Unlikely Allies
Mysteries above Serenno! The sadistic General Krenin has taken possession of a mysterious holodisc that contains a message from General Grevious detailing the whereabouts of long lost Separatist plans for weapons and vehicles! With the use of a secretly implanted tracking device, the Rebel fleet was able to track the Empire to Serenno and engage them in combat for the disc.
However; after a confrontation with Luke Skywalker, General Krenin destroyed the disc and escaped with a full battalion of Imperial troops via escape pods and have landed on the planet's surface. Now; Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookiee, with the aid of Jedi Knights Zatt Lowick and Ganodi Ueua, have been sent down to the planet's surface to track them down. But can they reach the Sarkan general in time or will the Alliance have to face an even greater threat than before…
Serenno
Deep within the rainforests of Serenno laid a crashed escape pod. Suddenly, a large metal fist slammed against the glass multiple times until eventually smashing through it. Krenin pulled himself out and looked off across the rainforest surroundings. He got out a hologram projector and brought up a hologram of Commander Cody.
"Commander, report" said Krenin.
"All of our escape pods have landed and we're exiting them now" said Cody "It seems however that some of us have been knocked off course during planet fall and we're now scattered across the jungle"
"No matter" said Krenin "I have already sent you the coordinates; follow them and we will rendezvous at the target destination. And remember; if you see any rebel activity, kill them immediately"
"Yes sir" said Cody. His hologram turned off. Krenin stepped forward and walked off into the distance.
Meanwhile
Cody placed the hologram projector back onto his belt and turned back to the stormtroopers.
"All troopers, you know the destination" said Cody "Let's move before the Rebels find us"
"But commander, only a few of the escape pods have landed here" said a stormtrooper "What about the other troops scattered across the surface?"
"I'll inform them and we'll all meet at the same spot" said Cody "Let's move!"
Meanwhile
Han looked out across the terrain with a pair of electrobinoculars. Chewbacca walked up to him and growled.
"No sin of any Imps yet, Chewie" said Han "And we don't even know where they're heading to, which just makes it harder" Chewbacca growled again. "I do like a challenge, Chewie; I just get a little nervous when it involves a psychotic maniac"
"Agreed, Captain Solo" said Ganodi as she and Zatt walked up to them "Krenin may not be as powerful or experienced as Darth Vader; but he's insane, which makes him more unpredictable"
"And he eludes death too, apparently" said Han "I tell you; I gave that bridge a direct shot, a DIRECT shot, and he still survived. Makes it feel like unfinished business. I tell you; I don't care if he's a Sith, payback's long overdue for that reptile"
"I wouldn't classify him as Sith" said Zatt "He's more close to a Dark Jedi than an actual member of the Sith"
"Thanks for the correction, remind me to have the full lecture sometime" said Han sarcastically "Now let's head off before the Imperials get a head start" He walked over to the rebel vehicles. "Let's get going, people. Don't want to drag behind"
"He seems to be taking charge" said Ganodi "Why are we even here?"
"In case he gets over his head" replied Zatt "Or at least that's what Admiral Ackbar told me"
A few minutes later
Han sat on the top of an AT-TE and overlooked the surroundings as the rebel vehicles moved across the terrain. At that moment, Zatt appeared from an entrance.
"Han, I think you should come back inside" said Zatt "You don't want to fall off"
"I've had worse situations" said Han "Besides, I've got a good view from here; if there's any Imperial activity, I can spot it"
"Is something troubling you?" asked Zatt "You seem upset over something"
"Well…I really thought offed this guy back at Pollyium" replied Han "I had a great shot at the bridge and used full force; and yet somehow, he survived. Now not only is he back; but he's even more crazed than before, not to mention he has the Force now, meaning he can you without even touching you. Not only is he back, but he's worse than ever"
"What happened back there was not your fault" said Zatt.
"Easier to say that from where you're standing" said Han "I just unleashed one of the worst monsters of all time upon the galaxy"
"The Jedi Order has made mistakes too, monumental ones" said Zatt "And a lot of them were much worse than that"
"Y'know; what the whole deal with Sith, anyway?" asked Han "I mean, with what you said before about Dark Jedi and such—"
"Allow me to give you the full lecture, as you would call it" replied Zatt "Dark Jedi is the collective term for non-Sith dark side users. They use the Dark Side of the Force but they're not the same as Sith. Sith meanwhile follow a particular belief, one that is often shifting over the course of time but always keeps the core concepts. Sith believe was centered on their quest for power and how they took almost any means to get there, particularly when killing their master was involved"
"Wow; you Jedi are the experts at this lore stuff" said Han.
"Meaning?" asked Zatt.
"What I mean is; you can learn about all the wildlife on Naboo, the entirety of Onderon's wars, even why anyone would ask an H'nemthe out, and yet the Jedi have all these stories that the rest of us have never known" said Han
"It's not really our place to discuss them on a regular basis" said Zatt.
