Chapter 11 – Jedi and Rebellion
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Swamps – some kilometres south of the old Jedi Citadel
Early Morning
Commander Jex left his starfighter, a standard V-38 Sentinel Starfighter. Not that he would need its firepower, just the hyperdrive. He looked around, but he didn't see much. He had landed in a small swamp, deep enough to hide the starfighter's heat signature, but not so deep that he had to swim. The reports had been right, he thought, this is one thick jungle! The trees reach up several dozen meters in the sky and thick, white fog was everywhere. Again, he looked around. It would take hours to cloak the ship. But that was alright. He had enough time. Nothing to worry about. Just get in there, find some answers and get out. If possible, capture a living subject. Simple mission. He opened the cargo hold of the fighter and took out a camouflage net which he would put over the V-38. Then he picked up his equipment and vanished into the jungle.
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Outside the Citadel – Training path
Early Morning
Another day had risen over the hidden valley of the Jedi Citadel. Once this street that now served as training path had been a place of glory and light, but now – like the Jedi Order – it drifted into shadows and oblivion, only remembered and used by those who live in the shadows themselves.
Her long brown hair was tied back into a ponytail. Her green eyes focused were focused on her target, her next obstacle. Her seventeen-year-old body was covered with sweat, a sign of her struggle. Her clothes, top and slacks, stuck on her skin, soaked with her sweat. Her bare feet moved swiftly and stood firm. Her face showed determination and eagerness.
He watched with interest as Farmgirl ran over the path, exhausted and tired. She pushed herself, never satisfied with her results. Over and over again, only to fail another time. He could only shake his head. Why can't some people accept their fate as inferiors?
He stepped towards her. Why do you do this to yourself, he asked her.
"Do what?" she asked, panting.
To push yourself. You are weak in the force, Farmgirl. You can never be as strong as a Jedi should be.
Her face became darker, it showed anger, disgust. So close to falling. She isn't pure.
"I may not be strong in the Force, but if you give me a chance, I can prove you that I am equal to everyone in this clan! Not everything is about the force…"
Oh, but it is, Farmgirl, he interrupted her, Everything is about the force! The Force creates life. Without it, there would be nothing – we would be nothing. So only the way you are connected to the force – and how strong this connection is – can determine how you are suited as a servant of the Force – as a Jedi. Never forget this, Farmgirl!
The answer is everything and would be enough for any Jedi, but not for her. She asks too many questions, she can't accept her place.
"Why do you call me Farmgirl anyway? I have a name!"
I call with that name because it suits you. It defines what you are!
Confusion on her face. Why can't she understand?
"But I'm from Garos IV, a planet of teaching and technology and…"
But my dear Farmgirl, this name has nothing to do with your homeland. It describes what you would be if the galaxy would still be in order. The Jedi are guardians of peace, justice and order. And we need strong guardians. People like you are too weak to become a guardian yet too dangerous to be left out of control. This is why you are called Farmgirl. You would never have become a Jedi but only a part of the Agricultural Corps – A place for all those who were too weak or too dangerous.
You can try as hard as you want but you can never escape your destiny: A weakling will never become a Jedi, no matter how hard you try. You'll never be equal to those who had been chosen by the force to be their servants. Always remember this, Farmgirl! Always remember where your place is in this galaxy!
Asteroid 773 – Dolkar Sector
Secret Rebel Base – Hangar Bay
Same time
Brewker supervised the loading of his transport. He was eager to start his mission. Ever since he had escaped with his shuttle from the outpost in the Remand-System, he couldn't wait to revenge his fallen friends. Somehow they had noticed his feelings. Otherwise they wouldn't put a simple technician on pilot duty for such a delicate mission.
The freighter was nothing special: A normal SoroSuub B'zabuu-class transport. No special upgrades, no hidden weapons. Only an upgraded life support system to transport more passengers instead of cargo. But that was about to change very soon.
Then the Wookiees arrived. Intimidating creatures heavily armed with bowcasters and other Wookiee weapons, but also more common weapons like blaster rifles or grenade launchers. They came to fight, they came for vengeance. Their leader's sons had fallen, murdered by the Empire. No they'll do the same and make them feel the pain they had to feel. This is what the Rebellion is all about: Revenge. Revenge for the betrayal of the Republic. Revenge for the loss of property and power. Revenge for the loss of friends and family. They have taken everything away from us – now they'll pay. Planet Wan'ber, here we come!
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Private Quarters
A dew days later
"Are you ready to go on your first solo mission, Lianna Curas?" Master Aqinos asked the young girl.
