CHAPTER 1
JEDI STARFIGHTER, OUTER RIM
PRESENT DAY
The galaxy was a dangerous place to live in. There always seemed to be a war going on at some point or another. Why couldn't everyone just get along and accept one another for which they really were? Was it that hard?
Of course it was. The Jedi and Sith could never get along. Their different ways of acting on things would forever separate them. The Sith were for ruling the galaxy and training in what the Jedi called 'the dark side of the Force', while the Jedi would train in 'the light side'.
The stars were like streaks of white lights as the Jedi Starfighter passed them by. A Jedi Master, also known as Shawn Hyven, was on route to the planet Dagobah. His purpose was to track down a new Sith Lord that seemed to have arisen from out of nowhere. That same Sith Lord, had captured his sister for a Hutt…
It would be better if this new Sith Lord was taken care of before he teamed up with others, or grew to be more powerful and much more experienced. Without opening his closed eyes, he spoke to his astromech droid, Arnine-Teen. "So how much longer until we arrive at our destination?"
The Jedi starfighter had a small screen near the upper left of the control board. The screen would translate anything that Arnine-Teen would tell him. The astromech responded with a rather boring rhythm to it. Could he even get bored? The screen displayed the translation anyways. "We should be arriving to Dagobah in about one standard hour."
Shawn let out a soft sigh and opened his eyes to look out of the viewport. It was still the same old boring white streaks of light that were there when he jumped into hyperspace from Coruscant. "Arnine-Teen, could we go over what we know about this Sith Lord?" He asked. It would be a good idea to study his upcoming opponent.
This time the little tune that came from the little red and black astromech droid was more enthusiastic. "Certainly sir. What is it that you want to know?"
Moving in his seat, trying to get comfortable, he rubbed his forehead in an attempt to think of something. "Umm… could you go over what happened on Nar Shaddaa?" Nar Shaddaa was said to be the first place that the Sith Lord had first appeared.
The droid didn't seem to respond for a long moment. Perhaps it was taking some time to go through all of his memory. Arnine-Teen hadn't gotten a memory wipe since… well since ever. The entire time the two have been working together, nothing had been done to his memory unit. Arnine-Teen was fine just the way he was. He wasn't the only one who didn't give his astromech memory wipes. There were plenty of people who liked their droids just the way they were built, and were.
"The first time that the Sith Lord, known as Darth Mord, was seen on Nar Shaddaa was three standard months ago. For reasons no one can explain, a Jedi attacked civilians. Some say it was a powerful mind-trick and that the Jedi was too weak to not be affected by it. Either way, Darth Mord intervened and killed the Jedi. He saved the civilians and he was seen as a hero… or at least to the few of them.
Afterwards the Sith Lord had given a short speech to everyone. He claimed that the Jedi were crazy and that they were slowly turning crazy. Many people, who had witnessed the accident with the now dead Jedi, seemed to agree with him. Nar Shaddaa has become more and more divided, riots spreading ever since he came. The planet can't choose who they think they should follow; the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi or the Sith."
There was no way he could keep back a sigh of annoyance. If this Darth Mord character was allowed to run loose around the galaxy, the whole place would be in a bigger mess than before, which would most likely cause a whole lot of casualties. But would it end with him in control of the galaxy alongside the Sith? It seemed possible. The Sith weren't in small numbers like they had been before in the past. Things were a lot more complicated now with them running around.
Laying his head back he began to think of his family. His little baby boy, Luke and his lovely wife, Mary along with his little sister Christi and her wookie companion Z. He loved them all and to come after this new Sith Lord was dangerous. He could die here and what would that leave his family? A quick thought of his son being fatherless popped into his mind. He shook slightly for the thought upset him a lot more than many things that were possible to happen.
His breathing was increasing to the negative thoughts but quickly he calmed down. There was no way that this new Sith Lord could defeat him. Could he really be this powerful? Even if he did die because of this new Lord, it wasn't like they knew who his family was… they would at least be safe and sooner or later the Order would take him down.
