Star Wars - Dark Future: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Mission

Darek Venofskii slid his hand across the screen lock on the door, opening it with a soft, mechanical hum. Jes Kanami, one of the three found Jedi, stumbled inside. Jes was a former fighter pilot for the Empire, but after discovering he was force-sensitive, he started a small uprising within the Empire and escaped to Dantooine. The Empire tried to hunt him down for a short while, but they were unaware of his supernatural abilities and gave up their search. For the last 6 years, Jes has been living in solitude and harnessing his powers to one day rise against the Empire. While participating in small trade deals in Dantooine's big city, Darek Venofskii discovered Jes at a library studying forbidden Jedi holocrons. This rare meeting led the two to work together and eventually create a new Jedi Order. Jes and Darek seed the galaxy searching far and wide for signs of Jedi anywhere, and after months of looking, they finally stumbled upon a small town farmer named Ren Taambas. Ren Taambas was a former Imperial ship crew member, but not for just any ship. He worked on the infamous Slave IV, the third spiritual successor to the legendary Slave I, owned by bounty hunter Boba Fett. The ship is roughly twice the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer, and has the destructive capabilities of a death star. After wiping out a planet that resisted the NAE (New Age Empire), Ren retired and quit his job due to guilt. He soon discovered that the part of him that wanted to leave the Empire was also the same part of him that was influenced by midichlorians, and he quickly realized his gift. Ren Taambas studied the old ways of the Jedi, and trained to learn to utilize and manipulate the force. He eventually traveled to a small planet off of the Endor system, and became a farmer outside of the NAE's jurisdiction. When Darek and Jes found him, they formed a small elite team of Surviving Jedi, whose ultimate goal was to find any force-users left in the galaxy.

Jes took off his black leather trench coat and tossed it over a chair near the fire. "I have good news," he said.

"You have found someone?" Darek inquired.

"Maybe. I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but there is a small chance we may have found another."

"Where is he?"

"It's a she," Jes replied. "She's in the Alderaan System and goes by the name 'Night-Stalker'. I have received information concerning this person. She happens to be a local bounty hunter, but some say she has unique abilities that make her an extra-dangerous employee. When I asked locals about these abilities, all they could tell me is that she could strangle people without touching them, and she could convince others of things that they themselves did not believe."

Darek grinned. "Sounds like the force to me. We need to investigate, asap."

"No problem. I already made plans to hire her for a job. We can then meet up with her and interrogate her about her powers."

"What if she doesn't cooperate?" Darek asked. "She could be aggressive, you never know with bounty hunters. Especially if she is a force-user."

"Well, I have good news, and bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"The bad news is, we're going to be meeting on Coruscaunt, which means that we are going to need to keep a very low profile. The good news is, that means it is unlikely that Night-Stalker will try to pull anything. Coruscaunt is an overpopulated, crowded planet, with close-quarters environments and lots of security. We should be safe." Jes pulled something out of his pocket. "Regardless, we are going to need to be safe anyways. This person is known for having killed several Jedi and Sith alike." Jes removed two long, bundled up wires from his pockets. They had odd, tiny little hooks on the ends, and they were both connected to two separate rings.

"What are those?" Darek questioned, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Glad you asked. These are tether-rings. Some new spy technology that I stole from dead stealth troopers. If we run into trouble and the result is combat, we will be wearing these rings which will save us. They basically extend into long wires which attach to our enemy, and we can either electrocute them or pull them in to execute them. I would recommend the stunning option, mainly because it's less messy, but if worse comes to worst we can get out of trouble real fast by making the situation very close-quarters and igniting our lightsabers."

"Interesting. I like the idea," said Darek, approving very much. He liked the concept of a multiple outcome scenario if the situation got bad.

"Here," said Jes, gesturing for Darek to come retrieve one of the rings from his hand. "Take it."

Darek reached over to Jes and took one of the small rings with the wire still ejected. Almost instantly, the wire zipped up into the ring and was completely concealed. Impressed, Darek slipped the small, silver ring onto his finger. Extending his arm towards a wall, he flicked the ring with the intent of testing the functionality of the gadget. Lightning fast, the wire shot out from Darek's index finger and struck the wall. Before he could realize what was happening, he flew across the room and slammed into the wall as the wire finished retreating back into the ring. Jes laughed.

"Next time, try tethering something that isn't immobile."

"Thanks for the heads up," said Darek, sarcastically.

"No problem. Hey, I should probably head to the lodge down at the town. Need to get my sleep before we take off tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Darek exclaimed. "You didn't say we were leaving tomorrow!"

"Well, I did say I scheduled a meeting, didn't I? Pack your things and get some sleep. I'm not too worried about it. You've taught me well, master."

Darek smiled. He had been training Jes Kanami in the ways of the force, but he had never considered himself to be his master, especially since the majority of what Jes knew he taught himself. At this moment, Darek knew that he had to lead a quest. A quest to find every last remaining Jedi in the galaxy, and to end the tyrannical and oppressive rule of the NAE. That quest was going to start with tracking down this bounty hunter, and with any luck, maybe finding a lost Jedi knight. However, this was a lot to hope for, but so far it was the only lead they had. It was time to begin the quest. Darek and Jes went their separate ways that evening, and both got some rest. As he watched the four suns of Ec Pand go down under the great horizon, Darek wondered something. Maybe, just maybe, what if there were more than five Jedi out there in the galaxy? After all, the five were just what he was aware of as far as lineage goes. He had absolutely no idea how many others could possibly be out in the universe. What if there were hundreds of Jedi, just waiting to be found? But Darek knew that this was as distant a fantasy as there was, and there was almost no hope of finding the remaining few Jedi, let alone an army of them. The glory days of the Old Republic were over, and all they could do now is gather a team strong enough to merely create a disruption in the Empire, and fight to the best of their ability. Darek knew well that tomorrow would be a long day, so he went to sleep as the fourth sun finally fell just of sight.