A Mission Gone Wrong (Or Luke has the usual Skywalker luck and a crazy scientist really needs to be locked up in the asylum)

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. Proverbs 17:23 ESV

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The shadowed hallways beckoned for its victims to come inside their dwelling. A misty fog floated in the air, prickling tiny needles all over the skin from its icy touch. Guttal screams of helpless souls trapped in the snares of the beast vibrated behind the steel walls. And oh those screams! They were like a symphony crescendoing in the climax of a haunting melody. All of it was beautiful. Perfect.

Brastev Calvados just breathed it all in and savored the sounds coming from the belly of the beast. He did not fear the monstrous lab that consumed any unfortunate creatures. He was the god and master of the beast itself. All of these… critters inside his beloved home were just pieces of slab, waiting to be formed by his skilled hands.

His footsteps echoed of his coming with each stride that he took. A smirk slithered to his black-bearded face, his left olive green eye blazing with insane delight. The mechanics of his right cybernetic eye whirred its tiny gears and adjusted his sight.

Brastev drummed his bloodstained fingers- artistically painted with darkish of blues, reds, and greens- on the datapad held firmly to his chest. The white lab coat on his skinny shoulders was splattered with remains of gooey substances that are best not to describe.

He halted in front of a silver door; a yellow rusted sign is written with faded words hanging in front of it, and a security panel was stationed right next to the entrance.

Excitedly his fingers flew across the panel, plotting in his personal code, and in an instant, the panel beeped in confirmation. Brastev slid inside as the lights turned on upon his entry.

There was a large desk with a computer planted neatly in the middle; and around it, stacks of datapads and ancient writings were messily thrown in a twisted mess. A coffee station equipped with white cups, a coffee machine, and other necessities were cleanly organized at the end of his room. There was even a sink to wash his hands and all the cups he used (which he could not let any of the blood he collected from his pets imprint itself in his work).

Brastev hurriedly took off his lab coat- taking a moment to sniff its delighted smells- and carefully folded it, putting it away in a metal crate where he collected many other of his prided art pieces of the day.

Grabbing his datapad again, Brastev happily hummed a tune and waltz straight towards his desk, dropping off the vital documents there. He moved over to the sink, washing his hands thoroughly until a beeping sound from his computer alerted him. Quick to dry his hands with a white towel, he briskly made his way over to his computer.

Brastev promptly sat on the black leather chair ripped with loose seams that took all the stuffing off the cushion. The chair had seen better days in the past, but it sufficed for now.

Brastev accessed the video feeds of his precious projects to see the finished results of his masterpiece.

SUBJECT A: \LOTHCAT\ DEAD

SUBJECT B: \FYRNOCK\ DEAD

SUBJECT C:\WOMPRAT\ DEAD

SUBJECT D: \DERBITS\ DEAD

"Excellent… Most excellent indeed!" Brastev began to type his research down on a clean datapad, inputting the successful results that his project had brought him.

For years of research, he had finally created the perfect poison. It was untraceable through any autopsy or medical scans, and it brought a quick yet painful death. This would truly please his superiors, and finally, finally, he would get all that he wanted.

While Brastev did enjoy being in this laboratory to do his experiments, the state that it was in was just questionable and too small for his tastes. He needed something bigger! With more space, he could fit a ton of creatures who will undertake his superior designs.

And imagine with all those credits he would gain, he could hire more competent workers! The ones he had now were idiotic and had no taste for his masterpieces. So he simply shut them up- in a painful method. For them at least anyway. It was far too fun for him!

Suddenly, the screen of his computer started to beep again. Brastev shifted his eyes over to it with a low growl of frustration.

SUBJECT A: \LOTHCAT\ ALIVE

SUBJECT B: \FYRNOCK\ ALIVE

SUBJECT C: \WOMPRAT\ ALIVE

SUBJECT D: \DEBRITS\ ALIVE

"Kriff! Now I'll have to wait for another-" He paused. Slowly his eye widened at the impossible sight unfolding before him. A fit of chuckles rose from his throat until it burst into maniac laughter of delight.

Now, this, this is truly a masterpiece! An unexpected but undeniably glorious development!

Brastev needed to have more research done on this. But his superiors had refused to give him any more subjects until they were given that poison. They would not be pleased if he reported to them empty handed, and he had no desire to share his discovery to them. At least, not until he knows it works on other more sentient beings.

That brought him an idea. One that would take a great chance, but if done correctly, he will learn if his masterpiece is surely worth the potential he sees in it. Oh, how he can imagine it now! And with the results that he could get from those poor souls who suffered under this "poison," he could bring it to perfection!

