Ch. 8- Corruption
Mirlia still believed that they served the Jedi council, and Drahcir wasn't about to change that. She did, however, accept his new name as if it was his old one, a sign of some memory loss.
For Drahcir's next assignment, Syphonix sent him to kill a political leader that had particularly unnerved Syphonix. Drahcir finished the job quickly, reveling in the power he obtained as his blade sucked the life from the man. Termaks and Mirlia watched as the leader's body crumpled to the floor. Then, they were attacked by the Severstar siblings, who had somehow escaped death on Yavin and tracked them there. Without a word, the two attempted to kill all of them with blind fury.
The battle moved out onto a platform overhanging a cliff. The wind was fierce, and the metal was weak. The platform creaked under their weight. Metal grinded on metal as the platform swayed and moved in the wind. Everyone tried to grab hold of something as the platform tilted.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Drahcir says. Then, all of a sudden, a piece broke off. And Mirlia, her face full of shock, abruptly and unexpectedly found herself falling with it.
"No!" Drahcir yelled as he tried to catch her, but to no avail.
Termaks peered over the edge and said, "I'll be back, mate." He dove off the platform as perfectly and brilliantly as if he was diving into water. Drahcir ventured a look over the edge and watched Termaks fall hundreds of feet. His hands were above him (or, in this case, below) for a few seconds as he fell, then he brought his hands to his sides. Quickly he sped downwards, starting to catch up with Mirlia.
Then feathers sprouted from his arms and back, and all of the sudden he had wings. He made a grab for Mirlia and then stopped both their falls by flapping his wings hard. He brought Mirlia back to the dais, to the relief of Drahcir.
"No! She was supposed to fall to her death!" screamed the brother of the Severstar siblings, as he tackled Drahcir. Both fell of the platform, kicking and punching each other. At the same time, the sister attacked Mirlia, blades whirling. Having misplaced his blaster during the fall, Termaks decided to stay out of this fight.
Regeal Severstar pulled out a knife and cut Drahcir on his arm with it. Drahcir, greatly angered, grabbed the knife and stabbed Regeal's shoulder with it. Then he pulled out his lightsaber and bashed the hilt on Regeal's head, rendering him unconscious. Drahcir, noticing how close they were to the ground, pulled Regeal's jetpack of his back, and attached it to his own.
Thoughts raced through his head as Drahcir tried to decide whether to save Regeal or let him fall. 'He tried to kill me' one thought said. Another countered, 'He can be a servant' 'He deserves to die' an evil thought said. 'Save him and make the decision later, your running out off time' said yet another thought. 'No, just let him perish!' And Drahcir had finally made his decision.
But the battle still raged on for Mirlia and her assailant. Reanna struck out with every saber she had, only to be blocked by Mirlia. But Mirlia found it difficult to make any offensive strikes while having to block off all of Reanna's sabers. Strike! Clash! went their parries, and neither could find any weak point.
"You and your brother are going to pay for killing Drahcir!" Mirlia yelled.
"No, it is your treachery that will be ended!" Reanna yelled back. Again they clashed, and again no weakness could be found. Each was feeling a little tired but neither would give up.
But suddenly Mirlia saw Drahcir rising in the air out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to make sure she was seeing things right. Reanna had found the weakness she needed, and drove two lightsabers toward Mirlia's sides. At that same moment Termaks remembered where he put his gun. He pulled it out of his shoe and shot at Reanna. The blast struck her hand and her lightsabers fell out of her hands. "Try that again and you're dead," Termaks said, pointing his blaster at her.
Drahcir was carrying an unconscious Regeal in his arms, having decided to save him. He set him down as Reanna yelled, "Brother!"
"What'd I miss?" Drahcir said casually, as if this was the right time. "Your brother's fine, just knocked out," he added to the weeping Reanna.
"Come on, guys, lets go," said Termaks.
"We can't just leave them here," Mirlia said, concerned.
"Fine, then we'll take them with us."
