As the ship soared through the upper atmosphere of Telos, various wildlife turned their heads at the new and unknown sound, following it down as it did so.
From within the cockpit, the two pilots were bantering back and forth, making amiable conversation to pass the time. As the co-pilot flipped a switch above his head, he spoke into a microphone saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We've entered the upper atmosphere and are nearing the ground quickly. Please stay in your seats and stay secure. Thank you." and with a chuckle he switched the switch once more, switching it off. As the two men looked at each other, both laughed at the curses coming their way from the compartment behind them.
When their eyes were drawn once more through the viewport of the shuttle, green flack was exploding around them, rocking them back and forth. Atton switched the same switch except it was on his half of the cockpit, "Erm, stay still as much as you can please." When he stopped talking, a small crackle followed by Dacen's voice followed, "Easy for you to say flyboy!" he yelled, causing both Atton and James wince at the volume of it, hearing surprised yelps and howls behind them as they dodged the flak. "Look! Down there!" James exclaimed, pointing to where the blaster fire was coming from.
The aggressor that was firing at them was no other than an automated air defence tower not seen on Telos since Malak's bombardment. As it tracked the fleeing ship, it must've nicked them at some point because warning Claxton's began blaring throughout the small shuttle as a small explosion occurred near the engines and stabilisers. "We're going in too hot!" yelled James as he fought to keep control of the ship along with Atton, parts of the cockpit sparking or even so far as to be on fire.
Atton and James looked at each other one final time, and nodded before James leant back and closed his eyes, expanding his senses to cover the ship before imagining it coming to a complete stop.
The voice of Master Zhar resounding within his head, Remember, size doesn't matter. And that was only a half truth. Size did matter if it was a flaming ball of charred metal that was currently on a crash course for a cliff face two kilometres away. Slowly, the shuttle slowed down, but everything turned out to be in vain for the moment that they touched the earth a half kilometre away, they bounced painfully along the ground, only to skid into a shield just next to the cliff face.
As the wind lapped at Dacen's long hair, he felt grass swaying in the breeze as it stroked his face gently.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, only to squeeze them shut again as the bright light all around him burnt his eyes painfully. This time knowing what he was to be met with, he opened them groggily and began pushing himself up, only to have assistance from an unknown source. Slowly, steadily he gained his balance, relinquishing the assistance he had a moment ago.
As he finally looked up, he spotted a Zabrak looking at him, something akin to awe in his eyes, "Good to have you back General." The sound of speech causing Dacen to grip his head in pain as he squeezed his eyes shut once more. "My head… feels like I've been ripped in half!" Dacen complained, feeling like he was going to pass out at any moment.
"Easy now," The Iridonian soothed, coming to his aid once more, "You survived one spectacular crash. Lucky I was here to pull you and your friends out of that shuttle or you'd be more than a little crispy. But it's only fair, I owe you more than one, General." The Zabrack reasoned off light-heartedly, gently patting the Exile on the back as he came to his senses. Dacen, still fazed by recent events questioned, "General?" The Iridonian just chuckled dryly at some unknown joke but humoured the Exile in any case, "You must still be in shock from the crash. Have to expect some long term memory loss from that." the Iridonian just looked at the small remote next to him and asked, "Too bad he's not a droid, huh?" to which said remote gave the equivalent of a laugh. The Iridonian snapped his head back to Dacen and continued, "I'll humor you General. I was one of the Iridonian mechanic corps at Malachor. Bao-Dur? I can see how you'd forget me seeing as I was the only one."
With a quick shake of the head, Dacen quickly replied, "I don't want to talk about the war." Bao-Dur just nodded and replied, "I'll agree to that. The less said the better. We all went through some tough times after Malachor, and maybe we all did a little forgetting. Guess that's one thing we've got better than droids - they can't forget anything. But then you give them a memory wipe and they forget for good." Bao-Dur rambled, staring off into space, Dacen brought him back from his silent thoughts by asking hastily as he ran over to check on his companions, "How are the others?" His voice still hoarse from all the smoke around the crash sight.
