Star Wars: Pariah

by Archangel222

the clone wars Rage on but the war shall be over sooner than anyone realizes. on an outpost in the outer rim there is one Jedi who'll bend or break any rule of the code so the republic will win. but complications soon come to light when he finds there is more going on then he first realized. (my Second fanfic and i have been working on if for a while) (updates at Random)

Star Wars: Pariah

It was a cold day on Ord Mantell, winter was settling in again as it had the previous year. Macen Towbur was Crouching next to his Second in command at the Valley overlook scouting for activity. Macen was in his early to mid-twenties, with Thick curly Brown hair tied in the back with pale skin, and dark green Eyes. He wore the Robes of the Jedi Order underneath the mismatched parts of his own Jedi armor and the Clone armor he picked up from his fallen comrades. It has been 3 years since the Clone Wars began with Count Dooku and several members of the senate seceded from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems. 3 long years of battle and misery with no end in sight. Macen was growing tired of war, watching the men under him perish from senseless killing, watching as the Jedi Order was fracturing with each victory and defeat. "What do you see Ace?" Macen asked. "Nothing sir. Not a Kriffing thing." Ace Replied Promptly. Ace was Macens second in command that got his nickname by being the best shot in the Whole squad, not to mention also being the best pilot. "Well we wouldn't be here in the first place if there was nothing. Keep searching." Macen walked from the valley overlook back to the base. "Commander! Do you have a minute sir?" Bruiser said when he arrived back. "Sure, I have a minute to spare Bruiser, what do you need?" Bruiser was a Corporal in the Grand army of the Republic that got sent To Ord Mantell a month ago from Finn Ertay's Command after he disobeyed a direct order from the General. That however was not an uncommon theme for most of the men Under Macens command. "Sir, our long-range communications are still down and we haven't received any new orders from the republic, sir." He said. "Yes, Bruiser I'm aware that the communications are down, I have Goodbye working on it now." He said to him. "Why is it important that the communications are down?" Macen Asked giving him a confused look. "Sir, Ord Mantell is… to put it bluntly sir. It's a waste of all of our time. We should be off on the front lines on Mygeeto or Kashyyyk, helping our brothers, Sir." "Tell me Bruiser, what does this opinion have to do with our communications being down?" Macen gave him a stern look. "Sir?" "What I'm asking Corporal why do our long-range communications need to be repaired right at this very moment?" "Because sir without our communications we have no way to contact the Republic. Besides we should be taking the fight to the Clankers not sitting around here waiting for the grass to grow, Sir." Bruiser was a shiny when he was transferred to Ertays unit, and by most standards amongst the Clones he still was, despite his rank. "We are here because this is where the Jedi council and the Republic want us to be; besides Ord Mantell isn't exactly deserted. We received Intel that there was a separatist operation going on down here. And we need to maintain radio silence. Nevertheless, the communications will be repaired in due time." Macen said to his subordinate that gave no room for argument. "May I be relieved sir? I have been on watch duty in the south for almost 16 hours sir and I would like to get some rest, Sir!" Bruiser said with a hint of Exhaustion and frustration in his voice. Macen understood his annoyance and his frustration about the assignment, and in some aspects, he agreed with him. But now was not the time to rebel against orders. "Granted." He watched as the Corporal walked away from his commander, dragging his feet behind him. He may have been just sent here, but Macen knew that he had seen enough horror and pain to last until his final days. Macens squad comprised of mostly Trouble makers and Misfits from other Legions and battalions, and they all got sent to him because of his own reputation. He wasn't a bad commander or even a bad leader, what he was however was a terrible Jedi. "Commander!" Ace reported over the radio. "What is it Ace?" "We have movement in sector 4." "Droids?" "No sir, Not Droids something smaller and organic. It's heading directly for the Camp." "I'll be there shortly Captain hold your position." "Yes Sir!" Macen ran from the Camp back to the valley overlook, but when he got there, he sensed something very strange. "Commander, I spotted it about 10 klicks to the east. Wasn't able to get a decent look at it though." Ace said as he handed Macen the Macrobinoculars. As Macen looked through them he spotted what the Captain was talking about. "It looks like it's alone; Have Stitches and Jester meet me down by the speeders. We are going to take a closer look." Macen said as he handed back the binoculars. "Sir are you sure that's wise?" "We'll be fine Ace." "Sir All due Respect, I think you should take more people with you. Take Knockout, Blitz, or even Frag with you sir. Just don't go out there with so few men." "No! We will handle it Captain, just make sure your covering our backs. Get Sparrow up here to help you." Ace was about to protest when Macen cut him off. "Now Captain!" "Yes Sir."

