Star Wars: Walking the Line
Chapter 10
Dantooine, home to the old Jedi enclave. Where Revan was redeemed and Bastilla trained. Now, it was a battlefield. The enclave little more than a smoldering hole in the ground. The wealth of knowledge underneath was what people were truly after. Even the Wounds in the Force were after it's archives and artifacts. Leading the charge were Darth Nihilus's favorite pair. Jaigra and Jonlo Wadan led a small qroup of acolytes to lay claim to the temple. Jaigra turned to address the fledgling Sith. This would be their final test.
"Wounds in the Force, dark knights of Korriban, hear the call of the Dark Lord! Darth Nihilus watches over us, minions! Leave only ashes and misery in your destructive wake! The death march BEGINS!" she shouted. Her students rallied behind her. They quickly charged toward the Enclave and cut down any settlers and mercs in their way.
The enclave was guarded by none other than Andoa Wisac and Michoa Starsong. They were accompanied by a contingent of Republic Commandoes, the backbone of Andoa's private army. Michoa sat cross-legged in a trance. She was using the art of battle meditation to bolster her forces. With the commandoes were 2 jedi knights.
Jonlo and his team ran and engaged the Republic force. The battle was fast and at times the force users were mere blurs in the heat of combat. When the dust settled, all the acolytes lay dead and three commandoes survived. Jonlo was striken with a terrible pain and was kneeling before his old master. Jaigra stood at his side. What's happening to me? He thought.
"Bring them before the Enclave!" Michoa ordered.
"Stand down, Jaigra. We've lost. The light… this place… no hope."
"Have you learned nothing, boy?" said Andoa. "You have become all that you used to fight against. Like that coward Nihilus, you allowed yourself to be consumed by the darkness, the hate. Feeding upon the misery of those you've tortured and killed. Your master knows what lies in the sublevels, which is why he dares not show his face What you're feeling now is the anguish of a thousand lost souls. Souls that you and your master brought here. He sent you and these acolytes to meet their doom, Jonlo."
Breathing heavily, Jonlo ignited his sabers and stood to his feet. "Save your breath, old man. For it will be the last you ever draw." Just before he charged at the grandmaster, his holocron slipped out of his pocket and, feeding on his hate, spontaneously activated. Jonlo knelt back down before the image of his father.
"My son, my dear beautiful boy. You have learned all I can teach, but you fail to understand one concept. The choice between light and darkness is not one made for you by your ancestry or your upbringing. That choice is yours alone to make. Do not forget…" Behind the young Shistavanen, Darth Nihilus, Lord of Hunger, held his hand out toward the holocron and drained it of all its power, severing Jonlo's last link to his father.
"Touching." Said the dark lord. The mere sound of his voice sent Jonlo into a terrible pain, drawing anguished snarls from the poor Shistavanen. Andoa's strength in the force protected all the others. "He is mine, now." Jonlo struggled to his feet and took out his sabers.
"You…Betrayed me." he said as he ignited his blades. "You betrayed us all, monster. Face my wrath!" With all his might, Jonlo charged toward the Lord of Hunger, but was lifted into the air and Nihilus hurled him toward a nearby tree, knocking him unconscious.
"Pathetic."
"You're a damned monster, Nihilus!" Andoa shouted.
"You were right,Wisac. I did send them in to die. Their lives are meaningless. But yours… It was so simple to bring the great Andoa Wisac out of hiding. You've left yourself exposed .Now…" Nihilus drew his lightsaber and ignited the crimson blade. "nothing can save you." Nihilus charged toward Andoa and they engaged in combat. Andoa was able to block every one of Nihilus's blows and was calm in the face of his mindless fury. Saber combat was getting nowhere.
Nihilus leapt a great distance back and unleashed a torrent of force lightening. Andoa countered with a wave of light side energy. The two were at a standstill. Suddenly, Jonlo awakened from his comatose state upon remembering his father's final words. "That choice is mine alone to make." He said to himself. With renewed Vigor, Jonlo rose to his feet and ran to Andoa's side. To press the advantage, he cast great bolts of force lightening against his former master. Nihlus was losing the battle, but Andoa and Jonlo alone were not enough to turn the tide. Jaigra and Michoa added their own light and dark powers to the fray, shattering Nihilus's bolts and actually wounded the Lord of Hunger.
