((Decided to write a short sequel to the first chapter. I'm a sucker for love xD))
"I love you, Tor," Vette's voice echoed quietly through the former Emperors Wrath mind as he slowly opened his eyes. He sighed heavily. Another dream. I'll never stop dreaming of her, Toryal thought sadly as he saw that unsurprisingly he was alone on the Fury once again. He had only managed to find one former member of his crew and Pierce was busy training some of the newer recruits back at the base.
I don't see why I have to be the one to travel to Nar Shaddaa. Still, it appears that a commander's work is never done. Toryal thought to himself as he headed for the cockpit and checked and saw that nothing much had changed. The autopilot was still set for Nar Shaddaa, the proximity sensors were all clear and the ship hadn't received any transmissions. Toryal sat down in the pilot's chair and sighed as he watched the lines of stars go by as the Fury tore through hyperspace. Like many of the other things aboard the ship, it reminded him of Vette.
Toryal sighed heavily as he sat in the pilot's chair and a bitter smile formed on his face. For all he knew, Vette could have died years ago. Or she could have thought him dead and found someone else. "The force is my servant," was something that Lana Beniko often said and Toryal couldn't help but disagree. To him, the force was like an ocean brimming with power that flowed through the universe but it was no one's servant, it was never subjugated. The force was everywhere and on more than one occasion, Toryal suspected that it had a life of it's own on some level.
A console began beeping, alerting him that the Fury was approaching Nar Shaddaa. Toryal clipped his lightsaber to his belt and entered a set of coordinates that would taking him to one of the lesser known landing pads. As the Fury easily navigated between the massive buildings that littered Nar Shaddaa Toryal couldn't help but notice battle damage on many of the buildings. It looked as if the Eternal Empire hadn't managed to take Nar Shaddaa without a fight.
Toryal looked down as a beeping console caught his attention and saw coordinates and a short message appeared on another console. "Emergency transmission detected. Location: Upper Industrial Sector. Emergency signal has been recorded."
The former Emperor's Wrath looked down at the console and hit a series of buttons and a small hologram appeared on the control console. A Trandoshan wearing what appeared to be battered Mandalorian armor wielding a massive blaster rifle appeared in the hologram as blaster bolts streaked by it.
"- Ambushed by Skytroopers! All remaining resistance forces regroup and take what you can!" Toryal sighed heavily as the Trandoshan took two blaster hits to the arm and went down with a snarl. Toryal was about to shut down the transmission when sudden movement caught his eye. His eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped.
"Jaesa?" He whispered in shock as he watched his former apprentice deflect blaster bolts with her double bladed lightsaber in the hologram. "Fall back!" The holographic Jaesa called urgently as she continued deflecting blaster bolts. The hologram ended abruptly.
No. No one dies. None of my friends die. Toryal thought to himself as the Fury abruptly turned to the left as Toryal entered a new set of coordinates and the sleek vessel tore across the Nar Shaddaa airways. After a few moments Toryal could see flashes of light created by the distinctive weapons used by the Skytroopers of the Eternal Empire. He activated the external communications system and spoke three simple words that seemed to silence the sounds of battle below for a moment. Both resistance fighters and Skytroopers looked up for a moment at the hovering vessel.
"No one dies."
Toryal used the controls and the loading ramp opened as the hulking Zabrak set the Fury to land automatically after five minutes. A moment later, Toryal launched himself off the loading ramp and after using the force to cushion his impact ignited both of his lightsaber and smiled darkly at the Skytroopers as they tried to cross-reference his identity from their databanks. "Should have hit me when you had the chance." Toryal snarled as his lightsaber took down four of the droid troopers before they could move. The rest of the Skytroopers began to open up on him, many of the bolts were deflected as Toryal's twin lightsabers either sent them back at the ones who had fired them or sliced through them. After a few moments, Toryal stood alone among the shattered remains of the droid troops. He sensed the presence of his former apprentice behind him and he deactivated both his lightsabers and clipped them to his belt before turning and smiling at her.
"Jaesa. Good to see you again." His smile faded a moment later as he saw the look on his former apprentice's face. "What's wrong?"
Jaesa shook her head. "They took her." She said quietly. "That was the reason we were ambushed."
"Who was taken?" Toryal asked softly.
Jaesa sighed heavily and deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.
"They took Vette." She said quietly. "Broonmark, Vette and I have been fighting the Eternal Empire where and whenever we can. We've been on Nar Shaddaa for around five months now. We received a tip that the Eternal Empire was developing a new form of Skytrooper here around three days ago. We attacked the targeted site two hours ago and were ambushed. We had just received word that our main base was hit by some sort of Force-Wielder when Karsok sent out the distress signal." Jaesa motioned to the Trandoshan that he had seen in the transmission who was being carried away by two large Weequay, both of whom seemed to be injured but were able to walk."
"Where did they take her?" Toryal asked softly. Jaesa looked at him with an odd expression. She had never heard this type of tone from him before. "We think whoever took Vette was heading for the Lower Industrial Sector. We know they've been working on some sort of project down there but we've never been able to get close enough to see it. Master, what do you intend to do?"