And with the twins safely being monitored in the Medic Bay, the three set off again, not knowing where to go. Mirlia was explaining that they weren't really Sith. Reanna was listening, as was the now aware Regeal, both too tired not to. And Mirlia was doing a good job. After awhile of telling her tale, the two swore to help them on their quest. Drahcir was amazed; he never thought the two would be so willing to help after what they had been through. But he figured that since they both had a common enemy, they both saw no reason to continue having being each others. Regeal even placed himself under Drahcir's teachings temporarily. Now Drahcir had a pupil. And so everyone went to bed on friendly terms, but each locked their door, just in case.
The next morning, Drahcir woke up to the ringing of an incoming transmission. He rushed into the room to answer it. "Good morning, Jedi. I am Admiral Sacul Nedaa of the New Republican Navy. "
"Good morning," said Drahcir. "What can we help you with?"
"I have a proposition for you. If you aid us in a battle on Corellia, then the Republic is willing to overlook past differences."
"Give me a moment to talk to the others."
"Very well," Admiral Nedaa said.
After several minutes, Drahcir came back with the answer. "We gladly accept this task, with the hopes of being on friendly ground with the Republic," Drahcir stated as if he was part of the Navy.
It satisfied the Admiral, who then said, "Very well. We have a special assignment for you."
Meanwhile on Corellia, a young boy scavenges the city for food. Not finding anything in the trashcans, he enters a nearby shop. In it, there were row upon row of sweet smelling food. His stomach immediately begins growling and he realizes he hasn't had a real meal in ages. He looks up at the clerk and notices her eyes are watching him. But another customer is at the counter and she is forced to divert her attention. Now's my chance he thought. He quickly grabbed as many items as he could and darted out the door.
But as he stepped outside, he looked up and stopped short. In the sky, likely the atmosphere, several capital class ships hovered. These ships were much bigger than the average, and to the boy they seemed enormous. All at once they began firing, and a hailstorm of energy blasts ruptured throughout the sky. Oh, blast! The boy thought. A volley of fire came his way, and he was forced to retreat back into the store. By now the clerk knew what the boy had done, and came up to scold him.
"Young man, of all the nerve! I can't believe you would steal my food. Why I..." she says, and the notices the sky. With a change of concerns, she says, "Come you with me. I will deal with your thievery later. For now, I think our only concern is surviving." She quickly runs to the back and opens up the door to the storage room. "Come here, you silly child!" she commands. The boy follows and soon all the customers were cramming themselves into the little room.
As they sat in fear, they could hear the destruction outside. Among the sounds they could hear terrible screams as people met with their fates. Then the boy could hear what sounded like a nearby building collapsing. Then the lasers came closer and the child heard their own building being struck. A terrible creaking noise resonated above them, and the boy looked up to see the ceiling giving way. He rolled over just a large piece of metal fell in the spot he was just in. Others fell around the frightened group, and a few were unlucky enough to find themselves at the wrong end of a piece of metal.
Then the building fell, and all the crates around them flew up into the air. A man was hit by one. Soon the building had landed on its side and all the boxes tumbling in the air came crashing down. A few people were hit by these, and died instantly. But it was the clerk who met with the unique fate. The columns that once supported the building collapsed with the building, and the woman was pinned between two of them. The last thing she saw before she died was the thief running out of her store.
The boy, feeling that being outside would be safer, ran out of the store. Outside he found a fear unlike any he had encountered before: Sith troops fighting the local militia. And they were winning. In a time that now seemed long past to the child, it was the militia he thought indestructible. Now he was seeing them die in the tens on the street. But instead of being happy that his long time fear was dying, he was angered. Thus he ran over to one of the fallen, and picked up his weapon. But the face on the soldier was all bloody, and he near recoiled at the sight.
But now wasn't the time to get sick, he thought. Now was the time for action. Now was the time to fight for my homeland, my place to live. Thus he charged at the nearest soldier. But the soldier laughed at the sight. I'll show you what's funny, the boy thought and swung in between the legs. The trooper toppled to the ground, what little of his face his mask did not hide writhed in pain. The boy then turned on the electrostaff and pointed it towards another soldier.
Thus he entered the fray, and the soldiers found they were little match for him. He was striking left and right and the soldier found the same target an uneasy one to shoot or swing at. After many parries here and blaster bolt dodges here, the boy found he had more of a talent with a staff then he thought he had. But perhaps it was merely his rage, he thought.