"Impossible." The Lord of Hunger staggered away. "When next we meet, it will not be on sacred ground, Grandmaster." In a cloud of black and red mist, Nihilus disappeared from Dantooine. Jonlo turned to face the Grandmaster.
"What did he mean, 'bring the great Andoa Wisac out of hiding'?" asked the Shistavanen.
"The Jedi High Council was killed on the Miraluka colony of Katarr. The Miraluka died along with the Council. We went into hiding to flee from Nihilus. Now he knows we're here." Andoa explained. Jaigra's muscles locked up and she stood stiff.
"My home… gone. The bastard." Her voice was heavy with sorrow. Desperately, she wanted to make Nihilus pay.
"We can't stay here. Nihilus will come to us on this world. We need to disappear." said Michoa. As the dust settled, the group noticed a lone commando emerging from the bodies of his comrades.
"Uuhhh. I hate this job."
"Cody, you son of a bantha!" Andoa shouted. The wounded commando limped toward the rest of his party. Upon getting to Jonlo, he grabbed the Shistavanens hand and threw the poor creature over his back. Jonlo howled in agony.
"Ow. Why'd you do that?" he asked.
"A small price to pay for what you bastards did." said Cody. Jonlo had to get up on his own Wisac refused to help the former Sith Lord. Andoa turned to address his lieutenant.
"Get the survivors to the Venator. Take her to the outer rim and wait for my signal." He ordered. "Hide her on that volcanic world we found and set her down in a dormant basin." Cody saluted and the survivors took the shuttle back to the massive capitol ship.
"We should take the Moonlight Shadow. She's faster and less conspicuous. Plus, she can accept new codes almost instantly." Said Jonlo.
"The only question," said Jaigra, "is where we should go."
"Nar Shadaa," said Wisac. "The smugglers moon. The best place in the galaxy to get lost. Nihilus would never find us there." After much deliberation, it was decided that Nar Shadaa was the best place to go. The party boarded the Moonlight Shadow and the two Jedi were overcome by a feeling of unease. Unlike the calm and serene quality of their own ships, the Moonlight Shadow was cold, aggressive, heartless. All qualities of the Sith themselves.
Jonlo and his Lover went up to the cockpit and prepped the ship for take-off. It lifted off the landing pad and took off into orbit. Rather than Hyperspace, Jonlo sent the ship into lightspeed and would pilot it to Nar Shadaa manually. It would take longer than a Hyperspace jump, but it was safer with the Moonlight Shadow's stealth dirve.
Jaigra sat beside her lover, but the two never shared a word. All of Jonlo's energy was concentrated on flying the vessel to it's destination. He had not only been witness to a terrible tragedy, but the guilt over causing many others was catching up to him. It showed in his eyes, the very expressive eyes his race possessed. He was deeply saddened, and the force bond they shared allowed her to feel his pain.
"Jonlo," she said. "I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for? I was the one who chose to follow Nihilus. You tagged along for the ride."
"I'm the reason you fell to the dark side in the first place. Our love evolved into the passion that accelerated your fall. I should have seen this but…" Jonlo reached a hand out and slid it across the Miraluka's face.
"It's not your fault. We're with the Jedi again, and we can still be together. If you could just let me concentrate now, we'll figure everything out when we touch down." The rest of the flight passed in silence for the two. They all wanted to get back at Nihilus, but striking at him now would be suicide. They had plenty of time to plan, but the wait would be agonizing.
A few hours later, Jonlo touched the vessel down onto a vacant landing pad. He and the others left the ship and walked out into the central hub which lead everywhere. Jonlo looked around and found the sign for the mechaninc's shop. "You guys go on," he said. "I'll catch up to you later." The rest of the group moved on, but Jaigra ran to her Lover's side. The pair went into the shop and found an old protocol droid and the Sullistan owner. "Excuse me, sir. But do you deal in starships?"
