Chapter 7: Alliance
Cato Neimoidia, 3 BBY
Xur's Infiltration
The void of hyperspace dissipated as Xur's fighter entered Cato Neimoidia's orbit, and the first thing he noticed aside from the brown and green planet was the Imperial garrison. He counted 3 star destroyers, and he figured that was because of him. Cato Neimoidia had unintentionally become a border planet between the New Order and Empire.
It wasn't too much of a worry to him however, since he had come alone in a small fighter. Their sensors wouldn't be able to detect him if he kept moving. He kept the throttle maximized as he made his approach, the front of his ship showing signs of intense friction.
Before he had left, he had done a bit of research on his target. The planet was run by Baron Tarko, or at least the capital was. It was composed of many arches that contained cities spanning over vast canyons. He knew that General Kota was being held at the main arena, which was on Arch Alpha. It was the largest one, which made it easy for Xur to locate once he entered the planet. However, he knew that it would the most heavily defended of the bunch.
To his luck however, the Empire would have no idea who he was with Revan's armor. They hadn't come in contact with him since his journey to Korriban. He planned to use this to his ultimate advantage.
The Force existed long before the Jedi and Sith divided it.
There the voices went again. However, Xur recognized this as Revan's own voice, which hadn't happened before. They were previously only those of others, and he wondered if he was beginning to get a greater sense of Revan's memories and his own.
It will be here long after these empires crumble.
Xur finally stopped to think about what was going on in his head. Revan was speaking of the Force as a whole, not as the Dark and the Light. He now figured that Revan was trying to tell him something. He remembered what Malak had told him about the Revanites before he had entered the academy. They were warriors of the light and dark as one, a unified Force. He imagined what power they would possess being able to call from both sides of the Force. It had to be impossibly powerful.
Then he realized that was exactly what he was. He was a Revanite…the last one at that. Maybe it was the will of the Force for his mother to be Sith and father Jedi. He wasn't meant to follow the Jedi Code, or be a Jedi at that. He was meant for much more. The more he thought about Revan's words, the more he realized how irrelevant the Jedi and Sith were. If one could pull from both sides, one who chose a side could never be as powerful.
Xur caught himself and realized what he was thinking. He would never betray the Jedi, not when they had done so much for him. But, all of the lies, all of the deception made him reconsider his rejection. He wouldn't betray the Jedi, but reshape them. He could create a faction of force users who embraced both sides and used it for good.
Define good.
Revan's voice spoke in his head again. Xur growled in frustration and returned his focus to his landing so he wouldn't die a wreaked heap. He tried to land away from any major landing pad, but the arches made that impossible. He found one on the far end of the arch, which he calculated was a good 3 miles away from the arena. He then saw Vader's fighter land on it, and a squad was assembled to meet him.
This complicated things immensely. He was supposed to get in, grab the General, and get out before the fleet arrived to extract him. Having Vader around would make things…difficult. Not only would he be a powerful problem, Xur would be too tempted to face him. His singular need to find Ahsoka would be too strong for him to resist.
He decided to observe, and wait to either be spotted or take the chance to destroy Vader once and for all. However, the man who exited the ship was not the Darth, but a different man he was not familiar with.
After a few seconds, he saw the man draw two crimson lightsabers and engage in combat with the Stormtroopers. Xur then took his chance. He decided to land his small ship in the best place possible, but as he made his approach, an trooper armed with a rocket launcher had his ship locked on to. The missile fired from across the platform, and he was traveling too slowly to avoid it. He cursed to himself for not thinking and ejected from his ship.
He flew through the air and felt time slow down as he focused. His ship exploded almost on impact with the missile, and he ripped himself out of the pilot seat. He used the close explosion to catapult him towards the platform and he landed with a clean roll. His crimson lightsaber then ignited with the unstable beam, crackling and spewing energy.
He located Stormtroopers with elite precision, quickly deflecting beams and cutting down the ones near him. He felt graceful, and let the Force flow through each strike, and before he knew it, the platform had been cleared…except for one.
The man held both lightsabers backwards and stood in a battle stance, ready to do battle with Xur. The zabrak finally turned his head and looked at the man. He was clad in a TIE Pilot outfit minus the helmet of course. Xur could sense the conflict within him, but also the pure power at his disposal.
And yet, among the quietness of their encounter, the only sound being the crackling of Xur's blade, he found this man familiar.
I've defeated you before, I will do it again!
It all came to him like a wave. On Mortis he had experience a vision…of this man fighting Vader. He knew that he would not be an enemy in the slightest.
"Who are you?" the man asked, still on edge.
Xur's masked face read no expression. "My name is Xur Eon….and I am not your enemy," he said in a voice laced with a robotic undertone projected by the mask.
He didn't lower his sabers just yet. "What makes you think so?"
