Kalligs Legacy
Chapter Six
"Memories"
The Twi'lik Homeworld, Ryloth
The central crystal spire climbed nearly three hundred stories straight up, its surface flashed with a thousand colours as it caught the lights of speeders rushing along the aerial highways.
Quintus stood staring in wonder from the taxi pad, even in the permanent twilight, the scintillating colours astounded him.
"Incredible, absolutely incredible!"
Major Solan glanced once at the building before resuming his careful watchful stare at the crowds nearby.
"The central spire of the Hall of Records, it is more than ten thousand years old. It took nearly nine hundred years to build and now houses the Matriarchal Council, their aides and the rest of the Government. The Hutts made use of it as a palace and 'entertainment centre' during their occupation." Colouring a little as he became aware of the look from the others the Major coughed a little becoming self-conscious. "My, err... I have family that work here."
"It is a truly magnificent sight Major, to call it beautiful just... it's fantastic the way the lights reflect and change. If nothing else does, this alone makes my visit here special."
A snort of amusement from behind caused the pair look back at Knight Telvassor.
"I apologise Master Mardur, I just never thought to hear such words from a Sith... from an ex-Sith."
Andruinn hastily amended his statement at the pained expression that crossed Mardur's face. He was still recovering his balance when on their way here Quintus had quite cheerfully accepted his invitation to visit the Jedi Enclave on Ryloth. That balance had slipped even further when the man had expressed an eagerness to prove he was no longer Sith, even going so far as to freely offer to undergo any reasonable tests the enclave would care to perform.
Against his better judgement, Andrinn found himself liking this man. The taint of the dark side was still there in the force but it was so reduced and not the dominating influence so common to all dark side followers. Smiling inwardly, he admitted to himself that looking at Quintus Mardur through the force was a fascinating exercise; the bright star that represented him was a mix of both dark and light side strands so tightly woven together as to form a single consciousness. The dark strands provided the strength while the light provided control, it was a balance that was both worrying and breathe taking.
"Lead on Major, let us see if the information Master Mardur seeks is here or not, after all, I for one will be interested to learn what brings him here."
"I promised I would explain in time Knight Telvassor, but... the information is precious to me, to... one who," blushing, he stammered over the words, "to the one who is the single most important light in my life." He finished quickly before hurrying across the large mall; the other two struggling to catch up.
Passing through the wide simple ordinary doors lining the entrance, the three found themselves in a spacious entrance hall liberally dotted with crystalline statues. Major Solan pointed to several, naming the woman and men they represented as well as their places in Twi'lik history. Quintus and Andruinn both marvelled at the beauty of the statues while expressing surprise of the depth of the man's knowledge. A woman cried out as she rushed to embrace the Major. The passionate kiss that followed left no doubts that the two were involved. Both Quintus and Mardur exchanged knowing looks and grins at the quite public display of affection.
"Utvarr! What is wrong, why are you here?"
"Easy my daesha, easy, there's nothing wrong, I am just acting as both guide and escort to a visitor."
Turning he introduced his wife to the others, who stood there smiling.
"Aola Solan, allow me to introduce Knight Telavassor and Master Mardur. Knight Telvassor is acting in much the same manner as I in that; he too acts as an escort to Master Mardur. Master Mardur is on a mysterious if private mission or so he informs us to find what information he may about someone."
Smiling, Quintus stepped forward and gestured in the universal sign of greeting. "Quintus Mardur ma'am, I apologise for inconveniencing your husband but he is correct, I am seeking information on two individuals, one of which is very dear to me."
He stopped abruptly, his head snapping to the left. "Andruinn..." The name was a hissed cry of warning.
Major Solan spun, his weapon appearing to materialise in his hand, barrel held high as the other hand tucked his wife behind him. Andruinn was rapidly searching the hall through the force; he too had felt the presences but only after Quintus' hissed warning. Quintus, however, was striding deliberately across the floor heading straight for a large party of Twi'liks standing before the closed doors of an elevator.
Taking one look at the group, Major Solan gave a yell of shock. Pushing his wife behind the cover of a stone planter, he sprinted after Quintus. Andruinn stared after Quintus who had now started running hard across the hall, a quick glance at the group by the elevator brought recognition and the cold clammy fingers of dread wrapped around his heart. Calling upon the force Andruinn rushed in pursuit, his lightsabre slapping firmly into his hand.
"Move! Get away from there, get away!" Screamed a worried Quintus.
Seven heads, five male and two female turned at the shout while six large females stepped between the onrushing human and the group of Twi'liks.
Quintus continued shouting out his warning even while reaching for the force. Desperately he tried to sweep the group aside only to grunt in surprise when the six bodyguards between them deflected the force wave. His mind churned, running at the speed of thought through everything he remembered about the Twi'lik people and an answer popped up.
"Sesk'nabsilai protect your charges! Gerkak'vati attack!"
At those words, all hell broke loose.
Andruinn felt shock as the words rolled over him, instantly he reacted, reaching through the force for Quintus but felt nothing there but the desperate urge to protect and defend, confused he followed the tendrils of power emanating from the man and felt finally felt the hate and evil that seethed nearby, frantically he fought to locate it.
Major Solan had slid to one knee, his blaster dropping to centre on the vulnerable spot directly between the shoulder blades of the running Quintus as he sped towards the five members of the Sou'Koras and the two Sou'Kivas. Gently he squeezed the firing stud. A sudden pull ripped the barrel upwards as the bolt erupted, Solan turned sideways in shock to stare at the running form of Andruinn.
Andruinn spat out a seldom-used phrase as he approached Quintus, pointing a finger in the man's direction.
"Kocceille Twi'lik!"
The six Guardians recognised the Jedi, accepting him as a friend but the other one, he was an unknown, as one, they stepped forward, placing themselves bodily between him and their charges. They felt the calls upon the force from the running pair, it only served to bring their already wary senses to a razors edge, hands gripped weapons tightly and they prepared themselves to defend their charges.