Macen and his men were about 5 Meters out when he felt the Presence from before, it had only gotten stronger the closer he got. "Stop here and get off the bikes!" he said over the comm. The other two slowed their speed and came to a full stop about 3 meters from the target. After they had stopped, they immediately jumped off the bikes and readied their weapons. "Set your weapons to stun, it might just be an animal." Stitches and Jester made their adjustments to their blasters and started scanning for the Organic being. "Sir, I've got something in my sights." "Can you make out what it is Jester?" "No sir, my scanners are acting funny sir, I can't make heads or tails of it." "Switch to visual." Macen said. Jester took off his helmet and looked down the scope on his blaster. "Talk to me Jester, what do you see?" "Argh! I can't see a damn thing; whatever the hell this thing is its interfering with all our equipment." Jester said. "Alright Men be ready for anything." Macen said as he unclipped his Lightsaber. Macen could feel the being getting closer, 'whatever this thing is, it is extremely powerful.' Macen thought. Macen could sense its fear, anger and pain. The closer it got the more intense the feeling. "Men stay here and watch my back." he started to walk forward, the feelings, he was sensing became clearer and more intense with every step. He felt loss, like his whole world was just taken from him and felt the pain of losing everything. He heard the rocks near a giant boulder shift, breaking his train of thought. He activated his saber and a bright Green blade sprung to life from his hilt. He walked slowly towards the boulder; he could sense the thoughts of the creature behind them. 'Please don't find me!' it said. He jumped out from behind the boulder; but when he saw what was behind it, he was shocked. "Shhhh its okay, I'm not going to hurt you." He said comfortingly. He saw a terrified little girl shivering and huddled in the fetal position. She tried backing away from him as he approached. "It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you, look." he deactivated his saber, and the bright green blade shrunk back down into the hilt; the little girl gasped and buried her head deeper into her knees. "No, No, No! Look, I'm putting it down. See, I'm putting it down." He said softly as he set the saber down beside him. The girl looked up from her knees up at him for a few seconds before burying her face in them again. "It's alright; you're safe now." he slowly moved towards her, but she ran past him and the other side of the rocks before he could grab her. As soon as she ran past the rock the last thing Macen heard was the sound of blaster fire. "NOOO!" he cried as he picked up his saber and ran to the other side of the rocks. He found the girl lying unconscious 2 feet from the rocks. "Sir, are you alright!?" Jester asked. "WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING JESTER!?" Macen exclaimed as he ran towards the little girl. "Sir I'm so sorry… my weapon has been on the fritz since we got here... I …didn't mean to…". "STITCHES GET OVER HERE NOW!" Stitches ran past the horror-stricken Jester. "Talk to me Doc! Is she going to be okay?" "She'll live but we have to get her back to camp a.s.a.p.!" Stitches said. "I can give her something that'll stabilize her for the trip back." "Do it!" Stitches grabbed a small stim from his bag and injected it into her neck. "Alright that will keep her stable for now but we have to hurry back!" "Then we don't have a second to lose, let's go!" Macen picked up the small child and ran back towards the bike. He held her with one arm while the other steered. 'Please let her live, please let her live.' He thought as the three made their way back to camp with speed.