Brastiv entered the last of his (falsified) data onto the datapad. He plugged in a data chip onto his computer, transferring all the real data into it before then deleting all trace of it on his computer. Now with his information safely stored from the eyes of any snooping rivals or superiors, he carefully put the data chip away in the pocket of his pants.

Brastev patted down any wrinkles on his clothes before he turned on the holocommunicator with a roguish smirk. "Vigos. Project J3-D1 is complete. When would you be ready to pick them up?"

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The wall of grey clouds covered the sky with the sunlight trying to break through it all. Yet no matter how much the light tried, the clouds began to darken over it and thunder rumbled across the sky. A heavy thick fog began to creep through the spaceport. The moist smell it carried forewarned of the rain that was soon to come.

People and aliens of all races and sizes began to head inside their ships or other buildings to prepare in covering themselves from the rain. Others still decided to roam the streets, however, and merely put on a hood to protect them. But there was one man who did nothing as the first raindrops began to fall.

No matter how many times he had seen rain by now, Luke Skywalker- a farm boy who grew up in a desert planet- could never stop to feel so amazed at the idea of water falling from the sky. Well, any planet with so much water such as this one, just made him excited.

Luke couldn't stop the childish grin from growing across his face, letting the rain slide down his cheeks and raising a hand to catch them in his palm. His black shirt under his rugged brown hood began to get soaked onto his skin. Still, he did not care and savored this beautiful phenomenon known as rain to cover his whole body if only for a while.

Eventually, Luke knew he had to head over to the location of his mission. So he swept up the hood over his wet blonde hair and hurried down the streets of the Catonous spaceport; mud splashing on the soles of his dark brown boots and khaki pants.

Usually, when it came to doing a mission, Luke would always come with his good friends Han and Princess Leia. They had always insisted that he shouldn't be out alone, especially when the Empire has a billion credit bounty over his head for blowing up the Death Star.

But Luke was stubborn, and the idea that he was babysat all the time did not sit well with him. He was clearly capable of taking care of himself.

Besides, it was blatant that Leia seemed to have feelings for her smuggler friend Han, and he felt rather disappointed. Luke had a huge crush on the princess, but obviously, no one would ever choose to date a farm boy like him. Even if he was a Jedi (sort of) and a hero of the Rebellion now.

That is why Luke decided that he could handle going on a minor mission on his own. All he had to do was pick up some data from an informant on the planet Giju, and return it back to the Alliance. Simple! His friends had hesitated, but eventually, they gave in and let him go on this mission. Command had no problem with his request to go on the mission either, and promptly sent him off once he was ready.

And it is not like he came entirely alone. Luke decided to bring Artoo along with him. He merely just left him back at the docking bay with his x-wing. It was best that the little droid keep an eye on his ship so no one would try to mess with it. And he was sure Artoo preferred to be inside a building somewhere safe from all the rain that could easily get inside his electrical circuits.

Luke soon entered the small cantina- The Crown- and walked up towards the Togruta bartender, taking a seat in an empty chair in front of the bar.

The male Togruta had his right lekku cut off, the blue and white stripes on them were filled with many brutal scratches. His green eyes gazed at him coldly, but even with so little Force training, he could feel that the Togruta was no threat and merely putting up a dangerous front.

"What do you want, kid?" The Togruta roughly asked.

A displeased frown flickered across Luke's face, not liking the idea of being called a kid one bit. But he made no argument on it.

"Just hot chocolate would do." A light blush appeared under his hood as he realized asking for such a drink was considered childish in itself.

He couldn't help but like that chocolate drink ever since Leia had first introduced it to him. It was much tastier than the blue milk he would always drink back at home. Not to mention, Luke had never been one to handle alcoholic beverages well, nor did he like them.

The bartender made no comment on it and simply nodded on his order, turning his back to prepare the drink for his customer.

Meanwhile, Luke decided to gaze around the cantina and try to see if his informant was here. They had agreed to meet here in The Crown at this specific date to pick up the Imperial data he supposedly had for the Alliance.

The stinging smell of alcohol filled the air as a group of drunk Imperials sat around a table, laughing and drinking their problems away. There were twi'leks and togrutas playing an intense sabacc game on another table while they smoked death sticks. The other customers were either by themselves or with a companion or group, each holding a drink in their hand.