The force wave confused them though; it sought no harm only to move them all, protectors and principles, safely to the side. Training kicked in and from habit, they deflected the wave. Their hands came up, weapons exposed, yet the Jedi rushed into their line of fire, his words finally penetrating their minds.
One, the most sensitive among them felt it then, a cold dark touch that swept across them all, from behind; she screamed a too late warning.
Quintus leapt, Major Solan's blaster slapping into his outstretched hand as the doors of the elevator began opening.
Shouting one last time, Quintus Mardur opened himself fully to the force. "REAR ATTACK! SHADOW WARRIORS!"
The words beat at the ears of the other five protectors who now realised their error.
Andruinn saw the shocked, dismayed expressions and took full advantage. Sweeping his hand across the distant group, he caught them all in the act of turning to face the new danger or following the leaping Quintus, in a powerful wave of the force. Picking them up, he swept them all rapidly and safely to the side.
Major Solan gaped in momentary shock as the blaster plucked from his hand soared across the hall to slap soundly into the open palm of Quintus. Training took over and he tore at the holdout weapon strapped to his ankle, even as his tracking eyes widened further at the sight of the Twi'lik leadership party sliding smoothly to the side.
With a ding of arrival, the elevator doors split open to reveal the three waiting armoured individuals along with the cooling bodies of two innocents that lay at their feet in spreading pools of blood and viscera.
With a joyous scream of battle, the three launched themselves at their targets. "For Gerkak'tin!" The screams had barely left their lips when the Twi'lik party vanished from sight.
Weapons fired, a stream of multicoloured bolts sped past Andruinn who with deft strokes parried many with his sabre, deflecting many harmlessly into the ceiling. The attackers charge forward faltered as they puzzled over the sudden disappearance of their quarry, instead standing square in their path stood a Jedi the leader screamed in frustrated anger and rushed forwards shouting, their weapons now directing fire at the Jedi as they searched for their original targets.
Andruinn grinned and began to hum; his sabre followed the beat of the tune, swinging in faster tighter arcs to intercept those bolts most dangerous to him and any behind. Most he simply deflected up into the ceiling to expend their energy against the reinforced stone and crystal, a few he turned back upon his attackers.
"Head's up!"
With that cry, a forgotten Quintus crashed feet first into the chest of the leftmost attacker, the sound of cracking bones and bursting organs loud in the hall. He rolled away, bolts of yellow plasma following.
"Protect!" The cry came from the six Twi'liks who struggled to reform their wall of flesh, they knew they were slow; events had spun out of control. One of the six pushed and prodded, even kicking the backside of one of the stunned Kora through a doorway into a janitor's storage room.
A bolt of blue plasma ruined the hand of one attacker; he snarled dropping his blaster to tear at a device mounted on his belt over the opposite hip all the while ignoring the pain. Solan brought his small back up blaster back on target, his eyes narrowing at the movements. Time slowed, his breath taking an epoch to exhale as he gently squeezed the trigger knowing he only had one chance at this shot.
The discharge when it came came as a surprise to the Major; to the attacker it was fatal. Catching the Twi'lik just above the collar it released all of its energy and superheated plasma in one explosive burst, a burst that ripped through and vaporised the fluids and tissue of the neck. The body still turning from momentum spun headless to the floor in death, the fingers convulsing mere centimetres from the trigger.
"Alive damn it, we need them alive!" Quintus screamed rolling across the floor just before slamming with a cry into the stonework of a large stone planter.
The last attacker screamed in rage and squeezed the trigger on the device in his hand.
Nine pairs of eyes went wide as nine voices all uttered the same word.
"Druk!"
"We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring this special report of a breaking situation. We go live to our reporter on the scene."
"I'm coming to you live from nearby the site of a large explosion here at the Hall of Records. There has been no official comment yet on the cause of the explosion but witnesses close to the scene state that a member of the Sith Empire was seen entering the building just prior to the detonation. Speculation is running wild here; the most common thought is to a possible plot by the Sith Empire to assassinate both the Sou'Koras and Sou'Kivas thereby leaving the Government headless as a prelude to invasion. Military forces across the planet have moved to full alert and are deploying to planetary defence positions, all leaves have been cancelled and all members of the reserves are being recalled to active duty."
The picture on the tri-vid screens of millions changed just then. The image shrinking to occupy the upper right corner of the display as the director played stock footage of an ion cannon bringing its huge barrel around up to point at something in orbit. That image expanded suddenly to show a trio of three of the cannon emplacements all pointing up before cutting once more to the main anchor in the news studio.
"Sorry to cut in Neva but it we have just received confirmation of a full-scale call up of all military forces and reserves. The Planetary Defence Force is even now launching all ships available ships. While not yet confirmed by Government spokesperson this is widely thought to be an attempt by the Sith Empire to annex Ryloth starting with a decapitation strike against our leadership prior to a full invasion. If you are listening to this broadcast and have not yet received your recall or re-activation orders, I urge you to contact your unit immediately. I repeat, there has been an explosion at the Hall of Records during an assembly of the Sou'Koras and Sou'Kivas, nothing more is known at this time. We return you now to our reporter at the scene. Neva I understand you have additional information?"
"We have just been informed that an announcement will be made shortly; in the space of the next few minutes, we are even now heading to the briefing along with others from the news services."
The director stayed with the live feed. There was a confusion of voices, snatches of conversation and the occasional clearly understood word as the camera image swung about as the scene changed rapidly, indicating to those watching that the cameraman was trotting rapidly along in the wake of a uniformed a security officer.
"Where are we...? In here... That room down there?"