"Ah visitors. Yes, I have some good models up for grabs, if you're here to buy." said the owner.
"Actually, I have one that I'm looking to sell. It's in great condition. Fury-class transport fresh off the line from Czerka on Tatooine."
"Jonlo," said Jaigra, "are you sure about this?"
"It's just another part of a past I'd rather forget. Besides, we could get some good credits for it."
"That's a rare find. Old Sith starships could fetch quite a penny on the black market. How much do you want for it?"
"A million credits." said Jonlo
"I can't go higher than 250,000."
"Take it," said Jonlo, "I just want it out of my life." The Sullistan handed Jonlo a chip containing the credits for his starship. "It's on landing pad 210." With that, Jonlo left to follow the others and Jaigra was close behind. The pair made their way out to the cantina, where the other's were no doubt setting up camp. When the arrived near the apartments, Jonlo wandered off to the cantina and went straight in. He took a seat right up at the bar. "Get me the strongest drink you have."
"Rough day?" asked the bartender. He got out a bottle of a bubbling green liquid and poured a glass for the depressed Shistavanen.
"You have no idea what I've been through." Jonlo said. He took a swig from his glass. The drink was like a fire in his blood. "I hurt people. I'm a dick."
"Is that really so bad?"
"In one year, I killed my closest childhood friend, aided in the attempted assassination of a Selkath ambassador, and got over twenty people killed. How is that not so bad?" Jonlo asked. He took another sip.
"Nobody ever said it was easy being a bounty hunter." Said the bartender. It was a common mistake people made when they saw Jonlo's armor. "But being a dick ain't so bad. You got three kinds of people. You got dicks, pu$$!es, and $$holes. Pu$$!es think everyone can get along and $$holes $#!7 on everything. But dicks get things done. Pu$$!es and dicks might get mad at each other once in a while because pu$$!es get ****ed by dicks. But dicks also **** $$holes. And if they didn't, the whole ****ing galaxy would be covered in $#!7." Jonlo thought on the words of this vulgar bartender and took another gulp of his unusual beverage.
"Thanks for the advice, man." Jonlo got up to leave. "By the way, you'd make a good senator." The armored Shistavanen walked out of the Cantina. He made his way into the neighboring apartment complex to meet with the others. It turned out that Andoa had paid for them to have separate rooms. Jaigra called out to Jonlo and came out to bring him to their room. Once inside, he shed his armor, revealing his basic sith robes. The smell of alcohol on his breath would have got any other canine species drunk, but not Jaigra.
Jonlo sat down on the table with his face in his hand. Jaigra came to his side and sat before him. "What's wrong? Something's been bothering you ever since we got to the smugglers moon." she said.
"I… I can hardly face myself anymore, that's what's wrong. I've killed more men than died at Malachor V and all in the name of a Dark Lord I was too afraid to defy. I had fallen so far since my days as a Jedi. I'm a coward."
"Jonlo Wadan is many things, but he is no coward." she said. "You are bravest Shistavanen I've ever met. You've done all you can to protect me. I love you like no other before. I stood beside you at Hutta when you lead the charge to free the Twi'lek slaves. I saw your face as you watched your troops die on Tython. There are men who struggle against destiny, only to achieve an early grave, men like the acolytes and Darth Malak. There are those who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. Then there are men like you. Those who embrace destiny and never show their fear."
"Spare me, Jaigra. I deserve that early grave."
"But those who embrace destiny, never show their fear, and never look back are the ones who change the galaxy forever. The force had its hand in this. It has a will of its own. We've been given this second chance to make Nihilus regret everything he's done." Jonlo rose from his seat and Jaigra did the same.
"I knew there was reason I loved you." he said. They drew eachother into a loving embrace and went off to sleep. The next day, they went out to find a way to look less conspicuous. Jonlo got his armor painted in republic colors to give off the image of a veteran. Jaigra, ditching the extravagant robes of the inquisitor for something far more modest. And on the smugglers moon, they waited. Until a chance to strike back at Nihilus presented itself.