Of course, she was speechless. She knew that she was the best – next to Laros, of course, but that her Master trusted her with such a responsibility… She caught herself. She was a Jedi and she would to what was her duty. "Yes, Master, I am ready", was her answer.
"Very good. But be aware, it won't be easy." He warned her, "Your mission will be on C'tau III."
She gulped. Not good. C'tau III was her homeworld. Her family was there and she was sure it would have something to do with that, given the position of her father. She had been taught that Jedi were not allowed to have any attachments – not even family – hence the isolation of the base, but she wasn't sure that she was over with that whole thing.
"I can feel your discomfort", Master Aqinos said in a friendly voice, "But be aware that your help will bring the galaxy closer to freedom and will save a lot of lives."
"I know, Master", she replied, "I accept this mission. It is my duty as Jedi."
So, this is it. The final test. The sacrifice that every Jedi has to bring, to call himself a full-fledged Jedi Knight. She didn't feel very comfortable about it, but she was ready. She won't fail like Farmgirl. She wasn't weak, she was a Jedi!
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Corridors
Same Time
He watched as Lianna left Master Aqinos' room. He knew that she had accepted the mission. It wasn't very often that one of them left this planet. Isolation was a strong part of their security. And he had made sure that the position of this academy had remained a secret.
Every time one of them had left the planet, he had talked to them. But in reality, he had implanted force-barriers in their mind, unknown to them. They couldn't reveal the academy's location, even if they wanted to.
And he would do the same to Lianna.
He saw a movement in the shadows. But when he focused on it, it was already gone. He had seen it often in the last days, but he was probably just paranoid.
All this time with these weaklings must had tapped my mind, he thought.
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Swamps – some kilometres south of the old Jedi Citadel
Afternoon
"Do you really think that was a good idea?" Belran Ka'tas asked.
"Why not?" Nieron replied. "It's not that we are expected somewhere."
"We are expected to be I our rooms, studying. What if they find us out here…"
"Then we will just say we are looking for Farmgirl who had got lost again", Nieron calmed down his friend. "For a Bothan, you are worrying too much. Try to relax!"
"Thinking of what we are about to do, it's not very easy."
Nieron took out a blindfold of his pocket and tied it above his eyes. "As our masters would say: 'Trust in the Force, young one, it'll lead you to your destiny!'" Finishing mocking his masters he jumped forward into the trees, vanishing into the mist.
Belran sighed. He blindfolded himself, too and then, like his friend, he was off in the trees.
It was a game of trust. Not to each other, but to the Force. Guided only by their instincts, the two Jedi jumped from tree to tree, a dozen meter or more away from the ground. Each step, each jump could be the last one. Which branch, which tree was close enough? You couldn't see them – only feel them. Your skill of the force would decide about your next jump or –
CRACK – "Aaaahhh!" – Plotsh!
Belran stopped in his movements, landed on a branch and removed his blindfold. He saw that his friend had found a new companion: mud. Totally soaked and mudded he sat in the swamps and looked not like a mighty Jedi warrior.
"My friend", Belran said, "You are as clumsy as your horns are long!"
Nieron touched his Zabrak horns on his head. "They're not that long." His voice got serious again. "You better come down here. You should take a look at this!"
Normally Nieron would've just called him down to pull him into the mud, too, but this time his voice was too serious. He must've found something important. This is so gonna kill my fur, Belran thought as he levitated down to the ground.
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Main Hangar
Evening
"Well, it's a V-38 Sentinel Starfighter, that's for sure!" the technician said.
"I see that, too!" Master Aqinos answered, "What I want to know is how it got here and where are the pilots?"
"I hate to disappoint, Master Jedi, but the memory banks of the Fighter had been removed." He looked down at his datapad. "All I can tell you is that this is TIE/v38 RP-674A83, part of the 3356th Patrol/Recon Wing, fifth squadron, currently assigned to the frigate Thunderous which is part of the Crimson Diamond Command, our beloved sector fleet. And as far as the computer tells me, this fighter should be in a nice and warm hangar and not in some swamp on a remote planet."
"But since it is here and the pilots are lost, we can assume that somewhere on this planet is an imperial spy!"
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Outside
Early Night
Commander Jex stood outside on top of the remnants of the Citadel and looked at the stars. How long did this mission last already? A few days, that was certain. It had been a challenging mission. Hiding among all these force-users, lurking in the shadows, preying, watching. It had been fun, too. His skills had been used to a maximum. That was good. He was good.