Vorik Pann wasn't usually quick to lose his temper; but in certain circumstances he felt like he couldn't hold it back. "What do you mean the Data has been erased!?" Vorik Pann shouted at his second in command. Vorik Pann was a Bothan with golden brown fur skin and Red Eyes which was rare among his kind. He was an Officer in the Republic military for almost 15 years, until he Joined the Confederacy. He was in command of a Separatist Outpost on Cato Neimoidia and was working his way up the Ranks of the Confederacy, as a competent Soldier and Officer. Right up until a couple of Jedi Came and destroyed the outpost; after that he was reprimanded and reassigned by Count Dooku to Project: Silent Step. "well sir, it seems the Katarn's did a complete data Purge of all of their research on the Project." "and the Device?" "Gone as Well sir." "BLAST! We'll have to assume that they stole it and it's hidden or destroyed." Vorik said his Temper Rising and patience thinning. "I would find that to be Highly Unlikely that they'd destroyed it, sir." The Second in Command said. Vorik Knew he had a name but didn't bother or care to remember it. He was a Neimoidian Handpicked by Dooku to help work out the Funds and to give regular updates to the Count on a monthly basis to make sure that the Project was even worth keeping. He also doubled as the second in Command, because he had vast knowledge of military strategy and small unit tactics. However, the man lacked any actual combat experience, he was a bureaucrat, pure and simple. And up until now that only problems that they had on the project in general were technical and managerial in nature. But this was something new: Treason. That was a word that Vorik never took lightly, despite his choice to turn his back to the Republic. "and why would that be?" He asked menacingly towards the Neimoidian. "we'll sir if it was me, I would try to hand off the data to someone I trusted and retrieve it later" "Trust? HA! I never thought you Neimoidians knew the meaning of the word." "any Project whether it be Scientific, Militaristic, or Public often requires the trust of the Community. Without it, nothing gets done; however, I won't argue the need to get ahead of peers and rivals. So, we do know of the word; we just find it useful when we need it and nothing more than that." The Neimoidian said, his chest puffed out as he said it. Vorik looked at him for a moment. "so, you think someone else might be involved?" "I am only saying what I would do." The Neimoidian replied. Vorik Stared at him with his dark red eyes. "They Brought a child with them when they came to work here. Find it and bring it to me." The Bothan turned and walked down towards the detention level which was 3 levels down from where he was. He made a right down the corridor just past the lift and told the Droid to open cell A113. As the door opened, he saw them holding each other close. "Auberon and Myrrha Katarn; the Two brightest minds on the project. I trusted both of you to complete your task, gave every resource at my disposal, I even allow you to bring your daughter with you so she would be safe here. And what do you both do? You Gift me with Treason, Espionage! Not only did you both steal from me, you stole From the Confederacy and Gave our Secrets to the people we Broke away from in the First place to get away from there Greed and Corruption!" he Said Furiously. "What did you do with the Data and the Device?" Both remained silent, either out of fear or Defiance; it didn't matter he needed answers and quick. "if you tell me what you did with the device, I promise to grant you mercy. If you refuse, I will have little choice but hand you over to the Confederacy to answer for your crimes." He looked at them with piqued interest. Neither one of them moved from there spot next to each other; and neither one said a word. 'what could possibly be so important as to throw away everything you value in life?' he thought to himself. I will be back shortly, if you do not tell me what I need to know when I return, I promise I shall be less generous than I am now." He said as he made his way back up to the command deck.