Bao-Dur came over quickly, stepping over rubble and various debris as he came and helped Dacen, "They'll be fine. The woman's fine, the pilots are more or less fine, the man's going to be fine - just a little soreness for a few days and the old lady, well, she's tougher than she looks. You know, I never thought I'd see you again, General. Galaxy's a big place, and this is the last place I thought I'd bump into you. So I have to ask, just what are you doing here?" Bao-Dur questioned, watching as one of the pilots stood up and got accustomed to the surroundings faster than Dacen did.
Dacen watched as well as he replied to Bao-Dur's question, "I've been told I might be able to find my ship here." Bao-Dur only chuckled heartily at that, before catching the other man's gaze and becoming more serious, "Well, if your ship's in as bad shape as this one, I don't think your gonna have much luck." The sound of Atton's voice as he stood up, making light on the situation caused Dacen's lips to stretch into a small smile, "Well, this is familiar. Feels like my last time on Telos." Bao-Dur, going with the humor just retorted, "Crashed a shuttle that time, too?" Before Atton said anything though, James' voice echoed from where he was helping Shaleena and Dan up from the floor, "I heard that!" Atton chuckled a little before continuing, "Nope, pazaak." Atton announced lightly, earning another smile from the already conscious group as Kreia stood up, complaining as she did so, "That was not the most pleasant landing I have endured. Next time, I suggest we seek out more reputable pilots." Both Atton and James spun on her, James looking severely insulted whilst Atton just looked annoyed.
"Your welcome, Kreia. You know, if me and James weren't such crack pilots, we could have hit the shield wall instead of just touching it, or one of those rock faces." James just looked at Atton, nodded his thanks as everyone huddled around, Kreia stating the obvious but in the mocking tone that would never have been used if it were anyone else speaking, "Yes, our current situation is a vast improvement." Atton and James both rolled their eyes towards the sky before Dacen took the leadership role once more, looking towards the pilots for the answer, "What shot us down?" Both pilots shrugged, parts of James' cloak falling off in the forms of ash before he shrugged it off, revealing both lightsabers to the world.
As the cloak fell, James replied, "Beats me. Nobody's supposed to be here but a Czerka research team. I can't say they'd be happy to see us, but shooting us down…? I can't imagine Czerka having us shot down by a team of scientists either. We caught a glimpse of what looked like an AD tower when we flew over the compound." Dacen just nodded slowly as he stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Why would a research station have an air defence tower?" James merely shrugged before replying, Atton nodding as he did so, "Maybe something's going on there that shouldn't be going on." Just as Dacen was about to speak, Atton continued along James' line of thought, "I've seen pirate bases with the same kind of set-up." He reasoned thoughtfully.
Dacen, once again nodding slowly motioned for everyone to form up, "Alright, let's move out. We need to find the ship." Just as the group began walking, Bao-Dur spoke up, earning everyone's attention, "I can help you find it - I have access to the shield network. I came hoping to repair whatever damage your shuttle took, but not even I can fix that wreck." Dacen nodded a little before saying, "Alright, Atton pass him a blaster and a spare Vibroblade. Let's go!" Dacen ordered before James came to an abrupt halt saying, "Where's Sasha?" The question was aimed at everyone but Bao-Dur replied, "There wasn't anyone else but you guys when I arrived. Maybe she fell out when you decided to bounce along." he reasoned.
James just stood there, frozen still as his features turned slightly more pale. The rest of the group nodded slowly before James came out of his trance like state. "Bao-Dur, put the coordinates in my data pad for where you guys are going. I'll meet up with you guys there tomorrow. I'm going to look for her, she's in trouble." He announced before sprinting at an inhuman speed and leaping from the floor to the top of the cliff face, leaping to different sections of it as he went. "Always on the move." Dan sighed wearily, dropping his cloak on the floor as he did so, quickly followed by Shaleena.
As each member of the group picked up some supplies and their equipment, they began their hike across Telos' restoring surface.
"What, the, hell, is, in, this, bag!" Atton panted as they walked up the hills just a mere kilometre away from their campsite for the night.
Dusk had fallen on the horizon a few minutes ago, bathing the raped sky in beautiful shades of orange and red. Closer to the horizon though, if a passer by focused hard enough, they would spot a thick black line, showing them the inhospitable areas still needing the attention of the Ithorian healers.