A pair of blue doors swung open revealing a crowded room, people milled about in confusion while a technician used simple sticky tape to mount yet another microphone onto an already over full stand that rested on a white cloth covered table at the front of a small stage. A commotion broke out to the side, the image swinging around to show two smartly dressed people pushing and shoving their way through the reporters. The completely ignored the hot looks and cries of outrage.
"Settle down people, settle down, you have exactly one minute to sit down and shut up. I have very little time to waste, so I will not be answering any fool questions from people paid to turn a tragedy into a drama just to get better ratings. You, yes you with the fat head and the fat ass, sit down and shut up." The large male stopped speaking as a third rushed over to shove several papers into their hand. The companion to the first stepped forward; a larger male with a seriously intimidating face who just glowered menacingly at everyone. The reporters stared hungrily at the documents in the hands of the first, who viewers could see checking a timepiece on his wrist. He stepped forward to stand behind the microphones.
"Security, anyone not seated currently or creating a fuss will be removed NOW! As for the rest of you, this is will be a simple statement of the facts, as we know them at this time. There will be no question and answer session following. Any attempt to interrupt my statement will get the perpetrator ejected and their organization barred from all future briefings today. Right then, at 0718 today..."
Nighttime on a strange world was always worrisome. That was when some of the worst predators came to hunt or so it always seemed. You could read up on a planet, spend hours and days learning all about it from those that came before and what they faced but it was never the same as actually being there.
Marianna lay quietly in the hammock listening to the various snuffling, whining sounds that had awakened her. Something was directly below her, many something's in fact. Slowly, taking the utmost care she turned her head to peer through the mesh of the hammock. The branch above creaked with her shifting weight and she froze. Inches away a small bundle of equipment gently swung around, she had hung that several hours before after selecting a number of useful items to make sure they were in easy reach in case a need arose. It was dark under the canopy of trees but not that dark that shadows could not exist. The night skies above danced with a tantalising display of constantly shifting colour. The great bands of the aurora flowed across the night skies in broad bands of greens, reds and blues with the occasional splash of other colours.
It was difficult to make out below but as she watched, a shape shuffled through a lighter patch of darkness, a spot where the glows above broke through the leaf cover. It had a head like a large wolf but the snout was twice as long, the neck like a serpent's body that she estimated at four meters length attached to a low wide barrel shaped body with, she thought, a dozen legs about a metre long. She could not be certain but she thought those legs ended in wide spade like feet tipped with four or six thick claws. The claws looked to be longer than her hand. Lastly, from the rear of the body whipped a three-metre long sinuous tail thicker than her wrist, which ended in a wide spade like tip. She could not be certain but the creature glistened slightly, as if its hide was of scales rather than fur or chitin.
She bit her tongue as the creatures head snapped around, staring straight up. She froze instantly, mentally cursing her curiosity. The creature was nocturnal; whatever senses it used to hunt would be acute. She had a sudden thought and shuddered as the idea of a creature that hunted by thermal imaging popped into her head.
A loud snore to her right produced a soft hissing, keening noise from multiple sources below. The noise carried in the night air, seeming to vibrate her very bones. She watched as eight, nine, fourteen of the creatures all clustered below the snoring man. She had to bite back a gasp as one creature moved up to the trunk of the tree where used a soft shuffling motion it slid its body upwards along the trunk until only the rearmost four legs remained firmly planted on the ground. Several others gathered around it, appearing to help steady it with their bodies, the head stretched out. Snuffling noises came from the snout as if it were testing the air. Suddenly the neck snapped taut, the snout split into four tooth studded jaws to snap shut on empty air only a half metre below the snoring man's hammock. The abrupt move upset the creatures balance though and it slid sidewise, the neck whipping forward to coil around the trunk as the tail shot straight out in a countering action. One of the others reared up to push back against the movement, helping to steady the falling creature. The tree shook slightly as the creature dropped silently back to the ground to pace once more in wide circles beneath the hammock. She watched as several others tried with the same lack of success.
A long series of complex whining began as a smaller greyer coloured creature walked slowly into the middle of the gathering; the others respectfully gave ground to this new arrival. It sat beneath the oblivious man looking up, the whole body language expressed an attitude of intense concentration as it gave every appearance of listening to the whining and snuffling of the first creature, even canting its head in the direction of the one making the noises.
After several long minutes, it replied with soft yips and that same strange whining. The largest of the creatures crab walked up to the tree until its side pressed firmly against the trunk whereupon it promptly sat down but not before wrapping its neck several times around that same trunk and spearing that wide shovel bladed tip of its tail solidly into the ground. Once settled a second creature, the original one as best as she could determine lumbered up. Slowly, carefully it climbed upon the back of the other, several of the watching creatures stepped forwards to push against it, aiding it in the manoeuvre until at last it stood balanced upon four feet resting upon the others back.
The head shot up, the long neck, snapping straight to be followed by a loud cracking crunching sound. The open jaws slammed shut around the hammock and its contents before savagely jerking back and forth, as it struggled to tear the whole mass down from the branches from which it hung. Ropes parted with whip like cracks and she got one brief look at the unfortunate trooper before his body vanished into the circling pack below. The man was obviously dead, killed instantly, his head crushed between the powerful jaws.
Marianna squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying hard to block out the sounds from below. She never knew how long she lay there listening to the creatures as sleep finally claimed her. Her last conscious thought was of Quintus, of how he would wrap his arms around her giving her a feeling of peace and security.
She awoke suddenly, blinded by the hot ray of light that pierced the green canopy to cover her face. There was no noise except the creak of branches and rustle of leaves in the breeze. Faltin was the first to speak, his voice overly loud in the silence.
"Nobody and I mean nobody climbs down yet. If you need to druk, do it squatting over side of a branch."
The others exchanged puzzled angry looks between themselves but no one spat a retort. In the time that followed, all of them became aware of the frayed dangling ropes and broken branches, which hung forlornly from the middle of their strange hanging nest.