Shawn snorted. Yeah, sooner or later...knowing the order probably later. The Jedi Order was a great group of force-sensitive but they were so… so slow. They council are a democratic group and so majority rules. Deciding what to do on a matter would take forever! Darth Mord or any other being could cause more and more chaos across the galaxy by the time they came to a conclusion. He would have to try his hardest here to finish Mord off before things would get out of hand.
Right before he could continue his thoughts on the situation coming before him, his little red and black astromech interrupted his thoughts with a question. "May I ask what is funny?"
So Arnine-Teen had caught onto that? Well… no point in lying to a droid… It didn't really matter what he would say… so why not speak the truth? "I kind of think that the way the Order works is rather funny. They are really slow at coming to a solution to a problem. Look at their past, it exists there too. For the longest of time the Order has been like this… probably since the beginning. I just… don't think it should take so long… especially when it comes down to fallen Jedi. Do you know how long it took them to do something about Jacen Solo? And what about Anakin Skywalker? Well… there was no debate on that. Anakin had already turned into Vader and order 66 was executed… so the Order was wiped out before anything could be done about it." He paused for a moment and let out a huge sigh. "It makes me wonder how the Order could possibly stay intact for so long after it was rebuilt."
The droid kept silent for a moment. Was he trying to figure out what to say in response?
A few more moments passed by and finally the silence was broken. "That is a very interesting opinion you have there. It is possible that what you say is rather true, but sadly nothing can be done about it. The Jedi Order is a democratic group and democracies are always slow."
It made sense… but still. Democracies were so slow… how could anything get done? Couldn't anyone else see how ineffective it was? He wanted to show others his opinion… but it wasn't the kind to be shared. If the Order were in fact an Autocracy… things would be done so much faster. If it weren't for the slow inefficient speed of the Order, the Sith would have never sprang up like they did. But it wasn't good for the Order since it was only fair if everyone got to say his or her opinion. If only he could share his without people being upset with him.
Arnine-Teen interrupted him once again. "Before we arrive sir, I would like to say that it was nice working with you."
Shawn raised his eyebrows in surprise. Had he no faith in him? No… could he even have feelings like that? But still… the thought of him saying such a thing caught him by surprise. "What? Do you think I am going to die?"
The response that followed was one that sounded somewhat nervous. The two of them had been close for many years now so it wasn't too hard to tell the difference between the musical tones that Arnine-Teen would communicate to him with. "I am sorry to say that there is a lot more information on you than there is on him. You have a record, sir… Darth Mord does not."
That response was not one he had wanted to hear… He knew very well that there was a lot of information on himself… but he had hoped that the Sith would not pick up on any of it. Ha. As if. Though this Sith may be new to the galaxy, it didn't mean he was an idiot. Mord could know that he was coming for him and that meant he could have already gone to get information.
He took a deep breath. Sometimes he felt as if the Force was betraying him… but he knew better than that. This was fate. The Force was directing things in the order of which they must be. He just hoped that this was not going to be the end of his life. Things had seemed to turn around for him these past few years, ever since he became a Jedi.
"It was nice to have been able to work with you too, Arnine-Teen." He said in a very calm voice. He was ready for death if it were to come. But he would be doing his best to avoid that option.
DAGOBAH, OUTER RIM TERRITORIES
The whole planet was rather depressing. It was misty, swampy, filthy dirty, dark, and very quiet. Despite all of those things, it was a perfect place to hide. It was a good choice for the little Jedi Master Yoda. He deserved to live in a dirt hole.
Crouching, two fingers; the index and middle of the left hand, touched the cold damp ground. It was a rather muddy… maybe landing in this area wasn't such a grand idea.
The brown haired man stood back up to full height. He wore dark robes and had a gloved hand. It was to cover an injury he had received when he had gotten into a fight with his brother, Master Shawn Hyven of the Jedi Order.