But he became overconfident, and a soldier managed a glaze on his leg. Just then, as he held his pain between his teeth, he noticed a glint of light in the sky. Drawing his attention to it, he saw a ship making its way toward his general area. Thus distracted, a trooper shot his leg. Although this was a Sith, the soldier had moral enough not to kill a child. So wounded, the boy found himself unable to lift his leg. He was rooted to the spot.
By now the ship he saw had landed and its occupants raised their weapons. Four of them held peculiar weapons; short metal objects that to the boy looked as if they didn't do much. But then those objects ignited and colored blades sprung out from each. They were Jedi! The child thought with amazement. Thus these people entered into the fight. But the boy was quickly noticed by them, and one pointed him out to the others. They stared at him for a few moments as he defended himself, and then made their way to him. The boy was rapidly losing consciousness, and knew he would die soon. But, he thought, I am taking as many with me as I can! But as soon as those words entered into his head, he found he could no longer stand, and fell to the ground. He watched the Jedi one final time before blacking out.
As their ship landed, the group ran out of it, raising their weapons. The four lightsabers were ignited, and many Sith noticed them. Finding Jedi to be more appealing then the everyday solider, they attacked them. A great battle erupted, and many Sith met with their doom. But among the many small fights Drahcir notices a boy no more than ten holding his own against a whole squad of Sith soldiers. But Drahcir could tell that he was injured, as his leg moved very little. He pointed him out to Mirlia, who stared at him for a few moments in disbelief. Then she says, "We have to help him!" and commands the others to work their way in his direction. "Let's save him if we can!" yells Regeal over the roar of battle.
But they were too late, and the boy's face met with pavement. There he lay unmoving, as Mirlia screamed, "NO!" The squad turned to face the shouter, and their eyes saw the saber. Thus they approached and the group found themselves greatly outnumbered but not outmatched, as soon all the troops lay dead on the ground. Drahcir, greatly angered by the loss, charges through his foes like a maddened bantha, toppling over all who got in his way. To his relief he finds the child was still alive, just in the void of unconsciousness. "Termaks, help me bring him on board! Mirlia, Regeal, provide cover!" he commands. They obey, and Termaks and Drahcir carefully carry the child into their ship. Blaster fire raged all around them as they did such, but luckily none made contact. Soon the child was safely secured inside the medical bay.
But their mission was not complete, and they made their way to the nearby building. As the entered the door, all seemed quiet. But then eight Sith jumped out from behind poles; brandishing their weapons. They are defeated almost instantly, and the group walks through the next door.
In this room they found a holocron sitting on a dais in the middle if the room. Reanna deactivated the security system and Drahcir picked up their prize. This is what they came here looking for.
The group left the building and Drahcir pilots the ship onto the Admiral's flagship. "And now comes the boring part, waiting." Termaks says.
"At least we're still in one piece," Regeal said.
"Speaking of being in one piece how's the kid?"
"He hasn't woken up yet," says Mirlia.
"Have you tried healing him?" asks Regeal.
"I have and it should help him. There is something I should tell you about him. I noticed that he has many cuts and bruises on him. Some of these are too old to have come from the assault."
"Hmm, a street-bound kid, no doubt," says Termaks.
The boy wakes up to find himself on an unfamiliar ship. Scared, he tries to flee. He makes it to the door and finds that it is locked. "What, we save your life and we don't even get a thank you? That won't do at all," says a voice behind him. "Hello, my name is Termaks, what's yours?"
"G-G-G..."
"Don't worry; you have nothing to fear from me."
"G-Grenlos Cartanna, sir."
"Cartanna, huh? Pleased to meet you. You put..." Grenlos suddenly finds his knees won't hold him. Termaks rushes forward to catch him. "Whoa, easy there, kid. Here let's get you back in bed. As I was about to say, you put up an impressive fight against those guys, Grenlos."
"Thank you, sir."
"You don't need to call me sir. Call me Termaks." Termaks leads the boy back to the bed. "Are you thirsty or hungry, Grenlos?"
"Ye-Yes, sir... I mean Termaks. I am very hungry."