"Place to discuss them?" said Han "At times you Jedi really start to feel detached from the rest of us"
"I wouldn't call detached but—" said Zatt.
"But you guys are a little more cut off from the rest of us" said Han.
"I do admit that we are a little cut off from the rest of the galaxy, but it's part of our tradition" said Zatt.
"Cutting yourself off from the galaxy, not the greatest idea" said Han "It's a big galaxy and you have to be prepared to survive it. If you really want to know what you're protecting, go out there more and have a good long look at it yourselves" Zatt looked out and noticed a crashed escape pod. He slipped back into the AT-TE.
"Stop the vehicles, we've found something" said Zatt. The AT-TE and other vehicles stopped. As Zatt ran out of the AT-TE, Han slipped off it and they both walked over to the crashed escape pod.
"This is an Imperial model, alright" said Han "How many stormtroopers do you think it carried?"
"None" said Zatt. He pointed over to the mud in front where a track of footprints had formed. At that moment, Ganodi and Chewbacca walked up to them.
"These don't match any living creature" said Ganodi as she examined her footprints "These were made by something mechanical"
"Krenin!" said Han. Unbeknownst to them, a scout trooper stood hidden behind a log, watching them with a pair of electrobinoculars.
"Encircle the area" said the scout trooper "We'll try to hit them at all angles"
"With the numbers we have, I doubt we can take all of them out" said another scout trooper.
"We don't have to take all of them out, just the leaders" said the first scout trooper "We'll shoot them dead and then run into the undergrowth where they can't follow us all at once. Remember; if we stand by and allow them to interfere with General Krenin's plans, he'll have our heads. Now go!" The scout troopers ran off in different directions.
"He must have gone off in that direction" said Zatt "Obviously he's trying to reach whatever he's looking for"
"He can't be too far then" said Han "I mean, he is moving on foot"
"We can't risk it" said Ganodi "Scouts, go on ahead in that direction; try to find Krenin" The rebel troopers on speeder bikes nodded and zoomed off.
"And what do the rest of us do?" asked Han.
"The rest of us will continue onwards" replied Ganodi "These footprints may only lead us in a general direction, but we're sure to find something more along the way. We don't know exactly what he's after, which just makes tracking all the more difficult. Until we get some idea of what it is, we'll have to make do with rudimentary tracking skills" At that moment, a scout trooper with a sniper rifle shot at Han, only for Chewbacca to grab ahold of his wrist and pull him out of the way just in time.
"Woah!" said Han "Now that was close"
"Snipers!" said Ganodi whilst she and Zatt ignited their lightsabers. Sniper shots from all around them began to fire wildly at them.
"I hate these guys!" said Han. Zatt leapt up to the area where the first sniper shot came from and blew away the bushes in its way, only to find that they had disappeared.
"Blast, must've moved!" said Zatt. As a blaster bolt flew through a tree and shot past Chewbacca, he turned around and fired his bowcaster twice, the second shot hitting the scout trooper and causing him to fall over (whilst screaming out a Wilhelm scream) and land right on the ground at the tree's roots. Han looked to the side to see some rustling in the bushes as the first scout trooper ran out
"Everyone, retreat back into the forest!" said the scout trooper into his comlink. He disappeared into the undergrowth of the rainforest.
"Oh no you don't!" said Han "Chewie, quick!" Chewbacca growled as the two of them ran off after the scout trooper into the undergrowth.
"Captain Solo, wait!" said Ganodi as she chased after them. As the scout trooper got deeper into the rainforest, he quickly stopped, got out two thermal detonators, and threw them up at the trees above himself, causing them to start to collapse down as the detonators detonated.
"Try to get past this, rebels!" said the scout trooper as he ran off.
"C'mon, we can still make it!" said Han as he and Chewbacca quickly ran past the collapsing trees.
"Han, Chewie; wait!" exclaimed Ganodi, just before a tree collapsed down in front of her. She looked up at the collapsing tree. Suddenly, a large tree crashed down towards her. She quickly force-gripped it and threw it to the side before darting of out of the rainforest and back into the open.
Meanwhile
As Han and Chewbacca descended down into the undergrowth, their surroundings darkened.
"This ain't good" said Han "Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea after all" Chewbacca groaned. "You know; next time something like this happens, try to say that before I go through with it" Suddenly, a blaster bolt shot into Chewbacca's shoulder causing him to roar out in pain. "Chewie!" Chewbacca fell to his knees and lied himself against a tree.
"Your Wookiee looks like he's in great pain" said the scout trooper as he walked up to Han "Do you want me to put him out of his misery?"
"My Wookiee?" said Han whilst pulling out his blaster "You're referring to him as if we're not equals?"
"Save the sentimental rubbish" said the scout trooper "C'mon out, boys" The remaining scout troopers walked out and surrounded Han. "You made a big mistake coming here. Killing you now just became much easier" Suddenly, several blaster bolts flew threw him and he collapsed onto the ground dead.