Xur then deactivated his lightsaber and returned it to his belt. "I am here for General Kota. I have come to rescue him, and I'm guessing you're here for the same reason."
The man flashed his eyes both ways and then loosened up a little. "Vader spoke of an Eon, and I'm guessing that's you?"
The zabrak crossed his arms and gave him a slight nod. If he had been in contact with Vader, then what was he? He couldn't tell if he was an inquisitor…or something else. He seemed too powerful to be an inquisitor.
The man then finally let up and deactivated his lightsabers. "The name's Starkiller, and I'm here for the General as well."
It didn't take them long to reach the arena, despite the trail of absolute destruction they had left behind. Imperial checkpoints were a wreaked and flaming heap, stormtrooper bodies littered the area, and barricades had been disposed of. Xur, clad in Revan's armor, deactivated his unstable red and purple beams and returned each saber to his belt. He then gave the massive arena a long look and caught his breath.
The force had never flown through him with such little obstruction before. Each movement he had taken felt as if it was meant to be, and each on after that as well. His sabers dancing around him laced with force lighting and his mastery of the force along with it. He finally felt…alive.
The Force does not control you.
Revan's voice sounded once again. Xur had now chosen to listen to these voices, since they tended to go along with his idealism. They seemed to be connected, and attempting to teach him how to maintain balance of his powers. He knew that Revan would always be beside him, and death wouldn't stop him.
Xur also used this time to observe his new ally, Starkiller. The Jedi, or whatever he was, held immense power. He was the first being he had come across that seemed to be able to call upon powers of both the light and the dark, but Xur knew he didn't hold on to some sort of ability. He was almost the true example of a Revanite.
While Xur was still unsure whether or not he was ready to adopt this title, he found it very sensible. He had come to realize how ineffective the Jedi were at containing his power. They insisted the light as the only way, and Xur was beginning to question that ideal, especially when Revan insisted in his mind that they were wrong. The zabrak was beginning to agree. The Jedi and Sith were nothing.
Xur could hear the crowd roar as they cheered along in the arena. Looking forward, he ushered Starkiller forward. "I'm taking a wild guess and saying that this is where we will find the General."
"Vader said this is where I would find him. This is the place," Starkiller assured him. Xur had no desire to disagree with him, so they both began to walk down the path that leads to the entrance. The arena was massive, suspended above a deep canyon below. The zabrak realized how much of an architectural wonder it was. It was most impressive.
They both made their way through what looked like the lobby of sorts. To their shock, it was empty, seemingly evacuated due to their arrival. They quickly made their way to what looked like the entrance to the actual battleground, where a sign warned them of what was ahead. They both disregarded it and opened the door.
A loud roar of the crowd almost overwhelmed them both as the door opened. Once Xur had regained his bearings, he looked ahead. There he was, the General, surrounded by bodies of warriors or animals he couldn't identify. He looked weary, but still retained the resilience of a Jedi. Xur admired what lay in front of him. Kota had to have been around for a while.
Starkiller was the first to meet him as they both crossed the open area. He placed one hand on the General's shoulder. "You can sit this one out General," he said.
The aged Jedi turned towards him with a smile on his face. "By the Force…I knew you were alive!" he exclaimed in joy.
Starkiller chuckled and then pointed towards Xur. "I've brought a friend with me this time."
The blind Jedi used the force to reach out around him and instantly was hit with an aura of great power, laced with light and dark that only one being possessed. Kota laughed. "Xur Eon! Wow, I'm glad you've survived!"
Xur walked towards the blind man and was about to address him before a loud roar sounded behind him. He flashed his head around towards an open gate and waited. "We'll see how long I stay that way!" he responded, igniting his purple lightsaber, crackling with pure energy. Starkiller took his side and drew his own. However, out came a ranchor. Xur noticed Starkiller loosen up as if he had dealt with one before, and as if it would be an easy task. However, as Xur got a better look at the beast, he realized something was very wrong with it. It didn't hold the look of anger…but the look of absolute fear.
Below the arena erupted a massive hand that took the ranchor in its grasp and pulled it below, never to be seen again. After a few seconds came both hands the size of ranchors themselves, and then the rest of it emerged. Its body was the size of a small frigate, and its horrifying head was at least the size of him five times over. It towered over them like nothing Xur had ever seen.
Xur and Starkiller responded by drawing their respective second lightsabers and preparing for the beast. It then roared with the decibels of a Star Destroyer's engine in atmosphere.
Kota took off behind them. "I'm going after the baron, he's too important to let get away!" he shouted before he was gone inside the arena. Starkiller growled in anger as he took off. Xur took a few steps back in fear, but analyzed his foe. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he honestly had no idea how to approach it. Starkiller then tapped in to his comm channel.
"I hear you!" Xur heard. He then saw Starkiller toss him an ear piece, which he caught with ease. He then placed it into a slot to the right of his helmet and he could hear the General's voice within his helmet.