Slowly, the group made their way over the last kilometre before night fell. Much to everyone's relief, especially Atton's, that last kilometre had been completely down hill, making the journey that much quicker and painless. As the group placed their packs and satchels down on the floor, Atton merely landed in a heap on the floor, moaning softly as his face and body crushed the fresh greenery all around them.
It took the group of mixed backgrounds just over fifteen minutes to place the shelters up and secure a decent sized perimeter through the use of mines and various sensors. As the group finally rested, leaning against various logs that Dan and Shaleena had moved through power of the Force, they talked amiably, ignoring Kreia who had retreated to her shelter, wishing to meditate.
As the group sat there, eating a few cooked Cannoks, whilst talking, Bao-Dur spoke up, "You know, I always feel a sense of calm when I walk the surface of Telos. The Ithorians are truly amazing at their work." he conceded, earning mute but understanding nods from everyone. Atton decided to be the first to reply to his comment, "They're good at wasting Republic credits maybe, but yeah, it was nice today. Almost refreshing."
Dan, who had Shaleena holding his side as she snuggled up to him, soundly asleep said quietly as he stroked a stray strand of Shaleena's black hair out of her face, "The Force is strong here. Chodo and his heard may have had something to do with that. I'd like to think that the Force just wants the Galaxy to be balanced and peaceful, not always in the midst of a conflict that destroys planets or entire systems."
The man stopped stroking Shaleena's face with his thumb just long enough to look at Dacen in particular, "Can you feel anything?" he asked, causing Atton and Bao-Dur to look at the two questionably. After a small sigh, Dacen replied, "A whisper perhaps. Like a breeze through grass." Dan merely nodded before replying, "That's good. As a breeze may swiftly become a gale. Your regaining your affinity to the Force." Dacen smiled a little, remembering the security and comfort that the Force provided him, longing for nothing more than to wrap himself securely within it once more. Slowly, everyone moved back to the shelters that they had erected, each feeling that tomorrow would not be so peaceful.
The dieing, silent scream of the Twi'lek woman that was controlling all the droids was loud.
Loud, only to those who could feel the Force. The woman had been cut in half at the waist by Dan's lightsaber after Shaleena had caused large chunks of rock to crush the two war droids that she had had with her as support. The group had left their shelters up in an attempt to confuse the Mercs that were after Bao-Dur.
Slowly, Dan stood up from his doubled over position from which he had killed her. The woman had fired her blaster wildly, meaning that Dan had had to deflect multiple shots before ducking under the final and slicing her in half. The once beautiful Twi'lek woman lay dead at his feet.
Slowly, as the group caught up to him, he stepped over her corpse and continued on through the small valley, knowing full well that it was perfect for an ambush. As the group walked down the small, hundred meter valley, the group came to a stop at the mouth of the other end with Bao-Dur pointing at the landing pad, "There's the landing pad. There should be a computer terminal I can access from there. Looks like we're to have to fight our way there, though." Bao-Dur sighed, hearing a moan from Atton behind him.
Dacen gave a sharp look towards the man before walking out into clear view, calling behind him, "Look sharp." He announced as everyone else joined him as they stood defiant against large groups of Mercs, all hefting large guns. As Dacen gave a quick glance around the area, he counted a stupid number of turrets, all pointed their way. "Well, what do we have here… the 'Jedi'. Saves us the trouble for looking for ya." The Captain announced arrogantly as he crossed his armoured arms, a blaster pistol in each hand. "Corrun Falt did say you were dangerous… maybe he does know what he's talking about." The dark skinned Merc grinned, earning laughs from his comrades. "Who are you?" Demanded Dacen, eyeing the available cover around them for when this turned into a fight.
"Falt hired me to keep everyone out of the Restoration Zone… you in particular." He announced darkly, as Dacen and the group began edging slowly towards one of the orange outpost buildings that made up the small community of scientists, or at least did. "You've done a pretty miserable job so far." Dacen taunted, preparing for the leap to his left where a few white plasteel cylinders stood. "You may have avoided a few of my boys… but let's see how you fight 'Jedi' the leader hissed, bringing his blasters to bare on the group.
That was the moment everyone jumped behind the cover that they had chosen. When there was a short break in the firing, each member of the group looked at each other and nodded once, swinging out of cover as they attempted to gun down whoever they could. Atton managed to clip the closest man to the leader in the shoulder before finishing him off with a shot to the face from his second blaster.