"What in the?" said Han. Suddenly, a group of Nosaurians ran in and began killing the scout troopers.
"AH!" screamed a scout trooper as a Nosaurian stabbed him in the shoulder with a dagger and pushed him into a tree branch.
"Wow; looks like we've got ourselves some help, Chewie" said Han. After all of the scout troopers were dead, the Nosaurian who stabbed the scout trooper began speaking in Nosaurian to the others before pulling out his blaster and holding it up at Han, with all the others joining in. "This is either really good or really bad"
Meanwhile
Zatt walked over to the body of the scout trooper who Chewbacca shot, kneeled down, and examined it. He noticed that the scout trooper had a datapad on his belt, picked it up, and placed it within his jacket. At that moment, Ganodi walked up to him.
"Did you find Han and Chewie?" asked Zatt.
"I'm afraid not" replied Ganodi "The scout trooper used thermal detonators to block off my path"
"Then we'll have to remove it immediately" said Zatt.
"No Zatt, we have to stop Krenin" said Ganodi "The distractions we have, the further away he gets. I'm sorry, but we have to move out now if we've want any hope of stopping him" Zatt closed his eyes and looked down.
"We never got to this part of our training, did we?" said Zatt.
"No, but now we have to do it" said Ganodi.
"Assemble the troops" said Zatt "We'll head off now"
"Agreed" said Ganodi. As she walked off, Zatt got out the datapad from his jacket and looked at it.
Meanwhile
As Krenin walked throughout the rainforest, he heard an incoming speeder noise coming from behind him. As he turned around, he saw the rebel troopers on their speeder bikes zooming up to him.
"I've got a visual on Krenin" said a rebel trooper into his comlink "We'll try to outmaneuver him but keep him—" Suddenly; Krenin grabbed ahold of the front of his speeder bike, the impact of which was so great that it sent the rebel trooper flying off it. Krenin then slammed the speeder bike on top of him to finish him off.
"Surround him!" said another rebel trooper. The remaining speeder bikes began circling around Krenin.
"Very unwise!" said Krenin. He leapt on top of one of the speeder bikes and threw the rebel trooper head first into the ground. He then shot down the remaining two speeder bikes and then sped off.
Meanwhile
The Nosaurians had bound both Han and Chewbacca's hands behind their own backs and were leading them up a hilly area. Chewbacca growled.
"Really?" said Han "You have a bad feeling about this; don't you think it's a little too late for that?" As the lead Nosaurian said something in Nosaurian, Chewbacca growled. "Actually no; I never really learnt Nosaurian, so I have no idea what they're saying" Chewbacca growled. "Well; it wasn't really a common language that I had to learn in my line of work, so I didn't see any reason to learn it"
"We can hear you, you know" said the lead Nosaurian.
"You speak Basic!?" exclaimed Han.
"Seeing as how almost every planet demands that you have to; yes, we did have to learn it" replied the lead Nosaurian.
"Where are you taking us?" asked Han.
"Back to our camp" replied the lead Nosaurian "I have already signaled our leader of your presence"
"I wondered what that glowing mouth thing was" said Han "By the way, there wouldn't happen to be a med-bay at this camp? My friend got shot back there and he could use some—"
"Our leader shall decide your fate" said the lead Nosaurian "And on that note, you should consider yourself lucky that we were on patrol at this very moment; otherwise you'd probably be dead"
"If you seriously don't like the Imperials then why did you attack us?" asked Han.
"Just because we both dislike the Empire that does not make us allies" said the lead Nosaurian "It's a large galaxy and not everyone is going to be your friend, get used to it" Han breathed a sigh.
Meanwhile
As the rebel vehicles moved along, Ganodi kept an eye out for any trace of Krenin along their path.
"Do you see anything yet?" asked a rebel trooper.
"Not yet" replied Ganodi "And the footprint trail ended ages ago. We're essentially going in blind"
"Ganodi, you may want to see this" said Zatt as he entered "I examined the body of one of the scout troopers and found this" He removed the datapad from his jacket.
"An Imperial datapad?" said Ganodi "What does it say?"
"It took some time to get into it" replied Zatt "It was extremely decrypted, what with Imperial codes and all—"
"Just cut to the chase" said Ganodi.
"Well, anyways; I was able to decrypt it and that's when I found it: coordinates" said Zatt. He brought up an image of the coordinates on the datapad. "I think each of the troops were given it, he must have been prepared for situations like this"
"You always were prodigy in technology" said Ganodi "If all the Imperials are heading to the same area, there'll be a whole lot of them when we get there"
"Then we'll just have to be ready then" said Zatt "Pilot, we're setting a course"
Meanwhile
The Nosaurians brought Han and Chewbacca into a small clearing in the forest where an encampment lay. The branches of the trees stretched over them so far that barely any sunlight was present. As the two of them were brought into camp, they found themselves surrounded by Nosaurians who were minding their own business.
"This is some setup you've got going" said Han.