Termaks brings him a tray of food and pours for him a drink. "Don't run away again Grenlos. You are in no shape to wander, especially when you have no idea where to go. I'll be back soon." Termaks heads to the cockpit to inform everyone that their "guest" had awoken. They go to the medical bay to greet him. But the boy quickly sits up, knocking some of his food to the floor. "Take it easy," says Termaks. "We don't have unlimited supplies, you know."
"It-It-It's the Je-Je-Jedi."
"A big fan of Jedi, are you? Don't worry they're quite friendly. They wouldn't hurt a hair on your body; I'll make sure of that."
"Feeling better, Grenlos?" asks Reanna.
"Much better, thanks sir."
"Uh, again with this sir stuff. Kid, I am going to have to introduce to you these people. Since you are such a big fan of Jedi, I will introduce them first. This is Mirlia, this is Regeal, this is his sister Reanna and this is Drahcir."
"You put up a wonderful defense of your planet. Where did you learn how to fight?"
"On the street," says Grenlos.
"On the street? But where are your parents?" asks Reanna.
"Don't know. I was abandoned years ago."
Drahcir turns to Termaks. "So then he is a street-bound."
"So it would seem."
"Is that where your bruises came from?" asks Mirlia.
"Most of them. The rest are from gang leaders that would beat me up when I got in their territory."
"Hmmm, where can we send this kid? His world is gone, at least mostly," mumbles Termaks.
"Can't I stay with you guys? I'd love to learn to be a Jedi."
Reanna says, flattered, "I suppose you could, for the time being. But we are not allowed to train you in the ways of the Force. Well, at least until we get to the Council,"
Mirlia added, seeing Grenlos's face. "But we can teach you the basics of fighting. What do you think guys?" she asked, to words of agreement.
"Very well, it is settled then. Welcome aboard, Grenlos!"
Some time later, a knock sounds at the off-ramp. The Admiral walks in. "I must congratulate you on your achievement."
"Achievement, what achievement?" asks Grenlos.
"Who is this? I didn't know you had a child with you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sent you on this mission. "
"Grenlos Cartanna, at you service, ma'am."
Says Regeal, "He is an orphan we rescued from the planet. He put up an extraordinary fight against the ambushing fleet."
"Is that so? In that case I don't mind having you here. We could all the extraordinary fighters we can get. I'd ask you to join my forces, but you seem a little underage. How about improving your fighting here? We have many people who would love to train someone like you."
"I'd love to ma'am, but I am learning to become a Jedi."
Drahcir, interrupting, said, "We promised to train him in fighting and take him to the Council to try and get him a padawan-ship."
"Oh well if that doesn't work out you are always welcome here." She leaves.
"What accomplishment was she taking about, Master Drahcir?"
"We were sent to capture an enemy Holocron that was in the possession of the fleet that attacked Corellia. We succeeded, and now we may have information regarding how to defeat the Sith."
"What do you plan to do with it?"
"Use it of course."
Hours later, Drahcir was debriefing alone with the Admiral. She told him how they were close to defeating their enemies and restoring peace to the Republic, and said that the last thing they needed was that Sith holocron.
"Give it to me, Drahcir, so that we can end this war," she said.
Drahcir pulled out his lightsaber hilt, examining it closely. "You know something Admiral? As great as that sounds, I don't want to give you that holocron."
"What are you saying?" Admiral Dodonna asked.
"I'm saying that its mine and I'm going to leave with it." He suddenly stabbed her straight through the heart, her body falling hard onto the floor. The guards who witnessed this attempted to raise the alarm, managing to do so before Drahcir could stop them. Quickly, he flipped out his comlink and spoke into it, saying, "Termaks, Mirlia, the Admiral has turned on us and is sending troops in your direction to kill or capture you. We must escape!"
"What do you suggest?" Termaks said.
"I need you to do something for me," Drahcir said.
You and Mirlia will go to the hanger. Board the Infinity Raven and take off if you have to. Leave your comlinks active."
"And what will you do, Drahcir?" asks Mirlia.
"I'm headed towards the cockpit. My plan is to crash this ship into one of the others, take two birds out with one stone. I'm hoping that, I'll be able to bring down both our ships, so that they may never be used again. But, we must move quickly, we don't know how much time we have before we are discovered."
And thus, with the plan made up, it was set into motion. Drahcir ran towards the control room. He was rather surprised that encountered no one the entire length of his flight. As soon as he had made it to the cockpit door, he called the others on his comlink. "What's your progress?" he asked.