A full hour later with the fields now covered by full sunlight, Faltin roused himself from the cramped watchful position between forked branches in which he crouched. The first any of the others knew about it came, when with a loud thump and rattle of loose equipment, a tied bundle dropped to the ground below. Those still drowsing snapped instantly awake at the noise.
Waiting five painfully long minutes, Faltin finally spoke. "All right people, the two scouts will go first. You two will go no more than fifty metres from that spot," he pointed at the bundle of equipment below, "before returning, check the perimeter carefully. The rest of you, collect your gear and get it all down, after that gather up all the rope and netting." He pointed at one short trooper, the son of a moisture farmer from Tatooine. "You will gather up any and all of the crap from breakfast and bury it, I want no signs left that we were ever here."
In ten minutes, the gear lay piled in one neat stack on the ground while above two grunting swearing troopers struggled to untie all the ropes they had set out the evening before.
Faltin stood; spade in hand shovelling dirt and humus over the hole into which he had reverently placed the few remains of the trooper taken during the night. Marianna watched from the side, her hands full of more leaf fall and twigs.
"Was he a good man?"
Startled from his thoughts, Faltin nodded for her to drop her bundle over the disturbed earth, carefully he finished blending the earth and covering to match the surroundings before replying, his voice devoid of emotion.
"No, he was an armour plated son of a bitch to be honest, but that's not what you mean is it. Ex-Major Lavory, known to these others as Second Trooper Lowr'all was a bastard's bastard. He was insubordinate, foul-mouthed, drank too much, chased women every chance he could and had an evil sense of humour in barracks. In the field, he was a genius. I knew him from before he was busted him, from when I first joined his regiment. He was a hard working, meticulous officer back then, back before some snot nosed staff weenie came up with a brilliant plan to get everyone killed. That damned fool, the arse licker I mean not Lavory, had come up with this brilliant operation to capture an Imperial Munitions depot on Dennarous. The asshole completely ignored all the recent intelligence that showed the Impies moving the depot out and an Imperial armoured division in. Then there were the minor details that that division immediately laid down a one kilometre deep minefield around the site, cleared lanes of fire and established a forward firebase on the site. No, none of this mattered to that fool." Faltin paused to stare at Marianna although his eyes saw through the picture of the mind that what was in front of him. "The final attack orders were transmitted in regular code days before the attack, a code we were certain the Imperials had broken. However, when the order to move out came, the Major refused, hell everyone from the Colonel down refused the order. They broke him, they broke them all, us all. Recruits were sent back to basic, NCO's broken to the ranks, officers broken to privates and sent who knows where."
Marianna gaped at the trooper.
"They kept it secret they did, they broke the regiment up, stripped every single one of us of citations, medals and awards before sending us to the drukiest places they could find. The regiment was reported destroyed in the media and then they cased the colours, storing the away until some day, sometime in the future they might just reform it and as for that druk of a staff officer. Hah, he, they praised, loaded him up with accolades and awards then retired his ass."
"I find that hard to believe."
"I know, I rarely ever tell anyone about it. No one ever believes it, but you know what, druk like that happens from time to time though, when it does, there ain't nothing the big brass can do, except pick a few easy targets and make examples of them. Try and punish an entire regiment, hell the newsies would have a field day, a field week maybe even a month of slavering crap all over it. The one damn thing you can be utterly certain about though is that the chair-warming brigade will do everything and anything to make sure it's someone else's problem. Glory, credit, awards, oh yeah they'll gobble them up like candy, but just the faintest whiff of failure or druk and it's 'not my area, go see Bob'."
"You don't like many of the senior officers in the Republic then?"
"Hell no, some of them are right good people, the problem is there are a few who know nothing about nothing and think that's a great and wonderful thing. Some of them should see the Rancor before the inside of a headquarters building, if you know what I mean."
"So, what about Lavory?"
"Well as I said, he was a son of a bitch, but he was my son of a bitch, he was an okay guy, a damn fine soldier and broken up inside because of those... you know what I mean?"
"Yes, I know what you mean." She paused, watching the eyes and muscles of his face changing as remembered bitter days. A change of topic would be best she decided. "Now, when are you going to explain the field and those creatures?"
"When everyone is ready to go, then I'll explain." He paused to look deeply in her eyes. "You saw it, last night I mean, you saw what happened?"
"Yes."
"Wait until I explain, it'll get a lot more scary."
"I can do without hearing that."
"I know but that's exactly why you are going to hear it."
Lifting his head, he rubbed a tired hand across his eyes before counting heads. Slinging the trenching tool onto a shoulder, he pitched his voice to carry and spoke while his free hand pointed towards the stacked equipment.
"All right people, gather round."
"You bloody fool Gravvic, you told him we couldn't play silly buggers with these ones. You told him once, you told him a hundred times. These are Republic Troopers, he can have his fun so long as it stays within the training they get, step outside that and they'll be unpredictable. So what does the idjit go and do, set's a nice pretty ambush then farkles it up like a Senator faced with the truth. Gods, why did I ever agree to join this... You needed the credits fool, that's why, why else do ya do any farkling thing."
Twelve metres away two figures sat, munching ration bars as they leaned against the trunk of a tree.
"He's talking to himself again?"
"Yep, was a good man once, it's a shame to see him this far gone. Oh well, I'll just console myself with the bounty."
"So you're really going to do it, you're really going to off the old man as well?"
"Yeah, think it'll be a mercy considering."
"True enough. Farkle, I never expected the bloody Mandalorians to be here, I mean I know they want Car'lew more than anything, drukfire, how often do you hear of Mando's offering a reward for someone, and what a prize too, druk, a man could buy a small moon or three with that much even after the split." He stopped to spit. "To think they found the son of a bitch here after all the trouble we went to laying false trails, planting false leads all over the sub-net and why in hell ain't they taken him from those blasted Republics... it's enough to make a man lose faith in the Universe, I tell you. I mean, they're letting the Republics keep the most wanted man in Mando history... druk."
