two Gamorreans stepped through the door to stop them out to stop them, but a swish of his hands sent the both flying out of the club and into the far wall. They both slumped to the ground, knocked out. And the two Jedi and their captive vanished into the rain.