"What Do you mean Their Child is Gone!?" Vorik said Screaming at the Neimoidian. "as I said she is gone." Vorik clenched his teeth and balled fist as he walked over to the B1 Commander Droid. "538-9! Find the Child of Auberon and Myrrha Katarn!" "I'm afraid I can't sir." Vorik fixed his dark red eyes on the droid. "what was that?!" he said in a menacing tone. "Well Sir, there was nothing in the Personnel database to suggest that the people you mentioned ever brought a child here. Also, would you mind giving us a description of the Person or Animal you want us to find?" it said innocently. Vorik's face started to turn red under his fur as soon as it said that; He calmly unclipped his blaster and blasted the Droids head off, much to the Terror of the Other Droids in the Room. Vorik Slowly let in a breath of Fresh air and let it out again to try and regain some semblance of a Calm Composure. But even that was getting harder every time something went wrong; and having to rely on the Droids to help him fix problems every time something did go wrong was like Relying on a Jawa to not steal your things when you're not looking. "Alright; 317-6 Come here!" he said calmly but with enough anger still in his voice to make anything Cautious. "Uh… Yes Sir?" it said as it approached and stood directly where the previous Droid stood. "Congratulations You're Promoted! The Child you're looking for is 5 years old with Brown Hair and Brown Eyes! NOW GET TO IT!" The Droid flinched slightly then stood back up straight. "Oh, alright sir; don't worry will find that…thing, Uh, What Species is it again sir?" Vorik's ground his teeth and if you were looking hard enough you could almost see steam coming out his furry pointed ears. "IT'S A HUMAN GIRL, YOU USELESS PIECE OF BANTHA POODOO!" He Shouted at the Droid. "Oh, don't worry Sir well find her; you can count on us!" it said with the Most optimistic tone the Droid was programed for. Vorik let in another Breath then released it again. "Just get it done! NOW!" the Droid walked over to the group on the command deck and started to give orders to his New Subordinates "alright men, we need to form a search party and scout the Complex and the Outer Perimeter." It said "Rodger Rodger." They Replied. As soon as the Droids left Vorik let out all the Pent-up Rage into one Furious scream of Frustration. 'Why did it have to be me?'

2 hours after they arrived back Macen brought the little girl into the medical tent where stitches got to work. "How's she doing Stitch?" Macen asked softly. "She'll be alright sir." Stitches replied. Macen let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Is it serious?" "Nothing fatal sir, took a nasty shoulder hit from the blaster but she'll be okay. It may take her some time to heal, but other than that she's mostly healthy." "Mostly healthy?" "Malnourished, and bordering on dehydration. She must have been out there a long time before we found her." "I can still feel her pain, her grief. She's consumed with fear." "Not really surprising sir. I mean after all she's only 5; she's not going to understand any of this for a long time." "How do you know she's 5?" "I did a bio scan of her when we brought her in, 5 years, 1 month and 26 days old." Stitches said. "I'd like to look at the bio scan results." They walked over to the Computer and Stitches brought up her file. "Not much in here or at least not much we don't already know." Macen said as he looked through the file. "I would have done a more extensive search but with our communications still down; and us having to keep radio silence until the end of the mission there's nothing more I can tell you other than she's healthy." "When will I be able to talk with her?" "A few hours; but I wouldn't recommend that sir. That kid has been through hell, we need to give her time to adjust to her surroundings." "Alright Lieutenant let me know when I can speak with her." "Of Course, Commander. OH! Commander one more thing; I found this device sown into her clothing. I don't know what it is or what it's for." Stitches handed Macen the Small disk like item. "Curious." Macen said aloud. "also, I found this data drive next to the Device." "Thanks Stitches I'll go talk to Goodbye about this." Macen said. "I would also go talk to Jester Sir. He hasn't said a word since he got to base." "Don't worry about that Stitches; I'll make sure to have a long talk with him about this." Macen said as he walked away from the Medical tent towards the main Communications dish. Stitches was one of the best medics in the Republic and served under Commander Wolffe and General Plo Koon for 2 years until one day they captured a Separatist leader on Felucia. The man in charge of the Battle Droids on Felucia was Cormac Ginny a high-ranking member of the Separatist senate. Macen never received any full details about what happened; all he knew was that General Plo Koon told Stitches to look after Ginny and patch him up only to find him dead an hour later in the tent where Stitches patched him up. No Formal Charges were brought up; but the circumstances were suspicious at best, so they Demoted Stitches and placed him under Macen Command. and he has been with them since.