"It's the best we can do with what little resources we've been able to get ahold of" said the lead Nosaurian. He brought them to the center tent and they entered it. "Thortak, we found these trespassers on our patrol"
"Tresspassers?" said Han. At the center of the room sat a male Nosaurian who stood up to reveal himself. The top two of his horns had been badly damaged around the edges and a bony shape lay on the bottom of his chin which resembled a beard. He walked up to Han and Chewbacca.
"A Human and a Wookiee?" said Thortak "Where did you find them, Martarg?"
"They were just past the outskirts of the forest" replied Martarg (the lead Nosaurian) "We found them under attack by Imperial troops" There was a short silence.
"So they've finally reached us" said Thortak "I should have known it would happen eventually" Chewbacca groaned. "Your Wookiee companion seems distressed"
"He got shot in the shoulder pretty bad back there" said Han "We were actually wondering whether you'd be able to help us"
"Take the Wookiee to our medic" said Thortak. Martarg and brought Chewbacca out of the tent. "I assume you're both with the Rebel Alliance"
"Yes, actually" replied Han "I must say, you're awfully generous"
"Don't get too comfortable" said Thortak "The moment your friend is healed, both of you will have to leave"
"Seriously?" said Han "Why?"
"The Alliance has no place here" replied Thortak "You have already brought enough trouble to us by leading the Empire here"
"First of all, we didn't lead the Empire here" said Han "Second of all, the Empire has no interest in you guys—"
"Perhaps not" said Thortak "But since they are here now, they're bound to find us"
"What business do you have with the Empire?" asked Han.
"It all started a long time ago" replied Thortak "At the outbreak of the Clone Wars, our planet swore loyalty to the Confederacy of Independent Systems; and when the wars were over, we were one of the Empire's first targets. When they attacked us, we fought back with as much strength as we could muster. But it all ended at the Battle of Half-Axe Pass; the Empire outnumbered us by a hundred to one, and it ended with our forces depleted and massacred. The few of us who survived the conflict were either executed or enslaved by them. Some of us were eventually able to escape and we've been on the run ever since; without the right resources or numbers, we're no good. The Empire never took a big interest in Serenno, so we used it as refuge for many years. It seems all that has ended now. It's amazing, isn't it; even after we've been beaten, crushed, and left defenseless, the Empire still insists on making us suffer"
"If the Empire does find you, what are you going to do?" asked Han.
"Whatever will happen will happen and there's nothing I can do except go along with it" replied Thortak "It's the only way"
"No it isn't" said Han "The Alliance can help you; they can get all of you offworld. It's better than just staying here and letting it happen"
"I've lost many friends and family to those monsters; at this stage, there's barely anything left to fight for" said Thortak "I lost everything. The men you saw outside; they're no warriors, not any more. We're just a bunch of runaway slaves who've managed to last longer than most. But if our end is truly imminent, then we can at least not go down without a fight"
"You'd rather burn out than fade away" said Han.
"Aye" said Thortak. At that moment, a Nosaurian ran into the tent.
"Thortak, Imperial troops have discovered our camp" said the Nosaurian "We're under attack"
"It seems to have been sooner than expected" said Thortak. As he moved towards the door, Han stopped him.
"Don't do this" said Han "You can still retreat"
"If we run, it'll only delay the inevitable" said Thortak "At least this way we'll know we tried. Even if history repeats itself, if all of us are to be killed by the Empire today, we'll at least have made an effort" He then stepped outside where the Nosaurians fought back against the stormtroopers. "I'd suggest getting yourself and the Wookiee out now"
"I don't think Chewie would be the one to back down from a fight like this" said Han "He knows all about being enslaved"
"Get in!" said a stormtrooper as he and the others charged in. Suddenly, Chewbacca ran out of the med-bay tent roaring furiously and began shooting them down with his bowcaster.
"A Wookiee!" exclaimed a stormtrooper "How is that—" Chewbacca shot him down. Chewbacca then let out a painful howl as he held onto his shoulder in pain.
"Chewie!" exclaimed Han. He pulled out his blaster and ran over to Chewbacca, shooting down stormtroopers in his way. "Chewie, you alright?" Chewbacca groaned in response. "Then try not to stretch it much" He helped Chewbacca. It was then that he noticed that the shooting had stopped. "Wait, is that it? I honestly thought there would be more"
"The Imperials were short in number" said a Nosaurian "I thought taking us by surprise would enable them to charge in; but when the Wookiee got involved, it turned against them real quick" At that moment, Martarg walked up to them with two other Nosaurians behind him who were carrying Cody in by the arms.
"We found their leader" said Martarg.
"What are you going to do with him?" asked Han.
"We'll take him back inside and tie him up" replied Martarg "And when he wakes up, we'll interrogate him"
Meanwhile on Corellia
Kota and Sarke stood in an interrogation room with Fey'lya sitting at the table in front of them.
"I told you already, I am not associated with any underworld groups" said Fey'lya.