The other bounty hunter glanced where the third lay muttering to himself.
"You think he'll last much longer? Would've thought those wounds would have finished the job by now?"
"Naw, the old man's too tough, besides, it's only right his bastard son off's him, don't ya think?"
"Yeah, guess so, has a certain poetry about it."
The other stifled a laugh and flicked away the empty wrapper. Pulling a blaster, he carefully checked the power cell and settings.
"I reckon we got six hours of darkness left, so we best get a move on, you check the trail, you're better than me at that while I finish up here."
"Yeah, okay, you need a hand digging a hole for him?"
"Nope, just do it and be on our way. Besides, even the beasts have to feed."
Climbing to his feet, the other hunter just nodded. He paused behind a tree, several metres away to listen and spat in disgust, at the words he heard.
"Farkle, he must really hate the old man's guts to taunt him like that, got to watch my back with Tranor, he's a twisted son of a..." The pulse of sound brought his mutterings to a halt. He turned and trudged back to the trail, paying attention to any signs of change.
The pair stood waiting beside the pile of equipment as everyone walked over, the troopers from the perimeter pausing until Feltin summoned them too.
"Trennor, any signs of pursuit?"
"None, First Trooper, we've placed some motion sensors but you know how finicky they are."
"Good enough for now. Okay people this is the plan. We're going to set up an ambush; however we will not be the ones doing the ambushing. That will be taken care of by the shovel tails out there." With that, he pointed thumb over his shoulder towards the field.
"Now, when we got here last night, we were damn lucky the shovel tails didn't come out to investigate the noise earlier. Those creatures are territorial; the dig burrows that they expand as the pack increases although no pack ever goes beyond fifty in number. They're quick over the short distance, but not any faster than a human over the long. They have size and mass on their side, they have a reach, which is amazing, a flexibility you have to see to believe and they are intelligent. Yes, that's right, intelligent. They communicate with a complex series of sounds that extends far beyond our hearing. The can see, we know they don't see in the infrared or we wouldn't be anywhere near then, they're already dangerous enough. Oh, they hate anything that is not one of them. Essentially, they are extremely xenophobic; anything and I mean anything that trespasses in their territory is a threat, which they will attack. They can eat virtually anything; they have a system of five stomachs capable of breaking down different materials although they prefer plants to meat. They are nocturnal; if you meet one during daylight, you'll have a slight advantage. It will be slow, clumsy and disorientated; do not think for a minute that'll be any less dangerous. They can't smell worth a damn but their hearing compensates for this. They are sensitive to ground vibrations with great accuracy out to a range of about one hundred and fifty metres, which tapers off rapidly beyond that to maybe six or seven hundred metres. Their biggest danger is their intelligence, you can trick them, but doing it twice rarely works, they learn by doing and watching. They can solve puzzles; in the past, they have broken past shields and barriers that we thought impregnable for dumb animals. Do not underestimate them. Now, we are roughly one hundred and fifty metres beyond the edge of their prime territory here, they can feel us, hear us however, they know roughly where we are which is why we slept in the trees."
Faltin looked slowly around them.
"Last night, we lost Lowr'all, he snored and he wasn't high enough above ground. I thought he was, which means they, the shovel tails, are either larger than the ones I've seen before or these ones can partially climb, something no other member of this species has ever done before. How they..."
"It wasn't climbing as such, the used each other as a stepping stones to gain height while one used that tree as a prop to lean against. I watched them do it."
There was silence, Faltin stood there with his mouth slowly closing, looking thoughtful.
"Did they do this right away or try something else first?"
"The stepping stone came later but the leaning against a tree they did that straight away."
"Druk! That's new, you just heard me say they were intelligent, this proves it. They tried one way that failed then worked together trying something else to reach the most accessible of us. We'll have to sleep higher, much higher in the trees now. Damn it."
Car'lew spoke up just then. In an instant, four weapons appeared, all pointed directly at him. The Republic troopers blinked at the mandalorians, their expressions either twisted with intense hate or utterly blank.
"But they're just animals, clever animal's maybe but animals aren't intelligent."
"No? Do you know something about the shovel tails I don't? They have quite a complex society actually, did you know that? Oh it might seem primitive by our standards, after all they cannot make or use small tools, but they do understand the use and capabilities of tools. They can use levers and ropes, they have used stolen tools large enough for them to grasp. They have limbs, legs, the first two of which have a degree of dexterity but they are not quite hands, they are just not articulated the way ours are nor do those claws help matters. The packs I talked about, when a pack gets too large it splits in two, forming a new pack, the older pack will help them get established before leaving them alone. They actively care for the young and old and we have observed them burying their dead. They have rituals, things that only make sense to a reasoning intelligence, animals are not reasonable, they are instinctive. You would be shocked at the behaviour of these creatures mister Car'lew. For example, they understand the concept of hostages and ransom is not unknown from them although it is rarely practiced, for them to take a hostage, for a species so xenophobic to override an ingrained behaviour, to behave in such an atypical way... If you can answer that one mister Car'lew, you will win the admiration and envy of many xenologist's."
"You sound like you admire them."