"Goodbye? Are you here?" Macen called out when he reached the Main Communications dish. "One Moment Sir!" he called back. A few seconds later Goodbye crawled out from under the Main communications dish. "Now what can I help you with sir?" "Do you know what this is Goodbye?" "Oooh; now that is a nice piece of machinery. Where did you find it sir?" "On a 5-year-old that was heading directly for camp." The One that Jester shot sir?" "How did you know about that?" "Word travels fast, besides Jester isn't exactly taking it well, you should talk to him soon sir." Goodbye said. "I'll talk to him once I've finished here, now can you tell me what this is Sergeant?" Goodbye looked over the device and brought it over to a nearby desk and took off his helmet. Every once in a while, he would let out a small "hmmm." As he continued to study the small disk device. "Well sir if I had to guess I would say that this is some kind of Jammer." "A Jammer!? What gives you that idea?" "Well for starter's sir, I couldn't see a thing out of my helmet while I brought it over to the bench. Second this thing gives out a low frequency pulse that's detectable if you know what you're looking for, which I do. And if I had to guess the range on this thing; I would wager that it has a 10-meter area bandwidth affecting the most obvious equipment; visual scanners, comms, and weapons. And lastly, I heard rumors that the Seps where developing some new kind of Jamming equipment over the last 2 years. It looks like they finished it." "But that doesn't explain how this little girl got it or how it was sown into her clothing." "Don't know what to tell you on that one sir." Goodbye said as he handed back the device. Macen pulled out the thin data drive from the same pouch and handed it to goodbye. "here this was also found on her it may contain some clues that we might be able to use." "alright sir I'll take a look" He took the Drive from Macens hand and plugged the data drive into the computer near the Dish, he attempted to access the drive when the computer beeped and error message at him. "Sorry sir, but unfortunately the data on this thing is Encrypted it'll take a few hours before I can crack it." He said. Goodbye ran a decryption algorithm on the drive, then crawled right back under the dish to continue repairs. "How long until communications are back up?" Macen asked. "Shouldn't be too much longer sir; I think I can have her back up and running in 48 hours max. provided if you want me to focus on this or the drive sir?" Goodbye replied. "Do what you can; in the meantime, I think I'll go have that talk with Jester." Goodbye was another misfit in Macens unit that Specialized in Communications and Engineering. He had earned his nickname by telling a Jedi Master to "Kriff off." over the Comm during a Skirmish with a separatist scouting party in the outer rim. The Republic demoted him and sent him to Macens unit. He walked form the Dish to the Barracks, when he entered, he saw the rest of his unit talking, drinking, and gambling. Any other Jedi would frown on one of these; but Macen didn't really mind what his men did in their free time so long as they did their jobs, worked hard, and followed his orders. If they had cause to disobey his orders Macen would still punish them but would go easy on them, if they had a very good reason to disobey. They were like family and treated him as they would a father or older brother instead of a commander. Macen never had a family, or at least none that he really remembered; the closest thing he had to a father was his Master: Taron Malicos. Confident, courageous, and a very Powerful Jedi Knight; He Taught Macen Everything he knew, and when the time came when the council asked if Macen was ready to take the trials Master Malicos said yes without hesitation. The trials themselves were arduous, testing his limits to their breaking point. But he overcame them all and became a Knight of the Jedi Order like his master. A few months later the Clone Wars broke out and Macen had a new trial to face; being a Commander of his own Legion of Clones. Macen walked over to Jester's bunk and sat at the bed opposite of him. "Commander!" Jester said surprised. "Men If you would Clear out For a Moment Please!" The Clones looked at one another for a brief moment and then left, leaving Macen and Jester in the Barracks. "Now Private Let's talk about what happened." Jester sat down onto his bunk staring at his commander with a look of Terror and Guilt. "Jester, I have had to call attention to your actions during this Mornings incident with the little girl. I cannot deny the fact that you were following my orders and believed your Blaster was set for stun However; what you did was rash, and very dangerous, that could have been Stitches if I had sent him over first, or me you