As he turned around his red eyes caught immediate sight of his ship and crewmembers that had been assigned to keep his ship in check. He walked towards the battleship. It was a plain silver color, nothing at all special. The hull was curved and at the sides were two huge engines that almost reached up to the front of the hull to the very back. The ramp to gain access aboard was already down, and was located underneath it, around the middle.
At his own pace, he made his way up the ramp. Terek was not going to be defeated by Shawn. He had seen him in the Force, coming straight for him. It was only a matter of time before they would cross paths again anyhow. Was he coming because of what he had done to his sister on Tatooine not too long ago? Or was it for some other reason? Nonetheless his brother would have to be killed. It was always to be like this. Their lives were based on killing each other. Neither could truly be free to do as they please until the other had died.
Of course he wouldn't kill his brother right away. He would want to make him suffer, to make him snap. Yes, to see his brother embrace darkness before his death…that would be the ultimate victory. Darkness would win in the end, just as it had plenty of times before.
His damaged hand dropped down to his belt and pulled off the comm. link. A simple push of his thumb and the comm. unit was turned on. He placed it just a few inches from his mouth and spoke into it. "Is everything in place?"
A young female voice came back in return. "Yes, sir. Everything is ready for the Master Jedi's visit."
Terek grinned happily. Things would hopefully go according to plan. "Good work. Have your team come back to camp."
"Yes, s-" Her voice was cut off when he switched the comm. link off. He didn't really need to hear what else she had to say.
This encounter would be rather entertaining… at least for him it would be. He had learned a lot from the Circle of Lords and so making his plan succeed would be a lot easier than what it should. Eagerness began to radiate off of him. He wanted to start the fun soon… though he knew he would have to wait. It was important to be patient, and in order for his apprentice to learn it, he would have to show it. That meant even when she wasn't in visual sight.
Quickly, the door to the cockpit slid open. A young male about the age of seventeen, sat in the pilot's seat. The moment Terek had entered the room; he stood up giving him a little salute. "Lord Mord, I've finished preparing your ship."
"Where did you set my escape co-ordinates to?" Terek asked bluntly.
The boy seemed to be rather nervous. Where could he have possibly set that would make him feel as such? "I set it so you would end up going to Myrkr… in the Outer Rim." Oh. That was why… Myrkr? Was this kid a complete moron? It was a very stupid place to send him in the case of an emergency evacuation. He'd be powerless… or was that the whole idea? No matter. In the case that he was followed whether it be a Sith or Jedi, they too would be powerless. It may have had a bad side to it but at least there was some factor that put this in his favor… sort of.
"I know where the planet is, boy. I'm not an idiot. I know a lot more than you probably think I do. And for whatever reason you chose this planet, I do hope it was for the choice I am thinking of at the moment… otherwise you just might find yourself laying face first in the ground." He smiled and moved back out of the cockpit.
Terek had no desire to speak with the boy. He had things to attend to anyways, and he would be glad when the boy left. Would it kill to have to set some decent co-ordinates? He would like to live after all. Myrkr would be dangerous for him… all because of the stupid kriffing creatures that inhabited the place.
Out of everyone from the camp, no one was wandering around, they had all gathered in two separate lines next to the ramp. As Terek descended the ramp he glanced at each group. "Everyone is here now, correct?"
Heads turned from side to side as they had all tried to figure out the answer to the question. "Yes sir. All but the boy."
Terek rolled his eyes. "Well I know where he is. The brat is still in the cockpit of my ship."
"Would you like me to go get him?" One of them asked.
Of course he wanted the boy out of his ship! He didn't want to look at him any longer. He would be happy when all of these annoying people would leave… which would be any moment. "Yes, yes. Wouldn't want to leave him here now would we?"
Terek took in a deep breath and continued on without the now two absent personnel. "Master Jedi, Shawn Hyven will arrive here any minute now. A very psychotic Jedi, whom is seeking to kill me, along with anyone else who he may come across in the process. For this reason I am letting you all be deported back to our stardestroyer. I will take on this issue, even if it kills me."