But right in the corner of the place sat a lone figure who seemed very anxious. Wearing a muddy hood over his head, the figure fiddled with his green fingers and suspiciously looked around the area. For a bar where people are supposed to eat and drink, the hooded figure did not have one scrap of food or even a drop of water in front of him.

Everything about that figure screamed suspicious activity and then- Luke caught a glimpse of his nervous face. It was a rodian. Not just any rodian though… Tyo Seeda.

Luke recognized his face to belong to that of his informant. Command had given him a holo of the man and made him remember every detail about him so as not to confuse it with someone else. Still…

Why was Seeda so nervous? Was it because he was being followed or-?

His thoughts became cut off at the banging sound of a cup against the wooden bar table. Luke glanced over at the bartender, offering him a meek thank you while paying for his hot chocolate.

Carrying his drink in his hands, he slowly tried to make his way over to the rodian, doing his best to act casual.

Before Luke could reach Seeda, a tall yellow trandoshan came up behind the rodian- grabbing Seeda's shoulder and placing its large, dirty hand over his mouth. The rodian quickly panicked, muffled screams erupting from his throat as he tried to fight back his assailant. No one in the bar even spared a glance to the commotion, and Seeda was dragged away through the back.

Startled by the sudden turn of events, Luke set down his hot chocolate (which was a pity he never got to drink from it) on a table and hurriedly followed them.

The rain was heavily pouring by now, the grey skies had turned into a dark night, and water covered the dirty streets- making them mix with dirt, plants, and rocks to turn the roads into a murky color. The trandoshan carrying Seeda went further and further away from his grasp.

Luke jumped over tossed crates and broken pieces of glass bottles, a tingling smell of burning smoke and rotten meat prickled his nose. He could hear the muffled screams getting distant with each twist and turn he made down the alleys until it suddenly fell silent.

Panting heavily, Luke came to a stop in the middle of a crossroads. Both of the alleys were pitch black with only a very, very faint light of a lampost far off in the distance. Growled snarls of feral animals echoed in the darkness, and he could see glowing red eyes.

In this case, he should be reasonable and head back to his ship, report to Command that he lost the informant.

But Luke did not want to go back to the Alliance empty-handed. This was his first mission by himself, and he was sure that they won't trust him to go by himself again.

One way or another, he was going to save that informant and get the data that he needs. Even if that meant going down a dark alley with who knows what.

Luke slowly closed his eyes, extending his hand as he reached out to the Force.

'Remember what Ben told you. Reach out and use the Force. Let it guide me.'

The Force answered him- giving a slight tug towards a certain pathway. But the Force felt odd. Almost like it was… excited? No, that didn't seem right. It was almost like a mischievous child giggling over something that only they knew, and perfectly hid it away from the eyes of their parents (who clearly knew something was up, but didn't know what exactly).

A queasy feeling settled on his stomach- similar to the "bad feeling" that Han always said he got during dangerous missions. It made him nervous, but the Force seemed to prompt him to keep going.

Taking a deep breath, Luke lowered his hand and made his way down the dimly lighted alley. The smell of rotten meat had disappeared to replace it with an almost suffocating smell of smoke mixed with wet dog. The rain was endlessly falling- causing his vision to see what was in front of him to blur- and the thunder rumbled in an angry groan.

Luke pulled his hood tighter over his head, hoping to cover his blue eyes from the raindrops that splashed in his face. Blindly he went through the darkness of the rain, letting only the Force guide him. When he felt that all hope of finding that trandoshan was lost, there were loud sounds of screaming coming from a rickety old building.

Luke dashed over to the sounds, miraculously finding the door and quietly- though in a hurried pace to get out of the storm- made his way inside.

Large crates were piling up in tall towers, all of them seem empty of its contents, with faded symbols on them that made it unclear as to what corporation it may have belonged to.

The lights that hung from the building were swaying back and forth in the timed pace of an almost perfectly tuned metronome. Many of those lights had been flickered from energy, and those that did work were barely grasping to their light, leaving it to only produce a dim yellowish color.

The pillars- though old and covered with graffiti- still stood firm and held the rest of this building that was falling apart.

Luke silently began to navigate through the maze of crates, slipping out a blaster that hung from his belt. Luke would have preferred to use his father's lightsaber, which he hid inside his cloak, but it was too risky. If the trandoshan managed to get away, he could easily report the sighting of a Jedi to the Imperials, and it will be much harder to escape off planet.

The screamings he heard had changed into nervous chattering, and he could hear another slithering voice harshly speaking to Seeda. That made him curious. Just what were they discussing? Wasn't Seeda trying to escape this trandoshan earlier?

