The Disciples of Exar Kun Chapter Nine
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme-Love Love Love by The Mountain Goats
Brendol Hux is free. After a week of Shadow Council meetings and dealing with General Dickhead and Grand Admiral Sloane, he is finally free to return to his shuttle and enjoy a ten-hour-in-hyperspace ride back to the Academy without having to interact with another person.
Force, let the war they're making be their undoing. Brendol prays to the Force. He knows by the time that next Galactic War hits; he'll be long gone.
And with Rama, Force-willing! And Armitage will be a man by that point. He won't need us. Brendol truly believes. He knows his dragonling will rise from the First Order ashes and become the new—
"Commandant Hux, a word." FUCK! He was half a meter from his shuttle. Half a meter from his well-earned freedom. And, of course, Grand Admiral Sloane has to take that from him.
"Yes, Grand Admiral." He manages respectfully for their onlookers. And he walks right behind her, so he doesn't squish any of the low-level officers, and to a nearby conference room. As he closes the door, he hears a chortle from a passing officer. That officer knows as well as Brendol why the conference rooms are sound-proof.
It's to let the Grand Admiral and him have their infamous screaming matches.
Please, let this finally be the coup to get rid of General Dickhead and not about the Academy. She's always been quite vocal about the way he runs the Academy.
If I ran it like during the Empire, then none of these future fodder would survive outside the Academy. He knows that this generation, Armitage's generation, will be tougher than the last, but that does not guarantee they'll be smarter.
They need battle experience, and all we have are simulations and stories. And better-trained 'Troopers. Then again, it would be "barbaric" to let the children go to war. Even though, Brendol was far younger than them when he first went to war. And he knows Armitage has seen several wars, and he was even younger.
"It's about Armitage." He could almost breathe a sigh of relief if it weren't for the anger in her dark eyes.
"I thought you liked his Thrawn essay. I mean he's no Lord Zahn, but he had plenty of good ideas. Except for that evil clone sub-plot." The tightness in her frown does not dissipate.
"He's been missing for a week now." And she just learned this now, or else she would've told me much sooner and then accused me of being a horrible father. Which he won't deny.
"Really? I had no idea." So she has Veed in her pocket too. Well, at least, he has sensible tastes. However, I'll have to dock his pay for not telling me earlier; a child becomes missing after twenty-four hours, not a whole week.
"You did put a tracker in him?" "Like I told you to do so the last time this happened." He can practically hear that un-said nag.
"Yes, I did." In my ship which he would be in, so I actually did fulfill her order.
"I will cover you for as long as I can." You bought me a year last time. I hope it doesn't take another.
The Dark Lady Lumiya is a customized EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate that his brother acquired due to the fortuitous blundering of Old Republic officers. Brendol is reminded of Armitage when he sees the ship.
When Armitage was three, Maratelle got him a Bast Castle model kit for his birthday. She knew that three-year-old Armitage wasn't going to build the castle as instructed; she just wanted to see what kind of interesting mess he would make.
He managed to make the spirals of lights that make up only the side of the castle's tower before sticking those light spires on top of the skeletal tower. Dark Lady Lumiya looks somewhat like that except it was turned into the flagship of the most successful privateering empire in the Unknown Regions.
"First Order ship, why are you here?" He hears the heavily-accented Basic come across his receiver.
"[To see Captain Siva. I am Brendol Hux and my verification code is SW9661985.]" He says in perfect Nagaian. His brother gave him that code decades ago when they became independent and needed some way to identify one another in case there is doubt on the other's identity.
"[Proceed to Docking Bay 3.]" Docking Bay 3's hangar is a bit dead. There are only five TIE fighters and seven Nagai ammonite-shaped cruisers. So Den must've sent the others out for training or another raid. Or both. He knows that the First Order won't be raided by him; Den has no interests in the Empire's sloppy seconds.
So long as they do not mess with his Empire.
"[Bren, I take it Armitage has taken your ship and now you need to locate him?]" His Nagai brother cuts through niceties that humans like to employ. He is dressed in an indigo bodysuit that cling to his sharp, white body like leather. His golden belt holds his array of Tehk'la blades and a hidden field disruptor. He is wearing a high-collared, night-purple cape with silver fan brooch that Armitage got him last White Night.
"[Yes.]" Brendol believes he has no need to tell him that Armitage has been missing for a week. Armitage has my ship, so I can find him quicker than the last time. Den gives a curt nod and takes out his comlink.
"[Navigator Wellos, give me the location for the Queen Izrina.]" He speaks Minnisiat without an accent.