"Hell no! They scare the druk out of me, you see I've seen what they can do, something you are woefully ignorant of. I do respect them though. Anyhow, we've gotten off track. Okay people, we are going to force a fast pace through the forest around that field; no one is to get closer than fifty metres to the tree line. We want to be on the far side and away by nightfall. Trennor, I want you and Karrack to lay a false trail into the field and then erase our own for the first kilometre. Now listen closely the pair of you. You are going to break careful but not sloppy trail twenty metres into the field, no further than that you hear, twenty metres. Keep an eye open for a small dark blue, almost purple coloured flowers low to the ground, if you spot any, do not, I repeat, do not touch or get within a metre of them. Touch one, brush against or tread on a root and the buried bladder spasms, spraying the area around the flower with acid. We think the damn shovel tails use the plants as a crude but effective form of perimeter mine, got that, good, now for the nasty one. There are other flowers out there but the only other one you need to pay attention to is a bright yellow flower that grows to about half a metre high. You can't miss it, the flower head is shaped like a trumpet. If you see that one, you will stay three metres away at minimum. It has a single taproot that holds it to the ground but spread out all around is a tangle of fine fibrous filaments, they act like surface roots but they are sensitive to pressure. Tread on one of those and it will swing in your direction and spit neuro-toxin covered thorns at you. Finally, when you retrace your steps, I want the pair of you to check each other over damn carefully; you are looking any signs of tiny bright orange dots. These are tail mites, they'll stick to you like glue and emit an ultra frequency whine we can't hear, well maybe Nallow can."
Several faces swung around to the big man that normally carried the squad's assault cannon, the dark implant covering his left ear a reminder of a forgotten battle.
"If you find any, burn them off, burn them until they pop, they'll leave a blue mark when they pop so you'll know. So make sure you seal your armour and run on full air filters. I'm expecting it will take the pair of you two hours tops, to catch up to us when we stop moving. We'll stop three hours before nightfall and make camp so you'll only have an hour's leeway. If you're not going to make it, get high up in the trees, twenty metres or higher. If you missed a mite the shovel tails will find you, they will spend the entire night trying to get to you, even if it means taking down the tree you're in. Look at that field people, do you see any trees, any stumps? No, that's because they brought them down and dug them out. Remember, these creatures have a pathological hatred of anything that is not the same as them, if you are marked by them, they either kill you or you have to get at least five kilometres or more beyond their territory, any shovel tail territory."
He looked around at their sober faces once more and shrugged.
"All right then, you got ten minutes to get ready, and then we're heading out. We eat on the move, so keep a ration pack handy, well... go get ready people!"
Marianna found herself staring at the field with wide eyes now, switching through the various magnification settings of her helmet. A flash of colour and she tracked her eyes slowly back it, picking out the flowers from the tall grass. Recording it's biometric aura she switched display and looked around once more. The field glowed like an active minefield. Turning away, she stopped suddenly, biting back a bitter curse. On every tree trunk around them, every tree touched by the creatures, a pale pink glow showed on this helmet display. The tree the creatures had used as a convenient prop shone from the concentration of colour all over it. Switching communications frequency, she spoke rapidly.
"I want everyone wearing helmets now, use filter mode RG39a and check each other carefully. You're looking for faint pink discolorations on your clothing or hands, if you find any..." She paused, what she was about to suggest would cause arguments, but if what Faltin said was true then they could not take the risk. "Ditch the clothing, bury it and... and any contaminated armour."
The channel erupted as three voices spoke at once. It took several long minutes of intense argument before everyone calmed enough to listen. Eventually, they only agreed when Soloara made the suggestion of leaving a remote location beacon so they could return and recover the armour later.
Six minutes later, Mariann stood beside the small hole they had dug wearing only her gauntlets and underwear as a giggling Soloara elbowed a bug-eyed Karracks in the stomach. She eased the gauntlets off and let them drop onto of the rest of the items piled there in the hole.
Faltin, who had watched in amusement as the Mandalorians stripped walked over and with slow deliberation looked her up and down before speaking.
"What in the name of the Chancellor are you doing?"
Marianna explained, going so far as to show him the biometric glow on her helmet display. Faltin tried to stop the laughter he felt bubbling up, even slapping a hand over his mouth and turning away failed to halt the eruption though. It was not mean spirited or nasty but just a laugh of suppressed stress and sheer merriment; startled Marianna prowled closer, fully intending to express her displeasure. Seeing this Faltin quickly put up his hands in surrender while forcing his laughter back down.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I'm sorry but that's not a tracking spoor, well not unless they are closer than a metre or two, it's just... a perimeter marker, it'll wash off easily enough."
Opening her mouth to yell at the man Marianna stopped; she could feel nearly every eye nearby upon her and it touched that ancient Twi'lik streak of exhibitionism in her. Snapping her mouth shut, she took a wide footed stance and glared, hands on hips, chest thrust slightly forward and glaring with as coldness and disdain as she could muster.
Soloara took one look and roared with laughter, ruining the moment by collapsing against a stunned red-faced Karrack, her hands beating feebly at his chest.
Gripping the shreds of her dignity with both hands Marianna spun about and recovered her clothes and armour before strutting away, chin high, backside bouncing and deep inside loving all the attention.
Whistles and calls of humour from the other Mandalorians followed her retreating form.
Quintus groaned as he pried his tired eyelids painfully open to find himself staring at an increasingly familiar ceiling. A blue figure leaned into his eye line from the right.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Master Mardur."
The smiling Doctor's jovial greeting started a pounding ache throughout Quintus's skull. Screwed his eyes tightly shut tightly, he forced several slow deep breathes before very gingerly uttering his next words.
"Stop the world; I want to get of... ulp!"
Eyes popping open, he gagged and rolled quickly to the side, a move he greatly regretted as the pounding became a hammering. A strong hand grabbed his shoulder just in time to prevent him from falling flat on his face as a waste bin materialized beneath his open mouth in time to catch the first sudden expulsion of bile. For several long minutes all he could do was retch powerfully, each spasm making the hammering he could feel come closer and closer to shattering his skull into a thousand pieces.
With a final dry heave, he stopped; the strong hand of the nurse pushed him back onto the bed as he muttered a few choice curses before finishing with a tired, drained voice. "I really hate hangovers... I am hung over am I not?"