"…how much more I could take!" he caught as he placed it into his helmet. Xur looked back up to the beast and tried to find some sort of weakness, but still found none. It seemed almost impossible to comprehend. It simply eyed him as it didn't know whether or not he was an enemy.
Xur growled. "What the hell is this thing?!"
"I have no idea, but it's big!" Kota responded.
Starkiller shook his head. "That's perceptive for a blind man, now how do we kill it?!" Xur looked over to Starkiller, waiting for an answer from Kota.
"I'm not sure you can!" he responded. That was not the response either of them wanted to hear. Xur looked through his options. He could try to attack it with force lightning, give both of his sabers a hurl, or try to use the force to destroy it somehow. Of all of his options, none of them seemed like they would kill the thing.
Starkiller quickly answered his question by firing off force lightning at the monster, and its head was engulfed in the electrical current. It let out a menacing roar in pain and sent both of his fists careening towards the ground. Xur barely dodged one of them in time, but the ground shook so much that he lost his footing and fell, tumbling away. Then, Xur noticed that its wrists were wrapped in some sort of restraint. He then looked up to see massive chains hung above, used to restrain the beast.
"Try powering those wrist restraints! Give them a good shock!" Kota kicked in in his ear. Xur responded with a nod and fired force lightning after the wristband. The circuits overloaded and then flared to life, pulling the arm towards the bolt with immense magnetic force. However, the strength of the beast was showing, as it was able to hold it away just enough to stay free. He looked over to find out that Starkiller had done the same, and the beast had both arms straining under the magnetic force.
"Use the force to send it into the bolt!" Xur shouted to Starkiller, and he subsequently nodded. The zabrak then used all of the energy inside of him and sent force push after force push towards the beast's hand. It still struggled with the two forces pushing it towards the bolt, and Xur was beginning to tire from the energy he was exerting. He then used both arms to send a large wave of energy after the hand, and he was met with a ding, as they snapped into the bolt.
Starkiller had similar success, and the beast was now restrained. Xur looked to see any kind of weakness to exploit, but couldn't find one quickly enough. Starkiller then pointed towards the head. "There, a patch on its head! Let's go!" he shouted. He then drew both lightsabers and made a sprint towards the beast. Xur was shocked at his insanity at first, but then realized what he was attempting.
Xur took off into a full sprint and ignited both of his lightsabers and giving them a good spin. The duo then catapulted themselves into the air and landed on the beast's head. Starkiller instantly got to work on the patch and ripped it open, while Xur hung on at the ready. Xur then noticed the weak point on the beast's head and raised his lightsaber upwards. He then plunged one of his sabers into the wound with all of his might.
The beast screamed in agony as its wound was reopened, and the anger it had gained allowed it to rip the restraints free. It then grabbed the two and threw them away. Xur and Starkiller flew through the air and landed in some kind of room, rolling a few times. Xur quickly rose to his feet and recognized Kota and the Baron staring each other down, prepared for a fight. Xur and Starkiller rose to their feet to help him, but the beast was quick and ripped the wall out with its hand.
The arena shifted and rocked, and Xur heard the sound of the arena's supports crumbling. He then saw the Baron fall out the side and into the beast's mouth as the ground came out from under them. The beast then grasped Kota with its hand and fell down the canyon as the arena crumbled.
"Kota!" they both yelled and then jumped after him. Xur was then free-falling towards the beast, pieces of the arena tumbling down with him. This is not how I thought this day was going to go. He thought as he fell.
Starkiller was a bit ahead of him, falling much faster. He then saw him surrounded with force energy, seemingly preparing himself. Xur then watched him rocket towards the beast faster than the speed of sound, supported by a respective sonic boom. Xur then formed his body into a straight for to gain speed as he fell to catch up.
He watched Starkiller rip through the beast, and it died on impact. It let go of Kota as soon as it had died, and continued to fall as Kota and Starkiller slowed down. Amazed, Xur finally caught up to them.
"You don't have a way out of this, do you?!" Kota shouted over the roaring wind. Starkiller looked up to him.
"I wasn't thinking this far ahead!" he responded. Xur then remembered his destroyed ship and realized that he didn't either. The last thing he wanted was to die on this planet. He then watched Kota reach for a controller of sorts.
"Let's hope she can reach us in time!" he shouted and pressed on the button with purpose. The three then fell, and the ground was getting closer and closer by the minute. Xur was becoming more helpless the longer they fell, and wondered if he would ever make it out.
Suddenly, a black ship flew in under them and caught all three of them at once, and then took off, away from the planet.
There's another chapter! I know this was all one perspective, but this is how Starkiller makes his way into the story! If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or leave a review. As for another chapter, I want to release my new chapter for The Clone Wars today or tomorrow, so watch for that! If you enjoyed, please follow/fav and leave a review. Thanks for reading!