"[She is located on Yavin IV; shall I send over a homing device?]" Den answers yes and then shuts off his comlink.
"[It'll take about ten minutes for it to get here. And since Armitage took your ship, I imagine that you would like another one.]" They both know that First Order shuttles do not have big enough fuel cells to make it all the way to Yavin and back. Nor remain undetected by the New Republic.
"[Take Zrani.]" Den offers in the guise of an order as a Chiss Ensign passes by them. Zrani is his Nagaian starship that is shaped like a white and gold screw shell. Like the Queen Izrina, Zrani is outfitted with a cloaking device that will render the ship nearly invisible and undetectable on most sensors.
"[Thank you, my brother.]" Den brushes some stray blue-black hair away from his sharp face. His ice-blue eyes darken with memories.
"[Bren, if this another repeat of the past… Bring him back.]"
"[I shall.]"
There are several things that Brendol knows about Yavin IV without needing to look into the First Order database. The first is that the world once was a Sith stronghold for millennia. The second is that it was the sight of the battle that would pfassk up the Imperial date time structure. The final one is that it's a jungle planet, so he can't wear his classical Sith armor that he wore this past Death Night. Luckily, he has another suit of armor.
Sith trooper armor has a black body glove and a sleek armor casing that is light enough for anyone of Brendol's muscular girth to wear. Unfortunately, the Sith trooper armor he had was silver, so he had to spend half his time in hyperspace spray-painting it in jungle colors. And then other half waiting for the paint to dry.
I look like if Peter Pan became a Power Ranger. He thinks as soon as he dons the armor. But he is glad that his helmet has night-vision. He straps Master Killer to his back and makes sure his blaster is set to kill.
I feel like a Rebel. He wonders if Desolous was felled by a Rebel with a blaster. And then he shakes his head and heads out into the jungles of Yavin in search of Rama's son.
After his visit with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, Anakin decided to return to his favorite activity: watching his grandson. The problem was he got nothing but static from the projector, which meant two things. Either his grandson is dead or he's trapped somewhere that is extremely strong in the Dark Side.
The former is not possible because he would've certainly felt it, since he is the Chosen One, and he knows Xanatos would've been constantly bitching about another Skywalker messing up the Afterlife. And he hasn't exceeded his usual bitching. So the latter is what happened.
And so, for nearly a week, he's been watching his son, daughter, and her stupid smuggler husband search for his beloved grandson.
And so far, they've turned up nothing.
"Leia, Chewie's searching the only known location left on Yavin."
"And he might not be there."
"Yes, but I feel in the Force that the Temple of the Blueleaf Cluster is very important."
"Luke, I don't think Ben's there. I…can't feel him anywhere on this planet."
"And I still can't feel him in the Force—"
"Since when?!"
"Han!"
"Leia, if he can't feel anything, then doesn't that mean Ben's—"
"That doesn't mean he's dead. Even corpses leave traces in the Force!" Anakin grimaces at the hurt in his son's eyes. He knows he's thinking about the Death Star.
"Luke's right, Han." And now Leia is thinking about Alderaan.
"So he's what? Vanished completely? Did your Force decide to wipe him off the face of the galaxy!?"
"It's not Luke's fault!"
"Luke was supposed to be watching him! Isn't that one of your Jedi Master duties!?" Anakin hates Han. Not as much as sand or Mustafar. But he hates him. But he hates agreeing with him more. Luke should've kept a closer eye on him.
Yeah, but to Ben, it would've felt more like Luke was just waiting for him to mess up again. Just like me. Anakin sighs deeply and just wants his family to be at peace.
Knock! Knock!
Two knocks, which means it's either Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan. They're probably going to tell me how worry they've been and I should just leave the living alone. Now, Anakin feels guilty. Even in the Afterlife, he's still causing others problems. He switches the holo over to Chewbacca, the Wookie.
He wants to watch the Wookie in hopes that by some miracle he somehow finds Ben, but he does not want to keep Qui or Obi waiting.
"Dooku!?" His great-grand-Master (and one of his murder victims) is standing outside his door. The silver-haired aristocrat has his standard disapproving frown. At least he's not wearing his stupid cape; he probably left it with Sifo.
"Yes, it is I, Skywalker." He's saying it like I'm an idiot. Force, why couldn't have been Qui or Obi? Why is he here?
"Uh, why are you here?" Dooku rolls his dark eyes. You know what I wish it was Xanatos because at least he would be a dick upfront.
"Because Qui-Gon asked me to." Anakin narrows his eyes. Qui has asked him to do plenty of things with me before and he's refused him at every turn.