As multiple Mercs fell to the retaliation, a multitude of what appeared to be reinforcements poured out of the buildings around them, blasters raised. Slowly, realising their defeat, each member of the squad slowly dropped their weapons, Jedi included. When each of them were lined up before the leader, they prepared for death as each closed their eyes, waiting for the blaster bolt that never came…
James, stood atop the closest rise, had watched the entire ordeal with Sasha lying down behind him, sheltered by a few rocks.
From what he had seen, the Cannoks had been all but eliminated in this area, making it perfectly safe to keep Sasha unguarded there. As he watched the ensuing battle carefully, he watched as the cheating Mercs used their unfair numbers against the gathered Jedi and allies.
As one, he watched as Dan and Shaleena deactivated their lightsabers and tossed them to the floor before them.
When the apparent leader raised a blaster to Kreia's head, James took it upon himself to jump down at that moment, right at the back of them all. "Why hello there." James announced loudly, causing each and every Merc, droid and turret to turn his way. "You know, it's not a good life choice to kill a Jedi Master and Jedi Knight, let alone their allies…" James announced, still stood there, looking diagonally on at them as he held his lightsabers in his hands in his reverse grip, feeling the soothing sensation of the Force as it enveloped his being.
The leader merely regarded him with a sneer, pointed at him and yelled, "Bring me him as well!" That was the moment two lightsabers were ignited before James gave an elegant twirl of his right blade, changing the direction of his stance before both Jedi, Mercs and droids began charging towards each other.
As red blaster bolts zipped past James' sprinting form, he could smell ionised air, causing his throat to burn a little. As he pushed that thought to the back of his mind, he came upon the closest Merc as he sliced his opponent's chest, spinning through the air as he twisted his body, killing more and more Mercs as they charged him as if they were brainwashed.
It was painfully obvious that none had ever fought a Jedi before. As he landed after two small head height twists, he brought his blades around his body, hearing the dieing screams as he swung his blades.
He spun in a half circle after every Merc he killed until he stood there, blade still in one mans back as he slowly looked up, not even a sweat broken. Coming towards him was a man in an exoskeleton incineration droid, preparing to burn him to a cinder. With a small clench of his fist as he brought it up before him, James crushed the droid and sent it flying into a group of Mercs and eventually a wall, almost like a bowling ball. The Mercs were on him once more, charging at him blindly.
As he ducked under a Mercs pathetic attempt to smash him with the butt of his rifle, he brought his blades around in a neat circle, cutting down more men and women. Slowly, he felt as if he were watching himself from a third person perspective and watched in awe as blaster bolts were making contact with his body, only instead of killing him, they were being absorbed into his body, creating a massive build up of energy. As James began killing with both blades in hacks and slashes, the build up became so massive that he couldn't contain it any longer.
With a small leap into the air, he forced himself into a small ball before extending his limbs out wide with a loud roar, a bright, blue ball of energy expanding from his chest, vaporising any who were too close, or sending them flying at such high speeds, their bones shattered on impact despite their various armour. As he landed among the still crackling ash, panting, a pair of blaster bolts hit the floor by his feet, making him jump back to avoid getting shot once more.
As James jumped from building to building, followed closely by blaster fire, he came to a halt a mere five foot away from his final opponent as said opponent backed up hastily towards the door, earning only a small respite in which the leader of the Mercs could let off a single blaster shot. In a move that was completely unseen to anyone watching in real time, James brought his left blade up in a diagonal position to block the bolt and send it flying straight back, mere millimetres away from the dark skinned mans ear. With a small yelp, the man dropped his blaster as he fought to find the door controls. "No! Please! Wait! Don't!" Were all the coherent words the man could form before James spun his blades to a forward position, preparing to kill the man.
"Why'd it just go quiet? Think they got them all?" The largest man in the room asked from inside the building they were stationed in. The man who had hired them and taken command had said they were to be the reserves, just in case. As everyone else in the room shrugged, a woman in the corner proposed, "Why don't you go check it out?" No sooner had she said those words, the tips of two lightsabers protruded through the Dura steel door, melting the area around them as they stayed there for a few seconds, freezing everyone in the room.