"I admire your persistence, but there's no use keeping it up" said Sarke "You'll only waste all of our time, including your own"
"You're the one wasting time by continuing with this false idea" said Fey'lya "I didn't do anything!"
"We'll be the judge of that eventually" said Sarke "We'll continue this tomorrow" He and Kota walked out of the room where K'Kruhk waited for them outside.
"If he's lying then he deserves an award" said K'Kruhk "He seems to have absolutely no idea on what you're talking about"
"He must have been preparing for a situation like this for some time, which would explain why we've found little evidence against him" said Sarke "But we'll keep looking"
"I can't help but feel that we're going in the wrong direction with this" said Kota "Fey'lya may be arrogant and power-hungry, but committing criminal activity just doesn't seem like him"
"Obviously a ploy to cover up his true natures" said Sarke.
"Perhaps if we were to try a Jedi Mind Trick—" said Kota.
"I thought that was supposed to only work on the weak minded" said Sarke whilst cutting in.
"True, but a combined effort could be more effective" said Kota.
"You are dismissed, Jedi" said Sarke.
"Excuse me?" said Kota.
"You are dismissed" said Sarke. Kota and K'Kruhk walked out of the building.
"That seemed rather abrupt" said Kota.
"I don't like this" said K'Kruhk "Something is very off about Lei Sarke"
"Can you define "off"?" asked Kota.
"He appears out of the blue almost and we know nothing about his past or how he got to that position" replied K'Kruhk "And then he abruptly becomes chief-of-state without anyone knowing. We haven't even seen Mon Mothma since. To make things even more confusing; he keeps getting secret information from the Empire or already has a strategy worked out. Back at the meeting, neither you nor Ackbar had any idea about the tracking device he had planted upon the box. It just seems very sudden and uneasy"
"Do you think his arrival could be connected to the growing darkness from Korriban?" asked Kota.
"I don't know for sure, but it could be a possibility" replied K'Kruhk.
"Until we know for certain, we'll have to play along" said Kota "We cannot jump to assumptions like that and do something rash"
"I just hope it's not too late" said K'Kruhk.
Meanwhile
Krenin arrived at a large cliff face on the speeder bike where all the remaining stormtroopers had gathered.
"Good, you're all here" said Krenin as he stepped off his speeder and walked over to them "Where is the commander?"
"Commander Cody and his men have not arrived" replied a stormtrooper captain "I tried contacting them but there was no response"
"No matter, we'll proceed as planned" said Krenin.
"But general, the coordinates you sent us lead up this cliff" said the stormtrooper captain "Without any vehicles, the only way for all of us to get up here at once is to scale it"
"Then what are you waiting for?" said Krenin "Get out the climbing cables"
Meanwhile
As Cody slowly regained consciousness, he found himself inside a large tent whilst surrounded by Nosaurians. When he tried to move, he found that he was tied to a pole with a chain.
"No escape now, Imperial" said Martarg "We have you at our mercy"
"Whoever you are, I'll let you know that I'm a professional" said Cody "I don't crack to conventional torture"
"Good thing we're anything but conventional" said Martarg.
"Hold up!" said Han as he and Chewbacca stepped through the crowds of Nosaurians within the tent "Before anyone starts torturing anyone, we should at least get a good idea on who this guy is" He kneeled down to Cody. "We'll start by removing the helmet" He pulled off Cody's helmet to reveal his face. "Woah!"
"Got a problem?" said Cody "Not all of us can stay young forever, you know"
"It's not that" said Han "I mean you do seem pretty old for a stormtrooper. It's just; you look a lot like Boba Fett. I didn't know the Empire was hiring Mandalorians"
"I'm no Mandalorian" said Cody "My number is CC-2224, but I prefer the name Cody. Before the Empire, I was a clone trooper who commanded the 212th Attack Battalion"
"Clone trooper?" said Martarg. He rushed over. "You mean like the ones who attacked New Plympto?"
"Never been to the place" replied Cody.
"Maybe you didn't personally, but I know very well that clone troopers were the ones who led the charge against my people at the Battle of Half-Axe Pass" said Martarg "Even after they surrendered, you still murdered them without mercy"
"I didn't do anything" said Cody.
"You might not have been involved in that battle, but I bet there have been countless others just the same" said Martarg as he pulled out his dagger "Tell me; did you ever counted how many lives you've destroyed, how many lands you've desecrated, how many innocents you've murdered?"
"How am I supposed to count?" asked Cody.
"You're right, you can't!" snapped Martarg "You done so much that you've never kept count of it! You know; as a child I heard stories about how the clone troopers were respectable soldiers, despite our homeworld being aligned with the Separatists. But after what you did to my home, I understand that you're nothing more than a bunch of savage brutes with no regard for life whatsoever!"
"We were just doing what we were ordered to" said Cody.