"We're almost there," said Termaks. "Oh, hey captain, pleasant evening, isn't it?"
"Halt," a voice on the comlink said, "Proceed no further. You two are under arrest."
"Not if I can help it," said Mirlia. Drahcir heard, followed by blaster fire, the hum of a lightsaber. "Good luck, Drahcir!"
"They're on to us!" Termaks yelled. "Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly!"
Drahcir rushed into the cockpit and killed the pilots before they could react. He increased the engines to full power, and aimed the ship toward one of the other major capital ships. Then his destroyed the controls. But as he was leaving, twenty soldiers swarmed in into the control room.
Even as he killed all of them, Drahcir realized he had no time to escape back to the Infinity Raven. The ship had started crashing into its target, and was soon going down. Drahcir ran, ignoring the remaining soldiers. Moments later, a flash fire developed in the cockpit.
Just then, the ship flipped vertical and Drahcir found himself falling instead of running. He hit the wall-turned-floor hard, and rolled onto the doorway. The door opened, and again Drahcir was falling.
Quickly, he grabbed the emergency rope off his belt. As he fell through another open doorway, he latched the rope onto the wall. His falling stopped, and he hung there for several seconds while trying to contact the other two on the comlink. But the comlink was busted, and he let go of it.
The ship jerked, and again it rotated. This time it completely reversed positions. The rope holding Drahcir became useless, and he barely had enough time to grab onto the doorway before falling back where he had been.
Drahcir looked up for a way into the next few rooms. He discovered that the walls were positioned in such a way that they could be used as handholds. Drahcir tried using them and managed to climb all the way to the top of the room. But in the next room, there were no handholds on the walls. But there were some on the ceiling. They were further apart, but still useable if Drahcir jumped from one to another.
Drahcir made it about halfway across before the ship lurched again. This time Drahcir found he had to reverse his position in order to hang on, and still he was now just hanging there, the wall his only support from falling down. He looked down to see a set of elevators below. He let go of the ceiling and fell fifty feet. But this time he used the Force to aid in his landing.
Drahcir cut open the doors and fell through. There was no sign of the elevator itself. He decided he would have to go left, which would normally be down, in order to get to the hanger.
"Hey, you! Stop!" Drahcir turned around to see several soldiers with their guns raised. Drahcir assumed that they thought that the elevator would be the safest place to be right now. But then he heard the sound of metal screeching on metal. He looked around the soldiers to see the elevator coming their way.
"I have a bad feeling about this," he said. He ran, and the soldiers fired. But then they too heard the noise and turned around to come face-to-face with the elevator. They didn't get a chance to run. Other soldiers were looking in the shaft now and firing at the hastily fleeing Drahcir. He fought them as best as he could while still running.
The elevator was right behind him now and Drahcir wouldn't be able to run much further. He dove into an open doorway, with the elevator screeching after. Debris blocked his way back out. He found himself in the fuel room, and he knew he had to be close the hanger now.
Drahcir also knew that the fuel pipes led right by the hanger. It would be risky, but he could walk through the pipes and enter the hanger through the floor. He opened the emergency hatch and climbed into the pipe. The fuel filled about ¾ of the space. Ahead, there was a fuel control room, but it was too high for Drahcir to see into or enter.
Suddenly, Drahcir heard the sound of a jetpack. He turned around to see a bounty hunter chasing after him. This must be the same one after Termaks, Drahcir thought. The bounty hunter made no attempt to fire, a smart move by Drahcir's standards. But then he pulled out a thermal detonator. "Oh, not good!" Drahcir yelled to himself.
The hunter threw the grenade within five feet if Drahcir, then made a hasty retreat through the emergency hatch. Drahcir knew he didn't have time to escape the blast radius, so he called upon the Force to protect himself. The grenade exploded, and the fuel ignited instantly.
The hot fuel burned through the pipe's floor and Drahcir fell into the room below. Here, there were several officers strapped into emergency harnesses and seats. They stared at Drahcir dumbfounded for a few seconds, before the fuel burned through that floor too. Now Drahcir had company in his plight, the unsuspecting officers.