could have hit if we had coming barreling out the other side of the rocks." Jesters look of guilt left a pained expression on his face. "I didn't come here to make you feel worse jester only to let you know to be more careful in the future; I also came to inform you that the little girl is alright; she should make a full recovery. I Also wanted let you know that the incident was not completely your fault." Jester looked up at Macen confused. "What do you mean sir?" Jester replied. Macen pulled out the small disk device from his belt pouch and handed it to Jester. "What's this sir?" "It's a Jammer or at least that's what Goodbye thinks it is. That would explain why your equipment was not working or why your blaster malfunctioned." Jesters face washed over with joy and relief once he heard the news. "So, what happens now sir?" he asked. Macen Contemplated what to do with Jester, He was only following orders, but that doesn't excuse what he did. "I want you to take Watch duty in the south. I also want a full report of Everything that happens in the area. If there are any more devices like this one, I want to have someone who knows what to look for over there." He said to Jester. "yes sir!" Jester Said to Macen with a hint of Dejection in his voice. Jester was Another Misfit; however, he was one of the Original Misfits that Got assigned to Macens unit at the start of the war along with Ace, Blaze, and Bull. Jester turned and walked out of the Barracks. "Commander, do you read me?" Macen heard his comm beep. "this is Commander Towbur, what's the situation?" "sir this is Goodbye, ive finished the decryption of the data." Macen was dumbfounded. "I thought you said it would take you hours to decrypt that thing?" "I thought so too sir, but who ever owned this drive either was really bad at encrypting things or they made who ever found this thing slightly easier to access it. Point being sir you should get over here and review the data; there's something you need to see." "alright I'm on my way, Commander Towbur out." Macen ran back towards the communications tent. When he arrived, he found Ace already in the tent with goodbye standing over the console. "Good your finally here, you need to see this sir." "what is it?" "it's a recording." Goodbye pushed a few buttons on the console and the holographic image came to life. It showed two humans a man and a woman wearing lab gear and holding each other's hands. "alright I guess ill go first; my Name is Auberon Katarn and this is my wife Myrrha, we are both members of the Separatist Alliance Science division." The holographic Auberon said. "we have been working on a project for the confederacy for the last 2 years. We were tasked with creating a small handheld Jamming device capable of disrupting all Enemy Equipment from Comms… to enemy ships." The Holographic Auberon looked down at the ground for a moment with his head held low in shame. "the Goal was simple for the project; but as we continued working on it, we developed a numerous amount of problems getting the equipment to work successfully with B1 and B2 Model battle droids." The Holographic Myrrha said, her hand tightly holding her husbands. "we dedicated out lives to this project, with the hope of ending the war; but an incident occurred 2 weeks ago with our daughter." Auberon continued. "Her Name is Kira. She started to show signs… Signs normally associated with one who is sensitive to the phenomenon the Jedi Call "the Force". The incident itself was… shocking to say the least. We had just got off our shift on the project and we came home to find Kira playing with her toys; but they were all floating in the air." Myrrha said. "after that we were scared, desperate even. So, we are going to do something that betrays everything we believe in…" they looked at each other for a moment and nodded their heads. "we know there is a republic outpost on the planet close by. We will send all the data on the project as well as the prototype, to the outpost in exchange for our daughters' safe passage off world to Coruscant and to the jedi temple." Myrrha continued. "we are not turning our backs against the confederacy; but we are willing to risk everything for our daughter's well-being. To however finds this, please bring her back to the jedi safely and hope that in time she will understand what we have done for her." The couple held each other in an embrace before the holographic image faded. Just then the computer started going through all the files on the drive. Blueprints, schematics, calculations and test runs on the project called: Silent Step. "well lets see what we have to work with." Goodbye said as he rummaged through the data. the only thing on Macens mind was the little girl named Kira and how where they going to complete the mission with this new complication.