"And that's supposed to make it better?" said Martarg "That's supposed to make it right?" He swiftly placed the dagger at Cody's throat. "Listen here; I don't care if we can get information out of you or not, I will take your life so you know how it feels to be left utterly defenseless! You're dead! You hear me?! DEAD!"
"Okay, I think he's had enough" said Han.
Meanwhile
As Krenin and the stormtroopers scaled up the cliff face, they reached a halfway ledge that was large enough to stand on.
"We're almost there" said Krenin "I can feel it within my grasp"
"General, there appears to be rebels following us" said a stormtrooper. Krenin looked down and saw Zatt, Ganodi, and the other rebel troopers scaling up the cliff face after them.
"Jedi!" snarled Krenin.
"How were they able to follow us?" asked the stormtrooper captain.
"That doesn't matter" replied Krenin "We're almost at the top and we cannot allow them to get in the way" He grabbed two stormtroopers by the back of their necks. "Stop them!" He threw the two stormtroopers off of the ledge and down towards the scaling rebels. The first one was a jumptrooper who activated his jetpack and flew down. The other one however was just a standard stormtrooper who fell down screaming.
"AHHHHHH!" screamed the stormtrooper.
"All jumptroopers, go down!" snapped Krenin. The jumptroopers activated their jetpacks and flew down towards the rebels.
"We've got trouble" said Ganodi "Imperial jumptroopers incoming!" The jumptroopers slowed down to their height and began shooting at them.
"We can't let them hold us off for long" said Zatt whilst igniting his lightsaber to deflect the blasts.
"That's obviously his plan" said Ganodi "We just need to avoid going along with it"
"Easier said than done" said Zatt.
Meanwhile
As Han walked towards Thortak's tent, he heard raised voices coming from it which he could barely make out from his distance. At that moment, Martarg stormed out of the tent.
"Shouldn't you be gone by now?" said Martarg.
"What was all that about?" asked Han.
"And what business is it of yours?" snapped Martarg.
"You're probably, it might not be my business" replied Han "I just want to know anyway" Martarg sighed.
"If you must know, fine!" snapped Martarg "I'm sure Thortak has told you the story?"
"He told me a story about how you got into the position you are now" replied Han.
"I'm assuming he left out the details" said Martarg "Did he mention about Bomo Greenbark?"
"No, he didn't" replied Han.
"Bomo Greenbark was perhaps the greatest Nosaurian I have ever known" said Martarg "I was only a child when the Empire invaded and enslaved us, shipping us offworld for a life in servitude. I was amongst a large group who were bought by a crimelord and I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in chains; but then he came along. Bomo was the sole survivor of the Nosaurian Resistance and he had been travelling across the galaxy to free us one by one. He killed the crime lord and freed us. Since we were civilians, we had very little survival skills; but he taught us. He taught us how to fight, he taught us how forage for food, he taught us when to fight and when to retreat. He was my mentor"
"What happened to him?" asked Han.
"He left" replied Martarg "There were more slaves to free and he had a long job ahead of him. I have never seen him since. Thortak was put in charge because he had helped the rest of us through the tough times"
"You don't sound convinced that he's doing a good job" said Han.
"I fear that he may not be leading us in the right direction" said Martarg "You may have noticed that when the Imperials arrived, his only plan was to fight back with no strategy. That's about the third time he's done it, almost like he wants to die"
"Why would anyone do that?" asked Han
"I'm worried that old age and a mistreated life have taken its toll" replied Martarg "He's become broken and wants out of this life at all costs, even if we all go with him"
"So you were thinking of putting a blaster bolt in his head?" said Han.
"Regardless of what you may think, Solo; we're not savages" said Martarg "He needs help, but I fear that we may never find any"
"Always caring about their own problems and never helping anyone else out, that's the galaxy for ya'" said Han.
"Why do you want to help us so much?" asked Martarg "The moment we met you we put a blaster to your face and yet you still insist on sticking around despite repeated requests to leave. What do you know of being a slave?"
"You're right; I don't know" replied Han "But Chewie does. During the early days of the Empire, Kashyyyk was invaded and the Wookiees were enslaved. Chewie was one of them and he escaped. I tell you; after what I've seen, slavery is something the galaxy can honestly do without. Heck, perhaps I should tell you about the time me and Chewie took out a Zygerrian slave ship and handed it over to the slaves onboard" At that moment, a Nosaurian walked up to them.
"What do you have to report?" asked Martarg.
"Whilst out on patrol, I discovered something" said the Nosaurian "I have located a large group of Imperial troops situated at the cliff near the palace ruins. They appear to be fighting off Rebel Alliance forces"
"I guess they finally caught up to them" said Han. Martarg scratched his chin.
"Assemble the men; half of us will leave at once, half of us will stay behind to hold fort" said Martarg.
"I thought you guys didn't want to get into this" said Han.
"Thortak may have made poor decisions, but he's right about one thing; Imperial forces on this planet is merely the start" said Martarg "If we leave to their own devices, there'll be no end to it. But if we are to fight, it may as well be on our terms rather than hunted like game. There's just something I have to deal with first"
Meanwhile
Martarg and two other Nosaurians entered Cody's tent.