Luke finally made it in a close range where he could hear these two aliens much clearer now. He was hiding behind a crate- just a few feet from them. Slowly he peeked from his hiding spot to get a good view of what was going on, and attentively listened in to the conversation.

"L..L-ook! I have y... I have your data. Alright?!" Seeda's nervous garbled voice replied in the native language of huttese that he grew up hearing and speaking back on his home planet of Tatooine.

"Issss that sssso?" The slithering voice of the trandoshan barked back with impatience clearly ringing in his words. "Then why don't you give it to me?"

"No! You have to do your part of the deal first!"

That had been the wrong answer. In an instant, the trandoshan pulled out its heavy rifle from its back and pointed it at Seeda's head.

Luke was about to leap in to save the rodian, but the Force whispered to him to stay put. So he remained silent, nervously biting his lip in anticipation as he waited to see what would happen next.

"Don't get ahead of yourssself, ssscum! Hand over the data firssst."

Seeda fearfully gulped- sliding down his green hands inside the coat under his hood. There was a lot of frantic movement to search for the item he was looking for, continuously shifting his wine colored eyes towards the weapon pointed at his head.

Finally, the rodian took out his trembling hand and extended his open palm to reveal a black data card.

"It's...I-t's all here! Names of people in the Rebel Alliance j...j-ust like you asked!"

A silent gasp escaped Luke's lips, his crystal eyes widening as surprise flickered across his face. He tried to register the traitorous words that were spoken by the rodian, unbelief settling inside his heart.

Seeda was betraying them? Betraying the Rebel Alliance that worked so hard to fight for justice and bring an end to the oppressive, cruel Empire? The same Empire that took away his guardians and killed his father? Anger flared inside him, his hand curling around his blaster tighter, and gritting his teeth to keep himself from yelling right into that coward's face.

No, he had to be silent. All Luke needed to do was wait for the perfect timing. When Seeda is gone, he would confront the trandoshan and take back that data.

He would not let any of the Alliance's secrets to fall into the hands of an enemy who could easily exploit the information to any Imperial. It would be catastrophic! And all of their hard work will come to waste.

So he remained still, now more alert to the events happening in front of him, and hearing every detail.

The trandoshan's garnet eyes glinted with greed, and a crooked smirk shifted on his scaly features. Still aiming his rifle at the rodian's head, the trandoshan slid his other unoccupied arm to take the data chip from Seeda's slimy hands. Finally, the trandoshan lowered his weapon- Seeda releasing a sigh of relief- and inspected the data in his hand with great triumph.

"Gooood." The trandoshan hissed in pleasure. He fastened the rifle to his back and carefully put the data inside a small pouch strapped to his brown belt.

The trandoshan took off a dark leather bag that hung from his shoulder and placed it on the rodian's hands, a soft thud sounding in contact as Seeda balanced itself from the heavy weight settled on him. Even so, Seeda chuckled with avarice, clutching the bag tightly before putting it over his shoulder.

"Jussst assss promisssed. A million creditsss and all the exisssting recordsss of your dealingsss with the Empire." The trandoshan harshly laughed. "You sssshouldn't be doing sssssuch traitorousss actionssss towardsss the Rebellion."

A low growl came from Seeda, his bulbous eyes narrowing in rage. "Shut up!" He snapped back with all fear that he felt towards the reptilian forgotten. "Compared to what your syndicate is doing, I am just-!"

The trandoshan lunged his clawed hand upon the spineless Seeda's neck. Like a dangling toy that was hated, Seeda was carried and slammed into a crate nearby; the trandoshan snarling his pointy teeth at the frightened rodian.

"And what exactly do you know about ussssss?!" The trandoshan growled, letting Seeda squirm in his grasp for air. "For jusssst thisss mere data chip, we are ssssaying that we will ssssettle without taking your pathetic life! Issss that clear?!"

Seeda rapidly nodded his head the best that he could, his face turning a whole different shade of green. The trandoshan snarled at his face one last time before dropping the rodian to the floor.

Seeda gasped for air- coughing roughly from the oxygen that entered his lungs- and trembled in his knees. Weakly, the rodian slowly stood up to its feet and ran for the exit without spending so much as a glance back.

Luke cautiously peeked from his cover, getting a good look at where the trandoshan stood. He would have to be careful in his next action. One wrong move and the trandoshan could easily overpower him. Luke had to time this just right to knock the reptilian out.

"That's enough eavesdropping, kid."