The Doctor stood up from quickly covering the waste bin. "No, you're not. Nurse, administer 50 CC's of Dimetazinetrimorphalate, as for you Master Mardur, I recommend you just layback, pick a spot on the ceiling and just concentrating on that until the disorientation and nausea dies down. Try not to talk too much until the tranquilizer takes effect, it will help alleviate many of the symptoms you're currently feeling. In the meantime, I'll just finish up this examination."
Quintus started to nod, realised that this was a particularly bad idea a fraction of moment late and decided it would be best to simply follow the Doctors advice. Turning his gaze to the ceiling tiles he allowed his eyes to wonder over their surface. He had just discovered a fascinating dimple that reminded him very much of Marianna's backside as the now returned nurse pressed a hypospray to his neck. At the hiss of the injector he waited expectantly for the usual near immediate sensation of relief. Seconds ticked by without change and concern increased. A full minute later the first fingers of panic were slipping insidiously into his mind when finally the pounding behind his temples started to dull. He decided then that his injuries were bad, very, very bad if a normally fast acting tranquilizer took that long to work.
"Gah, now it only feels like I'm trapped inside a droid factory at full production instead of inside the heart of an exploding star."
The Doctor paused in his examination of the monitors to look in his direction and quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? You have much experience being around either?"
Quintus levelled a pained expression in the Doctor's direction. "Doctor?"
"Tu'varrai, Elarai Tu'varrai, trauma surgeon and reconstruction specialist, at your service."
Quintus digested that information and decided he would put off asking what was wrong with himself as long as possible. "Doctor Tu'varrai, you would not believe some of the druk..." His eyes flickered towards the nurse. "Sorry, I shouldn't swear." They moved back to the Doctor. "Some of the crap I have had the misfortune to see or be around."
Grinning, Tu'varrai nodded his concession of the statement. "Oh, I don't know, I would expect a Sith of your renown to have seen a few strange things. Talking of strange things, that reminded me, do you know you have a very concerned Jedi Knight among others, camping out in the hospital lobby pestering the staff about your health? That is something I never thought I would ever see."
Confused, Quintus starred back in puzzlement. "Huh! I... err... doc, what happened to me?"
Doctor Tu'varrai paused. "Hmm, before I answer that I have to ask what the last thing you remember is."
"Well I remember arriving in orbit, arguing with an Administrator over landing permission, blowing out an overheating stabilizer on final approach to the landing pad and then it gets kind of fragmented. I think there was an explosion and fireball but I'm not sure why or when, after that..."
"Is it blank or just hazy, jumbled?"
"Blank. Err, did I cause any trouble?"
"Hmm. No, not anything that anyone has mentioned to me about anyhow, but I admit I am a little concerned over the sound of that blank spot. I have a colleague visiting here today who is currently looking over a patient in the children's ward, they specialise in cranial trauma injuries and recovery, would you object if I asked her to step in and take a look at you?"
"Will it help?"
"I believe so, she knows more about these problems in regards to people with your gifts than I."
Quintus tried to think it over, but the subdued but still persistent pounding in his temples made that difficult. "Okay doc, if you think it'll help."
"Excuse me a moment then, I'll just pop out and get her. Nurse, I think our patient would benefit from a light lunch, soft foods only and leave the monitors in place for now."
Quintus closed his eyes, listened to the sound of the door opening and clicking shut before deciding to try for a light mind soothing meditative trance. Instantly intense pain exploded throughout his head, he gasped aloud drawing the immediate attention of the nurse who moved instantly to his bedside.
"Sir! Sir, open your eyes, sir. Open your eyes and look at me. Don't try and speak, just focus on me. Stop trying to use any Jedi meditation trances for now. Doctor Tu'varrai will let you know when you can begin using them again."
"Please... what happened to me, I don't remember anything?" Though pained the words come out in a clear pleading tone.
"Um, I'm not sure exactly and I really should not say." She looked at his pleading expression and he face softened. "Okay, I'll tell you a little, but not everything, just don't let the Doctor know I said anything. You were caught up in a terrorist incident, there was an explosion." His eyes widened in alarm at that and the Nurse quickly spoke to reassure him. "Stop, you're not seriously hurt, but you got knocked around a little but the blast wave. The main thing is you took a blow to the head and that's caused some swelling, it's that swelling that's causing the symptoms your experiencing right now."
Neither heard the door open. "That is more than enough information for now Nurse." A soft voice commanded from the door.
Quintus glanced over and watched as a tall, regal looking woman dressed in pure white Jedi robes walked in, her eyes swept quickly across the monitors with practiced ease before moving to his face and froze in mid-step. Instantly he felt both alarm and a deep sense of remorse spring into being at the back of his mind but in his present condition he could not remember why. His eyes followed the twitch of her hand as it leapt toward her hip brushing aside the outer robe and exposing the ornate lightsabre clipped there. Memories surged forward but jumbled, coming in chaotic fashion. He struggled to make sense of it all.
"I know you... we've met before... we've fought..." A memory of this woman appeared, her face twisted in puzzlement, it shifted to another of the same woman her face now twisted in great anguish and physical pain supported by two hurrying people through a room filled with smoke and rubble. Finally a third came of the two of them, blades locked together in combat, their faces mere centimetres apart, hers twisted by hate, pure unadulterated hate. Panic welled up within him.
"Yes Quintus, we once fought each other many years ago. We were both much younger then and had our own reasons for being there, we argued over your involvement with my padawan's...in my padawan's..." She stumbled over the final word.
"Marissa, your name is Marissa... Solaarn. But why..."
The blue Twi'lik Doctor moved into the room to see the two staring intently at each other, he took notice of teh distress and something else on the face of his patient. "Um, is everything okay Healer? The patient looks more distressed than ever?"