"Watch him" said Nosaurian whilst pointing at Cody "If he makes any move to escape, kill him" The two Nosaurians nodded their heads and Martarg left. However, Cody subtlety pressed a button on his wrist piece.
Meanwhile
Krenin and the remaining stormtroopers reached the top of the cliff.
"Stay here and keep the rebel forces at bay" said Krenin "Captain, you follow me" He walked off with the stormtrooper captain following him behind.
"Sir, what is it that we're looking for?" asked the stormtrooper captain.
"I already told you; it is need to know, and you don't" replied Krenin. As they walked across the landscape, they found themselves in front of the remains of a large palace which appeared to have been abandoned as it was covered in overgrown vines and the usual green light from the windows had disappeared.
"What is this place?" asked the stormtrooper captain.
"If you must know; this was once the palace to Separatist leader Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master turned politician" replied Krenin.
"What happened here?" asked the stormtrooper captain.
"After he died near the end of the Clone Wars, the palace was left abandoned" replied Krenin "Imperial forces searched it for anything valuable; either he made sure it was cleansed of valuable information in the event of his death or he simply didn't keep any within it to begin with. But my target is not what's inside their, but rather what lies to the side" They walked over to the rainforest which lay to the side of the palace where a bright white marble mausoleum sat.
"Is that his tomb?" asked the stormtrooper commander.
"A token tomb" replied Krenin "There was no body to bury. Stay out the front and alert me of any rebel activity" He walked over and entered the mausoleum. He walked down the steps towards the tomb itself. "And now, what I've waited for a long time" He pushed off the top of the tomb where another box lay. He picked it up and clipped it onto his waist.
Meanwhile
The rebel troopers had climbed up the cliff and were now in battle with the stormtroopers. Whilst fighting past the stormtroopers, Ganodi looked down and saw Krenin's footprints.
"I see his footprints" said Ganodi "Quickly, we have to catch him" She, Zatt, and a few rebel troopers followed the footprints over to the mausoleum.
"Halt!" yelled the stormtrooper captain whilst raising his blaster. He fired a shot at them but Zatt deflected it and it hit him back.
"He must be in there" said Zatt. They ran inside with weapons poised, only to find that the room was empty. "He must have got out"
"But how?" said Ganodi as they exited the mausoleum "There's only one entrance; and if that stormtrooper was standing guard then he must have thought he was still in there. We'll have to search around for clues again" Suddenly, Krenin leapt down from the roof of the mausoleum and landed on the shoulders of a rebel trooper, twisting his neck as he leapt off and stabbed another rebel trooper with his lightsaber.
"Looking for me?" smirked Krenin.
"Attack!" yelled Ganodi. The rebel troopers began to open fire upon Krenin, but he deflected their shots with his lightsaber and slashed them across the chest with a quick swipe. A rebel trooper snuck up behind him and aimed his blaster at him, but Krenin swung around, pinned him to the ground, grabbed him by the wrist, and pointed the blaster at his head.
"What have you done?!" exclaimed the rebel trooper.
"I've killed you all!" replied Krenin in an almost deadpan beat. He pulled the trigger and shot the rebel trooper. Zatt and Ganodi leapt at him and clashed their lightsabers against his. "You're pretty strong, for a couple of fools who think they're Jedi"
"We are Jedi!" said Zatt. Krenin force-pushed both of them back and leapt onto the entrance of Dooku's palace.
"Alright then; if you are truly Jedi, then take me" said Krenin "See if you can catch me before I can escape. You're choice, of course" He ran inside of Dooku's palace.
"He's baiting us" said Ganodi "I've read up about him, it's what he does; he tricks Jedi into positions like this so he can corner and kill them easier"
"I know, but we have to stop him" said Zatt.
Meanwhile
As Cody slowly shifted his shackles, the two Nosaurians aimed their blasters at him.
"What are you doing!?" snapped one of the Nosaurians.
"Just making myself feel more comfortable" replied Cody.
"Well, try to do it quietly" said the Nosaurian as he and the other Nosaurian lowered their blasters "Martarg gave us specific orders to watch you and kill you if need be"
"I know" said Cody "I heard"
"To don't get it, do you?" said the Nosaurian "You're at our mercy and yet you still show no respect"
"I've got no reason to" replied Cody "I'm your prisoner, not your guest"
"All the more reason to be respectful of your captors" said the Nosaurian. Suddenly, both he and the other Nosaurian were stabbed in the back by sharp blades and collapsed to the floor dead. As E7-3S stepped forward, he ripped off Cody's shackles, and helped him up.
"Vader was right, you do come in handy" said Cody "Good thing we brought you along with us"
"There are more outside" said E7 "Just give me the order and I'll annihilate every single one of them"
"I just saw them take out a full battalion of my men without a single casualty on their side" said Cody "Even if we have the element of surprise, there's point risking it. Let's get out of here while we still can"
"How do you expect to get off the planet?" asked E7.