Slowly, to begin with, both blades went through the door in opposite directions, meaning that whoever the victim was, they were in three pieces. The Mercs, knowing truly what had happened now, all brought their weapons to bare on the door as it slid open, the man stood there merely raised a hand, lifting everyone and everything in the room. With a simple gesture everything was sent hurtling towards the cliff face above the Old Military Base. The last conscious thought that ran through the mans head was that of fear.
James turned around slowly, panting and dropping to his knees as his lightsabers rolled out of his hands and onto the soft ground beneath them.
As he sat there, panting with sweat dripping down his face, he looked around at the destruction he'd caused with a pained look on his face, the thin scar that ran over his right eye making him look sinister as he looked through his eyebrows. "What have I done?" He moaned as everyone approached him slowly.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Kreia was smiling in glee from what she had just seen of this obviously powerful man. If it was unknown to the man, James had just wiped out two whole battalions of Mercs and their droids, in about five minutes. Gently, Dacen and Dan helped James to his feet and draped his arms over their own shoulders, allowing his head to lull forwards as he passed out from over exertion.
"Shaleena, go up to where we saw James jump from, I've got a feeling Sasha's up there." Dacen ordered politely motioning towards the cliff. When Shaleena nodded towards Dan, she left at a steady jog before propelling herself up the cliff face and giving a graceful flip as she landed. "Come on, General. Let's get him to the landing pad." Bao-Dur suggested, leading the way up there, everyone following mutely, especially a pale Atton as he took up the rear position.
Slowly, as the group walked over Dura steel plates that covered the heavy support beams that made up the landing platform, Bao-Dur pointed at the computer console as they arrived at it, "Hopefully, I'll be able to access the shield network from this console." The pale Zabrak announced, the tattoos on his face that resembled cracks creased as he concentrated. "Good it's functional, and my pass codes still work. Now, let's find your missing ship." Bao-Dur announced, still concentrating as he looked through the list of Restoration Zones. "The TSF said it wasn't at any sanctioned landing site. What makes you think you'll be able to find it?" Atton questioned, voicing the question on both Dacen and Kreia's minds.
Bao-Dur chuckled a little before replying, turning his strong neck to look at everyone else, "The TSF probably thinks it was put down in the wastes, but they don't know the planet as well as I do. Telos' atmosphere has been turned into acidic vapour. Landing it in the wastes would be like landing it in a hangar full of hungry Mynocks. So that means that there's probably an unsanctioned landing site somewhere on the planet. Still shielded, but not a restoration zone or other listed facility. That's why I need access to the shield network." Bao-Dur reasoned, pointing at the blue console at something he found once he finished speaking, "Here - a small anomaly in the shield network's power grid. I'm not surprised the TSF didn't spot this. It's more like an error or random flux than anything suspicious. It looks like power is being drawn to generate a shield over a small area in the polar region, but nothing should be down there. Orbital camera's show… nothing. Just an empty mesa." Bao-Dur announced to the group.
Everyone looked thoughtful or downtrodden before Kreia spoke up, earning a moan from Atton, "I feel as if we should investigate this. This might be our best chance of finding our lost ship." It seemed more of an order than an idea to Dacen, but he took it in stride, nodding to Bao-Dur to attempt to find something nearby that would get them there. "According to the computer, a shuttle is docked in the old Military base. At least, there was in the last report, but that was months ago."
Dacen looked sceptical as he ran his right hand through his hair, pushing it back from where the gentle wind had blown it onto his face, "So we don't know that the shuttle will still be there? Or even working?" Bao-Dur merely shrugged before replying, his mechanical left arm humming with power, "I don't, but I'm getting back to Citadel Station if I have to build a new ship myself." He announced boldly, looking his General in the eye as he spoke with vigour.
Dacen grinned before motioning for a thankful Atton to stay with James, Sasha and Shaleena when they got back as he announced, "Alright, let's go get us a shuttle then." before he, Kreia, Dan and Bao-Dur entered the old Military Base.
AN: Okay! So, what do you all think to this 4 and a half thousand word chapter? :D
Personally, I feel rather proud of it! :D
Next chapter... THE MILITARY BASE!... and perhaps a scene outside the base? ;)
RnR!