But all good things had to come to an end. His object was to capture a living subject for interrogation. And since his fighter had been found, he had to hurry. One of the reasons he had been able to hide for such a long time was because no one was looking for him.
One possible subject was directly beneath him. It stood on the roof of a lower level of the citadel and did the same thing as Jex was doing now: Enjoying the stars. These levels of the Citadel were still high enough so that they sometimes peak out of the eternal fog.
Jex walked to the end of the roof. The wall was completely vertical and led down around a dozen meters to the lower level with his prey. The wall had built-in vertical rills. When the sun would shine on these walls, they wouldn't look so blank and intimidating. But now these rills would serve another purpose.
Jex climbed into on of these rills. They had enough depth and width for a normal man. With outstretched arms and legs he was able to hold himself into position. Now the tricky part. He eased the tension within his muscles a little bit – and immediately he 'fell' down, or better: he slid down the rill, accelerated by gravity and slowed down by the friction of his hands and feet with the wall.
His prey didn't notice him until it would be too late. The rill ended two meters off the ground, making place for hallway. Shortly before he reached the end of his rill, Jex jumped off – forward. For one moment he was above his prey – a moment of silence before a moment of violence.
One arm slung around his neck and pushed him down, while the other arm pushed a forearm-armor integrated Noghri-style vibro-knife into his stomach. He arm around his neck pulled him up again, nearly choking him. The arm kept a hand on his mouth, preventing him from screaming. The knife stabbed again, this time in his back before the other arm finally broke his neck. The dead body was released from the grip and fell on the ground.
A living subject, Jex thought. Not so living anymore, but what should I say? The opportunity for a good kill was just too good. Now let's find another prey!
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Outside the Citadel – Above the training path
Early Night
Finally, she thought, the night has come! All of her other Clan Mates were sleeping now. The training path was surrounded by high columns that reached out of the eternal fog into the sky and despite the fact that they were over a thousand years old, they still stood firm.
She had picked one of the columns she knew and had climbed before. She knew that this one wouldn't crash while she would be sitting on top of it.
Her toes and fingers dug into chinks along the column while she climbed up. She had no security line. If she fell, it would be her last fall. Who cares? She was so sick of all this: When she had left home her parents had told her that it was a great honour and responsibility to become a Jedi. She would be a great warrior and all this. But since she had been here she had constantly been bullied, embarrassed, humiliated and treated like dirt, only because of her weakness in the force.
But she had tried to keep up with them. She trained harder, she pushed herself far beyond her limits, but in the end, the others didn't care. They used the force to play her pranks, to bully her, to blame her and everything got worse once she had a little success.
She had reached the top. The stars sparkled above her and the fog moved silently, like a mystic sea, flowed silently below her. She sat down, closed her eyes and crossed her legs. Finally, no more annoying Clan Mates, no more humiliations, no more pain and most importantly, no more creeping Jedi.
One Jedi that talked with the force through her mind. One Jedi that had started this whole 'Farmgirl'-name story. She didn't know much about him and – to be honest – she didn't want to know anything more. He just gave her the creeps.
Meditation: The only thing that had stopped her from running away, committing suicide or going rampage on all the other Jedi was the meditation. She had soon found out that the moments of peace and silence in her mind would prevent her from getting crazy. It was even better at night, when everyone else was sleeping. No more distractions, no more disharmonies: Everything was at peace.
She let her thoughts flow. She reached out and listened to the voice of the flow. A harmony of sounds and impressions. She took a deep breath. The cold and clear air filled her lungs. Peace and harmony.
And yet, something was different today. A light humming in the back of her head, a sound of disharmony. She tried to ignore it, she pushed it back. This was supposed to be a moment of harmony. But it was still there. And it became stronger – louder. She shook her head. Nothing's going right today. She tried push the signal back, but the harder she tried to ignore, the stronger the sound became. She opened her eyes again. Maybe some minutes of rest will…
Then she saw him. A black figure, standing on top of the column right in front of her. The blue moon was right behind him, redrawing his contours. The figure jumped forward, right towards her. She reached down to grab her lightsaber – which was still in her cabin. The figure caught her; it grabbed her and pushed her backwards. She fell – together with him – into the fog, into the darkness.
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Main Hangar
A few minutes after a loud bang
The whole Clan, the other Jedi and every non-Jedi personnel had gathered in the hangar and watched with great amazement the black remnants of the hangar gates. The captured imperial fighter was gone, too. Soon it was clear that two persons were missing: Jodo Alenn, another Jedi-Trainee and Farmgirl.