"They knew Vette was my wife" Toryal muttered to himself as he headed towards the Fury as it landed down on a clear stretch of railway. "I have enough room to take you and the others to our current base of operations but I have to make a stop first. Gather Broonmark and the others if they wish to join the Alliance and have them meet up with me in the Duros Sector."
"Where are you going, Master?"
Toryal didn't look back. "I refuse to let them hurt Vette." He said in a cold voice as he ran up the ramp of the Fury and a few moments later it rose up into the air.
Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Toryal thought to himself as the Fury navigated the narrow corridors of the Lower Industrial Sector. Through passion I gain strength. Toryal continued navigating the Fury as a small beeping sound came from the communications console. The signal had no recognizable ID signature. Toryal activated the console and narrowed his eyes as he saw a man wearing the armor of a Zakuul Knight without the helmet. The man's eyes were blue but there was no warmth in them.
"Outlander. By now you know that we hold the life of your wife in our hands. You will land at the following coordinates and surrender yourself to the Skytroopers waiting at the landing field. Failure to comply will result in her death."
Through Strength I gain power.
"You have made a very grave mistake." Toryal said quietly to the Zakuul Knight. "There is a reason I was known as the Emperor's Wrath."
"If you are truly so power, then how did you end up failing to save the Sith Empire? How did you let your wife be captured?"
Through power I gain Victory.
Toryal's eyes narrowed. "You should have left Vette out of this. I swore to tear down the walls of Zakuul itself to see her again if need be." Toryal smiled darkly as he leaned towards the hologram and he could have sworn he saw the figure on the other end flinch. "You have unleashed a force far beyond what you are capable of confronting." He said quietly as he armed the Fury's laser cannons as he homed in on the signal.
Through Victory, my chains are broken, the force shall free me
Toryal smiled again at the look of panic on the knight's face after a moment as a crash was heard on the hologram as the Fury's laser cannons strafed and a portion of the ceiling on the corner of the building collapsed. Toryal grabbed both of his lightsabers and positioned himself on the ramp before launching himself through the opening. He saw the look of utter shock on the Knight's face as Toryal's twin lightsabers formed a wall that deflected blaster bolts back towards the droids that had fired them and cut through Skytroopers three at a time.
"Regroup and Return fire!" The Knight shouted urgently. His eyes widened after a moment as he realized that Toryal had just destroyed the last Skytrooper just as the words came out of his mouth. The knight narrowed his eyes and smiled darkly as a blue saber-staff ignited.
"You caught us by surprise, I'll give you that. But let's see what you can do against someone who has killed both Sith and Jedi before."
The words had barely left his mouth before the saber-staff was ripped from the Knight's grasp and it seemed to twist in the air for a moment before it seemed to collapse it on itself. Toryal lowered his hand and smiled at the expression on the Zakuul knight's face. "I have shown you what I am capable of." The smile faded. "Now. Where is Vette? And if you try to run I'll crush your legs."
"Toryal!" Vette's voice echoed through the ruined building and Toryal turned and saw her tied against the wall and Toryal's blood boiled as he saw that her face was bruised and dried blood caked the right side of her face. Behind him, he could feel the Zakuul Knight quickly gathering the force around him, possibly hoping to kill Toryal before he could turn around.
The Knight didn't get that chance.
Toryal simply raised his hand and the Knight began to float up into the air and the enraged former Emperor's Wrath slowly clenched his fist until the Zakuul Knight couldn't move. "What did you do to my wife?" He asked softly as the Knight tried to suck down a mouthful of air as Toryal relaxed his grip enough for the Knight to speak. "We received o-orders to take her! Knights obey orders!" He gasped and Toryal smiled darkly. "I feel like I should kill you...but I will let the woman you tortured choose your fate."
Toryal made a motion with his free hand and the metal bindings holding Vette clicked and opened seemingly of their own accord. Vette slowly walked towards Toryal and when she finally reached him, she hesitantly placed her blue hand against his cheek as if to see if he was real. Toryal saw the tears forming in her eyes as his own eyes filled with tears.
"I thought you were dead." Vette whispered hoarsely. "I thought you died aboard Darth Marr's flagship. I saw it explode and I just couldn't stop crying for days. But...you found me." A wide smile appeared on Vette's face. "I missed you so much!" Her voice rose slightly as she threw herself around Toryal and softly pressed her lips against his. Toryal returned the kiss as he wrapped his free arm around her. "I would have torn the galaxy apart to find you." He whispered as tears of joy fell from his eyes. "I would have torn down Zakuul itself. I love you, Vette and nothing will ever change that."
Vette pulled away from Toryal and looked at the floating Zakuul Knight behind her. Toryal smiled slightly. "Her hurt you, Vette. I leave his fate in your hands." The Knight seemed to be staring at Vette with a pleading look in his eyes. Vette smiled wickedly. "Tie him up where I was. From what I've heard, the Knights of Zakuul don't tolerate failure. If he does end up getting away, I'm sure his commander will end up doing your job for you."
"No! They'll kill me!"
"Not my problem. I saw what you did to Vette and I have no doubt that you would have killed me had I surrendered myself."
Toryal continued smiling as he grabbed the knight and placed him in the same bonds that had held Vette only minutes before and stared down at him. "If you do escape, you'll spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder. I suggest that should you escape, you better start running."