"It's okay Elarai, Quintus and I are old acquaintances. You see, many years ago he tried to turn me to dark side and instead ended up killing my first Padawan Learner."
Everyone turned to stare at Quintus as he suddenly cried out a name in anguish, as a single clear memory slipped to the forefront of his mind.
"Darfuss, his name was Darfuss and he was a brave and honourable man... why did I say that?"
The outcry brought the Healer forward a quick step, her face still frozen in a stony mask.
Marissa spoke softly, rigidly keeping control on her voice. "You say he was honourable, why? Is that because you failed in your effort to turn him to the dark side while you almost succeeded in turning me, would have succeeded in turning me had not the rescue taken place?"
Quintus could feel the colour drain from his face; he could feel every year of his true age at that moment as the whirling memories within his mind stopped. One by one, they presented themselves to him, each in turn evoking sensations of pride, pain and shame.
He wanted to turn away; wanted this woman to leave but a thought held the words back; instead he kept a promised made many years before. "No, he never turned Marissa; he was never in any danger of being turned. That was never in the plan and even if it had been your influence over him would never have allowed it to happen." The mask never wavered but there were questions in her eyes. "No, it was just a role he played in order to get close enough to drag you out of the hands of Darth Gravous. It was all his idea and he went against the express wishes, the explicit orders of the Jedi Council in pursuing his rescue of you."
Quintus gazed at the woman, Maissa, watching as the mask cracked, watching as moisture pooled in the corner of her eyes.
"Yes, you can look shocked, but you know why Marissa, deep down inside you know why. The whole escape while being turned thing, it was a ploy, why do you think I put him in the cell next to yours, why do you think in his supposed crazed state he took you as hostage. That whole duel in the plaza before the Citadel where I caught up to him, confronted him, it was just a smokescreen, a feint. I never expected Darth Gravous to personally interfere, but he must have sensed something. I never killed Darfuss, that was Gravous and in killing Darfuss he killed himself. Your padawan would have made a great Jedi Master someday Marissa, but I was the one who screwed up that day. Yes, you escaped, injured and badly hurt, but alive and if it had all gone to plan, Darfuss would have defeated me before escaping aboard that same ratty looking ship his companions took you aboard. Instead, just as he hit me with a force stasis bubble, Gravous appeared to strike him down. Go on Marissa, touch my mind, see for yourself what truly happened that day. See how he set it all up, how he knew he could trust me, why he knew he could trust me. Go on, I won't stop you, I want you to look."
Forcing herself to close the final few steps towards the bed, Marissa raised a trembling hand to his face as questions danced in her clouded eyes.
"Why Quintus, why do insist in saying this, I know what happened, I was there remember. You will allow..."
An expression of heartfelt pain flowed onto his face, halting the rush of words from her mouth, she stumbled to a stop. "Why Quintus, why do you demand that I accept the word of a notorious Sith?"
His face softened, fell as a single tear crept down his cheek to fall upon the white covers. Quintus forced his eyes to meet hers and he stared as deeply as he could into the soft brown eyes looking back at him.
"Because I think you should know just how deeply my brother Darfus, loved you."
Her hand already pressed to the side of his head twitched as her mind in the very act of establishing the link between them locked solid. In that single instant of time as her heart and mind registered the words he spoke that only she could hear she suddenly understood so many things about Darfuss. Quintus seeing the shock, seeing his one chance to explain everything, to ease the hurt of one he knew so much about second hand yet had only met three times, seized his chance. He did not pause, did not consider the consequences, instead he threw caution aside pushed his memories of that fateful day forward, especially the last whispered words of a dying man.
He finally fulfilled his promise to his brother.
The medical monitors beside the bed all shrieked at once as their readings shot off the scales. Quintus ignored it all, he ignored the pain exploding within his skull and pushed with all that he had, he pushed it all at her, the memories of his brother, the memories of the first secret contacts between them after years of silence and separation. He showed her everything, the desperate pleas for help, the long explanation, the meeting in deep space, the rapid planning session, the revelation by his brother of just who the woman was and why he could never tell her. Then finally his last memory of Darfuss, the one where he made his promise, the one carrying the last words of a dying man intended for the ears of only one other. Quintus added others memories, memories of his own then, memories of their childhood together, memories of the pair of them before their parents mysteriously died and the brothers found themselves separated by a cold uncaring authority to live different lives with different grandparents.
Healer Marissa Solaarn of the Jedi Order felt the flood of memories pour across the link before she could react and in her mind's eye, the truth unfolded for her scrutiny. Somewhere, deep down inside, a door opened and a guilty secret looked out. The secret of her growing attraction to a padawan she should never have had, the secret she had locked away a long time.
Doctor Tu'varrai took one look at the monitors and charged forward. "Great Mother! He's crashing, get the EMTs in here now!"
The nurse spun away, her hand slamming down on button on the wall. Outside the room, a flashing light sprang into live above the door as klaxon began to scream. Nurses, technicians and other all along the corridor looked up in alarm at the sudden sound and began moving rapidly towards the room.
Screaming instruction, the Doctor rushed forward pushing Marissa roughly away and breaking the link between them.
Marissa stumbled backwards, her face collapsing as she finally understood the worst event in her life.
Quintus let his head fall back, ignoring the coppery smell of warm blood that poured copiously from eyes, ears and mouth. A smile touched his lips as he mouthed the words he had longed for years to say to this dazed woman who stared back.
"Sorry, I'm so very sorry, so sorry."
His eyes closed and within his mind he put his arms around his younger brother in greeting as they met face to face for the first time in too many years as their docked ships floated together in deep space.
Rev. Chapter 6 Draft 9 20thJune2014
Sorry folks, no Adriarnna, I mucked up the timelines and had to pull that section for revision which I still am not at all happy about so here is something in the continuing story of Quintus and Marianna.