After a short search, Jodo had been found: He had been brutally murdered on one of the terraces. For Lianna, Laros and several other Jedi the things were clear: Farmgirl had murdered one of her Clan-Mates: She had been the weakest so it would be natural for her to fall to the Dark Side. And then, afraid of punishment, she had stolen the imperial starfighter and escaped.
Of course, this brought several problems: They had to find her renegade Darksider before she would betray them to the Empire – where else would she go? Also, the original pilots of the imperial craft were still on the planet and had yet to be found.
Ghart – Dolkar Sector
Invisible Market – Illegal Spaceport
Night
"Hokay", the Devaronian mechanic said, "I'll install the device for let's say… ten-thousand creds."
Brewker sighed. Here we go. "Are you kidding?" Brewker replied, "Five-thousand is more than enough!
The mechanic smiled. "Sure, but that counts only for a legal installation. We have other costs to cover."
They continued to argue. Meanwhile, Dllr Nep, the Sullustan co-pilot watched the whole scene. He leant against the hull of the B'zabuu-class transport, which had currently had the name Hairy Betty.
Trybokk came down the ramp, together with Qixoni, the HK-50 protocol droid. Here we go.
"Question", the protocol droid translated, "How long does this trip last. My brother and I are hungering for our vengeance."
"(Don't worry, Trybokk, we'll be back in space in no time)", Nep assured him, "(We'll just have to add one last piece to our equipment, that's all.)"
"Statement: Fine, but hurry up. We want to see blood!"
After all these days with these Wookiees, I wonder why we need them at all, Nep thought, Their lust for vengeance, their obsession with honour… It'll be their own downfall.
Marol – Dolkar Sector
Jedi Citadel – Hangar bay
Next morning
He stood with his back towards the ramp of the Winter Lake. Laros Ben had already entered the freighter's cockpit and begun with the starting sequence.
Since the failed attack on the imperial palace nearly a month ago, he had been grounded here on Marol. The Rebel Council had been upset, especially Trybokk. But now he had been given a chance to redeem himself: To find Farmgirl and to prevent her at any cost from giving information to the Empire.
He waved goodbye with his hand towards Aqinos. Don't worry, he said, I'll find her.
With these words, he boarded the ship.
Old fool.
Cyphar – Dolkar Sector
Planetary orbit – TIE/v38 RP-674A83
A few days later
She woke up with a giant headache. Her vision was blurry, she couldn't see anything straight. But the humming was still there, a constant voice in her head. But this time, it was different, more real. It didn't come from the inside of her head, but reached the mind from her ears. And the sound was different: Not like a background scrambling in the force, but a more artificial, human-made sound. She was sure she had heard it before.
She tried to move her arms, her legs – she couldn't: they were cuffed. She tried to say something – she couldn't: something covered her mouth. Her vision got clearer: Stars. Endless stars and a giant planet, only interrupted by – iron bars? Not iron bars but the bars of a starfighter cockpit! One special kind of cockpit, unique in the galaxy to one kind of fighter! That was why the humming was so familiar: She had heard it before, in the flight simulators: The feared howl of Sienar Fleet Systems Twin Ion Engines!
The shock awoke her in one second. She sat upright and watched the planet outside the ship. Obviously, she was in a two-seated starfighter and someone was sitting in front of her. Her memories came back to her: The dark figures that had pushed her off the column. The pain that had knocked her out when she had hit the ground. Was something broken? She wanted to find out, but she couldn't. She struggled, tried to free herself, until a sharp pain shot through her body and made her scream into the ductape that covered her mouth.
The dark helmet – which was everything she could see from her pilot – moved and a dark, mechanic and intimidating voice, spoke to her: "Back among the living, Missy? Better keep quiet or you'll taste some more electricity!"
To undermine his statement, he shocked her again. She screamed and jumped up, which only made the SC-401 stun cuffs tighten up. Fighting was no option. Rescue neither. She doubted that anyone would even miss her. What have I gotten myself into this time? she asked herself.
Ships came into her focus. She recognized them: Frigates, cruiser, corvettes… But most importantly one kind of ship, a symbol of power and fear everywhere throughout the galaxy: The white triangular form of Imperial Star Destroyers!
"Welcome to the Empire, little Missy!" her pilot said, "The Inquisitor already awaits you!"
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no… This is just a dream. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!
AN: Sorry that it took so long, but I was very busy. And I still am. So it might take some time before the next chapter will come. But don't worry, it will come eventually. In the meantime… Enjoy the story! Read, review and get a reply.
-JCE1985.