"It was actually Sifo, wasn't it?" Dooku remains in a dignified silence. Yup, so Sifo convinced him. It's very hard to say "no" to someone you love…and murdered.
"I…appreciate your—" He hears a blaster being fired and a Wookie's cry.
Brendol is surprised by how well-kept the Jedi Temple was. I'm presuming it's a Jedi Temple; the plants are just shrubs with blue leaves and about half my height. The Temple is not the traditional pyramids that Sith Lords love. And the jungle surrounding this place is peaceful. No animals trying to openly kill each other, no skeletons, no rivers of pollution.
However, he is not surprised by finding his ship here and no Armitage. Hmm, he's not in the ship and he left his pack here, but his sword is gone. So something must've happened and he had to get off the ship in a hurry, and it must've been dangerous enough for him to bring his sword. Or, he got too excited and simply forgot it.
He sighs deeply, knowing in his bones, it's the latter. He's good at keeping himself focused at the Academy, but outside…he becomes a kid adventurer. He should be able to survive in a jungle; I'm not sure for how long since the Wayland trip got cut short, but it should be long enough for me to find him.
He steps into the Jedi Temple and notices two things. There are only a couple windows, narrow and tall slits, in the Temple and let only the barest sliver of starlight. The second is there's a gigantic blue crystal that looks a lot like a Star Gate. Is it a Kyber crystal? But it's blue. Aren't they supposed to be colorless until touched or something? No, that's just one of the ways a crystal gets its color. He vaguely recalls Desolous telling him the various ways a lightsaber gets its color.
The blue crystal looks like it was stretched and beaten thin like sheets of gold, but then cut into a triangular mirror. It's so blue. It's such a pretty light-blue. If I touched it, would it take me to another world? The thought does not come from any inner-child for he's never been a child; it comes from his time with Rama, the one who gave him his child.
The starlight falls through the slit and hits the crystal, making it look like thousands of stars dancing on water. Maybe, it really is a Star Gate and Armitage stepped through it. Will I see the dragonling again?
Or, the question that matters more to him than the child.
Will I ever see Rama again?
And then the right side, above the side of his hip where there is no armor, feels like five explosive arrows pierce him. A couple of his ribs and his right hip is nothing but a burning, boney mess that will kill him. If the shock doesn't first.
FUCK! He lifts up his right arm and fires several times at the window. First, he hears the glass break and then he hears a beastly cry.
When he was younger and loveless, he believed he would be fine with dying so long as he took his murderer down with him. Now, graying and lovesick, he regrets staring at the pretty Jedi crystal.
He can hear Desolous's voice, dark and deep like a sinkhole, rasping the Prophecy in his ear:
"Your love will be the death of you."
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is what the Dark Lady Lumiya looks like, which is actually the Legends/Expanded Universe Dark Lady Lumiya's Revenant flagship except with a few necessary modifications that will be revealed at a later date: a href=" . /revision/latest?cb=20061215024715"Link/a
Here is the Bast Castle, which in Legends was Darth Vader's palace that once belonged to Count Dooku. It's located on the literal acid-rain planet known as Vjun where Malreaux roses come from and one of the only Yoda and Dooku books take place on: a href=" . /starwars/images/4/45/Bast_ /revision/latest?cb=20051114085340"Link/a
Here is an image of Den Siva. He too is another character from Legends/Expanded Universe where he was a Nagai working for Dark Lady Lumiya and was obsessed with a Zeltron smuggler named Dani. In this, he is a privateer and the non-blood brother of Brendol Hux: a href=" . /starwars/images/9/9b/Den_ /revision/latest?cb=20051109174603"Link/a
Here is an image of the Sith trooper armor, except imagine it green: a href=" . /revision/latest?cb=20070313005533"Link/a
Here is an image of the blue crystal in the Temple of the Blueleaf Cluster. I've got plans for that crystal since it doesn't really do anything in Legends, even though its design would lead you to believe otherwise: a href=" . /revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20070807205439"Link/a
It's been a while since I wrote a medium-length chapter. This was supposed to be longer, but I really did like my end bit and decided to save the rest for the next chapter. Also, Rama is Triclops, again, it's another point that will be explained in the story at a later date. And Desolous is not an OC; he's just an unnamed New Canon character that I gave a name (which I took from a Legends character) too. I really don't like utilizing OCs when the universe I'm playing in has so many, many, many named characters I can use.
Next chapter: Brendol meets Senator Organa again. And the Force Ghosts reunite to play commentators again.