The Force then flared in warning, causing Luke's attention to shift from the trandoshan towards his back. Luke only caught a blurred image of a dark figure until something hard slammed onto his head. He all but collapsed to the floor, wincing in pain.

Struggling to open his eyes, Luke shakily reached for his blaster that laid just inches in front of him before a foot kicked him hard in the stomach. A gasp of air escaped his throat as his body instinctively coiled on itself, and tried to protect himself from any other painful attack. Luke groaned, his head throbbing as he could hear the two voices speaking.

"Bossssss!"

"Kriffing reptile! How many times have I told you to watch your back?!" The voice shouted through a sort of vocoder which hid the gender or species of the unknown figure. Even so, one could clearly tell that the figure was beyond pissed and annoyed.

The trandoshan only responded with a snarling hiss. Then there was a clicking sound of a cartridge sliding inside the clip of a blaster. "Don't worry. We could easssily blassst thisss runt'sss head off!"

"Don't get reckless!" The figure's voice sneered. "A group of stormtroopers will be passing by soon. We wouldn't want to leave an ugly mess that will barricade us from leaving the planet now do we?"

The trandoshan growled in frustration. "Then what do we do?! The boy sssaw too much!"

Luke could hear the sound of shuffling- from who or where he could not tell. There was a loud click of an object opening and a popping sound.

"We use this." The figure responded with a smirk in their voice. "It's a new poison created by our syndicate. It is the perfect substance for messy situations like this."

A gloved hand roughly snatched over his head, pulling him off the floor and almost tearing his hair out. Something- a pill it felt like- was forcefully shoved into his mouth.

"Though I heard that this poison has yet to be tested on sentient beings."

Cooling fresh water poured down his throat to sweep the pill into his system. Luke struggled to spit back the horrible poison being forced inside him. But another hand covered his mouth, and with no exit to release the dangerous substance, he swallowed the poison.

Luke was dropped to the floor, a fit of coughs wracking his chest while a strange feeling began to wash over him- like an icy chill that was starting to freeze his insides.

"Let'ssss get out of here now! I refusssse to be here when thosssse bucket headssss sssshow up."

"Right." The figure chuckled to himself with a devious smirk in the chilling words that he spoke next. For that was the last thing he would ever hear. "Farwell Rebel scum."

Footsteps echoed across the floor, followed by the sound of a door creaking open before getting slammed shut. And at that moment, the rain crescendoed its storming symphony with a crash of thunder- the flashes of lightning showing its luminous glory.

The chill in his body suddenly stilled, as if it vanished or was merely left in awe of the stupendous masterpiece that the storm had displayed. Ease washed over him and for a second, Luke thought, the poison didn't work. The shady figure had picked the wrong pill, and he would be just fine. Oh, how wrong he was….

An explosion burst inside his chest, taking away the air that was stored in the lungs and stumbled the beating heart which kept him alive. His whole body trembled and twisted from the sheer ferocity of pain that bubbled into the climax. Each gasp of the air he took was more agonizing than the last.

Eerie ringing clogged his hearing, and another sound was there- so barely able to be distinguished. It was the infinite screams of a madman- haunted by ghosting memories that he did not want to face.

Were those his screams? His mind could not register if it was or not.

Fire boiled in his veins, eating and burning away every cell in his body. The once sturdy bones easily melted like wax under a flame. The suffering pain was unbearable. And helplessly his mind frantically called for someone- anyone- to just free him from this torture!

'Ben…! Ben please… Leia… Han... Help me!!!'

Hot tears burned his eyes when no one answered, and all sort of hope that he would survive this mission was vanquished.

Luke was going to die. He would never get to see his friends again. He had failed to avenge his father's death by killing Darth Vader. And he didn't get to finish his Jedi training that Ben entrusted him to continue.

'Ben… Father… I am so sorry….'

The rebel Jedi closed his eyes, accepting his fate of what was to come- preparing to see his loved ones (his father, mother, Ben, Biggs, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru) in the Force- and then knew nothing more as darkness overtook him.

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And that was the first chapter! I hope all of you enjoyed it so far. Now my updates for the story will be rather slow since I have other things to do during the summer.

I am a senior and already school expects me to prepare for college. So I'll be busy getting community service hours, applying for scholarships, and so on (I may even apply for a job).

But I will do my best to update when I can. And I will also be updating over in Wattpad (I'm known as KaitoDetective1412 over there). So if I miss to update here, the next chapter will probably be there.

Thank you all for reading and may the Lord be with you always!