However, they did not last long, considering the fuel burned through their skin. Several screams emitted from the unfortunate crew before complete silence. Drahcir knew they had to be dead by now, for their suffering made him stronger.
Drahcir was getting weak from holding his Force protection all this time. And this time, he had beaten the burning fuel onto a lower level. He quickly pulled out his lightsaber and cut through the floor. He had finally broken free of the falling ship, and was himself free falling below it through the atmosphere. The bodies of the dead soldiers were falling around him.
This was going to be it for Drahcir, he knew that now. There would be no way he would be able to survive the landing. Although he was never one to give up easily, his plight seemed inevitable and fighting it would not do any good.
Therefore, Drahcir began to reflect on his life. He remembered his years under Halcyon's teachings on Tritus. He recalled the anger he had felt upon learning of his parents' deaths. He could again fear that anger, and reveled in it. He had suffered too, and this burned within him. He remembered the dark lord Yekal, and Drahcir's foolishness to try to fight him.
He recalled the long days spent with this Sith Lord in constant torture, in the attempt to turn him evil. He recalled the war with Revan. He remembered his exile, and his years under Tiranda's employ. Then he remembered the Jedi council's urgent call and his stubbornness to comply. In addition, he remembered his meeting with Mirlia.
Mirlia, he thought, where are you? Had she and Termaks made it to the hanger and off the ship. The last contact he had had with them was when they had run into trouble with the soldiers. Mirlia, was the Force with you?
Just then, above the sounds of the crashing ship, he heard the sound of a running engine. Drahcir looked up to see a welcoming sight. Above him was the Infinity Raven, a bit banged up but otherwise all right and functional. Mirlia was latched on to the ship and sticking out from an open porthole in the ship. Termaks was carefully maneuvering the ship so that Drahcir was close enough to grab onto Mirlia.
Drahcir reached out his hands, and Mirlia did the same. One false move by any of them could spell out disaster for Drahcir. Termaks made a few slight adjustments, and Drahcir felt himself being pulled on and into Mirlia's awaiting arms.
However, the happy reunion would be short-lived. The ground was coming up close now, and the ship was right on their tails. The room to maneuver was getting smaller and smaller, and an old ship like the Raven would not be able to handle the sharp movements needed to get out of this mess.
Termaks tried hard to get out of the way of the crashing ship, but to no avail. A piece of the falling ship struck the Raven and sent it into a downward spin. Drahcir and Mirlia were trapped in the porthole, and were being badly banged up throughout the experience. Termaks had lost control of the aircraft completely, but continued to fight it anyway. In the end, he managed to get the ship to crash into a forest before all three of them lost consciousness.
Drahcir awoke to find his head resting on Mirlia's chest. She was unconscious still and leaning up against the porthole wall. He raised his head up and discovered he was very sore and stiff from the ordeal. He looked up to see that the porthole door was jammed partially closed, and looked down to see that the lift was broken.
Drahcir ripped open the wedged door and climbed out. Then he reached back down, lifted the comatose Mirlia out and carried her off the ship. He laid her down by a tree and analyzed the current situation. The ship was in bad shape, as pieces were laying scattered about the area, a tree was situated on top of the ship, and the engine was smoking.
He checked Mirlia's pulse and then climbed back into the ship and towards the cockpit. Termaks was there, head back, cataleptic in his seat. But when Drahcir tried to move him, Termaks woke up with terrible moans. He frantically tried to grab his leg for few seconds, and then held it tightly. Drahcir observed its condition, and understood that his leg had been damaged in the crash. There was likely to be at least one broken bone shifting around in there.
"Well, I'm glad to see you again, Termaks, but I had hoped it would have been under much better circumstances." Drahcir helped Termaks up, and supported him on one shoulder. The two worked their way out of the ship. He set Termaks down, with his back being supported by another tree, one near Mirlia.
"How does the ship look, Drahcir?"
"Terrible, it is in very bad shape, and there is much work that needs to be done before we will be able to get it off this rock and continue our search for our allies. The engine is smoking, pieces are lying everywhere, parts are missing or burned up…"
"And do you know where we are?"
"Not a clue, neither the planet we're on, the system, nor our general location. Given the fact that we went down after the ship hit us, I'd say that we are in close proximity to it."