Most people exchanged glances with confused faces. "But sir… Strength lies in numbers."
Terek grinned. "That may be true, but the extent of his power exceeds your abilities… even with all of you put together. I'm simply saving many lives in a possible exchange for one."
The boy and the soldier came down the ramp, getting into line. As everyone gave a salute in respect to their leader, the two joined in confused. Someone would end up filling them in. "Now, all of you go. He'll be here before you know it."
All of them formed into a crowd… it almost looked like a mob of some sort. The ship that was only a few hundred feet away from Terek's had its ramp lower for access. Terek would soon be alone to get ready for a battle. He knew it would come down to such when they finally met up. This time though, it would be Shawn who would be the one attacking him rather than countering.
He just hoped that his plan would work out. He wanted to see Shawn suffer, and if he didn't after this than perhaps he would have to hire a bounty hunter to just kill him.
ORBITING DAGOBAH, JEDI STARFIGHTER
The planet below was a rather dark green color, probably due to the numerous swamps and trees that were there. It had taken many, many long hours to get here… but this should be worth it in the end. A Sith Lord would go down and that would push the Jedi one step closer to ridding the evil of the Sith out of this galaxy… though so much more could be done.
Shawn started to adjust the controls and settings on his starfighter, getting ready to go head on into the atmosphere. But… something didn't feel right.
Arnine-Teen quickly jumped in with the answer to his feelings. "Sir, there is a vessel on the move. It's rising out of the atmosphere."
Immediately his eyes darted to the glass that kept him from the cold, dark and deadly space that surrounded the ship. The droid had been right, there was a ship coming up into space. Was Darth Mord trying to escape? Using the Force, he examined the ship. None of them were force-sensitive. So… did that mean that he was being abandoned?
"We're going to continue our way down there. I have reason to believe that he is still down there." Shawn said; his eyes focused on the other ship. Would they attack him? "While I get us down, I'd like you to make sure if they bring their weapons online that you let me know."
Arnine-Teen whistled a positive little tune that was easy to understand. No translator would be of need for figuring out what he had said.
Inside the massive vessel's cockpit, a small group was rushing with the controls and operations of the ship. Someone yelled out, "Jedi starfighter in range!"
The person in charge of the weapons quickly looked over to the pilot. "What do we do? Should we shoot him down?" His voice was a bit shaky but at the same time his expression remained calm.
"No. We leave him to Darth Mord like we were instructed. If he wants to deal with him than so be it." The room fell into silence. With a huge sigh the pilot sighed. "When co-ordinates are set get us into hyperspace."
The ship slowly broke through the atmosphere, and as it did Arnine-Teen updated Shawn on what the situation was. "Sir, the other vessel has departed through hyperspace."
So they weren't going to attack… were they instructed not to? If that was the case… Mord already knew that he was here. "Thanks Arnine."
Arnine didn't bother to respond, not that Shawn had really expected him to. The droid didn't have to talk if it didn't want to.
If Darth Mord really knew that he was here then that meant he was pretty confident on taking on a Jedi Master. Were all Sith so stupid? Well… some of them for sure. Back in the day before he was a Jedi he too was kind of… stupid. Reckless… and stubborn – though he was still stubborn to this day – and a lot of other things that were rather negative.
Further and further down they went, heading right into the tall trees. It was quite foggy down here, but then again it matched everything else. "Before we end up landing, Arnine… could you run a scan for any human life-forms around?"
A small device that looked like a satellite dish, extended out of a secret compartment inside of the droid. It sat on top of his head as it spun around, scanning the area as far as it could.
Moments passed by, and they slowly moved around the surface of the planet. How long could this possibly take? If he was on the move, they may never end up crossing paths.
"Sir, I have detected a human life-form. One hundred forty-six meters to the west." Arnine-Teen informed him, rather nervously. Was the droid afraid?
Taking in a deep breath he nodded. "Alright. Thank you Arnine. Let's head over there."
"Yes, sir…"