"There's a city nearby that could provide a transport" said Cody whilst placing his helmet back on "I'm sure they'll listen to reason"
Meanwhile
Zatt and Ganodi entered Dooku's throne room in search of Krenin.
"Where is he?" said Zatt quietly. Suddenly, a statue of Count Dooku that stood to their side toppled over towards them.
"Look out!" exclaimed Ganodi as she pulled Zatt to the side as the statue crashed down. As the two got themselves up, Krenin leapt down in front of them.
"I was hoping you would comply" said Krenin.
"We know what you're trying to do, Krenin" said Ganodi as she and Zatt ignited their lightsabers "You're trying to force us into a fight on your own terms, but it won't work"
"Yet you came anyway" said Krenin "Don't you want to know why I lure my opponents like this? All of this is a game to me; an important game, but a game nonetheless. Whenever I feel like it, I make the most of my prey; setting challenges for them to attempt to complete which only brings more satisfaction to killing them. Have you ever thought of what it's like to kill a Jedi? You pride yourselves on being the most powerful beings in the galaxy; so killing you has a true sense of fulfillment to it, almost like killing a god. It's a pity there aren't more of you to kill; once you're all gone, I'll have to fill my hunger elsewhere"
"We won't ever fall!" said Zatt "Not to you or anyone!"
"You already have" said Krenin "Order 66 was the Jedi's fatal blow" He ignited his lightsaber. "This war is your last breath!" He lunged at them and began clashing his lightsaber against theirs. "You've got persistence, I'll give you that"
"Stop talking!" said Ganodi.
"Okay then" said Krenin. He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her head towards his blade.
"Ganodi!" exclaimed Zatt. He force-pushed Krenin away, who quickly got back onto his feet again and charged at them, clashing his lightsaber violently against Zatt's. Ganodi leapt at Krenin from behind, but the cyborg Sarkan grabbed her by the neck with his foot and slammed her into the ground. He then kicked Zatt so hard that he flew into the desk near the window. Ganodi pulled herself up and slammed her lightsaber down at him. With a quick punch, he knocked her over with his metal fist. Zatt got himself back up and charged at Krenin, who dodged to the side, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and threw him to the ground.
"I'm getting bored now" said Krenin "There's point in savoring any of this anymore"
"Then why don't you savor this?" smirked a voice. Krenin turned his head to see Han, Chewbacca, the Nosaurians, and the remaining rebel troopers standing at the doorway. "Word of advice, try to bring more troops next time" Zatt and Ganodi got themselves up and joined the others in front of Krenin.
"Well played" said Krenin "And if circumstances were different, I would gladly slaughter every last one of you. However, I'm done here and it's time to take my leave" He rushed off towards the window.
"Stop him!" said Han. He, Chewbacca, and the others began shooting at Krenin but he smashed out the window just in time to escape. Zatt and Ganodi rushed over to investigate, but found that he had vanished.
"Search the area" said Ganodi "If there's any chance of capturing him, we have to take it"
Meanwhile
Krenin slowly climbed down the side of the cliff using his claws and leapt off when he was down far enough. He then got out a hologram projector and brought up a hologram of Captain Pellaeon.
"It is done" said Krenin "I now require a transport, and I would advise an armed escort in case of rebel fire. I'm sending you my coordinates now"
"It will be done" said Pellaeon.
"And remember; the moment I am back onboard the ship, we are to depart back to Cato Neimoidia immediately" said Krenin.
"Understood" said Pellaeon. The hologram deactivated.
Later
Zatt looked over the ledge where Krenin had disappeared when Ganodi walked up to him.
"Still trying to look for him?" said Ganodi "Well, I've got some bad news; our scouts spotted an Imperial shuttle with a group of TIE fighters depart nearby, so we can assume he was on it. To make matters worse, I just got a transmission from Admiral Ackbar stating that the Imperials have retreated. It looks like he's out of our reach again"
"Any luck with the mausoleum?" asked Zatt.
"We've looked it over and over and have found nothing" replied Ganodi "I've just got the bad feeling that whatever Krenin was looking he found it"
Meanwhile in hyperspace
As the Chimera raced through hyperspace, Krenin entered a small room, removed the box from his waist, and tore it open. Inside was another holodisc which he placed within a hologram projector. A hologram of various vehicle and weapon schematics was brought up which created a large and slimy grin which stretched across the corners of his face.
Author's note: Just to let everyone know, I'm taking a midseason break because it's been difficult handling two different fanfictions at once and I feel that I need to be more focused. Don't worry, I'll return later this year once I've finished my other ongoing fanfiction season. In the meantime, don't forget to leave reviews as they really help with my confidence and motivate me forward. Anyways, bye for now!
Hellman 76: Don't worry, more and more characters are on their way.
Martin: I admit that I don't really know much about Star Tours so I never thought about adding it or not.